Charlie was still at the house when Seth and I came back downstairs.

"So," Charlie said as I sat down on the floor in front of Bella. "I don't believe that was a medical problem. What was that?"

"Something I can't control," I told him. "Unless you want to know the details, it's not a 'need to know' thing."

He seemed satisfied with my answer. Everyone in the room was slightly tense because I was in the room, but nothing happened the rest of the evening, though once when I was coming back in the room after retrieving a Diet Coke—unopened in case of more 'visions'—I almost attacked Charlie from behind. Luckily, Seth stopped me from behind and Charlie never noticed. All the vampires in the room were tense after that, but I'd reassured them that I was fine. Leah had looked like she was gonna phase and attack me any second.

Bella was just saying goodbye to him for the night, and Seth was leaving to go out on patrol with Leah.

"Erin, we'll find a way to stop it," Seth whispered to me as we stood outside. I was going to go hunting anyway. Charlie was walking slowly over to the cruiser and I got the feeling he was watching and listening in on us. "It'll be fine." And then he disappeared into the trees.

I noticed Charlie was watching where he'd disappeared suspiciously, and then his eyes were on me. I sort of half-heartedly smiled at him and waved. He was still trying to take his time. I shook my head and ran full speed into the woods.

LINE BREAK

I was an emotional wreck. Even though I didn't show it on the outside, on the inside I was screaming bloody murder. Just after I'd found a new home and a new life, it was going to get taken away from me. Sitting next to me was a dead mountain lion completely drained of blood. I was lying on the ground face up, allowing the rain splash on my face. I didn't even blink when a raindrop landed on my eye; the water hissed and evaporated because of the venom. I opened my mind up to listen to the animal minds around me. Their minds were based upon three objectives: eat, hide, and survive. I thought I noticed the pack mind once, but they were too far away to tell.

I sighed unnecessarily, and closed my mind up, shielding it. I'd never really believed in fate, or the Fates, or whatever controlled one's destiny, but now I was questioning it. What if everyone had some sort of life planned out for them? What if you couldn't control your life as Alice's visions portrayed you could?

SethPOV

I was really worried about Erin. She somehow became human again and died? Wasn't that supposed to be impossible?

Seth, quit complaining. That was Leah.

I loved her, but sometimes she could be a pain in the ass.

I try, little brother, she thought smugly.

Wouldn't you be worried if someone you loved was going to die and there was no way to stop it? I asked her, slightly angry.

Okay, okay. God, Seth, you don't need to get so worked up.

She tried to ignore me, but I could tell it wasn't working. How were we going to prevent it? If we used my idea and tried to interfere, Erin said that that will just make it worse. If her idea and 'go with the flow' as she put it, we might end up going there anyway. And since Alice couldn't see either of us, we were sort of stuck.

Oh, jeez Seth, I didn't notice! Leah thought sarcastically. Just let 'fate' or whatever take charge and kill the both of you!

I looked up and noticed the sun had come out from behind the clouds.

ErinPOV

I had my eyes closed, trying so desperately to sleep. Didn't work out so well. I felt a sudden warmth on my skin, like an early summer breeze. I opened my eyes and saw the sun had burst from behind the clouds. My skin was beautiful, like thousands of diamonds were embedded into my skin, reflecting the sunlight. I marveled at the sight for about ten minutes before the sun disappeared again. I closed my eyes again, trying to lose myself in the silence around me. Soon, though, I heard footsteps. They were too heavy to be that of a vampire or werewolf, but I ignored them. The footsteps grew closer and my throat started to burn. I ignored that too. I knew a human hiker was coming my way, and suddenly I felt as if I should lure them to their death. I wanted their blood so badly…

No! Get ahold of yourself, Erin! I told myself. But the smell was so delicious and somehow fragrant. I heard the human gasp. It was a man.

"Hey, Jerry, get over here!" I heard him shout. So, there was more than one. "I found something!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'." That must have been Jerry. He sounded native, almost. "Mark, the last time ya said that, ya found a pile o' deer dung! Just quit messin'—" The footsteps stopped about five feet away from me. My throat was on fire. "—around."

"What d'you suppose happened to her?" Mark asked, slightly appalled. I was still covered in the lion's blood. "And that lion?"

"I dunno." I heard Jerry's clothes shift; he'd shrugged. "Maybe she 'ad a gun and shot it. Then it got mad at 'er and attacked 'er. Maybe she died from 'er wounds and the lion died from blood loss?"

"Maybe." Mark kneeled down next to me; his voice was closer. "But she doesn't appear wounded, just covered in blood."

He ran one of his fingers across my cheek where there was more blood, then removed the finger.

"Blood looks fresh, Mark," Jerry said. He was probably looking over his companions shoulder. "This must've 'appened a few minutes ago."

Jerry felt the skin on my arm; his hand was rougher than Mark's. "She's as cold as ice." His hand moved to my neck to feel for a pulse. "Nothin'. She's dead."

They moved away from me, standing about ten feet away. Thank goodness, too, because I was having a hard time controlling myself already.

"It's curious, ya know," Jerry muttered.

"What is?"

"A beautiful, full grown woman in the middle of nowhere with no 'iking supplies, no jacket, nothin'. Just lyin' dead next to a mountain lion, also dead, with no reason to be dead."

"Jerry, I know you've always been the superstitious type, but seriously?"

Ok, their blood seriously smelled real good, and my throat was burning pretty bad. I had to succumb. I feigned stirring from unconsciousness and tried to make my voice sound feeble. "H-hello?"

Jerry gasped and didn't move, but Mark rushed to my side. "Are you all right?"

I made my eyes flutter open. He had fairly pale skin—not as pale as mine—and had dark brown hair. His face had worry written all over. I forced feebleness into my voice again. "W-where am I? Who am I? What h-happened?"

In the distance, I heard a vampire running, but I ignored it.

"We just found you here," Mark said. I got the feeling I was dazzling him. "We found you next to that mountain lion over there, and you and it were really bloody. That thing obviously got hurt somehow, but you don't seem to have a scratch on you. Do you remember what happened?"

I shook my head. This was easier than I thought. "No. I don't remember anything."

The vampire grew nearer, and I sensed it was either Emmett or Jasper, but it didn't matter. My kill was becoming more confident in me. Jerry, however, remained suspicious. He, in fact, was part native.

"Do remember why you were out here?" Mark asked.

"I remember wandering around, looking for something. But I didn't remember what. And that's when the lion attacked me."

"Erin!" I heard Emmett yell. Oh, so they were trying to stop me and caught onto my charade. "Erin, where are you?"

"Erin?" That was Jasper. "Erin!"

"Do their voices sound familiar?" Mark asked me as he helped me stand up. I shook my head. "Ok, we'll get you some help once we get back to the Jeep."

"Erin," Emmett said. I looked across the clearing. He was dressed in a hiking outfit and all that. It looked kind of goofy. "We thought you'd been attacked."

"Who are you?" I almost growled at him, but I controlled myself.

"Erin, come on, you can stop the act," Emmett said, walking closer.

"As a matter of fact, son," Jerry stepped in front of me. "She was attacked. And since she doesn't seem to remember a thing, or even you, I don't think it would be safe for her to go with you."

"But she's my sister," Emmett protested. "Can't you see the resemblance?"

I did notice that we had a few similarities; we both had black hair (A/N: Sorry, but the movie version of Emmett is burned into my brain), and we both had pale skin.

They're mine! I screamed to Emmett through my mind. He winced slightly, but he knew what was promoting my 'attitude.'

"Erin, come on, Jasper's really worried," Emmett said.

"Who's Jasper?" Mike asked.

"Her boyfriend," Emmett lied. Oh, no he didn't! Jasper was going to kill him, and so was I. "He's worried out of his mind about her." And then Emmett shouted out. "Hey, Jazz! I found her!"

About a minute later, Jasper came into the clearing behind Emmett. He thought to me, We'll talk about this later.

"Erin, oh, thank God your brother found you!" Jasper rushed over to me at human speed and hugged me. "Come on, we gotta get home and get you warm."

"Who do you think you are?" I shouted, tearing myself from his grip. "I don't even know who I am, and you're already acting like you own me?"

Seriously, I was so good, I almost believed myself. Almost.

"Erin, come on, you need my dad to check you out to make sure you're okay," Jasper pleaded. Please don't attack them, and come with us. Please.

FINE! I screamed at him. I put a sort of curious expression on my face. "Wait…Jasper? Emmett?"

"Yes, it's us." Emmett and Jasper said, relaxing slightly.

"Oh, I was lost! I thought I wouldn't find you!" I hurled myself into Jasper's arms again, pretending to cry.

"Thank you," Jasper said to the hikers. "We'll take her from here."

"Ok, son. Goodbye," Jerry said. And they walked away. I heard Jerry mutter, "Still think it was too weird."

"Erin," Jasper growled as he stepped away from me. "What did you think you were doing?"

"I was lost in thought," I mumbled. "And then they came up to me, and…" I inhaled; their scent still lingered in the air.

"I think you need to drink more of that soda," Jasper growled. "We're going back to the house."

LINE BREAK

Everyone ignored me. Seth was still on patrol, and Jake was giving me his best murder glare. I hid out in the attic, sipping Diet Coke, and reading a random book. I think it was Romeo and Juliet, though I wasn't sure, because I didn't pay attention to it. Everyone now thought I was dangerous because I didn't have enough control. Well, when I'd smelled the humans, I hadn't attacked right off the bat! I soon lost myself into the book, momentarily forgetting the events of the day.