CHAPTER TWELVE

Bella reached over to unlock the passenger side door and pushed it open.

Laurent's bright red eyes stared at her as she did so.

"Dude," Bella said, too exhausted to care too much about her safety. "Either get in or go away. You're letting the heat out."

He climbed in, closing the door behind him. She stared at him. He stared at her. The rain continued to come down.

As they sat in silence, Bella took the time to let her eyes roam over him, taking him in one last time before he killed her.

He, as expected, looked the same. Same long, dark locs. Same dark brown skin. Same preference for dramatic coats and fingerless leather only thing different about him now from when she saw him last is that he, much like her, was soaking wet. Bella nearly laughed at the site of his maroon suit. It would have been dashing in any other setting, but, drenched as it was, it clung to his bare chest and looked like a used rag. But, even with the drenched clothing, he wasn't in the worst shape. Oh, to be a vampire and virtually unaffected by the elements.

Only...there was something about him that shouldn't be the same. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"You care very little for your life," Laurent says, breaking the silence. "I'm actually quite concerned."

Bella shrugged. "It be like that sometimes. Wake up, eat, shit, work, reproduce, realize life has no meaning and nothing matters, sleep, repeat. I'm sure you don't miss it."

"You'd be surprised," Laurent hummed. His eyes roamed over her. "You look like shit."

"You always say the sweetest things." Bella huffed, slumping in her seat. She roughly tugged strands of wet hair away from her forehead.

Silence fell once more. Bella watched the rain come down.

Laurent's presence beside her should alarm her, she knew this logically. He was a member of the coven that had turned her life upside down. He had been smart enough to tuck tail and run rather than go against the Cullens, but the trauma was still there. Absently, her fingers traced the silverly teeth marks James had left behind. It was heartbreaking to think back on those times. She'd been so sure that she and Edward were meant to be, that she'd been destined to be a vampire. Shows how much she knew.

The fresh red of his eyes told her he'd fed recently, but she wondered if maybe he had just enough room saved for dessert.

"Isabella," Laurent began.

"Jesus, if you're going to murder me in my own truck, the least you can do is call me by the name I prefer."

She rolled her neck towards him just in time to see his incredulous smile.

"Bella," he corrected. "You're alone."

I can see why they pay you the big bucks! Bella thought.

"What gave it away?" Bella grinned, hands shaking and face tight. "Was it the screams of despair or my ragged appearance?"

"I went by the Cullen's place of residence. It was empty, all the furniture covered. Their scents have faded away long ago. But there was one that was...relatively fresh."

Bella hummed. "If you're here looking for juicy gossip, boy, have I got a story for you. Turns out James died for nothing, because Edward doesn't even love me. He and his family packed up shop and hit the road a few months back, and I haven't seen or heard from them since. Wanna know how he broke the news?" The uncomfortable look on his face clearly said he didn't. "He took me for a walk in the woods, told me he didn't want me, and that my stupid human brain was so feeble that I'd forget him in a few months anyway, and then he vanished. I almost died there, you know. In the woods. I got lost and couldn't find my way back. I was catatonic for a bit. Pretty sure my Dad considered institutionalizing me. Anyways, I went to the Cullen's house for closure. Closure is shit, by the way. Don't believe anyone that tries to sell it to you."

Bella was crying again by the end of her spiel, pathetic little sobs that made her shoulders hitch.

"And you know what's even more fucked up than everything else?" Bella cried. "I'm so happy to see you. I don't even care if you kill me. I was so scared that I had imagined it all and that Edward wasn't real, or that he was real and that he was right to believe that my mind was weak and I wouldn't retain anything from our time together. I don't care if it's crazy; I don't want to forget any of it! Not the heartbreak, or almost dying, or anything about vampires. And I tried to go to our meadow and it was dead but you're here and I - "

In a blur of motion, Bella's door was shoved open and she was being bent out of it, vomit splattering on the asphalt. She choked on her sobs as she threw up, Laurent's hand bunched in the fabric of her jacket keeping her from falling out of the truck and into her own pile of sickness. When she was done, she read a hand back to tap his wrist. He hauled her back up and shut the door again. Bella's head, which had been on its way to drying, was drenched again.

"Perhaps it is best you and Edward parted ways when you did. I would hate for you to have not realized what an idiot he is until it was too late."

Bella wished she had a bottle of water to rinse her mouth out. "What does that mean?"

"You wanted to be turned, yes? For him? Be glad that you didn't. Choosing to be a vampire isn't as simple as choosing which apple to buy at the store. Vampirism is forever. You would have been bound to him forever, just because you believed that your high school romance was true love. And you would have been trapped at his side once you'd realized how arrogant and unworthy he is. And his family would have helped to keep you there. Their numbers give them physical strength, but that is all their family has to offer. They're good for nothing else, especially not as companions in eternal life."

Bella placed a clammy hand on Laurent's cheek. "I...thank you."

Laurent smiled, clasping her hand in his, although it quickly faded away.

"His foolishness knows no bounds, Bella. He has no idea what he's done."

"Huh?" Bella shook her head. "Pretty sure Edward's too sophisticated to really give a shit about breaking a teenage girl's heart. He doesn't think very highly of my demographic."

Laurent shushed her.

"I came down from Alaska - "

"The Denali coven!" Bella gasped. "That's what it is. You went there, didn't you? To try their diet? I'm guessing you didn't like it?"

"No sane vampire likes it, it's simply endured to assuage unnecessary guilt," Laurent scoffed. "No, Bella. I did not like it. But I did comply with their diet. I do. Occasionally."

"Why?"

"Why does anyone do anything? For love."

Bella gasped. "Oh, Laurent!" Tears stung at her eyes. "Did you find your mate?"

He smiled and nodded. "Irina. My love. She...will not be pleased that I indulged in human blood. It's just so hard."

"Don't beat yourself up, man," Bella smiled. "She'll forgive you. She understands how hard it is to transition over. Hell, not even all of the Cullens have Carlisle's level of control. You're doing okay, all things considered."

Laurent gazed at her, an unreadable look in his eyes. "You are too good for this world, Bella. I am so sorry."

"For...for what?"

Laurent let go of her hands and turned to look through the windshield. Forks was being authentic in being a magnet for wet, messy weather. The rain had been an unending torrent, gushing from the sky without so much as a minute of reprieve. Bella wasn't surprised that no cars had passed her resting place on the side of the road; not even seasoned Forks locals would willingly go out in this weather when instead they could stay warm and dry in their homes.

"Victoria is coming for you."

Bella laughed, and Laurent spun to gape at her.

"I already knew that. She left a very terrifying note in my mailbox the other day. I've been shitting bricks ever since. Seriously, Laurent, don't even worry about it. Just...go back to Irina and forget about me, okay? I'll be alright."

"Bella. I don't think you understand - "

"It's because Edward killed James, right? An eye for an eye, and all that. Listen, I know you've been a big, strong vampire for a while now, but humans are actually quite capable of intelligent thought. I don't need to be a genius to know that two plus two is four."

"You don't understand," he pressed. "Bella, simply killing you isn't enough. Don't you realize that? This isn't just about you."

Bella frowned. What else could it possibly be about? Her scent had enticed James, he'd hunted her, and he'd been torn to shreds by the Cullen's. Victoria lost her mate, so now she wanted to kill Bella, and potentially her father and friends, as revenge. Seemed pretty cut and dry to her.

Laurent smiled wryly. His fingers tapped an uneven rhythm on the seats.

"Did the Cullens ever tell you what the loss of one's mate does to someone?" At Bella's silence, he continued, "Vampires...the bonds we forge are much stronger than those of humans. We cannot simply move on. It's not that easy. Our emotions overcome us, in most cases, drive us to insanity. Many vampires who have lost their mates commit suicide because they can't live with the pain. Others leave a trail of destruction. Guess which one Victoria is leaning toward."

"I, I'm sorry," Bella said. "Laurent, I still don't understand."

"Victoria could have killed you at any time, Bella. The Cullens are gone, they have been for a while. Any vampire who passes through this area can tell that it's been deserted. But she hasn't killed you. Why? No one is here to stop her. It's not just about killing you, Bella. It's about punishing the Cullens. They may not care for you anymore and not care when you die, but they will care that they're next."

"You expect me to believe that Victoria is dumb enough to take on an entire coven of vampires by herself?"

"She won't have to do anything. There are people on this Earth that would gladly do it for her."

Bella stared at him blankly. Laurent huffed in frustration.

"Edward has set you up for failure in ways you will never know. Bella, the Cullens are not well liked, neither are the Denalis. Their choice of diet marks them as abominations. Abnormal. Carlisle has made many friends, yes, but many are still wary. Many view them as too other. Their diet is viewed as blasphemy. And their numbers...Bella, it isn't normal for so many vampires to convene together like that. And with so many of them being gifted?"

Bella felt something dreadful burbling in her stomach, as though she'd just guzzled two whole cans of Coke and was rapidly feeling the consequences.

"No one dared stand against them. And technically, they had no reason to before. The Cullens were strange and other, but they never broke any laws. Until now. You exist, Bella. Your heart still beats. Your lungs still fill with air."

"I would never tell - "

"It does not matter what you would never do, Bella. Your very existence is a crime. And the ones we answer to will not take kindly to the Cullens transgressions."

Bella exhaled shakily.

"No, I...I still have time. Edward told me that decades could go by before someone is summoned to the Volturi. Time passes differently for vampires; Aro could call on Carlisle eight decades from now. By the time he reads their minds, I'll probably already be dead. It won't even matter then, right? Right?"

Laurent takes her hands in his.

"It doesn't matter. A crime was still committed. Bella, this isn't just about revenge. It's self destruction. Victoria will kill you, yes, but not just you. All your friends, your family. She will tear through this town like tissue paper. And it will draw attention. It already has. People in small towns going missing, well known people going missing? A mass execution site in the woods? Surely you don't think it's a coincidence. The Volturi won't."

Laurent's mouth was still moving, but Bella registered no further sounds. There was a ringing in her ears that drowned out everything else. Her hands began to shake, this time not from the cold.

"Oh, God," Bella whimpered. "No. No, Laurent. Please, tell me it's not true. Please, I, no, it's my fault, it's all my fault. The Webers, my friend's parents, they - "

"She's drawing attention," Laurent whispers. "Victoria didn't kill those people herself. She's making an army, Bella. The death toll will continue to rise with every newborn vampire she makes. And their kills will be increasingly personal. Think of how this looks to the Volturi. It's known that the Cullens frequent this area every few decades to play human. Imagine Aro's surprise when he turns on the news, and sees the bodies piling up. They'll start to wonder. They'll start to speculate. Maybe the Cullens have finally returned to the correct diet, or maybe there's a fight for territory and the Cullens are on the verge of being wiped out. Either way, they will come to investigate.

"They will come to Washington. They'll sweep each town for her army. They won't interfere, not at first. They'll watch. They'll listen. When they finally do step in, they won't kill Victoria. Not right away. After all, they must get to the bottom of why she made the army in the first place and if she had accomplices. And what do you think they'll learn? Thousands dead because the Cullens left a human girl who knew too much alive. And suddenly, the Cullens are no longer untouchable. You and your loved ones will be dead, yes, and Victoria will be executed for her crimes. But in the process she takes the Cullens with her. And who do you think will fall under scrutiny next but their 'cousins'?

"So, you see Bella, no matter which way you turn. Victoria comes out on top. In the end, she will win."

Bella felt bile rising in her throat again, but she forced it down, trying desperately to slow her heart down.

She'd known her fate for a while, but she never imagined that she'd manage to get everyone else around her caught in the same trap. Angela was an orphan now because of her. Jessica might be next. Who else would suffer because of her choices? How many people had been killed in the woods? How many innocent people did she tear away from their families and turn?

At that moment, Bella wanted nothing more than to call Billy and let him know that he was right; she never should have gotten involved with the Cullens.

For a brief moment, she imagines how her life could have turned out if she'd stayed away from Edward like she'd been told. If she had never been with Edward, James would have never caught her scent. She stayed too close to town, they never would have crossed paths. The three nomads would have gone on their merry way, and Bella would be living just another regular day. Instead, this was her reality now.

"I thought I could run," Bella whispered, tears streaming down her face. Laurent drew her to him, and she sobbed into his damp shoulder. "I took money from the Cullens house and thought I could run, I thought I could take my dad and my friends and disappear if it was just Victoria."

"There is still a chance," he insisted.

Bella shook her head. He forced her to look at him.

"Listen to me. When I came here...I was going to kill you, Bella. I knew of Victoria's plans, and I was going to kill you as a mercy. She would have made your death excruciating. But you will not die. It's not your time."

"Why are you helping me?" she murmured. "Why bother? Where can I go where the Volturi won't find me?"

"This is where being human comes in handy. You can disappear, Bella. You and your family. You can take your family and start fresh. Victoria's plan may work in our favor. We can fake your death, all of your deaths, and then you vanish. Victoria will get the destruction she wants, and the Cullens will get what's coming to them."

"I, Laurent, I don't know how to be on the run. I'm guessing it's not like how it is in the movies."

"I will help you."

"Why?"

Laurent stares at her for a moment. "I have spent my entire life searching for power. I have craved it since I was human. I have done terrible things to get it, to be close to it. I have become someone I don't even recognize. Perhaps it's time I realize that power isn't all there is to life."

Bella stares at him. The last time she'd seen him, he'd fled North and left them to deal with James. Now, he was her ally. The life of her friends and father were just as much in his hands as hers. The clock was ticking. Ever second counted.

"How do we do it?" she asked. "Victoria won't be easily fooled. How do we make my death believable?"

"We have to time it right," Laurent said. "We have to wait until her army grows in numbers and strength. They have to start moving towards you. Bella...you need to be prepared. A sign of her arrival will be the death of someone else that you know. It can be a classmate. It could be your friends. It could be your father. No matter whose life she decides to take, you have to keep moving. You'll have time to grieve later. Right now, it's all about action."

"Would you be able to fake all our deaths?" she asked. "How would that work?"

"Do you want the details? Can you handle it?"

It was so late that she couldn't see out of the windows. The rain continued to gush down in torrents, but now it was accompanied with the loud crashing of thunder and blinding flashes of lightning. Bella was sure that her absence was noticed by now. Her father was probably worried sick. It would only be a matter of time before he took the cruiser out and came looking for her. He'd have questions she wouldn't want to answer.

"I don't have the luxury of being ignorant anymore. Tell me."

This is fucking ridiculous, Jacob thought, drenched to the bone.

He, Sam, and Paul were out on patrol, covered in water and mud. The rain had been unending, biblical almost. Jacob was sure any moment a wave was going to crash through the trees and knock them off their feet. Being knee deep in mud wasn't ideal, but it sure as hell beat sitting at home trying to act like it didn't kill him to break Bella's heart.

She'd stayed there in the mud, shivering and desolate, for over an hour. When she'd finally gotten to her feet, Jacob's heart broke with every uneven step she took away from him and to her truck.

Everything he'd said to her had been a deliberate blow to her heart. He knew exactly what to say to make her break, to make her genuinely believe that it would be in her best interests to stay away. It killed him. Forcing those words past his lips, keeping that cold look on his face...Jacob was finding it hard to keep himself together.

Aw, afraid you'll mess up a nail? Paul sneered. Stop thinking about Bella, for Christ's sake. You did the right thing.

It didn't feel like doing the right thing. Paul and Sam weren't friends with Bella, so they had no idea what his words have done to her. Jacob didn't think he'd ever be able to take any of it back. Bella would think he hated her, that he and Leah hated her. She's probably home now, back in the same state she'd been in back when her leech boyfriend left her.

And if she was, well, perhaps it's a good thing he's on patrol right now. At least this way he won't have to be home to hear the inevitable angry phone call from Chief Swan.

It isn't just about Bella, man, Jacob said. Charlie is my dad's best friend. How is it fair that we have to make so many sacrifices and lose people over a transformation we didn't ask for? I never wanted this. You're telling me neither of your lives would be better if this never happened to you?

Quickly, so fast it was nearly blinding, Sam imagined a world where Emily's face was never scarred and Leah didn't look at him with disgust.

Focus on patrolling, Sam said.

Maybe it's time to call it a night, man, Paul begged. We're never going to be able to catch a clear trail in this weather.

Jacob thought all of it was pointless. They'd make more progress if they just asked Bella -

I won't tell you again, Sam snapped. Bella is not to be involved. We don't need her help protecting our home!

Paul's mind goes silent as he and Sam begin to go back and forth.

If anyone knows anything about vampires, it's Bella! She spent time with them, Sam! She probably knows all kinds of secrets and tricks, and you're just passing all that up because you're too proud -

She only knew the Cullens. They aren't the same as other vampires. At the very least, the Cullens pretended to be human, no matter how unsuccessful they were at it. The red eyes aren't the same. They're more vicious. Dangerous.

Edward will have at least told her something, if only to make him and his family look better in comparison. And the Cullens could have had friends. Maybe Bella knows the vampires that are passing through. They could just be looking for the Cullens.

And if they're not?

The Cullens could have had enemies. Jacob thinks of the dark skinned leech they'd lost earlier. She could know this vamp, either way.

And if Bella got caught in the crossfire? Would you be the one to tell Charlie why his daughter is dead?

Jacob falls silent. Sam continues.

It brings me no joy to make you cut Bella out of your life, Jacob. No matter what you think of me, that is the truth. This life...this world...it's important that we keep as many people out of it as we can. To keep them safe. Do you understand?

Memories of Bella come flying to the forefront of his mind. All their happy days together...the potential they'd had for their future. She would never forgive him. Jacob didn't blame her.

Jacob turned and began to run in the direction of home. I understand.

Bella's eyes darted toward the door.

Ever since she'd returned home, her father had refused to let her out of her sight. She was no longer allowed to go anywhere by herself. Angela and Jessica had torn her a new one, too, beside themselves with worry. Bella knew she had scared them, but she couldn't just sit in the house. There were things she needed to do.

Laurent had given her a lot to think about.

Their plan was easy in theory, but pulling it off would require an extreme amount of luck on their side. Faking their deaths would only work if they had somewhere to go afterwards. As of right now, their official post-death destination was up in the air. Bella wanted to go somewhere with a lot of sun. It would make things easier for them; they'd be able to cover a lot of ground during the day and hide out at night. They'd have to change their appearances, too, to give them an edge. Laurent had told her of the consequences of meeting Demetri, Aro's tracker. He'd be able to track them anywhere once he met them, but if they changed their looks enough, he might not realize that he'd already met them and had them on his radar.

Bella wondered if she could convince Jessica to bleach her hair.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Bella startled, turning to face Angela. "Sorry, I...I'm just thinking. A lot has happened recently. Just...trying to process. How are you doing?"

Angela gave a small smile. "I'm...here. I don't know, I kind of go back and forth on the feelings spectrum. I'm just thankful for the moments where I don't absolutely hate life. I actually wanted to ask you about that."

"About...not hating life?"

Angela huffed out a wet laugh. "Yeah. I...after the Cullen's, I saw how you were. How despondent you were. And I was wondering how you pulled yourself out of that. How you found the will to keep going."

Bella's bottom lip trembled as she took in the thin, grief stricken young woman. What could she possibly say? Bella had crawled out of her despair by the skin of her teeth and was barely clinging to her sanity. Her entire life was in shambles. Her boyfriend had left her, his family had followed suit, and their actions had all combined into one huge clusterfuck that marked her for death should she ever come across a member of the Volturi or one of their supporters. Her head was spinning from her conversation with Laurent.

She had identities to create, deaths to fake, and powers to strengthen.

Bella wasn't sure that if was purely the will to keep going; she just didn't want anyone else to die for her if she could avoid it. Her dalliance with the Cullens had already cost Angela her family, and Bella wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to forget that. If her plan with Laurent went off without a hitch, she was sure she'd have yet another mental collapse when they were somewhere safe, but right now, she was purely in survival mode.

But she couldn't say this to Angela. Not now. Angela needed to be told that this pain isn't forever, that she'll be able to think of her parents and her little brothers one day and not have the urge to throw up immediately after. Angela needed to know that it was okay to move on and be happy despite the tragedy.

"I keep going because of you," Bella says. "You. Jessica. My dad. I gotta be honest with you, Ang. I am going through it right now. This whole thing with Edward, Jacob and Leah...sometimes I don't want to get out of bed. And you saw, firsthand, how bad I can get when I spiral. But I don't want to die because you're still here. All of you. As long as you guys are here, I can find a reason to breathe. Whenever I get low, I try to think of you three."

Tears were streaming down Angela's face. She surged forward to throw her arms around Bella. Bella hugged her back tightly.

"I know things are hard right now," Bella murmured. "But it won't always be this way. We're here for you, always, and your family will always be with you."

Bella pulled back to look Angela in her eyes. She wanted to memorize her face. Bella didn't know what the next few weeks would bring. She hoped that she wouldn't lose anyone else, but she also knew she couldn't go forward with the expectation that she could keep her family perfect and alive.

God forbid anything happen to Angela and she spent the rest of her life looking back, wondering why she didn't take the time to memorize every minute detail of her face.

"Are you finally lifting my travel ban or am I still a prisoner?"

Bella and Charlie engaged in a stare down from opposite sides of the kitchen table. She'd asked Jessica to come by and take Angela out, anticipating blowback from her father about her plans for the day.

She would have loved to sneak out, to go sprinting down the driveway and on her merry way, but knew that in the coming weeks, her success was going to hinge on having the unwavering trust of her father, and she'd be damaging that if she kept going off on her own.

"I don't like this, Bella." Her father sighed. "Lately - "

"I know things have been bad - "

"Bad? Bella, you have powers. You said we'd talk more about it but we haven't. You've been disappearing on your own, coming back soaked and in shambles. I can't stand to see you like this."

"You think I don't want to talk?" Bella said. "It's just..God, it's so hard. There are things I can't tell you, and I literally mean can't. And unless you understand that, we can't go any further."

"Is someone threatening you?" Charle said lowly, leaning forward.

"No! I..." Bella took a deep breath. "Okay. You know how when there's a high priority case, and the key witness has to be protected at a secure, unknown location so that no one can silence them? And how that person has to cut off everyone they know and love, and have to live a completely different life to keep their families safe? That's what this is like. I can't... explain all of it right now. I'd like to, one day. But right now, Dad, there are things I need to do. Places I have to be. And I'm trying so hard not to fall apart again, because I know what that does to you to see me like that. I just need you to trust me, okay? Please. It doesn't make sense right now but it will. I promise you, one day it will."

Charlie stared at her for a few minutes in silence, emotions warring with each other on his face. He had questions, she could tell, he wanted to make demands. But he also didn't want to risk pushing her away. They had gone her entire childhood in a distant, awkward place, and now they were closer than ever before and neither of them wanted to lose that.

He closed his eyes and nodded.

Bella exhaled shakily, feeling her heart finally begin to calm down. She couldn't dive into the mess with Victoria right now, but she could give him something else, something that could get him to understand, even if only a little, how much was at stake.

"I know that the fact that I have...powers...it's so scary. And I wish I could give you something concrete, I wish I could tell you exactly where it came from and what, exactly, it is, but all I have are bits and pieces. What I can tell you is that I'm not the first person this has happened to."

Her father leaned forward, intrigued.

"There have been cases all over the world, Dad, where people could do amazing things that no human being should be able to do. Things that I used to think were just science fiction. A few decades ago, in Mississippi, there was a young girl who could predict the future. And I mean, not just little things that could be written off, like predicting the weather or something, but real things, like murder plots, illness, entire conversations. A few decades before that, there was a man who could feel and influence the emotions of others. A few centuries ago, there were children that were burned at the stake because they had the ability to inflict pain onto a person without touching them.

"What I can do, I call them shields. It's like...I can see them in my mind."

Bella stopped, hesitated. Her father loved her, she knew, and she knew he'd try to be understanding, but this was a lot. She was asking her father to begin to accept that there were unnatural things in this world that couldn't always be explained. It wasn't as mind blowing as discovering that vampires were real, but it was still a lot to process.

"Do you..Dad, do you believe me?"

Her father sighed and took her hands in his.

"I do," he said. "God, I, Bells, I feel like I'm crazy. Like you're crazy. Like I'm encouraging a cycle of delusion. I feel like that, but I also know that I can't continue to act like things aren't strange, like we haven't been careening towards something huge. I know you can't tell me what it is, and I appreciate that you're trying to share what you can, but it is a lot to wrap my head around. But no matter how crazy it sounds, it's also the only thing that makes sense; you, having these powers. That other people have had them. I guess there really are things in the world that can't be quickly explained away with science and logic."

He took a deep breath and asked, "These...shields? What do you mean you see them?"

Bella exhaled heavily, looking down at their fingers. "It's like...a bubble. Two different ones. They connect, overlap, almost, but they are separate in what they can do, I think. There's one that's mental, like it protects my mind, and the other is physical, and it protects my actual person. If I concentrate, I can push them out away from me, expanding it. That night in my room, I expanded too suddenly. And I know..Dad, I know this sounds crazy. But I've been doing a lot of thinking and I think it's possible that it's...hereditary."

Charlie laughed weakly, closing his eyes tightly for a second. Bella said nothing for a moment, letting him process. He was, no doubt, thrown by all of it. He'd spent his entire life believe in facts, science, logic, and had made a career out of it, and now he was being confronted with the fact that science and what seems like magic can coexist in the same world in a way that it's constricted to storybooks and movie plots.

"You're telling me people can have superpowers and that you, what, probably got it from me? Have there been other cases like that?"

Bella thought back to what she knew of Edward and his mother. God, she was taking such a huge risk, but what else could she do? In a very short amount of time, she was going to ask him to get in the car with her and leave behind his friends, his new girlfriend, his life, and maybe he'd put up less of a fight if she gave him something to work with, even if it was just a crumb.

"There's a boy who can read minds. His mother, I don't think she could read minds the way he could. He could read thoughts, hear the words in your head as though you said them aloud, see the pictures and images you'd conjure up. She couldn't do that, but she knew things. I think that parents pass it down, and from there it amplifies. It's like whatever she had evolved in him. And, no offense to Renee, but I don't think she could do anything like that. Which leaves you."

"I've never had a shield," Charlie mused. "Bella, I know I said I wouldn't pressure you, I'd take what you could give me when you could, but what made you look into this stuff? How did you know you could do this stuff? Why do you think I can do something special?"

"That boy who can read minds, he could never hear my thoughts." Bella stared directly into her father's eyes. "And he couldn't always get a clear look on yours, either."

Charlie stared at her, mouth agape. She could practically see the gears turning in his head, those decades of police work rapidly connecting the dots.

"Ed - "

"Don't say it." Bella pleaded. "I, Dad, I'm taking a huge risk telling you this. Do you understand? I can't tell you all of it, but I can give you this. But you cannot repeat what I say to you to anyone."

"I", Charlie exhaled shakily, taking his hands from hers and pressing them into his eyelids. His breath was coming faster now. Bella knew that he knew, knew that he was realizing, all at once, how Edward had always been able to say the right thing, disappear at the right times, knew what he was going to say and how to manipulate. He began to laugh. It wasn't a happy sound. He laughed like he was trying to force himself to experience one last moment of joy before he met his end.

"Are you really going to tell me the truth?" Charlie asked after a few minutes, finally opening his eyes to look at her. He aged ten years in five minutes. "No bullshit, the honest to God truth?"

"Not today, but soon. I swear."

He took her in for a moment longer before gesturing toward the door and sliding her keys across the table.

"I want you home by ten."

Growing up, Bella had never been one for hatred.

She may have disliked people, may have found their presence aggravating and wished they'd go away, but had never experienced that bone deep disgust. And then she moved to Forks.

There was a list of people that she hated, and she kept them in neat little lines in her head. Edward was first, followed by Alice, Carlisle, Emmett, Esme, Jasper, Rosalie. Victoria followed, and immediately under her were two brand new spots with two names written in neat ink: Jacob and Leah.

After what Edward had done to her, Bella had never thought she'd ever experience that kind of heartbreak twice in one lifetime. It had taken a lot to open up again, to push herself to rekindle her friendships and try to build a life that wasn't centered around the undead. And for a while, she'd succeeded. Her relationship with her father was wonderful, she had friends that loved her, and she was slowly becoming an actual person instead of just a hollow mold that twisted and bent to suit other people.

Very quickly that little bit of stability was snatched away.

Bella doesn't think she can ever forgive Jacob for what he said to her, for what he and Leah have done, doesn't know if she can forgive herself for destroying one of her father's friendships, and that makes her hatred grow.

However, in spite the hate she may feel, she isn't a monster. She knows that, no matter her failed relationship with Jacob and Leah, she would never be able to live with herself if the people of La Push were unprepared for what was about to befall them.

The younger generations may think the legends about the Cold Ones are just that, but there are many who know better. She had to tell Billy what she knew about Victoria, and hopefully he'd take it to the council. She had to at least give them a fighting chance. No matter how bad things ended, she didn't want them dead.

Bella pulls into the Black's driveway and stares at the little red house through the rain splattered windshield of her truck.

Jacob's rabbit is barely visible from it's place in their shed, covered with a tarp so that the rain doesn't get everywhere.

Bella allows herself to just exist in this moment. In a few weeks, she will never see Billy and Jacob again. Despite Jacob's cruel words, she wonders if he'll mourn her, just a bit. Wonders how Billy will take the news about Charlie. She has good memories here, with them, and that's what makes it so hard. She's so hurt, increasingly bitter despite her best efforts not to be at the shit show that's become her life, but she remembers that there were more good times than bad. She remembers that she loved them. Knows that even after everything, after all the hurt, she won't stop.

Taking a deep breath, Bella pulls her hood over her head and gets out of her truck. She's halfway to the door when a voice sends her heart racing.

"He's sleeping."

Bella spins, nearly slipping in the mud, and comes face to face with three shirtless, drenched men. Sam, Paul, and Jared.

It seems like a lifetime ago that she had lunch with them, and the neutral face Sam sported then was nowhere to be found now.

"I'm not here for Jacob," Bella said. "I just need to talk to Billy and then I'll go."

"He's out," Paul said coldly. "And I doubt he'd want to hear anything you had to say anyways. You're a bit much."

Sam snaps something at him in what Bella assumes is Quileute, and Paul shrinks just a bit.

"You should go home, Bella," Sam says, a touch nicer, and he, Paul, and Jared begin to move to the back of Jacob's house towards the woods.

Bella almost let them go.

"You're a bit much."

"Jesus, Bella, has it ever occurred to you that you're just too much?!"

Bella's hands begin to shake.

What were the chances...what were the chances Jacob had been coerced to shutting her out? That some of his words may not have been his own?

The trio were halfway across the lawn when Bella moved.

"Hey!" she snarled, storming after them.

Using her momentum and Paul's half completed motion of turning around, she shoved him, hard, putting a little extra strength behind her hands. He stumbled back, snarling, and began to shake so hard he was vibrating.

"Bella, get back!" Sam roared, he and Jared trying to wrestle Paul to the floor. Whatever they were trying to do, it was too late.

Paul exploded, and the man was no longer there. In his place was a wolf that was easily the same size, if not bigger than, a black bear. Sam and Jared are sent sprawling, enormous claws tearing through their torsos and biceps like tissue paper.

The wolf that was Paul only managed to charge forward one step before Bella reacted, a heavy pulse bursting from her and sending the two men and wolf clear across the rest of the field, crashing into the thick trees at the edge of the tree line.