Time for a change. Enjoy reading.


Chapter 4

She called in sick on Monday it had taken everything she had that morning to make the call. She spent the day either harming herself, curled into a ball of misery or bartering with herself. The heart ache was unbearable. Bella through her long life had often wanted to die, she had gone through great lengths trying to achieve it. Obvious ways hadn't worked, neither had extreme ways, something always went wrong or she came back from the dead anyway. On Wednesday she had tied one of the old shotguns she had found in the cabin to a tree and shot herself multiple times. It didn't cause any permanent harm of course but made her temporarily feel a little better. She desperately wanted to go find Alice. She fully realized by now it wasn't friendship she wanted with Alice, Alice meant everything to her. Alice meant enough to her that this pain was worth staying away from Alice, it kept her safe. The program hadn't come after her in well over a decade, she might have killed them all by now or at least enough of them that they didn't want to risk it. Her strength had always been that she didn't have any ties, no body could be used against her. What if they'd use Alice against her? Or do some of the things they had done to her, to Alice. They had their ways of torturing somebody into submission. Machines strong enough to erase your memories, even all of them if they wanted to. Some of the other subjects, all who had been discarded after the program got out of them what they wanted, had been unable to offer a lot of resistance to the machines. They had to use the max settings every time on Bella and eventually that didn't work so they had to improve the efficiency.

On the other side of Forks Esme had been comforting her precious Alice for 6 days straight by now. The kids had gone back to school to keep up appearances. At Carlisle's insistence Esme had finally taken a break to go hunting, he had wanted to go with her but she had insisted he stayed with Alice. Subconsciously she had decided to go check up on Bella, she aught to be furious with the girl but when she had found out she had been absent from school 3 days in a row part of her had become worried. She went hunting staying close to home, and swung around to the other side of town. When she got to the spot that offered the best visibility, she saw a horrific image that remembered her of her own past when she had jumped off a cliff after the loss of her son. Bella was standing in the forest with a shotgun pointed at her, Bella pulled a string causing the gun to fire at her point blank, causing her to fall to the ground. Esme ran towards the girl as fast as she could.

"Maybe there's still time to save her, I'll change her and maybe then she'll want to be with Alice." Esme thought as she approached Bella.

When Esme got close to the girl's body, Bella got up, to Esme's shock. Bella looked like a mess, the shot was falling out of her body, like it was being rejected. Bella either didn't see Esme or didn't care, she slumped back to the old cabin and went inside. Esme peaked inside the cabin, Bella was curled up in a ball, crying. Murmuring Alice's name. Aside from the suicide attempt Bella seemed so much like Alice, she seemed to be suffering like Alice was. Her maternal instincts wanted her to go in there and pull the girl into her arms to comfort her. But she was unsure if this was the right course of action. So eventually she went home, shared her thoughts with Edythe who promptly gathered the family for a discussion away from the house so Alice couldn't overhear. She pulled Alice back into her arms.

Once far enough from the house Edythe started talking.

"Esme shared her thoughts with me, after she went hunting she went to check on Bella, since she has been absent from school as well. Bella shot herself with a shotgun." All the present family members gasped in shock. "Esme ran to Bella, hoping she'd be in time to save her by attempting to change her, granted she had some secondary objectives with that. When she got close to Bella, Bella stood up again, the shot from the shotgun falling out of her body. She went back inside the cabin, Esme doesn't know if Bella even saw her, from the memory she shared I don't think she did. When Esme peeked through one of the cabins windows, she found Bella curled up into a ball, crying and murmuring Alice's name. Since I have been able to convince Bella before to talk to Alice Esme wants me to go see her after school tomorrow with the excuse of bringing her homework and wanted me to talk to you guys about it first."

"She could die from blood loss, I should go check on her, it might be too late already." Carlisle said

"No there was very little blood loss, It seems Bella has a gift for accelerated healing, extremely fast healing. I think it's why her arm appeared completely fine after the accident. Physically she's completely fine." Edythe replied after having grabbed Carlisle to prevent him from running off.

"Do you think she's like this because she feels the mate bond? From what you described she's in the same condition as Alice is in." Emmett asked.

"Esme thinks so and I do as well, It seems Bella feels the mate bond." Edythe answered Emmett's question.

"I thought it was another of Alice's vision led pipe dreams, I'm sorry for how I have been behaving. I'll support anything that doesn't cause my sister to die." Rose said sheepishly.

"I support what you think is best darlin. Besides Bella is the only human I've come across that I don't want to hurt." Jasper said confidently.

"You're not going to hurt anybody Jazz, you know I wont let you and will help you get away." Edythe said to him with all her love.

"Since she knows about us anyway, I don't see what harm it could do." Carlisle sighed.

"I'll inform Esme, hopefully I'm able to figure out why Bella is so hesitant, what the danger she speaks of is or I'm able to convince her that we can take care of ourselves." Edythe said after gaining the family's blessing.

They went back to the house, Edythe wrote a note with the decision and handed it to Esme who was back to holding Alice, Esme gave Edythe a relieved smile and went back to comforting Alice with a newfound confidence. Privately Edythe had Jasper promise to use his gift on Alice if her talk with Bella would work out.

Thursday was more of the same for Bella, she felt absolutely miserable, wanted to go see Alice and beg her for forgiveness no matter how long it would take. A couple of times she had almost been out of the door wanting to go wait for Alice at the school, but her better judgement won out every time, she just couldn't put Alice in danger. She started contemplating leaving town again when there was suddenly a knock on her door.

"leave me alone." Bella managed to get out.

"I can't do that, I need you to hear me out, please." A female voice said.

"who is it?" Bella asked.

"It's Edythe, I got your homework with me, I also need you to hear me out, please Bella it's important." Edythe pleaded.

"Leave it by the door and go away." Bella said.

"I can't, it's about you and Alice." Edythe pleaded again.

"There is no Alice and me." Bella said with pain and sadness in her voice.

"Bella I'm coming in, I wont hurt you." Edythe said.

Edythe opened the door, to find a ball of misery called Bella on the floor. She put down Bella's homework and took a seat.

"Go away, leave me alone." Bella pleaded.

"I can't do that, the way you are right now is the same way Alice is. Since you know what we are I can speak more freely. Alice and you are soulmates, we vampires tend to recognize our soulmates immediately upon looking them in the eyes for the first time. It's due to vampire mating that you feel this miserable, you and Alice are made for each other. Whatever your reasons are for not wanting to be with her, fate disagrees. I don't mean to say you don't have a choice, you do, but the harsh choice you made is going to kill you."

"Good, I look forward to it. It would be a relief for everything to finally be over, I'll be able to stop running." Bella sighed.

"It won't be just you, Bella. It will kill Alice as well. If things don't work out between you two it won't be like this for either of you, you'll both be fine and will be able to move on. My family, we know that you're not like other humans, Esme our mother for all intent and purposes saw you shoot yourself yesterday, she hoped to save you by turning you into one of us, but you got up before she got to you. Then she found out you're in the same miserable state Alice is in. You always say it would be too dangerous for Alice to be near you. We are durable Bella, more than you'd think. Whatever danger you and Alice would be in we'll all gladly help you. I won't lie to you, we live a transient life, but we do tend to stay in a place for years, as long as possible really. Please stop doing this to her and yourself." Edythe pleaded.

"I don't want to hurt Alice, can't you help her?" Bella asked.

"No at this point only you can, the best we can do is make her go to school tomorrow. That will take a lot of convincing to begin with. If you care about Alice's wellbeing you'll be there too."

"I can't cause her to get hurt, it's not safe to be around me. It's only a matter of time before they come for me again" Bella murmured.

"You're already hurting her, you're killing her. You're going to be at school tomorrow or I'm coming back with my husband and we'll drag you there. I don't care who comes after you, we'll kill them all if we have to. Get yourself cleaned up, you're a mess, my sister needs you and I won't take no for an answer." Edythe snarled at Bella before leaving.

Edythe's word lingered in Bella's mind, she wondered if Alice was really suffering, Edythe had sounded very upset though. It had never been her meaning to hurt Alice the way Bella was hurting, It was another Thing Alice didn't deserve. She debated with herself if Edythe was over reacting.

On the other side of Forks Edythe arrived back home and after giving Esme a note to update her, she went up to her and Jaspers room, getting Jasper to uplift Alice's spirits temporarily.

"Jazz you got to do it, there's a good chance Bella will be at school tomorrow, she's hurting as bad as Alice is and seemed to be bartering for minutes anyway." Edythe stated.

"It's wrong to mess with somebodies' emotions in that way, Edie. It's not simply calming somebody down or anything, you want to manipulate her. If Bella isn't there it will destroy Alice." Jasper responded.

"Jazz, she's already destroyed. You know she's fading away, she's not Alice anymore, it may be our last chance to bring her back. And we owe her, she found you all those years ago and brought us together. I can't stand by and do nothing. Let's get to work, I'll go catch a couple of deer and bring them to the house so that Alice doesn't have to go far to feed." Edythe said in a factual manner closing the discussion between her and her mate.

They went downstairs and went their separate ways, Edythe off into the woods to catch deer. Jasper went to the living room to help Esme get Alice back on her feet. He sent out waves of hope and serenity to break through the extreme amount of sadness and melancholy coming from Alice.

"Jasper stop." Alice sobbed out.

"Alice honey, Edythe went to talk to Bella. I need to tell you something." Esme said.

"What did Edythe do?!" Alice hissed.

"Calm down honey, she merely talked to Bella. But I need to tell you something, when I went hunting at the family's insistence yesterday, I went to check up on Bella, at first, I was furious at her for what she was doing to you, when I got to the spot where you have a good view, I saw what a mess she was. Bella has been using somewhat extreme methods to make the emotional pain go away." Esme said until she got interrupted.

"What did she do?" Alice asked hysterically.

"Well first of all, Bell is completely fine, physically. But she stood in front of a shotgun and shot herself. Bella seems to have some kind of extremely fast healing, before I got to her to try and save her by changing her, the shot came out of her body and the wounds closed up. Alice the next part is important. After Bella got up and went back into that cabin, I took a peek through one of the windows. She's in no better shape than you are, Bella feels the mating bond Alice. She was curled up and murmured your name and how sorry she was." Esme said.

"She doesn't want me" Alice cried out.

"She wants you, Edythe found out that Bella is really afraid you'll be in danger for being with her. We'll do whatever it takes to change her mind. We still don't really know what happened to her, but we won't give up on either of you and we'll convince her that we can all keep each other safe. Alice all you have to do is have a little faith that it will work out. Let us help, we all want you to be happy." Esme said.

It took them a while longer but eventually they managed to get Alice outside where Edythe was holding two deer. Jasper took one of them, snapped it's neck and handed it to Alice who started feeding. Throughout the long night Jasper never wandered far from Alice, constantly sending her waves of hope and serenity to combat Alice's still present sadness and melancholy.

Through much of the night Bella had been debating with herself, she had eventually fallen asleep long after darkness had fallen when her exhaustion had won out. She had barely been sleeping the past days.

In the morning Alice had grown increasingly against going to school.

"Alice what's wrong?" Esme asked.

"I don't see Bella at school." Alice answered sadly.

"you're seeing wrong…" Edythe murmured before running off into the woods.

Edythe quickly arrived at Bella's cabin, checking her phone for the time, she decided it was time for Bella to wake up, who knew how long it would take for the human to be somewhat presentable. She opened the cabin's door, walked over to Bella and woke her up, with great difficulty.

"Let me sleep." Bella slurred.

"Time to get up Bella!" Edythe yelled waking up Bella a little more.

After several more minutes of back and forth Edythe had managed to get Bella to her feet.

"Is there a shower in that RV?"

"Yeah."

"Good, go take a shower, I'll get you some coffee. Bella, don't even think about going back to sleep or not taking a shower." Edythe ordered.

Bella made her way out of the cabin into her camper, she was not fully awake yet and was running on auto pilot. The severe lack of sleep had taken it's toll. She got into the shower and turned the water on. By the time she got out Edythe was already waiting outside the camper.

"Get dressed." Edythe said patiently.

Bella threw on the first clothes she found. Underwear, a pair of jeans, a t shirt and a plaid shirt.

"I don't want to do this." Bella whined.

"That's irrelevant. Here's a bottle of water, coffee and 2 cream cheese bagels." Edythe said as she came in and put everything down on the table.

At Edythe's insistence Bella started drinking the water and eating the bagels even though she didn't feel like it.

"It will stop hurting when you see Alice. I'm going with you to school. The rest is going to get Alice there, we'll be leaving soon so that you two have some time before school starts."

"I can't, she-" Bella started.

"ENOUGH! I'm tired of your excuses. Whatever happened to you, whoever is after you we'll take care of it when the time comes. I owe my sister everything, if there's one thing you're right about it's that she deserves better than you. But you're going to be the person that she deserves. No more of your excuses." Edythe yelled out.

Bella had given up her internal struggle, sure she could most likely easily dispatch the angry bronze haired girl, But that would most likely result in Alice being hurt even more. And Bella really wanted to see Alice, she was desperate to see her at this point. Having heard what Alice was going through and the prospect of seeing her had destroyed whatever conviction she had left to keep Alice safe by staying away. She finished her bagels and the bottle of water and proceeded to starting on her coffee.

"You can finish that on the road we need to go." Edythe insisted.

Somewhat reluctantly Bella got into the passenger seat after a short discussion with Edythe who insisted on driving. Once on the road Edythe warned Bella, to not even think about jumping out. It didn't take them long to arrive at the nearly completely empty school parking lot, since it was still nearly an hour before school would start there weren't any students present yet, the sole car present was the familiar Volvo. Edythe parked the big truck skillfully in it's usual spot. Bella was terrified to get out.

In the Volvo it was only Jasper's touch which amplified his gift that kept Alice from running off. Now that the truck was parked Rosalie and Emmett got out, he helped Alice out of the back of the Volvo without letting go of her and walked with her to Bella's truck. He still felt uncomfortable manipulating his sisters emotions this way.

"they're almost here, time to get out." Edythe commanded.

Bella hesitantly got out of the truck. Once Alice came into her view she could hold back anymore and ran towards her, falling to her knees in front of Alice.

"Alice can you please forgive me, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted to keep you safe." Bella pleaded after taking one of Alice's hands.

"Bella, I –" Alice managed to say before Bella interrupted her.

"Alice I don't expect you to forgive me immediately, I know I screwed up badly and really hurt you. I just need you to understand that with me there comes a truckload of danger, they might use you against me, hurt you to get to me, manipulate you." Bella said with a warning tone.

"Bella I forgive you, but you can't do it again." Alice said with a serious tone.

"No you shouldn't, I mean I won't. But you should take your time to forgive me. Or at least make me earn it." Bella blurted out.

"Ok, you can earn it by having lunch with me today." Alice said graciously.

"You're too graceful." Bella said complimentary while getting up again.

They found that they were alone, like really alone, Alice's family had gotten into the Volvo and driven off. Despite the two bagels Bella's stomach rumbled.

"Have you eaten anything?" Alice asked.

"I had two bagels Edythe brought, I haven't really been taking care of myself to be honest."

"I can relate to that. There's still plenty of time before school starts, come let's go get you breakfast."

They quickly got into Bella's truck and drove to a local diner near the school. Bella ordered coffee and pancakes with bacon, eggs and a second plate, Alice told the waitress that she had already eaten so she just ordered coffee.

"So you guys can drink coffee?" Bella asked.

"We can drink everything, the only thing that has a effect on us is alcohol though. But I like coffee an tea because it's warm, it warms us up on the inside." Alice replied.

"Lucky you." Bella murmured

"What do you mean?" Alice asked

"Alcohol having a effect on you I mean, I doesn't really affect me. I have to drink large doses of strong liquor to feel a light buzz and it doesn't last too long. When I have some it's mainly for the taste." Bella stated factually.

The waitress came back with the coffee, food and the second plate which she set down in front of Alice.

"Sorry that one is genuinely for me." Bella said to the waitress.

Alice quickly handed the second plate to Bella who proceeded to pour syrup on it and placed a pancake on the syrup loaded plate. She started munching down on the breakfast.

"I don't believe I've seen anybody eat pancakes like that." Alice said.

"it gives every pancake a nice even coat, it's better than pouring from the top." Bella replied.

After breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee, Bella paid the bill and they headed back to school. A native American just got out of his car giving staring at them as they got into Bella's truck. After a short drive they got back to school, the parking lot had started filling in. Bella parked her truck in it's usual spot.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you like that, if I had known-" Bella said before she got interrupted.

"Stop beating yourself up over it. I'll see you at lunch. Promise?"

"Promise."

The school day went by quickly, nobody seemed to have noticed Bella and Alice arriving together so there wasn't any gossip going around, there was little else except Alice Cullen on Bella's mind. Soon it was lunch time, Bella hurried to the cafeteria. Catching Alice already waiting for her at a small table that was rarely used. She quickly filled up a tray, paid for it and went to sit with Alice.

"I hope you're ready for the gossip." Alice said teasingly.

"The only thing I mind about gossip is having to hear it. Hear all of it. It's hard enough already to focus." Bella mumbled.

"So you have superior hearing and superior sight?" Alice inquired.

"Yeah, how do you know about the sight?" Bella asked.

"You caught me when I watched you from a distance." Alice admitted.

They chatted for a bit about more normal things while Bella ate, Alice of course revealing her great love for fashion and design. Bella revealing she was a lot more lacking in the hobby department, generally preferring to stick to herself and watch tv without going into too much details.

"So you can drink coffee but not eat food?" Bella asked.

"We can but we don't get any nutrition out of it, we don't do it often but when we do, well let's say we prefer something more edible than what's being served here." Alice answered

"What's wrong with the food here? Granted it's a little bland."

"Bella, it's plain awful." Alice said seriously.

"I guess I'm a little simple when it comes to food. I never get sick anyway." Bella stated.

It felt good to be with Alice again, it felt even better to be talking to her so much in a day. But Bella couldn't shake the feeling that she was putting Alice in danger. Soon lunch was over and they made their separate ways to their classes. When Bella got to biology, Edythe was already sitting at their lab table.

"Wipe that smirk off your face Cullen, just because I'm happy to see your sister again doesn't mean you can be smug about it, or that I'll forget how bossy you've been." Bella whispered while sitting down.

"I'm just glad that you got over your fear of putting Alice in danger." Edythe whispered back.

"Then you should definitely wipe that smirk of your face, I'm not going to stop trying to convince her that she's safer not being around me." Bella whispered.

"As long as it's a mutual decision." Edythe hissed.

Bella looked forward to seeing Alice again during history. So once biology was over she made a beeline for the door and got to the history class as quickly as possible, Alice was already sitting down with a cheshire grin on her face.

"You're that happy to see me?" Bella asked.

"Yes, but there's something else. You'll have to wait and see." Alice said teasingly.

There wasn't much time for them to talk, Mr. Smith quickly started the class, they had started the WWI time period. At the end of the class Mr. Smith had a announcement to made.

"You're the first class to find out, there wont be a history test this winter –" Mr. Smith said until he got interrupted by most of the classes cheers, causing him to signal the class to calm down. "Instead of a test, you're to make a presentation about a randomly selected historical era." He said as he started handing out pieces of paper, only one per desk. "You have to pair up with the person sitting at the same desk as you, no trading partners, no trading subjects, no exceptions." He said as he finished handing out the pieces of paper.

Alice accepted our piece of paper with our subject. Showing that it said WWII, the Cheshire grin had returned only briefly disappearing to ask when we'd start.

"As soon as possible I guess?"

"Ok my place tomorrow or would you prefer your place? My mother might be a little over bearing though." Alice asked.

"Mine is a mess to be honest, it's more of a construction zone." Bella admitted

"I'll make sure my family will keep their distance tomorrow, Esme might be more difficult. Can you give me your number so I can send directions, unless you want to come after school today?" Alice asked while holding out her unlocked phone.

"I haven't really slept since Saturday, I didn't get much sleep last night, a few hours before your sister woke me up this morning. It's probably better if I turn in early tonight." Bella whispered back while entering her number.

"I'll drive you home after school." Alice offered.

"You don't have to, I'll be fine. Trust me. Besides I gotta keep my Friday steak dinner tradition up." Bella insisted as they left the classroom.

Though she was tired it never was a problem for her to keep focus and keep pushing herself. She made it through gym with ease, taking a long scalding hot shower afterwards. Somehow Rosalie who always gave her mean looks had given her a small smile during gym. By the time she finally had gotten dressed and made her way to her truck in the empty parking lot, where Alice was waiting for her.

"I can drive Alice."

"I know, I just wanted to ask you to do something for me."

"Ok."

"Bella, please don't hurt yourself anymore."

"I cant make any promises." Bella said with her head turned down.

"Promise you'll try then."

"I'll do my best." Bella answered and gave Alice a small smile before getting into her truck.

She went to the cabin and cleaned up the mess and got started on the backlog of her homework. She left just before dinner time for her traditional steak and cobbler dinner. As usual she sat at the bar, when she was eating her cobbler dessert, Jake sat down next to her. He looked bigger, more muscular, he must have joined the La Push steroids gang.

"Bella, you were seen with Alice Cullen today, you said you had told her to stay away from you." Jake said coldly.

"I changed my mind, people do that, Alice is pretty great." Bella replied.

"You need to stay away from her, she and her family are dangerous. You don't know what they are let alone what they are capable of." Jake said with a angry tone.

"Jake, those steroids you're on are really messing with you, aside from the obvious anger issues, you seem to think that you can tell me what to do. I know what Alice is, it doesn't make a difference to me. I can handle myself and I chose who I hang out with."

"Fine, if you want to be a leech lover I'll just have to do whatever it takes to protects you. We'll be watching you." Jake snarled while getting up

"Bye Jake." Bella said sarcastically as Jake left the diner.

She was glad he had left, he was starting to get on her nerves. She understood they wanted to look out for Bella Swan, but this was just some sick kind of controlling. She left money on the counter with a nice tip included when she finished her cobbler. She made her way home and got into her new bed for the first time, turning on the TV on the hallmark channel for feel good background noise. She checked her phone which had been left at the cabin to charge. Alice had sent her a text with her address and directions.

Bella *I just got back from the diner, I got harassed by a friend that doesn't want me to see you.*

She added the number to her few contacts.

Alice *What happened? Are you OK?*

Bella *I'm fine, he's Quileute and knows what you guys are, it's more warning than anything else. It's due to them and their legends that I figured out what you guys are.*

Alice *I'm glad you're ok. They aren't supposed to tell you or anyone out of their tribe what we are. I look forward to you coming over tomorrow, I talked to my family about it.*

Bella *I look forward to coming, I'm going to get some sleep.*

Alice *Sweet dreams.*

Bella *Thanks, you too.*

Bella fell asleep shortly after, sleeping till 9 AM the next morning. She started her day off slow, making coffee and then going to the store to do groceries. She had some fruit she bought for breakfast with yoghurt, did some minor chores, some homework and watched TV. She texted Alice she'd be there around 2 in the afternoon. Bella had missed Alice too much, it was always easier when she knew that she'd see Alice soon, but after what happened things hadn't returned to normal yet.. She made some sandwiches for lunch around 1 PM, took a quick shower and changed her clothes. She grabbed her backpack, threw in her laptop and drove to Alice's house. It was somewhat difficult to find the driveway along the 101 highway, it was very obscured. If not for Alice's directions, Bella would've thought she was driving in the wrong direction, the driveway was a couple of miles long, eventually the driveway ended at a clearing with a huge mansion. It looked old, with nice balconies but it was extremely well taken care of. She parked her truck out front and got out somewhat hesitantly. As soon as she knocked on the front door it was opened by Alice.

"You want to finish your cigar first? I'm not sure Esme will like you smoking it inside." Alice said.

"Oh sorry, I forgot about it." Bella said while going back to her truck to put the cigar out.

When Bella got back to the front door Alice hugged Bella.

"Sorry I couldn't help myself, I'm still not completely recovered. I missed you." Alice admitted.

"It's ok, I didn't mind it at all, in fact despite being a little weird it was actually nice." Bella said as Alice led her inside.

Dr Cullen and the sole member of the family Bella hadn't met were waiting for them inside. The house was very modern on the inside, it seemed the entire back side of the house was made of glass and the downstairs was very open.

"These are my parents for all intents and purposes, Carlisle and Esme." Alice said

"It's nice to meet you under better circumstances." Dr Cullen said and gave a nod.

"I'm glad you changed your mind about Alice and that you're ok, you gave me quite the scare the other day." Esme said as she stepped forward.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that. You have a very nice house." Bella answered with her head turned down.

"It just hit home a little for me personally. Thank you, I've put a lot of time into it." Esme said as she tried to lift Bella's head up.

Bella looked up and gave her a small smile.

"I have to say I'm very interested in your healing, it's really unique. I was hoping I could run some tests at some point." Dr Cullen said curiously.

"No! No tests Dr Cullen." Bella replied with a harsh tone.

"Of course. I apologize, my professional curiosity has gotten the best of me. Please call me Carlisle." He said with a genuine apologetic tone.

"Ok let's go up to my room so we can get started." Alice said to rescue Bella.

Alice's parents wished them good luck with their project. They went upstairs in the big mansion going into a large bed room, expertly decorated with a large bed, A large desk, a vanity and even a reading corner next to the balcony. Bella stated that the room fit Alice well. Alice led her to the walk in closet.

"My god, it's huge, Alice you – Wow." Bella uttered.

"I do plan to do something about your aversion to fashion at some point." Alice stated when giving Bella a once over.

"I don't have an aversion to fashion, just a chronic lack of closet space and a high need for mainly clothes suited for working." Bella defended herself.

"Regardless I'd like to take you shopping, you need my help." Alice stated

"Go shopping? You plan to sit beside me behind a laptop when I order clothes?" Bella asked slightly confused.

"No no no, we're going shopping in person, the old fashioned and only good way. We'll make a day out of it." Alice insisted.

"If it makes you happy." Bella mumbled.

"Half a day then." Alice offered.

"That sounds better, besides I don't have a lot of closet space to begin with."

They got started on discussing their subject and what they could do, Alice was surprisingly knowledgeable on the subject. They would tell the stories of 2 women, one working in a airplane factory and the other working as a spy. After an hour Alice's face went blank.

"Alice? Are you ok?" Bella asked

"Bella, stay here. Please, just stay here." Alice said as she got up and left the room.

With Bella's hearing she could hear all the movement in the house, everybody was heading outside through the front door. Bella got up from the desk chair and went to look out of the window. The Cullens had formed a line outside, there were 5 huge wolves coming outside the tree line, snarling at the Cullens. Carlisle stepped forward slightly. Bella heard Edythe saying that the wolves were here to enforce the treaty. The russet colored wolf at the center walked toward Alice, viciously growling at her.

"Large wolves, treaty. Oh no, it's the Quileute's, the legends work both ways. Enforce the treaty? Get away from Alice you monster!" Bella thought and opened the door leading to the balcony.

Her appearing on the balcony seemed to distract the russet colored wolf. Bella jumped off the balcony towards the russet colored wolf. Her adamantium backed fist connecting with the wolfs jaw as she landed in front of the wolf. The wolf whimpered, Bella swiftly kicked the wolf against a tree, the two nearest wolves came running to her, she shoved Alice back and ran forward slightly, jumping up in time to cause both wolves to run into each other. Bella was furious and punched both of them unconscious. She ran towards the wolf she had kicked against a tree. She balled her fists and let out her claws. She kicked the wolf onto it's back and pressed the tips of her claws against it's throat.

"I know what you are, change to your human form or I'll cut your fucking head off!" Bella ordered the russet colored wolf.

She saw the fear in the wolf's eyes followed by a nod. Soon the wolf started shrinking and a naked Jake was under her. She retracted her left claws, picked jake up, pressed him against a tree, let out her left claws again and put both sets against Jake's throat.

"What are you doing here Jake?!" Bella snarled.

"Making sure you'd be safe. Those leeches would kill you." Jake said while shivering.

"You threatened somebody I cared about, I told you to leave me alone and I also told you that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. Whatever treaty you have with them doesn't apply to me. You come near Alice again and I will cut your fucking head off. Do you understand Jake?" Bella spit at Jake barely containing her fury

"I understand." Jake said nervously, waving off the 4 wolves that were approaching them.

"Good, this is so that you'll remember." Bella said and sliced jake's right cheek with one of her claws. Causing him to cry out in pain. "Leave now or you'll never fucking leave. I'll bury the five of you where you fucking stand!" Bella yelled loud enough for all to hear.

Bella stepped away from the buck naked Jake walked back to the Cullens, circumventing the nearby wolves. She retracted her claws as she approached Alice. All the Cullens were looking at her.

"Alice are you ok?" Bella asked as she hesitantly stood in front of Alice.

"Bella – you – how." Alice said being unable to form a coherent sentence.

"I'm here Alice." Bella said as she took Alice's right hand. "I'm sorry I shoved you again but that dog was going to attack you.

"Could we head inside? I think it's time I tell you my story. I just hope you'll be able to understand." Bella said to the Cullens.

They all headed inside and sat down in the living room, Bella on a love seat with Alice next to her.

"That was some impressive fighting." Jasper said

"Dude you got knives inside of you?" Emmett asked curiously earning him a stern look from Rosalie.

Carlisle had wanted to say something but he had been shushed by Esme before he had the chance.

"I call them claws, but yes. It would be better if I start though, it will hopefully answer most of your questions. I hope you can understand that I'm different now and won't let it affect your opinion of me too much."

All the Cullens nodded.

"I am not Isabella Swan…"