A/N - Hello! An update that didn't take a month to post - yay! As always, you can thank KatsFlowerGirls and SaritaDreaming that this is not absolute shite. Enjoy :)

~Bella~

When I woke up Sunday morning, I felt the same way I did after my drug overdose—like my brain was saturated with NyQuil—the old one, not the new one that was so safe it was completely ineffectual. Although, I guess given my bad experience with meth, I should be grateful something was being done to make ingredients less available, especially considering how the urge to try erasing my brain was coming on extremely strong. I never thought I would want to try drugs again, but having vampires appear in my day-to-day life was becoming too much for me to handle.

I wished my memory of Saturday night was not so clear. I wished I could chalk it all up to a dream or something. But I could not. I knew damn well when I woke up in the middle of the night on Saturday there had been a vampire in my room. I had sat next to that distinct scent every day in Biology last week, it was not something I would mistake for anything else. The smell was not unique to Edward alone; I had been close enough to the other Cullens to know they all smelled like they had been dipped in yummy maple syrup.

Shivers crawled up and down my skin like ants when I thought about waking up last night. My first thought had been that the James vampire had finally come back for me. Frantically, I had searched my room for him, expecting him to jump out of hiding in an overzealous attempt at being scary. Such theatrics would hardly be necessary for him to induce fear into every cell of my body.

Moments had passed without anyone attacking me. My father's snores could clearly be heard from his room, allowing me to know he slept safely in his bed down the hall. It seemed I was not going to be attacked tonight which left me relieved, but confused. I paced my room trying to think straight.

Who had been in my room? And, why?

Was it one of the Cullens?

Everything had been fine at school the last couple of days. After Wednesday's debacle, Thursday and Friday had gone smoothly; I had done nothing to give the vampire family any reason to be concerned. Edward had even made me laugh on Friday.

Could it have been him in my room? Did they decide I was too much of a danger to them after all?

I do not know what happened to me then. Either the adrenaline rush from waking up to the vampire scent pushed me over the edge, or the uncertainty of not knowing who was in my room was the catalyst. Whichever—suddenly, I did not fucking care anymore. I had been living in fear of these creatures for too long; if they were all going to toy with me like a mouse, I was not going to simply stand here and take it.

I ran out of my room and down the stairs, remembering too late that my father slept only a few feet away. Fortune was with me, and he did not wake up, a miracle considering he is a police officer with a teenage girl in the house.

Not even stopping, I grabbed the first thing my hand touched from the coat rack as I went by and threw it over my shoulders with one hand while closing the door with the other. I immediately regretted not paying more attention to what I wore as the light wind breaker did not add much warmth to my skimpy pajamas. The cold air was already frigid on my skin, and I felt dangerously exposed to the weather and whatever else might be out there.

Regardless, determined to continue on, I picked up speed hoping to warm myself up. I was going to turn myself into a nice little piece of bait for whoever was stalking me. It was time to end this fucking shit.

Thankfully the moon was bright, allowing me to see where I was going. Still, I managed to trip on nearly every tree root and rock the ground could put in my path. I had not gone much more than a few hundred feet before I was simply exhausted from trying to run in the woods. It was hard to maintain any sort of righteous indignation when I was skinning my knees like a four year old. Finding a conveniently located uprooted tree, I sank down in front of it and closed my eyes. I made a better target sitting than running anyway.

Once I was no longer darting this way and that like a crazy person, I was actually able to get the clarity of mind I had been seeking when pacing my room. I realized while drawing the evil vampire out and ending this farce did have some appeal, I was not quite ready to simply offer myself up as a meal to the creature who had killed my mother. But if it had been one of the Cullens who was in my room, I wanted to know, and I hoped they would come to me here and explain—assuming, of course, that they were not going to simply kill me. On the third hand, if the James vampire had decided it was snack time, better he come for me out here than in the house where my father slept unaware of what lay in wait for his daughter. Undecided as to what made the most sense, I sat there mumbling aloud, trying to use my own voice for comfort.

While I did not remember anything after that, I knew damn well that I did not pick myself up off of the ground and walk back to my house, up the stairs, and into my room. I certainly did not make myself the odd little pillow of rice that was now scattered all over my floor after I threw it off of me upon waking. Where on earth did that come from? Is it supposed to mean something? Are coffin pillows made out of rice? I could not decide if the pillow represented a threat, or if it had been an attempt at providing comfort. All I knew was that someone was in my room on Saturday night, and someone put me back in my room after I had gone off the deep end and put myself at risk.

Needing a way to keep my hands busy while my mind whirled, I decided to lose myself in some cooking and house work. It was fishing day for my dad, and I thought I would surprise him by getting the rest of our stuff unpacked and putting a nice Sunday dinner on the table while he was away.

Thankful he was already gone, I headed downstairs to have some breakfast before starting my day. Saving myself more work later, I kept it simple with a bowl of cereal eaten in front of the TV. I flipped on the news and was not surprised to see a report of three recent unexplained deaths in the area. They were thought to be the work of a rabid animal. I disagreed.

Setting my cereal aside, I slumped down in my seat and rested my head in my arms. This must be it. There were too many signs—the vampires in school, the one or more in my room, my unexplained transport from the forest to my bed—it was as if my own personal apocalypse was being portended. The phrase "dead man walking" all of a sudden took on new meaning for me. I could feel it—this new emptiness inside, like there was no longer a point to anything anymore.

Giving up on all my productive plans for the day, I stretched out on the couch and covered myself with the old blanket we used for hiding food stains on our ancient sofa. I simply lay there, marveling how what I had thought was a pathetic existence before was nothing compared to how I felt now. There had always been the fear; ever since my mother's death, I felt the fear of knowing I would be hunted some day. The only thing that had kept me sane was knowing it was only the future I needed to fear, not the present. Now, that future was my present—and I was terrified.

I must have fallen back asleep because next thing I knew, I was jarred awake by a pounding on the door. Frightened at first, I strained to hear what might be on my front step. There were two voices in discussion, and I was able to identify them as Chief Black and his son Jacob. I had no idea why they would be coming here on a Sunday afternoon, and I certainly was not up for visitors, but I could not leave them out there in case they needed something important from my dad. I opened the door, reluctantly, and tried to appear welcoming.

"Hi. Are you here to see my dad?" I think I even managed to smile, but it may have come out as more of a grimace.

"Hello, Bella," Chief Black replied. "We're actually here for lunch. We ran into your father out on the river, and he invited us over. I've got the fish fry, and your dad has the fish; he should be along any moment now. We can wait out here if that makes you more comfortable." Chief Black seemed really nice, but his son was acting very weird. He was looking all over the place and sniffing like a dog.

"No, please, come on in. Make yourselves comfortable. I'll start getting things ready."

Being the daughter of an avid fisherman, I could whip up fried fish in no time. I took the sack Chief Black handed me and went into the kitchen to heat up the lard. Surprisingly, I was thankful for the distraction and wondered if maybe I was not as resigned to my fate as I thought. It was easier to fight the darkness when I was not alone.

"Hey, Bella. Remember me? We met at the reservation?"

I jumped a bit, not realizing Jake had come into the kitchen, and dropped the spatula into the hot fat. Splatters hit my arm, and I hissed with pain from the contact.

"Whoa, sorry! I thought you heard me come in." He grabbed a dish towel and wet it with cold water before handing it to me for my arm.

"Thanks. Sorry, I was off in my own little world." It seemed a bit over-dramatic to mention I was contemplating my impending death at the hands of a mythical creature.

"Hey, uhm, any other troubles with those Cullens at your school?"

I did a quick mental review of our conversation the other day. I do not have the best memory in the world, but I am almost one hundred percent sure I did not mention the Cullens by name.

"Sorry? Not sure what you mean? I don't remember saying anything about the Cullens. I've met a couple of them, but there hasn't been any trouble. They mostly keep to themselves."

Jake's expression turned very disgruntled then, like he realized he had said something he should not have. As unaware of the vampires in their midst that the students at Forks High seemed to be, it appeared their secret was not entirely as well kept as I would have thought.

"Oh, uh, I guess I misunderstood. You mentioned something about a good looking, pale family. Around here, that's the Cullens."

Nice recovery, Jake—if we weren't in the Pacific Northwest—pale skinned capital of the nation, excepting the Quileutes of course.

"No. Luckily, all the kids in the school actually seem pretty nice."

Regardless of how I currently felt about what was going on with the vampires in my life, I was not ready to discuss that with an unknown element. Jake seemed nice and all, but I had no reason to trust him with a secret I had been keeping for ten years.

My arm felt better, allowing me to take the towel off and throw it on the counter. I had a couple little char marks on my skin, but nothing too bad.

The front door to the house opened then, and I heard my father say hello to Chief Black. I excused myself with Jake and went to go say hi.

"Hey, Dad. Looks like we have company for lunch. Did you bring me some fish? I've got the fry ready to go."

"Yeah, Bells. It's in the cooler still. Let me get cleaned up a bit; then I'll go get it for you. Sorry to spring guests on you at the last minute. We got to talking, and well, you know how it goes." He gave me a sheepish grin then, and I was struck for a moment at how young my dad could still look when he was not stressed with worry for his daughter. I hoped Chief Black turned out to be a good friend for him, even if there was weirdness between me and his son.

Jake had come out of the kitchen, and I ducked back in to let the guys hang out and talk fish while I gathered up some other foods to serve. There was still some homemade macaroni and cheese left from the other night, and solely for shits and giggles, I threw together a quick salad on the off chance one of the manly men would be struck with an urge for leaves.

As I tossed the salad, it was not lost on me that I was grinning in the process, thinking of the look that would be on my dad's face when I put it on the table. Funny, a few moments ago I had been ready to throw in the towel and let fate do away with me, and now I was ready to fight again, weaponless as usual, but ready all the same.

Charlie brought the fish in, and the small kitchen was soon filled with the scent of frying food. Careful of the burns I already had, I stood as far away from the pan as possible when turning the fish, stretching up on my toes to get me those extra couple of centimeters. The hair on the back of my neck started to prickle, and I turned around to find Jake watching me with an odd look on his face. Realizing that I was basically standing there with my ass stuck up in the air like I was waiting to be mounted, I blushed furiously and tossed the spatula on the counter before gathering up paper plates and towels for serving the food. Behind me, I heard Jake's heavy feet heading back out to the living room. I knew he had a girlfriend, which made the whole thing very weird, not to mention that guys simply did not normally look at me like that.

Looking down and taking a quick peek at myself, I realized that instead of my normal loose jeans and oversized hoodie, I was wearing around-the-house clothes of leggings and tank top—clothes that guys never saw me in. My dad kept the house warm constantly since the heat helped combat all the Pacific Northwest dampness, which meant I frequently wore summer clothes at home. Seeing myself through Jake's eyes, it was a bit surprising to realize maybe I actually was attractive to the opposite sex—something to consider if I ever had reason to think I would live to see my twenties. Still, even though Jake was a very good looking guy, I was not interested in him ogling me. I grabbed one of my dad's oversized shirts from the hall closet and threw it on. Comfortably clad in my flannel plaid muumuu, I finished up the food and brought it out to the guys, now comfortably ensconced in front of the TV. Jake managed to politely accept the plate from me without his eyes leaving the game.

Not interested in the sports stuff the guys were watching, I headed back to the kitchen table to eat. Grabbing my phone, I went into my blog reader to look for updates on the blogs I followed. Each and every one was devoted to vampire seekers, people who believed the myth and were determined to find the reality. So far, none had actually come across a real vampire—that I knew of—I always wondered about the ones who all of a sudden stopped posting. There was one couple, kind of hippyish, who swore there was some kind of vampire enclave in Italy. They spent a whole year raising money to go out there; three days into their trip, and the blog was abruptly taken down. Very interesting.

As deep into my reading as I was, I again did not notice when Jake came into the kitchen.

"Hey, Bella, we're heading out now, just wanted to say goodbye."

My head nearly hit the ceiling, and my phone flew out of my hands when I jumped at the sound of his voice. He grabbed it before it hit the floor. I could tell he was trying to hide it but he sneaked a peak at the screen before handing it back to me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. Vampires again? You really do have an obsession."

"Yeah, I guess so." I swear, Jake was either staring at my ass or making me feel like one. I was ready for him to be gone.

I started to head out into the living room to say good bye to Chief Black when a knock at the kitchen door had me changing direction. Unfortunately, Jake had been following right behind me, and I ended up plowing into him after turning around. It was like slamming into a brick wall—a very hot brick wall. Odd how he felt every bit as hard as the big vampire I had stumbled into at school. He was like an oven baked vampire.

"Geez, Jake. Are you okay? You feel like you have a fever or something."

He did not answer me; I looked up to see what was going on and his face scared the fuck out of me. There was an insane amount of anger in his expression, like he was ready to tear something to shreds. He was staring out the back door I was on my way to open.

"Jake? What's wrong?"

"Bella, do you mind going out to the living room and letting me get the door?"

What the fuck? Did he really think I was going to be okay with that?

"Uh, sorry, Jake, but I would really rather answer my own door—you know, my house and all that. You can feel free to go out to the living room, though—I'm sure we're safe considering the Chief of Police is out there."

He did not reply, but he did not leave, either. I had to go around him to get to the door, and I was starting to get really irritated with him.

A peek out the door window had me even more flummoxed. What on earth was Edward Cullen doing here? I looked back at Jake; he was staring right at Edward from where he stood. He looked even more pissed than before. There was definitely something between those two—and I was willing to bet it had everything to do with Edward being a vampire.

Feeling like I was in some kind of weird alternate universe, I opened the door and extended a pleasant greeting to my guest.

"Hey, Edward, uhm, what's up?" He really brought out the loquaciousness in me.

"Bella, Jacob, how are we this evening?" Edward seemed to be in quite the jaunty mood, Jake's very obvious anger not affecting him one bit.

"Cullen, what are you doing here? And how the fuck do you know my name?"

"Same way you know mine, I imagine. Anyway, I came to visit Bella. It's a nice night; I thought she might like to go out for a drive. Bella?"

Any moment now the theme from the Twilight Zone was going to start playing. Did I want to go for a drive, in the dark, with a vampire? Fuck no. Did I want to go for a drive with Edward Cullen? Surprisingly, there was something in me that screamed yes. Unsure of how to relay that sentiment, Jake decided to take matters into his own hands.

"The Swans have company right now. I think Bella is too polite and to up and leave while she has guests."

Now he was really pissing me off.

"Jake, didn't you just tell me you and your dad were leaving?" Oh, shit, he'd given me an out, and I trashed it out of spite. By the looks Edward and Jake were giving me, they both knew it, too.

"Well, Jacob, looks like Bella is free to go after all then. Be sure to extend my salutations to your father." Edward got a funny look on his face then and motioned to my arm. "Are you okay, Bella? That looks recent." By the look he shot Jake, it was obvious he was immediately assigning blame.

"It's all right. Just a bit of splatter from the fish fry. Looks worse than it feels." I hastened to assure him.

A vampire and an I-don't-know-what were practically fighting over me here in my kitchen, and all I could do was use everything I had to stifle the giggles threatening to explode out of my mouth—and I never giggled. It was just so funny, though; the more Jake got mad, the more Edward smirked and snarked, which made Jake even more pissed. It was clear Edward was deliberately pushing Jake's buttons and as annoyed with him as I was, and I could not help but enjoy the show.

"Okay, Edward, let me go tell my dad I'm leaving. I'll be right back."

Jake was right on my heels as I went back out to the living room. An extremely loaded look crossed between him and Chief Black. Whatever it was Jake did not like about Edward, Chief Black was in on it.

"Uh, Dad? A friend from school showed up and wants to take me for a ride. Do you mind?"

My dad's face lit up like someone had handed him season tickets to every sporting event in the freakin' world.

"No, Bella, of course not. You go have fun with your friend. Who is she? I didn't realize you'd become friendly with anyone here yet. That's great!"

Ugh, could my dad make it any more obvious it was incredibly unusual for me to have a friend?

"Well, uh, he is Edward Cullen. He's my Biology lab partner at school." This was really getting embarrassing. Now my dad looked like someone had offered him season tickets, a lifetime supply of free beer, and then kicked him in the nuts.

"A boy? Wow, that's great Bells! Wait, what's his name again? I think I should meet him before you go."

Nice, Dad; make sure everyone here realizes I have never had to introduce a guy to you before.

"Dad, really? He's just a guy from school, and we're only going for a ride." Fuck, I sounded like a whiny bitch now.

"Yes, Bella. Really."

No help for it then. I headed back out to the kitchen to see if Edward would be up for meeting the Chief of Police. I really hoped he was as much a loner as he seemed, or I was going to be the laughing stock of school tomorrow after he told all his friends how lame my dad is.

Edward was standing in the kitchen when I entered the room. Obviously, he had heard everything.

"It's okay, Bella. Of course I'll meet your father before taking you out."

Gee, 'taking me out' sounded way different from going for a drive. I raised an eye brow at him but only received a pleasant grin in return.

"Okay, then."

Edward followed me into the very crowded living room, and I made the introductions.

"Dad, this is Edward Cullen. Edward, this is my dad. Uh, I don't know what he wants you to call him?" I looked at my dad, very much at a loss for how to do this without seeming like a complete loser. That ship might have already sailed.

"Edward, you can call me Chief Swan. Where are you planning on taking my daughter?"

Hole-E-Shit—dad was going all uber-protective parent on him. I could feel the fire coming off my face, and I must have been candy-apple red.

"The Chorus frogs are signing quite loud tonight over by the school. I thought it would be good for some biology extra credit if we went and took a recording, maybe get one on camera."

"Frogs?" he repeated back incredulously, "You're taking her to see frogs? Well, good luck with that."

My dad knew that my interest in anything that lived in the woods was even lower than my interest in sports. I guess he felt he did not need to worry any more about a guy that would take his daughter on such a geeky date.

I glanced over to Jake and Chief Black; they seemed to be involved in some kind of silent conversation conducted entirely with their eyebrows. As big and hairy as they were, they still did not seem all that useful for communication. I decided to leave them to it and mumbled a quick goodbye before leading Edward back out to the kitchen.

"Okay, I guess we can go see the frogs now." I admit, there was a big part of me that hoped he had made all that up for my father. Something told me, though, that Edward was too principled to lie—vicious killer, maybe, liar, I did not think so.

"After you, Bella." He shut the door behind us and followed me out to the drive way where a silver Volvo waited. The irony of the most dangerous predator on the planet driving a Volvo of all things was not lost on me.

"A Volvo, Edward? I have to admit, I wouldn't have thought this would be your car. Is it your parents'?"

"What's wrong with a Volvo? I know the station wagons are lame, but this is a fully-loaded C30."

He sounded hurt I made fun of his car. Still, it was a Volvo. And he was a vampire; I did not feel very much pressure to protect his feelings.

"Edward, I'm sorry, but a Volvo is a Volvo. If you're going to be a teenage guy, get the right car."

"If?" he asked with a raised eye brow while holding the door open for me to get in.

Gathering all my courage and looking him straight in the eye, I replied, "Yeah, if," and then sank into my seat as fast as I could, grabbing the door from him and shutting it, conveniently blocking out for the moment that he would be sitting next to me in about five seconds.

"Well, Bella," I heard in my left ear even sooner than I thought I would, "looks like we have a lot to talk about."

At that, I decided it would be best to simply remain silent.

Edward seemed to be in agreement on putting a halt to the inevitable conversation for the moment, and I was very grateful. My mind was going quite a bit crazy trying to conceive of actually discussing vampires with a vampire. It had been my focus for so long—keep the secret…keep the secret—and here I was throwing his otherness in his face like it was nothing. I could literally feel the sweat start to form all over my body as nervousness turned every skin cell I had into pins and needles.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward visibly suck in extra breath and then stop breathing entirely. Remembering too late what the James vampire had told me, I became afraid that whatever control Edward regularly used to avoid snacking on his peers was sorely tested by my falling to pieces on his leather seats. It said something, though, that Edward was no longer bothering to pretend around me; his stillness was clearly inhuman.

Edward drove as if we were being chased, making the drive to school much quicker than normal. He pulled into the parking lot, which was actually fuller than I expected, and shut the car off while opening the windows. Immediately, he turned his face to the fresh air and took in several deep breaths. I turned out my own window to give him a bit of privacy, not exactly sure why I felt he needed it, only it seemed rude to watch him struggle to overcome his desire to kill me. Of course, I was extremely grateful that he was winning that struggle and incredibly surprised that I was not more afraid. Maybe my body could only take so much fear in one short lifetime.

Listening to the noises outside, I could tell that an impromptu gathering was taking place. People from all over Forks had come to listen to the little frogs getting an early start on their search for a mate. Allowing the distraction to take over for a bit, I marveled at the incredibly loud sounds coming from the tiny Chorus frogs. As much as I hated the slimy little suckers, I had to respect the ability.

"Bella, I'm not sure where to start this conversation. I've gone over it several times now in my head, trying to picture exactly what I would say to you. You know what I am, right?"

I turned to look at Edward before answering him. He was staring straight ahead, his gaze directed off into the distance, not focused on anything I could see. He actually looked—embarrassed.

"Yes, Edward, I know what you are—what you're family is."

"Will you say it? Out loud?" Still, he would not look at me.

I whispered, "vampire" and then directed my own gaze out of the window before me, afraid to see his reaction.

He sighed. It sounded relieved.

"Thank you, Bella. I'm sorry—I'm sorry I was cowardly and made you speak the word before I would. I had to be sure. I could never put you in danger by being the one to tell you of our existence."

I laughed—put me in danger? When had I not been in danger?

"Edward, I've been in danger from your kind since I was seven years old. I don't think there's anything you could do to make the situation worse—other than decide to kill me yourself before the other one gets the chance. Although, now that I mention it, maybe that would be preferable."

"Who, Bella? Who is the other one you mentioned?"

Fuuuck—now that shit was scary. Edward went from pleasant to lethal in two seconds flat. Thankfully, his ire was obviously not directed at me but the one I feared.

"He gave his name as James; I call him 'the James vampire.' He's the one who killed my mother. Do you know of him?" I was not sure how small or large the vampire community was. Maybe they had conferences and shit.

"No, not yet."

Somehow, with those three simple words, and, of course, the incredibly menacing tone used to utter them, I knew Edward was on my side. As grateful as I was inclined to feel now that I knew he wanted to protect me, I was afraid I was putting him in danger. My fucking head was such a self-defeating roller coaster, but I knew me, and the thought of him risking his life, or whatever he called it, would eat at me until I did something stupid to fuck everything up.

"Bella, I need for you to tell me everything you remember about this James. Can you do that for me?" Why, I wondered; why did he sound so ready to tear this creature apart for me? I was nothing to him; James was one of his kind.

"Edward, why? What are you planning to do? He's a vampire, like you. Why would you go up against him for me? I can't let you do that."

He looked at me then, the expression on his face deep but unfathomable to me. I felt like he was seeing parts of me I didn't even know I had.

"You've only seen the evil that my kind can do; I know this. There's more, though. We laugh, we love, we protect. I want to protect you."

"Why?"

"Because I can, we can—my whole family will help. I only need for you to let me know what you remember of him. Please. Now."

While part of me bristled at his demanding tone, I recognized an unstoppable force when I saw one.

"I don't know, Edward. He's a vampire. You know what they look like. Blond hair, red eyes. Does that help? Speaking of, why aren't your eyes red?"

"Animals. Did he talk to you? Did he have an accent? Was anyone with him? Was his hair long or short? Build: was he slender or thick? I need more."

"Look, Edward, I've been trying to block out everything from that day every other day since then. Can you please ease up a bit, and let me think? Why does it even matter—is there some kind of VICAP vampire database? And what you do you mean by animals? Are you saying you drink animal blood instead of human?"

His one-track mind and interrogation style of questioning were spinning my head. It was as if the playful boy from Friday's biology class was replaced with a completely different person.

"Bella, please, I need to end James within the shortest time possible. To do that, I need your help. I have to know everything you know."

"Okay, okay. He had longish hair, back in a pony tail. Looked like he slept on it or something; it was all ratty. I think he was tall, but I was seven, so everyone was tall. Definitely slender. No accent. He told me he was coming back for me; he said that living a life of fear would make my blood taste even better than it would have if he had killed me that day. That's why he killed my mom, so he could leave me to season. Are you happy now?"

I was crying, unable to hold it in any longer. All the memories he forced me to dredge up, and all the stress I was feeling from talking to him, was too much for me. I started to bawl like I had not done since I was a child. Full on, nose snorting, tears dripping, crying. He was going to beg James to take me if I kept carrying on like this; I couldn't stop, though.

He reached for my hand, as if to comfort me, and then drew back. There was sadness on his face now, instead of the rage. My crying was making him sad. Why? What was this connection the vampire felt with me? I could not understand why I mattered to him at all.

I finally got control of myself and tried to change the subject.

"So about the animals, is that it? You drink animal blood instead of human?"

"Yes, my family and I feed exclusively from animals. We call ourselves vegetarians. There aren't many of us that live the way we do, but for us, it is the only way we can accept what we are, instead of hating ourselves."

I still had some residual sniffles to conquer but wanted to keep asking questions to try understanding what made him and his family different from the others.

"Are the rest like James? Do they all like to mess with the humans they kill?

"No; there are some like him, but the majority of human feeders do so without the person ever even realizing they were about to die. We can be very quick when we want to."

"I know. I saw."

He looked at me with concern then.

"Bella, I don't know why he has done this to you. It's the one rule we all live by: never let a human know what we are. It's incredibly unusual that a vampire would deliberately let a human know what he is and then let the human live."

"He said it would make me taste better when he came back to me. It was something about me smelling superior to everyone else, but that I would improve even more with age and fear."

"Did he say anything else to you?"

"He threatened me. If I told anyone, he'd kill my father, too. Will you protect my dad, Edward? Please, if you have to choose, choose my dad, okay? He's the one that does all the good."

I wanted to slap myself in the face for being so stupid. How could I have forgotten that threat from the James vampire?

"Edward, could he be here right now? Could he be listening to me talk to you? What if he goes after my dad?" Upset again, the water works resumed, and I fought to stem the tide as I entreated him for reassurance.

"No; he's not here. I would be able to tell if there was another vampire nearby. The closest is Alice and Jasper; they are in the black Mercedes over there."

I was starting to feel like Sybil of multiple personality disorder fame; immediately after hearing there were more vampires nearby, I had two very separate and distinct reactions: abject fear at being surrounded by vampires and comfort from being protected by multiple vampires. Could my head get any more fucked up? I think my eyes even crossed.

Edward must have sensed I was not one hundred percent pleased with this news; or maybe he could tell that only fifty percent of me was one hundred percent happy—what the fuck ever—he tried to reassure me.

"You have nothing to fear from anyone in my family. Your safety is important to all of us, not just me."

He smiled at me then, a smile no less beautiful for the oddly gleaming teeth it revealed—no less beautiful, but certainly very inhuman. I shuddered. Revulsion? Attraction? Twinges in body parts that had heretofore never twinged gave a clue as to which it was.

Edward's nostrils flared then, and the look he gave me was very different from any other that had passed from him to me so far. His strange amber colored eyes appeared to darken and glow like a low fire. Immediately, I felt my whole body heat up as I blushed from head to toe. I was not a complete neophyte when it came to girl parts, even with as little attention I had given my own, and I knew he had scented that virgin twinge.

Our eyes remained locked on each other, his showing growing arousal and hunger, mine showing embarrassment and fear; the fear in mine increasing in time with the hunger in his.

Finally, he broke the gaze first, wrenching open the door handle in the process and stepping from the vehicle in a blur. Vaguely, I noticed the handle was no longer attached to the door; I assumed that was the projectile I then saw him throw into the woods. Unsure if it was safer for me to stay in the car or get out, I froze in confusion as to what I should do. His words of safety aside, it was obvious that it did not take much to turn him from protector to predator.

My indecision rendered me incapable of figuring out what I needed to do to ensure my own safety. I felt incredibly ineffectual and pathetic. Turned into a useless pile of shit by a self-proclaimed safe vampire, what would my reaction be when confronted by the one who had been looking forward to killing me for the past ten years?

Tears leaked out of my eyes again despite my fervent attempts to stop them from doing so. I was such a loser; I probably only imagined arousal in Edward's eyes. I bet it was actually disgust with me and my scent. Why would a creature like that want to fuck something he was supposed to kill and drain anyway? I hated him; I feared him. Why should I care what he thought of me? He was a vampire, and I was done trying to pretend otherwise.

I opened the door and stepped from the car, intending to walk home. A quick glance at Edward showed him leaning up against the driver's side, his head hung down low. I had no way of knowing what was going through his mind, but I could only imagine it was regret for taking on the role of protecting me from one of his own. My own head slumped forward, and I started trudging home, terribly disappointed in myself for my stupid reactions and feelings towards Edward.

The car was only a few feet behind when Edward silently started walking along beside me. I was not ready to look at him yet, afraid of what I would see on his face. Sadly, if I was being honest with myself, I did not know which I feared seeing more—hunger or apathy. My mind was like some kind of fucked up kaleidoscope. All these bits and pieces rumbling around each time I turned, but the finished picture always a thing of horror instead of beauty.

"Bella, I apologize for my behavior back there. Would it make any sense if I said I was only human?"

"Huh?" I was glad I could impress him with my intellectual acumen.

He chuckled, and I finally looked up to see him gazing back with neither hunger nor apathy; I turned a way fast, not wanting to try labeling what I thought I saw but could not believe.

"I'm sorry, Bella. How do I say this without seeming a complete cad. In the car? Your scent? Let's just say it affected me in a way I was not used to."

"Yeah, I can imagine you're not disgusted by the scent of your prey very often," I grumbled at him.

He stopped walking then and lightly grabbed my arm while he opened his mouth to reply. It was the first time his skin had touched mine; I recoiled from the coldness and took my arm out of his grasp, but not before I felt the oddest tingle of electricity between us, similar to a shock, only pleasurable instead of painful. I regretted moving my arm out of his hand so fast.

The look on his face was filled with a deep sadness; I felt even worse for moving away, not even realizing that I could have offended him. I wanted to offer my arm back to him, but I could not think of a way to do it without seeming like a complete tool. All I could manage back was a look of apology and sadness of my own.

"It's all right, Bella; I know how my skin feels to humans." He sounded so dejected, I almost wanted to put my arms around him in some crazy attempt to make him feel better. No way.

We were quiet then for a while and continued to slowly walk to my house; he apparently did not care that his car was left behind in the school parking lot. I thought the whole walk was going to be silent until he stopped under one of the bright street lights and spoke once more.

"Bella, I've been a coward, and it's time I stopped. I need to let you know the truth of what I feel for you so there are no misunderstandings. Then, even though I think I know, I hope you'll do the same, so we can see where we stand with each other."

A/N Yep, I am exploring the world of cliffies - don't hate me! Chapter 9 is under way...For those that are curious, there is a video of a Chorus frog on my profile.