The persistent drumming of rain against the windowpane served as Forks' familiar lullaby, a constant backdrop to my new, unsettling reality. I lay in Bella's bed, the silence of the room amplified by the distant patter, trying to reconcile the ordinary surroundings with the extraordinary revelation that had just transpired.

"Surprise!" I had said, arms outstretched, moments before Bella's joyful embrace. It felt like years since we'd last seen each other, though it had only been a few months. Our reunion, however, was quickly overshadowed by the quiet, unsettling truth that had unfurled between me and Edward, Bella's vampire boyfriend. The air still hummed with the unspoken tension of our shared secret.

My eyes drifted to the photo album clutched in my hands, its worn cover a testament to a childhood that now felt impossibly distant and innocent. Pictures of Bella and me, smiling, oblivious, alongside a father who now housed a secret that could unravel everything. A half-vampire. Me. The words echoed in my mind, a strange, terrifying symphony.

Edward's presence, though he was downstairs, still felt palpable, a cold echo of his unusual nature. He knew. He had seen the truth in my eyes, felt the anomaly of my beating heart. And he hadn't told Bella. A fragile alliance had formed, built on a shared secret, a delicate trust.

I traced the outline of my own reflection in the darkened window, searching for signs of the monster I feared I might be. My eyes, usually a soft y/e/c, sometimes shimmered with an unnatural intensity, a tell-tale sign of the hunger that lurked beneath. The memory of the incident in Phoenix, the fear in that boy's eyes, the metallic taste of blood—it all came flooding back. Was this who I was now? A creature of the night, living in plain sight?