A/N: I don't even know what to say at this point, but I've realised something. This cannot go on, this updating months apart thing. It's not fair to you guys and I'm stopping right now. From this moment forth, my new update day shall be the first of every month until I say otherwise, or unless someone dies or I spontaneously combust, whichever. No more erratic updating, hooray! That is, if any of you are even still reading this…

BPOV

It's not like I wasn't usually in a good mood or anything, but I just felt so happy right now.

I was loath to admit it, but the likelihood of me finding a mate, or lack thereof, was something that had been weighing on me since I had turned five. A little early, I know, but I was always a little bit advanced for my age. I hadn't worried to the degree that I would turn into a brooding mess; bemoaning the fact that I would be alone for eternity and refusing to let people even look at me as I fell into a deep spiral of shame, but the worry was still there.

My cloistered life, coupled with the fact that I was something other than human with dubious origins and lived with an overprotective family of vampires, meant that dating wasn't something that I really ever envisioned me doing.

How exactly would you reveal that to your possible significant other? I couldn't lie to them for long, because the guilt and eventual paranoia would get to me, but how long would be appropriate to wait before you dropped that particular bomb? You'd have to wait long enough so that they cared enough about you not to run away in a panic, but not too long so that they felt horribly betrayed by your lies.

I couldn't even put into words how ecstatic I was that Alice was as fantastic as she was, and a vampire that knew about the supernatural, because this kind of stuff just wasn't covered in 'Dating For Dummies'.

I pulled up in front of my house, hopping out and happily skipping over to the door, patting one of my father's stone lions on the way.

It was dark so the lights on the inside sent a wave of golden light out onto the grass, illuminating the dew drops that refused to evaporate in this climate.

Pulling the door open and stepping over Sanderson, who tried valiantly to latch onto my leg, I made my way towards the living room. The TV was on to some panel show and my family were sprawled out on various seats like a pride of sparkly lions.

"How was it?" Clare asked, searching my face for clues. Or bloody wounds, either or.

I sank down onto the armchair closest to the booming fireplace, noticing for the first time how big and lonely it felt. "Fantastic," I stated, grinning widely as I hugged a pillow to my chest. "Emily is all healed up, the wolves don't hate Alice as much as they did yesterday and we're going out on another date tomorrow."

Their amused glances clued me into the fact that I was becoming dangerously sappy but I chose not to care. My hands traced the design on the pillow, a galloping horse, and I wondered if Alice had ever gone riding. A horse wouldn't let her get close without my intervention now that she was a vampire and if she had while she was human, she wouldn't even remember. I once again felt a pang of sadness for all of the experiences Alice wouldn't remember, an entire childhood lost.

I bet she was an adorable child. Hell, she was adorable now.

"Don't forget that you have to bring your egg. You wouldn't want to be accused of being neglectful parents."

I frowned. How would that work? We were going flying over mountains. Would taking a baby flying constitute bad parenting? It's not like I would drop it or anything…

"I think it would be more responsible if I were to hire a babysitter for the day," I said slowly, imagining the look on a prospective babysitters face if I were to present her with an unfertilized chicken egg.

Jesse sighed and sat forward. "Bella, you're my sister and I love the crap out of you, but you need to put things into perspective." Raising both hands into a scale imitation, she continued. "Taking care of an egg that will never hatch no matter how much you love it, or making out with a smoking hot vampire."

"But I have a respons-"

"Shhh...," She placed her finger gently over my lips while leaning over the space separating us. "Inanimate object, or possible nookie. Just think about that."

I could feel the blush running up my neck as I scratched my arm. "There is very little likelihood of 'nookie' in my immediate future. I'm not ready for that kind of step."

She shook her head, as though she were talking to a particularly slow child. "There's always the possibility of nookie in anyone's immediate future."

"Not mine." I paused. "And can you stop calling it 'nookie'?"

Lee groaned and Jesse smiled brightly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that that word bothered you. Are any of the following more acceptable?" She spoke as she was listing them off on her fingers. "Sex, love making, hanky panky, horizontal hustle, humpity dumpity, a roll in the hay, sowing the wild oats, making whoopee, or even just good, old-fashioned fu-"

I leapt off the chair and tackled her to the ground, my face on fire. "Good God woman, do you collect euphemisms or something?"

She grinned up at me, unrepentant. "In a manner of speaking."

I rolled off of her and stared up at the ceiling, Jesse chuckling as she lay her head on my stomach. "You know, it always surprises me when you come off all prim and proper, seeing as you were raised by us and I tried my damndest to corrupt you in your youthful innocence." Clare snorted while Jesse angled her head up to catch my eye. "Yet when you're around Alice, you have no trouble tapping into your 'sexual side'."

Micheal's eyes zeroed in on my face. "Tapping into your sexual side? There will be no tapping of any sort in this house and at your age, young lady."

There was silence for a moment, broken only by Clare mumbling, "Three, two, one…"

Right on cue, Micheal's golden eyes widened. "That…came out wrong." He paused. "But is true nonetheless."

I sighed. "What's with the sudden fixation on my sex life?"

The Laser Dad Eyes of Death were just powering up when I raised a hand in supplication. "Not that I have one."

Clare tsk'd. "Oh Micheal, I realise that you feel like you need to protect Bella's…maidenhood," My eyebrows rose at this and Jesse shook slightly, "But if she wants to go have sex with Alice, she's perfectly entitled."

I sighed. "Maidenhood? Really?"

She shrugged. "You've never had a problem talking with us before, why start now? You seem to be…very sensitive about this. Is something wrong?"

I fiddled with the ring on my finger, slipping in on and off, no doubt presenting a rather strange vision, but my family were used to it. "Well," I blushed heavily, "It's not that I don't know what to do, and it's not even that I feel nervous because I know that it won't happen any time soon, because it won't. It's just that…well, I noticed recently that my fire ability keeps acting up whenever I'm excited." The last was sent out in a rush, to be met with silence.

Lee's dark brows furrowed. "And you're only noticing this now?"

I waved my hands in exasperation. "I've never been sexually attracted to anyone before, okay? How was I supposed to know?"

Jesse spoke slowly, all traces of teasing humour gone from her voice. "And you're afraid that at some point in the future, when it eventually does happen, you'll lose control and—"

"And set Alice on fire?" I asked. "Yeah. And in case you hadn't noticed, vampires are more flammable than dry tinder. And it's not even the future sex I'm most worried about. I mean, you saw what happened today, I lit my notebook on fire in the middle of class because Alice was wearing appealing clothing!"

This sudden onset of anxiety about this situation was totally unexpected for me. I had noticed that my pyrokinesis was getting was getting a little stronger, and a little more antsy. I had even noticed how it reacted to Alice, but it was only now hitting me with the possible future ramifications.

I didn't want to light my girlfriend on fire!

"Bella!"

I snapped my head towards Micheal, my breaths coming in faster. I could feel my heartbeat speeding up and started to feel slightly dizzy. Hands moved to my jaw, pulling my head around, their concerned voices slightly distorted.

"What is it? Bella, what's wrong?"

What was wrong? It couldn't be the overenthusiastic response my ability had to Alice. I could work on that, on getting control and Alice would understand, of that I was sure. This was too sudden. Too foreign.

Too…wrong.

"Alice," I breathed, vaulting up off of the floor and dashing out of the room, leaving my confused and anxious family behind.

APOV

I tensed as I heard the name fall from his lips, something about the way he said it striking a chord in me.

Ever since I had been turned, I had crystal-clear memory. Every sight, every sound, smell or experience was stored in my mind like a computer archive. It was the eighteen years before my awakening that were a mystery to me. No matter how long or hard I tried to remember, I could never get anything from that time in my life.

For me, either I remembered with great detail or not at all. As a result, I had never fallen prey to that sensation of recognising someone or something, but not knowing from where.

That is, until now.

"Who are you?" My voice was steady, but I felt my body shifting slightly, instinctively trying to lower itself into a crouch.

He chuckled and moved forward, the slight wind rustling the wisps of hair escaping the band holding it back. The other two followed him closely, no longer keeping up the pretence of him not being in charge.

"You have no idea how amusing that question is to me." Despite his words, his smile and almost washed out, like his face wasn't used to it. I kept all three of them in my vision, feeling more uneasy by the minute. I wasn't in the Quileute's territory any longer, but I also hadn't reached the land that my family held. That meant help wasn't likely coming. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I would need help.

"Glad I could provide you with some entertainment."

The redhead grinned at me, her face much more suited to the motion, but it was cruel and reminded me unwaveringly of Jane.

"You're so different than the last time we met, Mary Alice," the he stated, running his gaze up and down my body, finally settling on my eyes. "And I don't just mean the obvious. You seem more…spunky, and less terrified.

I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew how he knew me, but I had to know for sure. "We've met?"

"Oh, Mary Alice, back in the old days, we knew each other intimately."

I felt a chill run down my spine at his words, as well as the tone of his voice.

The redhead was walking around to my left side, flanking me, making sure I couldn't keep all three of them in my vision at once. The man with the dreadlocks seemed almost bored, as though this was merely a chore.

My instincts were telling me to run, that I was outnumbered and outgunned, especially without my visions. I could try to get far enough away from the wolves so that they would stop interfering, but I wasn't sure if I could outrun them. I had to keep him talking.

"Why are you here? You're getting rather close to my covens territory." Usually, we considered ourselves more of a 'family', but I didn't want to seem too…human. "Not to mention the territory of a pack of shape-shifters."

He didn't so much as bat an eyelash at the veiled threat. "I know that. And I really had no intention of coming here, but I was walking the streets of Port Angeles a while ago, when I came upon a most curious scent. One that I hadn't come across in a long time. It's changed a little, no doubt, but at the core it still smells like it did all those years ago. Back when you were still human."

I stifled a gasp in pure reflex. I had pretty much guessed who he was before he revealed it, but to know for sure was another thing.

"You're the vampire who turned me."

But he surprised me. His lip curled in anger and a deep growl trickled out. "No. I had absolutely no intention of turning you." He shifted to my right, on the opposite side to the redhead, who was still crouched on my left.

"You see, I'm a hunter. I don't just drink the blood of any old human for sustenance. No, I need to have dinner and a show, so to speak. I like to make a little game out of it, by searching for a human that interests me, that smells unique." He gestured to me. "Like you were, when I found you. You have no idea how divine your scent was to me. It was intoxicating. So I watched and I waited, observing you before I made my move."

His face darkened and I took an instinctive step back, the hair on my arms and neck rising sharply.

"But I made a mistake. There was another who had taken an interest in you. Not for food, he adhered to that same sickening diet that you do, but rather, as a companion. He was pathetic, he knew I was coming for you, so he turned you himself, to protect you. He took you from me. From me! I had never failed before, I always got my kill, but he had to ruin it. You were gone."

I knew I should run, he was getting dangerous. My body wanted to run, my feet shifting so I could get proper leverage, but I just couldn't leave. Not when I had someone in front of me who knew, who knew who I was, who I had been.

"Who was he?" I demanded, my shaking voice betraying my anxiousness.

"I never bothered to get his name, to be honest, I just killed him and was done with it."

I felt a pang of sadness at his words, even though I couldn't even remember this vampire who had saved my life.

His eyes gleamed, moving to the redhead and back to me. I was out of time.

"I searched for you. For a long time. You could say that I was a little…obsessed with keeping my record of never failing. I'd always hoped to find you again, and imagine my surprise when I picked up your scent after all this time." He shrugged slightly. "Funny how life works sometimes."

It bothered me to admit that over the course of my life as a vampire, my fighting skills were irrevocably tied to into my visions. Now that my visions were out of commission due to proximity to the wolves, my reaction time was too slow to avoid the sudden lunge made by the redhead.

She slammed into me, her greater weight and strength taking me to the ground in an explosion of dirt and loam. I twisted violently, managing to get my foot into her stomach and pushing her off over my head.

Both of us jumped up at the same time, a snarl leaving my lips. She blurred forward as I shot to the side, her outstretched hand grazing my cheek.

I saw the leader move out of the corner of my eye and barely managed to dodge his rush, but I couldn't stop the strong arms of the third vampire from wrapping themselves around my body, pinning my arms to my sides. I struggled, his greater strength almost overwhelmed by my desperation to be free.

The redhead laughed and moved towards me. I lashed out with both of my feet, making the vampire behind me hold my weight as I slammed a kick into her stomach. It lifted her off her feet and sent her across the clearing, her body almost crashing into a tree until she twisted in mid-air and avoided it entirely, landing lightly in a crouch.

"Now, now, that wasn't nice," she growled.

I twisted in the grip that held me, trying to get free, but the vampire holding me put a stop to my struggles by placing his teeth against the back of my neck, causing me to freeze instantly.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, swallowing convulsively.

He brushed his hair back from his face. "I told you-"

"You record, yes. But that was a long time ago. I'm a vampire now, my blood is gone. This is pointless."

He scoffed. "It's no longer about drinking your blood, Mary Alice. You were my one failure, the one that got away."

"So what, I'm your white whale?"

"So to speak."

My eyes roved over the forest surrounding us, trying in vain to find some means of escape.

God, this would kill my family. Not to mention Bella. I felt a sickening sensation in the pit of my stomach, an image of her smiling face crossing my mind. We had just found each other, and now I was going to die, all because of some psychopath and his issues.

He came to a stop a mere foot from me and suddenly froze. Eyes widening, he took a deep breath, leaning in closer to me, but not close enough for me to take a bite out of him.

"What is that scent?" His voice was surprised and confused. "It's not yours, but it's all over you."

I felt a flash of fear, knowing exactly what he smelled.

Bella.

Her scent dissipated quickly, but not fast enough for a hunter to miss it. And knowing his type, and from the look on his face, he just found his new target.

"Perfect. I'll kill you, and track down the person that this delectable scent belongs to."

Panic washed through me, along with a strong dose of anger. How dare he threaten to take away something so precious?

My anger lent me strength as I slammed my elbow back into the vampire behind me, using his distraction to break free and lunge at the man in front of me.

BPOV

I ran faster than I've ever run before. Fallen trees and boulders became minor obstacles that I weaved around or just vaulted over. Leaves shot up in my wake as though a whirlwind had just blown past. My hair streamed past my face and if I hadn't grown up flying at speed in storm-force winds, my eyes would be watering.

I paid them no mind, all of my energy, my entire being focused on getting to Alice. I didn't question how I knew she was in danger, or how I knew where to go, I just went with it and prayed to God I'd get there in time to stop…whatever was wrong.

I came to an overhang that angled steeply upward for about thirty feet, almost like a cliff face. Latching onto a nearby tree branch, I twisted and vaulted up and over it, landing lightly and continuing on a split second later.

I knew that my family would be following, but I was much faster and I didn't have the time to wait for them.

I was coming up to the last stretch and I could see the river up ahead, its raging waters preventing safe crossing. Luckily for me, I didn't intend to wade through it. Bolting forward, I leapt onto a flat rock beside the bank, coiled my legs and shot out and over the river. I tucked into a ball in mid-air and rolled, using my momentum to break into a run as soon as I touched down.

The feeling of wrongness grew stronger, a pulse of dark emotion washing over me. At that moment, I heard voices in the distance, then a noise that made my heart stop. A scream of pain.

Alice's scream of pain.

I'm not even entirely sure of what happened next. The world blurred around me and the next second, I was at the edge of a clearing that would have been beautiful were it not for the scene in the middle of it.

Alice was backed against a moss-covered rock wall as three unfamiliar vampires advanced on her. I felt a moment of pride as I saw various injuries on the unknown vampires.

The one in the lead, with dirty blond hair had a slash across his face and was holding his arm to his side, which obviously pained him. The woman with red hair was limping heavily, a huge chunk torn out of her leg. The vampire at the back with what appeared to be dreadlocks was missing several of the thick strands, as well as a few fingers. Each of them had various cracks running up and down their bodies, revealed through rips in their clothing.

However, it was still one against three and Alice was looking a little worse for wear. Her right arm was hanging at an odd angle, obviously only just spared from being ripped off completely. There was an enormous crack running down the side of her neck, with many smaller cracks branching off. Bite marks littered her body, including one on her right eyebrow that was preventing her from opening that eye. But what worried me the most was the rip in her stomach, easily six inches across where her flesh had been torn out.

I took this all in in the split second it took me to leap off the tree stump I was standing on and slam into the redhead that was going for Alice's throat. A surprised gasp left her mouth, quickly silenced as I used the element of surprise to throw her off of me and into several trees which cracked upon impact. Before she hit the ground I was up and grabbing the arm of the dread-locked vampire, spinning in place as though I were throwing a discus. He crashed into the ground a good twenty feet away, huge clods of dirt dislodged with his passing.

Moving quickly, I put myself in between Alice and the final vampire.

"Bella? How did you-?"

"No idea, but I'm glad I did." I glared at the vampire in front of me, noticing that the other two were recovered and moving to stand behind him. "Who the Hell are you and what do you want?"

"I forgot proper introductions, didn't I? Well, in that case, I'm James, that's Victoria and the other is Laurent. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

He punctuated the last word by diving towards me, hands outstretched. I dodged to the left, grabbing onto his leg as he passed and pulling him back to keep him away from Alice, smacking him into the ground and dancing back.

The redhead, Victoria, almost surprised me, but Alice was there to fend her off with a swift kick to the neck. I managed to divert the rushing Laurent's momentum enough with a kick to send him sprawling, but it left me open to James, a fact I noticed when I felt him crash into me from behind. We crashed to the ground, his fingers digging into the flesh of my shoulder, causing me to cry out. I wasn't quite as hard as a vampire, and close quarters grappling like this wasn't good for me, someone who relied on speed.

I felt for the fire inside of me, calling it up to help me out. Unfortunately, my current emotional state made it rather volatile, I could feel it trying to get out, to blast this whole section of forest into cinders. But Alice was here, I needed to reign it in.

I slammed an elbow into his side, dislodging him enough so that I could slip out from under him, only to run almost straight into Laurent. He wrapped his arms around me in a crushing grip, the air leaving my body as it felt like a huge weight had been pressed onto my chest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Alice battling Victoria, trying to get to me, but her wounds were giving her trouble.

James stalked up to me, feral grin on his face. "So you're the owner of that scent. How lucky for me."

Laurent, as if in anticipation to my struggled, increased his hold. I heard a crack and felt one of my ribs give under the pressure, pain ripping through me.

I couldn't let this happen, I just had to hold off until my family got here. These vampires were nomads, so they were obviously used to fighting, whereas I only really ever sparred, but my family would mean more numbers.

Tucking my body into a ball, I forced my legs against Laurent's thighs ignoring the pain from my ribs as I pushed off. He was knocked back, but I could feel a different hand surrounding my arm, pulling it upward. I knew what James was doing, but it was too late to stop his teeth from sliding into my arm.

I had never been burned before, not even when I was seven and managed to crawl into a lit furnace that was a part of the old house we were staying in at the time. But if I had to guess, I'd say that this is what getting burned felt like. A wave of white hot agony shot through my arm as I ripped it away from his grasp.

My entire body focused on the pain, seeking relief. I could feel that fire, my fire moving to combat this intruder, sliding up my arm and out, crashing into James' chest. He let loose a primal sound of fear, all his instincts screaming at him to get away from the flames eating at his clothes. Had I a chance, I could have made it hotter, so hot that it would have flash fried him in seconds, but my body had called the shot on that one.

He tore off his jacket, stumbling backwards, away from the smouldering remains, his eyes shooting up to meet mine in shock.

A small body moved to my side, Alice having ripped off one of Victoria's arms, which the redhead was now in the process of reattaching.

I let her presence sooth me, using it to call up the fire in a controlled manner, a bright blue fireball forming in my outstretched hand.

James looked between the fireball and my face, as if deciding whether or not he should risk it. It was then that I noticed something weird about his eyes. The other two had blood red eyes, but James' were lighter, fading into an almost purple. I flashed to the pain in my arm and the blood dripping from his chin. My blood. That wasn't good.

Whether he would have attacked or not turned out to be moot, as I heard the sound of my family approaching. They heard them too, their heads snapping around to look in the direction the sounds were coming from.

James growled in frustration, knowing that he was out of time. He focussed on the small form at my side. "We'll finish this some other time, Mary Alice." His eyes shifted to mine. "And I'll definitely be seeing you again." Licking his lips once, he turned away from the approaching sounds and bolted, the other two on his tail.

"Bella?" Jesse, the second fastest in the family, burst out of the trees, pausing momentarily when she saw the wreckage of the clearing. Trees were uprooted, boulders were smashed, huge clumps of earth were torn up. And me and Alice stood in the centre, looking like death warmed over. "Holy crap, are you okay?" She quickly moved to our side as the rest of my family appeared, their reactions similar to hers. "What happened?"

I looked at Alice, feeling a huge lump in my throat. I almost lost her. Pulling her into my arms, I buried my face in her hair as she nuzzled my neck. "Are you alright?"
She released a shaky sigh. "Yeah, I'm okay. You?" She pulled back sharply. "Oh my God, he bit you!"

I raised my arm, looking at the bite mark. It throbbed horribly, but the agony of earlier was gone, whatever my body did having removed the venom. I hoped.

"What?" Micheal snarled. "Who bit you? What happened? Are you alright?"

I pulled Alice back into me, needing to feel her close after what happened. Her spiky hair brushed against my cheek and I breathed a sigh of profound relief. "We're fine. There were three vampires here before you showed up, I'm guessing the ones who have been making themselves known in Port Angeles. The one named James bit me, but I'm fairly certain my body got rid of the venom."

Clare moved forward, wrapping her arms around the both of us and directing us back the way they had come. "Come on. We'll contact the Cullens and the wolves. I want these bastards found soon."

As we allowed my mother to lead us back home, I couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't be that easy.

A/N: I know, I know. It's much shorter than my other chapters, and it's very 'blah', but seeing as it's been four months, I felt I needed to get it out now.

This chapter just wouldn't work for me. I know it's crap, but I needed to move past it.

I would have had it out yesterday, but totally screwed me. That and I had to go to the dentist…

Anyway, if you read the A/N up top, you should know about my new updating plan. I don't know if it'll work for me, and the chapters won't be 8'000 plus, but I'll be working on this story. I'm not even sure how much left there is to go. I was planning more than one arc, but I haven't decided if I'm going to do the other arc, or just end it after this one. I need inspiration! OH, and a beta reader. How do I find one of those? And what do they do?