Deja Vu

Third Party POV

"I'm coming," Carlisle replied, already shrugging on his coat and heading out to his car.

Tatiana slid the phone shut and waited nervously. She smelled a delicious, forbidden scent and saw Ethan's blood dripping onto her arm while she held him upright. There was a cut on the back of his head.

The monster inside of her, hidden well for decades, reared up. Her head swam with the pain and torture of having to resist the crimson liquid welling up onto her arm and leaking down onto her hand.

One little taste wouldn't hurt….

She brought her arm up to her mouth.

The realization of her actions sank in. She dropped Ethan's limp body to the ground and ran out like a bat out of hell before she succumbed to her bloodlust.

Panting, she tried to regain control over her thirst. She knelt and wiped the blood off her arm on the grass.

She gulped in a breath of air, and held it. Turning around, she slowly stood up and made her way back to the human she loved.

***

BPOV

In Memory of Charles Swan, 1965-2054

Caring Father, Devoted Police Chief, and Ever-Present Friend.

My eyes started to burn with an acid overload as my eyes ran across those simple words. Suddenly, it was as if the ground I was kneeling on gave away.

I collapsed and burst into sobs.

Even after all these years, I still felt a sense of remorse as I thought of my late father. I was immortal and forever eighteen while he aged and passed away. And at his funeral, I was still as young as ever.

Edward knelt next to me and cradled my head while I sobbed quietly and tearlessly. "It's all right, Bella, it's all right," he soothed me. "Charlie knew that we weren't human and accepted that. He lived to be eighty-nine, Bella. He lived a long life."

My sobs, which had been muted when he started speaking, ripped back out at his last sentence. "But not a long and happy life," I whispered. "He didn't have a happy life at all. Renee left him, and I caused him plenty of worry and heartache. I was a terrible daughter."

"Wrong," he said back. "He couldn't have been happier when he would see you. I knew what he was thinking in his last - well, he wasn't thinking about Renee. He was hoping that you would have a happy life, too." He paused. "With me."

I swallowed and reached for the flowers I ordered from the florist. Two dozen red, yellow, and pink roses were artfully arranged in a vase. I quickly dug a small hole in the ground to cover up half the vase, and packed the dirt around it, so that the wind wouldn't tip the vase over. I inhaled a deep, shuddering breath, and gently kissed the Charlie's

headstone. "Rest in peace, Dad," I said quietly.

Edward reached for me while my body started shaking with sobs again.

To someone passing by, we must have been quite a sight. My hands were covered in dirt, and Edward was hugging me while I cried in front of Charlie's gravestone.

Just then, Edward's cell phone rang.

"Carlisle?" Edward asked.

"There's been an emergency, son. Tatiana told Ethan and he fainted. When he comes back around, can you and Bella please talk with the two? You have had the most experience in this area."

"Of course," Edward answered instantly, before snapping the phone shut quickly. He turned to me, and we started walking back to the car together.

We rode in silence for a whole minute. Finally, I spoke. "Where are we going?"

"Ethan took Tatiana somewhere near our meadow," Edward explained. "He was hiking by himself one day, and he found a small creek. It is located about three and a half miles southeast from our meadow."

"Have you ever seen the creek?" I asked him.

He glanced over at me and took my hand. "Yes, before you ever moved to Forks." He stopped, and seemed to be searching for words. "But it was only a pretty place. It didn't seem to...enchant me. It wasn't so magical as the meadow was." Raising my hand, he kissed it gently. "The creek is now their place now, just as the meadow is ours."

By now, we were already at the trees. I hopped out of the car, and Edward was at my side, holding my hand. Together we raced through the trees. I could follow Tatiana's scent pretty well, and the way to their special place seemed like the way to ours, until their scent turned right sharply.

We ran faster, and soon enough, I could smell the rich, copper-y smell of human blood. In such an isolated area, it was harder to control myself and not fall into a frenzy. We would most definitely be exposed if I attacked at school, but out here...I swallowed painfully. I would never do that to Tatiana.

It was odd...Ethan's blood appealed to me more than any other human's had been - other than those first whiffs I'd gotten when I had just been transformed - but it was nowhere near as painful as Edward described my blood to him.

"Are you all right?" Edward asked me in a low voice.

"Yeah," I whispered, though my throat felt like it was coated with steel wool. "Fantastic."

Edward stopped me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Bella, please. Are you extremely thirsty?"

"No," I lied instantly.

He shook me and repeated his question.

"All right, yes."

"Wait here," he commanded me, and disappeared into the trees.

Twenty-two seconds later, he was back with a deer. "Drink," he told me, laying the deer down in front of me and shoving my neck down. I was surprised by his pushiness, but

instantly drained the blood from the deer.

When I looked up, Edward's eyes were gentle. "Better?" he asked softly.

"Much," I answered.

He sighed remorsefully. "I apologize about that, Bella. It's just that I'm extremely nervous

for them...it seems just like a repeat of our life."

I leaned forward to hug him. "Don't worry, Edward. I love you. If it worked out with us,

it'll work out with them."

He bent forward to lick away a stray drop of blood from the corner of my mouth, and

kissed me quickly. "Good, now let's go find them."

Following the scent of the blood, we quickly spotted them. Carlisle was bent over Ethan, who was lying facedown on a small spot of dry land. Carlisle had just finished bandaging what seemed to be a cut on the back of his head.

"He's going to come around any time now," Carlisle told us once we entered the clearing.

I took a good look around. The ground we were standing on was damp, but where Tatiana and Ethan were was dry. Dim light was filtered through the leaves, and the small creek rushed past swiftly. Several large stones were positioned across the creek, making natural stepping stones.

When I heard a rustling and a muffled groan, Edward and I both whirled around.

Ethan rubbed the back of his head gently, and winced. He looked up into Tatiana's eyes, and he was quick to speak. "I'm so sorry, Tatiana!"

She laughed humorlessly. "What is there to apologize about?" she asked.

"For...bleeding," he explained awkwardly. "When you're...you know, um...vampires?" He

said the last word like a question.

"No brain damage there," Carlisle joked, relieving some of the tension.

"So you remember," Tatiana murmured, looking up at Ethan, who was now sitting up by himself.

He smiled halfheartedly. "Well, when you see someone climb up a tree faster than a monkey or sparkle in the sunlight like glitter, well, it's not so hard to lose your mind."

"This is Edward," Carlisle said, pointing to the latter. "And Bella." Pointing to me.

Ethan shook his head a few times, and then recognition rose in his eyes. "Oh, I remember seeing you around school."

"Yes, that's right," Edward said quietly. "We'll be telling you about us. Every aspect of our lives."

"Carlisle, I think we've got it under control here," I added.

Carlisle glanced around and nodded shortly. "Well, I'll be going."

With that, he left.

I twisted a strand of hair around my index finger thoughtfully. "I guess I'll start with the business with the blood. So, when we smell blood, it sends us into a sort of frenzy...."

***

"Wow, talk about complex creatures," Ethan marveled, wide-eyed after Edward told him about our speed and heightened senses.

"Yes," the latter chuckled dryly. "However, if we don't rein those 'complexities' in, we'll be in big trouble with the Volturi."

"Who're they?" Ethan asked. "The...Volturi?" He tried the name out on his tongue.

"They're sort of like a 'royal family' of our kind," I said awkwardly, not sure how to phrase this. "They...they're not like kings, but...it's hard to explain."

Ethan held up one hand. "Wait, let me give this a shot. So they're sort of like...dictators who aren't in absolute control but can deal with all of you whenever they want to?"

"The guy learns fast," I commented admiringly, and Ethan blushed slightly.

Tatiana moved for the first time in the last fifteen minutes. "I think we should be heading back," she said quietly, standing up. "The others might be expecting us."

"Right. They'll put in whatever else when we get there," Edward agreed.

Tatiana was grinning impishly, and Edward cracked a smile, too.

It was frustrating to be in the dark, but at least there was someone in the dark with me.

"What?" I asked the two impatiently.

Tatiana answered indirectly. "Ethan," she said. "Do you want me to take you back?"

He stared back blankly. "Huh?"

Without another word, Tatiana scooped him up and ran out of sight.

Edward and I collapsed on top of each other, trying to muffle our laughter.

"Wow...she's...straightforward," I chuckled. "She didn't even ask for his response!"

Edward tugged me upright gently and planted a soft kiss on my forehead. "We have to

hurry, love, and catch up to them," he reminded me.

We flew through the forest, our hands intertwined. When we broke through the last of the trees, I saw Ethan and Tatiana standing in an awkward silence, against their car. Tatiana's head snapped up when she saw us approach and a look similar to relief washed over her.

I had to have a chat with her later on.

"Let's go. We'll take Ethan's car, and you take Edward's," Tatiana said. The two quickly hopped into the car and zoomed away.

I looked up at Edward. "Why did they act so awkwardly around each other?" I asked, puzzled.

He laughed. "Well, they were afraid we would come and catch them. But there will be plenty of fluff in that car, I can tell you that much."

I chuckled too. "So, is Ethan going...home or something? If he is, then why did he go in his car?"

Edward sighed. "He's not going home," he said somberly.

"Why not?"

He closed his eyes in concentration. "Well, his family doesn't have very ideal living conditions," he muttered, his lips pursed.

"What? Are they...um...poor?" I stumbled over my choice of words.

"As well as crazy," Edward snorted.

I was shocked. I'd never heard Edward talk so harshly about other people before, people

he barely knew - in person. "Why?"

"Drugs and alcohol. Ethan's family is in debt, and his parents aren't any help."

"Oh...." I was at a loss of words.

Edward nodded, but his lips were still pressed into a thin line.

"Why are you so tense?" I asked hesitantly.

He turned toward me and lunged forward to capture my lips with his own.

"Um...Edward? Please?" I pleaded frantically. His strange, erratic behavior was starting to drive me insane.

"I think they'll have an even harder time than we did," Edward whispered. "Alice showed me…their future is blurry, but she can literally feel the pain."

"Edward – "

"Years ago, I wished that nothing like us would ever happen again," he continued. "And now, not only will it happen, but it will be worse."

I had nothing more to say to that.