OK! I just proofread and found a TON of mistakes (I'm really sorry; I feel like such an idiot) , so here is the new and improved chapter six! (I hope it makes a bit more sense...)

Disclaimer: D. O. I. (If you would like an excuse as to why I haven't updated in so long, see "Author's note" at the bottom.)

Chapter 6

"Memories"

What a gay "talent" to have. I thought dryly.

Alice had started to talk faster than I had heard anyone ever talk. I think that she was talking to me, but even though I was a vampire, there were some things she said that I didn't catch. Jasper laughed and turned to Edward and they started talking, but I couldn't quite hear what they were saying.

I was stunned.

I could hear their voices, and I knew that they were supposed to mean something to me, but I just…didn't get it. I sat there a tried to make sense of the utter chaos the three other vampires around me had become. There were only three of them! Three! How could they suddenly become such a handful? It was kind of mind-boggling.

They vaguely reminded me of my family on road trips to Arizona. We had a lot of relatives there and Arizona was my home state, where I was born. I really loved going there.

I looked at Alice and she was simply vibrating with happiness and excitement. Although it confused me, the emotion that came through me was very powerful. It was love. I wasn't feeling love for my old (and human) family -- though I did love them, a lot -- but love for this new one.

As I looked to the front to see Edward and Jasper, Edward roared with the loudest laughter I had ever heard from him. Jasper leaned on the armrest next to him, turning around to face me; most likely sensing the sudden love I was feeling, and he gave me a smile. Not just any smile; he had been warm and welcoming before, but this was different. Like he was accepting me. I smiled back at him as best I could. I felt like crying!

Then, Jasper turned back to the front, Edward's laughter died down and Alice seemed to calm down, too. I felt the calm atmosphere and sensed that it probably could have been Jasper's doing. I wouldn't blame him if he did that on purpose. I thought to myself. The emotions might be a little overwhelming right now; I couldn't sense emotions and I had a hard time watching them all because of how they had just started talking and laughing. Alice began talking again, though, thankfully, slower so I could understand her.

"So… how did you do that, Courtney?" I contemplated my answer. After a few seconds, I replied,

"I just did what you told me to. I concentrated on a song I liked and then… I don't know…." I couldn't quite put it into words. "I guess I pretty much tried to… project it to you guys. Kind of like I wanted you to hear it, and then you did. Once it got going, I didn't really have to concentrate anymore, so I relaxed, kind of stopped focusing, and it just kept going." Edward spoke up then.

"So, if you were to try, do you think you could do it again?"

"Sure, I might be able to." I said.

"Do you want to?" Jasper asked. He probably felt my reluctance. It's not that I didn't want to try again. (Although I was starting to creep myself out, just a teeny, tiny bit. But that wasn't really it, either.)

"Kind of." I said.

"So what's wrong?" Alice asked with a concerned look on her face. Edward was starting to look a little worried, too.

"I don't really know what song to… 'play'." I answered, embarrassed. Edward smiled and Alice and Jasper chuckled at me.

"Well if that's it, why don't you 'play' " she emphasized the word "play" like I had. "Something like…'Fergalicious'?" I never really liked that song too much, plus I hadn't heard that in a while. In fact there were even some new songs, I'm sure, that I haven't had a chance to hear. I remembered that this song was on my iPod, though. Before the Cullens, the only true contact with any sort of music was my iPod, and I hadn't found it in my pocket until just a little before I met them.

Accepting her little "challenge", I tried to focus on the song. I couldn't quite remember how I had… used my "power" before. I began to run the song through my head and then concentrated harder after a few seconds, making it loud in my head again. I focused on the lyrics and sound effects, and unlike before, I could tell that it was starting to work. Not exactly sure of what to do now that I knew it was working, (and if I was being completely honest with myself, I was proud that I had been able to do it again) I relaxed a little.

"…so they get their pleasures from my photo.

You can see me, you can't squeeze me.
I ain't easy, I ain't sleazy.
I got reasons why I tease 'em.
Boys just come and go like seasons."

It started out quiet and then got louder, kind of like before. By now, I let the music flow throughout the car and Alice started to sway to the beat a little, though they all stayed quiet, listening and probably trying to help me concentrate a little better. I smiled at her; I knew that there was probably a little more to the reason she had suggested this song. I looked at Edward and Jasper for their approval of my efforts. Jasper gave me a nod, his face bright, then turned and just listened to the song, keeping his face optimistic. Edward smiled approvingly at me through the rear-view mirror. I could tell that they were probably proud, also, that I did it again, but I could tell that neither of them really liked this song as much as Alice did. So, smiling, I tried something new and switched the song.

"So delicious (it's hot, hot)
So delicious (I put them boys on rock, rock)…"

Then it carefully dissolved into "Little of Your Time" by Maroon 5. The drums and guitar took place of the beat of "Fergalicious", then the lyrics began.

"I'm sick of picking the pieces
And second-guessing
My reasons why you don't trust me
Why must we do this to one another?"

Alice raised her delicate eyebrows and turned to look at me. I know it's not that big or impressive to change a song, but it was… I don't know… cool that I had actually been able to do it! (And in my head, too!) I turned to see what Edward and Jasper's reactions would be. Edward was smiling at me (a real smile, now) and Jasper raised his eyebrows at me and then started to laugh and clap, jokingly. Alice laughed at him and turned to me.

"Courtney, that was good!" She said.

It took more concentration to change songs, at least blend them like I just did, and I had hoped that they would be impressed -- to some degree, anyway.

"…Just need a little of your time
A little of your time
To show you that I am not dead"

I let the song finish and then I just sat there. I didn't really know what else to say. When the song finished, it was strangely peaceful. I wanted to see how much time we had, and glancing outside my window, it was pitch black. I couldn't see the road too well, even with my enhanced vision, but I saw that we were going very fast. Edward handled the car very well; I couldn't really feel the speed.…

Here we go. I thought. Staying in a car for a long amount of time was my big weakness. The drives to Arizona were fun; we'd get to meet up with a lot of our relatives. Throughout the duration of our vacations, we'd switch usually from Phoenix to Sierra Vista to Tucson. (Although, not necessarily in that order.) But the drive just from St. George alone took about seven hours! And besides, I preferred flying if I went anywhere.

Restless, I shifted in my seat, trying to find a more comfortable position. It didn't quite work and Jasper turned and gave me a small, teasing smile. I rolled my eyes at him, but smiled back. Then I asked,

"Are we there yet?" Edward probably knew through the medium of Jasper's mind that I was a little fidgety, and I'm sure that Alice was starting to notice. Both he and Alice smiled at me.

"Actually," he started. "It might be around morning when we get there. Sunrise, maybe." I sighed and leaned back into my seat. Then I started to slide myself forward on my seat to see how fast we were going. The speedometer read around 110 mph. Geez! Are we going fast enough? I thought sarcastically. Then I looked at Edward to see if he heard me. It appeared that he hadn't, which was good; I was always a pain during a road trip.

"What time is it, now?" I asked, glancing at the clock on the dashboard. Jasper did too and said,

"Almost twelve thirty." I sighed. It would probably be roughly five, maybe six hours until the sun started to rise and we would get there. After a little bit, I looked at Alice and she was smiling at me. She didn't give me just any smile; this one told me that she probably thought of something, has something planned. I smiled back, not knowing whether or not this "plan" of hers was good or bad, but, at this point, I would do just about anything to stay occupied.

"Hey, Courtney." She said.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"How many songs do you know?" She asked with a big grin. I grinned in return.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"A la tuhuelpa legria macarena
Que tuhuelce paralla legria cosabuena
A la tuhuelpa legria macarena Eeeh, macarena
A-Hai"

Trying to contain our laughter, Alice and I finished our dance to the "Macarena" with a little clap at the end.

She came up with a game to see how many songs I knew. I went with it, and after the first few songs I asked her just exactly why we were doing this. She said that it would help me practice and get used to using my newfound talent (plus, she just wanted to do something). She would suggest a song and I would 'play' it to the best of my ability. A few times, Jasper and Edward jumped in and suggested a few!

Thanks to them, I was getting pretty good. Every time I did it, it was easier. It didn't require much effort at all, now. For example, I could think of the song and it would be audible straight from the beginning; I didn't have to wait for it to get louder. When it stopped or if I stopped the song before it was over, it wouldn't get quieter, just stop altogether. (Not unless I wanted it to get quieter like that, anyway!) I was just working on controlling the "volume" a little better.

Before, when Edward, laughing, suggested the "Macarena", I couldn't contain myself and started the dance with it as soon as I started it. Alice started to laugh and joined me, making a highly amused Jasper turn in his seat and watch our performance. Now that it was over, me and Alice burst into giggles. We were laughing so hard, that even Jasper and Edward began laughing with us. We calmed down and took a small break. Then, with a jolt, I remembered just why I couldn't contain myself when I 'played' the "Macarena", and it saddened me a little.

It was the song that Beth and I always danced to. No matter where we were, if we heard it, we would start dancing and singing along with it. I started to dance simply out of habit.

I had to stop thinking about stuff like that. I didn't want to ruin the mood or the fun. I conspicuously glanced at Jasper and could see that he and Alice were talking, but he was looking at me out of the corner of his eye. Oh, boy, Courtney. I thought. Be happy; don't make Jasper worry about you! Then I thought, more optimistically: Don't ruin this; just be happy. This is like starting over - a new beginning! I continued to try to think happier thoughts. I don't want Jasper or anyone to start worrying about me just because I remember things; they all probably had to deal with something like this and they were fine! So I tried to talk to Edward. I slid forward in my seat and put my chin on the outer edge of the shoulder of his seat so that I could see his face as well as Alice and Jasper's.

"How's it going, Edward?" I asked as Alice and Jasper kept talking. He glanced at me and said,

"I'm alright. How are you, Courtney?" Then he smiled and added, "You're getting better at your talent." I laughed a little and said,

"Thanks." So far, I had played just about every song by Justin Timberlake, The Black-Eyed Peas, KT Tunstall, The All-American Rejects, Evanescence, My Chemical Romance, Cold Play, The Fray, and just a few more. Or at least the songs I knew. I was right when I thought that there were some that I hadn't heard of before. They suggested a few songs that were new to me.

"Hey, how much longer until we get there?" I asked. I hadn't been keeping track of the time passing us. He smiled again and said,

"It's three in the morning now, pretty close to four. Time flies when you're having fun, huh?" He chuckled.

"Yeah." I answered, smiling. Then I slid back to my seat and rested my head on the headrest. Alice and Jasper continued talking then stopped a few seconds later. After that, Alice slid back into her seat and then Jasper looked at Edward. I wasn't watching Edward, but then Jasper looked at Alice and nodded at her. I didn't think anything of their exchange, and we sat in silence for a little.

I was kind of tired, well, my mind was, anyway, from playing so many songs after recently discovering my little 'power'. It was just a little after the silence started that Jasper turned to me. He turned around in his seat again and looked at me. Then he said,

"So Courtney…." (By the way he was talking, I could tell that he was unsure of something, a bit uncomfortable.) "How are you liking this life, so far?" I was taken a bit off-guard by his question.

"Um…. It's ok, I guess. It's been easier since I've been with you guys, short as it may be." Despite me forcing myself away from my family and being ever so slightly depressed about even my tiniest memories, I answered as truthfully as I could.

"Oh. That's good." He said. Then Alice asked,

"Courtney, do you remember anything about your old life? Where you come from?… Who changed you?" I internally groaned. This is the subject I was hoping they would avoid, at least for now. I knew that they were being as nice and empathizing as possible; it showed in Alice's voice as she asked the question. But it was still a tender topic with me. It was silent for a small bit as they waited patiently for me to answer. Alice was looking at me with kind, soft eyes.

"A little…. Memories come back to me every now and then; usually if something reminds me of my old friends or family, or if something feels sort of familiar, I'll remember, or have a little flashback." My response was quiet, but it was truthful. Before I answered I came to the conclusion that, even though I really haven't been with the Cullens for a while, I would be honest with them. Edward had brought me, a stranger, to his house and they had all been warm and welcoming. And - to my surprise and happiness - I was beginning to feel accepted by each of them.

"When you remember something, how clear is it?" Alice questioned.

"Well, they range from memories almost as clear as if they happened a matter of days, maybe weeks ago, to blurry images and feelings." Alice seemed to ponder that, and Jasper asked,

"Courtney…Do you remember anything about who changed you?" This one was hard to answer; mainly because this was one of the few things that I barely remembered at all. How did it happen? What time was it? What was I doing? Did I see it coming or was I caught off-guard? Alice looked at me, waiting for my answer when I finally said,

"I don't know….That's one of the only things I can't really remember."

"Where did you live, Courtney?" She asked. She seemed to watch me carefully and I could see just a tiny bit of sorrow, perhaps longing in her eyes.

"I used to live in St. George, Utah." I told her. She simply nodded her head and looked away. I spent the next few minutes explaining my old life to them. I told them about my school, my work, my family and the things we did, I even told them about my old boyfriend. Then I spent a few more minutes telling them a little about Beth. At first, I wasn't sure where to start with her; there were so many things that we had done together! So I settled for telling them that we had met in seventh grade and had been best friends ever since. They didn't ask any more questions, and for that I was grateful.

"So….What about you guys? Do you remember much?" I felt kind of rude asking them about their lives, but I tried to be as polite and understanding as they were with me. I really wanted to know about where they were from and what happened to them, also. Alice looked at me and gave a small smile. This was sure to be interesting; it made me wonder if she knew that I was going to ask them abut this.

"Where to begin?…" Edward murmured. I smiled as they began.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"And we've been together even since." Jasper finished his story giving Alice a smile. Edward, Jasper and Alice had just finished telling me their stories. They started with Carlisle and Esme, since Carlisle was the one to change all of them. Well, almost all of them. Alice had no idea where she was from; she had absolutely no memories of her past. That was probably why she wanted to know if I remembered anything about my old life.

All in all, a rough summary of the history of the Cullens is: Carlisle was bit by a very old vampire, then was on his own for a long time. He eventually became a doctor. When I asked how he could handle working in a hospital they told me that he had a dark beginning where he tried to kill himself a few times, but realized that he could live off of animals, and did. From being filled with so much self-hatred, he had been able to ignore human blood and try to be good.

It was being a doctor that had first brought him to Edward. He was dying of the Spanish influenza, and probably a matter of hours to live. Carlisle was lonesome and had thought of making some sort of companion for himself, to not be so lonely. Since Edward was on the verge of death, Carlisle took him to his house and changed him there. Later, he found Esme who had fallen from a cliff. (I wouldn't have blamed her if she had jumped on purpose, though they didn't come right out and say that she did; she had run from her abusive husband (I kind of knew how she felt in that area) and later, her little baby had died.) She was near death when he found her and had decided to change her. Mainly because he had helped her before; she had broken her leg and Carlisle was about to move, but helped her. When he saw her in the hospital years later, he remembered her from when she was a young woman and couldn't quite bring himself to let her die.

Rosalie was different. She had been mugged. Alice, Edward, and Jasper told me that her fiancée had been drunk then he beat her and left her in the street to die. Carlisle found her and changed her also. Later, she found Emmett while they were hunting, and she couldn't bring herself to kill him. He had been mauled by a bear when Rosalie came upon him, and she took him to Carlisle. She asked him to change Emmett and he did. Rosalie and Emmett have been together even since then.

A few years later, Alice and Jasper met the Cullens. Jasper had been fighting in the Civil war when he was changed, and Alice woke up in an asylum. She had no idea who changed her, where to go, anything. She didn't even know what her name was! All she had was her visions, which led her to Jasper, then took them to the Cullens. They've all been together as a sort of family ever since.

Their stories were kind of sad, considering the way the ends of their human lives came for them. But it seemed like this life made up for it a little. I felt bad for each of them in different ways; Carlisle and the way he hated himself, Esme running from her husband then having her baby die, how Jasper's old "coven", or whatever he called it, was tough for him. But I felt really bad when Alice told me what she could remember -- nothing. I would be there for her as much as I could, be a comfort of some sort. Now I sort of knew why she asked me about my family and old life, and why she seemed a little bit sad when I told about what I could remember.

We sat in silence for a couple seconds when I looked out my window and realized that the sun was beginning to rise. The landscape was different; not as many huge green trees and plants. I looked at the clock at it was about five thirty. I was relieved to be out of the car soon; we were almost there. But at the same time, I was nervous; we were going to be there soon! Would they like me and accept me like the Cullens did? I'm probably going to be an unexpected visitor, and I hope that I wouldn't be treated like and unexpected and unwelcome visitor.

"Are we almost there?" I asked quietly. Edward answered,

"Yep, we're on the outskirts of Denali. They live on the other side, so we'll be there in about fifteen minutes." A wave of panic went through me. I knew I was probably overeacting, but I was still nervous. Jasper smiled at me, and sent a wave of calm in my direction. Alice seemed to sense it, and put her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her and she said with sincerity,

"Don't worry about anything, Courtney. Everything will be fine." I smiled and nodded my head at her but she didn't seem very convinced.

"And besides," she added. "I've seen it." She winked at me and tapped the side of her head with her index finger. I chuckled at her and relaxed. For now, I would take their word for it and just go with the flow. Edward asked Alice something about hunting and I just sat there silent for the rest of the ride, mentally preparing myself for the upcoming events.

Finally, we passed through the town and Edward took the car down a private little road, reminding me of the way to the Cullens' house when a big mansion came into view. The Mercedes was already parked and Carlisle and Esme were getting out of the car. Somewhere behind me, I could hear the jeep and new that Rosalie's BMW was behind us, too. Bringing the car to a stop, Edward said,

"Here we go." And gave me a smile. Yep, here we go. I thought nervously.


Author's note: Whoo-hoo! We finally mad it to Denali! While I'm talking, hopefully you know my excuse for not updating for as long as I have.

I had a ton of school junk to do, and when I had free time, the computer wasn't very available to me. (Meaning that no one would GET THE HECK OFF, and that, apparently, I'm "always on the computer!!") When I say that school got busy, I mean it. For example, one of my teachers had come sort of a seizure, freaking out the whole class while I sat there trying not to hyperventilate (I'm kind of like Courtney; I don't freak out unless other people do, and I was trying to keep my cool.) And I just turned in a book report for me English class only to find out that after we turn in the report, we receive a page of projects to do, but only have to pick three. I've finished one already, but the other two that I picked are going to be long, taking up "mucho tiempo" ("much time" or something like that)!!

--- I'm working on the next chapter, but I don't really know when I'll be able to update next. Just know that I'm trying and I love you!!!---

-ELS... Reveiw, please! (Mainly because, if you find any more mistakes (which you probably have...) I would really like to know.)

(P.S. Crap! I have a Spanish test on Monday, too! O: )