First of all, wow.

Seriously. So many reviews, so much love- it's amazing, thank you all sosoSO much.

Basically I'm rewriting this because I wanted to carry on with it but I didn't like what I'd done so far. The story's the same, just with minor alterations and a slight change in my writing style. I'm sorry I took so long but I promise to be more up to date with it from now on. I hope you all like the rewrites, I love you all. xo

"What the hell is on your head, Bella?"

I stared at him, confused, as he took a step away from me. His dark eyes were focused on my forehead- more specifically, the brand new, blue outline of a crescent moon on my forehead- and the look in his eyes left me at a loss for words.

Disgust. Anger. Revulsion.

"It's- it's a Mark. I'm Marked."

The words were forced out between my frozen lips only to be met with a cold glare.

"How the hell did you manage that?"

The words hurt. It's not my fault, I wanted to say. It wasn't me. I didn't do it.

Instead I looked around at his family for help. But help wasn't coming. The expressions on their faces ranged from indifference to scorn, and so I turned back to Edward.

"I don't know what to do," I whispered.

He didn't reply. His mouth, twisted in a sneer so unusual on his face, made acid rise in my throat. Acid was followed by a sudden spurt of anger and I, too, stepped back.

"Aren't you going to help me?" I demanded. "I need- I need to get to the House Of Night, I only have two days!"

"Well, then, you had better get a move on."

I took another step back. My face paled, the last bits of blood draining, and I felt a gust of air fall from my mouth. This didn't make sense. He wasn't making sense.

I turned and ran from the house.

"Izzie?"

I blinked and returned to the present with a thump. Zoey was standing in front of me, eyes widened to the point of hilarity, hands on hips.

"What?"

"Ah, the pinnacle of intelligence is with us once again." She rolled her eyes and leaned back. "We're going to Pizza Hut tonight, all of us. Table's booked for eleven which gives you three hours to throw yourself in to extensive make up preparation, as I know you must."

"Make up, hair and outfit. Don't underestimate the limits of preparation, Zoey, just because you live in sweatpants."

Zoey flipped me the finger and I grinned at her as I made my way to the dormitory I shared with Venus and Aphrodite.

It was half a year since I had seen Edward or any member of his 'family'. Half a year since I had stood waiting for them to help, only to be met by disgust at my new state of being- apparently, vampires are masters of not only bullshit but also hypocrisy. Half a year since I stole one of the cars from their garage and arrived at the House Of Night, complete with hamster eyes and greasy hair.

This was the reason for our little trip to Pizza Hut tonight, in fact. As Aphrodite had put it, 'The fact that you've managed to avoid the fuckers for six months calls for a celebration. An extensive one, at that. Now where did I put my lippy?'

The funny thing was, I didn't miss any of them.

Obviously their holier-than-thou charade had been buggered when they reacted to my Mark like I'd waltzed in to their home wearing nothing but a coconut bra and a sombrero.

But I had changed so much in those six months that I doubt they'd recognise me if they did see me. The most obvious of changes was my appearance- my brunette hair was now white- blonde with tips that changed colour regularly, my face was never seen outside of the dormitory without enough eyeliner to drown a small Indian tribe, and the baggy jeans I used to live in had been replaced with an extensive collection of skirts, dresses and multicoloured skinny jeans. Under the tutoring of Venus and Aphrodite my eye for style had been found and I used it wisely. Then there was my personality, which had morphed in to less chicken- shit- coward and more what-do-you-mean-sarcastic?.

And last (but definitely not least) was the whole issue with the 'gift'.

Basically put, I could heal people. Broken legs, severe burns, cracked ribs- you name it, I could heal it.

Apart from if a fledgling didn't make the Change. Then all I could do was stem the pain as they died in my hands.

As Venus often said, 'The only good thing about this little gift of yours is the ability to mend a broken nail'.

"Come look at this."

I closed the dormitory door behind me and went over to Venus, who was kicked back on her bed with a décor catalogue. She stabbed her finger on a cream fur carpet. "Like it?"

"That's lush."

"Good, because I ordered it for tomorrow. Along with a new clock for Zoey and the Bumpkin. I swear to God if I have to hear that fucking alarm one more time..."

I nodded in agreement. The early morning burst of 'Cotton Eyed Joe' had gotten old by my second day. Even muffled by the walls it made one suicidal by eight in the morning.

Wandering in to the bathroom, I started digging through the huge make- up drawer for mascara. I heard Aphrodite enter the dorm and launch in to her latest fight with Shania Edwards.

Shania was another fledgling from our class. Before I had arrived she spent her whole time trying to get in with Aphrodite and Venus only to be ignored- and then bam, I showed up and they took an instant shine to me. This ruffled her pretentious feathers and in retaliation she formed what appeared to be an 'anti- Dark Daughters and Sons' group.

Now here's the thing about the Dark Daughters and Sons: the main members are Zoey, Stevie Rae, the twins, Damien, Jack, Stark, Eric, Darius, Venus, Aphrodite and myself. We have a few things in common, mainly our abnormal 'gifts', our beauty and (in some cases) our habitual bitchiness.

Predictably, the majority of the House Of Night turned on her.

Sucks to be Shania.

I wandered back in to the dorm as Aphrodite ranted on.

"And then she said that I was the one spreading rumours about her as if I give a flying fuck about her personal life, not that there's anything personal about it-"

Of all of us, Aphrodite is the one most at war with Shania after Shania started flirting with Darius at the Christmas party.

"So I smacked her head in to the tree."

Needless to say, nobody ever tried flirting with Darius again.

But Aphrodite's over- protectiveness was just part of who she was- much like Stevie Rae's happy-happy-joy-joy attitude towards life, and Zoey's refusal to swear, and Erik's tendency to be a complete dick on a daily basis.

None of that mattered, though. These people were my family, and I didn't for a second regret coming here.