It's been a while since I've updated, or written anything, for that matter. More than half a year. Best part is, I don't have an excuse.

Dang, it's hard to write stories while watching Grease.

Brains

BPOV

I ran all the way. I passed several towns, and saw that Forks wasn't the only one left in ruins. Every other town looked destroyed, as if no humans lived there. All of them smelled of vampires.

I passed a remote farming area on the way. This area had yet to be hit by the bloodthirsty menaces, but they had heard the stories. I spotted a few people working out I a field.

Oh, no, I thought. This'll be trouble.

I stopped on the dirt road and watched them, gauging their reactions. They grew nervous. I saw a woman with a sunhat whisper to her neighbor, both started inching away from the road.

I noticed that one of the men reached for his back and shuffled his feet. I fled the town before he could pull out his gun.

EPOV ("E" for Elsie, not Edward)

The vampire with bronze hair left us at a house for orphans. A motherly old woman with a floral dress beckoned us into the house, muttering about vampires and the evils of the modern day.

Erica and Tommy love the attention, but Michael's suspicious. After living all these years in Voltera, he's unused to kindness without an ulterior motive. Dice and Anna are just appreciating being clean.

I heard Sarah tell Edward her name. I wonder why she never talked to us before.

That night, we got together and made plans. Erica and Tommy were excluded from the escape plans, seeing as they're young enough to forget all about their years of servitude, and they'd do better here. Michael can't stand the idea of being left behind, and Dice thinks life in an orphanage would be boring. Anna decided she just wanted a nice home, and Sarah didn't say anything, but she listened to every word. (1)

Tomorrow night, we'll be on the road and looking for Bella.

EPOV (This time it's Edward)

I didn't wish to give Jacob any news of my Bella, but I had no one else to turn to. He would look for her harder than anyone.

Other than me, I couldn't help adding.

I caught him in North Dakota. He already knew about the carnage in Forks, but he didn't notice the other empty towns during his time as a wolf.

While I told him of Bella's change and capture, he kept thinking things along the lines of, "She shouldn't have been hanging out with leeches," and, "I would have been better for her." I dismissed this.

Jacob and I decided to return to Forks and confront James. We were going to get Bella out of there as soon as we found her.

We both stood up and made our way for Forks.

BPOV

It's unbelievable that the social norm has changed so much in so little time. What used to be major cities have become rat-holes, where people take what they need and only the strongest survive.

I kept away from civilization, figuring that people would hate the sight of me. I'm glad to be a vampire, but the ethereal beauty and pale skin are dead giveaways.

I hunted at night, trying to make as little noise as possible.

On the fourth day of my trek, I found a bonfire. The area smelled of death, and I knew that there were pieces of vampires burning. I was 200 miles away in one hour.

I shouldn't be as disgusted as I am, I thought, trying to calm myself down. I'm sure those vampires were hunting humans in the area. They deserved death.

Still, I was afraid.

Author's Notes

(1) I got tired of having seven kids.

I haven't written anything but thesis papers in almost a year. This chapter is gonna be a lot different from the others, but what can you do?

By the way, I hated the end of the series.