Here's Chapter 4. I've decided that I won't post another chapter until I get more reviews, but tons of thanks to those who have reviewed! Also, to anyone who cares, I'm having trouble deciding what Anastasia's special 'power' should be. I had one idea but it would have made the story way too complicated. As you might have noticed, Cici is an emotional manipulator like Jasper except she can't really control people's emotions, only feels them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Snap! A piece of lead went skittering across the paper and fell with barely a sound onto the kitchen floor. Beside it, three other metal chips lay silently on the linoleum.

Furious, I clicked my mechanical pencil madly, shaking until another lead spear emerged from the tip. My forehead creased in a frown, I turned back to my homework, leaning over the table with my shoulder's hunched and dark coils of hair obscuring my concentrated expression.

"Jeez Ana, I know you like chemistry, but give the pencil a rest," Cici muttered from across the table. She was doodling a penguin in the margin of her completed American History homework. I shot a glare in her direction, but she missed it, so absorbed was she in her drawing.

As a matter of fact, chemistry was my least favorite subject, but for the time being I would rather be focused on balancing chemical equations than anything else.

"It's due tomorrow," I said by way of reply. I could see Cici's curls bounce out of the corner of my eye as she raised her head, a questioning expression distorting her cherubic face.

"Are you…going to school tomorrow?" she asked hesitantly, the shadow of a grin creeping across her face.

I didn't meet her gaze as I replied, "I have to turn in my homework, don't I?"

A delighted gasp escaped her lips. "Great! Now I won't have to be all by myself again." Yesterday I'd managed to convince Cici to let me stay at home, despite the pouring rain. I wasn't sure I was ready to face Ryan again just yet. But I'd spent my free day wisely – I'd hiked into the forest surrounding Trent and hunted until I could barely walk because I was so full. Cici had joined me later that evening, and I knew that I wouldn't need to feed for a whole week at least, while able to resist Ryan's potent scent.

For the past three days, since I'd first seen his face, I couldn't get it out of my head. I'd quickly banished the memory of the smell of his blood from my mind, but there was no way I was getting rid of the image. His untidy black hair and wide blue eyes were burned into my mind's eye forever, it seemed.

"There," I said, a hint of triumph in my voice. I'd finished, finally, though the jumble of letters on the page hardly seemed fit to hand back to our obsessive-compulsive chemistry teacher.

There was half an hour left until midnight, which was usually when Cici and I both returned to our rooms to read or study. Since I'd finished my homework, I realized with despair that I had nothing else to grasp my attention. Eight hours stretched ahead of me, seeming longer than any amount of time I'd endured in my very long life span.

Cici looked up again as she sensed panic begin to well in my chest, her expression concerned. Today, her eyes looked liked molten gold, and I imagined my own changed expression. I grimaced. Some weird, malevolent aspect of my personality relished the fear I inspired in humans who met my gaze, and when I was robbed of that deliciously evil influence over people, I felt oddly vulnerable. Some part of me liked being a monster. I shuddered and closed my eyes.

"You…you don't have to go," Cici said quietly, reaching out to touch my shoulder. I let her, knowing how guilty she felt for wanting me to come to school.

I shook my head slowly. "Yes, I do," I replied. I'd made up my mind and there was no turning back – this would be my ultimate challenge, a genuine test of faith. Compared to some of my kind, I'd led a nice life, and I had always known it couldn't last. If Ryan Delamere really were my own personal demon, there was no way he was bringing me down, not after everything I'd been through.

Cicilia left me alone after that. The grandfather clock let out a gentle gong as the hour hand struck 12. Without a word, Cici gathered her papers and darted up the stairs, my chemistry homework fluttering weakly in her wake. Sighing, I collected my own stuff and followed more slowly, flicking off the kitchen light as I went. The stairs creaked under my tired weight, and the door to my room squeaked as I pulled it shut behind me.

My room was my sanctuary, the only place where I could truly relax and be myself. I would have given my life for Cicilia, and I knew she would do the same for me, but I could never truly let go around her, not to mention she could practically tell what I was thinking by monitoring my emotions.

The room wasn't huge, but it was in no way cramped. A dusty fireplace occupied one wall, crowded on both sides by floor to ceiling bookshelves. A wide picture window with an alcove window seat made up the far wall, and on my left was a dark wood desk, piled with papers. Amidst the stacks was a sleek black laptop – a birthday present to myself last year. Beside the desk was another door, slightly ajar, that revealed a generous walk-in closet.

In the center of the room were a couch and a low coffee table, facing a flat screen TV that took up most of the fourth wall. The couch was littered with pillows of all shapes and sizes, not to mention a fair collection of teddy bears. I strode forward and flopped myself down among the pillows, curling into a ball and squeezing my eyes tightly shut.

Almost immediately, a picture of Ryan's face popped into my mind's eye, taunting me. I growled and clenched my hands around a soft satin pillow, trying to drive the image away. If only I could sleep – right now I would have given my right hand to be able to drift into oblivion. Then again, I didn't really have a problem with giving up my right hand – I expect it would only take a few days to crawl back anyway.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Okay, I know that was a really short chapter, but I don't think I can really continue the story without knowing her 'power'. After all, if she's like Edward and she can read minds, that'll be a big factor in going to school. I was thinking maybe telekinesis, but that's kind of boring. She could have a shield power like Bella, but that wouldn't come in handy unless she was fighting something, which doesn't happen everyday. Maybe she can be invisible? Uh no that's stupid. Please help me! Oh, and I PROMISE that the next chapter will be much, much longer. I'm still sort of figuring the story out so I'm only posting snippets so far.

-Aster