A/N - I had originally planned for this chapter to be an outtake but my dear beta insisted that it should be part of the story....so here it is. I know it is short and I apologize but to make up for it, I promise you won't have to wait as long for Chapter 11. I now have to find a big box of chocolates to coerce ChangedbyEdward to beta again so soon!! LOL

Thanks to LolaRosa for all the support and putting up with my whining....I heart you lots bb! Speaking of which......please, please swing by her profile and check out the new Edward story she is writing called "Macabre" - just an awesome read and I am anxiously awaiting her next chapter!!!!

As always, Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight......lucky lucky girl.

Without further ado........

Chapter 10

(Whose POV - should be fairly easy to figure out!!)

As soon as I felt that I was far enough away that the wolves would not be able to catch me, I climbed a tree and perched there, hoping to have a few minutes to enjoy the act I had just committed. I scanned the landscape below, satisfied at once that I had lost them. The wolves had been a surprise, but almost a pleasant one – the excitement of the chase had given me a thrill I had not felt for months. Not since… I let my head fall back against the tree and allowed my inner thoughts to take over.

I remembered the moment I realized he wasn't coming back to me. I didn't understand the hollow ache that filled the spot where my heart once beat, but I knew that I was once again alone. Those first few days following that moment were now a blur to me. I lashed out at anything and everything around me. I was careless, leaving a trail of bodies in my wake, allowing myself to be tracked. Foolish errors that I can't allow to happen again.

We were to have met in Seattle, once he completed his little game of cat and mouse. I had begged to go with him, but as always, the thrill of the chase was to be a solo effort. I left for Seattle immediately, ignoring his order that I stay behind to play look-out. Truth be told, I had tired of his demanding ways and knew it would only be a matter of time before I left him. But that was to be my choice and now it has been taken away from me – forever.

I revelled in the freedom of being on my own in Seattle once I realized that Laurent had indeed deserted our little group. It was no huge loss as he had become nothing more than a nuisance and I figured that we were well rid of him. James had found him intellectually stimulating, while I found him nothing more than a pain in the ass! His constant complaining and tales of how things had been done in the "good old days" were almost too much to bear. The only reason I hadn't snapped his neck and burned him was for fear that James would retaliate in anger too quickly for me to have the chance to appease him. But since Laurent made his exodus, I no longer had to deal with his monotonous tone. If only James had come back to me – it was always better when it was just the two of us.

I remembered the night so long ago when James found me. I was on my own then, too, well not really alone, as he had to kill the faceless monster that had his filthy hands all over me, but I was alone in my thoughts. As a child, I had always been able to escape to a place where evil couldn't reach me. Whether it was to dodge the snap of my father's belt against my bare legs, punishing me for the death of my mother as she gave birth to me; or later, to ignore the slimy touch of the cold hands of my uncle as he taught me the ways of the trade or finally, to avoid the countless men that followed suit once I had been taught – I was always able to find my way to that place where I felt safe.

I think he had planned to kill me as well – in fact I know he had.

I had stared into his beautiful crimson eyes, begging for it, pleading with him to take me to a place where I would escape permanently. Something made him pause, though and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw what he had done to the garbage heap he had torn off of me. He laughed, too and hugged me close, both of us falling into fits of hysteria, only ending when his teeth sank deep into my throat.

Most of the memories previous to the burn were distant, but I could still remember his words echoing in my mind, promising that I would never again be the victim.

"You will be the victorious one," he whispered as the darkness took me.

Even my name was a mystery to me, but I adopted Victoria to reflect the words he had spoken as I suffered through the agonizing burn.

When I awoke and discovered my new found strengths, I thanked him in the only way I knew, but instead of closing my mind to it, I allowed myself to live the experience and knew that I had found what I had longed for in my life. We were a matched pair and took pleasure in all the succulent gifts our life allowed. I never once feared he would leave me, never believed that he could be taken from me.

But now he is gone and I am alone.

It was beyond my comprehension how they were able to defeat him, but I will not rest until I make them suffer for what they have done.

Edward Cullen will know the pain I have endured. He will understand the sense of loss that eats away at my core. He will live on for eternity, regretting the moment he fell in love with a helpless human, not even having the balls to make her his own.

The human will be held accountable as well. I have plans for her that will tear her very heart to pieces. She will know loss, she will know sorrow and she will know death. She is already weak from the desertion of that pathetic excuse of a vampire. If goody-two shoes Cullen and his bitch hadn't shown up, my plan would have already been in motion. Although, their arrival really got my creative juices flowing and I can visualize the plan coming together nicely.

Her father would have been perfect if he had not tasted so damn wonderful. The lust for his blood overpowered me when I saw the look of fear in his eyes as he realized what I was and what I planned to do. If he hadn't struggled, hadn't fought, I could have finished it the way I had wanted to. A little disappointing, but I do not regret the feeling of exhilaration as his life faded away. He had been so easy to catch, it was almost disappointing, but the desire and fear that coursed through him as I buried my face in his neck was euphoric. Such a good man, so willing to stop and aid a helpless woman on the side of the road. It was too easy.

I wonder if she knows yet? Knows that I am coming for her and how I am going to make her pay for my loss? Now that I am able to stand back and look at what I have done, I am glad that changing her father didn't work out. Seeing her in pain, falling to pieces bit by bit, will be so much more entertaining than just killing her.

And oh….to think of the pain it will cause poor Eddie. He will brood for eternity, knowing he should have changed her when he had the chance, knowing that the death of her loved ones, and there will be more, are all on his hands. The utter joy I will experience knowing I have caused them both such pain.

I wonder how she will taste as I sink my teeth against her alabaster skin?

I have considered turning her myself. What better torture for both of them than to make her into the one thing Cullen doesn't want? I could always turn her so that she suffers through the experience of becoming one of us and then kill her as she awakens… and have poor Edward witness the whole thing.

Oh the plans I have to make…but now I am thirsty and think it is time to make my way to Forks for a bite. But whom shall I choose?

The tempting choice is an impossible one, unfortunately. Even if I were able to lure him away from his pack and had several of my fledglings with me, I am not convinced I could take the Black boy, but oh what a victory that would be. I am sure Eddie wouldn't care either way, but the despair of his beloved would force him to retaliate, and I am not ready for this game to be over yet. Besides, I don't think I could stomach the stench of the dog for the length of time it would take to destroy him.

No, I will have to settle for one of the simple humans the girl seems to have surrounded herself with.

I identified several candidates before Edward decided to play the martyr and leave town. He really has forced me to put time and effort into this whole escapade, but it truly has taught me why James so loved to toy with humans. If only he were here now to share in this with me.

End of Chapter - Reviews just might help keep Victoria at bay!!