We've passed 2004, the year before Bella arrived in Forks. Let's talk 2005. Thanks for being the first reviewers, timothysch22 and Alrayel (I understood very little of your review before I translated it, but mucho enscribo – that's my mangled way of saying I've written many chapters that haven't been uploaded yet).

I didn't hear much more about Chief Swan's daughter for the next couple of months. Jacob mentioned to me that his dad had said something about a family in town based on some myth that caused the police chief to take offense. Actually, it wasn't just me – Quil and Embry were with us at the time. "It's one of the legends from our past." he explained. "Our tribe is supposed to have a dangerous enemy-"

"Mom mentioned that." I interrupted. "She didn't tell me what the enemy was, though. Will you tell me? I mean, I'm part of the tribe, right? Since my mom is."

There was a pause. Jacob didn't say anything, and Embry looked away. It was Quil who spoke up. "I think she should know. What harm does it do? It's not like it's real."

The wooden looks stopped, and Jacob laughed. "True. And it's not breaking the treaty, considering that you're one of us. The thing is-" he dropped his voice, "My dad thinks the family are vampires."

I couldn't help giggling. "Seriously? That's really out of left field. I mean, we're descended from wolves, that makes more sense. But immortal blood-drinkers? Do people disappear a lot from here or something?"

"There's a reason for that that fits in with the story." Embry interjected. "According to myth, they said they don't hunt humans. For some reason, they actually hunt in the woods and drink animal blood."

"Our great-grandfathers made a treaty to make sure they don't harm any humans or hunt on our land." Quil added. "I don't know how much of it is believable, but the older generation still believes it."

"So...they've been here for a long time?" I asked. "Wouldn't someone have noticed if they don't age?"

"Oh, they haven't been here long." Quil explained. "Almost two years. They were supposed to have been here in the 1930s, and they just came back. In fact, there were less of them then. There's two more now."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm not going into the forest from now on. Still, I have to ask my mom if she knew about that. She never said a word about the enemy of the tribe being vampires."

But that night, I asked. Straight out. Like "Mom, you know how you used to tell me all the tribe's legends? Like the ones about the wolves and the one enemy? Well, did you know that the enemy were vampires?"

Mom froze. I mean, seriously, she froze. Then she found her voice. "Where did you hear that?"

I shrugged, trying to seem casual. "Jacob was telling me his dad had some argument with his friend who he sold that old truck to. Something about a family in Forks who he thinks are vampires. He said they supposedly came here years ago and then left, but they came back recently and their coven has grown. But...vampires don't exist, right?"

Mom stiffened even more, but she started moving again. She put her hands on my shoulders, gripping hard. "Are you sure they said they were back? More of them?"

I couldn't believe it. Mom really seemed to believe that there was a family of vampires in this town. "Is this a true story?" I said incredulously. "Even if it is, they're not allowed on the rez, are they? And the boys said they attack animals, not people."

That seemed to snap Mom out of her little freakout. She let go of me and sank down on the sofa. "I suppose I should tell you a bit about it, Beth." she said in a low voice. "The enemy I talked about are vampires, but I didn't want to frighten you. But it's true – the ones that claimed to drink animal blood made a treaty with us that meant they wouldn't harm humans or come to the reservation. I had no idea they were back in the area – they'd left by the time I was born. Just...if you go into Forks, make sure if you see anyone with strange yellow eyes and pale skin, don't make contact. My grandfather said that they mostly left the population alone, but if any of them do try to talk to you, don't give anything away."

I thought this was psychotic. These legends were so far-fetched, and I was pretty sure vampires didn't exist. I even looked up the Quileute legends on Google to see if there was anything about these animal blood-drinkers, but nothing fitted. None of the stories had vampires – the only thing I could find was that there was a legend that some Quileute men could turn into giant wolves at will – not exactly werewolves (werewolves still retained some human features but lost their mind and only during the full moon, while Quileute wolves retained human cognition but looked more like real wolves, just bigger and could change whenever they wanted), but similar in that they changed from men to animals. It said they did that to protect the tribe from unspecified threats. But there were absolutely no legends that mentioned any other kind of creatures. The yellow eyes didn't fit anything I found on vampires – some vampires were said to have red eyes or red rings around their eyes, but others mentioned natural eye colours – nothing about yellow or even coming close, like amber. The pale skin fit almost every legend, but I'd expected that.

I wondered if vampires were real, then I pushed the possibility away. Maybe there was a family in the area that were pale and appeared to have yellow – or even amber – eyes in some lights, like tigers. Maybe they did seem a bit suspicious. But that was all circumstantial – it didn't mean they went up to the mountains and attacked random animals for their blood every so often.

It was only in late February that I finally met Chief Swan's daughter. It had been a week since my fifteenth birthday (I'm on the cusp of Aquarius and Pisces, but I count myself as Pisces). A bunch of juniors came down to La Push. It was sunny for once, so just about everyone was on First Beach. Jess and I were there with a group of other freshman girls, and so was Jacob. When we met up with them, only a few kids were on the beach, sitting around a driftwood campfire – mostly girls, and a couple of guys, too. After a while, though, a whole group of other juniors arrived – apparently, they'd been hiking on the rocks. The boys went straight for the food they were passing around. I saw Jacob look up at one of the girls in interest, and I looked at her too. If any of them could have been a vampire, she would've been it. Her skin was pale, practically translucent, contrasting with her long dark hair. But I got a glimpse of her eyes – a rich deep brown. Of course. The "vampires" wouldn't come onto the rez unless they wanted a fight.

Jacob eventually approached the girl. "You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" he said, and I immediately tuned in. I was interested to hear about the new girl, especially since she was only a few months newer than myself.

"Bella." the girl corrected, sounding as if she'd said it a million times already.

Jacob introduced himself. They were talking quietly, but enough so I could hear what they were saying. It was nothing interesting, really. She didn't remember him, but she remembered his sisters, just like he'd said. They were just making small-talk. Bella seemed friendly enough, but she spoke softly, as if she wasn't sure she was saying the right thing. It was almost as if she was watching herself go through the motions.

Eventually, I came over. "Bella, right?" I said, offering my hand to shake. "I'm Beth. You're new to Forks, aren't you? I just moved here in September, from Boston. I know it takes a bit of getting used to."

"Especially if you've come from a summer on the East Coast, or even winter in Arizona, like me." Bella said, giving a small smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"You two know Bella?" asked a girl from the other side of the driftwood fire. I didn't like her tone, but I couldn't exactly work out why. Maybe it was something in the way she looked. There was a steely glint that told me her innocent question wasn't quite so innocent.

"I met her two minutes ago." I said straight out, not being able to keep the brusqueness out of my voice. "It's just I was new here at the start of the school year, so I know what it feels like." I didn't even try to take out the pointed note there. There was nothing wrong with making the new girl feel welcome, the way the kids on the rez had to me.

Jacob was better at ignoring her tone. I knew he'd picked up on the same things as me, but his own tone was relaxed and friendly. "We've sort of known each other since I was born." he said, grinning.

"How nice." the girl said snarkily. She clearly didn't think anything of the sort. She paused, and then said "Bella, I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?"

One of the boys hanging out with us was Sam Uley. I didn't know him well – he was nineteen, but he didn't seem to mind being with us high school kids. "You mean Dr Carlisle Cullen's family?" he said. When the girl confirmed it, he just said "The Cullens don't come here." There was something in his voice that told everyone that it wasn't a good idea to ask questions.

I leaned over to Jacob, whispering so Bella didn't hear. "Is that the family you told me about? The treaty family?" I didn't want to say the word "vampire", just in case someone else caught it. Jacob nodded. I couldn't help thinking about them differently. One of them was a doctor? Or maybe he was a professor or something. Yeah, I couldn't see a vampire working a medical profession, even if he didn't drink human blood. Although, that would be an easy place to get it, I supposed...but no. I couldn't imagine it.

I was a little annoyed at the way Jacob was behaving around Bella. He seemed completely entranced by her. He didn't even look at me when he'd answered my question, quickly pulling away to ask Bella "So, is Forks driving you insane yet?"

Bella winced, saying "Oh, I'd say that's an understatement." Two seconds later, I noticed the way she was looking at Jacob, all flirty. Then she asked him to walk her down the beach, and he went with her.

"Did you see what she just did?" I whispered to Jessica.

"Course not." she whispered back. "What's the big deal about that girl?"

"Jacob's known her for a while, but she's only known him five minutes, and she's already flirting with him!" I whispered back. "You didn't see the way she looked at him. Why would a junior be interested in a freshman?"

Jessica looked at me, then giggled. "Jealous or something?"

I paused, thinking. I was never going to admit it if I was, of course, but it was something to ask myself. "No way!" I said, a little louder than I meant to. Luckily, no one else seemed to notice, so I continued on "I'm just kind of worried. Jacob's my friend, and I don't think that the flirting was because she has a crush or anything. I can't help wondering what she's up to."

The kids from Forks left soon after, and I finally got to talk to Jacob. "So what were you and Bella talking about?" I asked straight out.

Jacob's coppery skin took on a reddish tinge. "Nothing much." he mumbled. "She wanted to know what Sam meant about the Cullens not coming here. And she said we should hang out."

I felt relieved. That was all she'd wanted. My feelings of jealousy waned. "She seems nice, but kind of shy." I said out loud.

"She wasn't at all shy when we went off together." Jacob told me. "Maybe she just doesn't like groups. Or maybe it was that girl who kept asking questions. I got the feeling there was a lot of...er..."

"Subtext?" I suggested. "Yes, I got that too. Why would Bella be so interested in that one family, though? It sounds to me like she must have been hanging out with one of them if that girl wanted to get a rise out of her by mentioning them."

"Well, they're mostly in high school." Jacob pointed out. "I think two of them started off as freshmen, so they'd be juniors by now. Maybe she has a class with one of them."

I didn't say much more, but I had some interest in what was going on. It looked as if I'd have to find out a little more about the new girl in town.

Bella didn't make a very good first impression with Beth, flirting with Jacob and everything. Despite what Beth is saying, she is a little jealous that Jacob is paying so much attention to an older, (possibly) prettier girl, but she might not realize it yet. As far as she's concerned, she is the girl that Jacob enjoys the company of, and she's not willing to stand aside for another girl to take that place.