A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful feedback people! Read and enjoy the fruits of my labour! *Waves*.

Disclaimer: Twilight and all relating materials are obviously owned the infamous Stephenie Meyer. *Face palm*. Duh.

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Chapter Two.

L'Angelo Della Morte

A killer of the most dangerous kind is seemingly roaming the vampire community and killing all in its wake. She is no more than a shadow for our best hunters and trackers. We know nearly nothing about her – she kills all vampire witnesses – but thanks to one human she carelessly left alive, we know that she looks like a young human girl. But we also know for sure that she isn't one. Her skills and strengths surpass any human with ease. The death toll is climbing. So now we are releasing a bounty for her body – dead or alive. The threat must be eliminated.

When I read the sign reporting my nickname and the price of my body, I just snorted. Who do these vampires – the Volturi – think they are to try and get other vampires to kill me? I could take them all on. In fact, this would make my job easier. Having the prey come to me instead of boring tracking would be rather beneficial.

Re-reading, I noticed they got a few things right. Yep, I wasn't human. What human could kill a vampire with their bare hands? But I sure did pass for a teenage girl.

And all vampire witnesses obviously had to be eliminated. That was an easy, obvious thing to figure out. I nearly regretted leaving that one human alive. But I didn't. I have never killed a human before. And hopefully I never would.

Many people would argue that a wanted poster wouldn't be a cause for celebration. I had to disagree. This was proof that I worried them. Proof that I was now classified as a serious threat. I was someone to be approached with caution. It told me I was someone to be respected and feared. Exactly what I wanted.

L'Angelo Della Morte. I mused over the title they gave me. It was Italian for The Angel Of Death.

It was strangely fitting for me.

*******

I had gotten the poster from a nomad seemingly intent on killing me. At first, I found it odd that he continually pursued my death; even after I showed myself to be stronger than he was. He proved no competition, and I ended his petty existence with ease. Luckily for me, this precious piece of paper flew out of his pocket and explained things for me.

I never went through pockets before I set the fire, so it would have been lost. Luck was certainly on my side today.

A part of me mused whether, in desperation, the Volturi sent a flyer to every coven and nomad in the world – something that was certainly no easy feat.

They really must have wanted my head. I laughed at the thought. Hundreds, maybe thousands of vampires thought they could break me. Not a single vampire has ever walked away from me after a fight. Just the way I want it to be.

There would be no spilling of innocent blood on my watch.

Sighing, I glanced around the shaded forest, my ears concentrating to see if I could hear anything out of the norm. Since I couldn't, I relaxed and headed on home, running as fast – if not faster – than the wind.

It was time for me to move. People were getting suspicious. It was hard for me to pull off 23 and I was asking for people to believe I was 25. There was nothing holding me here – no worthwhile job, no good friends, and certainly no family or coven. I wouldn't miss it in the least. In fact, the only truly defining characteristics this place will hold for me was the beauty of the surrounding forest.

But all trees start to look the same after a couple decades or so of monotonous life. A rather depressing thought on the whole. I've barely been alive for a century and a half and my life was feeling extremely dull.

Maybe I took life for granted because I had no reason to live. Sure, I mean, my goal to eliminate as many vampires as possible was important for humans, but for me, I was still unsure if that was the full reason for my actions. Was I sub-consciously punishing all of vampire-kind for the actions of my father?

Perhaps… But there was always the fact that they loved to suck humans dry was another motive for me to murder them.

With a jolt of surprise, I saw that I had arrived home already. Running to my room, I let my mind wander once more.

Home…

The word held no true meaning for me. I had no home. Home is where the heart is. Isn'tthat the corny old saying? Well, I had no love and I had no heart. The only one I ever loved was my mother. And I didn't even know her name.

Worst of all, she was dead thanks to me. Her light was gone and it was my fault. I could never forgive myself. It was during times like this when I truly hated my life.

No, it wasn't a life. Life had meaning. I was merely existing, the goal of killing vampires keeping me within the reaches of sanity and away from boredom.

I was … tired, for lack of a better description. There hadn't been peace in my life since I could remember. And I could remember nearly every moment of my life.

My only freedom and escape from the torture of reality was sleep. Dreams that make me wonder; they make me laugh and want to sing. They are real, and at the same time they are not. Surreal would be one word to describe them. Yet, when I wake, they all disappear. Sometimes I wish I could sleep for days on end.

But I can't. My one weakness is sleep. During it, I can feel nothing, I can see nothing, I can hear nothing and I can smell nothing when I am submerged in the murky world of dreams.

Nearly ironic – as though a higher force was playing with me – the only time I feel anything close to happiness, is the one time I could die. Sometimes I wonder whether if I died in my sleep, whether I would dream forever.

Secretly, I wished that would happen.

But my instincts knew better. Suicide would never be a choice for me. I had to save humans from vampires. Yet, nothing else was tying me to this world.

Sighing heavily, I leant against the back of the couch I was currently residing in.

With a bounty over my head, I would have to go nomadic for a couple of decades. There was no way I would threaten the existence of humans. If they learned the name of a town I lived in, they would massacre it without a second thought. Just to find me. And there was no way I was going to let that happen.

Quickly, I darted around the apartment, gathering basic necessities. Money, change in clothes, an additional pair of shoes, a loaf of bread and a lump of cheese (human food was not fully needed, but I could survive on it if wildlife is scarce) were all haphazardly chucked into a worn leather waterproof backpack. I didn't need any documents; all of which were forged easily enough.

My phone weighed down my jacket pocket and I threw the charger for it into the bag as well. Patting my right jean pocket, I felt the reassuring outline of my lighter, and I racked my brain to see if I needed anything else.

I decided another source of fire would be best, so I threw in a large packet of matches. The only other things I added was a small pot – in the rare case I wanted to cook something – a slightly bent fork and spoon, and some rope. I found that rope was always helpful. Finally, I shoved a smaller bag of toiletries into the big bag and closed it.

Rummaging through the bedside table drawers, I got out my army standard bright red pocketknife. It was good to pick locks and cut things up when I didn't want to use my nails or teeth. De-scaling fish with nails was not a very good experience. So I put it securely in my pocket, nestled next to my lighter.

The lighter I owned was one of those special ones; that don't blow out, even in the middle of a tornado. I thought it was amazing, and I couldn't believe it when it was still burning underwater too. It was very handy if I needed to set vampires on fire during a rainstorm or a windy day.

Stretching, I looked at the clock and saw it was nearly sundown. My timing was nearly perfect. Hurrying now, I closed off all loose ends in my life. It took time to cancel credit cards and donate the money to charity, but it was worth it. There was not too much need for me to have an extensive amount of money.

With a single call, I told the landlord that I was vacating the premises. He was angry at first that I gave no warning, but I told him that the six months rent I paid in advance, he could keep. Which brightened his mood incredibly.

There was no furniture or electronic gizmos I wanted to take with me. But it wasn't like I had adorned this place with anything special. Bed, couch, fridge, television, stove. Rather mundane, low quality items.

Most of my time was spent volunteering in shelters or hunting vampires. Like I said, this place wasn't really home to me, and I made no attempt to make it feel like one. No paintings, photos or trinkets adorned the bare walls or shelves. There was no need for such things.

Shoving my keys in a blank envelope and leaving them on the kitchen tabletop, I left with my bag and without a second glance.

*******

I was riding on the train, wondering where I was going to head for. Having a destination was better than aimlessly wandering around the United States. A pregnant lady headed my way, and as the train was packed, I respectfully got out of my seat and offered it to her. She sent me a grateful smile which I returned as she sat down with a tired sigh.

Being so close to so many people was causing a dim burn to flare in my neck, but I paid it no mind. My concentration was unparallel. Someone could be bleeding profusely and I would be able to resist. Ignoring it entirely was still a feat I could not do. The scent of human blood still grabbed my attention. It would certainly be harder if I hadn't recently hunted.

My eyes darted up to the worn leather strap my hand was holding onto above my head. It was dirty as the floor, but I couldn't care less. Holding onto it held no benefit on my part, but it was all a part of the charade.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

Shakespeare had it right there. My life, the face the world saw was all lies; carefully constructed lies that piled on top of one another with surprising ease.

Which reminded me; I had to change my name again now that I was moving. For sentimental reasons, I usually kept the use of my first name, but I played around with my last name constantly. Nothing seemed to fit me.

Before I decided to move, I was known as Bella Miller. She was dead to the world now. I was going to be reborn – figuratively – as someone new.

Nothing came to mind that I hadn't used before. A century and a bit of life with an immeasurable amount of alias would do that to you. My gaze wandered up to graffiti-covered advertisements lining the walls. They were hard to see as people blocked them.

The train suddenly stopped at a station and a swarm of people were filtering out. Though the bodies attempted to jostle me out of position, I held steady. In that moment, I got a glimpse of a picture – presumably for an advertisement trying to sell land – and it was a pond surrounded by forest. And in the middle of the pond was a single white swan. It was beautiful and elegant.

Then I remembered that my name meant 'beautiful' in Italian.

Chuckling to myself, I realised that I now knew what my new name was going to be.

Beautiful Swan. What a fitting name.

*******

There was quiet here. I appreciated quiet. Libraries were something like a refuge. They offered silence and books.

Books were magic in their own right. With simple words, you can be transported to another world. One where the good guys always wins. Where the boy gets the girl and vice versa. They were wonderful. They were amazing. They were lies. They were falsehoods that raised hopes of the young and ignorant.

The world is always so much harder than the books say. Even the most complex plots have nothing on the muddle that 21st century life was. Damn, I missed the late 18th century at times. Things were easier. Yet at the same time, it was harder.

Life was hard. I knew that. Really, I should stop dwelling on it.

This trip to the library was just a pit stop. It was some down time to relax. Not even an hour after I parted from the train and entered the forest, two vampires attacked me; they were ganging up on me. It was a fruitless attempt, but vaguely valiant, nonetheless.

Ripping them limb from limb gave me the equivalent of a weak adrenaline rush in a human. But I never really felt alive. Even when I was killing others, I felt dead inside.

I had to wash in the nearby river to get rid of the smell of cooked vampires. My clothes were saturated with the scent, and even though I washed them as best as I could, it didn't work. I never leave a trail – except for one of bodies (or burning piles of them at the very least) – so I burned my clothes and headed onwards.

And that was how I arrived at the library.

Glancing around, I decided that I was tired of reading for now and I headed onto a spare computer. It took seconds for inspiration to come on what to seek. Using the oh-so reliable Google, I typed in, 'rainiest place in the U.S.'

If I was going to run somewhere, I should go hide out where plenty of unsuspecting vampires hid out. That way, I could work and stay safe from the more dangerous hunters. I feared not for my life, but for the lives of humans that surrounded me.

The Internet here was agonisingly slow to load. Time was of the essence here!

With a dull beeping noise, it told me what I needed to know. Smiling, I printed out a map. It was a simple directory telling me how to get to Forks, Washington State.

The place sounded like a perfect vampire ground – dark, cloudy, and lots of forests to trap unknowing hikers for lunch. Perfectly disturbing. Oddly fitting.

Bonus for me – there was plenty of wildlife. It was all mostly large game too. Yummy. I would hunt as soon as I arrived. Unless a larger, more dangerous type of game wanted to fight first...

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A/N: So, please tell me what you think! Cullen's will be making an appearance shortly, but patience will be needed. Never rush genius. *Laughs*.

And yeah, Bella is really quite the depressing little gal, ain't she?

Cookies with choc chips for reading! But you get muffins with every review! :-)