Chapter 3

Beta'd by MortalUndomiel

Last Chapter: "What are you?"

EPOV

My question hung in the air as Lana shifted uncomfortably, looking away from my penetrative gaze. It seemed as if she was ashamed, yet I couldn't imagine that her species could be any more frightening or more vicious than mine was. What could possibly be worse than a Vampire? Her response, however, shocked me to the core.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Edward."

"Pardon me?" I was completely flabbergasted by her response. I didn't understand how she couldn't know what she was.

"The Lankford's, who are my parents now, found me when I was little in the woods one afternoon and they have no idea where I came from or why I was there in the first place," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"You have no memory of anything at all before that day?" I found it very hard to believe, or maybe I just couldn't imagine it. However, her expression let me know that she was indeed being truthful. I knew my efforts were in vain, but I tried once again to read her mind. The harder I tried to force my way in, I actually felt a slight bend in the block, but whatever wall that surrounded her thoughts, refortified. It was almost as if it was a defense mechanism. When she rubbed her temples and shook her head, I wondered if she could feel my attempted to penetrate her mind.

"No, and there was no sign of anyone else where I was found in the woods, once the authorities sifted through the ash either," she said in frustration.

"Ash? Was there a fire of some kind?"

"My parents said they were hiking at the time, something they would do when the weather was decent. They were in the mountains near their ranch in Missoula and said that very few people chose that particular area to camp. It was a place that my father used to go with his dad and it was kind of a secret because it was very hard to reach.

"They said there was a huge explosion that flattened everything within a least a few miles and caused extensive damage to the area below. Oddly enough, my parents were just outside of the blast zone. I guess they need to thank my grandfather for his choice of camping area, God rest his soul.

"Once the fire died down and the earth settled, my parents decided to investigate, to see if there was anyone that needed help. They found a few people who were unfortunately, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some were alive, but extremely injured. After a while my father decided to go and get help, and of course my mother went with him. Cell phone coverage in that neck of the woods was pretty much impossible. They made their way back to their vehicle and that's when they saw me.

"My mother told me that I walked right out of the smoke towards them. My clothes were burned and torn, but there wasn't a scratch on me. She then wrapped me in a sleeping bag. They assumed at the time that my parents must have either died in the blast or were somewhere nearby, injured.

"They were just carrying me to their truck, when they saw headlights coming up the road. The driver was going too fast and clearly didn't see all the debris all over the road until it was too late. They swerved to avoid a fallen tree and their car flipped over.

"The man was hurt badly and my parents ran over and tried to get him out of the car, but it was on its side. The only option was to break the windshield to free him. They went to their truck to get something heavy enough to do the job and that was when they realized for the first time that I was not human.

"They told me that when they looked over at me, I had peeled back the roof of the man's car with my bare hands and dragged him out. I was very young at the time, yet I was able to mangle a car. My parents came over and carried the man to their truck. They said I stood there staring at them as if I was afraid, and that I smiled at them, and walked over and hugged my mother's leg, a little too tight apparently. She was sore and bruised pretty badly as a result.

"They walked back to the area where they found me to see if there was anyone else, and there were pieces of metal throughout the broken trees. It looked strange to them and they thought that maybe it was a part of whatever caused the explosion, so they proceeded to pile it up.

"My father put the metal scraps in the bed of the truck. The shaping of it was what caught his attention. He said that he never saw anything like it, but then he never seen anything like what I could do either."

"Do you think that maybe it was a," I paused for a moment, because I couldn't believe what I was about to ask. "A ship of some kind?" It just sounded too ridiculous to be that simple. I was under the impression that Superman was a fictional character.

"No. My father insists that the explosion was land-based. He said that they were in the perfect position and that nothing fell from the sky that day," Lana said. So there was no ship, she was already here. Interesting.

I stood there processing everything Lana told me. I found it strange how clearly she remembered the information, especially since she was only a young child at the time, but I decided not to dwell on that right now. I supposed that if those were my only memories, I'd remember clearly as well.

I couldn't imagine not knowing my origins, not having any memory of my life at all. As a vampire, human memories do fade and it's a struggle to remember small insignificant details. However, we do at least remember the important, key moments of our former lives. I can't imagine not knowing who my birth parents were or having to depend on strangers who are not like you in any way to guide you. Alice must have felt the same way when she awoke as a vampire alone all those years ago alone. I never fully understood until this moment what it must have truly been like for her.

I was now more frustrated than I was before because my questions could not be answered. Yes, I know she's not human and I've seen a portion of what she can do. But, where did she come from? Why was she there in the woods alone? I realized that if I'm frustrated merely due to my curiosity, how must she feel? This was her life after all. I had to have faith that the answers would come eventually, at least for her.

After a while she just sat there staring into the trees as though she was right back in that time, experiencing everything she described all over again. Suddenly she snapped herself out of her daydream and looked back at me with a watery smile.

"I've never told anyone that story before; it's oddly freeing to be able to finally share it with someone," she said taking a deep breath and releasing it. "Now, it's your turn. What are you? In my experience, no human is able to punch through steel." It was now my turn on the hot seat.

"Well, I was actually human at one time. I became what I am at the age of 17." After all these years of keeping what I am a secret, it was hard to just dive in and disclose everything, especially considering the Volturi. Lana stood from the tree and walked over to me slowly.

"I can see that this is hard for you to talk about, Edward., and I understand that. But, I've just told you my deepest, darkest secret; I think we are way past the pretenses. I trusted you with my story, now you must trust me with yours," she said gently. She was absolutely right. She went out on a limb to share her story with me and I owed her the same courtesy.

I suddenly felt self-conscious. I wondered if she would be repulsed once she understood what I was and what I have to do in order to survive. Will she be frightened and run away screaming, telling all who would listen that I was a monster? I looked at her face and she gave me an encouraging smile, almost as if she were already accepting me for what I was even though she didn't know what that entailed.

"What are you?" She repeated, her eyes staring deeply into mine.

"A vampire," I said. She stared at me for a long moment, expressionless.

"A vampire?" She repeated.

"Yes." After a few moments, her eyes narrowed and her face became a mask of disbelief and sarcasm.

"Honestly Edward, if you didn't want to tell me what you were you could have just said so, instead of making up something so fucking ridiculous. I suppose the next you're going to say is that you keep your cape inside of your school bag," she said while shaking her head.

Honestly, I didn't expect that reaction at all. I never thought for a moment that she wouldn't believe me. I suppose this reaction was better than the screaming and running that I originally anticipated.

"I understand that it's hard to believe, but what I say is true," I said while making eye contact with her.

"If you are a vampire Edward, show me your fangs?" She said as she cocked her head to the side.

"We don't have fangs per say, but believe me, my teeth are extremely sharp," I said.

"You know, for a vampire, you certainly don't seem very scary," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest, and that little comment broke my control. If Emmett ever heard her say those words out loud, he'd hold over my head for years to come and I didn't have the patience to hear it for the next few hundred or so years. It was clear that I would need to teach Ms. Lankford a little lesson about monsters.

I stared at her and gave her my trademark menacing smile as a growl began to build deep within my chest. Her eyes widened as her arms fell to her sides. My body began to shift into a crouch and she took an involuntary step back.

"Umm, Edward?" She said shakily taking another step back as I roared at her caused her body to jerk back in fear as I stalked towards her slowly. "Edward, what the fuck are you-" I didn't give her the opportunity to finish the question as I leaped at her. Her piercing scream filled my ears as we sailed through the air. I landed on top of her, I pinning her to the tree she'd used as a bench by her wrists as I snapped my teeth at her jugular, grazing her skin ever so lightly so that she could feel how sharp my teeth were. She screamed.

"Okay, Okay! I believe you! I believe you! Please!"

I released her and she scooted away from me fearfully. I was slightly surprised that she didn't defend herself, but it could have been shock that paralyzed her. I stood and adjusted my clothing as she continued to stare at me in terror.

"My apologies for frightening you that way, Lana, but I had to show you, and this was the only way I could think of to do that. The only other option would have been to take you hunting with me but I assumed that actually killing a creature in front of you would have been a lot worse than this was."

"You assumed correctly!" She replied with wide eyes.

"I thought so," I said as I adjusted the Cullen crest that adorned my wrist. Lana just continued to stare at me as she got her breathing under control. I could see that she was slowly beginning to accept that what I told her was the truth. She took a deep breath.

"Ho-how did you become a... vampire, Edward?" She asked shakily. "Were you bitten by a bat?"

How humans came up with this nonsense was beyond me. It's comical. As I stared at her I could tell that she was still extremely terrified and I began to regret showing her that side of myself.

"This was truly a mistake. Please believe me when I tell you that I would never actually harm you." I said as I slowly walked over to her. Thankfully, she held her position as I took her hand in mine and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

I went on with my story; how Carlisle saved me, everything. Once I was finished we sat in utter silence not knowing what else to say. We were both overwhelmed by the information we both received. Time was running out and I knew that we would need to begin heading back to school now if we were to walk at a normal speed. I had shown her enough of what I could do today.

"So, the rest of your family, is like you also?" I stared at her for a moment trying to understand how she came to that conclusion. "I couldn't help but notice the striking resemblance in your complexions," she went on to say.

"Yes, we are all are the same," I said quietly. "To humans we would be considered a family, but to our kind, we are a coven." I wondered what she was thinking at that moment. I was surprised that she hadn't run in opposite direction after my little display, but she seemed to be lost in thought now that she had calmed down.

"So, you're like, dead?" I laughed a bit at her naivety. She was very funny in her own way.

"Well, in a human sense, yes we are dead. We have no heartbeat, therefore no pulse. My skin is cold and hard and we don't need to breathe."

"How long can you go without taking a breath?" She was shocked.

"Well, indefinitely if we wanted to but, the lack of oxygen does affect our sense of smell which is essential to us when we hunt." Lana closed the distance between us slowly and put her hand over where my dead heart was. She held it there for a while, moving it around.

"My God this is insane," she muttered. We stood there a few minutes more and I looked at my watch.

"We need to start heading back now or we'll be late for class," I said. Lana nodded and reached for her bag.

On the way back I kept steeling glances at Lana as we both walked at a normal pace. Soon we were back at the cafeteria and my family was there waiting. She seemed to tense up a bit at the sight of them but that was understandable. Bella ran up to me and pulled me into a hug.

"Is everything okay?" She immediately turned her gaze to Lana.

"I'm perfectly fine, love; by the way everyone, this is Lana Lankford. Lana, this is my wife Bella and my siblings, Alice and her husband Jasper, Emmett and his wife Rosalie," I said while I held Bella in my arms.

"It's very nice to meet you all," Lana said looking down shyly. "Well, I need to head to class, so I guess I will see you in Astronomy Edward, and Emmett." she said as she swiftly disappeared around the corner.

"I see your conversation went well since you two are on a first name basis now," Jasper said with an arched eyebrow. "I'm assuming that she knows about us, after all, she was positively terrified."

"Yes, I had to tell her. I was also able to find out a few things about her. I'll explain it all at home later," I said smiling back at him.

I shifted Bella to my side keeping my arm around her shoulders and we all started to walk to our classes. After I kissed Bella goodbye and walked to my next class, my conversation with Lana flooded my mind. I had so many questions to ask her and I didn't really know where to begin.

I found myself feeling truly connected to her after hearing her story. I wasn't sure why I felt this way, but she seemed like a kindred spirit, someone who knows what it's like to be different and have to deal with that on their own. But, I at least had Carlisle to guide me and let me know what to expect from this existence. I couldn't imagine not having someone who could truly relate to my nature.

Listening to her story and hearing the sadness in her tone, made me feel for her. I know she has parents that love her, but she still seemed very lonely and could probably use a friend. She reminds me so much of myself before Bella.

After I left Carlisle, I isolated myself to the point where nothing mattered anymore and life became monotonous and blasé. The hunt for criminals to feed on was the only highlight of my time away; the destruction of life that I could never give back.

When I decided to return to Carlisle, things were better for a while. He eventually found Esme and I was thrilled for him. If there was any who deserved happiness and companionship, it was him. It wasn't until he changed Rosalie that I started to feel the pressure to be mated.

Although she was beautiful, I felt nothing for her in a romantic sense. We were barely able to get along and luckily years later, she found Emmett which took the emphasis off of me for a short time, but I was still the odd man out.

When Alice and Jasper joined us, it began to be too much to watch others so happy. I felt as if I was a plague of misery on the ones that I loved to the point where I thought about leaving them once again. They didn't need me there as a constant source of their pity; constantly reminded of my incompleteness. Fortunately, I battled through those feelings and remained with them, which led me to my Bella.

What if she feels as I once felt? What if she too feels so incomplete that she considers living a life of solitude to avoid the concerned eyes of the people she loves? I cannot let her make the same mistakes I made all those years ago. She needs her family and she needs friends that she can count on more than she would ever know.

If she were to go off on her own, she would regret it as I had, but it will be much worse. Time means nothing to an immortal and her parents could be dead by the time she realizes her mistake. I had to make her see that she's not alone anymore and that she has me on her side, as a confidant, as a friend.

What was I saying? This wasn't my place, but I couldn't help but feel as if I had to try. I decided that later on in class, I would invite her to our home so that she can get to know my family. She would not suffer my fate if I have anything to say about it, yet I couldn't understand why it was so important to me.

Hours passed and it was now time for my astronomy class with Lana. Emmett met me outside of my last class so that we could walk together, and I could see in his mind that he had questions about my interaction with Lana. Before he could even voice his thoughts, I answered them.

"She seems very sweet, Emmett, but I can't really tell you much else. We didn't really get a chance to discuss anything other than the subject matter at hand. I still have questions for her about the incident amongst other things. So, I thought that in light of this, maybe it would be a good idea to invite her back to our house tonight to get to know her better. Then the information you seek would be first hand," I said while looking at Emmett out of the corner of my eye.

His face lit up. He was curious about her as well and would love to have an opportunity to get to know her.

"That's a great idea, Edward! We haven't had any fun visitors in a while. Do you think it's too soon to ask her to take me flying?" He looked so excited and childlike it was almost unbelievable. I pushed him roughly on the arm while laughing at him.

"Emmett, when are you going to get past the whole flying thing? I swear if you make her feel uncomfortable tonight I will skin you alive," I said jokingly.

"Doesn't anyone else realize how cool that is? I mean who wouldn't want to experience that," Emmett said while nudging me back on the arm.

"Well, I did experience it on a smaller level and it was thrilling feeling so weightless and light, but I was in an elevator shaft and too fearful to truly appreciate it."

Moments later we arrived in class, but Lana wasn't there yet. I knew she sat in the back away from everyone, for obvious reasons. It's harder for people to stare at you if they have to turn all the way around to do so. We still had 10 minutes before class started and I decided that I would offer her the empty seat next to me if she wanted it. No one has ever dared to claim it.

A few minutes later, Lana walked into class. Her head was down of course, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Suddenly, she looked up at me and our eyes locked. I smiled at her warmly and gestured for her to come over to our table. She returned my smile and began to slowly walk over to us. On her way over a boy in our class stepped directly in front of her. She stopped immediately and looked up at him with wide eyes and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"I'm sorry, excuse me," she said with a smile as she tried to walk around him, but he stepped in front of her again. I focused honing in on his thoughts blocking out all the others to understand what he wanted and I wish I never had.

His thoughts were appalling; he only saw her as an object of lust and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask her out. The only reason he felt comfortable in doing so now was the fact that he saw her smile so that itself gave him the gumption to approach her.

Coward! He reminded me of that pretentious little pervert Mike Newton and his fascination with Bella. But even he, with all his fantasies, wasn't as horrible as this person. This boy was so utterly repulsive that I honestly wanted snap him in half merely based on principle. Lana deserved so much better than that cretin! Where on earth was this protectiveness for her coming from?

"Hey there beautiful, my name is Richard, but you probably already knew that," he said with a creepy smile. Lana didn't seem to understand his intentions and still looked very confused.

"No, actually I didn't know that, but thanks for the info Richard. Now if you'll excuse me, class is about to start," she said sweetly, with a bright smile. She attempted to walk around him again to continue to my table only to be stopped again.

"Oh, it's okay angel. I know you wanted to go out with me, but you were too shy to ask. So, I thought I'd save you the trouble and let you know that I'm available tonight," he said while grabbing her arm, attempting to pull her back towards him. I wondered if he would want to keep that hand after I ripped it off.

"Wait, I don't understand. Why would you think that I wanted to go out with you?" She seemed genuinely baffled by his pick up line and I suppressed my laughter.

"Because you like me and you know that I can show you a good time," he said cockily.

"What?" Lana shouted in shock.

The next thing I knew her hand flew to her mouth and she was in hysterics. She had to practically hold on to a desk to stay upright while Richard stood there with wide eyes completely humiliated.

"I'm really slow today not to have caught on to that," she whispered. "So you're psychic now, right? You know how I feel? Well, tell me, Richard, how am I feeling about you right now?" She stopped laughing abruptly and her facial expression turned hypnotically deadly.

Something strange happened then. As I scanned Richard's thoughts, they suddenly went blank and fearful images began flashing. He took an immediate step back staring at her in fear as his heart rate increased exponentially. Her eyes must be very expressive to provoke such an intense response. How odd.

"Wow, you really are psychic! But, you were wrong about my wanting to go out with you, but we all make mistakes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a seat now," she said while walking by him with her chin held high, smirking.

Everyone who was eavesdropping fell into laughter, including me and Emmett. When Lana got to my table, Emmett jumped up and gave her a double high five.

"That was great! I thought Edward and I were going to have to smack that kid around a bit but you handled it like a champ," he said while sitting back in his seat.

"Nicely done, Lana. Who would have thought that you had that in you," I said trying to control my laughter.

"Well thank you both very much. I'm just glad it didn't it didn't escalate. For some reason, I seem to be somewhat of a trouble magnet."

"That sounds hauntingly familiar," I said as I flashed back to human Bella. "Why don't you sit with us today? It would seem that you need body guards to fend off your devoted fans; that is, if you don't mind?" I wanted to give her a choice and not make her feel forced into it.

"Oh..Uh, that would be nice, thank you," she said as she took the seat beside me.

At that moment the teacher entered the classroom and class began. Lana seemed to be totally absorbed in the lecture. Her eyes seem alight with excitement as the teacher went on about the possibility of distant planets that have yet to be discovered. Class ended and we gathered our things to leave.

"Lana, I wondered if you'd like to come to our home tonight and meet my parents and spend time with the family." Lana's eyes widened slightly and she took a deep breath.

"S-sure, that would be nice. What time works?" It was obvious that she was nervous.

"Well, we are all heading home right now so I guess whenever you'd like."

"Well, I need to go home first, so how does 7 o'clock sound?"

"That would be perfect. I will let them know you're coming," I said as we started walking from the classroom. Once we were in the parking lot, I gave her directions to our house. She had this strange expression on her face that I couldn't read. Guilt, perhaps?

"I'll see you in a couple of hours. Bye Edward! Bye Emmett," she called over her shoulder and waved.

We all met at our car and I told them all that Lana was coming over tonight. They all seemed excited to get to know her, with the exception of Rosalie of course. She was still very skeptical and most likely will not be won over easily. Once we got home I told everyone about my conversation with Lana at lunch time. They all listened in on the story she told me about how her parents found her, and how I had to prove to her that I was indeed a vampire.

"That wasn't very nice, Edward. Did you have to scare her like that, dear?" Esme said.

"I didn't want to scare her, but that was the only way to prove to her what I am. I didn't think hunting in front of her would have been the best option."

"Damn! I wish I could have seen her face when you scared the hell out of her Eddie! You make me so proud!" Emmett said.

"Shut up, Emmett!" Rose said as she looked at him in disgust.

"As we digress," Carlisle said as he looked at Emmett. "Any guesses on what the metal her father found was?" he asked.

"I'm not sure; we didn't get a chance to discuss it. We only got to the point where her parents decided to keep her. She's coming over tonight, so I'm hoping to find out more about that her then."

"You seem to be very fond of her so far aren't you Edward?" Esme asked kindly.

"Well, I don't know much about her, but she seems very kind-hearted, and lonely for that matter. I thought it would be nice for her be spend an evening with us, she doesn't have any friends from what I've noticed."

"It's a great idea, it's very difficult to not be able to talk to anyone or let them get to close out of fear. I hope she enjoys her time with us," Esme said.

"I hope so too," I said with a smile. All I could do was hope for a pleasant evening.

End Note: And there you have chapter 3. As always, let me know what you think!