Chapter 01

Ever since the debacle on her 18th birthday at the Cullen house, Bella had distanced herself from the Cullens, which was a little hard to do when you were living in a small town, and Bella decided to finish her school elsewhere.

It meant that she was leaving Charlie behind, but Bella needed a fresh start, far away from the Cullens. While the Volturi’s demands were still a threat to her, she hoped that keeping her head down and ignoring everything that happened would suffice and she wouldn’t lose her head.

Bella had moved to Beacon Hills in December and she was expected to start school at Beacon Hills High after the holidays. Beacon Hills was chilly for December, but still warmer than Forks and Bella didn’t mind the cold so much. She was sharing a house with a few other people who couldn’t afford renting an apartment by themselves, and most of them were working individuals, which was alright, Bella just wanted to finish her school year, graduate and travel the world and learn things for a year before applying for a different college than the one in Alaska so she could become a history teacher. Yes.

That was still the plan, and the plan was good.

Bella had done extensive research on where to go next, and she focused on areas where she’d be safe during the daylight, places that were relatively cheap to live in, and small towns where she could disappear in. To be honest, to disappear it would have been better to go to a big city but she wasn’t ready for that.

The only thing that had made Bella a bit hesitant to move to Beacon Hills were the headlines in the newspapers; she’d seen them in Forks, slightly, but there were plenty of headlines seemingly covering up something but Bella couldn’t find anything on the internet regarding vampires or werewolves in Beacon Hills.

The headlines were the usual coverups; ‘Unexplained Animal Activity Raises Concerns Among Residents’, ‘Local Animal Shelter Raises Awareness About Increase in Bites, Urges Pet Safety’ or ‘Search for Missing Persons Continues, Authorities Cite Possible Runaways’ for example. But a) vampires made sure that their victims were never found and bites didn’t stay on corpses in the shape of a bite, and b) shifter wolves like the Quilleutes didn’t bite anyone for funsies – nor was there a strong connection to any Native American tribe that Bella could find.

No, on paper, Beacon Hills was perfect.

Her first day attending Beacon Hills High School was mostly filling out paperwork and showing her paperwork; despite all schools providing the same curriculum, there was always a difference in how things were taught. When she first moved to Forks, she was slightly ahead of things, and now she was desperately behind.

Bella was going to have to work hard to catch up, but she wasn’t too worried, she wasn’t going to make friends or go out, she was only in Beacon Hills as a pitstop. She could dedicate her time to catch up on school work.

The school was just like any other school, but instead of basketball being the school sport, it was lacrosse and she saw a lot of boys with lacrosse sticks in the hallway as the school administrator showed her around.

Of course she was being stared at; new girl and all. Nothing she wasn’t used to, she was glad that there were no Eric types at this school so far, while Eric had been the cause of Bella gaining some friends back in Forks, she really didn’t want that to happen here. She was going to give it a few days and the novelty of a new student in school would wear off quickly. She was sure of it.

Bella joined the rest of the student population during English class, an hour before lunch break. According to the curriculum the subject this week was “Exploring Folklore: Myths, Legends, and Cultural Narratives” and the class of today focused on oral traditions and how certain stories evolved over time becoming their own thing in society, such as the story of the Changeling, a story rooted in Irish folklore where babies would be replaced by fairies.

In class, Bella became acutely aware of the lingering stares from a few classmates, their gaze fixed on her as if she emitted an unusual scent. The unsettling scrutiny triggered unwelcome flashbacks of her encounter with Edward. She instinctively shuddered and, seeking a sense of protection, pulled her sleeves over her hands. Focusing intently on the words in front of her, she tried to immerse herself in the teacher’s lecture, determined to block out the distracting memories.

As she was walking to the lunch room after class, Bella found herself to be pulled into an empty classroom by two of her male classmates. The shorter one, was lean and athletically built, brown eyes and brown short hair, dressed in a grey henley shirt that hugged his muscular arms. The other was tall and slender and had dirty blond hair but the most gorgeous blue eyes Bella had ever seen.

“Let go of me or I’ll scream bloody murder,” she declared with a mix of frustration and anger, her defiant tone cutting through the unexpected and unwarranted situation.

“I don’t sense a wolf in her,” the shorter guy observed.

“Wolf?” Bella squeaked in a panic, swiftly ducking under his arms and making her way towards the door.

“Yeah, a werewolf,” the guy clarified, trailing after her, while the other one smacked himself in the face with the palm of his hand. “What?”

“Oh, sure, let’s enlighten the new girl about werewolves,” the boy hissed, rolling his eyes. “Good job, Scott.”

‘Scott’ paused for a moment as he held the door so Bella couldn’t leave. “Oh, yeah, but she smells like…”

“I smell?!” Bella countered angrily. “No, I don’t, let me go, I don’t want to deal with this crap.” As Scott blocked her exit, Bella’s frustration peaked. Her heart raced, a mix of fear and annoyance fueling her defiance. She could feel her palms sweating and her breath coming in short, ragged bursts as she squared her shoulders, appearing to get ready to stand her ground, but her anxiety was spiking.

“Just let me go!” she demanded, her voice trembling with a blend of anxiety and frustration.

Scott hesitated for a moment, studying her reaction. The other boy, the one who had smacked himself in the face earlier, chimed in, “Scott, seriously, we’re revealing our supernatural secrets to the new girl? What’s next? A PowerPoint presentation on the supernatural wonders of Beacon Hills?”

Ignoring his friend’s sarcasm, Scott finally released the door, allowing Bella to escape the confines of the classroom. She hastily retreated into the bustling hallway, leaving the two boys to exchange uneasy glances. Bella had to get out. Leave. She stumbled outside and tried to find a quiet spot as her heart nearly burst out of her chest.

What the fuck was she? A supernatural magnet?

Bella found a quiet spot and tried to breathe and to stop shaking. She needed to calm down, and once she’d done that, she was going to leave. Surely there was a place on Earth that had no supernatural community?

“Here.”

Bella looked up to see a bottle of water and she cautiously took it before looking up who gave it to her. It was the boy with the gorgeous blue eyes. “Thanks,” she murmured as she set it down next to her.

“Name’s Isaac,” he said as he squatted down in front of her. “And I want to sincerely apologize for my friend.”

“I’m Bella and It’s fine.”

“Your panic attack says something else,” he said with a warm smile. “I know what it’s like.”

Bella met Isaac’s eyes, finding an unexpected understanding there. She took a deep breath, grateful for the small act of kindness in this confusing situation. “I appreciate it.”

Isaac nodded sympathetically. “From your reaction, you must have experience with werewolves or at least the supernatural.”

“You’re correct,” she said as she tugged her sleeves over her hands.

“But you’re not a werewolf.”

Bella took a deep breath and decided to share a little. “I hung out with shifters, I likely smell them,” she eventually said and shrugged. “They weren’t the bad part. I honestly thought Beacon Hills would be supernatural-free.”

Isaac laughed then. “It is, on the surface, when you don’t know about it, but on a more positive note, there aren’t many of us here. Whatever you’re running from, you’re safe here.”

The tension that had gripped Bella began to ease as Isaac’s words offered a glimmer of reassurance. “Maybe…”

“Honestly, you can try running, but once you’ve been in touch with supernatural beings, you’re kinda marked as ‘in the know’ and you’ll be dragged back in, whether you want to or not,” he shifted on his feet a little and then decided to sit down in front of her. “At least in our small community, we can make sure you won’t be exposed to it too much here at school and you can hide as much as you want.”

“Or, I could find some other place to go or keep moving and do my school online.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Isaac picked up her bottle of water and helped her to her feet after getting to his. “Come on, lunch is over.”

It was almost as if Isaac had taken it upon himself to slowly introduce Bella to the rest of his friends over the course of the next month and she found herself not really minding it; but she also knew that she wasn’t going to make permanent connections to them; after graduation, she was going to move on.

She had wanted to move on, of course, after her first day in school, but also knew that Isaac’s words that day held some truth; she knew of the supernatural, of course she was going to find it elsewhere too now that she knew about it. And he’d been right, their community was small, and laying low mostly because of hunters and a recent supernatural crisis or two.

Isaac also helped her with the schoolwork that she was missing when he wasn’t in practise for lacrosse – Bella still hadn’t attended a game. Isaac proclaimed he wasn’t the smartest in school work, especially English, but he also didn’t quite fancy hanging out with Scott a lot. While Scott was his Alpha, Isaac still felt a little bit hurt about how things unfolded when his girlfriend got killed and died in her ex boyfriend’s – Scott’s – arms and Isaac had realised that Allison never loved him like she’d loved Scott.

Isaac also knew it was immature and stupid, but his feelings got hurt and he only stayed at Scott’s because he had no place to go and Mrs. McCall was an awesome woman. And while Isaac appreciated Scott as a friend and Alpha, it was still awkward for him.

Bella got the idea that Isaac was damaged, and then some. He also had some anger issues, but seeing as he was a werewolf, she understood. She still didn’t tell him much about herself, it was better that way.

Isaac’s unexpected question about Valentine’s Day interrupted their concentration on math problems.

Bella blinked in surprise. “That overly hyped day where you’re forced to be nice and spend a fortune on people, despite there being 364 other days in the year for the same?”

“Yeah, that,” he laughed. “I’m guessing you’re doing nothing?”

“I don’t have a reason to,” Bella replied with a shrug. “I’ll likely curl up in bed with a good book and hot chocolate.

“Good.”

“Good?” Bella laughed. “Why?”

“Well, at least you’ll be safe,” Isaac shrugged. “Uh, the veterinarian and Mr. Argent warned about the full moon during the night, that there’d be a lunar eclipse at the same time and things have the potential to go a bit crazy. Seeing as this is Beacon Hills, I think it’d be best if you stayed indoors.”

“I trust you.”

A slight blush appeared on Isaac’s cheeks. “Thanks, but I don’t trust Liam, and if shit does hit the fan I’d rather focus on making sure he doesn’t do something stupid than worrying about you.”

She let out a slight chuckle. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Unfortunately, Bella Swan, I do care and worry about you and I told you before, I want to do my best to protect you from all things supernatural,” he stuck out his tongue to her. “I’d prefer it if you’d go out of town, to be honest, but then I won’t be able to protect you anyway.”

She narrowed her eyes on him. “I can take care of myself, thanks.”

“Oh I know, and you likely would look cute all cut up by a werewolf and the sheriff would have to spin yet another story to parents about wild animals in the woods.”

Bella sighed as she took a sip of her drink. “Fine.”

“Thank you,” Isaac replied with a lighthearted grin.

As Valentine’s Day approached in Beacon Hills, Bella found herself torn between Isaac’s concern for her safety and her own desire to assert independence. Despite Isaac’s warnings about the potential chaos during the full moon, she couldn’t shake the feeling that staying indoors felt more like succumbing to fear than exercising caution.

She would, of course, stay indoors like she had been doing every day for the last few months the moment it started to get dark outside. She wasn’t afraid of werewolves, she was afraid of potential vampires coming and finding her. Bella wasn’t going to make things easy for them!

Sometimes she wished she could break her own self-imposed rules and tell Isaac the truth on why she was hiding, because he knew she was hiding, but she also didn’t want to endanger him. However, should the Cold Ones come to Beacon Hills for her anyway, the local community needed to know the potential dangers, too.

It was something that was gnawing at her mind, and it had been for a few weeks. It was almost as if she could sense that the vampires were closing in on her and while she didn’t want to make friends, she didn’t want people to get hurt or taken by surprise. She knew something was coming and she could warn them.

After school, with Isaac in lacrosse practice, Bella went to the veterinary clinic, a place she had been avoiding. Isaac had told her about the veterinarian, Dr. Deaton, and how he wasn’t just a veterinarian, but also some sort of guide for the supernatural community in Beacon Hills.

She entered the clinic and found it empty. “Hello?”

“In the back! Come on over!” A voice called out to her.

Finding it strange that someone would call her over to the back of a clinic where people worked, she refused. “That’s a little strange to invite someone to come in the back of the shop when you don’t know who they are.”

A head popped out of a doorway with a smile on his face. “Who says I don’t know who you are, Ms. Swan? Come on in, I’ve been expecting you.” He nodded towards the wooden gate for her to pass through.

Sighing, Bella opened the gate and passed through it before joining the veterinarian in the back. “Did I pass your test?”

“Flying colours,” he said as he continued to clean his instruments. “I’m Alan Deaton, and seeing as you don’t have a pet with you, I’m guessing you’re here for something else.”

“How did you know who I was?”

“Isaac told me.”

“Ah,” Bella nodded slowly. “He’s how I know about you too.”

“Good, how can I assist you?” Deaton briefly looked up from cleaning to give her a little smile.

“I haven’t told anyone this and I hope this can stay between us, or at least where you got the information from,” she said as she started to slowly pace the room, fiddling with her sleeves, her anxiety spiking a little. “I don’t want to talk about it but I have to because I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Isaac believes you have some supernatural trouble.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “It’s not werewolf or shifter related though.”

“Go on,” he encouraged, still cleaning, intentionally avoiding direct eye contact to ease her discomfort.

“Have you… have you ever heard about vampires?”

Deaton nearly dropped his instrument in surprise. “What kind?”

“What do you mean, ‘what kind’?”

“Well, there are those that have blood in their veins, and then there are the Cold Ones with poison running through their veins,” he explained carefully. “Just how there are shifter wolves like the Queillutes, there are also the kind of wolves that are not like that, like our friends.”

“Oh.”

“So, what kind?”

“Cold Ones.”

“The sheer knowledge of knowing about them is dangerous, Bella. I really hope you’re not joking about it,” Deaton said intently. “I know about them, but I’ve never met them, so I’m relatively safe.”

Bella approached him, revealing the scar on her wrist. “I was briefly under the spell of a coven, and this is the work of one of their enemies.”

Fear appeared on Deaton’s face as he studied the scar on her wrist and looked at her. “Do the Volturi know about you?”

Bella bit her lip and nodded. “I either turn or die.”

“That’s not good,” he understated. “What are your plans?”

“My plans were to finish school and do a year of travel, and then see what happens but I feel that they’re close… maybe that’s paranoia on my part… but I just have a feeling that something bad is about to happen.”

“Well, this Valentine’s Day…”

“Isaac told me about it, don’t worry, I’ll stay inside,” she said quickly. “But it’s not that. I don’t feel like it is,” Bella sighed. “But I don’t know what to do. Do I stay and risk Beacon Hills to become a wasteland because people are looking for me, or do I go?”

Deaton let out a breath as he watched Bella start pacing again. “Honestly, I don’t know. We’ve faced worse here in Beacon Hills but what worries me is their venom and how it may affect them. Breaking Cold Ones should be relatively easy with the strength our wolves have, it’s likely quite similar to the wolves up in Washington.”

Bella stopped pacing and looked at Deaton with a mixture of desperation and determination. “I can’t let Beacon Hills suffer because of me, but I can’t just run and hide either. There has to be a way to face this without causing harm to everyone around me.”

“Forgive me, I’m a little bit curious. From the stories I’ve been hearing from them it’s that you’re trying to maintain your distance, almost as if you don’t want to form any connections, and yet, you worry about them?”

“I wanted to keep my distance because of this. It’s easier to leave when I have no ties to anyone.”

“But?”

She shrugged. “Beacon Hills might be growing on me.”

Deaton met her gaze, a thoughtful expression on his face. “We’ll need to prepare. If the Volturi come, we’ll face it head-on, but strategically. I’ll consult with our allies, and we’ll create a plan to protect Beacon Hills and deal with the threat.”

Bella nodded, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Thank you, Dr. Deaton. I don’t want to be the cause of any more trouble for this town.”

Deaton offered a reassuring smile. “We’re in this together, Bella. Beacon Hills has faced supernatural challenges before, and we’ve always come out stronger. We’ll do our best to ensure it stays that way.”

“Just… I have nothing to do with this, okay?”

“Alright,” he laughed. “One crisis at a time though.”

Bella nodded as she headed out of the clinic and picked up a pizza on her way back to the building she was sharing. When she returned, there was a small package waiting for her on the side table in the hallway. Having spent the entire day either at school or the small stop at the clinic, she had no idea what it was.

She didn’t order anything.

Intrigued and a bit cautious, Bella carefully picked up the small package, examining the pristine envelope. The handwriting was meticulous, elegant, and unfamiliar. As she opened it, a foul, acrid scent filled the air, sending a chill through her bones.

Inside, she found a handwritten letter, written in a script that seemed to twist and contort with malevolence. Alongside the letter lay a small, ominous-looking pendant, its surface etched with strange symbols that seemed to writhe and pulse with an unholy energy.

The letter began:

“Dear Isabella Swan,

Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of a dark object created by one of the world’s greatest minds.

Should you have turned, this beautiful pendant will do no harm to you.

If you haven’t, well, I suppose all I can tell you is, ‘good luck’ on the next lunar eclipse.

Should the challenges that lie before you become too much for you to bear, I invite you to join me in Volterra at your earliest convenience, where your future shall be decided.

Yours sincerely,

Aro Volturi.”