This chapter jumps around a little bit, but it's still pretty easy to follow. I have everything clearly marked.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Twilight or American Horror Story!

BPOV

"What do you mean?" My voice trembled.

"You have no idea what my dear little brother is capable of." Marcus whispers.

"Sorry, but I'm a bit more inclined to trust the guy who doesn't have me pinned against the door and being all creepy." I hiss out.

He surprisingly pushes away from the door and me, putting a good foot of space between us. I felt like I was able to breathe again, away from his nearly suffocating presence. He keeps staring at me though, his face tilting a little to the right as he narrows his eyes, examining my face for something.

"What are you looking at?" I snap bravely, fully aware that this ghost could probably kill me in under ten seconds.

"You are… odd." Marcus says slowly, though his voice is still cool.

"Excuse me?" I ask, actually feeling a little offended.

"You're not like all the others." He says. "They would run away screaming into the night at the sight of any one of us. But you, you actually stand up to me… you talk to Edward and Rosalie."

"Sorry to disappoint you." I say, full of snark.

"Oh little girl, you are not even close to being disappointing." Marcus smirks.

I open my mouth to say some smart ass remark, but he's suddenly gone from in front of me. My eyes scan the room carefully, making sure he's not fucking with me, but he's really gone.

I immediately ran to my bed, getting under the covers like some child afraid of the monster under their bed.

"Edward!" I call out, squeezing one eye shut, afraid of who might come instead.

"What's wrong Bella?" His voice smoothes over me.

"Could you be so kind as to tell your brother not to violate me." I huff.

"What?" Edward sounds incredibly surprised. "Marcus? You saw him?"

"Saw him? Oh yeah, I saw him when he popped into my room and had me pinned against the door." I say.

Edward is suddenly kneeling in front of me, looking me directly in the eyes.

"Did he hurt you?" He asks, looking me in the eyes intently.

"He didn't hurt me, but he said some really weird stuff." I tell him.

"Like what?" He presses.

"He said that I shouldn't trust you." I say quietly.

Edward sighs, but other than that he seems to remain calm.

"Don't… don't worry about my brother. I'll talk to him. He won't bother you again." He says, getting up from beside my bed.

I go to tell him thank you and goodnight, but I blink and he's not there anymore.

I really wish he'd stop doing that.

EPOV

"What did you think you were doing?" I seethe, finally finding Marcus in what would be considered the houses' office.

I was furious that he'd treated Bella like he had, pinning her against doors and probably scaring her half to death. I knew how my brother could get and it usually wasn't pretty.

"I just thought that your newest play toy should know a little about you." Marcus smirks.

"You had no right to go to her like that!" I shout.

"You mean I had no right to tell her the truth." He snaps back.

"Nothing that comes out of your mouth is truth." I growl.

"Oh? You didn't kill our father? Or poor little Blonde Barbie? She took quite a tumble down the stairs…" Marcus asks, a small smile on his face.

"I didn't mean to hurt either of them." I say quietly. "Killing our father was an accident, what you did to me was nothing of the sort."

"You could have just as easily kill me as you had father." He says, absentmindedly going through a stack of papers laying on the desk.

"That is what you tell yourself to justify my murder." I hiss.

"We've been through this before and frankly it's getting quite old." Marcus sighs and stood up. "Now, to get to the point of your visit; no, I will not leave her alone. She's… unique. I like her, she doesn't run from us like all the others have before. And she's certainly not afraid to try to put me in my place. It's cute."

"Leave her alone." I demand.

Marcus chuckles and walks over until he's standing in front of me. "What are you going to do if I don't? Kill me… again?"

He goes then, leaving me to fume by myself. Marcus had never paid any attention to the others that had lived here, was he truly interested in Bella or was this some sick game to him because I was showing interest in her?

I pick up a small lamp on the desk and throw it across the room, watching it crash against the wall. I listen carefully for Bella or her mother, afraid that one of them might have heard the crash, but neither of them came to investigate.

"Now I'm going to have to clean that up." A voice I know all too well sighs from behind me.

"Sorry." I apologize lamely to Siobhan.

"That was Mrs. Swan's lamp, she'll miss it." She says, walking around me.

I roll my eyes when I see how she looks. She's made herself appear young again, no doubt trying to call my attention to her, but it wouldn't work.

Siobhan had the odd power, you could say, to appear young and beautiful to men. Her wavy red hair was pulled up into a loose bun, a few strands hanging down her neck, big green eyes, pale skin, and long legs shown off by her obscenely short maid uniform. With human men, she didn't seem to have a choice, that was just how they saw her, but to ghost men, she could control it. Over time, it had become like a little game to her, seeing which one of the men here would fall into her trap first.

I knew Marcus had had a few transgressions with her and Emmett had come close while he was still human, but I never had. I couldn't look past the way I'd seen her sometimes when she wasn't trying to seduce someone - older, sometimes as on a motherly figure to some that had lived in the house.

It was just too weird.

Siobhan had come in with the next family to buy the house - Alice's family - after my family had died. She had been an Irish immigrant that came to America with her mother in the 1920's. She'd taken the job as a maid to the Brandon's after they moved here to Chicago, into the house.

Alice's mother, a rather nasty woman named Cynthia, had come home to catch her husband and Siobhan in bed together. Cynthia shot Siobhan right between the eyes, killing her instantly, and shot her husband twice in the chest. Cynthia was taken off, leaving a barely eighteen year old Alice to clean up the mess her mother created.

"Why are you fighting about that little mouse?" Siobhan asks while picking up the broken pieces.

"That's none of your concern and her name is Bella." I tell her.

"I know her name, I'm just saying that she's little and plain. I don't see the appeal." She rolls her eyes at me and cocks her hip to the side.

"You don't have to. Do me a favor and keep Marcus busy." I grumble.

"Sweetie, I'll do that all on my own, not as a favor to you." She says, smirking.

"Thank you for cleaning it up, but will you please leave me alone?" I ask as nicely as possible.

"Whatever." She sighs, finally realizing she's not getting anywhere.

Siobhan walks past me, brushing against my arm as she goes, but leaves without any other incidents.

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BPOV

"I've already had your records transferred, so there shouldn't be any problem." Renee says as she drives me to school.

I couldn't sleep very well after everything that happened last night, so I was late waking up in the morning and was now running late, much to Renee's annoyance.

Though, I had had some help in getting ready - I had jumped in the shower, rushing to get as clean as possible, and when I got out, clothes were laid out on my bed. A pair of my dark blue skinny jeans, my white The Doors v-neck, and a pair of black knee high boots.

I could tell this was Rose's doing. I said a quick thank you to a seemly empty room and got dressed, running out the door. I was surprisingly a little upset that I hadn't seen Edward before I left, but I pushed the feeling aside.

Renee pulls into the school parking lot, teenagers mulling around like ants.

"I'll be here to pick you up at 2:30." Renee says curtly after she stopped at the curb to let me out.

I don't answer her, getting out of the car as quickly as possible, anxious to get this day over with. I quickly make my way to the office, dodging other students and keeping my head down to not be noticed.

I see the usual cliques that come along with any high school; the popular kids - pretty cheerleaders and buffed up guys that play some kind of sport. Then the preppy kids in their Abercrombie and Fitch sweaters and turtlenecks and stripped polo's. The are 'stoners' grouped in a corner of the parking lot, looking way too happy and relaxed to be at school at 7:30 in the morning. Then there's the quiet, more reserved groups of only two or three kids that keep to themselves; the loners and bookworms.

I guess out of them all, I'd be one of the bookworms. I'd never had the tolerance for the overly fake popular girls that Renee thought I'd be friends with. And I couldn't stand all the football guys, they acted like they didn't have a damn brain in their head - which most of them didn't.

I had tried hanging out with people like that, hence my non-tolerance of them now. Too many bitches throwing me fake smiles while they planned shit behind my back. And too many meatheads slapping my ass as I walked down the halls.

Eventually I left that group of people behind, choosing instead to find solace in books and my own company. Renee often made fun of me, calling me a hermit.

Was it really so bad to want some damn quiet time with yourself and a good book?

My parents thought so. Even Charlie had wanted me to go out with friends more. And like any other teenager, I'd rebelled in my own way. I did as they asked, went out with people… just not the type of people they'd had in mind.

A guy at my old school - Tyler Crowley - had been a major pothead. I was sixteen at the time and curious about what the big deal was. So I bought a joint off of him… and found out. Smoking weed had brought me some peace, I had no longer cared about Renee's nagging or Charlie's exhausted sighs and grumbles, able to brush them off and escape into my own little peaceful world. And, as childish as it may seem, it felt good to know I was doing something behind their backs that they'd have a fit over.

After about a year, I had stopped doing that stuff, but now that it was going to be just me and Renee, without even Charlie between us as a buffer, I had a feeling I'd pick it back up.

Note to self - make friends with one of the stoners.

I walk into the office and go straight for a woman at the front desk.

"Hello, I'm a new student, Isabella Swan." I say.

The woman looks up from her computer and stares at me, opened mouth for a few moments before snapping back to reality.

"Oh yes! We've been expecting you. Here is your schedule and a map of the school, if you have any questions or concerns, don't be afraid to stop by." She hands me the pieces of paper, still giving me an odd look.

I refrain from asking what her problem is, not wanting to piss off a school attendant on my first day and have her call Renee.

"Thank you." I say and hurriedly leave.

First class of the day, Trigonometry.

Yay.

I go through my first two classes without any difficultly, getting the occasional look from students, but it's probably because I'm 'the new kid'. It's like being in a zoo and I'm the new animal that just arrived and put on grand display.

When I'm at my locker, getting my English textbooks, I hear a girl talking not too far away.

"Well what do you expect from her? She lives in the old Cullen house, she's going to be a freak."

I turn to see a blonde girl and a frizzy haired brunette standing across the hall, leaning against some lockers as they giggle at each other.

I just have to roll my eyes.

Then I realize they're talking about me. Why would I be a freak for moving into a house? Sure, it's got that whole Addams Family vibe to it, but come on. Unless… they know something is off about it.

My interest is peeked, wondering just how much they know and how they know it. My mind comes up with the two girls and a few other kids as Scooby-Doo characters, sneaking into a haunted house in the middle of the night to investigate the ghosts. It's ridiculous.

So I put on my best smile and make my way over to them.

Time for some sucking up.

"Hi, couldn't help but over hear you… were you talking about the house I moved into?" I ask nicely, watching as the girls eyes widen.

"Uh… yes." The frizzy brunette stumbles out.

"You don't know about The Cullen House?" The blonde asks snarkily.

"Well I'm asking you, aren't I?" I ask, already having no patience for her.

"The Cullen House is haunted. Some people call it the Cursed Cullen House because everyone that moves into the house dies. Like every five to ten years, someone new moves in and they don't last another year. Their bodies are found somewhere in the house, days after they've died. It's usually not very pretty either." She says, obviously smug that she know so much about it.

"Everyone?" I scoff. Surely not everyone has died in there… I've met what, five ghosts? I'm sure that more people have lived in it over the years and not died.

"The current body count is nineteen." Blondie informs me like it's nothing.

Nineteen.

There's no way that's possible.

"But, if I go ahead and loop you in there, that brings it up to an even twenty." She continues.

I balk at her. She's standing here, basically telling me I'm going to die, and she doesn't even bat an eyelash.

The bells rings shrilly in my ears and before I can say anything else, they both walk off to their classes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~SYHM~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of my day is dull compared to my conversation in the hallway. I eat an apple for lunch, not feeling particularly hungry since I was just told by some blonde cheerleader I was going to die.

I need to talk to Edward.

He'll tell me if blondie is telling the truth, or making up some shit to fuck with the new kid.

World History is the last class of the day, which happens to be one of my favorites. Though my eyes can't stray from the clock for long.

When the final bell rings, I shoot out of my seat, ignoring a boy who'd been trying to get my attention the whole class. Too much gel in his hair, it made it look like he was wearing a helmet. I had found myself wondering what it would be like to run my fingers through Edward's soft, wild hair.

I practically run out to the parking lot, scanning for Renee's car, but instead I spot someone so much better.

Charlotte is leaning against her cherry red Porsche, two Starbucks cups in her hands, one of which she's sipping on. Her dark brown hair, so much like mine, is pulled into a ponytail, the ends resting over her right shoulder. She's wearing a tight sweater, which is making all the guys stare a little too long.

Why can't she be my mom?

Charlotte and Renee had never got along, Charlotte being more like me and Renee being her uptight, snotty self. Now a days they tolerate each other for short amounts of time; a weekend here, a dinner there. Depending on how the year went, she even came for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"Hey, Aunt Char." I greet her happily, momentarily forgetting my earlier troubles.

"Hey kid, how was your first day?" She asks, handing me the second cup of coffee.

"It could have been worse. Luckily no one really noticed me." I say, inhaling the delicious aroma.

Mmmm… Mocha caramel, my favorite.

"No drama llama. Get in, the banshee awaits our arrival." She smirks, referring to Renee.

I smile and climb into the Porsche, ignoring the looks of jealousy from everyone. Charlotte likes to drive very fast, so we're home in record time. Though I have to pry my fingers off the door handle.

As I get out, thankful to be on solid ground once more, I spot Edward standing in one of the second floor windows. I worry that Charlotte will see him too, but I remember Rose telling me that they can control who sees them. He's looking down at me with a frown on his face and I wonder what's wrong.

"I'm going to go put my stuff up in my room." I tell Charlotte as we walk in. She simply nods and goes in search of Renee.

I head up the stairs, paying extremely close attention to every sound around me. I walk into my room and throw my things on my bed, then decide it's time for a little talk.

"Edward!" I call out.

Not five seconds later my door opens and Edward comes in.

"Who is that woman you came home with?" He asks right away.

"That's my Aunt Charlotte, why?" I tell him.

"Nothing, I was simply curious. Did you want to talk about something?" He asks.

I frown at his abruptness and he seems to notice, because his face softens, making him the Edward I'm used to.

"I'm sorry, Bella. Please don't mind me, I'm still a little worked up over my… talk… with my brother." He apologizes.

"What did Marcus say?" I ask.

"He um… well… he seems to be interested in you. I'm afraid there are going to be a few more issues with him." Edward tells me, sighing.

My face clams up, worry washing over me as I remember Marcus pushing me against the door.

Why do I have to attract the crazy ghosts?

"Don't worry, I won't let him do anything to hurt you." Edward leans over to cup my face in his hands.

I'm a little surprised by the movement, but I don't say anything, because I actually like Edward touching me. His fingers are cool against my cheeks, helping calm my slight panic. I lean my face to the right, pressing against his fingers a little.

"Thank you, Edward." I whisper, trying not to ruin the moment.

"You don't need to thank me, Bella. I… I want to keep you safe. I like spending time with you and talking to you, it makes me angry that my brother is trying to scare you." He tells me softly.

"I like talking to you, too." I say. "I've never really had a friend before, it's nice to have you to hang out with."

"Well that's sad." Edward frowns. "In your whole life, you've never had a friend?"

"Not a really good friend. I was friends with a couple kids at my old school, they weren't that great. I didn't care about them a lot." I tell him, finally leaning away from his cool hands. Even with Edward, it was uncomfortable to talk about my flaws.

"You won't have to worry about that anymore. I'll be your friend. And you've got Rose, and judging by her reaction to you yesterday, I'm sure Alice will be more than willing to become your friend." He laughs.

I can't help but grin, somehow extremely happy that Edward likes me enough to even be a friend.

"Bella!" I hear Charlotte yell. "Please don't leave me alone down here! Much longer and you're going to have to take your mother and I to the hospital!"

"I better get downstairs before they kill each other." I wince, imagining all the possibilities.

"Come on, I'll walk down with you." Edward gets up and takes my hand, pulling me off the bed effortlessly.

We walk hand in hand down the staircase, taking our time. You'd think it would be weird holding hands with a ghost, but it wasn't any different from holding any other guys hand. It was just a little colder.

"Oh!" I stop in mid-step. "I forgot, I had something to ask you. I heard something at school."

"Ask me later, after you have dinner." He says.

I hesitate, but nod okay. I don't have time to ask him now, so later will just have to do. Though I know it's going to bug me all night.

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"I always thought Charlie had a certain vibe about him." Charlotte snickers, stuffing a fork full of green beans into her mouth.

"Shut up!" Renee hisses at her.

"He did like to decorate a lot. The couch always had to have color coordinated throw pillows." I ignore Renee and encourage Charlotte.

Renee throws down her fork and picks up her wine glass, downing the whole thing.

"When does the divorce go through?" Charlotte asks, taking a little pity on her sister.

"Not for another month. We've filed the papers, but the system is so backed up. What the hell are my tax dollars paying for?" She mumbles rhetorically.

"Bella, how you feel about this?" Charlotte asks, a little sarcastically.

"I hate that I've been dragged across the country by my crazy, homophobic mother." I say, glaring at Renee.

"Oh for the love of Jesus." She mutters, refilling her glass.

"Well isn't this a nice little family dinner!" Charlotte gushes sarcastically, grinning at me.

My laughter is interrupted by the doorbell ringing. I glance at the grandfather clock, seeing that it's only six. Renee wanted to have an early dinner, probably to get Charlotte out as fast as possible.

"I'll get that Mrs. Swan." Siobhan says as she's walking past the dining room to get the door.

"May I be excused? I'm full." I ask, not in the mood to deal with company. Hell, I'm never in the mood to deal with company.

Renee waves me off and I eagerly jump up and take my plate to the kitchen. I'm rinsing it off when I hear a strange voice, it's a woman, and almost sickeningly sweet as she talks. As I continue to listen, I pinpoint a bit of a southern lilt to her voice.

"It's just so nice to have neighbors again! The last people here weren't very friendly, a gay couple, never much cared for those types of people anyway." The woman says, like she's better than everyone.

Ugh.

Another Renee to deal with.

To me, people are people, no matter that gender of the person they love. It's their personal life. But to Renee, being gay is a sin, right up there with cannibalism, incest, and skinning kittens alive.

I do not want to deal with this new lady, so I try my best to sneak past them and run up the stairs, but luck is not on my side tonight.

"Isabella! Come meet our neighbor, Maria!" Renee exclaims, clearly pleased to find someone else so much like her.

I put on a fake smile and walk over to them.

"Maria, this is my daughter, Isabella." She introduces me.

This woman is clearly quite a bit older than Renee, a few years over fifty. Her pitch black hair is pulled up into a swirl at the back of her head, her eyes are a dark brown color with a few lines around them, with bright red lipstick liberally caked on her lips.

"Hello, little darling. Aren't you just adorable." Maria gushes over me. "Such a pretty thing… I used to have a son about your age… but he died a few years ago."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Renee says.

Maria waves her hand distractedly. "It was a long time ago. You know what they say; time heals all wounds."

I don't like this woman at all, she gives me a weird feeling whenever her dark eyes pass over me.

"Make her go away." A little voice makes me jump.

I turn not so subtly to see Alice standing on the second floor landing, looking down at us.

"What?" I ask.

"Bella, make her go away. She's not a good person and she's not supposed to be here." Alice says angrily.

"Did you say something?" Charlotte asks, looking at me with a small frown.

"I… I'm sorry, I don't feel good." I say.

"You didn't feel well yesterday, either." Renee states.

"Maybe I've caught something." I tell them, hunching in on myself a little.

"Well then I better get going." Maria perks up. "I just came over to say hello and give you this gift basket." She thrusts said basket into Renee's arms. "It's got all kinds of sweets; a batch of chocolate chip cookies, a few assorted muffins and cupcakes, and I made one of my signature home made apple pies!"

At that, I go up the stairs, stopping beside Alice on the second floor and we watch Maria leave.

"Why did you want her to leave?" I ask Alice quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear me.

"That was Maria, Jasper's mother." Is all she says, her narrowed eyes glaring at the door Maria just walked out of.

Whoa. A lot just went on in that chapter, you keeping up? Whatcha think about the whole thing with Edward and Marcus? I think they need some family therapy. This is when a character like Ben would come in handy…

For those of you who have watched AHS, you might recognize that I've based Maria off of Constance. Crazy southern lady with a dead son. Yeah. You should really watch the show if you haven't. I love Tate and Hayden and I don't care about the haters! That bitch is crazy and I love her.

You can find me on Facebook under Malin Halibell. We can talk about American Horror Story or unicorns and rainbows.