Note:A large thanks to my faithful readers for sticking with the absolute worst part of the story. I promise, promise; PROMISE all of you that the pace will pick up. As I said last chapter I didn't really know where the main plot was going. So to lessen the impact of this dreadful problem I'm combining chapters 12 and 13 so we all can get on with the better parts of the story.

Chapter 12

I woke earlier than I usually do. Of course I haven't slept well in a few months. Alice had broken her word; she left without waking me. At least she left me a note.

Aaron,

I'm sorry for not waking you before I left. I wasn't sure there would be enough time for me to leave. I just wanted to let you know that you weren't dreaming. I hope you can keep your promises, both of them, I don't think I can lose two people I care about so soon.

---- Alice

P.S. I can't wait to actually hear your accent, and your transfer papers are fantastic.

I traced her beautiful writing gently with my fingers, smiling. "It's about time something goes right." I stated to the still room around me. Of course the light shining in the room was a hazy shade of grey.

I went about clearing up the room. I folded the sheets and stacked them on top of my suitcase, exactly how I had done it yesterday, and the way I'll probably do it tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. I tucked my blasting rod into my messenger bag, along with a notepad, and a couple of pens. And of course my perfectly forged transfer papers. Since I have to go to school I may as well think about what lies before me.

How much time do I have before Charlie wakes up? Long enough to call Harry? No point in risking it, I can do it later. If Alice is right, I'm going to have enough time to go get my gun before I go to the 'trial.' Maybe I shouldn't start with Harry, maybe I should ask Luccio straight. She was willing to work around Harry, why not his protégé. That makes perfect sense to me. The first chance I got I would call Luccio. That should work.

I dressed quietly and quickly, wearing the same clothes I put on after my shower last night. No need to dirty new clothes up when the old one's passed the reliable sniff test. Everything was ready. Everything was hidden, secured in my bags. No sword, no staff today, if I needed protection I had my shield bracelet on and my blasting rod is within easy reach.

This took less, way less, than ten minutes. I figured that I should satiate that beast of a stomach. I made the mistake of letting it get its hands on real food last night, now it was demanding more.

I went into the kitchen and rooted around in the fridge and the cupboards, looking for anything that fit into the food category. I found two items that always work. Eggs and bread. I'm an American. That boils down to just one thing: being able to eat anything as long as it's surrounded by two pieces of bread. I rummaged through the other cupboards until I found two pans, one for the eggs, and one for the bread. I didn't trust myself to not destroy the toaster.

I turned on the gas range past the electric starter to low and muttered "Flicus" the same spell I use to light candles. The two little burners caught fire immediately. Soon I was off committing breakfast. I can remember one time I actually burned an egg… a boiled egg, I'm still not sure how.

I managed to cook and eat before I heard any signs of life. So I started to make a second batch. I have more honor than to cook in somebody's kitchen for just myself. I made two other scrambled egg sandwiches and wrapped them in foil. I cleaned up the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Charlie came down first, took a sandwich and left. He was not one for talking, that's fine by me, the less I say the less of a chance I screw things up. Bella followed soon after, she grabbed the other and headed for the front door, completely oblivious to my presence. I followed no sense in being late for my first day. I knew I wouldn't find anything useful there, but I now had to keep up appearances. I grabbed my black bag and a coat and followed suit. She realized that I was still here when she tried to shut the door on me.

"Sorry I forgot you were here." She said absently.

"That happens a lot." I said dropping my accent. The rain was freezing, this morning. I walked two steps behind Bella all the way to her truck. If she wasn't going to speak, I figured silence was golden. The roar of the engine was deafening this morning, I could feel my ears starting to bleed as she put it in gear, and drove towards school.

How can I describe Forks High School without using the words: shit and/or hole? I don't think I can. I don't mean to imply that I went to the nicest of high schools, but it was only a crap hole. This place was nothing more than a cookie cutter high school set against an ungodly green background.

Can I fake my death yet, or go back to England? Anything not to repeat high school. When I thought that I could get some information here there was a real point. Now that I know everything that I need to know here, what's the point of coming? I have a high school diploma, a real one, not a GED.

But it's too late. Let's get this over with. She pulled into the parking lot and I was quick to jump out. I concentrated on blending in; using the same very crude veil I used Saturday, at the diner. It worked alright, I got a few looks, but no one said a word.

I found the admin office without much trouble. Word of advice: if you're ever at a school and want to find the office, look for the flagpole. I made my way to the front desk; no one else was in the office aside from the few workers.

"Excuse me miss," I said to the front receptionist, "I believe I'm supposed to start here today." I said in accent. She looked confused. "Apparently there was a problem at the exchange agency." I said pulling all of my forged papers out of my bag-o-tricks. "None of my papers were sent here," I handed her the papers.

She looked them over, "One moment." She walked away from the desk and into a small office in the back. I leaned against the counter, waiting.

After five minutes or so the secretary came back, "Everything looks like it's in order. Here is your schedule and a map of the school. You can pick up your books in the library." She said very nonchalantly. I took them, nodded, and left.

The rest of the morning passed in a big blur, I could only hope that everything in this waking nightmare would pass so quickly. Then lunch rolled around, so far I managed to avoid everyone I knew here (Bella and the Cullen clan.) I for one was grateful; I knew my luck wouldn't run hold. I walked into the cafeteria, putting up the most basic of mind blocks up, repeating the alphabet again and again.

I found a quiet table in the corner and started reviewing my notes. No, not the school notes I didn't bother to take, the ones I took last night. I tried to look at them with fresh eyes, if human medical terminology is confusing try it when it's in two or three dead languages. None of it made any sense; I'm not a doctor, just a wizard. I could probably make the cure's, given the money, and the time. These were definitely the most complicated potions I had ever seen; some of them could bankrupt medium sized countries.

"Anyone sitting here?" A familiar voice asked. Alice had shown up at the right time to find me sitting here with no answers. I glanced back to see Slabs and Little Miss Bitch sitting together at the opposite end of the building. He was smiling; she was shooting daggers out of her eyes.

I didn't say anything. I just shook my head and gestured to the seats across from me. I hopped that she was going to play along?

"You're Aaron right? The new exchange student." She was fishing for me to say something; she wanted to hear my accent.

I wasn't about to give it up that easy. "mmm-hmm" I hummed, nodding. My eyes stayed glued to what I was reading.

Still in her all too cheery voice, "I'm Alice, Alice Cullen." She said extending her hand. I looked up at her, smiled, and then took her hand. That was a mistake; I looked into her liquid gold eyes, now I felt obligated.

"I'm Aaron Brown." I said in accent. "Are you happy now?" I added in a voice so quiet I barely heard it, but I'm positive she heard it loud and clear.

She sat down flashing a beautifully alluring smile. She nodded slightly to answer my question. She started mashing her food around. I didn't see why she bothered to pretend to eat, there were plenty of mortal people who didn't feel the need to eat the slop the school provided. Still she looked graceful doing it.

We made inane small talk for a while, she was much better at keeping up appearances than I was, but of course she has much more practice. I told her about my fake school, my fake friends. She told me about her boyfriend running away to find his abusive father or some other nonsense that made for good schoolyard gossip. After three days, or maybe a few minutes, of her trying to poke holes in my cover for her own sick pleasure; I had enough. "Hey," I said in the same quiet voice, "I need a ride to Aberdeen to pick some stuff out of storage. I figured if you're there, there's a chance that my gun just might go missing."

She covered her mouth so no one could noticed she was talking, "What kind of stuff?" Her voice was just loud enough for me to understand it without straining myself.

"Books, potion stuff. Things I need, but couldn't risk bringing here earlier." I said.

"We could be down and back in like two hours." Then the bell tolled, signaling the decent back into hell.

I was grateful that the last few hours passed just as quickly as the few before lunch. I still didn't see anyone I knew. I also kept my distance from everyone else, the fewer people that can be in a position to know what I am the better. Not that many people are actually looking for things they know don't exist, magic being the big one.

If every day goes this fast I think I can make it through my sentence here with little trouble. Hell, I might even be able to get some work done.

Walking out to the parking lot to meet Alice, I had this odd sense of déjà vu, I knew where all of the little ice patches were without looking for them. A step to the right, here, one long step there, three steps to the left on occasion. Just before I got to the parking lot, I felt the need to stop, dead. I felt a pulling sensation on the back of my head, it was alien. It felt like someone was trying to pull my mind away; someone trying to get in my head maybe? Whatever it was, it would definitely be breaking the third law of magic. I need to find whoever was doing that and stop them.

I spun around to find that no one was behind me, not near me at least. About two hundred feet behind me were two girls, and two guys, being completely unremarkable. I closed my eyes and the pulling sensation didn't come back. Wonderful one more little question that I probably need to answer. If it was someone here trying to get in my head. I would need to stop them before they got themselves killed. Just one more faceless 'warlock' that broke a law that he/she didn't know they existed, and got killed for it.

One problem at a time. One problem at a time.

I continued the strange walk to the parking lot where there was a car that can only be described as awesome. I don't know cars, but suffice it to say that if it took us more than forty-five minutes to get to my storage unit, I'd eat my cloak, shoes, and sword. There was just one little problem, I would absolutely, without a doubt destroy that car.

"Like my ride?" She said appearing out of nowhere with a shit-eating grin.

"Ya, I like it so much I think I shouldn't ride in it." I said with the same timbre.

"What do you mean?"

"Here's an analogy. Sun is to vampires; as wizards are to technology." She looked at me skeptically. "Well black court vampires at least." Her look didn't change, "vampires like Dracula." She looked like she was beginning to get it

"I still don't get it."

"Wizards have a tendency to screw up technology. The more modern it is the easier it is to destroy. Like your windows, your locks, your radio, your electrical system." A look of understanding crept onto her brow.

"You didn't destroy anything yesterday." She said trying to find a lie.

"First off, the threshold around your house stripped a lot of my power, and second I threw out a lot of power beforehand." I explained.

"Prove it!" She said in mock defiance.

"Okay, pull out your cell phone, there's a good chance it will be ruined anyway." She complied. "I'm going for flashy, hold it like a card." She did, I pulled my coat aside like an old west gun slinger. I shoved my right hand in my pocket and made a gun shape.

"Hurry up!" She chided. I didn't let it hurry me down one bit. I whistled the theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly before drawing my 'gun' and focusing the spell of my tip of my finger and unleashing it like an invisible bullet.

The spell landed and instantly little sparks and a tiny waft of smoke escaped from the top. Her jaw dropped. "Told ya. Still want me to get in?" I joked as I walked up to the passenger side door.

"Would it help if I don't invite you in?"

"Nope, thresholds are only around houses, not cars. So is there a special way to open the door?" I said as I looked around the door.

Now concern was creeping into her angelic face. "Why don't you throw some magic around before you get in?"

"Okay, I'll run south for ten minutes throw some out power out. I'm sure you'll know where I'll be before I get there." I said taking off.

Ten minutes of hard running later and I found a nice secluded little patch of trees just off the road. I repeated the same routine from yesterday. This time I tried to hold the magic in a little longer, before releasing the energy into the ground. A little dust was kicked up, and the earth rumbled slightly. I repeated this a dozen or so times until I was too tired to do it again. It wasn't really a physical exhaustion, but I felt tired on the inside. I pulled my blasting rod from my bag and focused on an exposed rock. I concentrated as best I could and muttered, "Levitas."

Where a million volt lightning bolt should have erupted it was more like something cast off a novelty Tesla Coil. As if on cue the yellow Porsche pulled off the road less than twenty feet from where I was standing. I stashed my rod back into my bag and walked toward the idling car. The door locks clicked open, and I slid into the front.

"See I knew you would be able to find me." I said buckling my seat belt.

"Yep. And no destroying my ride." She said icily.

"No problem." I said noticing her eyes had shifted from warm liquid gold to cold jet black. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

"Werewolves." The simple one word response made my blood run cold. Wonderful, lycan (the umbrella term) and vampires have been mortal enemies from as far back as anyone can remember.

"Regular werewolves or one of the other three types of lycan." As a rule most people don't realize that there are actually four types.

"Regular I think. They're Quileute Indians." She said in the same icy tone.

"Wonderful." I muttered. Vampires and lycan have been enemies for as long as time. "Are you okay?" I said taking her hand. She took several labored and ragged breaths.

"I'm fine." She said after a long pause. Her eyes returned to golden hazel, but they weren't as warm as they were yesterday. "Let's go!" She said returning to the pseudo happiness.

"Hit it!" I replied.

She complied. It wasn't long before the speedometer was reading better than 150. I guess I won't be eating my garments after all. She looked as comfortable going this fast as a normal person would at idling through a parking lot. Every once in a while she would slow to a more reasonable speed and then a cop would appear. Man I love seers!

She pulled into the parking lot of U-Store in less time than I thought possible. I fished the key out of my bag and opened the door to my unit.

The unit wasn't crowded per say but it sure as hell wasn't organized. I hadn't planned on putting anything in storage, so I just kind of threw things anywhere there was space.

"A deals a deal. You find my gun you get to keep it!" I chided.

"Not fair. You said if I gave you a ride here I get your gun!" She pouted.

"No, I said if you got me here my gun may go missing." I corrected "It won't take you that long, I don't have that many boxes." I dropped the conversation.

I headed over to the back right corner where I hid my magic type items. Four boxes worth of potion making crap, three boxes full of random semi precious gems and metals. I did manage to find a nice chunk sterling silver. It was something that I started enchanting to give me some extra speed when needed. It's in the shape of something that slightly resembles a cheetah, or maybe a log with eyes and legs. I gave up on it a while ago because it took up too much of my time. I have slightly more time to devote to it now.

I grabbed this and some simple silver and gold wire. I would need these if I ever needed to set up a more complex spell circle, or make some simple talismans. A must if I ever got around to putting wards up. A good idea for sure, but seriously impractical at the moment.

I was much more successful on the book front. I found the two potion books I needed, one was all about the curative type of potion I would need if it was some sort of metaphysical illness. The other was more general, but it had a few ideas for 'recipes' that I've used in the past to make fighting vampires a little bit easier. I don't want to use them, but it would be stupid to think that I wouldn't need them.

While I was here sitting in the corner methodically going through my books; Alice hit my unit like a tornado hits a trailer park. Every box that I had stacked were on the floor the contents dumped out. I figured she would have found it by now. It was in a box that looked like a small briefcase. I made a mental note to tally up all the damage she caused, multiply it by at least a hundred, and send her the bill.

I was still looking through some books when she finally found it. "Found it!" She exclaimed. Of course it was hidden in plain sight; I'll let you guess where. "Funny," she started, "this isn't sharp. I know I don't eat, but it doesn't look like something you use in the kitchen."

"What's your point?" I chided.

"Why's it in here?" She sounded thoroughly confused.

"Umm, because that's where I put it." I replied. My male logic somehow escaped her. It escapes me at times and I live with it.

She opened the case and pulled it out. "Are you compensating for something?" She joked waving the gun around.

I stifled a laugh before I could answer. A girl who is five two tops holding a fifty caliber desert eagle is funny. "No," I started defensively, "Harry had a forty-four. I was honor bound by guy code to get one bigger."

She laughed her sweet, melodic laugh. "Who's Harry?"

"We talked most of last night and I didn't mention Harry once?" I asked half joking.

"Nope! I think you mentioned him yesterday during your story." she smiled at me still holding my cannon. I was getting a bit nervous, I know I left it unloaded and took the magazine out, but a nagging thought of my brain being splattered on the walls crept in.

"Well let's see Harry was my mentor, my teacher, my friend." I said with a half smile.

"Was?" a hint of worry entered her voice.

"When I killed Katherine, Harry had gone after Mab, when he came back he didn't seem like himself." I shuddered, "I thought he'd taken her up on her offer. I tried to kill him before I got the sense knocked into me and ran halfway across the country." I finished. Tears were forming at the thought of my biggest mistake. My vision was blurred, but my hearing wasn't.

Alice had set the gun down, and walked toward me, her heels clicking quietly. She pulled me into an embrace. Her stone arms snaked around my waist. "I'm sorry, again." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"You didn't do it, please Alice don't be." I said trying to calm her down. "What's done is done." A single tear rolled down my check and made its way to her forehead. She pulled into me tighter. I did the same. No pain could stop me from feeling a few rays of happiness she offered. After a while I calmed down, the tears disappeared, the pain all but vanished.

"Okay, new rule;" she said breaking the silence, "absolutely no talking about the past!" That was something I wouldn't argue with.

"Done!" I agreed, "So what was your life like while you were human?" I asked jokingly breaking the new rule.

"Oh, that's so not fair!" she exclaimed hitting me 'gently' in the ribs. Of course gently is a relative term. She sulked off to the corner where she set the gun down. "Well since I have what I came for." She said placing the cannon back in its' case, "I think I'm just going to go." She started walking out, "you can get yourself back, right?"

"Now that's just mean." I chided, picking the things that I found, "It's a good thing that I'm finished then." I said following her out. I shut the unit and locked it just in time to see her speed away. The Porsche was through the gate before it had a chance to open all the way.

"Wonder-fucking-ful." I mumbled to myself. Did I hit a nerve with the joke? She didn't seem upset or put off by it. Or was I being an idiot and misreading the signs. Then the complete realization hit, I have no way to get back. I walked out of U-Store, looking around for a pay phone. Wizards are probably the only people who still use them. I'm completely serious, last time I was in San Francisco I saw not one, not two, but three hobos with cell phones.

After a while of searching I found one that wasn't missing the receiver, didn't have the cord ripped out, and didn't smell like stale urine and vomit. So I was wrong about the hobo remark. Sue me

If I hadn't finished that thought when I did, I wouldn't have seen the car bearing down on me. If I hadn't seen the car I would have ended up a big splat on the windshield, and lubricant for the engine. "Need a ride stranger?"

"God damn it. Alice, what the hell was that for?" I demanded.

"Dunno, felt like playing a joke. You started it." She said playfully.

"Oh, a joke. I'll remember that leaving someone stranded for half an hour is funny to vampires." I spat.

"It was less than five minutes relax." Damn it, I didn't faze her at all. She probably knew how this would end.

"You do know your eventually get in the car right?"

"Ok," I sighed, opening the car door. I slid in and buckled up, safety first and all (especially when there's a vampire who doesn't drive slower than one-fifty.)

"Hungry?" She asked.

"You tell me, you're the seer." I chided.

"I foresee," she started, placing two fingers on her temple and slipping into a fake gypsy accent, "Chinese food." Just the thought of real food made my stomach rumble.

"Lead on Macduff." I said. She put the car in gear and took off at a reasonable speed ten miles over the limit.

Fluff, that's what we're left with. The one thing we had in common is now off limits. The literal woman of my dreams and I can't talk about anything real. "Can we forget about the rule?" I said, breaking the silence.

"Why?"

"Because. Because pain is necessary. Because it shouldn't be ignored. Because, I finally found someone I could talk to about the pain. Even though it hurts, I feel happy that I finally, finally have someone I can share it with. Maybe you don't feel the same, and that's ok." My voice was strained, but I managed to keep the tears away. Somewhere in this exchange we pulled into a parking lot in front of the restaurant.

She didn't say a word; she cut the engine and got out. Oh good god, why do I keep doing this? I fought all the instincts I had about letting her run away, and tried to go after her.

Note:So that was the new mega-chapter. Yes, the giant line was the break up of the two chapters. I know it was predominantly fluff and filler, but it needed to be there. I was tempted to throw chapter fourteen in here as well but I thought that it was better if I didn't (that chapter would have added another 3k words) it would have just been too long. The next chapter will be better; it deals with the dearly departed Jasper and introduces one of the most hated vampires of the series. Also from here on in the chapters get longer and more detailed.

Again, be kind and review, or drop me a PM if you're worried about people reading it.

Until next time, have fun and thanks for reading.

– Enjorous