Hello everyone,

This is my first fic and I am happy to finally begin posting it. This story begins a week before Bella arrives in Forks and will continue past Breaking Dawn. My story is rated M for a reason and will contain violence, death, sex (between multiple people at times), etc. If you, at any time, decide you don't wish to continue reading than I wish you all the best in finding a fic more to your liking.

Much Love,

Persephone.

Chapter One

Persy didn't want to be working tonight. It had nothing to do with Carver's Café and more to do with the splitting headache she was currently dealing with. Her ability wasn't making things easy for her and the headache meant she was unable to block out everyone's thoughts as she usually would. Already, she had felt like slapping two regulars for their dirty thoughts about her, especially since their wives were sitting just across from them thinking about how much they loved their faithful husbands. It made her sick. More so when she heard one of the women thinking about telling her husband that she was expecting their first child whilst he was too busy thinking about what he wanted Persy to do with her mouth; and it had nothing to do with asking for his order or giving him a smile.

"Damn, Persy sure has grown up…"

"I can't believe he fired me because…"

"Stupid bitch still doesn't know how much I want a divorce…"

"…I just wanna wrap those long legs around my waist as I pound into that sweet p…"

That last thought had been aimed at her as she walked past a particularly shady regular who only ever seemed to frequent the tables assigned to Persy. She walked past him, not daring to look in his direction as she hurried to the back of the diner and practically flew into Janie's office before she slammed the door shut. Persy covered her ears with her hands, shaking her head as she tried to drown out the sounds like she usually did. It wasn't working, and she felt a tear fall from her eye as the thoughts of everyone in the diner only managed to worsen her headache.

"Persy?"

She barely registered Janie's voice coming from the corner of the room where her desk was and jumped when her slim hands settled on Persy's petite shoulders, squeezing gently. "Persy, hey, look at me," she spoke softly, waiting patiently for Persy's dark eyes to meet her light ones. Through slightly blurred eyes, Persy could see the concern on Janie's as she looked her over. "You okay?" she asked, her voice still quiet and soothing.

For a moment, Persy thought about telling her everything was fine; that quickly came to a halt as when her boss's thoughts rang out in her head.

"God, she looks so much like her mum"

"Poor dear, such a tradgety what happened to her parents."

"It must be hard; living alone in that big house all alone. So many memories in that big ol' place."

"I'm not feelin' too good, Janie," she replied, trying to drown out her thoughts.

"You need me to call someone to come pick you up?" she asked immediately and Persy smiled at her thoughtfulness.

Persy nodded, straightening up and releasing a breath as Janie's hands fell from her shoulders before she stood. "Could you call Tye?" she asked, already knowing her best friend was free tonight.

Janie's nose wrinkled at the mention of her sometimes overly-aggressive friend but nodded and made her way over to the phone in her office regardless. Persy only spoke to give her Tye's number and barely heard a word Janie spoke on the phone as she moved over to the dusty couch in the corner and sat down heavily. She raised her knees to her chest and rested her arms over her knees as she buried her head in her arms and tried to think of anything except the thoughts of others that seemed to be running rampant in her mind.

Persy blamed her lack of mental shields on the fact she was just getting over a cold and the splitting headache that seemed determined to cripple her for the rest of the evening. She only looked up when the couch dipped, resting her chin on her arm as she looked over at Janie. "Tye's on his way, darling," she told Persy gently, her hand moving to Persy's arm where she squeezed her bicep softly, "wanna tell me what's going on tonight?"

"I've just gotta headache, Janie," she assured the older woman, not wanting to tell her the full truth, "don't go worrying about me; I just need to get some sleep."

"I'm always going to worry about you, sweetheart; it's what your mum would have wanted."

"You want me to call your uncle and tell him you're leaving work early? I know he worry's about you," Janie began and Persy just shook her head.

"It's Saturday so uncle Charlie's spending time at Billy's," Persy replied absentmindedly, using the pads on her fingers to rub her aching temples.

"Where's that stupid redheaded bitch with my burger?"

"Why can't he stare at my tits like that? Maybe I should get implants like he was telling me to last month."

"Why are mom and dad always fighting?"

"God, she's only ten years older than me. This is so embarrassing. Why'd she have to be my stepmom? Couldn't he just find someone his own age?"

Persy was lost in the voices when the door to Janie's office suddenly flew open, the handle hitting the wall behind it harshly as Tye charged into the room. "Where's my baby girl?!" Tye yelled the moment he was in the room before he saw Janie and Persy sitting on the couch. Persy wanted to smile when she saw Janie roll her eyes and languidly drop her hand from Persy's arm but her head hurt too much. The next thing she knew, she was being hoisted off the chair and dragged from the small office by her best friend. "Come on, Perse," Tye began, making his way through the diner and glaring at anyone who dared to look their way. Any other night, Persy would have scolded him for his lack of manners but she was too tired and simply wanted to go to bed and rest for the night.

"Goodnight, Janie," she managed to throw over her shoulder before she was being dragged out of the diner and into the parking lot. It was cold at night in Forks but Persy was used to the frigid temperature after growing up in the little town. That didn't mean she didn't shiver when the frigid air caressed her flushed skin; after all, she was only wearing a shirt and shorts. "Tye, would stop dragging me around?!" she exclaimed as Tye's incessant tugging didn't cease the moment they left the diner.

Tye didn't answer her but he did drop her hand and Persy gingerly rubbed the reddened area where his grip had been. "Why do you have be so hard on me?" Persy asked, watching her friend closely.

"Stop letting out your anger on Persy! It isn't her fault dad's drunk ass is passed out in the livin room at home. Again."

"I'm sorry, Tye," Persy said, her eyes downcast, "had I known, I would have asked Janie to call uncle Charlie."

Tye stopped and turned to look at Persy, his eyes narrowed angrily as he folded his arms over his chest. "What the hell, Persy?!" he yelled, "I thought I told you not to fucking read my mind! That shit is private!"

"I didn't mean to!" Persy exclaimed defensively, throwing her hands in the air, "I can't block them out tonight! Believe me, I've been trying since I came into work."

She watched as Tye gave her a wary glance before he seemed to relax and nodded; he motioned silently for Persy to get in his car and the brunette did so quickly, not wanting to anger her friend again. All she wanted to do was go home and take something to help with the pain in her head before she went to sleep for the night.

The drive to her house was quick and quiet and Persy had taken to humming the most annoying songs she could think of in her head so she wouldn't accidently hear Tye's thoughts. She didn't like prying into the thoughts of her friends and family so she had always made sure to have her shields up around them but that just wasn't possible tonight. She was half-way through mentally humming Cotton-Eye Joe when they pulled up to her house and Persy got out of the car.

"Perse," came Tye's voice when Persy was half-way up the path leading towards the door. She turned around and saw her friend leaning against the window of his car as he looked the brunette over before he smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," he continued uncomfortably, "it isn't like you were doing it on purpose and I shoulda known better."

Persy smiled brightly at Tye. "It's okay, sweetie," she replied happily, "I forgave you the moment it happened. Can't stay mad at you, now can I?" she laughed.

"Damn right, you can't," Tye replied before he sighed heavily, "look, you already know dad's drunk and I was wondering..."

Persy smiled softly, "you don't even have to ask, Tye. You're always welcome here."

She watched Tye smile and lock his car before she turned around and continued her trek up the worn path to her home. The house was away from the rest of the houses in Forks and Persy had always preferred it that way. She liked the privacy her isolation provided her and being surrounded by the woods meant Persy was far enough away from others that she didn't have to have her shields up all the time and could just relax. It was something she had always valued growing up when she didn't have to go to school and couldn't focus properly because of all the voices in her head. It had gotten so bad that her mum had eventually decided to homeschool Persy and she had been relieved for the reprieve it offered her even if it did make her a social pariah.

Persy made quick work of unlocking the door and stepping inside the house, locking the door once Tye ducked inside before she sluggishly made her way up the stairs, down the hall, and into her room. She was too exhausted to get changed but knew her mum would have pitched a fit if she slept in her 'daytime' clothes. With a groan, Persy made her way passed her bed and towards her closet; she quickly pulled out one of her nightgowns and made quick work of changing. Releasing her hair from its usual ponytail, she used her fingers to brush the hair out before she threw her clothes in her hamper so she could wash them in the morning and belly flopped onto her bed.

The pounding in her head reminded Persy that she hadn't taken anything for the pain and she whined as she sluggishly lifted herself from her bed and stumbled out of her room and down to the bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet and quickly reached for the Tylenol. Persy swallowed two, drinking from the bathroom tap before she turned the light off and made her way back to her room.

She rolled her eyes affectionately when she saw Tye spread out on her bed in his boxer shorts before she climbed in beside the lightly snoring man. Resting her head on his arm, Persy took in his scent as she began to relax.

The Tylenol didn't take too long to kick in and Persy would have cried out her relief if she didn't want to risk waking Tye and wasn't already drifting off to sleep.

Alex had been wandering around town when he caught the delectable scent. He'd never smelt anything like it and his mouth quickly filled with venom as he looked around for the source of the scent. His eyes landed on two figures walking out of the town diner. The first figure was a tall man with dark skin who was striding around angrily, tightly gripping his friend by the arm as he dragged her over to a car.

The second figure was a woman with sunkissed skin and brown hair so dark it almost looked black. She also happened to be the source of the delectable scent Alex could almost taste in the air. He was too focused on the smell of her blood and the sound of it pumping through her body to hear the conversation the man and the woman were having before they both hopped into the car and began driving off.

Alex knew he shouldn't have followed them; Carlisle would be furious when he found out. He knew all about Alex's addiction to human blood and had tried to teach his 'son' a 'better way'. Alex could care less that he had managed to stick to his family's 'diet', because now that he had smelt her blood, he was determined to sample it.

He followed them out of town and hid in the shadows as the woman welcomed the man into her home. Alex watched the brunette, whom he had heard being called Persy, smile softly at the man before she shut the door to her home. He swollowed back more venom: having been tempted to grab her while her back was turned and sink his teeth into her jugular just to see if her blood tasted as good as it smelled.

He didn't, however, do that. Not because he couldn't but because he had promised Carlisle that he would not draw any unnecessary attention towards them. Draining the perky brunette would surely draw the wrong kind of attention to them. Perhaps he could find a much more subtle way to feed off her. She worked at that diner and he could simply go there during her shift and 'compel' her to offer herself to him whenever and however he wanted. Alex couldn't deny that he was physically attracted to her and fucking her while he fed from her would certainly be pleasurable.

Moving around the outside of her home, listening for her heartbeat, Alex quickly scaled a tree by her bedroom window and crouched on the branch. His mouth quickly filled with venom again as he watched Persy change before she left the room only to come back a moment later and go to sleep.

He growled as he watched her cuddle up to the man she had called 'Tye'; snuggling up to him so comfortably. Alex wanted to jump through the window and tear the man apart for touching her when she was his. He shook his head, knowing the man wouldn't be a problem after he 'compelled' her; she'd invite him into her home, her life, her bed, and her body once he was through with her and she would never touch another man.

He watched her sleep until the sound of a car pulling up to the house reached his ears and he jumped from the tree and moved to the front of the house to see who could possibly be here at this hour. Alex watched as two men pulled up in a police cruiser and looked out the house. Both men seemed to be in thier mid to late forties; it was so hard to tell human ages now but Alex could care less how old they were, he just wanted to know how they knew his Persy.

"She's fine, Charlie," the man in the passenger side of the car said, "there's nothing to worry about."

"I always worry about her, Bill," the other man replied with a sheepish smile in return, "I can't say I like her being all the way out here on her own."

"She's not alone most of the time," she 'Bill' answered, "Tye spends more time here than he does at his place."

Charlie and Bill looked at the house and Alex could see Charlie frowning, "Janie called and told me she let Persy off early; told me she didn't feel too well.

"Everything okay?"

Charlie hummed at Bill's question but Alex could see the concern in his eyes. "I'm not sure," he sighed, "Persy had a cold last week and I think it's been messing with her mind a little. Poor thing hasn't had a moment of peace unless she's at home."

"Well, you can come and check on her tomorrow," Bill replied, "you know Persy adores you and she's always happy to see you. Perhaps you can drop her off at Carver's for her evening shift as well; she doesn't get to see you much."

Alex frowned, he'd have to be extra careful with Persy now that he was aware her uncle was Sheriff of this small town. At least now he knew when she would be back at Carver's and he would certainly be there before the end of her shift to 'compel' her.

He watched Charlie and Bill give the house one last look before the police cruiser drove away from the house.

Alex was tempted to return to his perch in the tree and watch Persy. From where he had been sitting, he could smell her delectable blood and he could easily get lost in the scent. However, he knew Carlisle was expecting him back shortly and it would not do for the older vampire to become suspicious of him; especially now that he had a very good reason to want to extend his stay in Forks.

With that thought in mind, Alex vamp sped away from the house; all the while, thinking about the gorgeous brunette he was determined to possess. Whether she was willing or not.