A/N Yeah, okay, I know I made you guys wait. Sorry! I was kinda stuck in the middle of a river on a houseboat where there was no internet and 12 volt electrics for an ENTIRE WEEK. It nearly killed me, I'm telling you. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy this chapter, and thank you to the people who have taken the time to read this story and review! *Hugs*

By the way, things get slightly steamy in this chap, so don't say I didn't warn you.

APOV

Three weeks.

It's been three fucking weeks since I last saw her. Since she last came to school. Since she was last sighted.

I can't handle it.

I'm a complete mess. I can't hunt. I can't shop. I can't bring myself to do anything. I'm drifting through school every day, then I'm sitting in my room every night, curled up on my bed in a foetal position, trying to ignore this unbearable pain that I've been experiencing ever since she left. It feels almost physical, like I've had part of me ripped away. It's my dead, unbeating heart that's gone. She's taken it with her.

Edward is whining around about his lost love, blaming me, but nobody is listening to him anymore, and for that I am glad. I don't think I could handle it if my family started blaming me too. I've not had a single vision since she left. And believe me, I've tried. Not just to see her, to see where she might have gone, but to help Carlisle; there've been more attacks. Always in the same way, then always revisited by something as the victim is healing at the hospital. I know everyone is really worried, and I'm not helping their nerves, but I can't help it. It's impossible for me to try and fake that façade of joy and happiness that used to come so naturally to me.

I'm falling apart without her.

BPOV

I couldn't stay. I just couldn't handle that.

Everything was going perfectly. I was handling the new school fairly well, and I had friends. I also had her. But fate likes to screw with my life sometimes, and when Edward seemed to lose it in the cafeteria, I had a horrible feeling that this was one of those times. In the time it took for my eyes to connect with her frightened golden orbs, my mind had already put together the pieces that my subconscious was warning me about. The pale skin, the inhuman beauty, clear, musical voices, coldness of the skin, gold eyes...something was going on here. I needed to get out of there. I needed help.

I thought of Rick, of course. So I'd ducked into the first bathroom I came to and called him. He picked up on the first ring.

*Three Weeks Ago*

"Rick, I need you. I think we've got a problem at the school." He noticed my tone immediately.

"What's up, Bella?"

"I'm suspicious of a few of the kids here. They claim that they're adopted, yet they all share common features: gold eyes, cold and pale skin, all very attra-"

"WHAT! ARE YOU SHITTING ME?"

"What is it? What's wrong Rick?"

"There is only one brand of supernatural that fit your description Bella – vamps."

"WHAT? Rick, are you sure?"

"If they look like what you described, then yes, I'm afraid so Bella."

"But, what about the eyes?"

"Well, records show that a vamp's eyes will turn gold if they feed from animals. That will probably explain how there are no unexplained death tolls in Forks." Rick sounded stressed, and it was getting to me. Vamps weren't supposed to exist anymore.

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know any more than you do about how they are there, Bella. Until pretty much a few seconds ago, I didn't know they existed anymore either."

"I'm panicking here Rick, I mean I've seen nothing out of the ordinary, no hostility apart from that one issue last night."

"Well maybe if they feed off animals they are different to what people encountered in the past. But…was the one you found last night new?"

"Yes, it was new." Fear was rising in my throat, making it hard to speak.

"And you say all their eyes are like that? None of them are red?"

"No, all of their eyes are like that." My frazzled mind was beginning to connect the dots, and the words vampire and Alice were two that just didn't compute with my brain. It seemed like Rick could tell what I was thinking.

"You've got to protect Alice; I presume you care for her. Unless…is she one of them?"

"Yes, Alice is…" I couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't get the words out. I heard a sigh down the phone.

"I want you to stay away from them. They're fast, Bella, and powerful. Observe from a distance, but never get caught. We need to know what their intentions are. I'm doing what I can here, then I'll join you in Forks. This is serious." No. No, I couldn't stay away from her.

"Rick, you don't understand, I can't-" He cut me off sharply.

"You remember the stories Bella. I know it will be hard, when you've just found a friend in Alice, but I need you to stay safe."

"Please, Rick," I whispered, hopelessly.

"Bella…" His tone invited no arguing.

"Alright. Okay, I'll keep you updated," I replied dully, snapping my phone shut.

Stay away from Alice? No. I can't…but she's a vampire…oh my God she's a vampire.

I didn't realise I was crying until I caught sight of myself in the mirror. Being a vampire meant she was out at every turn to deceive me. To fool me. She was fake. That thought hurt, and angered me at the same time. How dare she?

"Bella?"

"A-alice?" I stuttered in my surprise and shock, spinning around to face the seemingly innocent looking vampire. Her expression appeared to be soft and friendly, but I knew better now.

"What's wrong, honey?"

Unexplained anger shot through me, as she stepped forward and I knew I stepped back from her. The pain on her face seemed almost real. I felt a shudder pass through my body and I knew I'd entered my hunting psyche, which meant I had to hide my eyes. I kept my head down, considering my options. I couldn't bring myself to try and take her on; she still held my heart. So my only other option was flight.

"Don't pull that crap with me Alice. And I thought you were different. But you're just like the rest of them." I wasn't really sure if I was making sense or not (This was my anger talking), but I was stalling in order to plan an escape route. Out of the corner of my eye I spied an open skylight. I needed a distraction so I could get through it before she reacted.

"Bella, what are you talking about?"

It was sickening, how sincere her expression was. I inched further away from her as she continued to move towards me. But if I moved any further I'd be out of range of the skylight. Quickly! I took a deep breath, and lifted my head to look directly at her. She gasped as she saw my eyes; I knew she'd be seeing a bright violet. Raising my hand, I pointed at her, aiming to create as much shock as possible.

"I know what you are."

As soon as she blinked her eyes, knowing that she was confused, I leapt upwards with all my strength, through the skylight, and touched down lightly on the roof. From there it was a quick jump into the trees and back the way I ran this morning.

When I reached the house, I couldn't keep still. Those vamps may not know what it means for a 'human' to have violet eyes, but if they were smart, they would find out. I needed to keep my head down, and I couldn't do that whilst I was in plain, public view at this house. And I could not put Charlie in danger. No way. But most of all, I couldn't stay and watch Alice each day, whilst knowing that I had to keep away from her. She might have been a lie, but it was still a lie I had fallen for.

Hurriedly, I rifled around the book of contacts that Rick had compiled for me when I had left, 'in case you need a safe house'. Well, I'd say this pretty much qualified me for a safe house. Scanning as quickly as I could, I picked out a name and address that was close enough. I needed to be no more distance than an hour's run, in case anything went wrong. And the name and address didn't even register with me until I had dialled the number. As it rang, I looked down again, and my eyes widened. Oh shit. But just as I was about to slam the phone down, someone picked up at the other end. I cursed silently.

"Hello?" An all too familiar voice chimed down the line.

"Hey, Kristie. It's me." There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Bella? Bella Swan?"

"Yeah."

"Bella? The Bella that I haven't seen in a year 'cos she was too busy to see me? The Bella that told me she needed 'just a couple of days' to think?" I winced at her hurt tone.

"I'm sorry, Kristie, but things got worse in Phoenix. Rick called me in an emergency and I just haven't had the time since and-"

"Save it," she cut me off. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I recently moved to Forks with Charlie, but something weird is going on. I just talked to Rick, and he reckons we got ourselves some vamps." I whispered the last word, still not comfortable with it. "One of them saw me in my…well…my hunting psyche. Rick says I should lay low for a while, and observe them. But I need to stay close, 'cos there was a new Vrykolakas last night, and I have this horrible feeling that there may be more on the way."

This was all received in stony silence. I started to wonder if she'd just put the phone down and left me to it, when she answered me.

"I guess you'd better come over then."

*End Flashback*

I'd scribbled a quick excuse to Charlie, saying that I'd gone back to Phoenix for a little while, and that Renee had paid for plane tickets. I then texted Rick quickly to get him to work his magic with all that black market tracking and hacking equipment he had going at his place. My story would be backed up. I'd just have to deal with Charlie's anger when I got back. If I get back. I'd wanted to leave the rickety truck behind, but it wouldn't look great to Charlie, so I reluctantly drove it the teeth-grindingly slow distance to Port Angeles, where my old friend Kristie was waiting for me.

She was human, 100%, but she found out about the monsters and so on, so now she works with the rest of us, offering a safe house to those of us who need it. But at first, she wasn't a very welcoming host. See, Kristie and I have a long and complicated history that is wayyy too long to go into now. But the long and short of it is, she was my girlfriend, I got scared that things were moving too fast with us, called timeout, then got called back to Phoenix when the number of Vrykolakases increased. And, as I'd said to her on the phone, I had been too busy (or preoccupied) to contact her until several months later. And by that time, I really didn't want to face her wrath. Unfortunately, my distracted mind had completely ignored the significance of the name and address until it was too late. And she wouldn't let me forget it.

Still, after a week, I had managed to warm her up enough that she would speak to me properly again, and we began to catch up. She told me all about her 'day' job. It was just a cover really, something she'd decided to do even though her rich, rich parents had given her a few bucks when she had graduated. She was a prof at the Uni in Seattle, teaching English. Something I might have gone for, had this not all happened to me. By the end of the third week, it was getting to be a bit disturbing how easy it was for us to both slip back into old habits. One evening, I caught myself with my arm around Kristie and her snuggled into my side. Another, I turned around after getting something from the fridge, only to come nose to nose with her. She almost kissed me. Almost. But I knew that I wouldn't have stopped it if she hadn't caught herself.

And all the while, back in Forks, there were more attacks. Each time committed by a new monster. I couldn't understand it, because if none of the vamps drank human blood, then these things shouldn't appear. Rick was frantically researching, but he was turning up with blanks. The frequency was getting up to almost every night now, and it was draining on me to run to a fro, having to rely solely on my instincts to tell me when there had been an attack that I needed to deal with. It was only a matter of time before I missed one.

That, combined with the growing…well, weirdness between me and Kristie was what put the idea to return to Forks in my head. My growing ache for Alice was what shattered my resolve. I had to see her. Even if she was fake, even if it could get me killed. I hadn't been able to rest, knowing that I couldn't talk to her again, couldn't be with her. The least I could do was catch a glimpse of her every so often. I'd kept my eyes open, obviously, but I'd never seen her. Only her siblings, including the ever annoying Edward. I'd kept downwind of them, for fear of being recognised, and I couldn't hear them, but they seemed pretty put out as their mouths twitched in fast speech. I needed to go back to Forks.

The least I could do for Kristie was to tell her I was leaving to her face, rather that leaving a note like last time. So after I'd packed up my stuff, I went into the sitting room and told her that I needed to go back to Forks, to keep a closer eye on the town. She smiled sadly.

"Always about your job, Bella. I can't say I understand, but I do sympathise." Then she got up and, before I could stop her, planted a kiss straight on my mouth. "Drop by in a few weeks. That is, if you still want to." The uncertainty in her voice as she avoided my gaze damn near broke my heart. Could I? There was Alice but…Alice was an impossibility now. Still, I just couldn't.

Sighing, I shouldered my bag and left. "I'll be back when I can."

Charlie wasn't too bad to deal with.

Oh, who am I kidding?

I arrived in the evening, so Charlie was already in when my rattling truck phutted its way into the drive. He was at the doorway before I had even gotten out of the cab.

"And where do you think you have been girl? No mention? No phone call? Just a note left on the bloody kitchen table?" I imagined myself as shrinking down to the size of a speck of dust. "Do you know how worried I was when you didn't come back in three weeks?

I won't bore you with the details, but the conversation (i.e. Charlie shouting at me) was resultant in that I was officially grounded. Indefinitely. Ah well. He couldn't catch me if he tried.

After it was all over, I stretched out my mind, trying to get a feel for anything supernatural that had occurred. When nothing came to me, I crashed. I hadn't been able to sleep at Kristie's, although I couldn't understand why. Maybe it just didn't feel like home. Now, all the hunting caught up with me and the wave of exhaustion completely knocked me out. The next thing I was aware of was a lovely scent, deeply intoxicating, and oh-so-familiar. Alice has been here.

Despite the fact that I should have been extremely worried and possibly terrified out of my wits, I couldn't help the jolt of excitement that raced through me. Maybe she wants to talk. Maybe it wasn't just an act. I worked hard to squish these thoughts down as quickly as they arose, and instead dressed myself for the day, my thoughts whipping themselves into a frenzy until I was a nervous wreck. Glancing at the clock, I realised my daydreaming had cost me time, but no way was I going to risk running again today, not with vamps in the forest. So I guess I'll just have to be late.

I skittered down the path and threw myself into the cab of my dreaded truck, fumbling to get the key in. Twisting sharply, I exhaled in annoyance and the engine spluttered, coughed, then gave up. I tried again. Same response. Frustrated, I punched the upholstery of the passenger seat, creating a sizable rip. Swearing colourfully, I exited the useless vehicle and prepared myself for a light jog in the rain.

"Need a lift?"

My entire body tensed. I wasn't ready to face her yet. Hell, I wasn't even supposed to be talking to her. But something in her voice made me turn around. I gasped.

Alice was there, leaning up against a very yellow sports car. She looked like she had seen better days. The dark circles that were ever present under her eyes had increased in their prominence, probably because her skin, usually flawless, had become sallow, and didn't glow like it used to. Her lips were turned up in a slight smile, but I could see that it was the first time she had done so in weeks, and it didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes. I'd read that a vamp's eyes go black if they haven't…fed in a while. And Alice's were coal black.

What the hell was I supposed to do? I don't know. But I'll tell you what I did do; like the coward I am, I ran. To hell with the fact that I needed to keep up human appearances – this was a life or death situation, and my instincts were screaming at me, telling me that if I didn't move, I would be the next meal. I hoped against hope that she wouldn't follow, but I heard rustling behind me as she, too, entered the trees in my pursuit. Pushing myself as hard as I could, with my muscles screaming and my heart pounding, I raced past branches, over fallen trees, anything to get away. Then suddenly, it was all over.

Something ploughed into me from the side, and I was on the leaf-covered ground, staring in horror at the tiny vampire with coal black eyes straddling my waist. Her fangs had extended so that they were peaking from her top lip in a rather erotic way. Even now, this close to death, I was painfully attracted to the sexy vamp above me. As I took stock of her position in relation to my body, my panties dampened slightly. Fuck. Then Alice did the strangest thing; she purred. Her eyes had closed, and her nostrils were flaring. Then I realised that if I could smell my arousal, so could she. And she was purring? Her eyes snapped open, boring into my own as another scent reached me; her own arousal.

My eyes rolled back into my head and my panties became totally soaked as she leaned forward, into me, and pressed the lengths of our bodies together. Her nose grazed my neck, which should have set off alarm bells, but I was too aroused to think straight.

"So…good…" she moaned in my ear, and I nearly came on the spot. She began sucking softly on my neck, her breasts pressed deliciously into my own. My hips bucked involuntarily, and Alice's purring increased in volume.

"Hmm…mine," she hummed, biting lightly on my neck, but not breaking the skin. Still, it was enough to snap me out of my haze. With all my willpower, I placed my hands on her shoulders and pried her off of me. Standing up and looking into her eyes, I tried to reach her.

"Alice. Alice! Snap out of it, Alice, please!" I called as she continued to stare at me hungrily, her hands still roaming lightly across my stomach. I shivered, closing my eyes for just a moment, and in that time her lips had connected with mine.

Sparks of raw pleasure and lust exploded behind my eyelids as her lips, tongue and teeth explored my own in a feverish dance that took my breath away, and I responded with all the passion that had burned in me these past weeks. Her tongue swiped my bottom lip, and I granted her entrance instantly, with a deep, guttural moan. The sensations were just too addictive, and even though I knew we should stop, that she was dangerous like this, I just couldn't. This was nothing like when I was with Kristie, or anybody else, for that matter. No, this was primal, and possessive. And God help me, I wanted more.

Eventually my need for breath became prevalent, and it didn't look like Alice was going to stop anytime soon. She had wrapped her legs around my waist, and her core was grinding against mine. I gasped into the kiss as she rolled her hips, and managed to tear myself away from her.

"Seriously, Alice. Stop!" No response. So I took a deep breath. This was going to hurt.

I drew my hand back and slapped her quite hard.

Can I say; Ow.

But it did the trick. Alice leapt back from me, shook her head a few times, as if trying to clear a fog from her mind, then grinned sheepishly at me.

"I think…I need to hunt. Be right back! Then we'll talk."

She zoomed off, leaving me standing in the middle of the trees to wait on her return.

A/N Good? Bad? Too much? Not enough? Review!