Let's get to know Edward a bit, shall we?

Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight, but I'd sure love to own a Ripperward of my very own…maybe tie him up in my playroom so I can teach him a lesson or two lol!

CHAPTER 1 – RIPPERWARD IS BORN

EPOV

Life as I knew it now, never existed for me prior to my 'birth' over three and a half centuries ago during the Great Fire. I woke alone and confused, having no recollection of how I came to find myself in the sewers of London in early September 1666. Surrounded by smoke and ash, my only savior was the human excrement that I found myself covered in, its filth protecting me from the licking flames of hell.

Before that time I had no memory of what I was certain I once was…a young man with a life that I was sure held hope and promise. I came to discover much later that the clothing I wore spoke of someone who held a high place in court under King Charles II's rule, my long embroidered red coat and baggy britches gathered at the knee as well as a cravat and matted periwig at my feet evidence of a life of privilege I was never fated to lead.

I could only assume the very flames that cradled me took away my maker, as when I searched for a way to make my escape, all that remained were indistinguishable charred remnants of something otherworldly, the flames still flickering around the blackened mass, the only thing remaining a distinctive silver ring. As I reached over to claim my prize, noting the pentagram which surrounded the blood red stone in the centre, my fingers inadvertently touched one of the burning embers, and the subsequent pain that coursed through my body caused me to let out an inhuman scream as the tip of my finger burned until I doused it in the human waste that surrounded me. It was then that I knew my true enemy, so with haste I took the ring and fled, the heat of the flames nearly crushing me, blinding me as I made my way out of the sewers and toward salvation.

As I made my way through the streets, the night sky burnished orange as the flames consumed everything in its path, another far deadlier and more disconcerting burn seared its way down my gullet…an unquenchable thirst that no amount of water could or ever would douse. As I swallowed mouthfuls of water from the gutter in futility, mindlessly trying to douse the pain that was building with every passing moment, three men and a woman approached, but as soon as I sensed their presence, I knew without doubt what would quell the burn. As I inhaled their scent, heard their rampantly battering hearts, sensed their fear, a surge of instinct and need invaded my every pore as I rose to my feet and stalked toward them.

"Edward!" the woman screamed as I let out a guttural roar and threw her approaching husband aside like a rag doll before setting my sights on the beautiful pale skinned, doe eyed beauty.

I snapped the necks of the other young men who opposed me before I drew her into what could only be described as a lover's embrace. Licking my lips in anticipation, I threaded my fingers through her long, brown hair before pulling her head aside to expose her throat, her pulse beating fast under her creamy skin as my mouth moved closer to the my only source of relief. I held her tighter as my body shook and the need in me grew, and as the air left her lungs and her ribs began to snap under the pressure, I drew back my lips and plunged my exposed fangs into her skin, tearing at her flesh as I burrowed and fed, sucked and tore. I never felt more alive…more empowered than I had in that one, pivotal moment.

"Isabella!" Edward cried as I let her go, and he crawled over the mud to kneel at my feet. "Please, have mercy on me. I beg of you, don't end the Cullen line…allow me to live so I may marry another and carry on the family name," he begged.

"Never!" I roared before Edward suffered the same fate as his young sons had mere moments before.

And so, I took not only him but his family name, having no memory of my own, and as my teeth sliced through his throat like a knife through butter, the pain in my throat finally began to ebb. Still craving more, I fed on the corpses of his sons, using their very essence to finally tamp down the burn that would forever remain a part of my existence, to a bearable level.

And that is how I came to be, my rampage through the fiery streets and hovels of London unstoppable as I killed under the guise and protection of the very flames that I also knew could turn on me at any given moment, gaining strength with each person that I fed from until I finally felt sated enough to stop the madness…however briefly.

Since that fateful day, my life, or existence for want of a better word, consisted of hunting and feeding as I remained in and around London, killing as I saw fit. Though I had a preference for petite, dark haired women who possessed that same creamy skin, my large appetite prevented me from setting myself such impossible limits. As I grew stronger, not only did I feed from as many souls as possible, I tore them to pieces as the beast inside me took over, mutilating them beyond recognition as I ripped my way through one body after the next, brutalizing those who unwittingly crossed my path.

I behaved like a feral animal in those wretched, chaotic early years, becoming the very worst version of myself. My hunger for blood was so maddening, so ingrained in my every thought and feeling that I only truly felt inner peace when I hunted and fed from the flesh of the living. Their warm blood was a drug, a life-giving elixir, their skin and bones lay to waste as I tore through them to reach their hearts, the blood gathered there intoxicating me like nothing else ever could. The only thing that came close to equaling it was the thrill of the chase.

And if anyone bore witness to my atrocities, I simply murdered them to cover my tracks, my lust for fresh blood and how the next hunt would unfold, driving me on.

Up until a few hundred years ago, I wasn't all that discerning about whom I chose as my mark as far as social standing, but I craved a challenge nonetheless. Deciding that my next mark would be the beautiful, dark haired daughter of one of the higher-ups in Scotland Yard, I was forced to take stock of my actions after discovering my intended prey was more prepared than I first thought. Not only was the home heavily guarded after the murders of Whitechapel in 1888, but the girl in question appeared knowledgeable of my one weakness. As I moved to take her she took two well lit oil lamps from the mantle and threw them at my feet before picking up a decanter of whiskey and tossing it into the flames…flames which licked at my hand as I tried to get to her. Screaming in pain but knowing I could have no witness to my atrocities, I managed to kill her before making my escape. After I doused my wound in a nearby pond, losing half a finger in the process, my instinct to survive came to the fore at that time. I began to kill more discreetly, deciding to take those who would be less likely to know of my weakness, the poor, the destitute, or those whose lives were at an end anyway because of their misguided choices.

Those who were expendable.

I also began honing my skills into somewhat of an art form, and became so proficient at covering my tracks that I have forever remained untouchable. Having said that, I still managed to leave my little mark everywhere I travelled, orphaning children…widowing husbands and wives.

I became a nomad, travelling the far reaches of the world, devastating everything in my wake as I made it my goal to take the lives of the not-so-innocent, and in the process making the world a better place in my own sick and twisted mind, my actions somehow justifying my very existence.

And that's when I came upon this place. Fate, so it seemed, had chosen to finally throw its way across my path as I drove cross country and headed west from New York, needing to get as far away from my last victims as possible, the taking of an innocent life alongside my mark leaving me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn't stop driving until I reached Los Angeles where I had heard of an escalation of gang wars, thinking I could assist by whittling down their respective populations.

I was about to do a great service to humankind, but little did I know that my journey here would be so life altering. Ah yes, things were about to get very interesting…

A/N: This will be updated as soon as I finish editing the next chapter! I'd love to hear what you think, as next chapter, Bella will be introduced…