A/N: Welcome to my first Re-Write...lol...Seriously though constructive criticism is highly encouraged. If any of you have read the older version of this story, don't worry. The major plot developments haven't changed. I just wanted to flesh out the story a little, add some more Rebekah/Bella stuff. For any of you new folks that have just stumbled upon this story, it picks up sometime in the middle of Season 2 for Vampire Diaries and New Moon for Twilight. I am pulling from both the books and the T.V. show for VD though. So please send me any questions or suggestions you have.
Rebekah Mikealson
"Wow. What's up with her?" I eyed the distraught looking creature at the end of our table. That must be Isabella Swan, the girl I was looking for. My sources had been correct; her resemblance to both Katerina and Elena was uncanny.
"That's just Bella. She's been like that since her boyfriend left. She's not exactly all there if you know what I mean." My escort for the day, Jessica, was a little to peppy for me, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Here I was the new girl, yet again. I looked at her again. Maybe I would skip cheerleading this time around.
I knew Elijah didn't think I would find another. I knew he was just trying to keep me safe by sending me on this wild goose chase, but here at a high school cafeteria in Forks, Washington, sat another doppelgänger. My life or death, however you want to look at it, just got interesting.
"Everybody, this is Rebekah." Jessica quickly rattle off the names of the group of teenagers around the table: Anglea, Tyler, Mike, Eric, and Lauren. I dodged the empty seat next to Jessica and headed for the one next to Bella.
"You must be Bella." I held my hand out to her with my friendliest smile plastered on my face. She glanced up from her tray and excepted my hand cautiously. The other conversations at the table paused as we drew their attention.
"You must be new." Her voice was empty and hollow. I recognized the feeling behind her eyes all to well as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She was going to make an easy target for my brother, being this lost.
"I'm Rebekah. I think I just moved down the street from police cruiser in the driveway kinda gave it away. Guess I'll have to cancel the wild party I was gunna throw, huh?"
She let out a small chuckle. "That would probably be a good idea." She'd finished her lunch and was gathering her stuff together, but before she left she looked back at me. "Guess I'll see you later."
I could tell from the look of shock around the table that was not normal behavior for her.
"What? Is there something on my face?" I quickly wiped my hand across my face. They just continued to stare at me confirming my suspicions; it was definitely not normal behavior for her.
"You made her laugh. That hasn't happened in months." Jessica took one last bite of her apple and got her stuff together. I followed with my tray.
"So, what happened with the ex?" What can I say? I'm impatient. Bella wasn't going to tell me anytime soon. Jessica just shrugged as she shouldered the cafeteria doors open.
"Everything seemed fine until his family moved after her birthday a few months back. His father got a new job and I guess he didn't want to do the long distance thing. I think she's being a little ridiculous now, though. i mean move on already!" I frowned at her back as we walked into Advanced Biology. I knew I wasn't going to like this girl.
Later that afternoon, cookies in hand, I climbed the steps to Bell's front porch and knocked on her door. A few moments later it slowly opened and Bella eyed my plate of chocolatey goodness.
"I'm not sure if you noticed, but we have practically the same schedule at school, and I was wondering if we might be able to study together?" I plastered another smile on my face.
She stepped to the side and invited me in. I followed her through to the kitchen and put the cookies down next to her books and dropped my bag into a chair.
"Do you want some milk?" She was pulling down a couple of glasses from the cabinet.
"That would be brilliant. So, what should we start with first, History, Calculus, or Biology?" I made a disgusted face with the last one; it really wasn't my favorite. She set a large glass of milk in front of me and grabbed a cookie off the plate.
She smiled. "I don't like that one either. How about History? There's a test tomorrow, but I don't think you'd have to take it."
I pulled my laptop and notebook from my bag. "Sounds good to me. I think I'll take the test tomorrow anyway. I hate getting behind and I'm pretty good at history." I chuckled to myself. How could I not be?
Bella and I studied the assigned chapters on the American Revolution. I had to bite my tongue on multiple occasions. I don't think the authors even tried to hide their bias.
"Does it really say that?!" I walked over to the kitchen island and flipped her book around to get a better look at the offending paragraph. She was busy draining some pasta.
"Wow. It really does." I shook my head and spun the book back to Bella.
"Bella," a male voice asked from the hall, "I hope you don't mind, but I invited Billy and Jacob. They'll be here," He paused when he saw me, "later."
"Dad, this is Rebekah. She just moved in down the street."
"Hello Bella's Dad." I reached out and shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you and call me Charlie. What have you ladies been up to?" He looked around at the room.
"We were studying for a history test tomorrow." I walked over and started putting up my stuff then stacked Bella's books so we could clear the table.
"Bella, do you want me to put your stuff on the stairs?" Charlie picked up her stack and at her nod walked out of the room.
"Do you want to stay for dinner or do you need to go home or something?" Bella stirred the pot of sauce and tested it one last time.
"I'll stay if you let me make the salad." I smiled when she pulled out five plates and glasses. I made my way around the island and grabbed the lettuce and cutting board.
"So, I'm guessing that you're having company?" I pulled a knife from the block and went to work.
"Dad's best friend Billy and his son Jacob."
I made quick work of the lettuce and other veggies while Bella set the table. Charlie came back downstairs out of his uniform to let Billy and Jacob in when they arrived.
"Billy, Jacob, this is Bella's new friend, Rebekah." I put the salad tongs into the bowl on the table and waved. They waved back, but eyed Charlie curiously. Maybe Bella just didn't bring friends over very often.
"So, Where're you from?" Charlie started the conversation as he passed the salad around.
"I just moved from another small town in Virginia, Mystic Falls." I plopped a small portion of salad on my plate. Jacob and Billy glanced over at me again. "Originally from Europe, though. We only hopped the pond recently."
"What do your parents do?" Billy chimed in as he grabbed the pasta.
"They're Herbalists. They left early this afternoon for a long-term field research project in Brazil. For the last couple of years, they were in Argentina." I took a bite of my pasta. "This is absolutely brilliant, Bella." She smiled, before taking a bite herself.
I'd come up with this little lie a little while back. I found it was easier to have absent parents then compelled ones.
"They just left you here?" Charlie put his fork down on his plate more confusion on his face.
"Well, I don't like moving around so much. It makes school really difficult, so when they asked if I wanted to stay in Mystic Falls while they did this project, I told them no. I said California; they said Washington; I said Seattle; they said Forks. So here I am. Guess they figured staying in a small town down the street from the Sheriff, I couldn't possibly get into any trouble." That earned a laugh from the table.
"Don't worry. They'll be back in a few months. I'm used to it."
The rest of dinner passed with uneventful small talk. Charlie stared at Bella's empty plate in amazement as she took it and the others to the sink. Charlie and Billy went into the den to watch a game and Jacob stayed to help us. His idea of helping was to sit at the counter and eat my cookies.
"So, what do you do for fun in this town?" Tomorrow was Friday after all.
"Hike?" Bella said as she handed me a dish to dry. I laughed.
"Just hiking, or do you go camping to?" Wow, no movie theatre worth speaking of and the shopping opportunities were horrid. At least the scenery was pretty.
"Not really." Another dish dried and in the cabinet.
"I have been meaning to take some pictures of the forest around here. Want to go for a hike Saturday?" I didn't miss Jacob tense at my suggestion. "You are welcome to come to Jacob." Bella hesitated slightly before she handed me the last dish.
"I think I would like that."
Bella and I became almost inseparable after a that first hike to everyone's surprise. She smiled and even laughed occasionally. It had only been a few short weeks. Tonight, Charlie had agreed to let her come spend the night with me.
"Hey Bek. Bella is upstairs in the shower. She should be down in a bit. Mind talking a bit?" Charlie motioned to the kitchen. I followed.
"Sure, Charlie. What can I do for you?"
He sat down in a chair. "How are you doing it? How are you getting through to her? She was a zombie for months before you came."
I sat down in the chair across from him. "I guess, I can relate." I crossed my arms and rested them on the table. Charlie just continued to stare at me waiting for me to continue. I hesitated.
"When I first saw her in the cafeteria at school, I understood her. I recognized her pain, because I have felt it before." I looked out the window trying to keep my composure. "Whoever he was, he didn't break her heart. He stole it and she lost part of herself with it. She was lost and afraid, unable to sort out anything. A part of her is still hoping he will come walking through the front door again and it will all have been a dream. I get it, probably better than anyone."
"Bekah? I'm ready to go when you are." Bella stood in the doorway, having heard everything. I quickly wiped away an escaped tear and stood.
"Talk to you later, Charlie."
"Night."
I grabbed her book bag from her and she took her overnight one and we set off for my house. We walked for a while in silence listening to the crunch of gravel under our feet and the crickets in the wind.
"How'd you get over him?" I'd wondered if she would ask about it. I'd never talked about him to anyone other than Elijah. I let out a sigh. Maybe, just maybe, if I talked about him, she would open up too.
"I never did. I just learned to live with the pain. The pain reminds me that it was real. That he was real." We walked in silence a for a little while longer. I tried to fight the tears and succeeded, some what.
"How?"
"My brother found me. Then he helped me to find myself again."
"Now you've found me."
"And I'm gunna help you find yourself."
I unlocked the door and we went to my room where she plopped down on my bed.
"Chemistry?"
I chuckled. "Sure." Maybe I'd have to push her a little. I wasn't going to get a better opening again.
We spread our notes out on the bed a studied for a bit.
"Can I ask you something Bell?" I hadn't tried simply being direct yet.
"Sure, Bekah, anything." She didn't even look up from her notes.
"Tell me about what happened."
Her pen paused in its repetitive scratching on the page and she looked up at me, knowing exactly what I wanted her to talk about.
"He left me." The look of pain on her face begged me to stop, but I couldn't. I remember giving Elijah that same look so long ago.
"That can't be all of it, Bell. I know there's more. You can tell me." The silence that followed seemed like it would never end. She glanced over at the window and reached up to put her hair behind her ear; I froze.
How many times has she done that since I met her? How could I have missed it? Her lamp caught a crescent-shaped scar on her wrist and cause it to sparkle slightly in the light. Not enough for human eyes to notice, but I did. I should have seen it sooner. How did she survive that bite?
I reached out and took her wrist in my hand. The scar was cooler than the skin around it, confirming what I already knew.
"When did you get this?" How and what were not questions I needed answers to.
"It's nothing." She snatched her wrist back and pulled her sleeve down in trying to cover it.
"I hardly think a vampire bit is nothing."
Bella's mouth was actually hanging open and it took her a couple of minutes to collect herself. "What do you know about vampires?"
"A lot. You?" More staring. Great, this was going nowhere fast.
"Did your ex do that?" If she said yes, I would hunt him down and make the rest of eternity hell for him.
She shook her head. Lucky for him.
"He got scared and ran off?" Can't blame a human for being afraid of a vampire, but what kind of man would just leave his girlfriend unprotected like this. Why not run off together? She slowly nodded her head, but didn't continue. I rocked at 20 questions.
"Question 1: Vampire or Human?"
She continued to stare blankly at me before answering, "Vampire."
Interesting. "Did he have a coven—a family?"
She nodded her head. My eyebrows raised. How she managed to not die around more than one of them was a complete mystery to me.
"Did you guys get on well?"
She nodded but dropped her head.
"They left too, huh. It wasn't one of them that bit you either, was it?" Again, slow and painful death awaits.
She shook her head, "His name was James."
"Is he dead?" If he wasn't, I would find him.
"They destroyed him." At least they protected her then. She was rubbing the scar absently. "E..Edward sucked the venom out so I wouldn't change."
Why would he put himself through that? It would have been excruciating for him. I slowly realized that they had no idea what she was. Their venom didn't work on supernatural creatures. It was extremely painful to get rid of, though, like drinking a bottle of pure vervain, without the negative side effects like strength drain. Elijah tried to explain it to me once, something about antibodies in our blood. I had a hard time paying attention when he talked about his research projects. My field was physics, his was biology.
"So, where'd James come from?" I started doodling on my paper.
"He was passing through with Laurent and Victoria." So it was that James, the tracker. I dropped my pen and ran a hand through my hair. Even I had heard about him. At least he was gone now.
"Why did they leave? The threat was gone right?" Please tell me this town was not another magnet for supernatural trouble.
"E..Edward's brother, Jasper, struggled with their diet and he tried to attack me after I got a bad paper cut at my birthday party." Ah, the perils of the bunny diet.
"Edward and Jasper...Are you talking about the Cullens?" Wide eyes looked back at me in shock which she quickly shook off.
"What about you? What's your vampire story?" I chuckled. Why not?
"I am a vampire." She crossed her arms and settled back against my headboard.
"No, you're not." Great. Her ex was not only irresponsible, but uninformative as well.
"I assure you I am. I'm different in certain aspects, well most aspects actually, but essentially the same as the Cullens." She still seemed doubtful. I guess it was time to whip them out.
"Would you like proof then? I could show you my fangs." She didn't move but let out a huff of disbelief.
"You don't have to be afraid."
She laughed. "Right. You're a vampire with fangs." Her smile slowly faded once she saw I was serious. "Alright. I won't be." Yeah, right. I'd never met a human that wasn't afraid of that face.
I closed my eyes and let the thirst overtake me. The burning in my throat moved up through my gums and I felt my fangs drop and blood pool around the veins in my face. Bella's sharp intake of breath let me know it was working. I opened my eyes to see here with a hand over her mouth, but I had to giver her credit. She didn't scream and she didn't run. I quickly suppressed the thirst and felt my face return to normal.
"Guess you believe me now?" I smiled, hoping to ease the tension in the room.
"I guess I do." It worked. I saw the apprehension leave her face. "How old are you?" That was not quite the question I was expecting. I thought she would want to know the differences between myself and the Cullens first.
"How old is Edward?" I smiled again. She didn't even cringe at his name. We were making progress.
"Over a hundred." I couldn't stop it. I burst out laughing. He'd only past his first century. I guess that was why his actions were all over the place.
"I'm well over a thousand." That earned another mouth drop. I just laughed.
"No wonder you're so good at history."
"I know. Why don't we forget about studying tonight and just watch a movie. You go pick it out and I'll make us some nice strong tea." I jumped off the bed and headed to the kitchen. That went much better than I had planned.
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