Author's Note: Here it is. Chapter 2. Let me know what you think. I was surprised that even just a little bit of encouragement makes the writing even more fun for me. I have rated this story M, by the way, because I still don't know how it's going to turn out and I'd rather err on the side of caution.

I don't own Twilight. These characters all belong to Stephenie Meyer. She's way luckier than I am.

CHAPTER 2

EPOV

I didn't stop running until I was halfway to Seattle. I turned around, but my brothers and sisters were nowhere to be seen. Or heard. I was drawing in deep breaths as if I really needed the oxygen. The air here should have been clean, untainted, yet I could still smell her. Her scent clung to my clothes…to me. Her flavor lingered in my mouth, but the memory of the demonic act that put it there was rancid. I would have ripped my own tongue out if I had thought it would help. I deserved it in any case. I pictured her face – allowed myself to get lost in the memory of her eyes. I wondered how I could have thought her plain. I had been intrigued only by the void that the quietness of her mind had left in me. I thought about the immense amount of trust she had shown me – a complete stranger – by following me into the forest, completely unafraid. Bella. I forced myself to think her name – she was more than just "the girl." I was undeserving of Bella's trust. I didn't deserve the chance to unravel her mysteries, but she certainly didn't deserve for me to make that opportunity into impossibility. I truly was the worst kind of monster.

I stepped out of the trees into the clearing where our house was situated. I stared for a moment, preparing myself for the onslaught of their anger. No…they wouldn't be angry. They would show me only understanding. That was worse. I didn't deserve their understanding, their compassion. I inhaled deeply and froze. Freesias. I darted silently to the house, listening. I ignored the thoughts of my family and what I heard inspired hope and dread all at the same time. A heartbeat! She isn't dead! A changing heartbeat. No! I've killed her afterall! I practically flew up the stairs to Carlisle and Esme's bedroom where a familiar slight form was lying on the bed and writhing in pain. I ignored the 6 pairs of eyes and assault of thoughts that met me when I burst through the door. I moved purposefully to the bed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett move to stop me, but Carlisle just shook his head.

I dropped to my knees beside the bed and took her hand in my own. "Bella." Her name came out in a strangled whisper.

She turned her head toward mine, her eyes dark with the blaze within widened when she saw me, and then softened. She didn't look away, nor did she pull her hand from mind. She only squeezed it more tightly. From the pain? What had I done? She deserved so much more than this. She deserved to grow up. Go to College. Get married. Have babies…grandbabies. Grow old with someone she loved – someone who loved her. In one selfish, sadistic, inhuman instant, I had stolen her entire life. I cringed inwardly at the thought.

"How?" I asked without breaking her gaze.

"Alice." Carlisle said simply. I only nodded. No other explanation was needed. I could see in their thoughts how they had let me run, and then Alice had scooped the girl up and brought her to Carlisle.

"Bella, I'm so sorry." Her whole body was covered in a slick sheen of sweat. She was panting and her heart was beating in a frantic rhythm. I reached out – slowly – and lifted a strand of hair away from her face. Her eyes closed as my hand brushed her face. "I wish…" but I let the thought trail off, burying my face in the bed at her side. What did I wish?

"You wish…?" Her voice was strangled, as if she were choking on the words. I looked up at her then. She was staring back at me with eyes that were already changing from that deep brown to a burnt orange color. She was trying desperately to hide the pain – this girl was definitely the "suffer in silence" type.

"I wish I weren't a monster." I said the words without thinking. Bella shook her head, almost smiling through the pain.

"Monsters don't come in such beautiful packages."

I almost laughed at that. What did this little girl know about monsters? "I assure you, they do."

Bella smiled again. It amazed me – her ability to smile through the most excruciating pain she would ever know.

"I don't believe you." She threw her head back and cried out, finally giving in to the screams that were inevitable. I was sure she would be lost in it now – drowning in that seemingly endless sea of pain. I leaned over her, pressing my lips to the faint mark on her neck.

"You will," I whispered, "and I promise that I will spend the rest of my existence trying to make it up to you."

BPOV

It felt as though the blood that coursed through my veins had turned to lava. I could think of nothing except the burn. I rolled back and forth on the ground helplessly. Stop, drop, and roll. That's what they taught you to do if you were on fire. Obviously they were all idiots because it wasn't helping. Edward…where are you…help me…please…someone…make it stop….

I was floating then. My first thought, was that I had died and my spirit was floating to heaven. But no…heaven wouldn't still burn. Was I being doomed to hell then? I forced my eyelids open and was staring at a beautiful pixie of a girl. Her face was set with a look of fierce determination, but she did not look at me. Her hair was short and spiky and her face was strangely similar to Edward's. Edward… I closed my eyes again then. I had to focus to fight the pain, and it was easier to focus if I closed my eyes.

I don't know how much time passed, but I became aware of voices around me. There was cool pressure against my palm. It was such a minor relief, but in the wake of anguish the fire was trailing through my body, any relief at all was welcome and I squeezed tightly to the cool.

"Bella." Such a beautiful sound. I turned my head searching for the source and found myself face to face with him. Edward… I felt myself relax infinitesimally. I wanted to reach out to him; to wipe the tortured look from his perfect features. I stared into his dark eyes. They seemed different – why did they look different? It was so hard to think about anything except the searing burn. They were talking again, but I was lost in the pain and his eyes.

He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from my face and I wanted to curl into his hand – it was so blessedly cool. "I wish…" he began and I waited for him to finish. When he did not, I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again immediately. I had not realized that the burn was ravishing my mouth and throat as well as the rest of me. But I wanted…no needed…to know what he wished.

"You wish…?" I croaked. His head snapped up to look at me I stared back, hoping that he couldn't tell how much I really hurt. I was fighting my body's inclination to writhe because I already knew that it wouldn't help.

"I wish I weren't a monster." He said quietly. A monster? How could he think that? He was here – holding the hand of a girl he barely knew, despite a single intimate moment, in an effort to bring her some microscopic amount of comfort. I stared at him for a long while, taking in his gorgeously perfect features. I felt like I hadn't realized before just how gorgeous he really was. Each passing second brought with it the feeling that I had never really seen him clearly before. It was impossible not to smile at something so stunning.

"Monsters don't come in such beautiful packages." His face twisted then, a strange blend of humor and anger.

I smiled again, "I don't believe you." Until that moment, I hadn't thought it possible, but the fire increased in temperature, and took on a life of its own, burning through me, consuming me. It was as if it knew that it was running out of fuel – I must be nothing more than a pile of ash at this point – and it was determined not to die, as I was sure now that I was. The sudden burst of intensity caught me off guard and I threw my head back as a scream escaped my lips.

I thought I felt something brush my neck, and squeeze my hand, though cool was now only a distant memory. "You will." It was barely a whisper and I wasn't sure if I was imagining things or not. "And I promise that I will spend the rest of my existence trying to make it up to you."

Author's Note: I'm going to be stuck in a car for no less than 8 hours tomorrow, so I'm sure that I'll be doing at least some writing in order to curb the inevitable boredom. So hopefully more updates to follow.