Sorry for the delay in this chapter. It's been a ride, that's for sure. This chapter has been edited and re-edited about a million times in an effort to make it just right. Much love to ecandme for her help with this. It is my own, personal goal to get back to a regular updating schedule. Love to you all for hanging with me!

Hope,
A new beginning
Time,
Time to start living
Like just before we died

There's no going back
To the place we started from
All secrets known...

Looking between Alice and Edward, I tried to understand the significance of what they were saying.

Edward could 'smell' me, yet the others could not.

Granted my knowledge of vampires was limited, and based entirely on fiction it would seem, but even still I was pretty sure being unable to sense a human wasn't a common thing for a vampire.

I grabbed a handful of hair and pulled it close to my nose, inhaling deeply. It was wet from the rain, making the fragrance of my cherry blossom shampoo intensified.

"I don't understand," I said, looking up at Edward.

"Your blood, Bella. They can't smell your blood," Edward stated. He must have noticed the look of confusion lingering on my face because he continued his explanation. "Any blood is a constant temptation for us. But human blood… the smell, the sound, it causes the monster inside of us to rage. It's a struggle every day not to give in to our natural impulses. Yet we fight the battle, attempting to hold on to a shred of our humanity. Human blood would be a means to an end of the insufferable fire that burns in our throats constantly, but if we succumb to the thirst, then we are no more than the monster that drives it,"

From the look on their faces, I think Edward and Alice expected me to be terrified. A normal person would have run screaming from the forest, but I had never been quite normal. So in reality, I took a moment to digest this information and simply nodded my head. It would seem my inability to fit into the world around me also extended into the supernatural world. Even here I was the outcast.

"But if you can smell me, smell my blood, then you are constantly fighting the urge for it," I whispered. The idea of Edward in constant pain because of me weighed heavily in my chest, causing my heart to ache and twist..

"No, actually, your blood does not appeal to me in that manner," Edward said gently. I looked up at him in surprise. He smiled and continued, "For me it's not about bloodlust. Can I smell your blood...yes. Does it make me thirsty...yes. But do I have the desire to…drain you…as you so eloquently put it…no. It is not your blood that draws me to you, but more so an overwhelming urge to be close to you. And that urge is stronger than any bloodlust I have come across in this existence."

I wasn't entirely sure what Edward meant by that. I would have assumed that a vampire's thirst would be stronger than any other desire. But I was schooled, yet again, in just how many misconceptions there were about vampires. And why wouldn't there be? To every other human they were simply mythical creatures that only existed in stories and movies.

"The upside to the fact that my family, and apparently the Nomad, can't smell you is that it makes it much harder for you to be tracked," Edward said, interrupting my internal musings.

"Track…" I stated, though it came out more like a question.

"It's exactly what it sounds like, Bella. Essentially we are predators, so we rely on our senses to guide us. But because of our genetic makeup, we have more enhanced senses than that of a normal predator. It is absolutely essential to our hunting abilities. When a vampire 'tracks' a human, our senses are in overdrive. It doesn't matter where our prey try to hide, we will still find them. We can hear the faintest of sounds…from very far away; the beating of your heart, the blood pulsing in your veins, even the tiniest, quietest movements. We use your scent to follow your path, things you've come in contact with, places you've been.

"Since smell is our primary and most enhanced sense, hearing and sight are only secondary. You in particular do not smell to other vampires, so they would have to know exactly where to look for you, and even then they would really only be working with one sense…their hearing," Edward explained.

"So vampires rely primarily on their sense of smell? And you can smell things humans can't," I questioned.

"Yes. For example we can smell emotions. Fear, embarrassment, uncertainty and...arousal."

I quickly looked down and idly played with a strand of grass. The thought of Edward possibly smelling my arousal caused my face to flush. He gently placed his finger under my chin and brought my eyes back up to his.

"Even that, your blush, it magnifies the scent of your blood and I can smell that small change."

I looked past Edward to the forest behind him, my mind working overtime as it tried to comprehend all this new information. I was finding the nature of vampires fascinating and yet completely illogical. It was kind of like trying to wrap your mind around the concept of infinity. Our brains simply weren't wired to grasp such things. There were so many factors that made the actual existence of vampires impossible. Things like how they had no beating heart, yet maintained human emotions. They were dead, in every sense, yet they still had the capability to move, to think, to feel. I wanted answers, I needed answers.

"Bella...hello, earth to Bella," I faintly heard Alice call. I felt a cold hand gently tap my shoulder, pulling back from my internal pondering.

"Yeah...sorry," I said, shaking my head to clear the lingering thoughts.

"It's a lot to process, we know. So how about we head back to the house and officially introduce you to Carlisle and Esme?" Alice offered, standing up and smiling down at me.

Edward stood and held his hand out to help me up. I reached up and intertwined my fingers around his. A jolt of electricity shot up my arm and settled in the pit of my stomach. I shook my head and laughed quietly. "Do you feel that," I asked, smiling up at Edward. He nodded and returned my smile, the action transforming his face, making him more beautiful than normal and momentarily took my breath away.

"Jasper, why don't you go ahead and tell the others we're on our way back," Alice instructed. Jasper nodded and walked towards her, leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on her temple.

Instantly Jasper had disappeared. I stared after him for a few seconds, my jaw hanging slightly open. I heard Alice clear her throat and I turned back towards her. She stood with her back to me, looking over her shoulder expectantly.

"I'm sorry, Alice…what is it exactly you want me to do?" I asked.

"Hop on. We'll get back to the house faster,"

"Alice. I'm not getting on your back! For one, I'm at least a good five inches taller than you and second, I have a good twenty pounds on you!" I folded my arms across my chest. Alice turned around to face me, rolled her eyes and walked to the edge of the clearing. She stood next to a large boulder that protruded from the ground and was just a few inches shorter than she was. Edward laughed quietly next to me and I eyed him suspiciously, noticing that the smirk on his face caused a slight dimple in his right cheek.

"Watch," he said, nodding towards his sister. I narrowed my eyes at him, but turned my head back to focus on Alice.

"Ready, Bella?" she asked.

"I…guess?" I answered hesitantly. Alice placed both of her hands on either side of the enormous boulder and with no effort at all, lifted it above her head. Had I not been absolutely stunned I would have laughed at the image before me. The only part of Alice that was exposed was her legs, visible from underneath the rock.

"Holy fuck! Point taken." I heard Alice's chiming laughter as she let go of the boulder and it smashed back down into its original hole, shaking the ground as it landed. Instantly Alice was in front of me, her back once again facing me.

"Let's try this again," she said.

"Right…I get that you're strong, Alice, I do, but you're just so...small," I tried to argue.

"Fine," Alice huffed.

"Ok. So we'll just...walk?"

"No," Alice countered. "Edward will carry you."

"Wait, what? Alice, no..." I stuttered, instantly regretting trying to argue with her.

"It's simple, Bella. If you won't let me, then Edward will run you. You know the saying, Bells...save a horse, ride a vampire? Just consider Edward your own personal horse. Hell, you can even call him Mr. Ed if it makes you feel better," Alice said, smiling smugly.

I stared at her, momentarily stunned. From the corner of my eye I saw Edward shaking his head, his lip curved up in a small smile. He apparently found his little witch of a sister to be quite amusing. Resigned I motioned for Edward to turn around. He complied and crouched down. Placing my hands on his shoulders, I sighed. "Giddy up then," I said as I jumped on and wrapped my arms around his neck. He hooked his arms around my legs, securing me on his back, and then like a flash of lighting we were racing through the trees, streaks of green and brown blurring past us.

The wind whipped my hair and the cold air and rain stung as it pelted my face, but none of that mattered to me in that moment. A rush of adrenaline coursed through me and my entire body felt alive and free. Even my bike couldn't grant this level of freedom. I threw my head back, closed my eyes and laughed.

Sooner than I would have liked, we came to a stop at the edge of the tree line to the Cullen's backyard. I squealed as I hopped off Edward's back and immediately covered my mouth with my hand. Alice and Edward turned to look at me wide eyed for a moment before both started laughing.

"Shit, Bella, I wouldn't have taken you for a squealer," Edward said, his eyes darkening slightly as he winked at me. I bit my bottom lip as I quickly imagined of all the ways Edward could probably make me squeal. It was a good thing he was unable to read my mind.

Following Edward and Alice across the yard and into the house, I noticed Jasper and Emmett sitting in the living room and as I walked in, they both looked up at me and started laughing.

"Seriously, Bella… did you really just squeal?" Jasper asked.

Emmett looked at Edward and winked. Whatever Emmett was thinking made Edward laugh and shake his head. Instantly I knew it had to have been something dirty and concluded that Emmett and I would get along just fine.

"How the hell…no, wait." I put my hand up just as Emmett opened his mouth to answer. "Super hearing. Shit." With very little grace, I flopped down on the couch in front of me, falling into the soft cushion right beside Jasper and exhaled sharply. There was so much to process, so much to learn, understand and acclimate to. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back, information twisting and swirling around in my brain.

Someone cleared their throat and I opened my eyes. Rolling my head to the side I saw the unknown figures from the forest standing in the doorway. The small woman was tucked behind the man, letting him lead. Her eyes danced with excitement and happiness as she peered around his shoulder at me.

"Isabella, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Carlisle, and the excited woman behind me is my wife, Esme," he introduced, coming further into the room and holding out his hand. I quickly jumped up from my spot on the couch.

"It's Bella. And it's nice to finally meet you too, Dr. Cullen," I answered, shaking his hand.

"Please, call me Carlisle."

Esme stepped out from behind her husband and extended her arms. "May I?" she asked. I nodded and stepped closer to her. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in tightly. "Oh, Bella. I wanted to be here yesterday when you came, but everyone thought it would be better if we waited. So Carlisle and I went and stayed in the cabin behind the house. We didn't want to overwhelm you." She pulled back and smiled sweetly at me and I couldn't help but return the smile. Physically she couldn't have been more than 26, maybe 27, and despite her frigid temperature she exuded such warmth. Everything about her screamed mother.

"I hate to do this so quickly, Bella, but I'd like to discuss today's events," Carlisle said, settling himself in the armchair across the room. Esme tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and gently laid her palm on my cheek. I found myself leaning into her hand, like a child seeking the comfort of her mother. She smiled and turned, perching herself on the arm of Carlisle's chair.

"I don't know any more than the rest of you, Carlisle. I never thought there would come a day when I could say this but…I was glad to see Rose," I said, returning to my seat. I tilted my head back and looked up at Edward who was still leaning against the back of the couch. "Where were the rest of you anyway?"

He straightened and walked around the arm of the couch, trailing his finger across my shoulder blades as he moved, causing small goose bumps to prickle my skin at the contact. He sat down next to me and placed one of my hands between his.

"We came across an unfamiliar scent in the forest a few days ago. Alice had a vision of the Nomad coming dangerously close to the house, so we left Rose here just in case and the rest of us went out to intercept him. We caught his scent a few miles East of where you were, but then the scent disappeared..." Edward trailed off.

"Damn dogs," Emmett said under his breath. Edward's head shot up and he glared in his brother's direction.

"Dogs?" I inquired. Edward stared at Emmett a few seconds longer before he turned back to me and smiled.

"It's nothing. So like I said...we lost the scent. Then Alice had a vision of Rose and the Nomad in the clearing. So we took off in that direction," he continued.

I shot Edward a pointed glance. I wasn't stupid, and was well aware I was hearing the edited version of the story. I made a mental note to bring it up later. There were more important questions to be answered. Edward seemed to sense that I wasn't going to let the dogs comment drop easily and gave Emmett one last aggravated glance.

Satisfied that we would discuss it later, I moved on. "Do we have any idea what this Nomad wanted?" I asked, directing my attention to Carlisle.

"Well, we were hoping you could tell us what he wanted, Bella. Do you have any idea at all what he was after?" Carlisle questioned. I shook my head as I mentally replayed the scene from earlier, letting Red's words bounce around my brain. Bounty, hot commodity.

"Wait. Edward, you read minds…" I suddenly blurted out. He nodded carefully. "What was Red thinking about?"

"Who's Red, Bella?" Edward asked.

I rolled my eyes. "The Nomad...it's what I've been calling him," I answered, shrugging my shoulders. From the corner of the room, Emmett laughed loudly. "What?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes.

"Damn, Bella. Only you would nickname a person intent on killing you!" Emmett exclaimed.

I folded my arms across my chest and leaned back into the cushions. "Bite me, Emmett." My retort only seemed to make Emmett laugh harder and Jasper to join him. Alice and Esme quietly giggled and both Edward and Carlisle wore matching smiles. It was then that I realized the irony of my statement and laughed at my own unintentional joke.

"I only caught bits and pieces. He wasn't thinking rationally or clearly for that matter. Everything seemed to run together and not a coherent thought came through. Maybe Rose can help. Rose?" Edward called, his voice barely above a whisper. In the blink of an eye she was standing in the doorway, looking as disinterested as always.

"He mentioned a bounty, but never specifically mentioned Bella's name. It was only implied," she answered. There were a few moments of silence as she looked directly at Edward.

I leaned over to Jasper. "What's happening?" I whispered.

"She's showing Edward what happened up until the point he arrived," he answered.

"Bella, what happened before Rose showed up?" Edward suddenly asked, turning to look at me.

"Umm, well, Rose was being a bitch, so I took off..." Rosalie hissed in my direction, but I ignored her and continued, "I found this clearing in the woods and sat on this makeshift bench, just thinking. Then Red showed up."

"Right before Rose showed up... At any point did you roll up your sleeves? Exposing your tattoo?" he asked as he reached for my right arm and gently pushed up the cuff of the hoodie. I looked down and stared at the black ink.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, pulling the memory from my clouded brain. "I rolled up my sleeves when I lit my cigarette. And Red said something about a girl with the Ankh tattoo. That was who he was looking for!" I looked up at Edward, my eyes wide in realization. "So he was looking for me!"

"That's exactly what it sounded like to me," Rose interjected.

"We don't know that yet, Bella. He said he was looking for someone with an Ankh tattoo, not necessarily you," he answered, gently rubbing my wrist with the pad of his thumb. I knew it was an attempt to comfort me, but Rose's statement had already taken root in my mind.

"Did you happen to hear who he was associated with? Who put the bounty out?" Carlisle interrupted.

Edward sighed and shook his head. "No. At least he wasn't thinking of any affiliations. But he was confused about her lack of scent and his inability to sense her before he stumbled onto her," he answered.

"Which is quite exquisite in itself. In all my years, I've never come across a human who was undetectable. I imagine you would have an amazing talent should you ever be turned," Carlisle mused.

"Carlisle..." Edward warned. He looked at Edward and Edward nodded. I assumed they were having a silent conversation, so I decided to let the subject drop for the moment. Edward and I were still on shaky ground, so there was no use discussing something as critical as me becoming one of them. I wasn't even sure that would be something I would want. Still, I closed my eyes as my mind wandered, attempting to picture what life as a vampire must be like. I wrapped my free hand around my necklace and pulled it from under my shirt, twirling it mindlessly around my fingers as I usually did when I was lost in my thoughts. Suddenly I heard Carlisle gasp from across the room. When I opened my eyes, he was standing directly in front of me, staring down at the necklace with interest.

"May I?" he asked, holding out his hand. Despite Alice and Edward telling me the truth of all the myths humans had believed, I hesitantly placed the cross in his palm. As visions from classic horror movies played through my mind, I almost expected to hear sizzling and see smoke from the mere touch of the cross to his skin. But of course none of that happened. He leaned in closer to inspect it, turning it over gently and running a finger across the intricately engraved pattern on the back. "Edward..." he whispered. Edward stood and peered over Carlisle's shoulder. "Look closely...here. Do you see it?"

"Do you think it means something?" Edward asked. He pulled the cross closer and I found myself having to lean into them as the chain became taught against the skin on my neck.

"I'm sorry, but I don't ever take this off. Wherever the necklace goes, I'm coming with. So easy on the neck, ok?" I said, scooting myself to the edge of the couch. Edward and Carlisle looked at me confused for a moment before they seemed to comprehend what I was telling them.

"Oh...I'm so sorry, Bella," Carlisle said, releasing the cross and allowing it to fall gently back against my chest. "You know, it's been a stressful day. Why don't we drop the heavy stuff for now and relax for awhile. I have some research I'd like to do before we continue anyway." He looked at Edward. Edward nodded and turned to me, his expression no longer curious, but playful.

He reached a hand out to me. "How about we take a walk? The rain seems to have stopped and there's a place I'd love to show you."

"How about we go for a run instead?" I asked, grabbing his hand and using his unyielding body to pull myself off the couch.

"We could do that," he answered, winking at me and turning towards the back door with me in tow.

"Have fun," Alice said teasingly. I looked over my shoulder at her and she winked. The sudden realization that my entire personal life would be broadcast over the Psychic Alice Network gave me pause as my cheeks flushed slightly. Everything I did...everything we did...was readily available for Alice's viewing pleasure.

"You're blushing," Edward stated, not even turning to look at me.

Chapter title and Lyrics by Alice in Chains "All Secrets Known". Please leave me a review. I'm very self conscious about this chapter, and I'd like to know you all don't hate me for making you wait so long. Next chapter - first kiss...and from what I hear, you'll need a cold shower afterward ;-)