Hello everyone! I'm sure you all thought I fell off the planet... again... but I assure you I'm still here. I'll soon be on summer vacation (I'm a teacher now so summers off! woohoo!), and will have more time to devote to writing! Yay, that!

Anyway, without further ado, here's the latest update of The True Battle Lies Within. Enjoy!

Chapter 20

Remi (Bella) PoV

What seems like years later, we land and disembark the plane. Another perk of being first class is we are allowed off first. I practically run down the hallway to the gate and to baggage claim. We didn't check any bags but that's where you catch the shuttle to the car rental area. Luckily, a shuttle is about to leave when we arrive and we're able to hop on in the nick of time. A long few minutes later, we're in the rental car and making our way to Forks. I text the boys that we arrived and also let Jacob know by calling him. "There's still no sign of him, Bells," he tells me. "Rain washed away any scent trail we could have followed, and we haven't seen a trace of him in town or the nearby woods. As you were told, his cruiser is in the driveway, so we know he didn't drive off somewhere. But we'll find him. I promise you that."

"I know we will, Jacob. I just hope we do before it's too late. Listen, there's another reason I called you. You remember Jasper? Edward's brother that helped train everyone for the newborn battle?"

"Yeah. What about him?" I can practically hear his shoulders tense through the phone.

"He's coming to help. He doesn't think Edward had anything to do with this, and he's on my side. I promise. It's nothing to do with the venom or anything. I told you I'm beyond that. At the very least, he'll help keep my ex and his pixie sister at bay. Anyway, Jasper is bringing some friends with him. And they're human drinkers. They've promised not to hunt in the area, but I just wanted to make you aware that you'll see a couple pairs of red eyes. One of them will be purple because he only hunts witches and demons."

"What? Witches and demons?"

"Yeah, those are real things, too. Pretty much everything is a thing. I'll tell you more later. Thanks for everything, Jake. I'll be there in a couple hours. Oh, remember when I said I was Switzerland? Well, that still applies. My house is No-Man's-Land, so wolves and vamps can come and go without retaliation from the other, understood?" He agrees begrudgingly. "Good. I'll see you soon." I hang up and toss the phone back in my bag.

Pressing my foot down on the pedal, we race through the roads between Seattle and Forks. Charlie stays silent, thankfully, leaving me to my thoughts and worries. Another eternity later, I'm pulling up in front of my Dad's house. The lights are on, and I think for a moment that he must be there. But then a petite blonde vampire emerges and meets me at my door. She moves a bit too quick to be human, and I wonder how much practice she has with blending in.

"You must be Charlotte," I say in greeting. She nods at me but keeps her distance. She's trying to gauge if I'm afraid of her. I'm not, which means my shield probably isn't up, which also means that I probably smell really good to her. "I apologize for my scent," I add. "I know I must be extra appetizing. It comes with the territory of what I am." I make an effort to engage my shield but can't tell if it's working or not.

She cocks her head. "What you are? Why do you say what and not who?"

I take a deep breath. "Well, because I'm not entirely human. Let's head inside, I really don't wanna tell this story more than once. Though I'm sure Jasper, Peter, and Garrett can all hear me just fine. I'd rather speak to their faces and not through walls." I swear I hear a guffaw come from inside. It sounds an awful lot like Emmett. No one told me he was coming. And if he's here, Rosalie probably is, too. Well, maybe they can help, but they'd better keep their distance.

Sure enough, as soon as I walk in the door, two huge arms grab me up in a bear hug. I wasn't prepared to see him again and it puts me on edge. Before I can even think of what to do, I'm released and he's sailing through the air and slamming into the wall. Great, now I need to have some drywall replaced. I can feel my shield is in place, and I make sure it stays there. At the very least it'll make me less appetizing to them when they can't smell me. "You're fixing the wall, Emmett," I tell him. "Don't surprise me like that again, or I'll do more than simply send you across the room." I see that apart from him, Rosalie is here, along with Jasper, Garrett, and another blonde vampire that I can only assume is Peter.

Emmett shakes his head in disbelief. Bits of drywall flinging about the room. "How did you do that?"

"I'll happily explain once Jacob arrives," I say.

'I'm here," I hear him say. "I was waiting in the woods for you. Didn't want to be this close to vamp stench for too long." He shoots a hateful look at a couple of the vampires. "I heard a crashing noise, though. What happened to the wall? You okay Bells? Whoa, your hair's all purple! And short!"

"Dude, she sent me sailing into the wall like She-Hulk or something!"

"I'm fine, Jake. Yes, I've made some changes. Quite a few. Emmett, so help me god if you start calling me She-Hulk-"

"Don't worry, Bella," Rosalie assures me. "He won't." She glares at him.

I fill my lungs with air and release it slowly, steadying myself for my upcoming speech, and the many questions that are sure to follow. "The short version is I'm a Simagre, which basically means I'm a descendant of a Nephilim, which is the offspring of a human and an angel. Yes, I said angel. Those are real. Also, you guys aren't really vampires, but that's a story for a different day. I have powers, as Emmett witnessed first hand. Jasper, I'd imagine you can't feel my emotions anymore, and Alice won't be able to see me, and I can mask my scent, as you may now notice." A couple of them take tentative whiffs in my direction. "There's more, but I haven't figured it all out just yet. But we need to prioritize rather than dissect my new idiosyncrasies. The problem at hand is my father is missing. Does anyone have any leads?"

Jasper steps up. "Edward and Alice are innocent as far as having anything to do with it. But I feel as though Alice may have seen something. She's not been forthcoming and is even blocking her thoughts from Edward. I think he is repentant and while he wants you back, still, he's not as crazy as he was that day. I'd still advise that you steer clear of him for now. He knows you're here and I've told him if he comes within five miles of this house, I'll have his head on a spike."

That makes me smile, knowing he has my back in that way. I hope it won't come to that, though. "Also, this is Charlie. She's my best friend and I consider her my sister. She's all human, so no bitey. I know it's going to cause confusion having two Charlies, so let's refer to my dad as Chief, okay? Oh, and my boyfriend and his brother will be joining us soon, after they pick up Bobby, their... uncle, for all intents and purposes." Using the word boyfriend to describe Dean feels like I'm doing him a great disservice.

"Is he one of the human men that were with you when you broke up with Edward?" Rosalie asks. Her eyebrow is cocked in interest. I had no idea she cared. Then again, Jasper said Rosalie showed me such hatred because she was trying to get me to come to my senses.

I nod. "Yep, his name is Dean. His brother is Sam. They're hunters. So am I. So is Charlie."

"Hunters of what?" Emmett asks. "I thought you threw up at the sight of blood."

I shrug. "Faint. Never throw up. Used to, though. Not anymore. And we're hunters of the supernatural. Not to worry, you lot aren't on our lists. Garrett can attest to what we do, though. He was there."

Garrett gives the group the cliff's notes of what we did in New Orleans, lingering on the details of how good Rowena's blood tasted. Jacob keeps staring at me as if wishing something would happen. Likely wishing the imprinting thing would work and he'd imprint on me. But I know why he hasn't, and why he won't. I'm not meant for him. I'm not meant for Edward. I'm Dean's.

Once Garrett is done with his tale, we talk through possibilities of what could be behind this. "What about the Volturi?" I ask. "Aro wants me to be a vampire, yes, but I know he wants Alice and Edward more than just about anything. This could all be part of his plot to get me and those two as part of his guard.

"Little does he know that I can't become a vampire now anyway."

"You can't?" Rosalie asks.

I shake my head. "Nope, I'm immune to venom."

"That doesn't mean you can't be drained," Jasper comments. "Maybe Aro can't turn you, but he may be able to kill you. Which is the alternative for humans that know too much."

"I'm not human anyway, so his laws about it don't even apply to me. We just need to make sure he doesn't know about Charlie, Dean, and Sam, though. They're all human. Or about the wolves. That could be bad, too."

"Alice would have seen Aro decide," Rosalie states.

"You're probably right," I agree. "So either he's found a way to thwart her visions like the wolves do, or he's having someone else make the decisions for him."

"When did you get so clever?" Emmet asks.

I can't help but laugh. "I always was, Emmett. Edward was suppressing it though, with his venom manipulation. He couldn't stand that I could be as smart as or smarter than him. Anyway, we need to figure out a way to track down where he went. Jacob said any scent trails washed out by rain, but I'm wondering if maybe there is a scent trail. It's just not a creature you're familiar with. Did any of you encounter anything at all on your way here?"

Jasper shakes his head. "But we should run a perimeter just in case. Garrett, you take the south quadrant. Peter, Charlotte: east, and west. I'll go north. Jacob, do you think we can forgo the treaty boundaries until my dad is found? Will Sam agree to that?"

"He better," Jacob says as he steps outside to transform and speak with Sam in wolf form. I watch as he sheds his shirt before entering the woods to finish undressing. Sure, I'm taken and Jacob is practically a brother to me, but dammit he's nice to look at.

Even Charlie whistles at him. "I might go straight for a day with that one," she jokes.

A few minutes later, he returns with the good news that Sam is willing to ignore the boundaries until my dad is safe. I try not to be bothered by the fact that Sam was unwilling to bend his boundaries when Victoria was wreaking havoc only months ago, but now that my dad is in danger, he's all open-minded. Then again, maybe Jacob told him something about my epic dumping of Edward. I'm sure he at least saw the exchange through the wolves' minds. Maybe that has endeared me to him slightly.

Charlie and I stay in the house as a home base for the day while the others are running their perimeters that Jasper suggested. Wearing a path in the carpet as I pace around, I hear nothing all day from any of my human connections in town until finally, the deputy stops by with a thin manila case file in his hands.

"Hey Bells, good to see ya," he greets as I open the door. "Wish it was better circumstances bringing you home for a visit. But I got something. It might be nothing, but it's all we got right now."

"Let's hear it," I say as I lead him into the kitchen to the table.

He sets the file down and opens it to a photo of a very familiar face. Jessica Stanley. "You went to school with this girl, so you may know her." I nod and repeated her name. "Yeah. She went missing the day before your dad did. He's not officially on her case, but I remember seeing him with the search party that morning."

I don't think he has a clue how huge a lead that is. So huge. "This is very helpful, Stan. Thank you."

He tells me a bit more about the case and what he'd seen Charlie doing that day. Every detail is helpful, even if he doesn't think so. "I wish I had more, Bells. We'll find him though. He'll be alright."

If he is otherwise, whatever took him will have hell to pay. I thank him again as I see him to the door. As soon as he's down the steps, I whip out my phone and dial Sam. I would have called Dean, but I know he's driving light lightning to get here and help. "Hey, Remi, I'll put you on speaker. We just picked up Bobby. Got any leads?" Sam greets. I hear a grumble of a hi from Bobby just after a kissy lips sound from Dean. I can just see Bobby rolling his eyes at Dean's antics. Super serious matter and he still finds a way to make jokes.

"Yes, actually," I reply. "A girl I went to school with went missing the day before he did. She took over working at Newton's when I left. Jessica Stanley. She never made it to work the other day, and they found her car at her house. No sign of her. My dad was part of the search party and never made it back to the rendezvous spot. The others thought he was just being thorough and he is the Chief, so they didn't think to follow up. Then when he didn't show at the station the next morning… well, you figure it out."

"Idjits," I could hear Bobby say.

"Yeah, small town law enforcement for ya," I agree. "Anyway. I'm betting whatever took Jessica has my dad, too. He probably stumbled upon it and didn't know what to do, or was caught unawares." Shortly after calling off the search for Riley Biers and they don't do anything when my dad goes missing while literally searching for another missing teenager? Seriously? DId they all magically forget about Seattle? Sure they had no idea it wasn't a serial killer and the deaths are over now that the army is gone, but still.

"What can you tell us about your friend?" Sam asks.

"Short," I answer. "Shorter than me, even. Curly light brown hair, tan, big smile, bubbly personality but kind of a ditz. Last I knew she was single, but that changes with the wind. I'm gonna call around to some of our other friends. Some will be gone to college already, but there may still be some in town that might have a clue. Know any monsters that prefer tiny barely-legal girls and 40-year-old male cops?"

Dean laughs in the background. "Maybe not the latter, but the teenage girls? Yeah… lots of 'em. We'll figure it out, though, Remi. You know we will," Sammy assures me.

"Thanks, Sammy. Umm… How many times do you save the people you have cases for? Like what are the odds?" I ask. I don't have enough experience yet to know.

"I don't know if you want the answer to that question." He's probably right. It's much easier to just think the worst instead of knowing the worst is the most likely scenario. But looking at the cases we've already done, no one died during the newborn battle, other than the aggressors, Henry was the casualty of the next case, but really by his own decision, then with the LARPing case, there were two deaths, but none once we took over. Sure Charlie and I were stuck in the Fairy realm for six months, but hey, no one else died.

Also, once we got to New Orleans, no one else died. At least not because of Rowena. She was too busy trying to crack my shield and dealing with Garrett. So really, luck was on our side… unless it decided to turn. "Where's a lucky rabbit's foot when you need one?" I joke.

"No!" they all holler. I have to pull the phone away from my ear.

"What the hell, guys?"

"Sorry, Rem," Sammy apologizes. "We had a lucky rabbit's foot once. It was a cursed object. Sure your luck was great while you had it, but as soon as you lost it, your luck would turn until you died by some freak accident." I could practically hear his cringe through the phone.

"Alright then. No rabbits' feet allowed. Well when you get here, there'll be six vampires, just so you know. Jasper got three of his friends and then Rosalie and Emmett showed up. Emmett caught me by surprise with one of his huge hugs, so he gets to replace the drywall in my living room that I tossed him into with this shield thingy."

"That's my girl," Dean comments.

"Yeah, well, he had it coming anyway. So I'll see you guys in what, two days?"

"We'll try to cut it down as much as we can, Remi, but yeah."

"Drive safe, guys. I'd rather you take your time than get into a wreck or get a huge ticket or something. Love you all."

So whatever has Jessica has my dad, too. What is really going on around here? My next call is to Angela Weber, who thankfully hasn't quite left for school yet. Same with her boyfriend Ben. Eric Yorkie agrees to come over and grab Mike and Tyler on the way. Soon my house is full of people again, only this time it's all the humans.

After making introductions for Charlie, I go through a cliff's notes version of where I've been the past couple months, as we all catch up. "Wait, so let me get this straight," Mike interjects. "You broke up with Edward?"

"Yes, I already said that."

"Wow, we all thought wedding bells were gonna ring with that one. So you're single." He looks hopeful, then starts waggling his eyebrows. Ick.

"First of all, no, I'm not. Secondly, if I was, no, Mike. We're friends and that's it."

"You're dating someone else already?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes, now can we move on? Jessica and my Dad are missing. I think that takes precedence over my love life, Mike. Jessica was working at Newton's, I know. But has anyone seen her recently? Hung out or anything?"

"She and I were at Lauren's three nights ago. Lauren was leaving the next day for school, so we were saying goodbye. They were gonna go somewhere else and have a few drinks, I guess, but I didn't want to join, so I went home." Oh dear god.

"Has anyone talked to Lauren? To make sure she got to school okay?" She and I weren't really friends, so I never had her number to call.

Everyone shares glances with each other, telling me exactly what I don't want to know. "Okay, someone call her, now!" Angela whips out her phone and dials. The phone goes straight to voicemail.

Angela then calls Lauren's parents to see if they've heard anything. They said no, but they were sure she got to school okay. I yank the phone out of Angela's hands. "Are you fucking dumb? Jessica goes missing literally the day after she was at your house with your daughter and you don't double check that she's alright? What kind of idiot parents are you?"

"Who the hell is this to talk to me that way?"

"Bella Swan. Daughter of Chief Charles Swan, who has gone missing after looking for Jessica. And your daughter's phone goes right to voicemail. I'm sorry if I sound rude, but this is a serious situation. You need to call Lauren's school to see if she checked into her dorm room."

Mrs. Mallory anger at my yelling at her subsides and she says she'll call right back after she hears from the school. She sounds slightly worried. Clearly, it hadn't occurred to her to check on Lauren. None of these people did. Why the hell was that? It was the very first thing I thought of when I learned that's where Jessica had been and that Angela hadn't been with them the whole night.

I'm typing a text to the boys, giving them the update, when Mrs. Mallory calls Angela's phone back. "She never showed up!" she cries.

"Hang up with us and call the police. Both here in Forks, and at her destination. They'll get in contact with whatever counties are in between and coordinate the search."

She ends the call and the rest of us get back to plans. "We're going to assume that whoever took Jessica also has Lauren and my Dad. Is everyone's phone charged?" I ask. They all pull their phones out and start rattling off various percentages. I grab the array of cords from the hallway cabinet and pass out what we've got. Dad is always misplacing his and buying a new one, only to find the old one the next day. "Get them charged. No one is to go anywhere alone. I mean it.

"Next, keep your phones charged. When you're not out and about, have them plugged in and the ringers on. We don't want to think any of us have gone missing just because our phone was dead or on silent." Everyone makes the necessary adjustments to their ringtones and gets their phones plugged in. "Okay. again. No one goes anywhere alone. No walking in the woods, no running the trails, I don't even want you walking down the street by yourself. Drive everywhere, even down the block. No one goes out of their homes at night. Not for anything. Understood?"

"Bella, what's going on?" Angela asks. "Who has them?"

"It's not a who… it's a what."

Mike steps up then. "Wait, like a bear or something? Like what happened a couple months ago?"

Before I can answer, Angela's phone rings again. Mrs. Mallory. She tells us that the cops in the next town over found Lauren's car. It had Jessica's purse in it, too. "Oh god," Angela cries. The police had been looking in the wrong place all this time. Maybe the vampires will stumble upon something. Peter was the one going in that direction if I recall.

We tell Mrs. Mallory to keep her phone charged and ringer on in case we have new information. Jasper texts me that the vampires are ready to come back to the house, but don't want to while there are so many humans here. "Alright, everyone. You have your instructions. Be safe. Don't go out alone and for the love of god don't go out at night."

Eric takes Mike and Tyler home and decides to stay at Tyler's for the night. Angela is going to Ben's place. Charlie and I will stay at the house until the boys get here then we'll go to the hotel. Once the unsuspecting humans are gone, the vampires come back. Jacob and a couple wolves aren't far behind them. I recognize Sam and Seth as they enter the yard on foot with Jacob.

"I caught the scent of something weird," Peter says as we get settled in the living room. "I've never smelled it before, but whatever it is, it's not human, and it's not a vampire, or wolf either. Something else. Trail washed out though; like the wolf said earlier."

Alright. It's not great, but it's something. And it was in the quadrant Peter was searching in that Lauren's car was found. I update them on all that I had learned since they left and Peter does mention seeing the car. "Cops were all over it when I got there, mucking up any scents I might have found."

Charlie and I go through our brief knowledge of what goes bump in the night but know that we'll need the boys and Bobby here to help. And it'd be a while before they arrived. I hope my dad, Lauren, and Jessica can hold on that long. In the meantime, I call Arabella and give her the updates, too.

"What's near where Lauren's car was found?" she asks. I'd put her on speaker.

Looking at Peter, I wait for him to give us the rundown of the area. "Couple old sawmills," he says. "Abandoned for a long time, it seems. Um, trees, more trees, wildlife, not many roads or trails though. Pretty remote out there on either side of the highway. I'd bet their phones didn't even have service."

"Did you check the car at all once the police left?"

"Yeah, they took the keys with them, but I gave it a once-over. No reason for them to be pulled over that I could find. Nothing wrong with the engine, tires were fine. Cops even thought to start the motor in case they had run out of gas or something, while I was waiting for them to clear out. But nope, nearly a full tank and it ran just fine."

"So something stopped them," I surmise. Like some hitchhiker or something. Though why two teenage girls would be stupid enough to stop at night for a hitchhiker, I'll never know.

"If I recall what Lauren was like," Rosalie pipes in, "she'd stop if it was a halfway decent looking male."

I laugh. "Yeah, that's true. Jessica's cut from the same cloth."

"Edward, Alice, Carlisle, and Esme are here," Jasper announces. "I told them to stay away, but they truly want to help. They're being sincere."

"They're here as in they want to come into my house?" I ask. Jasper nods. I sigh. "Alright, come in. Edward, give me space." I can tell he wants to come right in and embrace me, but thankfully, he heeds my words and is standing about ten feet away. Though his stance tells me he'd be by my side before I even finish uttering the invitation. My shield is still up, I could tell, so at the very least, I know he won't be affected by my new scent.

"You've been apprised of the situation?" I ask. They nod.

"I think it's a Djinn," I hear my phone say at me. I'd totally forgotten Aunt Bella was still on the phone.

"A Djinn you said?" I ask.

"Yes. They're known for liking dank warehouses or abandoned buildings. Those sawmills that were mentioned are perfect. Though, I can't figure why your vampire friend didn't find their scents. Djinn drink blood. Even if it's been raining, their scents should be permeating the area."

I remember Sam and Dean telling me about Djinn. "Yeah, they touch you and you're in some hallucinatory state that feels like all your wildest dreams and wishes have come true. Probably where the Genies granting wishes myth originated. But meanwhile, they're drinking you dry."

"Exactly," Arabella agrees. "Modern Djinn will hook up two IVs, one for nutrition and one for drawing blood, and slowly drain their victims over days or even weeks. All the while, the victim remains oblivious living in their dream world while they die slowly."

"So if a Djinn or multiple Djinn have them, they must have some secret room or something. A room that can block their scent. Even to a vampire. Is there any substance that you know of?"

"Lead walls might be thick enough to block a scent, but I don't know why a sawmill would have any of those."

"Unless it's been retrofitted," Jasper comments. "Emmett, get on the computer and find out if any shipments of large lead walls have come near here. With its cancer-causing components, it's highly regulated now." He strolls off with a laptop that he produced out of thin air, seemingly, and sits at the kitchen table to plunk away at the keyboard.

"Okay, lead walls have to be ridiculously heavy, I imagine," I say, thinking out loud. "If we do find some shipments of lead that have been anywhere near here, how would they get it to the sawmill without trucks? Peter, you said the place was abandoned, I'm guessing you'd have investigated any fresh truck tracks, right? Even with heavy rains, there'd still be evidence of a large truck going through the forest."

He nods. "You're right, there would. At the very least, some of the dense forest around the mill would have been disturbed, trees knocked down, plants torn up. And there's none of that."

"So if there is our theoretical lead-walled room housing Jessica and my Dad while they're being fed off of by a Djinn, they would have had to have help getting those walls into the building. Nothing in the Lore about Djinn say they're that strong.

"They'd need one of us," Carlisle comments. "A vampire would be strong enough to move the walls. Maybe not the entire container, but at least the contents."

"So do we storm the place? Go in guns blazing?" Charlie asks. Deans rubbing off on her too much.

"I think that's a bad idea," I answer. "I want Charlie and Jessica safe as soon as possible but if what we know of Djinn is true, they're still alive, and likely to be for a few more days or weeks. I'd feel better about going in with our full force, and that'll be with Dean, Sam, and Bobby with us. They know more about Djinn than any of us combined and how to handle situations like this."

"Where are they now?" Edward asks. Edward pipes in. I realize it's the first time I've heard his voice since I left him all those months ago. His voice that used to send flutters to my stomach now just sounds like a normal voice. No angelic quality to it whatsoever. I also don't find him nearly as attractive as I once did. Sure he's handsome, but in an objective sort of way. I see him in the same way I see Jasper and Emmett.

"On their way from Sioux Falls where they picked up Bobby. Dean drives like lightning, so they'll be here as fast as they can. With an arsenal," I answer.

"So we wait," Charlie comments.

"We wait," I agreed. Then I thought about what could have helped a Djinn move those containers or help build a lead room. And why would they feel the need?

"I can see your mind is churning, Remi. What are you thinking?" Charlie asks me.

"Why would a Djinn feel the need to hide what he or she is doing? I mean I get the abandoned building in a remote area, but why a lead room? What purpose would masking the scent of blood have other than to keep something else away? Such as you lot. Also, If a supernatural creature moved those, there's a short list of what could lift them. Vampires, or more correctly, Children of Diaman, could do it."

"Children of what?" Carlisle asks. Knowing he lived with the Volturi for some time, he may have heard the name at some point.

"Diaman… It's what you are," I tell him. "You're not true vampires." Seeing as we had at least 36 more hours to wait until the boys arrived, I had time to tell them. "This world or realm was empty many years ago, and beings from other realms fought to acquire it. It's right in the middle of all the realms, so it's prime real estate. Humans ended up being the ruling species, but there are still connections to those other realms. The fairy realm is one of them. Yes fairies are real, or fae as is more appropriate. Charlie and I met their king. His name is Naldazar. Jasper met him too." Everyone shoots a glance at him. "Another of these realms is called Diamandala. Their ruler, Diaman came to this realm and brought his son, who stayed behind after realizing he could convert the humans into children of Diaman through his saliva or venom as you call it. That son's name was Aro." Everyone is silent and still as stone as they take in my words. "King Naldazar told me that he thought once the Romanian vampires attacked the Volturi, that the children of Diaman went back to their home realm, but they didn't. In fact the opposite happened and the Romanians lost power. You are a lot stronger than traditional vampires, and while you're spectacles in sunlight you're not harmed by it. They are. I also would wager that dead man's blood has little effect on you, while it's paralytic to them. There are other differences, but that's not a big deal at the moment. At any rate you're not really vampires, Aro just gave you that title when he learned that, like vampires, you subsist on blood. But a lot of creatures do that, I've learned, so he really could have gone with many other options."

"So we're aliens?" Emmett asks from the kitchen table. He was still typing away madly. I had a feeling that Charlie could have found the information in a manner of seconds. She knew it, too, but let Emmett think he was the tech wizard.

"You could look at it that way," I agree. "But no spaceship will get you to the realm of Diamandala."

"What else is different about real vampires?" Rosalie asks.

"I've not met a real one yet, but they do have some speed and strength beyond humans, but nothing like yours from what the boys have told me. Um, they have a second set of teeth that descends over their human teeth. Like rows of teeth in a shark, kinda." I had to think of all the features Dean told me about. "Sun does hurt them, but more like a bad sunburn. Their eyes are reflective like an animal's, drinking their blood triggers the change, and the only way to kill them for sure is to behead them. Or shoot them with this specific gun, but the boys don't have it, so that's moot."

Everyone's quiet for a while as they process what I just said. I was having a hard time believing that none of them had ever encountered these other creatures. Just about every mythological being was actually real in some form, and here these guys don't even know there's another kind of vampire. "Back to the subject of you," Alice says, breaking the silence. It's the first time she's spoken. Esme's been quiet, too. "I can't see you at all anymore. I did for a while after you left with those guys, but not at all now. Why, Bella?" she whines.

My snarky side wants to ask her how it feels to be like everyone else. "Because I'm what's called a Simagre," I reply. "It's why Edward was never able to hear my thoughts. My abilities have fully bloomed now so I have more than just that latent shield. I can use the shield to mask my scent and keep my body safe. That's how I threw Emmett into the wall. I'm still learning about all of it, though, so I didn't really do that on purpose. It was a subconscious reaction to the unexpected Emmett sized bear hug."

"I think you mean Tree hug," Charlie jokes. Only I laughed. Jeez, was that just the previous day?

"Anway… so some ancestor of mine, a bunch of generations back had a baby with an Angel. Yes an actual angel, those are real, too. Their baby is what's called a Nephilim. Extremely powerful. The Nephilim then had a baby with a human man and thus the Simagre line was born. Every female in my ancestry has been a Simagre. The males also carry the genes, but the females get the powers.

"What kind of powers?" Edward asks. "Apart from the shield, I mean."

"Well, I'm immune to lots of stuff, and I can control demons. I also did this weird levitation floaty thing the other night, but I don't know where that came from." I don't feel the need to elaborate that I was making love with Dean at the time. "But enough about that. So, we know that Djinn, even several Djinn couldn't move those containers without help of some kind. Probably of the supernatural variety. My mind keeps drifting to the Volturi. Could they have anything to do with this? In an attempt to get Alice and Edward or me?"

Carlisle thinks for a moment. "Not long ago I'd have said no, but given what we learned after your visit to Volterra and then the Newborn battle, and now about his true origins, I'm not so sure. He was having his guard make his decisions for him, thwarting Alice's gift. He may be doing the same now and we have no way of knowing."

"If there was any vamp help in moving those containers, their scents are long gone," Peter adds. "Do we know anything about any lead shipments yet?" His question is directed at Charlie who unbeknownst to all of us but Peter, apparently, is conducting her own search.

She glances at her screen again. "Two weeks ago today, two containers with sheets of lead and some materials went missing off a cargo ship in the south pacific. No other lead shipments have been big enough that could create the space the Djinn would need. All small projects and small pieces. Plus those are all accounted for. The shipping company is conducting a search of the route the ship takes across the ocean as if the containers simply fell off and are resting at the bottom of the sea"

"With all the rain we've had, it's no surprise if any scents have washed away. Our noses are good but they can't beat mother nature," Edward pipes in.

With that, we settle in to wait for the boys to arrive. I hate sitting around doing nothing, so I grab a computer and tried to see if there are any related incidents in the area. Maybe the Djinn had been active nearby before coming here. And truthfully, we still aren't 100% sure it's a Djinn, only going off of theories and probable clues.

I tried to sleep, but it seemed pointless, so I've made a pot of coffee. I'd received a few check-in messages from my human friends all saying they were safe in their homes for the night and awaiting news. I let them all know that we have a lead, but that we need to get reinforcements. They assume I mean the military and are really wondering what was going on. Angela mentions she saw Edward in a car earlier in the day and wonders how I was coping with being back near my ex. Considering he is sitting across the table from me, the answer is 'okay.' At the moment at least. He's yet to say anything to me about our break up or my new relationship. I know he can't read my mind, but he could Charlie's. I'd wager she's giving him a feast of information, and much of it on purpose, going off of the look in her eyes. Part of me hopes it's all about the Fairy Realm, confusing the hell out of him.

"Bella, may we speak?" he finally asks.

"Sure," I agree, mentally ready for this. I feel like I've been preparing for this for a while.

"I understand why you left me," he begins. I sit back in the chair ready to hear his speech. We'll see how far off the mark he goes.

I hope you enjoyed this! Up next will be Bella and Edward's conversation. Will he try to win her back? Or let her go? Let me know your thoughts in a review!