Hi Everyone! We're on the home stretch here. There is still much more to this story, but many of the secrets and mysteries surrounding Bella will be revealed in these next few chapters.

Ms. ambrosia, my story would be crap without you! You're the best beta any girl could hope for!

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I own my strange little twist on the story.

Chapter 25

Someone was insistently pounding on my door, but I didn't want to get up. I dreaded opening my eyes. I dreaded doing anything at all. I knew she was gone. I felt the loss and emptiness deep down inside of me.

"Open the fucking door, Edward," Emmett yelled from the other side, clearly losing patience with me.

"Yeah, okay," I mumbled as I stumbled out of bed to the door. The instant I unlatched the lock he burst inside, chest heaving.

"Damn Edward, Mom sent me up here to wake you up and I knocked for like an hour or something. She's pissed 'cause you tracked a shitload of mud all across the driveway. Your car's a mess, by the way. Did you go off-roading or something?"

"Ugh, Emmett, get out," I muttered unenthusiastically, pushing him out into the hallway. I slumped against the closed door, scanning my room for a sign of Bella, for some indication that she'd been here. But like always, it was as if she didn't exist, as if she were an elaborate figment of my imagination. Just as I was throwing on some sweatpants and a t-shirt, resigned that she had disappeared just as thoroughly as always, a paper on the floor caught my eye.

I picked up the paper, sitting down on the edge of my bed to read it. It was a note from Bella, written in a surprisingly loopy, girly script.

This is something I have to do. I'll be thinking of you every moment of every day. I promise to return as soon as I can. Love, Bella.

Next to her name she drew a little heart. I ran my finger across the paper, smiling involuntarily at the scribbled symbol - so innocent, so human.

I put the letter in my bedside drawer and headed downstairs. Predictably, my mother was sitting on the couch, her legs curled underneath her. This was the spot my mother spent most weekend mornings while my father was finishing up his early shift at the hospital. As always, she had her favorite mug in one hand, a pencil twirling in the fingers of the other. A tuft of curly hair, much the same shade and texture as mine, obscured her face as she stared down at the crossword puzzle from the morning newspaper. She picked up the paper that was balanced on her knee and frantically scratched some illegible letters into their square, vertical prison. Her head lifted as I approached, interrupting the intellectual riddles twisting in her mind. She tucked her wayward bit of hair behind her ear, peeking through her lashes at me.

"Edward," she said impassively, not in greeting, but more like a reprimand.

"Hi Mom," I replied, forcing enthusiasm and smiling, hoping to charm her, or at least to lighten her mood.

"Did Emmett talk with you already…about the driveway?" She cut quickly to the point, her eyes squinting fiercely in the way she usually reserved for Emmett when he carelessly broke something. I had only faced this look a few tense and memorable times before, discovering the hard way that I didn't like being on the receiving end of her wrath. But there seemed as if there was no way to avoid her ire now.

Lately my life was entirely out of my control, so many things happening to me so quickly and thoroughly that I could never have anticipated or adequately prepared for them. If I had to choose between making my mother happy or sneaking around with wolves and vampires just to have the chance to hold Bella in my arms again, I'd sacrifice my mother's opinion of me without a second thought. My life had changed. I had changed.

"I'll head out to clean the driveway as soon as I have some coffee." I was sufficiently contrite as I slinked to the kitchen. Alice was already sitting at the counter, a half-eaten pop tart and an abandoned cup of coffee in front of her, her body bent over her laptop, her hand eagerly scrolling through pages. She was so engrossed in whatever information she was reading that she didn't notice that I'd come into the room. I placed my hand on her shoulder as I looked over it to see what she was reading. Her body jolted in surprise as she quickly lunged to shield her screen from my eyes.

"Oh, come on, Alice, don't even try to hide that from me," I teased as my fingers ran up her sides towards her armpits, making her squirm and wriggle violently. She thrashed from side to side, squealing in discomfort.

"Edward," she screamed as I lifted her from the stool and struggled to throw her little, writhing body over my shoulder like I used to when we were younger. As if by design, Emmett appeared in the doorway, probably drawn to the room by the sounds of a struggle and promises of mischief.

"Hey, what's going on?" Emmett asked, skidding through the door and coming to a halt, an evil glint in his eye. "Torturing the little one? I'm in," he said, grasping Alice's ankles and tugging her from my back. She began shrieking and squealing even louder than before, but her protests and squirming only excited Emmett more.

"Get back, Emmett," she yelled, kicking feebly at his chest. He chuckled in delight and flipped her over so that she was facing the ceiling. I shifted my hands so that I was holding her by the wrists while Emmett's beefy hands coiled around her ankles.

"On the count of three?" he asked me, his eyes wide with the kind of happiness he only felt when we were tormenting our little sister. "One…two…three," he bellowed in his deep voice, and we launched Alice's limp form back and forth, from side to side, swinging her like a pendulum, ignoring her weak protests and persistent wailing.

After several minutes of labored swinging, we finally placed her on the ground, Emmett cowardly running off to the other room just like he always did when we were kids. Instead of following after him like I usually did, I ran over to the counter and looked at Alice's laptop before she could wriggle her way back to her feet.

I was expecting to find an embarrassing fansite or one of the many shopping websites Alice frequented, but I was dumbfounded by what I actually found on her computer screen. Several tabs were open on her web browser; all of them were about vampires. She'd been reading the Wikipedia page when I walked in, specifically the section about regional folk legends and how vampires were created.

I scanned the page, reading the ridiculous descriptions and outlandish superstitions that were written, the words I knew firsthand to be false. I wondered why I hadn't yet found myself doing exactly what Alice had done - researching what there was to know about vampires, determining if anything written anywhere about them was actually accurate.

"Alice, why are you reading this crap when you know it's not true?" I asked over my shoulder, but she didn't respond. Instead, I felt a tug on my pants and before I had time to figure out what was happening, something cold and wet slithered down into my boxers. I swiveled in place, wrenching Alice's hand from the waist of my pants, but I was too late; the ice cubes were already traveling down toward my thighs. I jumped and squirmed with my hands down my pants, while Alice muffled her giggles with her hand over her mouth. She mimicked my jumping, delighting in my discomfort.

I finally retrieved the cubes and dumped them in the sink. "Thanks for the ice bath, Alice," I grumbled.

"You're so very welcome, Edward," she replied, smirking with satisfaction and sitting back down in front of her computer. "And I know all this information is crap, but aren't you even a little bit interested to figure out more. I mean Bella even told me that she doesn't know anything…" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "…about being a vampire. Don't you think we should like…do some research or something?"

"Alice, where do you intend to find any real information about vampires?"

"Well, I don't know, Edward, but she's my friend…and now that I know about her I want to understand her, you know…and I just feel like I should do something," she said exasperatedly, waving her arms manically, and stomped off to the other room.

I poured myself a bowl of cereal and a cold cup of coffee and sat down in front of Alice's computer to read more about what the internet said about vampires and vampire lore. I understood how Alice was feeling better than anyone. Finding out about Bella being a vampire was a huge secret, a completely crazy and - even with proof – a thoroughly unbelievable secret.

When my bowl was empty and I'd downed the mug of tepid coffee purely for the caffeinated energy it would provide me, I closed the top of the laptop and headed out to the front of the house. I hadn't expected to find anything on the internet, so I wasn't surprised to find the nonsense that I did. The handful of websites that I found dedicated to vampire culture were clearly designed by and frequented by people who had no true knowledge or understanding of the very real supernatural beings who lived like ghosts in our world, darting out of the shadows only when absolutely necessary. The internet undoubtedly was not the right place to learn more about Bella. Unfortunately, I had no desire to come in contact with any other vampires, whether I could glean information from them or not.

I walked sluggishly out to the driveway, my mind still sifting through all the inexplicable things that had occurred in my life – things that even the limitless mega-resource of the internet couldn't help me sort out. I scanned the mess I had to clean, wondering how I hadn't noticed that I'd made such a huge disaster of the driveway. Granted, I hadn't paid much attention to the state of my car or practicing good parking skills when I'd recklessly skidded to my parking spot. I had been attempting to put as much distance between me and the vampire who wanted to kill me, knowing that the werewolf would have a much better chance at stopping her than me.

But my mother didn't know any of this and I couldn't tell her. In the light of day, as I looked out at my car, I couldn't fault my mother for glaring at me this morning. She had every reason to be angry. There were huge globs of mud splattered across all across the driveway, partially overlapping the skid marks from Tyler's van that still marred the front of our house. The intersecting lines were like a tattooed reminder, a crazy chaotic map of all the ways in which my life had been transformed since I'd met Bella. Everything seemed to represent some aspect of our relationship: crazy waving lines leading me to some unknown destination. I could only hope that when I figured it all out that Bella would be there with me.

I got to work immediately, spraying down the driveway with the hose, but even on the strongest setting, the sticky mud wouldn't budge. I ran to the garage to retrieve the wide, stiff broom. It took several minutes for me to find it partially hidden under a tarp in the corner, shifting around a few garden tools around to dig it out. I turned, armed with the broom and ready to attack the impenetrable smears of mud, when I was struck with a weird sense of foreboding, as if the hand of a sceptre ran its skeleton fingers down my spine. I exited the garage and found myself face to face with two massive panting wolves, drool dripping off their glistening fangs.

One of the wolves whimpered before snapping his vicious muzzle and running off into the trees, disappearing from view. The other wolf craned his neck to the side in an almost friendly gesture before he too took a few giant playful leaps into the woods. My eyes searched the trees, wondering what just happened when Jacob stepped out from behind the dense shrubbery, adjusting his t-shirt as he stalked forward.

"Hey man!" Jacob said in friendly greeting, approaching as if it were second nature for him to appear one minute as a wolf and the next to emerge from the forest as a human.

"Jacob – hi," I responded, genuinely happy to see him. I couldn't doubt that all the craziness in my life was real when Jacob was around. And his presence calmed me, made me feel safer, and in a way ensured that Bella was thinking of me and would return.

Rather than wait for him to explain his presence, I grabbed the handle of the broom and began to sweep the mud away from the concrete surface of the driveway. He didn't offer any explanation, instead picking up the hose and spraying at the mud encasing my tires and washing it down to the street. As I continued to scrape away the mess on the concrete, he concentrated on my car, picking up a soapy sponge and wiping down the bumper.

When I was done I joined him, grabbing a wet rag and wiping down the hood and windows. He followed silently behind me, rinsing with the hose, and spraying the muddy mess away. We worked efficiently together, finishing cleaning the car and the ground quickly, so that only the enduring smudge of burnt tires remained.

"Thanks," I said when we'd finished. "Come on," I said, gesturing for him to follow me into the house.

Thankfully, except for the muted sounds of Emmett playing a video game down in the basement, the house appeared empty and quiet. I went to the kitchen, and through the window over the sink, I could see my mother out in the backyard with her garden shears in her hand, her arms hidden beneath elbow length gloves.

"Go ahead and sit down. I'll get us something to drink," I offered, pulling the refrigerator door open and peering inside. I found Emmett's stash of Gatorade and opened two bottles, placing one in front of Jacob. He looked at it like he'd never had one before, twisting the bottle around on the tabletop, reading the label.

"Is that okay?" I asked uncertainly.

"Sure."

"Should I be worried?" I asked, finally giving in to my worries. "I mean, I kind of assumed that if you had some bad news you would have told me by now. But why are you here?"

"Yeah…um, look, Bella made me promise I'd come here and like protect you while she's gone," he answered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking uncomfortable.

"Does that mean that I need protecting? I mean, are there other vampires around?" I asked under my breath, feeling the blood begin to pulse in my veins at the terrifying images that instantly flooded my mind.

"Look, don't worry, we have it under control," he answered vaguely and I was amply aware that he didn't answer my question.

"What do you mean, 'we'?"

"I mean, me and the pack. I'll come over after school and hang out while Seth patrols the area. Sam is watching you at school during the day because he's on leave from work anyway…"

"What? Why? What's going on?" I stammered, feeling more insecure by the second. My legs all of a sudden felt limp and dropped heavily into the stool next to Jacob.

"I don't want to lie to you, Edward. As soon as Bella left, we smelled another vamp in the area, and then we picked up a second scent right after. They were in different parts of the forest so we don't know if they're together or not."

"But why are they here? You said you only killed one other vampire before Charlotte… and Bella said that vampires stayed out of this area. Why are they coming now?" I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure that no one was standing behind me, feeling Jacob's news weigh on me ominously.

"We don't know. But don't worry, we won't let them hurt anyone," he snarled with confidence, but a pall of dread settled over me nevertheless. Even though I'd seen Jacob in action, I didn't want anyone getting hurt and I couldn't shake the feeling that a bloody altercation was imminent.

"Why you protecting me? Surely they're not here for me?" I asked and then a panicked notion hit me, fraying my already overwrought nerves. "Wait - are they looking for Bella? She said that she was drawing them here – how? What's going on?" I begged him for answers, tugging on my hair until it was painful.

"I don't exactly know what's going on – but we think you…we think you're the target," he replied, almost reluctantly. He took a sloppy gulp of Gatorade, wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand. "Someone's coming," he altered, his eyes darting to the doorway.

The many questions that I wanted to ask stalled on my lips as Alice appeared at the edge of the kitchen, her feet coming to an abrupt halt as she spied Jacob. Her eyes frantically ran the length of his body, automatically searching for bloody, festering wounds. Having found him intact, her mouth opened as if preparing to say something, then snapped closed. She huffed dramatically through her nose and fled the room.

"I don't think she likes me," Jacob said dryly and I marveled that he felt calm enough to find humor in Alice's reaction to him. I chuckled stiffly in a lame attempt to diffuse the anxiety building up inside of me. But I had never really felt so insecure. My mind was filled with haunting images: the blade of a knife flexing with tension against Bella's inhuman skin, Jacob and Charlotte violently clashing, feral red eyes flashing at me, deep gashes in Jacob's stomach fusing together and fading.

"Edward – are you okay?" Jacob asked, standing.

"No," I answered truthfully, standing up and making to follow him. "I don't understand anything. I mean…why did Bella leave me?" I asked, realizing immediately how pathetic I sounded and not really caring. The fear was eating its way under my skin, tattooing itself on my heart. I paced the room, the blood rushing in my ears, my heart rattling against my ribs.

He opened his mouth as if to answer, but I cut him off. "If she knew I was in danger, why did she leave?"

"She doesn't know," Jacob blurted. "I tried to track her, but she's too far away. She doesn't know."

"Who is she trying to find? You know, don't you?" I asked, praying that he'd answer.

Instead of answering he headed for the door. I grabbed him by the arm, stopping him, my eyes begging him to tell me. "Please, Jacob. What is going on?"

"Okay. Walk me out. I need to check in with Seth. He's pretty young and I don't want to leave him alone for too long. I'll be taking over patrol most of tonight so that he can sleep. He's got a math test tomorrow and I promised not to keep him up too late."

His words echoed around in my brain, fueling my fear that someone might get hurt. I imagined dozens of vampires marching through the trees of the forest, overwhelming the pack of werewolves that were inexplicably risking their lives to protect me. I shuddered at the thought, banishing it quickly from my mind.

We walked out to the newly cleaned driveway, my car gleaming in the soft light of the early afternoon.

"She's doing all this for you, you know," Jacob stated plainly.

"Why? How?" I asked, his confession only making me more confused.

"She's really young – a newborn vampire – and she doesn't know anything…I mean anything," he emphasized. "She's in love with you," he said, his eyes searching for my response.

"I love her," I stated emphatically, without pause.

"Yeah, well…she's afraid she might hurt you and she wants to be sure that she won't. She's been looking for answers, trying to find other bloodsuckers who might teach her how to be…you know…with you." His words stumbled from his lips uneasily, pushing through his obvious discomfort. "I think that's why they're coming here. She's been talking to them, asking them questions, raising their curiosity. They want to meet and drink the blood of the human who captured a vampire's heart.

"But don't worry, we'll kill all the bloodsuckers who come near any humans in our territory," he stated arrogantly, instantly roused by the thought. He actually started to breathe heavier, a low growl emanating from deep in his throat. A howl in the near distance startled me and made the hair on my arms stand erect. Jacob grunted in response, his head cocked to the side as if listening to something on the wind.

"What is it?" I asked urgently, my heart making its presence known by beating louder and more insistently in my chest.

"Seth picked up a scent," Jacob replied, already distracted. "I've gotta go," he declared, moving to the edge of the driveway, his arm straightened back at me as if to keep me from following. "I'll see you tomorrow after school," he added, excitement flashing in his expression. "I'm gonna hunt a vampire," he said enthusiastically as he ran off toward the tree line, pulling his shirt over his head and instantly disappearing into the shadows.

Over the course of the next few weeks, out of necessity, Jacob and I developed a routine. He would sit, waiting on my doorstep when I got home each day from a long, torturous, lonely, Bella-less day at school. Despite the weather, he was always barefoot and shirtless, only wearing a pair of cut-off shorts. We'd silently head to my room where I'd throw a t-shirt at him, and while he was pulling it on, he would tell me about the night before and what had occurred in the forest.

The wolves had been busy, eagerly trailing the scents of several different vampires around the area. Only a few had gotten close. It was the second night of patrol when Jacob, with the help of Seth, finally killed his third vampire. By his description I speculated that the vampire was probably Peter, Charlotte's mate. Jacob said that he was surprisingly easier to kill than Charlotte - hardly fighting back at all - almost as if he was welcoming death.

From what Bella had explained to me about vampires and the intensity of their bond, I could imagine that when Peter had stumbled upon Charlotte's remains, he'd lost the will to live in a world without her. I felt a moment of sympathy for the tragic end of the vampire couple, but it passed quickly.

The forest had been eerily quiet for a few days, putting all the wolves on edge. Jacob tried to relax by playing video games with Emmett, who easily accepted his presence in our lives. Rosalie too seemed to find Jacob amusing, actually laughing at his stupid jokes and appearing more at ease than usual. Alice, on the other hand, never warmed up to Jacob, and was clearly uncomfortable around him, most often falling to silence when he was around. Jasper fell victim to Alice's avoidance tactic, spending time locked away in her room with her, only emerging to go the bathroom and quick trips to the kitchen for snacks.

I suspected that Alice wasn't facing the news that her new friend was a vampire and that Jacob was a werewolf very well. I worried that she was trying to pretend that life was the same as always and that somehow denying this truth was going to backfire in a dramatic way. But I just didn't have the energy to help her deal with reality. My own world had become so upside down that I didn't really know where my mind was most days.

Jacob was a poor substitute for Bella. I actually liked him, even looked forward to spending time with him, but each day that I found him on the porch was a day without Bella.

My mind was constantly on alert, listening for her thoughts, so much so that I was perpetually dazed. I didn't concentrate in class, I couldn't carry on a conversation, and I hardly noticed where I was going or the people around me. I didn't drive anymore for fear of crashing into something. And I never played piano because I worried I'd miss hearing Bella's thoughts if she were near. I'd truly never felt so empty or bereft.

It had been three weeks of misery, three weeks of life with no meaning, three weeks of being guarded by a pack of bloodthirsty wolves, when – like a bolt of lightening – a thought flew at me like an arrow and stabbed my brain in an explosion of pain. Edward…oh Edward…I'm here…I'm coming…and I found her.

End Notes:

When I posted the last chapter on Twilighted, it was brought to my attention that I was breaking with the canon, so the version posted there varies from this one slightly (not enough to really effect the story.)

I hope you are all enjoying where this weird, twisted version of the story is taking us. If so, please leave a review and let me know. I really appreciate all the thoughts, questions and ideas you all post and as long as I'm able, I will respond. So click that little button and tell me what you think!