Disclaimer: I still don't own the Twilight characters. I don't know Scarlett, Tara (darn!), Rhett (double darn!), or his favorite horse. I do, in fact, own myself, my Edward, Jack, and Isabella Whitlock.

"So where are we headed exactly?" I asked, as Edward drove down the road, all his concentration on the pavement in front of him. I was getting tired of the awkward silence especially since I had lots of questions, all of which I knew I'd have to wait to get answered.

"We're going to somewhere I didn't want to have to take you for a long while," Edward replied, his concentration not even flickering from the road.

"Where's that?" I asked, desperate to keep some kind of conversation going.

"To see my family," he said, finally glancing at me before returning to the road. We had been heading out into the backwoods for a while now, and I had been wondering where on Earth we could have been headed. We had ridden down so many dirt roads I knew I wouldn't ever be able to find my way back. Wherever it was he lived, they certainly didn't want just anybody finding it.

"Why's that such a bad thing? I know you never really wanted me to meet them before, but they're all like you when it comes to their eating habits, so it'd be ok, right?" I asked, almost babbling. I was beginning to wonder if the reason he didn't want me around them was because they weren't "vegetarian" vampires. Maybe he wanted to protect me from being killed by them.

"No, they're mostly like me, you're just a special case," he said with a sigh.

"So? Why am I so special anyway? And what go you mean by mostly?" I asked, not taking my intent gaze off of him, most eager for him to answer my last question.

"Because I love you," he said, a said smile now across his facial features.

"I love you too, but that doesn't make me all that special that you should hide me from your family. Why is it truly that you need to protect me so badly from them? Do they feed on human blood instead of animal blood?" I asked, not understanding. I truly didn't get what him loving me had to do with me being special. That did make me special, but that was just to him. What made me so special to the rest of his family and that vampire at school?

"Because I love you. That's why. You're more valuable to them than you can imagine. At least your blood anyway," Edward said.

"But why does that make me special? I'm no different that any other human girl! I just don't understand. Why-" I started, but I was quickly interrupted by Edward.

"Just because, ok? You won't be able to understand, not yet. Just forget it, and move on. They're not gonna get near you," he said, his voice raised well above his normal level. This was how he yelled at me. This was even almost past how he yelled at me. I couldn't stand for him to raise his voice at me, and he knew it. Whatever is family would want me for was really bothering him.

"I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean to raise my voice at you. I really didn't," he said, his voice, sliding back to its normal octave as he stopped the car.

"Please stop crying," he said, turning to face me. "Please cheer up. I don't want you to look sad at all for this. They might chose to take advantage of that," he said, putting his hand on the side of my face.

I sighed, and nodded. I needed to go ahead and get whatever was ahead of me over with before I over analyzed it along with Edward's yelling at me.
"Good girl," he said, getting out of the car, and quickly appearing on my side with the door open. He offered his hand to help me out of the car. I quickly took it and stepped out into the mystery that was the old Whitlock family plantation.

I had once heard that the Whitlock family that Edward came from was a family as old as the South itself, and now I believed it. The house and land around me couldn't have come from any other time.

In the middle of the three acre clearing was a giant white plantation house. It had been perfectly kept up, as if it had looked that way two hundred years ago. There was no ivy on it anywhere; you could tell whoever lived there took great pride in the exterior of the house. It was the symmetrical fashion of the houses of the day with two upstairs windows on either side. It had a balcony that wrapped around the front of the houses with elaborate pillars supporting it from the porch below.

Along with the house there was a barn that I could just spot around the corner of the house, along with a smoke house and wood shed. There were also some other buildings that could have been the slave quarters and such, but I wasn't sure. It was too beautiful to be sure of anything. The only thing that was missing to make this Tara itself was Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara riding up in a carriage pulled by Tecumumseh.

"It's so beautiful," I said after a gasp.

"I'm glad you like it," Edward said with a smile. "You can't see the cotton fields from the big house. My old great-something-another-grandfather Jasper Whitlock had a strange way of looking at things. He didn't want anyone coming to any of his parties to be able to see his field hands working the cotton. He was the youngest general in the Confederate Army, you know."

"Who's kept it up like this? Most of the old plantations like this have fell to shambles," I said, looking around.

"My mother. But we'll discuss all about this land's history later if you want. We've got business to attend to right now," he said, grabbing my hand so I would follow beside him.

As he pulled me into the house, I could tell the inside was just as well cared for as the outside. It had a beautiful staircase protruding from the back wall, swiping downward in a curved manner in both directions. Before I could even take in the rest of the scene, Edward pulled me close to him suddenly, almost violently.

"No matter what anybody says or does including me, stay close. I'm not going to hurt you, no matter what I say" he whispered in my ear gently, before continuing in a harsh yell.

"Hey! Jack! Where you heck are you, you lazy man? You're not gonna like it when I tell my mother you weren't watching the door when I came in!" Edward yelled. The harshness in his voice startled me. It was like he was ordering who ever this Jack was around, which was something new to me. He certainly wasn't a very bossy person; he even accepted orders from me pretty easily.

"Master Edward, it's nice to see you! I was just-" the man I assume was Jack started, but Edward interrupted.

"Don't Master Edward me. Where's my mother?" he said, growling at the man as he shrunk back. He was a little taller than Edward and looked to be at least forty years his senior. There was no logical reason I could think of for him to be bossing this man around, or for him to be calling him Master Edward. I just looked up at Edward in a baffled stare. Why on Earth was he ordering this man around like he was some sort of servant?

"Now, now, Edward, calm down. He was doing a little hunting for me is all. He was just in the kitchen trying to find me a little snack," a silky smooth voice said as a woman appeared at the top of the stairs. She was possibly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, even on the covers of those fashion magazines at the grocery store. She was wearing a long flowing red dress that looked like it belonged on the red carpet. Her long black hair was laid in a perfect bun atop her head with a few strands hanging down in perfect symmetry.

"Hello Mother," he said, not in the growling voice from before, but not quite in his usual musical tone. So this woman was Edward's mother… She looked way too beautiful or young to be anyone's mother to me, but appearance can sometimes be deceiving.

"What would your father think, you barging in here and bossing poor old Jack around like that? You know Jack's always been his favorite," Mrs. Whitlock said in an almost teasing tone.

"He would be very disappointed," Edward said, this time in his usual tone.

"I don't think he'd expect anything differently. The young master always been one to have temper tantrums," Jack said with a nod.

"Shut up old man," Edward growled as Jack shrunk back towards the doorway from which he had came that I assumed lead to the kitchen.

"What do we have here?" Edward's mother asked, looking directly at me. I froze under her gaze. I was hoping I would remain unnoticed through all these, but it apparently wasn't meant to be.

"What? This girl?" Edward asked, thrusting me forward suddenly and harshly. "She's nothing. She just thought she'd follow me home from school, and no she's going to pay for it. I just plan on toying with her and then carting her back to town speechless for the rest of her life. Even if she's not, no one will ever believe her," he said, an evil more maniacal smile across his features than I thought he was possible of. If I wasn't frozen enough already, I was even worse now. If he hadn't already given me some sort of warning, I would have been more frightened of him now than even in the old mill.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to play with your food?" she said, coming towards me. "Get up, girl," she said, reaching out her hand for me. Before I could even react, Edward had a reaction of his own.

"She's my play toy Mother. I refuse to let you touch her," he said, snatching me up off the ground to pull me tightly against him with violent passion.

"Refusing your mother? I believe we need to talk. Now. Meet me in the library. And Jack, don't tell anyone about the girl coming here, not that they won't smell her," Mrs. Whitlock said, walking across the floor of the big main room and into what I assumed was the library.

"Yes ma'am. Consider it our secret. I'd not want to be damaging Misses Whitlock's trust," Jack said after bowing several times and then disappearing back into the kitchen.

"You're coming with me," Edward growled, pulling me into the library by my arm, and quickly slamming the door behind us.

"Sit," he commanded, pushing me into a plush armchair. If it hadn't have been inches thick in cushioning, I think I probably would have had more bruises than I could count from that one shove alone. I had no idea he was capable of such malice. The more I dug into his vampire background, the more I learned about him that I didn't want to know, much like any love. Isn't that always the way it is, the more you dig into your lover's past, the less you want to know about it?

"Edward, stop with the charade. I'm well aware of what this is about. I'm not blind as you may think I am. Besides, Jack can't hear us now. I've sent him on a wild goose chase," Mrs. Whitlock said.

"Good. I need somewhere to hide her," Edward said, his usual demeanor back. "If I don't something about her soon, something bad is going to happen."

I could only stare in confusion. I had no idea what was going on. This was all so new. First Edward treats me horribly upon introducing me to his mother and now it was like she had seen right through the act and they were now speaking some sort of code.

"My poor child, you're probably frighten out of your mind right now. I'm Isabella Whitlock, Edward's mother," she said, extending her hand for me to shake with a smile on her face.

"Mother," Edward said with a slightly raised tone right before I went to take her hand. "No fast ones."

"What? I wasn't planning on doing anything to her. So she's the one. Better not let your father find out," Isabella Whitlock said, dropping her hand before I could take it.

Edward came to stand behind the armchair, putting his hands on my shoulder.

"That means you better not tell him," Edward said, beginning to gently massage my shoulders. I felt my eyes almost shut from pleasure, but they quickly opened back up. I was certainly letting my guard down at the wrong time.

"Of course. We never had this conversation. She's all yours to keep," his mother said, walking towards the back of the library to face a portrait on the wall.

The giant portrait that hung above the fireplace was of her and a man I didn't recognize. It was beautifully done, and the artistic style immediately pointed to Edward as the artist. It was more magnificent that anything I had ever seen by him before, or any other artist either, for that matter. It was as if he had capture his mother and put her in the painting itself. She was just as beautiful on canvas as she was in real life. The man standing beside her looked to be an older, more serious, and much more regal version of Edward. I immediately deduced that this must be Edward's father.

"Thank you Mother," Edward said, and before I even knew what was going on, Edward was on his knees in front of her, kissing her hand.

So that was Chapter Two! What did you guys think? Review and let me know please! And before anyone asks, I did use the name Isabella on purpose. I think it's pretty and it does fit his mother. I used the name Whitlock on purpose to. If you see anything that remins you of Twilgiht or some other book, movie, or anime, it's probably that way on purpose.