Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I just watched the BD2 trailer on the BD2 movie site, and it was awesome. The Twiverse still rocks! :D

I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this little story. Thanks to Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro for betaing...and being terrific friends.

Words: 1358

Chapter 14

Temptation

BPOV

Geography wasn't my strongest subject, but after a few minutes with my map and compass, I worked out the direction I had to take and began running back toward Puget Sound. I needed to cross over to get to the Olympic Peninsula...and I needed to get in the water as soon as possible to wash away my scent so my new vampire trackers couldn't find me. Or that was my hope.

I ran in a crazy, haphazard fashion, swimming through as many creeks and tributaries as I could find, climbing tall trees and leaping from branch to branch before doubling back and swimming some more to try and make my scent too confusing to follow. When I finally entered the Sound with my backpack held just above the water—I was going to need to drink the blood, and soon, if my next stop didn't pan out—I considered the questions that had been flooding my mind.

Just how many vampires were there? And why did they all find me so fascinating?

It was like I was a freaking vampire magnet!

And what if I led them back to Forks...to Charlie?

I'd thought I was being so clever hiding Jame's and Victoria's limbs on those container ships, but I realized that I was responsible for the lives of the sailors on board the ships that those two psychos would most likely kill when hunting for their limbs...and just because they wanted to. I should have burned their limbs when I had the chance, though somehow I didn't think that would have stopped them from coming after me or killing other people.

How often did mature vampires have to feed?

I could feel my own thirst rising, and it wasn't that many hours since I'd drunk the cow's blood. Laurent had mentioned that newborns—ugh! I hated that term—needed to feed more often than older vampires, making it sound like I should be grateful that I had them to bring me my prey.

My life was an undisputed nightmare, and I had no idea how to make it better. I probably shouldn't be going anywhere near Forks, but I wanted to see my dad so badly, I could think of little else. My only hope was that he'd be able to help me somehow. I just had to make sure I didn't hurt him, accidentally or otherwise...or anyone else for that matter.

Once I was on dry land on the Olympic Peninsula side of the water, I checked my map again. There were towns along the way to avoid, and I took that into consideration, but there was one stop I'd already decided to risk taking…a small hospital not far from the highway.

It didn't take long for me to reach it and, aided by some convenient cloud cover and an empty parking lot, I made my way up to a side entrance to the building.

Was I really going to do this? Was it fair of me to risk the lives of the patients inside just so that I could try to find some stored human blood and test my theory?

I knew the answer was no, or should have been, but scared and desperate, I silenced my conscience and crept inside the building.

I will not hurt anyone, I chanted repeatedly as I slunk down the empty corridors, doing my best to ignore the overwhelming aroma of sickness and decay. There was a reason I'd chosen this particular hospital, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself. It was a hospice for the terminally ill. All the patients here were dying, not that I intended hurting any of them, but if the worse came to worst...

Managing to stay out of sight, it didn't take me long to find the medical supply rooms. To my profound relief, I soon located bags of blood, O Neg, stored in a fridge, and I took one…just one. I didn't want to risk any of the patients suffering due to my actions, and I would force myself to drink the cow's blood for as long as I had to. But my hope was that Charlie would somehow be able to purchase human blood for me legally once I explained to him what had happened.

For now, I just really needed to know if this would work.

Hiding in a small cleaning cupboard near an outside wall, one with a window up high in case I needed to escape, I held the bag close to my chest, savoring the aroma that I could clearly detect through the thick plastic. It smelled wonderful, much better than the cow's blood, though a little different than I remembered from the man at the warehouse. With a mixture of hope and trepidation, I carefully punctured a hole in the bag and sipped cautiously at the precious fluid…and promptly spat it out all over the back wall of the cupboard.

Damn!

Whatever preservative agent they used to stop the blood from spoiling made it completely unpalatable. Stretched way beyond my limits, I curled into a ball to weep the strange, dry sobs that passed for vampire tears.

Ignoring my worsening thirst, I let the morning pass, watching the intermittent sunlight forming pretty sparkly patterns on the walls as it bounced off my strange, new skin. While physically I wasn't the least bit tired, emotionally I'd reached overload and needed some time to try and process the events of the last five days. I wasn't sure how much processing I accomplished—how did one adjust to being kidnapped, tortured, and turned into a bloodthirsty monster?—but I felt a little better for the effort.

With the afternoon came consistent and,thankfully, heavy cloud cover, and I made my way silently and unseen from the building…well, almost. The last room before the exit was occupied by an elderly man whose heartbeat—which I could hear as easily as if I held a stethoscope pressed against his chest—and ragged breathing told me he didn't have long to live. Tempted almost beyond measure, I found myself creeping stealthily into his room.

The man was suffering, it was obvious, and I had the means to end his torment…and my own. The insidious thought took root in my mind, causing the torturous burn in my throat to flare as if I'd thrown gas on a bonfire. I took a step toward him, and then another, my nostrils flaring as I inhaled the scent that caused my mouth to water and my fingers to curl into claws.

I would be merciful. I'd make it painless somehow, maybe by breaking the man's neck with a quick flick of my wrist. And then I would drink, my mind and body in absolute accord with my plan as I allowed the craving for blood to overwhelm me.

Taking another step, I came closer to his bed. But then I glanced up, startled by a movement to my side, and I saw my reflection—my new reflection—in a mirror hung above a basin. With a gasp, I froze in place, mesmerized by the sight of the blood-red eyes that stared out of my face, a face that had been transformed to a thing of undeniable beauty. I'd never particularly minded the way I looked, though I was realistic in my self-assessment and was honest enough to know that I was ordinary-looking.

Not anymore.

The other thing I was no longer, was human. The feral expression on my face, the demonic color of my eyes, even my body language, all gave proof to that fact. Turning, I fled the room, running for the exit and past a startled caregiver who I was sure saw nothing but a brief blur of color and felt the wind of my passing.

I ran and kept on running, staying hidden amongst the trees that edged the highway. I only paused when the signs I passed, almost too quickly to read, told me I was nearing the town where I'd been born; the town I hadn't visited in a very long time and had never expected to approach like this: on foot, despairing, and inhuman.

~HIS~

Poor Bella, but here's hoping she's in for a nice surprise for a change.

Reviews may well activate Bella's talent. Repeat after me...please let Edward and Bella meet...please let Edward and Bella meet...please let Edward and Bella meet...

xxx TLSue

Just kidding! :D