Beginning notes: If you read the last chapter a day or so after it was published, you may want to go and re-read it before starting on this chapter. I've changed some things that I agreed with what some of the reviews were criticizing, so go have a look.

{

I wasn't really able to function for a few days. The school understood and had gotten a substitute teacher for a couple weeks, but I honestly didn't know how I was going to go back as the same person – be my happy self for all those kids.

There wasn't a body recovered; the police couldn't find my daughter. At first I had been partially relieved. Surely if her body wasn't in that library, she was alright! It was a coping mechanism; that's what the shrink I had just started going to called it. I had ignored the fact she wasn't here – she never came home – and only focused on not recovering her body.

I spent hours in her room just breathing in her dissipating scent. That was where I was now, sitting on the floor with my back against her bed. I wasn't crying anymore – that didn't make me feel any better; it only made me angry. Nobody had claimed the attack as their own and there were no suspects, as far as I knew.

My cell phone rang and I pulled the device out of my pocket. Phil's name displayed on the screen, but I couldn't make myself answer it – even for him. After a few moments the ringing ended and my phone vibrated, telling me I had a new voicemail. I powered the phone off and tossed it beside me on the floor.

}

-Chapter 6: When Opportunity Knocks-

The base ripped out of the drywall cleanly, but that was the only thing fortunate about the situation. My teeth grinded together as I dropped the crushed pieces of plastic that used to be a phone to the floor. I ran my hands through my hair in an effort not to grab anything else in frustration and undoubtedly break it as well.

The cord that attached the base to the phone was stripped in some places, and I had no doubt it wouldn't work anymore. I bent down and collected the plastic shards once I was in control of myself and dumped them in the trash. I would have to buy a new one for Charlie and tell him I fell against it or something in a characteristically klutzy moment if he noticed the new phone. Funds were running a little low, though, which meant I would need to get a job if I continued to break things. I trudged up the stairs to get ready for school, contemplating if all this drama was worth living with my dad.

Jacob and Sam had left to go speak with the elders of their tribe on how to 'deal' with me, and Sam had called this morning to 'request my presence' at a meeting tonight. He told me to meet him at the creek behind my house again, since the elders didn't want something as dangerous as I was to be on their land.

I wasn't sure what had set me off, exactly. Maybe it was his tone – the 'my way or the highway' mentality that seemed to transfer straight through the phone line and made the hair on my neck bristle. The mistrust was nearly palpable, even over the phone, and the audacity of asking me to submit to them like they were my kings had made me want to smash things to pieces.

Which is, unfortunately, what ended up happening.

I took my backpack downstairs and zipped my hoodie up, stepping out the front door and into the perpetually dim light of Forks. I slung my bag into the cab and climbed in, starting my truck with a satisfying roar and backing out of the driveway.

Pulling into the student parking lot and seeing the kids hanging out in front of their cars made me realize it was only Tuesday – it was only my second day at school. It felt so much longer to me, with the revelation of werewolves and the attack of said wolves; it felt like time slowed down even more than it seemed to during the school week.

The Cullens' cars were parked in the same spot they were in yesterday, with the four of them standing in front of their vehicles, talking in a tight circle. Angela was tucked under Edward's arm, almost completely hidden from my view; which was quite the feat, considering she was nearly as tall as he was. I took in their strange features again as I slammed my door shut and adjusted my bag's strap on my shoulder.

I started to walk across the parking lot and toward the school as I thought about the strange, pale-skinned family. I pictured Emmett tackling a deer like I had done, his hands morphing into blunt clubs rather than blades, pounding and crushing the dead animal beneath him. Alice would have claws; she would slice and carve the flesh, rather than pummel it.

I wondered if the Cullens knew that there were werewolves nearby. Jake and Sam had known about the Cullens – they had known the Cullens fed from animals, whatever they were. The whole thing felt a bit like a puzzle with missing pieces, but I couldn't help but try to put it together anyway.

Feather-light footsteps sounded on the pavement behind me, moving more rapidly than the other student's steps. I slowed to a stop next to the edge of the lot and turned around, my eyes widening as I came face to face with Alice Cullen, who had an expression of nervousness or uncertainty written across her face.

I frowned at her, unable to think of a reason for the beautiful girl to come and talk to me. Her body seemed to freeze as she looked at me, her expression melting off her face slowly and her eyes lost their focus, looking through me. I opened my mouth to ask her if she was OK, when I was assaulted with a sweet scent that seemed to radiate off Alice's small body. It was heady and inviting, though I couldn't place the fragrance.

"Hi," she grinned, suddenly breaking out of whatever had her so dazed. "I'm Alice." I huffed out a laugh as I realized we had never actually been introduced. I had only learned her name and about her family through Jessica.

"Bella," I replied, returning a smile of my own.

Her eyes were a bright golden color with a thin, solid black ring around the starburst iris. The hues seemed to almost shift and churn, ranging from a dark brown at the darkest to a bright yellow at the lightest. They were an odd – but striking – color, brought out even more by the pure-white sclera of each eye that were completely unmarred, not a trace of any blood vessels running across the surface.

"Carlisle wanted us to invite you to our house after school today," she chirped. "You can follow us there in your truck," she frowned and back peddled. "I mean, if you'd like to come over, that is." She looked up at me with wide eyes that almost seemed…afraid? No, that wasn't quite right.

"Carlisle?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes.

"He's our adopted father," Alice explained. I could hear the quotation marks around the phrase, though I wasn't sure what she was implying. "Didn't Jessica tell you all this already?"

My head cocked at her question, causing a tendril of hair to fall into my face. I tucked it back behind my ear as I recalled Jessica's resentful description of the Cullen family she had given me yesterday, snorting a sharp burst of air out of my nose.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure if I could believe half of what she told me," I explained. "And she only said you were adopted by 'Dr. and Mrs. Cullen.'"

"Yes; Carlisle's a doctor at the hospital," Alice smiled and nodded. "So? Are you going to come over or not?"

I looked up and over to the other Cullens, who were strangely watching our conversation from the same spot they were in when I pulled into the parking lot. The way they were staring was unnerving, and I looked back at Alice, who was starting to look more anxious. Her eyebrows had mashed together, a crease of wrinkles forming between them as she waited for my answer.

"OK," I found myself saying, instantly bringing the tiny girl's smile back to her face and smoothing out her worried expression. A low snarl ghosted from across the parking lot, drawing my attention to the other Cullens again. Rosalie's face held unrestrained contempt, forcing my eyebrows up in surprise. Did they…could she have heard us talking from over there?

"Great!" Alice exclaimed, startling me with her enthusiasm. "You can sit with us at lunch; I'll introduce you to everyone." I bobbed my head up and down like an idiot, feeling a bit overwhelmed. A part of me was hesitant to accept the invitation to sit with the Cullens, but the other, more dominant part, was just happy to be away from Jessica. The chatterbox was useful for information, but I could tell she wouldn't be much of a friend.

Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the school. I stumbled at the sudden contact, gasping at the sensation running up my arm. Her tiny hand was cold and hard, with a smooth, sturdy grip. The vast difference in temperature was beyond obvious, but her stone-like flesh wasn't what caused me to pause. It was the prickling, electric-charge coming off of Alice.

I slid my hand out of hers and looked at her face out of the corner of my eye. Her eyebrows were scrunched up again, but she didn't seem offended by me pulling my hand back. Had she felt it, too? I opened my mouth to ask her, when the warning bell sounded, prompting the two of us to go to our respective classes for first period.

Mr. Varner gave us a pop quiz in Calculus, which had the entire class groaning. Luckily, I had done my homework and understood most of the material, but obviously a great many of the class hadn't, if the muttered curses and sound of frantic erasers scrubbing on paper were anything to go by. I was one of the first ones finished, actually, and deposited the paper on the desk at the front before I went back to my desk and opened up Frankenstein, intending to ride out the rest of the hour with a good book.

I lost track of the time as I continued to read, though I was occasionally distracted by whispers between students, more and more so as the majority of the class finished the quiz. The most distracting were Edward and Angela, though I wasn't sure if it was because they drew the most attention or because I was so interested in the Cullen family. I didn't overhear much – most of their conversation took place through notes – but I did overhear a few words.

"Bella" and "dangerous" were two that I heard from Edward, though Angela seemed to disagree with a vehement shake of her head. She looked over her shoulder at me and I averted my eyes out of instinct, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping on their conversation. I propped my head up on my elbow, trying to block my view of them as I started reading again.

Eventually, the classroom had reached a constant hum of sound as everyone talked softly to the others around them. I didn't mind; the white noise was actually soothing, in a way. It drowned out the sharp sounds my sensitive hearing always picked up on.

After I re-read the same line three times, I realized I wasn't paying full attention to what was going on in the book. My mind was somewhere else, entirely: Alice and her invitation. The whole thing seemed a bit strange; not to mention sudden, as I had only been here for not even two days. My metaphoric stomach dropped as I considered a possibility.

Had the Cullens realized I wasn't human, as Jacob had?

I had thought I fit in with normal people; I looked much the same as I always had, save the microscopic differences in the appearance of my skin. I hadn't asked Jacob how he knew something was wrong with me, but it was obvious I wasn't as good at blending in as I thought I had been. It wasn't the non-existent heartbeat; Jacob had known something was wrong before that. He had asked me if I was sick.

I sighed onto the surface of my arm as I pondered my subconscious superiority complex. I knew from the first day that the Cullens were something other than normal – than human – so it wasn't such a stretch of the imagination to consider they had realized the same of me. It would explain Edward's strange behavior yesterday – that murderous look in his eye.

My teeth clenched and started to grind at the thought of another inquisition. If the Cullens knew I wasn't human, would they be as blunt as Jacob had been? Would they try to restrict me as the wolves had done? I wondered how strong they were – if they were physically strong at all – and how likely they were to attack me. I moved my arm and peered at Edward and Angela, who had their heads tilted together, speaking softly.

Did Angela know? Was Angela something else as well? She wasn't like me and she wasn't like the Cullens, but then again there were probably other things out in the world other than the strange creatures I had met here in Forks. I smiled at my desk at the idea of legends-come-to-life, running my fingers over the cover of my book. Had there been a Dr. Frankenstein as well?

The vibrating sound of plastic on wood made me turn my head to look at Jessica, who picked up her cell phone and started typing on the keypad. I groaned and let my head hit the top of my desk at the reminder. I had completely forgotten about replacing the home phone before I agreed to go over to the Cullens' house.

I turned my head to the side and rested my heated cheek against the cool surface, allowing me to see the sideways figures of Angela and Edward looking at me like I was some sort of idiot. I snorted and pulled my head up, leaning back in my seat and turning away from them.

The bell rang and I pulled my backpack on and strode out of the classroom along with the herd of students. Some of them were almost power-walking down the hallway to get to the cafeteria, dodging around the slower moving students and causing me to snicker. I opened my locker and stuffed my backpack inside, slamming it shut and following the thinning lunch crowd to the cafeteria.

I eyed the growing lunch line with disdain as I stood at the back wall of the cafeteria. Most of the Cullens were already through the line and sitting at the same table they were at yesterday. I watched Edward and Angela paying for their trays at the cash register and shook my head.

It wasn't worth wasting both my time and money getting lunch today – a lunch that, even if I were to eat it, would offer me no sustenance – so I decided to simply head over to the Cullen table, where Alice was already seated next to Emmett and Rosalie, waving me over as I met her gaze. I nodded back and walked through the clusters of tables crammed with feasting students.

I tried not to let my unease get the best of me as I sat down at the absolutely silent lunch table. Alice, Angela, and Emmett had the least hostile expressions on their faces. Alice gave me a nervous smile, while Angela just looked nervous; Emmett had curiosity written across his face, and he wasn't shy about openly staring at me. Edward and Rosalie were both glaring at me, though Edward's look seemed less malicious.

I sank into my seat next to Alice with a frail sense of security – surely nothing so bad would occur here, in the open and populated cafeteria. I held no illusions at this point; I knew from the looks on their smooth faces that they had invited me over because they knew I was different. I would tell them what I had told the wolves if they asked, but I wouldn't be chased out of my own home – I wouldn't be banned like the Quileute tribe tried to do to me.

"Hi, Bella," Alice greeted. I smiled and nodded to her, still feeling a bit tense. "So, these are Rosalie, Emmett, Angela, and Edward" she pointed to each as she went around the table. "Everyone, this is Bella." Nobody said anything in response; they only looked more pointedly in my direction, which was both incredibly awkward and strangely funny. My lips pursed as I fought to keep my internal laughter to myself.

"Aren't you going to get anything to eat?" Emmett was the first, beside Alice, to speak to me. I glanced down at the spot on the table where my tray would have been and shook my head, looking back up at the giant.

"I had a big breakfast," I lied, though his question drew my attention to his – and the rest of the Cullens' – untouched trays of food, some of which I could see were beginning to cool. "What about you?" I nodded at his own tray, causing him to look down at his food with completely undisguised disgust. He shook his head as well.

"Uh, no," Emmett said. "We had a big breakfast as well." I nodded, but didn't really buy it. The wolves had said they – whatever they were – had a diet similar to mine. So, did that also mean they were unable to eat regular food? Alice must have seen the inquisitive look on my face and decided to change the subject.

"Oh," I turned to Alice before she could speak. "I won't be able to make it to your house today. I have to go to Port Angeles to get a new phone for the house." Alice visibly deflated for a moment before recovering and opening her mouth to speak.

Edward hissed – actually hissed, like a snake or a cat – and the molten gold of his irises was eclipsed by a liquid black, returning is eye-color to the familiar obsidian. I both felt and saw the skin on my hands subtly shifting from the perceived threat and I tensed in my seat, eyeing Edward like a hawk. A low, rumbling growl came from Alice's chest in response to Edward's inhuman hiss, and I felt my body hunch over in my seat as I ducked my head, preparing for an attack.

"Guys," Emmett warned softly, looking from Alice to Edward and back to me. "Chill out. People are starting to stare." I shifted minutely into a more relaxed position and eyed the crowd, seeing more than a couple curious teenagers looking over at our table. Alice stopped growling and gave Edward a stern look, which he shook his head at but didn't comment on, before she turned back to me.

"I would like to offer you a ride to Port Angeles so that you could come over afterward, if you're up to it. We could get there a lot faster in my car than if you were to take your truck. No offence, Bella," she shrugged her shoulders at me. I frowned at her comment.

"Hey, my truck isn't that slow," I mumbled. Alice gave me a knowing look.

"I doubt that heap could make it up to fifty-five," Rosalie huffed out a sarcastic laugh.

I gritted my teeth at the comment, but it had merit. And I doubted Alice, alone, could be much of a threat if she were to attack me outside of school. Besides that, getting the new phone as fast as possible was beneficial to me; I wouldn't have to answer as many questions if a new phone was already installed by the time Charlie got home – something that would never happen if I had to travel under sixty to avoid my truck dying.

"Fine," I conceded to Alice. "I'll take you up on your offer." Alice grinned and Edward started to growl like Alice had earlier, startling Angela, who gave him a worried look.

"Oh, shut up, Edward. Bella's not going to hurt me," she turned to me. "I'll pick you up at your house after school, OK?"

I sighed and nodded, pushing out of my seat as the bell sounded, announcing the end of the lunch period. I waved goodbye to the Cullens and stalked off toward my locker to get my history book. I considered how much I was letting the Cullens get away with, as they had basically dictated the time and spot to have the discussion I knew was coming, much like Jacob had.

There was a difference though, that worked in my favor. I would be alone with Alice for almost three hours, free to ask my own questions about what she – and the rest of her family – was. And, if she gave me the same treatment the wolves had, I simply wouldn't go over to their house. I nodded to myself in acceptance of my plan, confident I would be the one with the upper hand this time.

End notes: Quite a few reviewers have complained about Bella telling the wolves too much in the last chapter and generally letting them get away with far too much. I'll see if I can defend my writing a bit.

Bella isn't Mercer in the same way Heller wasn't. She isn't a terrorist and she wasn't out for revenge when she became 'infected.' She's very much the same person she was before, and in fact I am basing her personality on the Bella Swan from the books. What she did with the wolves was trade information (albeit she didn't get much from the wolves).

No, she's not going to be as frail and as much of a pushover as she was in the books; turning into a monster and killing people changes you, I would imagine. But neither is she going to be completely evil, relishing in murdering people and not caring at all. My apologies if you expected an antisocial Bella Swan, but I'll do my best to add in some extra servings of violence.

That being said, I did do a rewrite of the last chapter to add some more violence and make Bella less of a 'pushover.'

No, that's not Bella at the beginning of each chapter. It should be fairly obvious, now, who it is. But if it's not, it'll get way more obvious later on.

razberry1: It's actually not a cop out in allowing Bella the option of feeding off of animals. That's straight up canon from [Prototype], not to mention in-line with Bella's personality and a logical leap the wolves would have taken upon encountering a creature vaguely similar to a vampire.