(A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews/favorites/alerts, etc… I love you all! My excuse for this taking so long is that I'm completely broke - despite my two jobs and college degree! - & can't afford internet access in my apartment so I have to get pretty creative when I want to post things. And of course then my car died yesterday! Anyway, I hope you like this!)

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6.

Bella

…

Sweat, grime, and blood dripped down from the ceiling onto me – pain radiated down my arms from where my hands were tied above my head to the wall. My breath came in fast gasps and my heart pounded – I was still in that cell. Maria was coming for me, to finish what she'd started… I could hear her laughs coming closer, echoing through the metal bars on the door to my cell.

She appeared in the doorway, her ruby eyes glinting. "Hola, chiquita. Piensas que puede escapar de mí? No, no, no…" Fear built in my gut, my heart pounding faster and faster until she lunged and dug her sharp teeth into my neck. I screamed….

I jerked awake, covered in sweat, still panting and shaking from fear. "Oh God…" I breathed. Maria's dead, I told myself. Dead. You're okay. You're with Peter and Jasper. You're in Peter's bed. Now, that thought definitely jerked me out of my fear. Peter.

Somehow, thankfully, knowing I was in Peter's home, his bed, made me feel safer than I'd felt since before I'd ever learned about vampires in the first place… but I did wonder how I'd ended up in bed when the last thing I remembered was sitting out by that pond with Peter. The memory of his arm around me and my head on his shoulder brought a tingle to my stomach and a smile to my face.

Lying back against the pillows, I breathed deeply and stretched, trying to complete forget about my terrifying dream. Doing so, however, required me to figure out what to do with myself – I couldn't stay here out in the country forever, but I knew for sure I couldn't go back to my life from before I'd met Peter. Sooner or later, I'd have to deal with my life – my job (if I still had it after missing my last couple of shifts) and the damage to my apartment. Maybe I could convince Peter to come with me to retrieve some of my stuff.

With that plan, I got out of bed, washed up, put some clean clothes on, and went downstairs, hoping whoever had retrieved supplies for me had picked up something a little more substantial than more Little Debbie snacks.

I found Jasper alone in the living room, reading a book. I hesitated, still not sure what to think of him… he'd helped save me, sure, but he'd still abandoned me all those years ago with the rest of his family. The last time I'd seen him, he'd tried to eat me.

But whatever. Time to put on your big girl panties, Bella, I told myself and cleared my throat. "Hey Jasper."

He looked up from the book in his lap and smiled warily. I looked around, but the rest of the house felt empty. "Where's Peter?"

"He ran out to get you some food. He said he wanted a human adventure – hadn't gotten to deal with human food for over a century."

I laughed, finding I liked the idea of Peter getting a little enjoyment out of the situation we'd gotten into. A calm, welcoming atmosphere surrounded Jasper like a cloud, drawing me into the room, so I curled up on the opposite end of the couch. Maybe he and I didn't need to have any serious talk about what had happened just yet. For now, I was more than fine with that. Even thinking about such distant painful memories was a little too much right now, when I was still in a daze from everything that had happened to me.

Jasper tossed me a TV remote, which I surprisingly caught. "What's this for? Are you telling me Peter has cable?"

Jasper just laughed. "Yeah, he does. Why or how, I have no idea. It's probably illegal somehow, but it works."

I shrugged and turned on the TV, and within minutes I was zoned out on Dr. Phil. Eventually, I heard the back door swing open. I peeked over the back of the couch and saw Peter coming in with a bunch of bags of food. The daylight followed him in, throwing diamonds of light glinting off his pale skin, and highlighting his silhouette – tall, broad shouldered, with disheveled dark hair. Once again, the tingles in my stomach fired themselves up again, and began to spread a little lower…

I tried to distract myself and focused on my growling stomach. "Food! What'd you get me?" I rushed over to Peter's sight and smiled up at him. He gave a low, throaty laugh and grinned slightly. "No idea," he said. "I grabbed whatever the truck stop had in the freezer section, some water and some fruit. Looks pretty disgusting to me, but you'd say the same about my diet."

Well, I couldn't argue with him there. Just seeing human blood still made me queasy. I rummaged through the bag and decided on the fruit. As I chomped happily away on the banana, I crossed food off my mental to do list. Next: some clothes, please! "So Peter, can I ask you a favor?"

"Anytime. What do you need?"

"Will you drive me to go pick up some things from my apartment? I can't go another second without my own clothes." I smiled brightly, hoping my enthusiasm would persuade him.

"Course, darlin'."

"Awesome!" I threw the rest of the banana into my mouth and tossed the peel into the garbage can before throwing open the door and striding out toward the driveway. "Let's go now! Come on, Peter!" I threw the words back over my shoulder.

He just laughed as he followed me out the door, catching up to me as I stopped in surprise when I noticed his car – a pale blue old best from the 60s. I didn't know what kind it was, but it was a damn nice looking car. Manly, and all. "I like it," I told Peter with a smile, and he almost seemed to swagger as he swung himself down into the driver's seat before leaning over and pushing my door open.

"She's my baby. I've had her for damn near thirty-five years. We've been through a hell of a lot together." He said fondly before turning the key, and the car shook and ground its way to life.

I held back a laugh as I asked, "You sure she's going to make it all the way into town?"

He threw me a dirty look, which just came off as sexy instead of intimidating, and then I couldn't help but let out a happy laugh. As we picked up speed down the dusty country road, I leaned my head out the window a bit and closed my eyes, the warm sun bright against cheeks and eyelids. I felt almost free – I imagined my soul as a blank slate, completely unmarred by all my bad decisions and all the pain.

I managed to keep a hold on that feeling of calm equilibrium until we pulled up to my building. Peter got out of the car first and paused by my door as I slowly climbed out, then made my way up to my apartment. At the turn in the stairs, I looked up and saw bright yellow police tape hanging across my door. "What the hell?"

Peter stopped, standing halfway behind me, then reached out and ripped down the tape. "Someone must have called the cops."

Oh yeah, of course. Maria had broken the door right out of its frame that night – I remembered wood chips flying everywhere as I'd stood there, shocked and scared. Must've been kind of loud.

I took a deep breath and reached for the new doorknob, belatedly wondering where my house key had gone. But the doorknob turned easily, and I pushed the door open, walked inside, and crinkling my nose at the smell of the stale air. The humidity and my blood that still smeared the living room floor, mixed with the leftover chemical smell of rotting apples Maria gave off.

My apartment, what had been my home for the previous two and a half years, felt completely strange to me now. I wasn't in my own living room, I was in the room where Maria had almost killed me. My decorations on the walls, my furniture, even my bookcases looked old, out of focus almost. I really didn't want to be here anymore.

I looked over at Peter, but he only gave me a nod and an encouraging touch at the small of my back. So I took a deep breath and marched into my bedroom and started packing up my few things. My purse and its contents still lay scattered across my living room floor.

In my room, I grabbed some clothes, toiletries, my journal, my wallet, a small photo album, and, after a second thought, my old copy of Wuthering Heights – all went into my old leather backpack my mom had bought me during her hippie days. I pulled on fresh underclothes, feeling ridiculously relieved, and a pair of worn jeans, then the most comfortable, airy white tank top I owned.

Even after only a few minutes in my un-air-conditioned apartment, I could feel sweat gathering on my neck and down my back, so I threw my hair up into a messy bun before declaring myself finished packing and ready to move the hell on from this place. I gave a mental good-bye my mismatch belongings scattered through the apartment, hauled my bag up over my shoulder, and then walked to Peter, who was leaning in the doorway.

His eyes focused on my neck, flushed with heat and damp with sweat; I held out my hand as I walked up to him with a weak but hopeful smile. "Let's get me the hell out of here."

His hand warm in mine, we walked back down the stairs out to the car. When Peter pulled the car away from the curb, I felt pressure lift off of me, as if I had moved out from a grey cloud of hurt and stress just by leaving my old apartment behind.

…

Jasper interrupted. He'd walked into the kitchen and looked a little fidgety – strange behavior for him.

He cleared his throat, leaning his forearms against the counter and saying, "I talked to Alice this morning." I stopped in mid-chew raised my eyebrows in his direction. "She's pissed I left to help you guys… and she's coming here. She said she'll be here by tomorrow morning."

"What." I practically growled at him. "She better be fucking coming alone. There is no way in hell I want to deal with the rest of your supposed family."

Jasper sighed, looking contrite. "I don't know; she didn't say if she told anyone else about her vision. I'm sorry, Bella."

"Great. Just fucking great." A Cullen invasion… the last fucking thing I wanted to deal with right now was that pack of liars. Well, there went my morning. I turned and strode right out of kitchen, out the front door onto the porch where I'd seen a pack of cigarettes the day before. I grabbed the cigs and a lighter sitting next to them, and made my way around the house out toward the pond I'd found last night.

I stomped down the dirt path, ranting to myself the entire way. Stupid little all-seeing, all-knowing Alice and her manipulations were back in my life once again. In the years since Edward had left me, I'd thought a lot about my relationships with each of the Cullens. The one that pissed me off the most was Alice – she'd convinced me that we were best friends, but all the while she'd tried to mold me into what she thought I should be, what she thought Edward would want. My hair, clothes, makeup (or lack thereof) all had to be changed for me to be accepted as a Cullen. And then she'd left without even a goodbye. Well, fuck that.

I had no idea what I would do if Alice brought Edward down here with her... although I had waited three years to give that lying asshole a piece of my mind. I didn't want to see him, but then again I did… if only to prove to myself that I didn't need him, that I was fine and whole all on my own.

The little quarry, pond, or whatever came into view, and I once again settled myself on the rocky outcropping over the water. I'd forgotten how long it had been since my last cigarette, but once I lit one of Peter's Marbie Reds and took a deep drag, I felt more relaxed than I had in days.

Peter's footsteps were a welcome sound after the first few drags of my cig had calmed me down a bit. He settled himself next to me, and after a few minutes of silence began tossing dusty pebbles into the pond, sometimes aiming at some ducks dipping into the water for food. Eventually, he asked, "Why'd you get so mad back there?"

I blew out a long breath. "Ugh. I don't know. Alice just… she treated me like shit. She was always going on and on about being my best friend, but I was never good enough just the way I was. She was always trying to change me… and I let her. And then she just left without even a goodbye."

Peter didn't respond, just looked at me with a steady gaze, his red eyes contrasting his calm demeanor. I looked away, then tried to flick the butt of my cigarette out into the water. Of course, with my clumsy fingers it only went about three feet. "It's not even that Alice is coming… I had a nightmare last night. It was… I was still chained up in that hole underground. And that… that psycho vampire Maria was about to finish me off."

The ease with which the words kept tumbling out of my mouth surprised me – I couldn't remember how long it had been since I'd had someone I felt I could confide in. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around my legs.

"Bella…" Peter started. "I honestly don't know what to say to you… I'm sorry I got you into all a this."

"I remember she said something about you and Jasper, but I couldn't figure out what she meant… did you… how did you know her?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting my fears of Peter's bad side to be confirmed.

"Well… start at the beginning, I guess. Did Jasper ever tell you anything about how he was changed?"

I shook my head.

"About a hundred and fifty years ago, Maria and her sisters started up an army. They were greedy – always wanted more. More blood, more territory, more power. They were building up an army. Changed Jasper when he was fightin' in the Civil War. With Jasper's empathic abilities and Maria's straight savagery, their army fought and won territory in Mexico and the Southern U.S." Peter cleared his throat, fidgeting a little. I smiled to myself, liking his remaining human tendencies. He snagged one of the cigarettes out of the pack sitting between us, lit one up, and took a deep drag before continuing with his story, his southern accent becoming more pronounced the deeper he fell into his memories.

"All I remember about my change is being dead drunk in an alley after losing a bar fight. Next thing I knew I felt like I was burnin' alive. And I was. Couple days later I woke up in hell. I had no idea what was goin' on… I was out a my mind with rage and thirst. She had me locked in a room underground for days before she let me out, and then I had to fight to earn somethin' to drink.

"Eventually Jasper was ordered to kill me – but I convinced him to let us go. A year later I went back for him – he was just about lost in all the rage and despair comin' off the newborns. Maria's been hunting him down ever since. She's been trying to get at him through me for just as long – that's how you got dragged into this." He stopped, sighed, then turned to me and gave a slight smile.

"Listen, Bella, I can't argue that Alice isn't a lying, manipulative bitch, but if you can survive Maria, a little visit from Alice will be no problem. And you know I'll always back you up no matter what."

My grin could've cracked the sky at his words – somehow he'd given me exactly what I needed to hear. He'd been put through hell just like me, worse even, and here he was, strong and sexy as ever. If I could pull myself through day by day, I was beginning to think that I'd be fine.

The next moment, the air shifted – Peter went completely tense, and he looked around into the surrounding weeds and clumps of trees and bushes. I saw nothing, but then Peter jumped up, pulled me to my feet, and said, "Bella, run back to the house. There's somebody coming - "

Peter looked too scared – there was something I was missing. "Peter, what – " But then his hands were on my face, pulling me in for a hard kiss. My hands landed on his waist as I leaned into the deepening kiss for only a few moments of pulse-pounding exhilaration before he pushed me away, like a strike to the heart. I stumbled backwards with a soft cry of indignation. "I'm not just going to leave –"

He interrupted me one last time, looking dangerous under the pressure of what was to come. "Bella, run."

At the sound of footfalls in the distance rode on the wind. I ran – I couldn't help it. The memories of previous attacks assaulted my mind, pushing me to will my legs to go faster as I heard growls and crashes behind me. Twisted undergrowth looked like streaks beneath me as I came closer to the house. I yelled Jasper's name, hoping he would hear me with his super sensitive vampire hearing, but I barely managed to form the name when someone tackled me to the dirt, sending me sprawling.

A vampire stood before me; with his back to the sun, I couldn't see his face, but when he spoke, I recognized his voice – from Maria's tunnels. "You think you can just escape, little girl? That we wouldn't come for you?"

He was the one who'd bit me, toyed with me while lamenting the fact that Maria wouldn't let him kill me. Malice lit up his red eyes as he crouched closer, his gravelly voice lowering into a whisper.

"Now that Maria's gone, this territory is up for grabs. We'll kill your boyfriend – and you tell the empathy he's next. If you survive, that is…" I screamed as he lunged for me, biting down on my neck with a savage growl. I screamed for Jasper, and as shocks of pain spread through my body, I heard an even more threatening growl than I'd ever heard came from behind me.

Jasper grabbed the attacking vampire and ripped him away from me. I fell back, clutching at my bleeding neck – and to my horror I felt an intense burning beginning to spread.

In the background of the spreading burn, I could see that Jasper had lost his pacifist, vegetarian-vamp demeanor – with his black eyes, I saw the vampire from Peter's story. And he did not look happy.

My vision began to blur as they fought – my breaths were coming way too fast, my body shook with fear and adrenaline, and my subconscious screamed at me to go find Peter. The burning spread from my next, attacking my spine and creeping into my arms. With blood covering my neck and hands and dripping down my arms, I tried to stand, but only swayed unsteadily before crumpling back to the ground.

Growls, shouts, and the screech of tearing flesh tore through the air, but I could only see Jasper's dark figure before me. The fire took hold, my eyes clenching shut, and I was pissed at the injustice of it all.

This wasn't supposed to happen anymore – the exact thing I'd wished for at seventeen was happening now, and it was just wrong. The venom ground its way through my veins, building to an overwhelming crescendo that never seemed to quite reach its peak.

Through the roaring in my mind, I heard Jasper's voice, seeming to come from a great distance – my muscles clenched as pain seared through my skin and bones – and he gathered me in his arms and began to walk, his low voice reaching for a soothing tone to match the ineffective waves of calm he pushed toward me.