A/N: Once again, thank you all for the reviews. I'll try and keep my updates frequent but I have to go to the bog this summer *groan* and it's taking up a lot of my time.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the Van Allen's, excluding Bella.
BPOV
There is no single word, or even entire paragraph, that could describe the thrill of flying. When you're up in the air, you're weightless, free. The closest thing that a human can experience is skydiving, but even that pales in comparison to the real thing. When you're skydiving, you're falling. You can't go higher or swoop low to the ground, only to pull yourself back up at the last second. All you can do is fall.
When I'm up here, soaring through the clouds, I don't have to worry about not fitting in, about never finding another person like me, because when I'm up here, I do feel like I belong. I was built to fly. I'm much lighter than a human my size, roughly seventy pounds. My eyes aren't bothered by the particles in the air that are whipping by so fast, that they would scar the cornea of a human. My vision is so sharp that I can see everything on the ground, despite being miles above it.
It was that superior vision that allowed me to see her.
I had been flying over the forest under the cover of clouds, absentmindedly thinking about the last vampires that we had encountered, when I spotted a small, white shape moving through the forest at too fast a pace to be anything other than a vampire. I knew that my family wouldn't be out this far, not with another coven so close by. That left only the Cullen's.
After a small internal battle between my common sense and my curiosity, my curiosity won. Tipping my left wing down, I began descending in a wide circle, only enough to get a better view, but not enough to break away from the cloud cover.
I caught sight of the vampire in a clearing just up ahead and I could now tell that it was Alice, her small form and shock of black hair giving her away. Immediately recognising her stance, I realised that she was hunting. I had seen my family hunt many times before, but I still found myself fascinated by her lithe movements. As I watched, she set her sights on a nearby mountain lion and took it down without preamble, breaking its neck before biting it. Did that mean that her favourite food was mountain lion? I knew that each vampire had their own preferences, just like Lee had wolf, Micheal had elk, Clare had black bears and Jesse, strangely enough, had squirrel, not that it was that filling, but she loved the taste.
Suddenly feeling as though I were intruding on a private moment, I quickly found an updraft and glided higher into the clouds. The air up here was freezing, but I was in no danger from hypothermia. No matter what temperatures I was exposed to, I always remained comfortable, which really came in handy when you were flying sub-zero.
Manoeuvring my wings into position, I executed a sharp turn, heading back to my house.
Moving fast, it only took me about two minutes to reach home, where I quickly landed and tucked in my wings. It probably looked strange from an outside point of view, two huge, white wings dematerializing into dark blue lights, then seemingly flowing into my back, where they appeared as dark blue tattoos if I had my ring off. Then again, I'm a very strange individual.
Walking into my rather large house, I found my entire family sitting in the living room. I went in and took my seat beside Jesse, wanting to know what had gone on in my absence.
Micheal turned in his seat to face me. "How are you feeling, Bella?"
"Dad, really, I'm fine. It's not like they attacked me or anything, I honestly don't know why you look so worried."
He sighed. "I'm sorry; it's just that your experiences with other vampires haven't exactly been pleasant." I winced slightly, remembering the last time.
"Seriously I'm fine." And I was; I knew that we weren't in any danger from the Cullen's and I knew that Micheal believed that too.
"Well, as we already agreed, I think that it would be best if we kept our distance from the Cullen's for the foreseeable future. It would only take one touch from Aro and he would know all about you and while you may be able to protect all of us from other vampire powers we have no way of knowing whether or not you can shield that many people, even if they're countries away. The more people who know, the more difficult it is to keep a secret. It's just too risky."
Knowing he was right, I merely nodded.
The dismal atmosphere was broken when we all heard a loud meow. Sanderson sauntered in, butting his head against my leg for attention. Smiling, I bent down and picked him up. "Hello to you too. Would you like some food? Yes you would like some food."
Seeing the amused looks I was getting from the rest of my family, I turned to them. "Don't you laugh at me. I've heard all of you do the same thing, so shut up." The amused expressions turned into embarrassed ones and I went into the kitchen to find my cat some kibble.
The next morning turned out to be a pretty pleasant one and I would have been looking forward to school if it weren't for two things; firstly, I had to ignore five vampires and secondly, I had gym.
While I absolutely loved sports with my family, I had never played with humans before and I'd have to be extra careful. According to Jesse and Lee, playing sports with humans was boring. They were too slow, didn't have even slightly good reflexes and couldn't hit the ball far enough, all of which I noticed during my first gym class.
Unfortunately for me, Alice was also in my first gym class and she was even on my team. This meant that ignoring her was difficult, as throughout the game, she asked me many questions when we had a brief respite from the rigours of volleyball.
"So, Bella, what kind of sports do you like?" Her voice was genuinely curious and despite my 'ignore the Cullen's' rule, I had never been able to be rude to someone for no reason and completely ignoring her would be very rude.
"Um, I guess baseball is ok." There, that was informative, yet distant. She might just drop it.
Whacking the ball over the net once again, she turned slightly to face me, a huge grin on her face. "My family and I love baseball. It's a great sport, I think. And I love those uniforms, especially when I alter them myself. Speaking of, do you like shopping? I love shopping; it's like a sport all on its own." All I said was that baseball was ok, how did she manage to say so much and then end up at shopping?
"No." Now I'll go with one-word answers. She can't get anything from that.
"Really? Why not? It's so much fun. But if you don't like shopping, then how about drawing or painting?"Her expression was hopeful and I couldn't deny that I loved doing both.
It was only when I was on my way out of gym, after having an in depth discussion with Alice regarding our favourite subject matter, that I realised that ignoring her was going to be way more difficult than it seemed. I was shocked to realise that I enjoyed talking with her and resolved to avoid her at all costs because ignoring her when she was near me was impossible.
This day wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday. I even met some nice people, like Angela, who unfortunately hung around with Jessica. She was really nice and we hit it off as soon as we started talking. I wonder if Angela was the only nice person in my class, besides Alice? No, don't think about Alice, she must be ignored.
I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't notice a baby-faced boy, with pale blond hair walking in my direction.
"Aren't you Isabella Van Allen?" He asked in slightly high-pitched voice. Exactly how many new, junior girls were there in Forks?
"Bella," I corrected yet another student, absently wondering whether or not I should get a sign.
"I'm Mike; it's nice to meet you." He continued in a friendly voice.
"Likewise."
"So, I was thinking that maybe we could hang out some time? Maybe go to a movie or something? What do you say?" His voice was hopeful, but also had the confidence of someone who expected to receive an affirmative answer. Was this what Jesse warned me about? Was he hitting on me? How was I supposed to tell?
The confident smirk on his face settled it and I said as politely as I could. "Sorry, Mike, I'm, um, going to be really busy for the next couple of weeks, so I won't be able to make it." I'm bad at this.
His smirk faltered, then came back full wattage. "No problem, I'll just wait a few weeks until you're not so busy. See you around." He walked off to his next class, leaving me wondering what had just happened.
It wasn't long until lunch and, like yesterday, I didn't get my own food, choosing to steal my siblings' instead.
Lee looked up from where he had been carving his name into an apple. "Hey, Bells. How'd gym go?" Whether or not I'd injure someone had been the subject of much debate and betting between Lee and Jesse over the past few days, much to my annoyance.
I scowled at him. "It went fine, but if mom hadn't helped me practice, then it would have gone very badly." From the corner of my eye I could see Jesse smirking at Lee and rubbing her fingers together in a 'pay-up' gesture. At least I know which way she bet.
"Also, I can't be certain, but I think that some guy hit on me." The apple in Lee's hand split in half and his head came up sharply. I quickly continued. "At least I think he did."
After I had relayed the incident to Jesse, she looked at me with an almost proud expression on her face. "Wow, you're first admirer that had the nerve to talk to you. Although, he could've done a better job."
Lee stared at her. "There's no need for him to have done better. He's probably slime anyway." I didn't listen to Jesse's reply as my thoughts were on something else.
Despite my best efforts, I was all too aware of the Cullens sitting on the other side of the room. Ignoring them, especially Alice, was going to be tough, but I'd do it, starting today.
APOV
I had thought that I was finally making some headway with Bella. We even had a great conversation during gym class and I knew that she had enjoyed talking to me. So when she suddenly started ignoring me, to say I was shocked would be an understatement. a
It started off as small things. Our already brief conversations were getting briefer; her friendly smiles became more distant, until eventually, she began going out of her way to avoid me, choosing longer, convoluted paths so that she wouldn't run into me.
In one sense, I could understand her behaviour, she was just trying to protect her secret, but it still hurt slightly. Despite having only known her for about two weeks, most of which she spent avoiding me, I found myself wanting to know more about her, to become her friend.
Edward, of course, had to be sitting beside me when I thought this.
"Alice, we don't even know what she is. She could be dangerous."
I pouted at him. "When Carlisle wanted to get to know them, you were on board. How is this any different?"
He sighed, putting the book he was reading down. "That was when it was the entire family and we all would have been there. This is just you and you know that you wouldn't feel this trusting towards her if it weren't for those feelings you've been getting instead of your visions."
"Then let's try together, as a family." I knew that he was right about those feelings, but even without them, I would've trusted her.
"Maybe someday Alice, but for now, we have to give them time." Picking up his book, he exited the room, smiling at me before he passed the door.
That was how it went for about three weeks. Bella and her family avoiding us and me complaining to my family at home. I'll admit that I paid attention to some of her conversations. She had gotten pretty close to Angela Webber. Both she and Jessica were going to Port Angeles on Saturday and Angela had invited Bella. Much to Jessica's annoyance, Bella had agreed.
I had made a few more attempts at getting Bella talking to me and when I finally decided to outright confront her, something that, had I had my visions, I could have prevented.
It was a cold day, the first snowfall of the year littered the ground and ice was just as abundant.
I saw Bella exit the school building with her head down and her backpack slung over her shoulder. Her siblings weren't at their car yet, so as she was walking, I quickly said to my family, who were about to get in our car, "I'll be back in a sec," and made my way towards her, ignoring their protests.
I was only halfway to her when her head snapped in my direction. Her eyes widened and she quickened her pace.
"Bella, wait. I just want to talk for a second, that's all." Surprisingly, she did.
Seemingly steeling herself, she turned to face me. "We have nothing to talk about, Alice."
My family were only about ten meters behind us, so they could hear our conversation clearly. Edward had a disapproving look on his face.
I sighed, "Look, Bella. I know that you enjoyed talking to me and I only want to know why you're acting this way. If it's because of your secret, I promise that I won't pry, not until you're ready."
Her voice was soft when she spoke next. "That's just it. It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that it would be a terrible idea."
"Well, how about-," My next words were cut off by the screeching of tires on ice. Both Bella and I wheeled around, to see a blue van skidding on the ice, right towards a girl standing in its path.
I was still frozen in shock, not used to big surprises, when the girl threw herself out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. The van slammed into the rusted red truck that the girl was standing in front of. That was when the screaming started.
It was about two seconds before I smelled the blood, coming from the arm of the girl, who had landed on it awkwardly. The scent hit me full on and I had to stop breathing.
Unfortunately, Jasper didn't have the control I did.
I heard his growl before I managed to turn in time to see him break away from my siblings and go straight for the girl.
My brain was in overdrive. I knew that he would have to pass me to get to her, but I also knew that I wasn't strong enough to stop him. He was moving fast enough to alert the humans to our presence, but thankfully, they only had eyes for the crash.
I braced myself for the moment when Jasper would collide with me, but when he was bout a meter away, Bella shot forward and put her hand on his bare neck.
Jaspers reaction was instantaneous. He jerked to a stop, his eyes, which had been clouded with thirst, cleared and conscious thought returned to them. The growling coming from deep within his chest stopped and he straightened up from his hunting crouch.
I watched in astonishment as he went from vicious hunter to sane individual in less than a second. His eyes snapped to Bella, who still had her hand on his neck, and they widened in shock and gratitude. He may not have known exactly what happened, but he knew that Bella had stopped him from killing a human. From the stunned looks on my families faces, they realised this too.
Edward stepped forward and was about to say something when Bella cut him off. "Don't say or ask anything. Please." Her voice was pleading, almost desperate and it stopped him from saying whatever he was planning.
Bella glanced at Jasper and gently removed her hand. Before she could step away, however, he gasped and his hand flashed out and caught hers. "Could you please wait for a moment longer? Just until I get into our car."
She nodded solemnly and walked with him, hand in hand, until they reached the Volvo, where she let go of him and he quickly got into the car.
As she was walking away, past the ambulance that had just arrived, Jasper called out to her in a soft voice. "Thank you."
She turned around long enough to meet his eyes and nod once, before going to her own car, where her brother and sister now waited, worried looks on their faces.
We hurriedly got into our own car and drove out of the parking lot as fast as possible.
As soon as we hit the road, Rosalie looked at Jasper. "What happened? One second you're in the grip of the thirst and the next, you're perfectly fine."
I knew that Jasper would be feeling guilty over what he'd almost done, so it was no surprise when his voice came out subdued, but also slightly awed. "I don't know. As soon as she touched me, the thirst was gone, there was no burn in my throat and I was in complete control. When she took her hand away, it all came flooding back."
How was this possible? What was Bella that she could completely remove a vampire's thirst? How powerful was she? Could she remove a vampire's other impulses?
That evening when we informed Carlisle and Esme of the incident at school, we were no closer to figuring it out.