When they reached the beautiful bungalow belonging to the Cullen's, Bella could hardly breathe already. Her face was paler and her hands were cold. Edward noticed and took it and rubbed with his.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just that, I've never, you know, really been through this before." Her voice was a bit shaky.

"You sure you wanna do this?" he wouldn't press her if she's not ready.

"Yeah…yeah. Why not?" and she got out of the car.

Edward was unsure but if she wants to go through it… He went to her and put his arms around her waist and escorted her in.

Bella gasped at the side of the interior. It was posh and exudes elegant and modernizations. The walls were pure white and not a single trace of mark or smudges. The windows were large and allows maximum of the natural light in. Bella wouldn't be surprised if they never had to switch on the light during daytime.

"Esme! Carlisle!" Edward called out as he ushered Bella into the main parlor.

The sound of footsteps caused Bella to turn her head. Before her eyes, 4 beautiful humans, no, vampires stood before her. The brown haired male with incredible large torso, she knew was Emmett. The graceful, short hair, pixie-like and a smile on her face must be Alice. The bronze hair woman was Edward's mother, Esme; she was very beautiful and ethereal, like some renaissance painting. The other blonde male with a stern look had to be Jasper. He was the one who had a hard time being a vegetarian according to Edward. She clung tighter to him. Rosalie wasn't there not to her surprised.

"Bella, this Esme, Alice, Emmett and Jasper." He introduced them to her.

They both offered their hands and Bella took them all with warmth. Even Jasper didn't looked so threatening anymore.

"Where's Carlisle?" Edward looked at Esme.

"Business." She smiled but it was clear to Edward that Carlisle was attending to another murder by the nomad vampires. "It's nice to meet you at last, Bella. Edward couldn't stop talking about you."

"Really?" Bella grinned and turned to look at him. Edward smile sheepishly. "It's really great to meet you all too."

Then Alice jumped forward and clapped Bella's hands. "Oh, we are going to be such great friends!"

Bella smiled. She was glad that the family was approved of her. Never mind Rosalie; it was 5 to 1 anyway.

"Did Edward ever tell you that he could play the piano?" Emmett jumped in.

"You never told me that." She frowned at Edward.

"Really? He never told you?" Emmett gave out a light chuckle. "He's really good at it. And he couldn't stand competition so he was all grudged up when he found out he had a rival."

"Emmett…" Edward growled.

"Lighten up, Edward." Bella teased him. "So who was his rival?" she asked.

But before Emmett could answer, someone said "Leah."

Everyone turned towards the direction where the voice came. In the kitchen, appeared Carlisle.

Esme walked to him and wrapped herself around him. There was such sincere in her action that Bella averted her eyes. "Darling! You're home." And Esme kissed him.

"Bella, this is Carlisle."

Carlisle let go of his wife and shook hands with Bella. "Welcome to the family." He smiled. "Alice, could you show Bella around? I'd like to talk to Edward privately."

Bella immediately stop smiling; so did Edward. Maybe Carlisle didn't approved of her. Maybe she wasn't good enough for Edward. Maybe he thought that she was a danger towards the family. Fear ran through her and she blurted something out before she could stop herself. "I won't tell anyone!"

Everybody was looked at her it silence and with surprisement.

"I promised to keep your secret!"

Carlisle laughed and looked at her with full of kindness. "Bella, we know you wouldn't. We're all very happy that you found Edward. I just need to talk to Edward for awhile. Don't worry, dear, it doesn't concern about you."

"Oh." She replied embarrassedly.

But Edward was still not smiling. He hand Bella to Alice. "I'll be back, love." He whispered in her ear and he went straight to Carlisle's office without waiting for him.

Bella's eyes followed the back of Edward until it disappeared into a room. Then he was followed by Carlisle. Sensing her anxiety, Alice put her arms around Bella.

"Come. You'd love to see Edward's room."

Bella gave a faint smile. She was touched by her kindness and followed her. Jasper walked slowly behind them while Emmett and Esme went into another room.

"What is it?"

"Leah." Carlisle lay down his suitcase on the mahogany table and switched on the laptop.

"Yeah. I know she plays almost better than me. I need to go-

"She's not human." He cut Edward.

"What do you mean?" Edward narrowed his eyes, a frown on his forehead.

"She's not human." He said louder.

"Then what is she?" Edward asked slowly.

"I don't know." Carlisle was frustrated, slamming his hands on the table which shock Edward for a bit. "I offered her a ride back home this morning."

"You what?!"

"She was at the hypermarket. It was closed for the investigation so I offered her a ride home after I finished my job."

"What happen?" Edward demand.

"She knows that we know that it wasn't an animal."

Edward rushed forward. "How did she know?"

"Somehow, she could read my body language. We were talking about it in the car and I was giving all the signs and she caught it." He rubbed his forehead.

"Did she suspect that it was the nomads?"

"I don't think so. But that's not only it, I have a feeling she knows that we're not humans too."

Edward's body went rigid.

"She knew all this in just one ride with you?" he exclaimed in disbelievment.

"We just had a very casual conversation." Carlisle said, stressing the word 'casual'.

Edward let out a big sigh. "How did she know we're not humans?"

"I only speculate, Edward. I'm not sure yet. That's where you come in."

"You want me to be a spy?"

Carlisle didn't need to answer him. Edward already knew the answer.

"You're her classmate in biology and other classes. So you it wouldn't be very hard. Get to know her. Read her mind. I'm sure you felt something was wrong, hadn't you?"

Edward folded his hands and stared outside the window, not uttering a single syllable.

"Edward? You did sense something was wrong, right?"

"Do you know any race that has the ability to think of nothing?" he asked, still looking out at the window.

"A witch could have easily made a potion to block her mind. Why do you ask?"

"She didn't block her mind. I don't think she did that." He shifted his glance back at Carlisle. "I think she has the talent to not think of anything."

"What?"

"I tried to read her mind once in algebra class. She was calculating the answers then suddenly her mind when blank."

"How did it go blank?" Carlisle shot at him, as if the notion was completely preposterous.

"She had the calculations in her head and also the working, and then the next minute everything went black. Look, I know it sounds unbelievable but it is true."

Carlisle eyed him. Edward never lies. Even if he is right now, he had no idea what was the motive.

"Talk to her. Be her best friend. I need to meet someone." With that, Carlisle inserted his hand into a glass jar filled with dust to the brim and stride to the fireplace. He murmured an incantation and opened his palm to release the dust. A flash of light appeared and he was gone.

Whatever Alice said about a painting or a family photo, Bella did not digest it. Her mind was fully occupied about Edward and Carlisle and the conversation they were having this instant. Even though she was assured that it wasn't about her, Bella didn't need to be a vampire to know that it was something urgent and it was certainly not good news.

"Bella?"

A voice woke her up back to reality.

"Huh? Yes?"

"You look dreamy."

Bella turned away from a blank wall and looked to Alice. "I'm fine." She said rather shaky.

"Bella."

Now this voice behind was powerful, strong and indomitable. Arms wrapped her waist from behind. Her Edward.

"I'll take it from here, Alice." Edward nodded to Alice. She smiled cheekily and walked away. "How are you, love?"

Bella rested her head on his chest. "I'm fine." She said without any doubt or reluctance.

Her mother had met her father when she was sixteen. She was traveling through the small town with a group of poets, musicians and dreamers, and got talking to Paul Turner, a farmer in the local pub, where good women rarely ventured in and where husbands dropped by for a brew and loud talks with the each other. He was enthralled by her mysterious wild ways and carefree nature. She was flattered. And so Margaret Stone became Mrs. Paul Turner in two weeks since she met him. In the early spring of 1803, they had their first child, Leah Rebecca Turner. As it turned out, her mother couldn't be tamed and found it increasingly frustrated being held in the sleepy town nestled in the hills far from the London that she had only intended to pass through. A crying baby and sleepless nights drove her further and further away in her head. Dreams of her own personal freedom became confused with reality and she started to go missing for days at a time. She went exploring, discovering places and meeting people.

Leah, at the age of ten years, looked after herself and her silent brooding father and didn't ask when her mother would be home because she knew with her whole heart that she would eventually return, cheeks flushed eyes bright and speaking breathlessly of the world and all that it can offer. She would waft into lives like a fresh summer breezing, bringing excitement and hope. The feel of their little cottage always changed when she returned. The four walls absorbed her enthusiasm. Leah would sit at the end of her mother's bed, listening to stories, giddy with delight. This ambience would last for only a few days until her mother quickly grew tired and bored.

Often she brought back mementos such as shells, stones and leaves. Leah recalled a vase of long fresh grass that sat in the centre of the dining room table as though they were the most exotic plants ever created. When asked about the field it was plucked or whether or not she could come the next time, her mother just winked and nipped her nose. Her father would sit silently in his chair by the fireplace, reading his papers but never turning the page. He was as lost in his world of words as she was.

When Leah was ten, her mother became pregnant again. Margaret couldn't go through another phase of raising a baby and her craving for freedom became deeper and deeper by each passing nights and so she set off on another adventure and never returned. Her father had no interest in the young life that had driven his wife away so he waited in silence for her in his chair by the fire, reading his papers but never turned the page. Soon, Leah's heart grew weary like the meaning of her name. She became weary of waiting for her mother's return and little brother, Lyon became her responsibility.

Lyon inherited his father's Celtic looks of strawberry-blond hair and ocean blue eyes, while Leah was the image of her mother, pale skin, light brown hair and grey eyes. Leah resembled her mother more and more with every passing days and as young as she was, Leah knew her father found it difficult. She grew to hate herself for it and begin to make effort of trying to make a conversation with her father and even harder to prove to him that she wasn't like her mother at all: that she was capable of loyalty.

But as if their lives weren't disrupting enough, death came and took away an only ten month's old Lyon. Leah and her father were distraught. Their love for Lyon was deep and he was also a bridge between Leah and her father. A few days before he died, the house was filled with cries and moaning of Lyon. Some nights, it was so loud that the drinkers at the pub could hear the faint cries of the baby above the fighting of drunken men and they felt sorry for the family of three. The disappearance of Leah's mother was no secret. The whole town knew about it and there were no different versions of the story, just one-the truth.

It was Leah who cradled the baby and tried to hush him every night to sleep. Her father would be doing what he does best, sitting by the fire with the daily papers. Leah would often beg him to come over and hold Lyon but Paul would just ignore her, leaving her in despair with her suffering brother.

One night, the Mr. McKnight, the pub owner couldn't stand aside and let the baby cry. He and his wife left the pub to the care of their son and when to the cottage.

"Be gone from here!" Paul screamed at them when they demanded the baby to be sent to a physician.

"Paul! The baby needs medication!"

"You're not taking him away the way you did to his mother!"

Leah held her brother in her bosom, trying to shut away the shouting.

"Paul! Don't let Lyon suffer! He needs help!"

"He needs his mother!" and Paul slammed the door.

That night, Leah made a decision. She waited until her father retired to bed. Then she covered Lyon in a bundle of towels and set off to find her mother. She ended up lost in a town that was too small for her mother but now it seemed too big for her. She was wondering around, scared and confused. The town looked different at night and she couldn't recognized certain buildings and landmarks.

"Leah! Thank the Lord!"

She turned around and saw Mr. McKnight rushing towards her.

"I'm looking for mommy." She said softly but the determination was there. She let him carried Lyon in one hand and her in the other and followed him to a house.

She saw an elderly man talking to him then Mr. McKnight instructed her to wait in the living room while the elderly man, Lyon and he went into another smaller room. Leah didn't like it at all but she didn't know what to do. So she sat there and prayed for Lyon. That was the only thing she knew how to do.

After what seemed an eternity, Mr. McKnight came out, shaking his head. He sat beside Leah.

"Your brother's gone. Leah, I'm so sorry." And he continued with other squabbles she didn't understand. All she registered was that her brother's dead.

Someone contacted Paul. Leah knew this because he turned up at the elderly man's house to pick her and the body of her brother up. He was silent and Leah had no energy to say anything. As they walked out of the door, Mr. McKnight could only manage to shake his head in regret that he hadn't done something sooner. He wasn't worried about Paul but his daughter. She lost her mother and now her brother. The girl was only ten. What else more in the future can she take? The only comfort he could give her was a pat on her head and a rueful smile as she walked out the door with her father.

When Leah and her father reached home, the house was still there much to Leah's disappointment. She was hoping the cottage would vanish so that her father and she would go looking for her mother. But the house was still standing there, exactly as it was when she left the other night. Her father released her hands when they entered and sat straight away in his usual place without a word to her.

Leah ran to her room just in time to pass by Lyon's room. The rocking bed was still where it was. The smell of him was still lingering around. Leah flopped on her own bed and cried her heart out because that night she knew she lost not one person she loves and cherish very much but two: Lyon and her father.