After I finished feeding I tried to clean myself up as best as I could. I jumped into a nearby lake and swam deep underwater. I remembered that my new kind didn't need to breathe. It was more or less a habit. Plus, it was uncomfortable to be without the sense of smell.

I wouldn't be able to smell that beautiful red of my prey.

I wasn't exactly worried that I would just turn into a hunter and nothing else. I still remembered my name and who I was, for the most part.

I just couldn't remember my past.

Damn it!

I emerged out of the water and started running. I just felt like I was being watched. But by who? My creator? My love...no. He would have been here by now.

How I longed for him! His touch calmed me in the most unique ways. His voice was my eternal lullaby. His face, my dead heart leaped...I missed him.

I stopped running and sat on the cold hard ground. I was in the forest still. The green was comforting to me. I felt like I belonged here, no matter what I had left behind.

I ran a hand through my wet brown hair. Then something, a flicker, flashed in my mind. There was a room. No, a house. In the house was a room. Bright...yellow? I think it was a kitchen. I saw all four walls with the cabinets and stove...something delightful was cooking in a pot...I imagined it must have been human food that seemed so repulsive to me now...I was speaking to someone...maybe my love? No. The tenor of my thoughts was much too uncomfortable. It seemed like I was...angry at something or someone. Then a remembered smell entered my senses. I wrikled my nose in defense.

It was sickening, downright putrid. Why would I have such a thing in my house? Could I not smell as well back then as I could now?

Then the remembered word entered my conscience.

Werewolf.

My hands curled into iron tight fists. My instinct was to hunt and kill this creature but be careful to not let its blood spill into my mouth.

I growled at nothing but my tattered memories.

Why did I have a werewolf in my house? What was wrong with me? Who was it? Who?

Only one word, one syllable. A strange longing filled me...

Black.

Okay, so I knew a werewolf named Black. Could have been a last name. Was that my lover? A werewolf? Somehow I doubted it. Something, elusive, on the edges, was tugging at my brain. But I didn't have the key I needed to unlock...

These puzzles were annoying me. I needed to learn some patience if I was going to be successful.

Snap!

Instantly I was aware that indeed I was not alone.

"Show yourself." I blinked, frightened by the sound of my voice. It was so unfamiliar...and pretty. I had a feeling that it was different than before. More mature somehow.

The person stepped out from behind a large oak tree. I smiled.

It was one of my own.

"Hello, Bella. I did not come here to hurt you. I came here merely to...see how you were doing. It's been years since we've last...met."

And he smiled, his bright teeth glinting in the slivers of light the forest permitted to break through.

I stopped smiling immediately. I felt threatened.

"How...how do you know of me? Of my name?" I demanded.

He was still smiling pleasantly. There was nothing remarkable about him. His eyes were red though. He looked like he had recently fed from a human. I imagined the dark red to be sweet. I hoped to never taste it.

"Why Bella, don't you remember? I am your creator. I am James."

More flickers. More than before.

I realized that I should be afraid, very afraid.

But why? I was a vampire, one of the living dead.

He was the same. So yes, he was my creator...my killer in a way.

"So, you changed me?" I whispered, my beautiful voice breaking.

James sauntered towards me slowly. "Why yes. You wanted to become this. So, you got your wish. And so sweet was your blood. I bottled some up, just in case you were interested."

My ears perked up slowly. My blood? He still had some?

"Where?" I rasped urgently.

James smiled wider. "I have it on me, some. But are you sure Bella? I don't know if Edward would approve. I was planning on giving him some, a soveneir if you will."

I frowned, tilted my head to the side. "Edward who? Edward Black?"

James laughed and patted my head affectionately. "Edward Cullen, my dear. Come with me and I will show you the life you left."

I was eager. I took his outstretched hand and together we ran silently, swiftly.

It felt right but wrong. So wrong. But I was too curious. Way too curious for my own good.

"James...were we...lovers? I seem to have lost mine but I distinctively remember having one..." I was embarressed to ask but I needed to know.

James ran his hand over my face down to my neck. "Yes, we were." He purred. "I was delighted to change you. So happy that you wanted to be with me, forever. And now we shall live happily forever."

A flash of red lying on the ground caught my eye. I squinted and made out a body...female?

James cleared his throat and I was trapped in his gaze again. "My dear, you have a lot to discover. I will teach you all that I know."

I nodded, entranced, completely forgetting about the body with the red flames of hair. It seemed so unimportant to me now.

"I trust you James." I said to him.

He squeezed my fingers. "I'm glad."

Together we ran faster and faster until we were no more than a gust of wind through the night.