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Chapter 16

"Hi," Rosalie smiled. "Thanks for inviting me over. I hope you don't mind, but I'm almost done with my term paper so I brought it with me… oh and Leah came too."

"Hey," the Quileute woman stiffly waved her hand. "Something smells good." This wasn't Leah Clearwater, was it?

"Right, come on in," I pulled the door wider and waved them inside. "Dinner will be ready in a few."

"Sweet," Leah fell onto the couch next to Rosalie, who began furiously typing on her laptop.

I set out an extra place for Leah and finished the salad, wondering why she was here.

"Dinner's ready," I called out to them.

"Oh is this crunchy pea thing Seth was talking about?" Leah asked, taking a bite of her salad – yep definitely Leah Clearwater.

"Yes, except I added basil and tomatoes this time," I nodded. I was nervous now and I wasn't exactly how I should talk to Rosalie now that Leah was here.

"This is really good. I'll have to get Bella to make it for Nessie," Rosalie said before taking a large bite.

Bella Swan! That's who Renesmee reminded me of! And then I felt bad that I hadn't considered her feelings when I invited Rosalie over and she was the one dating my little brother. But they weren't talking about the same Bella, were they?

"Who's Bella?"

"Bella Swan, Billy's friend's daughter-" Leah started.

"The one who was always in a cast?"

"Yes," Rosalie laughed.

"I'm surprised she hasn't killed herself by now. One time I saw her break her ankle down at the beach – she fell into a tide pool," I told them as Leah snickered.

"She married my brother Edward," Rosalie added, taking another large bite.

"Oh is that how Jake and Nessie met?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Leah laughed.

They both continued finishing their dinner with large bites and nice compliments. I decided that I didn't have to talk to Rosalie about eating disorders, but I still needed to ask her about the whole werewolf-vampire thing. I offered store bought cookies for dessert, which Rosalie declined but Leah took the box and asked for a glass of milk.

I was completely surprised by both of them. Leah was still quiet but kinda snarky and content with herself, and Rosalie was funny and seemed older than she actually was.

"I'm sorry to hear about your dog," Leah said in an odd tone with a soft smile. "Man's best friend seems so much truer when they're gone, doesn't it?" she turned to Rosalie who glared back at her and even kicked her under the table – I think. "Not so much about Doug though. Good thing you didn't marry him – he had a funny last name."

"So Paul said that there was something you wanted to talk to me about?" Rosalie changed the subject.

"Well there's this old Quileute legend about how certain members of the tribe protect us from evil outsiders like the cold ones…" I started as Leah nodded. "And there's one about a treaty with a group of cold ones who are supposed to stay off our land, and if they do, they would be killed. The cold ones had a name – The Cullens – and Paul and everyone thinks that since your last name is Cullen… you're a cold one," I hurried my words.

"Well… please don't quote me, but Paul's right. I am a vampire," Rosalie nodded.

"I mean like mythical vampire – the ones who suck people's blood."

"Me too, except my family and I feed off animals. We don't like to kill people… but are there other kinds of vampire that I don't know about?" she joked.

"You're one of them too aren't you?" I sighed looking at Leah. I realized just then that she looked like a female clone – tall, strong build, and a short hair cut.

"Unfortunately," Leah shook her head. "That's why I'm here because Paul didn't want you to be alone with her. Especially since-"

"Please Rachel I know it sounds ridiculous but just think about it. Just try believing it," Rosalie begged.

"Okay, you're a vampire and you're a werewolf-"

"Shape-shifter," Leah corrected me.

"Shape-shifter, and if you're a Cullen, why are you here? You're not supposed to be here right?"

"It's kind of a long story… but we can cross the treaty line with supervision, and we're not here often. We don't want everyone in La Push to change into wolves, and we don't want to attract other vampires to this area. They, unlike us, do not follow a vegetarian lifestyle."

"Vegetarian?"

"Animal blood – it gives us enough to sustain our bodies – not as much as human blood would though."

"Let's just show off already. She would definitely understand if she saw it with her own eyes – I don't know why Paul is putting it off," Leah whined.

"Because he wants her to believe him and for her to trust him. It would be easier –yes, but I have to respect his wishes."

"Okay," Leah snapped as we fell into silence. I stared at them waiting for someone to speak, but Rosalie just stared down at the carpet and Leah picked at her nails. "Can we do it now?"

"Yeah, let's go," Rosalie agreed quickly.

…

Rosalie was a vampire. A real blood sucking – I think, I wasn't allowed to see that – vampire except none of the other myths were true. Sun light doesn't burn them, but they sparkle… and they don't sleep in coffins as they can't sleep at all. They can see themselves in mirrors but can't digest food so if they do consume food, they have to regurgitate it – that I did get to see.

And Leah was a werewolf – shape-shifter – spirit warrior- or whatever you want to call them. She stripped her clothes, tossing her clothes at me, and then light grey fur sprouted through her skin as she morphed into a humongous wolf. She was about four times the size of Van Gogh, and he was a big animal.

They ran around the backyard moving too fast for my own eyes. Leah snapped at Rosalie a few times, but she was able to swiftly escape her reach. When they were done showing off, Leah transformed back into a human and redressed as if it never happened, and Rosalie asked me to hold out my hands. Each of them held one so I could feel the difference of their body temperatures. Leah's hand was practically burning me compared to Rosalie's frozen fingers.

"And she smells terrible – like she bathed in sickly sweet perfume," Leah wrinkled her nose.

"At least I don't smell like a wet dog," Rosalie shot back.

"Paul's going to be pissed," Leah laughed.

"Well I'm glad you showed me," I told them. "I really appreciate it. I felt like everyone was trying to make fun of me."

"And she believes him now, right? We did him a favor," Rosalie reasoned.

"Favor my ass!"

I winced as he emerged from the tree line, sounding not very happy. "Paul… hi."

AN: so apparently... Paul's real last name is Lahote... which I wasn't aware of when I did my research, but basically it's all in the illustrated guide. So I'll eventually go back and change it because Eman is a stupid name.

Also FF updated their layout when you login and its not letting me upload - i had to cut and paste this... :(

Thanks for Reading!