Kiara told the boys she'd meet them at Sam's house. She knew that Jacob had just ripped his shoes, and while Sam had plenty of spare shorts and tees for the boys, the shoes were limited. It was why when they phased, a bundle of mismatched shoes would always be spread across the porch and Sam and Emily's - it was just too expensive to keep getting new shoes.

She wasn't sure how Bella would react to the news. Had she known about vampires, and the Cullen's and Bella's knowledge of such things, she'd have immediatley assumed that the Swan would be fine with weird but Kiara didn't know any of that yet.

Explaining what all went down to Billy took her longer than expected, so by the time she had finally arrived at Sam and Emily's, her brother and the two other wolves were just almost arriving too. Had she been a second later, she maybe wouldn't have caught the tail end of a conversation that changed her perspective even more.

"...this chick runs with vampires!"

"You can't really run with vampires... cause they're fast."

"Well, we're faster. Freaked out yet?"

"You're not the first monsters I've met."

Sam breezed past Kiara without even thinking about the conversation that was happening, patting her shoulder as he headed into the house to immediatley greet Emily with kisses.

"Jakes right," Sam replied with a smile on his face as he looked at Bella. "You're good with weird."

There was a long pause for a moment before Jared realised that Kiara was standing in the doorway with wide eyes and an expression on her face that he couldn't really place. He went to open his mouth to say something before Kiara's phone tumbled from her hands, the glass smashing on the floor.

As if a lightbulb had gone off in their heads, all of the wolves turned to look at Kiara in sudden realisation. Even Paul and Jacob had paused on the porch behind her, having been able to hear the conversation with their advanced senses. 

They'd all accidentally broken their biggest unofficial rule: they'd spoken about vampires in front of Kiara.

"Did you just say vampires?"

Bella blinked at Kiara, taken aback by the girls reaction. She had assumed that knowing about wolves would have meant the girl knew about the Cullen's and about what they really were, but the look on her friend's face told her that the boys sitting around the table in front of her had been keeping not just the wolf pack a secret from Bella, but the existence of vampires from Kiara.

Sam went to move towards the girl he had began to view as a little sister, but immediatley stopped as Kiara took a step backwards towards the door she had just entered through. It was so silent that Bella knew they could and would have heard a pin drop - even without supernatural hearing.

"So... that woman that attacked me? She was a fucking VAMPIRE?"

Jacob walked towards his sister, placing a hand on her shoulder but she pushed him off instantly. Paul and Jacob shared a look, knowing that this was less than ideal circumstances for Kiara finding out about what they really had been hunting in the woods.

"Kie..."

"NO SAM!" Kiara barked, causing the rest to all look more on edge. They didn't know what she would do, and her short temper had always been a problem for herself. "You're telling me I got attacked by... a vampire, a fucking VAMPIRE like something out of dracula and you're just expecting me to be chill about this?"

"Kiara!" Jacob snapped, moving towards his sister who breezed past him and out of Sam's front door.

"Don't you DARE Kiara me, Jake!" She snapped back, shoving his chest and causing Paul to tell her to calm down before she did something she'd regret. She ignored him as she pushed her brother in the chest once more before turning around and heading in the direction of the dirt path that would lead her home.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Paul yelled, instantly feeling over protective of his best friend. Kiara didn't even turn around as she continued to storm away, rather just shouting over the light breeze as she knew the boys would be able to hear it anyway.

"To tell my dad that you've been hiding the existence of vampires from us all!" She snarked, before she slowed to a halt and turned around to look at them all crowded in the door. Emily's heart almost broke as she watched the realisation cross Kiara's face, almost as if a lightbulb had lit above her head.

"He knew," she murmured, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at the wolf pack and thought of her dad. "He fucking knew too."

The pack, Bella and Emily did nothing as they watched Kiara take off down the path, her sobs echoing as she ran. 

_____

A week passed before Charlie called Kiara down to visit the station. She'd cycled in the pouring rain, still not communicating with the pack or Jacob despite the unspoken tradegy that had rocked their community the afternoon before.

"Hey kiddo," Charlie spoke as he opened the door to his office, a soft smile on his face as he moved out of the way. Kiara rubbed her cold arms as she looked around the Sheriff's office, having not visited in a while. He poured himself a cup of coffee from the filter as Kiara looked at the new photos that had been framed since she last visited.

Her eyes trailed over one that she hadn't noticed before, pausing as she smmiled gently at the memory. It was her, Bella and Jacob when they were younger. Bella and Jacob were covered in mud while Kiara sat behind them, her arms wrapped around the old dog that belonged to Harry and Sue Clearwater. She'd loved that old mutt, and she'd cried for an entire summer when he passed of old age.

"How's your dad?"

Kiara shrugged as she sat down, her wet hair dripping slightly on the floor. Charlie scowled as he noticed her tremble a little, reaching into one of the cupboards behind him and passing her one of the spare Forks PD fleece coats that they kept in there. She smiled lightly at the man as she shrugged it on, wrapping it a little closer to her as the warmth kicked in a little.

"He's with Sue right now," Kiara told Charlie, the pain evident in her voice and relfected in Charlie's eyes. "Leah and Seth... they've not taken it well."

That was the understatement of the century. Leah and Seth hadn't taken Harry Clearwater's sudden heart attack well at all - and Kiara knew it was due to the fact his heart attack was triggered by the red-haired woman that Kiara had now come to know as a vampire. She still didn't know about the Cullens, and Jacob had asked Bella, Sam and the rest of the pack to keep it that way.

Leah and Seth had phased - another reason why Kiara was staying clear of the pack and Emily's house at the moment. She didn't want to experience the awkwardness as Leah had to discover that Sam leaving her for her cousin wasn't a choice, but was fate and destiny in a sick package. She didn't want to experience Leah's constant lashing outs at the rest of them. She didn't want to see the grief that clouded Leah and Seth's faces every moment of every day because she knew it would remind her too much of when they lost her mother.

She didn't want to go to the pack house, because it brought up the fear in her that she might phase. Girls weren't supposed to be able to phase, and while the elders and Sam had assured her that if she was going to have phased like Leah it would have happened by now - especially when attacked by Victoria - she didn't want that life for herself. She wanted to be able to complete her one year plan of surviving Forks High School, graduating and getting far away from the dreary state of Washington.

"I'll check in on your old man when I drop you off," Charlie murmured, before sighing and clasping his hands together. He'd called her down for official police business, and he had work to do. He could grieve his friend when he was off the clock later. "I assume you're wondering why I called you down?"

Kiara shrugged, simply slouching a little as Charlie continued on. He opened a manila folder in front of her, sliding a photo across so that she could see it. Her eyebrows furrowed a little as she looked at it for a moment before sliding it back across to him.

"I've not seen him in ages, Charlie," she replied before the man could even ask. "I'm sorry, but I'm of no help here. We broke up almost a year ago and he dropped off my radar pretty soon after that, sorry."

Charlie nodded, running a hand over his face as he closed the folder back over, accepting her truthful reply off the bat. He trusted Kiara, and if she said she hadn't seen the teenage boy then he believed that. They sat there for a moment before he looked at his watch and clapped, motioning with his head for Kiara to get up and prepare to leave.

"It's good to have you riding in the car without being in trouble this time," Charlie joked as they began to head towards the parking lot, causing Kiara to roll her eyes. Times had changed over the past few months, that was certainly for sure.

"Hey Charlie, can you drop me off at yours? I don't want to go home right now," Kiara asked as she got into the car. "It just reminds me of... when she died."

Charlie's eyes softened as he looked at the teenager, nodding before putting the car into drive. He smiled softly at her as he took in how fragile she looked. It was sometimes hard for them all to look past the Kiara Black that was tough as nails, but when he looked long and hard at her in the police cruiser he saw her for who she really was.

A heart-broken girl, not sure of her place in the world.

______

When Charlie dropped Kiara off at the house, he assured her that Bella would be back soon and just to use the key under the mat to let herself in. Kiara accepted this, knowing that it was likely that Bella was out with Jacob since they'd been joint to the hip ever since Paul had phased in front of her.

She waved goodbye to Charlie as she unlocked the door, letting herself into the house and shutting the door behind her. She paused for a moment, thinking for a split second before locking it behind her. If Victoria was on the loose, she knew locking the door wouldn't stop her but it still gave her a little bit of comfort of mind.

Kiara unzipped the fleece as she flicked the light on in the main living room, closing her eyes as she stretched out for a moment. She loved the Swan household, and she knew fine well that Charlie wouldn't mind if she helped herself to one of the sodas that she knew were stocked in his fridge. Just as she opened her eyes to walk towards the kitchen, she felt a shiver go up her spine for a brief moment.

"Kie?"

"Kiara?"

Kiara spun around with a scream, throwing the can of soda in her hand at the sudden voice. She jumped backwards with a flail as the can smacked off one of the owners of the voices, her heart in her throat as she stared with wide eyes across the living room of the Swan household in a mixture of fright, confusion and utter awe.

Her hair looked more blonde than how she had remembered it. It was straighter than it previously had been, and hung around her shoulders with less of a bounce that usual. Her hazel eyes were glinting in the orange glow of the lightbulb Charlie kept saying he was going to replace, and her hands twitched at her side as if she wanted to reach out to the girl in front of her but didn't quite know how to.

The other owner didn't have that resolve. Alice Cullen moved towards the girl, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing just the right amount so that Kiara wouldn't feel crushed. Alice furrowed her nose ever so slightly at the smell, but she knew that Kiara had been hanging out with the wolf pack so she wasn't surprised by the traces of wet dog on her clothes. Kiara's arms hung limp at her sides as Alice hugged her, not quite sure what was going on or how the two Cullens had let themselves into Bella's house without warning.

"You look well! Well, other than that... what a hideous colour," Alice rambled as she motioned to the sage green cast that was still wrapped around Kiara's arm, the mud smeared on it as always. Sue hadn't had time to re-wrap it that week, since her husband had literally dropped dead unexpectedly. "That can be fixed."

Kiara furrowed her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest as she felt a flick of irritation cross her as she looked at Rosalie and Alice standing before her. Rosalie still hadn't said a word, but her eyes were yet to leave Kiara. There was so much left to say in the air between them, but they both weren't the same people they had been when the Cullen's had upped and left months prior.

"How did you get in here?" Kiara asked after a moment, noticing how Alice's smiled slipped ever so slightly at not recieving a warm welcome back from the youngest Black girl. "The door was locked."

"Bella left the back door unlocked," Alice lied through her teeth, nudging Rosalie slightly as they both heard the rumble of Bella's truck coming from down the street. "We need to talk to her about her safety awareness, especially after... those animal attacks."

Kiara nodded slowly, having to remind herself that vampires and werewolves were a secret topic. There was no way that Rosalie and Alice could know about all of that, so it made sense that they had fallen for the lie that she had been attacked by an animal while out a hike. The small marks on her neck where Victoria had sunk her teeth into before being ripped off the girl by Sam hadn't healed, but the Forks PD fleece had a collar just high enough to hide it from view.

"Hey," Rosalie breathed after a moment. Kiara looked at her properly for the first time, finding her voice stuck in her throat a little as she stared at the blonde girl. "It's good to see you, Kie."

Just as Kiara went to reply, the front door lock jingled frantically as a key was rammed into the mechanism, the door swinging open to reveal a disheveled Bella Swan. Kiara furrowed her eyebrows at the girl, noticing how her clothes seemed drenched and her hair was damp. It wasn't the right weather to have been cliff diving, but it was immedialtey apparent that Bella had been doing just that. 

"Would you like to explain to me how you're alive?" Alice burst out as soon as Bella laid eyes on her, the Swan girl furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she looked between Alice and Rosalie standing in her living room. She hadn't quite noticed Kiara standing in the corner of the room as she was too stunned at the sight of the vampires she thought she would never see again. "I saw you, you jumped off a cliff! Why the hell would you try to kill yourself? What about Charlie?"

"I didn't try to kill myself! I was cliff jumping," Bella replied, causing Rosalie to scoff a little in disgust from where she was standing. It was so typical of Bella to be risking her human life, the one thing Rosalie had always wanted back more than anything. "Recreationally! It was... fun."

They all looked between each other as Bella finally noticed Kiara standing in the room. Her eyes widened a little, unsure of whether or not her childhood friend had caught on to who... or rather what they were standing in the room with. Jake had told her that Kiara had been avoiding everyone for the past week, and she was aware that no one in the pack had said anything about the Cullen's around the girl but Kiara wasn't stupid. Bella knew that if she really thought about it then she would figure it out.

"I tried to call," Rosalie told Kiara, breaking the silence. "Yesterday, to apologise again for how it all went down. But you didn't answer."

"Yeah, I was too busy watching my dad arrange a funeral," Kiara muttered, hearing the slam of a car door from outside and instantly feeling unease fill her stomach. "Oh great."

"What is that god awful wet dog smell?" Alice asked, causing Kiara's eyebrows to raise in confusion. She knew who was about to walk into the room simply based on process of elimination alone, but she didn't understand why Alice was smelling something that she wasn't.

Jacob walked into the room, his eyes narrowing as he noticed Kiara standing amongst Bella and the vampires. He crossed the room immediatley, putting his hands on either side of Kiara's face and checking her for injuries - although he would admit later on that it was mostly for show as he didn't believe Rosalie would have allowed Kiara to be hurt under her watch.

Alice looked at Jacob for a moment before looking back to Bella. "Bella, werewolves are NOT good company to keep!"

As Jacob turned around and began to argue with Alice, it was as if warning bells had suddenly started to go off in Kiara's head. It was like the clogs inside of her head had been frozen but were suddenly pushed into overdrive as her eyes widened as her thoughts whirled around her head. She looked over at Rosalie, who noticed the look on Kiara's face and instantly felt her worst nightmare come true.

Kiara knew.

The coldness of the Cullens' skin, the skipping sunny days to go hiking, the sudden disappearance when Bella got hurt after her birthday, Victoria referring to her as 'their pet'... it all made sense. Edward stopping that van, Rosalie never eating in front of her, Alice always seeming to know what her next moves were going to be at any given time... it all just became part of the bigger picture.

"Kie..." Rosalie breathed, looking over at the girl who had obviously just put two and two together. Bella looked over, noticing the look on Kiara's face and instantly recognising it as the same one she had made a week prior when she had only just found out about the existence of vampires.

"...we're talking about the other bloodsuckers who tried to kill Bella and Kiara because of you!"

"Jake," Bella warned, instantly recognising this as a repeat of the other day. Jacob instantly stopped, almost as if cold water had been poured over him as he turned to look at Kiara. The girl was standing frozen to the spot, her eyes slowly darting between Alice and Rosalie as she subconciously rubbed the mark on her neck where Victoria had ripped her flesh.

Jacob instantly tensed up, realising his mistake. He could have taken her home as soon as he saw her there. He shouldn't have antagonised the Cullen, he should have just protected his sister and taken her home where she would be safe. He knew the Cullen's wouldn't hurt her physically, but the bombshell that had just been dropped had ripped Kiara in half.

"You..." Kiara murmured as she looked at Rosalie in fear, with tears pooling in her eyes. "You're one of them."