Everything hurt. And I mean everything.

My head ached as if someone was hitting it with a jackhammer, my arms and legs felt like they were on fire, my chest felt as if it were slowly being torn open from the inside.

But it was my back that hurt the most.

It felt as if it was attacked by a cheese grater, then drowned in salt to burn it, and then stabbed repeatedly.

I let out a groan and rolled over onto my side, cringing in the process. Where was I anyway? I didn't hear anything but the tick tock of a clock somewhere, and my own heartbeat that echoed in my ears.

"Ugh… I feel like crap…" I croaked, my throat burning with dehydration. What had happened? I remember answering the door, and Jacob was there… then being attacked by a giant wolf. I didn't even know they could get that big! Then I was being crushed to death while having one of my episodes, fighting from somewhere in the distance, and then passing out.

Well, that cleared things up…. Didn't it? Not…

I forced my eyes opened, and at first I had to blink a couple of times from the light. It wasn't from the sun, mind you, in fact, it was dark out the windows. It was the light overhead that was so insanely bright.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position and hissed through my teeth when my right arm screamed in protest. I lifted it up to my face to examine it.

My arm was wrapped tightly with gauze that seemed stained with blood, which made me sick to my stomach. I was never one to enjoy the sight of blood, especially when it was my blood. I got it from Mom.

I let my arm fall down to my side and lifted up my shirt to see that my upper torso was also wrapped up, no doubt from being clawed on the back.

I pulled my shirt back down and looked around where I was. The room I was in was decorated like the early 1900s, cream colored furniture pressed against the wall. On one side was a giant plasma screen TV that looked like it cost more then our house did. To one side was a hallway, and I could barely make out the beginning of a staircase from the side. The kitchen was on the left, and from what I could tell, it was decorated the same way this room was.

"Ok…." I rubbed my head with my hands. "Either this is a very descriptive dream… or I'm dead…." But then I blinked. "But I thought you didn't feel any pain when you're dead…?" I twisted my head to the side when I saw something move from the corner of my eyes, but there was nothing there. I chewed my lip worriedly. "… I'm going insane." I concluded and shook my head, which made the headache that was coming on worsen.

But then something came to mind.

"Oh my g0d, Mom!" Before I realized it, I was getting up from the couch, stumbling to keep my balance. What if that wolf got her?! If it didn't, then how will she react when I'm not home?!

I started for wherever the front door was, but, thanks to Mom, I tripped over my own foot and saw the ground coming toward me. See, after all the years of tripping, when you have a klutz for a Mom, you tend to get used to suddenly falling. So thankfully I didn't gasp, but merely closed my eyes and waited for the floor.

And guess what? It never came. All I felt were two parts of my stomach held by something extremely cold.

Astonished, I opened my eyes and saw that the coldness was coming from to arms that looked as white as snow. So that must mean…

I lifted my head up and saw Jasper Hale looked at me with those strange colored eyes of him. I blinked a few times as we stared at each other, until I finally said something.

"… Where the h3ll am I?"

He smiled crookedly at that, which left me a little dazed, and helped me to stand up straight again.

"You're at my house." He replied. "I had been coming over to ask you something when I saw some bear on you. So lucky for me I had my brother there and we got it off of you." I blinked. So it wasn't a wolf after all? But… its features seemed distinctively like that of a wolf…

"You were badly injured," He continued on, pulling me out of my thoughts. "And we brought you here to our father who's a doctor."

"Oh…" Was my brilliant reply as I rubbed my forehead. "Thanks… I thought I was done for back there…" I murmured.

"The rest of my family has wanted to meet you," He said and smiled again. "That's why we were coming over." I nodded my head slightly. "Go ahead and sit down, I'll go get them." He walked, or more like danced, out of the room, leaving me in my confused state. I sat back down on the couch I had been sleeping on and stared down at my hands, suddenly anxious about what is to happen next.

What if his family didn't like me? I wouldn't be surprised that much. I mean, I am constantly on the edge of death, so who wouldn't not like me? Other then Mom, of course…

I squeezed my hands together until my already white knuckles went whiter, and I stopped just in case my skin tore. Wouldn't be surprising with who I have for a Mom.

I smiled faintly at that. She always trips on air or stumbles at the bottom of the stairs, it's a wonder how she can trust herself with cooking. I shook my head as I remembered when she tripped and spilled hot water all over the kitchen floor. It took us forever to clean it all up.

Somebody cleared their throat a few feet from me and I jerked my head upward, making my headache throb.

The same five people from school stood in front of me, along with two new ones who I guessed were the parents, yet they didn't even look that older then the others.

"Everyone, this is Charity." Jasper stated.

"Charity, this is Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme, and Edward." He pointed to each one as he said their name, and I said hello to each.

Alice seemed excited, Emmett just grinned, Rosalie had a frown on her face, both Carlisle and Esme gave me a smile hello, and Edward looked at me with unreadable eyes.

"We've wanted to meet you for a while, Charity," Carlisle said, his voice like chimes just like Jasper's.

Oh, right. Carlisle was the doctor who was supposed to be really great. That thought made me laugh in my head. Like I said before, if a doctor can't find out what I have, I don't consider them great.

Edward's eyes tightened slightly as he stared me down, and I fidgeted under his gaze uncomfortably. I never was good with being the center of attention…

Jasper shot Edward a look, and he turned his gaze away from me, for which I was grateful.

Esme, as if she could sense the tension in the air, spoke up. "How is your back, dear?"

I moved slightly and felt that it still burned.

"It hurts." I said simply and rolled my neck to get the kinks out of it.

"I wouldn't be surprised…" Esme said and smiled sadly. "When the boys came they found you in pretty bad condition. You lost a lot of blood." I shivered at that slightly and bit the inside of my cheek.

"Thanks for your hospitality." I said and hesitantly stood up, holding in a cringe from the ache. "I should probably get home before my Mom has a heart attack that I'm not there."

"When does she get home?" Carlisle now said, the others leaving so that I was with the parents.

"Around 11:30." I replied.

"Oh my…" Esme murmured, and I blinked.

"What?"

"It's five till…" Carlisle said, so I looked to the clock.

"Oh crap…"

"Don't worry," Esme said and smiled to me. "We'll have Edward drive you home," Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, he was standing at the kitchen door with a hard glare.

"What?" He almost hissed, and it made me flinch back. Was it that bad to be near me…? Esme looked to him with her eyebrows raised, and it was like they were having a silent conversation.

"Fine." He spat out and walked out of the room. I frowned slightly. Well, that makes me feel welcomed…

Carlisle looked to me with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about my son's actions. He's been going through a lot lately." I just nodded my head slowly. They both said goodbye to me and I walked out of the room, seeing Edward leaning against the door frame. When he caught sight of me he stood up straight and walked out of the house, and I had to keep up with him, luckily though not enough to need to run.

We walked over to the same Volvo I had seen them in earlier, and he slipped in. I slowly followed suit and got into the passenger side.

The car purred to life as I put my seatbelt on and he pulled out of the driveway, going down a gravel path that quickly turned into dirt. Trees loomed over us and I suddenly felt small under them, and I slumped back slightly.

It was obvious to me that Edward hated me, no doubt loathed me. I sighed. He probably heard all those rumors…

Throughout the whole drive, we were completely silent, and he kept glancing at me every few seconds. Probably checking to make sure I wasn't too close to him.

After what felt like an eternity, he pulled beside my house, and I let out a silent sigh of relief.

"Here we are." He said, his voice seemed strained. I nodded and took off my seatbelt, pushing open the door and stepping out into the pleasant cold. Almost the instant I stepped onto the lawn he shot out back onto the road, disappearing into the distance. I frowned to myself.

"Such a pleasant young man…" I muttered bitterly to myself and trudged inside the house.

When I got inside I tore off my clothes and changed the gauze on my upper torso and arm, like Carlisle had told me to before I left. I pulled on some shorts and a T-shirt and pretty much collapsed onto the bed, which made me groan from the pain it sent into my back.

I was almost asleep when I saw the lights of Mom's Honda pulling into the driveway through my window, and then I drifted off into sleep, thinking about my day.