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Bella, Melody and Jasper POV

Bella POV

The day was finally to an end and I had to admit that this was the worst first school day of my life. Going to a school this small was bound to give me some attention as I was the new girl but I had counted on that. What I hadn't counted on was the fact that vampires were attending school here! It was insane; vampires shouldn't be able to be this close to humans without draining them. I had done enough research to know that much.

Then there was the vampire from Biology who had abruptly left class today. Was the scent of all the humans getting too much for him? His eyes had been as dark as coal as he looked at me from the door though I had only seen remorse in his eyes which was something I had never seen in the eyes of a vampire. The three I had met in Phoenix had something murderous in their eyes every time their eyes were black.

The other thing was that the eyes of the vampires here weren't the red I had seen before. These vampires had golden eyes en looked… more human. Not to mention that one of them was apparently dating a human. I had wanted to talk to the model girl, Melody, after gym but I chickened out. I mean, what was I supposed to say? 'He, I'm sorry to bother you, but did you know your boyfriend is a bloodsucking vampire?' It wasn't really something you said in between changing clothes after gym.

I sighed and opened the door to the reception to hand over the slip the teachers had signed. 'Oh hello dear, how was your first day?' The red-haired receptionist asked. 'It was fine, thank you.' I answered politely as I handed her the little piece of paper. Again I couldn't tell her what I really thought of this day. I mean saying it was a great day until I saw five vampires walk around would probably give me a one-way ticket to the closest mental home. 'I'm glad you had a good first day, dear. Well, see you tomorrow.' The woman said sweetly. I mumbled a thank you and quickly made my way out of the building and to my car.

When I was inside my truck with the doors locked I finally relaxed a little. The truck might not be vampire proof, but then again what was, but I did feel safe in it. I just sat there for a few minutes and watched other students say goodbye to each other and get into their respective cars. The fancy Volvo was still in the parking lot as was the yellow Porsche and I was wondering who owned them when the Cullen clan came out of the school and walked straight to the fancy cars. I shouldn't have been surprised by this as vampires probably had enough money to buy anything, but on the other hand they didn't really need cars. Vampires could run with immense speed so all these guys had to do was walk to the forest edge and start running.

I watched as the tiny one got into the yellow Porsche and pulled out of the parking lot. The others watched her go and I thought I saw the blond, model like one shake her head though I couldn't be sure as she did it quite fast. The guy who was dating Melody opened the silver Volvo and got into the driver's side while Melody sat beside him. The burly one and blond one got in the back and they drove away as well.

I let out a breath I hadn't even noticed I was holding and started my truck up. The loud noise it made startled me but it was less than this morning and I guessed I would get used to it soon enough. On my way home I went by the supermarket to get some ingredients for tonight's diner seeing as Charlie only had pizza in the freezer. I decided to make meatloaf as this would keep me busy for a while which meant no time to think about what I had seen today.

Charlie was still at the office so when I got home I put the groceries I didn't need yet in the fridge and started on the meatloaf. I was half way through it when the phone rang. 'Hello?' 'Bells, it's me.' Charlie said from the other end of the phone. 'I might be a bit late tonight… would you mind eating alone?' He asked. 'Sure dad, no problem. I'll leave you some in the fridge so you can heat it when you get home.' I answered. 'Thanks kid, I'm sorry.' Charlie said a bit awkward. 'It's okay dad, see you later tonight.' I said and hung up the phone.

When I was done with the meatloaf and it was in the oven I started on my homework. We hadn't gotten that much so I could take my time making it. I was halfway through my Biology assignment when the doorbell rang. I put my pen down and walked to the door. As I opened the door I expected to see the postman with parcel or something but instead there stood Melody Cullen. I just stood there, the door in my left hand and my mouth hanging open. Some part of my mind told me I looked ridiculous but I couldn't make myself to change position or close my mouth.

'Uhm… can I come in?' Melody asked tentatively. This snapped me out of my daze and helped me to close my mouth. 'Sure… c-come in.' Great, I was stuttering. A small smile appeared on Melody's face as she walked into the house. I shot a quick look outside to see if anyone else from the Cullen clan had come with her but if they had, I couldn't see them. 'I came alone so you don't have to look for any of my siblings.' Melody said from behind me. I quickly spun around to see that Melody had already sat down on the living room chair.

I closed the door behind me and fought the urge to lock it. I knew that a lock wouldn't stop any of Melody's siblings from coming in but the human urge to lock the door against unwanted strangers still remained. 'C-can I get you anything?' I asked, hoping she would say yes so that I could go to the kitchen for at least a few seconds. 'Yes please, just some water would be nice.' Melody answered politely. 'Water, no problem.' I managed to say before bolting to the kitchen. I leaned on the counter and took a few deep breaths, trying to steady myself. I had to get a grip if I wanted to find out more about the vampires.

I quickly filled a glass with water and carefully walked back to the living room. 'Here you go.' I said as I handed her the glass and sat down on the couch. 'Thanks.' Melody quickly took two sips from her drink before placing it on the small table. 'So… What can I do for you?' I asked after a few minutes of awkward silence. 'I didn't really come here to ask for something.' Melody said quietly. 'Oh.' Was the extremely intelligent answer that came from my mouth. 'I thought that you might have some questions to ask me.' Melody continued. When I didn't react to that Melody sighed and turned towards me. 'I would have thought you had some questions about my vampire family, Bella.'

Melody POV

Bella just sat there without saying anything. Her eyes, however, said enough. She had not expected this and maybe she had thought I didn't even know about my family being vampires. I contemplated whether or not I should ask if she was alright but in the end I decided against it. It was probably better to let her get through this at her own pace. How's it going? Jasper asked then. Well… she's shocked that I know you are all vampires and is now staring at me as if I'm mentally ill. I replied. She's doing what? Jasper growled and I could feel he was getting angry.

That was one of the things that changed when we both finally admitted our feelings to each other. I was now able to feel Jasper's emotions through our link even when he wasn't projecting. I wasn't used to feeling some else's emotions and so had the tendency of letting them control me. This was great when we were together and happy as I only became happier. In times like these it wasn't that convenient. I could feel that Jasper's anger was affecting me and I didn't really know how to control this. Jasper, calm down! I can feel your anger and it's affecting me. Bella just didn't expect me to be so direct about it all and is trying to figure out some things for herself. She doesn't actually think I'm mentally ill. I said as fast as I could. Luckily it worked and I could feel Jasper's anger becoming less and less. I guess I'll have to teach you to be an empath. Jasper chuckled. That might be a good idea.

'So… you know about… your family… being vampires?' Bella asked then. I turned my attention back to Bella and nodded slowly. 'Yes, you can't expect someone to live with vampires for almost seventeen years and not know what they are.' I chuckled, trying to make the subject seem lighter than it actually was. 'But… how did you survive all those years? Did they ever hurt you? Are they using you as a human pet?' Bella asked, sounding more frantic with each question that came out of her mouth.

'First take a breath because if you keep this up you'll faint from the lack of oxygen.' I told her sternly. Thankfully she listened and took a deep breath to calm herself. It seemed to work at least a tiny bit which was good enough for now. As Bella wouldn't get more relaxed than she was now I began my story. I told her about Jasper finding me and about what growing up with vampires was like. I told her about the diet my family had and about the fact that none of them had slipped up in the past seventeen years. The only things I left out were the fact that I wasn't human and everyone's personal past. If Alice was right, and Bella would somehow become part of our family, she would find out about everyone in due time, though I doubted that Rosalie would ever tell her story to Bella. The only ones she told her entire story to were dad, Emmett and me. The others only knew what happened to her but not who did it and how it had ended up that way. Even Edward didn't know as Rosalie kept that part of her past well hidden in the back of her mind.

When I was finished telling my story Bella's face showed only surprise and once again she said nothing. I waited patiently for her to process everything while I drank my water. 'So… you're not… their pet?' Bella asked in a whisper. 'No, I'm not their pet. Like I said, I'm the adoptive daughter of Carlisle and Esme and Jasper's girlfriend since last Friday.' I told her again. 'And Jasper found you as a baby in the forest?' I just nodded at this. 'Isn't it weird that he's your boyfriend now?' That was a question I hadn't expected. I would have thought Bella would want to know more about my family's diet or something else related to being vampires but this? No, I had not counted on this.

'Uhm… well… It was kind of hard to admit to the things we were feeling at first because of the fact Jasper had known me since I was a baby, but we've had a special bond from the beginning so the change of emotions wasn't that weird. Of course it was hard to admit my feelings as I didn't want to lose my best friend but it all worked out. ' I said after a few seconds of thinking. Bella nodded thoughtfully to this. 'Isn't it weird to kiss a vampire? As they are ice cold and all that?' Another unexpected question. 'No, it's not weird. Vampires might be ice cold but it doesn't bother me.' I told her.

'Can I ask you a question?' I asked quickly before Bella could ask anything else about my relationship with Jasper. 'Sure… what would you like to know?' Bella asked. I was glad to see she had relaxed a great deal since she opened the door. 'How did you get the scar on your hand?' I asked quietly. Bella immediately grabbed her right hand with her left and rubbed her scar. 'In Phoenix, where I come from, I was some sort of toy to three vampires. They had been following me one evening, initially to… kill me, but when they made their move I did something they hadn't expected, I tried to fight back. I hit the female of the group as hard as I could, as I thought she would be the weak link, and had thought that when she would double over in pain, I could run. Of course this didn't work and instead my hand got badly bruised. The leader of the group then thought it was fun to use me as a toy. If I did what they asked of me they wouldn't kill me.' Bella stopped here and I could see that there were tears in her eyes at the memories.

I placed my hand on hers and gave it an encouraging squeeze. Bella took a deep breath before continuing. 'They let me go for that night but the leader contacted me the very next day. He said that he would love a chase through the city that night and that I could use whatever I wanted to get away. He promised that, if I did well enough, he would let me live to see another day. That evening I ran to my mom's room and took her gun, which she kept for safety reasons, before heading out to play the game. I ran and dodged my attackers for an hour before they had me cornered in an alley. All three of them were smirking and that was the first time I realised that their eyes were red. I had been too afraid to look at them the night before and therefore this small detail about their appearance had eluded me. I took the gun from my pocket and aimed it at the leader yelling that I would shoot if he didn't go away. The leader started laughing at this and I lost it, I shot.'

By now Bella was shaking and I quickly sat down next to her. I put my arm around her and rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. Jasper… can you come over here? Just stay in the forest and try to calm Bella… please. I asked. I'm on my way. I sighed in relief as I knew Jasper could help Bella calm down better than I ever could. A few seconds later I felt Bella relax considerably and I could sense Jasper in the forest behind the house. 'Can you continue?' I asked Bella whose breathing was once again normal. 'Yes… thanks.' Bella said.

'When I shot I was instantly afraid that I might have killed someone but of course the bullet didn't do any damage. The leader just stood there, watching me with a murderous glint in his red eyes. A second later he was right in front of me, holding my gun and glaring down at me. It was then that he told me he and his two friends were vampires. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the red eyes, the speed or the fact that the bullet had no effect whatsoever. He then told me he had to make me pay for pulling such a stunt on him and before I knew what he was doing he bit my hand. It hurt like hell and my entire hand started to burn like crazy. He then put his mouth over the wound again and sucked at it until the burning was gone again.'

Bella took another breath but before she could start shaking she calmed down again. 'I don't really remember what happened next as I fainted. I woke up in my bed with a note next to me on my pillow. It said that the game would resume tonight and that no weapons were aloud. The games continued in the same way for about a week but after that the leader had gotten a bit bored with it mostly because I wasn't as "good" as I was before. That's when he started threatening my mother to motivate me. He said that if I didn't do my best he would come to get my mom. I panicked and didn't know how to get out of this but then my mother came with the solution herself. She wanted to travel with her husband Phil and was wondering whether I would like to come along. I quickly convinced her I would be better off with Charlie in Forks and she reluctantly agreed.' Bella finished her story and I could see that a weight had been lifted from her shoulder. She probably never had the opportunity to talk to anyone about this.

'You've had that scar ever since that guy bit you… it must be hard to be reminded of that every day.' I said softly. 'It hurts from time to time but I can't dwell on what has happened as I can't change the past. I came here by plane so that the vampires can't track my scent. Apparently I also have the ability to shield myself from mental gifts. The leader of the little group had the gift to track people but with me he had no such luck. I thought I was pretty safe here until I saw your family walk into the cafeteria.' Bella said. 'You don't have to worry about my family, Bella. As I said they don't drink from humans for which their golden eyes are proof.' I reassured her.

We were quiet after that but it wasn't like the uncomfortable silence when I had just entered the house. 'Bella… would you like to meet Jasper?' I asked after a while. Bella's head snapped up and I could see fear in her eyes. 'You don't have to if you don't want to.' I told her quickly. Bella shook her head, 'No… it's just that… the only vampires I met wanted to use me as a hunting toy…' She trailed off here but I knew what she meant. 'Let's meet outside then. Jasper will stay as far away as you want and we will go from there.' I suggested. Bella thought about this for a moment but agreed to it in the end. She showed me to the phone and I called Jasper's cell. Normally I never used this number as I could just contact him through our link but as Bella didn't know about this yet I had no choice but to call him in a normal way. He agreed to meet us in front of the house in a few seconds. I took Bella's hand and walked with her to the door.

Jasper POV

I had to wait a minute as I heard Melody and Bella walk to the door. When the door opened I waited another second before slowly walking out of the forest. I could feel Bella's fear and anger towards me but I could also sense curiosity. Melody was whispering to her that she had to relax and keep on breathing. I helped by sending calming waves to her which seemed to help. 'Bella, this is Jasper Whitlock.' Melody said softly. 'Whitlock? I thought his name was Hale.' Bella whispered back, feeling a bit confused. 'To everyone in this town Jasper and Rosalie are known as twins with Hale as their surname, but as I told before, we're all not actually related. Jasper's own surname is Whitlock.' Melody explained.

Bella just nodded and kept staring at me. I could feel her curiosity growing and the fear and anger subside a bit. I could understand why she was angry as it was my kind who inflicted so much pain on her. 'Bella, can I come a bit closer?' I asked carefully. Bella hesitated for a couple of seconds before she slowly nodded. I walked at a slow human pace towards her, all the while concentrating on her emotions. I was relieved when the fear and anger only seemed to subside more while I came closer.

When I was about six feet away from them Melody released Bella's hand and walked towards me. I opened my arms for her and hugged her tight. Even the small time we had been apart today was too much for me and I was glad I had her back in my arms. Melody turned around in my arms and smiled to Bella who was watching us with disbelief clear in her eyes and her emotions. 'Bella? Bella, you're mouth is hanging open.' Melody giggled. Bella quickly snapped out of her trance and shut her mouth. 'He really doesn't hurt you, does he?' Bella asked in awe. 'No, I would rather kill myself then hurt Melody.' I assured Bella.

Bella looked at us for a full minute before she realised we were all standing outside. 'Let's go inside.' She said. 'It's a bit weird to stand outside like this.' She quickly went inside and held the door open for us. I was a bit taken aback as I hadn't expected this to happen but Bella's curiosity had won from her fear and anger for which I was glad. An angry human who knew our secret wasn't really what we needed.

We all sat down in the living room, Bella on a chair and Melody and I on the couch. I quickly took Melody's hand in mine before turning to Bella. 'Thank you for trusting me this way. I know it must be hard for you to have my kind in your house.' I said sincerely. I could feel confusion at my words and realised a second later that she didn't know I had heard her entire story. 'I was in the forest close by and heard your story when you were telling it to Melody.' I explained. More confusion… great, she didn't know why I had been in the forest. 'I asked Jasper to come along and wait in the forest to help.' Melody explained as Bella was now looking at her with questioning eyes. 'You said before that the leader of the vampires who hurt you had a tracking gift.' Bella nodded and waited for Melody to continue. 'Well, other vampires have gifts as well. Jasper has the gift to feel and manipulate emotions and I thought that it might help you today.'

'You calmed me today?' Bella asked amazed. 'Yes, but only when you really needed it which wasn't that much.' I told her. At my words Bella's curiosity spiked. 'How does your gift work? Can you do more than just calm me? Like make me really happy or sad?' She asked excited. 'My gift works on the body unlike other gifts who work in the mind. I can make you feel really sleepy or make you feel as if you're in lots of pain. I can make you feel any emotion there is.' I explained. 'Can you show me?' Bella asked. I thought for a moment about what kind of emotion would be best suited for the moment and decided that happiness was my best bet. I send a small dose of happiness towards her and saw the effects immediately. Bella relaxed completely and a large smile appeared on her face. I quickly withdrew my power and saw the smile become less big but she stayed relaxed. 'That felt really weird. As if I wasn't in complete control over my actions.' Bella said enthusiastically and I was relieved that the anger and fear I had felt before had disappeared almost completely.

Melody and I stayed for over an hour and we talked about small things like what school was like in Phoenix and how Bella liked Forks so far. None of us mentioned the vampires who terrorised Bella back in Phoenix. I knew we would have to talk about it at some point as moving from Phoenix to Forks didn't really make you untraceable but for now it was best left alone. Bella went to the kitchen every now and then to check on the food she had in the oven. Melody was really glad that Bella was doing so much better than just an hour ago and I could tell that she cared for her.

We had to leave when Esme called me to say that Melody's diner would be ready soon. Bella walked us to the door and we said our goodbyes. 'Where's your car?' Bella asked, looking at her driveway and only seeing her own truck. 'Bella, you do know that vampires can run faster than a car could ever drive don't you?' Melody chuckled. 'I know, but how about you Mel?' Bella asked, clearly confused. 'I can ride with Jasper piggyback style.' Melody lied lightly. 'No… I mean how did you get here if not by car?' Bella asked.

What do I tell her? Melody asked quickly. Say that you'll tell her about that some other time. I suggested. 'I'll tell you some other time.' Melody told Bella. I could see that Bella still wanted an answer but she didn't ask again. 'Well, bye Bella.' Melody said. She then climbed onto my back and wrapped her arms and legs tightly around me. I considered walking into the forest until we were out of Bella's sight but decided against it. I nodded my head at Bella, turned around and started running. As I expected, Bella's wasn't surprised by vampire speed as she had already witnessed it before.

Do you want to run yourself? I asked Melody as we were halfway home. Nope, I kind of like this. Melody replied as she buried her face in the crook of my shoulder. When I came close to the house a lot of different emotions hit me. Anger, concern and determination were the most dominant emotions though I could feel some happiness too. Something big is going on in the house. I told Melody. I felt her nod but she didn't say anything.

Melody jumped from my back and I took her hand in mine before we went inside. We were met by an interesting sight to say the least. The family was divided in three parties. On the left side stood Rosalie and Emmett who were both projecting anger. On the right were Edward and Alice who were both feeling determined though Alice was also feeling happy about something. In the middle stood Carlisle and Esme who were both feeling concerned. I sighed and send everyone a large dose of calming vibes. This was going to be a long day.

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~Marieke~