A new day

Author: Bella Carlie Cullen (Sam)

 CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Chapter 10
Chapter 2 Chapter 11
Chapter 3 Chapter 12
Chapter 4 Chapter 13
Chapter 5 Chapter 14
Chapter 6 Chapter 15
Chapter 7 Chapter 16
Chapter 8 Chapter 17
Chapter 9 Chapter 18
 Chapter 1

That night, all Edward and I did was

read our favorite books. I was in his
lap the whole time, reading
Wuthering Heights, and I didn’t
know how many times I had read
that book. Edward couldn’t
understand why I read that book so
much, but I didn’t care. Edward was
reading one of his favorite novels,
and Renesmee was asleep in her
bed. I was the one who usually read
to her at night, but when Edward
and I went to put her to sleep the
night before, he wanted to read to
her. I complied and got him a book
of poems that I hadn’t read to her
yet-Renesmee didn’t like repetition,
she didn’t have the patience for it,
and she didn’t get that from
Edward.
He read to her until she was asleep,
and after fifteen minutes, I went to
stand in her open doorway to check
on them. He had the book on her
nightstand, and he was in the
rocking chair by her bed where I
usually sat. He was looking at her
with a peculiar expression, and I
was wondering why that was. He
must have heard me coming
because when I entered the
doorway he looked up and smiled
my favorite smile.
"What?" I was always confused
when he did that. Whenever he
looked up at me and smiled, I felt
like I was missing an inside joke.
"She looks exactly like you when I
used to watch you sleep," he
replied.” The only difference is, is
that I don’t have to wait for her to
start talking to know what she's
dreaming about." He smiled and
laughed a little at the end.
"You look at her like she’s the most
interesting being in the world," I
confessed in awe. He had a talent
for doing that, for seeing the best in
people, but that wasn’t his most
special talent. And it always
frustrated him that he couldn’t read
my mind as well as everyone else's,
in fact, he couldn’t read my mind at
all. Ha, ha.
"She is only the second most
interesting person in the world, but
it's very close. You still hold the lead
for the most interesting person in
my book." He got up, leaned down
to kiss the top of Renesmee's
cheek, and crossed the room to
meet me. He grabbed my hand, got
our two favorite books, and pulled
me into his lap on the small couch
in our cabin.
It was dawn now, and I realized that
Renesmee would be waking up
soon. I didn’t think that it looked like
I was staring out into space, until
Edward pulled my face around to
meet his.
"Please, Bella? The suspense is
killing me. You know it's not fair," he
begged. Sometimes I did honestly
forget that he couldn’t read my
mind-unless I tried really hard and
pushed my shield all the way out
from me, so that it was only around
him.
"I was just remembering last
night...when you put Renesmee to
bed. What was she dreaming
about?" I was so curious about his
expression the night before, he
looked confused.
"She was dreaming about her day
with Jacob yesterday. She was really
happy, but that was all I could figure
out. I’m a little curious and
worried...." he trailed off.
"Why are you worried? Jacob's
responsible with Renesmee," I told
him.
"I don’t know. But I still want to talk
to him about it," he sounded
suspicious now.
Then understanding hit. Renesmee
now looked old enough to pass for
seventeen. She and Jacob had spent
the entire day yesterday together.
All at once, I was feeling the same
suspicion Edward did. I fell back
against his chest and growled.
"I see your point," I agreed. Then I
heard the faint creak of the
floorboard, and I knew that
Renesmee was up. She came into
the living room, and looked at
Edward and me both lounging on
the couch. We looked at each other
and he had a suspicious look in his
golden eyes, and I probably had the
same look in mine. We both turned
back to her and she looked wary.
"Hey mom, hey dad," she said
nervously. It was like she knew she
was going to be dive bombed with
questions from the both of us.
"How did you sleep Ness-
Renesmee?" Edward asked. She
gave him a dirty look-she hated
being called Nessie anymore, but
she still wanted us to read to her?-
our daughter was so strange. She
answered Edward then.
"Okay. Am I in trouble?" she asked
suspiciously. Edward always said
she was like me because she could
see past both our pretences. I
disagreed. i.e. was too much like
him.
"No, but we want to talk to you," I
answered before Edward could give
her crap about the dirty looks.
"About Jacob," I continued.
"What about him?" she asked. Ever
since Jacob had imprinted on
Renesmee the day she was born-
and the day I had become a
vampire-they were inseparable.
"What did you two do yesterday?"
he asked before I could. "You didn’t
get home until 11:00."
"Do I have a curfew now?" she
asked.
"Answer the question Renesmee," I
told her.
"Fine. We went to the ocean, and
spent the day on the beach."
"Is that all you did?" I asked before
Edward could.
"Yeah. I just had a really good time."
"Okay, that’s all," I said. I always
had a special bond with my
daughter, and I could always tell
when she meant what she was
saying. But I always had Edward for
backup if I was wrong.
"Can I get dressed and go hunting
now?" she asked impatiently.
"Yes, go ahead," Edward said.
She went back to her room right
away. Not only did she look like a
teenager, but she also acted like
one. I wanted to make sure Edward
and I were alone now, so I waited
until I was sure Renesmee was in
her room.
"Okay, what is she hiding?" I asked
when I was sure Renesmee couldn’t
hear.
"He told her that he loved her," he
replied in a serious tone.
"What's wrong with that?" I asked.
"He means it in a serious way. It's
not just a love like friendship
relationship anymore. It's like the
way we love each other."
"You don’t trust him, do you?"
"I trust him; I just want to have a
talk with him."
"Why?" I asked him. "Renesmee's
practically an adult. You know that
Jacob is always absolutely careful
with her."
"You’re right," he agreed. "I’m just
worried about her."
"You know Jacob's not like other
werewolves. He's careful."
"Yes, but she's the second most
important being to me," he said.
"You and her are my entire world."
"Fine, I'll talk to Jacob."
"I thought I was going to talk to
him?"
"If you talk to him, then he may not
come back, and then we will have
the whole pack over here, and I
don't want to get in a fight with Paul
right now."
"I wasn't going to hurt him."
"Yeah, but if he starts it, then where
would we be?"
"Okay, I'll let you talk to him."
"Thank you."
Then he leaned his head down to
kiss me. I loved the fact that he
didn't have to be careful with me
anymore. He no longer had to pull
away so quickly, he didn't have to
be careful of how tight he held me,
he didn't have to be careful with me
at all. So it surprised me when he
pulled away after a few seconds.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked
when I saw how worried his eyes
looked, especially because they
never looked like that often.
"There's a werewolf outside," he
said.
"Who is it?" I asked confused.
"It's not someone from the pack. I
don't recognize who the mind is."
"I'm going to go get Renesmee," I
told him.
"Okay, but be careful," he warned
me.
We were both crouched on the floor
now, and he been his head to kiss
me quickly. After he did that, we
were both headed in separate
directions. Edward was headed
toward the front door, and I was
headed toward Renesmee's room.
When I got to her doorway, I looked
back in the direction of the front
door, and saw Edward nod at me.
After he slid out of the door, I
opened Renesmee's door and slid
in. When I was in her room, she was
on her bed, staring at her window. I
followed her gaze, and out the window, I saw
a red-brown wolf morphing. The wolf was changing and taking
the shape of something different. Then, in a split second,
Jacob was standing outside her window, putting on what
looked like a pair of basketball shorts. After he finished with
that, he was climbing through her window.

"Bells, what's going on?"

"Jacob, there's another werewolf here. And he's not from the
pack," I explained.

As I explained this to him, I watched his brown eyes turn black

with anger, but, hidden inside, I could also see the terror for
me, the terror for Edward, and most of all, the terror for
Renesmee. That was also the same terror that Edward and I
were facing, the terror for Renesmee.

Chapter 2
Jacob was still frozen in place after I told him that there was
another wolf in the area. He stood there, staring back and
forth between me and Renesmee. If there were any flies in the
room, they would be flying into his mouth.

"Where is dad?" Renesmee asked.

"He...went to go see who the new wolf was," I answered.

As I thought about all the near-death experiences that I had,

and all the dangerous times that Edward had to save me, and
although they were blurry and poorly remembered, I also
thought of all the times when I could have been separated
from Edward forever, and it was still hard to think about. It
was hard to realize that this could be the last time I had with
him. Although it wasn't easy to kill our kind, werewolves could
easily do it. They were unstable, and unpredictable. I had first-
hand account memories. As I thought all of this, I couldn’t let
Edward go off on his own, not without me.

"Look after Renesmee!" I screamed at Jacob as I ran toward

the front door. I got out the door in a matter of seconds, and I
was frantic to look for Edward. It was a bright morning in the
beautiful forest of Forks, Washington. It was raining-I could
smell it-but the thick trees prevented me from feeling any of
the rain. I heard someone or something running in my
direction. I spun around-ready to confront anything that
wanted to get passed me. After I turned around, Jacob and
Renesmee were running toward me.

"Mom!" Renesmee screamed.

"Jacob, get her away from here! Take her to La Push, I have to
find Edward," I yelled at him.

"I'm not leaving you and Edward, Bella," Jacob said. "I'll take
her so that Carlisle and Esme can look after her, but I'm going
with you to look for Edward."
"Fine, go take her to Carlisle; I'm looking for Edward though."

After I said that, Jacob and Renesmee started in the direction

of the rest of the Cullen's house. I made sure they were to the
house before I turned and started looking for Edward. I picked
up a scent of an unfamiliar werewolf, and started north. I ran
for a few miles, seeing everything and missing not one detail
of the forest. I could see every stick, every leaf, every
mushroom, and every piece of grass. I really missed nothing.

"Bella?" a very familiar voice called from the shadows. I

turned around and there was Edward, jumping down from a
tree.

"Oh my gosh Edward, you had me terrified," I said, running up

to him after he stood up strait again after coming down. He
embraced me in a tight hug that would have crushed a
human, and I was glad that he didn't have to be careful with
me anymore. I stood on my tip-toes to be able to reach his
mouth to kiss him. Making it easier for me, he bent his head
down to kiss me back. I was worried about him, and I had
some questions that needed answers, so I pulled away.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "Are you hurt, did you find out who
that other wolf was what happened?"

He chuckled slightly, probably because he thought it was

funny how I was always freaking out about him.

"I'm fine. I was following the scent of the wolf, but it went up
passed the mountains, probably to Seattle or maybe Canada.
How are you? Is Renesmee okay?" he said.

"I'm fine. Jacob came over, and he took Renesmee to Carlisle

and Esme, she's fine. She was just worried about you, but
she's okay," I told him.

"Is Jacob okay?" he asked.

I still wasn't used to Jacob and Edward being friends, but I

didn't mind. Ever since Renesmee was born-and Jacob had
imprinted on her-Jacob stopped being "in love" with me. After
that-and after the Volturi had decided to let all of us live-
Edward and Jacob had been good friends.

"Yeah, Jacob's fine," I said.

"Let's go. I want to talk to Alice and Carlisle."

"Okay."

We started running in the direction of the big white house that

I knew would be in the clearing. Edward grabbed my hand
mid-sprint and we ran like that the rest of the way. Even when
we ran to the river, we jumped at the same time and landed
together. When we got to the clearing, I saw the big white
house, and I could hear and smell the six vampires conversing
in it. I could also smell the one werewolf, and that really made
me want to take a few steps back, but I was used to it. I also
heard my half vampire-half human daughter whining and
complaining. In that way, I had to agree with Edward that she
was more like me than him at times.

"I don't want to calm down, I want to know where my parents

are," she was saying. I guessed she was probably talking to
Jasper, who could easily calm people down, or make people
excited. Jasper had a very special gift.

"They are both right outside the house," I heard Alice say.
Edward's favorite sister was also my favorite, and my best
friend. Her special gift was seeing people's futures. I guessed
she probably saw me and Edward coming toward the house. I
could see inside the big white house through its big front
window. I saw All the vampires, the one werewolf, and my
daughter turn their heads to look at me and Edward. At that
time, Edward and I had started to walk forward to enter the
house. Edward opened the door, pulling me along behind him.
We both entered the Cullen's living room, and all eight people-
well vampires, vampire and a half, and werewolf-turned to
look at us.
"Edward, Bella, what is going on?" Carlisle asked.

"I don't know. There was another werewolf in the area, and
she wasn't a member of either pack," Edward explained.

"She?" Jacob asked before I could.

"I got closer to her, so I was able to find out who she was and
what she was doing here, but that is about all the information
I got," he said.

"What was she doing here?" Esme asked.

"Her name was Marina, and she was looking for Bella."

"Me?" I asked. "Why was she looking for me?"

"She was hired by someone to find you and find out more
about you. She knew I could read minds, and she didn't like
her assignment. She also knew about the Quileute wolves,
and was very careful not to get anywhere near La Push. She
knows what she's doing, but she doesn't like doing it," Edward
answered.

"Why is it that everyone is drawn to my bad luck?" I

questioned.

"It's not your fault," Alice said.

"Then what is it Alice? Was I born being on everybody's hit

list?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

"No one is ever going to hurt you, Bella," Edward nearly

growled.

"I know, but not only are these people putting me in danger,
but they are also putting everyone else I love in danger too.
Why can't they just stop at me?"

"No one is in any danger Bella," Jasper reassured me, and I

instantly felt calmer. Sometimes Jasper's peculiar gift could be
rather irritating, but sometimes-like now-I was grateful he
used it on me. I really needed to stop being so hysterical.

I went and sat down in the reclining chair that was across
from the one that Rosalie was sitting in, and next to the couch
that Esme and Renesmee were sitting on. Edward, Jacob,
Emmet, Carlisle, and Jasper were all standing. After I sat
down, although I didn't need to-I did it out of habit to keep up
the human charade that the Cullen’s had taught me after I
became a vampire-Edward came to stand next to me. I leaned
my head against his hip and he wrapped his left arm around
me.

"What are we going to do about it?" Emmet asked, always

impatient when it came to things with action. He was also my
favorite brother, as well as Edward's. Emmet liked me
because when I was human I was always falling over
something and I brought on allot of action. He thought I was a
crack-up. The only thing he didn't like about me now, was that
when I was a newborn, I was able to beat him at arm wrestling
because I was stronger than he was. He never got over losing
to me, but he still liked me, and he liked making fun of me.

"We'll go on as if everything is normal, but if we catch the

scent of her, or anyone else with her or associated with her,
we'll come her first, and Emmet, Jasper, and I will go out and
find out what this is all about," Edward said.

I hated putting my family at risk because of my bad luck that

never seemed to turn off. I also never got used to people
always taking risks for me. I suppose I should be since was
always in different near death experiences that always
involved Edward and his family, but I wasn't. I looked at all of
the faces of the people/vampires and werewolf that I loved.
These were the ones who I spent all my time with. Every face
looked back at me with a pledge to keep what I hold dear with
us. Although I didn't need that much protection anymore-
mostly because I was pretty much indestructible-everyone still
protected me like I was the most important person ever. And
according to Edward, I was.
 Chapter 3
I was sitting on the couch with Edward, leaning against his
chest. We were still at the Cullen's house and I was done
freaking out about the other werewolf being in the area. I
heard a group coming through the forest and I was sure that
Edward knew who it was. All he had to do was see into the
person's mind and he knew their name at the least, if not
more. I looked to my right and saw Renesmee in Jacob's lap,
asleep. It reminded me so much of Edward and me. The way
she oriented herself around him, the way she always wanted
to be with him. I had to tell Edward that we needed to back off
of their relationship. Although it had only been a few months,
Jacob was already hers, and she was the center of Jacob's
world. I didn't mind the fact that she was in the spot that I was
in before I had her. I was glad that Jacob didn't see me in that
way anymore. It solved allot of problems. I was distracted by
the sound of running feet as they approached the house more.
I knew it wasn't a vampire, because I wouldn't hear a
heartbeat if it was. I would soon find out. I really wished I
could smell through doors and buildings. Just then, there was
a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Carlisle said.

He got up from the opposite recliner that Jacob and Renesmee

were in, and set his book aside. He walked to the front door to
open it, and when he did, everyone was on their feet,
including me and Edward, but it happened so fast; I wasn't
exactly sure how it happened. All I knew was that I was on my
feet, surrounded by Rosalie, Emmet, Esme, Jasper, Alice, and
Edward. It was then when I noticed who the guests were that
made everybody so tense. Although we were on good terms
with the Quileute wolf pack, the rest of the Cullen’s were still
tense about being around them.

"Sam, what is this about?" Edward asked.

"We found the wolf wandering around near your side of the
treaty," he said.

"Where is she?" Edward asked.

"Outside with Paul, Embry, and Quil," he replied.

"Did you find out what she wants?" I asked.

Sam still looked at me like a traitor, but it wasn't as bad as it

had once been. I knew exactly why he thought I was a traitor.
He was upset because when Edward left me the September
before last; Sam found me in the woods and thought I would
never be able to forgive Edward for what he did. So he was a
little resentful when I welcomed Edward back with no
hesitations at all. But after Jacob had imprinted on Renesmee,
and since Edward and I were the parents, Sam and the pack
had a little more respect than before.

"She said she was sent to find out more about you and the
rest of the vampires here. But when she came into contact
with us, she became a little curious herself," he answered me.

"You mean you had contact with her before this?" I asked,
confused and irritated that I couldn't be asking her these
questions myself.

"The first time she came here she crossed our scent, because
we have been patrolling the area for other vampires not like
you. She came back because she was more curious about why
we were in similar territories."

"Can we talk to her?" I asked, also looking up at Edward in

case he would give me an answer. He usually did that.

"Be my guest," Seth answered before Sam could. He was

standing next to Sam next to Leah. Leah hated being around
us, but when it came to her little brother being in the
presence of vampires; she got over her person prejudice and
was on guard for him. "She won't tell us anything. She's
actually demanding to talk to you, Bella," he continued.

Next to me, Edward let a low growl escape. I had to smile to

myself because he sometimes forgot that I was as
indestructible as he was.

"Me? What does she want with me?" I asked.

"She wants to ask you some questions," Leah said. She said it
like it was obvious and like I was missing something. Leah
never liked me, in fact, she loathed the very core of me for
hanging out with vampires, and now for being one. Next to
her, and bigger than her, although he was younger, Seth
elbowed her in the side. Seth had no problem with me or any
of the Cullen’s. He especially liked Edward, and the two of
them proved that vampires and werewolves could be friends.

"You know Leah; you don't have to be here. In fact, you can
leave if you want," I snapped back.

"I'm only here for my brother, otherwise I wouldn't be

anywhere near you crypt," she said with a sneer.

I took a half step closer to her, and Edward put his hand on
my shoulder to restrain me. I guess the look in my eyes must
have been terrifying because Leah took a step back behind
Sam and Seth.

"Where is she?" I asked Sam, ignoring Leah completely now.

"Out front with Paul, Embry and Quil," he answered me.

I walked pass the three werewolves with Edward at my side,

his hand on my waist. I got outside and the smell of
werewolves was worse. There were three of them in their wolf
form and one in his human form. The one in his human form
was Embry. The three in their wolf form was Quil, a chocolate
brown colored wolf, and Paul, a silver and grey colored wolf.
The last wolf was white with grey spots. This must have been
the wolf that was wandering around our house yesterday.

"Hey Bella!" Embry said. Embry, like Quil and Seth were cool
with me being a vampire. They still talked to me. Jared, Sam,
Paul, and Leah were not so cool with it, but after it happened
they got over it.

"Hey Embry. Is this her?" I asked as I pointed to the white

wolf.
"Yeah. We know she's werewolf, but we can't read her mind
when we're in our wolf form. Right now Paul and Quil are
trying to figure it out, while I'm trying to get her to phase
back," he said.

"Any luck?'' I asked.

"Nope," he replied.

"Can I give it a try?" I asked.

"Sure, maybe she'll listen to you."

I walked passed Embry and to where Paul and Quil were

dealing with the unknown wolf.

"Hello," I said to her. "I'm Bella Cullen. I heard you wanted to

talk to me."

"Oh, okay," Edward said. "She knows I can read minds, and
that's how she plans on communicating. Sorry, I'm going to
have to be a translator."

"Okay," I told him. "So, why did you want to talk to me," I
asked the wolf in front of me. I looked into her brown-yellow
eyes, trying to figure out why she was here.

"My name's Marina and I was sent to find out more about you
and your family," Edward translated.

"Who sent you?" I asked.

"A vampire. But I didn't know vampire and werewolf alliances

existed anywhere else."

A flash of black cloaks and crimson-red eyes flashed through

my mind. I knew exactly what vampire or vampires would be
interested in learning about me and my family. Was this
werewolf from somewhere in Europe? Did she go anywhere
near Italy? But why would the Volturi trust a werewolf when
Caius had them hunted into near extinction in Europe and
Asia? They didn't classify werewolves like the Quileute’s as
werewolves. They classified them as shape-shifters. Was this
wolf front of me a shape-shifter, or an actual werewolf?

"What color eyes did this vampire have?" I asked.

"Red," Edward translated as he turned to stare at me. I

guessed that he had the same thought that had popped into
my mind. The Volturi.

"Where did you come from?" I asked.

"Volterra, Italy. Is this going somewhere?" Edward translated.

"Could you please phase back? This is going somewhere, and

it's important," I told her.

"She's going to phase, but asks if it could be just you and her
together for privacy," Edward said, done translating.

"Of course," I told her. "I'll call you when she's done changing.
Can you get some clothes from Esme or Alice?" I asked
Edward.

"Sure," he said, and then he kissed the top of my head and

turned to walk toward the house.

He was gone for maybe a second when he returned with a

pair of blue jeans and a yellow, v-collar blouse.

"Thanks," I said. "I'll call you in a minute."

"Okay," Edward replied. "Paul, Embry, Quil, lets give Marina

some privacy for a minute."

As Edward said this, Paul and Quil phased back to their human
forms. The both stood tall and hurried to put their knee length
shorts back on before someone noticed. After they finished re-
dressing, they followed Edward back into the house. After the
three wolves and vampire had gone into the house, I turned
back to the she-wolf in front of me.
"Okay. We're alone, you can phase. I have some clothes for
you," I told her.

After I said this, she sat back on her hind quarters and started
to stand up. After she was on two legs, I handed her the
clothes I had in my hands. She put the clothes on and pulled
her shoulder-length blond hair back into a pony tail at the
back of her neck.

"Hi Isabella," she said, her voice a beautiful soprano.

"How did you know my full name was Isabella?" I asked her.
Everyone I knew only called me Bella.

"I'm your sister," she said with a smile.

"I'm an only child," I said. "And my mom would have told me if

she had another child."

"Renee died," she said.

"What?!" I asked. Surely my mother couldn't be dead. Who

was this person in front of me? Did my mother die giving birth
to this person? And if she did, then wouldn't Phil, her new
husband, tell me?

"That's why I came here. She died a few days ago. She was hit
by a car, and she didn't make it. She and Phil adopted me a
few months ago, and she didn't know how to tell you. She was
going to come here with me and tell you over the weekend.
But she was coming to pick me up from school and she got hit
by a car. My real name is Lilly," she confessed.

I was i shock. After she told me all of this, I fell to the ground. I
was the ground for maybe half of a second when there was a
pair of arms around me and vampires surrounding me.
Edward was holding me while Carlisle was crouched in front of
me, checking me out. Renesmee was sitting beside me with
Jacob next to her. Jasper, Alice, Esme, Emmet, and even
Rosalie were standing around us. I couldn't believe it. I was
starting to miss my mom, and now she wasn't here. I had to
be there for Phil and my dad, but not for this person behind
Carlisle. I didn’t know her. I didn't want her. She showed up,
and my world came crashing down, like I knew it always
would. And now Renee was dead.

Chapter 4
It felt like a whole was punched through my chest. Although I
knew I couldn't cry, I really wanted to. I knew I had to be there
for Phil, and my new "sister", but I had to deal with myself
first, and it was what Edward suggested. I spent the rest of
the day with him and Renesmee, and decided to call Phil and
Charlie in the morning. We spent the day at the Cullen's house
and Jacob was there for me too. Lilly was outside, as I refused
to let her in. Sam and the rest of the pack were welcome to
come inside, but Sam wanted to make sure that someone was
keeping an eye on Lilly. Alice thought that I was being too
hard on her, and that I should accept her.

"She's your new family, Bella," she had said. "You have to
accept her sooner or later."

"I don't have to accept her at all," I growled back.

After that, Edward had given her a look that screamed "leave
Bella alone". We watched my favorite movies. I lounged
against Edward's chest while I watched Jacob and Renesmee
play cards, and every time they started a new game
Renesmee showed me that she planned to win. All I could do
was smile at her, and then laugh every time Jacob beat her.
The rest of the day went back quickly and I was in a state of
depression-if vampires could be depressed. When the faint
light from the sun came through the clouds, I reached for my
cell phone. I was confused when Edward's hand stopped me
from picking it up.

"What?" I asked him.

"Are you sure you want to worry about this now Bella? You
don't have to call now," he said.

"I have to call Edward. I have to support Phil."

He didn't say anything after that, he just took his hand off of
mine, and let me proceed. I knew it would be an o.k. time to
call Phil. It was 7:00 in the morning here in Washington, so it
would be about 9:00 in the morning in Florida. I dialed their
home phone number and waited while the phone rang. Phil
picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Phil? It's Bella. How are you?" I replied.

"I'm okay. Tired. Did you want to talk to Renee?" he asked.

I almost dropped the phone. Was it true? Was Renee still
alive? If she was still alive, then who really was this werewolf
outside the door?

"You mean, she's there?" I asked.

"Yeah. She's making coffee right now."

"Never mind, Phil. I'll call her later. Bye."

"Bye, Bella."

I was angry. No, not angry, I was furious. That werewolf lied to
me. She wasn't my sister, she was dead. Maybe not now, but
she would be. I didn't say anything to Edward or anyone else. I
knew they could hear me over the phone. I just got up, and
walked toward the door to see who this she-wolf really was. As
soon as I stood up, everyone else was on their feet too.
Edward was right behind me, with one hand on my waist.
Probably to keep me restrained if he thought I was going to
end up committing a murder. I walked down the steps and
toward the Paul and Sam, who were in their human form.

"Can you get her to phase? I want to have a talk," I told them.
More like a scream, but I didn't add that part into what I said.

"We can try," Sam answered.

Next to Sam and Paul were five other wolves beside the white
one. I could recognize four of them: Leah, Quil, Embry, and
Seth. But the fifth I had seen before and I knew him, it was
Jared. I didn't know what was happening, but the white wolf
suddenly sat back and stood up strait. She dressed quickly in
the clothes I had given her yesterday and looked at me with
fear in her eyes. I was happy that I could look scary to
someone.

"What?" she asked.

"I know you're not my sister, now tell me the truth," I hissed.
She took a step back and cringed from me.
"Look, I would rather be anywhere but here right now, but I
was told I had to do this or else they would kill me," she
confessed.

"Who threatened you?" I growled.

"I don't know. Some vampire group with red eyes."

"What?" I asked.

"I think they call themselves the Volturi, but it was one
vampire in particular that told me to do this," she confessed.

"Which one?" Edward asked before I could.

"Some blond in a dark cloak. She didn't give me her name,

she just said when I report back, ask for Alec."

Edward and I looked at each other. We knew who had hired

her. Jane. Was she acting on Aro's orders this time, or was she
doing this on her own? Did she want revenge? Revenge
because she never got to unleash her malicious talent on any
of the vampires in my family the last time we met. Especially
me. Or did Aro have her send someone to check up on us, to
make sure that Renesmee wasn't out of control like the
vampire children were like a long time ago.

"What is your real name?" I asked her.

"Marina. I knew your husband could read minds because the

blond told me. She also told me all of the other talents the
rest of your family has. Including you," she answered.

"Stay here for now. Preferably in your human form. I don't

want to have to use my husband as a translator to be able to
talk to somebody," I told her.

"Fine."

I ran back into the house, where Carlisle, Esme, Renesmee

and Jacob still were. They all looked at me like I had gone
crazy. They could hear the conversation that had just gone on
outside. Every word of it.

"Jane sent her, but I don't know if it was on Aro's orders this
time," I told them.

"Who's Jane?" Renesmee asked. I went and sat on the couch

beside her and pulled Edward along with me.

"She's a vampire, but she's not like us. She doesn't live like
the way Carlisle taught us to live. She hunts humans, not
animals. She belongs to a group of vampires that make sure
we are not exposed to the humans. The Volturi," I explained.

"So, the Volturi make laws for vampires?" she asked.

"Yes, sort of like that," I said.

"What are the rules?"

"That our kind remains a secret. That we don't kill

conspicuously," I said.

"So, what's wrong with her?"

"She doesn't particularly like us," Edward answered. "Like

Alice, Jasper, your mother and I, she has a special gift. She
can make you feel like you are in so much pain, that you
would rather die. She doesn't actually hurt you; she just
makes you think that she's hurting you."

"So why doesn't she like you?"

"She tried to do that to Bella once and it never worked. When

she tried to do that, your mom was human," Alice answered.

"Why didn't it work?" Renesmee was really interested now.

"I guess when I was human, I was able to shield my mind," I

said. "It's not like Alice or Jasper. Alice sees the future and
Jasper really does calm you down, but Jane works inside the
mind."

"So what are we going to do?" Alice asked.

"We might have to make a visit to Italy," Jacob said.

"That's probably what they want. Do we send Marina back to

the Volturi?" I wondered out loud.

"That would probably be the best thing to do. Then we could

go about our regular business and see what happens,'' Carlisle
said.

"Okay," I said as I got up off the couch and went outside to tell
Marina.

I walked out the door and stood on the porch. Marina was
standing at the bottom of the stairs and looking up at me.

"You can go back to Italy. But tell the Volturi that the Cullen’s
moved and that you have no insight," I explained.

"Do I have to come back?" she asked

"No--," I started.

"But you can," Edward finished.

"I won't tell them that you are still here," she promised.

"Thank you," I said.

Marina turned around and phased back to her wolf form and
ran into the trees. I turned around and started to walk back
into the house.

"Bella?"

I turned around to see who called me, and saw Seth with one
foot on the bottom step.
"Yeah?" I asked.

"Do you guys want to come to a party at Charlie's? He told me

to invite you and Edward and to bring Renesmee,'' he
explained.

"Sure. I'll call him about it later," I said.

"See-ya. Bye Edward," he said.

"Bye Seth," Edward said next to me.

We went back into the house and found Renesmee asleep on

the couch with her head in Jacob's lap. I went over to Jacob
and whispered to him.

"Do you want to carry her home, or do you want Edward to?" I
asked him.

"I'll do it. Thanks Bells," he said as he smiled my smile.

I was glad Jacob and I could have a simple relationship now.

Although I wasn't too thrilled about him imprinting on
Renesmee when she was born, I was okay with it now. As I
went over to Alice to say goodbye for the day, Jacob got up off
the couch with Renesmee in his arms.

"Bye Alice. I'll see you in the morning, Renesmee needs some
sleep," I told her.

"See you in the morning Bella," she said.

I walked away and grabbed Edward's hand.

"Let's go home," I said.

He just squeezed my hand and smiled my favorite crooked

smile. We walked out the door and Jacob followed with
Renesmee. We didn't run back to the cottage, but we didn't
walk at a normal walking pace. When we got to the house,
Jacob took Renesmee into her room and kissed her forehead.
When he walked out of her room, Edward clapped him on the
shoulder.

"Goodnight Jacob," he said.

“‘Night guys," he replied.

"Thanks Jacob,'' I said.

"No problem Bella. I'll always be here for her, so don't worry
about that, and don't be jealous," he snickered.

I punched his shoulder, not hard, but Jacob's shoulder flexed a

little.

"I could never be jealous," I reminded him.

"See you guys later," he said.

Jacob walked out the door after he said this. Edward took my
hand and started walking toward the direction of our room. I
knew where he was going with this. He stopped in the
doorway of our room and turned around. He bent his head
down to mine and pressed his lips to mine. In the whole world,
nothing was better than Edward kissing me. There was never
any moment that I was happier. He wrapped his arms around
me and then I was on my back on the bed.
 Chapter 5
It was dawn now, and Edward reminded me that we had to get
dressed to go see Charlie. We saw him once a week so that he
could be with Renesmee. So we would take Renesmee with us
whenever we would go to see Charlie and of course Jacob
would come. Charlie wasn't completely happy with Edward
being my husband, but because he knew that Edward made
me happy, Charlie was nicer. So Edward and I got dressed in
the oversized closet that Alice had designed for us-but mainly
me-when Esme restored this cottage for my last birthday. He
helped me memorize the different scents of cotton, fleece,
denim, silk, and the different types of fabric that Alice had put
in this mad-house-closet, but I wasn't completely used to
everything.

"I still can't work my way around this," I confessed.

"Would you like me to help?" Edward chuckled.

"Yes," I said as I bowed my head in shame.

Edward just chuckled as kissed the top of my head and went

passed his small section of clothes to my over-sized section.
He sniffed the air and went to my dresser and pulled
something out of the middle drawer. He tossed a pair of blue
jeans with holes in the knees to me and continued to find me
a shirt. He found his and my favorite v-neck, dark blue blouse.
When he tossed that garment to me, all I could do was smile.
He often commented how lovely I looked when I was wearing
it.

"Thanks," I said.

"I'm glad Alice went overboard with your clothes and not
mine. Then I would be calling her in for both of us," he said.

"She can complain about not being able to use my closet

later. I'm glad she doesn't know that you're the one who's
been picking out my clothes for me."

Edward just smiled and chuckled. After we both got dressed-

and after I got a new bra after breaking the hooks on the first
one-I went to go wake Renesmee. I walked into her room and
found her sleeping peacfully with her hair a tangled mess
around her head. I sat on the end of her bed and put my hand
on her shoulder. She let out a quiet moan.

"Why the sudden cold?" she asked sleepily.

"It's time to wake up. Remember, we're going to see Charlie

today," I murmured.

"Is Jacob coming?" she asked.

"Yes, Jake always comes."

"I'm up. Can you get me something to wear?"

"Sure."

I was happy that she still liked it when she let me and Alice
pick out her clothes, or let Rosalie give her makeovers. She
always pleased anyone she was around, just by being there. I
went to her closet that Alice stocked monthly, but stopped last
month, since that was when Renesmee stopped growing. I
picked out a pair of black jeans and a blue, long sleeve shirt. I
turned around and saw that she was looking at her shoe rack,
trying to decide which pair of designer shoes to wear.

"Wear your boots," I suggested.

"Which ones?'' she asked.”Alice stocked me with ten pairs of

boots and several different pairs of sneakers."

"Wear your black boots," I smiled at her.

She grabbed her pair of boots while I laid out her clothes on
her queen size canopy bed. Edward and I loved to spoil her
and Alice and Rosalie loved to beautify her, although she
didn't need the make-up. I walked out of her room to give her
privacy. When I walked into the living room, Carlisle was there
talking to Edward.

"Bella, we have to talk," Carlisle said very seriously.

"About what?" I asked.

"We have to move," Edward answered.

I walked over to Edward and he put his arm around me.

"Are the humans starting to be suspicious?" I asked.

"Yes. People are wondering what happened to you two,

because they see you around with Charlie and they don't
believe the story about Renesmee. She's getting too big, and
we need to relocate," he explained.

"Okay, we can tell Charlie later when we see him. But how do
we tell Jacob?"

"That's what we were talking about. We can't ask Jacob to

leave the pack because of Renesmee-," Carlisle began.

"I'm not leaving her here," I cut in.

"I know, that was what Edward was saying when you came
in."

"What do we do?" I wondered out loud.

"I was thinking we let Jake and Renesmee decide," Edward

said. "We can't choose for them, and we have to let them
work it out."

"Okay," I agreed.

I walked back to Renesmee's room to get her ready to go. She

had gotten dressed and finished brushing her hair when I
walked into her room. The four of us ran back to the Cullen’s
house, but Renesmee, Edward and I headed to the garage. We
took the Volvo because my Ferrari wouldn't fit all three of us.
Edward pulled out of the garage and headed toward the
highway. I gazed outside the window, thinking of what I would
say to Charlie. I knew it pissed Edward off when I did that, but
I didn't care right now. I pictured saying goodbye to him,
saying that we would see each other again someday. Telling
him that I would visit, at least I hoped that I would be able to
promise him that-for the both of us. I also pictured talking to
Jake alone. I hoped I wouldn't have to say goodbye to him
permanently, that was just too painful. It felt like we were
crossing the line, making him choose between the tribe and
Renesmee. It was unfair, but what choice did Edward and I
have? We couldn't risk exposure, and surely Jacob knew that.
He was more than welcome to come along with us, if he
choose Renesmee over the pack. I also knew that this was
painful for Renesmee. I didn't want her to have to say
goodbye to Jacob, they were too attached. Like me and
Edward, they couldn't live without each other. Edward pulled
into the driveway of Charlie's and I was relieved. I knew he
was watching me, but I guessed he didn't ask because of
Renesmee. We got out of the car and I could see a glimmer of
light flash from the living room. We walked up the front steps
and Charlie opened the door and hugged Renesmee first.

"How's my Nessie?" he asked.

"Good," she squealed.

He let go of her and moved on to me.

"It's great to see you Bells!" he said.

"It's great to see you too Dad," I answered.

After he got done hugging me, and moved to shake hands

with Edward.

"How are you, Edward?" he asked politely.

"I'm good, Charlie, thank you," Edward replied.

We moved on into the living room and found the wolf pack
crowded around Charlie's living room. I could also spot Billy
Black, Sue Clearwater and Old Quil Ateara. This was going to
be harder than I thought. The party moved along easily, and
Renesmee spent her time hanging out with Jacob and the
pack. Everyone in the pack adored her, except for Leah, but
Leah was bitter about everything. When the party winded
down, and everyone left except for Jacob, Edward and I
decided to talk about moving.

"Dad," I said to Charlie. "We have to move."

"What?" Charlie asked, shocked.

"Edward, Renesmee, and I have to move. Edward and I
already missed our first semester at Dartmouth, and we have
to catch up. I'll still be able to visit on the holidays and of
course we'll bring Renesmee...." I trailed off.

"I can't believe it. When did you two decide this?" he asked.

"We both decided it was time to start college. We've waited

long enough, and we can't put it off any longer," Edward
answered.

"I'm really going to miss you Bells, and Renesmee, and you
too Edward."

"Like Bella said, we'll still visit on the holidays, and see each
other."

"Okay," Charlie admitted. "Keep in touch though."

"Of course, Dad," I said.

"Is it true?'' Jacob asked. "Are you guys really moving?"

"Jake, we have to," I said to Jacob after we walked away from

Charlie. We were both whispering. "I hate making you choose
between Renesmee and the pack, but we're not making the
choices for you."

"Then have Nessie stay here," he suggested. "You just said

that you guys would be able to visit, and she could stay with
Charlie."

I gave Jacob the deadliest look ever. He started retreating

immediately.

"Okay, Bella. I get it, that's out of the question. I'll talk to the
pack," he said.

"I'm so sorry Jake, I hate doing this to you and Renesmee. But
we have to move, we don't want to risk exposure."
"I know it's not your fault Bells."

"We are sorry Jacob," Edward added.

"I know. I'll talk to Sam about it."

"Okay Jake."

I gave Jacob a hug and said my final goodbyes to Charlie. It

was all painful and not good. Jacob kissed Renesmee on the
top of her head and punched Edward playfully on the
shoulder. I was the first one out of the door. If I could cry, I
would be breaking down right now. We got in the car, and I
didn't look back as we drove away from the house where I
lived when I was seventeen. When we got back to the Cullen’s
house, I was the last one to get out of the car. It was all too
much for me. I was the wimpiest vampire ever. Edward waited
until Renesmee was in the house before he came over to the
passenger side of the car. He opened the door, and kneeled
down next to me. I stared wordlessly out the windshield.

"Bella, are you okay?" he asked me.

"It's just a lot to take in," I admitted.

"It will be okay," he assured me.

"I know, it's just hard right now."

"I know." I got out of the car and he stood up. I wrapped my
arms around him and he embraced me. He held me for a few
minutes before Emmet walked into the garage.

"Hey guys, Jacob's here," he said.

He walked back out of the garage and we followed him. We

walked into the house and into the living room. There, by the
doorway, Jacob was standing with his arms over his chest. I
guessed he had news from the pack.
 Chapter 6
Jacob stood there with a serious expression on his face. I
wanted to go over and give him a hug, but I didn't think he
would like the temperature of my rock-hard skin too much.

"What's the news?" Alice asked.

"I'm not in the pack anymore,'' Jacob answered.

"Jacob, I'm so sorry about this...," I trailed off, not knowing

what else to say.
"It's not your fault Bella, but you gave the choice. I chose
Renesmee. Actually the pack chose for me, but I'm with you
guys," he said.

"Okay," I sighed.

"When do we move?" Edward asked as he pulled me to his

side.

"Tomorrow," Carlisle answered.

"Where are we moving to?" I asked.

"I haven't figured that out yet," Carlisle said.

"We can move back up to Alaska," Alice suggested.

"Maybe it would be a good time to start Dartmouth," Edward

told me.

"Maybe you're right," I told him.

I had forgotten I had been accepted into Dartmouth

University. Although I missed the first year, I could always
start now. There was plenty of forest in Massachusetts, and
animals to hunt. Why not? Renesmee could start high school,
and as a cover story, she could be Edward's niece. That was
the original story here in Forks. Jacob could go to college. Not
Dartmouth, but maybe a little community college nearby.

"Let’s go to Massachusetts. There's Dartmouth, and plenty of

trees. Renesmee could start high school, and Jacob could go
to a community college. Edward, Alice, and I can go to
Dartmouth..." I trailed off, thinking about the rest of the
Cullen’s.

"Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper can go back to high school with

Renesmee," Carlisle added.
"Oh no," Rosalie said. "I am not going back to high school. I
am tired of the curriculum, and everything else. I would rather
get a job."

"Do it for Renesmee," Jacob said. "Someone needs to watch

her, and I want to go to college."

"Fine, only because I'm going to be watching Renesmee,"

Rosalie said.

"It's settled. Let's go," Emmett said.

"We leave tomorrow morning," Carlisle said.

"I'll say goodbye to Charlie and everyone then. Renesmee, do

want to come with me?" I said.

"Can we take your Ferrari?" she asked.

"Sure," I agreed. "Meet me in the garage."

As Renesmee skipped off to the garage, I walked over to

Edward. I wrapped my arms around him, and he buried his
face in my hair.

"I've seen that look," I told him. "What are you thinking?"

"I thought I was the one who always asked what you were
thinking?" he asked.

"What are you thinking?" I asked again.

"What kind of car do you think would be right for Renesmee?"

he asked.

We had been teaching Renesmee how to drive; only using

Emmett’s jeep because we were afraid of her crashing the
other cars. It wasn't her we were worried about; it was one of
the five sports cars we didn't want ruined.

"She wants something fast. A camaro?" I suggested.

"Okay. While she's with you, I'll take Alice with me," he said.

"See you later," I said as I was headed for the garage. When I
got to my car, Renesmee was already in the front seat,
listening to the MP3 player Edward had gotten her last
Christmas. He composed some of the songs himself, but also
added some of his favorites. I climbed in the car and started
the engine. It roared, and I pulled out of the garage swiftly
and smoothly. As I drove on the freeway, Renesmee broke the
silence.

"Momma, why do we have to move?" she asked.

"If we stay here for too long, the humans may start to be
suspicious. People already are, and we have to keep the
existence of our kind a secret. If we don't, there are
consequences,'' I replied with no emotion.

"Is that why daddy left you when you were human?" she
asked.

That one caught me off guard. I never told her about the time
that Edward had left me when I was human. Out of all the
memories that became a blur after I became a vampire, my
own personal dark ages haunted me. Edward never would or
could leave me again, but thinking about that time still hurt
me. I know Edward didn't tell her about that time either. It was
a more sensitive topic to him than it was for me.

"Who told you about that?" I asked.

"Jacob. Why, was he not supposed to tell me?" she wondered.

"I wish he didn't."

"Why? What happened?" Renesmee was always full of

questions.

"It's a long story. And if I tell you, you can't blame your dad for
it," I warned her.
"Okay."

I told her about my eighteenth birthday, and about the time

Jasper had tried to kill me. I told her about when Edward left
and how I was a total train-reek, and how Jacob was the only
person I could really be around. I told her about Edward
hearing I went cliff-diving and how he thought I was dead, and
how Alice and I raced to Italy to save him from killing himself,
and how Edward got us out of trouble with the Volturi. She
seemed very calm through the whole story. She only stared
out the windshield with an emotionless expression on her
face. I finished explaining it to her in about ten seconds.

"So daddy left you because he thought it wasn't safe for you
to be around vampires?" she asked.

"Yes. He was only doing what he thought was best for me," I
told her.

"Well that plan didn't work out so well," she commented.

"No. He came back and after we got married and you came
into the picture, he turned me into a vampire," I said.

"How did I come into the picture?" she asked.

"An even longer story and it's too late. We're at Charlie's."

We got out of the car and walked up the path to the front
door. I could see slight shadows moving behind the curtain
they were headed toward the front door. Charlie opened the
door and Renesmee was the first one he hugged.

"Hey Nessie!" he said. Charlie was the only one Renesmee

didn't mind calling her Nessie. I walked past Charlie into the
living room. I looked passed everything into the kitchen.

"What's up, Bella?" Charlie asked behind me. He was right

behind me, and I felt the same burning feeling in my throat,
the excesses flow of venom, and my muscles coiled to spring.
I pushed the feeling away. I didn't want to leave this place,
but I had to for the sake of my family and my existence. We
would come back. In a decade or so, we would be back here.

"We have to go Charlie. I'm moving tomorrow. I'm starting

college at Dartmouth next fall, and we need to get things
settled over there. Edward already has a house set up, and all
we have to do is move. I promise we will visit and I'll call you,"
I explained.

"I guess I should have seen this coming. I just didn't want it to
come. Its okay, Bells. I'll miss you, you better keep in touch. I
love you," he said, small tears welling up in his eyes.

"I love you too, dad. Of course I'll keep in touch. We'll visit as
often as we can-although college might slow us down a bit-but
we'll still visit."

"Bye, Bella," he said.

"Bye, dad. I love you; you're the world's greatest dad."

"I love you too, you too Nessie."

Charlie hugged us both before we got out the door. As we

walked to the car, I really wished vampires could cry. It would
make living forever easier. I drove towards the Cullen house
that would be empty after tomorrow. I imagined that the
werewolves would miss Jacob, but would have a bonfire party
to honor the vampire-free area.

"What am I going to during all of this?" Renesmee asked.

"You are going to go through high school. Rosalie, Emmett,
and Jasper will be acting as sophomores and you will start out
as a freshman. Edward and I will be going to college. Carlisle
will get a placement at a hospital, and Esme will probably be
remodeling some house, or building one," I told her.

I could only imagine what Esme would do with the new land. If
the new house was anything like the one we had now, then I
would be amazed that she could make an exact one like it. I
wondered if she would build another house for me and
Edward, or if the two of us would have a room in the house.
Jacob and Renesmee would have their own room in the house.
I had to have a talk with Jacob before we did anything else. I
pulled into the garage and Emmett's jeep was gone. I walked
toward the house, and Renesmee followed behind me. When I
got into the house, Alice was dancing around with an arm full
of flowers, going to the different vases in the room. Edward
was at his piano, playing my lullaby. Esme was sitting on the
couch, sketching a design of a house. I walked toward Edward
and just before I was about to sit on the bench next to him,
the playing cut off, and he spin around to face me.

"How did it go?" he asked me as he grabbed my waist and

pulled me toward him.

"Easier than I expected," I told him.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie went hunting. I was

thinking you and I could take Renesmee later," he replied.

"Sure," I said.

Edward stood up, and I stretched on my tip-toes to kiss him.

After about two seconds, the front door opened, and I could
tell by the smell that it was Jacob.

"Hey guys," he said.

I pulled away from Edward to turn around and glare at him.

"Oohh, so scary Bells," Jacob teased.

"What?" Edward asked.

"You're in trouble," I told Jacob, not letting up my glare.

"Why?" Jacob asked innocently.

"You told Renesmee about the time Edward left?" I asked him
to jogg his memory.

Edward went still beside me. I looked up to see him glaring at

Jacob as well.

"I'm in trouble," Jacob said.

"Sit down Jake," I told him.

He walked over to the recliner and slumped into the seat.

Renesmee looked at him with apologetic eyes. I was prepared
for what I would say. I wanted to make sure he didn't tell
Renesmee stuff like that anymore.

Chapter 7
We gave Jacob a talk about telling Renesmee about the times
that Edward and I tried to forget. He understood and promised
to leave it to us to tell her about all the fights and unpleasant
times. It was a good thing he admitted he was wrong, because
it looked like Edward was about ready to rip his head off of his
body. I spent the night packing my most favorite books while
Edward packed his. Renesmee was packing her favorite
clothes and CDs. Jacob was at his house in La Push saying
goodbye to his pack and his dad. I knew that the pack would
resent us forever, but they would have to give it up since we
lived longer than they did. I was putting my favorite book,
Wuthering Heights, into the box labeled Bella's books, when
Renesmee walked into the living room. I turned around before
she said anything. Edward was in our bedroom getting the few
clothes I liked into a box. I knew he was packing the blue
blouse I had that he regularly commented on whenever I wore
it.

"Momma?" she asked after I turned to face her.

"Yes?"

"What was it like when Daddy left you?"

"I told you what it was like. I almost went crazy, but he came
back, so I tried to forget it. Don't bring it up when he's around
though; it's even worse on him."

"What if Jacob ever left me?" her eyes went to the floor and I
could hear Edward stop moving in the other room.

"He would never do that, honey. You are too important to

him."

"He left you. He could leave me."

"He never really left me, and that was when Sam told him we
couldn't see each other anymore. But he would never leave
you Renesmee. You're his whole world, you are the thing that
keeps him hear. I only put up with him back then because he
was-is-my best friend."

"So he will never leave me?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, not ever."

"Okay," she said.

"Now go finish packing, we leave at daybreak. Are you going

in my car, or your dad's?" I asked.

"I'm going in my own."

"That's right, he got you a car. Do you like it?"

"I love it mom. He told me I had a surprise in the garage and

when I got there, there was my silver Camaro, with a pretty
red bow. Alice was leaning next to it with the keys in her
hand," she said with a smile.

"I'm glad you like it."

She turned around and went back to her room to finish

packing. I turned back around to finish placing my other books
into the box. After I finished packing mine and Edward's
favorite books and CDs, the sun came up. This was going to
be the hard part for me. Leaving the place that I'd never
thought I could love. I turned around to get the box of clothes
that I still wanted from Edward, but he was already there,
holding the box in his hands, and looking at me with the same
look I never understood.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't want to leave." It wasn't a question, just a

statement of the fact, but he was right.

"Not particularly," I admitted, hanging my head.

"It will be okay, Bella," he walked over to me and set the box
down to pull my face up to his. "I promise. I will never let
anything ever happen to you or Renesmee."

"I know you won't. I just don't want to leave here. I love it
here, surprisingly."

"We'll come back, after a few decades, maybe a century, but

we'll be back. I promise."

"Okay."

I knew Edward would make sure everything was ok, that

nothing would go wrong anymore. I just hoped that he could
make the volturi never come find us, or he could make my
bad luck disappear. That seemed to be the activating curse
when I came to the safe little own of Forks, Washington.
Maybe since I was going to be somewhere else, my bad luck
would go away. Or did it intensify when I started hanging out
with vampires and werewolves?

"Please tell me what you're thinking about?" he said

impatiently.

"Just wondering if my bad luck will follow me wherever I go," I

confessed.

"Don't worry about it Bella. Everything will be okay."

I just sighed and laid my head against his chest, content. I

heard running in the distance, but I didn't look up to see which
of my brothers or sisters it was that was coming our way.
There was a knock at the door just then, and instead of letting
me go to answer the door, Edward just replied.

"Come in."

I looked up to see who came in the door. It was Alice.

"Edward, Bella, Carlisle said it's time to start moving out," she
said in her high chipper voice.

"Thanks Alice," I said.

"See you guys back at the house," she said, and she was out
the door.

I walked away from Edward to go tell Renesmee to hurry up. I

got to her room and she was sitting on her bed, suitcase on
the floor, looking at a picture in a locket. It was the locket that
Edward and I had given her for her first Christmas. I went over
to her.

"I'll miss this place," she said.

"We can come back. We will come back, I promise." I smiled at

myself as I repeated the same last six words that Edward said
to me. "It's time to go though, so I'll call Jacob while you get to
your car with your stuff."
It always felt weird acting like a parent to Renesmee, since
she looked dead on Edward, but with Charlie's curls, and she
looked like she was 17 or 18.

"Okay, I'll go put my things in my car."

She got up and left the room. I went back into the living room
and Edward was at the door waiting for me. I grabbed the box
of books and CDs and headed out the door. As we were
running toward the house, I grabbed the cell phone out of my
pocket to call Jacob. I dialed the number and put the phone to
my ear. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Jake, it's me, we're ready to go, so get over here," I told him.

"On my way Bells."

I hung up the phone and we were at the house. Rosalie was in

her red convertible with the top up, Emmett was in his jeep,
Alice was in her porche with Jasper, Carlisle and Esme were in
his Mercedes, and Renesmee was in her camaro. They were
all ready to go, so Edward and I went to the back to get our
cars. I got to the back and took the keys to my Ferrari off the
hook and tossed the keys to Edward's Volvo to him. He smiled
at me and came over. He leaned down to kiss me, but it was
just a peck. I made a face, and he laughed at it. We got in our
cars and pulled around to the front. I looked out my side
windows and Jacob was sitting next to Renesmee in her car.
He saw me looking at him and smiled. He smiled my smile, he
was my Jacob, and I had to smile back. Carlisle's car was the
first to pull out, and behind him followed Emmett, Rosalie,
Alice, Renesmee, me, and Edward followed behind me.

Since we all drove so fast, I wondered how long it would take

us to get to Connecticut. It was probably like a week long
drive with any normal persons driving, but with the speed we
go, we could probably be there in about three days. We would
probably have to stop to hunt somewhere, so I didn't know
how long it would take us. We sped down the highway and I
watched as Forks disappeared behind me.

Chapter 8
This was a time when I wish I could sleep. Even though I never
got tired, it felt like this was excruciatingly boring. I wish I
could sleep just so that I would be able to do something else,
anything other than driving across the country. Which
reminded me, I had to call Edward and tell him I had to hunt.
After I filled my car up at the last gas station we were at, I
almost killed the innocent and scared-looking human next to
me. The burning hurt so bad now, I had never let it get this
bad. I picked up my cell hone and dialed speed dial number
two.

"Bella?" Edward asked in a confused voice. I didn't call him

often, only when I was mad at him or when I was in trouble, so
I didn't call often.
"Hi Edward, when is the next stop for hunting?" I asked, but I
didn't like admitting any weakness I had.

"In a few hours, is it bad?" he asked.

"A little, what about you?"

"It's getting there, but I can manage. Can you hold on for a
few hours?"

"Yeah, I just don't want to take any chances around

humans...."

"Okay, we'll stop once we get through Wyoming, it shouldn't

be long."

"Thanks."

"Anytime, I love you."

"I love you too," I said as I snapped the phone shut.

I could wait that long. Then the phone buzzed on the set next
to me. I looked at the caller I.D., it was Renesmee and I
answered the phone.

"Yes Renesmee?"
"Hey Momma, when do we get to hunt?" she asked.

"After we get into Wyoming, just a few hours."

"Okay," she said and hung up.

I tossed the phone onto the seat where I got it. Once again, I
wished I could sleep.

***************************************************************
*************************

The phone buzzed again. I looked at the caller I.D., it was Alice
this time.
"What is it Alice?" I asked.

"We're about to go into a city, and there's some good

shopping. I need some new clothes and I know you do too, so I
was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

"I really need to hunt first Alice. I almost killed a human the
last time we were at a gas station, but don't tell Edward that,"
I warned her.

"Bella, he would understand. You know, he's always saying

how he wishes he had the same self-control you have. You
don't have to be ashamed."

I growled through the receiver.

"Don't tell him Alice," I hissed.

"Okay, fine, I won't tell him. How about after you hunt, we're
almost through the mountains, and you will go hunting in
about ten minutes."

"Fine, we can go shopping after you hunt, Renesmee and

Rosalie would like that."

"Thank you Bella! You just made my day!" she squealed.

"Bye," I said and hung up. I glared past the car in front of me
into Jasper's rear view mirror and at Alice. She could probably
feel and see my stare because she smiled widely back at me. I
looked in my mirror and saw Edward's puzzled look, the one I
knew so well because he wore it when he was trying to read
my mind. I mouthed the word Alice, to him and he smiled back
at me his crooked smile.

We reached our destination then. We were surrounded by

trees and hills. The grass was green, and I could see plenty of
cattle over the other hills through the trees. I shuddered at
the thought of having to resort to cows for a decent meal. I
stepped out of the car, and found Edward leaning on my
bumper.
"Ready?" he asked. I nodded and he took my hand and we
walked over to Renesmee.

"Do you want to hunt with us Renesmee?" he asked.

"Yeah, can Jacob come?" she replied.

"If he doesn't feel like finding a fast-food restaurant or a mini-

mart, then sure," I said, smiling at Jacob when he rolled his
eyes.

"Be right back," Jacob said as he walked off into a thicker

bunch of trees to phase. After he left, Alice danced over to
me, hand-in-hand with Jasper.

"May we come?" she asked.

"Of course, in fact, how about we all hunt,'' Edward suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea, but we should probably go a

little farther so we don't disrupt the cattle," Carlisle said.

Just then Jacob stepped through the trees, but I was surprised
to see him in his human form.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked before I could.

''There's another vampire around here," he said.

I could feel everyone else tense up when I did. What did this
mean?

"Did you cross his path?" Carlisle asked.

"No, I saw him before I smelled him. He was hunting too, but it
wasn't an animal," Jacob said.

I looked up at Edward and his eyes were focused on

something other than the scenery in front of him.

"Edward? Edward what's wrong?" I asked in a panicky voice.

Edward looked down at me with a horrified expression and
bolted into the trees. This was officially freaking me out. I ran
after him, and caught up to him a second later.

"Edward, what's going on?" I demanded.

"It's your friends Jessica, Angela, Ben and Mike," he told me.

"What?" I asked.

"The vampire that Jacob saw, Mike was his victim. Jessica,
Angela, and Ben are at that farmhouse we passed. They were
all here for spring break, they were visiting Angela's uncle.
They went hiking and Mike got caught. The other three bolted
and went back to the house," he explained.

We were in a little clearing now, and in the middle was a male

vampire cradling a lifeless white body, his lips at the victim’s
neck. I recognized the face immediately, and it was too late to
save Mike. I was horror struck, and all I felt like doing was
ripping the marble creature in front of me to shreds. The
vampire looked up and stared at me for a long moment before
turning his gaze to Edward. He stood up and wiped the blood
from his lips with his hand.

"Who are you?" he asked in a deep voice that was also

majestic.

Before anyone could answer the question, Carlisle stepped in

front of me and spoke.

"I'm Carlisle, and this is my family. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and

Emmett. Esme, Edward, Bella, Renesmee, and Jacob," he said,
gesturing to us in groups.

I looked back to view the vampires behind me, but I also saw
Jacob in his wolf form, right next to Renesmee, who was next
to me.

"What do you want?" the vampire asked cautiously. Surely he

had never seen a coven this big before or a werewolf either.
"We were just passing through, is this land?" Carlisle said
peacefully.

"No, I am a nomad. I was just passing through as well. Did you

hope to hunt here?"

"Not the humans," Carlisle said.

"Then what do you hunt?" the vampire asked curiously.

"Animals. Not live stock usually, but we hunt what is

available."

"Well, I'd love to chat, but there are a few more humans I'd
like to get to,'' he said.

"Could you stay away from the ones in the local farmhouse?
We know them," Edward interjected.

"Sure, why not," the vampire replied in a patronizing tone.

"Then leave in peace," Carlisle said.

He turned around and turned in the other direction. After he

was gone, Edward pulled me to his side and whispered in my
ear.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"I'm okay," I said. "Let's go hunt."

The both of us ran off in the other direction and I could hear
Renesmee follow behind with Jacob. I stopped in the middle of
running. I looked up to where I followed the sweet scent.
There in the tree was a big mountain lion getting ready to
pounce on a deer. I looked at Edward, and we both smiled at
each other.

"I call it!" I whispered.

"Mine," he said sternly to me.

I jumped onto the tree and jumped up on the same branch as
the cat. It turned around and growled at me while swinging its
paws. It tried to scratch me, but I was quicker. I got behind
him and sunk my teeth into his neck. The blood filled in my
mouth and it eased the burning in my throat. I finished the cat
in a couple of minutes. After I was done, I pushed his caucus
off the tree limb and it fell to the ground with a thud. I jumped
down from the tree and looked to my side. Edward had just
finished off a small elk, and Renesmee was finishing another. I
didn't see Jake anywhere, but I knew he was around here
somewhere. I went over to where Edward and Renesmee were
standing. I looked at him and he glared at me.

"I called it first," I said. He growled at me. "Don't give me that,

I called it and I got up in the tree faster."

"Fine," he gave in.

"Mom, what's that?" Renesmee asked, backing up so that she

was between and slightly behind me and Edward.

I focused on the trees in front of me and saw what had

Renesmee slightly worried. A small growl escaped my lips,
and Edward stiffened beside me, but kept his voice calm when
he spoke.

"What are you doing here Jane?" he asked

 Chapter 9
Jane? What was she doing here? I saw her lurk her way to
greet Edward and me, and I instantly wrapped my shield
around everybody. I didn't know what she was thinking-only
Edward knew that-but I knew from past experiences that I
didn't want to find out the hard way. I didn't want to have to
watch Edward, Renesmee, or Jacob writher in pain from her
talent. I'd never experienced it, but from watching Edward and
other vampires, it looked and sounded very painful. She
walked straight up to Edward and me-glided was the proper
word-with no one at her flanks or behind her. My shield
stretched around the four of us like a rubber band, and it felt
so strong, there was no way that Jane could find a leak
through it.
"What brings you here Jane?" Edward asked, keeping calm in
a dangerous situation, something I could never do.

"Just a little vacation. Maybe a little scouting," she replied in

her high girlish voice. She smiled at Renesmee then, and I let
a feral growl escape my lips. She laughed, but turned her gaze
from Renesmee to me. For a minute I wondered why Edward
didn't act as defensively as I did, but he probably knew that I
had my shield around all of us.

"What do you mean by scouting, Jane? Did Aro send you to do

some of his dirty work? Or are you acting on your own? It's not
very like you not to have Alec, or Felix beside you," I hissed at
her.

"Even if that was the case Isabella, I'm completely justified in

being here. We still need to see how your daughter is doing in
living with our way of life," she sneered back.

After Edward had talked us out of trouble last winter with the
Volturi, Caius promised that the Volturi would be checking in
on us. To see if Renesmee could grow and not be detected by
humans. I had forgotten until now. But even if that was the
case, then wouldn't the rest of the guard come too? Or at
least wouldn't Alec, Felix, and Demetri be with her? Unless she
was acting on her own cause. Alice stopped watching for visits
from Italy, but wouldn't she still see an official command?

"Why exactly are you here?" Edward growled, losing his

patience.

I was already ready to rip Jane into little pieces and dance
around the place where she burned. It would be more than
she deserved.

"Let me make my point," Jane started. "Has your daughter

remained undated by the humans?"

"Yes," Edward and I answered at the same time.

"So there have been no problems?" Jane asked sweetly, which
made me want to rip her to pieces all the more quickly.

"None, you can relax," Edward hissed.

"What about the shape-shifters?"

"The wolves are still are allies," I said in a final tone.

"Well, all seems to be working out. I guess I have no work to

do," she said sadly. "Nice seeing you again, Edward. Isabella."

I growled at her when she used my full name. She smiled at

me, and I tightened my shield. She laughed and backed away
from the scene. It was smart of her, unless she didn't mind
being ripped to pieces. After she was gone, I heard running
behind me. I didn't recognize who it was right away, so I
turned around and sank into a crouch. A few seconds later,
Alice and Jasper emerged from the bushes in the direction I
was facing.

"What?" Alice asked innocently.

"Nothing. What is it?" I asked.

"Carlisle says it's time to get back on the road. While you were
hunting, Esme went to the hard wear store to get supplies for
restoring the new house for us. She wanted to know how
many bedrooms to paint, and I said five."

"Thanks Alice, we're coming," I told her.

"Why so tense?" Jasper asked.

"Tell you about it later," Edward answered.

They ran ahead of us and Renesmee followed before Edward

and me. There was some other reason why Jane was here, I
knew it. As Edward ran beside me, I could sense that he knew
that she was up to something else too. I needed to ask him
what she was really thinking, but I didn't want to do it with
Renesmee or anyone else around. I needed to wait until it was
just me and him. We got back to the cars a second later, and
you could see by the brightness of everyone's eyes that they
had all taken this opportunity to hunt. We got back in our
cars, but before I could start the engine, Jacob was leaning in
through my passenger window.

"What Jake?" I asked.

"Let me ride with you, we need to talk," he said.

I unlocked the door and he climbed in the seat. I started the

car and took off after the people in front of me. We had about
a day until we reached the university, so we weren't going to
be stopping until we got there. I didn't know if Jacob knew this
or not. We were on the freeway before the insane silence was
driving me crazy. I thought that he would have started talking
about whatever was bothering him before, but I couldn't take
it anymore.

"What is it Jacob?" I asked. I would drag this out of him if I had

to.

"It's about Renesmee," he said.

"What about her?" I asked hesitantly.

"I want permission."

"Whatever it is, you have to run it by Edward too."

''That’s what he said," he muttered.

"What about Renesmee needs our permission?" I asked.

"I want to marry her."

My mind went blank. It was obvious that he had already asked

Edward the same thing, but was that the reason why Edward
was so tense before? Why would he not tell me that Jacob was
going to ask me? He probably didn't want me to freak out, but
still. Was I ready to let my only child ever to get married? Was
I ready to let her go?

Chapter 10
Jacob was quiet for the rest of the ride. He didn't complain
about food stops or bathroom stops. He probably didn't want
to get on my nerves, seeming as though he wanted to marry
my daughter that he had only known for a few months.
Renesmee was supposed to be slowing in her aging, but she is
a force unlike no other. She amazes everyone, so it really
surprised us all when she started growing really fast again.
She was just her normal self when Edward and I put her to
bed that night, but the next morning, she woke up and locked
like she was seventeen. After that, Jacob saw her with new
eyes, and they spent every moment possible together. So was
I ready for this? More importantly, was Renesmee ready for
this? Jacob was still looking out the window when he finally
spoke.

"What's wrong Bella?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"What's wrong with me and Renesmee?"

"Nothing. There is no problem; I just don't think she's ready

for it. She needs to go to high school, and does she even know
about this?"

"I hadn't talked to her about it yet."

"Well, let her go to high school, and then talk to her about,
and I will talk to Edward.''

"Thanks Bells. I really do love her."

"I know."

As I said this, I followed the car in front of me into a long drive

that looked oddly familiar to the old one. Had Esme done this
to make us all feel more at home? It took less than a second
to get to the house that I thought was going to be white, but
instead, was a light blue color, with a black tiled roof. The
house was three stories, with a yard big enough to put
another house in front of the one that was already there. We
pulled into the meadow and everything came to a stop. Jacob
was the first one out of the car, and when I opened my door to
get out, Edward was already there, holding his hand out,
waiting to take mine. I took his hand and stepped out of the
car. We walked beside Alice and Jasper as Carlisle and Esme
led the was up the new porch steps.

"I've been having this house restored for a while," she was
saying. "The workers just re-painted and re-furnished
everything."
We were in the front door, and everything looked exactly like
the old house. From the way the furniture was arranged, to
the color and texture of the carpet. Esme probably mailed the
workers photos of what the other house looked like.

"Everything should be in order. The rooms are in the same

place as they were in the old house...," Esme trailed off.

I saw Rosalie and Emmett exchange a glance at each other

and watched Alice and Jasper do the same thing. Edward
looked at out of the corner of his eye and I smiled because I
could tell what he and what everyone else was thinking. All at
once, everyone except Renesmee, Jacob, Carlisle and Esme
raced up the stairs. If Esme was right about all the rooms
being in the same place as they were in the last house, then
Edward and I were headed up to the third floor. We were the
first ones to the stairs and were all the way up in less than a
second. At the end of the hall was Carlisle's office most likely,
and on the other end, was mine and Edward's room. He took
my hand and we walked to the door. I looked up at him,
wondering who should open it. He could read the questions on
my face easy enough.

"Go ahead," he said.

I opened the door; it swung all the way open so that the room
was entirely visible. Everything looked very familiar. It was
like the same room that Edward and I had shared when we
had our small cottage. It was hardwood floored with a big
white bed and canopy. It reminded me of mine and Edward's
honeymoon...and feathers. I couldn't help but smile. Edward
saw me, and smiled at me with my favorite crooked smile.
 Chapter 11
What are you thinking about this time?" he asked.

"About Isle Esme...and feathers."

His lips were suddenly on mine and it was a good thing I didn't
need to breathe, because he would have knocked the breath
out of me. His hands braided into my hair, when I felt
someone standing behind me. I didn't know who it was, but I
turned around to look when Edward lifted his face up.

"What is it Alice?" he asked.

I turned around to see Alice standing with he mouth open in a

gasp. I knew the look in her eyes. I had seen it many times
before, so know I was wondering what she was seeing in the
future.

"Alice?" I asked.

"They're coming," she said.

"Who?" Edward and I said at the same time.

"The Volturi. Aro made a decision to act on his own. He's

coming with Jane."

"For what?" I said.

"Renesmee."

It hit me like a wrecking ball. If I was human I would have

fainted. There really was no end to it was there? I couldn't
understand why te Volturi would still want Renesmee. It was
very close to a real war the last time the Volturi came to visit
us, and I didn't want it to be that close again.

"Why do they want Renesmee?" Edward asked.

''Aro wants her like he wants you, me, and Bella, only now he
just wants Renesmee."

"But she can’t do anything that would be helpful in battle.

What good would she do?" he asked.

"She does the opposite of what you can do," I said. "She's
rare, and she's the only one of her kind that has a special
talent. Aro probably wants her as a trophy."
"Aro wants what?" another voice asked.

All three of us spun around to see Renesmee wide eyed with a

suspicious look on her face. She walked over to me and
placed her hand on my cheek. She never shuddered when she
touched one of us or when we touched her-she was so used to
the cold temperature of our skin. Allot of questions came out
of her mind at the same time, all with confusion. The one
question that was the loudest and the mot frequent was what
does Aro want?

"You," I answered her.

What do we do?

"We get prepared," Edward answered. "I'm going to go talk to

Carlisle."

He darted out of the room while Renesmee asked me another

silent question.

What do I do?

"I need to ask Edward and Jacob about that. I want their
opinion."

"Do you want me to go get Jacob?" Alice asked.

"Yes, I want Renesmee to stay inside for right now."

Alice went to the window and jumped. If we weren't in the

present situation where everything needed to be done as fast
as possible, I would have yelled at her and make her use the
door.

Are we going to be okay?

"I hope so."

She removed her hand from my face and switched to my
hand. We walked down the stairs; and Jacob was waiting at
the bottom.

"Bella, don't mess with me. Are they really coming here?" he
asked.

"Yes, Jacob. Alice saw it."

Horror struck in Jacob's eyes as he heard the whole vision as

Alice explained it. I let go of Renesmee's hand as she walked
over to Jacob to hug him. Alice followed behind me as I walked
into the dining room-which was used more as a conference
room-to figure out what Edward and Carlisle planned to do
with the situation. I walked in and found every vampire-except
for Alice and my self-seated around the table, discussing the
problem at hand.

"So what's the plan?" Emmett was saying.

"I say we have Alice watch for the Volturi's next move. To see
when they will come, and what they will do," Edward said.

"If they are here because of Renesmee, then they must have
some reason to come," Esme commented.

"She hasn't done anything wrong, so why are they coming?"

Carlisle asked.

"Aro wants her like she wants Edward and Alice," I replied.

"But she can’t do anything in battle, so why would they want

her?" Jasper added.

"So what do we do in the meantime, while Alice keeps watch?"

Rosalie snapped.

"I say we go on with the normal charade. Rosalie can go to

college with Emmett, I can keep watch over Renesmee while
she goes to high school with Jacob," I said.
"I thought you were going to be enrolled in Dartmouth. School
starts in two months, Bella," Edward said.

"Renesmee needs protection now, and I can go to college in a

couple of years. It won't kill me."

"So that means I'm back in high school," Edward muttered.

"You're free to go to college, although the curriculum is

probably going to be familiar no matter what school you go
to," I said.

"I'm in high school again, too," Alice sighed.

"What rate are you starting out in?" Carlisle asked, smiling.
"Renesmee's a freshman while the rest of us are
sophomores," Edward said.

"It's settled then," Esme said.

We all cleared away from the table and Edward walked over to
me and took my hands.

"Back to high school," he commented.

''Hey, Edward, want to wrestle?" Emmett called.

"Later Emmett," he replied.

"Oh, come on! Jasper's going hunting and I'm bored. Bella can
referee."

"Since when did I volunteer?" I asked.

"Please guys?" Emmett begged again.

"Fine," we said at the same time.

The three of us went out back, and Emmett was the first one
to start the fighting. Although I knew it was only play fighting,
whenever Emmett had Edward in a chokehold or head-lock, I
would growl and make him stop. The fifth time I did that,
Emmett had to call Jacob in to take my place. No one ever
really won a match; it was always too close to call. I went
down to the river to watch the water flow. It always gave me
some peace; it was a good place to think. I thought about
what Jacob had said, about wanting to marry Renesmee. I
rembered all the times Jake and I had together while I was
human. Some of them good, most of them bad. I thought
about the kind of husband he would make for Renesmee. I
thought hard, and decided that he was the exactly right kind
of person-well werewolf, but still-for her. As long as she
wanted him, and as long as he was good to her, I would be
okay.

Chapter 12
I watched the river flow peacefully, while also thinking about
when I should talk to Jacob about his upcoming plans for his
and Renesmee's futures. I laughed every now and then at the
playful growls coming from the wrestling in the new back
yard. This new setting seemed allot like the hold house. We
were surrounded by forest and there were plenty of land for
everyone here. It was perfect.
"Hey, you can’t call his side if you’re the referee!" I heard
Emmett yell in the distance.

"I can pick sides all I want," Jacob was saying. "If you're upset
about it, you and I can go."

"Fine! Edward, you referee."

I laughed out loud at the conversation that the play fighting

had brought on. I barley noticed the almost-silent stalking
behind me. The play fighting continued in the Cullen’s' back
yard. I could hear Alice and Rosalie discussing wardrobe and
make-up with Renesmee. Carlisle and Esme were deciding
whether or not to put a gazebo in the back yard, hoping if
they did, that it wouldn't be destroyed. The silent creeping got
closer to me and all my muscles locked up. Venom flowed in
my mouth as I prepared to defend myself and run if
necessary. I could hear the ominous footsteps move thought
the last bush behind me, and they sounded oddly familiar. I
had heard these types of movements before, learned to fight
to defend myself and my family from them. I spun around and
into a defensive crouch, but I was also ready to spring at what
I knew was coming if an attack was needed-which it probably
was. The vampire took a few more steps forward, so that she
was about five feet away from me, and he was not alone. Alec
stood there facing me with a perplexed expression on his
face. He looked back into the trees, as if he were waiting for
something or someone else. He turned his head back to me,
and smiled.

"Hello, Isabella," he said.

I tried my best to suppress a growl, not entirely succeeding. A

few more vampires entered the area that I was backed up to.
There were now five vampires on the river bank. Jane came to
stand beside her brother with Felix and Demetri flanking both
their sides. I thought about stretching my shield out from
myself completely so that I could mentally call for Edward, but
after seeing the potency of Jane's talent, I had a feeling I
didn't want to experience it first hand. After ruling out calling
for help, I decided it was best not to involve my family in this.
The Volturi guard obviously wanted me. I especially didn't
want to involve Edward or Renesmee in this.

"What do you want?" I growled after a few seconds of

watching the guard stare at me.

"Aro just wanted to see how you were doing, Bella. He sends
his regards to all the Cullen’s," Jane answered in her childlike
voice.

"Now that you see that the Cullen’s have kept good to their
word, that my daughter has been maintained, and that I am
under control, why don't you leave?" I asked, almost making
the words a growl. I was still crouched in the same position. It
didn't irritate or cause me pain; it was just making me nervous
to have to be in this position for so long.

"Are you sure that the Cullen’s have remained

inconspicuous?" Jane asked, too sweet. "The last time you
hunted we ran into each other, but I heard about the one who
killed the human you knew. Are you sure he didn't know about
your recent changes?''

"The last time I saw him alive was at my wedding, when I was
human. That was the last time anyone in Forks heard from
me."

"What about your father?" She had me there, but I tried not to
show it. I hadn't improved my lying skills after I became
immortal, so right now I hoped Alice saw me in trouble. I
wouldn't mind if Emmett or Jasper or Rosalie came to help me.

"I also saw him last at my wedding."

"So then why are you here?"

Just at that moment, Edward and Emmett flashed to my sides.

I could see Edward focusing intently on Jane and Felix out of
the corner of my right eye. I could see Emmett focusing on the
other two vampires out of my other eye. The Volturi were still
the only ones standing, Emmett, Edward and I were crouched
in defensive positions. I immediately extended my shield
around my brother and my husband.

"Relocation," Edward said from between his teeth.

"Did your coven expose us?"

"No," the three of us said at once.

"Aro would very much like to see you two again, Bella,
Edward. He is especially interested in your daughter.''

"Is that so?" Edward said.

"Yes."

"We may visit you. It would be interesting to have more than

one Cullen in Volterra at one time," Emmett said with a grin.

Jane's serious face went to sweet and angelic, with an angel's

smile on her face she stared at Emmett intently. I almost
waited for the screaming to start, but I remembered the shield
around the three of us. Her talent hit my shield like a baseball
coming toward it. I didn't try to resist what I felt this time. I let
the vicious growl slip between my teeth and rumble in my
chest. I felt Edward's hand on my shoulder, but it didn't calm
me like it usually did. The smile on Jane's face disappeared
and the only expression there was now was clear frustration.

"I guess we should tell Aro that the Cullen’s have kept their
word. Edward, Bella," Alec said.

I didn't say anything and neither did Emmett, but Edward just
nodded. The Volturi guard turned around and walked-more
like glided-away ever so gracefully. After a few minutes, and I
was sure they were nowhere near us, I straightened up out of
my crouch and breathed again. It was like swallowing flames,
and my eyes were probably a darker gold now. Edward and
Emmett stood up next to me, and I felt the tension in the
atmosphere loosen. I was about to turn to Edward when I
heard more running, coming toward us, I stiffened up again,
and I was in a half crouch when Renesmee and Jacob broke
through the trees, right behind Alice.

"What happened?" Renesmee asked, fear blazing in her eyes

and her voice. I didn't feel like I was going to faint, but I felt I
needed to sit down, or rest, or something. Like he read my
mind, Edward put his arm around me and pulled me to his
side. I burred my face into his chest. Renesmee walked over
to us and put one hand on each of our cheeks. Are you guys
okay? Was the question that was screaming out of her head?

"We're fine," Edward answered, pulling her to his other side.

"We need to watch our backs from now on."

I nodded against his side. I didn't like showing any weakness,

and if I was human I would be breaking down. This was one of
those times when I was glad that I was a vampire-I couldn't
cry.

Chapter 13
Edward had made it very clear that the Volturi were not
kidding around when they said that Aro wanted one of us. We
made a plan to lie low, to go on with our normal-however
normal we are-lives. Edward, Alice, Renesmee, Jacob, and I
were going to go back to high school in a month. Rosalie,
Emmett, and Jasper were going on to college, and Carlisle got
a job in the nearby hospital. Since we started school in
September that would mean Renesmee's birthday was coming
up, she was going to be a year old, and she was going to stop
growing after this mark-hopefully. We thought Renesmee's
growth was supposed to slow down, but after a week or so
after our encounter with the entire Volturi, she started
growing unexpectedly again. I felt cheated, since it was
supposed to be a few years before she looked our age, but in
a matter of months, she looked old enough to pass for
seventeen. But the month wasn't just centered on
Renesmee's birthday-however badly I wanted it to be. I was
going to be a year old, too. I had become a vampire three
days after Renesmee was born. Edward and Alice planned to
celebrate it the day of my actual human birthday-although I
no longer was human. I was nervous the entire month of
August, thinking of the things Edward would do or get for me,
or the measures Alice would go to make sure I had a good
time. The only occasion I was planning on celebrating was
Renesmee's birthday. I didn't know what she wanted for her
presents, so I was having Jacob and Edward figure it out for
me. Jacob kept asking her what she wanted although he was
annoying her, and Edward was keeping tabs on her thoughts.
But before any of the birthdays could commence, it was
August twelve, and tomorrow was mine and Edward's one-
year wedding anniversary. He had known better than to ask
me what I wanted for an anniversary gift, but I knew he was
asking everybody what they would think I would like. Knowing
Edward, it was probably going to be something elaborate like
a second honeymoon, or a new engine boost for my car or
something like that. In truth, I hadn't even thought about the
date until Renesmee came up to me and wanted to talk.

"I'll make you a deal mom," she smiled. "I'll tell you what I
want for my birthday, if you tell me what you want for your
anniversary."

"Your dad put you up to this, didn't he?"

"No, Alice did."

"I'll tell you what I would like if you tell me first."

"Fine. What I want for my birthday is a new laptop. Now what

do you want?"
"I don't want anything for my birthday or for my anniversary."

"Come one, dad won't let me go to the movies with Jake until I
completed this mission for him."

"Fine, a locket with a picture of you and Jacob on one side and
a picture of me and Edward on the other. Happy?"

"Yes, thank you."

I sighed, and then remembered something I wanted to ask her

before she got away. "Hey, what are you Aunt Alice getting
me?" I asked.

"I'm not telling, she'll rip my throat out."

I growled under my breath and decided to let he leave.

"Fine, go report back to your dad, and then you can go to the
movies."

"Thank you!" she squealed.

She danced out of the room and headed out to the garage,
where I guess was where Edward and his brothers were. I
went up to Alice's room and found Alice and Rosalie playing
with Alice's touch screen computers for designing clothes.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Bella!" they both exclaimed at the same time. Rose whirled

around gracefully and Alice stood up out of her chair.

"How did you not hear me coming?" I asked.

"No one ever hears you coming," Rose said.

"How did you not see me Alice?" I asked.

"You made a last minute decision," she said.

"Oh, what are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"I may not be a good liar, but I know you Alice."

"Just go pick out your first day of school outfit. School starts
September first this year."

"I'm going, but I have Edward to answer the questions. And I

can bribe Emmett."

"How can you bribe Emmett?" Rosalie asked.

"He's been dying for a wrestling partner that doesn't cheat. I

can make him that offer.''

"We're taking care of Renesmee's birthday gift. It's a back to

school dress. You can't tell her."

"I can keep a secret."

"Good, now out," Rose said.

I left the room at her request and headed down the stairs to
find Edward and Emmett at the bottom, waiting for me.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"Edward over heard you talking about a wrestling match, and

I'm accepting," Emmett said.

I looked at Edward-more like glared-and growled. He didn't

flinch or anything, he just smiled a huge smile. "I love you
Bella, but you are not scary," he said.

"Traitor," I said.

"Come on Bella, if you win, I won't bother you for a month,"

Emmett pleaded. I laughed out loud, because he wouldn't last
a week with not having someone to fight with who didn't
cheat, like Edward, Alice, and Jasper did. I was the only one
besides Rosalie who didn't have the abilities to cheat. Rose
never wanted to mess up her hair, and Carlisle and Esme were
always busy. So Emmett always turned to me.

"Fine," I agreed, giving up.

We went out back again, only I was the one to crouch down
and get ready to spring. Before Emmett could even register
that I was ready, I was off the ground, and had his arm behind
his back.

"Bella wins," Edward called.

"Again!" Emmett snarled.

"Nope, I'm busy, later!"

I ran in the direction of the house, before either one of them

could pounce on me. I ran into my room and to my smaller
closet to set aside clothes for the first day of school. If I didn't,
then Alice would be pissed for not following her directions
when it came to clothes. Edward came in behind me, and I
didn't hear him. When his lips were at my neck, I almost
jumped three feet in the air. He chuckled at the fact that he
was able to scare me even now. I turned around and his arms
wrapped around me, his lips found mine. They were stone and
eager, but the way they moved with mine, they felt soft.
There was no other happiness in the world to me than being
with Edward at these times. I was in a world of bliss.
 Chapter 14
"You are never excited when you should be," Alice
complained.

"About what?" I snapped. "Shopping or my anniversary?"

"Both," Alice growled.

Today I was supposed to be with Edward all day, but since

Alice knew that I needed to go shopping for him, we left for
the local mall at one in the morning. Edward knew that I was
gone, but he didn't know that I was shopping for him. So I was
in a bad mood because Alice wouldn't let me get him
something simple like concert tickets-one of our favorite
music artists was coming to this town, but Alice wanted me to
get him something more then tickets-and because I wanted to
be with Edward right now more than here. We were walking at
a very slow speed-could humans walk any slower?-toward a
ticket counter now.

"Can I please just get him the concert tickets?" I pleaded.

"Fine," Alice gave in.

Another reason why I was in a bad mood, all the human males
stared at me. The females were the smart ones; they sensed
something dangerous about me and Alice. But the males just
stared at the two of us as we walked around the mall, with
their mouths wide open, and their eyes on every part of our
bodies.

"I'll feel bad for Renesmee when she starts high school in a
few weeks," I said.

We reached the ticket counter, and the sales man dropped his
clipboard and stared at the sight of the two of us.

"H-h-h-ow can I help you?" he asked.

I tired to make my voice soft, so that I wouldn't sound pissed

off or too scary.

"Hi, I need tickets for the Debussy concert," I told him.

"How many?" he asked. It looked like he was about to fall over

the counter.

"Two," I said. I put both my hands on the counter in front of

me; my left hand on my right, making sure my wedding ring
was in clear view. He turned around and got two tickets out of
the drawer and turned back to me. He looked at my hands,
and his face fell, but he tried to hide it.
"Here you go," he said, handing me the tickets. I knew the
price, and I already had the proper amount ready. "Fifty
dollars is your total."

I handed him the bill, and walked away before he could give
me a receipt.
"Can we go home now?" I pleaded.

"Don't you have to get Renesmee a birthday present?" she

asked.

"No, Edward got her the laptop yesterday; it's hiding under
our bed."

"Fine."

We left the mall and got home in a matter of seconds. I

walked up the stairs from the garage and heard Edward
playing my lullaby. I walked to him by the black grand piano.
It was on a raised platform, so even though he was sitting
down, Edward's head was at the same height as mine. I rested
my head on his shoulder as I sat next to him and waited for
the song to end. i saw him smile out of the corner of my eye,
but he didn't stop playing. When the song did end, he turned
toward me so that each leg was on one side of the bench.

"Welcome home," he said as he kissed me. I kissed him back

for a few seconds, but when his lips moved to my neck, I took
the opportunity to surprise him.

"I have something for you," I said. He stopped kissing me and

looked at my face.

"You didn't have to get me anything," he said with his crooked

smile.

"I know, but if you got me something and I didn't get you
anything, we would be out of balance."

"Fine, I give up."

"Good, because I have something you are going to love."

"What?"

I pulled the concert tickets out of the pocket of my jacket and

fanned them in front of our faces.
"Concert tickets?" he asked in a surprised voice.

"I knew you wanted to see Debussy-" I started to say, but was
interrupted by another kiss. It was a few minutes before he let
me breath.

"Thank you," he said.

"You’re welcome," I told him.

"Can I show you your present now?" he pleaded.

I sighed; maybe it wouldn't be so bad. "Sure," I allowed.

He didn't say anything; he just pulled my hand off of the

bench, and walked in the direction of the garage. I had a
feeling it had something to do with my car. He still didn't say
anything. He dropped my hand and walked over to a few of
the cabinets where we kept some money and where Rosalie
kept her car tools. He pulled out a big box, and I suddenly felt
scared about what was in there. He handed me the box and
said, "Happy anniversary." I opened the lid, and there were
two books and a smaller box on top of them. The two books
were new hard-cover copies of Wuthering Heights and Romeo
and Juliet. I pulled out the smaller box and opened it. Sitting
on pink lace, was a sliver, heart shaped locket. There was an
engraving on the cover that said All In My Heart. I opened the
locket, and on the left side was a picture of Jacob and
Renesmee, on the right, was a picture pf me and Edward. If I
had a breath, I would have been breathless. It was beautiful,
and I didn't think I wanted anything for my anniversary.

"Do you like it?" Edward asked softly.

"I love it. It's so pretty. The books are cool too."

"I'm glad." I set the box on the hood of Emmett's jeep and
turned to kiss Edward.

It was a few minutes, and his arms wrapped around me in a

tight hug. I rested my head on his shoulders.
"Thank you," I whispered.

"I love you," he whispered back.

"I love you too."

Perhaps I could learn to like holidays. Especially my

anniversary. Nothing could ruined the life I had here with
Edward and my family. I was too happy and too content.
Everything was perfect.

Chapter 15
Maybe not everything was perfect. I still had high school to
attend...again. No one was looking forward to starting school,
except for Rosalie. It was her first time at Dartmouth, so she
was happy. It was a cloudy Monday morning, and the weather
wasn't much different from Forks, Washington. I woke up
Renesmee at six after I was already dressed. After I woke her
up I went to go hunting. She didn't seem very enthusiastic
about it, but I told her to give it a try. She said she would, so I
left the house to go hunting.

***************************************************************
************************

Renesmee (p.o.v)

"Renesmee. Honey, time to wake up,'' my mom whispered in

my ear. I didn't say anything, I just moaned.

"Time to get up. Come on, first day of high school."

"I don't want to, dad can tutor me," I complained.

"If you don't get up, I will go get Emmett, and I don't think you
want him dragging you out of bed," she threatened. Uncle
Emmett dragging me out of bed was the last thing I wanted.

"You wouldn't," I said, sitting up in bed right away.

"Your dad wouldn't stop him," she said.

"I'm up."

"Good, I'm going hunting, I'll be back later."

"Can you have dad make me some breakfast?" I asked before

she could get out the door.

"Sure, what do you want?"

"Eggs.'' She didn't say anything; she just smiled and giggled
as she left the room.

I got out of bed, and walked over to my closet that my Aunt

Alice constantly stocked with new clothes. Honestly, why did I
have to go to high school? I already knew almost everything.
My parents had said that if I wanted to go to college then I
would have to go to high school first. My dad had been
through high school lots of times, and this was my moms
second time through it. They were posing as sophomores with
Alice, while I and Jacob were going to be freshman or fresh-
meat as he put it. I didn't know what it meant, but I wasn't
going to ask. I picked out the outfit that Alice had labeled first
day of school. I took it out of the garment bag, and it was a
white, ruffled mini-skirt, and a pink, off the shoulder shirt with
spaghetti straps. I just shook my head back and forth. I was
going to wear it; I just hoped it was appropriate for school. I
got dressed and after my hair was brushed and my make-up
done, I went downstairs to see my dad. I went in the kitchen,
and he had his back to me. He was over the stove, cooking
my breakfast. Yes, my breakfast. It sometimes felt weird to be
the only one in the house that ate actual food. Eggs was the
only thing I ate, the rest of the time I preferred the blood of
animals. It wasn't as good as human blood, but I didn't want
to be that kind of person. I followed after my dad's view of it,
and he followed Carlisle. My dad didn't want to be a monster,
and I agreed with him. Carlisle did it because he had a
conscience, and he was the one who started the whole idea of
a vampire "vegetarian" diet. My dad didn't turn around when I
entered the kitchen, so I guessed he didn't hear me, or he was
too busy cooking.

"Hey dad," I said. He turned around then, after scooping up

the scrambled eggs and putting them on a plate.

"Good morning, Nessie," he said. I didn't like being called that,

but since I had been called that since birth-Jake, my other
half, made the nickname for me, so I only let him use it-I
figured that I'd better give up on changing it. It still didn't stop
me from glaring at my father.

"Force of habit," he defended himself. His mouth twitched at

the corners, like he was trying hard not to smile, but I could
see it in his liquid, golden eyes.

"Fine, I better give up anyway."

"How did you sleep?" he asked as I dug into my breakfast.

"Good. Why does mom laugh every time I tell her I want eggs
to eat?" I never understood why she smiled whenever I
sometimes said that.

"She was human when we got married, during our

honeymoon, she ate allot of eggs," he answered with a
crooked smile.

"Oh," was all I could say.

''Do you know your schedule?" he asked me.

''Yeah, Alice told me it like ten times." I finished my breakfast

and shoved away from the table. I was going to see if Jake
was awake yet, if not, I was going to drag him out of bed. I
was just as strong as he was. I ran up the stairs and knocked
on his door.

"Jake, are you up?" I asked. Just then the door opened and he
was in front of me, all seven feet of him.

"Yes,'' he said.

"Ready for school?" I asked.

''It was bad enough the first four years and now I have to do it
all over again, but I guess it's not so bad, as long as I have
some classes with you."

"Let's go. I have to go get Bella, Alice, and Edward, but they
should be ready."

“Kay," he agreed.

I ran downstairs one flight to Alice's room, and knocked on the

door. She wouldn't see me coming, but she might hear me.
She heard me, because before I could knock on the door, she
opened it and stepped out.

"Ready," she said in her high, chipper voice. "Let's get Bella
and Edward."

After we got my parents, they loaded into the Volvo while I

and Jake went in my camaro.

The campus was big, for a small-is town. Some of the

buildings were brick, some were concrete, and some were in
portable classrooms. Jake had both of our schedules in his
hands, looking to see if we had any classes together.

"We have third period Spanish together, along with sixth

period P.E. and first period English," he said. I had history
fourth period, geometry second period, and science fifth
period. After he was done looking over our schedules, we got
out of the car and joined my parents and Alice while walking
onto campus. The only classes I had with my parents were my
P.E. period. They had all of their classes together and Alice
was with them, and we all had lunch the same period. Since
my family had a way with money, looks, and charm-thanks to
the fact that they were vampires-it was very easy to get the
same classes with each other. The bell rang and Jacob and I
headed to our first period class. We walked through the door,
and to my astonishment, it was mostly males, with very few
females. The second it took me to walk in the door, all the
eyes in the classroom were on me, whether they were glares
of jealousy, or stares from the boys. I could tell it was going to
be a long day.

Chapter 16
Renesmee P.O.V.

I rolled my eyes as I walked to my seat. As I walked passed a

boy with black hair and tan skin-which must have been a
spray tan, since this place was like Forks, there was never any
sun-the boy next to him snickered at him. Just then, he
reached out and slapped my butt as I passed him. I was about
to turn around and glare at him-it didn't hurt, just irritated me.
I turned and saw Jacob with one hand on his shoulder, their
faces inches apart. Jake looked furious, while the boy looked
terrified. Jake spoke in a voice so low that only me and the
boy could hear.

"Touch her again, and I will take your entire arm off," he
warned. I was only scared of two voices when they were
furious in this world. Both Jake and my dad had perfected
voices that sounded very threatening and menacing when
they spoke while they were pissed off.

"O-o-h-okay," the boy stuttered. "Sorry," he said to me. I

simply nodded once. Jake gave him one good, long glare, and
when the teacher came into the room, we started walking to
the very back of the classroom.

"Are you okay?" Jake whispered in my ear.

"Fine, just irritated."

“Kay.'' We stopped talking because the teacher was about to

begin her first day of school lecture. Her name was Mrs. Lee,
and I already didn't like her. She started calling roll, and I
learned that the name of the boy who had hit me was named
Ron Green ham. She came to my name, but she needed help
pronouncing it.

"Re-renees, Renesmee, Reneesm..." she said.

"Renesmee," I said, hating to have to say it loud and clear,

especially because the other students were snickering
because of the complexity it seemed to have.

"Do you go by something shorter?" she asked.

"Nessie," I replied automatically, I might as well get used to it.

She moved on and finished calling the other students' names.

Class passed by very boringly. Just the normal procedure of
what we had to expect of the year to come, and the class
rules. She told us to get to know one other person in the class,
and the boy named Ron turned to stare at me, I glared back,
and I could also sense Jake glaring back too. He quickly turned
his head to the boy sitting next to him, whose name was
Adam.

After the first class ended, the rest of the day passed slowly,
and I hated every second of it. I would have to talk to my
parents about "home-schooling" me. They probably wouldn’t
listen though. I noticed I had another class with the boy
named Ron, my fourth period history. Great, there goes my
good day. Sadly I had to sit next to him, my teacher had
organized a seating chart, and he put the two of us next to
each other. Maybe my dad would make an exception to the
non-human diet for me. That would take care of the pervert. I
really got pissed when he started talking to me though.

"So...you're Nessie?" he asked. I turned slowly to glare at him.

One thing I inherited from my dad, was the ability to give
death glares, it was probably the vampire part of me.

"What do you want?" I snapped, not being careful enough to

use a friendly voice with the irritating human.

"Is that other guy your boyfriend or something?" he asked.

"Jacob is my boyfriend, and he will tear your arm off your

body."

"Oh.'' I also heard him mutter the word damm under his
breath-that made me smile. Then my teacher- Mr. Haw worth,
I noticed-said something that made my smile turn into a
shocking stare.

"You will be working with the person I paired you with for the
next week for a human studies project." I was now very
confused. I thought this was history. That assumption brought
me to raise my hand.

"How does this relate to history?" I asked. The teacher looked

to his seating chart to find my name.

"Well, Miss Cullen, human studies does have a little to do with

history. Will you listen to the instructions?" he said. I could
only imagine my dad. Looking through the eyes of others to
check up on me while I was in class. I hoped I wouldn't have to
explain anything to him or my mom at lunch next period. To
answer the teacher's question I simply nodded, but I swear I
saw the boy next to me smile and laugh a little.

"The instructions are simple. You are to spend the next week
researching the person next to you. What their name is, what
they like, and who they really are," he explained. I doubted
anyone wanted to know who I really was. I would scare
everyone to death. I groaned to myself. "You are to begin
today. You may use any medium of explanation you want for
the group presentation. Film, art, or a simple oral
presentation," the teacher continued. "This is due a week from
today. I will give you the rest of the class time to get started.
Good luck." I now officially HATED this teacher.

The rest of the class turned to their partners and started

getting to know each other, a task I didn't feel excited to do
with my partner.

"So, partner," the twit in question asked. "Do you want me to

start?"

"Why not," I said sarcastically.

"What is your full name?" he asked. Great, he would ask me

questions and I would have to answer. Why did I have to come
to this school? Why are my parents putting me through this?
Why did I have to sit next to this annoying human who
obviously had a crush on me? A human who didn't rejecter
that I was supposed to be dangerous. Human’s registered that
my parents and everyone else in my family-except for
Carlisle-were dangerous. But this was the first human I met
that didn't stare at me like I was a freak. Maybe my human
side was becoming more dominant. Hopefully this human
would leave me alone after this; I didn't want things to get
violent. Just ten more minutes I thought to myself. Ten more
minutes and I could be with Jake and the ones I loved.
 Chapter 17
Renesmee P.O.V.

I almost forgot about the human next to me, so I acted quickly

to answer his question.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen," I answered in a dead voice. People

wondered about my name. How I got it, how I pronounced it. It
was a unordinary name, but I loved it just the same.

"How did you get it?" he asked. I wouldn't need Alice to see
him asking that question, I could see it on my own.

"My first name is a mixture of Renee and Esme, they're my

two grandmother's names mixed together. My middle name is
spelled C-a-r-l-i-e. A mix of Carlisle and Charlie, the names of
my grandfathers."
"Your favorite color?" he asked. Just then the bell rang, and I
got up before I could answer his question.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," I said.

"See you," he called as I left the room. I would have to get

used to him fast. I got out the door and my parents were
waiting against the wall with Jacob. My dad had his arm
around my mom's waist and she had her arm around his. I
noticed they weren't wearing their wedding rings, but then I
saw the chain around both of their necks, they both had their
rings on chains. My mom was also wearing a symbol with a
lion under a hand and three clovers. It meant we were
Cullen’s; I had a necklace like it too. All the guys in the family
had arm bands and the girls had necklaces. We were a family,
and that symbolized it.

"Hey," I said as I took Jake's hand. He took our hands and

kissed mine.

"How was class?" Edward asked. My parents didn't mind if I

called them by their names, I just thought it was weird
sometimes.

"Were you eavesdropping?" I asked.

"Of course."

"Then you know it was terrible and annoying.''

"You're half human, so you don't seem as scary. Be happy,

you're some-what normal," Bella said. She always tried to
make me feel better. She was the best mom ever.

"I might have to have Jake rip his arms off," I muttered. Our
entire conversation was so quiet and fast that no one would
be able to hear. At least no humans could hear.

"Let’s go, I'm starving," Jake complained, he was the only one
of us who actually ate human food. We walked to the
cafeteria, and got food for the sake of the charade. My dad
found us a table on the far side of the building so that no one
would bother us. Not that any sane human would come near
Alice, Bella, and Edward.

"What were your classes like?" I asked as Jacob had started

eating the food I had got for me. He was already finished with
his own tray.

"Just one of the times when I wished I could sleep," Alice said.

"That boring?" I asked. She nodded.

"How was your first period?" Bella asked.

"He didn't tell you?" I said as I nodded toward my dad.

"Oh, he did. I just wanted to know what you thought of it.''

"I thought it was pretty funny when Jake almost ripped his arm
off.'' The three vampires laughed.

"I just wished I couldn't hear some of the vile thoughts of

some humans," Edward muttered. As he said this, a human
walked passed our table. Once she saw Edward, Alice, and
Bella sitting with me and Jake, she picked up her pace, but
that wasn't what alerted me. As she walked by, a slight breeze
blew by her, and it wasn't a human scent that I caught. It was
the scent of a vampire, but not one I recognized. I felt Jake
tense up in his chair, I knew that the scent was probably
causing him pain, but he was used to vampire scent. I turned
around to wear the smell was coming from, and then I saw
her. She was bone pale, with green eyes. Contacts, because I
knew from the scent and the color of her skin that she was a
vampire. She saw me, and then started walking toward us.
 Chapter 18
Bella P.O.V.

One thing I known is that I'm holding Edward's hand and we

were talking with Nessie about her classes. The next thing I
know is that I smell a vampire that I don't know and she's
walking over to us. I saw Jacob tense in his chair, and
Edward's face went blank. I could tell that he was reading her
mind. She stopped behind Nessie, and I could see the contacts
in her eyes dissolving from the venom.
"Wow, I thought I was the only vampire here," she said in a
voice so low that no human would understand. "Who are
you?"

"Bella, Alice, Renesmee, and Jacob Cullen," Edward answered.

Jacob looked surprised that Edward gave him our surname.

"And you?" the stranger asked.

"Edward."

"Well, I'm Alexandria. But I go by Alex."

Alex had long, curly red hair, and it sort of reminded me of

Victoria, someone who I hadn't thought about for over a year.
Now her green contacts were completely dissolved. I could
see her real eye color and it surprised me. It was a deep gold.
Was she vegetarian too? I immediately thought we should talk
to Carlisle.

"What are your lands?" Alice asked.

"Just south of the docks. Yours?" Alex said.

"Just west of the river. Into the forest a few miles," Edward
said.

"It's a good thing we won't be overlapping each other. Do you

mind if I join you?"

"Sure."

"Were you guys from?" she asked as she sat between Alice
and Nessie, slightly cringing away from Jacob's arm over
Neisse’s shoulders.

"Washington."

"Wow. So why did you move here?" What was she getting at?
Why did she sit so comfortably next to three and half vampire
strangers and a werewolf? More importantly, what did she
want?

"Humans were starting to get suspicious," Edward said. That

brought me back to the reality of Charlie. I still had to call him
and tell him we made it alright and that I was in college....

"I'm from Europe. I was born human in Ireland, but I was

changed in England. Then I started my new life, hunting
animals, and moved here. I've been this way for about two
years." I wondered if she thought we looked curious, or if she
thought about spilling her guts. But where she was born
explained her hair and accent.

"Why don't you come over when school's over?" Alice

suggested. I saw Jacob turn to glare at her.

"After school? What's your last class?" she asked.

"P.E.," Alice answered. "We all have it."

"I'll meet you by the gym doors when school is over,'' Alex
said as she got up from the chair and left the cafeteria.

"She's nice,'' Nessie commented.

"I will kill you Alice. I will rip you to shreds and burn the
pieces," I said.

"Oh, come on Bella. Give her a break. She seems really nice,"
Alice said.

"I didn't think the vampire stench could get worse, I was
wrong," Jacob muttered.

"Come on, we're going to be late for our classes," Edward

said. Me, Alice, and Edward go up from the table and started
walking off to our English class. The two of us held hands and
Alice walked by me. As we entered the classroom, we went to
the very back. After the bell rang, the teacher started talking,
but I ignored her. I was too tensed up. I didn't know this
vampire. And Alice was going to just invite her over after
school like we were bff? I wasn't worried for myself, only my
half-human daughter. She seemed in control at lunch, but
what about where there were no witnesses? Also, how would
the others react? I'm sure Carlisle and Esme would be fine, but
Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper I weren't so sure about. I also
wanted to know what Edward had picked out of her head. It
was seriously making me nervous.
Chapter 19