DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight, SM does. All characters (but Vincent who we shall meet later on) are owned and were created by SM too... So yeah, that's it.

Chapter One

Death Is Better Than My Life

Eternity…

I used to think that was what I wanted. To live forever. I wanted to do that. Live. Forever. That was because I was naïve. Stupid, even. In my mind, happy endings were real. People got what they wanted. Love survived through thick and thin. Fairytales ended well. How wrong was I?

Very, very wrong…

I'd like to think that I wasn't naïve anymore but I have to wonder if I have changed from what I was. Am I still a small girl that thinks everything will be fine and dandy? Hopefully, not. If I was, I would want to change so, so much. Who I was, it wasn't me. They manipulated me to be the way they wanted me to be, so I would never ever go to find them. I'd never look for them.

Even if that meant forever…

The fire within my throat burned as the wind suddenly changed direction, blowing a sweet scent straight to me. Small flames flicked around at the flesh of my throat as I breathed in deeply, taking in the scent of blood. It had a slightly different aroma. There was an edge to it. I already knew why though, this person had alcohol in their system or they had taken drugs recently. But, at least it was blood and I was due a feed. It had been nearly two weeks since my last fill so, really, I was over due. Time had run by.

Quickly, I changed direction, heading towards where the delicious smell was coming from. Within seconds, I was standing at the edge of a small farm, trees encasing the whole area. Surrounded by shadows, my eyes scanned the old-ish house that stood a small distance away from the forest edge. Sniffing the air, I could tell where the person with the desirable blood was coming from. As quick as lightning, I was standing by the open double doors of a barn that stood a little away from the house.

Inside the barn, there stood a man in his late twenties, maybe his early thirties. He stood with his back to me, grooming a horse while nodding his head along to the music playing loudly from a portable radio. A few bottles of beer stood empty by his feet, proving my theory of him having alcohol in his system right. Watching him, I briefly thought if he had a family, a girlfriend or maybe even a wife and they might have had a child on the way. He had his own life and I was going to be destroying it. To me, though, it wouldn't matter. I'm being set on fire and he can help me by giving me his blood. So I flashed to his side, grabbed a handful of hair before bending him down to my height.

"It's painless", I whispered, "I promise".

Then I snapped his neck with one swift move. I dunked my head and sank my subtly sharpened teeth into the soft flesh of the man's neck. Instantly, the warmth of his blood radiated into me while the lovely liquid ran over my parted lips and into my mouth. His blood was a little sour from the alcohol but it was still sweet and cool compared to the flames in my throat. It lessened the burn a good bit but I'd have to feed again in the next couple of days.

I let out a sigh, knowing that I'd have to do some more business tonight. Clothing was needed. An idea flickered to life in my calculating mind so I grabbed the lifeless man, slung him over my shoulder and headed towards the small house in a hurry. Once the door was slammed behind me, I glanced down at the man in my arms. God no, I was getting worse. He looked full of potential. So ready for life. And I had taken that away from him. But it was the same for me and I would have chosen death over being what I was any day.

Death was a fantastic gift.

Life was an amazing prize.

Quickly, I searched around the house until I found the bedroom. There I lay him on the bed and watched as the teeth marks sealed together, leaving a scar in the shape of my bite and a fading red mark. The wonders of venom. Really, the bite mark just looked like an actually bitten, very deep, very serious love-bite. Once I was sure it looked like he had passed away in his sleep, I turned towards a wardrobe that looked like it had seen through both of the World Wars. Tugging the stiff doors open, I peeled a few shirts out before putting most of them back but leaving one out. It's black with light grey pinstripes and the sleeves are way to long so I rolled them up before buttoning most of it up. One glance in the mirror told me that it would do but I needed to get a better outfit before being seen in public. At least it will cover the blood stains on my other clothes.

Loneliness…

You'd think I was used to it by now, after months of running as a lone vampire. But I missed the atmosphere of my family and the loudness of my friends. I missed them so much. There were always little things that would remind me of them but I never thought much of it. Whether it was the lecturing of a man in his early forties or a giggling woman in her late thirties, I always felt alone.

I missed being human…

Being what I was, there were a lot of things that made you glance over your shoulder a lot. Be it another lone vampire or a bunch of nosey humans, you had to watch what you did and what you said. Also, territory had a big impact on your life. I may only be young but I had learnt a lot in the last few months as a vampire. For example, a clan (or coven) of vampires wouldn't hesitate to tear you a part if you became an intruder. It was a scary life.

Real quite scary being a vampire…

As I made my way back into the shadowy trees, I felt myself tense up at the scent that hit me only a few miles into the forest. It was unfamiliar to me but that really wasn't new. That wasn't what worried me, though. The fact is, the scent seemed to be everywhere, in every direction and there was a good tint of vampire mixed with the different aroma.

Up and down. Right and left. Forward and, even, backwards towards that man's house. That was what worried me. And I knew if this was a danger to me, I probably wouldn't survive.

"Well, well, well, well, well, well. Look over here, Char", a voice drawled lazily. "An itty bitty girlie girl".

There was a rush of air as three figures appeared, almost, out of nowhere in front of me. One of the male vampires chuckled as I hissed automatically, feeling threatened as the numbers were not in my favour. He was tall, taller than me anyway, with sandy blonde hair that was tied back with a thin shred of leather. By his appearance, I would have guessed he had been changed in his twenties but I could have been wrong. His eyes were glowing red, laughter dancing within the ruby orbs that were intently focused on me as I shook from the tension in my joints.

"You're a long way from home, lil' one", the man smirked. "I think you've-"

"Garrett, please, don't taunt her", the woman scolded, frowning slightly. "She's a newborn so be careful".

My attention snapped to her as irritation bubbled within me and I started to analyse her appearance. Her white-blonde hair fell in soft waves down her back, stopping just at the level of her elbows. She was slightly taller than me but not by much yet I knew she could easily take me in a brawl. With an innocent, pixie-looking face, her crimson eyes shone brightly and grabbed my attention as they stood out from her ultra pale skin. That wasn't surprising. We, vampires, were all pale and most of us had red eyes. Nothing new. But with such an young face, she must have been changed in her very early twenties or her last few years of being a teenager.

"He's only playin' with 'er, Char", the second male and last member of the trio grinned. "I mean, she's quite defensive and you ain't even insulted her clothin' choice yet".

He wasn't as tall as the other man but his shoulders were just slightly broader. His eyes, like the others, were like two small seas of blood but were filled by confusion and worry that couldn't be hidden like the emotions on his face. His silvery blonde hair was cropped short, just hanging by his ears and a little over his forehead. He looked around twenty-something with barely visible laughter lines etched into his face. A smirk played at his lips before it slipped and his head inclined towards the woman.

"Hun, do you wanna tell us who you are?" She spoke softly, her voice almost like a lullaby.

To that, a quiet growl rumbled from my chest and my eyes narrowed as I caught her tiny step towards me. It was worrying, how I could control my animalistic reactions. Everything about vampire life was wild and uncontrollable.

"Watch yourself", the second guy snarled angrily, moving to stand in front of the woman.

He stared at me, eyeing me with an extremely calculating gaze. That was easy to understand. The man was sizing me up, not that there was much to me. I was short and a little too slim, nothing else to it. But to him, although I looked small and fragile, I was a threat. Size was nothing but the age was something. Younger equals stronger. And I could be days old for all he knew. His eyes moved along my bare arms, taking in the many vampire bite-shaped scars that decorated my flesh. Guiltily, I brush my sleeves down until my hands were covered, feeling self-conscious about my scars. The other man arched a dark eyebrow, lips twitching up just a little bit.

Letting out a huff of air, I stared straight back at him, hating how his gaze seemed to see right into my soul. At my tiny show of anger, he raised his other eyebrow, his smirk growing wider. Oh great, well, two can play at this childish, stupid game! Still glaring, I arched one of my eyebrows in retaliation. Now, he's showing a little bit of teeth so I let my other eyebrow go up too.

Then, all of a sudden, he was doubled over, clutching his stomach while letting out a booming laugh that causes birds to shoot out from the trees and into the sky, squealing. The other two shook their heads, grinning widely. It seemed as if they were used to his random laughing fits.

"You're cute", the laughing guy grinned, winking at me cheekily. "Really quite cute…"

"What! Cute?" The woman chuckled. "You say that to every girl, human and vampire, you meet so really, it isn't really even a compliment! No offence, doll".

With a quiet, tinkling voice, I said, "None taken", and all of their attention was back on me.

Each one of them stood there with different expressions masking their faces. The woman was smiling sweetly, the laughing guy was still grinning while the other looked slightly confused. His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was set in a tight line, hinting that he was also a little frustrated over something. He glanced over at the woman, catching her eyes before mumbling something too quick and too quiet for me to hear from the distance that I stood at. She nodded, though, before letting her eyes drift back over to me.

"Can I get your name, honey?" Now, I caught a slight southern twang.

Breathing deeply, I cast my eyes upwards, "Isabella Marie Swan".

Her smile grew, "Ah, such a lovely name. Well, I'm Charlotte Whitlock and he's my husband and mate, Peter", she waved her hand towards the puzzled man. "Mr I-Laugh-A-Lot is our friend, practically family actually, Garrett".

Weirdly, as Garrett bowed lowly, I chuckled for the first time in a long while. It sounded like a bell ringing and that was what annoyed me. I missed sounding human, too. Sounding like a bloody door bell just wasn't good for me. That might sound stupid but it was true. God, I really was an idiot for thinking that a vampire's life was the way to go.

"So… We'd like you to join our little… family", Peter told me, sounding serious. "It isn't good for a newborn to run around on its own and I believe we might be able to help you".

Biting my lip, I had to stop myself retorting with attitude about how I had spent five months alone with no one watching me. The Volturi wouldn't have noticed at least one person from towns that were miles apart dying every few weeks. It wasn't that much of a big deal and plus I was relatively controlled since I hardly came into contact with any humans. But I kept my mouth shut.

"I don't mean that in a bad way, Isabella", he went on, "but I just had to say that it would be better if you learnt our way of life. We feed off of humans but we feed off of criminals".

That caught my attention like nothing else had before.

"Innocents who are pleasant don't deserve to die", Charlotte explained. "We think that the people in this world who cause trouble and demonstrate bad behaviour, like drug taking, rape, murder, etcetera. These types of people deserve to be punished".

I could feel myself being drawn to their way of thought and the way that they presented their ideas on life. Garrett stood behind them with a stern look on his face as he continued to nod along with everything they said. His eyes glittered with something that I couldn't name.

Peter smirked, lightening the mood, "Plus its fun seeing them squirm when they try to injure you and can't. It shows that they are weaker than we are. That is truly fun, right Gar?"

"Oh yeah! You walk in on something and you might be helping someone while your killing the scum of the earth", Garrett's eyes glazed over as if he was in a memory. "It's a huge thrill".

My hands clenched unconsciously as I visualised the image that Garrett had described. You wouldn't be a real demon as you could be saving an innocent life and you were ridding the world of someone who would only cause more trouble. It would be a way of redeeming yourself. It would mean I had a soul. I would prove him wrong…

"Okay, if it's fine, then I'll join you", I let my lips curve slightly. "I need to change my life and find my soul".

"Goodie!" Garrett squealed, "Now, can we please head out? We've gotta hurry it up if we want to get home before they visit… again".

"God you're such a baby", Peter grumbled quietly. "And yes, we're leaving".

OOO

The feeling of the wind whipping my hair back was different as I ran with my three new coven members. It was more freeing than when I had sprinted before. I don't know why but it just seemed that way. Maybe it was the thought of having more protection or the thought of finally getting rid of the loneliness that had been hanging around me for some time.

"We're expectin' visitors, dolly", Peter sniggered, "but I'll phone 'em and get more time for ya".

I was about to protest when Charlotte sped by us, giggling madly when she elbows Peter, making him trip over a fallen tree. Her blonde hair flew back, causing her scent to fly back towards me. It was sweet like everything nice but it had a slight tangy aroma. She continued running even as Peter was slowly catching up, leaping up to swing from the lower branches before speeding along the ground again.

"I'll kill you, Whitlock", he yelled, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

The sun was making itself known and I watched in awe as Garrett, Peter and Charlotte sparkled then ran back into the shade. My skin looked like it had diamonds encrusted in it but I was quick to dive back under the trees, feeling less self-conscious when I wasn't like a disco ball. This was just another silly reminder of him and his stupid meadow. God, how I hated everything about him. Them.

"They'll be brawling for hours now", Garrett called back as he leapt over a river. "It's like this at least once a month but, hey? At least I won't be alone, watching them banter between each other".

My lips curled as I caught up to him, my legs blurring underneath me but I hardly noticed. It was such a joyful feeling. Garrett's arms swayed with each stride he took and I could just imagine when he was a small child. Crazy and wild with excitement that only a kid could have. The image of a younger, more human Garrett made me smile cheerfully and I already felt the bond that was creating between the two of us. A bond of friendship.

"Didn't your mamma tell you not to stare", he mumbled in mock anger. "It's quite scary, Isa".

At that nickname, I froze. Isa? That was a change from being Bella anyway. And, for some strange but, at the same time, normal reason, I liked it a lot more than 'Bella' or 'Isabella'.

"My mother told me to live life while I still had it and never give up on love 'cos it's always going be there", I told him, "and look where that got me, Gar? Cold as ice, stone-like and stuck with a weirdo who tells me not to stare".

The look of surprise on his face turned into a wide grin before he was racing forward again, battering his way through the bushes and trees like his life depended on it. But I understood.

Finally…

I seriously hope you enjoyed reading this chapter because I had fun writing it.

Hopefully, you'll enjoy the rest to come and I'll have as much fun writing them as I did this one...