:{D Even Charlie is happy that I updated. He wishes to know what happens to his daughter...


I sat down in the middle of the couch, Jasper and Alice sitting to my left, Edward to my right. Emmett and Rosalie took the love seat while Esme sat down in the chair. I sighed, putting my head in my hands, my fingers curling tightly around my hair. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Who is Daniel? You've talked a lot about him, but you've never told us who he is." Alice said, leaning around Jasper to look at me.

I didn't even raise my head when I answered her. "He was the one who looked after me, the one who took me in. He looked after all of us. He was our leader."

"Bella, why don't you start at the beginning?" Edward asked. "Tell us your story."

I raised my head, and turned it so that I was looking at him. I sighed again before starting. "I had only been in Forks a couple days. I had just gotten home from school one day when I noticed a man standing by the edge of the trees. He was watching me, but nothing went off in my head to alert me to danger.

" 'Are you lost?' I had asked him. He smiled in return and took a couple steps closer to me.

" ' I've been waiting for you.' It was when he said that, taking several steps closer, that something went off in my head. I took several steps back. 'You can run, but you won't get very far.'

"Before I could even turn to run back to my truck, he had hold of me, and was dragging me to the trees. We didn't go very far before he threw me to the ground, smiling at me. I didn't' say anything, and neither did he. After a couple of seconds, he picked me back up, and held me in a grip that I had been sure of then would leave bruises. He murmured something I didn't catch, running his nose along my neck and jaw. Then, he bit into me.

"I don't know how long he fed from me, but something else eventually caught his attention. He stopped feeding off of me, but didn't let me go. He say something, but I didn't catch what it was. All I was aware of was that my arms were losing all feeling from his grip, the burning pain in my neck, and that there was somebody else there that I prayed to God wasn't Charlie."

I took a pause, and looked around at everyone. They were all watching me intently. I sat up straighter, and continued. " I never figured out what had happened to make him let me go, but he did. I was aware of a loud crashing noise, but I was too focused on the pain that was coursing through my body to see where it came from. I screamed.

" 'She's your responsibility now. Take care of her.' Somebody said in a sarcastic tone. I assumed that it was however had shown up and saved my life, or damned me to this one, depending on how you look at it.

"I spent the next two or three days in the worst pain I had ever felt. I screamed, and withered when those strong hands weren't holding me still. When I woke up, I was about as pissed as I had every been. We were still in the woods, and he was looking down on me, the one who had changed me. There was a burning in the back of my throat, and I knew everything was different.

" 'Thirsty?' the vampire asked me. I stared at him, then lunged up, and tackled him. He easily threw me off, despite my newborn strength.

" 'What am I?' I demanded from him.

" 'Haven't you figured it out by now? You're a vampire.' He said with another smile. I growled, and lunged at him. This time, I managed to pin him to the ground, but he still threw me off before I could any damage. He was mad this time.

" 'You'll regret this later. You'll get lonely, you'll wish that you had somebody there to teach you, to help you. You can't go back to your normal life, not unless you plan on killing those you love. You'll regret this.' Those were his last words to me. He left me all alone after that.

"I fell the forest floor, and cried after that. Or got as close to crying as our kind can. I didn't know what to do, and I knew that vampire was right; I was all alone.

"I heard men, when it started getting dark. They were calling my name, coming into the woods. I was afraid. But as soon as I caught whiff of that first man, it all went away. I didn't care about anything other than his blood. I was going to have him as mine.

"His name was Mark. Him and my dad were good friends, having worked together for years at that station. Killing him was effortless, one of the easiest things I had ever done. The fact that I had killed someone didn't set in until I heard the other voices, now calling my name, and Mark's. I was horrified at what I had done. Not wanting to hurt anyone else, especially somebody else that I knew, I ran."

I stopped talking, and sighed, running my hands through my hair. These were memories I had always suppressed. My first kills, my running away from home. I didn't like to think of my past because I wasn't proud of it.

"That's always the hardest part for all of us to cope with: our first kill." Jasper said, turning slightly to look at me. "After that, you may remember your other kills, but its not as horrifying. For those like you and me, killing becomes part of us. We can't hide from it, so we have to accept it. It's something you get used to. Killing becomes an everyday thing, you no longer flinch at it. All the faces just blur together, and you no longer think of those separate kills anymore. It's all one long chain of death, and you never know when it's going to be your turn to become his prey."

I nodded my head. I knew exactly what he meant, those very thoughts had crossed through my mind. To me, killing is nothing anymore. I hate to think of taking life, but I still do it without a flinch. "Yes, I know exactly what you mean. And that's where my path next took me. War, and death.

" I don't know how long I ran for. But I ran. I hid during the day, not knowing what the sun would do to me, and killed just about anybody who crossed my path. I wasn't careful about it either. I left the bodies in the open. I didn't think twice about it.

"I didn't meet any others of our kind until I reached Texas, although at that time, I had no idea where I was. I was wondering through a city at night, still fearing the sun. Next thing I know, there are several vampires surrounding me, snarling and growling. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn't intend to go down without a fight.

"I'm still sure they would have killed me if Daniel hadn't come. He knew that I was there, with his strange way of knowing things." I said, fully intending to go on, but Alice cut me off.

"What do you mean by that, 'his strange ways of knowing things'?" She asked, leaning around Jasper again.

"He knew things that others didn't know. He knew when another army was coming, he knew how big they were. Sometimes he seemed to know what I was thinking. He knew things."

"Did you ever ask him about it?" Edward asked. I turned my head to look at him.

"Once. And I'm lucky I survived that. I had never seen him any madder than when I asked him about it. He just about killed me, and told me that if I asked him again, he would kill me."

"Sounds like such a nice person…" Emmett muttered.

"He was, other than his little 'moments'. He took me in, he taught me, he loved me. I owe him my life." I said, a small smile on my lips. I really missed him.

"So what happened? How did you two get separated?" Esme asked.

I smiled sadly. "There had been a large fight, and we had won. Things were perfectly fine then. I helped to fight, then found Daniel afterwards, and fed off some unfortunates." I said, leaving out the part about Jonathan. "I took the bodies out to be burned, and that's when I noticed the first strange thing. There was a tension in the air. Everybody had noticed it. As I made my way back to the old house Daniel and I shared, I could hear the soldiers discussing it. They doubted us, they thought that something was coming that Daniel had missed. Others argues that he never missed anything. And he usually didn't.

"Daniel was pacing when I got back. He felt it, and knew the others did too. He had felt it much longer than I had, and had no idea what was causing it. That worried me., that he didn't know. It bothered him too. He got in a fight about it, about it worrying the others. It got bad, one of those moments when I felt like Daniel was somebody else, somebody I didn't know. One second he was in my face, the next he was gone, saying 'it was too quiet, something was coming.'

"I found him outside, looking down on the others. It had gone quiet, for there was three figures making their way towards camp, and a sense of dread came with them. Soldiers started to run, but before they could get far, they froze, a strange mist surrounding them."

"Jane, and Alec." Edward said quietly. I looked over at him.

"I don't know their names. All I know is what Daniel told me. They were from the Volturi, and they had come to dispose of us because they disapproved of our way of life. That they were like the leaders of vampires."

"They're more than that. They are like the royalty of vampires. They are the largest coven of vampires who live peacefully together, and the oldest. They do everything they can to keep us a secret. Which means they destroy armies that could expose us." Edward explained. "But please continue."

I nodded. "Daniel and I ran, along with a handful of others who made it out. We were the only ones to survive. The strange mist that was paralyzing the others had reached me, but it didn't effect me. I was so captivated by what was going on that Daniel had to tug on me to get me to go." The memories of that night, the last time I had seen Daniel were so vivid in my head. It felt as though it was just yesterday, and yet it felt as though it had been ages since I had last seen Daniel.

"We ran to a large city that was nearby- I have no idea of the name- and hid in a warehouse during the day. Daniel figured that we would have more cover at night, and wouldn't attract as much attention. So, we settled in to spend the day there.

"Nothing really happened. Daniel actually told me a little about his past. You were mentioned Jasper, and so was a girl named Maria, who Daniel says you used to fight for. "

"What did he say?" Jasper asked, his brow furrowing.

"He said that you were to Maria what I was to him, not an equal, but close. A companion, somebody to stay with them. And that people around you often felt calm, but in a strange way. Also, that he ran away when Maria gave you his death sentence. "

"I don't remember him. From Alice's description of him, and from what you've told me, he's not familiar. But he has some of his facts right. Maria ran the army, but I was her second in command. She trusted me." Jasper paused. "Did he say what happened to Maria?"

"He told me that he had met her once again, after a couple of years. He realized that you had left her, and that she was worried about you. They talked. She asked him if he had any idea of where you were, and he answered her that he didn't. The Volturi came then, just as they had for us, but they both managed to get away. He never saw Maria again after that."

"That's… strange." Jasper mumbled. But then he asked, "What happened next?"

"Daniel got in a fight with one of the others who was with us, a young one named Louis who had been talking to me. Daniel didn't like it, and they got in a fight. But it settled down quickly. I left them both to themselves, and went to go look out the window.

" 'They're coming…' Daniel had said suddenly. Everybody crowded around him. We asked how he knew, but he just said the same way he had known the night before, that he felt them. Louis, the one he had fought with, said that we need to get out, but Daniel simply shook his head and said, 'It's too late. They're here.'

"We could all feel them then. I told Daniel to stop talking that way, and started trying find a way out. By the time I had started to the window as escape route, they were already there, the two little ones from the night before." I shuddered, the memory so clear. "I clutched Daniel's hand in mine, and started for the window. The building went up in flames from a small gold instrument they had.

"I had let go of Daniel's hand to punch through the window. I launched myself through it, and started running. I had thought the others would follow me, but they didn't. "

I stopped there, my body shaking with tearless sobs. Edward put his hand on my back, and rubbed it, while Jasper tried to calm me. I put my head in my hands again.

"I wanted to go back for him so bad. I owed him my life, but I didn't go back for him. I just continued on, and left him there to his sure death."

"But he survived." Alice said quietly. I raised my head, and looked at her.

"Apparently." I answered.

"He doesn't sound like a very safe person." Esme said, her eyes full of concern.

"What do you mean by that?"

"From what you told us, he sounds like he gets angry a lot. It seemed as though the smallest things could set him off." She explained.

I shook my head. "He's protective of me."

"But you said you two got in a bad fight. And it seemed as though it wasn't the first." Alice said softly.

I huffed, and scooted forward in my seat a little. "It's not like that, though. Daniel's generally a happy person. I think of his happiness as the sun: when its there, everyone can see it, and can't help but feel it. I've never seen him get so bad that the moon outshines the sun."

"Bella," Edward started, "what happens when that comes? What happens when it's the solstice?"

I smiled sadly. "Nothing good."

"Bella, please, don't go to him. Not alone, at least." Alice pleaded. "Please."

"I'll be fine. I trust Daniel." I said. "He won't hurt me."

"You don't know that, Bella." Jasper said warningly.

I shook my head angrily, and stood up. "You don't know Daniel."

"That's why we're so worried about you, Bella!" Esme said, also standing. "You already feel like family, and we're worried for you."

"I was with Daniel for years, and he took care of me. Why would this be any different?" I asked bitterly.

"Because you left him to his death." Edward answered.

I glared at him for a moment, my mouth forming a thin line. Then, I turned on my heel and left the room, heading for the door. I pushed the door open hard enough to break one of the hinges, and started running across the front yard.

As I made my way to the trees, I heard Alice speak. "Just let her go, Edward. Let her go."


Sooo, there's only 2 chapters left, and one of them is the epilogue. I will make a deal with you guys: you get me 25 reviews by the three days after the epilogue, and I'll post a companion story to this. In Daniel's Point of View. Deal?

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! :D