I haven't written in a while, so forgive the specks of rust…-works arm a bit like the tin man, rust falls on paper- By the way, me no own –puts heart back together-

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Chapter 1- Blinding bloodlust

-Riah's POV-

BRRRRINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! The school bell sounded, jerking me from my dreaming. I groaned and rubbed my eyes as I sat up. Jessica smiles big at me and Mike just shakes his head. "You've got a red mark on your cheek…" He chuckled and picked up my hand, where a matching red spot stained my barely tan skin. Jessica flinched and turned away, hiding obvious hurt. Mike dropped my hand before she turned completely around.

I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light of the room and touch my left cheek; it's numb and yet still sensitive to my touch. "Well, at least I don't look like a Cullen clone…" I sneer at him and he backs up. My, he's changed since last year. But I didn't care. This is senior year and I was getting straight A's, even though I skipped, I'm only sixteen. I could afford to do what I was doing.

That and I had a valid excuse. I was escaping. I have it all planned. He was no longer going to have over us the power and oppression he has had for the past twenty years. Forks, a place of pure clouds seemed even darker upon the place I was to call home. I could never bring myself to, nor did I try.

I picked up my books in silence as Jessica stalked off, wounded. Mike idles by as I shove my books into my backpack, lost in thought. I can't believe it's been twenty years. Twenty years of hitting, abusing, arguing and damn near killing my mother and me. Now it's our turn to hurt you, by escaping you. The man I'm supposed to call 'father.' We are no longer your slaves, no longer your playthings or step stools. "Damn right!" I yell, forgetting myself. Mike startles and knocks over a glass flask. I spin around, embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry, Mike!" I swoop down and scoop up the glass in my hands. I don't realize a large piece cut into my hand until Mike sucks in air. I wince and look down at my hand. The glass is smeared with it, a pool of it on the floor and instantly I think of Emmett. The last time I saw him he was bloody, as if he'd been fighting. God was he hot.

I whimper softly at his memory and then my hand gets yanked up. Mike steps back but in front of me and shields me from Mr. Banner, who's blotched face showed heavy disapproval. "I'll take it from here, Mr. Banner. I'll take her to the nurse."

"It's the end of the day…" He growls at us and I stiffen. I'd never seen him so mad. Mike doesn't give in, though.

"She's still here. The bell only just rang…" He insisted, bending to pick me up by the shoulder. I wince at his touch; we were friends but nowhere near touching like that. I've known him since third grade but we've never so much as hugged. What's come over him? Was it because he couldn't have Bella that he's now trying for me?

I inwardly groaned and squirmed in his grasp, but his grip was tight as Mr. Banner relented and let us past. I growl and smack his hand away with my good hand and kneel to pick up my bag. "I am in no way helpless. Back off!" The words come harsher than intended and he looks as though I stomped on his heart. "Mike...I…"

Before I could finish his face pales and he takes two steps back. I blink confused at him and slowly turn around to see Edward Cullen. A gasp gets stuck in my throat and I hold my wounded hand to my chest, staining my shirt. He eyes me seemingly hungry and as if he has an inner struggle. He growls at me and walks off, carrying a backpack I notice as Bella's. The doof must have left it here in her haste to be with him. But the pressure is too much. I faint.

-Edward's POV-

Cullen clone? How dare that girl! She's very lucky I have self-control! I growl to myself and clutch Bella's bag, inhaling her scent to calm me. Then a new thought flickers into my mind. She's at it again, that little schemer, she's going to run again…. I recall all the times I've eavesdropped on that girl's mind and heard horrid things. Her father, the abuse dealt to her and her mother. I'd almost feel as though I'd be doing her a favor to….

I shake my head of the thought and pity washes over me. These human emotions are still new to me and come on stronger than I would have liked. Still, I felt for the girl and wished her pain to ebb. Should she ever get the nerve to ask me for help, I would gladly do it. That is, if she wasn't so dreadfully smitten with Emmett, I recall warning him of her years ago….

I chuckle and inhale deeply at the bag again. Although, her blood smells so…. I groan with want and then shake the thought from me. I could never imagine her ever smelling so wonderfully alluring. I always sensed her as a plain girl who could match me only in grades and semi-beauty. But apparently, I was wrong.

Her blood's scent was still wafting around me as I wait for Bella in the hall. I could no longer hear her thoughts. And suddenly, it hits me strongly. I turn to see Mike, panic-stricken, racing down the hall with Riah in his arms, fainted. I could feel my self-control ebb just the slightest. I growl at Mike, who turns the corner. I follow, knowing how incompetent he is; he might hurt her in his haste. Humans could be ridiculously careless. I stop dead in my tracks and rethink that thought that just crossed my mind. Since when have my human emotions worked so strongly that I was not able to conceal them?

I watch as he lays her on the bed and the mousy woman of a nurse coos over her and puts a cold patch on her forehead and tries to clean her shirt. Mike looks worried. 'It's my fault, it's all my fault, now she'll never go out with me…' He twists his hands in nervous fidgeting and the nurse cleans the wound and wraps it in gauge. "It's not deep…."

I strangely sigh in relief and smirk, I inhale the sweet scent and groan softly. Her scent is heady and intoxicating. Even better than Bella's... I am instantly shamed by this thought and walk away.

I had already been in a foul mood. Bella had been bothering me about my changing her and I have to make a note to keep Alice from her company at all costs, should Alice concede to that evil whim. Then that girl, that Riah. She seems solid enough but that's merely a shell. She suffers greatly. I bet hers is a taste bittersweet, something heavy that I would drown in.

I shouldn't think of such things…. I sigh and walk outside to my Volvo. The air is thick and the clouds hang low I needn't worry about the sun today. Nor the secret it would reveal.

-Riah's POV-

I moan softly and turn my head, which made me fell like I was swimming, drowning. I hear two gasps, one I recognize, one I don't. "Mike, Ima hurt you so much…"

"But I uh…you-" He mutters, unsure of what to say and I couldn't understand why.

"Mike! You dullard, comprehend this. I…will…get…you…" I groggily sit up and open my eyes. I spot the Edward first, if I wasn't hallucinating and then the nurse, giving me a harsh look. "Some ice cream!" I quickly add. "I will get you some ice cream…."

She gives me a look but turns to write down a note my parents will most likely have to sign. Mike looks like he should be sitting on the bed instead of me. She hands it to me and I groan even more. Though my head has more than stopped spinning and my hand is clearly not bleeding anymore. "Here Ms. S'gem. Do get this a signature…"

I sigh and take it form her. I glare at Mike, who now looks like he'd die of humiliation. But my mind wasn't on him. My mind was strangely on Edward. Was he really standing there or was I hallucinating because I fainted? Has to be…

"Ahem!" The nurse jabs her finger into my arm and I instinctively smack it away. It doesn't really register that I did though, but I do hear a vague threat. I walk out of the room without so much as another word to her or Mike. Damn her for interrupting my thoughts…. I hear someone walking behind me and I turn to see Mike.

I sigh and keep walking to the parking lot and he follows, all the way to my Nissan Altima Coupe, a bold purple. God knows how much my mom had to scuffle to buy it….like my languid father would get off his ass… I dig my keys out of my bag and wince when one of the keys strikes my now tender wound. "Ahh!"

Mike instantly grabs my shoulders and leans me against him. I stare up at him bug-eyed, oblivious of the blood staining the white gauze wrapped to my hand. A stream of blood stains the wrist of my long-sleeved shirt, caught in the rain I just now noticed. My hair sticks to my face and I try to blink out the water as I feel him put pressure on my hand. "Hold still and it'll stop…"

"Mikey…please." I pout but hold still, my hand stinging. I look up to see his face gone soft and water dripping from the tip of his nose. He's smiling at me. "What?"

"You haven't called me that in a while….a long while…." He grins and leans in. I can feel my face grow hot and I squirm in his arms. "No!"

Just then, I feel something cooler than the rain hit me and I blink up to see Edward. His eyes are like fire and Mike stands rooted to the spot. "Ed…ward?" He doesn't seem to hear me at all.

-Edward's POV-

I growl and hold Riah tightly to me. "You'll do well to not harass all the girls of Forks, they arrest you for that, you know…" Riah stiffens in my arms as Mike glares at me and then turns to her with a very soft, even longing gaze.

He crosses his arms, but I can smell the fear wafting off him. "At least I don't look at her and Bella like a couple of meals. You're sick, Cullen. You oughta know." His voice is bitter and resentful. It catches me off guard for what happens next.

Riah jumps down from my arms and glares up at me with hatred. "I don't need saving, thanks very much! And Bella's waiting…" She points to my Volvo, three cars down, where Bella is staring hard. Without a word, Riah slips by Mike and me and into her car, driving away with surprising speed. Mike stands dumbfound, soaked by the rain.

I sigh and walked over to Bella and hand her her bag . "What was that all about?" Her voice is harsh, but I ignore her and open her door for her, then slide over to mine and into the car before she's completely in the seat and buckled. "Are you going to tell me or no?"

My lips become a thin line and I glimpse at her out of the corner of my eye as I pull out of the parking lot. Like always, she stiffens and becomes silent. Her hands tighten in her lap and she looks straight ahead. I sigh. "What are you thinking?"

She turns to me slowly and pales as the speed-o-meter hits 90. "Um…that you're mad…." I turn to her and she grips the edge of her seat to keep from panicking, my driving always does this.

"I'm not mad…." I growl a bit, my jaw tightens and she notices. She reaches over and traces it. I smile at her and slow to 80. "You have no idea how good that feels…."

A smile plays her face. But she isn't so easily derailed. "What happened back there?" Her warm hand cups my cheek and I growl softly. She's too inviting, too tempting, the spell she has over me.

I move out of her reach and speak quietly. "Mike was going to kiss her, she didn't want him to. I stepped in is all…" I stop outside Charlie's house and turn to her. The only sound is the rain pattering on the car and her slight breathing.

"Oh…" She forces a smile and shrugs into her coat, pulling the hood over her face. "That's Mike for you…" She bites her lip and I can't exactly tell what she means by that.

I smile a bit and lean over, kissing her sweetly. She squirms and then pulls me into that suction-like kiss I've grown so used to and yet not. I pull back fast and she just smiles, her heart erratic. "You're still trying to do me in, aren't you?" I growl, trying for playful but by the wide-eyed look she gives me I know different.

She shakes her head and opens the door, though she hesitates, lingers. "Never…you know that. I just can't help myself…." A small smile plays her lips. "See you later then…."

She steps into the rain and shuts the door, walks up to the porch and turns back. I pull out of the driveway and am gone before she can blink. Her thoughts fade into oblivion and my own circle 'round.

-Riah's POV-

Stupid, stupid boys! One tries to kiss me, the other tries to come for my rescue! My Nissan pushes 60 as I speed toward the grocery store. I don't need this, I don't need them! I can do things perfectly fine on my own! I am in no way a damsel in distress! I bite my lip until blood threatens. Well, maybe in one way I am, but I can get out of it on my own brains and brawn.

I stop at the Stop and Shop and shut the ignition off. I sigh and look down at my balled hands, tight in my lap. My acrylics shine off the car's light, my tan skin smooth and near flawless. My skirt rides high on my thick thighs, and my body is in all proportion, though I am tiny. I tilt my head down and my long straight hair shades my face, dark brown and caramel intertwine. I sigh. No one can be totally independent, the society we live in doesn't allow for it, we depend on our food to be grown and made, delivered…. we depend on our clothes to be made and for our laws to be taken care of by government…But I will try my damnedest to be as independent as I'm allowed, without being hindered by a single man. But the thing that frightens me most is that my mother does not have the self same convictions. I am a bullet waiting to be released, if only my mother would pull the trigger. Thing is, she hesitates. And that could easily be her downfall. I mean, if not for me…

I reach over to the passenger seat and pick my brown Louis Vuitton purse and dig for the list I had written earlier today. I groan at the length and slowly open the door. The bell goes off and I quickly stand and walk through the automatic doors. The whoosh sound calms me instantly and cool air wraps around me.

I grab a cart and do the shopping in automatic. I can hear my heels click as I walk through the aisles and pick things out. Emmett, Edward. If it weren't for the both of them being insanely handsome I'd swear they weren't related. Emmett is sweet and kind, quite the opposite of what his size boasts. However, Edward is exactly how he looks, cold hard and frigid.

"R.J.!" I jump at the voice and spin around on my heel, my hair blocks my view for a moment but I feel a kiss on my forehead. "Thought that was you…" I look up to see Jacob smiling down at me, his stringy hair coming out of his ponytail.

I relax and hug him tightly. "Hello! You scared me have to death, you know…" I poke his stomach and pretend to pout. He stiffens and grabs my hand.

"I'm sorry! I just saw you and…" He stopped and looked down at me, his eyes confused and wide. His eyes flicker a bit.

I raise an eyebrow and pull my hand away; I tuck his hair behind his ear and smile. "And?"

Before he could answer I hear another voice. "Jacob, is that our Riah Jade? Can't be…."

I look down to se Jacob's father and smile. "It is me! I haven't seen you in a while, sir." I lean down and hug him.

He laughs, with eyes so aged and wise I used to find myself staring with wonder as a child. "You've changed. Getting more beautiful everyday…"

I redden and shake my head. "Oh, I couldn't possibly…" Jacob groans, his head sinks as he steps behind his father to push the wheelchair up to me.

Jacob was wearing a jeans and a muscle shirt, so unlike him. "Um, are you ok, R.J.? You look sad… Still bummed about Lauren?" I flinch at the name.

"I'm fine! I don't care that we're not best friends anymore! I have Ashleigh! And if you say anything about her working at McDonalds, I'll hurt you…." I growl at him. His dad stares at me with wide eyes. "I mean…" My eyes flicker from Jacob to Billy and back.

-Edward's POV-

I pull into the hidden driveway to my home and quiet the engine. I sigh and think about my day as I get out and walk through the door, not even bothering to close it, too lost in thought. I hear someone clear their throat and turn to see Carlisle. I give him a sheepish grin and shut the door. "Forgive me…" I try to walk past him again.

"Something bothering you, Edward?" He asked, arms crossed, the man who made me, the closet thing I've had to a father since my 'death.' I stiffen and stop walking but don't turn to him.

"No sir. It was just a tiring day." I quip, honestly and he seems satisfied, as he lets me pass. I give him a half smile and wave to Esme. "Where are Rose and the rest?" I ask her.

She smiles and swishes over to Carlisle and put a delicate hand on his shoulder. "Out hunting. I was going to ask you if you wanted to join them?" She raised an eyebrow.

I groan and shake my head. "Later…" Before any of them could ask me anything else I slip into my room and shut the door. I turn on the stereo and walk over to the window.

The surrounding forest is vast and dark, keeping my families secret and stealing my attention from the reality of the world around me, if only for a few minutes. Then my thoughts flicker to Bella and Riah. So different but yet so much the same. But Riah….

My thoughts focus on the girl and a picture of her appears in my head, flowing hair and dark chocolate eyes that are so sad and yet so piercing….focused. Her small body properly curved, she is really quite beautiful, more so than what I give her credit for. She could even have what they call 'sex appeal.'

I shudder at the thought, then remember Esme and Carlisle, then Alice and Emmett, and finally Rosalie and Japer. All have, save me….I have only recently found Bella, and though I can tell she yearns for something more I hold back, for fear of what will happen when I go feral. She inspires the thought more than I let on.

But Riah. That girl is a walking magnet. I have been ignoring her since before Bella came to me. The way she flipped her hair, brush past me and not even notice, lost in those thoughts of hers, the strong aura that came off her and the even stronger thoughts. That girl has power, and I thirst for it. Her and her taste. I stop, shocked at what I just thought.

Have I truly lusted after that girl for so long and not realized it? Was I right in telling Bella love and lust truly do not keep the same company? Have I truly had those urges? And had I the ability to sleep, those dreams would come? Should I try to figure her out? And why did she smell of spiced peaches? A sweet yet tinted scent….

I laugh and turn the music on my stereo up. It throbs and shifts through me, cleansing me of any other thoughts that would intrude on me and my usual composure. And as usual, Bella creeps into my mind, her beautiful smile and even sweeter scent. And for some reason, I feel blank.

-Riah's POV-

Jacob is red-faced but Billy just laughs. "So small and yet so strong, always protecting your own, huh R.J.?" I stiffen as he continues. "And you were always the sickly one, in need of everyone else caring for you. But not anymore…" His eyes become wise. "Planning a little endeavor with your mother?"

A gasp escapes me and I take a step back. "How did you…who told you?!" I growl at him, my fist curling. Jacob, looks lost, always the innocent one, clueless of what's really going on.

Billy rolls his wheelchair closer to me. He pulls me down to his side by the arm, and I pull my sleeve over the gauze so he doesn't see. "She came to me and told me, she's scared, your mom is."

My jaw tightens. "She should've been scared and left 20 years ago. She should've been scared when he held that gun to our faces when I was 2 years old…I'm not scared of him anymore. Only scared for her not following me." I rise and pick up my basket, heading for the checkout. "I have to go now…." I zip through the line before he nor Jacob could react and am in my car with the engine started before I realize what I'm doing.

Although I did hear something I wish I hadn't. "Was that blood on her shirt? What's wrong with her hand?"

My car speeds toward home as Emmett creeps into my thoughts. He was strong and handsome and unbelievably amazing, if I could just be like him. Then my thoughts flash to my mother. I'll smack you if you've told anyone else. Why not broadcast it on the news that we're running away to California? Why not go right up to that bastard's face and tell him and see if he doesn't hit you, you're killing yourself and you don't even know…if not for me, you would be dead….

I feel a jolt and look down to see the speed at 90, I gasp and slow back to 30 almost instantly. Why am I in a hurry? That place is not my home and she's at work anyway. Never was, never will be, simply because I don't want it to be and because it doesn't have that capability.

I look at the groceries, some perishable but then I shrug. I have the car and the gas and the time and money. 'Be home by 4…no later…' Fuck you, I have no time limit, I am my own person, not a toy for you to control.

I then recall Billy's words and scowl. It was true. I had always been sick and was constantly being taken care of but I'm become different now, prideful. I refuse to let anyone help me, even if they offer, insist, even if I'm lying on the floor, gushing blood, I will not let them help. I have become someone of self-imposed sophistication, mannerism and independence. And I am proud of that. I decided to drive by my usual hideout, First Beach. I reached into the backseat and pull out my jeans, split down the sides and flip-flops, a smile spreading across my face, the sun was just setting now and I could just sit and watch and look for sea glass, one-handed because of my bloody clumsiness. The air was cool as I stepped into the sand and slipped out of my mind, watching everything around me, free. Free like I wanted to be. Freedom, what awaited me in California.

-Edward's POV-

I sigh and run my hands through my hair, exasperated and in need of escape. I was supposed to go to Bella's house but I wasn't due there for a few more hours, Charlie still being awake, now home from work. I smirk to myself, knowing her schedule so well, her life.

I figured I could wander about for a while, my choices may be limited thanks to the 'agreement' that my kind has with the people of the long time ago. So I decided, first Beach. Not exactly ideal for me but it would be something new, and it would give me the opportunity to clear my head before I go to Bella. I fear tonight will be most trying.

I strode downstairs to find it empty, but figure if they need me I shall not be hard to find.

I walk out and inhale deeply, the sky is darker now and I can run there. No sooner that I had that thought that my feet took me there within minutes, I could feel the cool wind on me but that's all.

I stopped and looked down at my clothes, I hadn't changed before I left. I lean down and take off my shoes and socks and roll up the legs of my pants, Esme would panic should I ruin my clothes. I hear a giggle and turn to see Riah, cut jeans blowing, her wounded hand pressed into her stomach, holding a bag, laden with sea-glass, her face blank, lost in thought. 'From childhood's hour I have not been. As others were; I have not seen. As others saw; I could not bring. My passions from a common spring. From the same source I have not taken. My sorrow; I could not awaken. My heart to joy at the same tone. And all I loved, I loved alone. Then - in my childhood, in the dawn of a most stormy life - was drawn from every depth of good and ill. The mystery which binds me still…'

So she likes, Edgar Allen Poe, how appropriate for her… A small smile tugs at the corner of her lips and she sits on one of the larger rocks, lying back on her elbows, her toes dipping into the rising tide. A slight breeze caught her hair and her scent bombarded me. I let out a soft, silent groan. A small smile tugged at my lips but soon faded as a figure snuck up behind her.

A growl erupted in my throat as Jacob covered her eyes and a small gasp ripped through her lips. I edged closer but it wasn't necessary, I could hear, perfectly fine from where I was. "Hello R.J. How's your hand?" She moved his from hr eyes and looked up at him with now relaxed eyes, she showed him the gauze.

"Better, but don't ever do that to me again, Jacob." She warned but he merely sat next to her and pulled her closer, inspecting her hand, though his expression, whether she realized it or not, was of something other than concern for her wound.

"All right…" He smiled and laced his fingers with hers delicately, she looked at their intertwined hands and then back to him, she grinned and tucked his hair behind his ears. But he picked at her shirt with his other hand, where a pink stain still marred her otherwise perfect beauty. 'All these years, she's still so warm…all of her secrets, all her pain, and she's still able to look the way he does…anyone else and they would have become so haggard…'

-Riah's POV-

Jacob's hand was warm as it gave my hand a gentle squeeze. I sighed contently and snuggled into him and like always he picked me up and put me in his lap. I cuddle into him, happily. Unlike Mike, I was completely comfortable with Jacob, who knew me in and out, even though he's two years younger. Some people thought we were dating. "Can I come over tonight?" I blink up at him, surprised. "Or, was today a good day?" His voice was a bit wounded and I couldn't understand why.

Then it hit me, I could sense that we weren't alone, that someone was watching us. Then I laughed inwardly and shook my head. My momma's paranoia is sinking in now, fabulous…just fabulous…

"You can, but you know the rules…" I twist a bit of his hair and look up at him, waiting He strangely stiffens and looks me over. I raise an eyebrow, automatically. "Well?"

He seems to pull out of his stupor and recites like a good dog. "Wait until all the lights are off except in the basement, where you'll be waiting, and stay with you without complain regardless of the shit I overhear. And you want me to…" He reddens a bit. "Cover your ears while you sit in my lap…"

I pretend not to acknowledge it and inspect his shirt. "And?" My voice is harsher than I would have liked but it keeps him on track.

"I'm there solely to keep you company and…" He smirks a bit. "To remind you not all guys are bad..." He kisses my hair and I relax. "Do I have to call the police again though?"

"I don't think so…we…." I sigh and cup his cheek, but my hand shakes, giving me away. "Jacob, me and my mom are running away, soon…so we're trying not to make waves until then, ok?" My voice is annoyingly pleading.

He nods and kisses my palm, and I can feel my face grow warm. "Ok…I'll miss you. And I wanted to ask you something…"

(A/N: Ok, I just read the book, but erm, if I mess u you're allowed to correct BUT NOT FLAME me…)