The flight to Seattle was fairly short, but it was boring. I was left alone, with nothing but my thoughts – which I quickly banished – so I became like some sort of zombie. Still warring with myself whether I really wanted to go back to Forks again, though I probably would anyway. Sienna was right; nobody would recognize me. Looking at me, they might be reminded of Bella Swan, the girl who ran away to Jacksonville one day. To them, I was just Mary Sparrow – not a Swan, see? – a tourist. But first things first, I had to find this rogue in Seattle. Having brought no luggage, I just sailed through the terminals, invisible to everyone. Of course, that meant I had to keep it up on the seven hour flight and through the terminals in Seattle. Which meant sitting next to humans when I could easily justify killing them. But I didn't, and I was outside in American air, free to drink in the forests.

Unfortunately, my hunting trip was uneventful. I didn't find the killer, so I had to rely on Caius's information. The last place he saw him/her was in an old car warehouse on the outskirts of the city. They had just left into the nearby forests. I kept the description of the image in mind as I circled the city, looking for anything that could host a killer vampire. There was no scent anywhere around, which bothered me, but I eventually found the warehouse. It was dank, and dark and much more abandoned than I expected. It was like the workers just decided to leave one day, leaving cars and equipment like it had been dropped where they stood. It was eerie, too. Every drop of water that fell from the ceiling, every gust of wind sounded like a voice. But the worst thing was; not all of it was water. I found one drip, just on its own, and a puddle of blood around where it landed.

One look up told me everything. There was a dead man on the rafters. And another. And another. There were several dead men, lying on the wood below the ceiling. Only the one above me was dripping. The others had no blood to shed.

At least I had my target. I shuddered, feeling positively sick. I could kill, sure. But I killed vampires who killed humans. I was different.

Or was I? I killed them without second thoughts; just using them as pawns to prove my loyalty to the Volturi. I didn't care about why they did what they did. Well, except that woman the other day. I offered her mercy, didn't I? But why, because I thought of myself. That was it. This would be my last job for the Volturi. This would be the last job the Volturi have for me. For anyone.

Grimacing, and holding back the need to wretch as I jumped up into the rafters to look at all the bodies. I was right about all the others, they'd all been drained. Except one…? Carefully I hopped over to that one, the one with the blood. As I got nearer, I could smell the blood, unconcealed and calling. I took a deep, unnecessary breath and tried to focus. Looking away as I did it, I bent down and swiped my fingers in the crimson liquid. If I didn't look at it, if I didn't smell it, I could convince myself it was water. The feeling was all that mattered. I don't know whether I was surprised or not to find it was warm. Very warm, almost hot on my skin. There was the scent too. Vampire; it was sweet, like all vampire scents, but had a strange mix in it, like a bonfire smell, along with a tang of raspberry. I had to get the blood off my fingers before I drank it. While I was standing there, musing about the scent of the vampire, I had been raising my hand slowly toward my face. With a gasp, involuntarily smelling the blood, I bent down to wipe it on the man's clothing. I could see his face, illuminated by the holes in the ceiling. He was frozen in shock, or pain, or in a venom induced fire running through his veins. He was definitely dead, no chance of him returning to the world now. I wondered briefly about his life; if he had family, hopes and dreams. Then I caught sight of his ripped open neck, and I stopped, grimacing.

The vampire had left via the roof, and I followed, climbing through to stand on the rusting metal that clanged under my feet, no matter how lithely I moved. I walked down the sloping side toward the forest, and realised why I hadn't been able to smell the vampire before. I edged backwards, and took a running jump into the forest. The scent followed through the air, in the trees I passed through, not on the ground. When I finally landed, I wasn't anywhere near the warehouse, but in the depths of the forest.

It went for a long while, it took me an hour, running at vampire speed, but I finally got to what I believed to be – but hoped wasn't – the rogue's final destination. Forks.

I lost the scent near the city, and couldn't persuade myself to look for it now. I jogged to Jessica Stanley's house; nobody was in, but they weren't dead, the car was away, so I don't know the details. Angela Weber's family were in; they were all playing Singstar in the main room, Angela helping her little brothers sing a song I couldn't quite name. I went to all of my high school friends houses; the most trivial places. I didn't go near my house, further than across the street. I could hear the TV – soccer match – but Charlie wasn't watching it. He was on the phone, he was crying. I had to go for a closer look. When I left, I hoped they would be happy, but clearly he wasn't.

"Yes Renee… I know… I just didn't… I didn't think, I mean, I thought she was… I was sure she was with… I can't believe she's… that she's…" He choked up then. It took me a while to realise what he was talking about, but when I did, I didn't believe it. I listened for more.

I could hear my mother's voice on the other end of the line. "It's okay, it wasn't anyone's fault. For the whole year, I just believed she was with you. And then I woke up, that day when I called, and I just knew, Charlie. I knew I'd been wrong." I gagged, trying not to be sick. They thought I was dead. Malcolm's spell wore off. "I'm glad they found her…her…b-b-. I'm glad she was found. And she's just as beautiful, like she's asleep. We'll be down for the- the- the funeral." Wait a minute… body? Where had I been found dead? Thinking about it, I knew what had happened. Malcolm and Sienna had been sent to America recently, on some mysterious business. They were clearly just trying to get rid of the threat of any humans, but in a way that wouldn't involve me knowing. "I have to go sweetie, we're just going through the terminals now," Mom whispered, and then hung up. I had moved close enough to see Charlie now; he looked awful. He stared at the phone for several minutes, wrinkles more predominant on his ashen face. Then, as if on impulse, he stood up and walked to the table, where photos had been laid out, all of me.

"Bella." He mouthed sadly. I let out a loud, tearless sob; all the emotional barriers I'd set up crashed down on me, and the crying wouldn't stop. Swiftly, Charlie swivelled round, but I'd already disappeared. I was running, far and fast away from the house.

My name was on the funeral board at the church. I stared at it, frozen in place. Isabella Marie Swan, service on at 11.00am. I had a few –eight – hours to spare, but I was going to my funeral. I had to be there, even as a stranger, for my parents. And I was a little curious as to which of my school friends would attend, what they had to say about me. Not that it was important. Plus, I might hear something about these killings; again, not that it was important – not to me. And I would get to see what kind of job Malcolm had done. I walked through the gravestones; there wasn't really anyone I knew, and those I did were only possible relatives of old friends. In the end, I went to sit on the church steps and wait for dawn. But I wasn't alone in the graveyard. Grave keeper, I told myself. It had to be. It was an eerie place, but there was nothing scarier than a vampire here.

There was a rustling in the trees. I heard voices, too. A woody, musty smell preceded them though; I could smell them long before I could make out their words. "Enough proof for you?" Someone growled. I sat up tense, alert and ready to eavesdrop.

"Not yet," A more familiar voice snapped in response.

"You want to see the corpse?" Another snorted humourlessly.

"Or not the corpse," The familiar voice spoke again. "And the company. If there are any leeches here, we'll know the truth." I couldn't place the voice, but it was somewhere in my memory. But they definitely were on to me. They knew I had been changed – well, the familiar one did. Did I trust him enough to let him know the truth? Probably not, if he called me a leech.

"Can't we just come back tomorrow?" One whined. "Emily said she'd make another meal, didn't she Sam?" SAM! I knew that name… Jacob Black! He knew about vampires…? How?

"Come on then. There's nothing here yet anyway," Jacob growled, and then, just as I moved close enough to see them, something strange happened. They were all shirtless; even on a cold night like this. But they all crouched, one by one, and morphed. Morphed into bears. No, wolves. Werewolves. Unable to contain it; I gasped. And they all heard. They lifted their noses, pricked up their ears and their sharpened eyes turned toward me. They couldn't speak anymore, but they all seemed to recognize me as a vampire, and they didn't like that. There was a collaborated growl, mixed with snarls, before they all jumped into action, following the largest, russet one I knew to be Jacob. I wanted to call out to stop him, but I knew that it wouldn't help my case too much. Instead, I just ran for it. Persistent bunch they were, they followed me for a long time. It was only when I got into a thicket of trees did they stop, as though unable to cross an invisible line. I stopped, despite the screaming voice in my head, telling me that these were dangerous creatures. I would have torched them, but I couldn't do that to Jacob; I had known him for years. And invisibility just didn't seem to work with their keen noses and ears, especially now they were on the hunt. They all sat on their haunches, snarling and snapping at me furiously. I wanted them to change back, so I could tell them to leave me alone. I couldn't tell what I'd done wrong. Or perhaps they knew about the murdering vampire, and thought it was me. Whatever the reason, it was better to stay still. Come to think of it, I didn't know why they stopped. Was this some sort of sacred ground they weren't allowed on? I looked around for a Stonehenge type structure, but what I found was nothing like Stonehenge. It was a large white mansion, with people at the door. No, not people. One rushed forward, and I knew who it was before they got here.

Alice Cullen.

"Oh my gosh!" She cried from a distance. They were afraid of me too, apparently. Then she squinted at me, then at the werewolves, who I kept one eye on. "It isn't Victoria!" Alice called out to both groups, the wolves and the Cullens. The Cullens. Oh, God. Would they recognize me? No, surely they wouldn't. I wouldn't recognize me. And why should they even think of me? Obviously, they just waited till I was gone so they could move back here. Of course I was an inconvenience to them.

Alice continued walking forward, slowly now. I don't know whether it was because of me or the werewolves. She stopped a few feet away from me, and looked right at me. For half a second, her eyes widened in hopeful recognition. Then she blinked, keeping her eyes shut sadly for several minutes. Her shoulders shrugged sadly, like she was trying hard to keep non-existent tears at bay. When she opened her eyes once more, her eyes sparkled with moisture, looking like polished gold. "Jacob Black, you can leave now," She called, an undertone of anger in her sweet, bell voice. I didn't know what to do. I should run from her, run from the wolves, find this vampire – Victoria? – and return to Italy. But I wanted to… I don't know what I wanted to do. Did I want to forgive them? What good would that do? It wouldn't change anything about how they felt about me. Or did I want to hold a grudge, hold a vendetta against them for leaving me? No, not just leaving me. For leaving me pregnant with a half-vampire child, at the mercy of the Volturi, to manipulate and steal from.

Better to run. Better to get away, kill vampires and forget all about them. "Terribly sorry for intruding," I smile instead, my voice showing off the hint of Italian accent I picked up in the past year. Damned Volturi. "I don't suppose you could introduce yourself?" I asked, before mentally cringing. Sure, my impulsive idea was to pretend not to know them, to get their help, but I hadn't intended on sounding like I was old and haughty.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she looked up slightly annoyed. "I'm Alice. Alice Cullen. That-" She gestured to the house, with the family by the door, staring confusedly – "Is my family." She said bitterly, making me stare in shock. Alice wasn't like this.

I stammered to introduce myself, "I-I'm-"

"You're from the Volturi, we know." She replied. Oh. The Cullens don't like the Volturi. Then again, neither do I. "You're here, searching for Victoria, the one who has been killing mercilessly and up until recently generating an army of newborns to kill a human girl. Right?"

"Well, I didn't know all that," I tell her nervously. "But yes. And I don't intend to harm you or your family. Aro has spoken greatly of you, and I didn't anticipate meeting you here, but since I have, I would greatly appreciate hearing any information you might have that would help me get out of here as quickly as possible." I sounded flat, emotionless, and like I should work in advertising.

She seemed taken aback slightly, but she agreed, and relaxed slightly. "Why are you here alone?" She asked.

I smiled, but it probably came out as a cruel, twisted smirk. "I can burn her to ashes in a thought."

Alice blinked, surprised, then smiled slightly. "I'd like to see that. Come on, if we're to help, you can stay here, with us. We have a lot of information about Victoria, but I don't really like rallying it out in the open." Then, in a real, Alice-like style, she grabbed my hand and began pulling me to the house. "What did you say your name was?" She asked, friendlier than she had been before.

I wasn't any friendlier. There was no way I was forgetting everything, even if I was long forgotten to her. "…I'm Mary. Mary Sparrow."

"Like Captain Jack Sparrow?" She laughed. I didn't reply. She smiled apologetically up at me, then looked at the family, who were retreating into the house again. "I'm sorry for being so rude, before. We don't take kindly to strangers, not now anyway. And the family… we're a little upset over a death at the moment. Not that it's any excuse…"

"And you don't like the Volturi much." I finished her list, even though she wouldn't have said that. She looked shocked, but not embarrassed, nor did she deny it. "It's okay, I don't either. But I'm bound…" I wouldn't have told her why anyway. "But not for long,"

"Yes, okay. You're right. We have reasons not to like them too." She looked at me again, reallylooked, and I was afraid she'd find Bella here. "So come meet the family." She started pulling me along again, but this time I broke free and walked beside her. Now, she really would have blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm… I get too carried away. You remind me of someone…" Her eyes sparkled again. "It would have been more normal to act like that with.. her."We kept walking to the house, where I could hear the silence. It was too quiet, except for one noise, something I couldn't name. She opened the door, and ushered me inside. And then to the main room. I baulked. I couldn't see all of them. Seeing Alice had felt weird, I was thoughtful, but not really there. But now? How could I see them without hugging Esme and Carlisle, recoiling from Rosalie's glares, blushing at Emmett's jokes, eyeing Jasper warily, and hugging and kissing Edward till near death? Or just scowling and shouting at them all for deserting me? As Alice opened the living room door, I recognized the sound, when it was paired with the scent and the sight. They had a human. Or at least, a half-human. Grace Swan.

AN: Cliffie? :P Review, & tell me what you think! I got no reviews last chapter, but that's okay, cause I'm starting to hate this story anyway. I love the idea I have, but the way I've written it is baaaaaaaaaaad. Tell me what you think! - again! :P

Thanks, readers & those who've favourited me or this story :D Won't update for a while, got my exams. 1st one is tomorrow! O_O English! O_O

Rachee (: xxx