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As always, Twilight and all associated characters are copyrighted to Stephenie Meyer; others are all mine!

Enjoy :)

Three

Deal

There is a saying that states something along the lines of: wherever there is darkness, there is also light. I think it sprang from something religious. I just remember my own variation of the quote, back when I was with a family that actually attended church on Sundays and believed that there was a God, and had their own two biological children baptized.

Yeah, I remember that Bible thumping family. They were so for the children that as soon as the wife discovered she wasn't as sterile as the doctors thought she was it was out the door with me. Of course, they never said it like that, they weren't that cold. They just liked to be more subtle about it. Instead, when foster services arrived to check in on me and my new family, they had a private conversation, (without twelve-year-old me) as they discussed my "untrusting" behavior and poor performance in school. I wasn't happy here, and they wanted me to be in a home where I could feel more at ease.

I guess that's what you get for being a C average student. It's not my fault I suck at every subject except gym.

So back to the saying.

For some reason, it always stuck with me, even if I totally mutated the original form. I think because I was actually afraid of the darkness, and the dark things that came out of it. Yes, yours truly was and is afraid of the boogie-man. But people never got it; I actually saw things . . . real things . . . things that spoke to and touched me.

Only the light ever scared them away, only the light made me feel better.

* * *

"Oh Brielle, you're in trouble again . . ."

I looked up. It was the woman I had dreamt about other night, the one that smelled of oil and whose shirt was tight over a muscled body. I noticed an iridescent tattoo on the side of her neck before she turned her bright eyes on mine. Her hair was boy cut, though her bangs hung over to one side, ending in a neat, dark tip. Her hair was a dark red color, but there seemed to be a slight tint to it when she walked . . .

"Brielle . . ." I looked into her face. There was that grin, the kind that frightened devils, demons, and crabby substitute teachers. "I can't find you, lovely. You'll have to find me."

The scent of oil and gas was once more doubly present. I reached out to her and she let me touch her arm. A shock seemed to spread through me and she laughed.

"The feel of power, lovely."

"How do I find you?" I asked the question, but I don't think my mouth opened.

She smirked and turned her back to me.

"You have my scent, don't you?"

I nodded without thinking. When I tried to walk towards her, my movements became languid and slow, and suddenly I was thrashing in one place, trying to get to her.

"Silly, Brielle . . ." she turned towards me again, her eyes iridescent as before, fading to black like they had. "Silly, sweet, naïve Brielle . . . Do you really think it would be that easy?"

I woke with a start, and then let out a light simper as I realized it was still dark in my room.

Yes, it had become my room. I had been here for three weeks now and that's the only thing it had ever been referred to. So, it just got stuck to becoming my possession, for now. I was still planning on getting out of here somehow.

I pushed myself up slowly, my eyes quickly scanning the area around me. My arm had healed fairly quickly. It was still stiff, but nearly as sore as it had been, and I was able to use it no problem. My leg was still in a cast, but I was using crutches now. I had taken it upon myself to wander their home a little; though the only people I only ever really saw were Carlisle, Jasper, and Alice. Once and a while, Esme would come see me. I never saw his other two kids, or the first one that found me – Emmett. I could hear him though; he was loud and tended to laugh a lot. He sounded like the typical big, annoying brother out of book or movie. I yawned as the darkness remained still and uninteresting. Oddly enough, I felt a sense of security here. I had determined that these people were not crazy lunatics trying to seduce me into joining some cult of theirs.

It didn't mean, however, that I was handing over any information.

I continued to lie there, staring up at the black ceiling, my arms folded behind my head. I sighed, thinking about God and religion . . . I had gone threw so many homes with so many beliefs and standards that it was hard figuring out what to believe and what didn't make sense and what I thought made sense. Sometimes, I felt like giving up all together, but that just made me go cold inside, a feeling I was not at all partial too. I was sure there was something, mainly because I had held my own religious experience; to me, the goose bumps you get from walking into a church aren't for nothing. Maybe it is to some, but to me, it was the only comfort I got out of life.

Glancing over the side of the bed, I eyed my crutches half heartedly. I knew I wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon. Bracing myself on my arms, I carefully placed my good leg over the side of the bed, dragging my cast with it. I shivered in the chilly air, straightening out my good leg. It was still sore somewhat, and tended to grow stiff. Sometimes my knee would lock up on me, but otherwise I was able to walk on it fine. I was reaching down to grab my crutches when I hesitated.

The hair on my arm went straight up and I felt the breath from my lungs leave me. My fingers grew cold and my body went rigid with terror; I'd had this feeling before. I made myself look at the shadows that streamed out from my under the bed, covering the crutches. They were darker, and had a shape to them that my eyes made out to be small fingers, flickering where the moon caught them.

"Stop it!" I muttered quietly to myself, closing my eyes. "Get a hold of yourself Brie . . ."

I jumped and my eyes flew open when I felt something touch my ankle. Suddenly, my mind was filled with memories . . .

"Brielle run!" my last foster father's face was obscured; I didn't want to remember the fear on his face. "Out the back! Go!"

I had been frozen, staring at the bloody body of my foster mother, Maria. I stepped back one step back when I heard the gun shot and my knees gave out. I hadn't been hit . . . but my father had.

"Keith!"

There was so much blood . . . I could only kneel there, trembling. These people were dark, and it wasn't just the clothing. Their skin was the color black, and not the race. They moved odd, I couldn't make out their faces . . .

When their fingers touched my cheek, I shuddered. I remember I got sick, heaving on the floor before one of the two stepped forward. He tried to raise my chin, to look into his face, but somehow I knew this was wrong . . . it was very . . . wrong . . .

"We'll take her with us then!" said the other.

Before I could even comprehend why they would want to kidnap me instead of kill me, I felt a twinge in my neck and my world darkened.

The last thing I remembered was that these things had not entered through any doorways or windows . . . they had already been in my room . . . in my closet . . . I had forgotten to shut the door . . .

I gasped and tried to drag my ankle back. I looked around the room to find it complete darkness, the pitch black that didn't even allow the moonlight in. My heart was in my throat as I waiting for something to happen; the silence was worse than the stillness.

Suddenly one of my crutches seemed to fly across the room and crash into all the CDs on the wall. I made a grab for the other one as I saw start to tremble; I couldn't help the scream that erupted from my throat as I felt myself jerked from off the bed. Time seemed to slow for a moment, my hands desperately clutching onto the crutch . . .

The next moment I was slammed into the wall of music like a rag doll. I heard CDs crash around me and the instant my head hit the floor, everything went quiet . . . well, save for the dull ringing in my ears. I whimpered as I opened my eyes and saw that I was facing the door . . . and there was light coming underneath it.

There is light. . .

Something cold seemed to crawl along my body again, making me curl into a fetal position, or as best I could with one leg in a cast.

"Stop it." I muttered again, but even to my ears it had less feeling.

I was relieved when the door to my room flew open, letting the light from the hallway flood in.

"Brie!"

It was Alice.

"Brie! Are you okay?"

"Fine . . ." I stuttered. It was halfhearted. How else was I supposed to feel after being thrown across the room by the boogie-man?

"If you needed help, you should have called for one of us! We don't mind."

I sighed. She thought I had fallen. Well, it was better than her getting wound up in my crazy life. I did my best to avoid eye contact and stiffly pushed myself onto my elbows. I felt strong hands reached under and help me to my feet. I looked up and saw Jasper looking at me worriedly. I felt my cheeks flush and made my other leg straighten out to give him some help, though he really didn't seem to need it. Alice handed me my crutches.

"Will you be okay to walk?" she asked sweetly. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fi –"

"You're trembling." Alice and I both looked up at him as he slowly let me go. My hands were slick as I gripped my crutches and I swallowed. So what if I was?

"The fall scared me a little." I lied slightly, staring at my feet again. "I thought I might hurt my leg again."

Yep, it sounded even more stupid being spoken than it did in my head.

No one was speaking . . . instead I looked up to see them exchanging glances, my eyes flicking back and forth between them. They almost seemed to be communicating wordlessly, but I couldn't figure out the odd look in Alice's eyes. I jumped when I heard a booming voice behind and turned to find that Emmett had (oddly) snuck up on us.

"What's going on? I heard a – Woah." He stared at me in strange way and I glared back at him. "How is . . . her hair . . . did you know it did that?"

I almost asked what he was talking about but the truth was – I knew exactly what he was talking about. With a look of irritation, I brought up a pale hand and grabbed a long strand of hair that had once been a dark brown and was now turning to a bright red.

"Freak . . ." I muttered.

* * *

I could usually sense when I was about to Change, nothing special happened, I just knew. The fact that this came on so suddenly scared me a little. I had been so careful all my life to never let any of my foster families see; I knew I would make the news or something and probably end up either in a science lab or in a circus freak show. The fact that none of them screamed or laughed surprised me; I would have thought my "magic hair" would be a big deal. At least, I'd never heard of it being a common thing in society. But then, I was just a poor little orphan girl who lived under a rock most of her life.

After I assured them I was okay and after my trembling had gone away, Alice insisted I lay on the couch and I complied, mostly because I wasn't willing to back to my dark room with a dark thing waiting for me. But I put on a good act, grudgingly accepting the pillow and blanket and the warm cup of coco. They were nice enough people, so I didn't complain to much; that's one thing I'd learned on my own in the past several years. Never bite the hand that feeds you. I came across several good families in my lifetime, and several not-so-good . . . I knew which ones not to offend and when to hold back the sarcasm.

Except with Emmett, his very presence just inspired new sarcastic quotes.

Later that morning, I must have fallen asleep again, but when I woke up, I heard voices, and my name, so naturally, I kept my eyes closed. I may not be a magnificent liar, but I could out fake-sleep anybody.

"I felt more than just fear," that was unmistakably Jasper. "She was terrified. She didn't fall, Carlisle. Something else happened that she's not telling us about."

"I think there is a lot more she isn't telling us about." said Carlisle evenly.

It was hard not to tense or making any sort of motion to let them know I was listening. He had called me out . . . and though I wasn't normally surprised, I hadn't actually lied about anything, at least, nothing concerning the fall. And I had been terrified, and there was a lot that I wasn't telling them. A lot more than they'd ever know.

"I want to keep her with us," Carlisle was speaking again. "There's something . . . wrong, about all this and I –"

"Carlisle, you're doing this again!" I didn't recognize this voice; it was sharp, feminine, and a viperous bite to it. "You did this with Bella, and now your doing it with . . . her . . . Look where it almost got us last time!"

"Rosalie . . ." that was Esme, and though her tone was soft, it was also daring.

"No!" spat Rosalie. "No! Why should we help her? This isn't even like it was in Bella's case, we don't even know what we are getting ourselves into. We already know she's something else entirely, Alice and Edward can't get anything on her, the only one that seems to be having any success is Jasper and that's not really doing us much good!"

I didn't have a clue what she was talking about or who Bella was (Carlisle never mentioned a Bella) but once she mentioned Jasper in that tone of voice, I felt myself grow angry. I kept it from my face easily but I had an instant dislike for her.

"Come on now, Rose. . ." that was Emmett. "You didn't find her. She was pretty mangled . . ."

"I don't care! We are putting this family in danger again and this time there is a child involved, in case you forgot!"

I sighed softly in my sleep. Of course; I was a bane of existence in their family already. I somehow knew this was going to happen. Most of them had been kind to me at least; I was thankful for that. As soon as my leg was healed, I would be out of their hair in a heartbeat.

"She is staying with us." Carlisle said firmly. An abrupt stillness took the room and he lowered his voice some. "Couldn't you smell her blood, Rosalie? She is different."

Smell my blood? What the hell . . .

"Yes I knew she was different! I don't need to smell her; I mean her hair changes color!"

"I found that rather fascinating actually . . ."

"Alice!"

"Rosalie!" I heard Alice's mock-evil giggle follow right after and had to fight the urge to smile. Maybe she was okay.

"As I was saying," Carlisle continued; I imagined he was staring at Rosalie rather sternly. At least his voice sounded like it. "She's different. And I think . . . somethings wrong. She was bound when she got here, and whoever had her, obviously had run from the scene. She's frightened, she doesn't know who to trust. And if someone or something is after her . . ." he paused, leaving a tense silence to follow. I realized I was holding my breath and slowly let it out. "I'm determined to help her. She came into our care, and so far, has trusted us. I cannot let her down."

"I agree." said Jasper's steady voice.

"So do I." said Alice calmly.

I felt something shudder through my body and only one thought could really stay in my mind; someone cared. But I wasn't too anxious to grip too tight to their hospitality; I had done that many times before and fallen hard on my face. But this just felt so different. . .

"She's awake." Jasper said suddenly.

Damn it . . . How did he know?

I fluttered my eyes open, staring at them all in turn with a glazed looked that I had long since mastered. Most of them looked familiar; Carlisle was sitting in a large rocking chair, Esme standing beside him with a soft hand resting on his arm. On the couch on the far wall sat Jasper, Alice cross-legged on the floor next to him. A teenage looking boy sat in the middle, stoic almost, gazing at me hard and uncertainly.

Creep . . .

Then there was Emmett. When I looked at him, his face lit up like a little boy on Christmas day, which quickly transferred to a casual eye-roll as Rosalie (or who I assumed to be, Rosalie) glared him, and then at me. She stood up, locking her bright eyes with mine. I raised an eyebrow at her, as if to say "bring it on" before she turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. Emmett got up and followed her.

"Just ignore her." Emmett said, with a lopsided apologetic grin.

"Yeah," I turned to see the other boy smirking. I sifted through my memory; Carlisle said he had another son . . . Edwin? No . . . Edward? That sounded more like it . . . I think. "That's what the rest of us do."

I liked the looks of him; he had a strong sense of personality about him and was very handsome, but I couldn't tell if he would be friend or foe. I swallowed and pushed myself up to a sitting position. Carlisle stood and everyone's eyes suddenly followed him as he came towards me. His smile was kind, and it reached his eyes. I swallowed and struggled to hold eye contact.

"Brielle," he said softly. "I'd like to make a deal with you."

I kept my face calm but before the doctor could say anything else, Edward spoke up.

"Carlisle! Do you really think – "

"It's okay Edward." Carlisle said quietly. "I've thought this through. Now, Brielle, I know you've been through a lot, and I know you don't remember much, but I want to help you. You know about my foster kids . . ." he stepped back some to reveal the couch bearing Jasper, Alice, and Edward. "If I promise to help you and we figure how to help you, together . . ."

"No . . ." it was quiet, but out of my mouth before I even knew it. I hated it when people made promises. Most of them were empty anyway.

"Wait," he held up a hand. "Let's say you don't feel the same in about oh. . . three weeks, when I'm guessing you'll get your cast off? Then, I let you go. I wont call child services, I wont delve into your history or personal records or anything; I'll just say you ran away."

Now I was listening. I nodded.

"Okay. But meanwhile, I want to help you, we all do. If I promise to save you from whatever trouble you're in, to heal wounds that need to be healed . . ." I guessed he was talking about more than just my physical ones. "And if you agree to it, would you be willing to take a chance and join my family?"

"Carlisle!" It was Esme. I had inkling he hadn't told her of his intentions and I felt a cold pit build in my stomach.

One look at Jasper and it went away. There was so much trust in his quiet son's eyes that when I looked back at him, I had an easier time with the blunt question. Another family, another home . . .I bit my lip and mulled over what to say. He wanted to help; I got that. But I doubted he could do anything about the boogie-man in my closet . . .

"And you promise you wont give me up? You promise not to take me on and then dump for a reason that you made up on the spot?"

"I haven't given up on them." he nodded to the three on the couch. Then he smiled. "Including Rosalie."

I looked at the three of them. Edward looked unsure, Alice was practically glowing and Jasper . . . Jasper looked twitchy. In a good way. I thought about having Emmett as a big brother and then inwardly cringed at having Rosalie as a big sister. I looked tentatively at Esme who smiled kindly. She wasn't Maria, but she reminded me a lot of my previous foster mom; warm and kindly . . .

Was I looking at my new family? Or was I setting myself up for a new failure? No one had said a word about my hair . . .

"I wont pressure you," Carlisle said, holding out a hand. "But if you choose to let me adopt you, I swear you'll be a Cullen forever."

There was a lot packed behind those words and when I looked at his hands, I felt my own start to tremble. Instead of foster, he had said the word "adopt." It was the finality I had waited for all my life. Could he really mean it? Did he really think he could help me?

Maybe he could, something inside me said.

"No matter what?" I asked meekly.

"Even if you turn out to be from Mars."

I smiled. "What if I'm a blood sucking vampire? Or I go werewolf on you when the full moon is out?"

Carlisle laughed but I caught a side glance from Edward that changed when Alice kicked him slightly. Maybe he didn't like me . . .

"Especially if you turn out to be a blood sucking vampire."

I felt my cheeks burn as I looked down at his hand. Well, what did I have to lose? I looked at Jasper and Alice again and I felt myself smile. I turned to Esme who was looking at me anxiously. Taking a deep breath, my hand shot out and gripped his. I didn't think twice about.

"You have a deal, doc." I said through the lump in my throat. "Good luck."

I think all of us jumped when Alice squealed with excitement.