A/N: As promised, Chapter Duex. Hope you like it. And as always, I do not own twilight. All rights and privileges are reserved for Stephanie Meyer. Lucky lady.

The burning was slowly dying down and I could feel the fire retreating from my extremities and inching back towards my heart. I wasn't sure how long I'd been burning, but I could feel the end nearing and for that I was grateful. I wanted to open my eyes, but was afraid of what I'd see. So, I kept them tightly shut. Instead, I began to exercise my other senses and found they had been magnified tenfold. Everything was different—better. Even my brain had changed. It was…more organized, like it could hold a million thoughts all at once and every thought had its own little compartment in my head. I could store them away and pluck them out as I saw fit. I could see what Edward meant about distractions now. It was quite unnerving.

Suddenly, my attention was drawn to the noises flooding my ears. The whoosh of each individual fan blade above me as it attempted to cool my heated skin, the slow melodic chirp of a nearby cricket; the sizzling of what I assumed was a frying pan. I must be in a house somewhere, I assumed. I picked the sounds out one by one until I honed in on a couple of low muffled voices. I wasn't alone, and whoever was here with me was arguing. I focused on them, hoping for one voice I might recognize.

"…she can't…"

"…one of them…."

"…must die..."

"You won't..." another voice bellowed.

I would have recognized that deep, raspy voice anywhere. It was the voice of my sun—my Jake. But what was Jake doing here? I thought he was mad at me. He had been incessantly avoiding me. I tried to remember exactly what happened before the attack, but my memories were all very fuzzy. I thought I remembered seeing Jake in the clearing, but then again, I also thought I saw him turn into a giant russet wolf. Maybe I had finally cracked.

Friend or not—Jake was here and I was turning into a vampire. I began to question myself, "Does he know what I'm becoming? Does he know the grave danger he is in?"

"He can't be here," I decided. I couldn't let Jake be near me when I woke, not when I didn't know if I'd be able to control myself. I knew I needed to tell him to leave, to tell them all to leave, for their own good. I didn't want to hurt them, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to resist the temptation of their blood.

Sometime between familiarizing myself with my new senses and the intensifying turmoil that boiled within me, my heart took its final beat and with it my humanity. All the heat that had seared through my veins was gone. The physical pain that threatened to bury me was gone. Bella Swan and the life she had known was gone. My transformation was finally complete.

I laid there motionless for an immeasurable amount of time before I realized that I was no longer breathing. I racked my brain, trying to remember the last breath I had inhaled, but came up blank. I couldn't remember. With this realization, I began to choke. Not that I needed the air, but choking felt like a natural response to this change. I knew it was time. I clamped my hands around the edges of the bed I was lying on and prayed I would have the control I needed to restrain myself. I slowly began to relax the muscles of my jaw and took one quick breath, so as to not assault my senses with more than I could handle. That's when I heard what sounded like a heard of elephants stampeding towards me. I figured Jake and the men he was arguing with must have heard me. Great. As if taking my first breath as a vampire wasn't stressful enough, I now had the added pressure of having humans in the vicinity. I was already mid-breath when they entered the room. Then it hit me, the most horrendous smell to ever invade my nostrils. It smelled like wet dog and was increasingly worse than anything I had ever smelled as a human. I knew if I was human I would have been gagging from the God—awful stench. I had no idea where it was coming from, but I knew the only way to find out would be to open my eyes.

"I think she's awake. I don't hear a heartbeat and she reeks of sugary sweetness," I heard one voice say, followed by a roar of laughter.

"I don't think it's a good idea for all of us to be here when she opens her eyes, she may be volatile and we don't want to scare her," responded a commanding voice.

"Come on, Sam. We're bored and you have a perfectly good vampire for us to play with right here. We promise not to burn her."

Sam? The same Sam who had been keeping Jake from seeing me? This thought alone made my blood boil, and that was a feat, all things considered. I wondered if the others were from the reservation too…Part of the "gang" Jake had been running with? And did someone just growl?

I was ripped out of my thoughts by that same commanding voice. "Enough. Are you forgetting this isn't just any vampire? This is Bella Swan. And you idiots may not be able to control yourselves, so everyone except Jake out! Now!" Sam spoke with such authority that it seemed as if the others had no choice, but to obey. I'd have to ask Jake about that later, I told myself.

I knew I couldn't wait any longer; I wanted answers and I wanted them now, and the only way I was going to get them was to open my eyes.

So hello, world. Welcome Bella Swan, vampire extraordinaire. Well, a girl could hope right?

Talk about improvement. Everything was so clear, so sharp. It was like watching HD all the time, only better, clearer. Before I took stock of the men that stood before me, I confirmed the suspicions of my where-abouts. I was in a cabin near the woods—La Push, maybe. As I noticed slight movement within the room, I Instantaneously turned my eyes toward Jake and I could see the hair on his arms stand erect as he looked me over. In what felt like minutes, I was snapped out of my thoughts by Jake, who was bee-lining for me so fast I thought he was going to knock me over. Just as I sat up on the side of the bed, Jake reached me. He then proceeded to grab me by the shoulders, look me once over, and pick me up into a hug.

"Oh, Bells, you're ok. I'm so glad you're ok," he thankfully said after putting me down, so we were both standing.

"Well, as ok as this is," he amended.

"I'm so sorry we didn't get there in time, before that dread headed leech bit you. It's all my fault, Bells. I'm so sorry." His response to me made me wonder if he knew I was a vampire. At some point, I would have to tell him the danger I was to him because of my change. Feeding my anxiety, I pushed the inevitable back for a moment to inspect him for injuries—he had said he was there when Laurent bit me and there was no way he could have gotten away unscathed. In fact, I wondered how he had gotten away at all. I had never realized just how big Jake was, but at that moment his size and stature was not lost on me.

"First of all, Jake, this isn't your fault and even if you had gotten to me in time there would have been nothing you could have done. He was a vampire. He would have killed you."

That elicited chuckles from Jake and Sam. I took a closer look at Sam and he seemed…out of place, like he didn't want to be here, but that he had to be for Jake's sake. But what could have posed such a danger that he felt the need to protect Jake? Then it hit me. Oh right! The danger was me. I was now one of the undead, but how did they know that? I looked to Sam for answers, just because he obviously knew what I was, didn't, necessarily, mean Jake did, as well.

"How do you know…what I am," I questioned Sam. He, once again, chuckled softly. Only this laugh wasn't pointed, so much, at me as it was at himself. There was something he wasn't telling me—something I was missing.

"I'm actually surprised you haven't figured it out yet, Bella Swan."

"Figured what out," I inquired. Sam slightly nodded his head in Jakes direction as Jake neared me, once again.

"Bells, there is something I need to tell you."

"'Kay…" I thought momentarily before continuing. "While you're at it, you could, also, tell why you've you been acting like a complete ass the past couple weeks." I offered. Jake heavily sighed before answering my request.

"Bella, I know what you are, what that leach turned you into and I'm sorry I didn't prevent this. It's all my fault. If I had just told you the truth about me in the beginning, none of this would have happened. Not telling you hurt me just as much as it hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you, but I had to. I physically couldn't tell you the truth about what had happened to me. It was too dangerous for you to be near me." Somehow Jake knew what I was and still I didn't know how. Just as I was about to ask him, I thought better of it. I had a feeling that he would, eventually, get to that. Plus, I had more pressing questions for him at the moment.

"What do you mean you had to? And dangerous? Dangerous how?" I asked as Jake crossed the room with his back to me.

Turning around he asked, "Bella, do you remember those stories I told you that day we walked along the beach at La Push?"

"Yeah, I think so…about the cold ones?" I thought I saw his face fall slightly at my answer.

"Yeah, well, I can see why that would be all you'd remember, but there was more. Think back to what I told you about the Quileute's and our ancestors. Do you remember?"

I racked my brain searching every compartment for the memory of that day. It was true; I remembered the story about the cold ones. I remembered everything about The Cullens in great detail, but every other memory, even those of Charlie and Renee, were fuzzy. It was like watching my life on an old rabbit ears TV—nothing was coming through clearly.

"Jake, I can't I'm sorry. My memories are all fuzzy." I didn't miss the dejection that swam through him, thanks to my lack of memory, but he responded anyway.

"Bells, Quileute's are thought to be descendants from werewolves." I snickered at the thought of a pack of horny teenager werewolves roaming around Forks. I tried to clear my face of all emotion, just as Jake caught my amusement. Talking with Jake was easy, almost too easy. I was surprised at just how little the difference was between vampire Bella and human Bella. Shouldn't this be harder? Shouldn't I be in pain? Didn't someone say I should be uncontrollable? The lack of difficulty that I faced boggled me, but I chocked it up to being in the presence of werewolves. Maybe it would all hit me when I was alone, I told myself. Ignoring my inner mystification Jake replied to my earlier laugh.

"No, it's okay. At first I thought it was a load of crap, too. You know, old superstitions told by the elders to scare us youngsters." Jake then straightened up and a serious look plastered his face. He spoke his next words with such conviction, as if he was willing me to believe him.

"But, Bells, I was wrong. The legends are true. I'm, well we, the pack, are living proof. I'm a werewolf. We're all werewolves and we're genetically designed for one purpose…to kill vampires."

We sat in silence as I processed what Jake was really telling me. He was designed to kill….me—and others like me. The silence became too much, but what was I to say?

"Bells, say something, please….anything," he pleaded.

"Werewolf, huh?"

"Werewolf."

I gave him a nervous laugh as I attempted to delay the inevitable by getting some answers out of him first. The least he could do was answer my questions before he killed me.

"Geez, Jake, you stink. Literally! My nose burns from being so close to you."

"Ouch. Way to bruise my ego Bella, but you don't smell like daisies yourself."

"What? You've never minded the way I smell before!" I affirmed while sneaking a quick sniff of myself. I didn't know what Jake was talking about; I smelled like strawberries, just as I always had.

"Yeah, well, you've never smelled like a vampire before, either. Mortal enemies, remember?"

"Oh. Right. Gotcha. Makes sense now." I liked this side of Jake. This was the Jake I missed—the pre-werewolf Jake.

"So, are vampires the only thing you hunt?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"But, how? I mean, they're fast and strong." A look of confusion crossed Jake's face as I realized I said they and not we. I corrected myself.

"I guess it is we now, since I'm one of them…but you still have to answer my question."

"Ah, yes, but we're faster and stronger than vampires. We didn't have any problem taking out the dread—headed leech and his freaky, red—headed girlfriend."

"You killed Laurent…and Victoria?" A sigh of relief washed over me. The threat to my life was finally gone. Victoria was dead, but then soon I would be, as well.

"Yeah, piece of cake. Hope they weren't friends of yours."

"No, Jake. Seeing how they tried to kill me and succeeded in banishing me to a life of bloodlust. No, they definitely weren't. "

"Oh, yeah. Right." I couldn't take the pretenses anymore. I needed this over with. I couldn't handle hiding my trepidation of my impending death any longer. I wanted it over. It was only then that I realized we had slowly inched apart, so I brought myself back to him. I wanted him to see the honesty of the emotions in my eyes. I reached for his hands, as I let out my anxiety.

"Jake, I can't do this. I just can't take the suspense anymore. If you're going to kill me, can we please get it over with now? I won't fight you, I promise. I have nothing left. I've been damned to this eternal life of darkness and I'll be alone forever. I'm ready."

He dropped my hands as I looked into his eyes. What I saw was baffling. The look of horror that washed across his face was unabashed. He knew why he was here. I knew why he was here. So why did my statement frighten him so?

"Oh my God, Bella, no. Is that what you think? That I'm here to kill you?"

"Well aren't you? I am a vampire and you said you hunt vampires."

"Well yes, I hunt vampires. But I'm not hunting you!" He barked. I could see the horror written through his face and I knew he wasn't lying to me—not now and not about this. Before I could think anymore about his candor, he continued.

"I'm here because you're my friend and I want to see that you're safe, even if you are a bloodsucker." He assured. His voice was filled with longing and hope that I would believe him. For a moment I thought he was convinced I was going to turn away and run from him. But I couldn't. Even if his actions had not convinced me, his words would have. It's true; his previous statement was conflicting within itself. The distaste with which he spit the word bloodsucker at me was obvious, but then again, so was the honesty and truth of his need to keep me safe. Therefore, I did believe him, and thus, I was slightly relieved to know I wasn't going to die yet—and not by Jakes hand. I knew how much that would kill him.

"And don't worry, we can't touch your precious Cullens unless they break the treaty first," Jake muttered, clearly irritated by this so-called treaty.

"Treaty," I questioned.

"Yes, treaty. I guess you don't remember the story." I watched as his face fell with sadness. The sorrow looked all wrong written across his face, so I closed the distance between us.

"Aw, Jake, I'm sorry. It's all this vampire stuff. It's kind of mucked up my memories."

"It's okay. I get it. Anyway, Legend says we found the Cullens hunting on our lands and they claimed to be different, so we made a treaty with them. If they promised to stay off Quileute lands and never bite a human, we wouldn't expose what they really were to the pale-faces."

Simple enough, I thought. But suddenly hurt appeared across Jake's face and I knew instantly something was amiss.

"Jake, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Bells, you know I love you, right? Leech or no leech, I'll always love you." He flashed that warm smile I loved. I nodded and he continued.

"Our treaty extends past the Cullen's. It goes for all vampires, which I'm afraid now includes you. So, as much as this pains me, I have a favor I need to ask of you." The ache in his eyes extended throughout out his entire figure and it hurt me to see him like that.

"Okay, Jake, anything. What is it?"

"Bells, please hear me out before you jump to conclusions or make any rash judgments or decisions? 'Kay?" He was pleading for me to keep my composure, but exactly what would threaten it, I wasn't sure. At that moment, I was more concerned about what he wasn't saying, rather than what he was.

"Jake, you're scaring me."

"Promise me that you'll stay calm," he pleaded.

"Yes…fine, I promise. Now what's going on," I hastily questioned him.

"Bells, we've finally rid ourselves of the vampires who have been threatening to destroy our lands for so long, and the Cullen's have left for good. You're the only one left—the only one keeping us from staying human. What I mean is we only phase when vampires are around. And once we start phasing we can't stop until we're old enough to control the urges and emotions. So yeah, Sam, Paul, Embry, the others—we all have to live with the cards we've been dealt, but we can still protect the young ones from this life. Or more so, you can protect them. They don't deserve this life, Bells. They deserve some semblance of normalcy, something better. But I'm afraid only you can give that to them, and only if you leave Forks."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was like Edward was leaving me in the forest all over again. Granted this loss wouldn't hurt as bad as losing Edward had, but it was still going to be painful. The pain welling up inside of me was threatening to break through. The hole that had so carefully been patched up was pushing to rip open at the seams, so much so that I had to steady myself on the bed post. The ironic part of the whole thing was that the person who was ripping me open now was the same person who had sewed me together when Edward left, all those months ago. At this realization, I bent slightly at the waist and wrapped my free arm around my mid-section in an effort to keep myself from falling completely apart. When this didn't work to stop the onslaught of pain, I slowly slid down the edge of the bed and pulled my knees to my chest. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around my knees to hold my whole self together.

I wasn't entirely surprised by the intensity of this pain. The Cullens had always told me how being a vampire would intensify everything tenfold, including emotions. So even if I wasn't expecting this pain, I was almost prepared for it. I never anticipated pain like this resulting from Jake, but I also never anticipated him banishing me from my home. I took a deep breath and tried to clarify what I had previously heard.

"You….you want me to leave? Jake, you're the only family I have left, and you want me to go away?"

Jake rushed over to where I was falling into pieces on the floor and sat in front of me on his knees. He cupped my face and tried to ease the ache he had just caused.

"Bells, I see what this is doing to you and it's not like that. I'm not abandoning you—we're not abandoning you. Billy and I, you'll always have us. We will always be here for you. You, well you, just can't be here anymore." When he realized what he was saying his hand fell from my face and his head bowed ashamedly.

I took a moment to think about what Jake was saying. He loved me. It was showcased clearly through his current state. Of course, he loved me. I loved him, too, but not in the same way. He was my best friend, my stitches, my sun. I gave my heart away a long time ago and never really got it back. It belonged to Edward, but that didn't stop Jake from loving me with everything he had. No, Jake didn't' completely heal me, but he sewed me up so that when we were together I couldn't feel the pain, as strongly. It wasn't as if there had never been a hole there in the first place, but more that it was full of something that left no room for sadness. I owed Jake a lifetime for that. So, for him I would do it—for him, I would leave. I owed this to him. I rested my chin on my knees and bore into Jake's eyes with my own. I didn't unwrap myself, just yet. I said I would do this; I never said it wouldn't hurt, and if I was going to spend an eternity alone, I needed to preserve as much of myself, as possible.

"Jake, look at me. Please." Once I was sure he could see the depth of my words I continued, "I understand what you're asking and how hard this is for you. You gave me everything. You healed me when I was broken. You protected me when I was vulnerable. You loved me when I couldn't love you back. So for you, I will leave."

"So, is this goodbye?" he glumly questioned.

"Yeah, I think so," I solemnly replied.

To prevent ripping anymore holes in my chest, I got up and turned to walk out the door. I stopped just as I reached the door frame because something didn't feel right. I could feel the weight of Jacobs's eyes bearing into my back. I knew he was feebly trying to hide how much this was actually hurting him, how much he truly loved me. I understood what my leaving would do to him and I had to protect him from himself. As I stole one last glance, I saw one sparkling tear glisten from the corner of his eyes and the longing that was trapped on his face. He temporarily let his mask fall. With vampire speed, I ran up to him. I must have frightened him because he momentarily flinched away from me as my finger caught the tear that escaped his eye. I gave him a few seconds to regain his composure, during which, I froze, as motionless as stone. I stood there, watching him and the emotions that flickered throughout his face—confusion, anger, sadness, shame. When I knew it was safe again, because he had regained control of himself, I brushed his cheeks with my thumbs and held his face in my hands, while I spoke softly.

"Jake. Maybe this isn't the forever we had planned for ourselves, but it is what fate has dealt us and we will survive. You will find a girl who can love you just as much as you love her. Someone who deserves you and all you have to offer." I placed my hand over his beating heart.

"Protect this. Save it for her. You deserve it. You deserve her—whoever she is. I'm sorry I could never love you the way you needed me to, but know I do love you. I always will. You'll always be my sun. And I will miss you. Bye Jake." And with that I kissed him on his forehead with every ounce of love, passion, and longing I had left in my body for him and ran into the forest night.

I couldn't think about what I had just done or inevitably I would break down. I forced the memory back into a closed compartment of my brain and instead searched for something to quench the undeniable burn in my throat.

I stood there in the forest analyzing all the different scents that invaded my nostrils. I soon came to realize the larger the game was the more appetizing the meal. Not able to control my thirst any longer, I prepared for attack. I crouched into what I assumed was a hunting stance when I realized I had no idea what I was doing.

How does one hunt, I questioned myself. I'd never even so much as shot a rabbit as a human and there I was trying to kill a cougar. I was not a hunter by nature, but now I would need to be. I thought back to Edward. The only hunting I'd seen him do was when he was hunting James last year. So, I took that memory and used it as my model—my compass. Once again, I sank into a crouch and slowly began to sneak up on the cougar from behind. When I was satisfied that I had the surprise of attack, I pounced. Swiftly, I landed on the cougar. I used my arms and legs to perch myself on the cougars' back as it struggled beneath me. I held on while the cougar fought to throw me to the ground, but it was no match for my newfound strength. I found the animal to be of little competition for me. With one huge gasp, I bent my head into the crook of the cougar's neck and bit down, easily puncturing the skin and finding my way to the source of my thirst. The blood began rapidly flowing through the puncture wounds and I relished the feeling as the warm blood gushed down my throat and into my digestive system. Once the animal was sucked dry, I hid the remains of my meal. I found the fight to be intoxicating. The adrenaline of the hunt, the rage of the battle, and success of victory wove themselves into a new rush I had never felt before then. I couldn't imagine there was anything more intoxicating than this, more thrilling. Subsequently, I left in search of my next prey, praying no human would dare come near my path. I was sure I wasn't ready for that.

Two cougars and three deer later, my appetite was officially satisfied and I found myself on a forest cliff overlooking the river. It was then that the memories I had locked away ripped through the gates and flooded my mind. The realization had finally hit me: I was completely and utterly alone, forever. This threatened to rip apart everything I was holding together. With that thought alone, I threw myself back into an old cedar tree that hastily split in two. I slid down what was left of the tree and pulled my knees to my chest for the second time that day. I tightly wrapped my arms around my chest and laid my head on my knees. My wounds ripped open and I let the silent sobs tear through me. I sat there for hours waiting to see tears that would never come—tears for the life I'd lost, tears for the lives that were lost because of me: Charlie, Renée, and Phil, tears for an eternity of solitude and loneliness. When the sobs had all swept through me and my body began to quiet down, I searched for my next move. Where would I go? What would I do? More importantly, could I do it alone? Did I want to search for the Cullens? I knew that as hurt as I was by Edward, I could never hate him. I always knew I wasn't enough to hold him, but it was still a shock when he finally admitted that fact to himself. I would never forget those words.

"Bella, you're not good for me…"

"I don't want you to come with me."

"You don't want me?"

"No!"

Edward didn't love me and that, alone, was enough to keep me away. I wasn't about to let him pretend to love me out of pity. But what about the rest of his family? Could I handle seeing them again? No. I didn't think so. They became my family: my brothers, my sisters, my friends. It wasn't just Edward that had left me. They had left me, too. They turned their backs and abandoned me, without as much as a goodbye. I knew they would blindly follow Edward to the ends of the Earth, but I had hoped they would at least show some resistance. I wanted them to fight for me. I lost a lot more than the love of my existence that day. I lost my entire family. How much could I really have meant to them?

"Had everything been a lie?" I wondered.

"Was I really just their little human pet?" This thought hurt more than I could have imagined, like a million tiny needles pricking my soul. As hurt as I was by Edward, I was just as hurt by the actions of his family. I wasn't ready to see any of them and, in all honesty, I didn't think I would ever truly be ready to see them again—to face what I lost—what I'd never have again.

But I would be ok without it, without them. I had to be. I unwillingly admitted that the first step to "ok" was finding me again—the me I was before the Cullens. As much as I hated it, I knew there was only one place I could do that—I would be forced to return to the place I lost myself to begin with. It was the only place where I could genuinely let Edward go, where I could begin to heal my soul. Seeing that I had finally admitted to myself that I was, indeed, going back, the apprehension began to stir deep within me, but my conviction strengthened, as I prepared for what was to be one of the most painful and eye-opening experiences of my life.