Happy belated 4th of July, y'all who celebrate such.

"Be careful," I said for the five hundredth time today. I'll say it a million more times if it would mean she would be safe.

I should go with her. I should follow her. Creepiness be damned, I met her when I flagged her down on the street. I don't care about acting irrationally.

"I will," she said, "I'll be safe for you. I won't even be in the city. It'll be as safe as your house." Or she could just come to my house. And I could cover the glass walls with metal.

No, you can't trap her, I told myself, she had a life before you, and you are not going to end it.

"I'll be here tonight, waiting," I said in her ear. I had kept my promise and turned her fire escape into my guard tower. With some undeniable advantages over the usual kind.

"I'm going to miss you," she admitted, "But I'll see you tonight."

It would be our first day apart since the graduation party. Telling her the secret had made us inseparable, and if we were not together during the day, I was always there at night to keep away the monsters not in her closet but stalking the streets below, thirsty.

I was freaking out, but I couldn't smother her. She needed this day with her family.

"To last you through the day," she said in a low voice that may have reversed puberty in me.

Then she kissed me in a different way. Where did she learn how to do this? My knees actually buckled, but I caught myself and wrapped my arms around her lower back, lifting her up. Instead of providing satisfaction for this sure to be lonely day, the kiss only made me hungrier. It reminded me how much I needed her, today and always.

When she broke away and I set her down, she smiled smugly, knowing her power over me.

"Thank you," I squeaked. She laughed over how she broke me.

"Adrian, let's go," Kyle said from the driver's seat of the car. I tried not to glare at him although I rather liked Kyle. I think he liked me too, but he knew I needed to be afraid of him. He managed that quite well.

Adrian and I both looked at each other as if we had to memorize every part of the other. I noticed on every curve of her body from the bridge of her nose to the arc of the small of her back. I focused on the coffee color of her eyes to how her straight black hair fell like a waterfall around her face. She traced my jaw with her finger and put her hand to where my heart swiftly beat.

"I love you," we said at the same time. We had an uncanny knack to say those three words in unison. Like we could both feel when the other needed to hear it. She smiled and laughed a little.

"Not even one day," she reminded me. Then she walked backwards to the car. My eyes didn't leave hers until the car drove past me and out of sight.

I went home and napped. It had been a while since I had a day of just me, myself, and I not that I felt overdue for one. I was spending nights waiting outside Adrian's room for any foolish intruders and then days guarding La Push. I was sleeping two hours a day on average, but it was worth it. I'll rest when there is no threat to Adrian's life. The battle was in the coming weeks, and then I expected life to be easy and blissful. But, you know, it is life so probably not.

I hung out with my family. They hadn't seen much of me recently. Mom and I worked on her newest restoration project and a birthday present for my Dad- a Batmobile replication. It was fun, and it felt nice to get my hands dirty working on such a cool project. Later, we put a cover over the secret project. Then Dad and I played catch except we were throwing the baseball across the length of football field.

The sky was turning pink soon, and I borrowed a car so I could see Adrian. I had had a really pleasant day with my family, but I was eager to see my imprint again.

The last week's nights had been wonderful. I would sit on her fire escape, and Adrian would be on her bed next to the open window. She invited me in almost every night, but I tended to dwarf her tiny room.

It was a very peaceful time. Coming there every night made the fire escape into a sort of home. We would talk quietly, and I had learned many things about her. Like how her favorite flower were Peppermint Twists. I left them on her windowsill when I left the next day's morning. And she told me about how she wanted desperately to live in New York. She would listen in silent awe when I reminisced of my former home. Sometimes she would read aloud from whatever book she was reading. Even if the story was uninteresting, I could concentrate on the rise and fall of her voice and how she put emotion into what she read. I learned my imprint was an excellent storyteller.

Some nights she had to do homework, and I'd work to make her laugh or help her where I could. My education was somewhat lacking for the first time in my life. When I was homeschooled, my family moved quickly through subjects so I was always a year or two ahead. But my mom became my teacher when my family came back (I can't believe that was mere months ago. It hadn't even been a year since I left Forks and phased for the first time.), and she wasn't the greatest teacher. I wasn't a very good student either. A few days ago, I brought it up, and she said, "Oh, your sophomore year is over." Alright then. If I went back to school in September, we would have the forgery skills to say I passed with flying colors.

I parked the car in a nicer area of Seattle and then walked to her apartment. Then I ducked into the alley and climbed up to the fire escape on her floor. Her window revealed a dark window. I frowned. She should be home by now. Maybe she was eating dinner or walking the dog or something. I waited and waited, but her door didn't open.

I tentatively knocked the window first softly then louder as panic took over. Red was clouding my vision. I hadn't lost control and phased in a long time. I took deep breaths. She was probably fine. I didn't believe that though.

Her door opened! I gasped with delight until I realized it was just her dog, Truman, a small little mixed breed. The dog really liked me which Adrian found very hilarious joking that we were "cousins."

The dog barked loudly at me. It jumped on the bed and scratched at the window. I shushed it a first, the normal worry of being discovered by her brother arriving. But nobody came. I closed my eyes and listened closely. No voices, footsteps, heartbeats.

I couldn't even breathe. Where is she? The world was tipped over, and I acknowledged the feeling of dread I've had since I saw the window without light. Something is not right.

{0}

Adrian POV

I'd be a wreck without Kyle. He always knows what to do. For example, our secondhand (or third or fourth) car's battery died for no clear reason. I'm clueless about cars. If I had been alone, I would have panicked and called 911.

Kyle said no problem. He had a friend not even two blocks away who would be happy to give us a jump.

Good thing I have a brother with a good head and a boyfriend straight off of Pimp My Ride. I know some things about some things, but I know I'll never be in trouble if that trouble pertains to cars.

It's dark already. We got caught up hanging out with my aunt and uncle and cousins so we stayed later than planned. But the time spent there we saved in a trafficless ride home. I tried to make Kyle move quickly. The sooner we get home, the safer. He sees my rush, and although he doesn't understand it, he suggests a shortcut through between a toy store and a 7-11.

The fear came before the threat. From the black sky, a pale and beautiful man appeared. Kyle and I both gasped. The man was taller than me, but not as tall as my brother. His milky skin and golden blonde hair were contrasted by the glowing scarlet of his eyes. He landed gracefully on the concrete from the roof above. I know what he is and what he wants. I am happy that Kyle does not, happy in that moment of sure death, that he will not even know what happened if this vampire chooses to kill us.

"Woah," Kyle breathed. I took his hand and squeezed tightly.

"Jacob!" I shrieked desperately. We're far from home, and he might not even be there. But I had to try.

The vampire laughed and looked at my brother's frame like it was a handsome new jacket.

"Yes, I can use you."

{0}

I have had several moments where I thought, how could it get worse?

I would face James a hundred more times, no a hundred thousand before, as a skinny little human if it meant not to have this happen.

Stop the planet. I want to get off.

I first called her cell phone, but it went to machine about a hundred times. It rang so I knew it was on. And she always has her phone by her side. Something was not right.

So I called Kyle. I stole the number off her phone for emergencies. There was the same response I got from her.

It was getting later, and later and she had not returned.

I had broken into her house by now. It was haunted by her scent of almonds and citrus and vanilla. Truman was nipping my heels, and I realized he was hungry. I fed him because it felt like it would make things less chaotic in my head and heart. Wrong.

I found her aunt's number. If she was alright and stuck in traffic or something, her aunt would think her boyfriend is creepy. But I have a lot more to lose than that if it's the other way around.

"Hello?" a woman answered warmly.

"Um, hello. Is Kyle or Adrian Stacey there?"

"No, they left a few hours ago. May I ask whose calling?"

"This is Adrian's boyfriend. She was supposed to meet me, and she never showed up. I called them both and no answer."

"Oh, no," she said quietly, "I'll call them both, but there wasn't even traffic tonight. I don't know what might have happened."

"I'm going to look for them."

"Dear, be careful. Please call me if something's wrong."

"I will," I said.

I pressed END. My breathing wasn't irregular but seemingly absent. Like when James had knocked me on the floor at the baseball stadium again. There was even littler hope left in me though. I may never catch my breath this time.

Then I had thought I was dead. Now the world is dead, but I am alive. Which is far more terrible.

I drove through the streets with the windows down, inhaling through my nostrils wherever I could find their scent. It's all over the city, but I had forever to look.

I found their car. It was abandoned a long ways away from the house. I parked my car behind it.

I followed the trail left by her and Kyle and followed it into an alley.

I smelled the bloodsucker.

It stung my nostrils, and I growled loudly. I followed the leech's smell over rooftops until it was met by another's I recognized from chases in the forests of La Push.

Victoria.

I let out a mix of whimper and whine. I jumped off the roof, not wanting to be where my apocalypse happened. I wasn't crying. A shell of a person couldn't produce tears. I walked by the trail of my scent because I had closed my eyes to block out this awful, cruel world.

I found my car, got in, and sobbed without tears. The world had no place for me anymore.

I went back to her apartment. I didn't see my life going on for much longer. I wanted to be where her smell and memory is alive though for the remainder. Her ghost would hurt, but hurt was unavoidable now.

I went in through the window and Truman licked my face as I shook and moaned. It was the sound of the dying.

I was content not to move. It felt like all the light in the world was gone. Like I'd never be happy again. This hollowness was my new state of being, I could tell.

There was shock, yes, and definite sadness. Then some anger. What cruel world turns a stranger into your greatest love-makes this somebody essential for survival- only with the stars planning to remove everything you gave her? Meaning everything?

I didn't turn when I heard the door open or look when I felt the cold on my arms. Even if was the Volturi Guard, I wouldn't have flinched. Fear was gone from me too. Every fear had manifested itself into reality. What was left to dread? My own death? I would welcome it with open arms. Every possibility of happiness left in this life was erased.

"Jacob," my mother cooed sympathetically, "My baby boy. What happened?"

I couldn't speak. I couldn't find words to describe what had happened. It wasn't even what you could describe as sadness, really. It was as if the sun had exploded, but I was the only one in the dark. It was as if any reason to feel happy, angry, obligated, terrified, depressed was gone. There was no reason for me to exist, let alone feel.

"Jake? What's wrong?" my father asked. I knew both were very concerned, but I just couldn't care.

"Where are Adrian and Kyle?" Mom asked. At her name, I reacted. Another moan of the dead escaped from me. Mom and Dad looked at each other then back to me. Mom started shaking me.

"Jacob, baby, please tell us what happened," she begged.

They went on begging and shaking me, lifting my chin, trying to get my attention for a while. Finally, I just whispered, "Gone," and broke down under the weight of the word.

So…review.