A/N: Hello, all! I'm back—this chapter took appallingly long to write, mostly due to my own procrastination. For that I apologize, but my week has also been extremely busy, so I did not put the usual amount of dedication into writing. Hopefully, this extra-long chapter will do you justice—it's the longest one I've personally ever written (around 4,400+ words!). As always, feel free to leave a review about your thoughts on this chapter, and let me know if I've made any grammatical errors!

(Posted 4/30/17)

Chapter 15: Interruption

Edward's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "You must have exceptional control then," he said with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

I shot him a smirk. "For the most part. I'm able to resist blood with the same degree of strength as my friends in the Guard," I commented offhandedly. "It's certainly difficult, but not an impossibility, unlike conventional newborns." I knew from stories shared by Felix and Demetri that newborns rarely developed any form of discipline over their thirst—hence, why they occasionally demanded the Volturi's attention and intervention.

Carlisle studied me with intrigue. "Do you know why that is?" he asked, golden eyes glittering with genuine excitement, like he was prepared to delve and discover the reason behind it all. I wasn't sure what his motivations beneath were—why he was interested in my behavior.

I gave him a half-hearted shrug. "I don't know. But ever since my creation, I've never struggled with handling myself near humans," I replied earnestly.

His features transfixed into one contemplating, deep in thought. "Perhaps…." he began with uncertainty. "It stems from your early exposure to vampires? You did spend the majority of your human life growing up around them—it may have prepared you for the hardships normally associated with vampirism," he hypothesized hesitantly.

I deliberated this myself. I'd always found it strange how, despite all the caution constructed and voiced by my friends around maintaining incongruity during my first year—it was crucial that I did not arouse suspicion within the city if I did something rash—I had less trouble adapting to my new life than I'd expected. And yet, given Carlisle's theory, it made sense—in the years leading up to my change, I had essentially ingrained the expectations of being a vampire in preparation for reducing the risk of exposure.

Finally, I smiled widely. "An interesting proposition, and a probable one, too," I agreed.

Emmett cleared his throat loudly. "Bella, since you've finished answering Carlisle and Edward's boring questions, I have one more I'd like to ask you," he said hopefully.

"One too many," Edward mumbled, causing Esme to frown behind him.

I rolled my eyes at him but smiled at Emmett. "Alright, tell me."

His face morphed into an expression of pleading. "Will you cover me with your gift while I fight Edward? Please? He always cheats and reads my mind—if you shield me, it'll take away the advantage he has and he'll have to fight fair," he beseeched, his voice filled with enthusiasm.

As much as I enjoyed watching vampires sparring with one another—I had loved observing the practice skirmishes that the members of the Guard would often have when I was human—Rosalie didn't exactly look too happy with Emmett—to say the least. She was the literal embodiment of pure fury and disapproval—she glared at Emmett without him noticing. It was her reaction that made me realize they were most likely mates—I recognized the same general appearance on Chelsea when she was annoyed with Afton, albeit rarely. Esme wasn't too pleased with the proposition either, but to a lesser extent.

"My apologies, Emmett, but I don't think Esme would approve," I conveyed with regret. It would have been fun to witness Emmett and Edward dueling, but I didn't wish to upset any of the Cullens, especially Esme.

Rosalie's tense posture relaxed, looking relieved at my response. "No she would not," she affirmed, glancing at me appreciatively. "Neither would I." Her tone made the decision final—much to Emmett's dismay. He desperately pouted at her, but she refused to meet his gaze.

I glanced at the glass wall, noting the darkening brightness outside—it was approaching sunset, with an hour of daylight left; I had spent most of my afternoon with the Cullens. It was time for me to go and find Billy—I planned on first searching the police station for any written records, and if there were none, then the town hall. I wasn't sure what I'd do if I didn't find any; asking some of the local residents felt too risky. I turned to Carlisle. "Thank you for having me, Carlisle, but I do believe it is time for me to depart. Aro will be delighted to hear that I've met you," I chuckled softly, standing up from the chair in one smooth motion. Aro certainly would be thrilled—what were the chances of encountering his centuries-old friend while on a trip to find a human?

He, too, rose from his seat. "You're welcome, Bella. Please, send Aro my regards the next time you see him," he politely requested. When I retrieved my backpack from the floor, Carlisle handed me the cloak that had been draped over his arm, to which I stuffed into the bag.

I nodded my head. "I will," I promised, slinging my pack over my shoulders. Wordlessly, I walked to the front door on my own accord; Carlisle had started to accompany me, but I stopped him with a gesture from my hand. There was no need troubling him any further.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about Alice when I opened the door—the motion wafted her appealing scent directly into my face. I'd forgotten how mouthwatering she smelled; her blood was extraordinarily exquisite, above average and as a result, quite a rarity. Venom reflexively pooled in my mouth, and I had to swallow it back. The sound of her thudding heart had been placed in the back of my mind, away from my attention—I had grown accustomed to the constant noise. But now it was at the forefront, stimulated by inhaling the fragrance that clung to the air.

Alice turned around and shuddered when she saw me approaching, much to my amusement. "I'm not going to hurt you," I promised, rolling my eyes in mild exasperation. Was she always this afraid around vampires? That didn't seem to be the case—she was comfortable around Cullens, for one thing—so I guess it was just me. I discovered that I wanted to talk to her—I got the impression that our initial introduction was uncomfortable as a result of my ultimatum regarding her being a human. I felt like we had gotten off to the wrong foot, and I didn't want to be rude.

Alice actually appeared to be terrified—her steady heartbeat dramatically quickened. "I can smell the fear coming from you," I noted, taking in her suddenly sweeter scent—adrenaline had been released into her bloodstream and spread throughout her body in an instant, making the chocolatey odor stronger as well. She chewed her bottom lip nervously while I fluidly took a seat beside her on the wide wooden porch steps—I could almost physically touch the heat emanating from her, pleasant and enticing. It assured me the blood in her body was at the perfect ninety eight point six degrees.

"Sorry," Alice whispered in her soft soprano voice as she unconsciously shifting further down the plank, away from me. I wasn't sure if I planned on continuing to breathe next to her—the aroma coming off her skin was maddening. But, after a moment of hesitation, I decided I was confident enough to do so—either from pride or arrogance; sometimes it was difficult to distinguish the two. I wasn't going to let some human tempt me after I'd consistently resisted others in the past. I was better than that. "It's just—I've gotten used to the Cullens and their diet. And you hunt humans…" she murmured worriedly.

Although I did not wish to scare her—that would've hampered my goal of coming over and starting afresh—I couldn't curb the truth. "I hope you realize the majority of my kind hunts yours," I countered, flashing her a wry smile. She let out a quiet sigh in response, and I froze as her warm exhale mingled with the air around us, teasing me with its captivating perfume. Despite having recently fed, the fire in my throat began to grow again, and I fought to quell the flames.

"I know," she admitted, focusing her eyes on wringing her hands together. "I'm still… getting used to the idea."

I raised an eyebrow. "What? That you could be sitting next to a more traditional vampire without having your throat ripped out? I'm offended—" I feigned the perfect amount of hurt in my voice "—at the level of distrust." Despite the entertainment that stemmed from my interactions with Alice, I was still marginally miffed that she'd assumed I was some sort of uncontrollable, rampaging vampire who couldn't control herself. Of course, I didn't blame her—I suppose she sort of had a right to be wary; I mean, I did hunt humans, and she was one herself.

I watched carefully as Alice blushed lightly—I could hear the rush of blood within her veins moving to pool in her cheeks. Briefly—stupidly, might I add—I wondered what her blood would taste like: would she retain the rich sweetness or lightness that characterized her scent? Sighing too quietly for Alice to hear, I worked hard to stamp out the painful flash in my throat—I balled my hands into fists in an attempt to prevent myself from acting out any of my irrational desires.

Cautiously, I leaned towards her, taking another whiff of the chocolate aroma that escaped through her skin. Alice stiffened her posture—she appeared to be startled, frightened at my actions. Yet, she did something unusual; her body automatically twisted so that she was facing me, and was completely unaware of the fact she'd leaned forward as well. While it was a common reaction among humans to approach us, spurred on by the beauty, it was rare that they would come this close, face to face—their primal instincts usually recognized the danger, and would alert and prevent them from doing so. So why did Alice disregard her natural intuition?

"You smell really good," I complimented with a friendly smile. I made sure not to show too much of my teeth so I wouldn't scare her. "Your scent is very rich, but also light at the same time. It's delicious," I added with an internal sigh of longing. I really wanted a taste.

Alice blinked several times, confused. "Umm… thanks. You… smell pretty good too?" she said, as if she were asking a question.

Closing my eyes, I drew a deep breath, pulling in the chocolate-flavored oxygen that surrounded us through my nostrils. The scent did wonders to my thirst—it promised to quench the fire. Alice gasped sharply in shock when I reopened my eyes. I already knew what she saw—my irises were pitch black. Thirsty. Dangerous.

An enraged growl erupted from the living room, and I instinctively turned to the door. The sight of a leaping Edward filled my vision and mind. For a fleeting tenth of a second, I considered what would have happened if I had closed the door instead of leaving it open. I steeled myself, automatically throwing up an impenetrable, invisible dome that surrounded myself within the same half-second. After raising the wall, I immediately rechecked the physical and mental shields that personally covered myself—still there. The resounding impact of Edward smashing into my shield sounded a third of a second later—I took some pride in inflicting a look of sheer surprise on his face when he was seemingly stopped midair. Snarling, I blurred to my feet, shifting into a defensive crouch instantaneously. I pushed the dome backwards, sending him flying through the doorway and into the house.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I hissed angrily, my muscles tensed and prepared for a fight. But it was deathly quiet—the sound of Alice's accelerated heartbeat and breathing was thunderous as it filled the silence.

I heard a multitude of light footsteps nearing as the Cullens gathered near the front door warily. Their expressions soon turned into astonishment; they became motionless as a result of being stunned. "What was that?" Emmett managed to choke out as he stared Edward, who steadily got back onto his feet, then at me. "That was so cool! How did you do that?" Leave it to Emmett to be completely sidetracked during this tense situation.

Although my instincts were screaming at me to defend myself or run away, I fought hard to go against them; eventually, I straightened out of my crouch. "I won't ask you again. Why did you attack me?" I inquired icily. My voice was monotonous, but inside, I was fuming; I ensured none of it leaked out, just like Jane had taught me.

Edward shook himself out of his stupor to answer. "Alice saw how you suddenly became thirsty, and she was frightened—she thought you might kill her," he quickly explained.

Was this boy an idiot or just brave? I was beginning to suspect the former. "And embarrass Aro and the Volturi with such a mindless act?" I scoffed and rolled my eyes, running my hand through my hair in frustration. "Really. You should have thought about the consequences of your actions through—attacking a member of the Volturi is punishable by death," I informed. I contracted the shield which I had originally widened to halt Edward back a few feet, but still had it up out of caution. My anger was already beginning to ebb; Edward hadn't posed much of a serious threat, so there was no need to stay irate anyway. His actions were also relatively reasonable—he was simply defending a member of his coven, albeit a human. Plus, his attack served as excellent practice for my defensive techniques.

"Umm, Bella?" Alice squeaked in alarm from behind, causing me to turn around. She was standing surprisingly close, about two feet away, and her face was remarkably paler than before. Her dark eyes were wide as her two hands were outstretched, pressed firmly against seemingly immovable space, like a mime performing a typical impression of being stuck in a box.

I didn't even know Alice was confined within my shield—I assumed the pressure she inflicted on the dome went unnoticed because of her human strength. But what had taken me off guard was the fact that she was actually inside—vampires were always shoved in the same direction of the expanding shield if I did not consciously allow them in. How did she wind up completely ignoring this fundamental characteristic? Unless… it was because she had been close enough to me that I automatically threw my shield around her as well? Maybe I'd also instinctively recognized that she was human, and therefore I needed to defend my prey.

I quickly released her by dissolving the walls around us. "Sorry Alice," I said as sincerely as I could manage.

She hastily retreated to the safety of the Cullens, falling into Esme's embrace, before giving me a small smile. "It's fine," she reassured, but her pounding heart gave her away.

I twisted to look at Edward. "Don't ever try that again," I harshly warned. "I won't be so lenient next time." He respectfully bowed his head once, and then I turned to Carlisle. "I'm sorry, Carlisle, but I'm sure you understand I had to defend myself."

"It's safe to say that I would be surprised if you didn't," he chuckled humorlessly. "Thank you for not harming him."

"His ego definitely took a hit," Emmett chortled, totally unaffected by the dark glare Edward gave him, which made me chuckle, too.

"Goodbye." I nodded politely and turned to leave, but a deep voice stopped me.

"Wait, Bella!" Emmett called out anxiously. "You still haven't answered my question!"

I took a second to recall what he'd said while I whirled around slowly. "Let's just say I'm… extremely gifted," I winked.

With that final comment, I took off into the nearby gloomy forest, leisuring jogging south toward Forks once again, where my destination was the local police department. Although I wasn't sure if I would be successful in finding information about Billy, I had high hopes. After traveling for a few minutes, my eyes registered the usual lightening of trees ahead, indicating human habituation.

I hesitated on the outskirts of town, deliberating my options. I planned on breaking into the police station, which I was skeptical would pose any problems, but the day was still fairly light out; I decided to wait until nighttime—it was the safer choice since I could travel through the town undetected. With a weary sigh, I leaned against the trunk of a towering douglas-fir and became perfectly still.

The pitch blackness of night didn't make much of a difference to my eyesight—everything was brightly illuminated by the nonexistent moonlight, and I could still distinguish each individual detail without suffering from any drawbacks. I headed east, inching closer to the center of town; just in case, I sprinted as quickly as I could manage, weaving inbetween the trees to be certain no human saw me—I was also too fast for their eyes, anyway. Hence, it wasn't before long I abruptly stopped in front a rectangular, wooden building with a sign outside indicating what it was: the police station. Artificial light escaped through its glass door and two front windows, all of which were shut tightly. There was a human that I spotted inside—he was situated near the entrance, sitting behind an old, scuffed receptionist desk, reading a book—my senses told me he was the only one.

After I'd moved to the opposite side of the cabin, I easily scaled the wall, hauling myself onto the roof, and immediately found what I was hoping for—a glass skylight to my left. I effortlessly snapped the metal lock held the frame closed with my fingers and pried open the window—there was a quiet groan as it resisted the movement, trying to remain in its previous position, to no avail. I listened intently, ensuring that the human hadn't noticed the sound and moved to investigate, before dropping inside on my feet with a muted thud.

I landed in the middle of the square room; an arrangement of three moderately-sized office desks were pressed tightly against their respective wood-paneled wall, each accompanied by a compact, light tan filing cabinet. There was a locked door to my right, and I could hear the human's shallow breaths and heartbeat on the other side. The cabinets seemed like the best place to start, especially since I wanted to find records regarding Billy, so I began with those.

I was careful to place everything back properly when I had finished riffling through the first two relatively empty drawers, unsuccessfully finding anything with Billy's name on it—most of the contents within lacked any sense of organization, a hodgepodge of aging, yellowing paper.

I began rummaging through the last one, and from a precursory examination, appeared to solely contain traffic accident reports. My eyes instantly locked onto the name filled in the corresponding space when I pulled out and opened the first file—William "Billy" Black. Was this the same Billy my father knew? What were the odds? Still, it was a better lead than nothing. Little by little, I noted the various details printed on the sheet: the year of the accident—it occurred less than a decade ago; the residential address of the driver—he lived in the La Push reservation instead of Forks; and that the accident had been… fatal.

A feeling of sadness swept over me as I debated the possibility of Billy, dead—how was I going to discover my human past now? But after reading more of the report, I realized that the accident had not killed Billy, but rather another person in the same vehicle—Sarah Black. Was she Billy's wife? His daughter? Or just a relative? Placing the folder back into the slot, I continued checking the rest of the files; when they all lacked any mention of Billy's name, I grew more and more certain that William Black was indeed Billy.

The sound of tires rolling on asphalt alerted me to a car pulling into the parking lot in front of the station, its headlights momentarily illuminating the room as it turned into an empty spot. When the engine finally cut off, I already returned the paper in its original spot in the cabinet. Once I ensured nothing in the room was out of place, I tightened my muscles and launched myself, aiming for the skylight as my exit; I gripped the edge of the frame with one hand and flipped myself out back on top of the building. I hurriedly shut the window closed when I remembered about the broken lock—oh well. There wasn't much I could do to repair it, and I doubted anyone would care if they did discover it.

I casually stepped off the roof, instinctively bending my legs to absorb the impact, and landed softly on the grass. I suppose the next course of action was to determine if this Billy Black was the same man who knew my father. And so I began traveling east, where the La Push reservation was located near the coast. It was dinnertime for humans—the sounds and smells of cooking food leaked from houses into the damp air, mildly unpleasant, as I dashed through the town, sticking close to the sparse vegetation that clung to the edges of the roads and sidewalks.

I was grateful when I eventually left town, crossing into the deep woods that clearly marked where human civilization's reaches ended. Speeding up slightly due to impatience, I nimbly darted through the dense forest, feeling a peculiar sense of excitement—I was eager to find him. I hadn't been paying much attention when I unexpectedly crossed a fresh, unfamiliar trail, only a few minutes old, that could only be accurately described as a wet dog smell. It almost made me gag—the stench was both dense and intense. I immediately ran through a list of animals that I had encountered before in the past in my mind, but none smelled remotely close to anything this bad—so what had created it?

Without warning, inexplicably heavy footfalls shattered my preoccupation and stole my concentration—they were to my left, eighty yards away, and dangerously following me, running parallel to my path. I was prepared to ignore it—no animal could injure me anyway, regardless of size or temper—but my intuitions told me this was something different. No natural animal sounded as large and loud as the one behind me; they would also typically try to avert my attention by fleeing.

An ear-splitting howl pierced the empty stillness of the forest, reverberating from my right—another one of the same kind of animal had joined the pursuit. I started bounding faster and further apart, my breathing unnecessarily accelerating as I propelled myself to an incredible velocity. The frequency of the deafening steps increased—the two animals quickly adjusted their speed to compensate and match my own; I could hear their pounding hearts working harder, yet still thudding abnormally steadily.

"Fuck!" I cursed as I abruptly changed my vector, barely missing the leaping, horse-sized, solid black colored wolf that blurred by, its muzzle open and displaying an impressive collection of milky teeth. He landed agilely on the grassy forest floor and spun around within a second—I was taken aback at his speed—before accompanying the other two, forming a triangle formation. What were those things? Immediately, I thought of werewolves—they certainly looked like wolves. But what kind of werewolf was active during the day? These definitely weren't the same Caius hunted.

Suddenly, I understood what they were doing—the wolves were driving me away from La Push; we were now headed north, into barren wilderness. Although the three wolves were chasing me, they maintained a leery distance inbetween. It was only when I noticed two new heartbeats and footfalls behind me, a few moments later, that they began to close the spacing. I didn't dare try looking back—my keen senses were adequate enough of confirming the scenario unfolding behind me, as well as I didn't want to risk slowing down by crashing into a tree.

With the five enormous wolves catching up, the impulse for self-preservation nearly overwhelmed me, but I resisted its impulses. I knew I had to act and think rationally in this unique situation or face making a fatal mistake—I couldn't rely solely on my instincts. I threw out my physical shield, concocting an invisible dome that followed my every step. When I spotted a small clearing in the forest ahead, I slowed down considerably, listening to the wolves decelerate in response, and swiveled around to face them once I was situated in the center. Sinking into a low crouch, I could see the wolves strategically surrounding me from different angles, their various dark eyes glittering against the murky green background.

The wolf standing in front of me was the same one that had leapt at me, its fur a rich, glossy black, and obviously the largest; his size was comparable to that of a horse, yet astonishingly much more muscular. An extremely dark brown—almost like coffee—wolf was positioned to his right a couple of feet away, marginally smaller than the first. Another one broke through the clearing, his fur a dull, silvery-gray color, baring his wide array of white teeth at me. Finally, I was flanked on both sides by two additional wolves—the one to my left was the second largest, with reddish-brown, almost exactly the shade of rust; the other was much smaller than the rest, giving off the impression of sleekness and stealth.

It was obvious to me that the black wolf was the leader—his stature, size, the overall 'dominant' sense I got from him. Although I wasn't sure if they would understand me, I decided to speak. "I do not wish to destroy you," I warned, my voice low with menace. Rumblings from their chest echoed through the woods that oddly sounded like laughter. After making sure my physical shield still enclosed me protectively, I narrowed my eyes. "You asked for it," I muttered.

I waited, tensed, until I caught the unmistakable flicker of motion—the dark gray wolf had sprang. He plowed into the invisible wall I'd projected two feet away from me while midair and stopped completely, unable to pierce it; a painless prick in my mind accompanied his action while he clumsily dropped to the ground. Whining, he shook his massive muzzle from side to side in pain and confusion.

I couldn't stop the smirk that escaped. "My turn," I announced. I rapidly threw out my shield like an explosion, sending the various wolves sailing backwards and crashing against the punishing thick tree trunks, some of which snapped under their weight.

A/N: Oh man! Pretty exciting stuff! I wonder how this fight will end up—I hope Bella doesn't hurt any of the wolves...