Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".

Author's Notes - Also Take Note This great story wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for my dear Friend HG or as some of you know him Hollowgo.

Also note I couldn't come up with a very good way to describe the book of legends so I borrowed a good friend of mine's passage for the book. megster1992 story Probability and Possibility, is where I got the passage from in chapter 9. So please give thanks to him for the great passage.

Rating - Older Teen to Mature

By: WDG and Lash_Larue

The Garden of Four - Chapter Nine – Panic

It had been a week since Bella last saw Alice, and she still felt as if her world was crumbling around her. First, Alice had found out her secret, Bella's most private secret at that. Then she found out that Taylor was right, the fucking Cullen's were all vampires, even cute little Alice.

Bella growled and threw her book at the wall. She was getting frustrated, and how did Taylor know? How did she know before Bella? It should have caused more panic in Bella to learn that Alice was a vampire, but something about Taylor knowing first upset Bella a little more. Bella paced back and forth in her room before sighing and walking over to pick up her book from the floor. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, she thought, 'That's a lie, I was afraid of the Cullen's for a brief moment when Alice had first told me. I came home the next day and have been avoiding Alice for a week.' But as the days had passed without the cute little pixie Bella felt more saddened at the loss than frightened by knowing what Alice was.

Groaning, she flopped back on her bed, and thought some more. Taylor had tried to warn Bella, but still she had been kind of too pushy in her warnings. But maybe, just maybe she could tell Bella a few things. 'Hmmm, maybe I can go and tell her that I know what the Cullen's are, and that I would like some more info on them.' Bella opened her eyes and looked at her bedroom ceiling for a moment or two more before getting up, grabbing her shoes, and heading out the door to her truck.

When Bella arrived at the reservation, she hopped out of her truck and scouted around town a bit. She was looking for Taylor, or even Leah, because it seemed that whenever Leah was around, so was Taylor. She had been looking around for quite some time when saw a shop near the edge of the small town on the reservation. She looked around for a moment when she felt a shiver go up her spine, but seeing nothing she just shook her head and continued on her path. She climbed up the stairs leading to the bookstore and walked in.

A small bell gave off a slight ring when she entered, and the old man behind the counter smiled and nodded to her before going back to the book that was open in front of him, while the old woman next to him looked briefly at Bella before smiling and going back to work as well. Bella walked around the store for a while before finding herself in the myth section. Looking at the many different books, she grabbed one about vampires, but after reading through the first few pages she sighed and put it back.

The book contained nothing of any use to her, browsing around further; she found a few more books on myths, some about shape shifters, and others about vampires and werewolves. But again none of them were of any use, and she was about to give up hope of finding something useful when a book on the end of a shelf near the back caught her eye; it looked worn, and the pages were frayed and turning yellow from age.

Picking it up she read the title out loud to herself"The Quileute Tribe: A History of Legends." Bella opened the book and began to read the table of contents. Finding a section called 'The Cold Ones', Bella's mind flashed to Alice; nodding her head she flipped to the page and began to read. 'Vampires come in all shapes and sizes, much like humans do. They may be burly like a weightlifter, or tiny and pixie-like. Some have red eyes, while others have golden eyes, depending on their diet.'

Bella's thoughts went immediately back to Alice, she was definitely the pixie type and Alice's eyes were golden, but did that mean that Alice ate humans or something else? Bella read more of the legends in the book, and one of the other legends that caught her eye was the one about the Quileute shape shifters, and how their greatest enemies where the Cold Ones or, simply put, Vampires.

Bella was going to close the book when she saw a chapter that was new to the book, and wasn't in the table of contents, looking around nervously, she flipped the page and read the title to the chapter. "Lycanthropes, best known as the true king of shape shifters, or simply the Werewolf." Bella saw that the chapter was pretty long, so she just decided to buy the book. Walking up to the front desk Bella placed the book on the counter and said, "Umm, I would like to buy this, please." The old man looked up from his book and saw what book she meant.

"I'm sorry Miss, but this book isn't allowed out of the store, I don't know who put this on the racks." He was about to take it back when the old woman subtly elbowed him and gave him a look, he locked eyes with her for a moment before taking a quick glance at Bella. The old woman nodded and gave a knowing smile before turning back to her work.

"Oh, my mistake, my dear, I thought this was a different book. Now you said you would like to buy it?" seeing Bella get look of relief on her face before she nodded her head to his question, the old man hoped his wife knew what she was doing. "Well then, that will be ten dollars and fifty cents please."

Bella nodded and reached for her wallet and pulled out a twenty dollar bill and fifty cents. After getting back a ten in change, she grabbed her book and made her way back out of the store. After watching the young teen walk out of the store, the old man turned to the woman, "Emma, why did you make me let the girl buy that book? You know it's not for sale, it's not even meant to be up in the front of the store".

Emma turned around smiled "Oh hush, Tim, I know what I am doing. Besides, I put the book up front, I have had a feeling all week that something, or rather someone, was coming for it, and it just happens that girl is the one. Now before you go and start saying anything, you know these feelings of mine have always been right, so just give me a kiss and go back to your book, husband."

Tim sighed before smiling and nodding his head, and leaning in he gave his wife a kiss and went back to his book. He just hoped that nothing bad would come from this, not only would that mean trouble for the teen, but it could also mean trouble for him and his wife because they were letting the book of the biggest secrets in Forks go, and in the hands of a teenaged girl at that.

Bella was walking down the steps when she finally took notice of how dark it was outside the store, and pulling the book closer to her chest, she quickened her pace down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, she saw her truck, and was nearly to it when a voice stopped her cold.

"Well, well, if it isn't the leech lover." Bella swallowed hard and turned to meet the fierce glare of Leah Clearwater, along with a few other guys and girls, but there was no Taylor in sight.

"What are you doing here, girl? I thought I told you to stay away from here, and before you going saying that I didn't, I did, because from the beach onward is La Push and you are not welcome," Leah stated with rage seeping through her voice. She had indeed told Bella the day of the beach party to stay way from La Push, but still the girl had showed up at the beach. She left the beach in a hurry after a few minutes, but now the vampire-loving slut was back on her land. She didn't like it one bit.

Bella backed up and felt herself begin to panic, seeing that the group now blocked her only path back to the store and to the alleyway that way that lead to the road. Bella began to back up towards the woods.

"So, last I checked this was a free country, and I can go wherever I want, Leah. Besides, what the hell did I ever do to you?" While Bella could put up a good show of words, she was literally shaking on the inside.

"Why you dirty leech whore, you'd better be careful about the way you talk to me." Leah growled and stepped forward, she could smell the fear coming off Bella, plus she could still detect a slight smell of Vampire on the girl and that only made her madder. "Oh, and for your information, you want to know what you really did to piss me off? Why, Bella Swan, it's simple, you came back to Forks and you are ruining my life, now if I were you," Leah paused and signaled for the others to begin to close in on the girl. "I would….run" and Bella did just that, turning on her heels she sprinted to the forest.

Heart pounding in her chest at a mile a minute, she could hear them trying to catch up with her, and laughing as they gave chase. Bella ran for all she was worth, her legs pumping her forward in an unknown direction. The forest got darker as the night really began to fall, and the moon was barely providing any light through the trees. And so of course the most foreseeable thing happened, Bella tripped over a fallen branch, and she went tumbling down a small slope. Landing on her back she hit her head on a rock, and, hissing a little at the pain Bella quickly scrambled back up to her feet and backed up to a tree, panting, but still holding on to the book.

She felt something wet sliding down her face; Bella reached up and touched her head, and pulling her fingers back she panicked more. It was blood. Bella was bleeding from someplace on her head. She couldn't really tell exactly where or how seriously she was injured, all alone in the dark, but it was a lot of blood. Bella began to hyperventilate, and backing up more tightly against the tree, she tried to hear if Leah and her group of friends were still out there. Not hearing them, she relaxed just a bit, but then she heard something else… the soft sound of something big rumbling closer and closer to her.

Bella knew that she should try to hide, that she should call for help or something, but instead she remained frozen to the spot. The sound was coming around from directly behind her, and taking a shallow breath, her heart seeming to almost burst from her chest; she looked up and saw a pair of silver-blue eyes and dark fur before her world went black.

All around her was darkness; it filled the entire void around her, no sound, no light, no nothing. Bella didn't know how long she had been in this void, but gradually sounds began to reach her. First it was the soft beeping of what sounded like some kind of machine, and then, faintly, a voice reached her, it was so soft, so soothing... "Hang on Bella, please hang on. Please….please don't leave me, I just found you, you can't die on me."

It was the first voice Bella had heard in a while, and before too long Bella heard more of it. Sometimes it would say things about how Bella needed to hurry and wake up, or more things about what was going on in the world of the waking. Two new voices began to appear at times, and both were just as soothing as the first. But they still sounded different to her ears for some reason; both of them encouraged her to wake up too, but they also added stuff like, "If you don't wake up soon, I swear to God I will smack you awake, whether Alice wants me to or not. *sigh*... please wake up, she needs you…I... we need you, please, Bella."

This voice was always accompanied by a sort of flowery smell. This was something that was new to Bella, a somehow different sense of smell. The second new voice was more of a talker than anything else.

"You know what, I think after you do wake up, all four of us really need to sit down and have a chat, because something is going on here .It can't be possible for three vampires to mate with the same human, especially when two of them are already a mated pair…damn it, things are getting complicated." This voice brought confusion to her mind, why was this woman speaking as if vampires existed and what the hell did she mean by 'mate'?

For weeks or months, Bella really couldn't tell how long she had been in this sub space of a black void; these two would come to talk to her. But the first voice from before was not there, and for some reason that hurt. Where was the first voice? Didn't she care as much as the other two did about Bella? It was later on that Bella felt something new, a touch, the softest touch she had ever felt, cool hands wrapped around her own and Bella smiled. Taking a deep breath she smelled honey and fresh snow. Then the soothing voice spoke.

"Sorry I haven't been here, Bella, but I needed to hunt. Esme says my eyes were so dark that I was scaring the nurses away. Emmett even said I really did look like the walking dead…it wasn't funny at the moment, but I think he might have been right. No reason to look bad for you even though you're not awake to see me." The voice paused and Bella felt a slight weight settle beside her, she tried to reach out for it and hold it, but she couldn't. "Please wake up soon Bella, I have something I need to tell you…Please wake up so I can tell you how much I love you." Bella felt something soft and cool touch her, and she knew instantly it was the voice's lips kissing her forehead.

Fire spread through Bella's soul, and she felt the most excruciating pain of her life go through her body. It felt as if something was burning her from the inside out, and that her head was being beat on by a jackhammer. Her eyes felt like lead and her tongue felt like the Sahara desert. Slowly opening her eyes, she was blinded by the light, hissing and closing her eyes to protect them from the brightness, she heard someone quickly walking around the room and turning something off.

"Bella, how are you feeling, my dear?" It was Carlisle.

Opening her eyes she saw she that was hooked up to a few machines and laying in a hospital bed. "Well, I am breathing and alive, but it feels like my head is being beaten in by a jackhammer and my tongue is dry enough to just fall right off," Bella croaked out. Carlisle nodded and walked out for a second, only to reappear in the next second holding a cup of water with a straw.

"Here you go Bella, drink up, and I will give you something for the headache." Bella accepted the cup with wobbly hands before she felt herself steadying, and holding the cup close she pulled the straw into her mouth and took huge gulps of water. Carlisle watched Bella drink her water with no trouble before he walked over to one of the machines and punched in a code; it would ease some of her pain and help with her headache.

Walking over to grab the empty cup when Bella was finished, he set it down on a table and moved to do a quick check up on Bella while he spoke. "Your dad has been worried sick; I just sent him home a few minutes ago to get some rest with the promise that I would call him if something came up." Pulling out a light he checked Bella's eyes. "My wife and kids have been very worried as well, especially Alice." He stepped back and picked up a patient chart and wrote some things down before placing it beside him on the table. "Now then, you seem fine, under the circumstances, and your wounds are healing, which is great considering that you have been in a coma for about three weeks." Bella gasped and looked at Carlisle in confusion.

"WHAT?…What happened, how did I end up in a coma?"

Carlisle frowned. "You don't remember what happened, Bella?" He got up and reached out to her head gently and checked her charts once more. Bella shook her head.

"No, the only thing I can remember is, I was out looking for someone….I was looking for …ummm, oh, Taylor! I was looking for Taylor because Alice said…"

Bella paused and Carlisle smiled and said, "Alice told you we are vampires, correct?" Bella nodded and ran her hands down the bedspread and cleared her throat.

"Yeah…she did…but I know she didn't do anything to me, because I remember being at my house after that…avoiding her and your whole family actually…I was just so confused, you know, plus Alice found out that I am…well you know, that I have some extra parts down there." Carlisle nodded and waited for her to go on.

"So I went home and like I said I began to avoid your family. I remember being so afraid, then angry and confused, because Taylor had tried to warn me about what ya'll were. But she said something I didn't agree with, and I remembered that she knew about your secret, so I went down to La Push to try and talk to her…I didn't find her anywhere. But I did find a bookstore; they even had this cool book all about…well, vampires and other creatures." Bella paused and looked around for said book.

Carlisle stood up and said, "Hang on a second, my dear Bella." He left through the door and Bella waited for about a minute before he came back through it with a briefcase in his hands.

Opening it he pulled out the old worn book and gave to the girl. "I couldn't really let anyone see this or get hold of it, so I had to put it up until you awoke, but now you are awake, so here you go."

Bella grinned and held out her hands for it. Pulling it close she smiled and blushed. "Thanks for doing that, it would suck if someone stole it, or worse, told people your family's secret." Carlisle nodded and patted her on the knee gently.

Bella smiled and went back to her story. "Anyway, like I said, I couldn't find Taylor, but I found the store and the cool book, and after a spending a while in the store I bought the book and was walking out when I noticed how dark it had gotten. I was making my way towards my truck when …Leah Clearwater and some of her friends showed up. They weren't really happy to see me, so I ran off into the woods hoping to get away, which was a bad idea. I ran for a good while before I tripped over something and hit my head, I remember I was bleeding…I tried to hear if Leah was still around…and when I thought the coast was clear I heard something….but I…didn't really get a good luck at it…then…boom, nothing. After that I can't remember jack." Bella looked at Carlisle.

Carlisle frowned and tried to think of a way to tell the girl what had happened. "Bella, there is really no easy way to say this, so I am just going to tell you and get it over with. You were correct in thinking that Leah and her group were no longer with you, because they weren't. Unlike yours, their senses told them not to go farther into woods because they could sense something superior to them lurking within it. I am sure you can guess what it was that was in the woods, can't you Bella?" Carlisle looked at the girl, and saw fear flash across Bella's face. Her hands tightly gripping the book in her lap, Bella remembered a brief section she had read in the last chapter she had stumbled upon in the book. The second section concerning the lycanthropes.

She remembered reading something that said, "It is a beast that places fear into the hearts of the strongest of shape shifters, even the mighty Quileute Tribe stay far out of its way…" Bella squeezed her eyes shut.

"No…I can't be, it just can't, please…Carlisle it can't be true."

Carlisle got up and nodded sadly. He reached out for her right arm and slowly pulled the gown sleeve up. White wrappings covered Bella's arm, and it was slightly pink near her upper bicep and slowly becoming darker. Carlisle undid the wrappings and Bella wanted to hurl, there was a huge chunk of skin missing, and a bite mark that looked like it should have snapped her arm in half. Turning her head away she felt the bile rising in her throat. Carlisle, seeing Bella begin to react, quickly covered her arm with fresh bandages and pulled the sleeve back down, and racing over to a bucket he grabbed it just in time.

Bella heaved into the bucket while Carlisle held her hair back and rubbed her back soothingly. Bella began to sob, and clung to Carlisle like a child to its father. "What I am going to tell Charlie….Hey, Dad, I'm even more of a freak! Now I can grow fur and fangs, isn't that cool?" Bella held tighter to Carlisle "And how will your family take it? I am your enemy now; I can't even be around you anymore, how I am going to live like that?" Bella began to sob more.

Carlisle smiled, and trying to cheer the girl up said, "Don't worry about your dad, Bella, I will handle that. He will never have to know unless you want to tell him, and if you do my family and I will all be there to help you out along the way." Pulling the girl's face up to look at him, he continued, "As for the enemy thing, you're wrong, for some strange reason you still smell as you did when you were human. You don't smell anything like a normal Lycanthrope would. Besides, even if you did we aren't so shallow as to let something like that come between us, Bella. Haven't you realized yet that to us you are a part of this family too? Esme just adores you, and loves cooking for you and getting to spend some time acting like a mother hen with her chick. Emmett loves playing video games with you and telling you all sorts of jokes, and about the pranks he has pulled. Edward misses being able to play that chess match you promised him and the fact that he would love to show you some books he thinks you would love to read, and Jasper thinks for some reason that you will be the best little sister he has ever had, because you weren't scared of him when you first met. Rose and Victoria want to help you with your school work, and also they think you're great for Alice, and Alice…..well Alice misses you the most of all. But you know what, Bella, you have been a good thing for my whole family, you have brought us all something that we didn't know we were missing. You brought us happiness and love, love from a human child who needed us as much as we needed you, and you never wanted anything in return for your kindness."

Bella cried and held onto Carlisle until her throat was raw and her eyes puffy. "Now, do you feel any better?" Bella nodded. "Good, now, seeing as how you're still in the healing process, you'll have to stay in the hospital until that arm heals up better, and well, some of your bones did break in the process. So you will be staying here for a while. But I am sure you will get bored, so I can let you have visitors starting tomorrow. I am also sure that you will be happy to see your dad. Now get some rest, and I will bring you something good for breakfast tomorrow because I know that as soon as I get home and tell her you're awake that Esme will want to cook you something. Now goodnight, my dear Bella." Carlisle helped Bella get into a more relaxing position and covered her up; he pushed a code into the machine again and sent her a few more pain meds before smiling and kissing her on the forehead. He saw the book on the table and he stuffed it under her pillows and then moved to the door, smiling at her once more as he closed it and then went back to his office to file some reports before heading home.

Walking in he was greeted by the sight of his family all sitting in the living room, all of them looking very forlorn. Smiling, he walked in closer and said, "You know, you can wipe those frowns off your faces, because Bella has finally woken up." Alice was the first to react, her head whipped around, a smile taking up her whole face.

"Really? She's awake? Good I need to go see her!" Alice was about to zip by when Carlisle grabbed her.

"No, not tonight Alice, true, she did wake up, but I have already put her back to sleep. She had a rough night, cried her little heart out. "

Alice nodded and sat back down before saying, "So…you told her then…you told her what has happened to her…that she is no longer human."

Carlisle nodded "Yes she took the news badly at first; she thought we would all abandon her, along with her father if he found out."

Rose growled and shook her head, "We would never do such a thing!" Alice glanced at Rose and hissed a little.

"Girls….not now," said Esme with a warning glare. Rose looked away and curled up closer to Victoria. Alice moved her glare to Victoria before sighing and looking away herself. Carlisle saw this and thought for a second before nodding in satisfaction.

"I do have some bad news though, something that we will have to take up with the Quileute Tribe and their leaders. It seems as if Leah Clearwater and some of her friends were the reason Bella was even anywhere near Lycanthrope territory." Alice growled and jumped up to pace back and forth.

"Why that insolent pup, wait 'till I get my hands on her, I will show her the true meaning of what it is to be skinned alive! No, I will -"

Carlisle hopped up and said, "No, you cannot do anything to her Alice, because if you do then when we tell them what she did she will not get punished." Alice frowned, but nodded her head and sat back down. Esme got up and went to help soothe her anger.

"Now, we can't deal with the leaders of the tribe just yet, not until Bella is up and about so that she can come along with us to prove our point to the leaders. So until then all of us need to keep our tempers in check and keep a clear head on our shoulders, agreed?" Carlisle spoke. All heads nodded in agreement. "Good, now some good news is that Bella will be allowed visitations tomorrow, her dad being first of course, and then some of you may visit her if you wish, but don't crowd her too much." Alice perked up and began to bounce in her seat.

"Good, I can bring her the schoolwork she has missed and help her catch back up, and maybe sort out this thing between me and her." Rose hissed and was held back by Victoria.

Esme sighed. "Maybe you three should talk about other things with her as well, but not too soon. One vampire trying to date her is enough, so Rose, you need to calm yourself down. You have had Victoria for years as your mate, and Alice has never had one. Sure, you let her join you and Victoria out of care for her at times, but now I am asking you to give Alice her chance alone with Bella for a while. Then all four of you can sit down and discuss the issue of you and Victoria joining in their love and all becoming one, because let's be honest; nothing like this has ever happened before. Never have three vampires found their mate in a human, let alone the same human, a human that is now a Lycanthrope. So please, girls, settle down." Rose, Alice and Victoria all looked at each other before slowly nodding, and then Rose, losing her anger and settling down looked back up at Alice remorsefully and said...

"Sorry, Al…I sort of forget you have never had a mate before….it's just that when we thought she had died something inside us changed…Bella is something special for us now too, ya know?" Victoria nodded at Alice, confirming that what Rose said was true while rubbing her mate's back softly. Alice smiled and got up and moved to hug both of them. Soon all three were hugging each other, and then Alice pulled back a bit.

"I understand, Rose, and thank you for letting me have some alone time with Bella before we have to tell her about all three of us loving her." Rose nodded her head and Victoria smiled and hugged them both tighter.

"About time you two stopped fighting like a couple of cats over the newest chew toy."

"VICTORIA!" Rose and Alice screamed before chasing off after the redhead, who had jumped away and started to sprint for the back door. Esme watched them go along with the rest of the family before turning to Carlisle.

"Well, I had best go read some cookbooks and see what I can come up with for Bella, because as great as a doctor you are, Carlisle, no matter which hospital we go to, their food always looks disgusting, even to a Vampire. Also, Bella will need all the food she can eat now; to keep up with her new body as a Lycanthrope." As she walking out of the living room and heading for the kitchen Edward heard her think, 'I wonder if I can sneak her a few extra bowls of food, because one probably won't be enough.' Edward got up and went to help her, and to see what they could find to fix for the injured girl.

Carlisle watched them go and smiled at the sight before turning to Emmett and Jasper, "What are you two going to do to now that the rest are occupied? I have to go look up some more things that might help Bella, and then call her father in the morning."

Emmett and Jasper both got up and looked at each other before saying, "Do you need any help with that research on what could help Bella?"

Carlisle nodded and said, "The more, the merrier, boys." before all three headed up to Carlisle's study in search of things that could help Bella.

Somewhere out in the woods Rose sat up against a rock with Victoria in her lap while Alice lay in the grass not too far from them. "You know, with this happening to her she is going to grow a few inches, we all might have to take her shopping sometime soon to get her some clothes," said Alice from her spot in the grass. Turning to look at her sisters, she grinned, "Are you two going to help me? Because I know Bella just hates shopping, which means she will try to find any excuse not to go." Rose and Victoria looked at each other before grinning as well, and then Rose answered her.

"You know we both are in, if it has anything to do with Bella or shopping!"

End of Chapter Nine

Wow, would you beilive i did all of this in one night...well i did took me forever i was up till like five a.m. in the morning. Then when i got done i sent it to lash_laure to see if they had any input, then i got it back today and posted it for you guys, the fans. I hope you guys like it. Now i have a question for all of my loyal fans, should Bella have a gift. If so what should that gift be, nothing to god like though, we don't wont Bella to be all powerful and etc. If i get a lot of ideas, and the answer is yes to bella having a gift i will put up a pole but first i need ideas so anyway got to go love you guys and girls out there that are reading this.