I took my own car to school without prompting from Alice. This had become a normal routine over the past few weeks, picking Amanda up before school and giving her a ride back. Sometimes I spent time at her house after school, sometimes she came to mine. Regardless of the location, we nearly always spent the afternoons together.

She wasn't at all put off by what I was, I would have bet money on her freaking completely out and running away at any moment, but it never happened. I later learned that Emmett and Edward had a bet going about that very same thing…Emmett won. Amanda merely asked me questions about some of the technicalities of being a vampire. My answers seemed a small price to pay, on my part, for her company.

I skulked into the lunchroom one day after a particularly grueling morning of petty, boring classes. Amanda was already there, laughing with Emmett while Rose looked on in fond amusement. Bella was also there, watching Rose's reaction in amazement.

My family had taken remarkably well to her. Carlisle was quite taken with her. Esme had unofficially, unbeknownst to Amanda, adopted her as another daughter. Emmett playfully picked on her, as he did with nearly everyone, but Amanda usually had something to fire back. This entertained the rest of us. Edward didn't have a problem with Amanda, but I perceived that he was perhaps a touch bitter about all the grief I had given him over Bella, and then I turned around and did the same thing. But I knew he would never have confronted me over it.

Alice adored Amanda, they had the same affinity for playing with makeup, although Amanda wore hardly any. Ironically, Alice never badgered her to give her a makeover like she did to Bella. Alice claimed Amanda wasn't as "fashionably hopeless" as Bella. But this still didn't stop Alice from giving her clothes that served no practical purpose. Neither Amanda nor I understood exactly why she would ever need a violet silk cocktail dress in Forks, but nonetheless, Alice insisted she take it. Rosalie had accepted her and even viewed her as a friend, much to the shock of everyone.

I sat down beside her and observed her and Emmett. Emmett was picking on her for being shorter than him, lately he'd taken to calling her 'shortstuff'. I found myself involuntarily glowering at him, I didn't like when he picked on her, even if it was in fun. But she didn't mind, and I would know if she did, so I never said anything. I found myself growing more protective of her…and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

"You've put up with this for 50 years?" Amanda asked me, gesturing to Emmett. "It makes you understand alcoholics, doesn't it," I said. She laughed at me and stuck her tongue out at Emmett, "At least someone's on my side." "I shouldn't let you talk about my husband like that," Rose chimed in, "But you're totally right." I could have felt Bella's amazement at Rose agreeing with Amanda from across the state.

I felt that Bella had taken it too personally how well Rose liked Amanda. Rose confided to me that Amanda didn't bother her because she was so much less breakable than Bella. Which was true, Amanda could usually make it through the day without maiming herself on a household object or tripping over nothing. Rose also felt that she was less likely to be scared and bold off and expose us. I had come to trust Bella more with our secret, but she seemed a lot more fragile, emotionally and physically, than Amanda.

Alice appeared and seemed preoccupied. She sat by Edward on the other side of the table and the two began whispering about something. I could have heard them, but I was too lazy to strain to do so over the haze of volume in the cafeteria. Emmett and Rose were listening too, but I was too lost in my thoughts to bother.

"You okay?" Amanda asked me suddenly. "Of course, should I not be?" I responded. "I just wanted to make sure, you seem…preoccupied. Nothing's wrong, is it?" she continued. I could feel my siblings becoming anxious about something. I shrugged it off. "Nothing at all," I answered, wondering what the fuss on the other side of the table was about.

"Don't lie to me," she said, quirking an eyebrow. Damn that perception of hers. "I'm not, I never would," I began, "They're worried about something and I don't know what. But it's probably nothing…Alice has been known to be overdramatic." She seemed to accept my answer, but added, "You'll tell me if something goes wrong, won't you?" "Absolutely," I promised, meaning it.

I could feel Alice eyeing me with urgency. That made me nervous; did she foresee something repulsive that I would do? The bell rang and we all stood up to leave. Alice barged up and took my arm, wheeling me away from Amanda, who shot a questioning look but assumed whatever this was about was important and didn't demand explanation.

Alice practically dragged me outside to an awning adjacent to the building. It was completely deserted, no person in their right mind would voluntarily be outside in this weather. Good thing we weren't in our right minds…or human. I could sense borderline panic radiating off Alice and I instantly understood something of urgency had taken place.

"More people have been killed in Seattle," she began tentatively. I shrugged, "A serial killer." "Forty people are dead," she continued, " All with the same patterns. Each victim was killed in the dead of night, clearly a surprise attack, and all the blood was drained from their bodies. Edward thinks a…newborn army might be in Seattle."

I absorbed this for a moment. There were several signs indicating she was right. All the blood being drained was a sign of lack of self control and sloppiness that's prevalent in newborns. And the lack of secrecy. A human serial killer would be more careful and not kill so many so close together. But why could someone be creating an army in Seattle? It's not like down south here, there's not a lot of heavily populated areas to fight about amongst vampires.

"Of course, I can't believe I didn't see it before," I said quietly, "But this doesn't make any sense…there's no logic to it happening in Seattle." "I know, I'm watching it closely," Alice confirmed, "We need you. We always have, but especially now since this is your area. Stay close, okay?" I nodded in agreement, sensing her panic and sincerity. We headed back inside and went to our separate classes. I strolled into history late, earning a glare from whatshisname, which might have been more meaningful if I cared. I could tell Amanda was worried about me, she kept giving me curious glances.

Class ended and the pair of us bolted toward the door. I waited for her by her locker, as usual, still lost in thought. She still hadn't asked me about anything yet, I supposed she figured it was of the non human variety of issue. I prepared myself to expect a barrage of interrogation after we got in the Mustang, even though I knew she wasn't the pushy type. It was easier to prepare for the worst than be blindsided.

"I don't want to bother you about it, I don't have to hear about every aspect of your life and all, but…" she trailed off with a questioning look as we pulled out of the parking lot. I prepared to tell her the truth. "There have been several people murdered in Seattle, I'm sure you've heard of it, it's all over the news," I paused and glanced at Amanda, who nodded, "We think it might be vampires doing it. A newborn, most likely, which is the most dangerous variety. And more than one, too. I'm afraid someone is creating an army of newborns, but I can't decipher a reason why they would pick Seattle. I told you about the battles in the south, but it's not the same here. No area here is worth risking the Volturi's wrath to claim."

She was quiet a moment as she digested my monologue. "Bella," she said suddenly. "What?" I stared at her. "You told me that that vampire, the tracker, hunted her all the way down to Phoenix but you guys killed him. What if that made someone upset and they're trying to take revenge? That's probably a bad idea though, you know more about this than me." "That actually makes a lot of sense, I'll run it by Edward," I said. I was impressed, I'm sure her theory was in the back of all our minds, but for her to put it together so quickly, after knowing about our world for such a short time, astounded me.

"Can you make me a promise?" she asked suddenly. "I make no guarantees," I answered. "I'm not asking you for anything outrageous," she began, "But can you not…censor the truth from me, like Edward does to Bella? I know, in a sense, it's for her own good, but, I mean, if her life's in danger she deserves to know the truth." "I promise," I said earnestly, "I actually agree with you. Edward stifles her knowledge too much, especially when she wants to be one of us so badly."

"She does?" Amanda asked, her eyes widening. I nodded as I pulled into her drive, "She badgers Edward about changing her all the time. She doesn't realize the seriousness of what she wants. She only sees it as staying with Edward forever, not as becoming a monster that must survive by taking the lives of others."

"You're not a monster," she argued. I snorted and hopped out of the car to open her door. She acted like she didn't like my chivalry, but I knew she was secretly growing a bit fond of the gesture. "That's really selfish of her," Amanda continued, as I retrieved her bag from the backseat and we headed up the driveway. Apparently I looked as shocked as I felt because she followed up with, "Well it is. Can't she see that Edward thinks he's doing the best thing for her? He wants her to live, not take that away from her."

"If only she could see how logical that is," I agreed. She unlocked the door and we entered an empty house. "Where are your grandparents?" I asked. I had taken to liking the older couple, they were fun to be around. They were usually jovial, which rubbed off on me. I did wonder if they were just glad to see Amanda interacting with someone else, apparently, much like me, her voluntary interaction with most people was extremely selective. Maybe they were just glad to see her having a friend, or they could have been like that all the time. Either way was pleasant for me.

"Doctors' appointment in Spokane," she answered. I assumed she was speaking of her grandfather. "How's he doing?" I implored further. She shrugged, took her bag from me, and flung it on the couch. I could feel a sea of emotions swell up inside her, anxiety, insecurity, and the most present of all was the deep sense of sadness that I had first noticed about her. I didn't press the matter. She had respected my privacy earlier by not demanding an answer, and I would do the same.

She changed the subject and started rambling about the Civil War paper that was due in a few days. Her rambling was extremely entertaining; I was quite content to listen to her string of verbalized, random thoughts. I could have written both of our papers in my sleep, if that was possible. I had actually finished mine in less than ten minutes. She had recruited me for the source of her paper, which I had no problem with. It would save her the trouble of digging up information that the person two feet away could provide in a heartbeat. We went upstairs to her room, where I dictated and she typed out exactly what I said on the Battle of Galveston.

After the paper was finished, I excused myself to leave for home. I needed to get back and see if Alice had seen anything further about the Seattle vampire(s). I also needed to tell Edward about Amanda's theory. We said our goodbyes and I sped off toward home.

Everyone was in the living room watching the news when I arrived. I didn't want to bring up Amanda's idea with Bella being in earshot, I didn't want to prematurely alarm her, so I ran through it in my head so Edward could hear. He nodded and muttered, "It's possible, but I'll have to think on it." Bella never heard him. I felt rather hypocritical for giving Edward another piece of information to shield from Bella, but there wasn't any factuality to it, so she wasn't in danger…yet.

Edward took Bella home after awhile and I eventually meandered up to my room. After so long, news broadcasts bored me if they didn't have anything new to say. I loathed it when the commentators rephrased what they already knew over and over. That's probably why I chose to spend so much time alone.

The clock said it was 1am, but that had no significance to me, when Alice appeared in my doorway out of nowhere. "Amanda needs you," she said urgently. "Why? Is something wrong? Is she alright?" I pressed. "She's fine, but she needs you," Alice reiterated, "She's on a roof…she's not a jumper is she?" "Don't be ridiculous," I mumbled as I dashed downstairs.

Oooh, another cliffhanger, sorry guys!!! Thanks for all the sweet reviews! For the record, I'm not trying to bash Edward and Bella, but I wanted to approach their circumstance from a different point of view, and I think Jasper's is about as different a POV as you can get. 

~Michelle