Wassup my dudes! I'm so excited to send you guys this chapter, cuz it was BETA'D OMG! So if you notice that the quality of my writing is just way better then you have Scribe of the Fey to thank. And a thousand thanks again from me! (I know I've already thanked you eight times, but I'm just chucking another thousand on there)

Also, I hope you guys enjoyed the mini chapter from Wednesday. It was fun to write something little that doesn't have to adhere so much to a larger plot and story structure, so I might do more every now and then!

ALSO also, I wanted to differentiate properly between the letters and Bella's internal dialogue, so passages from the letters are set out like this. I might go back and change it in previous chapters if I find the energy.

So again, writing like this = passages from the letters

There were many events during Bella's time in Maria's camp that she would avoid thinking about for the rest of her life. Though, there would always be some things she would never be able to shake from her mind; questions that would forever go unanswered and images that would never go away.

The morning that she was called from her tree and thrown a length of rope was one of them.

Jasper's frame was tense as he nodded for her to follow him. They walked to a clearing a small distance away from the camp. Bella could tell from her friend's mood that they wouldn't be having a heart to heart like last time.

Maria was already standing in the clearing; with Anton already at her side. Bella wanted to ask what was going on, but Jasper's thunderous presence at her side kept her quiet. She avoided looking at anyone in particular and worried the unexplained rope between her fingers.

Finally, the familiar sound of a carriage rattling in the distance cut through the silence.

Maria smiled. "Ah, at last." She turned to her companions. "Have you ever turned anyone, Belle?"

Bella shook her head, not trusting her voice.

"Not to worry!" Maria sauntered towards her and tapped condescendingly on her nose. "It's easy. If you get too carried away, one of us will just pull you off. Now that you are off your silly animal diet I think you should have the control for it."

Bella held her breath and willed herself not to react, feeling Jasper's eyes on her even after Maria turned away. He could feel her horror, there was no point in trying to hide it from him. She subconsciously inched closer to him and he let their hands brush.

"I won't let you kill, don't worry." He breathed, too low for the others to hear.

Bella nodded to show her thanks, but it really didn't help that much. This was an innocent human that she was about to put through hell, damn to a horrific life that would undoubtedly end in being ripped apart and burned. Would she be responsible for this person, morally speaking? Was this really better than killing them?

She felt no better about it by the time Peter brought the carriage to a halt in front of them. Bella's shield immediately stretched to protect him from Maria's influence. When he opened the door, five humans poured out—one for each of them.

Jasper lead her to two humans who were huddling together, trembling in fear.

He nodded at the rope in her hands. "We tie them up first, so they don't flail too much when they're changin'."

Bella frowned. Surely being restrained would make the experience much worse for the humans, not that flailing helped to lessen the pain. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to move.

With a gulp and gentle hands, she wrapped the length of rope around the shuddering woman in front of her and tied her arms securely to her torso. She looked like she was in her early twenties at most, with dark copper hair, green eyes, and fine sharp features. A part of her was reminded of Edward, but she shook the thought away as soon as it appeared.

The woman to her right screamed. With a turn of her head Bella saw Jasper licking the excess blood off his lips, letting his victim fall to the floor and wail uncomforted. He schooled his grimace into a neutral expression and turned to her expectantly, it was her turn.

The girl in her arms was violently trembling, her breath came out in sharp bursts that rattled her frail chest. As Bella ducked her head down to the girl's neck, part of her was impressed with her own control. She didn't need this blood. She sure as hell wanted it, but she didn't need it.

She paused before her teeth sunk in, just long enough to whisper an apology in the girl's ear and hope the screaming covered it from the others. The girl's paper-thin skin parted easily under her razor-sharp teeth.

Bella's entire being sparked to life as the first drop of blood hit her tongue. This being her second victim, she could appreciate the finer notes in her lifeblood. This one was sweeter than her last, thinner in texture and more fragrant in aftertaste. But above all, it was delicious. Life-affirming, perfect, made everything she had gone through worth it.

Gone.

A rough hand clenched her hair and yanked her head away from the girl's neck. Bella struggled at first. But when the girl's fearfully sharp eyes crossed and clouded over with pain, she remembered what they were doing.

She cringed at the first scream.

"Surely they didn't get enough venom in their systems?" She whispered to Jasper, who still had a hand in her hair, resting on the back of her head. "It will take them forever to change."

"That's the point." He replied. "The extra blood in them will make them stronger. More violent at the beginning too. They'll take about five days to change, rather than the usual three."

"It's horrible…" She breathed.

His hand tightened on her hair, his nails scratched pleasantly over her scalp.

"I know…"

"Major." Maria's voice drew their attention, Jasper's hand fell from Bella's hair. "I have no patience for all the noise right now. Keep an eye on them here and bring them to camp when they are close to waking."

Jasper swept towards her and raised her hand to his lips. "As you wish, Ma'am."

Maria drew him down for a proper kiss, which Bella turned to avoid looking at. Unfortunately, it sounded like it involved tongues. An unpleasant heavy feeling settled in her stomach, only alleviated slightly when Peter rested a warm hand on her shoulder.

"Come on," He whispered. "Let's go back."

I wasn't quite Maria's right-hand man at the time you are going back to. I undoubtedly was her favorite, but there was another who was just as close to her. His name was Anton. He's tall, and he has short black hair, was Mexican before he was turned so his skin's a little bit darker than ours. Fairly generic description, but you'll be able to recognize him from the way he fawns around Maria. He won't be as big a threat to you as I will be, but you should still be wary of him.

Bella and Peter sat back in their tree, watching a bedraggled Maria slink back into camp. There was a new rip in her dress, where someone had clearly been too impatient in undoing its bindings.

"So the Major will be away from camp for a few days." Peter said.

"Yes." Said Bella. "So it's the perfect time to deal with Anton."

Peter turned to her, a frown painted on his pretty face. "I'm sorry I didn't think of this. I knew Anton was tracking the Major, but for some reason, it just didn't occur to me that it would be an issue for us."

"It's okay," She replied. "I didn't think of it either."

His gift was powerful, that's how he rose through the ranks and became lieutenant with me. He could bind with your mind and track you from anywhere, no running or covering up your scent would save you. However, he could only bind to two and he had to physically touch them in order to do it. In 1886, he was bound to Maria and an old associate, Drina, who she wanted to keep an eye on.

If Jasper in the future was under the impression that Anton wasn't tracking him, then they were in one of two situations. Either Jasper didn't know that he was being tracked, or Bella had accidentally changed events in a way that made Anton change his mind.

"You said you knew? Did Jasper tell you he was being tracked?"

"Sure did," Peter replied. "Remember a couple'a days after you killed that man? Maria called us both into her tent. Apparently Anton clapped him on the back and he felt him bond."

Shit. So she had changed events.

"He said it hurts," Peter continued. "Like getting stabbed in the back over and over. Fitting really."

Bella snorted. "Guess I'll look forward to that."

Peter groaned, his head cracked back against the trunk of the tree their shared branch grew out of. "Why can't we just kill him?"

Bella sighed and let her own head loll in annoyance. "How would that go? If we lure Anton away and attack him would we definitely win?"

"Well… not definitely."

"So he kills us," Bella surmised. "Or he doesn't manage to kill us and just runs back to camp and informs Maria instead. Then what?"

"Then we're runnin' with a newborn army on our tails."

"Right. Which we want to avoid at all costs."

"Right." Peter pursed his lips. "I still think your plan is over complicated though."

"It's just complicated enough." Bella scooted further forwards on her branch of the tree, away from the camp as if it would help keep her low tone undetected from the army behind her. "I approach Anton while Jasper isn't here, lift my shield off myself, trick him into tracking me instead of Jasper. Then, when Jasper comes back I can shield him from Maria without Anton noticing. And then when we escape I can put my shield down and he can't find us. Simple."

He frowned. "I thought the shield was on you permanently."

"It is." She replied. "But I can lift it off myself. It just takes effort."

"How much effort? How long have you had it off yourself in the past?"

"Well…" Bella had had a considerable amount of practice playing around with her shield in her first few years of vampire life. She used to sit with Edward for hours, stretching her shield over random members of the household and having him work out who it was, then lifting it off herself and watching the grin spread across his handsome face. He always treasured that, the brief stolen glimpses into her mind.

She shook off the thoughts of her lost husband again. They wouldn't be worth dwelling on for some time and weren't helpful at that moment.

"A few hours." She concluded. "And I can't really do other things while it's off, so I'll need a lot of help."

He raised an eyebrow. "And are we plannin' on leavin' in a few hours?"

"I doubt it."

"You do see why I think this is a shitty plan, right?"

"Yeah, but it's the only one we've got, Petey!" She returned to her post peeking out of the spring leaves for their opportunity.

"Don't fuckin' call me that…"

She shushed him. "Look! Anton's on his own! This is our chance!"

He sighed and tugged on her arm. "Are you sure about this? You'd have to keep your shield up for ages. We have time to think of somethin' else."

"We've gotta use the opportunity of me having just fed. It's rare that I have this much power, may as well make use of it." She passed her soft leather satchel to him. "Keep this safe, I'll see you later."

He hooked it over his shoulder. "Good luck I guess…"

She cast him one last reassuring smile and dropped from the tree, landing a few paces from the edge of the camp. Anton was lounging on a fallen trunk, watching the clouds; relaxed to the untuned eye. Bella understood though, he wasn't really chilling out. Appearing relaxed in such a stressful environment was a huge power play.

She strolled across the camp at a human pace, trying to emulate some of that relaxed energy he was throwing out and frantically going through the information Jasper had given her about the man.

Anton is easy to underestimate. Remember this is a man that is madly, obsessively in love with a beautiful woman who constantly puts him down and belittles him. He has to watch her sleep with other men and choose me over him all the time.

"Good afternoon, Anton!" She softly called to him once she was sure she had his attention.

He looked surprised. "Afternoon, Belle."

She stopped in front of him and spoke too quietly for anyone around them to hear. Form intimacy with him, make him feel special. "I was wondering if I could sit and chat with you, while it's quiet."

He stared at her for a second, then gestured to the ground beside him in a universal gesture of go ahead.

That kind of abuse does things to people. It wrecked him from the inside out. It made him aggressive and desperate to prove himself.

She slipped down beside him, rearranging her skirts around her as she went, then sat and drew a blank. What kind of conversation starter was suitable for this kind of situation?

He was looking at her funny, waiting for her to speak. She giggled nervously.

"I feel like I barely know you. Would you tell me about yourself?"

He shrugged. "Not much to tell, I can't remember much of my human life. Been here twenty years and it's all been much of the same." He frowned at her. "Peter is still here y'know, since when are you chompin' at the bit to talk to me?"

He's a considerable fighter, with many gifts and avantages. But he's ruled by his ego. Appeal to that and he will be easily manipulated.

She bit her lip and tried to shyly glance at him under her lashes. Appeal to his ego. "Oh you know… there's only so long I can talk to Peter before craving… a different kind of conversation."

The man snorted. "Bored of dipshit talk, eh? I don't blame ya."

She went quiet to think of a new thing to say, but he beat her to it.

"You look better with red eyes, y'know."

"I do?"

He nodded. "Goin' back to your natural food source must feel good. It sure as hell feels good to watch ya drink from it."

She tried to ignore the implications in that comment, and the leery gaze being leveled at her.

"'Sides," He continued. "That animal shit clearly doesn't do as good a job as human blood. You always look hungry."

"It is just as good, actually." She lied. This was it, the first real time she had gone off-plan. Jasper, in his long compendium of advice, had never accounted for her having to part way seduce Anton and take down her one real advantage. "It's just that I always have my shield up and it drains a lot of energy."

He frowned at her, finally dropping his indifferent act and fully paying attention. "Your shield isn't always up naturally?"

"No." She smiled as she lied again, trying to look fondly annoyed at Carlisle. "My sire was really uncomfortable with me coming down here, so he told me I had to keep it up all the time to keep myself safe. But it's becoming such a strain, I'm considering taking it down."

"Safe from what?"

She shrugged. "Anyone with a mental gift? He worries about me, poor soul."

"There's no one here who has a power that could hurt you."

"That's true." She smiled indulgently at him. "And if someone comes along that does, you'll protect me until I can put it up, right?"

His chest puffed up and a smirk bloomed on his face. "Of course I'll protect you. Better than the Major or his little weakling could."

She giggled, the sound soured in her ears. "My sire had no idea I would be with someone like you when I came here. I'm sure that if he did, he wouldn't have been nearly so worried about me!"

He grinned, one side of his mouth slyly lifting higher than the other, and shifted towards her. His arm spread out to the side and rested on the ground just behind her. "Nothin' to worry about. You're safe to drop the shield."

This is it. She internally cringed as she closed her eyes and brought her shield into her consciousness. It was anchored onto her, as per usual, and stretched over to the trees where Peter was watching her. She fidgeted with the edges, pulling them this way and that until with a wrench of effort she pushed it off herself and held it above her. Her mind shuddered with the strain and she took a second to get used to the sensation.

Being without her shield always felt strange, like she was naked and exposed, but it was even stranger in a camp surrounded by many other vampires. The blanket that protected her from them was gone and she felt their presences like a cold draught. When she turned to look back at Anton, he was smiling at her like he could see her differently.

"There," He cooed. "Does that feel better?"

She nodded, swallowing the tension in her head and neck. "It's nice to feel normal again. Like I do at home."

"Good." He returned his eyes to the sky, watching the clouds pass over them. "This is your home now."

There it was, Bella thought. Concrete evidence that Maria expected her to stay there. What kind of home would this make? She glanced back at the soldier sitting beside her. Was he really so content here that he never considered leaving?

He's not power-hungry in the traditional sense. He's desperate for Maria. She was like a drug to him and he would put up with anything to be near her.

"Yes." She whispered. The pressure in her head was already getting too much to bear while also thinking of things to say. "I do miss my coven though."

Anton grunted, clearly not interested in that topic of conversation. It didn't matter though, he would be.

It's sad really, he was ripped apart in front of her in 1904 and she was annoyed at the most.

She continued to whisper. "Sometimes I think about leaving…" His eyes shot to hers dangerously fast. "Sneaking off when everyone is busy and running home. They're living in California right now. I love the mountains there."

That lie right there was vital. Vital to leading Anton and the newborns in the wrong direction when they finally escaped.

"Yer thinkin' of leavin'?" He growled, his accent grew thick and his voice angry.

The problem for you is how much she emasculated him. He would take a power trip anywhere else he could get it, especially on women. That will be your issue, he might try to intimidate you.

She could see him restraining himself. The muscles in his jaw tensed outwards and the ones in his arms rippled as he flexed. Bella noticed movement in the trees out of the corner of her eye. Peter was getting ready to leap to her aid.

This was a more violent reaction than she was expecting, clearly she hadn't stroked his ego enough. But if he were thinking, he would realise he couldn't kill her. Maria needed her. She just needed to remind him of that.

"Yes," She tried not to shudder. "I know that it's wrong to think about it. After all, Maria needs me to keep her safe from Johan." She literally fluttered her eyelashes at him. "It's just an errant thought... and I trust you to keep it to yourself."

The promise of violence in his eyes faded a little. He must not have thought about Bella's importance to Maria. She maintained eye contact, willing him to take the bait. Come on. You can't kill me but there's something else you can do.

His temples tensed with effort and a sharp jabbing pain assaulted her back. It reminded her of injections she'd endured as a human, only this pain wasn't over in half a second. It latched onto her spine at the base of her neck and pulsed. Jab jab jab…

It worked, Anton had bound himself to her. He would never unbind from Maria, so Jasper must have been free.

She gave him a weak smile, exhausted already from holding her shield up and maintaining this deceitful disgusting conversation.

"I should go see what Peter's doing."

She felt his eyes on her all the way until she had leapt into the tree and out of view. Even then, she knew he was looking.

Overall, just stay away from him. I would much rather you just stay away from him.

She snapped her eyes closed as soon as she was settled, to shut out the extra stimuli. Peter's hand rested on her arm.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," She whispered. "It just takes a lot of focus to keep the shield off me."

"And that talk with Anton? I couldn't hear you."

She shivered. "He's awful. I hate him."

"Me too…" sighed Peter. "Bells, is it too much? What happens if you put your shield down now?"

"He won't be able to sense me anymore. He'll assume I'm trying to escape and come after me, or decide it's more important to track Jasper after all. Neither is good."

"... Can you really keep this up?"

She dared pull her energy away from maintaining the position of her shield for a second to look at him.

"I have to."