I was crazed with my newborn thirst. All I could think about was soothing the burning in my throat, to drown it with the scent that was so mouth watering.

I had woken in the forest alone, unsure of how I got there. I couldn't remember an ounce of anything before the extreme torture that I had felt rumbling through my veins.. I did remember that I was on the verge of death; my feet dangling off the cliff of the unknown. I felt the cold blackness of a hand reaching to grab my body. Then my body cringed in the sudden flash of heat. It was so sharp, so surreal. I found myself unafraid of the cold hand that wanted to claim my life before. I screamed for it to take me, to drag me down into the unknown, to stop this burning. Despite my screams, the hand didn't take me. The burning spread into every organ of my body, no cell remained untouched. I thought that I was going to catch fire and destroy the forest around me. I kept screaming and throwing myself around the forest floor, trying to find some relief. It felt like days had passed before the sensation slowly came to a halt. Suddenly, the sun became brighter and my nose burned with passion over scents I've never smelt before. The wonder took me full-force and I found myself craving more, wanting to experience every scent. Then I smelt something that I could taste, like a watermelon scented candle. My throat burned with desire to engulf it. To swallow whatever I was smelling whole. Like I said, I became crazed with my newborn thirst.

My eyes jilted to the left to spot what I had smelled. A women was hiking through the forest, she looked concerned, troubled. Maybe she had heard my screams of pain and had come to find me. My smile curled across my face as I snickered at her stupidity. Well to be honest, she wasn't stupid, just naïve to my existence. I knew at the moment that my eyes locked on her that I would destroy her life. I had no care for her, I just wanted to drink the scent. To finally satisfy the burning.

She turned her back on me, unable to see me through her peripheral before, but still looking for the source of the screaming. She opened her mouth to call out to the distress call, but my lips against her hot flesh silenced her cry. Instead, she gasped short airs of shock while I drained her of life.

The sensation of her blood in my mouth was utterly indescribable. I felt excitement, joy, and satisfaction all rolled into a single helping. It flowed so quickly through me. I never wanted it to end. Then her skin lost her heat, and I felt her limp body underneath my lips. Suddenly, the sensation was gone, and I was the only thing holding her body away from the ground. She looked frightfully pale, but then again, I guess all the dead looked like that. I focused my thoughts, trying to remember if I have ever seen anyone dead, but my mind was like a train wreak. It was filled with new sounds, sights, smells, touches, everything felt so different that I couldn't focus. At least I could focus away from the burning of my throat…but I still craved more.

I shifted around the trees at super-fast speed. I knew that this wasn't normal; there was no way I could be human, even if I couldn't remember what being human was like. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. I smelled something again, something that felt familiar. My instincts told me to run toward it, so I listened.

I was suddenly commanded by pure instinct at this point, but I had no care to do anything else in my mind. I was so blown away by all that was happening, it was no shock to me for my brain to go into autopilot. I was just listening to the voice in my head that told me to run. Just run to that smell. The smell of honey, chocolate, roses, fresh books, and even money. It was a weird combination, but very strong and distinct….it was calling for me, wanting me closer.

Suddenly, the forest broke into a small yard that carried a large house on it much like a turtle carrying a rabbit on its shell. The house just barely fit into the open yard before the lawn turned back into the forest that was concealing the house. It was a beautiful house no doubt, and seemed very open, almost as if it was inviting me in. I didn't have much time to think about whether or not to accept that invitation before a hand collided with my throat and pushed me against the trees.

My eyes quenched against the pain, but I had a feeling that it didn't hurt me as much as it should have. However, my feet were still off the ground and I didn't want to look at the assailant. I felt scared, like I was seconds from leaving this short life I lived. I flashed back to the cold hand, and then the heat that followed. I wailed in pain at the thoughts of my most recent memory. Then I connected my thoughts the sensation of the women's blood in my body. The desire to drink it came over me again and I felt like I needed it. My body forgot about the hand that clutched me to the tree and my eyes flew open, searching for a fresh victim.

"Poor thing." A velvet breath brushed against my face. "You have just been changed. No wonder you cannot control your desire."

My thoughts were distracted by the voice, and my eyes twitched nervously to view the face. It was a strong, beautiful face. I felt like I was staring a rock that had been molded by a lifetime of water flowing over it. His cheekbones arched in just the right place, his lips just a thin line of purple-pink skin. He too, looked like the dead, but you could feel the life inside of him. His tussled bronze hair shown brilliantly in the sunlight, as did his skin. It took me off guard at first, but something inside of me told me I was no different. Then my eyes locked with his. They were a glowing golden, and I was lost in the color for a moment. Then I recognized the expression on his face, it looked confused, but fixed. He was reading me.

"I must tell Carlisle. It is luck that you were drawn here before you murdered any other hikers. We'll have to get rid of the body before the wolves find out. It would do no good to break the treaty now." His grip loosed on my neck, and for the first time I felt like he was actually talking to me. "You will feel guilty about killing that women once your thoughts become yours again. You were ruled on instinct, as we all once were, but we can help you. Carlisle can, anyway. I have no experience in converting young vampires, I've only watched him do it. But first tell me, do you want to change?"

My eyes locked with his. My instincts screamed 'NO!' It wanted me to run so fast and far away from this thing that was holding me. I knew that I could outrun him, for some reason I knew I was faster and stronger than him. But then I felt another sort of tug from inside of me. I knew I would feel guilty in the future. He was right. But mostly, a tug came from inside that I wanted to see this threat holding my neck again. At that thought, he flinched. I stared at him for another minute, trying to make a decision

"What's your name?" I asked him in a baritone voice that I haven't heard come out of my mouth before. It shocked me, but then again, I couldn't remember what my voice sounded like before. I just knew it didn't sound like this.

"Well if you are worried about trivial things such as your voice and my name, then you aren't entirely ruled by instinct." The fact that he could hear my thoughts about my voice sent another wave of shock down through me. That means that he could hear what I thought of him physically too…and my desire to stare at him. No wonder he flinched. "My name is Edward." My guess is that he wanted to stop listening to my thoughts now.

"I would tell you mine Edward-" I started to tell him. "But I can't seem to remember…."

He chuckled at my inability, and let my feet touch the ground again. "Don't worry." His velvet voice was so much more calming now that I was on the ground. "You will remember in due time. Once you recover your real-self you'll remember some of the basics of your human life."

"So I was right in assuming I wasn't a human?"

"Well you were" Edward started to explain. "But now you are a newborn vampire. A vampire completely ruled by thirst. Except for some reason, you seem to be able to be distracted from your thirst."

The second he mentioned my thirst, it brought back the wonderful memory. I wanted that feeling again, and I wanted it now.

"I guess I shouldn't have mentioned it." His hand trapped me against the tree again as I was ready to flee to find another human to prey on. "Come inside with me, Carlisle will help you. He's helped all of us to become as human as we can. He is very much a father to me."

I wanted to answer him, but that desire became very small now. It was a tiny voice trapped in a room full of 300 different people in my mind. I heard it, but felt no desire to look for it, it was just another voice in the room. The only thing I wanted to do was find more of my new found drug. I had no desire to quit it, to have that burning craving come back.

Edward must have heard my thoughts again, because he said: "Don't worry about your thirst. Carlisle will take care of you. Just please, come. I feel drawn to you…"

As he spoke those words, it seemed to erase my thirst. He had said the right words, pushed the right button, to make all the voices in my head go away. All except that one that was trying so hard to be heard earlier. I stopped my trashing against the tree, and he loosened his grip again. Then we both walked together towards the inviting house.