.:Bella's POV:.

An unbearable flare of heat pulsed through my veins. My jaw was clenched as I fought the want to shout out for someone to kill me, to end this torture. But screaming did no good; no one ever came, and the endless flames raged on.

All time was lost. It felt like months had passed before I finally began thinking somewhat clearly again, able to try to focus less on the pain and more on other things. I remembered how this came about, how I ended up being charred alive. I thought of Jacob, Charlie, my school friends. I also remembered the Cullens, and that at one point in my life I was committed to suffering through this agony. But that was a long time ago and, now, there was nothing worth enduring through this. Nothing at all. Yet I knew it was impossible to stop it from happening.

My heart began beating faster and faster, as the fire rushed to the center of my chest. The flaring pain was concentrating on only my heart now, until it stuttered and, with one last quiet thud, my heart stopped beating. The pain had surprisingly vanished. There was no sound coming from me at all, and no movement. I was frozen, until my brain processed that the transformation was complete.

I opened my eyes and gazed above me.

Everything was so...clear. A dim light peaked through the cracks in the ceiling above me, glinting brilliant shades of the rainbow, and sending dust motes dancing beautifully through the air. The wonderment of it all made me take a sharp intake of breath. It felt strange at first, and then I realized it was unnecessary to breathe in this new life. Unnecessary, but I still liked it, as it enabled me to taste the wonderful fragrances swimming fluidly through the room. All my senses were increased ten fold. I was astonished at everything I could hear, smell, taste, see, and even touch; my fingers brushed across the rusting wood that made up the floor, and I could easily make out every grain, dent, and splinter in it.

I listened for the outside sounds, and it was like my hearing was following the wind itself as it jumped from one line of trees to the next, until finally fading away, leaving the leaves rustling in a rough but beautiful melody.

There were also stranger sounds — strange whimpers, surrounding me. Immediately, I understood that I was not alone.

My nostrils flared. A hissing sound rushed up my throat and out of my bared lips as I flung myself onto my feet. A sixteenth of a second later, I was crouched defensively with my back against the wall and my eyes darting rapidly around, catching every detail around me, significant or not. Shock widened my eyes. There were other, but they were all like me; except, their hearts continued to beat rapidly, still in transformation.

How was that possible? Who were they?

In my peripheral vision, I caught a glimpse of something white by my feet. It was an envelope, surprisingly, with my name on it. I was tearing it open and sliding out a folded piece of paper the instant I had considered moving. For a brief moment, I was preoccupied at the new lightning fast movement of my body, but I quickly focused my attention back on the paper when I saw that it was from Jacob; that name meant a lot to me, I remembered.

Bella,

By the time you get this letter you will be my enemy. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry I failed in protecting you. You were my best friend, and I have no idea who you'll be once you're reading this, but I hope you'll still be Bella, even if only a little. I feel horrible, but I need you to understand that you are a vampire now. A vampire who is bound by the same treaty as the Cullens. If you step on our land, Sam will attack.

Although I don't deserve any favors from you after what I let happen to you, please just do me this one thing. Please try to live off animals and not humans. I can't bear to think of you as a monster who murders innocents. Please do that for me.

Just so you know, about twenty or so newborn vampires attacked Forks. By the time our pack got there and took them out, no one was still alive, except for six, including you. Sam was thinking of not letting you all live, because you all had bite marks, but I couldn't let him kill you for something that was my fault. So I carried you to an old abandoned shack, far away from Forks. It's surrounded by elk and bears and other game for you... Not wanting you to be alone, I also brought your friends, the ones who were bitten too. We knew you would understand what you had become, so we're hoping you have enough sense to do the right thing. If you are still the Bella who will always be my best friend, then I know you will be okay. Please be safe, and grant me that one last favor. Goodbye and good luck, Bella.

Love you always,

Jacob

P.S. Charlie did not survive the attack. I'm so sorry, Bells. Truly sorry.

I lost count of how many times I read the note Jacob wrote to me. Every sentence cleared my memories; every word hurt me, and sent me into a stunned silence. The face that Jacob and I could no longer be friends was heartbreaking enough, but having Charlie... Dry tears swelled up in my eyes. It felt odd, like I was about to cry but couldn't.

There was so much guilt running through me that no words could possibly explain how much hurt and sorrow I felt. What had I brought upon the small, rainy town of Forks? The most dangerous of predators — that's what.

Then there were the others, the ones Jacob had also brought here. He said they were my friends, but they couldn't be.

I focused more closely on their faces this time, as I looked over each one of them. I was amazed at who I saw.

Mike...Angela...Ben...Eric and Jessica...

Each one lay in a different position, writhing in agony. It was obvious three were knocked out cold as they burned. I shuddered at my own very, very recent memory. I was glad mine was over, but...what was I going to do with them? I knew exactly what I had become and everything that came with it. They would have no idea at all. From the little I knew of newborn vampires, they would not be easy to reason with, and their thirst would overtake them. I have to keep them from harming anybody; or each other, for that matter.

Thinking of keeping them from feeding on humans brought attention to the only part of the burning that had not ceased once my transformation was over; rather, it had seemed to increase in heat.

My throat was on fire.

The thirst for blood stung, making my mouth soak with venom as my animal instincts wanted very much to be let loose and attack the beating hearts that were close by. Not the ones of my friends - the smell of any blood in them was undetectable - but the faint scents of (three or four) elk that were just south of where I was located. It was amazing how clearly I could hear them, smell them. And although the scent of their blood didn't smell appetizing at all, the sound of it was absolutely delicious. I was incredibly thirsty.

However, the rapid increase of a dying heart kidnapped my attention immediately.

It was Angela's. She whimpered and clawed at the ground, scraping away the rotten wood. I was next to her in an instant.

"Angela? Can you hear me? It's Bella. Bella Swan."

Her eyes tried opening, but she wasn't having any luck with that. The pain was too powerful for her. It looked like she wanted to answer, but she didn't say anything.

"Angela," I continued, desperately hoping she would understand what I was saying, "I know this might be a little difficult to accept but..." I hesitated, afraid that she would not believe me, or not accept it if she did. I had no idea how to even begin explaining what was going on. Finally, I decided to just tell her the truth exactly the way it was. "You're turning into a vampire, Angela," I said quickly, hoping the sincerity was obvious. I was a terrible liar anyway, so there really was no need to worry about sounding dishonest or joking; although I could possibly sound crazy.

Angela's eyebrows furrowed. From the pain or the confusion — I didn't know. Her lips failed to hold back one last scream, as I listened to her heart rate increase, until it made one last sound and was silenced forever. Half a second past, and her eyes opened. Her bright red irises met mine. A low hiss came from her mouth, and she was baring her teeth at me.

I backed off slowly, cautiously, fighting my own defensive instinct. The last thing I wanted to do was have a death battle with one of my friends.

I raised my hands up in a friendly surrender, showing her there was nothing to worry about. I saw that her mind was already understanding who I saw, that I was Bella, and that I was no threat. She quickly calmed herself, through her eyes still remained harshly locked on mine, as if waiting for me to make a move.

"Angela?" I asked slowly. "It's okay. I know it's a little weird, but you're okay. Trust me."

She tilted her head to the side, deliberating, her light hair falling over her shoulder. She focused on something next to me, which confused me since my back was to the wall. Then her eyes softened into deep sorrow, and she nodded.

"You are right." She drooped her head, her gaze back on me. She was not wary of me like before. It was more like, now, she wanted answers to ease her confusion. "Bella?"

I nodded kindly. "It's me. Really." Taking a chance, I took my eyes of her briefly, checking behind me to see what she had been looking at. There was a window there. In it, I could see both our reflections. I was speechless for a moment as I took in my own new face for the first time. At least, it should be my face. But it seemed impossible that I could ever appear as beautiful as the ivory-skinned, brunette woman in the reflection.

"Bella, how did this happen? Look at us, we are... we're..."

"We are vampires," I finished.

"Vampires?" she whispered. "How can that be? And you — how do you know this?"

"I...had experience with vampires before," I explained quickly. She was taking this better than I had imagined, and I would hate to ruin it by saying something wrong. I wished Carlisle was here.

I held out my hand with the letter in it, deciding to give it to her to read. I figured that might clarify some things, since I was finding it so difficult to do myself. When I moved, Angela tensed, expecting some sort of attack. When she saw I was just handing her something, she eased up.

"This letter was written for me, but it might help you understand a bit better."

She took it cautiously. When I seemed true to my word and did not try anything funny, she looked more trustworthy of me, which was good. There were still the other four that I needed to convince and explain things to, and I doubted they would be this easy to deal with.

Angela did not take long to read the note. Her brow puckered, and her bright, unsettling eyes glanced back up at me.

"The Cullens were vampires." It wasn't a question. She knew just by reading Jacob's letter. It impressed me that she had caught that. Of course, Angela was a smart one.

"Yes," I said. "They were. That's how I know what happened to us."

She stared at me, bewildered. This was so new to her, as well as to me. Her round eyes went to the letter again. "My family... They are gone too, I assume."

"I'm sorry, Angela."

She shook her head, as her free hand absently came up to her throat.

"You're thirsty," I told her. "You need to eat, or drink, or something like that." It frightened me that I was out of my range now. My knowledge of the vampire world wasn't as extensive as I thought. I was afraid to find out what else I had absolutely no information about.

"How?" Angela asked.

"I have no idea," I answered honestly. "But I drink animal blood," I told her sternly, hoping she would follow the same path.

"I don't..." She scanned the note. "I don't want to be a monster who murders innocents, either," she said softly. It was obvious, in her new, musical voice, that she was still trying to consider everything that she had become, and how it had happened. I would not rush her. This would take time.

As the elk drew nearer our hideout we decided to quench our thirst before the others were fully born into this world. At first, I had trouble trying to figure out how exactly to kill the animals, but I was over thinking. Angela suggested it was pure instinct that would drive us forward. It made sense, and I felt a little foolish as I realized that.

Hunting for the first time wasn't so bad. The blood tasted a little bitter, but it satisfied, and that was the important thing.

I also learned to give Angela a wide berth as we hunted. There was a competitiveness that kicked in when we let our senses take over our minds.

After we survived that experience, all we had to do was wait for the others. As I thought about what to do when they woke up, I cringed at our ill fortune. It was no help that we would all be crazy newborns with no experienced vampire to assist us. And, as I suspected, they were not as tame as Angela.

Ben gave us the least amount of trouble, while Jessica gave us the most. She attacked me twice. Luckily, Angela and Ben were able to calm her down. For some reason, she listened only to Angela.

Eric was the last to complete his change. But, unfortunately, Mike was not far ahead of him, so we were stuck with both of them snarling angrily at each other while we tried to explain things to them. They calmed slightly while listening to Angela. It was strange. Somehow Angela was the only one the others would believe until they calmed down and read my letter from Jacob.

The letter had nearly the same affect on everyone, and the fuzzy memories of what had happened that treacherous day filled our thoughts.

"The Cullens were vampires this whole time?" Ben asked in disbelief, once everyone had fed and were somewhat more relaxed. "Unbelievable." He shook his head. Then he pointed at me. "And you knew!" He laughed, like that fact was amazing all on its own. "That's pretty crazy, huh, Angela?"

Angela and Ben were holding hands near one of the windows; Angela was peering outside. It pleased me that their relationship survived. They had always been perfect for each other, I reasoned.

Though the whole immortal thing seemed to have the opposite effect on Jessica and Mike, who argued more than anyone.

I could tell Jessica was having the most difficulty adjusting to this life so far, and I felt bad for her, because no one else seemed to be as displeased about it as her. Ben and Eric both thought it was pretty cool, all things considered. Angela and Mike had mixed feelings of the situation. Then there was me, who didn't even want to think about it. I never thought of my school friends as vampires. It was completely weird to even be talking with them about things they were never supposed to know. Yet, here we all were...

Angela nodded in response to Ben. "No wonder they kept their distance from us," she said.

"From most of us anyway," Jessica added, glancing at me at the same time the others did. "What made you so special?" she asked me, a hint of jealousy in her tone.

"My blood smelled too good," I answered simply, sighing. It did not answer the question completely, I knew that. So of course this lead to more questions, which lead to having to retell memories I would rather not go back to. But my friends needed to know. They deserved to know after what I brought onto them. Of course, I made sure not to go into detail about anything that wasn't necessary to share, like the whole James incident. Finally, however, they got to the question that I was waiting for: Why did the Cullens leave?

Jasper took a snap at me, and Edward didn't want to deal with me anymore, so they moved on, is what I could have said if I wanted to tell them the truth. Instead of reliving that, and more likely having to deal with Jessica's slightly too pleased expression if she heard Edward did not want me anymore, I decided to lie.

"They thought it was too dangerous — you know, for me — if they stayed," I made up. "So, they left to keep me safe from their world." It was a pain-filled lie, only because it was not true, and I desperately wished it could be.

There was a short silence before Angela spoke. "Well, that was caring of the Cullens to do that. They were protecting you," she said, smiling comfortingly at me, as she was the only one observant enough to notice the pain in my eyes.

But when she said those words, I actually believed the Cullens actions were because they cared and were trying to keep me safe. For some reason, Angela made it sound true... At least, I felt she did until Jessica interrupted my thoughts.

"Too bad it did no good," she retorted.

Angela frowned at her, and I looked away from them to get control of my expression. But, despite the hole in my chest that had not vanished along with my mortality, and in spite of Jessica's words, I suddenly thought of something that was rare, yet extremely significant in the vampire world.

My mind tried to organize the sudden puzzle in my head. Angela was my biggest help when it came to making the others listen when they came to be. Although I had told them the exact same things Angela did, they only believed when she said them. Then, just now, when she told me that the Cullens were protecting me, I believed her even though what I said was a lie.

The pieces fit together so perfectly. Why did I forget one of the most important traits of some vampires?

"Angela." I addressed her in a quiet, thoughtful tone. "Tell us something that is not true."

She stared at me, confused.

"I'll explain later, just lie to us."

Angela looked around at everyone as she thought of something to say. Lying did not come naturally to her, which, if I was proven correct on this, I was grateful for.

"Everyone," Angela started, "I am in love with Mike."

Jessica's eyes widened, and both Mike's and Ben's mouths dropped open in shock.

"Angela?" Ben asked, obviously hurt by this news.

Eric's eyebrows shot up, before he glared at Mike. "Of course. Even now he gets all the girls," he grumbled.

Mike did not seem to be paying attention to Eric. He was still too stunned to think straight, apparently.

Jessica was shaking her head at Angela. "I never knew you had a thing for Mike! Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

Angela looked at me, panicked, before Ben stepped in front of her, forcing her to look at him.

"Why, Ang?" he asked in one of the saddest voices I had ever heard.

I could not believe what she had said, myself. It never seemed like Angela even saw Mike as more than a friend, but now, suddenly, she was in love with him? I asked her to tell us a lie, not confess her true feelings for Mike.

"Ben, no, I am not actually in love with Mike," Angela assured. She looked at me. "You told me to say a lie, and I did." Her eyes were filled with misunderstanding and confusion. "It was a lie. I don't actually love Mike. Why did you all believe me?"

"Oh," Ben sighed. "Don't do that to me, Angela."

"It sounded like you meant what you said," Eric said, scratching his head. "Am I missing something here?"

So that was the lie, but I thought...

"Oh!" I gasped. Of course, of course. "I was right," I said, almost ecstatic. "Angela, that's it!" I walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders. She looked uneasy at our suddenly close proximity. We had all been keeping a safe distance from each other since I told them newborns tended to be out of control, but I couldn't help myself. I was too excited at what I figured out.

"We believe anything you say, Angela," I continued, matter-of-fact. "Even if it's a lie, we'll believe it. Anybody will."

"What are you talking about?" Angela, Mike, and Eric all questioned at the same time.

"Sometimes vampires are born with special gifts," I explained.

"You mean like super powers?" Ben asked excitedly. Of course he would like that.

"Er, sure. I guess you could look at it that way, if you want to..."

I told them Carlisle's theory, about how our traits are intensified in this world, just like our senses. This got them all curious again, and they started asking questions.

"So everyone has an intensified characteristic? Wonder what mind is?" Eric thoughtfully pondered.

I chuckled once, surprised. I could not believe how thrilled Eric and Ben were to be...well, dark monsters. However, they didn't seem to take it that way. Quite the opposite actually; they think they have turned into super heroes or something.

"What were the Cullens' traits?" Ben asked curiously, trying to get an idea of what his could be.

"Carlisle brought his compassion, and Esme her ability to love passionately. Rosalie brought her...tenacity; and beauty, I suppose. And Emmett brought unsurpassable strength." There were looks among them that told me what I was saying wasn't hard to believe at all. Before I could stop myself, I smiled. Remembering the faces of my old family usually brought on pain or discomfort, but this time I was actually...happy to talk about them, to remember them. "Alice, Jasper, and Edward" — I didn't flinch at his name. I was proud of myself. — "have gifts. Like you do, Angela."

Angela raised her eyebrows. "Um, people will believe anything I say, right?" she asked, uncertain.

I nodded.

"That sounds kind of dangerous," Mike said.

"In the wrong hands, it can be," I agreed. Anxiety took hold of Angela as she considered that. There was too much power in her gentle hands for her to feel comfortable with it. I smiled at her encouragingly. "Once you get used to it, it will be okay," I assured her. No reason for her to worry over what she couldn't avoid.

"And Alice's, Jasper's, and Edward's powers?" Eric asked, leaning toward me in wonder.

"Oh, Jasper could feel and manipulate emotions. Alice could see the future, but of course the future is ever changing based on a person's decisions."

Ben and Eric grinned at each other. "Cool," Ben mouthed.

"And Edward...could read minds," I said quickly, holding back a laugh, as I was already imagining the kind of responses this one would get. Because I knew if Edward had been able to read my mind back then, I would be humiliated.

It was quiet as I watched their facial expressions shift from curiosity, to realization, to utter horror on some of them.

"Wait, you mean all our thoughts? Whatever we're thinking? Anything at all?" Jessica asked cautiously.

"Yep," I nodded, letting a tiny smile slip past my self-control. "Everything."

"Oh my god!" Jessica clapped her hand to her mouth. "I can't believe... I mean, I always thought about... There's no way... Oh my god!"

Mike was glimpsing at me uneasily. "No wonder Cullen didn't like me near you," he mumbled, embarrassed. I felt bad for him.

"Wow," was all Angela said. Ben and Eric seemed to be in agreement with her, like that word just about summed it up.

"That means I owe Edward for giving me enough courage to..." Ben started to murmur, so low that I barely heard him. He glanced at Angela, though, then shook his head and looked away.

"What?" Angela asked him curiously.

"Nothing. Nevermind," Ben said quickly. I didn't know what Edward did for him, but Ben's smile was appreciative.

All this talk made me wonder if I had a gift. I doubted it. I was definitely not worthy to have such formidable abilities.

After seconds of no one saying a word, it was evident that there would be more questions. They were all contemplating much too hard to have the answers themselves.

"Okay," Angela said finally. "So how do... Or, where do we live now?"

The only answer I had for her was we would become nomads until we could keep from feasting on humans, since we all decided to be 'vegetarians'. Then we could settle in an area and keep inconspicuous.

Starting to plan, my mind wandered off course. I started feeling that maybe it would all be okay, after all. That, in time, I could be completely content with them as my new permanent family. We were the only survivors of the Forks massacre — though, technically we did not survive — and we had to stick together. No one minded that my plans were not well thought out, probably because they knew so little themselves, but I was sure we could make this work.

Eric suggests we head to Alaska, which was a good choice. We set off through the woods, headed north, farther away from our beloved hometown. My friends continued asking me questions about vampires along the way, like what happened when we stepped into the sun. It brought back a lot of terrifying, wonderful memories. My hole throbbed in remembrance of the beginning, when I had first learned about vampires.

Though it hurt to do so, I could not help but wonder what the Cullens were doing right this second, and if they were happy. I knew they were. As long as they had each other they would always be happy. For the first time since they left, I wished that I could be with them. Or, rather, I wished that they still wanted me the way they used to. But I knew that ship had long past. A girl could dream though, couldn't she — no matter how much pain it caused her un-beating heart?

I dazed off while listening to Eric, Ben, and Mike debate over what the coolest vampire power would be. Jessica was trying to talk to Angela and me over them, and was succeeding. Some things never changed, I supposed. They were definitely not the family I had envisioned, but they were my family now nonetheless.

OoOoOoO

Hours later we came across two things. First, was a large area of animals, which consisted of a couple of bears and group of deer. We satisfied our throats at that point, relieved that we had yet to cross any human's path.

The second was much different, and much more dangerous than the first. It was a different scent entirely. A viciously sweet aroma that was equal to our own smell.

Vampires.

And they were close.