A/N: So I was/still am in a place with no Internet for the three-day weekend. Hopefully I'll go somewhere with Internet and this will be posted.

Disclaimer: Okay, you all get this by now. I suppose I still have to do his though. Just can't make my life easier, can you? So I don't own Twilight or Maximum Ride. The end.

Chapter Four--BPOV

"Ari?" I gasped. Every time I thought of him, I thought of the little, blond-haired, blue-eyed kid that ran around the School, following the father that had no time for him. I just couldn't think of him as the cold-blooded monster that taunted me with his wolf face every day there.

"Thought you would've forgotten me by now; the way you ran off so suddenly gave me the idea that you didn't really like it here," he mocked.

"What are you—" I cut myself off suddenly. "How did you find me?"

Desperation. That was all I heard in my voice. I was sure he heard it all too.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he chuckled. "We'll always find you, Bella. It's no use hiding."

I didn't say anything—I couldn't say anything. My breath came in short gasps and I felt like I was about to faint.

Ari continued. "It's hopeless, you'll die—"

I cut him off. "What has Jeb said about this?"

His voice darkened and he growled, "Don't. Talk. About. Jeb."

Some other courageous part of my brain thought, ooh, touchy but I didn't say that to him.

"Well, tell Jeb that I miss him so much," I sneered, regaining my composure. "The painful tests that he gave me at the School 24/7 are really something to long for."

"Cocky, Bella?" Ari sneered back. "I wouldn't be that way."

"Why, oh Wise One?" I retorted sarcastically.

"Because you're going to say hello to those metal dog crates soon again."

I had no answer for that and Ari knew that he had beaten me.

He continued. "Too bad for you, isn't it? We're coming for you, Bella. Enjoy counting down the time. I know I will."

Click.

He had hung up.

"Honey, are you okay?" asked Ms. Cope, looking at my dazed expression warily.

"Fine," I lied weakly. She didn't believe me but she let it slide.

I walked back into the cafeteria numbly as the bell rang with a ring!

"Are you okay?" asked Mike, noticing my expression.

"Fine," I mumbled again, walking away towards my next class, Biology.

With Edward, Mr. Bipolar, I groaned mentally, not in the mood for his mood swings, which were seriously giving me whiplash.

I entered Biology and sank into my seat, sitting rigidly as I thought of another horrible possibility.

What if Ari attacked me during school? What if he blew my cover as a normal person (as if I was ever normal—cue the disbelieving sighs) and harmed the kids here?

What would I do then?

Biology passed in a daze; I jumped at every little sound whether it was a chair scraping across the floor or the sound of wind beating against the window I was sitting right next to.

"Bella?" a beautiful voice asked.

I glanced up into the face of Edward. He was staring at me in concern, his forehead creased slightly.

"That was the third time I called your name," he continued. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," I insisted for the third time that day and ignored him for the rest of the period. I was sure he knew what I was doing so as soon as the bell rang I was out of my seat and through door.

I walked slowly down the hallway towards Gym, every worry clouding up my mind.

"Bella?" Edward asked suddenly from behind me.

I whipped around, gasping heavily. I hadn't even heard him come up.

What if he had been Ari?

And in that second, instead of seeing Edward and his family behind him, I saw 5 Erasers approaching me, their vicious jaws open; ready to swallow me, their eyes glinting murderously. And, where Edward was, I saw Ari, with human features slowly morphing into more wolf-ish ones.

My heart beat faster—almost too fast—and I whispered, "No… no."

"Bella?" a velvet voice broke through my vision and I saw the Cullens again with their more than perfect features.

"Tell me what's wrong," Edward demanded.

"Who died and made you Max?" I snapped back.

Then I slapped a hand over my mouth.

Did I really just mention Max? Crap…

"Who's Max?" asked Edward, temporarily forgetting his other question.

"I have to get to Gym now!" I exclaimed with a falsely cheerful smile, trying to change the subject. Unsuccessfully, I might add.

"Wait." A pale white hand shot out and latched onto my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. His hand was cold—as if he had stuck it in a snowdrift. I shivered. But there was also a hum of electricity, as if energy was being passed from his hand to mine. Livewire much, Edward?

"Who's Max, Bella?" he asked again, searching my soul with those deadly golden eyes.

I completely snapped.

"You know what, Edward? I'm tired of this! You—all of you—just go around trying to pry into my life like you fit there! Newsflash: you don't! I've been dealing with this for 17 years; I can survive on my own!"

"Dealing with what?" But this time, Edward didn't ask it. Alice did.

"That's none of your business," I hissed dangerously. My voice was cold. "Go. Away."

"Why?"

Clearly they had no sense of self-preservation.

"You don't belong here. It's dangerous. People like you don't belong in my kind of world."

"Your kind of world?"

"Yes, my kind of world," I repeated, sure fury was showing through every inch of my face. "It's not for the faint-hearted. And I wouldn't want to put you through that, would I?" I smiled dangerously.

"No, you don't belong in that world," I continued. "And if I were you I would get my nose out of this before it's too late."

"And that would be when?" asked Rosalie tauntingly.

"That would be when you're dead," I replied, my voice ice. "Or worse."

I whirled away and stalked off, deciding not to go to Gym since I was so riled up I probably would knock someone's head off.

Who knew, in my world, it could happen.

Idiotic Cullens.

***

Sitting in my truck, which was parked a little way into the forest so that people wouldn't spot it, I decided to go fly for a bit. I hadn't stretched my wings in a while and the itch to fly was driving me crazy.

I took off my parka and went into the forest so no one would see me with wings sticking out of my back. Oh, yeah, those wings you see? That's just part of my Halloween costume.

And then I was up in the sky.

I feel bad for you, not being able to feel those air currents pushing you even higher in the sky. It's pure bliss.

I mean, I can't imagine only flying in airplanes. Those big, bulky metal things work half as well as my wings—or less.

Wait; I never told what my wings looked like, did I? Well, they look like wings, that's about as descriptive as I can get. (Hey, I never said that I had an English degree!) But the color—it's really weird. They're brown, like my hair. And they have red streaks in them. Red, yep. Told you I was weird (as if you haven't figure that out by now.)

But when I flew now, I didn't think about colors or those dumb airplanes, I just flew.

Eventually, when I looked down onto the forest, I saw a gap in it, a clearing. In the center was a big white house.

Well, let's not scare the little humans, shall we? I thought snidely and turned around, to fly back to my truck.

As soon as I landed on the ground, I freaked out. I had forgotten all about Ari while I was flying but now I remembered everything perfectly.

"Darn it!" I growled to myself.

What should I do?! I thought hysterically. Do I stand a chance kicking their butts? Have my fighting skills improved? —Should I try that new move that Max was teaching me before I was captured?

Should I move? Away from Forks?

No, I thought to myself. They're expecting me to run away, not stay and fight. So that's what I'll do. This game of cat and mouse has gone on long enough.

***

Look, I don't really know about you personally, but when you get 3 hours of sleep, you definitely don't feel like going to school, right? Especially if you slept those 3 hours in a cramped truck cab and the rest of the time searching for the wolf mutants that want to murder you. It kills your good mood instantly.

Yet the Erasers were a no show so I, like the idiot I pride myself on being, decided to go to school. Which happened to probably be one of the worst decisions on my life. No joke.

While driving to school I tried not to fall asleep at the wheel (hey—I got 3 hours of sleep! Give the bird kid a break), which was nothing new.

Parking at school, I got out of my car lethargically but something woke me up immediately. It was the squeal of tires on cement; tires on a car that was heading my way.

Adrenaline made me realize several things at once. First, I would have barely any time to get out of the way of the oncoming car. It was heading too fast and I would have to reveal my cover. (Actually, scratch that. I sound like James Bond.) Second was Edward Cullen, all the way across the parking lot, staring at me in horror. I could almost see the words forming in his mouth: "Not her." I didn't have time to wonder what he was talking about because the third thing caught my eye and made me gasp.

It was an Eraser, grinning at me wolfishly. He mouthed, an instant death. You should be happy.

Whoa… My head exploded in questions. Did the School—the Erasers really—set this up so I'd die? In a car crash, something no one would think twice about?

Then something hard and cold hit me from the wrong direction and long, white hands shot out protectively in front of me, stopping the van that was just inches from my face.

And suddenly I was looking up into the concerned face of Edward Cullen.

"Bella?" he asked. "Bella, are you okay?"

How did he get over so fast? I wondered, ignoring Edward and the crazed shouts of students around us. That was impossible… inhuman.

"Bella, we're calling an ambulance; you probably need to get your head checked out," Edward said, startling me right out my daze.

A hospital meant bone scans and blood samples. I was pretty sure my blood wasn't like any other humans' and that my bones were lighter and less dense, which would immediately tell the doctors that something was off about me.

"No," I gasped. "No hospital."

"You could be injured," he argued in that impossibly appealing voice.

I made up the first thing that came to mind. "I have a phobia of hospitals."

He looked at me like he was wondering if that even mattered so I quickly pasted on a terrified expression.

Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'll take you to my house and have Carlisle look you over."

Assuming that Carlisle was a doctor and deciding that it was the best I got—at least he couldn't do an x-ray or anything—I nodded too. "Okay."

He went off—to tell the teachers I assumed again—and I rested, still lying on the cold pavement.

I was so tired, but I didn't want to rest, after all that Eraser… I sat bolt up right.

Erasers, right. I was still in mortal peril then.

Of course, Edward came back then and picked me up bridal style with me protesting loudly over shoulder and put me gently in his Volvo.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing?" I asked him crossly.

"Driving you to my house where Carlisle will check you over. Unless you know the way to my house," Edward smiled smugly.

I huffed but soon enough we were in front of a beautiful, white house that I recognized from my flight earlier.

"You have a beautiful house," I commented with forced calmness.

"Thank you," Edward answered courteously though he was worried, I could see it in his eyes. Why, I didn't know. "Now let's get you inside."

He picked me up again—and again I protested—though then I was in the living room, which was just as beautiful as the outside of the house. All of the Cullens were sitting in the room, including a person I hadn't met. She radiated motherly concern, though she looked to young to be a mother with her pale face and caramel curls falling past her shoulders. I took her to be Mrs. Cullen.

A door slammed and Mrs. Cullen stood.

"That would be Carlisle," she smiled at me and walked gracefully out of the room. I was left reeling.

Why did every Cullen look like an angel? Why did they have so much grace and why did they all have those appealing voices? Did they all have that impossible speed? Like Edward?

Something was going on here and I would figure it out.

And then someone walked into the room. His blond hair was tousled, reminding me of Edward's, his skin was pale, but one thing stood out. That was his white doctor's coat that immediately brought up memories of the white coats.

A white coat jabbed a needle into my arm. "Let's see if this does anything," he said, relishing my scream.

A white coat stared at me disdainfully. "Subject Fourteen threw up again."

A white coat turned to me at the sound of a beep. "You have 1 minute to finish the maze."

I flashed back to the present but my terror overwhelmed me and I couldn't think rationally.

In the back of my mind I faintly heard Jasper Hale desperately whisper, "I can't calm her down. She's so terrified that she's rejecting the waves of calm I'm sending."

Still not thinking, I screamed and tensed, trying to find an exit, to get out the house.

"Bella?" Edward sounded upset—no, agonized.

I flinched and did the only thing on my mind at the time. I ran.

I was half way up the road, unusually calm after my panic. Except one thing was on my brain: what would the Cullens think about my panic? They would want an explanation.

Carlisle wasn't a white coat, but I would have to avoid him if he brought up all of those memories. I shivered.

And then something I never thought would happen did.

Rosalie Hale pulled up next to me slowing down her jog. She had been running to catch up with me.

"Bella?" she asked, concern layering her voice.

I gaped at her. Didn't Rosalie hate me? I hadn't done anything to her of course, but she was always glaring at me. Not that any of the other Cullens were that much friendlier.

"Rosalie?" I managed to ask.

"Yes." She sounded… I didn't know the emotion clouding her voice. "I was worried about you. What happened to make you react like that?"

I shuddered and she took the movement in. "Look, Bella, I've experienced some horrible things in my life. If you need to talk… you can come to me, okay?"

"Sure," I lied. Her eyes narrowed and I was almost sure she could tell that I was lying so I decided that now was as good of a time as any to pry for information.

"Rosalie, have you ever tried out for the track team?"

"No," she answered, cautious. She knew I was going somewhere with this.

"You should," I encouraged. "Edward ran so fast, I could almost say impossibly fast, when he managed to save me from being crushed by the van. You would probably have that same talent, right?"

Rosalie looked furious and I knew whatever had made her come out after me was now gone.

"Bella…" but now the sound of my name wasn't filled with concern. It was a warning.

Then abruptly Rosalie changed. A gleam came into her eye.

"You're hiding something too," she remarked calmly.

I had to control my gasp so it didn't tip her off. I was pretty sure though that she heard it though.

"It's one of those need-to-know things," I answered a lot more coolly than I felt. Inside I was going, WHAT? How could this happen?! And I have Erasers after me… thanks, Rosalie. Thanks a lot.

"That's nice, but we're going to find out either way," Rosalie replied.

"I guess that makes two of us," I said and I could've sworn that she growled.

If I looked at her now I would've seen the furious expression on her face—it was worried, strangely, and almost… murderous. But, as it was, I didn't look at her so I didn't realize how deep into this I was.

"Well," I said, "I've got to be going. Please tell Carlisle that it wasn't his fault. He just… brought up some memories, that's all."

"Fine." Rosalie was angry, I could tell. More than angry, actually.

I started walking away, leaving her there.

"See you in school," I called over my shoulder.

"That we will," she called back and I could hear the challenge in her voice.

Soon I was out of sight of their beautiful white house and I began planning.

At school I would try to avoid the Cullens; no use giving them more clues about what I was hiding. Except then I would have a hard time trying to figure out what they were. There was the Internet though. Maybe that would give me some information.

You have no idea who you're up against, Cullens.

As it turned out, neither did I.

A/N: First, please read the A/N at the top of the page if you didn't. It'll explain some things.

So this was a longer chapter than usual to make up for my late update. If any of you think that Rosalie wouldn't have run after her, oh well. I thought she could have because Bella's terror reminded her of her human past. Does that make sense?

Now… you know what do to… unless you have amnesia (no offense)… so please review! It'll make my day.