I glared at him. "I only smell bad to you, Jake."

He grinned. "See you around, Bells."

"Are you leaving?"

"He's waiting for me to go. I can hear him outside."

"Which means that I wasn't listening to them before," Edward said.

"Oh."

"I'll go out the back," he said, and then he paused. "Hold up a sec - hey, do you think you can come to La Push tonight? We're having a bonfire party. Emily will be there, and you could meet Kim . . . And I know Quil wants to see you, too. He's pretty peeved that you found out before he did."

"I could understand that," Emmett said.

"It sounds like a safe place for her to be," Esme assured Edward.

"Argh," Edward rolled his eyes. "I guess."

I grinned at that. I could just imagine how that would have irked Quil - Jacob's little human gal pal down with the werewolves while he was still clueless. And then I sighed. "Yeah, Jake, I don't know about that. See, it's a little tense right now. . . ."

"C'mon, you think somebody's going to get past all - all six of us?"

"Why did he stutter on that?" Jasper asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Maybe he had trouble counting," Emmett laughed.

There was a strange pause as he stuttered over the end of his question. I wondered if he had trouble saying the word werewolf aloud, the way I often had difficulty with vampire.

"Maybe," Jasper frowned.

His big dark eyes were full of unashamed pleading.

"I'll ask," I said doubtfully.

He made a noise in the back of his throat. "Is he your warden, now, too? You know, I saw this story on the news last week about controlling, abusive teenage relationships and -"

Edward hissed at that.

"Okay!" I cut him off, and then shoved his arm. "Time for the werewolf to get out!"

He grinned. "Bye, Bells. Be sure you ask permission."

He ducked out the back door before I could find something to throw at him. I growled incoherently at the empty room.

Seconds after he was gone, Edward walked slowly into the kitchen, raindrops glistening like diamonds set into the bronze of his hair. His eyes were wary.

"Did you two get into a fight?" he asked.

"Edward!" I sang, throwing myself at him.

Edward smiled widely.

"Hi, there." He laughed and wrapped his arms around me. "Are you trying to distract me? It's working."

"No, I think she's actually just happy to see you, Eddy," Emmett laughed.

"No, I didn't fight with Jacob. Much. Why?"

"I was just wondering why you stabbed him.

Emmett laughed really hard at that and Edward looked like he wasn't opposed to the idea.

Not that I object." With his chin, he gestured to the knife on the counter.

"Dang! I thought I got everything."

I pulled away from him and ran to put the knife in the sink before I doused it with bleach.

"I didn't stab him," I explained as I worked. "He forgot he had a knife in his hand."

Edward chuckled. "That's not nearly as fun as the way I imagined it."

"I think I would like to know what you imagined," Emmett laughed.

"Well..." Edward started.

"Don't even start," Esme glared at both of them.

"Be nice."

He took a big envelope from his jacket pocket and tossed it on the counter. "I got your mail."

"Anything good?"

"I think so."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously at his tone. I went to investigate.

"Now these are the things I really want to hear," Edward smiled.

He'd folded the legal-sized envelope in half. I smoothed it open, surprised at the weight of the expensive paper, and read the return address.

"Dartmouth? Is this a joke?"

"I'm sure it's an acceptance. It looks exactly like mine."

"Good grief, Edward - what did you do ?"

"I didn't do anything," Edward smiled. "You got in on your own merit."

"I sent in your application, that's all."

"I may not be Dartmouth material, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that."

"Oh, I think you're Dartmouth material," Edward said.

"Yes, you have a rather perceptive mind, which is a sought after quality in college students," Carlisle said.

"Dartmouth seems to think that you're Dartmouth material."

I took a deep breath and counted slowly to ten. "That's very generous of them," I finally said. "However, accepted or not, there is still the minor matter of tuition. I can't afford it, and I'm not letting you throw away enough money to buy yourself another sports car just so that I can pretend to go to Dartmouth next year."

"Can't she see that money doesn't really matter to me and that her going to a good college would be better? It might even make her happier," Edward frowned.

"Don't forget the pretend issue, Eddy... it doesn't really matter either way," Emmett pointed out.

"I don't need another sports car. And you don't have to pretend anything," he murmured. "One year of college wouldn't kill you. Maybe you'd even like it. Just think about it, Bella. Imagine how excited Charlie and Renée would be. . . ."

His velvet voice painted the picture in my head before I could block it.

"Cheater," Emmett hissed playfully.

Of course Charlie would explode with pride - no one in the town of Forks would be able to escape the fallout from his excitement.

Esme smiled at that thought.

And Renée would be hysterical with joy at my triumph - though she'd swear she wasn't at all surprised. . . .

I tried to shake the image out of my head. "Edward. I'm worried about living through graduation, let alone this summer or next fall."

"Did you have to bring me down like that?" Edward sighed, beginning to look tense again.

His arms wrapped around me again. "No one is going to hurt you. You have all the time in the world."

I sighed. "I'm mailing the contents of my bank account to Alaska tomorrow. It's all the alibi I need. It's far enough away that Charlie won't expect a visit until Christmas at the earliest. And I'm sure I'll think of some excuse by then. You know," I teased halfheartedly, "this whole secrecy and deception thing is kind of a pain."

"It kind of is... and it's a lot harder with Bella involved too," Alice said. "She's worth it, of course, but with her here so much, we have to have more concrete stories..."

"And none of us had to deal with what she's planning to," Carlisle frowned. "We all had a clean break from our human lives... there was no point in looking back, but she'll still have a family worrying about her... that she still worries about."

Edward's expression hardened. "It gets easier. After a few decades, everyone you know is dead. Problem solved."

"Edward," Esme reprimanded.

"Sorry," Edward bowed his head. "I just want her to see the truth."

"You didn't have to be so harsh," Esme glared at him.

"I know," Edward sighed.

I flinched.

"Sorry, that was harsh."

I stared down at the big white envelope, not seeing it. "But still true."

"If I get this resolved, whatever it is we're dealing with, will you please consider waiting?"

"Nope."

Edward smiled, shaking his head and Emmett laughed hard.

"Always so stubborn."

"Yep."

Everyone was laughing now.

The washing machine thumped and stuttered to a halt.

"Stupid piece of junk," I muttered as I pulled away from him. I moved the one small towel that had unbalanced the otherwise empty machine, and started it again.

"This reminds me," I said. "Could you ask Alice what she did with my stuff when she cleaned my room? I can't find it anywhere."

Edward stiffened at this.

He looked at me with confused eyes. "Alice cleaned your room?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what she was doing. When she came to get my pajamas and pillow and stuff to hold me hostage." I glowered at him briefly. "She picked up everything that was lying around, my shirts, my socks, and I don't know where she put them."

Edward continued to look confused for one short moment, and then, abruptly, he was rigid.

"Yeah, that's seems about right," Emmett said, poking his rigid brother in the ribs.

"This is not a joke!" Edward growled, smacking his hand away.

"When did you notice your things were missing?"

"When I got back from the fake slumber party. Why?"

"I don't think Alice took anything. Not your clothes, or your pillow. The things that were taken, these were things you'd worn . . . and touched . . . and slept on?"

"Yes. What is it, Edward?"

His expression was strained. "Things with your scent."

"I don't like this," Edward said.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that," Emmett said, still shaking the hand that was just crushed by Edward, though it looked like he was over-exaggerating the pain.

"He took a lot of clothes with her scent," Jasper said, narrowing his eyes and seeming to agree with Edward. "No, this isn't good."

"Oh!"

We stared into each other's eyes for a long moment.

"My visitor," I muttered.

"He was gathering traces . . . evidence. To prove that he'd found you?"

"But why would he take so many?" Edward asked.

"I don't know," Jasper said.

"Why?" I whispered.

"I don't know. But, Bella, I swear I will find out. I will."

"I know you will," I said, laying my head against his chest. Leaning there, I felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

He pulled out his phone and glanced at the number. "Just the person I need to talk to," he murmured, and then he flipped it open. "Carlisle, I -" He broke off and listened, his face taut with concentration for a few minutes. "I'll check it out. Listen . . ."

He explained about my missing things, but from the side I was hearing, it sounded like Carlisle had no insights for us.

"That's because I don't," Carlisle said; he looked like he was thinking about this, just like Edward and Jasper were.

"Maybe I'll go . . . ," Edward said, trailing off as his eyes drifted toward me. "Maybe not. Don't let Emmett go alone, you know how he gets.

"And how do I get?" Emmett asked, smirking smugly and looking like he was thinking of something pleasant.

"Yeah, that would be it," Edward rolled his eyes at his brother.

At least ask Alice keep an eye on things. We'll figure this out later."

He snapped the phone shut. "Where's the paper?" he asked me.

"Paper?" Emmett asked. "What's that got to do with anything?"

But Edward and Jasper's eyes both narrowed at the same time.

"Um, I'm not sure. Why?"

"I need to see something. Did Charlie already throw it out?"

"Maybe. . . ."

Edward disappeared.

He was back in half a second, new diamonds in his hair, a wet newspaper in his hands. He spread it out on the table, his eyes scanning quickly across the headlines. He leaned in, intent on something he was reading, one finger tracing passages that interested him most.

"Carlisle's right . . . yes . . . very sloppy. Young and crazed? Or a death wish?" he muttered to himself.

"It is the Seattle vampire again," Jasper hissed. "Perhaps this new threat is from Seattle."

"Maybe," Edward said, raising his eyebrow. "That might be why they're being mentioned so much."

I went to peek over his shoulder.

The headline of the Seattle Times read: "Murder Epidemic Continues - Police Have No New Leads."

It was almost the same story Charlie had been complaining about a few weeks ago - the big-city violence that was pushing Seattle up the national murder hot-spot list. It wasn't exactly the same story, though. The numbers were a lot higher.

"How much higher?" Jasper frowned. "I wish she would read the article."

"It's getting worse," I murmured.

He frowned. "Altogether out of control. This can't be the work of just one newborn vampire.

"I really don't like the sound of that," Jasper said. "What's going on there?"

"Perhaps the new vampire was...interrupted...that would increase the numbers," Carlisle frowned.

"Somehow, I think it's more sinister than that," Jasper narrowed his eyes.

What's going on? It's as if they've never heard of the Volturi. Which is possible, I guess. No one has explained the rules to them . . . so who is creating them, then?"

"That is the question of the hour," Edward said.

"The Volturi?" I repeated, shuddering.

"This is exactly the kind of thing they routinely wipe out - immortals who threaten to expose us. They just cleaned up a mess like this a few years ago in Atlanta, and it hadn't gotten nearly this bad. They will intervene soon, very soon, unless we can find some way to calm the situation. I'd really rather they didn't come to Seattle just now. As long as they're this close . . . they might decide to check on you."

"Aren't you convinced that's what they're already doing?" Alice asked. "I mean, that's why you thought that they were in Bella's room... if it was them."

"Hm..." Carlisle mused. "Yes, if they did come down here to stop the newborns, they would send someone to check on Bella... it would only be logical, and Aro would want to know that if they were that close."

"Then why is this in the paper?" Edward asked.

"The visitor was only in her room the morning before this," Carlisle explained. "This is still a viable news story. They never do anything to stop the press because that just causes more trouble than it's worth."

"That still doesn't explain why they took her scent," Jasper said. "What would the Volturi need with her scent... and so much of it too, if they were just checking on her?"

"I don't know," Carlisle furrowed his eyebrows.