Before I go any further I want to quickly shoutout to corkykellems and HopeStreet, both of ya'll have been around since the first one and I honestly probably wouldn't have finished the first two stories without you! Thank you!

"Collin" At the sound of his name he was jerked awake.

Leah. Her name rang through his skull. There was no way he was done with her. She was dead. He could actively seek out her memories. There was more he needed to learn about her.

"Collin." Blinking several times, he moved his gaze to his cousin.

"Um, yeah?" He asked stupidly.

"What happened here?" Then he saw the pained look and truly took in the surroundings.

He knew what this was.

They were in what had once been a city. A city that had once housed at least a hundred thousand people. It was dead. The streets were empty; the city had been wiped off the map. It was one of many.

Five billion people wiped off the face of the planet.

"Do you want the answer to that?"

"Mer." The way he said it was defeated it, his grip tightened on the steering wheel and his shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry."

"How many?"

It would hurt him but answering honestly was the easier route, "around five billion people total."

The car skidded to a stop. Collin wasn't sure what Bur would do.

"Stay." One word from Bur as he threw open the door and jumped out. Of course Collin ignored the order as Bur took off in the direction of one of the buildings, following his cousin closely.

If Bur was bothered by the blatant ignoring of what he told him to do he didn't remark on it.

The two stepped through the shattered glass door of one of the old broken apartment buildings. "Bur, what are we doing?"

"Listen." The word was barely whispered.

Rather than questioning the Old Soul's reasoning he did as told; focusing until he heard what he was supposed to be listening for. Footsteps; ever so light. How had Bur heard that from the car when Collin hadn't? Bur was technically in a shapeshifter's body.

They made their way through what had once been the lobby of the apartments. There was still dried blood on what had once been a receptionist's desk. The scent of death was strong in the air, a scent that had been clear outside but was even more potent inside. Collin had to wonder how many people had died in this building alone.

In cities like this Mary had gone to the center, made twenty or so newborns, and let them loose. Being careful was something she always did though. She'd cut off the city from the outside world, blackout the power, cut off radio waves using one of her less advanced abilities. The newborns would kill and change the occasional person until the town was nothing.

The damage done by her would forever impact the Earth. It wasn't the same place his mother had spent the first ten years of her life in. Cities like this one were graveyards. Places full of blood, bad memories for humanity, and the occasional long dead corpse.

As they passed through the lobby there wasn't much thought on them making their way past the long dead elevator towards the stairwell.

It was interesting to watch the Old Soul interact with things that he would've never seen when he was alive. Now that he was paying attention it was easy for him to notice the brief stares Bur would give things. That constant interest that he had seen in memories of Dol. The same interest that Brady had tried to keep hidden over the years.

There was no doubt that he was related to them. By a long screwed line but he was still related.

As they made their way up the stairwell Bur moved silently, if it wasn't for the heartbeat in his chest he would've been dead silent. It was interesting. The more he observed Bur the more interested he became. It was almost like he was staring at a younger version Dol. The Dol who hadn't been corrupted by Ak's quest for power.

The door to the fourth floor was standing wide open. They probably should've taken that as a sign that they should be at least slightly careful but what threat could one vampire possibly be?

Of course the big question was why they were bothering with whoever this vampire was. Mary needed them and they were…what were they doing?

"B-"

"Brady knows this one." Bur cut him off before he could finish asking the question.

The scent of the vampire upstairs wasn't familiar to Collin. Whoever it was, it was someone his family hadn't thought to or wanted to introduce him to. But if Brady knew them it was likely that he hadn't seen them before in memories.

As they passed through the doorway they made their way down a small hallway to a door with the number forty-seven plastered on the door that was cracked open.

Whoever was there probably thought that it was Brady and someone Brady knew. While they weren't completely wrong there was the problem with the lack of information. Brady had known his fair share of unpleasant vampires. The vampires that Collin had avoided on principle.

When Bur pushed open the door the entire atmosphere changed. The death that hung in the air was replaced by charged rage at the same time a tiger tore through the air towards the brown haired vampire standing in the middle of the room.

"Brady, wait!" The vampire panicked, shooting a confused look in Collin's direction before he turned and jumped out the window.

That vampire had been familiar.

Painfully familiar.

Bella's biggest regret.

Collin didn't think as he charged past Bur who had stopped at the window. Flinging himself out the window he landed a couple feet behind Alec.

"I recommend stopping now, Alec." He hissed at the older vampire.

Reluctantly the other vampire turned around, holding his hands up defensively. "You smell like your mother." He said quietly.

"I should have killed Alec. For Dol. I didn't though. It was the right thing to do." His mother's voice rang through his head. After living through the memory of Dol's first real encounter with Alec he'd asked her about it. He'd still been a quarter human then. Back then he hadn't been able to control who he saw the memories of.

"I should kill you."

"Collin, right?" He asked, ignoring the threat though the fear plastered on his face was clear. "You have a reputation. Almost as much of one as your sister." Pause. "That wasn't Brady."

"You let Jane kill her."

"I didn't…" The younger vampire swallowed, running his hand nervously through his hair and looking away. "Collin, look. I loved Blue. I loved your aunt. I honestly did. I didn't want my heart broken but it happened. No matter how much I fought it I wasn't able to stop it. Every day since I left I have regretted it. When I showed up at her house on Christmas all those years ago…I showed up hoping to see her. To see Blue. I knew she wasn't alive. I'd known for fifteen years but I needed the confirmation. Be-Isabella. She should've killed me. Ever since that night I've wandered aimlessly. My sister died. Do did the woman I love."

Kill him. That was what he wanted to do. Anger was still boiling deep in him. Killing him wasn't an option though. Not out of mercy. Not because it was the right thing. Not even because it was what Bella would've done. The only reason he wouldn't kill him was because death was what he wanted.

He deserved to suffer. If he'd been there maybe things would've gone different. Maybe they wouldn't have lost his aunt.

"You didn't love her." The other boy stared at him, about to comment but Collin continued before he could, "Not in the way that mattered. Say what you want. Say you loved her. It wasn't in the way that mattered. If you loved her you would've stuck to her side. You wouldn't have left with your sister. No matter what you'd have gone back to her."

The other boy regarded him warily, "I loved her. But you're right. It wasn't in the way that mattered. I regret every second of it."

Collin heard the sound of claws hitting against concrete as Bur came up next to him, Alec's focus moved to the tiger when he began growling.

"That isn't Brady."

Collin nodded, "It's not."

"He's like Blue then." Alec averted his gaze from the tiger and stared behind the two.

"Bur, we aren't going to kill him." The tiger growled from next to him but made no move to go after the other vampire. "What are you doing here?" Collin finally asked Alec.

The vampire suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. "I…I was sent here."

Sent here? "By who?" Collin was wary now. Who would send Alec here? What was the purpose?

"Mele." He swallowed unnecessarily and turned his attention to the ground.

Mele.

She was one of the five vampires that Mary had put in charge. She would hold gifts hostage. If he was sent here that meant that they'd utilized Alice's ability that Mary had had them steal from her a year or so before she died. If they'd been seeing the future…

"What did Mele want, Alec?"

"For me to tell you that the two of you are about to walk into a bloodbath. If the two of you go after Mary it will get you killed." Bur growled and made a move to charge the other vampire but Collin laid a hand on his side in warning, never moving his full attention from Alec.

"Any specifics?"

"No. Look, Collin. I didn't want to come but I did. I owe your family that and so much more. Take my warning or don't."

"Go back to The Head Council. Remind Mele that they have a responsibility. If they think that there is something going on it's their responsibility to deal with it. Not us." Alec flinched at the warning tone in Collin's words.

"Okay." He said weakly.

The cracking sound of bones filled the air as Bur shifted forms. "Alec."

That was… Collin had to look over. That was Brady. It was clearly Brady. He held himself the way his cousin did, his eyes had returned to the ever changing eyes. Brady.

When he returned his focus to Alec the other boy was staring at Brady with wide eyes.

"Br-"

"Shut up, Alec. Seriously. Shut your God damned mouth. I met you once. Fifteen years after the last of my blood died. To this day I have no respect for you. Your sister killed my grandmother. I don't blame you for my mother's death, but, Grandma El. That was your fault. It was all your fault. So go scurry back to The Big Five like the coward you are. Blame your loyalty on family all you wish. The truth is you are just a coward."

Alec stared at Brady with a hundred different emotions. "You look like your mom, Brady."

"Leave. Now." He growled out, Alec glanced between the two before taking off through one of the gaps between a couple buildings.

While Collin was tempted to go after Alec he decided it was best to side with Brady. Someone else's memories would never compare to memories that were their own. Collin didn't look over as Brady made his way to the car that Bur had abandoned, instead he stared after Alec between two old buildings. Collin barely noticed the vines that grew up the side of it or the busted out windows. He'd grown up in this world. For some it might've been bad but for him the destroyed cities were normal.

"Collin." Tearing his gaze away from the place Alec had once been he focused on his cousin who had –thankfully- changed into a t-shirt and jeans he had pulled from the trunk of the car.

"Why are you awake?"

"Bur was going to kill him. The kind of anger that we feel towards him…it's bad. His sister killed my grandmother. Then he just abandoned my mother when she needed him most. I never knew her. I wish I did. That vampire, he was in the dead center of me losing the remainder of my blood."

Collin could have said that he had them, that he had his aunt's family. It would've been a lie. Bella and Dol had been soul sisters. Not blood sisters.

Technically there had been Quil…though Quil made it clear he saw none of them as family, he was Brady's blood.

"Billy." Collin hadn't met to say the name but, there it was, in the open.

Brady blinked, staring at his cousin. "Who?"

"Um…" The young vampire struggled with his words. "I met your…grandfather…"

Brady's look turned stone cold. There were a hundred different emotions crossing his eyes but his expression was stone.

No one in their family had heard a word from Dol's father until Collin ran into him. Not directly. Sure he'd "apologized" for not protecting Ellen through Quil but none of them had actually heard a direct word from the man.

"Bur, take back control." Retreating. His cousin was retreating. Something he'd done a lot through his childhood from what Collin had seen through his family's memories. Rather than deal with problems he retreated from them. "Brady, wait." When his cousin's eyes remained the same he continued, "We all have every right in the world to hate the man. You more than anyone else. When we've got Mary back. I know where his pack is. I know the size." He didn't add on anything about the Old Soul that was there. If Brady's pack went after them he'd kidnap the kid. Learn more about her. Who she was.

"Revenge isn't always the option, Collin." Even though he said it there was a grateful look in his eyes, a light smile appeared on his face.

"I think our family has earned this. And if you don't do it I will." That was a fact. If it wasn't for the issue with Mary, he would've probably killed him after their conversation was over.

"That, Collin, is something Bella would've never agreed with."

"I'm not my mom, Brady. I'm getting tired of people comparing me to her."

"It's not personal, Collin. Everyone gets compared to their family."

"Not as much as we do. Every little thing we do is 'your mom this' or 'your aunt that'." He paused briefly. "You know how much it sucks. You get compared to an ancient being for God's sake."

Brady held up his hands in surrender. "You're right. It sucks. It's annoying as hell. It's true though. We're too much like our family. You of all people know that. God, you know more about both of our mom's lives than she did." Oh how right you are. There was no way he'd mention the stranger memory trips he'd started having. Brady absolutely was Dol's son in the essence of curiosity. He would ask questions that they couldn't deal with at the current moment.

"Brady."

"I know. I'll talk to you later, Collin."

Then his cousin's entire composure changed again and he was staring at Bur.

Bur didn't speak, instead he turned and made his way back into the car. Collin moved without paying attention to his actions and before he knew it they were driving again.

"Being a shifter…is weird." The other boy finally said. "Brady doesn't do it much anymore…him and Lila are allowing themselves to grow old…"

At those words Collin's heart ached. It was bound to happen. Mary had cursed him with eternity. Unless he became suicidal she was the only one that could truly kill him. Him being her direct creation made it near impossible for another vampire to kill him. At some point Brady would die and Lila and their kids. Daula would pass. He'd be alone. Forever trapped in the body of a ten year old. One could argue that he'd have Mary. Which was true. He would. Mary was a fact. Something that would never stop existing unless he killed her. No one else was able to. Eternity like this though…Mary had told him how hard it could be. Back when she was human ten wasn't a terrible age to be. Most humans didn't live long after turning thirteen or fourteen in that time –at least based off her age when she first turned, they didn't have actual time like that back then-. Now she was perpetually trapped in the body of what modern age society saw as nothing more than a child. There were so many things she'd never get to experience. The trap of eternity. Something nagged at the back of his mind, reminding him that Bur was expecting him to say something.

"You were human before."

"I was. My mother didn't begin creating shapeshifters until after I was dead. I couldn't tell you when. I am the only other life."

Collin had tapped into his aunt's lives many times over the years, no matter how much he did it he never got glimpses of her ancient history. He would have to be alive for a couple million years, using his ability nonstop to live through every second of her life.

"Do you think if my mom had tried, she could've woken up any of the other past lives?"

"Absolutely. What your mother didn't know, for good reason, was when she bound herself to Dol's essence, what she did was bind herself to every incarnation of her. Dol didn't have an animal soul running through her as other shapeshifters do. The power that fueled her transformation was something else entirely. It was raw energy. That raw energy is the same energy that allowed her to steal every animal on the planet from every shapeshifter."

Collin thought this over, Bur said all of this with excitement. It almost sounded out of character for him. That kind of energy. The energy he was describing. How could something like that be destroyed?

"Don't think about it, Collin. I know what you're thinking and don't." There was a clear warning tone in his voice. What did Bur think he was thinking? That kind of energy…

"It can't be destroyed, can it?"

"Collin."

"Tell me."

Bur made a sound, the kind of sound that Mary would make when someone asked a question she wouldn't answer a question. This was thin ice if he was anything like her. Prying at something he didn't want to answer. "I shouldn't know any of this. I have no idea why I do. This is information that neither me or Brady would know." He sounded scared now. "Collin, they're dead. They will never come back. We need to get Mary back. Don't go poking around in this, Collin. Nothing good will come from it."

Collin didn't answer that, instead he rode in silence as Bur drove them towards the nearest city.

.-~**~-.

The plane ride to Asia wasn't fun. At all. It was Collin's least favorite experience of his life. Not because he hated planes, he loved planes, no, it wasn't fun because of a bratty kid sitting behind him and an idiot parent. If it hadn't been for Bur Collin probably would've killed off the entire plane and let it crash just on principle. No kid had any right to spend an entire plane ride doing everything they could to annoy the person riding in front of them. If the kid wasn't bad enough, the mom had done nothing when they'd asked her to deal with her daughter.

Now they were in an airport that was mostly empty somewhere in the middle of China and Collin was free to enact his vengeance.

"Bur, get the car. I will see you in ten minutes." Collin growled out as soon as he was free from the confines of the crowd.

"Coll-"

"If I don't feed now, I will go on a killing spree." He met the other boy's gaze, though it was clear it bothered him he caved, nodding and turning to leave him alone.

He picked up the trail of the mother and daughter that had been the burden of his problems the entire ride with ease. He followed their trail through the airport, straight down an escalator and into –to his luck- a bathroom.

Collin had developed an extremely cruel habit when it came to feeding. Especially with his vengeance streak on Mary. It wasn't enough to kill anymore, even for food. There was the strong need for someone to see his work. To see the bodies. If any other vampire out there did this The Head Council would have their head on a platter. He wasn't any other vampire though. They wouldn't do anything to him. They couldn't.

When he made his way into the bathroom he was content to see the bratty kid standing against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest and not another person inside. Good. He could faintly hear the sound of the mother in one of the stalls.

When the kid saw him she smiled innocently, as if she was the kindest sweetest girl on the face of the planet.

Collin could've played it out. Talked to her, but he just wanted this to be done with. Without hesitating he walked straight over to the girl, shoved her against the wall, basking in the sound of her bones crunching between his hand and the cold stone behind it, and leaned into her. There was the distinct sound of screaming coming from the girl but he tuned it out, instead focusing on the sound of her blood rushing through her veins. Blood. He bit into her neck and drank her blood.

It was quick, effortless, somewhere in the back of his mind there was the sound of people screaming, someone trying to tear the boy away from the girl. They wouldn't, they couldn't. He was superior in every way.

As he fed from the girl her memories tried to worm their way into his main consciousness, the only other burden of his ability. His victims' lives would always try to make themselves front and center. It was easy to push them aside and focus on the easing of the burning in his throat, focus on the screams that escaped his victims.

Finally, he released the girl's corpse and, using his vampiric speed, he took off, leaving the dead girl, the screaming mother, and the cops that had arrived at some point during his meal lost and confused.

.-~**~-.

"Are you always this careless when feeding?" Bur asked after they'd been driving in a –completely legally obtained car- for an hour in the direction Bur said he knew Mary was. He probably wouldn't have asked about it at all except the radio they had on just to keep it from being dead quiet had some person speaking on it in Chinese rapidly. Collin didn't understand a word of it but Brady knew Chinese which meant Bur knew it. There was little doubt that the Chinese man on the radio was talking about his attack on the girl.

"Only when there are annoying little asses that deserve it."

"Or when you're throwing a temper tantrum?"

Collin rolled his eyes and stared out the window at the landscape around them. He caught the occasional glimpse of animals running through the thin tree line and had little doubt that the native pack was watching them. He had half a mind to go after them and kill them but this pack was small. It probably wasn't the source of their problems.

"Why did you even ask if you knew the answer to the question?"

"I wanted to see if you'd lie to me."

"You see all that Brady does. You know me as well as he does. I don't lie to him."

"Mary lied to them about you."

Collin looked over at the other boy curiously, "What about me?"

"When you threw your fit. The years you were gone. She kept telling them that you were living life. She made up an entire story about you falling in love with a human girl."

Why would Mary have lied about it? Especially when it was obvious what the truth was? Mary had made it a point to never lie to Brady. She wanted his complete and utter trust for the rest of his life. Whose benefit would those blatant lies target?

"She did it for me. It didn't piece together in my head for a while. If it had I would've had Brady push her to find you sooner."

"She was looking for me?"

"She was."

Collin didn't know how to feel about that. She'd been captured looking for him. He still didn't know why she'd been caught.

Risking a peek he attempted to dive into Mary's memories, was she dead? Or close to death? Nothing. She was off her death bed for the time then. That was a good sign.

"Collin."

The car slowed down, pulling to the side of the rode. Collin didn't notice the problematic figures at the end of the road at first. His focus was on the distance where the numbers of shifters darting through the thin line of trees had slowly been increasing.

"Collin!" Collin jerked his gaze away from the treeline as Bur threw open his door. Three very large wolf-like creatures were running down the highway, straight towards them. Collin recognized these creatures from his family's memories.

Werewolves?

There wasn't time to dwell on the complete impossibility of the situation, three werewolves, no full moon, the middle of the day. It wasn't possible for them to be transformed. Collin wasn't strong enough to take on three.

"Bur, run." He hissed out as the sound of cracking bones filled the air followed by a low growl. Collin moved in front of the car, running through every possible option as quick as he could. The werewolves were uncomfortably close; he could see the sharp teeth that could tear through him effortlessly. This was how they'd caught her. Werewolves. Three werewolves working side by side.

There was the sound of claws tearing into metal as something hit it. Collin could feel Bur behind him, the tiger's breath blowing into his hair.

"Bur, leave." The tiger growled in defiance. "Fine, when I say, split, go right." Waiting, waiting, the three wolves were close, closer. "Now!" He shouted when the werewolves were less than two feet in front of them. Collin launched himself to the left, barely catching the sight as the tiger launched himself off the car in the opposite direction.

There was a loud crashing sound as the werewolves ran into the car. They howled angrily, Collin turned around just in time to see one of them lift the car and throw it in his direction. Part of his brain registered the two other werewolves going after Bur.

That wasn't good. The sound of screeching metal filled his ears as the car hit him, knocking him off his feet. There wasn't much time. Bur. Bur was in danger. Brady was in danger. He needed to protect Bur.

He lifted his legs, kicking the car off of him just in time for a massive wolflike creature to land on him. An agonized shout escaped him as sharp teeth tore into his shoulder.

Bur. Rolling himself back, he caught his legs on the werewolf's chest and shoved, relishing in the sound of its bones crunching in an effort to ignore the agonizing pain of his arm being ripped from its socket.

"Bur!" He shouted as he forced his way to his feet, his gaze moving to his werewolf as it limped to its feet. The werewolf growled at him, teeth guns back over its teeth which were now covered in blood that was probably coming from whatever damage he'd done to it. Two other werewolves. Brady. Bur.

There wasn't much of a choice. He would have to kill this one before he could help Brady. The werewolf lunged and Collin ducked beneath it, turning on his heels and launching himself onto the werewolf's back. He threw himself up the back of the werewolf, throwing his legs around its neck and squeezing.

There was a crunching sound as he squeezed with all of his strength, the sound of a distant howl filled the air as the werewolf slumped to the ground beneath him.

One down, two to go. He darted his gaze around, observing the area around him quickly as he looked for his missing limb. Nothing. His gaze moved to the werewolf. The missing arm. It must've ate it.

Collin dropped down next to him, throwing his arm into the werewolf's stomach and ripping it out. Tearing the stomach in half he found his missing limb and shoved it against his shoulder. Allowing the venom in his shoulder to mend it back into place he took off towards where the other two werewolves were.

Until he saw everything he'd been dreading.

There was one werewolf ducked over something he couldn't see but every ounce of suspicion told him what it was. The other werewolf was standing on its back legs, a victorious howl filled the air as it threw its head back.

No.

There was no way.

"Bur!" He shouted, eyes burning with unshed tears. "Brady!" He took off across the ground in his direction, there was no thought, just movement.

The howling werewolf dropped down, turning in the direction of Collin. There was no way Collin could kill them both. Brady. Brady couldn't die during this.

He'd been so distracted by the werewolves he hadn't heard them. The shifters that had been in the tree line had come up behind him. He didn't realize it until something with sharp claws hit his back, claws tearing into it as teeth sank into his neck and ripped his head from its place on his neck.

(Sorry for the long note!)

So I spent a bit of time trying to place the time of this story. Blood started in 2015. Dol died in 2026. The end of Essence was somewhere in 2041. Bella died old and most of the rest of the family is dead. Daula is still alive but an old woman. Maybe somewhere around 2090? I really have no idea. Time has flown in this universe. –I will have to explain the lack of technological advancements later in the story.- Now the question, because I am terrible with numbers. Do you think that 2090 would line up as a good time for present time in this story to be?

There's a serious lack of me in this story. There was a lack of you in Essence. You aren't alive anymore. And? I deserve some screentime! This isn't a movie. Fine. I see how it is. I'll just go delete all your backups of all your writing off your computer. Dol!