I walked home.

Michelle wasn't there, but Elijah was. I realized his car wasn't in the drive-way, and I sighed, remembering I left it at Forks High School after the whole Bella-almost-getting-crushed thing. I guessed it was still there as I shoved the door aside, and stumbled in.

Elijah appeared instantly. "Where the hell have you been all day?"

I sighed, dropping onto the couch. "Drinking and smoking. You?"

"Renesmee." His voice was dark. "I'm serious. I hear that this afternoon, you save Bella Swan's life by pushing a freaking van away from her, then you vanish, and I have no idea where my truck is!"

"It's at school," I murmured. "Relax."

He shook his head. "Fine. I'll call Michelle to pick it up later." Silence. Clearly, he expected me to say something else. "Well? Where were you?"

"I went up to La Push," I growled, slowly standing up. "You got a problem with that, mom?"

He stared at me, gray eyes flashing. "Look, if you get hurt or something, that screws up everything. I have to figure this out."

"You? You? Is this all about you, Maley?" My voice began to burn with anger. Too much had happened today, and the last thing I needed was him getting on my nerves. I had about had it with him. I swear, I was so close to hurting him, it wasn't even funny.

"Maybe it is!" he shouted. "I have to get you back to your right time, because if I don't, I fail, and I can't fail."

"Why do you even care? I don't need a mentor. I don't need a kid to tell me what to do. I could take the watch and leave at any moment!" I snarled. I knew I look terrifying: in full-blown anger, I was a monster, and suddenly, I was losing my grip. The vampire was eclipsing me.

"Then why don't you, bloodsucker? I hate vampires. I don't even know why I'm helping you," he said bitterly, gray eyes burning.

We were both tired; exhausted, unhappy, and mad. I knew he didn't mean what he said, but to my surprise, it hurt, far more than I expected. A ripping, searing feeling in my chest. I angrily shot back, "I don't know why, either.I'm a vampire; it's my kind that killed your parents. You're helping the very monsters that ended your family!"

I saw devastation in his eyes, but I didn't care as I whirled around, and was gone.

I stormed through the rooms, wanting to smash, throw, bite, break, everything in sight. I furiously let out a roar, and strode into the living-room, where the piano was, where the picture was. I knew I'd hurt him, but I didn't care

I grabbed the picture of the family, the happy people who were dead, and was about to throw it, to smash it to a million little pieces of glass and tears and gold. But I stopped. I looked at the smiling faces of Elijah and his family. And suddenly, I felt the anger die. I dropped it back on the piano, and stood there, feeling weak and stupid.

Slowly, the silence of the house closing in on me, I sat down on the piano bench. I remember all the times I'd played with Edward, with Bella. They'd taught me how to play; mainly my dad. He's the musical one.

I slipped my fingers across the cool, hard keys, and pressed down ever so gently. Soft, beautiful notes followed every tap.

Slowly, carefully, I began playing.

The music carried through the house. I heard foot-steps after several long minutes, and I knew Elijah was in the door-way. He was suddenly standing behind me. I didn't look at him; I kept playing, trying to act like everything was okay.

Slowly, the music died, and the song quieted and faded on the keys, in the piano's glossy black wood. I sat there, eyes closed, my fingers still.

Silence.

Then, words.

"My mother played the piano."

Hesitation.

"It hasn't been played since."

I nodded my head, and sighed, slowly getting up and turning around. I was startled to find him standing right there: our faces were suddenly very close. I could see the light speckles in his warm gray eyes. His shaggy blond hair fell into his eyes, so that it tickled his eyelashes when he blinked. I took a sharp intake of breath.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

He shook his head, and said nothing. But he was sorry, too.

We stood there, the world abruptly quiet, as if listening to our words. I gently stepped closer, and our faces were so close, our lips could have touched. His eyes fluttered, and I closed mine, biting my lip and looking away. Suddenly the eye of the storm was gone. Things moved again.

Elijah stepped away, clearing his throat. He looked down at me, then left the room, saying nothing. For the second time in two days, I found myself left alone.

* * *
That night, I didn't sleep. Too much had happened, and I just couldn't get my head to shut up and rest.

I woke up painfully early- seven o' clock- and to nobody's surprise, it was raining (I'm sure the weathermen down here want to shoot themselves after a week of forecasts: it's the same thing every day. Rain. Rain. More Rain).

I left the house before Elijah. I didn't see him; and I didn't want to. After last night confusing... interaction with him... I had no idea what to say to him. Our playful, somewhat spiteful relationship had changed. But why? The last thing I needed right now was some teenage angst. I already had more than a welcome dollop of that with Edward.

For the rest of the day, I mainly avoided the whole world. I went into the forest, but, instead of hunting, I just walked. I watched the rain fall gently from one green leaf of a tree to the wet ground; I listened to the thunder in the distance. I slipped through the shadows and trees, and forgot all my problems. I was home again.

But I had time to think, too. About the disturbing Edward problem I was tempted to label "the incest case". The problem of returning to my correct time-period. And the new issue of Bella: what was I going to do with her? I somehow had to make sure her story with Edward played out and she learned everything. But how? Because, as one might put it, you can't have the sex without the bed. Well, okay, that's a really weird term, but still. In order for me to be born, Edward and Bella were the two puzzle pieces that had to fit together.

When the day was finally waning, I decided I had to go back. But not to the house. Hell no. I wanted answers: and where do people go then they want answers?

The library.

Well... no, scratch that. Smart people go to the Internet. Nerds go to the library. And vampires aren't nerds. Where else was there?

Ah, yes. A good old book-store.

Books on time-travel. That had to help.

Because I preferred the fresh-air to driving (and for me, walking takes, like, ten minutes tops), I walked into town. It was called Jacksonville, and though a small, kinda gloomy place (matching Forks) it had this one book-store I figured would have the books I was looking for.

As I browsed my way through the selection of books in this one small book-shop I found after the refreshing walk there, I saw numerous books that could help me. Well, not really, but they looked interesting. I even passed some that were like "Incest for Dummies" and "How to Deal with Your Father Loving You Too Much". Wow. Yeah, let's just say I left the store quickly after that.

But I did find some good stuff, and as I walked through the darkness, I clutched the bag of books in my hand, wondering what I would do now. I didn't want to go back to Elijah's place, and I didn't want to stick around the streets much longer. It was creepy.

Finally, I decided to just head into this friendly-looking diner, and look at my books there.

I sighed as I took a seat by the window. The chair screeched against the sickly-colored wood of the floor, and in the quiet air of the diner, it was quite noisy. A radio crackled somewhere in the back, and there were some couples around. Including a very old, wrinkly couple.

"Sorry," I muttered as some eyes strayed toward me briefly. I slumped down, and piled the books on the small table. They were each old-looking and worn (it had been a used book-store; hey, the cheaper the better) but they kept me interested.

I cracked open one, half expecting dust to come coughing out of the pages that smelled like old ink, my eyes flashing over the pages. It was about time-travel, and actually kinda interesting. But the night was ruined when, to my horror, the old couple a few chairs away from me (who were clearly a little drunk) began making out. And let me just say: two old people with fake teeth, making out, is perhaps the most scarring thing on the planet. I lowered my nose further into my book, shuddering.

Suddenly, a shadow passed by the large window I sat by. I glanced up halfheartedly, and did a double-take. I knew that wavy brown hair, that slender form: it was Bela. What the heck was she doing in Jacksonville? And at such a late hour, too. I sat up, and glanced at the diner, then back to where my mother was walking away.

I had two choices: I could stay here and endure the wannabe-hot make-out session between the old couple, or I could grab my stuff and go after Bella. Sure, if she noticed me, she'd freak out (and probably decide I'm a lesbian stalker after all), but I was a vampire, dude. I could become the shadows and move as fast and quietly as possible.

The decision was instant. I slipped the two books I'd bought out of their bag and put them in my jacket, so they'd not make noise in the plastic bag. And I left the diner and the making-out old couple. I really hoped they didn't intend to leave and then get it on when they got home. Because that image is just... beyond wrong.

Back in the night air, it was cold and damp, but I relished the taste of cool air as I padded silently after Bella. She walked stiffly, with a book tucked under her arm. I was surprised, and wondered if she had honestly driven all the way to this place just to buy a book. Then again, she was pre-vampire Bella, and she created an all new low.

As we walked through the darkness, I began to wonder what she thought she was doing. It's dangerous for a human girl to be down here alone. I'm not a vampire, and could easily dismantle any eager rapist or creep, but

Bella couldn't.

Suddenly, she swerved down some stairs, and turned a corner into a dark parking-lot. I stayed behind, lingering in the shadows on top of the stairs, inwardly sighing. Maybe I should just let her go. After all, stalking her was absolutely no fun.

I turned, and was walking easily away when I heard loud voices. A scream.

"Get away from me!"

Bella.

"Damn it, girl," I muttered under my breath.

To Bella and the tangle of gritty-looking men who had been drawn to her in the dark parking-lot, I appeared to come out of thin air. It felt like that: one second, I was on top of the steps: the next, I was furiously standing between Bella and a circle of rather ugly-looking fellas, who stank of beer and cigarettes.

"Whoa!"

"What the hell?"

Their slurred voices appeared half amused, and I knew they didn't know what was going on.

"Hey, you're pretty, too!" one crowed, laughing.

"Come here, girly," another slurred.

"Abigail?" Bella gasped, staring at me like I was some kind of monster.

Oh, the irony. It might just kill me one day.

I slithered up to the grit who was clearly the leader of this group. I smiled as I gazed at him, eyes bright, and I knew I was dazzling him with my strange beauty.

Slowly, I reached forward, and put my hand on his shoulder, and the other on his face. He grinned stupidly. As if he could ever get a girl like me.

"Hey, could you do me a favor?" I purred in my softest voice.

He nodded eagerly.

Without warning, I leaned forward, and whispered in his ear, "Get your boys, and tell them to get the hell away from her." My hand suddenly curled, and I sunk my nails into the side of his face, using the other to punch him.

As flesh connected to flesh, he stumbled back, shocked, and let out a cry of pain as he clutched his face.

"Freak!" he screamed.

"Run, Bella!" I commanded, and hissed at the remaining boys, who took a step back, terrified suddenly. Within moments, I had them running, and I turned. Bella had listened to me, but her slow, mortal run was pathetic. I caught up to her in moments, and then, we were safe. Well, I'd been safe the whole time. She'd been the damsel in distress.

"Abigail!" she gasped when she had caught her breath, brown eyes wide and face a shade paler, if that was possible. "What- what just happened? How did you find me?"

I grabbed her arm, and dragged her after me. "I'm not saying anything until you're safe back at Forks."

She ripped her arm from mine, and stared at me, chest heaving as she took deep breaths. "Abigail, I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me what's going on."

Our eyes met, and I defiantly stared at my future mother. It was odd to talk to her like this, as if we were friends, just two girls on an adventure. When really, it was hard to discipline her, because she's my mom. It's not natural.

"Fine," I muttered, looking around. I'd seen a nice-looking restaurant not far from this spot when I'd first arrived hours ago: we could go there. And... then what? What could I tell her? I shook my head, deciding to cross that bridge when I got to it. "Come with me. We're going to talk, but only in a safe place."

We got to the restaurant under five minutes, and finally we were seated in a warm, nicely-lit environment (which, to my delight, had zero old couples making out). I forced Bella to order some food, insisting that it would help regain her strength. And finally, finally, things were settled. It was just me and my mom. Weird.

I was staring out the window, feeling disgusted as I thought about the grits who had almost hurt my mother. It infuriated me that they dared try to touch her; and it was clear what they had intended to do with her. Sick. Just twisted and wrong. It made me want to go back there, find them, and rip them apart.

"Abigail."

I turned to see Bella staring at me, brown eyes lit with quiet fire of determination. "I... have to know what's going on."

I gazed at her. "What's going on is... hard to accept," I told her quietly.

She shook her head. "I don't... care. Look, Abigail, you're a- a stranger. I don't know you. And yet you keep, I dunno... popping up in my life." Looking frustrated, Bella bit her lip. "I just... I don't get it."

"Well..." I chuckled. "I don't like it any more than you do, but we were... meant to meet."

"What's that even- mean?" She blinked quickly.

"It means that... there's a lot going on right now." I lowered my voice, and spoke with a certain sharp edge to my words. "Things humans couldn't possibly begin to understand. Things that... have changed my life. And they sure as hell are gonna change yours."

Bella put her fingers through her hair, thinking. "I want answers, Abigail. How did you find me tonight? Did you- I dunno, follow me?"

I blinked slowly. How to put this? "I didn't come to Jacksonville expecting to find you," I told her briefly. "But I was... passing by the stairs of that- parking-lot, when I heard you scream. I did what anyone would do. I helped."

She shook her head. "Abigail, you- you just appeared. One minute, it was me and those creeps. The next, you're in front of me, and freaking them out. How did you do that?"

I steadily met her gaze, and I knew I couldn't lie any more. "Bella," I said quietly, "There are... things... in this world, monsters and tales, that are real. People like me... we're different. We're- I dunno, stronger, faster."

Bella's eyes quivered. "The Cullens are different, too. Just like you."

I hesitated only a second before giving in. "Yeah. They're like me."

She crossed her arms, looking uncertain. "So are you- like, a bad guy? A... super-hero? A monster? What?"

I flinched at the word monster, and suddenly, thoughts of the hunt came back to me. I put my face in my hands. "We're monsters," I murmured. "You have no idea."

Bella stared at me, and I marveled at how calm she was reacting to this. "The van. You- your powers. That's how you- saved me."

I nodded quietly. "Yeah."

She glanced at the untouched plate of pasta before her, then back at me, her hands shaking. "Abigail... I feel like... I know you. I know we're strangers, and I know nothing about you. But- you're familiar. I- I don't know why," she added with a jittery, small smile.

I gazed at her, startled. I hadn't expected that. "Well... maybe we've met before. And you just don't know it." I felt sadness as I stared at her.

She bit her lip. "Abigail, I want to help you. I want to figure this out. I- I still hardly understand."

I chuckled humorlessly as I tossed some dollar bills onto the table, and got up. Our time here was done. I'd call her a cab, but I had to get away. "Me either, doll-face."

I love you guys. The reviews have been great to read, and I'm having fun writing this. In case anyone's still lost, this chapter is basically the whole chapter where Bella begins to realize what Edward is: except, now, there's one little problem. She's learning it all from Nessie.