Chapter 2

Everyone stared at me in awe. No one moved, which is, in fact, quite easy to begin with for us. My mother, Esme, was the first to move. She leaned forward and fell to her knees next to me and placed her arms around my shoulders.

"Shhh, shhh," she whispered. "Everything will turn out fine. There is no need to worry. Right, Alice?" Her head tilted up to look at Alice. "Alice?" she questioned, worry plain in her voice, losing the calming effect.

Sweet Alice didn't want to say what she saw. How could it be that bad? I would be killed and the Volturi would leave. Nothing more. After that, life for the Cullens would go back to normal. I had ruined their lives and forced them to move and now I had put them in more danger than was needed. Carlisle was too forgiving of a father. He needn't suffer anymore.

"HOW CAN YOU THINK THAT, RAVEN?!" Edward yelled, obviously startled by my thoughts. I often stayed away from him because of that. I didn't like people listening in on my innermost thoughts and feelings. I often thought of disgusting, scary, or weird things to make sure my brother wouldn't want to look in my mind. Other times, I would lie constantly.

That's why I loved my hunting trips so much. It was the only time I could be truly alone. Since I was the only one with a natural diet, no one ever wanted to go with me. It was understandable; the temptation could be too much. So I often thought about the positives and negatives of my living with the Cullens. Obviously, the negatives greatly outweighed the positives, but they didn't care.

I sighed and looked up into Edward's golden eyes. "You know it's true. All of you are disgusted of my eating habits and know I won't change. I forced you to move away from Forks. Bella, it must be so hard for you. Jacob…."

"No, don't say it," Jacob said quietly. He picked up Renesme, who looked to be almost thirteen now, and walked off to who-knows-where. I had caused the most stress and troubles for him. He lost his pack the day my family decided to move. He couldn't leave Renesme. And now he had to live with vampires constantly.

I shook off Esme's hands and stood up. "I better go get changed," I said, starting for the stairs. "Alice, I'll be in my room if you choose to tell me my fate."

Everyone was silent. Then Alice finally spoke up, her wind chime voice lower than normal, "Good-bye, Raven. I know you'll find your place in this world." Then she walked past me and trudged up the stairs to her room, all bubbliness gone from her step.

If I could cry, I would. Instead I stood like a statue and waiting for someone to say something. Esme looked up from where she was still sitting on the ground. "You're not going to die." It was a statement, not a question. "You're leaving?" That however, was a question.

I answered, still with one foot on the stairs, "I don't want to. But Alice says so. I don't want to put you all in such danger. It's time for me to leave anyway. Things will go back to normal with me gone. Maybe you can move back to Forks—"

"You don't get it, do you?" Jasper cut me off. He rarely spoke to me; it was hardest for him to resist human blood and my being able to resist unless I was hunting hurt him in ways I would never be able to understand. For him to talk to me now, in front of so many family members, was extremely surprising. "You don't. We—I—don't want you to leave. We are family. Family sticks together. If that means moving, we move. This family has made too many sacrifices for you to give up so easily! Don't leave!"

That was the longest speech I ever heard from Jasper. No one knew Jasper cared for me at all, what with the way he treated me all the time. He and the rest of my family didn't like my life choices, but they were my choices to make. They knew that and didn't try to stop me.

"I'm sorry," I said, my eyes downcast. And with that, I hurried up the stairs to my attic bedroom. I changed into more comfortable clothes and tried to brush the caked-on blood out of my hair. Why did I have to be such a messy eater? Bella said I would get better over time. It had been over six months, and with no such luck.

I was too busy wallowing in my misery, curled in a ball in the middle of my bed, to notice someone come up the stairs. That's why I jumped when I heard Edward say, "I normally try to stay out of your mind even when you aren't trying to get rid of me. It pains me to hear your thoughts. The pain you're always in. Your memories. Your future. Even your present. You think you're always alone. You're not. I-I-I am never at a loss for words."

I raised an eyebrow sarcastically and he realized he wasn't at a loss for words a second ago. "I don't need someone to talk to now. I don't want someone's pity. And I don't want anyone's help. I am fine by myself. Just ask Alice when I am running away."

He sat at the foot of my bed. "You're not gonna run away. You know you can't. You've run away from your problems long enough. You hate it. You know they always follow you anyways and just get worse."

I threw a pillow at him. I thought you didn't like to read my mind.

He dodged it easily. "Alice wants to come up here. Will you let her? I know you must be fed up with me."

I rolled onto my stomach and said, "Go ahead," to my pillow.

She was at my side in seconds. The weight at the edge of the bed changed I knew Edward had gotten up and left. I could see through Alice's eyes I looked like a mess, even with changed clothes. How had a simple hunting trip turn into such a nightmare? Vampires aren't supposed to even be able to dream.

"What is it?" I mumbled, muffled greatly by the pillow in my face.

"You're not leaving. I mean—you're not running away—from here. This is hard to explain. You know, sometimes it feels like a curse that I can see the future. I know what is going to happen. I try to prevent. It's weird, too, that I can see the future when I have no memory of my past. What about you? You never did tell us about yours…."

"What is there to know about me? All I know is that I have a great family that can't seem to grasp the concept that I am a horrible addition to them. And now I have endangered them all and still they don't want me gone!" I was practically yelling by the end. I was on the verge of changing all their minds. What if they did want me gone? Alice or Edward always managed to stop me before I did something like that.

"I'm trying to make you feel better, you know!" Alice got up in a huff. When she got to the door, she added, "And by the way, they're coming tonight. I suggest you say your good-byes now." She sighed. "They won't kill you. Well, you won't let them kill you." Like she said, she hated giving away some of the future.

Author's Note: sorry for not much action. but now you know the time (sort of...using Renesme's age...), and the characters. it is quite a sad story. next chapter will have more past stuff...you need to know the story of Raven's life! it is quite sad....and what does alice mean? who knows?! well...i do, but that is because i am the author. please R&R. the story will have more action in chapter four. sorry if this seems like just a filler chapter. but now you know something is different about this girl. i luv not saying things outright and making the reader think and figure out clues....