Weirdly, this is my longest chapter. I totally didn't plan for that to happen. I guess it's just because I had a lot to write and it just flowed really easily!

Shout out to vampireaddict21 and HopingForLove for Betaing this chapter unofficially. And reviewing me faithfully! Love you guys!

Chapter 16 – An Unexpected Visitor

Seth's POV

"Lucy?" Carlisle asked one afternoon, while we were watching 17 Again, a ridiculous movie where a thirty something guy wishes he was seventeen because he thought he threw his life away. I hadn't seen the ending yet but I guessed already that he would realise that he preferred being thirty something to seventeen. It was terrible but Lucy said it was her favourite movie so I happily put up with it while concentrating on Lucy herself instead.

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering how you got changed. It's quite a difficult thing to do without losing control. I was wondering who it was."

"Oh, ok. It's not very nice though."

"If you don't want to tell me that's fine. I don't need to know."

"No, I don't mind. I mean if I can't tell my family, who else can I tell?" she gave a short laugh, though it was rather nervous and strained.

"Well I'm glad fell that way. Do you want mind if the others hear it as well, or would you rather they didn't know?"

"Again, I don't really mind. It would be nice if I had a bit of time to gather my thoughts though."

"I think they will probably be interested. If we meet here at about ten o'clock this evening?"

"Sure." Lucy turned back to the film and pressed the play button, as she'd paused the movie when Carlisle had first spoken. She snuggled into my chest and despite her temperature being uncomfortable, I found myself dropping off to sleep. Jake hadn't let up on the nightly patrols, insisting that Lucy slipping through our defences was precisely the reason why we needed to continue them. This meant that I spent most of time absolutely knackered.

My eyelids drifted closed and I thought dazedly, I'll just rest them for five minutes...

"You liked the film then?" an amused voice pierced my consciousness and I sat bolt upright.

"I'm awake," I muttered groggily, "Yeah, it was good."

"Seth, you can't fool me. You fell asleep in the first ten minutes. You didn't even get to see Zac Efron!"

"Sorry Lucy. I guess I'm just tired. It's not a very good movie you know."

"No, it's great. It's just that guys don't like it because it's a romantic comedy."

"It's not very funny though."

"You can't talk – you haven't even seen it!"

"I slept through it; that's good enough to know that it's not funny."

"Ugh, boys!" she moaned, rolling her eyes, "Matt was exactly the same when I made him watch it!"

"Exactly. He is a man of good taste then."

"Don't worry," piped up a voice that reminded me of an evil pixie, "We'll get our revenge. This weekend we'll all go shopping! And they can't claim that they don't need anything. I know for a fact that you don't have any sneakers left, Seth. Your Mom told Bella who told me."

"Aw, crap." I groaned, slumping in my seat.

"Come on, it'll be fun! We'll hit all the major stores at the mall, then we can go and have lunch or something. Well you can, anyway." Lucy grinned at me.

"Well, if you want to, I suppose I might be able to do it," I acquiesced reluctantly.

"Love ya!" she cried excitedly

If only... "Sure Luce! Whatever you say."

"Anyways, I have something I want to show Lucy! Right now! If that's ok with you Seth?"

"What about it being ok with me?" Lucy said indignantly

"You will love it!" Alice said, "Come on!" she grabbed Lucy's arm and dragged her upstairs. Lucy turned back, a pleading look on her face.

"I'll be right back," she mouthed, following Alice upstairs.

Presently squealing noises erupted from Alice's room, and I settled down in the sofa, wondering how long Lucy would coo over Alice's new designs, for that's what I presumed they were.

"Hey Seth,"

"Edward," I grunted

"Don't worry about Lucy. She's coming around. She may not love you quite yet but when she does, and Alice tells me that she will, it will be all consuming. Her feelings for Matt are getting less potent, as she gets over him and comes to terms with his loss. Be patient."

"Gee, you think I wasn't doing that anyway? Edward, I know more than anyone the value of patience. Remember Quil? Even Jake? We are the best at patience when it comes to our imprints."

"But earlier, when you thought if only...?"

"It was an idle thought. Nothing is going to come from it until Lucy is good and ready for it."

"Oh ok, sorry if I interrupted anything," he apologised with a grimace.

"No problems mate! Hey are there going to be any games of baseball anytime soon? I could do with something like that to take my mind off things."

"Emmett is gagging to take the jeep out again so I think the next big storm and we'll be up there. Tell Jake and the rest of the pack if you want. Maybe you could get the other pack into it as well? The games have really improved since you guys have joined in!"

"Seth, come on it's time to go to the dining room. And you are probably the one who should hear this the most!" Lucy exclaimed

"Good designs then?" I asked as I got up and stretched lazily

"How do you know...?"

"You both seem to be fashion mad, it can only be designs."

"Good point." She admitted.

Everyone had gathered round the table and even the pack was there, which seemed to surprise Lucy.

"How –"

"I phoned Jake; I thought he wouldn't be in wolf form today, because he was allowed private time with Nessie."

"Oh right," she blushed

"Ok, Lucy, when you're ready." Carlisle smiled at her once he'd done a quick head check.

"Um well..."

Lucy's POV

As I started speaking, the memories came flooding back...

"I was walking along by the Thames, on the way home after meeting my boyfriend by the London eye, where we'd spent the day acting like tourists. It was winter and I was hunched against the cold with my portable CD player in, oblivious to my surroundings. I was hurrying, over the past few days I'd kept getting the felling like I was being watched, and I just wanted to get home to see my family.

"All of a sudden I was whisked away, faster than I thought possible. Everything blurred around me and I was terrified. My heart sped up and my captor, as though he heard this, chuckled softly.

"The high speed journey was brief, although horrifying, but the worst wasn't here yet; I could feel it. I wasn't wrong; I felt the cold sting of teeth, pressing against my wrist, before I blacked out. Not for long though; the fire that began in my wrist spread quickly and I soon became oblivious to my surroundings. It was then, I believe, that my clothes were removed and smeared with my own blood that they'd taken without consuming, then thrown into the Thames to be discovered by the police a couple of days later.

"I only knew when the fire started to dim and I could then feel my naked flesh pressing against the wood table as I flailed about, begging for it to stop. In the end my heart gave out quickly, and I was very confused. Was I dead? How could I still be conscious without a beating heart?

"I opened my eyes. It was amazing; I could see everything. My old eyes were so dim! I gazed around me, sat up. There was nobody there. I looked around again. I was right! Then I realised that I wasn't wearing anything. Again I searched the room, and I caught sight of a chest. I dashed over to it. Yes! There were clothes there. I pulled them on; they were far too big for me, a size twenty, when I was a slim eight. But it covered all vital areas, so I wasn't too fussed.

"My throat was burning very dryly. I needed a drink. But coke didn't appeal to me. Blood. The word crept unbidden into my mind, but it felt right. That was what I needed. In my earlier sweeping of the room I'd noticed a door. I went over to it but it was locked. At that point I didn't know that I was so much stronger than I used to be. I could tell I was fast. I ran around swiftly, too swiftly, yet I could see everything still. That distracted me for a few minutes but not for long. The burning in my throat was getting stronger. After a few minutes it was all I could think about. I had to have blood. I went over to the door, but at that point it opened and a man and a woman came in. they were carrying a bottle and in it was a dark red, viscous liquid. It was all I could focus on.

" 'Where is she? Are you sure you locked the door?'

" 'What do you mean where is she? Of course I locked the door. It has been nearly four days. I knew she'd be coming around soon. Wait, she's not here! Lucy? Lucy!'

"I looked between them, confused. I didn't know at that point that I was invisible. I could still see myself, but they were oblivious to my presence. But unfortunately that didn't hold my attention for long. That bottle commanded me. Quicker than thought, I grabbed it and uncorked it with my teeth before draining it in a few quick gulps.

"The vampire couple stared. It must have been strange to them, to see a bottle full of blood uncork itself and drain of liquid which then vanished into thin air.

" 'She's invisible.' They breathed, in unison.

" 'What?' I screeched, yet my voice sounded like bells, like a choir.

" 'Lucy? Um, could you possibly just try to become visible?' said the woman. She was beautiful, her skin was pale white and her eyes were crimson. Her hair was black and very long, all the way down to her knees, but at that point, was pulled up into a large scruffy bun.

" 'How do you know my name?' I cried

" 'We followed you. 'The man explained, 'We had to make sure that our new daughter was perfect.'

"It transpired that the couple were very family orientated and had wanted a child, but as the Immortal Children were banned and they didn't want to do anything to upset the Volturi, they decided to get a young, but not too young, teenager. Me.

"Except I wasn't very cooperative .Even for a young vampire, I was exceptionally volatile, distractible. As a human I had been going through puberty and the hormones kind of stayed with me, I guess. I am still easily distracted and well, you've all seen my temper already. It didn't help that I was a redhead and we are known for our tempers!

"The strain of keeping me was too great and they dumped me after a couple of years. It had been especially hard in the first few months because I still couldn't go outside. My power was still very raw and I had a habit of flickering in and out of view without even realising; not really the best way to stay unnoticed. They had to feed me and make sure I didn't wreak the building we were staying in. As I said, they dumped me after a couple of years, in the search for a more malleable child .I was glad, I resented everything about them, and the fact that they had taken away all my dreams.

"It was once they'd left that I started going to schools, pretending to be younger than I was to stay longer. I'd quickly learned how to restrain myself, because of my first few months of seclusion and not being able to satiate my thirst immediately. I now had control of my power, and I practised incessantly whenever I was nowhere near people. I learned to cover inanimate objects that I was carrying. I could already cover my clothes and as time went on I gained even more control over it. Now it is like flicking a switch." I shrugged, ending my narrative.

I was met with silence and staring faces.

"What?"

"Wow." Stated Bella

"You've been through so much," breathed Esme.

"It's just my life. I guess I was lucky in a way, that there were people who looked after me when I was newborn." I shrugged

"Lucky? You've had a terrible time. That couple who dumped you as soon as you could fend for yourself, just because you are moody. I would never do that to anyone!" exclaimed Esme, "My poor dear, how could you be so positive?"

"I've never known any other way. The couple were hugely secretive and never met with any other vampires. So I've had very little communication with anyone except them since I was transformed. Humans didn't register with me, until Matt."

"I suppose so," Esme frowned, unconvinced.

"Oh!" Alice cried suddenly. We turned to her; her eyes were unfocused.

"What?" Emmett said, "Are we having our baseball match?"

"I believe we are," she said, "there's going to be a massive storm tomorrow night over town. It should be safe then."

"Yeah!" he yelled, punching the air.

"Seth?" I said as we ran towards the field where we would be playing baseball, "I've never played baseball before. I don't know he rules. I mean, I know it's like rounders but the specifics..." I trailed off as Seth rolled a massive wolfy eye at me.

"Yeah I don't understand, what do you mean? Will I be ok; am I worrying too much? Or what?"

He barked. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, whatever."

Suddenly he stopped, and phased back as I skidded to a halt.

"You don't have to tell me now, you know. You could wait until we get there."

"We are there. I thought I'd give myself some privacy to change back, it's just through those trees." He laughed, "Anyway, you will be fine. Emmett normally makes up his own rules anyway, and it's not like we play it professionally. Competitively, well that's a completely different story!"

He looked at me, grinning, almost smug.

"Good," I replied nonchalantly, "I wouldn't want it to get boring!"

His smile faded as I walked casually out into the field, and saw the others setting up bases. It looked exactly like rounders. I flitted to Esme's side.

"Could you just go over the rules for me please?"

"Of course. I forgot they don't play baseball much in England! Well basically, you have to hit the ball, and run around the bases. If someone catches the ball, you're out, if you don't hit it that's a strike. Three strikes and you're out. If someone tags the base you're running to, you're out. That's basically it. Oh yeah and you get a homerun if you run all the way around the bases."

"Don't forget you have to hit the ball in the area, diagonally from you," Seth spread his arms to demonstrate.

"Ok, got it."

"That's about it. There are loads of other more specific rules, but we generally ignore them.. Today there are going to be seven per team, although there are usually nine, and I am going to umpire. Otherwise they will argue all day about it," Esme added with a smile. I grinned back as she chose Carlisle and Emmett as team captains.

Carlisle started, "Edward."

"Gotta have my little sister! Lucy."

"Jacob."

"Alice, get your coat you've pulled!"

"Emmett!" she laughed, as she tripped out to stand beside us.

"Jasper."

"Embry; your name is practically the same as mine. That's good enough to get on my team!"

"Emmett, your reasoning gets stranger each time!"

"Leah."

"Bella, my other sister, get your scrawny butt out here!"

"Seth."

"Quil, the Quileute! I never get tired of that!"

"Unfortunately," Quil muttered, as he walked out and flashed everyone a smile.

"Nessie."

"Rosie, babe, you're up!"

She stalked out glaring daggers at him.

"What? I still chose you, even if it was last!"

As Rosalie replied scathingly, Bella turned to me and muttered, "What's the betting that Emmett only did that to get some hot making up later?" I giggled, and we moved to our places as Emmett had won the toss and we were fielding.

The game was almost exactly like rounders, which I'd always been pretty decent at, except obviously at super fast speed. The werewolves were surprisingly quick on their feet, even as humans, and Leah had a massive swing on her. Even so, the score was fairly low. Only two homeruns had been scored by the time we'd got them all out. I'd caught Seth out and helped get Jasper out by chucking the ball as hard and fast as I could to Quil who'd got him out at the final base. I was really enjoying myself, and could see what Seth had meant by competitiveness. Leah had almost cried when she'd been caught out by Emmett, and Seth scowled fiercely at me when I got him. I blew him a kiss back, causing him to smile, and Emmett to laugh out loud.

"Come on Luce, you're first up!" boomed Emmett at me, causing me to jump, as he was only about two feet away from me. I gave him a look, then jogged up to the box. Seth was pitching, and could see that he was hoping to get revenge right there and then. I decided I would show him who was boss.

"Strike!" cried Esme, as I took a purposely duff shot.

Seth was grinning cockily, and as he released the ball I gave him a small smile back, before slamming the ball into the surrounding forest, and I saw Seth's mouth drop open in shock. Then I was flying around the bases, faster than I had ever run before.

The ball slammed into my back and knocked me flat, over the final base.

"Safe!" Esme called, clearly, as I got up and shook the mud off. Unfortunately the ball hadn't fared quite so well; it had split evenly in two.

"Oops," I said, looking at it, "Not my fault!"

"Of course not dear; it could happen to anyone," she said over guffaws from Emmett and most of the pack, "we always bring a couple of spares, just in case."

Carlisle produced a spare and threw it to Seth, as Alice stepped up to take her bat. But she didn't even swing at the ball. Her eyes were once again unfocused.

We all ran over to her. Edward got there first.

"Who is it? How long, d'you reckon?"

"I don't know, maybe five minutes." She shot a look at me, then gazed into Edward's face, communicating silently.

He nodded once, then tersely announced, "Someone's coming, one of us." He left it at that although I had a feeling that there was more to it than that.

"Who is it?"

"No one you've seen before." Edward replied to Carlisle's question, putting a weird emphasis on 'you'.

"But there's no reason to stop playing?" Edward shook his head, again shooting a lightening quick look at me, "so let's carry on." Carlisle continued

"That'll be a strike for Alice," said Esme apologetically, "next ball Seth,"

Play continued for a few minutes, but it was tenser and less playful than before. Every so often Edward or Alice would shoot a glance at the trees and everyone would follow the direction of their eyes.

After exactly five minutes of uncomfortable play, Jasper who was furthest out, turned and gazed curiously into the forest, then ran to Alice's side. The wolves all came together, as a pack, and I clung to Seth. The Cullen's all stood around the pack, leaving enough distance in case of a need to phase quickly. Seth motioned for me to join them, and although I was loathe to leave his side, I stood by Nessie, thankful that she was at least close to my age physically, and we hugged, like sisters.

The sense of foreboding hanging over us was terrible, but fortunately we didn't have to wait for long.

About thirty second later, three vampires entered the clearing and stopped just in front of us. It was a woman and two men. I recognised them. It was the couple; what were they doing here? But then I saw the man hanging at the back, except he was more of a boy. The golden hair was so familiar, but the eyes, his eyes. So bright red, yet he was unmistakable.

"Matt," I breathed.

So what do you think? Good, bad indifferent? Tell me please. It's so easy to review. You know you want to!

OK enough begging, so how about it? Quick AND long! And mega cliffy! Things are getting even more interesting!

Love Layla xxx