Hi again! I'm really sorry for not posting this earlier. What with all the "back-to-school" stuff and exams coming up, I hadn't had time 'til now. I promise to try to post the next one quicker than I did this one. Please bear with me!

By the way, if have questions or such, please just post a comment and I'll try my best to answer (Answers that you will be seeing at the end of each chapter-if ever there is one.). Just please remember that this is just a crossover fic that my brain won't shut up about 'til I started writing it, so... yeah. XD

Anyway, enough blabbering. Here's chapter two. =)

[Note: Please read my A/N below. Thanks. :D]

Chapter Two: Getting the Call

"… which is probably not the best idea, since nobody actually likes him, you know? I mean, have you seen his latest movie? The Rotten Tomatoes actually did him a favor for…"

Amidst the table full of teenagers, Bella was the only one who was preoccupied.

"… and the way they choreographed the last fighting scene? It was epic, man! I'm telling you, you should've come with us last Saturday! You really missed a lot. I actually had to…"

Everyone was busy—chatting with their neighbors, talking about the upcoming weekend and laughing like there's no tomorrow. Everyone but her; she was once again lost in thought.

"… showed him! He was acting all high and mighty when I gave him my paper. And guess what? He got really red on the face! Everyone was holding back their…"

Jessica and Lauren were dissing a new actor who, they apparently think, sucked. Ben and Austin were on the other end of the table, talking to Mike, Tyler and Eric about the recent Karate movie they watched at Port Angeles. Samantha and Katie, on the other hand, were laughing about Mr. Jefferson and his I-can-never-be-wrong attitude. And though they weren't in her line of sight, she knew that Alice and Edward were once again having a silent conversation.

Bella couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy. Though she wouldn't change her life, she longed for a normal human life—like the one Edward wanted her to have. To be able to moan about bad hair days and how boring life can get; to worry about a broken nail and home works to finish; to groan about gun-toting overprotective dads and overbearing moms who wants to talk about her boyfriend every day.

Is that too much to ask? she asked herself. The she smiled to herself, shaking her head slightly. This must be one of those "Why me? Poor me. Hu-fucking-Hu." days Shura keeps babbling about.

For what seemed to be the hundredth time, she once again took out her phone and stared at it intently, pleading with her mind for it to ring. Come on… come on!

"Bella?" a velvet voice silkier than—well, silk—murmured. "Are you okay?"

She looked into her lover's amber eyes and restrained herself from turning into a pile of goo. No matter how long she's been with him, no measure of time together can save her from his ultimate perfection. With his reddish-brown sex hair, heartbreaking crooked smile, honeysuckle-and-freesia scent, and a physique that rivals Michaelangelo's David, even the depths of Gehenna can't stop her from going after this god. Of course, once she got to know him, she finally saw the imperfections he hid behind the mask—which only made him more perfect in her eyes. And, though he won't believe it, they will have their happy ending. Of that, she's certain.

"Bella?"

"Yeah," she breathed, thinking of flowers and butterflies and rainbows and shit. "Fine."

Beside him, Alice snorted. "Bella zoning out again?"

He chuckled. "Apparently."

Their conversation made Bella huff—turning their soft laughter to snickers.

"Sure, sure. Make fun of the human," she muttered grumpily, knowing well that they can hear her.

"C'mon, Bella! You know we're only teasing. It's only a matter of time before graduation—after that, we can't rag you again for simply being normal," Alice said, her cheery voice low enough that the others on the table couldn't hear.

Bella fought a grimace. How wrong Alice was. She calls herself human every now and then because, after all, she really was. The only thing she omitted was her true nature as a Halfling—or a "half breed", as what her dear uncles and aunts call their kind. Though they were rare to exist, the said "higher-ups" see them like they see humans: unfortunately present, hopelessly useless. Though, unlike humans, they can't—or, rather, wouldn't—play with the Halflings; nobody in Gehenna likes to fight with someone who can bite back.

Normal, Bella thought bitterly. Wrong use of word.

Plain, maybe; ordinary, even. But normal?

To use the word to describe her is outrageously inadequate. Because, even though they thought her of nothing but a fragile human girl, the truth remains that she is something more lethal… more powerful… more abhorrent than a vampire.

But she said nothing of the subject. Instead, she once again checked her still silent phone. How long is this wait going to take?

"Waiting for Renee's call?" Edward guessed, tucking her wayward hair under her ear.

She might as well use his assumption as an excuse. "Yeah. She hasn't contacted me in days. I'm getting really worried."

"She's fine, Bella," Alice winked. "Trust me."

Bella let out a tiny laugh. She did trust Alice. If only she could ask Alice whose call she was really waiting for…

"Okay. No more worrying for me, then."

{[(=^_^=)]}

That night, she lay on her bed, waiting for her personal Adonis to arrive. He went for a short hunt with the Cullen boys. A trip long overdue, he said, kissing her sweetly before leaving her with Alice in the parking lot.

She clutched the note he left on her pillow to her chest. I'll be back long before you miss me. Take care, it said. He was wrong, of course. She missed him the moment he was gone.

Though she didn't like them to be apart, she was a bit grateful for the time alone. It was her only time to think clearly—the time for her brain to burst at the seams, so to speak. Her mind buzzed with questions.

Why hasn't Shiro called? How is the monastery? What's going on with the twins? What's Shura up to these days? What's happening in the Vatican? How's Mom? When can I tell Edward and his family the truth about me? What would they feel about my lying to them? Will they ever forgive me and accept me for who I am?

When it was clear that she wasn't getting any answers, she shook her head and sat up, a tiny glint catching her eye.

Beside her decrepit computer stood an ornament with a golden frame—it was a picture of Bella and her mom in front of their house in Phoenix which was taken a month before she decided to live with her biological human father. They were both wearing shades and shorts for the sweltering heat of the place. Her mom had her arm slung on Bella's shoulder, both of them grinning stupidly at the camera. She gazed at the personal memento with affection, staring at her mother's smiling face that's so much like her own. Her mom that was more a best friend than a mom; more a troublemaker than a caretaker; more childish than mature.

Suddenly, her mother's warning rang through her mind again: Until the time is right…

Maybe not that childish.

Then she thought to herself: Is it fate or coincidence that Charlie happened to live in a place where not only mythical creatures live, but where my true love lives? For that, she was not sure.

The only thing she was sure of was that her phone was finally breaking its silence—it rang shrilly, wildly vibrating on top of her side table.

She quickly snatched it and pressed the Accept button.

"Hello?"

A familiar raspy voice answered. "Bella?"

That was unexpected. "Shura? Why are you calling me?" she asked her friend incredulously—not that she was disappointed; she was merely startled. "Are you trying to irritate Shiro by once again breaking protocol?" Bella joked.

To her utter surprise, Shura didn't make a sound. For the first time since she picked up the phone, Bella realized that there was something wrong. "Sh-Shura?"

"He's gone."

"What? Who's he? And what do you mean 'he's gone'?"

"Shiro." She heard Shura's voice tremble. "Shiro is dead."

End of Chapter Two.

Author's Note:

ariedling: She's half-demon because she's the offspring of a demon and a human-Renee and Charlie (respectively), that is. :)