Prologue

“I still say that this…this thing they’ve created is unjust!” remarked Caius as he followed
behind Aro through the sewers below the beautiful city of Volterra. Caius’ heavy footsteps
caused fissures in the floors beneath his feet; an indicator of how furious he was about
what had occurred back in Forks just a week ago. He did not like to lose.

“Now now my friend,” Aro began in an eerily soothing voice. He moved some of his
straggled hair from his face with his long skeleton fingers. “We will keep an eye on them.
You all have overestimated my…my sympathy for them. They are much smarter than I
ever gave them credit for but I assure you they will not know what is coming. I figured
something out on the field that slipped by me numerous times…information regarding
Alice’s gift. Werewolves block her out so as long as we keep them in mind in flux with
this thing, they will be none the wiser.”

“I can’t believe that Bella…we must watch out for her,” remarked Jane; it was as if fire
escaped her voice as she spat out Bella’s name.

“Jane, my sweet Jane, please do not fret. She will be with us one day, I assure you.” Aro
said confidently as he twirled his fingers through Jane’s blond locks. He kissed her on the
forehead and continued walking on.

Marcus and Alec followed behind in utter silence for they were also both disturbed
immensely about what had occurred. The group of them retreated to the turret where they
found Heidi with their newest bunch of appetizers. With eyes glowing red, they
approached their victims who were become by their dazzling ruby red eyes. Once finished,
Aro sat in his throne – a single ray of sunlight was beating down on his chalky onion skin,
which created a less than vibrant rainbow of only the darkest hues.

“Felix?” Aro demanded.

“Yes?” Felix answered.

“Do you remember what we discussed on our journey back? Our discussion involving…
the lovely receptionist we have out there?”

“In fact, I do. I have just been awaiting your order sir.” Felix bent his head down, already
knowing what he was going to ask of him.

“Get on it. Go and have some fun.” Aro stated in a rather menacing tone as he flitted his
hand toward the door.

Felix retreated and did what he had to do with Gianna – the disposable human who did all
that she could do – and who would inevitably be the reason for their future success. A
human sacrifice.

Seven years later…

The past year of my life has been magnificent in a variety of ways. The life I have been
given for these past seven years has been more than I ever could have asked for, and for
that I do not fret for what is coming. It was raining once again, though I did not view it as
an omen for the perpetuating future that lay ahead us. No, I saw it as hope. I glanced out
my window as the pellets of rain fell from the sky and delicately landed on the trees and
leaves in a velvety manner and took in a deep breath. We would do what he had to do;
what we have been planning to do.

We all stood once again, united as one. Among the fields hovered a blanket of thick gray
clouds, the sun up above only pierced through minimally creating a dull light mixed with
the green of our surroundings. Each of us perched in defense as our enemies approached.
For these past seven years of my life, I had been left to ponder if the Volturi would ever
come back. Either way, I chose not to let them frighten me even as I stared back into their
unfamiliar ruby eyes in a situation that was all too familiar.

Chapter 1- One More Day

The sun was rising, and to my delight it was not obscured by clouds and rain, much like it
usually was here in Forks. I stretched my arms high above my head and let out a big yawn.
I could hear my mother and father in the living room discussing our living situation.
Recently, they had been worrying if we had spent too long in Forks. Being immortals, we
did not age. Well, with the exception of me that is, but I had approximately one day left of
that to deal with. Then I would be frozen in time. We did not want people to begin to
speculate although we attained a very low profile. I pushed their conversation out of my
mind and tried not to think about it. I love it here; being close to Grandpa Charlie, the wolf
pack and Jacob. I couldn’t bear to leave any of them behind. However, I am almost certain
that Jacob would tag along wherever I went.

I got up with the intent of going to my closet, but I came to a halting stop when I passed
by my mirror. I touched my face to make sure it was still me. I watched my hand rise up
and caress my cheek, which was much more defined than it was even yesterday. With my
seventh birthday just around the corner, I figured my development would slow, but I was
wrong. I seemed to be aging faster by the day. I could have sworn that I was about an inch
shorter yesterday, and my hair was also very different. It has always been curly and made
me look like a doll when I was younger. Today, it took on an elegant wave which suited
my more mature features, and the bronze color of it glinted in the sunlight as I ran my
hands through its length. It has been fascinating to watch my transformations over these
seven years. About a year ago, my progression slowed some, but it sped up again in the
past couple of weeks. I wonder how it must be for my family to witness. Do they become
as shocked as I do? I decided to shrug off my new developments - they were inevitable
after all - and got back to what I had initially intended on doing. My closet was recently
restocked by my wonderful Aunt Alice - something my Mom was pleased about. Rather
than Alice trying to dress her in more fashion-forward attire, only to become disappointed,
she placed her target on me. I actually enjoyed it. To my dismay though, my favorite jeans
were now much too short for my now 5’4” frame. I sighed and decided to just grab one of
my sundresses and slid it onto my body.
When I walked into our cozy living room, my mother and father ended their conversation
and stared at me as if I had grown another eyeball in the center of my forehead.

“What?” I questioned with a slight edge of humor in my voice. Of course they were
astonished by my transformations. Although I still looked like me, I was definitely
different from what I was when they tucked me in last night.

“N-Nothing,” my Mother, Bella, started. “You just looked more gorgeous by the day. It’s
shocking!” She got up from the couch and wrapped her arms around me. “Are you
hungry? Thirsty? Anything?” She patted my head but was taken aback a bit when she
realized that our heads were at the same place. “Oh my, wow, you got a bit taller too I
see.”

“Yeah, I think about an inch. None of my jeans fit me anymore either. I am sure Alice will
be so disappointed…She’ll just have to go shopping for me again.” I laughed and pouted
out my new full bottom lip.

“Oh yes, she will be so very disappointed,” my Father, Edward, said. He chuckled to
himself and walked over to my Mom. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the
top of her head. They were so much in love and it made me smile to see them so happy
with one another. They told me of their struggles they had to go through to be together. I
heard every story from before I was born, and it is quite obvious to me that they were
destined for one another. One story always sticks in my mind though, and it involved my
Mom and Jacob. It’s so weird to think that she kissed Jacob! I try to push that thought out
of my head.

“Oh, get over it,” Edward nudged at me. He looked like he was trying to hold back a
laugh.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Having a father who could read all of your thoughts could be
so difficult at times. He tried hard to tune me out but sometimes he just couldn’t help
himself. I knew that he never intended to see what was going on with me though. We all
had a high level of trust and respect for one another. I glanced over at him and he had an
apologetic look on his face. I just smiled at him and reassured him that I understood.

“By the way Ness, Jacob called this morning.” Bella said to me, signaling towards the
phone.

“This morning?” I said semi-confused. I thought it was the morning.

“It’s a little after, uh, lunch time Ness. It’s nearly two o’clock.”

“Oh, wow. I slept way longer than I had intended. Hmph. Maybe that’s why I grew so
much in my sleep…” I trailed off. I have always been an early riser so this was out of the
ordinary for sure. I figured it had to do with my sudden growth spurt. I headed toward the
phone and dialed Jacob’s number. It went straight to voicemail and I figured that he just
forgot to plug his phone in again. Edward purchased him a cell phone to use since he was
out and about more than he was at home. The only issue with that was he was hardly at
home to charge it when he needed. I left a quick message and headed to the refrigerator.

Thanks to me, the kitchens in the Cullen houses were now somewhat a necessity and not
purely props. Even though I also could survive on blood, I also ate ‘human’ food from
time to time. My throat felt parched - not blood thirsty - just thirsty. I grabbed a bottle of
water and drank some. I glanced at the clock and sighed; almost an entire day wasted. Oh
well, I would have to make the most of it. From a distance, I could hear a thudding heart
and paws running against the dampen earth. I knew it was Jacob and a smile instantly
spread across my face. I got up and ran for the door to meet him outside.

“Well, good morning sleeping beauty!” Jacob called out to me. “I thought I was going to
have to come in and kiss you to break the spell. Although, I’m not sure how your Dad
would feel about that one.” He laughed his hearty laughed and grinned exposing his white
teeth.

“I definitely did not plan on sleeping that late, but what can you do?” I questioned
innocently, down playing his jabs.

He took two large strides toward me and enveloped me in a warm embrace. He kissed my
forehead and released me back down to planet Earth. Jacob was incredibly tall - almost
seven feet - and was able to lift me very high. He patted the top of my head, just like Bella
did, and was surprised to find that I had gained an inch in height so quickly.

“I know how you must feel. Waking up one day from the last looking recognizable but not
much more.” He smiled looking down at me and shrugged. “Just one more day of this
craziness and you’ll just be you forever. You do look stunning though.”

I smiled up at him and was happy that there was someone who understood, to an extent,
what it was like to be me. Some of my earliest memories that I can recall deal with Jacob
and Grandpa Carlisle telling someone that Jacob and I may be more alike than expected.
24 chromosomes. Turned out to be right.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” I asked with a huge grin on my face. I couldn’t help
but smile around him. Jacob made me feel happy. Much like he was for my mom during a
time in her human life, he was my own personal sunshine. He made me feel warm even on
days where the sun was covered with clouds and rain.

“Well, considering this wonderful weather, I figured we could head down to La Push.
Maybe just hangout with Billy and I think Charlie is going to be down there with Sue as
well. See what happens.” He put his arm around my shoulder and began walking with me
inside the house.

“That sounds like a great idea actually.” I smiled up at him and continued walking into the
house.

“Hey there Jake,” Edward began. “Anything new?”

Jacob smelled the air. I think the vampire smell still got to him a bit but he ignored it and
coughed out a little laugh. “Nothing out of the ordinary really, you?”

Edward smiled and replied cordially. The relationship between Edward and Jacob had
been rather tumultuous until he accepted and understood the deal with Jacob imprinting on
me at birth. They were able to form a bond that seemed rather unbreakable at this point
and both Bella and I were happy about that. Just then my Mom came walking ever so
gracefully into the room.

“Hey Jake!” She let herself smile hugely. She walked over to him and gave him a one-
armed hug around his waist. “Do you guys have anything planned for today?” She asked
curiously. Jacob explained what he had in mind and she was most pleased. “I was thinking
about running down to Charlie’s to say hi to him and Sue. See how they are doing and if
they are enjoying married life.”

Charlie and Sue had gotten married this past spring in a small and elegant wedding on the
beaches of La Push. Alice was able to pin a date where the weather would be wonderful
for an outdoor wedding. It was a small and intimate gathering and it was absolutely lovely.
Charlie and Sue were so great with one another and they truly were happy.

Jacob tapped my shoulder and asked, “Ready to get going?”

I smiled back and replied with a simple “Yes.” I turned to my mom, “So I guess I’ll see
you guys down there later?”

She and my father nodded and both smiled. Jacob and I began to make our way toward La
Push.

Our mode of transportation was not what people would call “conventional.” We both
enjoyed running more than driving when we were to travel short distances. It took less
time and it was exhilarating. It was also a lot of fun for me because I could easily beat
Jacob at it and this, I have to admit, made me feel a bit smug.

“Hah!” I shrieked. “Beat you yet again!”

Jacob was still in his wolf form on the outskirts of La Push. He showed his teeth - not
menacingly - but friendly and let his tongue slip out to the side; it was as if he was
smiling. He let out a sigh of defeat and retreated into the woods in order to phase back and
change.

“Yeah, yeah, what else is new?” He sauntered towards me and as soon as he reached me,
he grabbed me up and twirled me around. We laughed together and he placed me back
down and we looked into each other‘s eyes. “Whatever, it’s still more fun than driving.”

I continued gazing up into his dark deep set eyes and my heartbeat quickened and my
breathing changed slightly. Lately, my relationship with Jacob had been changing. Jacob
imprinting on me meant that we were like two puzzle pieces that were meant to fit
together. Within the past couple of weeks, my affection for him had grown into something
completely different than what it had been in the past, and I sensed that he was feeling the
same way. As of late, our hugs had lingered, we generally stared into each others eyes for
longer periods of time, and I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I shook myself out of my
stupor and it seemed like Jacob did the same. We smiled at one another and laughed off
what had just occurred between us and intertwined our hands. His actually completely
covered mine, but we headed from the outskirts of his reservation and made our way to
Billy’s.

“Well hello there,” Billy began. “Would you care to introduce me to your new friend,
Jacob?”

So it seemed that Billy was in the mood to joke around with me as well this morning er…
afternoon. I laughed it off and nudged Billy’s arm. He was like another Grandfather to me
too. Over these seven years, Billy’s hair faded into more gray and his dark russet skin
became more wrinkled and developed a leathery texture. He had a glint in his eyes that
brought a huge smile across my face and made me feel like I was home. Jacob waltzed
into the kitchen and looked for leftovers from the night before. He stuffed his face with
something, it looked like a corn muffin, but I can’t be sure since he scarfed it down before
I could even smell it.

“Oh sorry Ness, you want anything?” Jacob questioned while he was still chewing. I think
he must have noticed me eyeing him but misinterpreted my intentions.

“That’s ok Jake, I’m fine. I haven’t really had an appetite of any kind today.” I chuckled at
myself at my lame attempt of a joke that no one seemed to catch onto.

“Alright.” He smiled wide and turned back around to the refrigerator.

Billy wheeled his way into the living room to begin watching a ball game on the TV, so I
figured I would join him while Jacob satiated his hunger. I walked into the tiny living
room and made myself comfy on the couch. I assumed he was waiting for Charlie to get in
and just as the thought crossed my mind the door creaked open.

“Woah, woah,” Charlie was mumbling to himself, trying not to make a big deal, as he
kicked the door open. He was carrying a casserole dish, made by Sue I am sure, and it was
slipping from his grasp. I quickly ran to the door without Charlie noticing and grabbed it
from him.

“Thanks Ness that was a close one. Sue spent all day making that…she’d of killed me if it
dropped.” He said relief filled his voice. He chuckled and wiped the sweat off of his
forehead. “Well, you look beautiful today, Ness. How much have you grown since the last
time I saw you?”

“Uh, a little,” I began with a smile on my face. Charlie was on a ‘need to know’ basis and
I didn’t want to startle him or anything. “Thanks, though! Let me bring this to the
kitchen.” I placed Sue’s casserole into the oven to keep it warm. Jacob was still in there
nosing around.
“Don’t you dare touch this,” I said flashing my teeth at him in an effort to scare him. He
just laughed at me.

“Yeah, okay Loch Ness, no worries. Wouldn’t want to provoke the monster!”

I rolled my eyes and noticed that Charlie headed into the living room. I heard he and Billy
begin talking about the players on the DL and how they thought it may affect the outcome
of tonight’s game. Sue followed shortly after carrying two bottles of cola and a six pack of
Charlie and Billy’s favorite beer.

“Need some help with that?” I asked Sue as I held my hands out. Sue was such a sweet
woman and was very pretty. Her deep set almond eyes smiled at me and she passed over
the colas.

“Thanks so much,” she started. “I’m sure I’ll have to run to the store shortly though. I
doubt this will be enough for the two of them!” She laughed to herself and signaled
toward the beer. “Charlie insisted on getting here and refused to take a detour.” She smiled
and sighed, obviously slightly irritated with Charlie. She shrugged her shoulders and
smiled. “How are you doing this afternoon Ness?”

“I’m doing great, thanks for asking,” I smiled. “How about yourself?”

We headed into the living room and on my way I grabbed two chairs for Jacob and me,
and let Sue take the spot on the sofa next to Charlie.

“Dad, Charlie, you guys want a beer yet?” Jacob yelled from the kitchen. They obliged
and Jacob brought out one for each, which only left four remaining. The game finally
started and our conversation emptied out, just like the beer cans that Charlie and Billy
were drinking from.

“Hey Sue,” Charlie began, making sure not to move his gaze from the television. “Would
you mind running to the store and picking up some more to drink? We are only at the third
inning so we’ve got a while…” he trailed off because someone made a play that he was
excited about.

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Sue answered with a smile on her face. “Ness, would you like
to tag along with me? It looks like the guys are much more involved in the game than we
are.” She smirked and put her arm around my shoulders. I stood up from my chair and
patted Jacob on the back.

“Why not? I doubt I’ll miss much and I am pretty sure we can count on a play by play if
we’re back by the 7th inning stretch.” I giggled.

Sue and I made our way to the convenient store where she pretty much cleared out the
entire place. She bought more beer, lots of chips, salsa and other snacks as well as some
more soda. It was as if she was stocking up for an army and I couldn’t be sure why she
was doing that to be honest. Before I knew it, our entire cart was full of groceries. She
looked at the heaping pile and her face flushed red a bit. “Oops, I hope Charlie wont
mind!” She eyed the cart and shrugged her shoulders and continued to the check out.
Nearly $100.00 later, we made our way out to the car and piled the bags into the back seat
and in the trunk.

When we pulled up to the driveway in front of Jacob’s house, everything seemed to be as

it was when we left. I heard a few extra heart beats coming from inside of the house, but I
figured that they all belonged to the wolf pack and thought nothing of it. They always
stopped by. The sun was now beginning to set and I noticed that there weren’t any lights
on in the house. I decided to ignore that minor detail and figured it was due to their
laziness and also not wanting to step away from the T.V. for just a quick second. Sue and I
grabbed the bags from the car and lined them up along our arms and made our way to the
door. I decided to open up the door since I was definitely stronger than her – in fact, all of
these bags hardly weighed anything to me – and the next thing I knew every bag I held
was dropped onto the floor.

Chapter 2 - Surprise

“Surprise!” Everyone shouted out to me as I kicked open the door. It generally takes a lot
to surprise me, what with my heightened senses and all, so it certainly was a double shock
for me. It also goes to show that, although I was usually very graceful, I had inherited
some of my mother’s human clumsiness. One of the soda bottles which were in one of the
many bags I had strewn across my arm had burst and was spewing its contents in a foamy
mess all over the floor. I laughed so hard at what had just occurred in those few seconds
and then it all finally kicked in. I was so excited to see everyone, and when I say everyone,
I mean everyone. I took a second, and with a smile on my face, I glanced around the room
and recorded everyone that was staring happily back at me in my memory. My parents
Bella and Edward were the first ones I glanced at, then Alice and Jasper, Carlisle and
Esme, Rosalie and Emett, as well as the entire wolf pack and my fellow imprintees were
among the expected guests. I continued making my rounds and came across other familiar
faces which I hadn’t seen in quite some time.
“Look at how much you’ve grown!” Zafrina shouted with excitement as she ran up to me
with open arms. She picked me up and hugged me tight. She placed me back down on the
floor and placed her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “So gorgeous and
grown up! Let me help you with these bags…” she trailed off as she bent down to pick up
what I had dropped on the floor.

I continued to walk into the small room which looked breathtaking, a complete
transformation from the time I had left with Sue. There were lights strung along the tops
of the walls and sapphire blue ribbon was scalloped along with them. There was a table in
the left corner draped in a deep blue satin cloth and atop of it was a gorgeous white and
blue striped 3 tier cake that looked more fitting for a wedding than a birthday. Next to the
cake was a pile of presents also adorned in my favorite color, sapphire. “Wow,” I began
sounding breathless. “This looks amazing! Alice, you shouldn’t have!”

“Oh don’t get me started silly. Besides, I had Jacob help out.” She winked at me and used
her delicate fingers to point towards him. He grinned hugely at me and came up to me. He
enveloped me in one of his warm hugs and whispered “Happy birthday Nessie,” in my left
ear. The warmth of his breath felt tantalizing as it grazed over my neck. A chill came over
me and I giggled a quick “thanks,” out to him. He placed me back down on the ground
and left his arm draped over my shoulder.

“Happy birthday Renesmee,” Tanya spoke as she too came up and gave me a hug. She
handed me a small box and smiled delightfully. “Hope you like it.” The rest of the
Denali’s, including Garret and Kate, were right behind her to wish me well. “I can’t
believe it’s been seven years!” Kate gasped as she placed a loose lock of my hair behind
my ear. Her smile was endearing and she turned to Garret. “You remember Garrett, right?”

“Of course!” I nearly shouted. Although there was something different. I analyzed him for
a moment and then it had clicked. “I see you’ve been living vegetarian style?” I
questioned with a smile on my face. In my memory, his eyes were ruby colored. Now as
he was starting back at me, they were that same butterscotch color that my family, and
Kate’s family, possessed.

“Yes, it’s been nearly seven years now!” He sounded excited about his achievement and
patted me on the back. “Happy birthday, kiddo.”

They all went over to Carlisile and Esme and began speaking about what they had been up
to with one another. The rest of my family and friends also greeted me and they were all
very excited about what the night had to offer. Everyone was enjoying themselves and I
decided I would step outside onto the patio. It was also decorated beautifully out there –
lights flickering along every edge on the house and around the concrete slab. Chinese
lanterns were floating off of the house and provided a beautiful shade of light, and there
was also music playing faintly in the background. As I was taking it all in I felt a tap on
my shoulder. I turned around and saw the most perfect smile looking down at me.

“Would you care to dance?” Jacob asked as he held his hand out. He had a look of
uncertainty in his eyes.
I grabbed hold of his large rough hand and replied “Of course I would.”

He placed his other arm around my waist and hunched over a bit to make our heights more
compatible. I looked up at him and he gazed back down at me. We were first silent for a
short while, just enjoying one another’s presence. I took in a deep breath and rested my
head against his chest as we swayed to the music. I felt his tender lips press against my
head and he breathed in the smell of my hair. I heard him sigh and then he began speaking
to me.

“Sorry…I’m not good at this dancing thing...”

That’s where the uncertainty was coming from deep in his eyes. I stopped for a moment
and lifted my head from its place on his chest and looked up at him.

“Don’t be silly Jake, you are doing just fine. It’s…nice.” I looked down at our feet and felt
my face flush a bit. I looked up into his eyes and smiled at him, attempting to be
reassuring. Even though Jacob felt that he was “no good” at this sort of thing, it felt
perfect to me. We continued staring into each other’s eyes and swayed to the beat. He
began to tilt his head down toward mine, and I felt frozen for that moment; I knew what I
wanted to do. We inched closer and closer to one another, I was on the tips of my toes and
he hunched over just enough so that our faces were nearly next to one another. I could feel
his hot breath on my face and his silky lips were just millimeters from mine. Just then, in
that seemingly perfect moment I heard something moving around in the bushes just about
ten feet from the patio, and an intense breathing sound which I could not identify. I could
smell something – or someone – that was not at all familiar to me. I couldn’t pin what the
scent was but it smelled of lilac, honey, among other sweet smells, as well as a wood fire
burning. It was probably the most wonderful smell I had ever smelled before and it was
incredibly intriguing. Although this smell was alluring, it also set alarms off in my mind;
something was not right and I just knew that for some reason. As I had my hands placed
on Jacob’s body, he received what I was feeling through my gift and he immediately
tensed up due to the fact that he felt my alarm.

I pulled from Jacob and asked him if he smelled what I just picked up on. He sniffed the
air and crinkled his nose. That told me right then and there that there was a vampire
present.

“Smells like…one of you…kind of…but different in a way. I don’t recognize it…” he

trailed off.

I heard the bushes move again and the smell and sound were gone. “Hmm, that’s odd.
Seems like whatever it was left…”

He remained tense and gazed out into the field until he was able to see that whatever it
was had in fact left. He relaxed and put his arm around my shoulder and began guiding me
back into the house. “You’d better go in and make an appearance…maybe open up some
of your gifts too.” He winked at me and pulled a small box from his pocket. He placed it
in my palms and nudged me. “Open it.” He smiled as he untied the small ribbon that was
wrapped around the box. I continued to unwrap the paper and unveiled a small wooden
jewelry box. Although it was small, it had intricate designs of silver and turquoise
embellishing it; it was breathtaking. In awe, I continued to open the box and was delighted
with what I found.

Nestling in the cushy satin interior was an elegant silver bracelet which was adorned with
tiny sapphire gems. It was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen. I picked it up and
gazed at it, noting each facet in every gem. “Wow…” I began, completely enveloped in
the beauty of this delicate wristlet. “This is beautiful. Here,” I said as I handed it to him.
“Help me put it on.”

With his enormous hands, he handled this precious piece of jewelry with the utmost care.
He had a huge smile on his face. “I’m glad that you like it. It was my mother’s.” He
lowered his eyes to the ground and I noticed the quickness of his heartbeat. He gazed back
up to me and I threw my arms around him.

“Thank you so much Jacob. It’s perfect.” As I let go of him, I looked down at my wrist.
The contrast of the small sapphire gems against my pearly skin was remarkable. I gently
turned it and moved the clasp to the backside of my wrist and gazed at it for a moment. I
then threw my arms around Jacob again and we were suddenly in the same position that
we were in before the seemingly insignificant interference that had occurred before. Our
faces were just inches from one another again and I could begin to feel his hot breath
grazing my lips. My lips parted slightly and I tilted my head in his direction and I began to
close my eyes. My breathing and heartbeat quickened a bit as I reached my head up some
more.

“Hey Nessie!” I heard someone call me. I groaned and pulled away from Jacob again. He
sighed and rolled his eyes, and then he picked his head up away from mine and turned
around. I moved to the left from his body and peered around him to see who called my
name. It was my mother.

“Oh, sorry guys. I didn’t mean to interrupt…” She began.

“No, its fine mom, don’t worry.” I began, feeling rather embarrassed. My cheeks flushed
rose pink and I tried to shake off the feeling. “We were just dancing.” I smiled and Jacob
did the same toward Bella. I quickly ran to her and waved my wrist in front of her face.
“Look at what Jacob gave me for my birthday!”

Bella gently grabbed my wrist and gazed at the delicate bracelet in the same fashion I had
done. An enormous smile erupted on her face. “It’s breathtaking Ness. That’s so sweet of
you, Jacob.”

“I wanted her to have it,” he smiled. “We should head inside…” he urged both myself and
my mother. I think he was still bothered by the fact that someone had been watching us. I
wrapped my arm into his and followed my mother through the sliding door and into the
living room.

“Well there’s the birthday girl,” Alice began with the utmost of excitement in her voice.
She went to the table with my cake and lifted one of the many boxes from it. “Don’t you
want to open some of your gifts?” She smiled her huge smile and made her way toward
me and placed the box in my grasp.

“Of course, I will not object to that!” I joked around. I walked back over to the table and
sat in the chair that was next to it. I placed the box in my lap and began to unwrap the
package. When I opened the box that contained my present, I was immediately in awe.
Inside was the most beautiful picture frame – it was silver and had a gorgeous art nouveau
style to it. It had whirls and flowers and other intricate designs which were elegantly
interlaced with one another. Once I fixated my gaze away from the frame I was able to
take in the picture that was just as special, if not more special, than the frame which
enveloped it. It was black and white; it was a family portrait of me, Edward and Bella
from when I was a small child. We were standing in front of our cottage which was hidden
in the woods and fresh snow had fallen on the ground. I had my arms wrapped around my
father’s neck and my mother had her head resting on his shoulder. Each of us had a huge
smile on our face – smiles which read into so many different emotions ranging from
excitement, love, relief and contentment. We knew we would be stuck with one another
from now on. A tear welled up in my eyes as I gazed back up from the portrait. “Thanks,”
was all I was able to choke out. I smiled as I glanced down back at it and placed it on the
table. “It’s absolutely perfect.” I preferred presents that had some sort of meaning to them,
rather than just material things, and my family and friends were all aware of this.
However, this small detail did not stop them from buying me other things such as clothing,
CD’s, and even a guitar.

When I finally got to the last present I was excited; it was a long skinny box with a
delicate sapphire ribbon tied around it. I unwrapped it, just as I had with my other
presents, and was slightly confused with its contents. It was a single silk flower – a pink
tulip to be exact, one of my favorite kinds. “Uh, thanks,” I began trying to decipher the
meaning of this singular flower that was from my parents.

My father had a delighted look on his face; he could read the confusion in my thoughts.
He let a huge grin spread across his face. “I think I forgot to put this in there...” he began
as he reached into his shirt pocket and revealed a key. It was a black key which was
adorned with a VW symbol. “Here ya go,” he said as he held it between his pointer finger
and his thumb. I held out my hand and he dropped it into my palm. I did not know how to
comprehend it – he had just given me a key to a car…a beetle is what I suspected because
of the single tulip I was given which would be placed in the small crystal vase which was
to the right of the steering wheel. “Oh my goodness!” I shrieked in pure excitement.

“Wanna go take a look?” My father asked me.

I immediately bolted to the door and yelled out “Of course!” as I ran past everyone in the
room. I heard lots of laughter exploding behind me because of my theatrical reaction.
When I stepped outside I saw the most adorable VW bug I had ever laid my eyes on. It
was a pearly lime green with a tan convertible top. I ran to the driver side door, hit the
unlock button and hopped myself in the tan leather driver seat. I put the key in the ignition
and started up the radio. I breathed in the smell of new car and crisp leather and sighed. I
felt a tap tap on my window and I recognized my father peering inside with a huge smile
on his face. I lowered my window and gazed up at my father “Yes?” I questioned.
“You’re forgetting this,” he stated as he pulled the pink tulip from behind his back. I took
it from his grasp and placed it into the vase – it looked perfect. The green, pink and tan
created an adorable color scheme that fit perfectly with my mood. My father walked
around the car to the passenger side – something that was new to me – and hopped in. We
drove around Jacob’s house for a few minutes while he gave me some pointers on driving.
When we came back around to the front of the house, we decided we should make our
way back in.

The rest of the evening was utterly pleasant – one of the best times of my life thus far.
Eventually, the crowd thinned out and the time had taken its toll upon those of us who
need sleep. The rest of the Denali’s and other vampires headed back toward Carlisle and
Esmee’s, and my mother and father decided to retreat as well.

“Don’t stay out too late Ness,” my mother whispered to me as she gave me a hug
goodbye.

“See you at home,” my father smiled to me.

Billy also decided to retreat to his bedroom and as Jacob helped him get tucked in, the rest
of the wolf back granted me best wishes for my birthday and took off into the night.

“Where did everyone go?” Jacob questioned as he walked out of Billy’s room towards me.
He grabbed hold of my hand and walked me outside.

“They all decided it was probably time to leave, since it’s rather late and all.” I yawned;
sleep deprivation beginning to get the best of me. I peered up at the sky. Clouds were
beginning to roll in, but the moon and stars were still clearly visible throughout the night
sky. It had been a beautiful day turned into an even more breath taking night. I was still
very aware of Jacob’s hold around my hand; the heat radiating from him even more
noticeable in the crisp midnight air. I felt his finger graze under my chin as he lifted it up
so that we were once again gazing into each other’s eyes. He bent his head down toward
mine and I arched my body up towards his – thankful for the fact that there was nothing
that could interrupt this moment now. I felt his warm lips graze across mine and it felt like
a fire was emanating from between us. He pressed his lips against mine ever so lightly and
I moved my hand and ran them through his slightly tousled hair and pulled him, ever so
slightly, closer to me. The kiss was warm and tender, yet fierce and carnal. Our breathing
became increasingly unsteady but oddly created a beautiful melody mixed with the sound
of our beating hearts. We each pulled away after a few moments and I gazed down toward
my feet and bit my bottom lip. A crooked smile spread across my lips as I gazed back into
his dark almond eyes. He smiled back at me and bent down to kiss my forehead.

“Good night Renesmee,” he sighed as he gave me a hug.

“Good night Jacob,” I said breathlessly. He walked me the rest of the way to my car and
opened the driver side door for me. I started up the engine and took in the sound o the soft
purr that it created. I waved at Jacob and made my way back home, staring into my
rearview mirror back at Jacob for as long as I was able.
 Chapter 3 – Elma

I awoke this morning in a pool of sweat, my heart racing, and I was having a difficult time
catching my breath. It was only a dream, I kept telling myself. Only a dream, and yet it all
felt so – real. It was just like yesterday had been, fantastic and absolutely amazing. I was
standing outside of Jacob’s house on the porch, a gorgeous night sky above and a
beautifully decorated setting surrounded me. Lights were hanging from the faded red
exterior of the house, and a lovely song – one which I have no name for, or can say I have
ever heard – was playing in the background; an almost tranquilizing melody of piano keys
molding together. Although it was seemingly the same as yesterday, it was also very
different because of the fact that someone very important was not there – Jacob was not
standing outside with me. As I was gazing up at the sky, and taking in the sounds of the
piano playing madly, I heard a familiar sound rustle in the bushes, smelt a smell that was
entirely magnificent yet alarming, and heard the faint beating of a quickened heart beat.
When I turned to grasp on to someone to protect me from this alarm, the person I grabbed
was unrecognizable. He was tall – not as tall as Jacob, but rather close – he had piercing
green eyes which were surrounded by thick black lashes and he had disheveled raven
black hair that nearly met his shoulders. His build was rather intimidating – close to
Emmett’s bulky size. He had a crooked grin dashed across his angular face showcasing his
sharp white teeth. He was alarmingly attractive and yet at the same time was completely
menacing. He grabbed hold of my shoulders and picked me up to take me away, but when
I tried to scream nothing came out and I could not break his hold on me. It felt as if he had
some sort of innate control over my body. No one saw what had occurred out on the patio.
I was doomed; I just knew it.

That was when I forced myself awake, out of breath and utterly terrified. I laid in my bed
and eventually caught my breath and my heart beat slowed to its normal pace. I took in a
deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly through my mouth. “It was just a
dream,” I told myself once more. I ran my hands through my tousled hair, and sat myself
upright in my bed. I stretched my arms high above and peered out my window. It was a
gray dawn, a dewy mist sheathed just outside my window and it was apparent that it was
going to start raining any moment now. Although this morning was quite the usual, it was
also very different than other mornings had been for me in my lifetime; now I was forever
unchanging. I forced myself out of my comfortable bed and threw on a pair of jeans and a
t-shirt and made my way into the living room.

“Mom, Dad?” I questioned. No one answered. I heard a rustling of the bushes by the
window next to the old wooden front door and jumped from fright. My dream had had me
on edge and I gazed in that direction. To my intense surprise, it was just a young brown
rabbit scurrying through; completely harmless. I rolled my eyes at myself and headed
toward the kitchen. There was a note left on the small table from my parents.

Renesmee,
Your mother and I headed out to hunt, and afterwards we are making our way to
Carlisle’s. He wants to have a family meeting regarding some important things
that need to be addressed. He wants you to come and be a part of the discussion.
We will see you there. By the way, happy birthday sweet heart.
Love,
Mom and Dad

I sat at the table for a few moments and pondered what this meeting could possibly be
about. It was a rather easy guess for me, and I had been anticipating something like this to
occur eventually – moving. I had already been aware of the fact that my family had
probably out lasted their stay here in Forks. Although the idea of leaving what has always
been home to me was depressing, a part of me was a bit excited as well. We would go to a
new place, see new things and surroundings, go to school – oh my, school. I hadn’t given
that one much thought before. My source of education had come from my family, why I
had never really been able to attend any child like functions due to my rapid growth. It
would have definitely caused concern in the eyes of our fellow residents of Forks. Also,
the fact that I looked like such a perfect mixture of Bella and Edward would not have
helped the story they had developed when they had me in order to keep my existence
conspicuous. I was able to understand from the beginning why I had to be kept secret from
most of the tiny population here…why all of us had to be. But all this understanding and
knowledge did not dull the twisting ache in the pit of my stomach – for the first time in my
life, well second time actually, I was nervous.

I got up from the table and headed to my bathroom, avoiding the refrigerator because my
stomach was all twisted in knots and the thought of food – or blood for that matter – was
utterly unappealing to me at the moment. I took a quick shower, ran a brush through my
tawny wet and tangled hair, and threw on some jeans, a deep blue v-neck sweater and
slipped on my comfortable broken in sneakers.

I dashed through the forest and across the creek and shortly found myself at my
Grandfather’s house. The house was breathtakingly beautiful – I absolutely loved it. I
made my way to the door and let myself in. I immediately saw Rosalie sitting on the
couch watching TV, and heard a quiet laughter coming from upstairs. It sounded like my
mother and Alice chit chatting. I heard Carlisle and my father in the kitchen along with
Jasper and Emmett.

“Hey Rose,” I smiled when I walked in.

“Hey there gorgeous, how are you?” She questioned as she stood up from the couch and
began walking toward the dining room.
“I’m great,” I began. “I saw my parent’s note on the table and came over as soon as I was
finished reading it.” I smiled and began following her.

“Yeah, Alice saw you were on you way,” she giggled. “Hey, everyone, Ness is here.” She
said a tad bit louder than her normal speaking voice.

I heard a few different voices command that they were coming at once and before I knew
it, we were all in the dining room, sitting around the table in a very businesslike fashion.

Carlisle, who was positioned at the head of the table with Esmee at his right, stood up
graciously. His butterscotch eyes were scorching with an array of emotions ranging from
excitement, nervousness, happiness and sadness.

“Now, I am sure you are all aware of the reason why I have asked for this meeting,” he
began, his voice ringing pleasantly like a bell. He glanced at Alice and I noticed them
exchange a wide smile with one another. “I don’t think I am in need of explaining
anything in great detail to you all, but I think we’ve come to a point in time that we need
to move on from the town of Forks.” He looked down slightly as he said this and fixated
his gaze on me for a moment. He let a small smile spread across his lips and continued.
“As you are all aware, I have resigned from the hospital a while ago and went back to my
studies for the past few years, and it’s time for me to begin my work again.”

Emmett cleared his throat, “Is there any place in particular you would like to go?” He
interrupted. Rosalie gently slapped his arm and puckered her face at him. He looked at her
apologetically.

Carlisle smiled and nodded his head. “Actually, I was just about to get to that point. In
fact, there is a Hospital, Mason General, in Shelton that I was considering.”

“Where is Shelton?” Emmett questioned again. I noticed Rosalie just roll her eyes at him.
It made me giggle slightly, but I tried to cover that up with a slight coughing sound,
though I doubt I fooled anyone.

“Shelton is about 30 miles north of Olympia…but I wasn’t necessarily suggesting that we

move in that particular area. I was considering a smaller town called Elma which is about
30 miles south west from Shelton; 30 miles west of Olympia, to be exact. Anyway, Mason
General is a relatively small Hospital and I feel like I could be of use there. Does anyone
have any objections to this place?”
No one disagreed with Carlisle. First of all, it was difficult to disagree with him on any
note, but we were all in agreeance that it was time to move on, even though not all of us
necessarily wanted to do this – myself included.

“I just have one question,” Jasper began. “Although, Alice and I obviously want to
continue living with you as part of the Cullen’s, I am not sure that I am feeling up to
heading back into High School…would you mind if I just continued my studies?”

“Of course, Jasper. I know it’s been difficult for you, and although you have made
tremendous improvements, if it is something you are not feeling up to doing then you do
not have to. Although, I do have faith in you and know you could accomplish it. But, if
what you want is to continue your studies, I will not object to that.” Carlisle smiled toward
him. “Also, come to think of it, it would probably be best if all of you didn’t attend school
just to help us remain conspicuous, now that we will have two extra students in
attendance.” He glanced toward my mother and me and smiled.

“I must say, I agree with that,” Edward began. “It was nerve racking having five of us
attend school all together, worrying if anyone would become suspicious of us…in the
beginning at least.”

“Alright then,” Carlisle began, “those who will attend school will obviously need to be
Alice and Edward, to make sure no questions or suspicions become too serious. Renesmee
will need to be in attendance, since this will be her first year,” he said excitedly. “Bella,
Rosalie and Emmett, it is up to all of you if you would like to attend as well.” He
concluded.

“I don’t mind going,” Rosalie stated in her soft voice. “I think it will actually be more
interesting this time around with Renesmee and all.” She smiled rather sheepishly towards
me. “But, I would want to start in my senior year…doing high school for another two or
three years would probably bore me.” She giggled slightly.

My mother looked back and forth, as if fighting with herself on what to do. She sighed,
almost in defeat. “I’ll go too. It may be interesting.” She agreed with Rosalie.

“I guess I will too,” stated Emmett. “On the same page as Rose though…besides, I can’t
let Edward be the only man.” He laughed a hearty laugh and calmed himself down.

“So it’s set then. We probably shouldn’t linger around here for much longer, but Esmee
and I would like to find a house suitable for us to begin with first. Then we’ll play it from
there.”

Esmee cleared her throat. “Actually,” she started smiling timidly, “I’ve already found a
house. It’s a beautiful two story house from the 1800’s. It needs work done to it, but I
figure that will be my project – much like this house was at first when we came here.”

“Well, that works perfectly then.” He sat back down in the chair and looked at all of us.
He had an accomplished look on his face. “Well, I suppose we are done here then. We
should probably get packed up to move out over there within the next week or so. Arrange
for you all to be entered into the school and whatnot. It’s not too far away, but it should be
sufficient enough.”

All of us sat at the table and conversed for a short while. It was nice spending time with
everyone. My nerves had subsided and I felt content with leaving here for now. I knew
that I would always be able to come back here if I needed or wanted to, and that our
houses would be here to stay. Moving was something in our nature, most vampires didn’t
even stay in the same place for more than weeks or days at a time, and this made it easier
for me to accept. Learning that we were not moving too far away from Forks also eased
the tension racking inside of me.

“I better head out and speak to Jacob about this,” I began. “He should know since I am
sure he will want to move along with us.”

“That’s a good idea Ness,” Carlisle began. “I probably should have thought to invite him
in on this discussion.”

“Well, it’s probably better that you didn’t actually.” I stated. It isn’t that I didn’t want
Jacob here; I just thought that the topic may upset him and I did not want that to happen.
“I think he will be more understanding if he hears it from me.” I smiled. I walked over to
Carlisle and gave him a hug. He kissed my cheek and we exchanged a smile with one
another. “I’ll be back later.” I announced. I said bye to everyone and made my way back
home.

I ran into the house and grabbed the keys to my new car and started up the engine. I drove
down to La Push to talk with Jacob. When I pulled into the driveway of Jacob’s small
house, I noticed that his car was missing, and there didn’t seem to be any activity going on
within his house. I found that to be odd, Billy was usually at home or with Charlie. I
decided that I would first call Jacob and see where he was, but to my dismay, his
voicemail picked up. I didn’t bother leaving a message. I immediately ended my call to
Jacob and dialed Charlie’s number. It went to his answering machine, so I left a quick
message just letting him know that I was wondering where Billy was. At that point, I had
assumed that they had just gone fishing together. Feeling as if I were at a dead end, I
decided to just sit in my car for a few moments to let some time pass by. I put in one of my
CD’s I had gotten for my birthday yesterday – it was a compilation of classical music –
and listened to the intricate feelings which were created from the melodies. I let me eyes
close for a moment and drifted away into the music.

I was startled when I heard a tap tap on my window and I immediately jerked up to see
Seth standing at my door. I let out a laughing sigh and turned my car off. I stepped outside
to join Seth. It was damp outside and a clear mist was hanging right above our heads. Seth
had a rather distressed look on his face and I felt alarmed.

“Hey Seth, everything ok?” I questioned. I put my hand on his shoulder and patted him,
feeling the need to comfort him.

“Well, not exactly…” he started. “It’s Billy.”

“Wha-what’s the matter?” I stuttered; suddenly feeling like I was the one who needed
some comforting.

“Jacob had to take him to the hospital a little while ago…he was feeling some pains in his
arm and a tightness in his chest.”

“Oh my, that doesn’t sound good.” I said, making each word and its syllables clear. “Is-is
everything going to be ok?”

“Well, last I heard the doctors were keeping a close watch on him just to make sure
nothing happens. That was about thirty minutes ago though, so I am not sure at this point.
I just got back in.” Seth sulked to the side of my car and leaned on it. “How do you like
your new car?” He asked, trying to snap me out of my daze and change the subject to a
lighter note.

“Uhm,” I shook my head. “It’s gr-great. Listen, I need to get over there right now. Do you
want to join me?”

Seth answered by running over to the passenger side and slid in. I opened the door to my
side and started up my engine again. “Why didn’t Jake call me and tell me that something
was wrong?” I questioned with obvious anger and anguish in my voice. Tears were
beginning to well up into pools underneath my chocolate brown eyes.

“He said he tried to call,” Seth began. “He tried your house and your cell but apparently
they weren’t going through. Then he just got so wrapped up with Billy that...” I interrupted
him.

“How did you know?” I accused. My left brow was arched – something I did
automatically when I was annoyed or angered.

“Calm down,” Seth started. “He shifted real quickly after he got to the hospital and I just
happened to be shifted also. He let me know…everything…” he trailed off.

It sounded to me like he was trying to change the subject again, but I was not going to
have any of it.

“Well, I just hope that Billy is ok. Do Charlie and your mom know about it?”

“Yeah, they are there with him right now actually.” He said as he looked down at his
fingers, looking a bit nervous about my reaction.

I took in a deep breath. “Sorry, Seth. I shouldn’t take my annoyance out on you. I suppose
I can let this pass if Billy is ok. If not then Jacob will just have to deal with me too.”

“It’s ok, Ness. I understand.” Seth had a slight smile and looked at me for a moment. I
reciprocated and focused my eyes back onto the road. We didn’t really talk much the rest
of the way to the hospital.
When I walked into the hospital, I immediately saw Jacob’s large figure pacing back and
forth in the waiting room. Leah was with him as well, but she was situated in one of the
pink cushy chairs by the window snaking on a bag of chips.

“Jacob, it’s going to be ok.” She tried to reassure him.

At first Jacob hadn’t noticed that I was standing there; his gaze was fixated on the blue
and white checkered linoleum floor as he continued pacing.

“Jacob,” I said in a near whisper. He immediately broke his daze and ran over to me. He
embraced me with such heavy emotion and a certain need which I had never known
before. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and buried my face into his chest. He rested
his head on mine.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” He whispered with apparent anguish in his voice. “I tried to get
a hold of you, but I...”

“Shhh…don’t worry. I am here now.” I said to him with soothing reassurance and I lifted
my pointer finger and brought it to his lips.

He gently kissed my finger and grabbed hold of my hand. He placed it over his heart and
he gently kissed my forehead. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh. All of the anger
and annoyance I had felt previously with Seth had completely vanished. I wanted nothing
more than to make him feel better, to make Billy feel better.

“How is he?” I asked, my voice cracked. I had been trying to hold it together and not
think about the worst case scenario; to stay optimistic about the situation.

“He’s alright, considering. The doctors are just keeping an eye on him. He hasn’t felt the
pains since we brought him in but they are hesitant to let him go.” He looked down with
sadness filling his dark eyes. “They have done some tests, and it seems that he has some
build up in some of his arteries that don’t look so good…” he trailed off.

“Do you want me to call Carlisle?” I whispered.

“Probably, in a little bit at least. They are running some more tests to see if the build up is
threatening him…if so and they need to perform any kind of surgery, I would rather trust
Carlisle to do it more than anyone else…” he trailed off.

“Are Charlie and Sue visiting with him right now?” I questioned.

“Yeah, they are up right now…do you want to go and see him?” He asked as he took a
lock of my hair and placed it behind my shoulder. He gently took his hand and grazed the
side of my face.

“Of course I do.” I said.

Jacob grabbed hold of my delicate hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. I checked
in with the front desk and made my way with Jacob to the elevator, and went up to Billy’s
room.

When I walked into the room, I first saw Sue and Charlie standing at the foot of his bed,
and Charlie was discussing a fishing trip they would need to take when he got out of the
hospital. Billy was nestled into the bed with wires sticking out from his leathery arms and
a heart monitor was beating at a steady and strong rate. A large smile bloomed on his face
when I walked into the door.
“Well, hello there Ness,” Billy said, his voice a bit weaker than usual.

I went straight to his side and hugged him gently, making sure not to disrupt any of the
wires which were situated around him.

“Hey there,” I began softly. “Now what on Earth made you do this?” I said, trying to joke.
It brought a smile to all of our faces, and for that I was glad.

“It was all just a way to get attention from you people,” Billy joked back. It was definitely
reassuring to witness him being his lighthearted self.

I went and gave Charlie and Sue a hug as well and went back to Jacob’s side. We all stood
in the room with Billy until visiting hours were through. Jacob would have to go back
tomorrow and find out about the results of Billy’s tests to determine what route they will
need to take.

“Well, it’s a good thing that you were able to get him in when you did Jacob.” Charlie
stated matter-of-factly. “Who knows what may have happened if we hadn’t been able to
catch this.” Charlie cringed. I had a feeling that he was thinking about his old friend Harry.
Sue also had a saddened look in her eye.

“I agree, this is the best possible situation for him at the moment.” She sighed and grabbed
hold of Charlie. He hugged her tightly. “Well kids, we are going to head on back home
now. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night,” Jacob and I said in perfect unison. We smiled up at each other.

“Ready to head back?” He asked as he took his car keys out from his pocket. I was doing
the same.

“Way ahead of you.” I smirked. We headed to our cars and made our way back to La Push.

The sun was beginning to set on the beaches so Jacob and I decided to make our way to
the shoreline. It was breathtaking – the misty cloud cover was visibly blanketing the water,
which was crashing gently in the breeze; the sun breaking through the clouds in the
distance created an array of colors ranging from orange, brown, blue and lavender; the
beached driftwood was a vibrant orange color from the reflection of the sun. We sat on the
driftwood, holding hands, and watched the sun set beneath the edge of the deep blue-black
ocean.
I knew that I had to tell Jacob what I had intended on speaking to him about, but it was
more difficult than I had imagined to breach the subject. My moving would surely upset
him, especially with the events that took place today. I reasoned with myself – would it
hurt to let one day pass and keep it from him? Or, rather than betray his trust, should I just
tell him and risk hurting him more? I decided with the second option…I would rather him
hurt now for a brief period rather than have him hurt longer due to the fact that I had kept
something from him. I cleared my throat, searching for an opening. I was fidgeting and he
was all too aware of it.

“What’s wrong?” He asked softly, barely above a whisper. It was so quiet outside, all you
could hear was the faint crashing of the waves beating against the shore, and a quiet
breeze breaking through the trees.

My face was down, looking toward my feet. He took his finger and placed it under my
chin and lifted my eyes to meet his.

“Well,” I began. “I don’t know how else to say this but…”I trailed off. He just gazed at
me, patiently. “Well, you know that the Cullen’s have been in Forks for…well quite some
time now and, in order to remain conspicuous and what not, we’ve kind of decided to…to
move.” I finally spit it out.

I didn’t get the reaction I was expecting. He just sat there and gazed into the water and
took in some deep breaths. “Hmph.” Was all he let out. He continued peering out into the
distance, and turned toward me. “Well, I’m coming with you.” He stated matter-of-factly.

“Wha-what about Billy?” I stammered. He looked down immediately. He apparently had

not thought about that now important detail. Jacob would need to be there for Billy more
than anything at the moment. “Well, when are you guys leaving?”

“Probably within a week’s time…” I replied quietly. I let me eyes fall again.

“Well, I will follow regardless of anything, eventually. I guess tomorrow will be a sure
sign of what is going to happen. I am sure we can figure it all out, we have to.” He said
reassuringly.

I gazed back up at him. “You’re not…mad?” I questioned with uncertainty tainting my

voice.

“Mad?” He scoffed. “I could never be mad at you. Disappointed? Yes, maybe a little. But
that is only because I know that we will have to have some time apart for a while…where
are you moving to anyway?” He wondered.

“A small town called Elma. It’s about 30 miles west of Olympia…and rather close to
Hoquiam. Pretty much in between those two places.” I looked back into his eyes.

“Well, that’s not too bad really…not too far to run to…” He let a wide grin spread across
his face. “Well, to run to for the time being at least. Until I can figure out some sort of
living situation. We all are aware that I cannot be separated from you.” He scooted closer
to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. He held me tightly at his side and grabbed
hold of my hand. I began looking down at the silver color sand of the beach; the moon was
now reflecting off of the water and made it sparkle and shine like onyx and silver.
I took my gaze off of the ocean and fixated on Jacob’s face. I lifted my hand and placed it
against his cheek. I looked down quickly; feeling flushed, and placed my eyes back on his.
He unwrapped his arm from around my waist and brought both of his hands and cupped
my face gently.

“I love you,” he declared.

“I love you too,” I whispered back, not moving my eyes from his. We leaned in closer to
one another and shared our second kiss. It was soft and gentle at first, our lips were
moving to the same steady beat that was created by the waves delicately crashing along
the shore. Our breathing quickened, and our hearts changed pace. His hands made their
way from my face, to my neck and he let his finger tips graze along down my back. He
wrapped me tightly and brought me closer to his body, our lips never missing a second.
The heat radiating from him felt magnificent against my colder skin. He moved his left
hand back up my spine and intertwined his fingers into my thick bronze hair and slightly
massaged my scalp. My hands were doing similar things as well, trailing up and down the
length of his back, through his slightly long deep black hair and around his neck. Then, the
kiss became gentle and soothing again. We slowed down our breathing and we each
landed back on planet Earth. It was so easy for each of us to get wrapped into one another.

“It’s getting late…” I began, not really wanting to break off tonight. “My parents are
probably worried about me…I haven’t spoken to them since earlier this afternoon.”

“Yeah, you should probably get back.” He said as he whisked me up into his arms. He
carried me back to my car and settled me down next to the driver side door.

“You know, I am going to miss this beach…”I began suddenly feeling that same twisted
feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Well, even after you move – we move –,” he corrected, “We can come here and visit any
time.” His smile reached his eyes as he bent down and gave me another tender kiss to seal
the night. “Call me when you arrive home safely.” He made me promise.

“I will,” I obliged. “Good night. I love you.” I said as I opened my door and slid into my
car.

“I love you too,” he whispered as he bent down to kiss me one last time. I will see you
tomorrow. Sweet dreams.” Jacob shut my door, and I was off back home.

I sighed, although moving seemed exciting I was incredibly hesitant about it. I knew
though that, as long as Jacob was with me, everything would be ok. When I got home, I
immediately dialed Jacob’s number and let him know that I was home. We said good night
and I walked to the front door.
My parents were nestled on the couch with one another, watching a movie together.
“Welcome home,” my father started to tease. “Everything ok?” He asked after he heard
some of the pain in my thoughts.

“Yeah, I guess. Did you hear what happened to Billy?” I questioned.

“Yeah, I did…” my mother began. “I spoke to Charlie earlier today. It’s terrible…I hope
everything is ok.”

“Same here…he is getting some test results tomorrow, so we’ll be able to find out how
bad it is. Jacob asked if Carlisle could do any kind of surgery if it’s needed.” I said as I
made my way to the recliner in the corner of the room.

“I’m sure he would not hesitate.” My father stated. “You seem rather worn out sweetie,
why don’t you head to bed?” He suggested.

“I think that’s a good idea.” I obliged. “Good night mom and dad, love you.”

“Love you too.” They both replied in unison.

I waltzed into my room feeling rather odd. Part of me wanted to jump onto a mountain top
and shout out to the world, while the other part of me wanted to go and sulk in the corner.
I decided that, although I was tired, I was not ready to fall asleep. I took out my book,
Married at Last by Annie Thomas, and curled up under my blankets and began reading.

“I saw her, and I loved her –

I sought her, and I won;
A dozen pleasant summers,
And more, since then have run;
And half as many voices,
Now prattling by her side,
Remind me of the autumn
When she became my bride.”

I closed the pages half way through the book and sighed. I felt tired enough for sleep now.
 Chapter 4 – Results

Billy’s results were going to be available today – within them not only solidified Billy’s
health, but also gave a clear outlook on what the outcome of Jacob’s living situation would
mean for the uncertain future. I told myself that I was going to stay optimistic; regardless
Jacob would be with me and me with him. We would have to figure it out. As Jacob stated
last night, he couldn’t live without me and I am certain that I feel the same way about him.
Without Jacob in existence I would not know what to do with myself.

I tried to shrug these seemingly pessimistic thoughts out of my mind and decided to get
ready. I called Jacob immediately following and he finally picked up his phone this time.

“Hello?” He asked groggily.

“Oh, hey Jacob. Sorry if I woke you.” I started.

“Oh, hey Ness. Uhm…” He trailed off. “Wha-what time is it?”

“It almost 10:00. When do you need to get to the hospital?” I questioned.

“They told me yesterday to get there between 10:30 and 11:00, so I need to get ready!” He
sounded like he was knocking into things around his cluttered room. He said a few
profanities and quickly apologized. “Sorry, I am a little out of it this morning. Anyway,
want me to come and pick you up?”

“No Jake, I’ll drive don’t worry about it. I’ll come and get you.” I didn’t want him driving
in the state he seemed to be in. He sounded utterly stressed and I felt that it was the least I
could do.

“Ok, fine. Well…come over as soon as you can.”

“Already on my way. I’ll see you shortly.”

“K, Ness. Love you.”

“You too.” I replied as I hung up the phone. I ran out to my car and began driving to his
house.

I walked in and saw Jacob sitting on the couch with his head held in his hands. He looked
even worse than he had sounded on the phone. His hair was in tangles and he had deep
circles under his eyes which were accompanied by some puffy redness.

“Oh no, are you ok Jacob?” I asked as I rushed over to him. I stood in front of him as he
stayed sitting on the couch. Amazingly, I was only a couple of inches taller than him in
this position. I flung my arms around him and smoothed the back of his head. I held him
close to me.
“I’m…” he let out a big breath and inhaled deeply. “I’m ok, I suppose. It was just really
difficult after you left last night. I couldn’t keep it together…I was up more than half the
night with a ton of different thoughts. What if something happens to Billy?” His eyes were
awash of agony and affliction.

I lifted his head up and I noticed that his eyes were beginning to well up with fresh tears
again. I took my fingers and removed them from his tear stained face and locked my gaze
on him. I noted the glassiness his eyes embodied, and the trail of tears past, that melted
down his face and jutted into disappearance when they met his jaw. I attempted to look
sympathetic for him in an effort to comfort him. I pouted my bottom lip out slightly and
lowered my eyes. I leaned down and kissed his forehead and turned to his right and sat
next to him. I placed my arm around his waist and tugged him closer to my body.

“Jacob, it is going to be ok. I promise you that. Everything will work out. Billy is going to
be fine – we need to stay optimistic. Let’s get you cleaned up, ok?” I nudged his side. His
head fell back into his hands and he inhaled another deep breath and let his hands drop
from his face. He held his head up and glanced over at me.

“Ok, that’s probably a good idea. I wouldn’t want Billy seeing me like this.” He placed
both of his arms around me and pulled me close to him. He placed a small kiss on my lips
and pressed his forehead to mine. He stood up and walked to the bathroom to rinse his
face off, and threw a brush through his matted mane.

When we arrived at the hospital, we immediately rushed up to Billy’s room. He was

relaxing in the bed, having just finished his breakfast, and was watching ESPN. “The TV
here is great.” He said with a smile on his face.

Jacob let out a huge sigh of relief and pulled a chair up next to his side. “Everything going
ok, dad?” He asked as he got situated.

I walked over to Billy’s other side and stood there, gazing up at the TV from time to time.

“Well, you kids are here early,” he started, with his usual gleam in his eyes. “Jacob, you’re
not usually up until at least 12:00.” He laughed.

“Well, it isn’t everyday that my father decides to result to some theatrics to get himself
into the hospital…” Jacob tried to go along with Billy’s jokes, but he was having a
difficult time meaning it. I could tell that this was just eating Jacob up inside, regardless of
how well Billy seemed to be.

Billy looked just the same as yesterday – perhaps he had a bit more vibrancy in his cheeks.
He was still hooked up to the machines, and the heart monitor was still beating heavy and
strong. He seemed healthy enough; he was taking strong breaths and did not seem to be
exhibiting any sort of pain or discomfort. We all began discussing how our evenings went
when the doctor decided to make his appearance. Jacob shot me a wary glance quickly,
and turned back toward the doctor. He stood up and held out his hand to greet him.
“Good morning, Doctor Thomas. How are you?” Jacob questioned with a forced smiled
spread across his lips. Even though the smile was forced, it was still utterly breathtaking.
“Well hello there Jacob. Everything is going great. Let’s have a seat.” The doctor said as
he signaled toward the chairs. He flipped through his clipboard and stood at the foot of
Billy’s bed.

“How are you feeling today, Billy?” He questioned as he situated his glasses on his
bulbous reddened nose. His deep blue eyes were filled with small gray speckles that
matched the salt and pepper color of his hair – rather the hair that was left.

“Pretty well, no different than other mornings really.” He said as he patted down his
hospital gown. He looked down warily, thinking to himself it seemed.

“Well, let’s get down to business,” the doctor began with a smile spread between his rosy
cheeks. “So, it seems that you have what we call atherosclerosis, which is basically just
some plague built up in a few of your arteries. You suffered from a minor heart attack,
Billy. Luckily Jacob got you in here and we were able to subside it.”

I glanced quickly at Jacob and Billy to measure their reactions. They both attained a blank
look on their faces, and I knew exactly how they felt in that moment for I exhibited the
same look on my face. I was shocked to learn that he had in fact suffered a heart attack; no
matter how “minor” the doctor claimed it to be.

“I have noted that you have a rather high blood pressure, and your cholesterol levels are a
bit higher than what they should be. These also cause some concerns in my opinion, for
high blood pressure could also cause things such as strokes, and we want to avoid that at
all costs.”

“Well, what can we do about it now? How progressed is it?” I asked Dr. Thomas.

“For starters, I would like to keep Billy here for a short while, and just monitor him and
run a few more tests, just to be certain. The progression of the disease does not appear to
be too severe, and I do not think he will need to be admitted into surgery anytime soon,
although that is a possibility in the future.” He adjusted his glasses again and dropped the
clipboard to his side. “What I would like you to do Billy, is get on and maintain a
restricted diet to help lower your cholesterol, and to just promote heart healthiness. If we
can keep it managed right now, then it will greatly increase your health as you get older.”

“What about any kind of medication?” Jacob pondered; he raised his left eyebrow toward
the doctor with a worried expression on his face.

“For now, I would first like to see if we can regulate Billy without medication, with the
exception of his high blood pressure. It has been steadily high since he arrived, so I would
like to prescribe him a diuretic known as Esidrix. It’s basically a water pill that will help
lower his blood pressure to a healthy level.” He picked up his clipboard and jotted some
things on Billy’s patient profile. He cleared his throat. “Do you have any further
questions? I would be happy to answer anything.”

“No, not right now,” Billy began. “I think I understand. Do you have any questions
Jacob?”
He simply nodded his head back and forth and was in a daze, looking toward the doctor’s
feet.

“Alright, well I will have the nurse come in and check on you periodically, Billy. See you
all later.” The doctor retreated from the room and continued with his burly steps down the
hall.

Billy didn’t have a clean bill of health, which isn’t something we were all expecting or
anything, but the news was still rather devastating to hear. I was still unsure what this
meant for Jacob; I could never be so selfish as to leave Billy here in his fragile condition
alone and without Jacob. He needed Jacob more than I needed him in this moment and I
couldn’t possibly expect Jacob to choose me right now over his father. I sighed to myself,
and wrapped my arms around Billy’s body, avoiding the wires as best as I could. “It’s
going to be ok,” I whispered into his ear. I felt tears welling up in my eyes at that instant
and I fought with all my might to subside them. I took in a deep breath and stood back up.
Billy grabbed my hand and gauged me with his deep set dark brown eyes.

“Don’t worry about me Ness. I am just glad they caught this now in its early stages. I’ll be
fine.” He looked at me reassuringly. “We all know that I can’t live forever anyway.” Then
he glanced over at Jacob who was still sitting in the seat staring off into oblivion. “Jacob,”
Billy began. As Jacob heard his father’s voice, he snapped out of his daze and looked at
Billy with sad eyes. “It is going to be ok.”

“I know it will be ok dad, but I can’t help but worry about it. I wish there was something
more that I could do.” Jacob said as he grabbed hold of Billy’s hand.

We continued talking to Billy until Charlie and Sue came to visit. Jacob and I decided we
would leave them to spend some time with Billy and I had a feeling that Jacob felt the
urge to just get out of there. When we exited the hospital, Jacob grabbed my hands and
turned toward me, his eyes were again, awash with anguish.

“I need to…to phase and think this through.” He whispered as he looked down toward the
ground. “Are you ok driving back yourself? Or would you rather I waited to get back
home?” He gazed up into my eyes. He looked so tormented inside about this situation – I
felt a pang in my own heart from it. Of course I wanted him to drive with me, but I figured
that if it is what he needed, I was ok with that.

“No, I’m fine to drive home myself. Don’t worry about me right now.”

He let a slight smile form across his lips, which did not quite touch his eyes. “Thank you,”
was all he managed to choke out. He squeezed my hands and kissed my forehead quickly
before he retreated toward the woods.

On the drive home, I paid attention to the trees swishing past me, listened to the patter of
raindrops falling on the soft hood of my car, and the steady beat of the windshield wipers
swaying back and forth. I neglected to put the radio on for I was in no mood to listen to
music – which was odd to say the least. I just felt so torn up inside right now. Part of me
felt a little hurt that Jacob felt so torn up inside about what to do, and I felt semi-
responsible for him feeling the way he feels right now. I knew that he felt the obvious
feelings such as sadness and worry for the health of his father, but I knew he was also
irresolute about what to do with my moving. I should be the least of his worries right now.
I hit my steering wheel out of frustration – of all of the things to occur just as my family
decides to move from what I know as home. I know it’s a necessity but that does not make
this situation any easier for I also wanted to be there for Billy – God forbid that anything
shall happen to him. I pushed a bit harder down on the gas pedal than I probably should
have, and sped home. A hot shower and my bed were calling out my name.

I let the steamy beads of water drip down my body as I let myself become enveloped by
the heat. It was comforting, and to that I owe Jacob. My body was becoming more relaxed
by the moment as I felt much of the tension evaporate along with the water. I got out of
the shower, dried off and put some comfy pajamas on. I threw a brush through my hair and
curled up into my bed. I glanced at my clock – it was only 5:00 at the moment, but I
longed for it to be later so that sleep could come and rescue me from these unpleasant
feelings I had within me. I still hadn’t heard from Jacob and that worried me some; I hope
he wasn’t too far away. I kept my phone by my side in case he decided to call a little later
on. I wanted to give him his space. I decided I would let me eyes close, regardless of the
time, and let sleep take me away for a little while.

I was certain that I was dreaming. Everything had a faint white glow veiled around it and I
felt like I was floating. The setting was familiar, I was in a hospital making my way down
a long hallway – the walls were white with a wooden chair rail the entire way down with
bright fluorescent lights hanging above. The floor was white and blue checkered linoleum
that was entirely outdated; as I walked down the length of this hallway, I recognized all of
the patient names – Charlie, Sue, Billy, Emily, Sam, Quil, Embry, Leah, Seth– every
human I have ever known. Their doors were all shut, and in my sleep, I assumed that they
did not want to be bothered. I continued down the hall until I met the very last door.
Jacob’s name adorned the outside of this one. Just like the rest, his door was closed. I
hesitated as I opened it. In this room, the rest of the dream world faded away. There was a
counter equipped with a sink and some doctor supplies to the left and straight ahead, there
was a peach colored curtain hanging from the ceiling completely wrapped around the bed
which I knew he was in. The light was much dimmer in this room, a majority of it coming
from behind the curtain. I slowly walked up to it and grabbed hold of it with my hands and
pushed it open. I tried to speak but nothing would come out. I wondered to myself, ‘What
is Billy doing in your bed Jacob?’ Only then did I realize the shear mass of the individual
laying in the bed; I noted the almond deep set brown eyes starting back at me; and that
smile – Jacob’s smile – which was providing a brilliant light source much like the sun.
Why, this was not Billy at all but it was Jacob, but instead of the youthful and free spirited
Jacob I knew, he was old and leathery, and he appeared to be utterly fragile and brittle. He
lifted his hand to reach mine; all the while he was shaking and could not steady his grasp.
That’s when I noticed a heart monitor at his side and I became nervous for I knew his
heart beat was much faster than any normal human. I began to feel an overwhelming sense
of protectiveness for him. He did not look well – the color of his russet skin appeared
pallid and there was but a glimpse of vibrancy radiating from his cheeks. The heat that is
usually emanating from his body was hardly there as well and the heart monitor became
increasingly slow. I grabbed hold of his hand tighter and heard a horrible crunching sound
and shear pain washed over his face. He let out a howl of some sort and I immediately
undid my grasp, feeling terribly about what had just occurred. His heart started racing and
I could bet it was because of the pain he felt, a pain that I was beginning to feel in my
hand as well. I tried to call for help but again, nothing could release my mouth. He took in
a deep breath and gazed back into my eyes. He had this look on his face as if he was
content, and he reminded me of Billy again. Then Jacob spoke. “Don’t worry about me
Ness, we all know I can’t live forever anyway.”

As he said this, ghostly figures of all of the humans I had ever known came approaching
in the room and toward his bed. They all reached their hands out. I wanted nothing to do
than scream for help and shout “No! Don’t take him away!” But nothing would surface. I
was mute. As the shadowy glowing figures approached his bed, Jacob looked at me. “I
love you, Ness. I’ll watch over you.” He smiled and then his heart monitor cut out and
created the loudest and longest beep sound I had ever heard. I witnessed his spirit lift up
and he joined all of my other loved ones. He waved back at me once more and retreated
into the light with the rest of them.

In that moment I awoke with the most terrible ringing sound in my ears, I had tears
streaked down my face and I was sweating profusely. I was convulsing with sharp pains in
the center of my chest. In that instant, my mother rushed into my room.

“Renesmee? Are you okay?” She asked hurriedly as she sat by my side.

“N-no,” I sobbed. “I-I had a really bad nightmare.” I threw my head on her shoulder and
she hugged me close.

“Do you want to talk about it honey?” She rubbed my hair and wiped my tears away. The
temperature of her hand was slightly colder than mine and it was comforting.

“Jacob,” was all I choked out. “Left. Forever.” I began sobbing again. Feeling that I could
not describe this through words, I took my mother’s face between my hands and I
delicately pressed them against her head. I spoke to her through my gift and let her see
everything. When I was done I dropped my hands into my lap and looked down. My
mother’s face was solemn and she appeared to be just as sad as I was. If she could cry, I
am sure she would have in that moment. I allowed myself to calm down for this was just a
nightmare. It did make me think about a lot of things though – Jacob was mortal and just
like his father Billy, he would be in a similar position indefinitely. There was no turning
him into a vampire for the venom would simply kill him. Yes, with his shifting and
phasing, he would stay younger longer than most humans, but eventually that time would
come to an end. It was not so much that I was afraid of him becoming old and frail, I was
afraid of simply losing him. The pang I felt deep within, the aching pain was terrible, felt
like it was tearing my insides apart. I had just begun to express my intense feelings for
him and he was doing the same. I began to put everything into perspective. Jacob could
not be with me forever. He eventually would have to move on. I would have to move on
when he left this world. Should I put myself through this agony? Knowing how I felt right
now with the realization of this dream only made me question what I was doing. Should I
protect myself? Should I just remain sisterly with Jacob in an effort to not cause myself
this pain? This pain which I am sure could be much worse if time continued as it had been
these past few days? These past few glorious days, which had been some of the happiest
of my life? Was this form of thinking entirely selfish? I had so many thoughts running
through my head in this instant and I did not even know how to talk about it. I all but
forgot that my mother was sitting with me, her arms locked around my shoulders, rocking
me slowly back and forth in an effort to comfort me.

“Is there anything I can get for you honey?” She asked softly, her voice ringing like a bell.

”No,” I sobbed. “I don’t think there is.”

“I kind of know how you feel, in a way. Although, my situation was reversed of course. If
you ever need to talk to anyone, do not hesitate to come to me, or your father for that
matter. He could probably relate differently than I. We love you and want only what is best
for you.” She kissed me on the forehead and held me tightly. I eventually fell into a deep
dreamless sleep, all the while, wrapped in her embrace.

Chapter 5 – Decisions

The following morning I awoke still wrapped up in my mother’s arms. I heard a light
patter of rain hitting my windows, and could hear a light breeze rustling through the trees.
I blinked my eyes a few times, but they were rather blurry from the crying I had done the
previous evening. I felt my mother’s cool touch smoothly caress my forehead, and felt her
fingers trail through my tousled bronzed hair. She did not speak or make a sound, but did
what she felt would be most comforting to me. I was glad she did that for I was not in the
mood to speak to anyone, really. I felt heartbroken inside for, in my dreamless sleep, I had
come to a conclusion. Although it would be difficult, I would try to eradicate my feelings
for Jacob and try to make things how they were. Moving away at this time seemed almost
like a good thing for the both of us; I would save Jacob from having to decide between his
father and me. I would be miserable now for the benefit of Jacob and for Billy. Besides, he
deserves to find someone who he can grow old with, and who he can die with and move
on to the next life with, or whatever that remains for the mortals which walk upon this
Earth. I did not know what to do with myself, so I remained curled up in my mother’s cool
embrace and appreciated the silence which filled the room, for it gave me time to think
and analyze my decision. I would deal with the heartbreak, which I would need to conceal.
I had to make it seem to Jacob that this is what I wanted because with him imprinting on
me, his main goal is to make me happy. If I can make him believe that what I truly want is
for us to remain friends, then he will have to grant me that freedom. Yes, I am sure that it
will hurt him too but I know he is strong, and I know that he will be able to get through it.
I just hope that I can say the same for myself.

“I’m going to take a shower…” I moaned groggily.

My Mom simply nodded her head, hugged me tightly and swiftly waltzed out of my room.
I proceeded to the shower and soaked up the heat which it lent my body. ‘I have to stay
strong,’ is something that I continually spoke to myself all the while trying to relax,
although relaxation never came to the rescue.

After my shower, I wrapped myself up in my white terry cloth robe and headed back to
my bed. Due to the fact that physical things were not taking my internal discomfort away,
I decided to delve into my book and get swept away within it. I was disappointed however
with my choice. I continued reading the book which I had began the other night, Married
At Last, only to find that the main character was widowed. What a way to get away from
the thoughts that had been trailing through my mind ever since that dreadful dream which
had occurred. Jacob will die eventually – every human that I currently know will die
eventually – and the realization of this has had me absolutely terrified. In that moment, I
decided that I needed to talk with my father.

I found him sitting behind his piano, playing a beautiful melody and came to realize that it
was the song he had written for me. It was light and airy, and utterly graceful; it had a
more quickened pace, but was still soft and elegant. He scooted over on his bench and I sat
down with him and began harmonizing on the keys.

“What’s on your mind?” He questioned as he continued playing toward the end of the
song.

“Like you don’t know,” I tried to joke but I sounded more annoyed than kidding. “Sorry,
that came out wrong.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He smirked and placed his finger on the last note and held it there.
He turned and looked toward me and measured what I was thinking.

“Ahh,” he began pondering. “Well, this is certainly a…complicated issue.” He turned

around and faced the opposite way, away from the piano. I continued to prattle on some
notes, trying to remember that tantalizing song from that dream I had had a few nights
ago, but to no avail. “You know, it is difficult to deal with letting people go, but that is the
normal occurrence of life. I always used to believe that our existence was not supposed to
be …since having you I feel differently. But that does not change the way the rest of the
world works. People die, people heal, they move on. Much easier than we can, that is
certain. Jacob is not exactly human either though…”

“Yes, but Jacob and I cannot be together right now. Billy needs him.”

“I think you are scared,” He said as he held onto his chin, looking like The Thinker
sculpture by Rodin. “If I am being honest with you, which I think you can handle.”

“Of course I’m scared!” I felt that was much the obvious. I was scared of having to let him
go, I was scared of him dying, I was scared of something happening to Billy or anyone
else for that matter.

“Renesmee,” my father began as he grabbed hold of my shoulders. He knew the turmoil

running wildly in my mind. “You did not let me finish.”

I looked back up into his eyes and tried to hold back my tears.

“Yes, of course you are scared. Loss is something everyone is afraid of. There were an
innumerable amount of times where I was afraid that your mother might die; why every
time I saw her there was a risk that she might die. Before we had you, and before she
ventured with Alice to…save me from making what could have been the biggest mistake
of my…existence…I had the same fear as you are feeling. There was, at that time, no way
I would have taken away her life and there was no way I planned to exist without her
walking among this Earth. I began to realize how selfish my thinking was. I was only
thinking about this from my perspective and never gave a thought about what may have
been going through her mind at the time.” He looked down and took a deep breath,
concentrating on what it was he was saying. “The thing is…although your mother was
mortal at one time, I did not let the fear of losing her to that very mortality veer me from
how I felt about her. She is my one true love, she always has been. If anything, I cherished
the time that I was given with her because it was better than going through my entire
existence and not finding someone like her. Even though I had intended on ending my
time when she passed on, I did not end what I shared with her simply because of my fear
of losing her.”

I sat there and thought about what he had just said in that moment. It was an insight I had
not even considered and I felt utterly selfish for thinking the way I had been for the last
day. My mode of thinking had been unselfish previously in my eyes, but I was beginning
to see that it was simply camouflage for what I was truly feeling, because I did not want to
admit to thinking so selfishly. It was not until my father told me that he would have
cherished the time with my mother rather than avoid her simply because of his fear of
losing her that I realized how utterly absurd I was taking this. The fact is that I loved
Jacob, but did I love him enough to defeat my own selfish reasoning? To deal with the
pain that would come inevitably? Of course I did. My father had a great point, to love him
and appreciate the time that I do have with him, rather than waste time dwelling on
something out of my control – time that will never be able to come back. With love comes
risk. I need to love, love much and not regret it, because that is what I know he deserves.
To take advantage of the present and not dwell on what the future will inevitably bring. I
know that down the road I would regret not taking Jacob and cherishing him for what he
actually is for me. A lost love – that would be much too tragic. And I would only be
hurting him, not just myself, in the end. Thinking of it from this point of view…from his
point of view rather than just mine…changed my idea of it all. If anything, Jacob needed
me more than anything during this time – especially if something were to happen to Billy.

“See?” My father questioned me as he let a slight smile spread across his face. He turned
back to the piano and began playing with the keys, trying to develop something new.

“Yeah…” I sighed. “I do see now, much more clearly. I need to see Jacob.”

He nodded and glanced at me. His look was endearing and he smiled. “Love you, Nessie.”

“Love you too, Daddy.”

I walked out of the room and headed back to mine. I changed into a black v-neck shirt and
jeans, ran a brush through my hair and picked up my phone. I had four missed calls and all
of them were from Jacob. “I need to talk with you, please answer your phone,” he said
impatiently on the fourth message. I have never heard him speak that way to me and I
knew that what he had to talk to me about was important. Rather than calling him back, I
made my way to La Push.

When I arrived at his house, my heartbeat quickened and I immediately became a bit
nervous. A new realization struck me – what if Jacob wanted to just remain friends for the
time being and had been having the same thoughts I had been having before? I had never
given that option a thought and this was something that was possible. I decided to push the
idea out of my mind so I took a deep breath and walked up to his front door.

It was slightly ajar, and this alarmed me. He was never so careless as to just leave the front
door open but I decided to let myself in anyway. I entered the living room and not a thing
was out of place, but I did not see Jacob right away. I walked past the living room and
opened the door that belonged to Jacob and I found him sprawled across his bed on his
stomach, with his arms and legs hanging over the edges, snoring. He did not appear to be
in the best sleep though for he had sweat dripping down his back and his hair, which was
beginning to reach his shoulders now, was slightly matted and obviously damp. I walked
over to the bed and sat by his side. I took my index finger and glided it down the center of
his back and trailed it back up to his neck. I extended my hand out full and grabbed a hold
of his shoulder then and shook him until he awoke.

“Jacob,” I began. “Hey sleepy, it’s me.”

He jumped slightly and immediately flipped over onto his back and looked at me with a
stunned look in his eyes.

“Oh, hey Ness, sorry about that.” His smile touched his eyes; something that hadn’t
occurred in the past couple of days. It was nice to see it back in place where it belonged.

I smiled back at him and tucked some of his hair that spread across his face behind his ear.

“You ok? I did not hear from you yesterday…” I trailed off.
“Yeah, sorry about that…but that is what I wanted to talk to you about…” He sat up and
wiped the sweat off of his glistening forehead. His muscles were so defined, I had a hard
time listening to what he was saying. All he was wearing was a pair of ripped up sweats,
which looked more like shorts at this point, and this made it difficult to pay attention.

“Hey, Ness…you in there?” He nudged me.

I shook myself out of my stupor and gazed into his eyes. “Sorry…” I mumbled.

“It’s ok…anyway, do you need me to start over?” He had a puzzled look in his eye.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” I blushed.

“So, while I was phased yesterday, after I left the hospital I ran around for quite a while.
When I was on my way back home, I picked up on a scent that I had never really smelled
before, but then I did remembered something. Remember on your birthday? That weird
thing we heard and smelt in the bushes?”

“Yeah, I do.” In fact, I recalled it much more clearly than I liked to admit.

“Well, that’s what I smelled. Then, when I came back here I found someone…nosing
around rather suspiciously and picked up on the scent again. As soon as this individual
realized what I was…which I found odd because the only ones who know what I am are
you guys and basically the Volturi…he darted away amazingly fast; faster than I have ever
seen anyone run. I tracked him for an entire day but to no avail. It was very odd to say the
least.”

“Well, that’s odd. I wonder who it is…I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary
really. What do you think it means?” I pondered.

“Not sure. Has Alice seen anything occurring lately?”

“Not that I am aware of. Nothing concerning the Volturi really, they have not popped up in
her mind in nearly seven years. So I doubt it’s them.”

“Hmm…well this is the weird thing about it though, Ness. He had a quickened heartbeat
just like yours.”

“But, that’s not possible. There is only Nahuel and I who are hybrids.”

“As far as we know,” Jacob stated, placing a finger over my lips. “What if there are
more?”

“Well, I have never given that a thought…but how would they know about me? And why
would they be so secretive?” I was beginning to get worried. What if someone was in fact
looking for me? “Did you get a good look at this person?”
“Not really,” Jacob began. “It was just a blur but from what I could tell he was a bit
bulkier in size and had dark hair. But that’s really all I saw. He is very quick.” He
shrugged his shoulders and relaxed. “So, they are releasing Billy from the hospital
tomorrow.” He smiled as he changed the subject. I think he sensed my alarm.

“That’s wonderful Jake,” I smiled. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into
his chest. He laid back down on his bed, still holding me in his embrace.

“Yeah, I am excited. I miss him being around here.” He rubbed my arm and kissed my
hair, which was flowing around the both of us – it had gotten rather long, past the middle
of my back now. “So, we should talk about the situation with you moving.”

“Yeah…” I trailed off. I was afraid to brooch this subject now in fear of a similar rejection
I had been contemplating on my own earlier today. “Well, we are hoping to be out of here
by the end of the week, so about four more days. We are not going to have too much
packing to do – just tidying up really.”

“Listen Nessie,” he began in a different tone than I had ever heard before. My breathing
stopped for a brief moment and my heartbeat made a few jumps. “This is difficult…” he
stated.

I took in a deep breath and was afraid to hear what he was going to say next.

“I’m just torn up with what to do right now. Billy needs me more than anything right now,
but at the same time I am not sure if I can leave you.” He took in a deep breath and sighed.

“Well, what do you have in mind?”

“I was thinking that, for the time being, I could just run up to Elma to visit with you when
I got time to and that maybe you could run up here from time to time. I know that I cannot
go long without seeing you but I also can’t leave Billy here to fend for himself
indefinitely.”

“I know, I don’t want you to feel this way Jacob.” I began thinking about how I was
feeling before. Although I wanted to take advantage of the time that I had with Jacob, I
could not stand to see him in this kind of turmoil – having to feel the need to almost
choose between myself and his father, when it was obvious that his father needed him
more than anything at the moment. What if staying with him was in fact a mistake?

“I know.” He sighed. “But I don’t want to end what we have begun to develop Ness. I love
you. I don’t think any kind of separation could actually keep us apart. I thought a lot about
it yesterday, about all of the possible options. But none of them were very feasible…
except just making it work somehow, see how things go. ”

“Yeah, I thought a lot about it yesterday as well. It kind of had me torn up inside.” I
finished as I twirled my fingers into intricate patterns along his chest. I loved the warmth
that radiated off of him and the feeling of his heartbeat underneath my fingertips. “I think I
thought a bit too much actually…” I immediately regretted telling him that for I did not
want him to worry.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He frowned as he placed his finger between my eyebrows.
I relaxed my face and made my worry line disappear.

“Not really,” I said as I felt a reminiscent pang shutter within my heart. I arched my face
up toward his and placed my hand on his chest. I rested my chin on my hand and just
stared into his eyes. All of the affliction I had been feeling earlier had completely
vanished. I placed my finger onto the tip of his nose and reached my body up and kissed
him lightly on the lips. We gazed into each other’s eyes in that moment, much like we
usually did, and we slowly moved toward one another and melded our lips together. His
right hand trailed down the length of my back and came back up to my hip where he held
it there, while his other hand took hold of my face and brought me closer to him. I
propped myself up using the hand which had been placed on his chest and kissed him back
fiercely. We each broke away from the kiss but he continued to hold my face to his and we
let just our foreheads touch. We allowed our breathing to slow and we each moved our
eyes toward one another while our heads remained attached.

“Everything will be ok.” He told me reassuringly barely above a whisper.

“I know,” I replied all the while thinking that everything would be ok for now, not forever.

Chapter 6 – Home Sweet Home

The rest of the week went by much like a blur, so much so that I have a difficult time
recollecting what had occurred and in the appropriate order. Billy returned home from the
hospital and he was doing well, considering what he had gone through. Jacob has been
keeping a close watch on him and has spent as much time as possible making sure that he
is doing well, much to the distaste of Billy. He certainly does not like to be cared for to the
extreme that Jacob has been committing. Preparing for the move was rather hectic as well;
getting new drivers licenses and other necessities, registering for school, as well as
preparing what would be our house in just twenty-four hours from now. We decided to
have a small get together with Billy, Charlie and Sue, as well as Jacob and the rest of the
wolf pack, to bid farewell for the time being. It was a sweet and simple get together – we
mostly hung around my grandparent’s house, played cards and chess, watched a baseball
game; nothing too exciting. After this week of intense craziness, it was nice to relax with
the ones who are the closest to me.

Jacob also made himself available to me this week, almost too available. Who am I
kidding, I do not think it is possible for him to be too available, but considering the
circumstances of what had occurred, it seemed like far too much. Jacob was over now as a
matter of fact, helping me pack up the rest of my belongings that I could not bear leave
behind.

Jacob and I had gone through my entire room and took things out which I wanted to bring
along with me, and let the rest stay in their place. Among the “take along” pile where: my
newest portrait of my family and I, other photographs and pieces of artwork, the letter my
mother had written to me when I was a young child, the locket which she gave me - which
no longer fit around my neck but fit superbly around my wrist - , and a few other items of
nostalgia. I scanned through my room once more to ensure that I got everything that I had
wanted. That is when it caught my eye; a shimmering gleam which reflected the rays of
the rainbow and glittered in the light that filled my room from the chandelier which hung
above. It was there, under a heap of my dirty laundry which I had neglected for far too
long, that I found another piece of nostalgia from my childhood. I rummaged through my
clothing and retrieved the thick gold chain which held an enormous diamond, cut with
beautiful precision, which even felt heavy in my strong grasp. I remember my mother
gave this to me after we made free from the Volturi. It was an obsession of mine for quite
some time. So much so that I am surprised and rather shocked that I had completely
forgotten it until this very moment.

“Woah, what is that thing?” Jacob asked with a sudden shock in his voice. “That’s got to
be worth…my goodness I have no idea.”

“Yeah, well it was initially a gift to my mother when she got married…from the Volturi.
She gave it to me to play with when I was little. You don’t remember it?” I questioned as I
turned around toward Jacob, who was sitting on my bed, and dangled it in the air toward
him. I placed the diamond gently into the palm of my hand and sat next to him.

He took hold of the necklace and gazed at it for a moment. “Not sure how I could forget
about something this…extravagant.” He chuckled to himself a bit as he continued gazing
at it. “The cut of this is super intricate. Look…even the very center of it has some sort of
twirled cluster of crystals.”

“Yeah, I guess I never really paid much attention to the details of this piece. I always just
thought of it as some shiny toy.” I said as a smile spread across my face. I smiled at the
memories that I had with this piece of jewelry. After I reminisced, I decided to get up and
place it into the box. I picked up the locket though and brought it over to Jacob.

“Will you clip this onto me please?” I asked as I gestured the locket and my wrist toward
him.

“Of course.” He stated as he flicked his hand in a “come here” fashion.

He placed the delicate locket around my wrist gently, and proceeded to kiss the top of my
hand. He took in a deep breath and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him as I sat on his lap and pushed some of his hair, which was
beginning to grow back, behind his ear.

“Well, nothing I suppose. It’s not like I am never going to see you again. I will be in Elma
as soon as I can.”
I grabbed hold of his face and had his eyes meet mine. “Jacob, you know that is the last
thing I want you to worry about. We will survive for now. I promise you. Your father
needs you more than anything now regardless of what he says.”

“I know, I know. The old man is not very appreciative though,” he sulked. “He’s always
complaining that I am doing too much and that he is just fine.” He rolled his eyes as he
placed his hands behind his head and laid his back across my bed.

I was still sitting on his lap, twirling my fingers, trying to think of what to say next. “Well,
it isn’t like I am not going to be coming back up here to visit and it isn’t like you aren’t
going to come and visit. I’m not worrying about our situation so don’t you.”

He continued gazing up at the ceiling. He lifted himself up partially and propped himself
up on his forearms. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll try not to worry.” He smiled, and I was happy
for that.

I yawned; the day had completely drained me. I rubbed my eyes and then felt a warm hand
travel along my back. When I opened my eyes again Jacob’s face was right next to mine. I
placed my forehead against his and gazed down. He grabbed hold of my chin with his
pointer finger and thumb, and lifted my gaze back to his. He planted a soft warm kiss onto
my lips, and then my forehead.

“I’ll let you get some sleep.” He whispered softly. “I’ll come by tomorrow before you
leave.”

‘Ok,” I whispered back.

He tucked me into my bed and kissed me one last time. He caressed my head with his
large hand and held it at my cheek. He simply gazed down at me and said in the softest
voice “Sleep tight.” He turned around and retreated toward my window.

Before he slipped it open I called out to him. “Jacob, I love you.”

In the darkness of my room I could see a glint in his eyes, and then a slow white smile
spread across his face. “Love you too, Nessie.”

The morning came much too quickly. I arose to a gunmetal gray sky and a cloudy mist
hovering over my windows. The sun was slowly peaking over the horizon, which told me
that it was still very early. I hurriedly hopped out of bed – still in my pajamas and shoeless
– and dashed out of my room and continued out my front door with barely a “Be back
later!” announcement to my parents. My dad could read my mind, so he knew what I was
up to. I darted to the beaches of La Push – the run was invigorating – and I was there
before the sun could come up even halfway above the forest facing the west. I walked
right up to the edge of the beach and felt the water spray across my face, breathed in
deeply the salty smell of the sea, felt the sand under my toes and I found myself shiver
when I felt an unexpected warm hand rub against my shoulders.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” A husky deep voice whispered into my ear.

I turned abruptly to see Jacob standing behind me with a big grin on his face.

“Turn back around; I don’t want you to miss this.” He finished as he grazed his lips along
the back of my neck and toward my shoulder. Jacob left his large hands resting on either
of my shoulders and he bent down low enough to place his chin on my left shoulder.
Together, we gazed out at the moon which still hung visibly in the sky. As we watched the
last stars disappear and the moon fade into the sunlight, I took note of the entire
atmosphere – every minute detail – down to the dark rusty brown color of the sand, and
the beams of sunlight which began to reflect off of them and onto my skin. The colors
which were created by this moon set and sun rise were unlike any other I had seen. It had
the usual lavender, browns and sea foam green, but there was more. Periwinkle blue, deep
burnt orange, and even a garnet color – much more saturated than the normal – and it was
absolutely breath taking.

“I’m going to miss this…” I sighed. “I suppose the beach is really not that far from Elma
if I wanted to go and do this on some mornings, but it just would not be the same.”

“I know,” Jacob began. “It’ll be ok though…you will come and visit.” He kissed the top of
my head and rubbed up and down, the length of my arms.

I turned around and gazed up at Jacob. He only gazed for a second before he grabbed hold
of my face and crushed his lips into mine. This kiss was different than others – it was more
aggressive, filled with sorrowful emotion, and seemingly never ending. The emotions he
exhibited were so strong that I began to reciprocate them; the need for him to always be
there for me grew stronger and I did not want to let go. I jumped off of the ground so that
our faces met, and he held me in that position with one arm and moved the other up
through my tousled hair. My hands were moving wildly around his face and through his
velvety tresses, and my kisses were just as aggressive as his. He began to move his way
down along my jaw line and down the left side of my neck. I arched my head back and he
continued down toward my collar bone where he grazed his lips along them, from the left
to the right, and then he found his way back to my lips. The kiss now became more tender
and loving, than erratic and sensuous. While continuing to kiss me, he placed me back
down on the ground and slowly moved his hands up my exposed arms and cupped them
around my neck. He lightly grazed my face with his thumbs and moved his fingers into
my hair. Suddenly, he moved his lips from mine and controlled his breathing. Much like
we always did, we placed our foreheads together.

“I love you Renesmee.” Jacob stated as he lifted his head from mine.

“I love you too Jacob, more than you know.” I replied as I also lifted my head and gazed
into his deep brown eyes. They were still filled with that sorrowful emotion and this
saddened me more.

“I had better take you home now…” he trailed off as he grabbed hold of my hand.

I did not object, I knew I had to be back soon for we were moving today. Together, we ran
through the woods at a slower pace than normal, and took in our surroundings as well as
the fact that we were next to one another. We would have to cherish this small amount of
time that we had right now, for we did not know exactly when we would get to see one
another again. It would be soon though, whether he came there or I traveled back here.

When I arrived home, I found my parents waiting outside by the car, loading the last of my
things into the trunk.

“We’re just about ready, Ness.” My father said as he headed back into the house to check
and make sure we had everything.

My mother came over to where Jacob and I stood. She grabbed Jacob and gave him a huge
hug. “I’m sure I will see you soon.” She smiled up at him and patted my back. “Just a few
more minutes honey, ok?”

I simply nodded my head toward her and watched her descend toward the house.

Jacob grabbed hold of my wrist gently, and delicately moved my locket over and opened it
up. From his pocket he withdrew a small photo of him and me and proceeded to place it
into the empty slot on the other side of the portrait of my parents. My heart skipped a beat
for I began to feel the distance beginning. I buried my face into his chest and fought back
the tears that wanted to betray me. I fought and won though, and I subsided them for the
time being. I knew that this was not good bye forever.

“I will come and see you for a couple of days, maybe this weekend. I promise.” Jacob
whispered to me. He kissed my forehead and caressed my cheek with his warm rough
hands. The difference of texture felt soothing to me. I let a slight smile spread across my
lips.

“What about Billy?” I questioned, suddenly wary of him being left alone for any extended
amount of time.

“Don’t you worry about that. I have got it all taken care of, I promise you.” Jacob
reassured me as he enveloped me in a warm embrace. “You need to go and get dressed
before you get going Nessie.”

“Wait for me?” I asked, still fighting back the tears that wanted to well up in my eyes.

“Of course,” he simply replied.

I darted to my room and slipped on my clothes and ran back out as fast as I could. By the
time I got out there, my parents were saying their last goodbyes, for the time being, to
Jacob. They glanced at me, smiled lightly and headed to their car.

I ran over to Jacob and jumped onto him. He immediately grabbed hold of my body and
squeezed me tight. He gave me a tender kiss on the lips.

“I’ll see you in a few days, I’ll be counting down the seconds until then.” He placed me
back down on the ground and gazed into my eyes.
“As will I,” I replied. I steadied myself on my tiptoes and he bent down to meet me for
one last kiss.

“I love you,” we declared in unison. I looked back into his eyes one last time, knowing
that it would not be the last, and headed toward my car.

Jacob stayed and waited until he could no longer see our cars and I kept an eye on him in
my rearview mirror for as long as distance allowed me to.

The drive to Elma was not bad, a little long perhaps, but not terribly so. As I was driving,
the realization of school struck me with brunt force; I was beginning to feel nervous. I
knew that some of my family, and even my parents, would be in attendance with me but
the idea of the institution had me a little baffled. I decided to put the thought out of my
mind because it was inevitable really. I decided to pay close attention to my surroundings
as well as my father who was driving erratically in front of me. I had never noticed how
crazy of a driver he was and it made me chuckle and subsided my nervousness.

The Welcome to the City of Elma sign let me know that we had made it to our destination.
It is a sweet small town and is a bit larger than Forks. It is also conveniently located
between Olympia and the beach – approximately a half hour drive either way, but more
like a 10 minute run.

The dirt road drive way that led to our new house was just as – if not more – swirly than
the one which we had in Forks; it led us through what seemed like the wilderness, a
continuous canopy of old large trees with ivy crawling up their height. Then there was a
large clearing at the end of the drive. Placed in the center of this sprawling green field was
a gorgeous house – a circa 1920 three story mini mansion that was completely out of
place, and it was painted a faded periwinkle blue. The paint was chipped and cracking
along the entire exterior and beneath it, you could see the original wood siding. The
windows were all original as well, and even from my car I could make out the detail of
each of them. They were stained glass and they embodied complimenting colors to the
pale blue – pale yellow, some slight burnt orange and lavender. The colors reminded me of
the beach back at La Push. There was also a wraparound porch which graced each of the
levels, and there appeared to be some sort of a deck off of the west end of the house from
the second level. I had to admit that this house was breathtaking; seeing it in person made
the move seem a bit more bearable.

I walked up to the front double doors with my parents who were just two steps ahead of
me. I was in awe of this house – if it were up to me, I wouldn’t change a thing about the
exterior. The wear and tear it had gave it charm and a personality almost; it was very
welcoming. When we walked in, the house was even more grand – vaulted ceilings and
cherry wood floors, a sunken in living room and an immaculate winding stair case which
was adorned with gorgeous wood detailing. Right now, all of the walls were a pale yellow
with dark wood accents and doors. I made my way through the living room and found the
kitchen, which was slightly updated but still had much original charm. I continued my
way through and found the dining room, which was similar to the one back in Forks – it
was very long and was lined with many more gorgeous stained glass windows.
I made my way trough and found an elevator – I was shocked about this finding, not only
because of what it was but because of what it looked like. It was golden, a bit tarnished
but still lovely, and had much intricate detailing. I placed myself into the small device and
headed up the two stories to the very top – I could have run up the stairs faster though.
The third floor west end bedroom was designated to me. I headed down the hallway and
passed two doors on either side of me. I approached my door and turned the antique
crystal knob and walked into my room and was immediately awestruck. It was absolutely
gorgeous in the state that it was in. There was an intricately designed ceiling tile that
covered all of the way through the closet and into my bathroom. The floors were the same
cherry wood, and the walls were painted in a dainty light pink which was crackling in
some places. There were even lace draperies which adorned all of the windows, and it
gave the room a very elegant feel. Esme already assembled my bed. It was of wrought iron
and painted white – although some of the paint was chipping. It had golden accents and
was queen sized. Atop the mattress was a beautiful plush yellow gold bed spread with a
filigree pattern embellishing it. There had to have been about 15 pillows total on my bed –
including accent pillows – and it immediately called to me. I hurriedly jump and sprang
onto the bed and took in a deep breath. My room smelled of cinnamon and vanilla; two of
my favorite scents. I decided to close my eyes and relax my body to rest for a short while.

When I awoke from my dreamless sleep, I could not tell what time of day it was, or if I
was even awaking in the same day that I had fallen asleep. I gazed outside to my left and
took notice of the sky. There was a light rain falling and the color of the sky was gunmetal
gray – indicating that it could either be later in the evening, or really early in the morning.
I noted that my things were in place all around my room. Apparently, my family had been
putting things away around the house. I decided to hop out of bed and walked over to my
closet where I found it completely stocked with both new and old items. I picked out my
favorite jeans and a black v-neck long sleeved shirt and headed for my shower.

“Nessie?” I could hear my mother call my name through the curtain and rushing sound of
the water leaving the head of the shower.

I turned the squeaky knob and placed my towel around my soaking wet body.

“Yes?” I asked her as I walked into my room.

“It’s getting close to 7:00 and we need to get to the school by 7:20 so hurry up.” She
turned on one heal and waltzed out of the room allowing me some privacy to finish getting
ready.

I gulped and took in a deep breath. I had slept most of the day yesterday and all night then
– how odd. I sighed and began getting ready full speed ahead. I had my hair brushed,
clothes on and teeth brushed within two minutes and bolted downstairs. It was decorated
beautifully but I felt as though I did not have much time to ogle over it all. I went to
kitchen and ate a small bowl of cereal and drank a glass of orange juice.

“Ready to go?” Alice flitted down the stairs; her hair was sleeker than the normal disarray
of spikes. Instead, her hair was slightly tousled and was placed in messy pin curls which
framed her flawless face. She noticed me eyeing her new look. “You like it? I got tired of
my old hairstyle and wanted to change it up a bit.” She took her hand and patted her own
head. She walked over to the kitchen table and picked up her belongings.

“Yeah, it’s really cute.” I said as I hurriedly and clumsily picked up my bowl. The spoon
fell out but Alice grabbed it before it could touch the floor. I placed it in the sink and
picked up my notebook and slid my jacket on. It had started raining.

We met my parents out in the car but I noticed that some people were missing. “Where are
Rosalie and Emmett?” I questioned. I had noticed that I did not even see them this
morning, or yesterday for that matter.

“They decided to forego along with Jasper,” my father began as he gazed at me from his
rearview mirror. “After some consideration, they felt it would be best to lay low because
of how many of us are going to be in attendance.” A slight smile spread across his face.

“Oh,” was all I could think to remark for I was slightly disappointed. In that instant, I had
wished Jasper were there to help calm me down. I played off my feelings and thoughts to
at least Bella and Alice – my father knew what was going on inside of me.

“Don’t worry about it Nessie, you’re prepared.” He gazed up at me again as we began to

retreat out of our driveway. He picked up on speed faster and faster around every bend and
span out onto the main road. “By the way,” he started. “I need to fill you in about our
names Nessie. You and your mother will be taking her maiden name, Swan, in order to
remain conspicuous…you two look like you are actually sisters so it should work out well.
Just remember you guys are sisters.” I simply nodded, still nervous but still able to take
instruction. Soon enough, we pulled into the student parking lot and found a spot at the
very back. Our car caught the attention of every mingling student that was there, some
jaws dropping open; so much for trying to fit in.

I slowly got out of the car and adjusted my binder in my grasp and the jacket on my back.
The rain had subsided for now and I quickly looked at my hair in the window of the car to
make sure it was not a total mess. Luckily it was not, it looked good enough. I took a deep
breath and followed behind Alice, Bella and Edward as we made our way to the front
office to pick up our schedules.

Elma High School Home of the Eagles was printed in bold yellow letters on the double
glass doors. The brick facing along the outside of the school definitely gave it the feel of
an institution, but the campus was nice enough – better than anticipated really. Edward
opened up the left hand door and allowed Bella, Alice and I to walk in before him. The
inside of the office was generic and slightly outdated. The walls were a peach color with a
pale blue chair rail and old navy blue carpet that was worn out in spots covered the floor.
The desks were all wooden and there was a large wheezing computer situated atop the
main desk. An elderly woman wearing a flower printed dress, which was a little
outrageous especially for school, stood up and flattened out the wrinkles that were put in
place by sitting. Her nameplate read Ms. Gertrude; very appropriate.
“Good morning,” said as she adjusted her cat eye glasses and began to speak in a squeaky
shaky little voice. “You all must be the…Cullens and the Swans?” She smiled as she
gazed down at her papers which were in organized disarray on her desk. She used her
fingers to file out the schedules and called out our first names and distributed them one by
one. “Here are some maps for you to follow as well and make sure you get your teachers
to sign off.” We each grabbed one and I made a quick glance over to Bella who had a
funny look on her face. I smiled to myself.

“Thanks a lot,” Edward said as he flashed her a brilliant smile “Have a wonderful day.”
The little old lady stammered slightly before replying and wishing us all a good first day
here at Elma High School. Bella lightly slapped his arm and whispered not to do that in a
harsh tone. Of course only our ears and eyes could indicate that anything had escaped her
lips. He just laughed and put his arm around her shoulders. Each of us gazed at our
schedules. I was a designated sophomore; Bella, Alice and Edward were all juniors.

We split up and headed to our classes. We would see each other at lunch.
 Chapter 7 – First Day

After Alice, Edward and Bella retreated to their buildings I began walking toward the
court yard and was bound for my first class of the day; Gym. ‘Mine as well get it over
with…’ I shrugged to myself and began following the crowd that was filing in. The
semester had already begun and the girls I followed behind paid no attention to me,
thankfully. I found who I assumed was the coach. It was a woman; she had bleached out
blond curly hair that looked like it dated back to the 80’s. She wore bright pink lipstick
and an odd shade of blue on her eyes. She was wearing a turquoise, purple and pink
windbreaker jacket with pants to match, as well as a gold sequined fannypack – very
flattering. I also noticed the tan, wrinkled and leathery texture of her skin, though her eyes
gave away that she couldn’t be more than 55 years old.

“Good morning Coach Berk, I’m Renesmee uh… Swan.” I plastered a fake smile onto my
face and handed her my schedule. I had to get used to the new last name.

She grabbed it from my hands, pursed her lips and eyed me down. She raised her eyebrow
as she gazed at my schedule and signed her name to verify that I had made it to my first
class. She began chomping down on some pink bubble gum and snapped it between her
yellowing teeth. “You can go ahead and sit down for today Ms. Swan. But tomorrow,
you’re gonna have to dress out. Don’t worry about a locker today, we can figure that out
tomorrow.” Her voice was very raspy and it both sounded and smelled as though she
smoked half a pack just this morning.

“Um, thanks…” I finished not sure what else to say. I rocked back and forth on my heels
once and proceeded to walk to the wooden bleachers; I had a feeling we wouldn’t get
along very well. When the class filed out onto the floor for roll call, she introduced me to
the students. A few waved at me, smiled at me and others gawked and turned to their
neighbors to whisper. It made me feel uneasy, but I returned the wave and awkward smile.
At least she did not proceed to have me give a speech on where I came from and other
unimportant information.

While waiting for the class to end, I studied my schedule and the map and memorized
where I had to go for the rest of the day. I was looking forward to my second period,
which was English – something I always enjoyed in my spare time. I doodled on some
notebook paper and listened to the echoing sound of the basketball being dribbled by my
fellow students and the occasional squeak of sneakers on the wooden floor. I also paid
attention to my coach and she seemed rather harsh. I’d show her…The bell rang and I
zipped out of that gym as fast as I could and headed to my second class.
On my way to my next destination, I was stopped by a petite and athletic looking young
girl who I had recognized from my gym class. I noticed two of her friends standing maybe
ten feet back. I had heard them betting on who would speak to the “mysterious new girl”
first. I suppose she was the chosen one.

“Um, hi there.” She began as she flipped her blond locks over her shoulder, in a very
nasally voice. Her hair was rather thin. Her pale blue eyes were speckled with silver and
they looked me up and down. “My name is Melanie.” This time she smiled and put her
hand out. I hesitated for a moment and decided it was best to take her hand and shake it
back. She didn’t react badly to my cooler touch and this was a relief.

“Um, hi Melanie. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Renesmee.” I looked down and moved some
of my hair out of my face. The truth was, I didn’t feel up to socializing and just wanted to
get to my class before the rest of the students in hopes of avoiding an unnecessary
introduction. I tried to remain friendly and diplomatic though, which wasn’t hard.

“Wow, that’s a mouthful,” she remarked as she smiled. She seemed friendly enough
though. “What class are you headed to now?” She questioned as she turned her head back
and waved to her friends. It seemed like she was giving them the green light to approach
me; that it was safe.

“Um, I’m headed to English with Mrs. Green in building 3.” I replied looking up to make
sure I was headed in the right direction.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” she began. “We’re all headed to Spanish right now. Maybe we’ll see
you around.” She remarked. As she dashed off with her two friends, one with tight curly
brown hair that reached her shoulders and the other with long silken black hair, followed
behind her. It was apparent she was their leader of sorts. It was odd.

“Yeah, see you around.” I said as I lazily waved my hand in the air.

I walked into the warm building and headed down the hall of maroon colored lockers to
my classroom. I hung my coat up and walked up to my teacher’s desk. At the time there
were only three other students inside, to my intense pleasure, but I could hear more
beginning to pile in behind me.

“Well, good morning Ms. Swan. How do you say your first name?” She questioned as she
adjusted her glasses on the tip of her long nose. She was an elderly women and she had a
hump on the right side of her back. Her hair was white as snow, wiry as a broom and as
thin as could be. The little hair she did have was placed in a small bun on top of her head.
She looked up and smiled at me – she must have had dentures because her teeth were too
aligned and pearly white for someone of her age.

“It’s Renesmee.” I replied politely, feeling the need to speak up a little. I had a feeling that
this was going to be a common issue – not that my name was really that complicated…to
me at least. I think it just looked intimidating on paper.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. You may go and have a seat wherever.” She signed my slip
and flashed me another smile. She seemed friendly enough though, and I was optimistic
about this class. I was also relieved that she felt introductions were utterly painful and
unnecessary. I headed to the back, my place of preference, and got situated in one of the
desks. We began covering one of my least favorite stories to my dismay: to Kill a
Mockingbird. Oh well, I could get through this week, I just had to fake it and that was no
problem. I had read this book a few years ago and it bored me to tears. At least I knew it
front and back and everything that happened. I could use this period as free time for now.
Let my mind wander a bit. The bell rang unexpectedly and she quickly assigned us to
write a character analysis of our choice which was due tomorrow. I sighed and gathered
my belongings and headed out to my next destination.

The next two classes I had were mundane and my teachers droned on. Third period was
Spanish; a language my father taught me when I was only two so that was another excuse
to daydream. Fourth was an art class which I found to be fun. We were using pastels and I
really enjoyed myself, though it did become frustrating because I couldn’t complete my
project as fast as I would have if I were at home. I sighed and slowed myself down. One
good thing I discovered was that my classmates were becoming more recognizable to me
and I almost memorized all of their names, which could come in handy.

While I was finishing up my portion of my pastel drawing – it was a landscape of the

beaches at La Push – a boy came over to me and was staring at my paper over my
shoulder. I turned around with my eyebrow raised and said “Hi” to him in a confronting
manner.

“Oh hi, sorry, this is just really really good.” He shook his pale brown hair out of his face.
“I’m Mitchell, or Mitch whichever really; it’s nice to meet you. I noticed you in another
class of mine and figured I’d come and say hi.” He continued eyeing my piece, his jaw
dropping slightly. He gazed back at me and was captured by my face. It made me feel
slightly uncomfortable.

“It’s nice to meet you Mitch.” I smiled up at him. He had golden brown eyes and slightly
tan skin. His smile was glaringly white – something I hadn’t anticipated. He had a boyish
charm and smiled back. He began to make some small talk with me. He asked me where I
came from, how old I was – even what my favorite color was. I gave him one answered
replies and little to go on so he eventually gave up on the small talk. “So uh…where are
you headed to now?”

“Oh, um lunch right now. You?” I questioned as I rolled up my paper. I didn’t want him to
think that he was annoying me…that much. I was just in no mood to talk for some reason.
I didn’t try to justify that to myself though. I think everyone should be entitled to a few
antisocial days.

“Yeah that’s where I’m headed. You can sit with me and my friends if you’d like.” He
offered nicely but I hesitated.

“Um, maybe some other time. I wanted to catch up with my sister.” I smiled at him to let
him know that I had a prior obligation set aside for the lunch hour and that I was not
intending on rejecting him. Truth was, if I was here without my family, I probably would
have accepted the invitation. He seemed friendly enough.

“Oh, that’s no problem,” he replied politely. “Maybe next time.” He smiled at me one last
time before I darted out of the classroom and toward the lunch room. He continued to
gather up his supplies to put away.

I took a small detour on the way to the lunch room, and read a few of the bulletin boards. I
didn’t want to be the first from my family to make it there. When I walked in I quickly
assessed the utter chaos which was the lunch room. I peered around until I saw Edward,
Bella and Alice seated at a table toward the back end of the room. As I walked on over, I
passed the table that Mitch was seated at and positioned next to him was Melanie and her
crew, which were probably two of the only people in my grade whose names had evaded
me. They smiled and waved and I reciprocated. I made it to my table and sat my things
down, and noted that my dad had a bothered look on his face and Bella and Alice were
laughing about something that I apparently missed.

“What’s going on?” I questioned as I sat down. I grabbed the chocolate milk Edward had
on his plate and drank it. I didn’t feel like going into the line to get my own, besides it
isn’t like he was going to drink it.

“Oh nothing,” Alice began. “Edward is just pissed because too many guys keep having
thoughts about you and Bella. It’s utterly hilarious.” Alice slapped his arm gently and he
glared up at her. “You gotta cool it down…you know they can’t help it really.” Alice had a
crooked smile on her face.

“Besides Edward,” Bella began. “I’m sure some girls here have been having some
distracting thoughts about you as well. Just get over it. You know I’m yours and only
yours so let their minds wander.” She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and
ran her fingers through his hair.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He said as he rolled the apple over on his tray. He put his arm
over my mother’s shoulders and smiled at her. “It’s easier to say that for you…but not so
much for Ness…” He twirled some of my mom’s hair between his fingers and gazed back
in my direction. “How’s your day going anyway?”

“Pretty good. I really like my art class.” I replied trying to sound optimistic. Honestly, my
classes for the most part were less than stimulating. He heard that.

“Yeah, they really aren’t but…well, you know.” He smiled at me understanding exactly
how I felt. He had warned me about the school environment and how boring it could get.
“Anyone interesting in your classes?”

“No, not really. Just ordinary people, doing pretty much exactly as you said they would.”
My eyes widened in slight disappointment and I let out a sigh. “Everything ok with…you
know…” I suggested. I noticed how people were gawking and throwing whispers to one
another but I wanted to make sure that there weren’t any suspicions about us. Edward
simply shook his head no. “Not yet at least,” he added as he peered around the lunch
room. The volume was beginning to escalate and the principal blew his whistle to calm
everyone down a notch.

I continued picking food off of Edward’s plate before much of it had disappeared. “How is
that?” Bella asked me as I took a small bite out of the chicken sandwich. She eyed it
curiously and raised an eyebrow in disgusted suspicion.

“Well, I’ve had better…I guess you can’t expect much from a school right?”

“Yeah, that’s true.” She whipped off the look that had developed across her face and
proceeded to talk to me about how her day had been going. Turns out that Bella and
Edward have four of seven classes with one another, and Alice had almost the same
schedule as Bella, with the exception of gym and English. The three of them seemed to be
enjoying themselves so I decided to try and do the same.

The bell rang and I got up from the table. “Gotta head on over to geometry now. I’ll see
you guys after school.” I rolled my eyes and put my binder in my grasp and headed for the
door. “See you later,” Alice winked at me. I wondered what that was about.

The rest of the day was rather mundane and monotonous. It was filled with curious by-
standers, gawkers and whispers – which I could hear but chose to ignore even though all
of them were not necessarily negative. Not many other people were brave enough to
approach me. Their senses must be intact for I was still a slight danger to them. The
routine of it all was already beginning to set in and I couldn’t wait for the final bell to ring
so I could evade from said actions. At least I knew this would begin to fade eventually as
we became old news - this was sure to go away hopefully, once everyone got used to us.
Though, I was beginning to realize that my family wasn’t the kind you got used to. It
began raining as soon as the bell rang. I placed my hood on and headed out toward the
office to hand in my schedule.

When I walked in, I saw Alice handing in her slip to the receptionist. I quickly followed
behind her and placed mine on the desk and flashed a slight smile to the little old woman.
She fidgeted with her glasses. “Did you ladies enjoy yourselves today?” She stapled some
papers to our schedules and filed them away in the desk.

“Yes, it was very pleasant.” Alice answered for both of us. “Have a nice day.”

I walked with Alice toward the car and we remained in silence most of the way. I was in a
very anti-social mood for some reason – perhaps it was the atmosphere of this boring
institution that I was condemned to for an indefinite amount of time. The expected
bystanders which filled the outdoor halls, and eventually the student parking lot as well,
were staring and gawking unsurprisingly. Once we left the cover of the awning that
protected us from the rain fall, Alice opened up her blood red umbrella in one swift
movement. This action, however, only brought more attention to us.

“That boy is going to come up to you Nessie.” She hurriedly whispered to me as she
twirled the handle of the umbrella in her hands. She fixated her gaze on the figure of a boy
with light brown hair. It was Mitch. “I can’t wait to see how Edward will react to this.”
She placed emphasis on the word “this” pertaining that this was sure to be a source of
entertainment for her. If she could tap her finger tips together menacingly, she would have
done so. She had a gleam of humor in her eye and a slight crooked smile had developed
across her elfin face.

“Thanks for the heads up…” I mumbled under my breath. I wondered what this boy
wanted, but I figured he was just trying to be friendly. He almost seemed like the overly
friendly type, really. Edward and my mother were already in the car. I reached for the
handle, noticing that Mitch had not approached me yet. As I tried to escape the
unnecessary social situation with him, I heard someone calling my name from about ten
feet behind me. I just wanted to go home at this point. I shut my eyes hard and took in a
deep breath. When I opened my eyes and glanced at Edward, I noticed he had an enraged
look on his face and I simply rolled my eyes at him for I was the one who had to deal with
this. I turned around and met him half way, afraid of what could occur if he came too close
to my car. Though, I doubt the distance – 5 feet from where my father sat – would have
done him any good if Edward decided to ream him.

“Renesmee…” Mitch had been walking, almost running, at a fast pace and was slightly
out of breath. It was odd because he did not embody someone who could be that out of
shape – he hadn’t been walking like that for more than thirty seconds. I shook the thought
out of my mind and tried to be diplomatic.

“Hey,” he began. He was holding a familiar red folder in his grasp. “You left this in art
class and I wanted to get it back to you before tomorrow.”

This simple act of kindliness took me by surprise. I had been expected to be simply
annoyed by some sort of human discussion he wanted to have with me. I kind of felt bad.

“Oh, thanks. I had no idea I left it behind. Must not have been paying attention.” I smiled
at him cordially. His light brown green speckled eyes shimmered back at me.

“No problem. So, I was wondering…” he shifted his weight onto his left foot and adjusted
his backpack. “Homecoming is right around the corner and I know you are new. Would
you like to…maybe tag along with…with me?”

I was taken by surprise, unfortunately and was now no longer feeling guilty. This is not
where I wanted this conversation to go. I looked around warily and I think he sensed my
change of attitude.

“It doesn’t have to be like, a date you know. Just friends.”

“Um, well could I think about it? I’ve uh, never gone to a dance before and I am, um, kind
of hesitant.” I finished it in an almost question form. Truth was I could dance with no
problem whatsoever. I had no worries about getting a dress in time or finding someone to
do my hair. The fact was that I did not know how to react in these situations and I wasn’t
expecting to be thrown into them like this. Especially on my first day here!
His face turned down a little bit, seeming to expect some sort of rejection from me. He
was sweet and I could see being friends with him, but he really had no clue what he was
potentially getting himself into. He smiled encouragingly toward me. “No worries. Sleep
on it and I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hurried to his car and hopped in. From a distance, I
could see Melanie gazing at me with a death stare…really; if looks could kill my time
would have been up.

I hurried back to the car and hopped into the dry interior. Edward’s hands were gripped
onto the steering wheel a bit harder than what was probably good for the car. “Unless you
want to replace the steering wheel dad, I think you should loosen up your grip.” I heard
him take in a deep breath and I noticed that Bella and Alice were trying to hold in their
bouts of laughter.

“Alright, I’ll try. Sorry I just feel protective of you sweetheart. I’ll remain on my best
behavior…or I’ll try to at least.”

“His request was completely innocent. He’s just friendly. One of the only people who
approached me today.” I shrugged my shoulders, not completely sure why I was semi-
defending this boy’s actions.

The rest of the drive home was in silence. Just the sound of the rain pattering lightly on the
roof and the swish of the windshield wipers caused interruption. The melodic sounds were
rather soothing though and I immediately felt like I wanted to take a nap.

When I arrived home, I was finally able to take in the décor that had been ushered in the
previous day and night. It was gorgeous. There were large simple draperies in a taupe
color along the windows and accented the plush suede black couches in the sunken living
room. The walls remained the original color – a pale yellow – and the art work which
Esme chose to decorate with was lovely. In the center of the floor there was also a
beautiful rug, which was neutral in color but had an incredibly intricate oriental design.
On top of that was situated an antique coffee table which was stained a cherry wood. The
kitchen remained much the same as it had been yesterday with the exception of the new
kitchen table which was situated right next to the lovely bay windows which I hadn’t
really noticed before. The same drapes carried through here as well.

All of the rooms in the house looked lovely but I decided to pull myself away from the
distractions and got to work on my character analysis. I finished it in roughly ten minutes
and printed it out, and got it situated in my folder so I would not forget it tomorrow. Ugh,
tomorrow. Another day of school that I wasn’t looking forward to. I knew that I had to do
this for my family, but it was such a large chunk out of my day. It gave me a different
experience because it was not like I had all day and night to remain awake and catch up on
things. Though I enjoyed sleeping, it could be very inconvenient. I decided to head up to
my room to give Jacob a call. I missed him deeply; perhaps that was the reason for my
sudden bout of depression.

The phone rang three times – three long rings that were never ending – then he finally
answered. He sounded groggy on the phone, as if I had woke him up from a nice nap –
one I was longing for.
“Hello?”

“Hey Jake, it’s me. I hope I’m not bothering you…” I bit my lip feeling hesitant to hear
his answer for some reason.

“Ness, hey! How is everything at Elma? Oh and what kind of question is that?” He
immediately sounded wide awake to my intense pleasure.

I continued to tell him about my day and even included the part about my encounter with
Mitch. He thought it was hilarious, but he expected it. He suggested I talk to my mom
about high school boys and their unrelenting sense of determination when it comes to
females…even after facing rejection from them. Apparently that isn’t enough to push them
away. I didn’t have the lovely excuse my mother had…a crazy vampire boyfriend.
Though, I did have a werewolf of sorts.

“So, I was hoping I would be able to head up this weekend but Billy has a doctor’s
appointment so we’ll have to play it by ear. I’ll know for sure in a couple of days.”

“Oh, well that’s too bad…” I began. I was incredibly disappointed. My body ached for his
warm embrace more than anything. I missed the unusual fluttering of my heart that he
created with his touch. “I hope Billy is ok. I’ll understand though if you can’t. I would
have come up to La Push this weekend but I don’t know if I will be able to. ” The events
of this week were currently up in the air so I did not want to commit to it, though I would
do almost anything to see him soon.

Jacob and I continued speaking about our day and how much we missed each other. I
hated to admit how gushy it got at one point. I suppose that was slightly unavoidable
though. It made me smile and pulled me out of my slump slightly. Hearing his voice made
the depression a bit more bearable. Jacob ended up having to leave to make dinner for
Billy and go on patrol. Although the Cullen’s had left Forks, he had the wolf pack
constantly patrolling on the lookout knowing the danger that could exist out there in the
world.

I put my phone away and headed downstairs. Bella and Alice were getting ready to go out
for a quick hunt and I decided to join them. It had been quite a few weeks since I’d gone
hunting and my throat was starting to burn a bit. I needed to quench the thirst.

We dashed outside and headed toward the woods. The hunt was a wonderful place to put
myself into – to give into the part of me which depended solely on instinct. The sun was
beginning to set and the minimal light that was still showing through the leaves was very
green and comforting. For a small moment, I felt like I was back home in Forks. We
crossed over a river and travelled a little bit farther into the wilderness, away from human
civilization. It was breathtaking out in the woods – the colors, the ground covered in green
moss, outlined by the blackened color of the damp soil. The gray brown color of the bark
on the aged trees and the water droplets which glistened in the small amount of light
which escaped through the clouds and trees above were all heart stopping. I let my body
fall into a crouch where I stood. Alice and Bella traveled further a bit more. I heard them
in the distance begin the hunt while I did the same. Off toward the west, I heard three Elk
lapping at some water from a bubbling creek. I was about to pounce toward my prey when
an unexpected smell almost knocked the wind out of me. It was a familiar scent and it was
mouthwatering, but not in a way that I wanted to drink it. It was tantalizing yet alarming.
Then I remembered. About a month ago, at my birthday party I was outside with Jacob
when this smell alarmed me. I signaled in to see if I could identify what it was coming
from, or who it was coming from. I suddenly had a different feeling this time though.
Rather than alarm, I felt curiosity for what this could be. I concentrated hard on hearing
something and when I finally signaled in on a fluttering heartbeat and began to make my
way toward it, it completely disappeared. It was very frustrating because I wanted to know
what this thing was. I traveled a bit farther in the woods, trying to pick up the scent but
with no avail. It was almost as if this thing had control over the potency of the smell it
gave off; allowing it to escape without difficulty.

After trekking through the woods for another ten miles or so, I gave up. I couldn’t find the
smell anymore and rather than waste my time wandering, I focused on how dry and burnt
my throat felt – it ached for the warm pulsing blood from something to soothe the feeling.
I stood still in the woods for a moment, took in a deep breath and let out a sigh. I let my
hearing drift off into all directions until I pinpointed another small herd of elk resting off
in the distance. I crouched and pounced toward my prey with utter success. Although the
taste wasn’t the most appealing – I preferred larger animals like bears – it still did the job
and soothed the parched feeling of my throat. The blood slid down my throat with ease
and brought a flush of rosy warmth to my cheeks; my favorite sensation from drinking
blood. I headed back through the woods and came across Alice and Bella. I neglected to
tell them about my encounter. For some reason I wanted to protect this…this secret I had.
Though, I am not sure why I felt the need to keep it secret. I would have to work extra
hard to protect my thoughts from my father.

“Hey Ness,” Bella came toward me, hardly touching the ground with her feet as she glided
toward me. “Ready to head back?”

I smiled and simply nodded. I trailed behind Alice and Bella still concentrating on the
surrounding wilderness to see if I could pick up on anything unusual with no success.
Everything was utterly ordinary. Something I had a feeling was going to get old fast.

When we returned home, I immediately went upstairs and condemned myself to my room.
It was really the only place I wanted to be at the moment and I just wanted to be left alone.
I plopped myself on my bed and stared at the ceiling. It was a little after eight now and
that time was close enough to have sleep come and take me away for a while. I decided to
stay awake though for I felt too wound up. I went through my things and situated my room
the way I wanted it to be. There was still a small box left unopened in my closet. I
rummaged through it and took out the personal belongings like my pictures, some things
from my childhood and that dazzling diamond necklace. I hung that on the corner of my
gilded mirror that was directly across the room from my bed. I lit a few candles, plugged
my iPod in and selected my classical music playlist. I decided that I would lie down and
get some sleep now.
I suddenly found myself wandering through the forest. It was incredibly dark and even
difficult for my eyes to see. That’s when I realized my feet were not on the ground and
instead I was floating around. This gave away the simple fact that I was dreaming –
though it all felt so real to me. I could even feel the moisture churning in the air, the humid
breeze grazing my face and clinging to my hair. I pushed my way through the vines which
were hanging from the trees until I made my way to a clearing. Up above, a lightning
storm was taking place and lighting came from the sky and struck the center of this field.
An orange blinding light filled the area and that’s when I saw them on either side. There
was a large red brown wolf hunched over prowling toward the center. Directly across from
him, from Jacob, was a pale white figure with black hair and a slightly muscular frame. I
gasped and he suddenly lost his focus on Jacob and he quickly turned his face to view
mine. The face was alarming – piercing green eyes were staring at me completely
menacingly. He barred his sharp teeth in my direction and let out a low snarl. I was
completely mesmerized by this creature’s magnificent beauty and he captured my gaze.
His threatening expression softened into a serene gaze in my direction. My eyes were
locked on his and his on mine. Jacob let out an alarming howl which recaptured his
attention on his target, but my eyes did not falter. Another blast of lightning hit on the
outskirts of the clearing and created a boom so loud that my ear drums were ringing with a
slight edge of pain. Jacob and the mysterious creature, who had made himself known in
dreams of previous nights, lunged for each other. I shouted out “NO!” in fear for both of
them.

I jolted out of my sleep with sudden force. I looked around me and was not where I had
fallen asleep. I was lying on the ground in the middle of the woods – apparently I had
gotten up in the middle of night and began to sleep walk. The position of the moon, which
was hardly visible among the shelter of the forest and protection from the clouds, told me
that it was approaching 5:00 or so in the morning. I suddenly hunched into a protective
crouch because I was off guard and had no clue where I was. I relaxed my stance and took
in my surroundings. It was dark and cold outside. The moisture hung in the air so thick
and a heavy fog coated the ground. In the distance I could hear water flowing and the air
smelt dewy and sweet. It was an odd mixture. As I smelled around, I picked up my scent
and sprinted into a run all of the way back to my house. Off in the distance I heard the
rumbling of thunder and it made me jump.

I quickly reached my house, opened the front door and slammed it behind me. I rested on
the door and took in a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Esme, Rosalie and Alice
were all downstairs and looked over at me in alarm.

“Are you OK?” Alice questioned me as she got up from her place on the couch. She
placed her hand on my shoulder and gauged me with her eyes.

I was frantic, and oddly out of breath – something that never happens – and I was trying to
gather my thoughts. I was very disoriented and I probably looked insane. Rosalie and
Esme came by my side and the two of them grabbed hold of my arms and helped me glide
across the floor. They helped sit me onto the chair and stepped away, still eyeing me with
cautious eyes.
I shook my head and blinked my eyes twice and looked up at them. I took in a deep breath
and held it for a second. “I’m…fine.” I said this with an unsure tone in my voice for I
really wasn’t sure what had just occurred. “I, uh, just had a dream…” I trailed off trying to
remember it. The memory was quickly slipping away from me.

“Have you been having crazy dreams lately?” Rosalie asked me as she sat on the arm of
the chair. She patted my head and took a rather large dampened leaf from my tangled hair.

“Uh, yeah. I have been actually.”

“Well, maybe we should talk to Carlisile if they continue.” She was holding onto both of
my shoulders. Her beautiful smile was reassuring and I thought that was a good idea. If
anyone would be able to come to some sort of conclusion about this it was sure to be him.

“I’ll have to talk to him then. I think I’m going to go back up and get some sleep for
another hour or so though.” I yawned and stood myself up.

“Alright, see you in an hour or so then.” Alice said as she and Rosalie made themselves
comfortable on the couch again. Esme waltzed into her office.

I headed back up to my room and nestled myself into my comfortable bed, thankful that I
was no longer laying on damp ground and that tangled roots were no longer jabbing into
my back. I felt utterly stiff and was welcoming the relaxation when it quickly waved over
my body. I took advantage of this last hour I had to sleep before having to wake up to head
to school once more. I was not looking forward to another mundane and uneventful day
inside of those brick walls with those completely ordinary people. It was sure to be an
uneventful day at school.

The last hour I had of sleep went by much too fast. The annoying alarm sound going off
forced me up and out. I headed to the shower and surrendered my body to the heat. It felt
wonderful running along my body, further relaxing my muscles. Afterwards, I ran a brush
through my soaking wet hair, threw on some jeans and a sweatshirt and headed
downstairs. Edward, Alice and Bella were waiting by the door for me. Alice was holding
my flats in her delicate hand. “I figured you were looking for these…” she said sheepishly
as she handed them to me.

“Yes,” I began as I slipped them onto my feet. “These are the exact ones I was thinking
about.” I shrugged my jacket on, grabbed my books and followed them out of the door.

When we arrived at the school, the parking lot was strangely full. Turns out we were more
than a few minutes late but it wasn’t like it was a big deal. I wasn’t in any sort of hurry to
run to my first class. I was not looking forward to the day at all actually.

“See you guys at lunch!” Alice gracefully waltzed in the opposite direction I was headed
in. Edward put his arm around Bella’s shoulders and they each said bye to me. When I was
in the clear I began to continue walking off campus checking behind me every so often.
Alice must have been too preoccupied with something because, though I expected her to
come swishing past me and redirecting me to my class, she did not. I kept looking over my
shoulder to make sure no one was around and I darted off back into the direction of home.

I ran all of the way to my front door. When I got there, I dumped my backpack and books
on the porch and began searching for my scent from the past night. The ground was so wet
and the air so thick with humidity that much of my scent had dissipated. Just hints of it
here and there but nothing solid to really follow. I got only 30 feet away from my door and
the scent had completely vanished to my intense displeasure. I laid myself on the cold
damp ground and peered up at the lush green trees hanging above me. I shut my eyes and
took a rest.

I’m not sure how long I stayed asleep to be honest. I did not have a watch on and I had left
my phone in the side pocket of my backpack. It was still daylight, though it was
significantly later in the day. To my left, I heard a rustling in the bushes and heard the light
breathing of someone. I quickly snapped my head in the direction and heard fast footsteps
retreating; which left behind a trail of an all too familiar scent. I hurriedly and clumsily got
myself up off of the ground and darted in the same direction – I was determined to catch
up with whoever or whatever this was. I could hear footsteps about 20 feet ahead of me,
but the forest was so dense that I could hardly see more than 5 feet in front of me. The
scent remained strong so I continued following the path that was made. Whoever this was
had incredibly fast speed – almost like my dad’s – and I had a difficult time keeping up.
Just then, something silver caught my eye on one of the tree branches I was zooming by. I
came to an abrupt stop and grabbed the piece of evidence from the tree and inspected it
with intrusive eyes. It was a simple silver bracelet with a flattened piece of silver attached
in the center. On it was a simple yet elegantly scripted letter G, and a date was carved on
the opposite side. December 10, 1986. I placed it in my back pocket and looked around to
make sure no one was watching me. I continued to try and follow the scent left behind – I
was not very good at tracking though – and eventually the scent faded, lending proof that
this creature had a talent when it came to evasion. I followed until I could no longer trace
it and found myself standing in front of a wall of vines, tangled and intertwined, making
their way down to the floor of the forest. I ripped them down to provide a door to the other
side.

I walked through feeling completely shocked. It was the place of my dream – the exact
location. Instead of the cracking thunder, blinding lighting, and the exquisite creatures
standing on either side, it was empty. I walked down the small hill to the edge of the field
by the creek, and sat myself down. I took the bracelet out of my back pocket and gazed at
it. I held the delicate object between my pointer and thumb finger and tilted my head to
the side as I watched it twirl around slowly. I took in every last scratch and minor
imperfection that graced this obviously worn piece of jewelry. On the backside was
another inscription, but it was difficult to make out for it was very worn down. It looked as
though it was written in Italian too. I brought the charm closer to my eyes, inspecting it
further. All I could make out was “con ama mia figlia” which meant: with love, my
daughter. The rest was completely worn away. Who had this piece of jewelry belonged
to? Did it belong to this…thing that was continuously watching me? I took in a deep
breath. I needed to process everything. I decided to place the bracelet back in my pocket
and decided to run back home.
When I walked up to the front porch Alice and my parents were just arriving home.
Edward looked at me with stern eyes.

“Renesmee,” he began with a strong sense of authority in his voice. “Where did you go
today?” He eyed me suspiciously as I continued to pick up my backpack.

“Um,” I started but I was not sure what I wanted to say. I wanted to keep this secret safe
with me. “I decided that I did not want to go to school, that’s all. So, I came home.” It
was difficult to control my thoughts because all I wanted to do was think about…

“Think about what?” Edward said in the same demanding tone. Bella walked up beside
him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Uh, nothing really. Just uh…” I was scrambling for an excuse. “Nothing you really want
to know about.” I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed, but he kept eyeing me.
“Well Dad, if you really want to know I was thinking about Jacob.” I started at him and
left my arms folded over my chest. I tapped my foot impatiently on the ground to make it
obvious I did not want him intruding in on my thoughts. I also figured that blaming my
absence on Jacob would surely differ him. I thought about Jacob’s muscular body
enveloped around mine – a simple fantasy which never happened – just to make a point. It
obviously worked. He turned to Bella and quickly whispered something to her that even I
couldn’t make sense of. He gently kissed her forehead and headed into the house without
even glancing at me. I could tell he was angry.

Bella walked over to me and placed her arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry about
him. He’ll be fine.”

I sheepishly smiled at my mom and we walked through the door together. I decided to
head straight up to my room and place myself in solitude. I needed to think. I took the
bracelet and threw it into the middle drawer of my vanity; I would inspect it later.

Chapter 8 – Introductions

The rest of the week went by in haste; it continued just as I had anticipated it to be and I
have to say that it is rather amazing how quickly time can fly by when you are being a
productive member of society. Well, for the most part at least. Though I was going through
with the routine of going to school, I had not made any efforts to expand my unwanted
social life. My social interactions were rather limited and only consisted of those few
brave students who had actually approached me, or if it were something required from me
in any of my classes. In fact, the only person who noticed my absence the other day was
Mitch. Oh, and the death stares continued from Melanie and her gang. The truth was, I
was having a difficult time adjusting to high school and it seemed as though the student
body was having an equally difficult time adjusting to my family. Although it seems like
an utterly simple concept, getting to know people, the knowledge that they could never
actually get to know me was a complicated idea. Nothing has ever been so complex for me
before and it was entirely frustrating.

I took in a deep breath and stretched my arms high above my head. There was a small ray
of sunshine breaking through my windows that darted across my arm. It gave my skin a
pearly iridescent glow. I was looking forward to this weekend. Jacob is on the way here
right now. He was able to get Charlie and Sue to keep an eye on Billy for the weekend,
giving him free time to come and visit. It feels like it has been ages since the last time I
saw him. With this newest thought fresh in my mind, I headed for the bathroom and took a
quick shower. I brushed my teeth vigorously two times and proceeded to blow dry my hair
straight. I did anything to make the time go by just a little bit faster. I stared in the mirror
and moved every stray piece of hair into its place. I parted it on the side today – a new
look for me. I then headed to my closet and took out my white sundress and slipped it onto
my body. I matched it with a sapphire blue cardigan that had sequined detail on either side
of the buttons – it was my favorite. I continued on to the full length mirror, inspected
myself and was pleased. I felt like the old me was returning. I had been so disconnected
with everything this week and knowing that I would soon be seeing Jacob brought me
back to my reality.

I gazed at the clock. Amazingly, only thirty minutes had passed. I suppose that was a
decent amount of time to get out of the way but Jacob still had at least another hour or so
before he arrived. After twiddling my thumbs and finding pictures in my ceiling for fifteen
more minutes, I decided to head downstairs and make an appearance. I had been keeping
myself cooped up as of late and really only saw Alice and my parents on school days, and
the rest of my family in passing. As I retreated down the stairs, I could smell a wonderful
aroma and the pitter patter of feet walking around on the hardwood floors – I zoned in on
the clicking of heels and I was certain that was Rosalie. When I descended into the
kitchen, I saw her placing a large salad bowl onto the table and I found Emmett chopping
up some meat and placing it into a pan on the stove.

“Smells delicious…what’s the occasion?” I asked with a little hype in my voice. I knew it
was for Jacob and me but I felt like hearing it from someone else. That Jacob was actually
coming – some sort of validation.

“Why, it’s for you and Jacob.” Rosalie smiled as she headed back and retrieved some
plates from the china cabinet. She set them onto the table along with silverware and
beautiful burgundy napkins. She proceeded to light two candles on the table as she gazed
up and smiled at me. “You must be excited. By the way, you look gorgeous. I love your
hair like that!” She exclaimed with an overload of enthusiasm as she gently caressed my
locks. She kept her fingers intertwined in my bronze tresses and smiled at me with nothing
but endearment and love escaping her flawless face.

“Yeah, I am very excited. I feel like I haven’t seen Jacob in forever. I know it has only
been about a little more than a week, but it feels like much longer than that.” I sighed and
then took in a deep breath. “This looks beautiful. Thanks so much for doing this for me
guys.”
Emmett looked up from his project and shot me a huge smile. “Anything for you Ness!”
He flipped his spatula three times in the air, caught in behind his back and proceeded to
cook whatever it was he was preparing.

“Show off…” Rosalie muttered under her breath as she made her way into the living
room. I decided to follow.

Alice was flitting around at an impossibly fast rate straightening things up, arranging
pictures appropriately on the wall. “I want it to look perfect in here,” she said as she
zipped by me. “Jacob is going to be here within the next twenty minutes or so.” She added
as she flew past me again.

“You know Jacob doesn’t care about that stuff…” I said, trying to figure out why Alice
was being so peculiar about the interior decorations of our house.

She came to a dead stop right in front of me with a semi shocked look across her pointed
features. “Well,” she began thinking, trying to form a reply. “I want it to look nice!” She
smiled hugely and continued on. Finally, she lit a row of tea light candles which were
placed in a perfectly straight row down the dead center of our coffee table. I had to admit,
Alice knew how to throw a room together. It was breathtakingly beautiful. She plopped
herself down on the plush couch and patted the seat next to her, signaling for me to join
her. I obliged and made my way to her side and sat down, letting the cushiony suede
envelope me.

“Come and sit with me and try not to be anxious.” She flashed a bright gleaming smile my
way. Though her gift was having an eye for the future, she was particularly aware of my
moods for some reason. I think she just knew how to read me well. “He’ll be walking
through that door in about ten minutes so just sit tight.”

I took in a deep breath, smiled and looked at her. I tried to relax but it was difficult for I
was very anxious to see Jacob, nervous even. How would I say hi to him? How would he
say hi to me? What would we talk about? Surely he did not want to be bored with my less-
than-thrilling stories of high school. I did not get to speak with him much on the phone
this week, but nothing could be that different in La Push. I decided to push those feelings
away and I felt a sudden overcoming of relaxation just as I heard Jasper walk in to the
room.

“Hey Jasper,” I began. Part of me wanted to feel annoyed but I caved in under the force of
him. It was impossible to feel what you wanted to feel around him but it was still nice to
feel so relaxed.

“Excited about today?” He questioned.

I looked up at him and smiled widely. “Yes, very excited.”

“I hear something…” Alice said. Just then, I heard three knocks on the door and I
immediately jumped out of my seat, not able to control my body. I darted to the door faster
than I had moved anywhere in the past week and flung the door open.
Standing before me, looking more breathtaking than my apparent perfect memory could
give me credit for, was Jacob. His hair was newly trimmed short, he had on some dark
jeans, a white t-shirt and a worn in black leather jacket. His deep set brown eyes were
boring into mine and in that moment I froze and forgot how to breathe. How could my
memory fault me so? I finally caught my breath, and after what seemed like forever
standing in front of him, we each took a step toward one another. Jacob had the hugest
smile on his face and scooped me up off of the ground and twirled me around. “I’ve
missed you,” was all that he whispered in my ear. He continued to hold my body against
his and I breathed in the scent of him. He placed a small kiss on my forehead and placed
me back on the ground. I arched my head up and looked at him and I could do nothing but
smile. I was exuberant.

The rest of my family was standing behind me waiting to greet Jacob as well. My mother
was the first, after me, to run up to him.

“Jacob!” She threw her arms around him and squeezed him into a bear hug. Though, the
size difference between the two made Bella appear to be more the size of a rabbit than that
of a bear. Jacob was fitting for that description though. “It feels like it has been so long!”

“You – are – choking – me” he began, struggling to get each word out. Bella quickly
assessed herself and loosened her hold.

“Sorry,” she muttered as she bit her bottom lip. “How is everything?”

“Everything is going pretty well,” he began as he placed his arm around my shoulder.
“Life sure hasn’t been the same without you guys there though…” he trailed off with a
tinge of sadness doused in his voice. He glanced down at me and I looked back up to him.
Edward made his way over next.

He held his hand out to shake and Jacob grabbed hold of it and surprisingly tugged
Edward into a friendly hug. “I never thought the day would come that I would tell you that
I missed you Edward, but I have.” Jacob had a sheepish grin dashed across his perfect
face; his eyes radiating.

Edward chuckled a bit, reveling in the moment. “To be honest, I have to say the same
Jacob. I have missed you.” Now he let Jacob have his turn to relish in this unforeseen
moment. Although their relationship had grown and become special, the two of them
hadn’t truly realized the magnitude of which it had become.

After my family greeted Jacob, each of them found an excuse to head out for something in
an effort to let Jacob and I spend some time with one another. They all knew how difficult
it was for me to be separated from him – even though I was trying to put on a façade, they
could see right through it. He grabbed hold of my hand and I led him toward the kitchen in
silence. We looked at one another and simply smiled – but nothing more.

We each took our seats which were right across from one another. I was facing the
window which framed the gorgeous landscape that was my backyard – though it was just a
backdrop when Jacob sat in front of it. A few gray colored clouds made their positions in
the sky, but it was not completely overcast. The sun which still remained in the sky shone
through the window and glinted in Jacobs black hair. He shot me his radiant and
breathtaking smile. I took in a deep breath, sighed and tilted my head to the side. Some of
my hair draped over my shoulder. Jacob reached his hand across the table and placed my
loose locks behind my ear to prevent my hair from touching my food. He kept his hand
cupped on my face and slightly smiled at me. His eyes read into something more than just
happiness or comfort. Need. He looked at me so intensely that I had forgotten how to
breathe again – thank goodness I could survive without breathing indefinitely. He leaned
in and pressed his lips against mine. I stood up out of my chair and leaned across the table
– pushing him back slightly so he did not have to stretch as far. I continued kissing him
and I could hear our hearts racing and our breathing quicken. He pulled gently away from
me and smiled his smile that I missed this past week.

We each sat back in our seats and began eating our food in silence. Suddenly, he cleared
his throat and took a sip of his water. “This is really good,” he mused as he looked at his
empty plate and patted his belly. He glanced back up at me. “Is there anymore?”

I finished chewing and swallowed quickly. “Um, I think there may be some left in the
pan.” I turned and pointed toward the stove which still had the pan I saw Emmett cooking
in earlier sitting on top of it. Jacob swiftly got up from his chair and headed in the
direction I pointed. He dished out some more food onto his plate and sat next to me this
time. “I’d rather be next to you than across from you. I like feeling you next to me,” his
voice became a whisper. “I miss feeling you by me. I think that has been the hardest.”

He scooted his chair as close to mine as it could possibly get. I could not get over the
sadness that filled his normally angelic voice. It was almost too much for me to bear. I
took in a deep breath. “I feel the same way,” I replied as I rested my head against his chest.
He wrapped his arm around me. The truth was, feeling him next to me was not the only
thing that I missed. I missed every single insignificant thing about being with Jacob. Not
that anything was actually insignificant – what I mean is the small things; the tiny upbeat
in my heart, the flush of life in my cheeks, the smell of his skin and the silky velvety
feeling of his hair. I missed it all.

We finished our dinner without much conversation. I simply felt relaxed that he was with
me and it did not feel as though conversation was necessary. The sun was still in the sky. I
took Jacob’s hand and led him outside.

“Where are you headed?” Jacob asked with a slightly puzzled undertone relevant in his
voice. I understood his confusion – I grabbed hold of him and led him through the woods
to the place in my dream.

“Um,” I began trying to form a response. “Well, I’m taking you somewhere…it’s a
surprise.” I looked around me. A misty haze was taking form just above the branches of
the trees which surrounded us. The ground was very damp and sloshy in certain places.
Off in the distance I could hear the sound of a babbling creek and the light roar of a small
waterfall.
Jacob remained by my side, his hand intertwined with mine. We pushed through a few
more trees and came to an opened door of sorts – the vines which I had torn down still
remained scattered on the ground – which led to the destination from my dreams. Words
could not describe the beauty which lay hidden amongst the forest and I hadn’t really
noticed it until Jacob was here with me. We came out of the trees to find ourselves on a
slight incline. The hill beneath us was a lush green color and patches of flowers were
spread throughout. At the bottom of the small hill was the creek I could hear from before
and as I gazed northeast, I could see the mist rising from a small waterfall. I guided Jacob
to the edge of the water and gazed down. A large smile spread across Jacob’s face and I
turned my head to look at him.

“What a great find…” he mused as he looked all around him. “This place is perfect.” He
turned his gaze back to mine and planted a small kiss on my forehead.

The warmth of his lips felt amazing and I suddenly wanted more. I grabbed hold of his
face before it could get too far away and crushed my lips onto his. His entire body
surrendered to my forceful touch and we fell to the ground. He began to kiss me back
hungrily and reciprocated the fierceness that I felt radiating from within me. I had never
felt so much need in all my life. His hands were moving up and down my body and he
accidentally ripped my cardigan in half. I was moving my hands through his hair and
made sure my lips stayed locked with his, but I was too engrossed to really take notice or
care about my beloved cardigan. Unexpectedly, he began to feel stiff and was no longer
kissing me back. I lifted away and saw that his eyes were shut and it looked as though he
as having a pleasant dream. I let go of him and he opened his eyes and looked to either
side of him with an intense look on his face and then back at me. At first I felt startled
inside because his face was so alarming. He let out a small chuckle and a crooked smile
made an appearance on his face and I felt like I could breathe again in that moment.

“What?” I questioned, not really able to make sense of his expression.

“Nothing really, it’s just I’ve never seen you act like this before…” he started and I
suddenly felt insecure. Did he not want me to do this? “I uh, kinda like it.” A huge smile
erupted on his face showcasing is perfectly white and straight teeth. He grabbed my face
again and placed a gentler and tender kiss on my lips. He pulled me away and over to his
side. I left my hand wrapped around him and placed my head on his shoulder.

“Sorry…” he began. “I just, well, I don’t know.”

I was slightly puzzled with what he was saying.

“I don’t think now is the right time for that…”

Realization struck. “Oh, Jacob no! Definitely not ready for that…” I bit my bottom lip, too
embarrassed to even go further with that. “Is – is that what you thought that was all
about?” I asked with my eyebrows raised, my hand pointed in a random direction, trying
to signal back to what had just happened.
“Well, I mean…you sort of showed me…you know, with your gift and uh…yeah.” He was
trying not to smile and I suddenly felt a flush of redness move throughout my cheeks. I
couldn’t deny that the thought had never crossed my mind – particularly in that moment –
but I never would actually act on it. Not yet at least. It was much too soon. Besides, I
didn’t recall actually showing him.

When I use my gift I have to place both of my hands onto the person and concentrate on
what I wanted to show them. It put me and my subject into a trance like state where we
can’t do much of anything but stand there; it could be incapacitating but was very limited
since I had no range and was affected myself. I didn’t think it was possible for me to do
that and continue on with myself.

“Yeah…hmm I guess I didn’t notice you were still going on with uh, kissing me.” He had
a sheepish grin and turned his head toward mine.

“Well, I noticed you stopped moving and let go of you. That’s when you opened your
eyes. I have to say it was pretty bizarre.” I sat up and hugged my knees. Truthfully, I felt
kind of embarrassed. It was difficult to keep those kinds of things to myself when I was
around him and the fact that he saw one of my fantasies played out right before his eyes
made me feel incredibly exposed.

“Ness,” He sat up and placed his arm around my seemingly fragile state. He took in a deep
breath. “Ness,” his tone changed to one with reassurance, “don’t worry about it. It’s ok
that you think that – heck I’m glad that you do. I do too to be honest but I think we are
both on the same page with what I am about to say – we should wait. I want it to be as
special as possible. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s normal. Trust me.” He lifted up my chin
gently with his finger and gazed into my eyes. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed
me again.

I didn’t want to let go of him so I wrapped both of my arms around him. After I kissed him
I lowered my head onto his chest and took in a deep breath. “I miss you Jacob. I hate
being away from you.”

He patted the top of my head and kissed my hair. “You have no idea.” He whispered in an
effort to cover up the pain that flooded his voice. “It literally causes me pain to be away
from you for so long. I’m not myself without you.” He hugged me close.

Jacob and I stayed wrapped in one another’s arms until the sun completely vanished from
the sky. No words were spoken for we both felt content just to be with one another. I
suddenly began to feel droplets of water coming down from the clouds above. Jacob and I
stood up in a flash and darted back to the house to take shelter from the approaching
storm.

Although we ran fast, we didn’t get home fast enough. Water came down in buckets from
the sky and each of us was dripping wet. We burst into the still empty house laughing.
Jacob and I decided to go up to my room to get a change of clothes. I had also wanted to
show him where I spent the majority of my time. He grabbed my hand and we ascended
up the grand staircase, eyes staring at one another. Not a care in the world – just like it had
always been when we were together.

When I opened up the door to my room I turned to face Jacob. I felt Jacob go rigid and he
took in a deep breath. A growl escaped from him. It all happened in slow motion. I turned
around and saw the figure of someone rummaging through my drawers – the west facing
window was open and the white curtains where billowing in the wind. The individual
slowly turned around and glared at me and then Jacob. He was statuesque and very tall.
He had those same piercing green eyes and pointed features that donned the face of the
nameless person from my dreams. Though his stare was evil, there was something
strangely angelic about him. With his gray shirt drenched from the falling rain outside,
droplets of water glistened down from his staggered raven black hair and onto my floor. In
his hand, I caught a glimpse of something silver and shiny – the bracelet I had found in the
woods – he came for it to take it back. I knew it belonged to him but I never would have
thought that he would have come back to take it – to intrude. After he turned, he hissed
and crouched. He barred his perfect white teeth and narrowed his eyes. He swiftly turned
on one heel and darted out of the room – Jacob not being able to react fast enough ran to
the still open window and caught a glimpse of the person running away in a flash; periodic
lightning creating a spot light on the individual until he vanished into the woods behind
my house.

Jacob let out another growl. I was still standing in the doorway, too stunned to react. I did
not know how to feel about this intrusion. Part of me felt scared and the other felt relived.
I knew this was the person who had been watching me, who had dropped the bracelet in
the woods. I had always had a feeling that he would come for it but I did not think it
would be so soon. In a huff, Jacob slammed my window shut causing small fissures in the
glass and some of the wood to splinter as it sealed.

“Sorry,” his voice was filled with anger and though I knew he meant the apology, it didn’t
really sound like it.

“Its – O.K…” I said as I slowly walked into my room. I mouthed each syllable precisely
trying to gather my thoughts.

“Do you know who that was?” Jacob was angry. He pointed his hand toward the window
and took in a few deep breaths. His arm was visibly shaking.

“Jacob calm down, please. I – I don’t quite know who he is but…but. I don’t know how to
explain it.”

Jacob stomped over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. His grip was tight but I
knew I was still safe with him. He took in another deep breath. “Figure out a way to
explain Renesmee.” He spoke through his teeth.

I walked over to my bed, releasing his hold on me. I sat down and thought about how to
explain this…this connection I had with this complete stranger.
“Well, he’s sort of made appearances in my dreams. Especially as of late. It’s odd. I’ve
never seen him in person before but he is the exact person who has been in my dreams.” I
took in a deep breathe again and tried to conjure up more of an explanation. “The other
day, I skipped school completely. Ugh, I hate it there – “ I shook my head, getting myself
back on track. “Anyway, the night before I had a bizarre dream and uh, well I wanted to
find where my dream took place because I just knew it was real.”

Jacob joined me on the bed and sat down next to me. His breathing relaxed and he was no
longer trembling.

“Anyway, as I was searching for a way to get to the place in my dream, I stumbled upon
that scent again –“ He cut me off.

“The scent from your birthday? And is this place the area you took me to today?”

“Yes and yes,” I looked up at him to gauge his face and read into his emotions. “I
stumbled upon the scent again and it seemed fresh. I followed it for as long as I could and
could hear someone ahead of me but the forest is so dense that I had a hard time seeing
that far ahead. Suddenly, something caught my eye. It was a silver bracelet hanging on one
of the branches – the same bracelet he was holding and rummaging through my things for.
I became side tracked and picked up the piece jewelry and decided to save it later for
inspection. All I know about it was that it was silver, and had a lovely G inscribed on it.
The backside had a birth date engraved – December 10, 1986.”

“And did you tell anyone about this?” Jacob’s words were short and he sounded frustrated.

“N-no. I uh, wanted to kind of keep it to myself. I- I was going to tell you but not until
later.”

“Why would keep something like this from us Renesmee? Why? I mean, this thing has
been following you for months now! I have been under the impression that you were safe
here without me –“ I cut him off.

“Jacob, I am safe here. Why do you think I need your protection to be safe? Do you think
I’m not capable of – of protecting myself?”

“I think you are capable, but – “ I cut him off again.

“But what?” I glared at him. “Let me finish please.” I rolled my eyes and huffed under my
breath. Did he forget exactly how strong I was? I was strong enough to defeat him if I
wanted to. I understand that it’s practically his job to keep me safe but I couldn’t help but
feel defensive and slightly hurt by his words. I took in a deep breath and grabbed his
hands and looked into his deep brown eyes.

“Jacob, just listen to me please.”

He looked away and nodded his head, giving me the ok.

“Anyway, the back also had another engraving which read something like ‘for my
daughter, with love’ in Italian –“

“Italian!?” Jacob let go of my hands and stomped up from my bed. “Are you - are you
kidding me?”

“Jacob, honestly you need to calm down. Nothing has happened to me. I’m still here.”

“Yeah, nothing has happened yet but what if you were here when this thing decided to
come intruding into your house!”

“I really don’t think he would have hurt me let alone come in if he knew the place wasn’t
empty. In fact, I feel that he wouldn’t have hurt me even if I was here. It was obvious he
wanted to come here to retrieve this bracelet for some reason. If it had been someone else
that happened upon this piece of jewelry, he would have found it and intruded in on them.”
I was beginning to get annoyed with him. I couldn’t describe the feeling I got from this
intruder. It wasn’t fear and it certainly did not feel dangerous to me, much like I thought it
would have made me feel.

“Anyway, uhm, that’s basically it. If he wanted to hurt me Jacob, don’t you think he would
have done it by now? Of all of the times that I have been here alone he had the perfect
opportunity to strike but he hasn’t. You need to calm down about this. I- I don’t want to
tell anyone else right now. I just, for some reason want to keep this to myself.”

Jacob just glared at me and he was obviously mad about it.

“Please Jacob?”

“Fine. Fine Renesmee, I will keep your secret safe but if this thing hurts you I don’t know
what I would do.” He kissed my forehead.

“Thank you.” I whispered. His clothing was nearly dried but mine was still wet – it had to
do with our body temperatures. “I’m gonna go change. Jacob really, don’t worry about it.
I’m not.”

He just nodded and sat on the edge of my bed.

I headed into my closet and grabbed some pajamas – just navy blue sweat pants and a
white t-shirt. I slipped them onto my body and used a towel to dry some of my hair. I ran a
brush through it and proceeded to brush my teeth as well. I looked at myself in the mirror
and arranged my hair and straightened out my shirt. I took in a deep breath and walked
back out into my room.

Jacob had made himself comfortable on my bed – his feet crossed, arms behind his head
and his back rested on my headboard with two cushy pillows supporting him. He smiled at
me, but it was one which did not reach his eyes. I reciprocated with a half smile and sat
next to him.
“So,” he started. “This is where the magic happens?” He was beginning to be himself
again. He rubbed his hand on the area of the bed that separated the two of us.

“If that’s what you want to call it.” I slightly giggled and peered over at him.

“You hate school?” He grinned at me. I was happy he was changing the subject to
something completely unrelated to what had happened.

“Like you don’t even know. I mean, it’s rather interesting seeing how people act but I just
feel so beyond all of it. I can’t really relate to anyone and the subjects…oh the subjects. So
boring.”

“Yeah, believe me I know. I am so happy I will never have to go through that again.”

“Yeah…well that’s what you get for being immortal! An eternity of school.” Reality was
beginning to set in. Jacob would never have to go to school again but I would. “Anyway,
maybe I’ll just get used to the whole charade. I really thought I was going to like it much
more but the people…especially the girls and the guys. It’s really annoying. And then my
dad gets all weird and protective of me form these humans. As if they have a chance or
would want one if they actually knew what I was.”

“So, tell about that. How many are gawking over you?”

I rolled my eyes. “To be honest, I’m not really sure. More than I would like but I kind of
ignore it so you could say I’m oblivious to some of it but there is one guy in particular
who has been rather persistent. His name is Mitch – nice kid but I’m just constantly
thinking to myself ‘if you only knew.’”

“Should I be jealous of this kid, Ness?”

I laughed. “Not a chance.” I rolled over closer to him and he wrapped his arm around my
body and pulled me in for a nice tender kiss. I curled up under his warm embrace.

“I’m done talking about school. I don’t want to spend my time with you talking about
something that gets me down. How’s Billy doing?”

“He’s doing ok. He has regular doctor visits to go to and he’s doing the best he can to stay
healthy but it’s difficult for him sometimes. He also seems to be feeling kind of depressed.
It’s sad to see. But he’s certainly optimistic so that makes me feel better. Sometimes
though, I think it’s an act for my benefit more than anything.”

“I see,” I bit my lower lip not sure what to say regarding the situation next. I was hoping
to hear a more cheerful response from Jacob but that was not the case. “Everything’s
going to be ok. I know it is. How about the rest of the wolf pack?”

“They’re going good. In fact Sam and Emily are expecting now. Crazy right?”

“Oh wow, really? That’s amazing I’m happy for them. They must be very excited.”
“You better believe they are. They have been trying to have a baby for a while but Emily
kept on having complications and well, it took them a while. They couldn’t be more
excited.”

“I’m really happy for them.”

Jacob yawned and stretched his arms high above his head. He let out a great big sigh and
wrapped his arm around me again. “I’m tired. Do you mind if we maybe went to sleep?
It’s been a long day.”

“Me too, and I don’t mind one bit,” I replied. I readjusted my head on his chest and shut
my eyes. He did the same. I looked forward to pleasant dreams tonight with Jacob by my
side. If only we had more control over what occurred during the hours of the night. If only
we could choose what we wanted to dream about rather than it being a mystery all of the
time. A surprise.

I was standing in the center of the field. Rain gently caressing my exposed arms,
drenching my pajamas. From the opposite direction I could smell and hear someone
approaching me. The same tall statuesque figure approached me slowly, his emerald green
eyes, which shimmered in the moonlight, were locked on mine. I was too enthralled to
move or escape, though fear was not the emotion that locked my body in place. I was
mesmerized.

“Good evening Renesmee,” His voice was smooth and angelic yet fierce and wicked all at
once. He gently touched my cheek and caressed my jaw line with his gentle but forceful
touch. He leaned in closer and whispered in my ear. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

I gasped for breath feeling dizzied by his presence.