Authors Note: This is my first fanfiction, so I'm winging it! I am sure I have missed some typos and grammatical errors, so please, feel free to point them out to me!

Also, I am not Stephenie Meyer. If I am, my parents have been lying to me for a very long time, and I have must amnesia.

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BPV

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I could hear the sound of my bathroom sink's faucet leaking through the wall. The constant noise of the water droplets falling and hitting the drain gave me something to focus on, something other than the painful hole that I could still feel in my chest. Jake wasn't there-he was out running patrol for Sam so that Sam could go to Harry Clearwater's funeral- so I didn't even have his comforting presence to keep the nightmares away. For a while they seemed to be getting better, but now I was dreading going to sleep. I didn't want to have my nightmares of Edward, and now the nightmares of Victoria that would surely be mixed in. The Pack had spotted her earlier today by the cliffs, but by the time they caught onto her scent, she had taken off into the water. Sam didn't want the wolves to go after her, because it was too dangerous. What on earth had I been thinking, trying to jump off that damn cliff?! I shuddered as I remembered that I had been quite ready to jump into that water, just to hear Edward's voice again. To feel as if he cared whether I lived or died. Jake had caught me, bursting out of the forest, right as I was about to fling myself over the edge.

Flashback

"What the hell were you THINKING BELLA?" Jake yelled, fury evident in his every word. "You could have been killed! Didn't you even look at the water? It's turning into a hurricane out there! You might have drowned! Not to mention Victoria!" I blanched at the name; the name that had been haunting me for months.

"What do you mean Victoria? What happened?"

"We caught her scent a little while ago, and we chased her all the way to the cliffs. We almost had her too, but right as we caught up with her, she jumped into the ocean and took off through the water. Sam didn't want us to follow her since we wouldn't be able to smell her. That and the whole vampire-who-doesn't-need-to-breath-and-can-stay-underwater-forever thing." Jake said, chuckling darkly at the end. "I just can't believe you were going to jump Bella! I told you to wait for me! You could have died! That's the last thing Charlie needs right now."

"Jake, what are you talking about?" I interjected. His tone of voice scared me. Something sounded very, very wrong.

"Bella, Harry Clearwater had a heart attack earlier today. They tried to get him to the hospital in time, but it was too late... Harry's gone." Jake's eyes started watering, his face contorted with the effort to keep himself from crying.

"Oh, Jake." I cried, hurling myself into his arms, attempting to comfort him. "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"'S'okay." Jake answered, wrapping his arms around me, and pressing his face into my hair. "I just really feel bad for Seth and Leah. Seth's only 14, and Leah… Well, life's screwed with her enough already. Doesn't really need this on top of everything else."

We stood there for a long time. I don't know how long it was; it could have been hours, or just a few minutes. We just stood there, taking comfort in each other's arms. The sky was a steely gray, the waves crashing a hundred feet below us on the base of the cliff. Slowly the storm began to pick up, whipping the wind around my face, and making me even colder than I already was.

"Come on Bella, let's go home" Jake murmured, pulling my arms from around him. He took my tiny, freezing hand in his big, warm one, and we set off back through the forest. Back to his family. Back to my family. Back to… our family. In that moment, something changed within me. It was as if my world shifted on its axis… I don't know if I finally let go of… Edward, or if I finally embraced Jake, maybe it was both. But in that moment, I knew I could survive this. I could live happily with Jake, for the rest of my life. Yes, it would never be the same as my love for Edward, but it was enough. Enough for now, and enough for the rest of my life.

End flashback

I didn't notice that tears were running down my face, until one of the stray ones fell off my cheek and hit my hand. I tried to pull myself together; after all, this wasn't going to help my "no nightmares" strategy. I needed to find a book, I needed to do homework, I needed to find something to do, anything to help keep mind off of Victoria. I began to drag myself out of bed, flinging my feet over the side. That's when I heard it.

There was a light scratching on my window, the thunderstorm outside almost completely covering the noise. Almost. I might have missed it if my senses weren't on high alert from everything that had happened today. But they were on high alert. And I heard it. I froze in my tracks, halfway through getting off the bed, my back to the window. As the lightning flashed, I saw a shadow outlined on the wall. The rain pelted down in torrents, but through it all, I thought I heard the soft click of my window opening, then swiftly closing. Did I want to turn around? Did I want to watch as death came for me? My heart pounded in my chest, threatening to burst right through my ribs, and my hands began to break out into a cold sweat. I had had a Victoria scare like this before, but it had turned out to be Jake. I didn't think it was Jake this time. The only thing I could be thankful for was that Charlie wasn't home. He was still over at the Clearwater's, trying to help Sue. He might be spared from the dark fate I was soon to face. I always knew I would die like this, and I was ready, but I wouldn't go out without a fight. He wouldn't want that.

"Hello, Bella," a high, girlish voice came out of the shadows. "I've come at last, you see. Just as you knew I would. Those stupid dogs couldn't stop me forever… And now I'm here. I've been waiting a long time." I slowly turned around, forcing my feet to move, frozen in fear. As I turned around, there was a flash of lightning, and for a split second I could see her demonic face, serene now that she had reached her target, her burgundy eyes glittering in anticipation. "Where's your Edward now, little human? I assumed he would have come rushing in to save you by now," Victoria drawled, glancing around the room as if she expected him to jump out of my closet. Even though she was looking around the room, she didn't miss the flash of pain that went across my face, at the mention of his name. "Oh! That struck a cord!" she cackled, maliciously. "What has happened to him, my little pet?" She stalked over to me, taking my shuddering face into her icy hands, forcing me to look into her eyes. "Did he run away? This won't be nearly as fun if he doesn't intend on taking revenge! That's my favorite part!" In her glee, she grabbed my throat, holding me by the neck over her head. I tore at her arms and flailed my legs furiously, trying to get her to drop me. If she didn't let go of me soon, I would suffocate! In desperation, I ripped at her arms with my fingernails, but my stupid, weak, human hands did nothing to her stone ones.

"He left me," I managed to choke out, the hole in my chest ripping painfully. The agony on my face, not just from lack of air, caused Victoria to pause.

"He left you? I thought you were his mate!" This revelation seemed to startle her. It startled her so much that she dropped me to the ground. Had I broken some unspoken vampire law? Why did she sound so astonished? I gasped for air, the oxygen flowing into my grateful lungs.

"Yes. He said he was… bored with me," I rasped, clutching my throat.

"Well, well, well… This IS a turn of events. He didn't deem you worthy of immortality?" Victoria sneered. Suddenly she yanked me up from the floor, grabbing my face again, forcing me to look at her, her eyes flicking back and forth between mine, searching for any hint of a lie.

"No," I sobbed. The pain in my throat and the pain in my chest aching as one. It was all I could manage to say.

"Well then, that changes things… I did intend to kill you, to cause him the same anguish he caused me, but if he has moved on… There's only one thing to do."

That's when she grabbed my neck, and sank her razor sharp teeth into my throat.