-Chapter 11-

"What do you mean there's not much we can do about it?"

The Cullen house was in an uproar. The entire family was gathered in the living room. Jasper was getting a headache from all of the strong emotions flowing through the room, and not even the waves of calm he was sending out seemed to be doing much good in ratcheting the intensity of the situation down a notch.

Carlisle was standing straight, his pose stiff. Esme was at his side with her hand lightly on his arm; they were both watching their children closely. Carlisle's eternal curiosity was clearly evident; he'd never been able to resist a mystery. Worry and confusion were written plainly on Esme's face. All of her children seemed to be worked up in one way or the other about the arrival of this vampire who so closely resembled a woman whom none of them had seen for nearly a century.

Rosalie was sitting on the couch, her face cast in an angry scowl. She hadn't disliked Isabella when they met and she and Edward had been involved. But Rosalie had disliked the idea that the girl may have wanted to give up the opportunities a human life offered for the unchanging eternity of a vampire, a life she herself had never asked for or wanted. She'd grown to resent Isabella after her family had been forced to leave Forks the first time, especially after the multi-decade fit of depression Edward had gone into.

Emmett was directly behind Rosalie, his hands resting on her shoulders giving her a gentle massage, almost unconsciously. From time to time he'd remove his muscular hands and swing his arms back and forth as if working himself up, he always had excess energy to burn. Emmett had always liked Isabella, he'd thought she brought an energy and sense of fun to the family. She brought the family to life and pulled them out of the stagnant routines their lives had become. He had disagreed with Edward's decision to leave, but supported his brother despite his own misgivings. He was as shocked as anyone when he saw the girl who'd had looked so similar to Isabella, and even more shocked to learn the girl was a vampire. He remained unconvinced the girl wasn't Bella. He had told the others that, and despite disagreement, most vocally from Edward and Jasper, his opinion remained the same. He didn't see how it was as big a deal as everyone seemed to be making out of it and was all for confronting her directly as a group.

Jasper and Adara sat on the couch, hands clasped. Adara was by far the calmest in the room, but only because she was the only one of the group who'd never had direct contact with Isabella. She only met Jasper and joined the family after Isabella had been out of their lives. Jasper was also thoughtful, frowning as he once again went over the entire conversation he'd had with the vampire calling herself Eliza. He'd caught flashes of anger and amusement from the girl, and flashes of something he'd never seen before. It was as if she was feeling two different ways at once, two separate but equally valid emotions rather than the confused mishmash of feelings most people displayed.

Alice was sitting on a windowsill, one leg propped up and she stared out at the pervasive light drizzle as it splashed against the window, listening to her family discuss the matter. She'd been utterly silent since they had seen the vampire in the cafeteria. Just seeing the new girl had brought hurt welling up inside of Alice, and for once she wasn't burying her thoughts and feelings. She'd looked into the future and she was safe for the day. Edward was too consumed with his own thoughts to overhear anyone else at the moment without concentrating.

For a few moments in the cafeteria Alice had thought she was seeing further proof she might be losing her mind. However when her family also saw the girl, she'd dismissed that thought. Alice could tell it wasn't Bella, but there was no doubt of the resemblance, and a very close one at that, Alice remembered Bella vividly, and her face had a slightly different structure, eyebrows slightly further down, her expression subtly more serious. In spite of that; for those few moments she thought she'd seen a ghost.

Edward had been a mess all day. It was too reminiscent of when he'd seen her in that same cafeteria all those years ago. This new girl looked so much like his Bella it was eerie. Until Adara had labeled her as a vampire, Edward thought it might be possible for her to be a great granddaughter or something. He'd tried to read her, and was utterly unsuccessful. This was only the second time in his life that had happened. Was it his Bella? He shook his head in disagreement, trying to convince himself as much as the others. It couldn't be. He was pacing back and forth in the room, his teeth gritting when he repeated himself. "What do you mean there's nothing we can do about it?"

Carlisle looked at his son calmly, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "What is there to do about it?"

Rosalie piped up, "I don't see what the big deal is, I mean there's a very close resemblance but it's not... Bella." The certainty in her voice cracked slightly, and she hesitated over the name, and Edward tensed slightly. The family had spent the last 90 years deliberately not mentioning that name, and it was a tough habit to break.

Jasper spoke up in reply, his voice calm and reasoned. "I am concerned for several reasons. First, another vampire coven is in Forks, and it seems their intention is to settle here. Second, this girl, calling herself Eliza, bears a striking resemblance to Bella, but it… seems… obvious to… most of us that she's not Bella. Third, this girl knows us. She knows us well enough to know about the gifts Edward and I have, and she knows enough about them to know that he can't read her mind."

Jasper paused a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. His calm voice had captured the attention of every person in the room. "Now, there is the possibility that it is a coincidence. But I regard that possibility as so remote that it shouldn't even be considered. A girl looking like Bella showing up in Forks, that girl just happening to be a vampire. That vampire just happeningto know about not only Edward's power, but mine is well. And that vampire who knows about our powers also just happening to know that she is immune to Edward's powers; which as far as we know has only happened once before, with Bella. To any sane person I'd say that's too many facts lining up to be any sort of coincidence."

Edward spoke up, looking thoughtful. "How do we know she's part of a coven at all? We've only seen her. She may be on her own." He seemed rather pleased with this idea.

Jasper spoke up in reply. "We've only seen this girl, but I don't think she was lying when she used the plural and said 'we'. It seemed like a slip at the time. It didn't seem like she was trying to deceive me. She would have done better just leaving me guessing."

Emmett spoke up immediately "So I think we should track down her coven!"

At that point Alice spoke up, "Why?" Everyone turned to look at her, most frowning openly in confusion as she continued. "It's obvious that she knows what and who we are. It's obvious she doesn't want anything to do with us. If she did she'd have introduced herself when she saw us in the cafeteria, or when she talked to Jasper. What good is going to come from us trying to hunt them down and confront them?" Even as Alice made the argument, she could see that her family wasn't going to agree but she felt bound to at least make the effort.

"Can you tell us what might happen Alice?" Esme asked her, concern evident in her voice.

Alice sighed visibly and shook her head slowly. "No, I can't see her at all. I didn't see her until she walked into the cafeteria today, and I've tried to see her future, and it's blank. There's nothing there. That doesn't change my point though!" She finished, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Adara spoke next, shaking her head in disagreement with Alice's statement. "While I agree the lives of others are their own business, in this case we have to know more. At the very least we have to get an idea of their… diet. If they feed around here with any regularity it could expose us."

Adara's statement elicited nods of agreement from everyone around the room but Alice and Esme.

Carlisle spoke up, frowning at that "That is something to consider, we don't want to be in a position where we are exposed because of the feeding habits of others."

Jasper felt obliged to speak up at that. "She did say they were planning on staying for a while, I doubt they'd want to risk exposing themselves either."

Edward spoke up at that point, "There are also the mutts to consider. If this other coven feeds on someone around here and the wolves blame it on us, they could attack, thinking we broke the treaty."

Rosalie snorted at that, "Who cares? They're just a bunch of overgrown dogs." Her disdain for the Quileutes had never been hidden and she was quite vocal about it.

Carlisle crossed his arms seeming thoughtful and the room lapsed into silence. "I think we should talk to this girl to see if we can arrange a meeting with her coven just to introduce ourselves and at least get an idea of who or how many we're dealing with."

Jasper spoke up, "I don't know that an approach like that would work. She didn't seem very forthcoming with me."

Esme spoke up, "Maybe someone else should try talking to her, see if they get a better response."

Edward spoke up quickly. "I'll do it. I'll see if I can get us a meeting, maybe a bit more information from her." Once again, he seemed excited by the idea. He appeared to relish the idea of getting a chance to talk to her one on one.

Carlisle frowned a little bit. "Are you sure you're the best person to do it?"

Edward's enthusiasm was growing, "Yes, I want to find out about her and maybe she'll talk to me. I mean, I doubt I could do worse than Jasper. There's a possibility she didn't expect to see us either, and we caught her completely off-guard. Maybe that was the reason she was so snappish with Jasper. Give her a day to cool off, and show her a new face, and maybe we'll get more. And I'm probably the best at talking to people. Who knows?"

Carlisle slowly nodded in agreement, "Okay, Edward will try and talk to her. If that doesn't work, we can explore other options. We can wait a day or two, but if we can't get something set up by then, I want to notify the Quileutes. I don't want them thinking we violated the treated because a vampire from another coven trespassed on their lands by accident. Are there any objections?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes but said nothing, and Alice shook her head slowly, disagreeing but knowing that she was outvoted. Everyone else nodded in agreement before the family meeting broke up.

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Thank you to the response that this story has gotten from some readers. I have two new Beta's. Cevvin, who's read the story and provided some feedback.

And most especially to DarkBella who has been SUPER amazing in bouncing this chapter back and forth and making edits and helping make sure the story says what I want it to say. Thank you... you are awesome.

Please remember to review! I do read the reviews and if you have pm's enabled I do respond, even if it's just a simple thank you!