"You know, this is not how I pictured our next reunion, Little One."

The familiar scents and sounds of the sterile hospital room clashed vividly in her mind with the warm, liquid amusement in that honeyed tone. With effort she managed to open her eyes, knowing she was safe and sound regardless of the ten-piece percussion ensemble that was currently practicing in her brain.

"Caralla," she whispered, voice scratchy from sleep. She felt the cool touch of skin on skin as the Ancient One caressed her hand with smooth fingertips.

"You really are accident-prone," the woman chuckled. "This time it wasn't very bad, however – at least, compared to some of the stories I've heard from your family. Only a concussion and some bruising from where you hit the pavement."

"What...what happened?" Bella blinked repeatedly, feeling her world start swimming into place as the beautiful blur before her slowly transformed into a beautiful vampire. Caralla, seeing that Bella was not only fully awake but marginally aware, gracefully dropped into the chair beside the bed and stretched her long legs out before her, crossing them at the ankles. Disjointedly Bella saw the gleam of light play against a delicate ankle bracelet adorning one sandal-shod foot and the sparkles made her smile absently.

"Do you remember the...accident...at the school?"

"I remember the fire alarm...and we all went outside. Angela was muttering something. And there was...an explosion?" She looked at Caralla, who nodded in confirmation. "After that, nothing until I heard your voice just now. How long have I been out?"

"Only about 10 hours. The explosions shot debris in every direction. And you, Little One, of course you were standing directly in the path of a swiftly-flying chunk of wood. It grazed you hard, but he believes it was the tumble to the pavement and your head hitting the curb that caused the concussion."

"He? Carlisle?"

"Who else do you think he'd trust to work on his beloved sanguinem coeunt?" she said with a devilish smirk.

"His what?"

"It's Latin. It means 'blood mate.'"

"I'm confused. I thought you'd said Edward was my soul mate?"

"He is. A blood mate is different. And we'll get in to all that later. The important thing is to let everyone know you're awake. But I wanted a few moments alone with you first."

"Is it about my dreams?"

"Yes and no." The vampiress shifted her chair closer to the bed and pitched her voice low enough to stay within the four walls of the room. "I understand you met the Celestial, before your school blew up?"

"The what?"

"I'm sorry," Caralla said with a gentle smile. "It's what my era called heavenly beings. Angels, if you prefer Carlisle's term."

"You mean Lili?"

"Ah, is that the name she uses? I have yet to be introduced. I've seen her only at a slight distance."

"Yes, we met, but I didn't talk to her much. So she really is an angel?"

"Of sorts, yes. I'll explain more this evening when we're all together. I dislike having to repeat myself," she added with a wink. "At any rate, I just wanted to find out if you felt anything...odd...around her."

"Odd? Not really. I mean, there was a moment of shock, but I think that's because she is just...beautiful," Bella finished, feeling a bit lame. Caralla stroked her hand gently.

"She is. More so than most of her kind because, well...she's really the only one of her kind, to tell the truth. But like I said, I'll explain what I know when we're all together. In the meantime, your father would like to come in, though he's currently being distracted by Alice and a hot cup of coffee in the cafeteria. And then Carlisle is going to want to check up on you before you doze off again." With a smooth movement the raven-haired beauty stood and leaned over the bed to plant a quick kiss on Bella's forehead. "So I believe I shall go fetch Charlie. I've been a bit mean, I suppose, sending him off like that. But he'll never know it wasn't his idea, and I had to be here when you first woke. So get some more rest, and I'll see you this evening." With that Caralla left the room, and Bella leaned into her pillows and closed her eyes. She was slightly confused by some of the things the elder had said, but she had faith that the woman would clear up her statements later, so she resolved to not think about it. At about that time the door to her room opened again and her father strode in, a half-smile on his face as he made his way to her bedside.

"Well well, Bella, at least this time you're not here because you're clumsy," he said with a laugh. She grinned and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Thanks, Dad," she muttered loud enough for him to hear. He chuckled quietly, but then his visage turned serious, mirth fading away behind what Bella recognized as his 'cop face.' This was not going to be good news, not if he was looking like that.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He seemed to debate for a moment on saying anything, but in the end he answered.

"The explosion at the school. It was deliberate."

"What? Who would do that?" Bella gasped. He stepped away from the bed and gazed out the window, and she could see his reflection in the glass, all worry and anger and confusion, and she knew there was more. "What else? There's something else, isn't there?" A heartbeat, an hour later, he turned back to face her.

"Nineteen people were injured, students and teachers alike, and...one fatality."

"Someone was killed?" She sat upright, ignoring how the swift movement made her eyeballs pound. "Who?" Silence met her question, so she tried again. "Who, Dad?" He took a deep breath and slumped down in the chair Caralla had so recently vacated.

"It appears that the explosion was set by a fellow student of yours. He...likely misjudged. He didn't make it out on time." With icy-cold certainty Bella knew what was coming next.

"Mike Newton's funeral will be held next Saturday."

The entire high school was in chaos. Lili had made her way stealthily past the milling crowds at the school, carefully creeping around the screaming teens and frazzled adults, until she was able to circle around the building to the back. Making sure no one was watching, she closed her eyes and willed herself into vapor. As happened the last time, it was difficult, an almost painful transition, but she spared no thought for why that might have been. She was too focused on her goal – the burning wreckage of the back end of the building. Floating quickly, knowing she couldn't hold this form for long, she breezed through the flames and the debris. There was nothing, no sign of anyone living, but she knew she wasn't mistaken about the dark feeling that was pulsing through her. She saw a pair of shoes, feet, legs, buried beneath the remnants of what might have been a table or a bench of some kind, but spared it no thought. That person just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, though something about it felt...not right. Still, the poor dead mortal wasn't what was bothering her. She could sense something dark, something that oozed through her core like putrid slime, something...evil. That was it – what she was feeling was evil. Not the darkness that mortals knew as such, but the pure state of immortal maliciousness, viciousness for its own sake. And though she knew it was gone, the faint traces of it crashing against her the only proof that such a force had existed in this place at this time, she got the feeling it was far from finished with whatever it came to do. The strain becoming too much for her, she hurried away from the wreckage, letting the blowing breeze help her to the treeline. With a final effort she managed to flatten her mist form out close to the ground just as she lost the energy to hold it, her body coalescing and dropping the last few inches to the sodden grass. With a bit of effort, still feeling drained, she picked herself up and began walking unsteadily back to the group of milling mortals, slowly weaving her way back to the group that had befriended her earlier.

"Lili! Oh my god, where have you been? You just disappeared!" Jess' voice was shrill but honestly worried, and Lili felt the warmth of her kindness like a ray of sunshine through the clouds. She let her expression show nothing but shock and fear, mirroring those around her, and gave a weak chuckle.

"I'm sorry, I just...it was too much and I...well, I didn't want to throw up in front of everyone..." she trailed off, sounding both sheepish and frightened. The blonde girl lunged forward and captured her in a fierce hug.

"It's okay – well, I mean, things aren't okay, but – oh my god, this is such a mess! And it's your first day here! What a horrid day this has to be for you!" Lili gently pulled free and forced a smile.

"It wasn't all bad. I made some new friends..." she said quietly, a bit of a question in her voice. Deep down she felt a bit bad for playing up the 'helpless mortal girl' image, but right now, it was what the situation called for. And sure enough, Jess smiled and nodded.

"You sure did. In fact, Angie and I are heading to the hospital now – do you want to come with?"

"Hospital?" Lili gasped, her gaze flickering down to Jess' abdomen and back up again so quickly the other girl didn't notice.

"Yeah. There were a bunch of people hurt. Bella has a concussion, so they're taking her in for some tests and holding her there until she regains consciousness. Angie and I are going to go wait there and make sure she's okay. She's...kind of accident prone, actually, but this time it wasn't her fault, she just got hit by a flying board and knocked out." Lili couldn't help a sigh of relief for the bubbly blonde, that nothing had happened to her or the life within her. Smiling meekly, she tucked her silvery hair behind one ear and wiped a few raindrops off of her face.

"I should actually head back to the house – I'm sure by now my...brother has heard the sirens and is wondering what is going on. I need to let him know I'm okay and what happened." She made herself sound apologetic, but she really needn't have worried, because as soon as she mentioned Luc the mortal girl's eyes lit up.

"Oh my god, yes, make sure he knows everything's fine and...tell him..." Lili watched as her friend turned six shades of red and cleared her throat nervously. "You know what? Never mind. You should just get going, get some rest. I heard a rumor that school would be cancelled for the rest of the week – maybe we can get together sometime and get to know each other more?" Lili nodded.

"I'd like that." With a final hug and a chirpy "See you later, then!", Jess disappeared back into the throng of people and Lili turned, heading back into the woods. Once there, she shed all pretense of humanity and bolted, running as fast as she could go towards the house. As angry as she was at Luc, and as badly hurt as she was by his admissions and omissions, she still had to tell him what happened, what she found out. And she especially had to tell him about her feelings that there was another Hellbound in Forks.

Author's note: I'm ba-ack! Hopefully for a reliable amount of time, this time around. :)

Also, I forgot to add section breaks and such when I posted this the first time, so I've adjusted and reposted. Sorry for the confusion. I've gotta get back in the swing of things here.