I don't own any characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Time flew by. It was now 1935, Jazz and I were still staying with Peter and Charlotte. Being a part of a clan didn't only make our traveling safer but also more fun. We were mostly traveling through Canada, sometimes crossing the border to the Northern States. Our companions were afraid that Maria may track them down, so they were staying as far away from the South as possible. I understood that like nobody else, so we never fought on the topic. Peter and Jasper told us stories about their human military experience which was so much simpler and at the same time scarier than the army that all four of us were a part of. I couldn't even imagine how much courage it would take a regular human being to go to war. Maria's newborn fights were the most terrifying experience that I have had, and I am bulletproof, my skin is tough, I can't bleed out or get an infection. At least that's how it's been for the last 20 years.

This time we took shelter in Cortland, Ohio. A small village right next to a lake. We found two abandoned sheds in the forest that looked decent after few hours of cleaning. We gave up one of the cottages for Peter and Charlotte. The last time we had to share a living space with them, Jazz and I had to leave for multiple days at a time. No one wants to hear other people have a good time, especially when the ability to hear is enhanced.

"Do you want to come with me to the village? I was planning to acquire some new clothes, I could definitely use another blouse, this one has too many rips in it already." Jasper's clothes were also looking rather ruff; however, he never really cared about them. He looked at me pathetically. "Maybe we can go for a swim after," I tried persuading him. Brother was always into swimming, as was I to be honest. Water, no matter warm or cold always felt nice for us.

"Alright, Isabella. However, I am just going to take the first pair of pants that I see. No matter if they go well with my shirt or not." I shook my head and pushed him towards the door.

We started running towards the outskirts of Cortland. Each house was about a mile away from the next one. No real reason for people to visit each other, this was our way of constantly having someone to feed on. The closest house to us smelled like old people, I looked at Jasper and we both shook our heads. We skipped two other houses and the fourth one turned out to be exactly what we were looking for. Uncut lawn, few broken bottles on the porch, a badly patched hole in the roof. We let ourselves in and were hit with a horrible smell. Old blood. I once again looked at Jasper and held my breath. He pointed towards the room in the back of the house. We both proceeded deeper inside the house. A few flies flew out of the kitchen area, and my mouth opened in shock. Two bodies, that were already in the first stage of rotting, were laying on the floor. One female and one male, probably only a couple of days old. The rotting was most likely enhanced by the heat. I saw Jasper getting closer to the bodies, he looked them over and took a quick breath.

"Vampires," that was all he said. "Two different scents."

"Nomads?"

"Most likely. I recognize one, although, I don't remember from where. Very sloppy too. Let's get out of here." He pointed at the back door; he didn't have to tell me twice. My clothes already started to stank like a rotten flash, even my thirst disappeared.

The next house that we visited was nice, its owners were drying their clothes on a rope in their backyard. Both Jasper and I took a few pieces for ourselves and two other members of our coven and ran towards the lake. Water washed off the smell instantly, and I finally started breathing again. Jasper proposed a bet: who is going to swim faster to the end of the lake. I declined. He was nearly a full foot taller than me, that bet would definitely not end well for me. Having put the news of two nomads aside, for now, we were enjoying our swim.

"Someone is coming towards us," Jasper said instantly turning his smile into a frown. His muscles relaxed again in a few seconds. "False alarm. It's just Pete and Charlotte."

I turned my head towards the part of the forest where Jasper was looking. In about a minute our friends walked out and jumped into the water with us.

"I can't believe you both left for a swim without us." Said Charlotte.

"Well, we thought you people were busy." I winked at her.

"Don't be so jealous, my dear friend. One day, you will find your gentleman." She smiled at me.

"Aha, I only hope he has a lot of patience. Let me tell you, spending eternity with this one, he is definitely going to need it." I glared at Jasper and sprayed some water in his face. "Oh yeah? Is that how you are going to treat your best friend? Alright, then this is war!" As soon as these words left his mouth, I saw him diving deep into the water, and a moment later I was dragged underneath the surface by my ankle.

Peter and Charlotte followed us in this game. Then we split into teams, Jazz and I versus the other half of our coven. Jasper's ability helped us in locating our friends in the deep dark water, so the end result was our win.

"You know, that reminded me of the first time I saw water in this life. Choke Canyon, was it?" Peter looked at me. "You were begging every person in the army to come with you. Everyone, of course, was too scared to go against Maria's order."

"Yes, everyone except you." I smiled at the memories. "How old were you? A couple of weeks? I thought you were stupid for saying yes. It was fun, nevertheless." He chuckled and looked at his wife.

"I wasn't stupid. I knew there was a possibility that when we come back, Maria would be waiting for us, but I just didn't care anymore. Life and death had already become a norm for me, I didn't care if I were to die. Until later, of course, when I met Charlotte my view on life changed. I can't imagine leaving her now or really ever."

"Those were simpler times, weren't they?" asked Jasper, he had to continue when all three of us gave him a confused look. "I mean, every day was the same. Training, fighting, killing, counting how many newborns we've lost, creating new ones, and then the cycle continues. Nothing to look forward to, nothing to worry about, no one to grieve for." Our eyes met. He knew I was still thinking about Mary every day. I still couldn't comprehend the fact that she was no longer living on this Earth.

In some weird way, I was agreeing with Jasper. Those were simpler times. The blood lust and constant fear for your life definitely take over other feelings and emotions. These thoughts brought back memories from earlier today.

"Jasper and I went to get all of us some new clothes and came across something…different." I started. All the eyes were on me now. "We found two bodies rotting in one of the houses. Bite marks on their wrists, and Jazz smell two vampires. Someone is hunting on our land." I concluded.

"And you are only saying it now, why?" Started Peter.

"Trust me, if you saw and smelled what was inside their house, you wouldn't want to remember it either."

"Alright, if we see anyone else on our territory, we'll deal with them." I agreed. It was a common rule in vampire society. No hunting on claimed lands.

"You were saying something about new clothes?" asked Charlotte.

"Yes, they are on the ground next to that big tree." I pointed towards the place where I dropped two blouses and skirts. She thanked me and all of us got out of the water. The stars were starting to appear in the sky, and so we started heading back to our place.

Jasper and I said our goodbyes and walked into our shed. It was rather small. A kitchen space that continued into the living room, bathroom, and bedroom. The whole house was made out of wood, the floor made noise, but that didn't bother either of us. Previous owners left a few books in the drawers of a bookshelf. I had found the Holy Bible in a lot of the abandoned houses that we stayed in before, so it was not surprising that these people left it too. Apparently, it wasn't that important to some. I myself was religious in my human life. Parents took us to church every Sunday, we said prayers at the dining table before meals. Now I couldn't even get myself to talk about the Lord. I refused to believe that He existed, as well as I refused to believe the existence of Heaven and Hell. If they were real, I definitely know where they would send me. There could be no paradise for us, dark creatures.

I chose the first book that I saw, it turned out to be "Great expectations" by Charles Dickens. I remember reading this book in school. Wanting to remember what it was about, I sat on one of the chairs in the living room and opened it. As I was reading, Jasper went for a run. I liked having him near me; however, I appreciated the time that I had for myself. The house was quiet, only the turning of pages in the air.

Reading about protagonists and antagonists in multiple stories, I couldn't help myself but wonder who was Jasper in my story. He came into it as an antagonist, having turned me into a monster. Of course, he had his reasons; I would have died if it wasn't for him.

My brother told me that he saved me from another vampire. Apparently, he was traveling back South when he came across me. I was unconscious my head was covered in blood; I was being dragged into the forest by a man. The vampire saw Jasper and decided to attack him. My brother won the fight, the stranger fled; however, Jazz wasn't able to let me die. I resembled his best friend from his human life, and he thought that this was fate's plan. He turned me to save my life, unfortunately, I lost my soul as a result.

"Come outside!" I heard Jasper's voice from outside the house. Strange, my brother was never the one to scream. It was something important.

I closed my book and stood up. It took me a second to find Jazz, as well as Peter and Charlotte already by his side, in the dark.

"What is it?" Pete asked.

"The nomads, I smelled their trail, they're coming this way." I turned my head towards the forest awaiting our guests' arrival. "It looked like they're following your trail, Bella. I might be wrong, but please stay closer to me." I nodded, still not taking my eyes off the forest. In a few minutes, we saw them. I heard a growl coming out of Jasper's mouth. There were indeed two of them. A man with light brown hair and a female with brilliant orange curls. The woman was just a little bit taller than me.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" the man started talking with a French accent, and his voice sounded familiar. His eyes were looking at me. "The one who got away. Is that a family trend of yours?"

I had a thousand questions in my mind, but the only thing that I could say was: "Who are you?"

"Oh yes, pardon my manners. My name is James, this is Victoria."

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