Disclaimer: Twilight Saga doesn't belong to me, but this version of VampWard is all mine. ;)

A/N: All your reviews for the last chapter have made me smile like crazy. I would like to thank every one of you, who has reviewed, favorited, put on alert or simply... read RoALS. You guys make it worth my time to put my crazy thoughts in writing. Thank you.

I would like to clarify something. This story isn't about darkness. It's about finding a tiny ray of light and redeeming yourself to be able to step into the light. I hope that makes sense. :)

Anyway, ready for the next chapter? Read on!

Chapter-3: Scheming Minds

EPOV

I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard Carlisle call for me from downstairs. "Edward, can you come down here? We need to talk."

I tried to sense who else was there with him as I got dressed and was shocked to sense Alice's gleeful voice coming from the same spot as Carlisle. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

Oh hell no! For a split second, I worried that my pesky little sister might have told Carlisle about my monthly hunting trips.

I wasn't worried that I'd get into trouble with Carlisle or rest of the family. Not really. I just didn't want to endure their condescending looks, or in Carlisle's case, a lecture on how much of a disappointment I was to him.

No, Alice wouldn't do that to me, I reasoned with myself as I pulled on my shirt. She knows that if she rats me out, I'll tell Jasper her secret, and she'll end up losing him. She won't risk that in her right mind.

Feeling a tad more composed, I opened the door and went downstairs—ready to face whatever the fuck they were planning now.

"Carlisle, you wanted to see me?"

My creator and adoptive father stood up from where he was sitting with Esme and held out a hand to me in welcome. "Yes, come here, son. I feel like we don't get to spend much time together."

I tried not to pull a face at that. As if I wished to be lectured on the price of humanity day in and day out! I shuddered internally at the thought.

Esme saved me from answering that one. "Carlisle, if you would just spend more time at home you'll get to spend time with our children. You work too much sometimes, honey."

Carlisle smiled at her and nodded. "I just want to work as much as I can to help people. But I guess you're right. I need to cut back a few hours."

I raised an eyebrow at them and said, "Not that I don't love watching you two make googly eyes at each other, but I thought you said you needed to talk to me, Carlisle."

Esme broke out into a laugh at my smart-ass remark and kissed Carlisle on the cheek. "Go on. You're son's getting impatient."

Clearing his throat, Carlisle looked up at me. "Edward, Alice has come up with a bright idea."

Across the room, I saw Alice smile widely at us. Fuck! This must be something dreadful.

"Well, Alice is always full of bright ideas, isn't she?" I said sarcastically.

Carlisle wasn't fazed by me and simply said, "Well, in this case, I think her idea is a brilliant one."

I stood there in silence, waiting for him to continue.

"Edward, since you refused to go to school like your siblings when we relocated two months ago, you know we've been telling people that you're a very intelligent boy and skipped a few grades."

"Yes," I prompted with a nod. "And now I'm taking a year off for Jasper and Alice to finish high school so that we can all go to college together. I know. What does it have to do with Alice?"

He leaned back on the couch and smiled at Alice. "Well, your sister seems to think you need something to do with your free time."

I snorted. "Really? I need something to occupy my free time?"

Turning my head to look at the traitor I said, "Newsflash, Alice. I'm a vampire. All I have is free time … forever. You think you have something I can do to occupy myself until the end of eternity?"

"You don't need to sound so bleak, Edward," Carlisle said in a reprimanding tone. "She's just trying to help you, and your mother and I think it's a good idea."

For a moment, I thought to tell him to his face that he was just my creator, not father. However the thought of hurting Esme with my asshol-ishness stopped me, and begrudgingly, I asked, "What is it?"

He stared at me for a long moment as if he knew something rebellious was going through my head before sighing. "We thought you would like to use that medical degree you got back in the nineties."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Edward!"

Esme's gasp made me throw a sheepish smile at her. "Sorry for cussing, Mom."

Then I turned toward Carlisle. "Are you out of your mind?" I repeated sans the f-bomb. "I drink human blood, Carlisle. You think I should be in a place where some or other human is constantly bleeding?"

He opened his mouth, but I spoke again. "Or do you think I would pass off as a young doctor? They'll think I'm a kid pretending to play doctor anyway!"

He held his hands up to stop me, and when I did, he started talking. "Firstly, it will be your test of self-control, Edward. You will be surrounded by all those humans but you won't drink from them. I'll have your blood bag at my office for you if it gets to be too much for you at any point."

"And secondly, you won't be posing there as a doctor. The people at the hospital know I have another son. So you will just be working as a volunteer there, trying to earn experience before heading off to med school."

I scoffed at him. "You think I'd prefer to clean human poop all the damn day than stay at home? No deal, Carlisle."

He let out a frustrated groan. "You won't be doing any sort of cleaning, Edward. You'll be working for me and helping me with the prescription writing and as such."

I grimaced at that. It was better than cleaning some sick bastard's shit, but spending the whole day with this one didn't seem all that appealing either.

He caught the look on my face and smiled in what he must have thought a reassuring way. "Don't worry, son, I'm sure you'll like working with me. Saving lives can be very rewarding."

Taking lives can be much more pleasing, Dad, I wanted to say, but gave him a tight smile instead.

"Are you sure nothing bad will come from this?"

It was Alice who answered my question. "How can anything bad come from it, when the idea came from me?"

Her haughty answer made me glare at her. "Fine. But if anything happens, it's on you."

I turned my attention back to Carlisle and asked, "When does this … rewarding feat begin?"

He laughed at my obvious dislike for the task and shrugged. "I don't see why you can't start when you're ready."

"So never?" I pressed hopefully, knowing that the guy was interested in giving me anything but hope.

Esme shook her head at me and smiled. "You enjoy being difficult to your father, don't you?"

You have to ask? I thought to myself. I live to cause Carlisle Cullen the maximum level of difficulty.

"I don't even want to know the answer to that question," Carlisle said with a chuckle. "Edward, I'll see you at the hospital bright and early tomorrow morning for your orientation program."

I suppressed a groan of annoyance and glowered at the pesky girl humming happily at the corner of the living room.

Alice, I honestly despise you, I thought of saying to her.

Her smile widened as she picked up a vase full of artificial flowers and brought them to her nose. Seriously could you at least pretend to be smelling some real fucking flowers?

Aww, I love you too, brother, she thought to me. Besides, even if they are artificial, these flowers are still scented.

I shook my head at her stupidity. Yeah, they're scented with the smell of dust.

She finally put the damn vase down and stuck her tongue out at me. You need to learn to trust my instincts, brother.

A thought quickly flashed through her mind—too fast for me to catch anything but a glimpse—a glimpse of that meadow.

My eyes narrowed as soon as recognition hit me.

So this has something to with her … the intangible girl?

Well, fuck this, I thought. If this is gonna be the last of my carefree days, I'm gonna go down hunting.

BPOV

"Honey, we're here."

I unclenched my fists and opened my eyes at the sound of a soft voice talking to me. Turning my head, I saw the kind-looking old lady who had sat beside me during the flight to Seattle smile at me.

"Nervous flyer?" she asked.

"I must be," I replied, putting on a brave smile on my face. "It's my first time flying."

She patted my hand. "You'll get used to it as you grow up."

I didn't tell her that I was already a grown up. I was there to take charge of whatever my parents left me and make a life for myself.

I didn't tell her any of that. Instead, I smiled gratefully and said, "Thanks. I'm sure I'll be fine the next time I fly."

If I ever get to fly on an airplane again, I added silently.

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

Stepping out of the airport, I found myself in a different world than I've known all my life. Gone was the sunny climate, short skirts and light tanktops. The sky seemed to be pouring down on us and the people? The people were wearing hoodies or raincoats.

Welcome to the West Coast, Bella, I said to myself before reaching inside my bag for my cell phone.

In the two days after Jenks' visit to me, Ben had managed to find a pair of busted cell phones for Angela and me and fixed them for us so that we can keep in touch across the country.

As the phone started up, I felt my lips stretch into a smile. Childishly, I had set my parents' photo as my wallpaper. A sense of belonging washed through me as I looked at their face. I wasn't alone. I had a family … once.

Before I could dial the Angela's number, the phone started ringing, and I pushed the answer button to take the call. "Hey, Ang."

"Hey? HEY? Are you fucking kidding me, Swan? Your flight was supposed to land twenty five minutes ago and you haven't called me yet." Angela's angry voice from the other end made me smile.

At least I have someone who cares for me.

"Well, you called me before I could call you!" I told her. "Besides, airport security still takes a shit-ton of time to let you through even if you practically have no luggage with you."

"Yeah? Well …" her voice trailed off, telling exactly what she was feeling. She was worried for me.

"Hey, Ang?" I called her name softly.

"What?" she grumbled in my ear.

"I miss you too, and I wish more than anything that you could be here with me today."

Her anger seemed to disappear with my confession, and she asked eagerly, "Do you need me to come out there? I can persuade dad to let me go."

I started to shake my head even though she couldn't see me. "No, Angela. That's not what I meant. I wish you were here with me, but I also know that this is something I need to do alone. I need to … discover myself, I guess. I'm not making any sense to you, am I?" I asked her ruefully.

She was quiet for a long moment and when she spoke, her voice was soft like it used to be before she decided to learn trash-talking. "No, you make sense to me, Bee. I just don't like the idea of you being alone in an unknown place. And you're right. I do miss you."

I laughed at her admission. "I'm not gonna be alone. Jenks said there will be woman with me. He said he has asked one of the neighbors to come and spend some time with me until I get settled in the house. Besides, I have a feeling that Forks isn't gonna be so bad."

She sighed. "Fine. I do hope you find what you're looking for in there. Just know that if you ever need anything, I'm here."

"I know you are, Ang," I replied simply.

A low sound of sniffling told me she was getting emotional, so I decided not to make her cry anymore. "Well, I'm at the parking lot now, and Jenks said he'd have a car rented and waiting for me here when I get here."

She cleared her throat and asked, "You're gonna drive down to Spoons?"

I laughed at her deliberate mistake. "It's called Forks, Angela. And yes, it's a four hour drive. So when Jenks heard I earned my driving license two years ago, he suggested that I drive. It will be a good way to calm myself down."

She laughed and said, "See? And you thought driving the delivery van for Mrs. Howard was not good enough."

"No, what I said was that getting my license just to drive a delivery van wasn't good enough," I corrected her.

"You were never gonna just drive a delivery van, Bee-girl," she said after a bit. "You'll do good there, I know it."

"Thanks, Ang," I whispered into the phone before disconnecting the call.

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

After trying in vain to find Mr. Jenks in the crowds of people awaiting the arrival of their families and friends, I headed up to the security desk next to the line for cabs.

Maybe he had forgotten to rent a car for me. I'll just try to rent one myself with the cash he gave me while visiting Arizona.

"Hi, miss, how can I help you?" the woman sitting behind the security desk asked me with an unusually cheerful smile.

"Uh, hi," I started timidly. "I need to rent a car to drive to a nearby town. Can you tell me how to do that?"

"Of course," she said with the smile still pasted on her face. Seriously what's there to be so happy about?

"I'll need to see your driver's license and the name of your destination."

I handed her the license. "The town I'm headed to is about four hours away from SeaTac. It's called Forks."

Her eyes snapped to my face as soon as I spoke the name of the town. "That's certainly a popular choice at present," she said.

"What?" I asked with a frown.

Why would such a small town be a popular choice?

"Well, I've already had one gentleman book a car for …" she stopped as her eyes fell on my license. "But you're her!"

"I'm sorry?" I was seriously beginning to question the woman's sanity by that point.

"You're Isabella Swan," she said with a beaming smile on her face. "The guy I was talking about already booked a rental for you."

"Oh!"

I guess Jenks didn't forget about me after all, I thought with a sigh of relief.

She held out a set of keys for me and said, "It's already been paid for, and a guy from the rental services will go to the address provided by your friend in two days to pick the car back up."

I have a car for two days? Cool!

I nodded appreciatively at her, suddenly not minding her toothpaste commercial-like smile anymore.

Taking the keys from her I smiled. "Thank you."

When she led me toward the car that had been rented for me, I felt a genuine smile tug at my lips. I didn't care that Jenks was practically a stranger to me, but I had to admit the guy had great choice.

There, sitting in front of me, was a bad-ass looking red car.

The woman held out a hand toward the car and spoke in a manner that suggested she was taught just the names of the cars and that's about it. "Here you are. This is a Ford Mustang Boss 302. It's got great features. I'm sure you'll have fun driving it."

I closed my jaws and grinned at her. "Thanks. I think I will too."

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

Driving the Mustang felt like a dream to me. For the time being, I didn't care that I might be driving into what might end up being an emotional roller coaster ride. No, I was actually excited to be driving such an amazing car for the first time in my life.

I had just crossed the "Welcome to Forks, Washington" town-marker when I saw it.

A body was lying on the road.

I slammed my feet down on the brakes, making the tires let out horrible squealing noise as the car came to a stop … just a few inches away from where body was.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I cursed my luck for driving into the town and crashing into some poor man who must have had too much to drink.

"Great going, Bella," I chastised myself. "Forks is gonna thank you for helping in keeping the population count down."

I waited for a moment to see if the body would move, but when it didn't, I unlocked the car door and cautiously got out.

Looks like I was gonna come home with a bang. Awesome!

~*~*~*RoALS*~*~*~

Meanwhile … 5,560 miles away from Forks Town Border …

The sound of a cell phone pinging notified the man sitting alone in the dark room of an incoming text message.

He reached out to pick the phone up from the table in front of him and opened the message.

It was a short message—comprising of only ten words. It said:

Charlie and Reneé Swan's daughter has just reached Forks, Washington.

A slow smile played on the man's lips as he put the phone down. The plan he had put into works eighteen years ago was finally going to bring results.

With a contented sigh he rested his head down on his folded hands.

His time was coming … at last.

A/N: I know I'm a horrible person for ending it there, but it was necessary.

I did give you the longest chapter yet for RoALS. So that's gotta count as something, right? :)

Anyway, what are your thoughts on it so far? What do you think about this very different version of Angela?

Share your thoughts with me and leave a review, please?

The song rec for this chapter is Homecoming (Minutes to Midnight) by Linkin Park.

If you haven't voted for The Perfect Light today, go and vote! The poll closes on the 31st!

twifanfictionrecs category / top-ten-fics / top-ten-completed-fics-dec-2014 / (Remove the spaces before hitting enter) :)

Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

Take care.

Ann