A/N: I know it's been along time since I updated…but it's finally here! I had quite a time writing this….my grandma recently passed away and that was a pretty rough patch for me. I'm sorry if I made any of you upset because I didn't update as soon as I could but I know this chapter's gonna make it up ;D

Enjoy!

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Learning to Breathe

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Chapter 7

Marks

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"Let me get this straight…" Fang started. Her head shifted back a forth between all of us and I knew what she was reading. Horror, fear, concern, rage. She was also seeing what we all knew about that name. Although it probably didn't strike as much fear in her as it did us. "This Victoria is trying to kill you -" she confirmed looking at me, "- for killing her mate James? And Edward…you were the one who killed James? So she is trying to take a mate for a mate?"

I had to process the word mate in my head a few times to get it to sink in. It was an unusual term to use to describe me and Edward.

"Is that basically it?" Fang questioned our gazes.

"Yes, I'm afraid that is what Victoria has chosen." Carlisle answered her aloud. "Unfortunately Bella's life is the price." Carlisle looked at me and I felt Edward rub up and down my arm. He was trying to comfort me but some how I knew this was one battle that wasn't going to be won over so easily.

"Bella…Sonic, I, and all of our friends are going to make sure that nothing happens to you or the Cullen's." At that moment Sonic made a grunting noise from his spot on the floor.

"Fang's right. And speaking of our friends…" He said as his body hoisted up to a standing position. "We need to go home and tell them of our guest we encountered tonight. I'm pretty sure Shadow is just itching to hear some good news." He smirked to her and she grinned back.

Friends? Shadow?

"How many more of you are there?" After witnessing what she was capable of in the field I was pretty sure that more than one of them were able to take care of Victoria and Stark.

Fang shook her slender head, "It's not like that. It's only me and Stark. There aren't any more of us. I mean Sonic isn't even…" Then realizing what had just come out of her mouth, she glanced towards Sonic who had widened his eyes at the mention of his name.

"Sonic isn't what?" Edward had asked sternly. He wanted to know the answer, and wanted to know it now.

She glared at Edward "Don't even bother looking through my mind or his. I'm not letting you in." She retorted. "And Alice won't be able to help you either; I'm making sure she can't look into our futures."

I heard Edward growl. Apparently these two must've got into some arguments when she stayed with the Cullen's. But, neither one of them were backing down from this fight. It was like watching one sibling blame the other for a missing shirt. One was giving out false stories while the other just wanted to know the truth.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait. I don't want any of you knowing what is really going on with me and my friends until I know what is going on myself. Stark shouldn't be taken lightly and I'll have to patrol more at night." I heard Sonic grumble something under his breath at the mention of more patrolling. Fang shrugged it off. "Bella I suggest you keep away from your window for a while unless Edward's in the room with you."

How did she know about that?

"Wait it was you." I blurted out loud. Everyone looked to me at my sudden outburst. I glanced up at Edward. "It was Fang that was outside my window that night. Remember? When I was looking out into the forest and thought I saw something strange and then it vanished?"

His golden eyes shifted over to Fang and Sonic.

The two creatures exchanged a glance before she spoke, "I was patrolling that night and got into a fight with a couple of newborn vampires. They were headed toward your house; they were ordered not to do anything rash. I guess they were just supposed to spy on you for the night. When I finished them off I ran to your house to see if there were more that were headed over there. That was when you saw me and I decided to go home and rest for the night."

"Exactly how long have you been here?" the little pixie vampire asked.

"Um…" she glanced up to Sonic and it looked like they were talking amongst themselves but their lips weren't moving and no sound was coming from them. After a moment her attention shifted to us and she finally answered.

"A few days." It wasn't a direct answer but I could tell that there was more to be said. Alice was about to ask her more when Sonic interrupted.

"Fang we really have to go." He anxiously pointed out. Either they were in a big hurry or he also didn't want to give out too much information. "It was nice to meet all of you." And with that said he turned on his haunches and headed for the front door.

Fang glanced at me and I could see through her eyes, the anxiety that she wanted to relieve me of. I knew she was just trying to protect me and the Cullens but that didn't help that I wanted to know what was going on around me. Now I do know that there truly is life out there that we never officially knew about but were just hunches. But I also know that those other life forms could be just as dangerous as the werewolves and vampires that I hung around.

She turned around and headed for the door following in Sonic's footsteps. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Esme swiftly get up and was walking close behind Fang in a matter of seconds. She opened the door for them and smiled as Sonic went through first. Fang paused before passing the threshold and looked at the motherly figure standing before her. Esme took a step and leaned down to hug the four legged creature around the neck. Fang did the best she could to hug her back by wrapping her head behind Esme's back. This must've hurt Esme thinking that she would never see Fang after that day, and then her reappearing back into her life. I could feel her sorrow.

They finally broke apart and Fang took one last glance to all of us and then went through the doorframe to the outside world. There Sonic was patiently waiting on the porch watching the two exchange a hug. Then in the blink of an eye they were gone and Esme closed the door behind them.

"Are you alright?" a velvety voice asked me.

I looked up to him and nodded my head once. "Yeah. I'm just…a little confused." I admitted. This was a lot to take in and some of it wasn't really making sense to me. All I could really think about was why Fang was trying to keep something from all of us. I didn't have the slightest clue to what it was either, and I felt like a burden to the others because I couldn't help them out.

"It's ok. Fang knows what she's doing." He really was trying to reassure me and I gave him a smile.

"I think I need to go home." I told Edward. After everything that happened to night, a good night's rest sounded great.

Alice and Esme gave me hugs and walked me and Edward to the door.

* * *

When I arrived home Charlie was asleep on the couch. The T.V. was still on the sports channel and the remote was rising up and down with his chest. Edward said that he would come back later after he discussed about Fang with his family. I was pretty sure that they were feeling a little confused by this whole situation. My feet carried me up to my room where I crashed out on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling remembering everything that happened. The way Fang and Stark danced around each other in the field. Their jaws snapping at one another's throats. The way Fang protected us even though she really didn't have to.

Curiosity got the better of me and I meandered over to the window and gazed out into the forest. I knew that Fang and Sonic told me not to go close to the window when Edward wasn't in the room with me. I couldn't help but wonder if there was something out there right now watching me. Whether it was Fang or Sonic or even Stark. There seemed to be no one. Turning around I headed back to my bed and got under the covers i was tired and didn't feel like waiting up any longer to see something terrible happen. Edward would come in like he always did when I was asleep and sit in the rocking chair or cuddle up on top of the covers on the bed with me.

It was going to be a long weekend.

* * *

The trees were flying by as I was driving in my old red truck. My mind was racing as fast as the trees were going by and I was surprised that I made it into the parking lot in one piece. My mind was racing and my life was slowing spinning into a complex stage. I pulled my ancient pickup into an empty spot next to an old white Saturn. The lot was already starting to fill up when I cracked my door open. I hoped out and the sun shone bright on my face. As I looked up into the blaring orb it reminded me of how much I hated the sunlight now. Because of these days I couldn't see Edward. I felt like half of me wasn't here with me today. An empty shell. I sighed as I tossed my bag over my shoulder and shut my door.

"Bella!" I heard Jessica call my name. I looked around and found her, Angela, Mike, Tyler, Eric, and Lauren all sitting around a wooden table in the grass.

I waved back at them and headed over to them. As I walked I saw Katie and Nic with the rest of their friends around their two muscle cars. They were laughing at something that Kacey had obviously done. The scene reminded me of when I first came here and saw the Cullen's laughing and enjoying each other's company. They looked like they belonged in a movie. Too perfect to fit with everyone else and be normal. Katie stopped laughing and glanced up to me and a frown appeared on her face when she saw me. She looked around me and I knew what she saw. I wasn't with Edward or Alice. Everyone else already knew that the Cullen's went camping on sunny days -- at least that was the cover up story -- but they were new to the school so they didn't know how 'outdoorsy' the Cullen family was.

I made my way over to my friends and as usual Mike was being very fond of me considering that Edward wasn't around to stop him.

"Cullen's go camping again?" Angela asked. I knew she already knew the answer, I guess she just wanted it confirmed.

"Yeah." I tried to sound enthusiastic, "They'll be back tomorrow." I shuffled my feet trying to preoccupy my thoughts. I knew it wasn't long but I couldn't help if I missed him. I noticed Lauren glowering at me from the corner of my eye.

"Where'd they go this time?" Tyler asked.

"Um…somewhere in the south. I can't remember the name of the place." Either because I didn't want to or because I didn't want to really say.

"How do you know that is where he really is?" I was shocked to hear Lauren ask that.

I turned my face to look up to her. Her eyes were cold and hard. I could diffidently imagine her as a vampire and a very scary one at that.

"C'mon…he's always gone and how do you that he isn't off somewhere else?" She was trying to get to me. I knew she always had a grudge on me but this was being plain arrogant.

"Because…" But I couldn't exactly tell her why he was always gone on sunny days. "I trust him." And I did with my life. Her asking me these questions were starting to make me think back to him up in Alaska with Tanya. I quickly shook my head at the thought. Edward always told me not to compare myself with any other girl around me because he loves me for who I am, just like I love him for what he is…a vampire. But that isn't the reason I fell in love with him.

"You know it's a fact that Edward Cullen could have better than you." Now she was trying to look down on me. I didn't know what had gotten into her today but suddenly I was the target of her anger. Her statement brought back the memories of Tanya.

The others were just as shocked as I was that Lauren was really trying to start this conversation. Angela was going to say something when Lauren cut her off with a deathly glare.

"I hope you don't mean yourself." I heard an angelic voice chuckle.

My attention was shifted to the girl standing in front of me and Lauren. Her dark hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, a tight fighting white polo shirt hugged every curve of her upper frame, while her loose olive khaki pants only showed the muscles of her thighs. Katie was looking directly at Lauren when she told her that. Nic was behind her to aid her when she needed it, but somehow I didn't think she did.

Lauren's hard gaze shifted from me to her new target. "Excuse me. Do you even know who I am?"

Katie raised one of her eyebrows, "Bratty. Spoiled. Pigheaded. Rude. Obnoxious. I think that basically describes who you are. Or more or less what you are." a smirk spread it's way across her lips as she described what she thought of Lauren.

Lauren ground her teeth together. "What do you mean spoiled? You own a brand new Ford Mustang -" she pointed to the car across the lot "- dress in designer clothing, and live in one of the biggest houses in Forks. How am I spoiled?"

"Because you think you can get a guy that cares about another girl. And what exactly would make you think that Edward would cheat on her? I've been here all of three days and I knew from the start that they were together. But you can't even seem process that in that head of yours. C'mon even a blind person can see that you're all over him." Katie was really confident of herself and she showed it as she moved closer to Lauren and even though they are roughly the same height, it seemed like Lauren was the smaller one here.

Everyone was awestruck. Since I've been here nobody has ever had the nerve to say something like that to Lauren.

Suddenly Lauren became pretty sure of her self through her posture. "At least I don't go showing off the marks that my boyfriend gives me."

I now saw what she was looking at. There was a fairly large bruise on the joint of her neck and collar bone. Some of it was covered up by the shirt she was wearing but some of it wasn't. It looked like it was a hicky but somehow I don't think it was. I saw Nic close his eyes and shake his head.

Katie's hand flew up to cover the abnormality. "Nic didn't give me this. It was someone that I saw yesterday. A guy that I left back home and never thought I would see again. He found me and gave me this to remind me of him."

We were all taken back by the story behind it.

Katie walked up to Lauren and looked her in the eye, "Now do yourself a favor; don't go opening your mouth before you know the whole story and leave Edward and Bella alone. Deal?"

The girl was baffled and apparently couldn't think of anything to say.

"Also," Katie continued, "Don't go picking a fight that you can't win."

Lauren narrowed her eyes at the girl in front of her "I think you should be careful of what you say. You don't look like you could put up a descent fight."

Both Katie's eye brows shot up, then she grinned, "Ten bucks says I can have you on the ground in three seconds. Twenty…and I could have you begging for mercy."

Katie's voice was hard and meant what she said. She seemed really nice but apparently it wouldn't be the wisest thing to mess with her.

"Now would be a good time to walk away." Katie addressed her.

Lauren looked back to her and hmphed then spun on her heels and made her way to the building. After everything that happened, we all looked back at Katie. She was watching the other girl make her way out of sight.

"Wow…" Mike and Tyler said in unison.

Katie just looked at them and smiled. Nic hugged her from behind and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Katie! Nic!" I heard Amy beckon from the side of the dark muscle vehicle.

Nic and Katie turned around and their friends waved for them to come back over. It made me wonder what made them come over here and help me out in the first place. It wasn't like they could actually hear what was going on over here. My thoughts were trailing off but stopped briefly when Katie turned around and I saw a full view of her scar. And then something dawned on me. My eyes grew wider as I tried to look closer at it but it was getting farther away. But it wasn't just her scar, they were walking back to the others. I watched as the reunited with their friends. Most likely discussing what happened over here.

I spun around to face my friends, "I'll catch up with you guys later."

They waved me bye but I was already walking away from them. My feet were carrying me so fast that I was hoping that I wouldn't trip and land on my face.

As I was nearing the large group Kacey and Raven looked at me then to each other. What did they know that I didn't know?

"Katie!" I shouted loud enough for her to hear. But she didn't seem to hear me. "Katie!" still no answer. Alright, I knew I was in earshot. And now she was just ignoring me so I decided to try something else to get her attention.

"Fang!"

All of their heads popped up and Katie literally froze on the spot. I saw that their eyes were about to bulge out of their heads which told me that I was right about my assumption. I walked up to them and made my way into the circle, next to Katie and Chris. There was no way they could ignore me now.

Her head turned to face me and I could tell that she was trying to play stupid. "Why did you just call me Fang?" she tried to persuade me. This was like when Edward was trying to convince me that he was standing right next to me when the van almost hit me and he saved my life by running across the parking lot and lifting the van so it wouldn't squish me.

"Don't give me that." I retorted. "It all finally fits. The scar that mysteriously appeared on your arm one day and then finding a similar scar on the same arm as Fang. Then today with that mark on your neck. And how Edward and Alice can't read any of your minds or see your futures. You're Fang." I looked back up to the wide eyed boy next to her. "And if she's Fang then that must mean you're Sonic."

Katie and Nic exchanged a glance then she looked at me with pleading eyes. "Bella, can we please not talk about this right now?"

"No. I want to know." I know I was being demanding but I needed some answers to calm my nerves. "Are you Fang?"

I turned around and everyone looked like they knew the whole time and that must mean that they knew everything all along. From the moment they came here.

I turned back around to Katie and looked her dead in the eyes wanting my answer. "Yes." she breathed.

"Katie!" Raven shouted at her dark haired friend.

"She was going to find out anyway. It was only a matter of time." She defended.

"Yeah…but Shadow…" Her voice trailed off.

"I'll take care of Shadow."

I looked around wondering if these were the friends that she was talking about last night.

"They are." she looked at me, "Anymore questions?"

Only a few hundred. I thought.

She sighed, "Look…you found out who we are but that doesn't mean that I can tell you everything yet. There's still some stuff that I don't know about yet."

I wanted to argue with her and make her tell me everything that she already knew but at that thought she gave me a warning glance. Then I remembered about the fight that her and Lauren had.

"So does that mean that you really could've taken Lauren?" I questioned.

She laughed and Nic chuckled next to her, "You watched me fight Stark and you have to ask if I can fight a human girl that thinks too much of herself?"

Everyone laughed and I found myself chuckling at the thought also. I tried to picture Fang and Lauren having a duel together and of course it looked funny how I pictured it but also because a human would obviously be no match for Fang.

But something happened during our laughter that made Fang suddenly tense up and become very alert. A low growl built up in her throat and was slowly escaping through her clenched teeth. All the others were staring at her and Nic was next to her asking what was wrong.

She turned to Nic and looked him directly in the eye and it looked like they were having one of their private conversations. Then she looked back to everyone else and growled.

"Werewolf."

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(READ THIS --) A/N: Well looky there….Katie's, Fang and Sonic's, Nic. Now you know who they are but you don't know the whole story. Katie is Fang but Sonic isn't exactly what he appears to be…so don't go jumping to any conclusions and think that that's the end of the mystery with this mysterious group. There's still plenty to be told.

And what do you think will happen when Katie/Fang and Nic/Sonic meet a pack of werewolves? Hehehe…well you'll find out soon enough but for right now let your imagination go and wonder of what could happen.

By the way…since I haven't officially told you what the rest of them are but you have a pretty good guess of who/what they are then please keep it to yourselves and don't ruin everyone else's (and mine's) fun.

As always…please read and review.