Still don't own anything. By the way, Bella is very quick to adapt to being a newborn: I'm going with the had plenty of time to prepare mentally thing. The next chapter will probably be the last in this story and then a sequel. If you want to suggest a title for the sequel let me know in a review, I don't really have any ideas at the moment.

VPOV

After just a few weeks, Bella had adjusted surprisingly well to being a vampire. Her self control was really good too, much better than the average newborn. Of course she was thirsty, almost unbearably so, but she managed to be satisfied with just a couple of humans at any one time. So far, she hadn't gone on any bloody massacres, and I was grateful for that. It meant that the Volturi's attention wouldn't be brought to us by over-killing. Instead, we moved from one town to the next every few days so she could feed regularly.

I'd also begun to teach her that she shouldn't feel to kindly towards the Cullens, citing how they left her so easily. It wasn't so difficult, because she'd lost many human memories during the change. That was normal; every vampire only had a few dim memories of their human time. My intention in teaching her this was so she could look out for herself, and she was already less of the shy human that she was. That surprised me, since we were frozen forever in the mental state as much as physical. But now she was different. She was a lot bolder, but she still clung to me, almost in the way I would imagine a child clinging to her mother. And of course, when we met up with the Cullens, I didn't want her to remember them. If she did, I was pretty sure she would return to them.

I didn't want her to leave me for them. I felt like she was my daughter, and in a sense, she was, since I was the one who had created her. When I considered that I was the one who had to teach her things about being a vampire and look out for her to make sure she didn't do anything to risk hurting herself, I really felt like her mother. It was odd, since I was only a few human years older than her eighteen, but I liked it.

For months I had watched her, hoping that she wouldn't be too unhappy when they left her. I knew it was a matter of time before they up and left her for her safety. When I found out that Jasper had almost attacked her after she'd had a paper cut, I felt bad for her. Which I found bizarre, since I had previously wanted her dead. Then when I saw how miserable she would be without Edward, and listened to him leaving her, I heard that misery. I still wanted my payback, and I wanted a companion.

I waited til Edward had gone, then I began forming a plan. Change her, which will upset the Cullens, Edward in particular, then she can be my companion since I changed her… there tends to be a bond between a vampire and their creator. One day we'll go to visit the Cullens and I can carry out my payback.

And of course the rest is history.

BPOV

I was now a vampire, frozen at eighteen. Victoria had been unbelievable since I'd woken up. She taught me how to hunt and keep under the radar, and didn't get mad about the fact that we were shifting from one city to the next just to allow me to feed regularly.

I remembered that she'd wanted some kind of payback, and that I was the key to getting it. I couldn't remember who she wanted to get revenge on or why, but I was just happy that I could help. She was almost like a mom to me. I guess she was taking the opportunity to act as a mother figure since she'd never get the chance to in the same way a human woman would. Something tugged at the back of my mind, thinking it strange that she'd wanted the chance to act like a mother.

I disregarded this, recalling that I only had dim human memories. I must have been a zombie when she changed me though, because my memories were very dull. I could faintly recall golden eyes, blond hair, just faint flashes of a person but nothing that made up the person's entire face. Or being, for that matter.

When I asked Victoria about this, she'd said that it was best I forget. She knew more than I did and said only that the memories, if I recalled them, were very hurtful. The words in particular had hurt me, she said.

One thing she had told me was her recollection of finding me curled up on the forest floor, and that told me enough. Someone had hurt me enough that at some point, I'd been utterly miserable and incapable of moving. That was my interpretation anyway, and it wasn't so important in the face of my thirst.

We would be moving again shortly, and I'd be able to feed again in a little while. Already I'd mastered Victoria's habit of feeding on the 'dregs' as she called them-the people who wouldn't be missed, the ones who didn't have homes to go to. Their blood was never pure and clean, but it was warm blood nonetheless. It sated my thirst.

I felt a little bad at first, but then Victoria had pointed out that they were my natural prey. Besides, most humans preyed on animals, eating meat-and that had a much bigger impact on the environment, according to her. Anyway, her point was that most people are happier when they accept and utilize their natural diet, rather than forcing something different down in order to lessen impacts on life. Something like that anyway. Besides, she'd reminded me that if I were to try varying from my natural diet somehow, I'd eventually return to it and then feel worse. So I rationalized that it was better to just go along with it.

Time passed, ad it tended to drag on. It seemed to me that this was one of the downfalls of being a vampire who never needed to sleep. Being awake twenty-four/seven was sometimes irritating but it was nice to never get tired.

Six months passed, and I found myself unable to remember anything of being human. Victoria assured me that this was a good thing and that I shouldn't worry about it. I didn't, but it did bug me at times that I couldn't remember what my human family or friends were like. Victoria was really the only family I knew now, both a mom and sister to me.

In the last six months we'd lived the life of nomads, which we were. I was still needing to feed regularly, and we favoured the bigger cities. We'd hiked everywhere, stopping occasionally to replenish clothes and dark coloured contact lenses. While terrifying humans could be fun, it was best not to go into a shop with red eyes. That was too much of a risk.

A few more months passed, and it seemed to me that June held some significance for me. Not as a vampire, but as a human. Try as I might, I couldn't place it.

June passed, Victoria telling me that it would have been my high school graduation, and segued into July. We moved on to the rainforest, where humans were rare. The only ones that spent any time here were generally scientists, studying the wildlife. This wasn't exactly a holiday favourite, which made it perfect for vampires. According to Victoria, I'd need to start learning some more self-control, and being somewhere with a lower human population would help.

Our first few days in the area, Victoria seemed rather different. Strange, somehow. Like she was planning something or had something that I couldn't know about. A few weeks after we'd settled into the rainforest, Victoria left.