Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Chapter 18

As the day began to dawn, the birds in the tree above me began to sing out joyously. They were fairly quiet about it, though I could tell they did this every morning, to greet each new day. I touched the stone on my neck and became a miniture parrot, bright and colorful as peacock, and flew to the top of the tree to greet the sunshine with all the other birds. As sunrise began to get past its first appearance, the birds began chatting again and I flew back down the tree to my love, still sleeping peacefully.

I slipped back into human form and back into my spot in Edward's arms. He shifted slightly, and was on the brink of coming back into the waking world. I rolled on top of him softly and whispered in his ear "The sun is up love. It'sa time to start a new day. Wake up my love." I told him softly.

He began to wake up then, and I watched as his eyes fluttered open and stared into their green depths. Edward was completely refreshed and awake, but in a slow peaceful way. I stared into the very soul through his eyes and leaned in to give him a very soft kiss. He kissed me back passionately, and wrapped his arms around me. My arms wrapped around his neck and fiddled with his hair. As we broke apart, I continued to play with his soft messy hair, simply staring into those eyes. I could stare at them all day and never get tired of it.

Finally I sighed and pulled away from him, getting out of bed to get dressed in something for the day. I chose a pair of light blue short short jeans, and then got a saphire blue shirt that stopped above my belly button that said "I'm one of the freaks; Deal with it." I put on a light jacket over it that started with a dark woodsy green, and eventually turned into a deep brown. The jacket was overly light and airy; perfect for the beach and woods around here. I slipped on a pair of borwn tennis shoes to match my outfit and brushed through my hair until it was soft.

After I was done it shined in the sunlight. I smiled at myself in the mirror, put my brush down, and turned around to see Edward sitting up in bed, watching me. Just watching me. I got up and walked over to him, climbing onto the bed without taking my eyes off of him. His eyes never left mine. I put my hands on either side of his face and kissed him softly, sweetly, just once. I pulled back and looked into his eyes, and said "Come on sleepyhead. The day isn't going to wait for you."

Edward laughed at that and got up to get dressed. He wore a pair of beige capries and a dark brown shirt that siad "We freaks don't enjoy being stared at, just a heads up." I laughed when I saw it, and he laughed too. He was also wearing his brown tennis shoes. I grabbed his hand and led him downstairs quietly, so as not to wake anybody. I knew we were the only ones awake, since nobody else awoke with the sun as I did. Edward and I went into the kitchen to get some breakfast. He ate a bowl of cereal, and I munched on, my favorite, a green apple.

We ate in silence for a while, side by side with our arms touching. It was a very quiet morning, with the mists hanging around the house. I got up and threw the apple remains out back for the animals as Edward washed his bowl and spoon. When he was done, he went to stand in front of the back door and stare at the woods in deep thought. I came up behind him and wrapped my arms around his strong chest, laying my head on his back and sneakily breathing in his scent.

He turned around in my arms so I was hugging him in a way that he could hug me back. He held me tightly, as if to say he would never let me go. I pulled back slightly to look up into his green eyes, and immediately got lost in them. Like a magnet, they pulled me in. I kissed Edward lovingly for a minute, and that minute turned into five, which turned into ten minutes of nonstop kissing, which had eventually heated up. Finally, I pulled away practically gasping for air.

"One of these days, all those kisses will make the death of me Edward." I told him. He only laughed and bent down to kiss me some more, cupping my face with his large hands. I kissed him back equally and then pulled away with a small smile on my lips. I grabbed Edward's hand and led him out into the backyard to sit in the shade of a tree. As I rested against it's trunk with Edward at my side, I thought of what to do for the day. Cliff diving sounded interesting, though I was torn between it and simply walking on the beach. Then I got an idea. Horseback riding on the beach sounded perfect for the entire family.

Edward, having had his arm around me to get access to my thoughts, heard the idea and agreed it sounded fun. I sat back and closed my eyes, relying on my senses. I searched out for a horse of some kind, one that lived in a barn or ranch. at last I found a large grouping of stables, obviously for visitors to the area to take the horses out and ride them. I called on one of the stallions and asked him about the horseback riding, and asked if he knew 17 other horses besides himself that were strong and carefree, but not too wild, along with a pony.

He quickly talked to the other horses in the stables and said they had 17 who wrere willing to go, and a pony that had also volutneered. The horse gave me the number to the stables and I pulled out my cellphone to call. The old man who answered was very kind and patient, and understood when I told him I'd like to pick out the horses for my family to use, and for me to help get them ready. He assumed i was a horseback rider on vacation and quickly agreed.

I hung up with him after saying we'd be there at about ten; an hour and a half to wake everyone, get them breakfast, and get them dressed and ready to go. I grabbed Edward's hand and led him into the kitchen, telling him to sit in a stool at the island. He sat, and I pulled out cold fruits, milk, orange juice, toast, and eggs and had it all ready in ten minutes. After I had set out the table for everybody, I mentally woke everyone up with a cheerful and very loud "Good morning! Get downstairs to eat breakfast, then get ready for the day. We've got horseback riding!"

Nobody seemd truly groggy after a few minutes. They began to wake and I could feel everyone's exitement beginning to overwhelm me at their eagerness to horseback ride. I grabbed the sides of my head in my hands and focused on blocking it out so I could have some peace. I sighed in relief after it worked.

Everybody began to come down in pairs for breakfast, all awake and practically radiating happiness. I giggled as Alice bouncd up and down. Everybody ate their breakfast with much chatter, and then went up to their rooms to get ready. Since Edward and I were already set, I worked on putting all the dishes in the dishwasher. When the kitchen was once again spotless, I nodded in approval and went to sit on the couch in the living room. Edward sat next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on his shoulders and relaxed.

After about ten minutes, the guys came down, fully dressed and awake. Five minutes after that, all the girls came down ready. Then the parents, followed by Lizzy, came downstairs to join the rest of us. After we made sure everyone was ready, we walked out to the garage and got the cars. I got my red Ducati and Hummed in pleasure when she roared to life and started purring. Edward hopped on the back and wound his arms around my waist snugly, kissing the back of my neck. I giggled and, after making sure everyone was in a car and it was fired up, led the way to the ranch.

It took us ten minutes to get there, so we arrived at ten on the dot. When I pulled up edward, reluctantly it seemed, let go of my waist and hopped off. I grabbed his hand and we walked to the gates of the ranch. Standing there waiting was the old man I had talken to earlier, Jack. Jack showed Edward and I around while the others waited for me to get our horses. As we walked around, I looked for the black stallion I had spoken to earlier. He neighed when he heard my voice in the stables, and I walked calmly to the end stable where he stood, eyeing me.

Greetings fellow herd-runner. I am Faran. He told me respectively. I bowed to him and said "Call me Bella." He nodded his head in a very comical way and I laughed. He neighed a laugh too, and I grabbed a halter and lead rope to put on im. I opened his stall and he stood there petiently, letting me put the halter on him.

As I led him into the open, he said "That there is Night. He's a pretty tough one to handle; you sure you wanna use him?" he asked uncertainely. I glanced at Faran and he shrugged inconspicously, saying I didn't like the other types of people he would put on my back, so I got rid of them. He's left me alone more often now. I chuckled under my breath. Turning my attention back to the man, I said "He'll do just fine."

The man nodded and led the horse away. Meanwhile, Faran had told me the real names of all the horses and the pony that would be joining us. As I called their names aloud, one would stamp it's hoof to the floor to get my attention, and I'd let it out with a halter to give to Edward. After a minute, Jack came back and grabbed the six horses I had already pulled out. I proceeded to search until I had pulled out all the horses and the little pony.

All the horses were lined up next to eachother outside, tied up but content. I told everyone to line up I let the horses choose who they wanted to ride them in order. Alice got a spotless white mare; Jasper a Buckskin stallion; Emmett a black/blue roan; Rosalie a palamino mare; I had faran, while Edward had a dapple gray stallion, and Lizzy had her little palamino pony. Everyone else's horses were variations of browns, bays, and whites.

After every horse had a rider, we set out to get the tack listed under their given names. Once evryone had their tack, we saddled our horses, and then let them into a pen without theirn halters so they could walk around for aminute. Then we all went in their with our bridles and with our hardhats on, and bridled our horses. After that, we took turns using the mounting block to get into our horses saddles, except for me. I simply climbed into my saddle as if I'd done that my entire life.

Once everybody was ready, Faran and I became the leaders of the herd, and set out at a brisk trot into the morning sunshine. As we came upon an open meadow, I told everyone how to ride at a canter, how to lean foward in their saddles like a duck. They did as they were told, and the horses immediately picked up a canter. We cantered across the open meadow and began to change into a gallop, where everyone understood to sit back in their saddles and enjoy the ride. Edward and his mare rode right next to me, and we both cast a look at eachother and laughed.

What a thrill it was to ride! We were all having the time of our lives. As we began to near the shade of the trees again, I noticed with my peripheral vision that a large herd of deer were bounding out of the trees alongside us. The deers bounded into our herd and easily fell into the pettern of running with us, bounding over the tall grasses with ease.

As we began to near the forest's edge, a tall and muscular buck bounded foward alongside me urgently, saying Something lurks in those shadows. Turn the herd aside to safety. They will soon be after us; hurry! he said, and bounded to the side, with me hot on his tail. The herd swung sharply to the right and followed the lead buck and Faran who had no trouble maintaining lead.

As we swung, i detected a pair of dark eyes blending into the forest shadows staring at us, and noticed that they didn't look friendly. Faran must have seen them too, because he began to sprint ahead of the deer, and the herd followed as my family tried to hold onto their charging horses.

Lizzy seemed to have no problems riding her pony at breakneck speed through the lush grasses, keeping at ease the whole time, and being blissfully unaware.

I kept a sharp gaze to our side as we became level with the forest and could detect movement following our swift run as we passed each shadow. When the heard had evened out, i swung Faran to the right again, more sharply this time. He whickered in suprised and turned sharp, everyone barely managing to follow without tumbling off. After we made our sharp turn, I could sense the dark creatures' anger directed at us. I flinched at the magnitude at it, and continually watched over my shoulder for anything in pursuit.

Just as we got near the center of the meadow, I began to relax more, assuming that being in the open like this would ensure more safety. It didn't.

The horses softened to a canter, and then stopped suddenly as Faran came to a halt. I gazed quetionably at him, and noticed his muscles were tense and his eyes were wide and wild, darting to and fro. The deer had also stopped, and had much the same stance. Lizzy began to ask a question, but I shushed her, listening. I heard the soft sound of padded feet moving through the undergrowth of the forest's edge, about 100 meters away, and new we were trapped.

"Brady, Seth, form up!" I shouted, vaulting off Faran's back and into the lush grasses. Brady and Seth quickly shrugged out of their clothes and shifted into their wolf forms. I shifted on the fly from my horse's back. When my feet hit the ground, they were oversized paws of brutal force. I howled into the afternoon air and snarled loudly.

In my mind I shouted out to the heads of the enemies in the forest shadows Show yourself or dissapear from here. If you try to touch anyone in theis herd, we WILL kill you. Now either back off or come out and face us, you cowards! I shouted at them. I sensed hesitation at first, before a large pride of leopards came out from the shadows to stalk accross the field. The largest one was in the head.

The largest one, the leader, stopped ten feet from us and let out a warning growl. I unleashed one of my own and held my head high. I was at least three times larger than he was, being what I was. I waited for the head leopard to speak, and when he did he spoke aloud through a serious of snarles and growls. Though I knew the humans wouldn't understand, the deer, horses and I understood him perfectly.

"What are you doing on our territory? For you are not humans who walk along during the warm season, but are obviously of a pack, coming to invade. I am Spottedstar, leader of LeopardClan, and I call upon you for trespassing on clan territory." he said in a voice that spoke of authority.

I held my head high as my voice rang out over the field. "We were unaware that we were trespassing on your clan's territory, and beg apology. we are not here to invade, but are humans here enjoying the warm days. Although some of us are not completely human, we still maintain that perspective. I am Bella, head of my clan, and wish simply to continue the plan set out for today, nothing more." I explained to him.

Leopardstar seemed to think this over, and finally conceded with a nod of his head. "Continue on your day, but do not cross back into our territory again." he told us sternly.

"Might we know the borders of your clan's territory, so we don't accidentally trespass again, and also the borders of any other clans' territories?" I asked him. I didn't want any more mistakes like this one. He nodded his head and quickly told me where all the territories where, giving detailed descriptions about their whereabouts. I thanked him and transformed back into my human self before their eyes, and climbed back onto Faran's back. Seth and Brady got redressed and back into their horses saddles too, and we took off as the leopards slunk back into the trees.

As we galloped across the field, I relayed the conversation in English to everybody else, who were deeply confused. After I explained it to them, they seemed more at ease. we spent the rest of the day horseback riding through the fields and trees, until at about three we realized we should probably send the horses back and go home. Alice and the other girls voted to go siteseeing in the nearby towns, but I decided to stay behind with the boys, who were going cliff diving. Kara stayed back with the boys as well.

As Kara and I got on our swimsuits, she seemed unusually quiet for her. Normally I wouldn't pester her on it, but I was curious.

"You're awfully quiet Kara. You okay?" I asked her innocently. She nodded her head at me and checked herself over in the mirror. I raised a skepticle eyebrow at her, and she blushed slightly.

"I'm fine, really. It's just... I didn't tell anyone about what happened last night, and I'm dying to tell a girl, but you're the only one here and I wasn't sure how you'd take to it." she said in a rush, though I heard it all. I laughed at her and she laughed a little too, though I could see a familiar sparkle in her eyes.

"Then spill girl, we haven't got all day" I told her knowingly. She nodded her head enthusiastically and then began to gush.

"Okay, so last night after you guys left the Twister game, everybody was trying to sabotage eachother. Seth tried to push me down, but I held on, and instead bumped him as he lifted his hand so that he fell over, but he carried me with him into the water and sand. Then we decided to go in, and when I was using a towel to dry off my hair, he came up behind me and kissed me and carried me to the bed and- and it was just so amazing!" she gushed, completely overwhelmed. I smiled knowingly at her.

"I know how that was. Me and Edward pretended like we were going to go inside and do nothing, but as soon as we got in we bolted for it and had the night of our live's." I told her with a dreamy look crossing over my face. She laughed and looped arms with me as we made our finishing touches and went outside to get with the boys for cliff diving. Luckily the house was right next to a line of cliffs, so we didn't have to go far.

When we had all finally climber to the top of the cliffs, everyne except me was out of breath. I waited patiently for everyone to get ready, and then they all stared over the edge of the cliff, unsure now that they were up here. I sighed in exaspiration and crossed my arms. What wimps.

Emmett stepped away from the edge of the precipice and everybody followed him back a few more feet, as if the side would suddenly crumble and take them all down to the water. "Who wants to go first?" he asked. Nobody raised their hands or volunteered, so I sighed in annoyance and said "I'll go."

Emmett eyed me warily and Edward stiffened slightly in fear. I sighed again and walked up to him to give him a hug. In silence I told him Don't worry. I'll be fine. Just hurry after me, and don't wimp out. I told him. He nodded his head and let me go. I stepped fowards so it would take me five steps to get to the edge, and sprinted accross the short distance and flung myself far out into the open air, screaming as I fell down.

I watched the water come up towards me in a rush, and I faced it head on with my hands placed together in front of me like a spearpoint, and dived into the water, making a slight splash in my I began to get deeper into the water, I turned around and swam back up to the glowing surface. As I came above the water, I noticed everyone was still up on the cliff, having been waiting for me to resurface.

"Come on! The water feels great; get in!" I shouted to them. Edward shrugged his shoulders and launched himself out into the open air, looking for all the world like a falling angel. I smiled as he came closer, and swam back a few paces for safe measure. He hit the surface of the water in the same way I did, and was soon back in the open air in a matter of seconds. He gasped for air and then glanced up at the group still on the rocks. Emmett still sat there watching, but kara took everyone by suprise by jumping clean off the rocks and far out into the open air, in a perfect dive into the water.

Edward and I swam, laughing from the thrill of the jump, back to the sandy shores. I raced him there, but without using all of my strength. When we got close enough to feel the sand beneath our toes and were nearly out of the water, I jumped at Edward suddenly from behind, wrapping my arms around his torso and pulling him down into the sand, laughing. We both laughed and he took my face in his large hands, smiling and laughing. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face and kissed me passionately. I kissed him back for a moment before pulling back with a grin.

"Wow Mr. Cullen, taken down by a girl huh? Shame, shame, shame. I guess you're not as strong as I thought you were." I teased him mischeviously, getting up and pretending to start walking away. I heard Edward jump up from the sand but couldn't hear his footstepsvery well since the sand was muffling them. As I turned around to check, he slammed into me, bringing me back down to the sand and keeping a tight hold on me.

I laughed and he laughed with me, both of us smiling. He pushed another strand of hair away from my face and began to kiss me again. I wound my arms up around his neck and kissed him back, holding him tightly. His arms never lessened their comfortably tight hold on my waist, which I enjoyed immensly.

When he paused for longer than a moment, I began to get up, but he just pulled me right back down into the sand to kiss me yet again. I saw the fire building in him, but noticed it was nothing more than a comforting low burning, not enough to drive to urgent need, just playfulness. I growled playfully at him and he threw his head back in laughter, and I chose that moment to strike. I pushed him with much of my strength so he went tumbling backwards, me with him, until we came to rest on more sand, where he landed on top of me.

I growled playfully at him again and said "Well, you've proven your strength to me Mr. Cullen, but I'm not sure if it's quite enough. I may just have to leave you here in this sand." I told him, still teasing.

He grinned and said "Well I could see your point Miss Swan, except I have one question. How are you going to leave me here in the sand if I keep you here with me?" he asked playfully, and then started tickling the life out of me. I swear I'd never laughed so hard in all my life before. Edward never showed any mercy during his tickle attacks, and I was completely helpless to them. I could think of only one way to get him to stop tickling me.

I raised my hands up to his face and pulled it down to mine to give him a very sudden kiss. The tickling stopped almost immediately, and Edward used his arms to support himself, while still having them behind my head. In the middle of the kiss, I decided to suprise him again and quickly rolled him over so that I was on top and so he was now the one stuck in the sand. When he figured this out he pulled back and i smiled impishly at him.

He eyed me accusingly and said "You've been learning that look from Alice, I just know it." he stated. I laughed and nodded my head at him, and that adorable grin broke out accross his face.

I stood up from him, and offered him my hand to help him out of the sand. As we walked I brushed all the sand off his back and out of his hair, simply because I didn't want it there. He and I walked inside the house and went all the way upstairs to our room. When we entered I noticed that all the animals were more subdues, peaceful even, than they had been before. I shrugged my shoulders at this and went to the base of the tree, staring up at its contents.

I was suprised to find something very different in my tree. There was a new creature there, and all the animals seemed wary of it. I peered closer to see a pair of black eyes staring back at me. It was a bit difficult to see, since it was so deep into the shadows, and after one last glance at it, I froze. I kept a tense stance and told the creature in the tree "Speak or leave. You don't seem very welcome here to the rest of my friends." I told him.

He hissed at me and slunk down the tree to wrap around the bottom branch and stare into my eyes. He was a fairly small green Anaconda, though still plenty large enough to choke the life from me if given the chance. He stared into my eyes and hissed at me again. I beckoned edward over with my finger, not daring to look away, and grabbed his hand as he came near.

The snake eyed the two of us carefully before hissing a message to us. "I am Largescale, leader of the Anacondas of all of Spain. Our kind has always been hunter by you two-leg folk, but never so brutally as now. My kind has gone into hiding from them now, and are dying more of starvation than natural causes. We plead with you to do something about this, for the survival of our kind and the cycle of life in this land."

He finished hissing his message, and slunk away up the tree and down the long connecting branch that was the bridge between my tree and the ground. After he was gone, the birds and squirrels all started chatting again, seeming perfectly at ease. Edward and I glanced at eachother, and nodded our heads in agreement. I hurried to change into some decent clothes, and after edward was dressed as well, I left a note for whoever came inside first and we walked quickly to the garage.

I fired up my Ducati and edward got onto the back, holding onto me tightly. I sped down the road of dirt and past one of the towns in a matter of minutes. Afterwards I headed towards the more grassy areas, and saw one of the atrocious event sof snake hunting right before my eyes. Men walking around with sticks and stakes and poinons of all sorts to kill the anacondas. My eyes turned the pitch black they did when I was angry, and I hopped off my bike with Edward closely behind me.

I came up to the closest local and tapped him on the shoulder. I knew all the locals here spoke Spanish, so I spoke in his native tongue.

"What you're doing here is wrong, and all of you must stop this snake hunting forever, or else parish from what you caused. Can't you see that?" I informed him in a generalizing way. HE shrugged his shoulders at me and replied.

"I don't want these death snakes running around with my children and killing them. I'd sleep better at night knowing my family was safe." he said, and continued his searching.

"I understand why you're doing it, but you need to understand why you shouldnt be. If you kill the snakes, you'll disrupt the balance of nature out here. You can thank yurself when in a year there will be a swelling of rats, bats, mice, bees, and honets stinging and biting your children every day instead of the slight possibility of a snake paying you a visit." I told him sharply, turning around a stalking away.

I began a mental countdown in my head. 5...4...3...2-

"Wait! You really think that will happen just from killing the snakes." the man ran up behind me and asked fearfully. I nodded my head in assurance. He trembled slightly and yelled to all the other locals to stop killing the snakes, and that he was banning the killing of any snake in this region under penalty of death. Everyone immediately evacuated the field. When the man turned around to face me again, I felt relieved.

The man obviously did too, because he wiped the sweat off his brow and sighed. "That takes care of that. Now I must spread the word to all the surrounding towns. Farewell Miss, and thank you for the advice." he said, bowing. I nodded my head at him as he scurried off after the others.

Don't go after any of their children and try not to scare ony of them. The locals are decent people, they're just watching out for eachother like you are. Stay low from them, and you'll be fine. I'll know if there's any snake attacks. I told all the snakes in the area, and they passed on the word. Now both sides of the problem were fixed evenly, and I could rest.

I walked slowly back to my bike with Edward just behind me, worry creasing his brow. I was feeling very weak for some reason, but I didn't want him to see that, so I straightened up and hopped onto my bike, giving him a cheerful smile. Or so it would seem to him. He returned the smile, unwaveringly bright I might add. Unusually bright. I glanced suspiciously at him and he only shrugged his shoulders. Huh.

I revved up my bike and took off down the lane, back home. I was really starting to feel weary now, and it was having great effect on my vision and focus. I slowed the bike down on the side of the road and slowly got off of it, being careful where I stepped. Edward followed looking concerned. I ignored that and simply sat in the cool grass. Within seconds I had fallen asleep.

In my sudden sleep, I had a dream. A very vivid dream, too bright to be a dream. It felt completely real, though things looked a little hazy. Details were harder to make out than usual. I ignored it and focused on what I could see. I saw Alice and the girls out shopping, and I saw them at a resturant of some sort. Alice sent someone a text, and sat down with the girls to be waited upon. After about ten minutes, the girls got up and left after only grabbing a quick bite. They went outside to get in the car, and were suddenly grabbed by large men, who towed them to an alleyway out of sight.

It all faded into darkness, but I saw one blurry shape run after them into the alleyway, being stealthy and blending in. That''s the last thing I saw before I became concious again.

When I came back to the real word, Edward was sitting next to me, stroking my face and hair. My eyes flew open and I sat up slowly, aware of the possibility of a head rush. Edward tried to aid me but I brushed him off.

I stood up slowly, and once my eyes refocused I turned to Edward and looked him square in the eye. "Ride my Ducati, and go to the town of Harmel, 10 miles north of here. I'll get there faster than you, but I just might need you. Go outside the resturant of La Guillos and you'll see Alice's car. I want you to go down the alleyway to the right of the resturant, but be very very careful. I love you." I told him, wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him one furtive kiss.

I ended it quickly and told him "Hurry. We're almost out of time." He nodded grimly and hopped onto my Ducati, taking off. I waited til he was out of sight and turned into my spirit wolf form, howling deeply into the night air. I then began to lope along, gradually picking up speed until to a human all sight would be completely lost, while I saw it in perfect detail. I passed Edward quickly and without a glance, and ran all the way to the small town where Alice and the girls were at.

As I reached the outskirts of the town, I turned human again and felt my phone buzz. Picking it up, I realized it was a text from Alice, suggesting we have a makeover night tonight. I replied saying it sounded fun, and jogged through the city gates.

I jogged down the streets at an irratibly slow human pace, but I didn't want to attract attention. I side-stepped down an alley and turned into a sparrow, flying at a much faster speed. I was soon perched on the roof of the building across from the resturant.

The girls were sitting inside and were leaving a tip on the table. They all stepped outside, and I watched the men take them to the alleyway. I quickly flew down and became human again, blending well in the shadows. I followed them silently on foot as they stopped in the center of the alley. They formed a ring around the girls to stop them from escaping, and heard a deep voice, still somewhat youthy though. Probably about 17 or so.

"So, what're you ladies doing around here? This place isn't safe for little girls to play." he taunted menacingly. I knew how to deal with these guys, just like Mike, only a bit stronger. I was just hoping I wouldn't hurt the girls.

I transformed myself into the girl I had been the last time I was in this situation; tall, blinde, skinny, wearing short-shorts and a tank top. I had to admit, as much as I liked the look, I only used it when I needed to. I began to casually walk down the alley, and then stopped as if just noticing they were there. All the men turned their eyes on me and smiled.

"Woops. Sorry, I don't mean to intrude on this little pow-wow, so I think I'll just go eat dinner now. Bye!" I said with fake cheerfullness, but one of the boys came up and grabbed me, pulling me to the cluster of girls and shoving me there roughly, saying "But the party hasn't even started yet. Although this will certainly be a party indeed now that you're here." They all laughed and I shrugged.

"So who are you all? And please, no stupid code names; they bug me so much." I told them, sighing with annoyance. One of the guys raised their eyebrows in suprise and sturtted over to me with menacing slowness, as if he had all the time in the world. He stopped in front of me and lifted my chin higher with his hand, as if examining me. I was annoyed by it, but I didn't let it show.

"Why should we tell you who we are? All you should know is that I'm the boss and you're our slaves." he said without interest. His eyes glittered smugly, and I knew what he was thinking without having to invade his thought.

"Oh no reason. I just need to know who's name to yell in ectstacy, that's all" I said, with fake curiousity. The sarcasm was overly obvious to them. The man stroked my chin and then patted my cheek softly, saying "Now, now baby, no need to get all riled up." he said. One of the other boys snickered.

I easily swept his hand away and said "First, I'm not your baby, sugar, so shut your mouth. Secondly, the girls and I are leaving no matter what you say, so you might as well step aside before you get hurt; got it?" I told him. He merely chuckled in response.

I turned away as if to leave, but then stopped and faced him again. "Oh, any by the way Ernie, I suggest you go back to Walmart so you can go get your stuffed animals; they're waiting for you ernie-wernie." I told him, then turned around and began to walk away.

Within moments I felt someone coming up behind me. Just before they grabbed my arms, I sent my hand flying back and it collided with his face. He staggered back in pain and I continued to walk, saying "Woops" as if I didn't care. In all reality I didn't.

The girls followed me quietly down the alleyway, while the boys stared at us. Finally, they began to creep up and was heading to grab each of us. I stopped, sighing in annoyance, and turned to face them.

"You guys really need to work on your sneaking skills; didn't you guys learn that from all your comic books? Unless you want a broken nose, you'll leave us alone." I threatened. They ignored me completely and continued to advance. I stood protectively in front of the girls and made my nails grow out as far as tiger claws, and equally thick. When one of them came near me, I swiped my hand at him and gave him a deep cut on his cheek.

He gasped in pain and rage and ran at me, grabbing me and flinging me towards the wall. I quickly retracted my claws to slits and held myself on the wall like a spider, hissing at them "Leave them alone." I actually hissed and my eyes went dead black. They backed up a step and then ran at the unprotected girls. I got there before them and punched one of them flat in the nose.

By this time, Edward had finally showed up. He ran into the alley and punched the nearest guy in the face, kneeing him in the gut once before moving onto the next one. The boss and two of his goons took one look around and ran for it. I considered it a job well done.

The girls got in the car, while Edward and I got on the Ducati and we all went home. It was time for some peace; nothing more than that can go wrong in one day, right?