"I still don't understand why I can't just stay here." Bella argued again.

"Because we don't know how serious this epidemic is and I'm not running any chances with you getting sick." I said with finality. We had arrived at the airport early and we still had roughly 45 minutes before the plane was ready to leave. I was grateful to Renee. She had allowed her daughter to come and stay with her for an entire week with only a day's notice. Charlie was more than happy to comply, since he was getting worried about the possibility of this flu getting out of hand as well.

"But if I get sick couldn't you just change me?" she countered.

I sighed. "Could we? Yes. But I refuse to change you unless there are other options. I am not going to turn you into a vampire because your life is in danger. You will be changed when the reason you want to throw away your humanity is not for the safety of yourself or others around you."

I knew that she had more to say, but I wasn't going to hear it. After realizing that argueing was useless, she settled with resting her head on my shoulder.

"I'm gonna miss you." she whispered, and I felt a drop of liquid on my shoulder.

"I'll miss you too.. but it's only a week."

"But why can't you come with me, too?"

I sighed, tired of explaining this as well. "For many reasons, Bella. First of all, I don't think that the school would be alright with both of us missing for a week... can you imagine the rumours? Secondly, I need to stay here so that I can see what is going on with the flu."

"But you can watch the news at Renee's, too!" Bella interjected.

"That may be so... but don't you think that it's easier and more reliable when you are here first hand? Besides, I think that Renee would like to have some quality time with her daughter."

Bella sighed and put her arms around my shoulders.

"Flight 17 will be departing in exactly 15 minutes."

I felt Bella cringe next to me.

"Are you ready?" I asked. I didn't wait for an answer as I walked her as close as I was allowed to go and kissed her goodbye. I stood for nearly half an hour, just to make sure that Bella didn't miss the plane or that there wasn't a plane delay. After a safe amount of time, I retreated to my car and turned on the news, a habit in the making.

"...ninth fatality. We look back at the epidemic of the early 1900s for answers but-"

I turned off the radio. Looking back at the early 1900s for answers? Millions of people died before the epidemic vanished on it's own... they should be looking everywhere but in the early 1990s! Now that Bella was gone, however, it didn't matter where they looked. Everything would be figured out in the week that Bella was gone. Times have changed and so has technology. With every scientist in America seeing the news, there were more than enough stepping up to the challenge.

The house was in the same state as I had left it. Emmett and Jasper looked at me from their seats on the couch once before turning back to the T.V.

"What's on?" I asked knowing full well that it was the News.

"An interview." Jasper said.

An interview? I walked over and took a seat on the couch as well, curious as to their change in television shows. I waited for the commercials to end before an interviewer and a very old woman appeared on the screen.

"What's this?" I asked.

I was immediately "shh"ed by Emmett, but Jasper explained. "It's this woman named Kathryn Hemal. She apparently survived the original Spanish Influenza."

Kathryn Hemal? I had definetly heard that name once before.

"Who did you lose during the Spanish Influenza?" the interviewer asked the elderly woman. It took a few moments for the woman to speak, but when she did you could hear the pain.

"I lost my father and one of my sisters. They were wiped out in the first wave and so we did not have to witness them being sick for more than a day. We attended their funerals, something that only those that died early had. I only stayed in Chicago for about a year until my mother told me and my siblings that we were going to have to move before we became sick as well. During that year, though, the second wave came through, killing many of my friends. My friends Jessica Frentwall, Hillary Swires, Brittany Quail, Edward Masen, Molly Numare, and William Reaman I know for sure died because I found their tombstones.. but for everyone else there will always be that uncertainty.."

I could feel the color drain my face as I realized who Kathryn had been. We had been close friends in high school. I was honored that she had even remembered my name, and shocked to realize that she must be around a hundred years old. Jasper and Emmett were both looking at me as well, confusion and astonishment on their faces.

"Edward Masen... is that you?" Jasper asked cautiously.

I nodded my head as I continued to watch the interview.

"She's quite a looker." Emmett chided from his spot on the couch.

Even though she was now about 80 years older than she was in high school, she still had the same eyes. After a closer look, I could even make out the faded scar on her right hand, something that she had recieved when she fell from a tree. Kathryn had always been a tomboy, which is why her parents had forbidden her from hanging out with me. At the time it was perfectly understandable, but it didn't make things any less hard.

"Is this live?" I asked curiously.

The both nodded their heads silently, their attentions back on the television. I swiftly left the room and returned to my car. The newsroom was only in Seattle, I could get there in less than 30 minutes. Why was I going to the newsroom? I had no idea. I had no plan. But ever since I had heard that the Flu had returned, I'd been craving a taste of my formal life. My only hope was that her memory had faded since then.

As I pulled into the parking lot some people took a step back as they saw the speed that I was traveling at. I let out a breathe of relief as I saw the elderly Kathryn look out of the window of the studio curiously. Without thinking of what I was going to say I walked out of my car and up to the studio door, praying that she wouldn't recognize me.

Kathryn was the first to notice me outside of the door and she took slow, small steps towards me and let me in. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"E-Edward?" she asked in bewilderment. Crap. Now what was I going to say?

It can't be...

"Is that you?" she asked, bringing a shaking hand to my face, as if to see if I was really there. I leaned to the side, remembering that my body was as cold as a corpse and that that was what she thought I was. She slowly brought her hand back to her side and continued to look at me in wonder.

"Kathryn Hemal?" I asked, feigning uncertainty. She nodded her head. "I heard that you were a friend of my Grandfather, Edward Masen?" Her features relaxed and she nodded her head as a tear traveled down her cheek.

"Do you want to talk?" she asked moving aside to invite me into the studio. I nodded my head and followed her to a couch. Surprisingly, everyone left us alone, no doubt assuming that I was her son.

He looks so much like him... it's uncanny...

"So how did you know that your grandfather and I were friends?"

"He kept a journal when he was alive." I quickly lied.

Does he still have it?

"Unfortunatly," I edited. "it was lost in a...fire."

"Oh.. I'm so sorry."

I nodded my head, pretending to be brought back to the memory.

"So how old are you?" she asked me.

"17."

"Wow! And how old is your father?"

Geez. My dad would have to be really old. "He's getting up there in years." I answered, carefully dodging the question. "So how close were you and my Grandfather?"

She took a deep breathe. "We were best friends. Until my parents forbade us from seeing each other. They realized that I had feelings for him but wanted me to marry someone else." I had never heard this. I thought she was becoming too much of a tomboy. "But it would appear that that didn't matter because he had a son before dying."

"In his journal he said that he had feelings for you, too." I quickly lied.

"You're just saying that." she accused, although her eyes showed that she was hoping otherwise.

"No, I'm serious." I said, careful to make eye contact. She smiled warmly.

"It's like looking at Edward Masen all over again. So who is your grandmother?" she asked, curious about who was involved with the unheard of scandal.

I bet it was Caraline Leakis... Edward always seemed like he liked her...

I grimaced at the thought... I couldn't stand Caraline and was embarrassed that Kathryn would even consider that.

"I don't know... I do know that she had brown hair, though... or at least that's what the journal said."

Well then it wasn't Caraline, she was blonde.

She could assume anyone but Caraline and I could go on existing.

"Kathryn, we need you back on set." someone said from a distance away.

She sighed in frustration. "Well it was great meeting you...?"

"Edward." I finished.

She smiled at the name and nodded her head. "I should be back out in a few minutes if you want to stay and wait." she said before turning and walking slowly up the stairs.

A very large part of me wanted to wait. But the more sensible part told me not to, and that part won as I walked outside to my car. I just wanted a happy memory, and I had recieved that. I had recieved more than that. Anymore conversation would have been dangerous.

I drove home slower than usual, instead of taking the usual 30 minutes, I took an hour and a half. It was a lot easier to think things over when you drive slowly.

When I returned home everyone was curious as to where I had gone. Carlisle was the only one I told the truth to and he nodded understandably.

That was definetly a risk, Edward, but I understand. Do you regret going?

I shook my head slowly and he smiled. If Carlisle had been given the chance to talk to someone that he thought was dead, he would have done it as well. He would have been more responsible about it, but he would have done it none the less.

After everybody was finished questioning me I made my way up to my room. The first thing I saw was my cell phone laying on the desk; apparently I had forgotten to bring it with me. There was one new text message.

hey! i miss u. i dont want to wake up mom by calling you this lare but i wanted to say i luv u.

I checked the time and realized that she had sent it an hour ago. I didn't want to risk waking her up so I placed the phone back on the desk and instead turned on my T.V. and switched to the news.

"... was the tenth fatality from the virus. In other news, Kathryn Hemal, 106, who was recently interviewed about her experience with the Spanish Flu, died in her sleep only moments ago."

So that was kind of a filler chapter. I can guarantee that some of you will be thrilled next chapter xD