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We make our way back to Edward's house in tense silence. After I'd explained what was missing from my apartment, he'd gone quiet, but I can feel him practically vibrating with rage and nerves next to me.

I don't know why, but I feel as if I've done something wrong, that he's angry at me though I know he really isn't.

"I'm sorry," I murmur because I don't know what else to say and I want him to feel better. He lets out a low, bitter laugh.

"I'm sorry. I dragged you into this. This is all my fucking fault."

"No it isn't," I insist, reaching for his hand. He flinches at the contact but his fingers grip mine so tight it hurts.

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He lets me pick another bottle of wine to have with dinner, this one from the 90s, and he laughs at me despite his sour mood.

"I've never seen anyone so excited about wine," he says. I flush, embarrassed because I'm sure everyone he knows drinks fancy wine all the time.

"I'm not allowed to drink," I explain. "Or, I haven't been. Because of all the medication. This is all new to me."

"Medication?"

I pull my pill divider out of my bag and open it up, looking at all the different colored capsules as Edward comes up beside me.

"I'm getting off of them though," I explain. "They're not really working anymore."

He observes them, then reaches for a vitamin and flinches when his hand makes contact.

"What?" His intense reaction throws me.

"What is this?" he breathes, brows pulled together in confusion. "Why are you taking this?"

"It's just a B-Complex," I say with a scoff because he's acting totally insane.

"No, it isn't," he insists. "There's so much iron in this."

"What, like a supplement?"

He breaks the capsule open and says, "no, not at all."

The black powder coats the countertop and I frown at him while he digs through drawers, finally pulling out what looks to be a magnet.

As he raises it above the contents of the pill, most of the dust connects to it.

Too much of it.

"What the fuck."

"Bella, why are you taking this?"

"I don't know!" I shriek. "It's supposed to be a B-Complex! My doctor put me on it."

"When?"

"I don't know, it's been forever. Since I was eight maybe?"

"And have you always used the same pharmacy?"

"I guess? I've always gone to Newton's. Why the fuck would they be giving me metal shavings?"

"I can only guess," he muses grimly, sweeping the mess off the counter and into the trash.

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It is said that iron is the most dangerous to Real Ones, mostly because it impedes their healing process. Some postulate that there are properties of the element that put a damper on their supernatural abilities, though no one knows for certain. It is thought that the amount of iron already in blood is the only thing keeping them on this plane of reality-it grounds them, as if it is a tether to humanity. Iron is the only thing that can pierce their skin.

It has been noted that some humans throughout history have introduced iron to their wardrobes, homes, and even diets in an attempt to keep Real Ones away, as the element itself creates a sort of protective field.

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"My mom was human," I insist. "My dad was never in the picture, but he was human, too."

"Are you sure?" Edward asks, putting vegetables onto my plate. I'm not hungry. Not when he thinks I might be a Real One, too.

"Yes," I say again. "If anything, maybe she was just...paranoid. She was always paranoid. Like they used to do in the middle ages or whatever."

"What, trying to keep Real Ones away from you?"

"I guess. That's the only explanation that makes sense," I insist.

"Is it?"

I scramble to the bathroom, feeling a panic attack building, and I splash cold water on my face to try to calm my ragged breathing before slumping against the door.

"Think about it, Bella," his muffled voice comes from the other side of the door. "Has anything ever happened that felt...off?"

I'm overwhelmed with feelings, flashes of pain and fear and darkness. The memories aren't there, not really, they're lost the haze that comes with repressing everything.

"I don't know," I cry, voice cracking into sobs. "I can't remember."

And as the uncertainty and anxiety crash over me, threatening to pull me completely under, Edward's opening the door, holding me tightly until it passes.

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