A heron landed on the bank of a creek, eying the water curiously. The water flowed lazily. There was another heron standing a few feet away.

A deer meandered in the distance, pausing every few moments to look around.

The two herons watched each other. One flapped its feathers, starting to approach.

"Scram, piss off!"

A rock hit the mud between the two herons. Both took off, cawing madly as they did.

Victoria approached the creek. She had long curly orange hair. She wore a black coat and dark pants.

"Hey!" Victoria shouted. "Laurent!" The nearby deer darted off into the nearby woods. "I know you're here!"

Like a leaf, flowing in the wind, Laurent fell from a nearby tree. He landed without a sound on the other side of the creek.

He was a tall dark-skinned man with long dark dreads.

Victoria stomped across the creek, startling several fish as she did.

"I've been napping for a few years, and your voice is the first thing I hear?" Laurent groaned. He turned to the woman. He was wearing an open jacket, his chest exposed.

Victoria laughed. "I'm bored," She said. "Have you heard anything from James?"

"I'm sure you'd be the first one he spoke to," Laurent said. "I haven't heard anything." He sniffed once, then twice. "I need to get out of this forest," He added. "I can't stand the smell of this place."

"You're still on about that?" The woman groaned. She folded her arms, eyeing a heron that landed nearby. "Maybe you've gone senile."

Laurent sighed as Victoria rambled on, wondering if vampires can even go senile.

"How many years has James been gone?" Laurent asked.

"I don't know," Victoria admitted. "I need to kill something."

Laurent stiffened. A smile tugged at his dry lips.

Victoria smiled. "What do you smell?" She asked.

"The Cullen runts," Laurent said. "They've found something interesting."

~B~

Bella was awake but she didn't want to open her eyes. She was lying in a bed. She shifted under the unfamiliar blanket.

Julie. Oh, Julie.

Bella shuddered, a sob threatening to rip free.

Memories of that night racked Bella's mind. The dark road blurring by. Julie's blood. That man. Her mother. She hoped they were happy now.

Those thoughts crept into her mind whenever she stopped to let herself think. Luckily, The sweet smell of cinnamon distracted Bella from her thoughts. She inhaled slowly, letting the lovely aroma soothe her. She still refused to open her eyes, though.

Bella heard something, footsteps. She gave in and opened her eyes.

She was in an unfamiliar room—a small candlelit bedroom.

Bella inhaled and exhaled, slowly taking in her surroundings. A part of the wall was covered with a tarp. There was a woman sitting in a chair by the bed.

Bella abruptly sat up, staring at the woman.

The woman was watching Bella. She had blonde hair, loose on her shoulders. She was wearing a white blouse.

"Who are you?" The woman asked. Her tone was sharp.

Bella didn't answer.

"I asked you a question."

"I'm Bella."

"Rosalie!" The bedroom door flew open. Edward's sister, Alice was there. "Don't hurt her!"

"I'm just talking to her," Rosalie said. "What is wrong with you?"

Bella was beginning to remember what happened. The encounter in the bathroom. Edward threw a bag of blood at her. He was going to attack her.

Rosalie and Alice argued for a while before Rosalie got up and headed for the door. She glared at Bella over her shoulder before slamming the door shut.

"Well," Alice clapped her hands together. "Let's talk."

"You guys are gonna kill me," Bella said. "Aren't you?"

"Of course not," Alice said. "Chief Swan wouldn't like that one bit." She sat on the chair with a smile.

"You know my dad?"

"Not personally."

Bella fell silent, watching Alice closely. Neither of them spoke.

"So…" Bella trailed off. She wasn't sure what to say. "Where's Edward?"

"I have to talk to you first," Alice said. "I'm gonna be blunt, we're vampires."

"What?"

"We're vampires," Alice said again. "All of us."

"Oh," Bella said. "Huh."

"Yup," Alice said. "So," She tapped the armrest. "Any questions?"

"Not really," Bella said, she moved to the edge of the bed. "I need to get home."

Alice frowned.

"You're not even a little surprised?"

"I mean yeah." Bella folded her arms. She regretted abandoning the warmth of the blanket. "I just don't care that much to be honest."

"Oh." Alice seemed disappointed.

"Is Edward okay?" Bella asked. "He looked pretty messed up earlier."

"Oh yeah," Alice said. "We were both really freaked out when you fainted."

Fainted? Bella had never fainted in her life, at least that she could remember. The idea of these two vampires panicking over Bella's unconscious self tickled her odd sense of humor.

"Well, I guess our big important talk is done." Alice jumped from the seat. "Let's get you something to eat."

Alice helped Bella to her feet.

Bella noticed her pants had been torn from the knee down. She found her phone in her pocket and checked the time. It was half past six.

"Right," Alice said. "They had blood on them, we didn't wanna take your clothes off and all that."

"I guess they're shorts now," Bella said dryly.

Alice laughed loudly. So loudly, in fact, it sounded forced.

"Thanks," Bella said.

"Well let's get you home," Alice said. She opened the bedroom door and stepped out.

Bella followed Alice out into the hallway. The hallway led to a dark living room. The only lights were the tv on the wall and the kitchen.

Jasper was playing mario kart on the couch with Rosalie.

"How'd you get past me?" Jasper asked. "Why am I in fourth?"

"I'm just better than you," Rosalie mocked. "Loser."

Jasper fumed at that.

Edward and the gym teacher were in a nearby kitchen.

Edward spotted Bella and immediately avoided her eyes.

"Oh, look it's the showoff," The gym teacher said, leaning on the counter. "Done being dramatic?"

"Oh, it's the meat head," Bella shot back, passing through the living room.

Emmett bristled.

"Leave her alone, Emmett," Alice said.

Bella stepped into the kitchen, looking Edward over. He was wearing a white shirt that said 'deary me' and had an image of a deer in a dress. Bella stared at the shirt for a moment before speaking up.

"Hey, Edward, can we talk?" Alice and Emmett stared at Bella with very different expressions. Alice looked curious; Emmett looked annoyed.

"Yeah," Edward said. He glanced between Emmett and Alice. "Let's go outside."

Edward led Bella out the front door.

The house looked bigger from the outside. It was a two-story log cabin looking place. It was surrounded by woods with a single road leading somewhere, probably. There was also a hole in the side of the house.

"I made that," Edward said, nodding at the hole. "Well, Alice did technically."

"Okay," Bella said. She walked a few paces from the house before turning to face Edward. She frowned at him, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Edward blurted out. "I lost control of myself."

Bella feigned disinterest, watching Edward.

"Its fine," she said. "Vampires, huh," She folded her arms. "Never would've guessed."

Edward sighed. "Neither would I."

"Are you immortal?" Bella asked. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," Edward said. "I'll be seventeen in…" He trailed off, as if unsure what he was saying. "I guess I'm sixteen, I only just now thought of it."

Bella didn't know what to make of that. What did that even mean?

"Look, Edward," Bella said. "You can still do it."

Edward blinked.

"Do What?"

"You know." Bella pointed at her neck. "You need to eat, right? Or drink I guess."

Edward stared at Bella. His eyes were wide. "I-I don't understand."

"Sip sip?" Bella suggested. "Munch munch? I don't know, whatever you want to call it."

"I'm not going to hurt you," Edward said.

"But you could," Bella said. She stepped closer to Edward. He stepped back.

Bella frowned at that. She sighed, looking away.

"Of course," She murmured. "Meet some vampires and all of them are just the friendliest people."

"Do you want me to kill you?"

Bella didn't answer for a long minute.

"No, I guess not," Bella said. "It'd just be really convenient."

Edward didn't say anything. He looked at Bella with a concerned expression.

"I'm sorry," Edward said.

"Excuse me?"

"Whatever happened to you that makes you feel like your life has no value," Edward said.

Bella narrowed her eyes, but she didn't respond.

"Your life is valuable—"

"Okay," Bella cut Edward off. "Save it." She raised a finger at Edward. "I don't need you preaching crap at me."

Alice appeared in the doorway then.

"Hey, Bella!" Alice yelled. She paused, her smile vanishing. "Who died? You guys look gloomy."

"I'm just leaving," Bella said.

"Are you sure?" Alice asked. "Emmett is making pie!"

"I'm pretty sure that man can't cook," Bella said. "Bye." She turned and started walking towards the road.

"DO you know your way home?" Alice called.

"I'll be fine!" Bella called back. She looked over her shoulder.

Edward was watching her. Bella couldn't understand the look on his face, but it stuck with her.

After a while of walking, Bella took her phone out. She had multiple missed calls from Charlie.

"This'll end well," Bella said. She called Charlie.

It was about ten minutes before Charlie's cruiser came speeding up the road. It slowed to a stop by Bella and Charlie came running for her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked her up and down.

"What happened?" Charlie demanded. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Bella said. "I was just studying with some friends."

Charlie stared hard at Bella.

"What happened to your pants?"

"I spilled some juice on them," Bella said. "Didn't feel like washing them."

Charlie sighed and backed away.

"Bella, do you understand what situation you're in?"

Bella didn't look at him.

"Answer me!" Charlie shouted. "I have to keep you under constant surveillance! If you mess up, they'll lock you up!"

Bella stared at the ground.

Charlie cursed and rubbed his temples. His voice trembled when he spoke. "Bella please, you can't step out of line on this."

Bella nodded and got in the cruiser.

Her mind wandered as Charlie drove her back to his house.

"Bella?"

Renee was holding Bella's shoulders. The two of them were standing on the front porch of the house. Bella was seven years old. Her hair was sloppily cut short.

A tall man with gray hair was standing by the porch steps.

"You get to choose, Bella," Renee said. "Choose to come with me."

"What about Daddy?"

"You'll come with me? Right, Bella?"

Bella pulled away from Renee.

"Daddy?" She turned to the front door and pushed it open.

"Bella, no!" Renee snapped.

Charlie looked up. He was sitting on the living room couch.

"I want to be with you, Daddy!" Bella called.

Charlie's face twisted with aggravation.

"Go with your mother!" He yelled. "Get out!"

Bella stared at Charlie's face in the corner of her eye. That face he made all those years ago floated to the surface of her thoughts. She knew he didn't want her here. He'd never wanted her here.

~E~

Edward sat down on the couch with a huff.

Rosalie and Alice were playing the tv game now. Rosalie was winning, at least as far as Edward could tell.

Edward watched them yelling at each other.

Jasper sat next to Edward, holding a can.

"Don't worry too much about it," Jasper said. "You'll get better at controlling yourself."

"It's not that," Edward said.

Jasper leaned back, watching Edward closely.

"Bella," Edward said. "She wanted me to kill her."

"What?" Jasper nearly dropped his drink. "Why?"

"I don't know," Edward said.

"She was pretty weird," Alice chimed in. "I still don't get why she smells like that."

Edward noticed that everyone was watching him now. Even Emmett was paying attention from the kitchen.

"She's certainly not a vampire," Rosalie said, she fiddled with her Wii remote. "If only Carlisle were here, He'd be able to figure her deal out."

"Carlisle isn't that smart," Emmett said. "I'll figure it out."

"Whatever meat head," Jasper remarked. "I can't believe she called you that to your face!" He added with a laugh.

"She's got gall," Rosalie said. "Right, Emmett?" She flashed Emmett and smile.

Emmett huffed and took off his apron. He walked into the living room and sat by Rosalie. He snatched the Wii remote from her and started playing.

"No fair!" Alice complained. "Two-on-one is cheating!"

"We're gonna get to the bottom of this," Emmett said, ignoring Alice's complaints.

"Yeah," Jasper said. "Maybe she's just really close with another vampire."

"She did seem pretty—" Alice started. "No!" She yelled and threw her Wii remote.

"Hey, those are expensive!" Rosalie snapped.

Alice groaned and picked up the surprisingly undamaged remote.

"Anyway, she didn't seem to be surprised about us being vampires and all that, maybe she's met one before."

"Where's she from again?" Jasper asked.

"She told me she was from a place called Arizona," Edward said. "I've never heard of it." That earned him a few odd looks.

"You sure you're not like an alien or something?" Alice asked.

"I'll look into any known vampires from the Arizona area," Rosalie said. "She would've had to spend a long time in close company with one for the scent to be that strong on her."

"You'd think the smell would fade though, right?" Emmett said. "He chewed on his fingernail, thinking. "Maybe we're thinking about this all wrong."

"Why don't we just email Carlisle?" Jasper asked.

"Oh yeah, He does have a phone now, right?" Alice piped up.

Edward perked up. "Oh, that reminds me," he said. "I've been seeing a lot of these phones. Where can I get one?"

"We can get you one," Rosalie said. She cleared her throat. "Alice, take Edward to get a phone."

"Why do I have to?"

"I mean it is my turn to play," Jasper said.

Alice groaned but gave up the controller.

"Come on Edward."

Alice and Edward went out to the car. The two of them didn't talk much on the way into town. Alice sped most of the way.

They made it to a phone store about half an hour before it closed.

The man smiled as they came in.

It was a small store. There were several counters with different kinds of devices displayed on them.

"How can I help you?"

"Looking to add him to our family plan," Alice said. "Gonna get him a new phone and all that."

"What kind of phone?" The man asked.

Alice scratched her chin.

"Hey, Edward, what kind of phone?"

"I don't know," Edward blurted out.

"Take a look at our selection," the man said. "See what catches your eye."

Alice lingered by the front counter while Edward wandered around. Most of the phones looked pretty much the same. Edward ended up picking a simple-looking one.

A silver one that had a hidden keyboard.

"You sure you want that thing?" Alice asked.

"Yeah," Edward said. He slid the screen, revealing the keyboard. "It looks nice."

It was ten after eight when they left the store. Edward knew since the phone had the time on it. It also had several different functions. Edward didn't understand most of it, but it was interesting to fiddle with.

"What do you think?" Alice asked as they sped their way home. It was dark out now.

"About what?" Edward put his phone down and looked at her.

"I don't know, everything. This whole world must feel so strange to you."

"Kind of." Edward stared out the window, watching the dark forest blur by. "But some things feel so familiar."

"What do you mean?"

Edward yawned before answering.

"Like you and the others, you're always fighting but I can feel the love between all of you." He looked at the floor. "I remember having that feeling, with some people. People I cared about."

"Wow," Alice said. "I mean loves a strong word. I think the most I feel for those ding dongs is probably mild annoyance."

"Right," Edward said.

It wasn't long before they were home.

The others were sitting at the table eating pie.

"You guys started without me?" Alice fumed.

"You took forever," Rosalie said, mouth full of pie.

"Not really," Jasper said.

"There's plenty left," Emmett said as Alice rushed into the kitchen. "Edward, do you want some?"

"No," Edward said, heading for the hallway. "I'm going to sleep, now."

"We heard from Carlisle," Emmett said.

Edward turned.

"I explained the situation to him, he says Bella could be a vampire's proxy," Emmett explained. "That or she could be in the process of turning into a vampire."

"What does that mean?" Edward asked.

"I doubt it's the latter," Rosalie said. "But making a proxy is something only natural vampires are capable of doing, even then it's rare."

"What's a proxy?" Edward insisted.

"Basically, a mindless puppet," Rosalie explained. "At any given moment, this vampire could take her over entirely."

"Either way we have to keep an eye on her," Emmett said. "Someone could be trying to get information on us through her."

Edward nodded. "I think I understand," he said.

Alice sat at the table with what looked like half of a pie on her plate. She immediately started stuffing her face.

"So, you'll do it?" Emmett asked.

"Do what?"

"Keep an eye on her." Emmett turned to Edward. "Carlisle's going to find more information but the more we know about her the better, we'll need you to make sure she isn't doing some sketch shit."

"Sketch shit?"

"Yup."

"I'll do it," Edward said.

"Cheer up," Jasper said. "Get some pie, would you?"

Edward hesitated, looking over the group.

He vaguely remembered sitting at a table with those people. That little girl.

"I'll have some," Edward said. He got a slice of pie and joined the others at the table, to Jasper and Rosalie's glee.

Edward slept well that night. He didn't dream much. Memories from a distant life tugged at his mind.

It was late at night when someone's shouts woke Edward.

A heavy thud shook the entire house. All the stuff on Edward's bedside table fell to the floor.

Edward jumped out of bed, hurrying out to the hall and down the stairs, Alice and Jasper were at his heels.

The front door was hanging open. A dark-skinned man was lying on his back just outside.

Rosalie was standing in the living room wearing a nightgown.

"Who's he?" Alice asked. "A vampire?"

"He's a vampire!" Jasper agreed. The two of them flanked Edward, watching the man closely.

"He was sneaking around in here," Rosalie said, her voice dripping with venom. "Tried to run from me."

Emmett appeared, pushing past Edward and Alice. He was carrying a flask.

"Laurent," Emmett said. "What are you doing here?"

"You know him?" Jasper asked.

"That's Laurent?" Rosalie asked. "I didn't recognize him."

Laurent groaned, sitting up.

"You've all gotten soft," Laurent said. "I've been here all night."

"No, you haven't," Rosalie snapped. "I would've smelled you." She stomped over to Laurent, grabbing him by his coat and slamming him against the wall.

"Who's the girl?" Laurent asked.

"What?" Emmett walked up to the two of them.

"The human girl, your runts brought here, who is she?"

"None of your business!" Edward yelled without thinking.

Laurent looked past Rosalie and Emmett, his ruby eyes glowing.

Edward froze, eyes locked on Laurent's. He clenched his fists.

"Edward," Jasper warned. "It's okay."

Edward looked at his hand. He'd dug his nails into his palm.

"Calm down," Jasper said. "He can't hurt you."

Edward swallowed. That was the feeling overtaking him. Fear.

Emmett held up the flask.

"You know what this is, yeah?"

"You can't hurt me," Laurent said. "James will come after all of you."

Emmett popped the flask open.

"I hope you all aren't too attached to that girl," Laurent said. "At this moment, Victoria is probably ripping her apart."

"Victoria?" Edward asked.

"She's been gone for years," Emmett said.

Laurent laughed.

"Who is that?" Edward looked from Jasper to Alice, they seemed just as confused as he was.

"Rosalie," Emmett warned.

Rosalie threw Laurent to the floor. At the same time, Emmett poured the contents of the flask over Laurent.

Laurent screamed and flailed on the floor. His skin steamed and hissed as it melted where the liquid touched him.

"Alice!" Emmett shouted. "You know where Chief Swan's house is?"

"Yeah, I think—"

"You three go!" Emmett pointed at the door. "Now!"

"Let's go!" Alice ordered, bolting past Emmett and Rosalie. Jasper followed her out the door.

Edward lingered in the doorway, looking back at Emmett and Rosalie.

Emmett knelt by Laurent, grabbing his head.

"Don't worry about us," Emmett said, looking up at Edward. "We're going to finish this one off."

Edward turned, following Jasper and Alice into the cold night.

~B~

Bella stared at her phone. She was reading an internet comic series.

Billy's laughter echoed through the house.

Bella groaned turning her phone off. He and Charlie were drinking together downstairs.

Charlie's words bounced around in Bella's mind. She finally understood his position on her situation. She'd sort of understood it before but now it was clear.

She was a rock tied to his ankle, dragging him down in her mess. Just like she did to Julie.

The thought of Julie generated a pit in Bella's gut. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to see Julie right now.

There was a small sound, a creak.

Bella didn't open her eyes.

A breeze passed over Bella, brushing her hair onto her face. Bella squinted past her hair.

There was a finger leaning over Bella. Orange hair dangling past its head. A tall woman with glowing crimson orbs for eyes.

"James?"