Colin's POV

I jumped up and ran across the highway separating me from the tortured voice, not bothering to look either way. But there were no cars screaming over the pavement. Silence enveloped me, body and mind.

I felt an odd sensation creeping into me. It was a numbness. A numbness filled with fear. Something about that scream had triggered something in me.

I had to find her.

I rushed through the rail yard, dodging the remnants of the train station.

I heard a quiet moan. My head jerked to the left. I dashed after the sound.

What I came upon was unexplainable.

A boy, about twelve to the eye, was bent over the tense, convulsing body of a seventeen year old girl. When I approached, the boy looked up, baring blood-stained teeth at me.

He eyes were as red as the blood pouring from the girl's neck.

"Hey, you!" I screamed at him, "Get away from her!" I ran closer.

He looked at me with fear and wonder in his eye. Then he was gone.

He just disappeared. The girl's head banged against the gravel. I pulled out me cell phone as I rushed to her side. Blood stained her fair hair and skin.

"Yes," I said to the police officer who answered, "I found a female, about seventeen, in the rail yard. Her neck is bleeding profusely and she appears to have a broken wrist. I need medical assistance. Now."

I stood there, watching the ambulance drive away. I looked at my blood-stained undershirt and jeans. My hands were covered with the sticky, substance, black in the night.

I thought. What was I going to do? What did she mean?

"I forgive him," she had said, "Tell him I forgive him."

Was I supposed to track down her attempted killer to tell him that she forgave him? I was pretty sure that pursuing a murderer was asking for your own death.

But what could I do. Something about that girl made me think. Even her smell was oddly comforting. I couldn't understand what it was, but I just couldn't go back to being me after this.

So I decided. I was leaving. I was taking a permanent road trip. Take me where it may, the open road had never led me astray.

I started my long trek to Dax's and my house on the other side of town, staying to the shadows. Trying not to be seen. I knew I shouldn't be see with blood-stained clothes. There were enough people who didn't trust me without them thinking I was a mass murderer.

As I was walking, an image popped into my head. There was a blond girl, so much like the one I had just saved, only she was healthy and younger. We were sitting on the ground, on a dirt floor.

On three sides, solid stone enveloped us, on one side, bars kept us from the world. I felt that strange fear as I looked at her.

She was wrapped in herself and looked scared. I felt unsure.

Um.

"Are you alright?" I whispered.

She turned sharply around, fear in her jade eyes. When they landed on me, they softened and she smiled, ever so slightly.

She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and nodded, then shook her head.

"I hurt."

It was put so simply, I didn't know how to respond.

I stared at her.

"Where does it hurt?" the words came out of my mouth unbidden, but I couldn't take them back.

"Here," she pointed at her chest and sobs wracked her body again.

"I feel so alone," she said, faced away from me, "My heart feels empty." She hiccuped.

I wanted to comfort her. Tell her everything would be alright.

But I couldn't.

And I couldn't remember why.

I was sure that I had never been in a jail cell with that girl. I had never even seen that jail cell.

I hadn't once left the country. I had barely traveled across two states.

I hadn't gotten locked up yet.

I didn't plan on it happening tonight.

So I walked.

I walked into the dark house, not bothering to turn on the lights. I walked automatically to the bathroom and turned on the hot water.

While it was warming up, I walked into the kitchen and cracked open a beer from the fridge. I tilted it against my mouth and let the stinging liquid fill my mouth and course down my throat.

I winced slightly. The weak liquid provided little comfort from the image of the girl in my mind. The smell of her blood.

I shook my head and took another drink. It didn't help.

I threw it into the wall next to me. It shattered, the drink coating the wall with liquid and staining the air with it's disgusting smell.

I walked back into the bathroom, flicked one light on, and climbed behind the shower curtain, fully dressed. I stepped under the scalding liquid.

The water turned red as it sank down the drain. I let the water run over my entire body, trying to burn off the impurity I felt.

I stripped my shirt off, over my head, throwing it as far away as I could in the cramped space in the shower. I unbuckled my pants and just let everything fall to the ground. I kicked them out of my way.

I scrubbed my entire body until it was red and sore... but I didn't feel any better.

I grabbed the faucet and just soaked under the never-ending stream of fire water. I still couldn't get that girl off my mind.

I was escorted into a room with an assortment of people in it. But there were only two that caught my attention.

A man, standing in the middle, and the little girl with jade eyes. She was looking at me and I couldn't look away. We stood there, just staring at each other, when the man interrupted our gazing with a single word.

"Marie."

"Maire," I muttered, water coursing into my mouth, I drank it happily.

I was finally refreshed.

A/N - Okay, so for those of you who are confused, Colin has no memory of what happened before he changed back into a human. None. Zip. Zap. Zoe.

So, he also has no memory of Maire. But now he's getting some of his memories back. What's that going to do? What will he remember?

Sorry about the wait. I was at writing camp all week from six to six, then I had to come back and work, so... yeah, I've been a little busy.

And I officially have to change this story from T to M because of Colin's bad behavior in this chapter. Don't think it's a bad thing. I'm not going to start having sex scenes or anything like that, so don't worry.

I'm a good girl. Colin has just decided that he's a bad boy and I'm not quite sure if I'm liking it.

And, yes. Colin is human.