AN: New story. New Year.

Full Summary: Bella, a nomad vampire, living her life as she pleases. Her creator sent her running many years ago. He still searches for her. As she runs and hides, she only takes the life from those who are not seen as fit or worthy of living a human life, one that was taken from Bella. Her human memories did not stick as she was changed and she goes in search of who she used to be, and who she was. Her searching takes her to a town where she observes five humans, all around the same age as she. There is something about two of them that draws most of her attention and plays with her emotions. Intrigued Bella asks the favour from a friend as an idea comes to mind after taking the life of one more human scum. Will her search of her mysterious past be interrupted by the two boys? Who are they? And what will she find out?

Read and review.

I was strong. I was fast. I was new. I was free.

Those four short sentences were what kept me going. They were what kept me running. What kept me hiding?

I could do anything. I could be anyone. I could go anywhere. My abilities where special enough to keep me satisfied only momentarily. A new face, a new town and a new night. Now that was happiness.

Today was a shopping spree in the medium-sized town I ran into last night. It was sunny out, so I had to stay indoors until night fell. The sun didn't hurt me, but it would be like taking a blanket off a covered lamp aimed right at a disco ball in a pitch-black room. Bam! Sparkling light. I was the disco ball.

It wasn't hard for me to be around a large crowd of humans – only difficult when I hadn't hunted in a while. The last one was only a few hours ago. A truck driver stopping to help a poor, pretty girl out as she hitch-hiked into this nice looking town. He was disgusting in his attempts to find payment from me for being so nice. I paid by taking his life.

I don't remember what human food tastes like but I always like pairing my kills with a certain food. Last night he was a greasy burger with fries. The rich lady who pissed me off tasted like the perfume she wore and a tin of caviar. My first ever kill was the one I always remembered.

She was sweet and sour all in one, like a green apple. She even had that perfect crunch when I bit into her neck. Her juices ran done my chin as they mixed with the venom that sat in the back of my throat until I caught her. Her pretty little face is the clearest of all. And I've killed at least several dozen.

A lady bumped me then. I pretended to stumble in my act and she apologised. She was old. In her early seventies, she smelled like lotion and mothballs. Her spearmint cardigan matched her podiatrist shoes. Her weakening muscles and brittle bones made her incapable to control the shopping trolley full of her weekly groceries. Just then a man came up to offer his assistance. She took it thinking he was helping her but my eyes caught him snaking his hand into her handbag. Stealing money from an old person was like taking candy from a baby. Bastard.

"Excuse me." I walked up to him, grabbed him by the wrist and squeezed tight, not enough to break anything – much.

"Let go." His attempt to be threatening made me want to laugh and spit my venom in his face. It was people like this that I killed. Murderers. Criminals. Rapists. Scumbags. The lowest of low. They didn't deserve the privilege of living as a human. And I most certainly wouldn't allow them to ever be changed. Their blood always tasted awful and bitter. It reminded me of what I used to be. A monster.

"I'll let go of you if you let go of this lady's money you took from her purse." I breathed in his scent as he babbled some pathetic excuse. He was next.

"Dearest, I think you're mistaken." The elderly lady had no clue, half blind and close to deaf.

"No, no mistake here." I tightened my grip and the notes fluttered to the floor.

"You dropped it and I was just about to hand it back to you. Nothing worse than loosing money in a public place." His lie was most evident in his eyes. As was the fear he still possessed even after I let go. It was always in their eyes. Fear. Lies. Love. Doubt. Trust. Anger. Depression. While your lips may lie, your eyes give you away.

"My, that's awfully kind of…"

I cut the old lady off, "I bet you found that camera on the floor, too." The look on his face said it all. He walked off then, the old lady thankful.

I moved around for an hour or so, taking in each shop, in each display window. My shopping brought me to a store where the window was so clean I could see my own reflection. Truly, in human years I was only seventeen, frozen in time, but I had been around for…well let's say a while. My reflection wasn't the only one staring back at me. A young man in a uniform was watching me in the window. I turned around to stare him down as he walked away shaking his head. There was something about him, in his dark navy school uniform and the short brown hair that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

When my creator changed me, he told me that most of my human memories would disappear. This didn't affect me, because I simply could not remember, anything. It was hard, though, not being able to compare what my old life as mortal would be like compared to being immortal. Of course, I compared myself to others but never myself. My creator told me I was beautiful even as a human, and that I had a short fuse but a quick tongue. But he didn't tell me much else, before I ran.

As the boy disappeared around a corner I followed. Suddenly, as if I had some type of vision, not of the future but of the past, an image came to mind. It wasn't anything of significance, just simply a clouded sky through a car window. I had never experienced anything like this before, except for when I first woke up after being changed. The only thing I could remember from that time, apart from the deep burning pain all throughout my body, was my creators face before he bit me. His amber eyes were filled with lust and want, his hands were icy cold, hard and demanding while his voice was luring and sinister.

I continued to follow this boy until he came to the food court where he seemed to be going around and around in circles. For a moment I thought he could sense I was following him until he came to a table. There were other people around his age, both boys and girls, sitting around the table. He pulled up a chair and began talking to them. I grabbed a newspaper from an empty table next to me and sat down at one closer to the table where he sat. Being an eavesdropper was a power I possessed quite well and had been training myself to block out all other voices to focus on one or even several.

"So, Cullen, where you been man?" One of the other boys with a large frame and dark hair slapped the boy I had been following on the back. Cullen? Was that his name? Must be his last. From watching television I had been able to pick up on most of the social norms that humans my age held. Boys' calling each other by their last names was a common thing.

"No where." The boy, Cullen, snapped back. I wondered why he was so upset. A strange sense of empathy washed over me. Not the same type of emotion I was faced with when I helped the elderly lady, something entirely different.

"Ooo." The bigger guy taunted Cullen. Just then another guy stepped in, stopping the teasing.

"Em, stop being a fuck." Was all he said. He, who I was yet to hear speak. He, who sat the further distance away from me. He, who's facial features were beautiful, even for the sack of meat he was. The conversation picked up around their table including the two girls that were seated there. My interest in the Cullen boy was no longer the first thought in my head. The one who stopped all the commotion, I could not pull my eyes or ears from. Several times he looked over at me, and several times I looked away just in time.

"What are you looking at Jasper?" One of the girls, the smaller one whispers to the boy. Jasper. I tested the name on my lips, low enough for none of the humans surrounding me to hear.

"Nothing." He ignored the small girl for the rest of the time they sat there. Her small pout only lasted for so long as the curvaceous blonde stood to leave, taking her and the bigger guy with her.

Cullen moved closer to Jasper who didn't seem interested in the previous conversations.

"You have got to stop being such a dick to her, Jasper." Cullen seethed, still pissed off just as he was before. Jasper turned to him as if Cullen overstepped some sort of boundary.

"Who?" He asked in an aloof tone.

"What do you mean who? You know perfectly fucking well, who." Cullen spat. "Alice, you know how much she's in to you."

"I'm sorry, Edward." His apology meant nothing to him. I could tell by his tone and body language. Edward knew this too.

"No your not." Edward stood to leave.

"Just because you couldn't get the same attention from her that she gives me. Edward, really, if you wanted Alice all you had to do was ask." He stays seated as Edward walks off in a huff, walking right past me. I look up and watch Edward retreat as Jasper sits silently and out of the corner of my vision I can see him staring and watching.

I laugh at his attempt of being stealth and stand to leave. I chuck the newspaper in the trash without even looking, not caring who saw. Something weird was happening today. Emotions and other things began to stir inside me. I didn't like it. Not one bit. But for some reason I knew this wasn't going to be the last time this town sore me, now was it the last time I was going to see those boys. I was coming back, right after I finished some business I had to take care of.

I breathed deeply as I made my way to the exit, the sun now disappeared behind the taller abilities, allowing me to go outside. As I sucked in a chest full of air I caught a scent. A deep growl escaped my lips and I followed the path the scent made. Nothing was better than the chase. Nothing was better than the kill. Nothing was better than hearing that last intake of breath before their life ended. Nothing was better than the blood.

The scent led me to a small apartment block. I went around the back, and climbed the fire escape. Breaking the lock on the window I stepped inside. I heard water running, and someone moving around in another room. They spoke.

"What are you doing?" At first I thought they heard me enter the room, but they were just speaking to themselves. Pathetic. They continued. "Just leave. Put the brush down, grab your bags and leave. Everything is ready. You don't have to put up with him any longer." The person she spoke of must have been the man in the mall today. The digital camera sat on the coffee table as I stepped into the living room, staring at the back of a woman. She stood at the sink, scrubbing dishes.

"Fuck." She screamed abruptly, dropping something in the sink. Then I heard the water shut off, as did she. She turned around and I moved. "Do it, do it now." She spoke again to herself, but this time in a whisper. She walked straight past me as I stood silently in the dark. She went to the bedroom then. Coming back with a small duffle bag. She shook as moisture rolled down her cheeks.

What had this lowlife done to her? Bruises. She was covered in them. Just then the bathroom door swung open and the man I confronted earlier today stepped out. He froze, just as she did.

"And where the fuck do you think you're going?" He screamed at her, coming closer and grabbing the bag from her hands.

"N-nowhere. I was just moving some things around." She made excuses, cowering away into the kitchen.

"More like trying to leave again." He continued to yell. He raised his hand then as I clenched mine into fists, resisting the urge to kill him.

One smack and he had her shaking and pushed up against the cabinet. Fucker. I lost it then and there. I grabbed him from behind by the neck. He attempted to grab me, but I was too quick. I couldn't drink him here, not knowing how much of my humanity would be left to keep the woman alive. I threw him into the opposing wall, and watched as he sagged to the floor.

A bloodcurdling scream came from behind me.

Fuck.

"Shh." I clamped a hand over her mouth. She continued to scream beneath my palm, staring at me through bruised eyes in fear. I hated and loved it all at once.

"Shush. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." I was only trying to help her. Her screams quietened to heavy sobs. "Can you promise me not to scream?" She nodded slowly and I took a quick look behind me, the man coming to after passing out from the impact.

I took my hand away slowly and she cowered further into the corner. For fuck sake woman, I'm trying to help you.

"Who are you?" She asked me, her voice shaky.

"No one." I answered, leaving her on the floor. "Just like this dirt bag." I kicked him in the ribs, elating a muffled groan. "Has he hurt you?" I demanded from her. She shook her head wildly. "You're a liar, I just watched him smack you on the face. I can also see the bruises on your neck and arms." I picked the man up again, this time by the arm.

"What are you going to do with him?" She asked, attempting to stand on shaky legs.

"What he deserves." Through the window and out onto the fire escape I carried the man down one flight of stairs. I heard the woman run to the phone. I left the man there. My hand snatched the phone from the woman, hanging up on the operator.

"Please don't hurt me! Please! Please!" She begged.

"I won't." I spoke calmly, making her sit down at the bench. "Now, I want you to call the police. I want you to tell them you had just been attacked by that worthless piece of shit and you went to run. You escaped out the window and began running. He followed you but fell. Tell them to bring an ambulance." I handed her back the phone. "Can you do that for me? Can you do that for yourself? Can you do it for your child?" I asked. She looked up at me, questioning. She was about four months pregnant, from what I could see. "Please?" I begged now. She nodded again and dialled the number.

The police came and took the man away in an ambulance. They also took the woman in another and treated her wounds. I didn't allow for that first ambulance to reach the hospital.

After doing what I needed to do I found the truck I stashed down an abandoned street and took it to the highway.

I grabbed the cell phone I stole from one of the ambulance drivers and keyed in the number I knew so well.

They picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?" Her sweet voice came through.

"Tanya, I need your help."

This first chapter is short. The second will be longer, depending on reviews.