Present Day: Dartmouth College Campus, New Hampshire
Alice had predicted partly cloudy skies with bouts of sunshine for their trip but for the time being the sky was completely filled with thick gray clouds. Edward and Bella exited the admissions office at McNutt Hall and headed towards the auditorium for a group information session followed by the campus tour at Dartmouth College. It was Bella’s first big trip outside of Forks since her transformation.
Her original plans to attend Dartmouth had been abruptly put on hold the day she discovered she became pregnant with her daughter Renesmee just a little over three years ago while on her honeymoon. Bella had planned to quietly disappear with Edward and start college in the fall after they married. She wanted to spend a little more time as a human with him and enjoy certain aspects of having flesh and blood. She worried that intimacy with Edward would not be the same once she made the transformation into a vampire. Her choices came to a screeching halt though once Renesmee came into her life and she never looked back. It was though she couldn't even remember what life was even like without her. Edward and her daughter were her priority and nothing else mattered. Since Renesmee's development was exceptionally fast, Bella didn't want to miss a moment of her precious life. She spent as much time as she could with her daughter during the day, reserving her nights for her husband.
Renesmee's advancements were astonishing with her first year being the quickest and then progressively slowing down over the last two years. Now her growth only happened in spurts with her last one recently happening over night. Since growing into a young teen (Carlisle estimated she was at the age of 14 or 15 year old) she started becoming much more independent. Bella managed to stop hovering over her so much and Edward finally talked her into finally considering college again. She long sacrificed her own desires to care for her daughter over the last three years, but now that little Renesmee was growing and spending more and more time with Jacob, she felt comfortable with the idea of returning to school again.
Edward and the family helped Bella prepare for this day as best they could also by working on her tolerance to be near so many humans. It was one thing to be around her family and close friends that she cared deeply for, it was another thing to be in a room full of complete strangers that smelled like a blood buffet to her. When her eyes finally shifted from the deep burgundy to a softer golden tone, it allowed her to go out in public. Alice always kept a close eye on Bella's future and didn't foresee any problems but the extra hunting trips always helped.
Their orientation was scheduled to be held in the Spaulding Auditorium. Edward studied the history of the college before they arrived, knowing the auditorium had been named after a prominently wealthy philanthropist and business man that donated a great deal of money to the school. He also knew the man mysteriously disappeared while on a vacation with his family in Italy many years ago.
As they strolled down the corridor Edward squeezed Bella's hand tightly sensing her discomfort. The overwhelming scent of human blood burned Bella's throat as she walked past the rooms filled with students. She felt secure with him at her side, knowing there would be no way she could do this without him. His presence gave her comfort and strength, though she couldn't help but think that a little mood control from Jasper could probably do her wonders right now. Bella knew her first year at a college would be a challenge.
Several newcomers mixed with students in the hall, all hurried to class rooms. Others stood in groups talking amongst themselves. As Bella walked past them, she felt the stares coming from every direction and whispers coming from some of the girls strolling by. A few made comments about her but most of them were noticing Edward. She didn't need to be able to read minds to know they admired him. She choked back several hisses trying to contain her emotions. Jealousy flooded over her when she detected a group of girls ogling at her husband. As the two of them walked by, Bella clearly heard their hearts beats speeding up. She suddenly felt Edward’s arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She wasn't quite sure if he was worried she might bite someone or perhaps that he had another motive for his action. Just then, his face changed and his mouth hardened into a straight line as he tuned in to the minds of a few boys that walked by gawking at Bella. He tried very hard to ignore them.
After leaving the admissions office, they decided to travel on foot across campus, taking advantage of the comfortable cloudy weather that New England offered them for the day. After crossing through the Bedford Courtyard, they entered the large concert hall where Edward stopped just to the right of the entrance pulling Bella tight up against his body. She felt his breath on her ear and neck as he spoke. "So…how are you doing?" he asked.
"Great. As long as I'm with you of course," she tried to sound confident. "How about you, what's with the uh…face?"
"Oh… nothing I can't handle," he sighed. "You know, I remember high school boys being aberrant but I'm realizing how much worse they will be here," he said while scowling at a few more boys in passing. Their thoughts really stood out from the rest. From the corner of her eye, Bella caught one of them staring at her intently. Edward disliked his thoughts the most and he let out a low hiss. The boy walked faster, bolting into the room and sinking into his seat.
Bella wrapped her arms tighter around Edward's waist and stood up on her toes to meet his lips. She reached for his face and concentrated, staring into his golden eyes, opening her loving thoughts to him. His eyes softened. Once she had him melting in her arms she thought about the boy that passed them. She envisioned herself chasing him down the hall as he ran, screaming in terror. "Bella!" he gasped, trying to hide a smile.
"What?" she giggled. "It's just a thought."
As they entered the giant auditorium, Bella counted nine-hundred seats within seconds. The students piled in, finding seats for themselves and Edward searched for a section no one had claimed yet. He chose two seats on the far end, trying to give them a little privacy. He eyed a news paper laying on one of the seats and picked it up, looking at it as he sat down and immediate spotted the heading of the story on front page.
Mysterious disappearance of blood units still baffles police in Local County.
Edward stuck the paper in Bella's book bag just before taking his seat. He listened to the other students while they settled in. Bella continued to eye the room. A podium stood at the front of the room and dozens of multi-color panels covered the ceiling with a multitude of recessed house lights that reminded her of a starlit sky. She counted exactly five hundred and sixty four heart beats in the room. It amazed her how Edward could simply zone out all the voices that ran through his head all day. She imagined it would be extremely distracting while trying to concentrate on a lecture. Edward excelled at it though, having years of practice. Most of it bored him anyway. He had little desire to listen in on the adolescent minds that filled the room and after spending four years in the same high school in Forks, he knew every mind by heart. It all had become very mundane as he described it. It wasn't until Bella had come to Forks that he found any interest to listen in on the minds of all her close friends in attempt to appease his curiosity.
Edward started getting a feel for his new surroundings as he tuned in to the voices. Most of the students were nervous and a little lost in the confusion. Several were far from home and alone for the first time in their lives. The rest sounded like the normal buzz he was used tuning out. Though the voices in the room began to settle as the Dean entered to make his welcoming speech, the noisy thoughts buzzing in Edward's head remained just as loud for him. For Bella, man’s footsteps echoed loudly through the silence. He gave the microphone a quick blow to see if it was on and then began rambling on about the school's background and admissions. She listened intently, trying not to become distracted by delicious aroma that filled the room. It was as though her food called out to her. She immediately shook her head trying to re-focus on the speaker’s voice.
Edward became instantly bored with the Dean's speech, already knowing what he would say even before he begun. When he moved onto the subject of financial aid procedures, Edward faded out for a completely, focusing his attention on something much more interesting to him, his wife. He put his hand over hers, using his intuition to sense what she was feeling. He didn't need to read her mind to know her throat ached from the smells in the room. She smiled at him and held his hand tightly.
Nearly thirty minutes passed. Every now and then, Bella would gaze over at Edward. He continued to stare at her distracting beauty, soaking in every perfect feature. He slid an arm around her shoulder and played with a strand of her hair, twirling it through his fingers. She never grew tired of the intense devotion and attention her always gave her.
As the speaker droned on during his speech, Edward's continued to ignore him. After all, he was there mainly for Bella's benefit; yet through all the chatter in his head, something came through very clear to him - something odd that caught his attention. His body stiffened and he sat up straight. His hand no longer played with Bella's hair and his concentration suddenly became diverted. Bella noticed his peculiar behavior and it made her nervous to watch him scanning the room with a disturbed look on his face. "What's wrong?" she whispered in a completely inaudible tone that only he could hear.
But then Edward did something she didn't expect. He pulled out a pen and wrote on one of the handouts they were given. Not sure. Something's off.
She thought it odd that he didn't speak since humans can't hear them or even see their lips moving. Edward's eyes panned across the room as though he was searching for something… or someone. He shook his head and went back to observing the lecture.
“Maybe it's nothing”, Bella hoped silently in her head.
As the manifold of voices still rambled through his head, something unusual caught his attention again. He sat stern faced for a while and then turned and gave Bella an uneasy look. Then he wrote on the note paper again.
I don't think we're alone.
Bella's eyes narrowed, looking at him even more confused.
Then he wrote again, one single word.
VAMPIRE
Her eyes widened. “What? Who?” She allowed Edward to hear her when she touched his leg and unshielded her mind. She also understood now why he didn't use verbal communication knowing, that a vampire within close range would be able to hear them.
Unsure, but it's a female. He wrote again.
“Jane!” Bella thought instantly and her mind started racing. “The Volturi is here? What could they want now?”She wondered.
Edward wrote another response.
I don't think it's the Volturi. He glanced at Bella to see her expression and she shrugged at him with a worried looked on her face. Edward listened intently for a few more seconds and then put his pen to the paper again.
She's alone.
They patiently waited for the lecture to end. Once it did, they jumped up moving as quickly as they could towards the exit. Edward and Bella stood out in the center of the corridor. He sifted through dozens of voices in passing, listening intently to try and track down the suspect.
"This way," Edward said as he reached for Bella's hand and walked with her down the corridor.
They ended up in an outdoor Courtyard near the main entrance to the museum. Bella spotted the rude boy from earlier, staring at her again along with a couple of his friends. This time Edward wasn't as interested in his glaring peer. "She's out here and she's noticed us," he said. "She's still wondering why we're following."
"Who is she? Is she feeding here?" she wondered.
"I don't think so. She's not thinking about hunting humans at all."
"Well, what is she thinking about then?" Bella wondered.
Edward gave a brief smile. "Actually, right now… she's looking at you." He scanned the area to see if anyone was appeared to be staring at Bella. "...and thinks you're beautiful. Can't argue with that." He winked.
Just then, Bella spotted a young girl standing in the court yard not fifteen feet from them. Her long black hair covered a portion of her face, hiding her flawless pale complexion. The shiny, gold locket that hung around her neck completely stood out against her drab and colorless apparel. Bella clearly saw the initials T.E.S, engraved in the front of it. She blended in well with the other students except for the fact that she appeared almost too young to be a student there. The moment Bella spotted her glaring red eyes however, she knew right away it was her.
"She's about to leave," Edward said.
The girl began moving again. Since the sun began to peek out of the clouds they knew to be careful as they followed her. Edward continued to inform Bella as he listened to the vampire's thoughts. "She just took off into the parking lot," he said.
"I know! I see her," Bella replied.
"You do? Where?" Edward asked as he continued searching.
"Right there!" Bella pointed but Edward saw nothing - nothing but humans, so he thought. She wondered what was wrong with Edward's eyes that he couldn't see the glaring red eyes that stared back at them. Suddenly the vampire was on the move again. "Oh no! She's headed right for that break of sunlight. What's she doing? Is she crazy? She’ll give herself away?"
The girl ran through the parking lot, heading straight at a moving vehicle. She leaped on the hood, startling the driver who instantly slammed on his brakes. Then she stopped abruptly to look back at her followers. The ray of light beamed off her skin in every direction.
"Shoot! Too late! Everyone will notice her now. What should we do? Want me to tackle her? Or I could cause a distraction," Bella suggested.
Edward continued to read the girl's thoughts. "Not necessary. I don't think anyone's going to notice her. They can't see her… just like I can't see her."
"Um, you don't see the shiny girl in the parking lot?" Bella wondered how he could possibly miss her.
"No, and I think I've figured it out. She's able to control my thoughts. She can manipulate them to make me see what she wants about her and she doesn't want to be seen. As usual though, it's not working on you and she's frustrated." Edward understood that feeling all too well. Before he could continue, the girl disappeared running into the nearby forest.
"She's leaving. Do you think we let just her go?" Bella said.
Edward nodded looking out at the forest though he still saw nothing. "Yes, I think it would be best for now. She'll be back. Come on… we're missing the tour." He put his arm around Bella and turned to head back but she continued to stare out towards the far end of the campus where the girl had run off to. The vampire's shimmering figure stood just inside the perimeter of the trees gaping back at her.
****************************************************************************
Edward always knew that buying a property near Dartmouth would be a good investment and he'd purchased one just before they married in the event that they needed to move one day. The purchase came in handy now and he was praising himself for buying the place. They were able to avoid the hassle of a hotel and got to enjoy the comforts of a home and a bed…though there was only one thing they need that commodity for and they made very good use of it that evening.
The following day when they returned to campus, they took a tour of the Hood Museum of Art, located just next to the auditorium. They spent over an hour viewing several of the museum's collections from many ancient cultures and regions of the world.
Suddenly Edward detected the presence of the girl. "She's back," he whispered calmly.
Bella looked around and saw the girl standing in the shadows trying to peek at them from a distance. She seemed more curious than threatening.
"Edward, she's so young, not much bigger than Renesmee." she said feeling sorry for the girl. "How could anyone…well, any vampire even consider doing that to a child?"
"It happens. It's rare though. Many times if one feeds on someone too small they wouldn't even survive," he stated with certainty.
Bella cringed at the thought of it. "That's just horrible."
"Yes, and it's difficult for young ones. As you know, the Volturi would normally step in because they are unable to control their urges. This one seems to be handling herself quite well though, I'm quite impressed. It seems as though she's been mentored at some point in her life. She's very curious about what we're doing here."
As Edward and Bella walked through the museum with their group, the girl followed watching them assiduously. Edward listened to her thoughts intently so he could find out more about her.
"So… none of these people here see her?" Bella asked as the casually walked side by side holding hands.
"No, it's like she's invisible to them."
"Hmmm, well should I…?" Bella thought to suggest she try and shield the girl's powers so Edward will see her.
Edward knew exactly what she was going to suggest. "No, don't. You may startle her if realizes she's no longer concealed. She's hiding for a reason and I'm trying to figure out why. It's okay though, I can hear her and I sort of have a picture of her from her mind. I don’t think she’s as young as you suspect."
"No?"
"No, she's a teenager, about sixteen.” He shook his head. “Her mind is so busy. It's hard to sift through her thoughts. She's unique though…quite rare. She actually has a conscience."
"What do you mean?" Bella
"She doesn't kill. Look…" he said as he dug into her back pack and pulled out the newspaper he found in the conference hall the other day. "She's stealing blood to survive, so she doesn't have to hunt." The paper was folded back to expose the story.
"Okay, but how do you know this is her?" Bella asked as she tapped her finger on the paper.
Edward just gave her a funny look.
"Oh… right," she said. It was obvious he was picking her brain and she felt silly for asking. "So then, is she all alone here?"
"Yes, it appears that way. I think she's been alone a long time."
"How sad," Bella said looking at the girl, feeling sorry for her.
"Yes, she is. She seems to be hiding for a reason though. I haven't quite figured out what it is yet."
She turned back to Edward. "Maybe if we talk to her..." she started to suggest.
"I'm not so sure if we should approach her yet. Not till I'm sure it's safe."
The group of people that were with them finally moved on, leaving Bella and Edward standing in the tiny room alone. When Bella looked back at the corner the girl stood in, she was no longer there. "Hey, where'd she….?" Before she could turn Edward spotted the girl as she came into his view.
"Bella!" Edward snapped, reaching out to protect his wife.
As Bella whipped around, she came face to face with the vampire as she stood only inches from her face. She then leaped back, completely startled by the girl's stealthy maneuver. Edward put his arms protectively around his wife. "You see her now?" she said.
"Clearly," he hissed staring as well. He shoved Bella behind him and stood between them.
The girls red eyes narrowed as she peered at their faces. "Why are you here?" she demanded to know.
Bella curiously peeked around Edward. "We're here to see the museum, and the college, that's all," she replied.
"But why? What are you looking for?" the girl asked.
"We're not looking for anything. We're considering attending," Bella stated plainly.
The girl seemed confused. She cocked her head to the side, wondering what Bella meant. The thought of vampires actually attending a college with other humans intrigued her. She assumed she was the only one of her kind that even attempted to be civilized and though she lived among humans, she never socialized with them. They never even knew she existed there. Edward decided it might be best to introduce them and explain some things to her. "Excuse me," he politely interrupted. "My name is Edward Cullen and this is my wife, Bella.” He gestured to his wife. Bella waved and smiled. “We aren't following you, we're simply taking a tour of the campus and we're only here for the orientation and to view the area, nothing more. I apologize if we alarmed you."
The girl curiously stared at their golden eyes. She'd never seen vampires without red eyes before. "It's our diet that makes our eyes this way," Edward said.
The girl’s expression changed from curious to stunned. "What? How did you know what I was thinking?"
"Uh, sorry. It’s a gift… I read minds. It's just a habit for me to figure people out. I didn't mean to intrude."
She knew a mind reader once, but Edward's gift was unique, requiring no physical contact. She didn't like the intrusion but was too curious about them to care. “Fair enough….so…what kind of diet are you on exactly?" she asked quickly moving onto the next subject. Her head, filled with questions.
"Animals. We're um…vegetarians...so to speak." Edward winked.
She blinked, staring in awe. "Animals? That’s…. all?" she cocked an eyebrow.
"Correct," Edward replied smugly.
"Ew," she grimaced at the thought of it.
Edward and Bella both looked at each other and chuckled. The girl seemed even less harmless now as she displayed very normal behaviors like of a teenager. Edward could see she meant no harm as long as they were of no threat to her.
The thought of animal hunting surprised her though. It made her realize they were not killers and that they were peaceful vampires such as herself. She admired that. Never before had she encountered other vampires that didn't hunt for human blood. One other thing bothered her however. "So how is it you can see me?" She asked Bella, "No one ever sees me, when I don't want them to."
She shrugged. "It’s just what I do. I seem to have immunity to other vampire's abilities. Edward can't even read my mind, unless I allow him to."
"Really?" She blinked absorbing it for a moment. "That’s pretty slick.” she smirked. “I can’t say I've ever seen a gift like that one before. You would surely come in handy in a fight," she added. Having a shield would be a great defense, she thought. Then she paused momentarily and decided to introduce herself. "Well, I'm Tara and you're kinda crowding my home."
"Home? You mean you live here…at the college?" Bella seemed surprised by the idea of it.
"Well, I stay here, yes. Everything I need is here…pretty much."
It all made perfect sense to Edward. She had plenty to occupy the mind at a college. Food was not far off the campus grounds and sleeping wasn't an issue. She could just roam the campus indefinitely. The more Edward thought about it, the more he thought of it as great idea for a vampire. She seemed very intelligent for her age, realizing she must spend hours reading and taking advantage of her resources there. He continued to scan her busy thoughts for as much background as he could, hoping he could provoke some answers if maybe he asked the right questions. "So you're alone here?" he asked.
"Yes." she replied in a tinier voice than before.
Edward caught a glimpse of her family's demise when she ran the memory through her mind. "Ah, there it is…. Uh! Horrible!" he thought.
Tara changed the subject. She didn't like thinking about that part of her life. "You two are not from here are you?" she asked. It was all too obvious to her.
"No we're from a small town in Washington called Forks." Edward didn't think she'd have heard of it but she knew exactly where it was. It surprised him until he realized she had nothing better to do with her time than study. She was full of information.
"Mmm, yes. Well you won't get such generous weather here. You'd be indoors much more than you'd like I think," she said.
"Well, Dartmouth is just a consideration for us. We're planning on touring all of our options. We're not quite sure if we're ready to leave our family behind, but it's good to know what's out there for us, regardless. Also I wanted to expose Bella to the outside world more. Forks isn't exactly the most exciting place. She's stepping out from her new born phase and this is her first trip outside the state."
Edward suddenly realized that was a bit too much information for her. She knew what baby vampires were like and Bella didn't fit the description of one in the least. She also couldn't understand what he meant about having a family. Tara just quietly stood with her arms folded, staring at Edward with disbelief. "Um, I guess that was too much information for you all at once," he admitted.
"Family? Is that what you call your Coven?" It was such an unusual term for a vampire to use, Tara thought.
"Yes. And we do consider them family. There are nine of us total, though two have left for college themselves and only visit occasionally now." Edward was referring to Rosalie and Emmett who were both in Alaska attending college and enjoying some private time away.
"Nine in your coven? That's quite a large uh… family you have," Tara said.
"Yes well, we're all adopted, so-to-say. The eldest, Carlisle is the head of our family. He's like a father to me and his wife Esme is very much like our mother. She's quite the nurturer. Right now she is feeling a bit of the empty nest syndrome, especially since we have moved to a little place of our own as well…it's not far from them though."
"Mother and father…?" This all sounded very odd to Tara. "And these pseudo parents of yours… they take in new vampires?"
"That's correct."
"Interesting. I suppose they're all like you then?" she asked.
Edward understood that she referred to their diet of animal blood. "Yes, all like us. We've vowed not to harm humans. We can't help what we are but we don't have hurt anyone. We choose not to," he said.
"Believe me when I say that I understand how difficult that must be for you all. I admire your will power."
"I do believe you, but what about this?" Edward asked, pulling the newspaper from Bella backpack and showed it to her.
Tara looked at the paper, reading the headlines and frowned. She hated to make the news. She knew she needed to be more careful knowing it could blow her cover. Edward was positive now that it was her stealing the blood. She shrugged. "Hmm, well at least no one gets hurt this way." She took the news paper and chucked it in the trash bin in the corner.
"Ah well, you forgot to read the part where they had to call for an emergency blood drive for several accident victims that needed a transfusion. You also draw attention to yourself when you go around stealing like that you know." Edward said, realizing how much he started to sound like Carlisle now.
Tara smirked. "Good observation. I'm not too worried at this point though. They will never find me, plus… there will always be donors," she said.
Edward rolled his eyes realizing she was stubborn like a teen too.
Bella took a liking to Tara. She wished they didn't have to leave her here, all alone in the museum. She grabbed Edward's hand and squeezed it tightly.
Edward listened and then turned to her. "We'll see," he spoke softly.
Tara watched, as the two of them communicated. She realized they were having a private conversation and thought maybe she should depart. "Well I guess as long as I know you're not a threat, I should leave you be to finish your tour. I'm sorry if I intimidated you," she said to them deciding to leave.
Edward saw it all clearly now, as she exposed in her mind who she was hiding from. "I was wrong about you," he said. "You are Volturi."
Bella gasped. "What?"
Tara grimaced disliking the mind-reading gift again "Was," she said very frankly.
"Hmm, and you escaped. That's nearly unheard of but I see now how your gift assisted you with your extrication."
Tara looked at Edward fearfully realizing she was completely exposed, unable to hide her thoughts from him and unable to conceal herself from Bella.
Edward sensed her dismay. "Oh no, please…we will never expose you to them. We are trying to avoid the Volturi as well. We actually feared you might be one of them as well, sent to spy on us."
Tara relaxed. "I suppose we share something in common then, don't we?"
"Yes, we do," Edward replied.
Tara started feeling more comfortable with them now, feeling quite sure they wouldn't hurt her and she was very curious to get to know them better. She wondered more about the rest of the family too. She changed her mind about them leaving and instead made them an offer. She liked the company and it had been a long time since she'd been around other vampires. "Well if you would like, I could give you my own personal tour of the museum. I know this place way better than these clowns," she said, referring to the campus guides.
Edward gave her a sly smirk. "I'm quite sure you do. That would be superb. How about you lead the way?" he suggested.
Tara smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she had a reason to but it felt good. She showed them several exhibitions, explaining each one with thorough detail. She knew the museum as well as every other aspect of the campus like the back of her hand. She took them to one of her favorite rooms where they had a large collection of Native American art. She pointed to one of her favorite pieces. It was a ledger drawing of an Indian warrior and a large black wolf.
She spent the next few hours getting to know them, asking Bella dozens of questions until Bella finally decided it was her turn. "So why did you decide to live here?" she asked the girl.
"This is where my mother wanted me to study once I graduated high school. I've been all over the place really but this was home for me originally. I wanted to come back. My mother and I both loved the arts….." she trailed off remembering more of her past.
Edward's cell phone rang while they talked. It was Carlisle replying to Edward's text to call him. He stepped away to take the call privately.
After several minutes, he finally regrouped with them and Bella stared at him curiously wondering who the call was from.
Edward looked right at Tara."That was Carlisle. He seems to know about you already."
Tara remembered them mentioning the one named Carlisle as the head of the family. "You told him about me? You told him I'm here?"
"No, I hadn't said anything. You see… one of our family members Alice, she sees the future and once you exposed yourself to us you became visible to her also. And now, well…."
She waited for him to continue, expecting the worst.
"Alice says you are coming home with us."
"I'm, what?" Tara sounded confused.
Bella smiled. It's what she hoped for. She couldn't didn’t want to go home leaving the young girl here all alone. She knew Carlisle and Esme could help her and they would be more than willing to take her in, especially now that Rosalie and Emmett are gone. It would help fill the void that was present in the home.
Tara’s eye brow popped up. "She says I'm returning to Washington with you?" she said perplexed.
"Yes." Edward replied.
"So... what if I refuse?" she crossed her arms.
"That's certainly your decision if you choose to do so. We would never force you. But the invitation is there."
Tara thought about it. It was an opportunity to have a home, something other than the empty void she'd been living for years.
"Consider this… I do feel we could protect you even more so in Forks. Alice can see if the Volturi are coming. She watches them at all times. You certainly wouldn't have to live in fear anymore." Edward added.
"Oh Tara, I hope you'll consider." Bella smiled at the girl.
It all sounded quite tempting to her now. "Well… when do you leave?" she asked.
He could see she was bending on the idea now. "We’ll be heading back in the morning. I can take care of the tickets immediately to assure we're all on the same flight…if you are interested of course."
"That wouldn't even be necessary." Tara knew she could simply hide herself.
"So is that a yes?" Bella asked with a little excitement in her tone.
"Um…" Tara thought about it, wanting to but worried she might be intruding.
"Whatever makes you comfortable, but the ticket is not a problem for us. And I assure you, you would not be imposing on our family in any way. Your stay can be as temporary or as permanent as you would like it to be. If you ever decide to leave we'll gladly fly you anywhere you like."
Tara couldn't speak. She only displayed and enormous smile and then leaped at him hugging him. If Edward hadn't seen her intentions before she acted, he would have been alarmed.
"We'll take that as a yes," Bella said
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