Back in Renesmee's POV! Enjoy :)

~3~

My eyes flitted against the sun as they struggled to open. The warm sunlight poured through the cracks of the crates I hid under as my body tried to regain consciousness. I felt the pores of my skin perk up as they caught the light, glints of sparkles popping out against the ivory tone.

I knew I would have to wait until nightfall to go out. I would be noticed if I went out into the sunny day sparkling like a disco ball. I knew I was somewhere near Amazon rainforest and my best bet was to pray that the clouds would come out and the rain begin to pour down so I could at least find something to satisfy my grumbling stomach.

I let a moan slip through my lips as the sweat began to bead at my forehead. The heat and humidity was stifling and I knew from my previous days that it wouldn't let up. Though I was half vampire, I still had human instincts when it came to my skin and the weather. I wasn't immune to cold or heat as a vampire was. Instead, I was the only one in my family left to suffer in it.

The day dragged on in a constant wave of heat and I periodically drifted in and out of a dreamless sleep. I found it better to sleep during the day and explore by nightfall. Very few people came out onto the alley I was stuck in. The couple that did simply walked by quickly, the one exception being an old homeless man picking through all the crates. Thankfully, he never came near the ones I was hunched under.

I had been in this country for about 3 days now, and I wanted to get out soon. I was finding the heat unbearable to cope with and I needed a colder, drier climate. I spent the parts of my day that I wasn't sleeping, planning on where to go next. I decided I had had enough of South America and its' heat. I wanted to go back to a colder climate, where snow fell and frost bit at your skin. I would have to travel all the way back up to North America, but I thought it was worth it. I could hide out in Canada for a while, close enough to home but not as close that would allow my parents to come get me in a day. I would stay near the border of Alaska, where I could at least have the hope of running into a very familiar vampire. I remembered hearing my grandfather once talking about how nice the area around Vancouver was, maybe I would start there?

I weighed my options on how to get there. I could run through forests during the day, stopping in cities for food at night, and getting rest in in-between. This would take weeks though and I was in a rather hurry to get to the relief a colder climate. I still had a lot of money left. I could catch a plane ride all the way up to at least somewhere in the U.S. and then run the rest of the way.

By the time night had fallen, I ruled this as the perfect solution and decided on going to the airport not far from where I was currently the next night. When the sun was completely set, I lifted the crate off of me carefully, just in case someone was in alley that I didn't know of. I stood up and stretched my stiff legs, feeling them crack as they were finally able to move.

I started off by walking the streets of the more populated parts of the city, finding a dish of shrimp with rice and beans from a seafood restaurant. I ate it on the bench in a park, watching as many families left together, smiling happily as the closeness of night descended upon them. I felt the familiar twinge of guilt and solitude in my heart as I studied them all.

After retreating from the park, I continued to walk the streets, not too far away from the alleyway I spent the whole day hiding in. Even in the night hours, I stood out. I caught several people glancing at me as I walked by, admiring my beauty. I wasn't a full vampire but I was still more outstandingly gorgeous than many other human beings, especially of late. I was aging again, blossoming into a fully fledged adult, although I wasn't quite there yet. Still, my pale skin that shone under the moonlight and the long bronze hair that hung down in curls on my back was enough to make anyone stop and admire me.

I tried to ignore this as best I could, pulling the hood of my navy blue sweatshirt over my head and shielding my face from passer-bys. I wound up in a market toward the more deserted section of the city, buying two oranges, a box of cookies, and a box of crackers to store in my backpack to help me get through my hunger stages during the day.

After coming out of the market, I rounded the corner into a deserted street, not even a street lamp glittering nearby. I saw no one in sight and there was pure silence. I felt a slightly eerie and ominous feeling creep into the pit of my stomach. I felt my eyes glancing around, looking for anyone to step out. I felt as if someone was there, someone was watching me.

I continued walking cautiously down the abandoned street, clutching my bag tighter to my chest and breaths coming faster. I walked down a dark alley that soon led to the one I had stayed in before, the one I felt safe in. As I came out and turned to round the corner into another alley, I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye and the quick rustling of a breeze passing by me.

I felt my breath hitch in my throat and bit back a scream when I heard a loud groan and the thud of someone being pushed up against the stone wall of the alleyway. And not just any someone; someone with innumerable strength and able to destroy anything with one fist. I knew that the flash I saw and the noises I heard in this abandoned section belonged to non-other than a vampire.

I took a deep breath, leaning my whole body against the brick wall, before peering my head around it to look at just who was there.

The first thing my very human eyes took in was the large woman's grasp on the tiny vampire's neck. The woman held the petite girl up in the air, strangling her with the firm grip on her neck and pushing her up against the wall. For a split second, the struggling girl dangling from the vampire's grip didn't seem like a vampire at all. Aside from her paleness and flaming red eyes, she hardly resembled one. The terrified expression on her childlike face resembled nothing of a typical vampire. She almost looked fragile.

"Don't think I don't know who you are!" the larger woman vampire said in fury through gritted teeth. It was the first time I directed my eyes from the small vampire to take in her appearance, and in an instance, I recognized her.

Senna; the long dark-haired vampire beauty wearing the usual animal skins. She was part of the Amazon coven. My mind flitted over memories of her from many years ago, almost 6 years, when she came with Zafrina, a woman I came to grow an attachment to, to help my family stop the Volturi from destroying our family. It had been many years, but I still remembered the tall, quiet vampire as if it was only yesterday.

"You…you made a mistake," the tiny vampire said. She tried to fight back, cowering into the wall.

"Somehow I doubt it!" Senna snarled back. "I saw that necklace glowing on your chest from a mile away. Don't think I don't know what it means! You're one of them!"

"You have no proof of that," the timid girl tried to shout back, her shoulder length dark auburn hair waving in the breeze that passed by. "How could you know who I truly am? I…I could be a spy."

"You don't deceive me! I've heard stories out here. I am not such a fool to think that the Altaira isn't planning something right under all our noses. I know they are trying to destroy us all," Senna spat back.

"How would you know what they're planning? They're not here! And anyways, what would they want with an Amazon clan, anyways," the girl said, trying to show a little bit of a smile to the snarling vampire in her face.

"I don't know what they want with me, but I don't trust them! And I'm not going to stand by as they destroy us one by one, trying to figure out why," she yelled, growling in the girl's face. With a quick twist of her wrist, she sent the girl flying into the opposite brick wall, the girl's body falling limp to the ground.

"Please," she whimpered as Senna towered over her, "You don't understand!"

"I understand perfectly," Senna roared, "I know who you protect and the coven you belong to, and now, I'm about to rid of one of their numbers!"

I stood shocked in place, watching as Senna threw the girl again against the wall, throwing herself onto the girl's back when she landed. I watched in horror as they wrestled, Senna tearing the tiny girl to shreds.

I didn't know what it was, but for some reason, I felt pity for the small girl. Senna seemed convinced she was evil, but I wasn't so. She seemed so young and terrified of the powerful vampire that she couldn't be evil. Even in such an existence of a vile creature, her face didn't show the same malice that others did. In every other vampire I met, there was always a trace of danger hiding somewhere in their eyes, even in my own family, but this girl didn't look dangerous at all. She just looked helpless and scared. And as I thought of this, the image of Aiden began to swim to the surface. She reminded me of the innocent boy who was now bound to the deadly creature he was not a part of. Somehow I felt that this girl was the same.

The girl's horrified eyes caught mine as Senna threw her down onto her stomach, leaning her head up as if to break it off, and without even I thought, I jumped from behind the brick wall I was shielding myself behind.

"No," I cried to Senna, my voice hoarse but full of sincerity.

Senna broke her scorching gaze from the helpless girl's to look at me. Realization seemed to dawn on her eyes and I knew she knew who I was. She stared at me in confusion for a few moments before mumbling softly, "Nessie?"

I nodded my head and muttered back, "Yes. Hi, Senna."

"But what," she stuttered, "What are you doing here?"

"I…" I started. I didn't know what to tell her. I felt that I had to tell her a lie though. "I remembered that Zafrina told me I should come visit her sometime and I thought I might."

"But what are you doing out here? We live all the way out in the rainforest," she whispered.

I felt my cheeks redden at the fact of being caught in a lie. "Oh, well I was just stopping here for the night before I continued."

She nodded her head and seemed to take my lie as true. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, Zafrina is away at the moment. I believe she is down south more toward the tip of South America, but I'd be happy to escort you back with me if you'd like?"

"That's very nice of you," I replied kindly. Great, I thought, now how am I going to get out of this one?

'If you'll excuse me for a minute though, I have to get rid of this scum," she sneered. My attention drifted back on the horrified girl and Senna's hand tightening its' grip on her head.

"No!" I shouted, waving my hands out to stop her from snapping the girl's head off. "Don't hurt her!"

Senna turned back to me with a skeptical look on her face. "What?'

"You can't hurt her," I pleaded, "Please."

"Why?" she asked, her voice ringing loud with confusion and frustration, "Nessie, do you know who this is?"

"Yes I do," I said, lying through my teeth once again, but the fear etched into the girl's stone face let me know it was worth it, "She's a friend of mine."

"Nessie she's one of the Altaira," Senna mumbled, in disbelief of my words, "She can't be trusted. I saw the necklace hanging around her neck. It's their symbol."

I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the next lie. Thankfully, it rolled off my tongue with ease. "I know she's wearing it," I answered, "She came with me to visit Zafrina. She was afraid we might run into the Altaira while we were here, so she wore the necklace just in case we encountered them. It's a perfect plan really. We would just lie and say we were spies."

Senna seemed to consider this for a moment, loosening her grip on the girl's head. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes," I answered, trying to give her a reassuring smile. "Look at her, does she look evil to you?"

I watched as Senna's eyes glanced down at the body she towered over, before looking back to me. "No, but just because she looks innocent and afraid doesn't mean she's not evil."

"And just because you're trapped in an evil creature's body doesn't mean you're bound to act that way," I shot back.

Senna didn't seem to have a retort and she slowly got off the creature's body. "I hope you're right about this Nessie," she whispered.

Me too, I thought to myself, but somehow, I knew I was.

"Are you coming back with me?" she asked.

"No," I answered gently, "I think I'll head home now. I miss my parents."

She nodded and said, "Give them their best for me," before turning around and hurrying away, disappearing into the night in a flash.

I stared after her figure, to the deserted street, my breaths coming slower and relief swishing through me. After a few seconds, I felt eyes looking through me and I turned around to see that I was not alone. I very shy looking vampire was standing there, staring at me.

"Thank you," she whispered her voice soft and sweet. It was one of those voices that were comforting, one that you could listen to talk quietly to help you get to sleep. It was a silky, comforting voice that reminded me a little of Aiden.

"No problem," I answered, shrugging my shoulders, "It didn't seem like she had a proper reason to kill you."

"I didn't think so either," she answered, a sweet smile spreading across her face. Her big pool of ruby eyes sparkled in the night, showing glimpses of warmth and gratitude.

I smiled back to her, feeling the loneliness subside while in her presence, until a very real fact dawned on me. "Was it true though," I asked skeptically, "Are you really one of the Altaira?"

Her smile sunk then and her brow furrowed in worry. I watched as she brought her slender little hands up to her neck, tugging a golden chain out of the fitting black trench coat she wore. She held out a necklace on her palm. I walked closer, bending over the charm of a script 'A'. Golden vines seemed to entwine around it and I noticed how they made the shape of a heart being pierced by a stake in the back of it. The whole necklace was engraved with red rubies and amethysts around the 'A'. "I was," the girl answered.

I looked on the necklace in awe. There was so much darkness to it, but yet, the ancient piece of jewelry was fascinating. "What do you mean you were?" I asked.

"I left," she answered, quietly. Her expression was shy and her eyes were now full of sadness. She seemed to be afraid of how I would take this truth. "I didn't like what they were doing anymore," she finished.

"What are they doing?" I asked, curiously, but by the look of fear on her face, I knew I didn't want to know.

"It's complicated," she answered and she turned her back on me, her head hanging low.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her. She seemed so helpless. She seemed as if she was suffering inside, struggling with battles inside her own soul every day.

"No need to be," she said a little more cheerfully, the smile coming back to her face and her straight hair bouncing as she came back to face me. "You saved me. I owe you one."

"No, you don't," I said kindly, "Just call it a generous favor."

"Well, if you're sure, I will for now, but one day, I will find a way to repay you."

All I did was nod to her, letting her live in that tiny little promise. After giving her a brief smile back, she said a little more jubilantly, the life starting to come back to her sweet façade, "Hey, what's your name again?"

"Oh," I said a little caught off guard. I didn't want to tell her my real name. What if she really was with the Altaira still? Satisfied with that thought process, I lied, "Remy," using the nickname Aiden used to call me when we were still friends.

She looked at me questioningly for a moment before adding, "I thought that Senna called you Nessie?"

Caught, I thought to myself, but a new lie quickly swarm to my head, "Yes, well my real name is Vanessa so some like to call me Nessie, but I like to go by Remy, my middle name."

"Peculiar," she said, seeming as if to talk to herself, "What an odd combination of names. Vanessa Remy. That doesn't sound very appealing to me." I wanted to smack myself for my own stupidity. This girl was too clever for me, she was bound to catch me in my lies. "What should I call you?" she asked, hopeful.

"You can call me anything," I conceded.

"Can I call you Remy then?" she asked.

"Sure, if you really want to," I said back, chuckling to myself at hearing the familiar nickname. When she said it, I felt the same surge of warmth and happiness through my body like when Aiden said.

"Well, then Remy it is," she said, answering my smile with one of her own sweet grins. "My name is Molly, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you Molly," I said to her, friendly.

"And you," she responded, "But I have to be going now. I have somewhere to be." She said the last with sadness and there seemed to be a mystery that was left hanging in the air.

"Okay," I said, a little sad myself, "See you around then."

"I'm sure we'll see each other again," she answered, smiling from ear to ear. "Thank you again. See you soon, Remy!"

She waved her tiny hand and then bolted off, as fast as lighting. Her last words were left looming in the air around me. See you soon Remy, I heard her say over again, but this time it was overshadowed by another voice; the voice of Aiden. The last words he had ever spoken to me. Just like Aiden, she gave me a sense of warmth and happiness in my solitude, but also just like him, when she was gone, I was left feeling lost and lonely once again. This time though, there was no Jacob to come rescue me and show me love. Instead, I was all by myself missing the girl I just met, the best friend I lost, the family I abandoned, and the man I loved despite what he kept hidden from me…

"I'm sorry, Jacob," I whispered to no one, a tear starting to prick me eye, "I wish you were here with me. I love you." My cries would do nothing. My werewolf and hero wouldn't come and save me. I bent my head down into my palm, succumbing to the gloom and lonesomeness built up inside, my tears finally being shed as a soft rain began to poor down, cooling the stifling hot air from the humidity. As it poured down, it brought with it the reality of the sorrow and regret that lived inside me, eating away at all the happiness I had ever felt…

Hope you liked this chapter! I plan to have another posted really soon! Reviews are alsways welcome and give me more motivation to keep going :)