"Do you feel different?" Edward questioned me. I started to feel uncomfortable with him standing over me, he read my mind and instantly took a chair. I didn't know if I could get used to that.

"Besides the fact that I'm some sort of vampire, I feel really normal," I told him honestly.

Carlisle inquired next. "Do you have a craving for anything in particular? Or does your throat itch?"

My hand went up to my neck instantaneously. "I don't think so. Wait, do you mean blood?"

The last hour Edward and Carlisle had been explaining to me exactly what was happening. I had been attacked by a mountain lion, that being the only thing I could recall, and then they came and found me in the woods, recognized me as a family member of the pack, and made the call to try to save me with vampire venom.

From what Carlisle could see, though, I hadn't hardly changed at all. The only things he could observe of me that were of a vampire was my strength, my speed, and fast healing abilities.

"She's like Nessie," Carlisle said to Edward. "Only part vampire. Why, I don' know. This has never happened before." He looked at me. "You're the first, I assure you."

As Carlisle went on running a few tests with my blood, Edward continued to interview me. "Please let me know if I'm overwhelming you. And know you can ask me anything."

A question quickly popped from my mind through my lips. "Does my family know?"

"Carlisle called them whilst you were in the middle of your transformation. He told them what we had thought at the time, that you were being turned into a vampire," he let me know solemnly.

I clasped my hands and tried not to imagine how much pain they were going through at the time. "Will you call them to let them know that I'm not?"

"Soon," Edward assured me.

"Who found me in the woods? I know it wasn't one of you two. He had blonde hair like Carlisle, but he looked younger."

"That would be Leon, he's a family friend of ours. He found you and brought you to us," he replied.

For some odd reason I felt in debt to this man, although he had caused me a hard twenty hours of excrutiating pain. He was the reason I was still alive. "Can I meet him?"

Before Edward could answer me, the man I remembered seeing that night walked through the door. He was beautiful, like all the others, and his voice sounded like velvet to me as he introduced himself. "I'm Leon Atwood, pleasure to meet you, Claire." He crossed the room and grabbed my hand, only to bring it to his lips to kiss it. I shivered at the cold touch and pulled my hand back wearily.

"T-th-thank you, Leon Atwood," I found it difficult to look away from him golden brown eyes. "You saved my life."

His hand made a shoo-ing guesture. "Think nothing of it, Claire." My name coming from his lips made my heart speed up. I wasn't sure why, but his beauty, drawl, and movements were pulling me to him the longer I kept eye contact with him.

"Leon, that's enough. We need to let Claire rest now," Edward interrupted our locked eyes.

Our gaze broke and I felt myself fall back into the pillows on my bed. Leon lifted his hand to wave and then exited the room. There was somethings strange about him.

As he left, Carlisle walked in with a clipboard in his hands. He was finishing up writing something before he looked at Edward, then to me.

"I have a theory," he told us.

Before he could tell me exactly what his theory was, I saw the glance exchanged between Edward and him. Edward shook his head ever so slightly and then turned to me. "It's a rough theory, but it might be possible."

"What?" I all but begged to be let in to their secret conversation.

Carlisle spoke up. "You are familiar with the legends of the Quileute shape shifters, correct?"

"Yes," I nodded my head.

Edward spoke this time. "What we're thinking is perhaps that because of your bond with all of the shape shifters, that those relationships some how prohibited you from becoming a full vampire."

I narrowed my eyes, trying to view the theory in my head from all angles. "So I didn't transform all the way because I'm related to a few werewolves? I'm not even Quiluete, my parents are both Makahs."

Edward looked down, "Like I said, rought theory. but it's all we got for now."

Before I could question them more on how that idea could possibly work, Carlisle interrupted me.

"Claire, try and get some rest. I'm going to give you a couple sedatives to help you sleep, just because now I'm sure your minds running a million miles an hour with all the information you've been given. Once you wake we can explain everything else, get you some food, and give you a tour of the house." He smiled, setting down two blue pills in the palm of my hand. I grabbed the water bottle from my bedside table and took them happily. He was right, it would be nice to relax for while. My mind was tiring me out.

Before he and Edward could leave the room I stopped him with a question. "Will one of you call my family and let them know what's happening?"

"Of course," Carlisle confirmed as he shut off the light. "Sleep well."

When I awoke I found a tray of food next to me. There were half a dozen plates on it and a pitcher of water. Before I could dig in, my blonde hair savior walked through the door.

"How are you Claire?" He asked, sitting in the chair beside my bed. "Have you eaten?"

Trying not to get caught up in his eyes like last time, I glanced at the food and picked up the first plate. It was turkey and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. "Not yet," I told him. Then without much thought I started to shovel the food down my mouth.

Once my initial hunger started going down, I started to slow down, embarassed to be eating like such a slob in front of this man. He didn't seem to mind though.

"What I wouldn't give for gravy. I used to put that stuff on everything," he licked his lips.

Feeling guilty, I tried handing to him my plate. He put up his hands in protest and laughed. "Of course, I can't eat that stuff now. I'd close to vomit."

My memories came back to me about what being a vampire was. No sleeping, no aging, no procreating, and no eating human food. Their diet was based around one thing and one thing only. "Sorry," I said softly, setting the plate back on the tray. Next I picked up a bowl of clam chowder. How could they have known my favorite foods?

Once I slurped down the full bowl, I set that down as well. I clutched my stomach, satisfied. "That hit the spot," I told Leon, trying to keep up conversation. For however long I had been eating the soup, he had been staring at me.

Like before, he grabbed my hand and locked my eyes with his. "Will you tell me more about yourself Claire?"

With all my might I retracted my hand, "Please don't do that," the words coming from my mouth even surprised me. "I'm sorry, I mean, what do you want to know?"

He didn't seem too offended as he started pondering. "What's your last name?"

"Young," I told him.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked, looking honestly curious about such a trivial thing.

"Green. I like green."

He leaned forward in his chair, seeming more comfortable now. "What was it like not being able to talk?"

I thought a minute about this one. "I- I don't know if I really can explain in words or phrases you'll understand. In some ways it felt like I had been put in time out and wasn't allowed to speak. In other ways it was a blessing, because people I didn't want to talk to, I didn't have to."

Edward came in the room then. "Claire, glad to see you're awake. Leon?" He looked at the man next to me and gave him a slightly furious look.

"Claire and I were just having a conversation, I wasn't trying to disturb her," Leon explained, getting up to leave. "I'll have to talk to you later, Claire." He left the room, leaving just Edward and I.

"Sleep well?" He asked.

"Why ask? You already know," I told him with a chuckle.

He shrugged and took a seat. "Just trying to be polite. I don't mean to pry, in your thoughts, I mean."

"It must be a nice power to have. Do you all have some sort of super power? You or Carlisle didn't mention anything about that earlier," I wondered aloud.

"Sort of," he sighed and sat back in his seat, "It's a lot to explain."

"That's fine, I want to know," I said sincerely.

Before he could start, his eyes flickered to the door, then back to me. "Is it okay if my wife Bella comes to join us? She'd be better at explaining it than I anyways."

I nodded and his wife walked in. She had a beautiful round face and dark hair. I could definitely see the the similarities between her and Renesmee.

"Hi Claire," she came up to my bed. "How was your food?"

I was remind of the four plates of susenance beside me. "Oh, it was great. I'm sorry I wasn't able to eat all of it."

She shook her head, "It's no problem. Esme was happy to cook for some one."

"Esme is my mother," Edward answered my question before it could even come out of my mouth.

I looked up at Bella. "Do you have a super power?"

Her giggle rang out like bells, and almost made me want to laugh with her. "I guess you could call it that. I do have a power which allows me to shield me or anyone else around me from others' powers."

I sat there confused. "So, does that mean Edward can't read your mind?"

Her smile stayed, "Correct. Unless I put my shield down, then he can."

"What do you mean, put it down? You can stop your powers?"

She thought a few seconds before explaining it to me. "After a while, you start to learn how to work with your power. How to use it in different ways, how to put it aside, and how to use it to help others. Take Edward's sister Alice as an example. She can see into the future, but with that ability, she can also learn how to prevent what she sees."

I put my hand to my head. "She can see the future? What's Carlisle's power?"

Edward spoke up. "He doesn't have one. Not every vampire does."

"What about me? You said I've gained some vampiric qualities, does that mean I could get one?" The thought both excited and frightened me.

"It's possible, our daughter Nessie has one, and she's half human," said Bella.

They must have seen something in my eyes because as Bella reached to console me, Edward reassured me that it most likely wouldn't happen.

Just then, Edward and Bella exchanged a glance for nearly thirty seconds. I could tell that some sort of conversation was flowing between them.

"What?"

They kept looking away until finally Bella's eyebrows raised, her smile sunk, and her hand squeezed mine. "Claire, do you know why you were out in the woods that night?"

I tried to keep from gasping as the memories started slowly flowing back into my subconcious. Not everything made sense, but I could pick up on the events. Derrick planned on taking me home that night and raping me. We pulled over and I ran out into the dark forest. He tried to find me, but I ran away too fast for him to catch me. It was too bad that I couldn't outrun that mountain lion. But the cat's body was only on me for nearly a minute before some one had found me. Leon had. He picked me up in his arms and I sobbed in pain with every single move he made. He apologized for what was about to happen. I fainted before I could see anything more happen.

I looked up, remembering where I was now. I looked back and forth between Edward and Bella. I wanted to lie and tell them that I had just been out for a walk. But Edward already knew the truth. I felt warm tears sliding down my cheeks and my face scrunched up in protest.

Bella looked like she might cry herself, and she tried to wipe my tears with her thumbs. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want."

I looked to Edward, pleading.

He spoke to me in a comforting tone. "If you don't want me to tell anyone, I won't. Even I understand that some secrets are just better kept quiet. No one's going to ask you again, I can promise you." Once he finished, he grabbed my other hand.

I had met these strangers just mere hours ago and already they felt like some sort of family to me. Without them I would be lying on the forest floor, bleeding, half alive. They had taken me in, saved my life, and gave me a place to sleep, food to eat, and loving gestures. "Thank you. Thank you and your whole family," I said to Edward.

He shook his head. "No need to thank anyone, we're all happy to see you alive and well."

Bella smiled, "You have no clue how nice it is to have some one like you around. We love having some one to take care of, it brings the best out of all of us."

Edward nodded his head in agreement. "Now, Claire, would you like to get up and see around the place you've been staying?"

My face unscrunched and my tears started to fall down slower. "That would be nice," I told them both.

Both of them held on to me as I tried to get out of bed. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard at all. I could've done it without their help, but it was nice to have some one to lean on. After I stood for a few minutes, they let me go. I started to walk around the room, noticing new things about my surroundings.

Before long I caught myself looking into a mirror. Instead of my usual lanky, frizzy haired, bagged-eyed self, I found a more beautiful women in front of me. She had thick hips, smooth, shiny raven hair and a face fresh from an acne commercial. I began to place my hands around my face, feeling the girl I saw in front of me. She looked like me, an older me. An older, more comfortable looking me. She- I mean, I- was beautiful.

Bella appeared behind me. "You look great. Not that you weren't always beautiful, but the transformation does help you to see yourself in a better light."

I nodded. I felt my stomach clench at the thought of Quil seeing me like this. Then unclenched when I realized that he may never want to see me again. Not after what had happened on the beach. Before I could dwell on the horrible thought for too long, I noticed the attire I was in. It was a yellow sundress, with a slight v-neck, cap sleeves, and a skirtline that went below my knees. I definitely didn't own anything this pretty.

"Do you like the dress? My sister Rose lent it to you, you two are pretty similar in body size."

"It's beautiful," I said, twirling ever so slightly just to see how the dress would move. I looked like I was on my way to a wedding rather than having just laid in a bed for a day and a half.

Trying to not appear so vain, I turned from the mirror. "What's outside of this room?" I asked them both. "Can I see it?"

Within the next couple of hours Edward and Bella had introduced me to everyone and everything that was in their coven, as they called it. I was surprised when I first walked out that I found myself inside of a mansion. Not a typical one you'd expect vampires to live in, but something you'd see in Beverly Hills. Complete with a pool room, a billiards room, and a library.

The next surprise came when they led me out of the house. They started walking me through a path in the woods, and we came upon a cottage. They told me it was the house they were living in. I asked them why instead didn't they live in the mansion and they said that they liked the privacy. As we walked on the rest of the path, we came across four more similar styled houses.

I was introduced to Rosalie and Emmett. Edward's sister and brother. Earlier Edward had explained to me how neither of them were related to him, but it was just easier to call them that, since they had spent so many years together. We passed an empty cottage which is where Alice, the physic, and her husband Jasper. Bella told me that they had been away travelling for the past few months, so their cottage remained empty. Next was the guest cottage, where Leon was staying all by himself. He came out to greet me and I looked away shyly. There was something about this man that made me embarassed. Whether it was because of his stunning features or his alluring eyes. I didn't know why I was so scared to be attracted to him, it's not like I was taken or anything. Far from, actually.

After passing the guest cottage, we were at Renesmee and Jacob's cottage. Boy, was I surprised when Sarabelle and William walked out. I shouldn't have been, because I knew they were their kids, but it was still weird to see them outside of school or pack gatherings.

Sarabelle came up to me and hugged me. "Claire! Welcome!" I tried to forget about how she had used my brother, and reached my arms around to hug her back. William lifted up his hand to wave, but stayed at a distance. He was always a quiet one, which I appreciated. He was the complete opposite of his twin sister.

Behind them was Renesmee, and she reached to hug me as well. "You just missed Jacob, he's gone to La Push for the next couple of days," she spoke.

"Where is he off to?" I asked her curiously.

She retracted the hug and sucked in her lips. She looked like she was feeling guilty of having said too much.

I looked at the ground, realizing myself exactly why Jacob had gone to La Push. I had almost forgotten about how close he and Quil were. He was probably on his way to give the news.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't mean to make your stay here harder than it already is."

As she said that I felt my heart tug in several different ways as I thought about Holli, Eric, Kenzie, Kail, Gene, my father, Tyson, and everyone else who was missing right now. Quil. My mind pressed me, don't forget Quil.

Earlier, when I told Edward how much I was missing home, he softly reminded me that I wouldn't be able to go home until I could control myself better. I did have new strength, and if I wasn't careful, it was possible that I could hurt some one. In my head I imagined myself reaching down to hug Holli, and squeezing her so tight that she broke into a million pieces. I agreed with Edward, telling him that I wasn't going home until I was completely sure of my own strength.

"Claire," Bella grabbed my arm gently to pull me away from my haunting thoughts, "Would you like to stay with Nessie? We thought maybe since you knew Sarabelle and William, it would be the most comfortable for you."

I looked at her and answered calmly. "I'd rather stay with you and Edward, if that's okay. I feel most comfortable with you two." In all actuality I didn't think I could stand it if Sarabelle and I were put in the same room. I wasn't exactly in the mood to give her a chance.

Something in Bella's eyes lit up and I could tell she was trying to hold back a smile. "That's fine with me. I'd love for you to stay with us, Claire," she snaked her arm behind mine and gave me a gentle rub on the back.

If you would have told me two days ago that I was letting a vampire touch me, and was actually okay with it, I would have thought you were crazy. From what I had heard from most of the pack, vampires were the enemy. They rarely spoke about the Cullen's, but when they did, they considered them "tolerable". All day I had been trying to judge them on hospitality rather than what my biases were. To me, they felt like a family.

Edward placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'm glad you think that. Something about you is very special Claire."