Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

It took me a little while to get started, took me the better part of ten minutes to work out how the compass worked and what the map said, it was a little to faded for my liking. Now, almost positive I was heading in the right direction I set off into the woods.

The forest was full of life today, bright colours, flowers, green trees. It looked just as I had remembered it, magical.

Jokes.

It looked eerily, too calm. There were bugs and beetles scurrying around beneath my feet and birds singing, chirping away. The forest seemed creepier today, it made me feel uneasy.

The sense of unease grew stronger, my breathing speed up, heart beating fast, I could feel the hole opening again.
Stupid hole.
I wrapped my arms tight around my self fighting for air, trying to make it stop. I almost turned around, turns out that would have been the better idea. Instead I kept going into the forest deeper and deeper. The deeper I got, the eerier it became. I kept going, further and further, I must have been moving faster than I had first thought.

There was light up ahead, a break from the darkness. And then, I pushed through two vine trees and there it was. The meadow. Id never seen another clearing so symmetrical- as if someone had intentionally made the flawless circle, creating its perfection.
Impossible, yes, or no.

I could feel the scream coming, the pain rising worse than before. I shouldn't have come; it was a mistake to think that this place would hold anything for me. The life was gone, As if he had taken all the magic of it with him when he left. It wasn't enough that he took my heart, he had to take this as well.

I don't know what I thought I'd find here, a piece of my heart perhaps. It was the wrong time of year for the flowers, but that didn't help with the hurt, the realization that there was never anything here for me.

The disappointment hit me hard, almost instantly. It was the same place, but it didn't hold what I was searching for. It held nothing, none of the reminders I had hoped for. Nothing to confirm that he was real, that any of them were.

I fell to the ground, the sobs were rising up out of my throat now, why bother going any further. There was nothing here. Nothing special. He held the magic, and now the magic was gone.

I was alone. It was then that a figure stepped out from behind the trees opposite me, had my sobbing caught someone's attention? Surely not, no one would venture out here. It wasn't anything special after all.

A multitude of emotions whirled inside me. Surprise came first. Then as I focused harder on the figure in the distant, the pallid skin, black hair, not the figure I was hoping for. I tried to mask the pain as I tried to place the face.

"Laurent!" I was surprisingly happy to see him. It was a stark reminder that they were all real. I was elated! They had existed. It was an irrational response.

I really should have stopped at fear.

Laurent had been apart of James's Coven when we had first met. He hadn't been involved with the hunt, for me, but only because he was a coward, afraid of the wrath of James. It was protected by a bigger, better coven. If I had of come across him in a dark alley or something I would have been his meal. He had no problems with me as dinner back then.

He of course must be civilized now, after he'd gone to Alaska to live with the other vegetarian vampires like the Cullen's. Yes, fear would have been the appropriate response but I was so desperate for something to prove their existence. There was something off about him, I couldn't quite figure it out, and it was nagging at me.

"Bella?" he asked, looking more surprised than I felt.

"You remember." Easy Bella, I told myself. It was ridiculous that I should be so ecstatic because a vampire knew my name.

"I didn't expect to see you here, when I found the Cullen place empty, I thought they'd moved on."

"Oh, didn't you go to Alaska?"

"You're right," he agreed. "I did go to Alaska, Still, I'm surprised they left you behind, weren't you some kind of pet of theirs?"

"Yes, something like that."

It was then that I realized what the nagging feeling was; he looked to familiar- much the same. Carlisle had told me of his move to Alaska, to live with the other vegetarian family and on the rare occasion I had thought of Laurent I had pictured him with topaz eyes, the eyes of my beloved family, the eyes that the good vampires had.

I took a step back; his dark red eyes followed my every movement.

"Do they visit often?"

"Uh, I, Um, Yea, all the time."

"Is that so?" It would have been obvious to even a five year old that he didn't believe me.

"The house smelled like it had been empty for some time now"

I didn't have a response for that one, I wanted to run, but I knew my chances where slim at best. I couldn't out run a vampire and even if I tried, it would trigger something in him, make him want to come after me.

Alice had explained it too me once, when a vampires prey try's to escape, it builds up the predators excitement, gives them a rush, it's near impossible for them to refrain from the chase.

It was then that I realized I was prey. Laurent's dinner. I decided my best chance at survival was to distract him.

"How are things with the Denali coven? Carlisle, he mentioned to me that you had moved up there." He looked taken shocked.

"I like it there very much, although I find the restrictions very difficult. Sometimes I cheat".

Shit.

"Jasper has problems with that, too."

He seemed interested, "Jasper?, Is that why they left?"

"No, Jasper is more careful at home."

"I see, Yes, I am too."

He started to move toward me, ever so slowly.

"Did Victoria ever find you?" I asked, still desperate to distract him if even for a minute longer. It was the first thing I thought of, and I regretted it immediately.

Victoria- who had hunted me with James, then disappeared, was not someone I had wanted to think of, ever, especially not now.

He paused; the question had caught him off guard.

"Yes," he said, hesitating, "I actually came here as a favour to her. She won't be happy about my killing you."

"What?"

"You see, she wanted to save that part for herself, she's rather put out by you. She thinks it far to kill you because your Edward killed her James. Mate for mate."

Even here, so close to death his name ripped a new hole in my chest, that was blow one.

Laurent didn't notice my reaction. "She won't be very happy with my of course, I was meant to look for you, get the lay of the land so to speak but you've caught me at a bad time, Bella. I'm very thirsty and you do smell.. Simply mouthwatering."

Shit.

"He'll know it was you, He'll come after you, Kill you." I'm not sure where this new found courage came from, surely challenging a vampire was not a wise move.

"The scent will wash away with the next rain, no one will ever find your body- you'll simply go missing like many a human. There's no reason for Edward to think of me, if he cares enough to investigate."

And that was blow two.

"Please, please don't do this."

"Ah, Bella, begging will get you no where. Look at it this way, I'm doing you a favour. If it were Victoria who had found you… If you knew what she had planned for you. I promise you'll thank me for this."

Shit. Just shit. There was no way I could escape this. I was going to die, I tensed for the pain and I let his name fill my mind. It didn't matter now, the pain didn't matter. It would all be over soon. Edward, Edward, Edward, I love you.

He moved in for the kill, something caught his attention.

"I don't believe it, his voice so quiet it came out as a whisper.

I followed his gaze and saw nothing.. then I heard the snarl, a low roar rolled out from the gut of this creature.

It was now I realized that it probably wasn't a bear killing humans and destroying campsites. It was Laurent or this creature.

"Master of Vengeance" , "He still walks." Laurent murmured this, as if in disbelief. "I can't believe it didn't recognize him before, such a small mistake that will cost me dearly."

He said this more to himself than to me, I wasn't sure who this Master of Vengeance was but I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to find out. I took of back into the woods running.

It took my forever to find my way back to my car, at first I was just running. Running from Laurent, from the creature, from the pain and hurt that I had felt today.

By the time I got to my truck I was a wreck, the sobs were fighting there way up again, my chest ached, everything ached.

Charlie's cruiser was in the driveway- I hadn't realized how late it was.

"Where have you been Bella?"

Oh great, he was angry. Best stick with the truth.

"I got tired of all that study, so I uh went for a walk in the woods."

"You what?", "Bella, I told you to steer clear of the forest. People are going missing Bells."

"I know Dad, I, won't let it happen again. I promise."

"Ok, Bella, Just try and keep you safe."

I nodded vehemently.

I headed up to my room for the night; the irony of his statement was not lost on me. I had gone into the woods looking for something to prove they existed and I had almost become a snack.
Laurent would come for me now, I was certain, or maybe Victoria.
There was nothing I could do to prevent this, nothing could keep them out. I got under my covers, curled myself up into a tight little ball and prayed for sleep that would not come.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

She was here, it was Victoria. She had come for me after all. Laurent's words swirled round my mind, "If you knew what she had planned for you." Oh this was it, I just knew it. Master of Vengeance, whoever, whatever that was. He can't have killed Laurent, it as stupid to entertain such a thought. The only thing that could kill a vampire was a vampire. Still, Laurent had seemed scared. I shoved my fist into my mouth to keep me from screaming.

They were in my room, if I was lucky they'd kill me and leave Charlie alone.

"Bella." The voice was familiar; I looked over to the window. My eyes widened in shock,

"Jasper?"

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