Please Note: Alternating points of view—Bella/Edward/Bella

4. Don't know a thing about it

Had I had any blood of my own left in my system, I'd have said it boiled. And yet, other than the scents in that house, I could find no discernible reason for my anger.

Feet pounding over and over, I ran as far south as I dared before looping back around and running until I hit the very edge of the forest and a sheer drop into the ocean. I didn't even stop to think. I propelled myself forward, leaping up into the air and over the edge of the cliff then dropping head first into the sea below.

The fluidity of movement, the way my arms gracefully came to a perfect point below my head to make my entry into the water almost splash free, surprised me. I cut through the water for about twenty feet before I needed to use my arms and legs to propel myself further.

Instead of heading toward the land mass across the channel, I swam against the current and out into open waters, skirting along the coastline for some miles before I put my feet down and strode out of the water onto a sandy beach.

My backpack had done a reasonable job of keeping my things dry, but I decided to stay dressed as I was in my cold, wet clothes. Chafing was no longer an issue for me.

Climbing up into the dense greenery of the forest, I detected a new, not so delicious scent and moved stealthily through the trees. Several minutes later I was on my knees, sucking the lifeblood out of large black bear, but alongside the usual distress that followed a hunt, I felt a sense of… elation? No, pride. How I wished my big brother could have been there to see me.

Big brother? I didn't have one though, did I?

…

Carlisle finally came to my rescue. He explained some things of which I had been unaware—things that I might have been able to consider on my own, had my mind been free to do so.

My family had uprooted their lives, against their better judgement, at my request. They didn't begrudge it, my turn was long overdue after all, but all of them felt responsible and guilty for their part in what had happened to Bella. My actions, my wishes, my most fateful decision had torn my family asunder.

Rosalie and Emmett intended to remain in Europe for the foreseeable future and had no inclination to come home. Emmett was devastated and could not forgive himself for failing his little sister. The woman with the toughest shell was beside herself with fury that I'd gotten involved in the first place, and that I'd handled our departure so poorly. She couldn't forgive me for that or the pain her husband was in.

Carlisle and Esme had settled in Ithaca—Carlisle teaching at Cornell and Esme restoring their new home. They were now in mourning and wracked with guilt for supporting their son at the expense of their newest daughter.

Jasper, who was supposed to have been studying at the university, had been crippled by a different type of guilt and had been unable to stay put for more than a few days at a time. He believed himself to be the catalyst that brought about my decision to leave Bella, and Alice, distraught at the loss of her best friend, could not help but remind him of it again and again.

After paying their respects in Forks, the pair had attempted to make a life in Ithaca but quickly decided it was time to go their separate ways—she in search of her human past, he who knows where.

With the coast clear, Esme felt my place was at home, assisting her with the renovations. It would be a different form of house arrest to my previous one, being under the watchful eyes of my mother, not to mention being subjected to her unspoken reproaches. I suspected I was about to be tortured in a way more suited to my personality, but it would still be torture, nonetheless.

...

I'd been on the move for days, traversing snow clad mountains, gradually working my way northwest.

My sneakers had reacted pretty badly to a second and more prolonged dose of salt water and had finally given up the ghost. They literally disintegrated, falling off my feet and leaving a trail of bits that would have been the envy of Hansel and Gretel. If I had come across a human, they would have been dumbfounded by the lack of frostbitten toes, assuming that is that they had lasted long enough in my presence to notice.

Crossing over one river, I soon came to another. I decided to follow this one to its source. I snacked on animals as they presented themselves, and for the first time since my awakening into this life, I felt slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps two wolves and a moose was a little greedy, even for me.

To give myself time to digest my three course meal, I found a perch high up in a spruce tree and surveyed my surroundings. The view was stunning, the colours rich and intense, but I had no idea where I was.

My sightseeing was interrupted by the soft sounds of more than one pair of feet running in my direction. They were moving far too fast to be human, but nevertheless, I held my breath and pricked up my ears, waiting for them to pass me by. They didn't.

The three blonde vampires stopped abruptly in the centre of the tiny clearing below my perch and laughed. Well, two of them laughed, the other one looked slightly pained.

"Oh, I'm so going to miss him. Aren't you, Irina?"

"I really thought he'd have given in. Silly boy doesn't have any idea what he's missing, Kate," said the other laughing blonde. "I mean, how could any man resist us?"

She had a point. All three had beauty in abundance and each had the sort of sexy, voluptuous, hourglass figure that was rarely seen in my size zero obsessed generation. My own newly developed curves did not compare.

"It might have been a game to you two," said the serious one, "but I care for him a great deal."

"Sorry, Tanya. We didn't expect things to go that far, but the boy is too damned stubborn for his own good. That's how he got himself into this mess in the first place."

"I want him to want me," said Tanya, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

My breath caught, and I choked back a sob of my own. I knew that feeling, right down in the very depths of my being. I just didn't know why I knew it.

I looked down again to see three sets of golden yellow eyes staring up at me. I had to swallow down the ire that seeing those eyes had caused to build within me.

"Hello," Irina said. "Who are you?"

I shook my head. What could I say?

"Are you alone?" she asked again.

I nodded.

"A newborn? Alone? That's highly unlikely," Kate said, looking around the clearing furtively.

I didn't understand. What was a newborn, and if I was one, how could they tell?

"Where is your sire?" Irina asked

"My what?"

"The one that made you into what you are now."

Ah. "There's only me."

The three of them looked at each other and frowned. I suspected there might be some kind of private conversation going on between them.

"Here," Tanya said, reaching an arm up in my direction and beckoning me with her fingers. "Come down. You look like you could do with a wash and some fresh clothes. Our cabin isn't far from here."

Her voice was kind, warm and compassionate. I dropped to the ground and took hold of the hand she was offering. She squeezed my hand gently then lowered her upper body slightly so she could look up into my face without being threatening.

"You don't know your name, do you?" she asked.

"No. I can't remember, not since I…"

"But you know what you are."

"Vampire," I whispered.

"I'm Tanya," she said, then gesturing to either side of us, "and these are my sisters, Kate and Irina. Let's go up to the cabin and get you cleaned up."