Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

A/N: I'm going to try to update when I can. I hope you like this latest installment. :)

EPOV

Brilliant bright red eyes stared back at Bella. They looked like rubies nestled into a blanket of snow. They were Charlie's eyes; no longer the deep brown they used to be. His skin was no longer tinged that faint golden color from the summer's sun. It was ghostly white and ice cold. His eyes blinked repeatedly as they stared at his daughter.

"I'm a what?" he demanded.

There was disbelief in his voice and I could tell this was going to be a difficult conversation. He seemed to be having a hard time remembering how he ended up here. He couldn't recall being attacked in the woods and no amount of questioning triggered any form of recollection. Hopefully the animals hadn't gotten too far. I was looking forward to taking care of them personally. I looked over at Bella as thoughts of the imminent fight swirled through my mind. We hadn't resolved our issue from earlier, both of is deciding it was more important for Bella to tend to her father than for us to engage in what was bound to be a lengthy conversation on the matter of her fighting along side me. As soon as Charlie was settled, we would have this discussion, and hopefully, I would come out the victor. She had to understand she was better off in Alaska, away from it all.

Charlie's laughter roused me out of my thoughts and the noise startled everyone. It was loud and obnoxious, and it only grew in volume when he took in each of our dumbstruck expressions. "A vampire? You can't be serious."

He continued to stare at us, looking at each of us in turn. His ears suddenly twitched as the sound of a car backfiring from two miles away reached his ears. His new eyes roamed the bedroom, picking up flecks of dust and lint floating through the sun streaked air. He breathed in deeply and his nostrils flared, most likely picking up each of our individual aromas mingled in the tiny room, as well as the faint scent of potpourri that Esme left around the house. He brought his hand to his heart and felt around. There was nothing. He moved his hand this way and that but he was still unable to pick up a heartbeat.

You've got to be kidding me, he thought. He looked at his daughter again and memories her before her disappearance passed through his mind. She looks so different.

He gazed at Bella with questioning eyes. "The stories from the reservation are true?"

Bella nodded and sat down beside her father, slowly inching herself down to the mattress next to him so as not to startle him. There was no telling what newborn Charlie might do.

"Yes, dad, they're true." His head sank low and he threw his hands into his hair. His eyes were on the floor in front of him. "Everything that Billy told you about the wolves and the cold ones is all real." She looked up at me, biting her lip, and gave me a small shrug.

Charlie started and looked up at her abruptly. "Are you telling me there are werewolves, too?" He gulped. "It's all real?"

Where the hell have I been living all these years? I feel like I'm in a God damn movie.

Charlie was beginning to let his fear take over. I could smell it on him, and I wasn't the only one. Jasper looked at me and nodded. I felt the wave of calm he pushed out, the edges of it touching me and jolting me with a small twinge of tranquility. Charlie noticeably relaxed, his body losing its previous rigidity.

"I know this is a lot to take in, dad."

He kept his eyes on his hands when he spoke. "Is Billy a werewolf?"

Bella shook her head. "No, he's not. It's something that only happens to the younger generation, and only when there are vampires in the area."

He looked up at her. "Jacob?" he asked weakly.

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't think he's changed yet."

His eyes widened. "Yet?"

Bella sighed. "I don't really know the details. What's important right now is that we discuss your change." She looked at him pleadingly. "We can talk about Billy and Jake later, okay?"

He nodded at her and gazed back at his hands, turning them over, palms up, and then back. He rose to his feet and walked over to the mirror. He gasped as his legs took him to his destination faster than anticipated. He looked up at his reflection and took a step back from it. "I can see myself."

Rosalie rolled her yes. Damn vampire fiction.

"Yes, you can," my father answered smoothly. He took a small step forward. "Most of the myths from the stories are inaccurate."

"Yeah," Emmett muttered. "I don't know where people got that shit from. None of it makes sense at all. I mean, why the hell would we be allergic to garlic?" He threw his hands up in exasperation. "I loved garlic when I was human."

Charlie looked to Emmett in time to see Rose poke him in the ribs and motion with her finger and lips to be quiet. Charlie looked over at my father and jutted out his chin. "Is any of it true?" he asked.

Carlisle shrugged. "Not really. We can go out in sunlight. It doesn't burn us to ash like the books and movies what you to believe."

Charlie nodded. "I figured as much. You were always outside in daylight."

"And as Emmett was so gracious enough to tell." He smiled and motioned to my brother with his hand. "We are not allergic to garlic. And holy water and has no effect on us, either," he continued. "However, some things are true." Charlie looked at him expectantly. "We do have inhuman strength and speed."

Charlie picked up a small marble statue sitting on the table near the mirror and wrapped his hand around it. The marble crumbled underneath his touch. Esme flinched and sighed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

She swallowed and closed her eyes. This is why I can't have nice things.

Taking in a deep, calming breath, she nodded. "It's quite alright." He looked sheepish. "Please, don't worry about it."

He looked back up at his reflection, not taking his eyes off himself. "Can we be killed by wooden stakes?"

Bella shook her head. "No, only another vampire can kill us."

"How?"

Bella shook her head. "Why don't we discuss the finer details of being a vampire a little later," she offered. "You should really hunt."

Charlie wasn't listening anymore. He was transfixed by his new appearance and continued to look at himself. He leaned in closer to his image and frowned. "What's wrong with my eyes?" Bella shook her head and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers.

This time, I answered, giving Bella a momentary pardon from Charlie. "Our eyes turn red when we drink human blood. You haven't fed yet, but your blood still lingers in your system; which will account for your unusual strength as a newborn. You'll be stronger than any of us for about a year until your blood finally works its way out of your body." I paused. "However, We follow a strict vegetarian diet." Strict, with the rare slipup.

He looked at me. "Vegetarian?"

"We don't drink from humans."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that why your eyes are that golden color; because you don't drink human blood?"

I nodded. "We sustain ourselves on a diet of animal blood." I made a face. "It doesn't taste quite as good, but it's better than killing."

His brow rose even further toward the ceiling. "Have you all tasted human blood before?" He looked over all of us. Those of us who had, cringed at the memories.

My throat felt dry. "Not all of us, no."

He nodded. He seemed to sense all of our discomfort and decided to save any further questions about the subject for later. He turned back to his image in the mirror. His image had captivated him.

"Why do I look so different? Shouldn't I still look like me, just a bit paler?"

Alice giggled, her bell like laughter startling Charlie from his deliberation. "You would think so, but actually, the venom in our system changes us slightly from our original appearance. It gives our natural beauty a…boost, if you will." Charlie didn't say anything. He just continued to stare. "The venom also does something pretty cool to our skin in the sunlight," she continued.

He looked up at Carlisle, confused. "I thought you said sunlight didn't hurt us?"

"It doesn't. But we still cannot go out in direct sunlight, which is why Forks is so perfect for us to live. The cloud cover protects us."

"What does the sunlight do to us, then?"

Alice smiled. "You'll see later."

He made a disgusted face as the next thought popped into his head. I bit back the laugh that nearly rose out of me. Bella was so much like her father it was uncanny.

He looked at his daughter. "Do I need to sleep in a coffin?"

She shook her head and laughed. "No, dad, you won't be sleeping in a coffin." He let out a relieved sigh. "We don't sleep."

His eyes widened. "We don't?"

Bella nodded. "I'm afraid so."

He frowned. "Well that stinks. I always did enjoy sleeping." His expression was thoughtful as he looked back at himself. "So, you were never attacked by animals, were you? You just let your mother and I think you were dead." His back was to his daughter but she was still able to make out his pained expression in the mirror.

"Dad," she started. "It was the only way. We couldn't let you know what had happened to me. Humans aren't supposed to know about us."

He turned to her quickly. He was angry now. "But I'm your father. You put us through hell. We had a right to know."

I could see the guilty expression on her face, and when she turned her beseeching eyes up to me, I went over to her. I wrapped an arm around her and I felt her clutch my hand against her hip as she leaned into me for support.

"It's law, dad. If I had my way, I would have told you, but I couldn't." He looked away from her. "Please believe me."

He looked up then and his sight was set on me. His eyes narrowed, black overtaking the blood red of his eyes. His lips curled up over his teeth. "You," he snarled. And before I could react to the murderous thoughts swirling through his head, he leapt straight for my throat.

"Dad!" Bella yelled frantically.

I felt myself flying backwards and Charlie and I went crashing through the window behind us. Bella's panicked eyes faded as we fell two stories to the front lawn below, shards of glass from the window raining down upon us.

I clasped my hands around his wrists, but was unable to pry him off. His newborn strength was astonishing and I could only imagine how strong he must have been as a human. His fingers dug into my skin and I could feel the marks he was leaving behind. I looked up into his eyes, so filled with rage, and couldn't help the fear that flashed through me. As a newborn, I had no idea what he might do to me. His anger was paramount, his hunger for my head on a platter written all over his face. I actually saw the image in his mind; my head on a shiny, silver platter with an apple in my mouth. He really wanted to kill me. And I didn't doubt he would.

"You selfish bastard. You killed my little girl."

His grip on me tightened, cutting off the air supply I didn't really need, his hands around my throat getting exceedingly uncomfortable. The anger in his eyes, the hatred burning in them terrified me more than I could say. I had never before been frightened of Bella's father before, until now. I knew his love for Bella knew no bounds and that there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect his little girl.

"I should kill you," he seethed, the venom dripping from his mouth and hitting my face.

"That would be an option," I wheezed, trying to speak through the vice like grip he had on me, "but not a very good one." I heard the soft thuds of my family's feet hitting the ground all around us.

"Why the hell shouldn't I rip your throat out right now?"

I didn't have a chance to respond - not that I could have with the amount of force he was applying to my larynx. Before I could even form a thought in my head, his body was ripped from mine without warning and he landed on his back beside me. We both stared up at a very pissed off Bella, as Emmett and Jasper held Charlie down by the shoulders. She glared down at her father, hands on her hips.

"Because I'd be pretty ticked off that you tried to kill my boyfriend." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that a good enough reason, dad?"

"Stupid puppy love," Charlie grumbled, not thinking we'd be able to hear it. But we did.

Bella rolled her eyes at him, both for the snide comment and his violent behavior, and threw up her hands in frustration. Charlie jumped to his feet and I did the same, falling behind Bella, not caring in the least that I was now hiding behind my girlfriend. He lunged for me, but my brothers grabbed his arms before he could make a grab for me. I knew I was the elder vampire, and that I had a good sixty years of experience behind me, but I suddenly felt like a teenage boy caught in his girlfriend's bed, stealing her innocence.

And in a way, perhaps I had.

He glared at me over her shoulder. His eyes were still the color of night. "Why are you protecting him?" He came at me again, but Bella stopped him with her hands to his chest. He curled a lip at me menacingly. "She can't protect you forever."

"What exactly do you think happened to me?" she asked slowly, watching him carefully.

He kept his eyes on me when he said, "He took you away from your family; the selfish prick."

"Watch the language, dad," Bella scolded. And for a moment, he looked like a child being reprimanded by his mother. Bella shook her head and laid a gentle hand on her father's arm. He looked down at her. "Dad, this is what I wanted. This was my choice." His eyes darted all over her face and then over at me. He looked down at Bella, appalled.

"You wanted this life?" She nodded. He looked hurt, betrayed. "But why?"

That bastard, he thought bitterly. What did he do to my Bella?

I shook my head and grabbed Bella's hand. "I didn't do anything to her, Charlie. I would never do anything to harm Bella. This was her choice."

He growled at me and the sound rumbled in his chest. "How in the hell did you know what I was thinking, you son of a bitch?"

"Language, dad," Bella admonished, astonished at his vulgarity. "You have no right to talk to Edward that way."

"I have no right? No right? The bastard took my only baby girl from me and now he can hear my thoughts, and I have no right?"

Bella sighed heavily and rubbed her hands over her face. "Maybe we should have a talk, dad." She looked up at me. "In private."

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