Chapter 4 – Forks

Bella passed her probation period. She was now 119 years old and she hadn't left her current family. They had, of course, moved around a few times. All over the world in fact. But now they were back in America, and Bella felt relieved. She loved traveling but she really missed home.

"Any suggestions of where we should go?" Allura asked as they stepped off the plane and into Washington State. "Anywhere you'd like, we can finally come back and not have to worry that somebody will remember us," she smiled happily and wandered with her family over to the luggage department.

Bella suddenly felt an urge to return to the first place she had ever seen him. She wanted to return, more than that, she felt drawn to the place. She kept her mouth shut, though and watched for their luggage.

"Tyko? Alyson? Malachi? Ben?" Allura asked, glancing to each of her children's faces for opinions. Her two newest children were Alyson and Ben. Tyko had found Alyson when they lived in Russia; her long black hair stood out elegantly with her white skin. Malachi had somehow found Ben – the first male vampire that he had ever found – in Alaska.

Alyson bit her thumbnail and smiled gently. "I can't think of anywhere," she said, wrapping her arm securely around Malachi's waist. He draped his arm over her shoulders and kissed the side of her head.

Bella flinched away from the sight of Malachi and Alyson. They had been together since nearly the day they had met and every moment of seeing them together was torture to her.

"Nowhere that I can think of," Tyko whispered, glancing sideways at Ben. He made his way over and pulled her close as well.

What the hell, Bella thought. Is it only Allura and me that are doomed to an eternity of solitude!

Allura rolled her eyes. "Thanks guys, you are really helpful."

"Forks," Bella blurted out suddenly. "Along the Olympic Peninsula. Forks, Washington." She regretted it the moment she said it.

"That sounds good," Allura said, nodding in agreement. The others nodded as well, not really caring where they were going to go.

Bella grimaced and nodded. "Great."

XXX

In Forks

Bella twiddled her thumbs as they entered the small town of Forks. She was slowly beginning to realize that it had been a hundred years since she had been here last, and that all the people she had known there were dead.

She paused suddenly, her breath catching in her throat. Maybe not everybody.

She shook her head. Things were different now, she wasn't a human anymore she couldn't just waltz over to the reservation and say: "Hi Jake, I'm a vampire now and I left Edward a hundred years ago and now I'm here to see you." No, that wouldn't work.

She had to think of something, anything. She knew it would be difficult, but she had to see if Jake was still alive, if there was any way that she could talk to him. But why would he want to talk to her? A vampire.

Not once since she had met the Andrews' had she ever felt sickened by what she had become, not until now; not until she realized what she had, what she could've had.

"We're here!" Allura exclaimed happily. "Welcome home!"

Bella glanced up at the new house and smiled. "It's beautiful," she said. The large wooden house hid beautifully with the cloudy demeanor of the Forks weather. She climbed out of the back of Allura's new electric SUV and she wandered towards the back of the car. Forks was still the small town she had always known, and it always would be, she guessed.

She grabbed a couple boxes and carried them to the house, plopping them down inside gently. She made her way up the stairs and walked to the end of the room. She pushed the door open and immediately saw the beautiful room. She walked over to the window and smiled. It was a window that covered the entire wall and she grinned. "Called it!" she said happily, stepping out of the room and closing the door securely.

She ran down the steps and grabbed a few of her boxes and ran back upstairs to her claimed room. She quickly got the rest of her boxes and began putting her room together. She ambled back down the stairs joyfully and saw the rest of her family.

"I want to go exploring," she announced.

"Take somebody with you!" Allura told her from the kitchen.

"I'll go," Tyko told her, walking forwards. "Come on Bells."

Bella and Tyko stepped out into the regular drizzling rain of Forks.

"Can we just walk?" Bella asked as Tyko went to open the door of the SUV.

"Sure," Tyko said. They walked down the small dirt road and got to the main street.

"I have somewhere I want to go if that's okay with you," Bella told Tyko, never once looking away from the direction of the reservation.

"Sure," Tyko agreed, nodding. She noticed Bella's face and she pursed her lips. "Are you okay?" she asked suddenly.

"Um... kinda..." Bella replied simply. She threw a quick glance in Tyko's direction. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you seem kinda... nervous, jumpy," Tyko explained, stopping her "sister" and turning her to face her. "What's the matter Bells?"

Bella sighed and turned her face away from Tyko so that she wouldn't have to look at her. "I lived here once before," she explained, holding out the palm of her hand so that the rain could trickle along her fingers.

"When?" Tyko asked. She didn't sound shocked at all, merely intrigued.

"One hundred years ago," Bella explained, glancing around her at the slight changes. The trees were bigger, but other than that not much had changed. She pursed her lips. "It was my home."

"Oh," Tyko whispered, not pushing the subject. "You know it's a damn good thing that Ben lives with us. I don't know how long I'll be able to stand this rain."

Bella laughed. "Yeah because it's always great to have somebody that can manipulate the weather." That was Ben's power. He had always appreciated nature, and when he had been turned he had been able to manipulate the weather, plants, water, and bend them to his will. He had some trouble with water, it was extraordinarily unpredictable, but weather was a little easier to understand, and plants were completely effortless. Bella rolled her eyes a little. Her power had ended up being helpful in its own way, but it wasn't something that she enjoyed doing.

Since – when Bella had been human – she had been able to keep all other vampires from using their talents on her – at least any talents that involved looking into her minds eye, she had gotten a power that made her able to do the same thing to other people. She could enter their minds and block memories, create stories or simply manipulate the person's mind. This had come in extremely helpful when they had been nearly exposed as vampires once or twice, but to Bella, it was not a power. She didn't like changing people like that and so most of the time she kept from entering their minds.

Bella continued walking, not looking back to see if Tyko was following. They walked in silence the rest of the way, the only sound that accompanied them was the pitter pattering of the rain. Bella felt extremely at home in this rain, and she hoped that Ben wouldn't make it change – although if Tyko had anything to say about it he would.

Her feet touched the boundary line and Bella felt herself begin to panic ever the slightest. What if she was the cause for a fourteen year old boy phasing? She cringed at the thought of Seth Clearwater and closed her eyes for a split second before continuing on.

"Bella where are we going?" Tyko asked, suddenly nervous.

"To see an old friend," Bella didn't turn to look back at Tyko as she kept walking. She still knew her way through the entire reservation, though it had changed a bit. She made her way down Jacob's road and saw his house. The lights were on and she grinned. She almost wished she had her old truck with her so that she could see him come running around to meet her. Bella wandered up the adorable brick pathway that had been built.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Tyko hissed angrily.

"It's okay Tyko," Bella turned and smiled at her sister before knocking on the large door. She waited patiently for somebody to answer.

The door suddenly opened and Bella glanced expectedly up from her feet. Her eyes didn't have to travel far, though, because a young girl had opened the door, her black hair was long and her rust colored skin glowed with joy.

"Hello who are you?" the girl asked immediately.

"I'm Bella, what's your name?" Bella grinned.

"My name's Josie. I'm going to get my daddy okay? Mommy's not here right now because she's at the bank or something like that," the girl skipped away to get her father and Bella felt a rush of excitement and terror. What if it wasn't Jacob? What if she wasn't in the right place? She turned and glanced around, searching for something that would prove that this wasn't Jacob's house. There were no factors but it didn't mean that he didn't sell his house and move away.

"Bella?" a shocked, recognizable voice asked. Bella whipped around, her face breaking out into a happy smile.

"Hello Jake," she whispered, continuing to smile. "Long time no see."

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