A/N: you guys! You're blowing me away with these reviews. Srsly. I love you all and you totally make me smile and squee and clap and jump up and down like an idiot when I get the reviews from all of you. Thank you so much! Huge A/N at the bottom – I'm going to be in a contest! Vote for Pedro and all that (Pedro being me in this situation).

I stood up slowly, feeling the dread coursing through my system as I realized I was really alone out here. I looked at the man lying at my feet, his body a jumbled mess, and it dawned on me that I had just killed him. I was a murderer. A choked sob escaped me as I pressed a hand to my mouth; what would Charlie think?

I ran blindly, unaware that I was following my and Edward's scents back towards his house. I burst through the door, my chest heaving with ragged breaths as my eyes wildly scanned the room. He wasn't here.

I paced back and forth before the fireplace, my mind a chaotic mess of guilt and trepidation. I had never even been given detention at school, and now I was killing people! I mean, I knew this was part of the deal from the get go: I understood that vampires fed on human blood, but apparently the reality of that hadn't hit home, not until now, until after the first victim of my bloodlust. I just needed to figure out a way to justify it, to make it more socially acceptable. I'm just saying, it's not like I can walk into a family dinner and have my own all-you-can-eat buffet.

What I really needed was someone to talk to about this, someone to bounce ideas off of and come to a good, practical solution. Obviously, Edward is out of the question, seeing as he keeps disappearing and when he is available, he can barely manage to go thirty seconds without ripping off my clothes. Don't get me wrong, the guy is a great lay (not that I would know otherwise), but you'd think he would spend at least a little time actually talking to me.

No, what I needed now was my best friend. Alice would have some sort of insight into this situation; she had always given me her complete, undivided attention with any issues I brought to her in the past. I spun on my heel, making my way towards the small cot I had spent three days on. Kneeling on the ground, I searched below it for my backpack. No dice. I moved quickly to search the rest of the room, quickly realizing the sparse decor made for few hiding places. My phone wasn't here, and from the looks of it, there wasn't a land line in this building either. I would have to go find her in person. I just hoped that I would be able to refrain from killing her when I found her.

I headed back into the woods, unknowingly tracing my own path from earlier today. I stopped every so often to check out my new strength or speed, uprooting trees just to see if I was capable and running to catch them before they could hit the ground. This was some pretty cool shit, if I was being honest with myself. I finally heard the faint babble of the brook calling to me, and I jogged up to the tent I had seen this morning. I tried not to look at the man's lifeless body, but it seemed I couldn't tear my eyes from it when it came into view.

I had thought briefly that if I could get Alice on the phone it would work out better for both of us, as I still had no idea if I'd be able to be near her without sucking that luscious fluid from her veins. That hot, pulsing liquid that soothed the horrible ache in my throat, that made me forget everything around me and called to me in a way nothing ever had before.

I shook my head, trying to clear it from this line of thought. I needed to focus; I came here for a reason. Fixing my eyes on the tent, I unzipped the entrance and crawled inside, finding a sleeping bag and backpack nestled within its nylon walls. I sat cross legged on the floor of the tent, methodically going through each compartment of the bag, pulling out all the man's belongings.

A toothbrush, a lighter and a pack of cigarettes later, I found his wallet. Flipping it open, I pulled out his license, curious to put a name with my victim's face.

Joseph Bouchard. Date of birth: 10/31/1977. He lived in Port Angeles, Washington and was apparently only in his thirties.

My hand covered my mouth in horror as I dropped the few remaining items in his billfold. A picture of two smiling children, both with his light hair and smiling into the camera, fluttered to the ground before me. A sob tore from my throat as I realized that I had killed a father, had left two young boys without their daddy. I had ruined a family. I crawled through the opening of the tent, determined to get out of this place where I had caused such calamity. I had to fix this. I needed some way to make this better.

As I rushed past his body, I pulled up short, kneeling beside him and bowing my head in reverence. Slowly, I crossed his arms over his chest, placing one of the pictures in his hand before covering it with the other. Hastily, I lowered his eyelids, feeling that if I could pay him this one last respect that perhaps it would make my transgression just a tiny bit less unforgiveable. Then I remembered my reason for coming here in the first place.

I began patting down his pockets, searching for the one thing that could bring me redemption, or at least bring me the means to find it. I hissed as I realized it wasn't here; it must be back in the tent. I trudged back to the structure, leaning in and swiping the backpack before bringing it out to sit by Mr. Bouchard again. I dug around for a few moments before feeling its familiar shape and pulling it free.

His cell phone.

I could call Alice and not worry about her scent getting to me. I would not have to go to her house and risk killing her family or some poor innocent bystander if the scent got to be too much. I dialed the numbers by heart, gnawing on my thumbnail as I listened to each ring. Finally, her voicemail picked up, the familiar greeting causing a small smile to break out on my face. After the beep, I left a vague message.

"Hey Al, it's me. Gimme a call on this number when you get the message, alright? It's pretty important and I really need to talk to you right away. Like, as soon as you get this."

I hung up, feeling dejected and lost. Al always answered her phone, especially if she didn't know the number. She said you never knew who you would meet on the other end of the line. I pulled my knees to my chest, prepared to wait as long as it took for her to call me back but not wanting to return to that creepy house and potentially run into Edward again. He was just super weird and I wasn't sure if I really should be entangling myself with him at this point. I hated to admit it to myself, but I was hurt that he had just left me alone, again. I barely knew him, and really only in the Biblical sense anyway, so I figured it would be okay to take a little time for myself. He had, after all, lectured me for hours on what it meant to be a vampire and what was expected of us. I think I had a handle on it at this point.

After a few hours I reached for the phone, switching it off in fear that the battery would run out on me if I left it on all night. My nails were ragged and torn from my incessant chewing and I knew I really needed to work on a new plan if I was going to get anything accomplished anytime soon. I tried to figure out what day it was before I remembered that the cell phone would tell me; it was already Thursday, December 29th. I knew Charlie would be working the graveyard shift tonight, which meant it would probably be safe to go home and get some clothes and my own phone and laptop.

I struggled to my feet, expecting an ache in my legs from hours of sitting in one position and surprisingly found none. I said a final goodbye to Mr. Bouchard before heading off towards my house, my arms swinging lightly as I made my way over trees and rocks. I took my time, knowing that there was really no rush at this point; Charlie would be gone for hours and Al was probably off with Jasper somewhere getting her freak on. Maybe I would go to his house after I got my stuff: I wouldn't be shocked to find Al there.

As I approached the house I saw that the front light was left on, illuminating the piece of paper stuck to the front door. I rushed up the steps, anxious to see what it said.

Isabella Marie, if you see this note it means I'm at work. STAY PUT, YOUNG LADY. We will be having words when I get home. Love, Dad.

Oh my Christ, I forgot about how Charlie would take this. For all he knew, I vanished on Christmas Eve! I hadn't even once stopped to take his feelings into consideration since then. He didn't even know if I was alive or dead; well, truthfully, neither did I at this point, but that seemed irrelevant. I would have to make sure to let him know I was okay as soon as it was safe. I pulled the spare key from the eaves before opening the door and putting it back. I crept into the house silently, unsure what I would find waiting for me here. Everything appeared normal and in its proper position since the last time I had been home.

I stepped soundlessly up the staircase, bee-lining towards my room and grabbing my backpack from the banister on my way up. I dumped out my books and school supplies on my bed before quickly shoving a few pair of jeans and t-shirts in the bag. I wrapped myself in my favorite black hoodie, stopping for a split second to enjoy the feel of the soft cotton against my skin. I allowed my eyes to close briefly as I reminisced about the last time I was in this room, the midnight visitor I had, and the amazing sensations he had brought out in me. I forced my eyes open as I realized that wasn't a good line of thought to have at the moment.

I searched under the bed for my phone, remembering knocking everything over before it all went black, and grabbed it from the furthest corner. I had 27 missed calls and had 50 text messages, mostly from Al and Charlie. I unplugged the charger from the wall and tossed it in the bag, followed quickly by my laptop. I moved to my dresser, pausing to stare at the pictures framing the mirror above, before grabbing two of them and shoving them in the bag as well.

The bag seemed to weigh nothing as I hefted it over my shoulder, slinging it across myself as I took off down the stairs and into the night. I grabbed my phone and began listening to my voicemails, hearing Charlie grow more and more pissed off with each one that he had left. Alice seemed confused at first, then grew more and more agitated as the messages became more recent. A few of them made me a little nervous, as she spoke of strange things in vague terms that left me wondering what she truly meant.

The texts were almost exclusively from Alice. She even joked at first about me meeting my "vamp-boy" and becoming a "princess of the night", but I could tell that she had begun to worry as time went by. She wrote that she was worried about something and needed to talk to me about it as soon as I could get back to her. The last text was the one that made me stop dead in my tracks. It was sent around the same time that Edward had left me in the forest today; it contained one word.

Jasper.

A/N: again! Hi OK. First huge ups to my girls, Cat, Kel, Jil, as always. And to JEEBs who so nicely (and unknowingly) loaned me some deets for this chapter. Love you all!

Now the contest. Breath-of-Twilight and myself have written a one shot for the FML contest. Yes, we did. It's hilarious (in our humble opinions) but we'd love to know what you all think! I'll be posting it on my profile, as will she, and the voting opens Feb 22. Check our profiles for more info! I actually don't even care if we win b/c we had so much fun writing it! (But fucking hell I want to win!)