DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY FAMILIAR CHARACTERS.

Grievances

"Karen!" I looked up from my drawing. A woman was standing in the middle of the street, franticly screaming the name. She was wild-eyed and looked like she was about to have a stroke. I sighed.

"Ma'am?" I called. She turned to me, shocked, as if she hadn't known I was there. She probably hadn't. "Are you looking for someone?" She nodded, tears streaming down her face.

"M-my daughter," she stuttered, "She's been missing since this m-morning!" The woman broke down in sobs. I shook my head and stood up.

"Don't worry ma'am, I'll help you find her. What does she look like?" I asked, though I already knew. I'd seen her running around with her friend quite often. The woman tried to quiet her sobbing.

"S-she's got light b-brown hair and she's about f-five two," she said between shuddering breaths. I smiled.

"Okay, calm down, I'll go look for her. You should get back home and fix yourself something hot to drink." She nodded again and pointed to a rather small brown-bricked house down the road.

"That's w-where we live. Thank you so much." I nodded, still smiling. I waited until she was back inside before I sunk back into the shadows. There was so much information to sort through that the setting sun was well below the horizon when I found Karen.

I heard screaming, and I pushed myself back into reality. She was in a very dark side street, but she wasn't alone. She was surrounded by three people, a woman and two men, who seemed to be trying to scare her.

"Now, now, little girl. I promise this won't hurt for very long," the woman said. One of the men laughed. I could feel a snarl rising in my throat, and I stepped into the light. All four of them turned, the three adults glaring at me. I smirked.

"Having fun, leeches?" I called as sweetly as I could make myself sound. It was met by varying tones of snarls. I frowned, pretending to pout. "You're not very nice. Now, down to business. Hand over the girl and no one gets hurt." My demeanor turned serious as I spoke. They didn't budge. I sighed, and prepared to meld.

Guess it's got to be the hard way... I said through the shadow. The leeches were glancing around nervously, trying to see me. I came up behind the woman and snapped her neck. She was immediately engulfed in a black, almost fire like void of shadows. The others whipped around, but it was already too late for her.

One more time, give me the girl... The two remaining slunk into crouches, still looking for me. I took this as my chance to grab Karen, and pulled her into the darkness with me. She screamed, or tried to, the noise was completely contained in my realm of solitude. In an instant we were outside her front door, and I had covered her mouth.

"Shh, it's okay, you're safe now," I murmured soothingly, letting her go. She quieted in a second and turned around, but I was already gone, in the darkness watching her. She bit her lip and went inside, where I assume her mother brokedown in tears and nearly choked the poor girl to death in an extremely tight hug.

My domain was much simpler than the mortal realms, free of physical pain, but it wasn't comforting at all. It had been more than an eternity since my fall from grace, and I was still as alone as ever. No other creature could travel the shadows without my assistance, not even the Creator Itself. I was special. Specially cursed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

If it sucks, don't be afraid to say so. And don't worry, Edward WILL be in this, as will the other Cullens, except Renesmee, cause this is an AU of twilight.