Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Seeing as how it's my birthday today, it put me in a good enough mood to post this chapter a little early. :)

For the record, I know that Galveston University only exists in my mind. While I could have easily gone with Galveston College (which actually does exist, thank you once again Google) I decided to play it safer with a fictional school, since I was already using a real place. Plus the abbreviated name GALU, sounded so much cooler in my head.

"Are you sure that's where you want to go?" Renee asked for the fifth time that week. "It's so far away."

Bella grinned at her mother, who had become slightly over-protective ever since her father was killed in the line of duty two years earlier.

"I'm sure, Mom. GALU has an amazing arts program and you know it's been my dream ever since my art teacher told me about it." She stuffed another pair of jeans into her already over-filled bag. "You know, most mothers would be ecstatic that their only child was going to university," she huffed.

"I am," Renee insisted, reaching over to zip up the bag as Bella kneeled on top of it. "It's just, you've barely been out of my sight for the last eighteen years and now you're moving halfway across the country." Her eyes watered. "I'm only going to see you on vacations and... and, this house will be so empty without you. You won't even be here for your birthday!" she yelped at the last minute.

Bella rolled her eyes. "Did you forget the impromptu Bella birthday bash yesterday?" she questioned, throwing another bag on the floor and packing it with her various art supplies. "As for the distance, its a day and a half drive at most," she insisted. "Besides, you'll finally have a chance to get some quality alone time with that jail bait boyfriend of yours." It had taken her mother almost a year and a half before she came to term with her father's death. Despite her reluctance to accept him in the beginning, Bella was actually glad when her mother started dating Phil five months ago. It was great to see her smiling again.

"Hey," Renee yelped, swiping at her. "He's only six years younger than I am!"

Bella dodged out of the way with a laugh. "Whatever you say Mrs. Robinson." A full belly laugh from her mother joined hers. "And," Bella added, "with all that alone time, you'll be so blissed out, you won't even know I'm gone."

Renee stepped closer and drew Bella into her warm embrace, surrounding her daughter with the soothing scent of black tea and mint.

"Sure I will, Pic," she murmured, affectionately using the nickname her father had given her upon the onset of her budding artistic skills.

"My own little Picasso!" He had exclaimed at the time.

God I miss him, Bella thought. She felt tears prickling her eyes as she returned her mother's embrace.

The two women stood silently in the mostly stripped room. Eighteen years of Bella's life was packed away in the bags on her floor and the boxes that lined the hallway entrance.

"You ready, Bella?" A male voice asked from the doorway of Bella's room. Both women had been so lost in the moment, that neither had heard Phil's approach.

"Yep," Bella agreed, detangling herself from her mother's arms and closing the flap on her final bag.

Phil smiled. "Great. Your truck tank is full and I already started loading a few of the boxes on the back." He turned to leave. "Oh," he added as an afterthought, "Haulers-r-Us called about fifteen minutes ago; they said your bed and things arrived yesterday. The super let them in and they managed to get everything set up for you."

The partial scholarship she had gotten, along with the rather large life insurance policy Charlie Swan had set up years before his death, had allowed Bella to find a comfortable and surprisingly affordable apartment about a fifteen minute drive from campus. It had one bedroom and a bath, and the kitchen and living room were separated by a low dividing wall. The best part (other than not having to put up with the awkwardness of a roommate you had no guarantee of getting along with) was the large window dead center in the living room, offering an amazing view of a sparkling river in the distance. It was the perfect place to put her drawing table.

"Thanks, Phil." Bella replied, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

-oo-

The three of them working together had the rest of the boxes and bags loaded quickly and within an hour's time. After Bella locked the truck bed cover (definitely her most sensible birthday gift ever, thanks Phil), she was once again pulled back into her mother's arms as she blubbered loudly into her neck.

"My baby... my little girl," she kept repeating.

It took another five minutes of soothing and a promise to call her as soon as she got there before she let Bella go.

Phill was next as he offered her an affectionate, yet awkward hug, followed by a gentle 'there, there' like patting on her back. Bella stifled a grin. What a goof, she thought. A final round of goodbyes, a honk of the horn, and Bella was off, with a good twenty hours of driving ahead of her and a bag full of energy drinks on her passenger seat,

It took almost ten hours of straight driving before she couldn't ignore the hunger pains anymore. She caught sight of a sign up ahead, promising gas stations, motels and restaurants at the next off ramp, and steered her truck in that direction.

Minutes later, she pulled into a cozy little diner that proclaimed itself: 'Mama's Home Cooking'. Slipping from the cab of the truck, she stretched hard, her limbs popping, and breathed a sigh of relief. She made her way to the door, grinning slightly when she opened it and the mouth-watering scent of food hit her nose. A pleasantly plump waitress, Sue according to the name tag, flashed her a smile as soon as she entered and lead her past a few scattered patrons towards a booth in the back.

"Get you something to drink, hun?" She asked as she placed a worn menu in front of Bella.

Deciding she was already wired enough thanks to the (five!) energy drinks she had already consumed today, she crossed her usual drink of choice, coffee, off the list. Shrugging off her jacket, she asked, "Do you have any lemonade?"

"Sure do. Freshly made every day. And with real lemons, none of that powdered stuff here," Sue boasted proudly.

Bella smiled at her exuberance. "I'll take a glass of that, please."

Sue returned a few moments later, placing a chilled glass beside her menu with a promise to give her a few minutes to decide.

"Give me a holler when you're ready," she instructed with a smile, walking off to greet the family of four that just entered.

Picking up the menu, Bella scanned it, struggling to focus on the words before her. Now, without the welcome distraction of her music around her, which she had cranked specifically for this reason, she felt her mind begin to wander, thinking over what she had said to her mother before she left.

-oo-

She told her GALU had been her dream school and she hadn't been lying about that. But she had lied about something.

Her art teacher, Ms. Dempsey, had given her several applications to various prestigious schools and art programs halfway into her last term. GALU, a smaller and subsequently lesser known school, had been crammed in, probably as a last minute addition at the bottom. It hadn't been one of the ones her teacher had recommended (or even mentioned period) in her long winded speech that involved the phrase 'great opportunity for you' no less than five times.

While waiting for her mother to get home later that night, (having been given explicit instructions not to look through the pamphlets till she got there), Bella lazily skimmed through them, nothing particular really catching her eye.

Until she finally came to that pamphlet at the bottom.

Her eyes scanned the front of it, zeroing in on the name Galveston University. Galveston. Her heart gave a rough jerk.

Why does that name sound so familiar? She wondered.

There was something there, dancing along the edge of her memories, too far away for Bella to reach. She frowned, focusing harder... reaching...it was close... it was..

"Bella?" Gone.

Her mother's voice broke her concentration and whatever memory had been forming in her mind had quickly dissipated.

But the feeling that name had invoked remained and later the night, as she slept, she felt herself slipping back into a familiar dream.

It started as it usually did, her clad in an old fashioned dress, standing in an empty field next to a tall oak tree, the sunlight glittering through the thick leaves and warming her face. There was faint shape carved into the tree. The lines of it were disconnected, but you could vaguely make out a rough heart-like shape. In one hand, she held a strange yellow rock, its smooth surface catching the rays of the sun and shining like gold. In the other she held a beautifully lush red primrose (a flower she recognized thanks to its frequent appearance in her grandmother's garden when she had still been alive.) She'd stare at the objects in her hand, as the sun grew brighter and hotter with each passing second. Then three things would happen simultaneously; the rock would crumble to dust and sift between her fingers, the flower would blacken and die and the tree in front of her would burst into flames. She always turned and ran after this happened, waking up in a cold sweat moments later, tears streaking down her face.

But this night was different. This time when she turned, her path was blocked by a large, and very out of place road sign. Mystified, Bella looked up at the towering white letters that read: Welcome to Galveston.

She jerked awake. But instead of feeling fear, she felt a calm certainty run through her. She may not have known the what or the why of her dream, but she felt certain that it was where she was meant to go. And maybe that would eventually lead to some of the answers to the questions she had been asking herself for years.

So, later that afternoon as her mother was taking a second look through the applications, a confident Bella eagerly slide the GALU pamphlet over to her mother, telling her all the wonderful things her teacher had to say about the school. And, not for one second, did she feel the least bit guilty for lying.

-oo-

"You make up your mind yet, hun?"

Bella was startled out of her thoughts when Sue returned to her side, flipping open a small notebook and pulling a pencil from behind her ear.

"Yeah, can I get the cheeseburger with home fries?"

Her pencil scratched across the paper. "Fried or on the grill?"

"Grill."

More scratching. "Onions with that?"

Bella nodded.

"Alrighty. Your order'll be up in about fifteen."

"Thanks."

Watching Sue push past the swinging door into the kitchen, Bella found herself wondering if she'd made the right decision by not telling her mother any of this. She had considered telling her about the dreams once, right before her father had died, but they had strangely stopped after that, and she hadn't found it unnecessary. That night, the one that had encouraged her enrollment in GALU, had been been the first dream she'd had in years.

But then again, how would she explain that she had been dreaming, of a place apparently, since she was a little girl? Or even better, how the content of the dream itself seemed to be stuck on the repeat button. Content, some people could argue as being very unsettling, maybe even foreboding. It certainly wouldn't speak too favorably of her sense if she had still chosen to come to a place after all of that.

Yep, Bella decided. Definitely won't be explaining the thought process behind that decision. Not when I don't quite understand it myself.

Besides, it would probably prove to be as difficult to explain as what had occurred on her thirteenth birthday.

-oo-

She had been all about horses that year. Filling up a notebook with pages and pages of drawings of the creature she considered 'majestic.' So as a surprise, her father had taken her to a ranch that offered horse-back riding packages to families. She had been so excited when they passed under the arch that proudly welcomed people to 'Silver Range Ranch', jumping out of the car seconds after it had rolled to a stop and rushing over to the corral where several horses were grazing.

So entranced, Bella offered only a brief glance at the youngish man who was currently exchanging a hand shake with her father, before turning back to the horses.

"Hey there, little miss," a thick Texas twang greeted from behind her. "I hear it's your birthday."

Bella turned around slowly. She took in the half-cocked cowboy hat atop longish, messy blond hair, blue eyes that sparkled with genuine joy and the wide grin that stretched a tan and roughly handsome face before bursting into hysterical tears.

The man made gentle shushing sounds as he moved closer and bent to her level. "Hey, it's alright there, little darlin'..."

He was startled into silence when Bella slapped her hands over her ears, her sobs increasing in intensity as she roughly pushed past him, almost knocking the poor man off his feet, and made a mad dash back to the car.

It had taken a half-hour of softly spoken goading, before her slightly embarrassed parents finally agreed to her, still a tinge hysterical, pleas to leave. Despite the best efforts of her mother to coax her into conversation, she was silent the whole way home.

Though she had long outgrown the ritual, she didn't protest when her father tucked her into bed later that night after she finally apologized for ruining the surprise he had planned. He had assured it was alright, before a serious look settled on his features and he asked her what exactly had happened.

Looking him square in the eye, Bella admitted, "I don't know." And it was left at that.

She would never draw another horse again.

-oo-

Bella pushed her plate away, certain that that had been the best cheeseburger she'd ever eaten. She made sure to tell Sue that when she returned to the table to clear the dishes.

"Thank you, hun. I'll be sure to pass the compliments onto Earl, our cook. Can I get you dessert? I make a pretty mean apple pie."

Bella groaned. "Tempting.. but no thanks, I don't think I could eat another bite."

Bella watched as Sue jotted down a total and slid the bill across to her. "You just leave the money on the table, hun. And have a safe drive."

With the mention of driving, Bella realized how tired she was. It seemed those energy drinks had finally worn off and she was crashing hard. "Is there a motel around here?"

Stuffing her notebook back into the front pocket of her apron, Sue nodded. "Yep, just follow the road you're on right now for about ten minutes and hang a left at the first turn. It's called Everdeen's Inn, you can't miss it." She leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. "You'll pass a place called the Bedby Motel on the way there, but I recommend you don't stay there. Us locals call it the 'BedBug' Motel."

Bella grimaced. "Thanks for the tip."

Throwing some money down, Bella slipped into her jacket, slipped her wallet back into her pocket and offered a cheery goodbye wave to Sue.

"Be sure to come back for breakfast!" Sue called.

Bella grinned. If the breakfast was as good as the burger, she'd definitely be back in the morning.

-oo-

A half-hour later, Bella had her phone up to her ear as she turned the deadbolt on her door.

"Yes mom, I'm locking the door right now." A pause. "Yes, tell Phil the truck bed cover is locked as well. I checked twice." She looked around the small, but tidy room. "Yes, it's very clean." She grinned. "The name? I think it said Bate's Motel." She was forced to hold the phone slightly away from her ear as she unzipped the bag with her other hand and dug around for her pajamas. "Mom? Mom! You're right, I'm sorry, that wasn't very funny."

Thank god she can't see me smiling. I'm a terrible daughter.

Rolling her eyes, Bella walked to the small table in the corner of the room. Wrapping her hand around the wooden chair that was pushed underneath it, she began dragging it towards the door.

"Yes mother, I'm wedging the chair under the doorknob as we speak," she promised, proceeding to do just that. "I love you too, mom. Say goodnight to Phil for me... yes, I'll call you before I leave, alright? Bye."

I feel like I've just been put through trial, Bella thought as she ended the call. Her mother was great, don't get her wrong, but... damn.

After brushing her teeth, donning the shorts and tee that made up her pajamas and slipping beneath the crisp, clean sheets (she hadn't been lying to her mother, this room was surprisingly very clean. She silently thanked Sue again for the suggestion) Bella allowed her tired body to sink into the mattress with a sigh of bliss. She wondered if she would dream tonight.

The dreams had disappeared again after she had made the decision to apply to GALU that day. She had thought it was just as strange as the last time they had stopped.

I'm too tired to think about this now. Maybe I'll give it more thought in the- She drifted off mid thought.

She didn't dream. Instead, she unconsciously reached.

-oo-

Hours away, a blond-haired vamp kneeled in front of a stone monument frowned at the strange tugging sensation in his gut. Brushing it off as nothing more than a new addition to his misery, he went back to his mourning.

-oo-

Ignored again, a deeply buried part of her soul wept to itself.

Come morning, Bella would find herself perplexed at the suspiciously soaked pillow.

A/N: Curious about the significance of the dream? Type opaque yellow rock into Google (this is, of course, under the assumption that you're getting the same search results that I do) and maybe you'll get a hint ;) Feel free to look up the meaning of Primroses while you're doing it. And if you don't feel like doing that, please don't hesitate to ask in a review... it might make me feel generous enough to tell you (but it won't be half as fun as discovering it on your own!)