Sorry for the wait :(

Bella POV

Their house was a mansion.

It was three stories tall and painted a soft, light brown. It had a porch that wrapped around the entire first story, and many of the walls were replaced with glass. It looked homely, elegant.

I should be running, I told myself. But for the last few minutes, I've felt unnaturally calm. I'm calm, I shouldn't be, but I also have no urge to fight it.

I was led upstairs by the short girl, who bounced the entire way up like she was about to burst, and found myself being pushed into a bathroom near the end of a long hallway. She handed me a pile of clean clothes, gave me a wide, radiant smile, and told me to take all the time I needed.

"By the way," she grinned at me as she transferred the materials from her hands to mine, "I'm Alice. Let me know if you need anything else!"

I worked out what I hope looked like a smile, and watched as she continued to bounce back down the hallway and disappear around the corner.

Funny. If I hadn't known any better, she might have deceived me into thinking she wasn't a monster.

I had planned on just rinsing myself off, but after running my hands through my hair and feeling how thick and clumped it was with dirt and blood, I decided to take Alice up on her offer and take my time. I worked the shampoo into my hair until it was a sudsy mess, and then let the water splash over me. As I started on the conditioner, the calm sensation that held me together just a moment before seemed to just…vanish.

I'm in a house full of vampires.

Why did I willingly walk into a house full of vampires?

I began to dig my nails into my scalp.

I'm upstairs, so even if I tried to run, they could catch me. I'm absolutely sure of it. Maybe I could escape through a window?

They looked nice enough, but looks can be deceiving. I have no idea what they have planned for me - but based on my experiences with the vampires I've met in the past, it can't be good. Hurting is in their nature, they're sadistic beings.

I stepped out of the shower and began to dry my hair with the hair dryer left on the bathroom counter, giving myself more time to think of a plan.

I need to try to escape this. I owe it to Charlie to at least try to fight to stay alive.

Or whatever it is that I am.

Edward POV

"Let me know if you need anything else!" I heard Alice say before she came bounding down the stairs, a smile still glued to her face.

We all sat in the living room downstairs. Carlisle, Esme and Jasper all sat on the long couch, Rosalie and Emmett took the love seat, and I took the armchair. Alice made her way to Jasper's side.

"The poor thing," Esme was saying, the sympathy thick in her voice. "She looked so lost. She's only a week old and she's on her own? Poor girl." She shook her head.

I watched as Alice's face visibly brightened. "We could invite her to stay with us!"

Jasper sent a scowl her way. "We don't even know if she's one of us. Did you see the blood in her cheeks? The water in her eyes? She could be dangerous."

Emmett guffawed. "Aww Jasper, are you afraid of the little girl? I'm sure you could get Alice to protect you!" He said, jutting out his lip and giving Jasper a sarcastically sympathetic look.

Jasper promptly ignored him. "Who said she would even be interested in staying with us? We just met her – we don't even know her name."

"Fair enough," Carlisle interrupted, intervening the teasing reply bubbling at Emmett's lips. I heard the hair dryer turn off upstairs. "Let's talk to her, find out more information pertaining to who she is. Then we can decide. Sound good?" His eyes looked to each one of us in turn. When they landed on me, he asked, "Did you learn anything from her thoughts?"

His question instantly sparked the annoyance that was boiling within me. I had heard the girl running towards me when we were in the forest, but since I could only hear the thoughts of my family, I thought it must have been an animal. Then I smelled something – it wasn't the scent of a vampire, I would have recognized that immediately - but it also wasn't the familiar smell I would associate with humans. I was distracted with trying to place the scent when she had run into me, knocking me over.

She was beautiful – even for a vampire, she was beautiful. She had a heart-shaped face, which was slightly covered by her dark, wavy hair, which cascaded to just above her waist. She was very pale, of course, but somehow it just seemed to compliment her soft features. She had wide, innocent brown eyes – brown – and prominent cheekbones. She seemed like a sweet girl, someone who shied away from the spotlight – I could tell by the way she kept biting her lip and fidgeting with her hands under all of the attention she was receiving. But she absolutely irritated me. I needed to know what she was thinking, it was what I was used to. She takes me out of my comfort zone, and I despise her for it.

Even up close, even when I was within inches of her – nothing.

"No," I replied to Carlisle, answering his question. "I couldn't hear her." My voice was filled with frustration, verging on anger.

"How is that possible?" Rosalie demanded, her face twisted with awe. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she didn't have any thoughts! I don't know, Rose, this has never happened before!" I shouted helplessly, running my hands through my hair and glaring at her.

I was just so aggravated – I was so used to the constant buzz of the thoughts of everyone around me that the silence she emitted was maddening. She completely threw me off. "Where are you going?" Esme asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. I looked at her confused, and then followed her gaze.

The mystery girl had her arm outstretched and her hand wrapped around the door knob leading to the back yard. She froze. She looked over, startled, with her big, round eyes looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

She was wearing a pair of Rosalie's jeans and a snug, dark blue t-shirt that clung tightly to her small frame. She wore the dirty sneakers we found her in.

"Sorry." She murmured quietly. Then she bolted out of the front door, leaving it swinging behind her.

"Wait!" Alice shouted.

I sprung out of my seat and ran after her. I couldn't let her escape – I needed to know why I couldn't hear her. I needed to know her thoughts, or it would haunt me forever.

She was only half-way to the river that laid on the other side of our backyard. She was running quite slowly – faster than any human could run, but compared to the average speed of a vampire, it looked as if she were just jogging. I easily caught up to her within seconds, and grabbed her around the waist.

"Let go!" She shouted. She twisted in my arms so that we were face to face – well, she was quite a bit shorter than I was, so the top of her head only reached the beginning of mine –and pushed against my chest. Surprised, I stumbled back a bit, but I never lost my grip on her waist. She continued to pound her fists into my chest, but not hard enough to hurt.

Then Emmett appeared on the other side of her and grabbed both of her wrists. She struggled for a second more and then bowed her head, defeated. She started to shake, and I was confused as to what was happening – until I saw the tears hit the grass beneath us.

I had made her cry.

Emmett must have noticed, too, because he quickly said, "Hey, we aren't trying to hurt you! We just want to talk! Please don't cry…"

He glanced at me, his face contorted with worry. I almost laugh – Emmett has always been horrible in serious situations. Carlisle came to stand next to me, the rest of the family behind us.

"Please, we just want to talk – we don't run into many visitors around here." He said, cautiously.

She looked up, her face stained with trails from her tears. Her eyes were still glistening, but she didn't allow for any more tears to fall. Her soft features were crossed with anger and frustration.

"I guess I don't really have a choice." She spat out, sourly, glaring at Carlisle and then myself.

I might have felt bad for her, if she were anyone else. But all I could think was that I needed to get inside her head.

Bella POV

I shrugged both of them off of me, and they must have sensed that I wasn't going to run this time because they both took their hands off immediately, letting them drop to their sides. We walked to the house, everyone ahead of me except for the two boys who had caught me, who walked a few feet behind me.

I felt trapped.

I don't even really know why I tried to run – I knew they were faster than me, that they could catch me even on an off day. But it's not in my nature to go down without a fight.

I wondered why they wanted to talk to me. If they were planning on hurting me, why not just do it already?

I sat down in one of the armchairs, and the rest of them took the positions they were originally in before I interrupted with my brilliant plan. Carlisle, the leader of the coven, I assumed, spoke first. "How about we get the introductions out of the way? This is my wife, Esme." He said, gesturing to the caramel-haired woman sitting to his left. She smiled at me.

"Wife?" I blurted out. How could monsters possibly get married? They don't care about anyone but themselves.

"I'm Alice," the tiny one butted in. "And this is my husband, Jasper."

I nodded to them, taken aback again by the marital term she used.

The big one gave me a sloppy grin. "I'm Emmett, and this is my beautiful wife, Rosalie." The blonde sitting next to him gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Edward." The bronze-haired boy said, drawing my attention to where he was sitting. He was giving me this hard look, and I felt his eyes burn into mine. I thought back - did I do something to offend him? He was the one who had assaulted me, so that couldn't be it.

I looked back at the leader. "I'm Bella," I said. I started fidgeting with my hands nervously. What do they want?

"So I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we're curious to know as to what you are," he said, leaning his elbows on his knees. He seemed so casual, so…normal. "Are you a vampire?"

"Why should I answer any of your questions?" I say, verging on tears again. I internally roll my eyes at myself – why, in the moments which I want to appear strong, do I always have to be such a baby? "If you're going to hurt me, just get on with it. There's no need for the pleasantries, you don't have to butter me up first."

The burly one – Emmett - boomed with laughter. I nearly jumped out of my seat, startled.

"Emmett," Esme chided, her eyes looking sympathetic when she looked to me. "Why in the world would you think we'd want to hurt you?"

I composed myself again, crossing my arms defensively. I glared at Emmett, who's shoulders were still shaking with laughter, before looking back to Esme. "Isn't that a vampire thing? Destroying whatever's in their path?"

Emmett lost his smile, and they all looked at me incredulously.

"Bella, how much do you know about vampires? I'm only asking because I recall you mentioning you were only a week old," Carlisle asked. "We aren't all evil." He said, gently.

I looked at each one of them in turn. Alice was looking at me with these sympathetic eyes, Jasper's face was crossed with curiosity. Emmett and Rosalie looked as if they were bubbling with wonder. Edward's eyebrows were furrowed together in a look I couldn't place – something between worry and the hard look I had received from him earlier.

Then there was Carlisle and Esme. They looked so warm, so concerned – could these monsters really care about each other? Care about me?

Maybe I don't know as much about them as I think I do.

"I am a vampire," I confirmed, ignoring his previous question but answering his earlier one. "and a human. I never completed the change."

I heard some gasps – they all had looks of shock. I lowered my head to look at my hands, feeling exposed under all of their stares.

"How is that possible?" Jasper asked.

I looked up to meet his stare. "Another story for another time." I tried to work out a smile, but I don't know if it came out convincingly.

"Ahh," Carlisle said, his eyes bright with interest and discovery. "That explains the blushing and tears."

"And my lack of speed. And strength." I said, bitterly.

I hated being weak. I hated being compromised by something that wasn't my fault, that I couldn't have prevented.

Esme gave me a sad smile. "It sounds as though you aren't very fond of your state."

"You mean getting the worst of both worlds? Yeah, I guess you could say I'm not fond of it." I say harshly, straightening up in my chair. My fists clench at my sides. "I don't fit in with vampires, because I can't keep up with them, but I can't be around humans, because of my thirst!" I almost apologize to Esme – she didn't deserve my outburst, she's been nothing but warm to me. But it just felt so nice to finally get it off my chest.

Carlisle exchanged a look with Esme. He spoke to her so quietly I wouldn't have even known he were talking if I hadn't seen his lips move – my hearing was compromised by the change as well. She nodded to him.

"How about you stay with us?" he asked, looking back to me.

I gave him a blank expression.

"What?" I asked, dumbly.

"You don't have to be on your own. You could stay with our family. For however long you'd like," he offered, giving me a sincere look. Esme smiled encouragingly at me.

Alice showed up at my side, though I never saw her move. I yelped and flinched away, surprised. "Sorry," she apologized, and moved on quickly. "It would be so great, Bella! We would obviously become best friends. Oh, and we would have an equal number of boys and girls!" She said, as if it were the most exciting discovery she's ever made. She bent over to give me a gentle side-hug from where she stood next to the armchair I was in.

Rosalie finally spoke for the first time since we were in the forest. "We could use a better balance around here," She said, smiling at me while poking Emmett in the ribs. He grabbed her hand, holding it between his two giant ones.

"What do you say?" Alice asked.

"I…" I looked down, blushing. "I don't think it would be a good idea. I don't hunt humans, I just can't."

This time, it wasn't just Emmett who burst out laughing – it was everyone. I blushed instantly. I noticed Edward's frustrated look vanish for a moment as the humor transformed his features. I didn't notice before – what with all the fighting for my life and all – but he was actually very handsome. When he smiled, the corners of his cheeks would rise, meeting his eyes, which were visibly filled with humor. He had a bright, infectious smile with pearly white teeth, teeth which would be intimidating to any human.

I'd be lying if I said they didn't intimidate me.

"We don't hunt humans!" Emmett laughed, shaking his head slightly. "Didn't you notice the color of our eyes?"

"Your…eyes?" I repeated, my voice sounding confused.

"If a vampire has golden eyes, it means they hunt animals. We call ourselves vegetarians," Carlisle smiled. "It's the vampires with red eyes who drink human blood."

"Oh," was all I said. Of course I knew it was possible to hunt animals – that's what I prefer, in any case. But I never knew you could tell by the eyes. I always thought it was sort of…genetic, for lack of a better word. Like you get the eye color of the vampire who changes you.

Again, I suppose I don't know as much as I thought.

"So, what do you say? Alice repeated.

"Maybe…maybe just for a couple of days." I said, slowly.

"Yes!" Alice shouted. She squeezed in next to me on the armchair, practically sitting on my lap, and gave me a full hug this time. After a second's hesitation, I wrapped my arms back around her awkwardly.

No. No, she couldn't be a monster.

Over Alice's shoulder, I saw Jasper give a small smile. The others were smiling as well, all except for one.

Edward's face had transformed back into a puzzled, irritated look. I quickly looked away from him, startled.

"Welcome to the family, Bella." Emmett smiled.

Family.