AN: Hey guys… sorry for the long wait. Every time I sat down to type this something else came up. But I have the day off of school today, so you are finally getting this chapter. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own the idea and Eliza… Hurray I have my own character!

Chapter 3: Separation

2 long days have passed since this burning fire started. It has not lessened one bit.

The strange man who rescued us kept apologizing profusely. Alice did not react once to the immense pain. She sat still the whole time, staring at the blank ceiling above us.

As the fire spread, the man with the red eyes talked to us, though Alice didn't register any of it. But the things he said were quite interesting.

He told me that he was a vampire, and that Alice and I were turning into his kind. Extremely weird if you ask me. If it weren't for the unnatural pain, I would have told him that he was a lunatic. As the nighttime neared once again, the aged vampire stood suddenly and whipped around to face the door.

"Wha…what's your name?" I finally managed to ask, though with very random timing. As he opened his mouth to answer, the door was flung open and my vision went black.

Nobody could have fought the black abyss that engulfed me and saved me from the scalding pain… even though I knew that the peaceful emptiness could not last long.

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I don't know how long I remained in the black abyss. Strangely, the burning fire was completely gone when I started to awaken. As I rejoiced internally at this fact, I realized that I was not alone.

Upon this discovery, I instantly opened my eyes and sprang to my feet. The colors and the sharpness of everything were disorienting. I had to blink a few times to make sense of everything.

Then I could see two sets of bright red eyes staring at me. Since we were already in the forest, I turned and ran. I somehow knew that I had to get away from the two vampires, and I had to find Alice.

I got away from the two strange vampires, but that was where my luck ran out. Somehow I knew that the nameless man was dead. Had I lost my extra ability in the change?

Just as I thought this, I smelled a delicious scent. My new instincts took over and I found myself following it. It led to a large clearing bathed in sunlight.

The source of the scent stood in the middle: a lost 3 year old girl. I froze within the trees. I couldn't kill a little girl, no matter what I was. She was crying, I noticed. I walked slowly into the clearing, but my skin started to sparkle so brightly that I jumped back into the tree coverage.

Despite the burning feeling in the back of my throat, I had to get this little girl home. As twilight fell upon the clearing, I was able to walk over to the still nameless child. I knelt beside her as she turned her head to face me.

"What's your name?" I asked her softly. In the time I had spent crouched in the forest, I had become immune to her scent.

"Eliza," she whispered softly.

"My name is Bella. I'll help you get home. Where do you live?"

"Houston. I wanna go home." She whined as I picked her up. "Close your eyes and I'll take you home." As she did so, I took off running in the direction she had been heading.

After covering a few miles, I started to make a big circle. Sure enough, I came to the edge of a large town within minutes. How had this little girl wound up so far from home?

As I wandered carefully through the streets, I caught sight of my reflection in the glass. My eyes were red, but to a human they would look an odd shade of brown.

My clothes were muddy; I would have to find out how to get new ones without any money. Then I saw a flyer with the picture of the little girl on it. Below her picture was an address.

I ripped the flyer down and took the address to the nearest person. I held the now sleeping girl carefully with one arm.

"Excuse me; could you please give me directions? I'm afraid I am lost." The brown haired man looked at the address before returning the paper to me.

"Take a right at that corner. It's about a mile," he said apologetically.

"Alright, thank you very much" I went to the corner at turned right, making my way slowly down the street. Small, single family homes lined both sides of the street.

As I walked, my mind wandered. Where was Alice? What had happened to the man whose name I did not know? The unnatural thirst was well under control, even with all of the humans nearby.

As I neared the home, I could see that the lights were on. How long had this little girl been missing? I looked down at the paper. By the date she was said to have gone missing, and by looking at the date on a newsstand, I figured she had been missing for a week.

My guess was that she had been able to find berries to keep herself fed. She was a smart kid. I knocked softly on the front door. Then I heard footsteps running inside the house.

The door whipped open, revealing a woman around the age of 26. Her gaze immediately went to the sleeping girl I held. "GEORGE!" She yelled, and another set of footsteps came from inside the house as the woman pulled little Eliza from my arms.

She woke up as her father appeared. "Mama! Papa!" Eliza yelled after rubbing her eyes. Her mother held her tightly. As I turned to leave, her father held out some money. "Thank you so much!" I shook my head and pushed his hand that held the money back towards him.

"I don't need any money for doing what was right," I said. His free hand took a hold of my hang and he pressed the money into my palm.

"It's the least we can do. You look like you could use new clothes anyways," he said as he eyed my muddy clothes. I sighed.

"Thank you," I murmured softly as I turned and left the happy family. Though I had lost everything, I had been able to save that little girl and return her to her family.

With the money still in my hand, I headed towards an open clothing store I had passed. Now what was I supposed to do in Texas?

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AN: So there you go! Woohoo… it's long! Sorry for the long wait… I'll try to update sooner next time. Please review! You guys have been awesome about it so far!