Chapter Three: Amber

Missouri, 1918

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Through the sheer wilderness, and dense greenery I ran with a savage lust, eyes as black as coal and quaking with a hunger for something substantial. But things were far different than the ease I had left behind in the barren deserts. In a constant state of contention with everything surrounding me, the topography, the flora, and the fauna. Never had I been surrounded by such thickness, or had so much to contend with when attempting to find a meal. The cities all looked and sounded so heavily populated, I did not trust myself when it came to control. It would be far too easy to be spoilt by the choice, I knew myself well enough to know a blood frenzy was not out of my character traits.

The isolated farming communities were not so isolated out here; they seemed to be connected with local towns and villages. Finding a meal was not an easy task, when one wished to remain invisible. I prided myself on being clean and swift on a hunt, leaving little mess and reason for the likes of the Volturi to investigate. But goodness how hard it was this side of the border, everything was new and strange. Modernist ideas, creations, ways of thinking, I didn't understand the human world, not one little bit. This was far from the simplicity of desert dwelling.

I was hungry, more so than I had ever recalled being. All because I struggled to find the most successful way of going about my kill, nothing I had learnt in my six years seemed adept enough to be useful. Instead I vacated barely used roads, watching out for the occasional motorcar and a neatly presented meal. Other times it was distracted farmhands, far out in the fields and away from the large buildings and barns. But each time I would move on, the authorities were more organised and trained. Missing people were searched for, and so moving onwards was always required.

Other than the hunger, there was one more aspect I had come to find certain difficulty with, something I had never thought one like myself would ever become a victim of. I should never call it loneliness, but sometimes I did miss having another person to talk to. More often than not, I had found myself talking aloud, doing anything to fill the ever silent void that accompanied me wherever I seemed to run. And how pitiful I should congratulate myself on a hunt well accomplished, agree with a plan, or scold myself when something did not go to plan.

I had never been alone before. It was hard, I should wholeheartedly admit that. I missed the tenor of another voice, other opinions, and conversation in general.

Once or twice I had come across other nomads. The first had attacked me upon seeing the gashes across my arms, and I was forced to destroy him. The second pair seemed generally much more agreeable, but they too said vampires like me were not welcome within their territory, and I should move along without causing any trouble. I respected their rules and did as requested.

Vampires like myself were not looked upon with a great deal of fondness; I discovered that out very quickly. They assumed we were out recruiting, looking to cause trouble. But it was nice to merely see that other covens did exist outside the wars.

Now as my first proper winter finally set in, I found it even more difficult to feed, and to navigate with the frozen precipitation. Humans did not venture out as much when the weather was so bitterly cold, and thusly I aimlessly wandered the woodlands and along the roadsides, hoping to catch a lost hiker or aimless driver. For a good six days nothing came my way, and I began to slump deeper into a state of blood lust. The burning grew into something archaic of my newborn days, and I struggled to control the urge to give in and allow my instincts to take over. There were no other vampires to pull me away like before, no guiding enforcement of elders, just me, myself, and I.

But I was no fool. I had managed to survive this long, and would be damned to have the Volturi coming after me. So I began to search for any kind of isolated building that contained humans, at this point I'd kill an entire family should it help calm the raging fire and lust.

I never quite made it that far. For on the seventh day of my search for food, I stumbled upon the local fauna. Along a rocky outcrop, and looking a great deal angry, a shabby looking black bear prowled around. While I was quite sure it should have been far underground and within hibernation, it instead uselessly huffed and growled a throaty groan. I had seen bears before; while quite impressive I should not declare them anything special.

Yet this time I did not simply pass the animal by, I stood rooted to my spot. Inhaling and exhaling the scent of blood coming from its great mass, listening so intently to the thuggish constant beating of its heart. Never did I consider my next actions, until I had finished tearing open its neck, watching in crazed fascination as a river of crimson liquid stained my hands. But the pull was too much, and I pressed my mouth to the wound and drank in a feverish way. The gritty taste did nothing to dispel my desire, and onwards I fed, until not a drip remained within the beasts veins.

It was a disgusting turn of events, horrid and messy. But it was a good deal easier than having to track those pesky humans in the winter; I made the decision to keep hunting the big game, but remain vigilant for a human crossing my path. It would do for now.

I swore to myself on a daily basis that there was surely something wrong with me, perhaps I had gone quite mad. For a vampire should not surely be able to survive so long without the nourishment of human blood, and yet the last correct meal I had consumed had been well over eighteen days ago. But thusly how easy it had been, animals were aplenty within the wilderness. Every run, every turn another within my line of sight. I could gorge myself silly on their blood, and no one would know any different. The taste left much to be desired, but convenience won out.

It was much warmer now, and I was further north than I had previously been. While I wasn't quite sure my exact location, I thought somewhere around the great lakes was an appropriate assumption. It was surely the most beautiful of places I had yet to have visited, and I did so long to view the expanse of water. When I was able to rein in my control and successfully venture from the forests, I promised myself I should visit them. Never before had I bore witness to large amounts of water, maybe even one day I might even visit the coastline.

But for the moment, I liked to think I was living a relatively successful existence. For the first time in a long while, I cut a rather presentable look. The last time I had diverted from my primarily animal based diet, I found myself within a rather nice house, and although I usually frowned on stealing from the deceased, my clothes were nothing more than rags. In the bountiful armoire I found a selection of pretty dresses, and although I longed to wear one, it was simply impractical. I instead settled for a plain blouse and skirt, having to use a scarf to tie them tight around my waist.

I learnt a great deal from this household invasion, the main family lived in the glitzy and fashionable New York, and it turns out I had most probably made a victim of their gardener. Alas they had a great horde of newspapers on their mat, and I read several of recent ones, from cover to cover.

It seems while I had been fighting a war of my own, another had been taking place on an even larger scale. I had heard bits and pieces about the war the humans had named, The Great War, but it seemed to be on a much larger scale than I realised. The armistice having only been signed some six months prior. Mortals were capable of a great deal more inhumanities, than even our kind. The newspaper stated an estimation of over twenty million deaths in those four years.

On another brighter note, it seemed a former president had also passed away. And the current one had a strange name, and was now leading peace talks with the other victorious allied powers. But to each their own. They were a strange race, and one I could not help but feel isolated from.

Had it not been for the single item I still possessed on my person from seven years prior, I would never have considered myself ever being mortal. Yet hidden beneath the now pristine clothes I adored, and threaded through some braided twine around my neck, was a garish little ring. After awakening into this life, it had been the only recoverable item I had on me. One of the other females had told me it was the kind of thing you received upon becoming engaged, but surely such a thing could never happen to myself. For it would be far too strange to have been in such a predicament, and to have no recollection of the event or the relationship. I preferred to consider it an heirloom.

With it now safely tucked between my over-bust corset for keeping, I was able to run without the worry of losing the thing. Beginning a hunt alongside the direction of the wind, for animals had the added tact of being able to sense my presence. I ran for quite a while, heading further north than I usually did so, but the copious amount of elk really did not entice today, and I was after something a little more hefty. Should I be lucky maybe even one of the large grey wolves that seemed to be quite prolific in the area.

Unfortunately it seemed after a good deal of searching no such luck would befall me today, and instead I went after the usual bear that I had gathered a taste for. I had learnt to track the bears quite adeptly, so I doubled back on myself to follow the trails that they usually took. Running in the cross wind to avoid detection, and starting along some higher ground. Eventually after scouring the footfalls I came across what I was after, and set about taking down a decent meal that would keep me sane for a couple of days.

Within twenty yards of the hunt, everything came to an abrupt halt when a great force collided with me. Creating an explosive noise that ricocheted around the forest, and something that was easily identified as a vampire.

We hit the floor, snarling and biting at each other. He pinned my arms behind my back, a typical move for an adolescent vampire. Pushing my heels into the ground, I propelled myself upwards before falling backwards. The force sending the vampire crashing to the ground, with me on top. Baring my teeth, I aimed for his neck, fully intent to decapitate my foe.

"EDWARD!" A voice yelled from behind us, taking my attention from the near beheading, and then unfortunately finding myself on the other side of my foe. He managed to utilize his strength, once again grabbed my arms pinning me down, until his body weight rested upon mine. In such a precarious position, I inhaled an expanse of air preparing to scream something primal and inhibit this silly child.

"Edward let her go." The other vampire stated, his authoritative tone came with an almost pleading undercurrent. It didn't seem to be enough, for the vampire atop me did not move, and there was a terrible tense kind of silence. Luckily for this Edward, he decided removing himself from my person was a good idea, and avoided the shriek I was about to bestow upon him. He stood warily, still within a crouch, before stepping backward to join the other male. I took no time in standing, judging who dare attack me.

The juvenile vampire stood a good eight or nine inches taller than myself, with a slightly muscular frame, but not overly so. And on judging ages I would consider us to be physically around the same. His features were perfectly symmetrical, and indeed he was handsome like every other vampire. An individual feature he did have to recommend himself, was the strangely coloured hair he possessed. I should describe it as bronze, like a penny.

Vampire number two did not have such a lofty height, and was of an average build. Handsome too, with neatly styled blonde hair.

Nothing particularly out of the ordinary for both these vampire, that was except for the bizarre eye colours they both possessed. The one with the penny hair, had irises coloured with orange. And his counterpart had something akin to amber.

I stayed bent into a slight crouch, watching both of them with due care and attention for any sight of a hostile reception.

"Good afternoon." The blonde one began, keeping his hands directly at his side and making no sudden movements. "I'm Carlisle." He gestured to himself. "And Edward." To the juvenile.

I could not help but roll my eyes. "I dare say Edward and I are quite acquainted with each other, although I prefer a polite introduction, rather than such a brutish one." I stated, making a deal of brushing the dirt from my now torn clothes.

"Well my apologies." Carlisle replied. "There had been little chance for Edward to meet any of our kind, since awakening."

He was a newborn, he had all the traits of such, but his eyes had thrown me a curve ball when it came to deducing. "Understandable." I responded. "Can I presume you have claimed the land around here? I wish to know my boundaries." Stating my intention seemed to be a good way to stay out of trouble.

"Yes, we have permanent residency just northwest of here, from the coast in a twenty square mile radius, including the town of Ashville." Carlisle told me.

"Very well, I shall keep from passing through your lands. My apologies for straying into your territory." I announced, readying myself for a swift exit.

"One moment, if you please." Carlisle declared, placing one hand out as if he could physically stop my movements. "Can I inquire to your name?"

"My name?" I repeated, pondering over such a request, and how odd it was that he seemed genuinely interested in me. Maybe these different eyed vampires were more civil that the usual. Except for Edward, he still seemed like a brute. "I suppose I could tell you... I'm Isabella." It sounded quite different when hearing my own Christian name falling from my mouth, foreign, but all the more pleasant when it was not Horace calling it aloud.

They both exchanged a look, and I was confused to find them come to some sort of silent agreement. "Isabella, perhaps, you would like to talk somewhere more private.." Carlisle asked hopefully.

"Is this not private enough?" I wondered, gesturing to the dense forest around us.

"Ah well, how about more comfortable surroundings, then? We have a house on the edge of the national park. We could supply you with a new set of clothes, as an official apology." He tried again.

A house they had stated, very much like the Volturi and their permanent residency, except these two didn't seem to have a notorious guard. But it was still a very strange occurrence for them to be living like mortals, I was curious. It's not every day one runs into such people.

Perhaps it was naive of me to consider it, but they both had perfectly smooth and blemish free forearms, and that was usually where one receives the most scars when trying to defend yourself. So I considered that neither of them had any formal experience in the savage kind of fighting, and other than newborn strength being the issue, I considered my chances against them as quite fair.

"Very well." I agreed. Following their lead southwards, along the contours of the band of lakes. Once gain they had taken into consideration my possible hostile nature, allowing me to follow freely. Edward was faster; although I was unsure as to whether this was adolescent trait or just a lucky gift. Both were still ignorant to my scars, most hidden behind my clothing, I decided it was best this way. After recent encounters, I'd like this to remain as civil as possible. Until I knew what these strange vampires wanted from me, I would keep them ignorant.

We stopped running after a short while, keeping within the formation that had been set. And nestled deep within the greenery of this area, and very out of place, was a rustic shingle clad house. An average size build, and in keeping with what I presumed was the local architectural fashion. There was a wraparound porch that encroached the house, and although no formal flower beds or pots, there were wild flowers that gave the garden a rugged charm.

"How…nice." I commented. "And most peculiar."

"Yes, I dare say there are few who take permanent residence." Carlisle chuckled, although he seemed genuinely perturbed by that fact. He stepped upon the porch, taking a brass key from the pocket of his waistcoat and placing it in the lock. Both stepped in first, leaving it open for myself. My feet seemed to hesitate at first, but diligently I followed out of sheer curiosity.

Edited as of 24/07/2013