After Garrett joined us in the truck and we did the errands that needed done, we returned to the house. I told Iz to take her clothing to the room she took over as hers while Garrett and I installed the doors and put the liquor away. She was allowed to get a bottle of beer but she knew better than to touch that. If she wanted a hard drink, I made it for her in a mug she couldn't break. Shit was a bitch to replace at the time so in order to avoid leaving her on her own to restock; she was just told not to touch.

Once all that was seen to and while Iz was still in her room, Garrett and I sat down and discussed the situation as I knew it, leaving out the Cullen involvement that I knew about, and worked together forming a plan as to how to figure out who she was as a human and whether or not we needed to plot her death or if we could simply let her vanish off the planet. Out of everything about her, this was the most annoying and frustrating aspect. All I needed was her last fucking name and I could find out everything I needed to know, but that one detail, the ONLY thing I needed, was lost to her change and gone forever.

I told him about my theory about her being on that plane that crashed and while he agreed that it would be the easiest way, we both knew that easy wasn't practical to count on. Chances were there was a huge fucking search party hunting her little ass down and there was no way for us to find out because, again, we didn't have her last name. I was SO close to telling him that the veggie vamps knew her and could tell us, but I was positive that he would agree that involving them with her so young and hostel was a bad idea. There was no telling what seeing them would do to her; if her memories would slam back like a wrecking ball or if it would leave her in an overly awkward situation where they knew her and she didn't know shit about them. Not that the awkwardness would last long. The moment any of them tried to touch her she would beat the shit out of 'em.

After telling him the little she remembered, again omitting the Cullens for now, I explained how things have been running in my house and how they were going to continue to run. Just because there was another body and point of view on things, things weren't going to change. Routine was demanded with dealing with a newborn and straying off the beaten path with one wouldn't do us any favors. All it would do was confuse her and a confused newborn is a dangerous newborn. She had enough to process at the moment with just the added body and I didn't want her overtaxed or overwhelmed with too much too soon. Once she got used to Garrett constantly being around, then we would see about a deviation, but until then, we were simply going to work on her getting used to more than just me. This was normally something that you waited to do for a little while if the youngen wasn't immediately introduced to more than one person, but, eh, it is what it is and I didn't see anything wrong with testing boundaries.

If it proved to be too much for her, we would take her cue and go from there, but I have every faith that she would be fine. It would just take her a few days and everything would fall back into its proper place.

Once he was brought up to speed and knew everything I knew, or most of it, we moved on to making a game plan. He knew I wasn't telling him everything, I knew that, but I also knew he wasn't going to call me out on it. I told him that we were doing this shit my way so he knew that if I wasn't telling him something there was a reason for it. We went a little further in depth about the plane crash and I told him everything I knew about it, where it was coming from and its final destination and where it went down. I couldn't tell him what made it crash because I didn't know that yet. It was my assumption however, that her sire had something to do with it and after I told him about what she said when she first woke up, he agreed that was the most likely possibility.

After he knew what I knew about it, he grew quiet for a few minutes, soaking it in and thinking it though. After that he finally looked at me, "I have an old contact in the area of England that the plane took off from that owes me a favor. Let me give him a call and see if I can't get the passenger list and see if the young lady is on it. If nothing else, it will give us a better picture of what we are looking at and see if we can rule something out. I cannot believe there would be more than one Isabella on it and even if there is, we can rule them each out fairly easily, I would think."

I nodded to him and while he was doing that, I went to check on Iz since she never came to join us like I thought she would. When I knocked on her door and opened it on her permission, I found her sitting on her bed with her knees to her chest and arms around her shins, staring into space. Moving across the room and taking a seat next to her, I nudged her with my shoulder, snapping her back to the room. "What's up, Sugar?"

She looked over at me a moment before shrugging a light shoulder, "I was thinking about something that your friend asked back at the dealership."

I cocked a brow at her, "He said a lot back there. What were you thinking about exactly?"

She laid her cheek on her knee and looked at me, her eyes burning with curiosity. "When he asked about our relationship you smelled different, spicier I guess. I was trying to figure out why. In the last week I have smelled all kinds of things different about you and it never affected me. That though, the spice in your scent made me so fucking happy I no longer have to worry about pissing myself. I have never really been scared of you, other than the first time I saw you, but I was more than a little freaked out. What was that?"

I sighed hard at that while rubbing my face with my hands, giving myself a moment to prepare for this conversation. It never did anything but piss me off. Swallowing a growl, I looked at her, "Over time you'll learn what different emotions smell like. What you smelled on me was pure pissed off. The topic of mates, especially Charlotte, make my venom boil."

She bit her lip and looked like she really didn't want to ask but her curiosity was too strong for her to ignore, as I knew it would be, so when she asked, "Who's Charlotte" and "What happened" I was more or less prepared for it, I just wasn't ready to get into it.

Shaking my head a little, I looked at her, "Not now, alright? We'll get into it later, you have my word. I just, right now is not the time to talk about that. Garrett is working on a lead right now to find out who you are and that, for the moment, needs to be the focus in case other plans need to be made. Faking a death and covering tracks takes time and attention to detail that I will not be capable of if we go too far down that road. Let's get you squared away and then you and I will sit down with a bottle and I'll tell you all about it; sound good?"

Her eyes lit up at the offer of hard alcohol so I knew her agreement was certain. I didn't need to take her hunting tonight since while I was in the hardware store Garrett took out a withdraw from the blood bank. With a hefty amount of bagged blood in the house, we could focus on the task at hand with no interruptions. I was dreading the discussion I just promised to have, but I would keep my word if for no other reason that I never broke it. My word was my bond and honor and it would stay that way until I was ash in the wind.

I thought about that as I pulled Iz to her feel and drug her behind me into the living room. After a second, I shrugged off the guilt that threatened to surface for a moment. I wasn't actually breaking my word by not calling Jasper yet because one; I never actually promised I would and also this really didn't have anything to do with them. From the little I was able to gather, they bailed leaving her to her fate against a vengeance seeking vampire so they were not actually affected by this. I was because she would have woken up in my territory making her MY responsibility, not theirs; not anymore.

That settled, I shoved her little ass on the couch and went to get her a drink to keep her calm until she got a little more used to Garrett's presence. I could smell her unease and her desire to make a new friend warring against her; both actions perfectly understandable. She didn't know him yet so she saw him as a threat to her life because he also had scars from his stent in the southern wars, but vampires are, to a point, social creatures when it comes to other vampire. We instinctively know that making contacts and friends with others will help us in the future if we get into a position that requires help or if we are in unfamiliar territory. It was harder for newborns to understand and follow our natural instincts because they didn't understand them fully and self-preservation was something that we always took to first because we were self-serving by nature. She knew that Garrett was a good vampire to know on a basic level but because of his appearance, much like mine, she was skeptical and paranoid.

While Garrett hadn't been exposed to a baby as young as her since he was a soldier, it was that knowledge that told him what he could or couldn't do to not set her off. A pissed off newborn was a bitch to deal with on neutral territory, but this was her home and for all intents and purposes, he was a trespasser and would be until SHE decided otherwise. I could vouch for him until I was blue in the face but until she learned she could trust him on his own merit, she would be standoffish, skittish and on her full guard until he proved himself to her on whatever scale she decided was necessary. It could take minutes, it could take months; it all depended on her. With how stubborn she was, I was betting on the latter or somewhere close to it. I got lucky; I was there from the beginning to help her. He was new and babies don't like new.

Walking back into the room, I saw her about ready to pounce on him and him looking ready to piss himself. Flashing across the room, I caught her around the waist on her lunge, barely avoiding her teeth in the process. I have been lucky so far and not gotten bit and I would be good and god damned if I got bit because of him. Maneuvering her behind me so I was between them I held her to my back and glared at Garrett, "You have only been here for an hour asshole. What the fuck did you do?"

He was looking slightly wide eyed at her, shaking his head, "I don't know. All I did was go to stand up."

My glare darkened, "Did you move too fast or lean towards her?" His widening eyes answered that making my sigh, "Jesus, dude, you have to watch your step here. If I get bit because of you I'm gonna be pissed. This really might have been a bad idea. Besides your time in the army, how young was the last baby you've been around?"

He scratched his eyebrow before blinking, "About six months, give or take."

I cocked a brow, "There is a little bit of a different between six months and six days. The little lady here is an INFANT. Do try and keep that shit in mind next time. I won't stop her again and she will kick your ass." Looking over my shoulder at the bared teeth and waterfall of venom, I shook my head knowing that Garrett had no idea just how close he came to losing his. Looking back at Garrett, "Go make her another drink and for fucks sake use your damn head."

Once Garrett was out of the room I turned to the newborn at my back, lifting her chin with the side of a crooked finger, "Hey there youngen, you settle down now. Ain't nothin' or no one gonna hurt you while I'm around." Her eyes flashed a little but she took a deep breath and slowly but surely relaxed back down and loosened up a bit.

Once the red reseeded for her vision and her eyes started to lose the black and turned red, she sighed a little and crossed her arms as she looked away, "sorry."

I shook my head as I tapped her chin to get her eyes back on me, "You ain't got shit to sorry about, ya hear? Garrett is plenty old enough to know better than to startle a newborn. You however, are too young yet to know how to decipher the movements of another vampire. You were right in this case. You didn't know what was goin' on and reacted just as you should have. While I know that guy, you don't and as far as you knew, he could have been attacking as easily as anything else. You don't ever apologize for following that gut of yours because sometimes that is all that is going to save your little ass from danger. While I will always be there for you, I might not always be there to help you at the exact time it is needed."

At that last sentence she tensed back up and venom flooded her eyes, "You mean you're going to leave me?"

I shook my head, "That's not what I said. Listen Sugar, I will never turn you away and I will never walk away from you but when you get older and more used to this life, you might find that you want to leave and strike out on your own, find your place in this big ol' world and I will never stop you from doing that. Yes, you and I will be spending a lot of time together in the next year or two but during that time, it is my responsibility to make sure that you know the ways of this life so that should you decide that you want to go on your own for a bit, you are capable of doing so. You want to hang out with me for the next few decades, I ain't got a problem with that, but eventually you're going to want more than just me. You're going to want things that I can't give you and there ain't shit wrong with that. I just want you to know that as long as you are with me, ain't no one gonna touch you without going through me first."

She blinked a few times before taking a deep breath, "but, I thought…"

I smiled at her, "Sugar, eventually you're going to want a different kind of companionship than I'm willing to give you. You're hot and all and any guy would be lucky to know your affections, but Darlin', that won't be me; not without more booze than the planet has to offer and if I'm being honest, chances are that I would fuck up any dude that made a half ass decent pass at you. Believe me, there ain't any big brother or father in the world that would hold a candle to what I would to do a guy that gave you a look I didn't like. For that, you're going to have not be here, not if you actually like the guy anyways."

She smiled a little once she caught on to what I was trying to say without actually saying it. Most of it was true, but some of it, not really. Yes, I would fuck up a little bastard that made an unwanted pass at her or if I didn't think they were good enough for her, but if she actually like the guy and I couldn't find anything about him that I didn't, I wouldn't turn either of them away. They would have to fuck outside or in the little guest house out back because I highly doubt I would be able to listen to it, but I wouldn't tell her she couldn't stay here for a while, especially if the guy wanted her to be his mate.

Well, THAT would be up for debate because no mother fucker was doing that without my approval first. The little dick head would do it right too and ask my permission BEFORE he made those intentions clear to her and that is something that she will know when the time comes. I have a really good feeling that whoever it is that is going to claim her is going to piss me off but really; there would be nothing I could do to stop it. A true mating bond causes the female excruciating pain if it is denied or ignored and that was something that I wasn't going to bestow on her just because the guy was an asshole or I didn't like him. Guys tend to take having something that belongs to us kept from or taken from us very personally and we were not above dirty fighting to get what we perceived as ours. When dealing with our mates, we would kill anyone that stood between us and them and it didn't matter to us one way or another who it was.

My ex-wife, the coldblooded cunt she was, was mine, even if she wasn't my actual mate and I tend to take it personal that she was giving out what was only mine to have. Char was an absolutely beautiful woman and she knew it. She was one of those little whores that could make a man literally do whatever she wanted them to with no effort on her part. A fluttered eyelash and tiny smile and the poor bastards were putty in her hands. I was a lot like Jasper was at first; letting it go because I knew it wasn't permanent and we would one day part ways and that would be that. As long as it stayed in the dark and out of my direct line of sight, I left it alone. I even gave her a pass the first time I caught her with another man's dick in her mouth after torching the fucker, alive, right in front of her with the warning that if I caught her again, she would go the same way.

She wasn't smart enough to heed the warning however and like I said, I am a man of my word. I come home early from a week in Vegas with Jasper on my heels and what do we walk into; Char's little fun house. I am still curious how she planned on removing all of those scents from the house before I got home, but the point is moot. Jasper detained everyone that was downstairs to be dealt with later while I went in hunt of my loving wife to have a little word with her.

She never saw me coming. 'Course, it's a little hard to see shit with your head buried in a pussy with a big ass mother fucker hitting it from behind blocking your view of the door. I probably would have simply watched the show had it only been the chick with her, but since that was not the case I watched a completely different one. I definitely got my love of fire from my sire, no question about it. I tossed my zippo next to the bed and leaned on the door frame as I watched the frilly shit she insisted on catch and ignite, the whole bed becoming engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds; to fast apparently for any of the three to realize what was going on before they were encased with thick black smoke and flames.

The big fucker tried to get out but I wasn't about to let that shit happen. He came barreling towards the door like lit match and I kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall of flames. I let the woman that was my lovely wife's meal pass me though knowing that Jasper would see to her; probably use her to light the rest of the house. Charlotte however, used the window to try and get to the pool and douse the fire that was burning away her stone flesh and melting her beauty away showing on the outside what she looked like on the inside.

I followed her step for step outside, passive and uncaring as she pulled her scorched and charred body out of the water. Her once long and full blonde hair that went down passes her hips was completely gone, nothing left of my personal favorite aspect of her; It was now nothing black fuzz attached to her scalp. There was no other way to describe her skin than to call it patchwork from hell gone wrong. Some places there wasn't even skin anymore. You could see down to the muscles or even to the bones in places.

I just stood there as she got to her foot, yes FOOT. I wasn't sure what happened to the other one but I also didn't give a shit. When she lifted her head to see what the fuck was going on, I was reminded of Two-Face from the Batman movies. I think she was trying to look pissed off but she just looked ridiculous. I smiled and waved at her. I didn't a have a single thing to say to her. I had no desire to hear her try and talk her way out of the trouble she was in and I no desire to try and move past this with her. I told her exactly what was going to happen to her if she pulled this shit again and that was exactly what was going to happen.

She stared at me and I at her for a moment, a century of memories flashing before my eyes and I felt nothing but anger and resentment. I didn't see a single thing in that moment that made me feel bad for this and nothing to make me wish I could take it back. All it did was made me regret letting her put herself out.

I could feel the heat of the fire in the house at my back, hear the giggles from the demented vampire as he set every square inch of the house that wasn't on fire aflame and smell the venom as it bubbled and burned. In the dark eyes of the woman scorched I could see the flames as that began to take over the exterior of the house and the smoke begin to rise. We had about a half hour or so before the humans showed up to see what was going on, plenty enough time for a house of vampires to be nothing to worry about. Done properly, a vampfire is done and gone in about ten minutes leaving nothing but the flames to tell it was ever a pry to begin with. Since Jasper was involved, I knew that it would be perfection. That son of a bitch lived for that kind of shit.

Once Char grasped the situation at hand, I watched her eyes begin to swirl with thoughts and plans because she knew that she was done and was about to die. She was trying to figure out how to take me with her in one last bitch act. She never was very good at just accepting her punishments with dignity and poise. She always acted like she was too cool for school and all that and everything else, but she was self-serving little bitch, as all vampires are, and if you told her no or questioned her on her behavior, she tried to take you out. Honestly, she tried to act like a male but couldn't live up to the role.

Since I knew what she was about to do, even without my gift because the cunt was predictable, I was ready with the counter to the bumrush. With a simple sidestep and well placed foot in the middle of her back, she was once again in the house, once again on fire and once again on her way to true death. This time however, she wasn't getting put out again. While Jasper doesn't really get hands on when it comes to females and deaths like this, he figured the same thing I did and treated her like the male she wanted to be.

It didn't take a whole lot of time to finish the massacre and by the time that the humans showed up, there was nothing to find but a huge house with shooting flames. Jasper and I were lazing in tree watching the show as they tried to put out a fire that was fueled by vampire venom laughing our asses off. It wasn't an impossible fire to put out but it wasn't easy and funnier than shit to watch someone that didn't know what they were dealing with try and attempt it.

Being that this happened before the times of cell phones and internet, it was a couple of weeks later that I received the news that my family's estate that I 'inherited' was found burnt to the ground, the cause being a gas leak that was sparked in the kitchen. They told me that they assumed that the leak was going on for a decent amount of time for the damage that was done and cut me a big ass check because not only had the house burnt down to the foundation, a good portion of the land itself had been torched and destroyed.

I have yet to build anything on the land, allowing the vegetation to regrow and flourish for the last couple of decades. The foundation was the only thing I dealt with and that was just to collapse it and fill it back in so when I got around to it, the ground was ready for a new construction. I would get around to it eventually, but right now, I just didn't give a shit. It was overgrown and the wildlife moved in and I doubt I would ever really want to live in that area again. I still own the land and always will but at the moment, it was a preserve and I was fine with that.

The memory of the day I killed my ex-wife only took a second so I didn't think that Iz had the time to react to my shift in mood before Garrett returned with a pitcher of something and a couple of glasses and a metal mug for her. After pouring and passing out the first round, we all sat down and got back to the matter at hand, was Isabella on the passenger list?

Garrett grabbed my laptop and after a moment, set in on the table and turned it to face us but looked at her, "there were three Isabella's on that plane but so far only one has been found. They are still trying to identify a few body parts but they are not overly hopeful that there will be a match to either lady. The Isabella that was found is a Miss. Isabella Paluch. The ones that were not yet located are a Miss. Isabella Murphy and the other is a Miss. Isabella Swan. Here are the passport photos of the three young ladies."

Iz and I looked at the screen and we both saw the same thing at the same moment. It was the best fucking thing that we could have hoped for. She didn't even slightly resemble any of the three young ladies so if she was one of them, no one would ever know.

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and saw her looking at the pictures with a thoughtful look on her face, searching her memories for a time that she looked in the mirror to find out if she was one of the two missing ones or even the one that was identified. It took her some time, but she finally bit her lip and pointed to the screen, "That one. I'm not positive, but I might be her."

Garrett and I looked at the picture she was pointing at then at her then back to the screen a few times, looking for similarities between the human photo and vampire version. The key markers were there; hair color and overall bone structure, but it was so different that it was really a coin toss whether or not she really was Isabella Swan.

Before we put any effort into this, Garrett and I asked her a wide range of questions to try and jog her memory and pull a defined answer from her. It took us nearly an hour to jump start her mind and bring a vision of her in the mirror from her human life and make it clear enough for her to say with positivity that she was in fact Miss. Swan and was considered missing and presumed dead. All I could say at that point was thank fucking god because had she not been on that plane, we never would have found out who she was because she didn't look anything like she did as a human.