Chapter seven

* Just a quick note, in this chapter I reference some things that happened in the first book, and use actual quotations. Those quotes are in italics, you'll know it when you get there. Also, this chapter is pretty short, it's kind of a gap filler. Enjoy!

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was A time of innocence. A time of confidences Long ago, it must be. I have a photograph Preserve your memories. They're all that's left of you.

- Bookends By Simon and Garfunkel

It's funny, really, how much a person can discover about themselves in the aftermath of turmoil. Bella learned a lot about herself in the months that followed her discovery under the floorboards. Some things that she'd never known before, and some things she'd somehow forgotten.

She discovered that she thrived in academics. Instead of losing her mind trying to solve the puzzle that was her vampire ex-boyfriend, she threw her focus into school. It was easier to solve those problems. Equations could be solved. Questions had answers. Even an open essay had a solid thought process that led to a solid, well planned conclusion. School helped Bella find confidence in her mind.

She discovered that she had a knack for investigative journalism. After joining the paper, Bella did a few small pieces about local life. She reviewed a play, talked about a few events, and even helped out with some editing. But then a student got maced during a peaceful protest, and it didn't sit right with Bella. This was Forks, Washington, not LA, people didn't get maced. There'd been a sit in at a small park that the city was planning to turn into a parking lot for a local business owner. One of the protesters apparently got aggressive with a cop. When Bella heard about it, she started asking around and did a little digging, and discovered that the kid was on the business owners payroll, and had caused the disturbance on purpose. Bella wrote a big exposé airing out all of the dirty laundry she found, which included evidence of coercion and bribery to get the city to agree to the lot in the first place. It caused quite a stir, being one of the more scandalous occurrences in recent memory, and her piece was picked up by the local paper. The business owner was practically run out of town. The feeling of accomplishment, and rush of joy that she felt led her to discover her new passion. Investigating, doing research, finding the answer, and writing it down, it made sense. The paper reminded Bella that she loved writing, and helped her narrow down what she wanted to do with her life.

It was this newfound love for investigating, that led her down the path of a surprising side project. She was studying for history and absentmindedly rubbing the scar on her wrist when she remembered something that James had said while torturing her at the ballet studio. Something about Alice. "The one and only time my prey escaped me" She shuddered as his voice ran through her mind. It seemed too perfect, too...clear, to be a memory. She got up and closed the window, as another piece floated through her mind. "When the old one knew I was after his little friend, he stole her from the asylum...A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned at the stake for her visions ... I destroyed the old one in vengeance." She had told Alice all about this revelation, but she wasn't sure if Alice had followed up on it or not. She was sure that it wasn't a good idea, that she was setting herself up for more pain, but she couldn't help it. She started researching. She remembered Alice mentioning that her last name was Brandon, so she started searching through a database of birth certificates until she found one that made sense. Mary Alice Brandon b. June sixth 1902 Biloxi Mississippi Mother: Gertrude Pearl Brandon Father: John William Brandon. She used the new information to find a death certificate, and discovered that Alice Brandon had died on April third 1920. Seventeen years old. That seemed to fit. She searched through some old newspaper collections and found that Mary Alice had a sister who was a few years younger, and that she'd had a daughter later in life. Bella could trace the line all the way to a girl born in 1983, named Sarah Alice. Hm...named for her Great Aunt perhaps? Focusing her search back on Mary Alice,a little more digging around and Bella found that she had been committed involuntarily to Hazlehurst County Asylum for the Insane. Jackpot. The date on the admission sheet she found was April third, 1920. Now that was interesting. Unfortunately, it also seemed to be the end of her trail. The county had published all admission forms for posterity, but it seems patient confidentiality extended through centuries. She printed out and saved everything she could in a file in her desk, deciding she would research more later.

Another thing that Bella rediscovered, was her love of sketching. She hadn't drawn in over a year, another of her mothers endeavors. The day she found the pictures under her floorboards, a mix of emotions had flooded her, but a big one had been relief. Relief to have something real and tangible to hang onto. But as she studied it she saw the desperate, strained smile on her face, and the cold, distant, rigid face next to her. She hated it. She knew there were pictures of them together where they both looked natural, happy even, but they were gone. Probably lost forever. Or maybe hiding under her floor somewhere. Who freaking knew anymore. She was about to rip the picture up and be done with it forever, when she suddenly got an idea. She dug out her sketchbook and her pencils and got to work. By two AM that morning, she had drawn his face. She used the picture for physical reference, but drew his face as she remembered it. Soft, and kind. Then she tore up the photo. Drawing soon became her favorite pastime and outlet. By Christmas he had drawn her father, Leah, Jacob, Angela, Seth, and Alice; as well as several other pieces. At first, she saw her drawing skills as she always did, with skepticism. Her father and friends had many frustrated conversations with her about it before she could finally see that she did have talent. It certainly made her shopping pretty easy. Drawing helped Bella discover confidence in her abilities.

As the months passed by, Bella's friendships with Jacob, Leah, and Angela progressed to new levels of closeness. She had never really had any close friends before moving to Forks, and she felt lucky to have put together two surrogate families since she had. A part of her tried to warn her not to get too attached, not to open herself up to that kind of pain again. At times she wanted to listen to it, to put distance between herself and the risks. But that wasn't in her nature. She was an open book, and she gave all of herself to the people she was close to. She would later look back at these months as some of the best in her life.

As Thanksgiving and Christmas melted into Valentines Day, Bella took time to reflect. For the first time in her life she was really getting to know herself. With her mom, she never got a chance to truly be herself, or to investigate who she was. Her only real solace was her books, the one thing that she chose. Then she moved to Forks, and got caught up in the whirlwind of first love and supernatural grudge matches. She somehow hadn't managed to find a lot of time for self-actualization. Now she was really coming into her own. She still had nightmares. And she was still haunted by the memories of her vampire. She carried the portrait she drew with her everywhere she went, and she often found herself looking at it. Sometimes, before she could stop herself, she found herself talking to it.

The important thing, though, was that despite the heartbreak, she was coming to a conclusion. She liked herself. And she liked her life.

If only she had seen to darkness on the horizon.