Sorry this chapter took so long. I was having some problems with my hands again. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer, in her Twilight Saga series of books

Home by Twilight

Chapter 9

After dinner, Bella and Edward went out on the large porch, where Edward explained to Bella what he had been doing all day. They walked around the house and talked about the events of the last few days. Later, after a half-moon appeared in the night sky, Bella took her marble statue up to their room and placed it on the dressing table.

"It really does look like you," Edward commented. "She even got the tear. How did she do it?"

Bella had picked up a stone during their walk around the house. She had planned on practicing with it. She placed the stone in the palm of her hand, and turned it until she saw what she needed to do. "Now watch," she had told Edward, and she began to shape the stone into the form she had seen in it. Within the stone was a narrow band of gold. As she shaped it, she brought out that crooked band of gold and polished the surface of the common stone. Before she handed it to Edward, she bored a small hole through the middle of the top.

"For my love," she said as she offered the stone heart to Edward. "It's not a diamond, but it was made with love and sealed with gold."

Edward had gently taken the stone from her, and placed it next to the marble sculpture. He picked Bella up in his arms, kissing her neck and working his way to her lips, he laid her on the bed. "No earthquakes tonight," he said, smiling down at her. "Got that shield warmed up?"

Bella and Jenna were back in the basement the next morning. Bella was excited to learn as much as she could, from this very strange woman.

"Will you tell me about my father?" Bella asked.

"I'll tell you as much as I can," Jenna looked sad as she began the story. "I was on a job; sent to get evidence to shut down a drug ring. Five DEA agents had already been killed. A couple more just disappeared. I got a lot farther than they did. I got the evidence, then got caught. The cell they kept me in was already occupied by four other men. They were half starved, and hadn't been close to a woman for a very long time. Your father was one of them." Bella closed her eyes as she dreaded what might come next. "I was taken out and beaten every day for about two weeks. Every time they brought me back, he tended my wounds, and shared his food, so I could heal at least a little. When I was unconscious or just sleeping, he kept the others away from me. It was a very bad situation, and he kept me alive and sane through it all. I grew to love him. After they stopped beating me all the time, I got stronger and we were finally able to break out. As hard as it was, we got the others out too. I was there about two months. When we made it back to the states, he and I planned to meet again after the excitement died down. I turned in the evidence I was sent for, and waited to hear from him. I never did. Shortly after that, I found out that I was pregnant with you. I searched for him for a while, then I had to go into hiding until you were born. I searched for him for years after that. I just never found him."

"You think they killed him? The government?"

"I don't know. I do know that four men were 'rescued' from a foreign prison, and nothing was ever said about it. And the men were never heard from again."

"I'm sorry," Bella told her mother quietly.

"They say you only get one true love. Mine was only for a couple months." Jenna looked at Bella. She reached her hand out and raised Bella's head. "And I got you out of the deal. I'd say I made out OK. Whether you know it or not, I watched you grow up. I may not have gotten all the details, but I saw a lot more than you know." They smiled at each other for a while, then Jenna broke the silence. "Have you taken a good look at the walls of this room?" Jenna asked Bella, who shook her head. "Go ahead, take a good look. Feel the walls. Even the floor."

Bella got up and felt the walls behind the shelves. She felt the rock of the door frame and the floor. "You built this!" Bella was amazed at the smoothness of the granite basement.

"My first house here, was a hole in the mountain. I exercised my skills by moving and compacting tons of granite. Now, you are going to learn to move heavy objects, but not here." Jenna smiled at Bella. "Have you ever ridden a horse?"

"No."

"Would you like to learn?"

"I can run."

"Sometimes it's not a matter of what you can do. It's a matter of what is more enjoyable. I can run almost as fast as you. I can also get to a place, any place, long before you; but we'll save that for another day. It is my preference to enjoy the trip, and ride."

Bella thought about it while they walked out of the house. "OK," she surrendered. "I'll give it a try." There were two horses waiting for them. Jenna told Bella about some of the basics and helped her mount her horse.

"Just remember one thing, trust your horse. These animals were born here in these mountains. They know the terrain, and they know the dangers," and Jenna took the lead.

Bella was nervous, and the horse seemed to feel it. Why she felt so nervous, she didn't know. It would have been so easy to simply jump off the horse, but she wanted to learn everything her mother had to teach her. Even to ride a horse. After an hour of riding, Bella began to relax. After two hours, she began to feel confident enough to look around her, and really see the beauty these mountains had. She was able to see the hole in the mountain, the name of the closest mountain to her mother's place. As they rode on for another hour, Bella saw the variety that her mother's property had to offer. The desert below the area where the house was. The grasslands, the tree line, and the high mountain cliffs. She began to understand what Jenna was trying to tell her. The ride was far more beautiful than the run would have been.

When they reached a small cabin, just inside the tree line, Jenna stopped. She helped Bella unsaddle the horses and put them in a small corral, near the cabin. Jenna made sure they had grain, while Bella put the tack away in a wood box next to the corral.

"Your shield," Jenna started as they walked into the cabin, "and thank you for using it last night, the ability to reform stone; these things are connected." Jenna started a fire in the old wood stove, and set a pot of coffee to boil. "You are altering the molecular composition of something. It can be a piece of wood, a stone, granite, or the air itself." Bella looked doubtful. "You see the shield, when you make it?" Jenna asked. "It becomes a shimmery form in front of you?"

"Yes," Bella was surprised. "How ..."

"I have something similar. Not near as powerful as yours, but it suffices." Jenna checked to make sure her cup was clean, and poured herself some coffee. In some cases we, you and I, are actually altering the frequency of energy." Jenna looked at Bella's face and smiled. "You'll have plenty of time to learn. For people like you and me, life is a very long thing."

"How old are you?" Bella had to ask.

"I was born in October 14, 1928. I'm 82 years old, and I haven't aged since the first time I died, in 1953. I was 25."

Bella looked down at the floor, then she began to smile. Finally a small giggle escaped.

"Just what is it you find so funny!" Jenna demanded to know, with a slight curl to one side of her mouth.

"My husband is older than my mother," Bella burst our laughing. Jenna soon joined her.

"For that, young lady, I'm going to have to work you very hard today," Jenna tried to be stern, but failed miserably. "Come on silly," and she grabbed Bella's hand and showed her how to find the cave behind the fireplace.

Bella followed Jenna down a long hallway that she was sure Jenna had made. The walls and floor were as smooth as the basement of the house. As the hall turned upward, lights began to appear on the walls. The hall emptied out to a large open room. It looked as though it was only half done.

"I actually have a design," Jenna told Bella, as she search through some gear she had against the wall, near the entryway. "It's really just a drawing," and she showed Bella as she made light appear from the walls.

Bella looked around herself, amazed. "The walls themselves are giving off light?"

"Something I've been working on for years. Finally get it to work last month. I had to alter the molecular structure of the granite to include and allow a phosphorescent compound to interact with the air." Bella's eyes appeared to glaze over and Jenna had to laugh. "OK, OK I give up. Today we're going to learn to move and remodel substances on a much larger scale. I'm also hoping to teach you to handle more then one item at a time. You never know when you may need to hold one thing in place while you move another."

Bella and Jenna worked through the day. When they had a chance, when Bella's concentration wasn't being taxed with juggling one-ton boulders, they talked. But after several hours of working, it was time to return to the house. The ride back was much more enjoyable for both mother and daughter. Bella was relaxed and they were able to ride side by side and talk, when the trail allowed it. It was full dark, when they arrived, laughing, in front of the house. A large fire was going in the front yard. Chairs had been brought out and Dinner was being cooked over the fire. Tony ran to meet them and take the horses. Edward was there to help Jenna down, and then Bella.

"He is quite the gentleman," Jenna commented.

"That he is," Bella replied, and molded herself to her husband.

"I missed you," Edward said, looking into her eyes.

"Same here," Bella responded as she wrapped her arms tighter around Edward's neck and tangled her fingers in his hair. "See what I learned today," and Bella levitated until she was eye level with Edward. Gripping him even tighter, she kissed him.

"Not a good idea," Jenna warned her, with a broad smile.

Bella was lost in the kiss. Her legs, no longer needed to support her weight, began to inch their way up Edward's legs. Her knees had just reached his hips when she suddenly found herself flat on her behind, with Edward pulled over, looking down at her.

"Remember what I said about concentration?" Jenna began to chuckle.

Bella looked sheepishly at Edward, "Sorry."

"Amazing," was all Edward could come up with, as he picked Bella up off the ground and carried her to the fire. He kissed her as he went, and placed her gently in a chair, then took a seat next to her.

"We were just getting ready to discus the test results, "Carlisle informed Jenna. She gave a nod, and Carlisle began. "First off, the test subject..."

"The soon to be dead wolf," Jacob broke in with a growl.

"... is alive and well," Carlisle continued, ignoring Jacob's comment. "It does look like the ability to change at will, has become a hereditary trait. The genes of this subject, at least, are definitely from birth, and not acquired through claw or fang, as was required in the past. Whether this was in response to their near extermination, as a survival trait, or through some breeding program that someone has created, they are still werewolves, not shifters. We were also able to discover that they are able to maintain some primitive memory of their human self. This enables them to understand and carry out simple orders. If they have been sent to do a job, and something gets in the way, they have to return, at least partially, to human form, to deal with the change in plan. They do not appear to have the ability to remain in contact with others of their pack. As for questioning the man, he refuses to talk, and Edward has not been able to get anything from him."

"OK," Jenna thought for a moment. "We need to find out who the Alpha is, and why they've decided to choose me to annoy. I'll go to Deeth tonight and see what I can find out. We'll turn the test subject loose, and I'll follow him."

"I'm going with you," Bella told Jenna.

"No you're not," Jenna stood up and looked at her. "You'll want to go, then Edward will want to go, to protect you. Then Emmett will feel the need to go, to protect Edward. Next thing you know, everybody will be there. No, just me." Jenna smiled down at Bella. "Trust me. I've done this before." Bella nodded to Jenna. "Now, I'm going to get some sleep. You can turn him loose at midnight," Jenna informed Carlisle. "I'll be ready."

Jacob carried a sleeping Renesmee inside and up to her bed. Tony, with Nita, was right behind him. The other humans said their good nights and disappeared. Bella began to turn the dust at her feet. She slowly twirled it up into a solid form, then heated it until it was clear glass. Edward studied Bella, as she worked. The ease with which she now created these works of art, mystified him. Alice and Rose moved closer to see what Bella would create this time.

"It's Charlie," Alice proclaimed, as she captured the glass bust when Bella had finished. "It's so beautiful." She smiled at Bella.

"When you said that she was special, worth dying for, you had no idea did you bud?" Emmett gave Edward a pat on the back and grabbed Rose. "Want to go make some earthquakes lover?"

Rosalie smiled and jumped up to give Emmett a kiss. They were gone to the east before anyone could say goodnight.

Edward watched his brother and sister until they were out of sight. Then he watched the sky, looking at the stares. Jasper finally broke the silence.

"We'll need to keep an eye on the house when Carlisle turns him loose," Jasper warned those left at the fire. "He may decide that it would be a good idea to go for the girls, before going back to Deeth."

"Emmett may be back by then," Edward said. "It's not like him to miss a possible fight. And speaking of fights, where's the rest of the pack?"

"I hope the son of a bitch tries," Jacob had returned from the house. "After they ate, I had them all get some sleep. The run here was pretty rough. And I don't like Jenna going off on her own."

"What do you think you can do?" Bella asked them all. "Chances are that she's not just going to run after the guy. If I had more of her abilities, I'd probably turn myself into some kind of bird and follow him."

"A vulture has good eyesight over long distances. And won't be noticed." Jasper thought out the idea to it's natural conclusion, as he saw it.

Alice broke up the conversation this time. "Bella needs to hunt!" her pixie voice rang out. "Look at her."

Edward took a good look at Bella. As far as he was concerned, Bella's eyes were always beautiful, but they were almost never this dark. "Jenna must have really worked you hard today." Edward stood and offered his hand to Bella. "Shall we?" He smiled down at her. "We'll stay close."

Bella took his hand and smiled back at him, "We shall, and dear it is," and they were off like a shot.

"Guess that leaves you and me to keep an eye on things," Jasper smiled at Alice.

"Go on," Esme shook a towel at Alice and Jasper. Carlisle and I can keep watch. Just be back by eleven."

"We'll be close by," Jasper promised.

Alice jumped on his back, and whispered in his ear, "Let's go cowboy." And Jasper was off like the rest of the couples.

Jacob sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'll get some sleep too." and he went into the house to change out of his clothes. Jacob/wolf soon emerged and went to a thick bush to the side of the front door. Once he felt that he was sufficiently covered he laid down, and fell asleep almost instantly.

Carlisle and Esme stood arm in arm by the fire. As they watched it slowly burn itself out, they listened to the sounds of the desert night, and the crackle of the fire. "The children may have a point," Esme whispered to Carlisle. "I don't think Edward and Bella will be gone long."

Carlisle looked at Esme, and patted her hand. "My dear wife," his smile broadened. "I thought you'd never ask." And they laughed together as they walked the perimeter of the house, knowing that everyone inside the house was safe.