Family is most certainly the one thing that no one should ever come between.

Chapter Two:

Bella

I didn't trust myself walking into a house with four men; whether they were my own kind or not. When I was human; THEY were my own kind then too. This put such distaste in my mouth that I could feel the venom burn in my throat. I was becoming so claustrophobic before entering, that I had to pull Rosalie to the side. The panic shocked every part of me. I didn't want to hurt anyone that she had declared her own family. I pleaded with her to invite everyone outside instead. She tried to calm me and tell me that everything would be alright, but I knew what my boundaries were; she did not. Living in my world alone suited me perfectly. When she couldn't get through to me; her brother Edward intervened, first in my head, then verbally.

"Bella, if I may?"

I hesitated with his physical approach; his arm stretched slowly towards me to show his compassion for something he had no right trying to understand. There was something about him that led me to believe that I could trust him, but my instinctual fear overcame me. I fled at once; not looking back. I could hear Rosalie whimper with sadness at my quick departure, but I couldn't handle it. I ran as fast I could; over the mountain -top and down again, waiting for the tension to lessen. As I came to the ocean edge; I knew that the water would help relieve it, so I took the only pair of shoes that I owned off and let the water rush over the filth that covered my feet. The jacket also came off; only leaving my under garments, shirt and jeans on. I ran in the rushing water until I became soaked; leaving my sanity behind and reveling in the calmness of the ocean the deeper I went. Nightfall was still upon me; the moon danced on the surface. This should have been as relaxing to me as it usually had, but this time, something was different. The only thing that made sense was that I ran into Rosalie; her family and how they seemed to actually live as one.

Was it really that incomprehensible to believe that they could pull it off? Or was it because fear rattled me from within that they would want me to join? Sometimes I wished that I could lead a normal life; this would never be the case.

"It could be, if you just gave us a chance."

My patience with this man had been drawn right then. Who did he think he was? Following me; watching me in my vulnerable state? My pain is mine, not for anyone else to indulge in, as he was. My temper flared as I jumped out of the water to attack him. The rage was too strong to hold myself back; it didn't matter now what family he had; he went too far. The deep growl forced itself out as I landed on the sand. Sand flew in every direction as I stomped heavily; closer to him. He raised his hands in defeat, trying to discuss with me why he was here. I had no patience with him any longer. My rage deepened; the growl becoming more dominant.

"Bella, I just came to talk. Please calm down; I'd rather not fight you."

I couldn't see past my own pain and vulnerability, which he exposed; and it was not his to expose. I clearly remember asking him to stay out of my head. Not doing as I asked would cost him, and I was going to make sure of it. Without a word spoken on my behalf, because I didn't deem it necessary to waste my breath; I let him in only to show what I was about to do to him. He begged me one last time not to do this; but it was too late for that.

I ran towards him, knowing that he would move, knowing my thoughts. And again, I blocked him of that privilege that he thought he had. I thought about the calm water that I relaxed in moments before he came. He thought he was so quick to cheat with his mind reading; I would show him how cheating truly works. As I jumped toward him, I could see which direction he would go; I was there before he was. The shock on his face was warming to me. He knew I could possibly win this. Each and every time he moved; I was there first to hit him. My foot hit his chest; knocking him against the large boulders. You could see the rock formation become frail; huge shards falling from where they lay for many decades. His head hit hard; I could hear his skull crash into it; blood flowing rapidly.

"Please, Bella, stop," he whispered.

There was no chance of that happening. A diabolical force took over me. I smiled as I came to him again; reaching for his throat. I lifted his body in the air and then threw it into the sand as hard as I could. The wind carried the sand all around us; flying in my hair, my face and covering his whole body. The indentation in the sand had to have gone at least three feet deep; the sand fell into the hole that I made; threatening to cover us. He fought to get away, but I knew his movements before he did. I stared at him as I deepened my grip on his throat; anger consuming me; remembering their faces. I looked down at this man that followed me and said.

"You're nothing but a piece of trash that I need to take out before you hurt someone."

"Bella, I am not the one that hurt you," he gasped out.

I pulled him out of his grave only because I was still angry with him. I wasn't done hurting him yet. He needed to know that I couldn't be trusted and that I couldn't trust him for what he was. Was I going to kill him? Maybe; I hadn't decided yet. His thoughts bothered me.

What had they done to disillusion her to this extreme, to make her believe that we were all bad?

I knew then that I planned on killing him. He was just like all the rest; I was sure of it. As I threw him down beside the pit he just laid in; I buried my foot onto his chest; knocking him backwards. I bent down to whisper to him.

"That pit of sand you were just in will be the closest grave you will ever have for your family to visit you. When I am through with you, there will be nothing left."

I wanted to kick it up a notch; show him what I was really capable of. The memories of what happened to me when I was human began to flood my mind. I closed my eyes; I let the wind carry me to my deepest thoughts. Thoughts of how I wish I had more of me to go around so that I could take care of myself. I saw another of me then (in my mind), then another, soon I saw eight of me; circling this man. I opened my eyes to see the expression on his face when he realized that I made more of me. His head still crushed in the back and pain soaring through him; he looked around quickly with eyes gaped; his mouth dropped in disbelief. Me plus eight with deep red eyes, ready to pounce on him one last time. He shivered to the bone and asked again; this time verbally,

"What did they do to you?"

He knew his life was coming to an end and still; the only thing that came to his mind was asking this? This time, knowing that he would not be around for very long to repeat what I was about to show him. I showed him all of it from every one of me that surrounded him. He wanted to know, he will see it all in the matter of seconds. My horrible deep secrets wrapped around him; smothering him.

He looked at me with confusion at first then his face turned twisted in horror; horror of what they did and why I am the way I am. His eyes showed heartache, but I refused to let that bother me. Faster, I showed the memories; faster, I revealed the pain, the faces of them, the cruel manner in which they left me and finally; my death. He stopped fighting his way out of the sand; holding both sides of his head, shaking it uncontrollably. I was satisfied. I spoke my last words to him; the last words he would ever hear:

"See what your kind did to me? It will never happen again."

I was ready to stop the charade, but, for some reason, I was hesitant. His face showed remorse; remorse for what reason was unclear to me. It didn't matter; I was going through with it. I was startled by his outburst.

"Please don't show me anymore. I'm sorry for what they did. I understand now. Please just…don't show me anymore. I can't watch what they did to you. I can't…bear it. I can't see you go through it. I wish I could've stopped them."

I wasn't sure what happened to my emotions then. The hatred I felt for all men; vanished with this one. The rage I had, dissipated; killing him was not on my agenda now. I…believed him. This revelation startled me. I began fighting my own thoughts. He knows my secrets now; he can't possibly live.

Picking his self-up from the sand, he spoke with sadness in his voice; almost crying…if he could.

"Bella, I can help you see that we're not all like them. I beg of you to allow me the chance to help you through this," he choked out with shivers rolling through his voice.

Just like a man to beg in such a way that it didn't make him look like a coward. I was ready to finish this when I was stopped by the voices coming toward us. It was Rosalie and the rest of her family. I only had seconds before they showed, and they were mad. There were seven of them. I had no plans of killing the entire family that Rosalie loved. I just needed to make them pause.

Less than ten seconds and they were on the beach; ready for an all-out war to save their brother; their son. I had no shame for what I was about to do before they arrived. They took notice of his wounds and the disfigured look on his face that I planted in his memory forever. Rosalie stood out from the family; her eyes full of wonder and disbelief about the others I had by my side.

"Bella…? What…how…why did you do this? He's my brother! He only came to help."

Anguished, I turned to her broken brother I'd left behind me; now realizing what I had done to her family. My fury towards myself fired up again. I turned to Rosalie as he silently spoke.

I would never speak of that Bella. I am distraught by what happened to you. I would never say anything…to anyone.

I could hear the massive deep growls heading in my direction, especially from the one with all of the scars. I quickly turned to Edward and, in thought, told him that I believed him. My rage diminishing just as fast as it had risen. I was closing our conversation so that he could speak to his family when I heard him say,

"You heard my…thoughts?"

Damn, I let the cat out of bag. How the hell did that happen? I was sure that I was careful about that. I think with all that was going on, I may have had a small mishap in my judgment about whether he was speaking verbally or not.

The one with the scars had planned on tearing me from limb to limb; he was ready to take on all of me that stood before him. A petite woman went to him, I heard her tell him to calm down, that there would be no fighting today. How did she know that?

That's Alice; my other sister, the one you didn't meet with your quick flight. She can see the future.

I raised my hands up; allowing Edward's family to go to him while I backed away. I kept a close eye on Rosalie; hoping that I didn't do any damage to our relationship. She glared at me as she went to Edward. When she was able to get a closer look, she stood solid, not looking at me. I could see her tension and it filtered through to every family member. I suddenly felt on edge; not from any attacks, which I knew they all wanted, but from the feeling of knowing that I was no longer welcome. That was never a problem before coming here; now I was drowning in it. Rosalie faced her back to me.

"I want you to leave…now. Don't ever look for me; don't speak to me again. I want nothing to do with you."

I tried to beg her to forgive me, but she wouldn't have it. The shame I felt was beyond what I had ever expected to feel. I drew my head downward, giving into her demands. There was nothing else to say. I began walking away when I heard Edward speak to her.

"Rose, calm down…"

"No Edward, she has caused enough damage to all of us in the little time she has been here."

With that said, I ran, blocking out any voices that would hinder my escape plan. I couldn't face her. I am here because of her, and now I have destroyed the only semi relationship that I had. The guilt ran through me as I took flight. The further I ran, the better I thought I would feel, but I was very wrong. Two weeks went by and still I drowned in the guilt. I still thought about the words that he spoke to me. I think I believed him in some way. All of Rosalie's hopes were shattered. I was going to miss her. She was the only one that I would have associated with. I may have decided against killing her brother; I really did believe that he would never say anything. Rosalie herself, the one that changed me, didn't know everything he knew. If it weren't for my rage that I had built up in the fear of meeting all of them at once, I may have listened to him, I may have liked it. But again, he was a man. A good looking one, too. As a matter of fact, I've never thought any man was as beautiful as he was. Even with that thought, the likelihood of ever seeing him again was obsolete. Rosalie would never let me get near her family again; she made that loud and clear.