Author's note: okay! Here it is! Chapter three!! Sorry that I haven't been able to update this for a little bit; I have been super busy (meaning my family has been dragging me everywhere) and when I can finally sit down to write these...well, I'm the world's slowest typer, no joke! Also, I think I used a quote from New Moon. See if you can spot it!

(Oh, yea, there were some questions dealing with whether or not this is an Edward and Bella story. To that, I must answer: heck yes! Don't worry about those two; this is only a little sister that I ended up writing about-we're just not to the Cullens yet. As soon as we get there, I've got some fun ideas for Bella, Edward, and Courtney (along with the rest of the Cullens) to do together. Hopefully you like it!!)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: D. O. I., or any of the songs in here, okay?!

Chapter 3

Questions And Answers I Didn't Want

Through all the screaming, I saw the sun rise again. (I could only catch glimpses of it, the rest of my time here on the ground was a blur.) It seemed to sail across the sky and set again. It looked to me like it did that once more, but I had no idea. It also might have rained, but my vision would blur every now and then, and I just couldn't tell! I was in pain; basically burning to death, but the whole "death" part just wouldn't come!! All I could do was scream, gasp for air, scream some more, and then after a while, I didn't even have the energy to scream.

The pain was energy-consuming; it made me tense up, but that was almost worse than just letting it pull me under, so I would relax again. After just a few seconds of relaxing, the pain would intensify again, making me squirm around and then just tense up again. It would make you really tired. Sometimes, it would get so bad that I would almost pass out, but not quite. I knew I was still conscious; I just couldn't move, couldn't--and probably wouldn't--even respond to anything.

Eventually I could feel the steady throb of my heart as if it was shaking my whole body with it, and the pain worsened. I could tell that the fire was reaching my heart now, because no matter how tired I was, I screamed louder than I had before and the pain was worse than ever before. I had the feeling now that this was coming to an end, and was grateful. Finally, the torture would be over! I stole a glance up at the sun…well, it was setting again so I couldn't really see it-but still! My heart beat harder, hurting all the more, slowed it's pace, and then…

Stopped altogether. I closed my eyes, and passed out for good.

OOOOOOOOOOO

I opened my eyes only seconds later expecting heaven, or…something. But as I looked around, I noticed that it was the same forest area I had been in for the last…two days? Was it three days?! Wow!….Well, at least the "torture" was over. As I still lay there, I decided to not lay on the ground like I had been for the last few days, so I stretched--it felt nice--and sat up. Looking around me, I gathered that I was in a forest setting, surrounded by a lot of trees. It looked like I was in some sort of National Park.

I got up to see where I was. Then I noticed that I had a lot of dry mud on me-it was under my nails and in my hair. So it did rain.

The wind started to blow then, and I caught a small whiff of something…really good! My instincts were yelling at me to take it! Attack, kill,…and…drink? Weird, but I was going to do what I had to get it! I looked around me, searching for it. That's when I looked down at my shirt. I was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a light blue shirt with a black zip-up jacket. My jeans, other than covered in dirt, were splattered with just a tiny amount of blood. But the thing that caught my attention was my shirt; it was ripped clear through the jacket to expose my right shoulder. My shoulder, which used to be a light tan from spending summers swimming, and being in the sun, was now very pale-almost white. In fact, I was white! As I continued to look at my shoulder, I smelled the dried blood on my shoulder, and leaned closer.

It smelled amazing! I was about to basically eat my shirt, I wanted the stuff so bad, but something stopped me.

Then I remembered the pain that I had gone through, and stopped breathing.

Was I a…vampire? The only logical way to really explain this was to come to that conclusion. The signs were all there; I had been bitten, I wanted blood, and I was very pale. I didn't really know what being pale had to do with being a vampire, but a voice in the back of my mind said that now, I probably at least looked dead.

"This sucks!" I said softly. I realized that my voice was even different. It had a nice tone to it; it almost sounded like singing….Weird!

The wind blew again, very hard this time, and after a little bit, I caught another whiff of something good. No, it was MUCH better than good!

Forgetting all that I had just thought about, I ran to it.

It was amazing how fast I ran! In fact, I almost scared myself with how fast I was going. I darted past trees, jumped over any obstacles in my way. "Probably another 'vampire thing' ", I thought sarcastically, but then focused on the scent.

Suddenly, I saw a clearing up ahead and stopped. There was a man chopping wood in the back of some sort of building. It looked like a big house, but I guessed that it was probably some sort of hotel. Kind of like in Yellow Stone, Wyoming. Why he was chopping wood was a total mystery to me, but I didn't care. It was his blood I was after!

Choosing this time to act, I ran over to him. I basically pounced on him, but he couldn't see-I was too fast. Before he could make a noise, I bit into his neck and drank.

It was amazing! It was better than anything else I've ever tasted! I can't even begin to describe it-words aren't enough!

After just a little bit, he…didn't have any more…blood. I looked down at what I had just done. Wait; what had I just done?!

What kind of place was this?! How could I have done what I just did?

Before I could attack anyone else, I picked him up and moved him deep into the forest. I don't know why-something just told me to at least move the body if I couldn't bury him properly.

I was about to turn and go home, but stopped myself. If this was how I reacted to this guy, maybe my family wasn't safe with me there.

So then, I ran as far as I could from the man and my town, praying that my family would be safe-and that, somehow, they would understand. My sense of direction is really bad, but it seemed to me like I was going north, so I continued.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I wasn't keeping track of how much time had passed, but it seemed like hours. Not too long, though only about 3 hours, maybe.

I stopped for a while, and smelled some thing good again. Not as good, but it was still appetizing! I ran until I found it, then drank from it. When I was done, I saw that it was a deer! I decided then, that I just had to stay away from towns, and away from all people.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Almost six months had passed, and I was doing well with feeding off of animals. They weren't as good as humans, but they worked just as well. In fact, I was working on restraining myself. I had come across their scents, and I was able to resist the urge to hunt and then kill them.

Today, I was just walking through a really cloudy forest. It was very cool in this area.. The wind picked up, and like many different times, I smelled something and wanted to find out what it was. I took off running to it. The smell I was "tracking" wasn't a good one, but it seemed to originate somewhere close.

I finally slowed down, and looked around. I saw that I was on some sort of beach. And even here, the sky was still cloudy! The scent forgotten, I looked around for a place to sit, and decided to sit under a tree along the forests' edge. When I sat down, I listened for approaching noises. I don't want to attack anyone else.

I sat in silence, watching the waves. I moved my hands to rest in my lap, and as I did, I felt something shift in my pocket. I reached in to see what it was and took it out.

My iPod! It was a little dented here and there, but it was still my iPod!! Finding my iPod triggered lots of things I had forgotten about.

Memories of being with Beth singing, listening, and talking about songs and things of the past came flooding back to me, and I broke down crying. After just a little bit, I realized that I wasn't shedding any tears. Hmm…that's new; must be a "vampire thing" too.

Since the "change" (that's what I had decided to name the time when I went through all the pain), I had kind of forgotten some small things. I knew for sure that I loved my iPod, and the music on it; I had just kind of forgotten some of the songs I had.

Curious, I turned it on and went through the list of songs. I smiled when I saw the song "The Way I Are" and pushed play. I loved this song!! I let it play as I pondered my…"old" life. There was really no way I could go back to that now.

I started thinking about my school. Old color guard memories, going on competitions. My family. At this, I started crying again.

So much had changed in the past few months in fact, it was almost a year, now! I still love my family-we were all pretty close…but I never really told them how much I loved them.

I hope that my brother and sister have a good life, and that my mom and dad will be able to move on with theirs, and not miss me too much. To them, I'm dead now.

Then, I began thinking about my friends….My best friend…That thought made me cry (well, dry-sob) a little harder. I probably won't be the one to calm Beth down when she's hyper anymore, take her side if there's a fight. I can't even see her anymore….I just hope that she'll be okay now.

Then, I laughed; I remembered her and I play-fighting….She would always be my best friend.

I moved on to a different topic to keep from being depressed, and remembered the time I got my first and--in my opinion--probably my last and only boyfriend.

I was a freshman, and had just turned fifteen. He was a senior, and was always pretty nice to me. He was tall and had a sturdy build, and was a football player, too. When he asked me out, of course I said "yes", but then things changed a little. He was used to being rough, and would try to play-fight with me, kind of like Beth would. I didn't really want to play-fight with him (mainly, I didn't want to get hurt), but I didn't really have a choice, either: He would steal something--usually what I was holding--from me, and try to keep it. Again, he was just being playful, and I would end up trying to get it back, but it really bugged me! That was the only reason I ever "wrestled" with him; to get my stuff back! It pushed just the right buttons when people just took my stuff from me like that. Especially him-my boyfriend! It seemed almost abusive to me.

Once, he got too rough for me, and I hurt my arm pretty bad. Ever since then, I've had a scar on my arm. (With a smile, I remembered that this was when Beth stepped in and told me that I should probably my relationship with him, so I did.) But that reminded me….

Hurriedly, I rolled up the right sleeve of my jacket to see if it was still there….Hmm, It's not. I rubbed my arm lightly, feeling for it….I've never noticed this before, but my arm felt like a rock!

Then, the sun came out and a ray of sunlight shone down on my arm. I was sparkling! I jumped up, and moved into the sunlight. It was like I was made out of a ton of little diamonds!!

I sat back down under the tree, waiting--geez, I was almost cowering--for the sun to go back behind the clouds. When it did I was relieved; I didn't really want to sparkle right now! I decided to move; I would find the scent later. So I put my iPod back in my pocket, got up and ran into the woods for a few minutes.

Soon, I came to a stop, and leaned against a tree. I wasn't tired; it was just comfortable. Then, I heard a noise. It was a happy, care-free noise! I wanted to go to that noise, and see if it would help me relax; maybe find something for me--a…vampire--to be just as happy and care-free about.

I was trying to come to terms with what I was, accept myself. It was going okay, but I needed some help; some rest & relaxation--or therapy--if you will.

I ran as fast as I could to the noise. I kept running, probably faster than I ever have before. Then, I found it.

It was beautiful. It was in a perfectly round, open…meadow. The meadow had delicate, little wildflowers in varying shades of violet, white, and yellow, with soft grass, swaying in the wind. It was--as usual in this new area--really cloudy, but I could tell that if the sun came back out, it would be one of the most heavenly places on earth. I crossed the meadow and came to what I was looking for.

It was a small stream. I don't know why, but when I heard the bubbly laugh of the stream as it flowed quickly over smooth rocks, and a tiny waterfall over a fallen log, I became really anxious, and had wanted to find it. (It probably had to do with just how bored and alone I was.) Well, I found it!

But looking at the stream, on it's hands and knees, was another creature that looked totally at peace. Sensing my presence in the meadow, he looked up. I tried as well as I could to control my urge to gasp, but it looked like he saw through my attempt; I think that he was one of my kind!

Like me, he was very pale. His eyes-though-were a funny color. They were like a light caramel, or maybe topaz! Then, my super-girly side came out on my next thoughts of him.

He was a pretty cute guy, altogether. He had auburn hair, and if he stood up, he would probably be tall, maybe over six feet. He looked to be about 17 years old.

"Can I help you?" He asked in a quiet--but almost territorial--voice. He was still crouching.

"Um…uh-I just…." I knew, even as young as I was in this life, that it was probably never a good idea to encroach on another…one of…my kind's territory. (We got a little defensive.) And even though I tried hard to hide it, it looked like he probably saw the discomfort and almost fear in my voice, and his expression softened.

"Uh.…I was just passing through. Sorry to disturb you; I'll get going, now." I was disappointed; I wanted to watch the stream go by as he was just doing. But as I turned to leave, he said something rather surprising for…one of my kind.

"No, that's fine. Can I offer you any help with something you might need?"

I turned back around to look at him, and he was standing, ('Yes, he is tall' I thought to myself. ) with a hand outstretched to me. "My name is Edward."

I timidly and carefully took his hand, shook it, and said, smiling,

"Courtney."

He gently smiled in return.

Then, it was an awkward silence, where we just looked at each other. I was going to say something; I was still kind of scared, but then he said something even more surprising than ever!

"Courtney, would you like to meet my family? You could perhaps take a quick rest, maybe clean up a little?" I hadn't been able to "clean up" myself-I didn't even know what I looked like!! But I didn't want to intrude.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to bother any of you." I said, referring to both him and his family. But he just smiled and said,

"Really, it's no problem!" And started to lead me in the direction of, supposedly, his house.

"And in all honesty, they would probably love to at least meet you!"

"Okay." I said shyly. I really was looking forward to meeting someone and maybe taking some sort of shower.

But the first reason I was going with him was that I didn't want to offend him. Not only because he was being so nice, but he was another vampire, and I could really do without any enemies.

Author's note: and now, we meet the Cullens!! In the next chapter, I might do an Edward point of view to explain why he is doing this, but do you want me to?

Review, please!!

ELS