Disclaimer: Not Mine…

A/N: Severe writer's block, so sorry 'bout the wait. Chapter 6, Enjoy. .

It was her; the same one that was at the clearing, with startling burgundy hair. But she was Mike. "Oh yes Isabella, it has been too long. But you must understand that once your little friends killed my James, I had to do something. But, I couldn't just kill you, because what would be the fun of that?" Her maniacal giggle was almost as painful to hear as nails on a chalkboard. "But when that adorable Mike was so worried about you, it was almost too easy. Oh indeed, he was a most amusing toy. It was a pity I had to kill him, but I couldn't transform with him alive, and we couldn't have that now could we?" she said in a sickeningly nonchalant tone.

"You…You killed Mike?" I barely rasped out, an unsettling feeling washing over me. I went to glance out the window to gather myself, only to realize that I had pulled over. Mike was dead, and it was my fault. Every last bit. I vaguely remember Victoria returning to her old self; Mike's sandy blond hair transforming to that startling red, but all else was too sickening to watch.

"Oh it's almost ridiculously perfect to watch things register in your mind." Her hypnotic voice rang out in the small confides of the car. In a split second, she was in the passenger seat next to me, disturbing scarlet eyes boring into me darkly. "I'm going to kill you Isabella Swan, for James. And nothing will stop me, that's the grand part of it. Your annoyingly overbearing boyfriend is too far away to hear you scream. Do you know where you've led yourself, involuntarily?" I scanned my surroundings to find that I was in the mountains, just beyond the clearing that the Cullens played baseball in so many months ago. I couldn't conceal the horrified gasp that escaped from my throat; I was too far away for even Edward to hear. I would die knowing I'd failed him; he was just starting to believe that changing was the right thing, that I couldn't be stalked by death anymore this way.

A glacial tear escaped from my chestnut eyes. So this was my death? In the hands of a vengeful beauty? So be it; my pain is well deserved. I escaped death before; it was just its way of catching up with me…

No. I'm not going down without a fight. She may well kill me, but I sure as hell am not going to make it easy for her. I shoved open the door and stepped out. "You want to kill me Victoria? Then let me do one thing before I die." I pulled her out of the car roughly, and slugged her across her granite cheek. "That was for MIKE!" I shouted at the taken aback Victoria in front of me. I was surprised at myself, but I knew it was inevitable; I had always had an occasional urge to hit something or someone when I got really angry as a human, but I had never actually gone through with it. I guess as a vampire, I acted before I had time to restrain myself.

And then his arms were firmly around my waist; comforting and strong. "Emmett." He said pointedly. The brawn that was Emmett appeared from behind me and grabbed firm hold of Victoria's wrists in one hand and gasoline in the other. Edward pulled me swiftly toward the Vanquish. "Put me down a minute Edward!" I violently refused his embrace, and succeeded in being put on the ground. "Edward, I want to know she's dead. Let me stay."

"Bella…you don't actually want to watch this do you?" he asked in a perplexed tone.

"Well I…I don't want to watch Emmett…I just want to know she's dead."

"Bella, I can assure you, she is as good as dead." Emmett said with a dark chuckle.

I sighed and decided that it was better to just leave with Edward; I couldn't stand the thought of her screams… "Take me home." I whispered, tears rolling freely down my cheeks. He knew I meant his home; it was becoming my home and would be soon. It suddenly didn't seem so important to witness something so garish, and the actual thought was making me queasy. At that moment, all I wanted was to be in Edward's arms, sheltered from the cruel life we lead and how it ends so disturbingly.

The Forks Flash Update

Friday night, 17 year old high school student Mike Newton went missing. This Saturday morning, Newton's body was found in an abandoned hut on La Push Beach. The body appeared to have been beaten to death and had two small puncture marks on the right side of the victim's neck, just above the collarbone. The body was discovered by a Tyler Crowley, also 17, who, when asked how he knew where to look for the body, replied: "Over the summer break, Mike and I became friends and hung out at this hut, usually crashing here when we stayed too late at the beach. When I found out he was missing, I searched everywhere. Then it finally came to me: 'Mike's at the hut.' I never actually thought I'd find him…like this." The police are completely dumbfounded. "Mike was a smart kid," said Chief Swan, "I know he's too smart to let himself be alone on a street at night, or in darker parts of the town alone. It shocks me this would happen to such a nice kid like him. His death is a loss to the entire town; we all will miss him terribly." A native on the land, Billy Black warns: "This murder has every sign pointing at one thing. It was done by no other culprit than a vampire." Vampire or no vampire, this death is being treated as a homicide, alerting attention from not only local press, but also the media. Such news stations as CNN and NBC have come to Forks to capture this developing story. Says local pastor, Pastor Jim: "On behalf of the entire community, we wish Mike Newton a safe parting to his next life and that those he left the comfort that he is now with God."