Chapter Three.

New years came and Victoria grew more nervous and anxious. In two months and a few days later, Laurent would be off to Forks for his visit with the Cullen's. So much he needed to know, such as protecting his thoughts and getting rid of any of Victoria's implications in his mind.

Shall I create the army now or wait until Laurent reports back to me? She questioned and demanded of herself.

But how could she do it? She was sure the female Cullen who had premonitions would see her actions and she would fail. She didn't know another way to do it without the alert and reaction it would trigger.

Riley lay speechless with his eyes closed on the ground a few feet from her. It was early in the morning and, like always, they had to wait until night came to hunt.

He opened his eyes and noticed Victoria was still gazing out the window. What the heck is running through her mind? He wanted to know. This was one out of the several times he had caught a glimpse of Victoria thinking to herself. Almost as if she was planning something big.

Another hour passed, and yet none of them intended on moving. Riley, on the ground, just relaxing although there was no need, and Victoria still gazing out the window with an uneasy expression. Victoria finally spoke and Riley stood.

"Riley?"

"Yes?" He answered, turning to face her body, back towards him.

"You know how we've been talking about the other coven and discussing our escape plan?" She asked.

"How could I forget. The Cullen's, the 'gifted' vamps." He laughed. "What about it…Them?"

"The Cullen's fight an unfair fight most of the time. They catch other wandering immortals by themselves and that is how they always win." She paused, facing him. Walking closer to him, she bagan again. "What if?" Victoria said.

"What if what?" Riley demanded.

"What if…we were to…get more numbers on our side. More heads, more hands, more legs, more arms…"

"You mean create more vampires?"

"You could say." Victoria was careful with her words, any one of them could count as a decision and the female would see her actions immediately.

"An army?"

She nodded.

"Sounds good! How many are we talking?"

She smiled.

This was it. Victoria would turn the humans, Riley would be the one creating the army. This was the start of everything and she wanted to make sure she would remain behind the scenes. Invisible. Anonymous. Everything had to be thorough, correct, in line, and followed.

There was also the risk. She knew about The Volturi, and what she was planning on doing was illegal in her world. The Volturi weren't mentioned to Riley, Victoria wanted to keep him as stupid as possible, so if they were to get involved, he would be the scapegoat. And she would be the escapee. The Cullen's would probably not even have knowledge of her involvement. So if anything failed, she had all the time on her hands, an eternity, and she would keep returning to hunt Bella.

Before she spoke again, she had had it all planned out! She would await Laurent's report of Bella's protection status and once he reported back to her, she would act and follow her plans.

First, I'm going to try and see if I can get Bella by myself.

IF that fails, then I guess the future army would be of good use for distractions.

A war. The Cullen's would be gone forever! She smiled and laughed.

Not even this dumb fool in front of me knows of my true intentions.

"So what do we do now, Vic?" Riley asked. Interrupting her thoughts.

"You. I want you to go into the city tonight and the nights to come and look for individuals living on the street who have potential to be in this army. Try to bring me the many runaways that wander Seattle. Get the ones who won't be missed. Prostitutes, drug dealers, sinners, and maybe throw in a few who have ties to the outside world. Get ones with knowledge, not too much knowledge.

"And after our escape what do we do with them?"

"We must dispose of them. Sorry, but I don't want to make the real world a nightmare with monsters roaming wild. Plus, I don't think the many of my immortal friends would be fond of newborns stealing the blood of cities that may belong to them. They could kill us for that. In our world, wherever we choose to live belongs to us. Our turf, and hunting grounds"

"So that's it. Create an army and dispose of them after we take the Cullen's off the map?" He questioned.

She sensed a bit of anger and confusion in his tone, but then he spoke…"Excellent! I promise I'll choose well tonight!" He said, with enthusiasm.

Victoria was surprised. She smiled. He has no doubts! He's not questioning the situation. He's stupid! This is going to work out better than I expected. He'll probably beg like a crying little girl when he realizes I'm going to dispose of him after too! I planned well!

The two began to conversate about the plan, throwing in ideas, suggestions, and debating on certain things.

The Sun shining through the clouds of Seattle began to set.

"Remember Riley, stay inconspicuous. You're a missing person right now with your photo on top of everyones vehicle windowsill. Check the deserted parts of town, the low populated parts, the hang outs, people walking alone or alone anywhere. Bring them to me while their still alive, human! I'll change them myself. I doubt your attempt to change them will work, as you are a newborn and your need to thirst will take over."

"Okay." He agreed.

"Oh, bring them one at a time." She urged.

"Got it!" He smiled.

An hour later, darkness and city lights filled the window view of their hideout.

Riley ran off into the night, leaving Victoria behind at the abandoned post office. He went straight for Downtown Seattle. He remembered when he was human that under every bridge and overpass there was many homeless and troubled teens walking about. Those were his first destinations to investigate.

He looked down on a gathering from an overpass. There was about several homeless men and women sleeping amongst filth and a garbage bin fire.

"You're full of it, Ron!" Shouted a homeless woman.

"As you are, Debby! Is that why the rest of us are eating tonight and you're not? Ha! You couldn't even find food with that face of yours."

The haggard women begin to attack the man. It ended with him delivering a punch to her rightside cheek and the women falling.

Men hitting women. Can't allow that in the army.

Riley grew angry with the man who'd just knocked the woman unconscious. Putting on his sunglasses, he jumped down from the overpass in less than a second and landed silently. To Riley, it looked as if Ron was the head of this group. The others, three men and two women, looked terrified of him.

"You guys want some food?" Riley asked.

The sudden talk from Riley made them all flinch. Ron turned slowly and met Riley's stare.

"Who the hell are you?" Ron questioned.

"I'm someone who's going to feed you ugly pests." Riley shot back.

"What did ya' say?" Ron demanded.

"That I was going to give you ugly pests," he abbreviated the two words, "some food." He smiled.

"WHY DON'T YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Ron shouted and demanded to and of Riley.

Smiling, he replied. "Why should I? It's a free county. I can do what I please. Just like you guys choose this area to sleep in, I can also choose this area to wander through."

"We'll beat you kid, if you don't get lost."

"Really?" Riley asked, still smiling.

Ron lifted a wrench with his hand and began to walk towards Riley. Little did the thirty plus year old man know that he was about to succumb to a vampire's thirst.

"LIKE I SAID KID! Get the hell out of here now…or else!"

"Or else what?" Riley asked.

"I'll kill you kid! Ain't no one going to find you!" He spit through his teeth.

What a pathetic human being.

Just as Ron swung his right hand gripping the wrench he saw Riley's body dodge so fast it was impossible to his human eyes.

A pair of hands gripped his own tightly and both arms were pulled effortlessly behind his back. The pain came seconds later. Riley gave a little squeeze and smiled as Ron's bones caved and crushed in. He released Ron.

The pain bewildered Ron's upper body and he brought his hands into view only to see a twisted work of art. His fingers were dislocated. The bones were broken as well as both wrists.

"What the hell?" He cried.

"You're weak…" Riley told him, laughing.

One long moment passed and then Riley tossed Rons body across the homeless refuge. He instantly attacked Ron.

"I don't like men who hit women." He told Ron.

"I Also don't like when others challenge me." He added.

The feeding began and the other homless men and women watched, screaming, gathering their things and making a run for it. The unconscious Debby still lay motionless next to the fire.

After Ron was drained of blood completely, Riley stuffed the homeless mans body into the burning fire. He lifted his head to see the others running. It excited him. He loved to hunt, especially when humans tried to put up a fight. It was more entertaining to him.

About a hundred feet away, the group of homless kept running at uneven pace. Falling. Tripping. Struggling to breathe. It only took Riley five seconds to catch up.

Riley killed a woman first by strangling her. Then a man by ripping his head off. Another by breaking his neck. An obese homeless woman shouted out to another homeless man several feet near Riley.

"Warren! Run! Warren, get away from him!" She continued to scream.

Warren, a young college drop out, felt no fear with Riley in his presence. He's not scared, Riley said to himself. To Riley, Warren looked as if he was between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. The woman continued to scream for another few seconds before turning to run. The second she tried to bolt, Riley had already grabbed both of her ankles and thrown her into a pile of scrap metal dumped by the residents in the city.

As she flew into the pile, Riley heard a gruesome snap as her head collided with a thick piece of the black and rusted metal. She died on impact.

He turned to face Warren, who was a only several yards away.

No fear. I like it! Victoria will too!

"Warren?" Riley called. "Warren, my name is Riley. I'm not going to kill you. Come with me and end your worries. You won't have to worry about food, money, shelter, or protection."

"What?" Warren replied, confused.

"Don't worry." Riley urged.

"Okay…"

Riley tightly held Warren in his arms as he raced back to Victoria. He spotted another few locations on the way that he wanted to investigate and he agreed that he'd come back after Warren was changed.

Teens drug dealing at a basketball court…Perfect!

Late night city workers…eh?

Prostitutes? Pimps?

It all intrigued Riley. None of them, except the city workers, would be missed. No tears would be shed. No amber alerts…

Warren took in the rush of speed as he traveled through it in Riley's arms. His expectation was that he'd anger the vampire cradling him by vomiting unexpectedly at any second. He shut his eyes. Meanwhile, Riley kept his eye out for locations he'd want to come back and steal humans from.

Twenty minutes later Riley brought Warren to the footsteps of the abandoned post office hide out him and Victoria were using as shelter. Riley set Warren down at the floor of the entrance. Before Riley's hand could reach the bulky knob, the door had opened a few inches.

"Runaway? Homeless? Drug dealer? Pimp? What's the tabs on who you got? Will he or she be missed?" Victoria demanded.

"He's a homeless. Wasn't scared of me either. It's obvious why I brang him here. If we're building an army we should have the best. No fear." He replied.

"Interesting. You're right. Give me a second."

"Sure."

Warren overheard Riley talking to a woman who was behind the door. He stared up into the night sky which was filled with clouds and the moon shining it's white light through the clouds and over Seattle. He had no clue what was going on. Who's the chick? Nothing prepared Warren for what would happen in a matter of seconds. There was no time for him to say goodbye to immortality.

"Warren?"

He looked up at Riley, noticing his red eyes more clearly.

"Yes?" He whispered.

"Are you scared?"

There was no time to reply. The door had burst open but his human eyes caught no glimpse of someone walking out.

"AHHHH!" Warren screamed as the woman attacked him from behind. Victoria had punched him right in the middle of his spine, thrusting him several feet into the air and landing chest first on the concrete. His head spun around while his body was in agonizing pain. He only seen a very fast shadow five feet left from Riley and it was coming straight towards him.

An arm wrapped around his neck and his mouth was covered with a hand. He tried to scream but was muffled by the rock cold fingers of a woman.

A woman's whisper spoke to him from behind.

"Welcome to the army…" was all Warren heard before a pair of sharp teeth sunk into his neck.

He screamed while the stinging pain turned into a fierce burning sensation.

Victoria tossed Warren to the ground before facing Riley.

"…Find a hide out for you and whoever we turn. The other coven must not know I'm doing this!" The woman shouted.

"Why?" Riley shot back.

"Just do it! Safety precautions in case the other coven discovers what we're doing!"

Warren struggled to listen through his cries. Army? Hide out? Who else is going to be turned? And into what? They poisoned me! He lied! I'm going to die! With no hope left, he shut his eyes, silenced his screaming, and trembled violently with and through the malicious temperature his body was experiencing… How long is this going to last?

Warren closed his eyes, and only felt the indescribable pain while his body twitched before blackness took over.

Riley was ordered, by Victoria, to take Warren and find another hide out.

The next day, wandering inconspicuously on building tops of Seattle, daytime, Victoria and Riley talked about the newborn Warren. The young homeless boy was still going through his transformation and Victoria had told Riley it would take another two days before it would complete. The memory of Warren twitching, moaning, and shaking disturbed Riley. So that's what it's like?

Words couldn't describe it. Riley remembered when he was turned into a vampire. The pain was his reminder and he imagined feeling that for three days. But he didn't. He only remembered the pain lasting for about several minutes before he slipped into darkness. It must have been that strong to numb me itself…Riley hoped, and prayed, that Warren had his own way of blocking it out.

They both stood at the top of a building, watching the city, the traffic, the pedestrains. The sounds and movements of human life.

All that blood, Victoria thought.

"So how many are you going to turn?" Riley demanded.

"Quite a few more…Why do you ask?"

"Its just that…well…I mean…you said to stay inconspicuous? Wouldn't a few extra vampires draw attention? You do know that we alone feed at least several times a day, don't you?"

"I'm aware of that, which is why you and I will arrange a hunting schedule for them. A couple this day, a couple the next. Group one hunts tomorrow, while group two hunts today. Get it?"

"Yeah…right." He nodded in agreement.

Victoria stood in silence, folded her hands behind her back, and watched over the skyline of Seattle. Nervous, she began pacing back and forth. She was uneven at the moment. She didn't know how to start things off now that everything was in motion.

How many will I need?

Will the female see?

Should I just turn a few?

What to do after?

…And if they have a second line of defense?

She hesitated, afraid to even think of the next possible outcome…Them.

The last thought troubled Victoria, made her wish she had reversed her intentions before and approached the situation entirely differently. She didn't need to think twice. They would halt her in her own tracks and she wouldn't have any say or any right to bargain nor plea.

The Volturi…

There was an uneasy feeling in the air. The pressure was coming in from all different directions outside her body. Her intention of creating an army was also a death sentence to the citizens of Seattle, not that it mattered to her. In the next month the innocent people below will be struck with a devastating crisis on their hands. One they can't control nor overcome. They would be watched, hunted, and murdered while without any knowledge before it would happen.

They would witness disappearances and hear about murders.

They would began to worry, becoming frightened by the thought of being next.

Families would be torn apart.

The city would become deaths own playground.

Victoria knew The Volturi would step in and put their foot down in an instant once the army was created…and killing.

They wouldn't just destroy the army…They would destroy me too.

Everything was out of place. Consequences were for sure to follow after each action.

"Let's go, Riley. I've got some thinking to be thorough about."

She had to be careful and she knew it. The last thing she wanted was for everything to fall apart on her before following through with the plan. The original plan.

They headed off to a new hideout Riley had found. It was a garbage disposal factory with little staff. Making it perfect to hide in the shadows when they needed.

"…He's still twitching and moaning." Riley said as he descended down the metal stairs from the upper floors of the factory.

"I told you he'd be completely changed in three days. Leave him alone, Riley. We've got much greater matters on our hands."

"Like what?" He questioned.

She hesitated, not sure of what to say. "…Creating our army."

"Oh."

"Ugh, another nine hours until night." Victoria said. "Have you hunted, Riley?"

"No. I was planning on hunting once tonight and then bringing you more humans."

"Of course. Make sure you feed before hunting and bringing them to me!"

"Got it." He smiled.

Such an idiot, Victoria thought. I've got quite the handyman. Are all men born lacking eyes and common sense?

The hours went by slow and Victoria stood silent, doing her homework. Riley was up above watching over Warren, their first newborn recruit. Still, Warren lay on the ground twitching violently.

Below, Victoria formed her plan, starting from the beginning. Rearranging everything.

First I wait for Laurent…While I'm doing so, I create my he reports back, I'll give Riley the orders…

The Cullens would be too busy trying to fight off the army to worry about the girl..That will be my chance.

After I kill her, I'll leave as soon as possible.

Riley will deal the Volturi…and the rest of the newborns. Or rather the Volturi would deal with them.

Guilt wasn't an emotion Victoria felt. Ever. As long as the army created a distraction sufficient enough for her to get through the enemy lines, she was alright with it. Whoever died, died. Whoever was captured, was captured. Whoever won, won. As long as the human girl died. She wouldn't stick around to clean up the mess she'd make when the Volturi would come to do it for her. She would run and continue to do so until she felt safe. Until the Volturi weren't tracing and following her tracks.

Once Bella's heart stopped beating, Victoria would leave everything in the past and, once again, look forward to the unlimited time of forever in front of her. She wanted to roam the globe, something she never got the chance to do with James. They were always in an area for far too long and usually they both played games involving hunting.

So much to look forward to, Victoria thought.

Unfortunately that all depended on how everything ended. She realized she could run forever, but the boy, Edward, would surely hunt her and follow her wherever she decided to go to.

Never thought of that…Once I kill her, the war between him and I would begin.

Lovely. She smiled.

The imagination of her and Edward face to face, fists tightened, teeth clenched, crouched, hissing at each other, waiting for the moment to attack the other made her giggle. Well, I guess that's expected.

Some immortals were gifted, she knew that. Mind reading, premonitions, mental abilities, defense abilities…The list went on. If any of her army were to be gifted, it would only make it that much easier for her to kill both the Cullens and Bella.

The Cullens' fate didn't matter to Victoria. Number decrease, injuries, extermination, none of it mattered. All that mattered was Bella's fate. Her death. Her painful ending at Victoria's hands. Still, Victoria didn't know how to kill her. She wanted it to be painful, that was for sure. She wanted it to be slow, letting the agony sink in. She wanted Bella to just suffer like James had to. However, no thought formed in Victoria's head.

Drink her dry?

Tear her to pieces…while she's still alive?

What to do, what to do?

She's human! She'll die easily and it wouldn't be fun!

Ugh…

Nothing. For Victoria, there was nothing to get excited about,

She hissed out of frustration. Bella's death would be garuanteed but it wouldn't be entertaining. If the boy were to hunt Victoria afterwards, like she expected, it wouldn't be worth it. She wanted the humans death to be something to gloat about later on in life. Something to brighten each day.

At that moment a thought raced through her mind.

It was definite that she feared the Volturi. It was definite that the Cullen's wouldn't survive such a huge army.

What if I were to make the hunting of Bella a game? The newborn who gets to her first can have her! And the Cullen's wouldn't know I was behind it all, they wouldn't be alive to figure everything out, nor would the macho Volturi…I would be on my way with no worry after.

So that was it. After a few hours of planning, this was the plan. Riley would pick humans off of the streets of Seattle, bring them back to Victoria so she can change them. She would wait for Laurent to go and Visit the Cullens only to report back to her with tabs on Bella Swan. After the meeting with Laurent, it would begin. Victoria would give the orders, Riley would lead them into battle. Victoria implicating herself was only minor but yet enough to push things into order. And whatever happened from there was irrelevant as long as Bella was killed.

I'll follow them in and watch as the Cullen's are completely obliterated!

The hours passed. Night came.

Victoria had just explained to Riley the new plan. She kept it brief, though, very less detailed. He had no knowledge of her vendetta to murder Bella, only that the human girl was the reward. He also wasn't informed of the vampire laws…He had no idea who the Volturi were and no knowledge of the consequences he'd be enduring for Victoria. And last, he didn't know he and the newborns would be scapegoats and tools with death as a reward in the end.

"Tonight, when I change the next one you bring me, we will need to part and go our on ways for a while. I can't risk any of the newborns having knowledge of who I am. Their thoughts aren't safe, Riley. You'll see me once a night for a certain amount of time and we will report and update each other. Understood?"

"Yeah, got it."

A whole week had passed and Riley brought Victoria several more humans, all of whom she turned. Warren was adjusting fairly well to his new life. The other newborns, whom Riley had brought to Victoria the second night of Warren's transformation, Heather and Adam, were not so comfortable with this new life.

The other five newborns were in the basement, undergoing the painful transformation.

Heather had punched Riley in his jaw, and in defense, Riley had twisted her thumb off and quickly reattached it seconds later. After that, her respect for Riley increased as well as fear of imprisonment.

"Warren, Heather, Adam, you'll hunt tonight! ONLY TWO HUMANS EACH! NO MORE THAN THAT! KEEP A LOW PROFILE, OKAY? Be back before the sun rises, or you're all going to be nothing but ash."

Although they didn't know their true reaction to the sun, they still believed Vampires burned to crisp under the suns rays of light.

"Yes." They all said, nodding their heads in agreement, voices synchronized.

"Riley," Warren called.

"Yes?" Riley turned to face him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go hunt and find more brothers and sisters for you guys." He smiled. "Off you guys go now…Remember, keep a low profile, feed only twice, and make it back here before the sun rises. Try not to make a scene or attract any attention!"

Once again the newborns nodded, agreeing.

Riley opened the door of the barn and ran until he was out of sight into the city. Victoria was in the city tonight and she was expecting him. In the past few days, their relationship as friends adapted into something more. Something more emotionally powerful. It happened out of nowhere. Victoria was silent one night and as Riley stood beside her, she instantly kissed him.

"Thank you for helping me…" She had said.

He hadn't answered. Once again he embraced her as the two shared a long, passionate kiss.

Riley wanted Victoria more than any other girl he had seen in his life. Little did he know, the romance was a false pretense created only to buy his trust. And while he thought the love was real, Victoria couldn't help but to laugh within her mind at a young pawn who wasn't worthy of anything. Not even worthy of standing in her presence without making himself look like a complete fool.

Why hasn't he figured it out? She had thought. He was a college student, too! On the Brightside, he is making things more easier. And she was correct. Her role as his "girlfriend" made things less complicated that night.

Victoria was waiting under a dark overpass. She examined her fingers, her fists, and her nails.

Where is he at?

Riley was running a little late and she didn't approve of that.

Several minutes later, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Sure enough, it was Riley. She noticed he was wearing a new black leather jacket.

"It looks good on you." She commented, smiling.

"Thanks." He replied, returning a smile before reaching out for her chin and pulling her lips to his.

The two kissed.

"Where have you been all my life?" He asked.

"Running around, murdering humans like the vampire I am." She laughed.

"Ah, correction, like the beautiful vampire you are."

"…Of course." She breathed and smiled seconds later. How extremely annoying.

"Well our three newborns are out hunting tonight in the city."

"What? Did you give them a certain area? Riley! I can't risk them running into me!"

"Shhh, calm down, I did. They're on the southeast area of Seattle, plenty of blood that won't be missed around there." He assured her.

She exhaled.

"Okay, we've got another ten minutes before you go and find more humans. How is their behavior?"

"Well, I think Warren loves being a vampire. He had no problem hunting on his first night. As for Adam, and Heather, well, Adam is sort of silent. Heather, I had to break out the anger to get her to listen."

"And is she?""Yes."

"Good. I forgot to tell you, Riley, but you need to discipline them! Even if they have to be killed in front of each other! We can't have them disorganized thinking they can run things."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'm going to trust you on that." She said, kissing him after. It annoyed her to have to do that but all she cared about was the future event just right around the corner. An event that would give her peace for what was taken from her.

After updating each other, she told him to go out into the city and continue to find more humans capable of being in the army.

"Riley, before you go, there is something you must know."

"What is it?" He asked.

"Downtown Seattle. The flyer with your face and name our scattered and posted around that area. Your family may be around there and I wouldn't want an accident to happen." She warned him.

He shuddered. The thought of running into his family tonight, them seeing him with red eyes, and pale skin, and a physique of a monster made him feel uncertain.

"…Thanks. I'll be sure to keep out of the area." He nodded his head.

"Of you go."

And then he was gone.

Victoria heard a beating heart nearby and her thirst was firing up. She followed the sound. It led to a small business office. There was a man inside who was cleaning up, probably leaving and closing for the night. Victoria watched through the tinted as he paced back and forth gathering his things and placing them into the briefcase on his desk. She burst through the window, shattering it. The man was startled and fell back.

He seen nothing.

"What the hell?" He shouted.

"You damn teenagers need to go home already! I hope I don't catch any of you punks out there because I'm suing for damages! This is the fifth time already and someone's going to pay!"

There was nothing but silence.

He got up from the floor and walked over to the shattered window. The pieces of glass beneath his shoes were piercing the material the shoes were made of.

He stuck his head out only to see no one.

Victoria was behind him, smiling as he was examining the outside.

The office worker felt nervous. Whoever had damaged the property had left so quickly before he even had the chance to catch a glimpse of who it was.

"It's okay! Only cowards run!" He shouted into the night, echoing the street.

"I didn't run." Victoria had said from behind.

His body circled quickly and he faced Victoria.

"Who the hell are you? Did you do this, young lady? Your name? Oh miss, you're going to pay for what you've done!"

His arm reached to grab Victoria's hand but at the same time Victoria had gripped his neck, blocking his airway.

He tried to fight his way out but only made the oxygen deprivation much worse.

She smiled and bit him, sucking the blood from his body.

After Victoria was done, she destroyed the cameras, and carried the mans body outside and sat him near a dumpster. I'm being nice . Your family will at least get to give you a funeral.

She walked back in, pulled a lighter from her pocket, walked to each desk setting paper and various materials on fire. By the time she had gotten to the last desk, she looked back and noticed the flames weren't out of control, but they big enough to spread. She put the lighter back into her pocket, exited the building, and ran off into the night before anyone would notice anything.

Back inside the burning office building, the flyers of Riley Bier's disappearance caught fire. They toppled over and the flames spread. The whole office building ignited in seconds, destroying everything.