This story has quite short chapters, don't it? I like it that way, it's easier to type. If I made them longer, you lot might have to wait an extra week for an update. Which would you prefer?

Sorry for my absence, I've been in Sydney... Had a bit of a car crash, nothing major, no...

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The flames ran down my throat. I could feel every lick, every square inch that was being charred. It felt like what priests had always preached hell would feel like. Flames were constantly burning at me. I had no reprieve. It was a survive-it ordeal. Only there was no end in sight. What was I going to do? I could always hunt... But that would mean leaving Isabella unprotected...

I flexed my fists experimentally. Shock coursed through me when I felt that I was weaker than normal. It was supposed to take months for me to get this weak! At least three months, maybe more! Why was I getting so weak so fast?

Wait. When was the last time I had hunted? I frowned, trying to remember. There was that deer... Two weeks before Isabella's birthday. I couldn't remember anything before or after that. The chances were quite high that I'd had something before that, but for the life- or afterlife, I suppose, not life- of me, I couldn't remember having anything after that. I need blood.

But even this mad, consuming bloodlust was unable to swamp my need to protect Bella. One thought was running through my head the whole time; what if Isabella is hurt while I'm gone? I won't be here to save her! I won't be here! My weakness will have caused her to die!

My weakness. Was not this physical weakness reason enough to hunt? With me this weak, chances were, if Isabella was in danger, then I wouldn't be able to save her. My conflicting desires ran through me. Blood. Isabella. Blood. Isabella. Blood. Isabella.

All I was aware of were the two warm, moist, juicy heartbeats in the house. Isabella's was fluttering. Was she dreaming? Was it of me? Or was it of that woman? That horrible woman, who was stealing my Isabella away from me? The other heart was pounding at a steady rhythm. It was sending the blood rushing through the veins, warm, appealing. How could I resist?

I was on my feet in an instant. A movement slow enough to be almost discernible by a human. Almost, but not quite. At least my skin was still tough, I thought, pleasantly detached. It was lucky that Carlisle and the rest had disowned me. They would surely disapprove of what I was about to do. They couldn't understand the burning need I had. Blood, to protect my little Isabella.

What did it matter that I was stealing it from my Isabella's mother? All the better. No one would be here now, to steal away my Isabella's love. I would have her all to myself. And the flames, the glorious, horrible flames, would go away. All I had to do was lower my head just one small inch. Just one inch, and I would be gorging myself on delectable human blood...

"Mummy!" Isabella's cries from the room she slept in woke me up, like a slap in the face. I inhaled again, smelling the blood. It was like the finest meal anyone had ever prepared. It was like they said. Hunger was the finest sauce. Only this time, it was the sauce I was going to eat, and to hell with the rest of the course. The sauce just smelled so good...

"Mummy!" It was Isabella again. I could hear Renee's heart start to quicken, her breathing grow more erratic. And that was when it hit me. What was I doing? This was Renee! This was my human! The caretaker of my Isabella! The only woman who could possibly ever save my Isabella, besides me! The only person who I didn't need to watch when she was with her! Not a meal!

Disgusted with myself, yet still oddly attracted to her blood, I turned to run out the window. Renee would not take kindly to seeing me in her bedroom, my teeth opened over her throat as if I was going to rip her throat out and drink her blood... Her blood...

I wasn't even aware of launching myself out the window until I was two blocks away, and running as fast as I could go. Which, unfortunately, wasn't as fast as I was used to. The scents of all the humans hit me, full force. I could smell them, almost taste them...

Surely there could be more speed in me. I coaxed my legs to move faster. They need to move faster. Faster, faster. I drove them like pistons, willing them to move ever faster. I was speed. Is that how the car put it? I am speed. I am speed. Surely this wasn't my limit. My legs could move just a bit faster than this, couldn't they? Just a bit?

And that's how the whole trip went, until, minutes later, I was miles outside the city limits. All that was around me was animals. I could hear their hearts beating, I could feel the warmth rushing through their delicate veins, I could taste the floral aroma...

The first deer died in seconds, my teeth sinking into its neck like a human would bite through honeycomb. Or maybe fairy floss. Sugary foods, that practically dissolved before you could take a bite. The neck opened up, allowing me access to the foamy liquid inside.

I drank, guzzling every last drop. Not every drop, of course. That was merely a hyperbole. But I sat and drank until the blood stopped gushing, and was merely a trickle. Ordinarily, I would have waited until there was no more, but I was in a hurry.

The next deer died even easier. I was so silent, so swift and graceful, that I passed straight over some deer to get to it, and they didn't even stir. Pity. Their terror would have made the blood flow easier, as their hearts pounded, sending the delicious stuff coursing through them, allowing me to sustain myself...

I drank six deer total that night. I was full at three, but then I thought of the way I had so casually brushed away my objections to killing Renee, and was violently sick, all over the ground. That had woken the deer up, alright. They had attempted to run away. I had broken one's neck, and dragged two others back with me, pinning them down as I drank from the dead one, before turning to the others...

And now I was back at Isabella's house, feeling a mixture of nausea and melancholy. Carlisle wouldn't have been tempted, I'm sure. Esme would have forgiven me for the thoughts, surely. Sweet little Alice would have made me feel better...

I broke down, the animal blood now sitting still in my veins. I was curled in a foetal position for hours, wishing the pain would stop. Why did they leave me? Why?

More on Alice, and the reason the Cullens left Rose, next chapter...

Rose is starting to slip, hey?

Ah, well, it's 12:30 here... Goodnight, boys and girls... Not really, I'll be awake for a while yet, but whatever.