Beta: Okay, now you may not know this, but she is depressed about this story not being good enough for you people. PROVE HER WRONG AND REVIEW!! I'll give you a cookie...if you do...

Author: Ignore her. But to warn you- this chapter isn't fully beta-ed because after I finished the whole chapter, I let my awesome beta sleep instead of editing this chapter that she already partially edited. Aren't I nice?

EPOV

I stood up to follow Bella out the door, but Alice grabbed my arm and tried to force me back down. I let her pull me down, not wanting to hurt her. Her expression was worried.

"Edward, something's wrong. I had a vision and…," she hesitated, but I could hear it clear as day in her thoughts. I pressed my lips to let her continue the horrific news. "Edward she's your singer."

I stared down at her, not knowing what to do or say. Of all my years, I had never been fascinated by such a human as this. The one person I did feel a pull to, that I wanted to know, and she was my singer. I sighed heavily, closing my eyes and bringing a hand to pinch the bridge of my nose.

"What else did you see?" I knew there was something she didn't want to tell me. Something concerning this girl. I opened my eyes to see her brow furrowed.

"I don't know exactly. It has something to do with what just happened," She paused, "With another vampire. She knows. Well, she doesn't know about vampires, but I think she has… encountered with vampires before…. I'm not sure. But something's going to happen in biology class, and I don't know what will happen if you're not there… I don't know!"

She growled, frustrated by the holes in her vision.

And it sure as hell didn't help me with the current situation.

The smart, responsible thing to do was get far away from that school as soon as possible.

To never walk through that hallway, enter that biology class, and sit at that one wretched lab table where I would, without a doubt, have to balance precariously on the very tip of a volatile needle, destined to fall, taking Bella down with me.

But, try as I might, my will broke when sheer inquisitiveness took control of my weaker side. The side that wanted to discern the mystery that was Isabella Swan.

"Whether she knows it or not, this girl has some sort of relation with vampires," I had persuaded. "Alice foresaw that I have a class with her. If I can withstand the one hour to find out if she's a threat or not, it will make everybody's life a lot easier if we don't have to find out the hard way," I ignoring the pleading looks Alice was giving me and Jasper's perplexed face.

He could tell that there was more to my actions than trying to make my family's life easier.

The looks on the rest of my siblings told me that they found it painfully obvious also.

"You're endangering her life by doing this, Edward. And not to mention the pain that you'll be going through if you stay," Emmett tried. I shook my head.

"It has to be done." With that, I turned my back on them and walked to my next class. Biology.I didn't exactly know what was so compelling about this girl. Obviously, I couldn't read her thoughts. That was annoying and gripping enough to make me want to find out more about her.

But the way she had acted that one day in the park was… unnerving. The unsettling feeling to shield her from whatever she seemed to be unconsciously shrinking away from made me feel tense. I couldn't shake it.

And then there was today at lunch.

She had seen the odd black smoke that was practically dripping with the smell of vampire when no other normal human had seen it.

Of course, there wasn't anything about Bella Swan that said normal. And for some reason, I wanted to know why.

As if Alice was the one who could read my mind, I heard her thoughts whisper to me as a deathly reminder, Be careful, Edward. She's your singer.

I sighed as I walked into the small classroom, early. I sat down in my usual seat and tried to sort out my priorities.

She's your singer….

I gritted my teeth as the smart, responsible concept came up again. I knew what I had to do and what I wanted to do. What I wanted to do just happened to be the opposite of smart and responsible.

I had to make sure this girl wasn't a threat in order to protect my family. I couldn't risk endangering her life just because I was simply curious. No matter how much that insane pull to her wanted to know everything about her….

My eyes flashed to her small frame as Bella paused outside of the door.

I watched with deep concentration as she slowly entered the classroom. She clutched her books in front of her shyly when she marched slowly to the back of the classroom. I took one more deep breath of clean air and clenched my teeth, preparing myself for what would surely happen when she walked past me.

She's your singer…

Shut up, Alice.

Sadly, Alice couldn't hear me.

She took that one step that would throw her life into jeopardy, and I composed my face into a mask of, hopefully, a normal person at school. She looked at me as she went forward, and though I could swear that I looked as unthreatening as I could have, when she saw my face, a look of absolute terror crossed her face.

I didn't dare breathe, even if I wanted to.

As she watched me, her expression changed only the slightest bit. Confusion and interest. I slowly inhaled through my nose.

Blistering, angry flames exploded and crackled in my throat, scorching and smoldering everything. I couldn't breathe. I locked my jaw, trying not to shake compulsively and rip away from my chair to attack her, to sink my teeth in her soft, clear, delicate skin.

I roared furiously at myself. NO! YOU MUSN'T TOUCH THE GIRL! KEEP HER SAFE!

Why I told myself to keep her safe, protected, I didn't know, but I was too distracted with a few things to work out my mental issues.

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The fire burned. The girl that I wanted so badly to hate sat right next to me, so close, smoldering and burning me without ever making contact. I clenched my jaw, squeezing my eyes shut, and prepared myself another breath through my teeth.

My throat ablaze with inferno, I swallowed back the venom pooled in my mouth. Still, the white hot firestorm had been diminished by a the most negligible proportion, not as excruciating as before. But not by much.

I held my breath again, body rigid as she flipped her hair nervously, the sweet scent fanning out on my face, teasing me. Taunting me. I forced myself to take another severe breath. Almost easy to breathe, yet so unbearable.

And then… the agony disappeared. For the smallest, most relieving, beautiful second, it all went away. Something had caused a wave of fresh, clean air to wash over the room in a light expanse of bliss. But as soon as it had come, it was gone, right as I was taking in another deep, cleansing breath. Caught off guard, the sweltering bonfire scorched again, stronger than ever.

I shuddered, shaking my head furiously, oblivious to the confused, slightly frightened thoughts from the teacher and other students.

I took another burning breath, and my eyes flashed open. In my reprieve of the fresh air, I hadn't realized that there was something off about the pure air. The scent still lingered, hanging in the air like a dense blanket of trepidation.

It smelled of vampire.

Bella started to tremble. I met her gaze, breathing through my nose, letting it scorch me, as I read the total fear in her eyes, seeing the reflection of my own troubled, hungry eyes in the deep brown pools.

An awful, high pitched keening screech struck my ears, threatening to make my head explode with the cruelty of the sheer stress, and our heads both snapped to the stabbing reverberation at the front of the room.

The chalkboard.

Freaks, I heard someone think. A fog of confusion clouded my thoughts; just as before, no one else had seen or heard it.

Maybe….

I inhaled to test my new theory. The scent of vampire was stronger now through the intense forest fire of searing blazes. I took another searing breath. Definitely vampire.

I stared at the chalkboard while the teacher used his hands to gesture to the biology diagram he had drawn. I tuned on his mind, blocking out everyone else's thoughts, only to find the two foot long abrasion invisible through his eyes.

I frowned and pulled away from the human mentality to immediately find the long, deep scratch on the ebony surface there, clear as day.

The girl's heart pounded, pulsing blood through her frail body, making her scent burn me so much more. I swallowed more venom, fighting a hiss of frustration. I was cut off my another screaming squeal, making Bella's breathing hitch, trembling. I wanted so badly to take the pain away, make her feel safe. But the horrible sound continued to shatter my eardrum.

I looked up in shock when I saw what was causing the noise.

Or rather… what wasn't causing the noise.

As if an invisible hand was raking ten foot long nails across the chalkboard, the screeching lines formed on the black board, agonizingly slow as the lines slowly formed letters, leaving a faint trace of thick, ebony smoke.

Bella whimpered under her breath as the screaming cruelty only grew louder.

A sudden ache burning not only in my throat; that anguish had not disappeared, but somehow grew smaller, less important. This new pain was in my chest, right where my heart would be….

The acute shrieking was cut off all at once, and the familiar scent of vampire was now stale, but still hung in the air, not as a relief, but now as a painful reminder of the echoing torture that still rang in my ears.

The quiet hush of small conversation that must have started sometime earlier filled my senses, the innocent humans naïve and clueless of anything that had happened.

Bella's blood pulsated at a hard, chaotic rhythm, sending waves of oppressive conflagration pounding in my throat, but the pain was only a constant remembrance in the back of my mind now as I breathed.

She looked up at me, dread, pain, alarm, and fear all a mixture on her appealing face. I stared back, not breathing, but not from the fire. I stared into her large eyes, trying to prod answers from her without speaking.

She broke away, shuddering slightly and her eyes flashed urgently to the black board, all but forgotten in her endless eyes.

My head snapped up to the chalk board, inhaling small flames, and I froze. Written in deep, permanent gashes that made me internally wince looking at the memento of affliction was a warning not for me, but for Bella.

You can abscond forever, but you can't ever escape me. Ever.

The shrill bell rang but I stayed in my seat, staring at those words written a scratchy, deadly handwriting, trying to make out the obvious threat aimed at Bella.

The scraping of the chair next to me seemed to loud when I tore my gaze from the ominous forewarning to see Bella stumbling out the door, silent tears staining her cheeks.

My internal struggle for smart and irresponsible seemed impossibly inadequate and inconsequential, trivial, as I stood outside Chief Swan's house, looking up at the window that had to be hers.

Bella was afraid of me, I knew by the way that she looked at me the first time she saw me. I wanted so desperately to change her mind. I knew it was better this way.

The sweltering bonfire that had scorched and blistered my throat earlier today was nothing but a small flicker of combustion ever breath I took now, the sweet, mouthwatering scent a permanent perfume in the air I breathed. I could hear her heartbeat, almost feel the warmth radiating from her window as I leapt soundlessly into the large tree by her room.

Why I was here, the answer was as confusing to me as it was clear.

I was hopelessly addicted.

The need to know her and to defend her was so magnetic and pulling that it was almost painful to not know her every secret, her every fear. I had to know why she was being threatened, why it was something vampire, why she was involved.

I had to know. I had to protect her.

Captivated as I was, I knew that I was far out of my league. That I was putting her life into jeopardy and that I could never be more of an outcast acquaintance to her.

But it didn't mean I couldn't get my answers and keep her protected without her knowing.

I leaned over and slowly opened the window, keeping the rusty screen hushed as I worked it ajar. Leaping inside, I took in everything around me, the strong ache in my throat, the slightly untidy room, the unsteady beat of her heart, her father sleeping downstairs on the couch. My attention was back to Bella where she cried out softly in her sleep before turning over again.

I stared at Bella, alarmed as she twisted in her small bed, whispering unintelligible things to herself. She was obviously having the most terrifying, horrific dream a human could ever imagine.

And I was standing there, powerless.

I slowly walked over, desperate to find something to help her. The dull pain in my throat roared up the closer I got to her, but I pushed it away stubbornly, refusing to let it get in the way.

Her attractive face was crumpled in pain and suffering as she breathed heavily, internally struggling for peace.

I was about to reach out, somehow do something when I knew I could never touch her, never lay a hand on her as long as she lived, when her eyes snapped open, wild with alarm and panic.

I was frozen, feeling as though my whole body had been paralyzed to never move again, as she slowly took in my dark silhouette, standing there in the middle of her room, while she woke up from an awful nightmare.

Then, Bella screamed.

Author's note: First, I want y'all to know that this story is still up all thanks to two awesome people. (Thank you so much Tiffany and Callie.) I had more than half a mind to delete this whole story, but I was convinced to let it rot instead.

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Random Song Choices:

Tourniquet- Evanescence (I love this song)

I Can't Stay Away- The Veronicas (In case you haven't noticed, I love them.)

Let the Flames Begin- Paramore (One of my favorite bands- not to mention Haley's hair is awesome- it looks like fire, man.)