The sunlight reflected brilliantly off of the metallic sheen of the parked cars lined out in perfect regimented rows. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanks as I looked up at the sky, counting my blessings at the suns warm rays. Standing here now adrenaline still flooded through my body, so much so that I wasn't entirely sure how I had made my escape from the large building, it was mostly a blur now. I know that I had done so under the pretense of needing to go outside, complaining that being secluded during my stay hadn't been on my itinerary. Aro had tried to persuade me to wait until dark, but I had calmly explained that I missed the sunlight on my skin.

I tried not to feel anything at the tension I had seen around his eyes, like he couldn't bear the thought of being parted from me, but had offered the services of one of his human employees to keep me company.

Stop me from leaving more like.

It had been easy enough to give her the slip, it must have been Aro's own jealousy that had stopped him placing me with a man and so I had been accompanied by Dorothy, a tall, lithe woman who looked as though she'd had army training at some point she stood so stiffly. Her hair was always pulled back into the tightest of ponytails and she had this air of masculinity about her. An aura that exuded 'don't mess with me.'

For all her strength, speed and training she hadn't been prepared when the man she had been checking out behind the coffee counter had begun chatting her up, offering free drinks and pastries, and seeing my chance I had taken it. I didn't imagine she even noticed I wasn't sat at the table drinking coffee for a good thirty minutes if not longer, she could barely tear her eyes from the dark eyed lothario that had caught her interest. That had been plenty of time for me to slip away, I felt a little bad at the consequences for Dora, she seemed nice enough, in a strict, harsh kind of way.

It had been a short bus journey to the Zoo and right on time I realized as I checked the time on my phone screen again. The battery was nearly gone and the thought of being without it send a frisson of panic up my spine, but I took a deep breath and decided I wouldn't think about it, wouldn't even consider any options that weren't actually occurring in the moment. I had a tendency to stress myself out unnecessarily over things that would never actually happen.

Woodland Park Zoo. My Gran had taken me here when I was just a little kid, after we had moved in with her when Mom and Charlie split I had become the apple of her eye. The chance for a do-over after her relationship with her own daughter went south. I had known from a young age that my Mother and Grandmother didn't exactly get on. They never treated each other with the same love and adoration they afforded me, in fact quite the opposite, but I was the white flag that bought them back together and so my Gran had doted on me whilst we lived there. Trips to this place were my favorite holiday activity.

Mom hadn't specified an exact place or exhibit to meet at, so I meandered around the park as time ticked by, constantly looking over my shoulder expecting to see the bobbing of a short, thick ponytail and a stern glare of reprimand from my keeper. Thankfully that never happened, but neither had I caught sight of my Mom.

I found myself at the penguin enclosure, a small smile lit upon my face as I watched them. They had been my favorite, Gran had even bought me a stuffed penguin from the Zoo shop after i'd begged and pleaded with her to persuade the keeper to let me take a real one home. It had been a poor substitute but I had been thrilled with it nonetheless. I glanced over at the overzealous group of school children who were squealing and laughing loudly as they pointed at particular penguins and their teacher tried yelling over the noise to actually impart some knowledge into their brains. I was jostled sideways by the children as they all fought to get a closer look as the penguins began diving into the water, displaying the amazing grace and fluidity they lacked on the ground. Their appreciative 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' faded into the background as I felt a touch at my elbow and span rapidly to be greeted with the half terrified, half relieved face of my Mother. I threw myself into her arms and a silent sob left me as she wrapped her arms around me in the fiercest embrace I had ever received from her.

"Oh Bella thank god you made it. Come, quickly we need to get into the car before he finds you." She didn't even explain, just grabbed my hand and dragged me outside, to the parking lot.

"Mom, it's daylight, he won't-" She cut me off with an exasperated glare over one shoulder, her muscles were tense and her eyes frantic.

"Yes sweetheart, he would. For you, he'd do anything. Even risk that. Whilst we've got marginally more time, it's only mere minutes, we have to keep moving. The sun wont protect us."

A lump lodged itself in my throat as my heart pounded and my Mother shoved me into the passenger seat of her sedan and soon after the engine roared to life. We weren't even safe outside? Aro would risk the exposure of a secret they had guarded for thousands of years… for me?

I felt like I was missing some very large piece of information.

"Mom, what is going on." I asked and she must have heard the sheer panic in my voice because her hand came over to grip mine. It was clammy, cold but with the slightest sheen of sweat to it. Her fingers shook even though she held my hand tightly in hers. She was afraid.

"I wish I could explain honey, I really do but I… I just don't know where to start. I don't want to hurt you." She kept hold of my hand even whilst trying to maneuver the car out of the lot at double the recommended speed.

"Just. Tell. Me." I bit out, tired of all the lies, just wanting to know the truth once and for all.

"You want me to tell you now, whilst i'm driving?" She glanced over at me briefly and seeing the stony set of my face she sighed and gave in. "Okay, but you need to stay calm and take it all in. Try not to be too mad at me sweetheart. Please."

"Your Grandmother and I never got on, that much you know, but there is a far greater reason for that than just petty arguments. She had an affair whilst married to Grandpa and I-" She seemed to struggle with this before continuing. "I was the result of that."

I felt shock bloom within me as I looked at my Mother open mouthed. She didn't meet my gaze but instead focussed on the road, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she continued.

"I didn't discover this until I was 18 and realized there was something different about me. When I confronted her she confessed, telling me that my biological Father was born from a human woman who had gotten pregnant by a vampire." Her laugh was shrill and disbelieving. "I of course thought the old bat had gone senile and dismissed her immediately, especially when she began explaining that I might age slower or feel stronger than my peers because there was every chance there was some of him in me. I ignored it for the longest time Bella, until I went to Volterra with my friend Heidi and was confronted with the truth. Still even then I didn't believe her… Until you."

"Your gift made itself known almost immediately and I knew that whatever my biological father had or was had clearly skipped a generation and went to you. I have nothing Bella, I don't crave blood or have special powers. The only difference is I think is that I age slightly slower. I think my Mom hated that I wasn't more like him, she so wanted me to be, she hoped he would return to her if I was or maybe that she would have a piece of him with her forever. I don't know, but that's why you became the apple of her eye. She so wanted to be a part of that world that when her grandchild showed how deeply rooted she was within it, she felt connected to her lover again."

She breathed deeply and looked over at me again, we were on the highway by the time she had finished and I looked out the window in complete bone numbing shock.

"Say something sweetheart. Please." She begged.

"So you're… What, half vampire?" I asked, feeling so very confused.

She shook her head. "No, god no. My biological Father claimed to be, at least that is what he told your Grandmother. If true that means i'm a quarter vampire."

"Which makes me what exactly?!" I asked, terrified at what I was, what I could become. I had known I didn't feel like I belonged with regular people and when the Cullen's had come along I suddenly belonged. It felt right and like I was destined to be a vampire… Now my mother was telling me that in some way I already was?

"We don't know. There aren't exactly books or websites filled with knowledge about such a thing happening, I'm sorry sweetie but its something you'll have to discover yourself. I guarded our secret so carefully, Charlie doesn't know and since Gran died it was just me."

"But Aro? He can read every thought you've ever had, how did you avoid it?" I asked, sure my brows were pulled together in confusion.

Mom laughed somewhat hysterically and shrugged her shoulders. "That's just it, I have no idea. Maybe in the beginning he just wasn't interested in the deeper memories of a simple human and then once I had you within me, you protected me. Then once you were born and he came again, I don't know Bella, maybe I have a simpler form of your gift, can hide one thing in my mind that I really really don't want found out? I've never really had the theory tested since Aro is the only one I can test it on, but he never mentioned it, not once. All he talked about was making you a vampire… I'm not even sure how that would work because you're descended from one already."

"He said he didn't want to turn me, not until I was ready but then Alice… She saw him make a decision and told me to run." I pulled the crumpled piece of paper out from my bra, I had forgotten it was even there until that moment. I handed it over to Mom who glanced down at it sporadically whilst she was driving.

"The son of a bitch, he was going to do that to you after swearing to me that he'd protect you? I'll kill his vampire ass myself if he harms a hair on your head." Her voice shook and I knew she was terrified, but I appreciated her effort.

"Where are we going?" I asked, still trying to digest all of the information she had given me. I didn't have the energy to argue with her, to fight about her keeping this from me for so long, I still didn't know how we were going to evade Aro, especially after dark.

"We're going to find the only other Vampire on this planet that Aro may fear, we're going to your great grandfather."

A/N: Sorry for the wait, thank you to those who continually prodded me to continue. Please don't forget to review.