I'm so sorry for taking so long. I completely hit a wall, this chapter was like pulling teeth. Then I went on vacation to Seattle and the greater area. It was awesome though. I went to Forks. For those interested, I have photos from my trip on my myspace. The link is on my profile. Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'm not going to make any promises about when I can get the next chapter out though. However, reviews help to get me writing.

Previously:

"So, how do we get in contact with them? I asked.

"About that," he grinned cunningly, happy again, "I have an idea."

Chapter 8

"Okay, so this is as far as I can go," Jacob explained when he stopped the car. "The pack and I agreed that we don't want to be on their land if they are indeed staying." I nodded, took a deep breath, and hopped out of Jake's warm truck.

I shivered at the temperature change and began my trek down the long, overgrown drive. The further I walked, the more nervous I became. The thick green foliage was heavy on all sides of the winding, unpaved road. I didn't really know why we didn't just go and get my car, but Jake said it was something about my scent lingering or whatever. I would have felt better if Jake were with me, but he didn't want to contaminate my scent.

I had been walking for almost an hour when the lane suddenly opened. In front of me was a huge white, Victorian mansion with sprawling grass surrounding it. The vegetation was so wild that it looked more like the mansion was in the middle of a large meadow. The scene took my breath way, it was so magnificent.

I didn't see any cars, but these sort of old houses usually had out buildings further away. I also saw no signs of life, or well I guess in this case, inhabitance, but again that didn't mean it wasn't there.

I approached the house slowly. It was eerie being here alone. Like something out of a ghost story or horror movie. Probably not the right thing to focus on when going up to a house that's supposedly inhabited by vampires. How was I supposed to approach the house? Ring the doorbell?

The old porch steps creaked as I stepped on them. It took me by surprise when the front door opened when I got to the second step, and a tiny woman with spiky, black hair materialized before me. Turns out door bells aren't necessary with mythical creatures. All I could do was stare.

"Are you coming in, or would you prefer to stand there all day?" she asked with hands on hips. Her voice sounded like wind chimes. She looked just like her photo, only more beautiful. And suddenly, with her appearance, it was all real. Everything Jacob had told me was true. Vampires, werewolves, my sister... "Well?" Alice asked again. I was intimidated, but she was smiling, her golden eyes twinkling.

"Sorry," I murmured, following her inside.

Inside the house was immaculate. Everything was white and open. The whole back wall was glass. It was amazing.

"Wow," I breathed.

"Pretty right?" she asked. I nodded, dazed. Alice motioned for me to sit on an overstuffed, oversized couch. But before I could sit down, another figure materialized on the stairs, then moved slowly to Alice's side. Jasper. I felt calmness sooth my nerves. One by one, as not to scare me I'm sure, the Cullens entered the giant room. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, then Rosalie. Edward came down, and I knew who would be next.

She looked like her last picture, only different; inhumanly beautiful. Her hair was richer in color, a little redder, her skin paler, her figure enhanced, and her eyes gold. My breath caught in my throat. She really was still here. She smiled as she approached me, and looked like she should be crying. Unlike the others, she didn't sit down. She came straight to me and embraced me in a hug.

"Do you hate me?" she whispered. Her voice was smooth. I was shocked, though, at how cold she was. I hugged her back, and it was like hugging a statue.

"Nno," I sighed. Tears brimmed over in my eyes. "I just can't believe you're real. That all of this is real," I continued, wiping my eyes.

"You look like Mom," she said when she pulled back to study my face. She placed an arm around my shoulders and sat me down on the couch and sat next to me.

"So you know everything then?" a deep, melodic voice broke the silence. I looked toward the sound, it was Carlisle. Everyone was perched around the room.

"Pretty much," I smiled shyly.

"So I guess we have some explaining to do," my sister said apologetically. I looked around at everyone. Edward was by Bella's other side on the couch. Jasper sat on the arm of a big chair that Alice sat in across from me. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie were on another long couch.

"We never meant that last one," Esme spoke. She shot a dark look at Rosalie, then Jasper. "Some of my children got carried away."

"But the first one?"

"Forks isn't safe right now," Bella explained. "I left the note on your car. I thought maybe you would listen. I didn't mean to scare you, just worn you."

"And who did the other one?" I asked. They all looked guilty and their faces were heart breaking.

"I'm afraid Jasper and myself have to field the blame for that one," Rosalie admitted. "We found out you didn't heed Bella's warning and though we could scare you away. We didn't think everyone would freak out about it."

"What do you mean?"

"They got an earful when Alice saw what they had done," Esme explained gently. Edward smiled and Emmett snorted.

"It was more than an earful," Emmett bellowed.

"Oh," I said, "so then why...?"

"After we left, Bella thought it was best," Edward explained, "and we agreed, to keep an eye on things here in Forks. Charlie, more specifically. See when Bella was still..."

"Human?" I offered.

"Yes," he continued. "She inadvertently exposed Charlie to some less than safe forces."

"We wanted to make sure no one came back for me, and found him," Bella added. She meant vampires.

"Up until recently, things have been fine," Carlisle spoke again. "But a little while ago, we got into an altercation with someone from Jasper's past. She decided she wanted revenge and since it's so hard to hurt one of us, she opted for a connection to us."

"And she found Forks," I guessed.

"Yes," Carlisle said. They all looked troubled, especially Bella, who held me tighter. "Word had gotten around about Edward's and Bella's relationship, and that brought her to Forks."

"She's here?" I gasped, terror rushing through me.

"No," Alice said certainly. "Not yet." The yet part had me worried.

"I'm the only one of us who still has living immediate family," Bella said.

"And through hurting Charlie, she hurts Bella, and that hurts the rest of us," Jasper said. He looked distressed. "I'm sorry. This whole thing is my fault."

"It's not," Alice corrected, taking his hand in hers to sooth him.

"This one's actually more my fault," Rosalie said. "I should have controlled my temper." Emmett rubbed her shoulders. They were all so in-tuned to each other. It was incredible.

"Rose, anyone of us would have reacted the same way, if put in your position," Alice said. "I can tell you that's a fact." No one argued. Jacob had told me all about their abilities, so I knew she was referring to her being a psychic.

"Maria was hitting on Emmett," Carlisle said, seeing the confusion on my face. "Naturally, Rosalie got defensive. One thing turned into another, and Maria ended up losing some territory of sorts. She blames us, and wants revenge." I knew he was leaving stuff out, but didn't press the issue.

"That's why we wanted you away from Forks," Bella said. "For your safety."

"But how did you know I was here?" I asked.

"We had been keeping an eye on Charlie's house the night you got lost," Carlisle explained. "When he didn't come home from work on time, we went to check on him. Emmett, actually, noticed you first.

"You guys look a lot alike," Emmett interrupted, smiling. "For a second I thought you were Bella."

"He's right," Alice agreed. "There are the obvious differences, of course, Sophia being human," she chuckled. Everyone except Edward grinned. "Oh lighten up Edward. It's been years," she chastised him.

"There are other things we need to discuss," was his reply. He turned to me, "like as to why you are here." The Cullens all turned to look at me.

"Yeah," Alice said, coking her head to the side. "I saw you coming, but I was so excited, I didn't see why you were in the first place."

"Um," I fidgeted uncomfortably under all of their gazes. "Well, we were trying to figure out why you were leaving those messages. Jake thought..."

"Jake? As in Jacob Black?" Bella asked, ridged. They were all tense.

"Yeah, I thought you knew"

"We knew from the smell that you were with a wolf. We didn't know who though," Carlisle explained. "Alice can't see them."

"Oh," was my answer. All eyes were on Bella. Jacob had told me that he had been in love with Bella, but I was beginning to think it was more than just that. Bella had carefully masked her emotions, but Edward looked pained.

"I knew you guys were close," I said. "I'm sorry to bring up old issues."

"Don't be sorry," Bella spoke, running a delicate hand through her perfect brown hair. "You did nothing wrong. I was the one who hurt him." She said she hurt him, but I could tell, along with everyone else, that she had been hurt too. It made me wonder how she would react once she found out he had imprinted on me.

Edward's head whipped around to face me. Oh yeah, I remembered. He could read my mind. I gave him my "oops" face. In response, he gave me a look that clearly meant not to mention it.

"I won't say anything right now," I thought to him. A small nod of his head told me he had heard me.

"So," Carlisle began, "there are apparently still wolves in La Push." I nodded. "They informed you about us. The question is why? What I mean is, why is it necessary for you to become involved in all of this?"

I knew that answer, but Edward had told me not to say anything yet.

"I had run into Jake at the cemetery, and we had agreed to get together and talk," I explained, playing nervously with my fingers. "He had been less than thrilled with my presence, so I called him to see if he was responsible for the note on my car. Or if he had any ideas of to whom it was.

"When I got the last one, I called him, and he came right over. I guess he smelled you guys or something, because he said he knew who it was."

"We really are sorry for that last one," Carlisle said earnestly. "We wanted to keep you safe, but Rosalie and Jasper took it too far."

"It was better than that stupid note," Rosalie rebutted. She rolled her eyes when Carlisle, Esme, and Edward all shot her dark looks, but added, "but it was a little over the top," anyway. I tried to smile weakly, to show no hard feelings.

"Anyway," Carlisle began again, "you have no doubt come to us for a purpose. Would you like to share that now?" He spoke with authority, but was still somehow able to sound gentle and friendly.

"Right, um, there's the problem of the broken treaty?" I squeaked, though it came out more like a questions. I swallowed and tried again. "Jake and I thought I could be a sort of go-between."

"A mediator," Carlisle confirmed.

"Right"

"So they're willing to create a new treaty?" Carlisle asked. He seemed hopeful.

"Jake's working on it," I said. "He's the alpha now, so it's ultimately his decision, but he wants the elders to agree to it."

"He's the alpha?" Bella asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he said it was because his great grand parents were"

"I know," Bella cut me off meekly. "It's just that he had refused to take it when..." she trailed off.

"It this really hard for you?" I blurted out, surprising myself as well as everyone else at my words. I smile in apology.

"It's okay," Bella said understanding. "Yeah, it's hard," she admitted. Edward wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Seeing the damage I created first hand it hard. Having to deal with Mom and Charlie, and now Jacob... I didn't know about you at the time." She leaned into her husband and looked back into his eyes. "But this is what I chose, and I knew what the consequences could be. I just didn't expect to ever run into them first hand. That being said, if I could go back and choose differently, I wouldn't. This is where I'm supposed to be," she continued.

And she did seem happy. Still though, I couldn't help but wonder how she would react to Jacob imprinting on me. I would have to call him soon, let him know I was okay. Also I wondered how he'd react to seeing her again.

"Tell Jacob that we're interested in a new treaty," Carlisle's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Have him sort out some requests and things."

"Right," I nodded. "Of course."

"So Sophia, now that, that's out of the way," Alice chirped. "What do you like to do for fun? What are your interests?" Bella and I chuckled at the same time. I smiled.

"Um, I really like photography," I answered. I always hated talking about myself. I just never knew what to say. "Dad bought me this really nice camera for Christmas last year."

"You'll have to show us some of your photos sometime," Alice smiled. "One thing is for sure though, you certainly have better style than your sister." I laughed with everyone and looked down, embarrassed.

"Thanks," I said, still looking down. "Mom really likes shopping, so I never really had a choice." They all laughed again.

"So tell me about your life Sophia," Bella said, interest alight in her honey colored eyes. "If you don't mind of course," she added.

"Of course I don't mind," was my response. "I was born in Jacksonville and lived there until just recently. Of course, we had a couple different houses there."

"Mom loved her yellow house," Bella reminisced.

"I've seen pictures of it," I said. "But I've never been there."

"What?" She asked startled.

"Well, after your, you know, death," I cringed at the word, "Mom went about erasing all familiarity of your life," I explained. "I mean, not that she forgot about you, just that she couldn't deal with being reminded of you all of the time."

"That makes sense," Bella said sadly. "She didn't take it well then."

"No. From what Dad had told me, she had a really rough time," I replied. "She's only just getting better." Bella looked down sadly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. I'm not sure I was meant to hear it.

"You did what was best for you," I told her.

"So," Alice began again, changing the subject. "What else? Do you play and sports? Dance? Instruments?" she wanted to know.

"I don't really play sports," I admitted. "I tried a few different ones when I was younger, but none of them really caught on. Ballet was one of those; it was too stiff for me though. Mom put me in piano lessons for years. Since she loves classical music, I guess she wanted me to be able to play it."

"Do you still play?" Edward asked, interested.

"I haven't played in a while," I answered. "We had a piano in our second house, but we sold it when we moved, and never got around to replacing it."

"Edward plays amazingly well," Bella said with a bright smile, patting his arm. I just nodded.

"I've had years of practice," he smiled. It was nice to see him smile. He had been so serious the whole time.

"Tell us, Sophia," Alice went on, "do you have a boyfriend? Anyone special in your life?" She asked, wiggling her perfect eyebrows at me.

"Um well," I didn't know how to answer that. Jake wasn't my boyfriend, but he was someone special, or at least he would be.

"I mean, you spend a lot of time with the wolves, so I can't always see you," Alice explained, looking expectant.

"Well," I looked at Edward for some help. He gave his head an almost imperceptible shake. "I just moved here recently, so I haven't really had time to get to know a lot of people. However, I didn't have anyone in Florida." There. I wasn't lying, just not telling all. "Speaking of boys," I hesitated, "I should probably call Jacob, let him know everything's fine."

"Of course," Esme smiled.

"I'll show you to the phone," Edward offered, but it was more of a fact. I nodded, standing from the couch. On the way out of the room, however, I didn't miss Alice's quiet gasp. It made me wonder why Edward wanted to show me the phone.

I followed Edward into the office. It was a nice room with wooden paneling along the wall, and built in book shelves.

"Look, about you and the dog," he said through gritted teeth. "It's going to upset Bella when she finds out. Of course, she has to eventually, but give her a little while until you break the news."

"Of course," I muttered. "I think I want to give myself 24 hours at least to get used to it."

"Thank you," he said curtly. "That's all I ask," he began walking out of the room.

"Edward?" I asked unsure.

"Yes?" he said, turning around.

"Why is it," how did I want to put it, "how come... why do you not like me?"

"I hardly know you," he said, his face unreadable.

"I know that," I said. "It's just no one else seems to have a problem with me."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't have a problem with you," he said honestly, looking at my face. "It's the situation. Everything with the wolves is upsetting, naturally, to her. She loved him, Jacob, and even though it's been a while, she'll always care for him."

"Oh"

"I just don't want to see her upset. The whole leaving town thing back then really got to her. I don't know how she'll take it when she finds out."

"I do," a sweetly melodic voice said from the door way. "It'll be rough," she said, walking over to us, "but she'll come around. She loves you Edward," Alice said. "And she love's you too Sophie. You're her sister after all. It'll be easier than if he had imprinted on someone else." I smiled in thanks.

"Still..." Edward said.

"When are you going to realize that she's a big girl? She's not a human anymore either, she doesn't need your protection," Alice told him.

"Alice..."

"No Edward, I'm right, and you know it"

Edward huffed and left the room.

"Here Sophie," Alice handed me the phone. "Don't worry about him. He's still just overprotective of Bella, silly boy. Anyway, call that boy of yours, let him know you're alive," she added and glided out.

Jake answered on the first ring.

"Sophia?" he sounded frantic.

"Hey Jake,"

"Why didn't you call me sooner? For all I knew you could've been dead."

"Oh come on," I said annoyed. "You're the one who told me they wouldn't hurt me,"

"Still, you never know," he breathed.

"Sorry," I sighed. "I'm fine. Carlisle said to tell you to set up some requests as far as the treaty goes. They're definitely interested."

"Right, okay," he sounded better.

"So when are you going to come get me? My mom wants me to leave before dark."

"Um, I guess soon," he replied. "I'll leave now, so I'll see you soon."

"Okay," I answered and hung up.

Back in the living room, only Alice, Esme, Bella, and Edward remained. "Carlisle, and the others went out," Esme said, kindly. I know she meant hunting though.

"Right, well Jacob's on his way, so I guess I should start out to meet him," I explained.

"Nonsense," Alice waved it off. "We'll get you there in plenty of time."

"Yeah, we want to spend more time with you," Bella added, smiling beautifully. "And," she nudged her husband.

"I want to apologize," Edward said. "I really do not have any problem with you. It's just bringing up all of the past that's so frustrating."

"It's okay," I said, I really didn't want us to have any problems.

We talked for a few more minutes. They made me promise to come back and visit them. Alice wanted to take me shopping, and Bella just wanted to spend time with me.

"Now, let's get you out there to meet Jacob," Bella smiled sweetly. "Do you mind traveling by vampire?"

Bella set me down just as the sound of Jake's truck approached. She had run me out to their turn-off on her back. It was terrifying, but kind of fun. It certainly was better than walking all three miles. The truck stopped and I could see Jacob, sitting stiff behind the wheel. This was definitely going to be interesting.

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