I don't own any characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Every day after school I was driving to Bella's house to help her study. I was honestly trying to get this girl to learn anything but all of my efforts weren't enough. I've met Renee and Charlie, they seemed very nice. I also noticed that they were more like a married couple who happened to have a 17-year-old girl renting a room in their house, rather than her parents. Charlie was always at work, and when he wasn't, he took his favorite place next to the TV with a bag of chips and beer. Renee spent most of her days painting in her workshop, and at night was going out with her girlfriends. Having that kind of an example, I could clearly see why Isabella was failing school and doing all sorts of dangerous things. She was trying to get them to notice her, pay any attention to her. That kind of behavior is most likely found in kids who have younger siblings or, like in this situation, kids who weren't planned or weren't wanted.

It was heartbreaking to see my own family member feel like that. I blamed my own parents and myself for what was now happening to Isabella. Maybe, if my parents set an example of what being a family means to Cynthia, or maybe if I haven't disappeared…Maybe Cynthia would have been a better parent to Renee, showed her what it's like to have a mother who spends time caring about her child. Maybe if I haven't disappeared, my sister wouldn't be spending so much of her time trying to find me or my body and instead focused on her child, so that then this child could focus on her own daughter. I was so frustrated and angry at myself; I was climbing on the walls.

Jasper was no help, he could feel my emotional battle, which only made him feel worse than he already was. I knew, my brother was blaming himself for what happened to me. How could I not know? That's all that he's been doing since Christmas 1905! Edward was no help either. His words of encouragement only made me feel worse.

It's been six months since we've been in Forks now. I enjoyed the consistency, and even being surrounded by 6 other couples was starting to get better. Esme made plans about building three more houses on the property, so all of us could have some space from one another. I've seen the design for Edward's and mine. It was beautiful. Small cottage across the river from the main house, surrounded by trees and bushes. It would be made out of stone and would even have a chimney, which meant the fireplace. I imagined the dwarf's house from Snow White.

Edward voted against having double dates with humans, it would be too weird for us to go to a restaurant and not eat. So, the only time that I had with Isabella was during school and our tutoring lessons.

I've noticed that every time Felix, Isabella's boyfriend, would come to town, she was happy, very happy. I knew what that meant, very few kids nowadays had the patience to wait until marriage. Everyone was rushing with everything. Charlie and Renee rushed into marriage when they were 18, that worked out well since none of them wanted kids, but then seven years later, they decided that condoms were just a precaution, thus Isabella was born. I was frightened that this little girl would have the same faith. Small towns had the reputation for a reason. Very few had the courage to get out.

This year's New Year we celebrated at our place; the Denali's came to see the house. Garrett and Laurent were feeling much more comfortable with the diet now. Irina mentioned that her mate didn't have any slips for ten years now, so we had to celebrate that too. Everything was perfect with our extended family, except for the fact that Tanya was still alone. I could see in her eyes she was happy for her family, but also jealous she doesn't have anyone to share her own happiness with.

The end of February meant lots of things. March break was coming up, and midterm exams with it. Isabella managed to pass all her classes last semester, but I was afraid that pure luck could only take her so far. I started staying at her house later than usual and even got her to dedicate every Saturday to our lessons as well. During the weekend we spent time discussing books that Mr. Copeland had her read. My perfect memory came in very useful during these times.

The end of February also meant that the snow was melting during the day and the water was freezing over during the night, the roads were pure ice. Isabella, inheriting my special ability to get into danger by simply living her life, was my greatest concern. That was the reason why I asked Rose to make Izzy's motorcycle stop working, they were dangerous even without icy roads. Since that happen, I assigned myself as her personal driver, since she refused to get into Charlie's perfectly fine vehicle.

Her smell today was different, it was much easier to be in a cramped space with her than usual. I assumed it was the cold weather that was a reason for this change.

"Felix visited you this weekend, didn't he?" I smiled at her when she jumped in my truck.

"How did you know?" She wasn't smiling.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We had a fight, just drop it."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yes, mommy, I had a fight with my boyfriend and I have stomachaches, can we just not talk about it? I'm a grown woman, I know what I'm doing."

We drove to school in silence, and I dropped her off at the entrance before I circled around to park next to Edward and Rose. My siblings and husband were standing together, Emmett was telling them about a new show that he started watching the other day. Edward was shaking his head in disbelief. I bet he couldn't understand how a guy like Emmett could enjoy soap operas this much.

"There's nothing about watching soap operas that makes me less of a guy!" Emmett protested.

"I believe you," I spoke.

"C'mon Bella!" Jasper smiled.

"No, seriously. Emmett, you want to braid my hair after tonight's episode or before?" I laughed.

"Screw you guys. It's actually very interesting…"

Emmett was talking, but all I could see was Roxy's minivan drifting in the parking lot. The girl had chosen to take the turn into the parking lot at an injudicious speed. This choice would send her skidding across a patch of ice...Roxy's van - the tires right now hitting the ice at the worst possible angle, it was going to spin across the lot and crush the girl who had become the uninvited focal point of my world.

"No," Alice spoke, but even without her foresight, it would have been simple enough to read the trajectory of the vehicle, flying out of Roxy's control.

Isabella, standing in the exact wrong place at the back of Mark's vehicle, looked up, bewildered by the sound of the screeching tires. She looked straight into my horrorstruck eyes and then turned to watch her approaching death. Not her! The words shouted in my head as if they belonged to someone else.

I launched myself across the lot, throwing myself between the skidding van and the frozen girl. I moved so fast that everything was a streaky blur except for the object of my focus. She didn't see me - no human eyes could have followed my flight. Isabella was still staring at the hulking shape that was about to grind her body into the metal frame of Mark's Toyota.

I caught her around the waist, moving with too much urgency to be as gentle as she would need me to be. In the hundredth of a second between the time that I yanked her slight form out of the path of death and the time that I crashed into the ground with her in my arms, I was vividly aware of her fragile, breakable body.

When I heard her head crack against the ice, it felt like I had turned to ice, too. I can't be the one to end this little girl's life. I knew that if it come to that, I would get her to Carlisle or turn her myself. I didn't even have a full second to ascertain her condition. I heard the van behind us, grating and squealing as it twisted around the sturdy iron body of the Toyota. It was changing course, arcing, coming for her again - like she was a magnet, pulling it toward us. Crap!

I had already done too much. As I'd nearly flown through the air to push her out of the way, I'd been fully aware of the mistake I was making. Knowing that it was a mistake did not stop me, but I was not oblivious to the risk I was taking - taking, not just for myself or Isabella, but for my entire family. Exposure. Volturi.

And this certainly wasn't going to help, but there was no way I was going to allow the van to succeed in its second attempt to take her life.

I dropped Isabella's head and threw my hands out, catching the van before it could touch the girl. The force of it hurled me back into the car parked beside Mark's, and I could feel its frame buckle behind my shoulders. The van shuddered and shivered against the unyielding obstacle of my arms, and then swayed, balancing unstably on the two far tires. If I moved my hands, the back tire of the van was going to fall onto her legs and crush them.

Oh, for the love of all that was holy, would the catastrophes never end? Was there anything else that could go wrong? Please, the universe, just give me one more! These 6 months weren't torturing me enough! I could hardly sit here, holding the van in the air, and wait for rescue. Nor could I throw the van away - there was the driver to consider, her heartbeat over the moon.

With an internal groan, I shoved the van so that it rocked away from us for an instant. As it fell back toward me, I caught it under the frame with my right hand while I wrapped my left arm around Isabella's waist again and drug her out from under the van, pulling her tight up against my side. Her body moved limply as I swung her around so that her legs would be in the clear - was she conscious? How much damage had I done to her in my impromptu rescue attempt?

I let the van drop, now that it could not hurt her. It crashed to the pavement, all the windows shattering in unison. I knew that I was in the middle of a crisis. How much had she seen? Had any other witnesses watched me materialize at her side and then juggle the van while I tried to keep her out from under it? Was Mark still in the car? These questions should be my biggest concern.

But I was too anxious to really care about the threat of exposure as much as I should have. Too panic-stricken that I might have injured her myself in my effort to protect her. Too aware that there was no going back if she saw what I did. Too aware that my family and I were probably screwed.

The first fear was the greatest fear. As the screaming of the witnesses erupted around us, I leaned down to examine her face, to see if she was conscious - hoping fiercely that she was not bleeding anywhere. Her eyes were open, staring in shock and…understanding?

"Isabella?" I asked urgently. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She said the words automatically in a dazed voice.

I felt so relieved, so exquisite it was nearly pain, the feeling washed through me at the sound of her voice. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and did not mind the accompanying burn in my throat. I almost welcomed it. She struggled to sit up, but I was not ready to release her. Did it feel somehow...safer? Better, at least, having her tucked into my side. It was definitely, the motherly hormones that I read about.

"Be careful," I warned her. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

There had been no smell of fresh blood, but this did not rule out internal damage. I was abruptly anxious to get her to Carlisle.

"Ow," she said, her tone comically shocked as she realized I was right about her head.

"That's what I thought." Relief made it funny to me, made me almost giggly. "How in the..." Her voice trailed off, and her eyelids fluttered. "How did you get over here so fast?"

The relief turned sour; the humor vanished. Crap! She had noticed too much. Now that it appeared that the girl was in decent shape, the anxiety for my family became severe. Rosalie was going to kill me.

"I was standing right next to you, Bella." I knew from experience that if I was very confident as I lied, it made any questioner less sure of the truth.

She struggled to move again, and this time I allowed it. I needed to breathe so that I could play my role correctly. I needed space from the girl, who I thought of like a daughter to come up with any excuse that I could.

She stared up at me, and I stared back. To look away first was a mistake only an incompetent liar would make, and I was not an incompetent liar. My expression was smooth, it seemed to confuse her. That was good, right?

The accident scene was surrounded now. Mostly students, kids, peering and pushing through the cracks to see if any mangled bodies were visible. There was a babble of shouting and a gush of shocking thought. Isabella was distracted by the bedlam. She glanced around, her expression still stunned, and tried to get to her feet. I put my hand lightly on her shoulder to hold her down.

"Just stay put for now." She seemed alright, but should she really be moving her neck? Again, I wished for Carlisle. My years of reading medical study journals were no match for his centuries of hands-on medical practice.

"But it's cold," she objected.

She had almost been crushed to death two distinct times and crippled one more, and it was the cold that worried her. A chuckle slid through my teeth before I could remember that the situation was not funny.

Isabella blinked, and then her eyes focused on my face. "You were over there." That sobered me again.

She glanced toward the south, though there was nothing to see now but the crumpled side of the van. "You were by your truck."

"No, I wasn't."

"I saw you," she insisted; her voice was childlike when she was being stubborn, I knew mine was the same. Her chin jutted out.

"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way."

I stared deeply into her wide eyes, trying to will her into accepting my version, the only rational version on the table.

"No." She was protesting.

I tried to stay calm, not panic. If only I could keep her quiet for a few moments, to give me a chance to destroy the evidence...and undermine her story by disclosing her head injury. Shouldn't it be easy to keep this girl quiet? If only she would trust me, just for a few moments...We were friends, it could be our girl secret, right?

"Please, Iz," I said, and my voice was too intense because I suddenly wanted her to trust me. Wanted it badly, and not just in regards to this accident. A stupid desire to be a part of her world.

"Why?" she asked, still defensive.

"Trust me," I pleaded.

"Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"

It made me angry to have to lie to her again when I so much wished that I could somehow deserve her trust. So, when I answered her, it was a retort.

"Fine."

"Fine," she echoed in the same tone.

While the rescue attempt began around us - adults arriving, authorities called, sirens in the distance - I tried to ignore the girl and get my priorities in the right order. I searched through every face in the lot, the witnesses and the latecomers both, but I could find nothing dangerous. Edward should know more. Many were surprised to see me here beside Isabella, but all concluded - as there was no other possible conclusion - that they had just not noticed me standing by the girl before the accident.

She was the only one who didn't accept the easy explanation, but she would be considered the least reliable witness. She had been frightened, traumatized, not to mention sustaining the blow to the head. Possibly in shock. It would be acceptable for her story to be confused, wouldn't it? No one would give it much credence above so many other spectators...

It was frustrating to wait - so many eyes on me. As the humans struggled with the van, trying to pull it away from us. I might have helped them, just to speed the process, but I was already in enough trouble and the girl had sharp eyes. Finally, they were able to shift it far enough away for the EMTs to get to us with their stretchers. A familiar, grizzled face appraised me.

"Hey, Bella," Ben Accola said. He was a registered nurse, and I knew him from the hospital. It was a stroke of luck, the only luck today, that he was the first through to us. "You okay, kid?"

"Perfect, sir. Nothing touched me. But I'm afraid Isabella here might have a concussion. She really hit her head when I yanked her out of the way..."

Ben turned his attention to the girl, who shot me a fierce look of betrayal. Oh, that was right. She'd prefer to suffer in silence, it was uncool for people to think she is not invincible. She did not contradict my story immediately, though, and this made me feel easier.

The next EMT tried to insist that I allow myself to be treated, but it wasn't too difficult to dissuade him. I promised I would let my father examine me, and he let it go. With most humans, speaking with cool assurance was all that was needed. Most humans, just not the girl, of course. As they put a neck brace on her - and her face flushed scarlet with embarrassment - I used the moment of distraction to quietly rearrange the shape of the dent in the tan car with the back of my foot. Only my siblings noticed what I was doing, and I heard Edward whisper: "Everything is okay, I'll tell you everything in the hospital."

Grateful for his help - and more grateful that Edward, at least, had already forgiven my dangerous choice. I was more relaxed as I climbed into the front seat of the ambulance next to Ben. The chief of police arrived before they had gotten Bella into the back of the ambulance.

"Izzy!" he shouted.

"I'm completely fine, Char - Dad." She sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."

I let the two of them deal with it, while I asked the paramedics about Isabella's health. There was nothing in their words to make me think they were lying. As far as they could tell, there was nothing seriously wrong with the girl. And Bella was sticking to the story I'd provided, thus far.

The first priority, when we reached the hospital, was to see Carlisle. I hurried through the automatic doors, but I was unable to totally forgo watching after Isabella; I kept an eye on her through the paramedics' thoughts. It was easy to find my father. He was in his small office, all alone. The second stroke of luck in this luckless day.

"Carlisle." He'd heard my approach, and he was alarmed as soon as he saw my face. He jumped to his feet, his face paling to bone white. He leaned forward across the neatly organized walnut desk.

"Come, please."

Carlisle left immediately after listening to what happened. He assured me I did the right thing and was interested when he found out she hasn't told anyone her version of the events. I stayed in Carlisle's office, listening to what people were saying in the ER as well as trying to feel less panicked.

Isabella looked to be hurt less than Roxy, and the attention shifted to her while Roxy waited her turn to be X-rayed. Carlisle kept in the background, trusting the PA's diagnosis that the girl was only slightly injured. This made me anxious, but I knew he was right. One glance at his face and she would be immediately reminded of me, of the fact that there was something not right about my family, and that might set her talking.

She certainly had a willing enough partner to converse with. Roxy was consumed with guilt over the fact that she had almost killed her, and she couldn't seem to shut up about it. There was a tense moment for me when the girl asked her how she'd gotten out of the way. I waited, not breathing, as she hesitated.

"Um..." I heard her say. "Bella pulled me out of the way." I exhaled. And then my breathing accelerated. "Bella Cullen," she repeated.

I found myself at the door, my hand on the knob. The desire to see her was growing stronger. I had to remind myself of the need for caution.

"She was standing next to me."

"Cullen?" Huh. That's weird. "I didn't see her. Wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is she okay?"

"I think so. She's here somewhere, but they didn't need her to use a stretcher."

I was out in the hall, then, halfway to the emergency room, without thinking for one second about what I was doing. For the past few months, it seemed like it was all I'm doing. Not thinking. Luckily, the nurse entered the room before I could - it was Isabella's turn for X-rays. She protested against it, which made me worry.

I looked at Carlisle when I entered the room. We weren't alone, the ER was full of doctors, patients, and visitors.

Ah, yes. He stuck her x-rays to the lightboard, but I didn't need a second look. I see. She's absolutely fine. Well, done, Edward.

"I need to talk to her; she needs these X-Rays," I murmured under my breath.

"Act natural, as nothing happened. Smooth it over." Carlisle nodded absently.

Finally, I took a deep breath and moved into view. Isabella was now pale. She looked at me and then at Carlisle.

"We need to talk. In private. Dr. Cullen, you too." She whispered.

"After you get those X-Rays. I'll get my dad to talk to."

"The X-Rays are exactly why I need to talk to you both, and cut me some slack, Bella. I know he can hear me from here." She whispered.

"You know?" I asked anxiously. How does she know? What does she know? I was freaking out.

"Oh, I know, but I don't think you want the whole hospital to know, so can we get room to talk. Dr. Cullen is your leader, isn't he?" She kept whispering, but now I could feel the tension between us.

"Okay, okay. Give me one second." I cleared my throat and put in a fake smile. "Carlisle, I think it would be better if you can examine her alone, in your office maybe."

My father came with the same fake smile and looked at me and then at Isabella.

"Would that be better for you?" He asked notes of coldness in his voice.

"Yes, doc."

"Okay, can we have a wheelchair in here?" Carlisle asked a nurse that was walking by.

"Right away doctor." She replied.

A minute later the nurse wheeled in the chair and with my help, Isabella was now sitting in it. I didn't bother that my hands were cold anymore, or how I pretty much just lifted her from the bed to put her into the wheelchair. What does that matter if she knows? How can she know? I thought I was so careful. Now the only option for Isabella is either become of us or die. Of course, I had to ask the universe for another misfortune, I couldn't just let it go, now I jinxed it. Crap!

I wheeled Isabella into Carlisle's office and closed the door. The silence was overbearing. The beating of her heart was the only noise in the room, and it was so stable. Surprisingly stable for the situation that we were in right now. I looked at Carlisle and my only thought at that moment was: "I wish Edward was here."

"So, what is that you know."

"I know everything. Not about your family, I'm not a stalker. But I know about your kind." She spoke.

"And our kind is…" Carlisle asked.

"Vampires." She said quietly.

"I see." My father looked at me with worry in his eyes. I knew mine had the same expression. We were too late, she encountered one of them.

"How do you know? What was that in the parking lot then? Explain to me what happens, you were standing far away. What was that?" I asked never moving from my position at the door.

"Felix. He's like you. And I wasn't planning on telling you I know before I knew I need that stupid X-Ray." She spoke.

"Your boyfriend is a vampire?" I was nearly yelling now.

"Bella!" Carlisle shouted.

"Sorry, but that's not okay. That's exactly why I wanted to come earlier. I knew we should have come earlier, why did I let all of you talk me out of it?! If I came here in 1976, all of that could have been avoided."

"Whoa-whoa!" Isabella exclaimed. "Come here in 1976? Why would you…Avoid what exactly…How did you…You knew about me in 1976?"

"Yes." I sighed and moved closer to her.

"You look so much like me, I told myself we're just like celebrities and stunt doubles. Just look-alikes, that's all, but it's not true, is it?

"I think you owe her at least this explanation." Carlisle was now rubbing his temples like he was having a migraine.

"Okay." I sighed again. "My real name is Isabella Marie Brandon; Alice is Mary Alice Brandon. We are sisters, not twins though. Your grandmother, Cynthia was our sister too."

"So…You're my…" She said a few seconds later.

"Great-great-aunt, yes." I gave her a small smile. "Alice can see the future, that's her gift. She saw you the year she was born. You were seventeen or eighteen in her vision, and there was…one like us with you. Our human's life ended badly because of the same reason; we came here to protect you from others like us."

"I know you." She whispered. "Grandma used to tell me stories about you. You were kidnapped, they never found the body. She kept looking for any information about you until the day she died."

"You understand that I couldn't tell her what happened, right? Humans can't know about us." I spoke.

"Yeah, Felix told me about that." She looked down at her fingers.

"About that. How did that happen?" I asked.

"Izzy, Bella just told you everything you need to know about your connection, I believe, it's your turn to share." Carlisle looked at her encouragingly. "I can leave the room if you don't want me to be here."

"You'll hear it anyway." Isabella closed her eyes for a few moments.

I heard her sob a few times, and when she lifted her hand from her eyes, tears were running down her cheeks. My instincts told me to brush my fingers on her face and get those tears away, hug her until the pain is over, but I knew it would be stepping overline. So, I dropped my hand mid-air.

"It was Labor Day, right before school started. Mark, Roxy, Miranda, and I went to hang out in Seattle. It was the beginning of our junior year in high school, so we wanted to celebrate it. I went to see new bikes at the shop and got lost on my way back. That's when I first saw him." She smiled, but the tears were still running down her face. "I was alone and it was dark. I was trying to find a way to the café where my friends and I were supposed to meet to have dinner, so I decided to cut through the park. Only, I don't know Seattle well enough, so that park turned out to be some storage facility. I noticed a few people were following me, but I didn't pay attention. Just told myself it was a coincidence."

"Were they human?" I asked.

"I thought they were. There was nothing that suggested otherwise, I never believed in scary stories, for me they were just people who got lost as I did." She answered. "They attacked me in the alley, I remember the pain and me screaming, my whole body felt like it was on fire, but then something changed. I no longer could see them anymore. I hoped that they were gone, I hoped the pain would stop and I just died. But the burning continued, and the screams were now coming not only from me but from afar too. That's when I first saw him. I remember his red eyes looking into mine, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. The pain was everywhere. I remember telling him to kill me, begging him to take me out of my misery. I felt his cold hands on my neck, where the other two bit me."

She stopped her story, to roll her turtle neck sweater down. There it was, a crest scar, whiter than her pale skin, just like the ones that I had on my own neck. That's why she was wearing scarves and turtlenecks. Now, that I know about it, it all makes sense.

"He sucked the venom out of your body, didn't he?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes. And the pain stopped, but I passed out. When I woke up it was still dark. I was lying on some couch in one of the storage bunkers. Felix was there. I finally got a chance to look at him. He was very handsome, all of you guys are, of course, but he was really handsome. Tall, about 6'7" with a muscular body and a slightly olive complexion which looked odd combined with his chalky clothing. He had short, cropped, black hair but his eyes…They were something I've never seen before. Burgundy, bright burgundy. I was so scared; my heart was beating out of my chest. He told me everything."

"How could he stop? From drinking you. Sorry, but that doesn't happen every day. It's hard for even those of us who drink from animals, but he drinks from humans, right?" Carlisle asked and Isabella nodded.

"I reminded him of someone he knew. He told me he couldn't live if he hurt me. It was strange, I knew I should have been freaking out, but he was so nice and apologetic, all I wanted was for him to be next to me. So, we started dating, and getting closer and closer."

"And how does that work?" I asked.

"Really? What position do you and Edward like to have sex in, Bella? Do you wear lacy lingerie when you're trying to seduce him?" Her voice got louder.

"That's completely…"

"Inappropriate? Yes, so is your question. I love him, and it's our business, not yours."

"O-okay."

"He has to go back to work every week, but he comes to visit at least once every couple of weeks."

"What work?" I asked.

"Don't freak out." She sighed.

"Why should I freak out?" I started to get frustrated.

"No," Carlisle spoke. "Tell me your tall muscular Felix is not the tall muscular Volturi guard Felix?"

I felt my eyes shoot open and my jaw drop. No. No-no-no-no-no. I was begging the universe to let me off its hook already. Volturi?! My little girl is not just dating any vampire, she's dating a freackin' Volturi guard vampire?! Crap! Crap-crap-crap.

"I told you not to freak out," Isabella spoke. "And that brings us to the reason why I can't have this X-Ray taken here."

I looked at her again, trying to get myself to calm down. Where the hell is Edward?! He would have been so much better at this than me.

"I'm pregnant. And it's Felix's."

My heart dropped. Crap!

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