I ran north, ran toward the civilizations, ran away from her. I ran as fast as my body would carry me, and I pushed myself harder than I ever had. I ran until the smell of human flesh overwhelmed me and instinct kicked in. It had been days since I had fed, and when I ran upwind of a small town, I couldn't resist. I changed directions without even willing myself to do so.

The town was unprotected, and it wouldn't have mattered either way. I was famished, and I leapt at the first human that came into sight. A young man, strong and lean. I broke his neck before I drained his body. The blood invigorated my tired limbs. As I threw his spent corpse to the side, I heard the screams of terror begin. Without a second thought, I began to slaughter them all. It was a small settlement outside of the civilized towns, with no more than twenty people. I wouldn't have cared if there were a hundred. I drank until I could feed no more and killed those who were left. None would survive to speak of this attack.

When the rage had left me, I found myself in the middle of the town, surrounded by the bodies. I felt no remorse, only weariness over the inevitability of blood. My clothes were saturated in blood, completely ruined, and I felt the drops of blood still running down my chin. I could hear Alice whining in the back of my head, and the thought made me smile momentarily.

Alice.

Jasper.

Bella.

The thought of her sent me reeling again. I couldn't deny what I had seen, but the anger in her eyes... Thinking about that anger drove me into another rage, and I began to tear apart the town around me. I had destroyed half of the crude buildings when I noticed that I was being watched. Heard the pity that resonated from her mind. She stood on the edge of the settlement, face hidden by the shadows of darkness that had fallen among the trees. I fell into a crouch, baring my teeth at this new threat. She didn't move or flinch at the sound. Without a second's hesitation, I flew at her with the intention to destroy. I would not be taken by these demon rogue vampires of the south. I flew toward her and found myself on my back before I could even register her hand on my chest. As I lay there in shock, my eyes took in the beautiful face of an angel.

Esme.

I scrambled to my feet, staring blankly at the woman I had once called mother. I spent a moment taking in the sight of her slight frame, so familiar, yet new to my eyes. She drew me into her arms softly, crushing my body into hers with a visible sigh. I could feel the warmth of her love pouring out from her stone body, and it calmed me. I hugged her back, thankful. Not thankful for any one thing. Just thankful.

After a few moments, she pulled away from me. "We need to get out from the open," she said quietly. "We are quite close to the civilization, and our kind is not welcome in this area." I nodded in agreement, knowing she was right, and followed close behind her as she ran west toward some foothills. The humans knew enough of our existence to hunt us if they felt our presence. They rarely won those battles, but I was in no mood to fight off an angry mob. I would kill. From the look of Esme's eyes, however, she would not. Her caramel eyes shown bright, even in the darkness of the forest.

Although I was unsure of my exact location, I felt confident that the Cullen family kept a residence close by. As we began to make our way up the face of a cliff, I knew I was right. Within two miles, we came across a small cottage, tucked into the rocks. The hewed stone blended the house in with the mountain behind it, making the cottage invisible to the human eye. Even some vampires would have problems finding it, did they not know it was already there.

As I walked into the front room and looked out of the glass wall behind the fireplace, I knew that Esme had been staying here for some time. The building felt like...home. I was at peace in this place, and I felt Esme's smile on my back as her happy thoughts trickled out of her mind at an explosive rate.

I turned and hugged her again, smiling at her softly. I hadn't smiled in years, but it felt so natural to smile around her. As if I couldn't not be happy. But despite the happiness, I knew she had a purpose here.

"Alice told you I would come back."

Esme's eyes glittered with my words. "She told me that you had made a decision that had changed your path, yes. But she didn't know when or where you would come. She didn't even know if she could find you." She made a sorrowfully happy sound. "But here you are."
I shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to destroy this moment of happiness with the weight of the news I bore. I turned instead to the words of Alice. I started, "Alice said you could explain. She said you could tell me everything. Honestly, I need to hear everything because my mind is utterly fucked. I've seen things...people...I just don't know..."

"You saw Bella," Esme stated bluntly.

I looked into her hard eyes. "What happened? I left, and I thought she was gone. I knew she was. But today...what happened?"
Esme sighed as she glided to the couch and sunk into its thick cushions. I found my place on a short settee, not quite comfortable with the closeness of sharing a couch. Not with the conversation I knew would come. My eyes locked on Esme's face as she started the tale.

"I'm assuming you know what happened before you arrived at the meadow. Or, you know well enough to make a guess. No need to mince over words. Bella tried to kill herself and made a fine effort at it as well. Very nearly succeeded. But then, you thought she had. You wouldn't have left her otherwise, would you have?" My eyes turned away with shame, realizing that I had left her once. Esme's kind thoughts about eternal love brought me back to her words. "Of course not." She smiled.

"Alice called us just before she came upon you in the meadow. We all ran, of course, but it was too late. Jasper had already lost his battle with the bloodlust, and Bella was screaming in the throes of burning pain. Carlisle thought she would die during the transformation, her body had lost so much blood. I believe he completed a transfusion, added more blood to her body. I don't know. I was so wrapped up in helping Jasper.

"We brought Bella back to the house. We went about our normal lives. Alice looked for you to make a decision, looked for anything that would tell us where to find you, but she couldn't." Of course not, I thought. I was lost in a mountain cave, learning the limits of time. I had ceased to exist. Esme's words once again broke through my thoughts, and I brought my mind back to the present. "We tried to go on as if nothing had changed in our lives."

"But by then, everything had changed.

"The moment Bella awoke, Jasper felt the first lustful pull toward her. We all did, actually. He screamed his emotions to everyone in the house. His venom ran through her veins, and everything about his existence screamed that she was his. He fought with himself, half-heartedly it seemed to us, over his commitment to Alice. I don't know how he could ever hurt her like that. They were so perfect..."
I looked back up at Esme as her words drifted off, and her mind began to play memories of the early days. I remembered those times, those first days with Jasper and Alice. As Esme relived each decade in her mind, I smiled at the visions. Alice with giant sunglasses and long, flowing skirts. Jasper in pinstripes and top hats. The two of them dancing at Rose and Emmett's (third) wedding. Those were happy days.

Esme shook her head softly before she continued to speak. "The ties that bind vampires are easily broken, especially among those who drink from their nature source. You must have seen it while you were away with the Volturi. Jasper always did have the hardest time accepting our lifestyle, and with a newborn Bella dancing before his eyes, he forgot our more civilized nature." A memory flashed through her mind too quickly for me to focus on, and then she continued talking.

"I don't think Bella even knew what was going on at first. In those early days, she was so locked inside her own mind. I don't think I ever heard her speak after the change."

I saw Bella in Esme's memory, haggard and tired. Her face looked drawn, as if she refused to feed. She was sitting in the corner of a room, rocking on her heels and clutching to...but Esme shifted her thoughts before I could fully see what the object was.
"As the years wore on, I could see the change in her features. She became less apprehensive, more open to his advances. She was growing to love Jasper. The looks she gave to him were the same looks she had...I had seen those looks before," Esme caught herself. "He began to ignore Alice more and more, and Alice knew. Alice always knew.

"Alice tried to make it work. She tried to ignore the glances Jasper gave Bella, like she was willing to let Jasper have his fantasy as long as she could keep some part of him. When things started becoming...physical between the two, Alice would ignore the kisses and soft touches that we all saw exchanged between Jasper and Bella. At one point, I think Alice even suggested that Jasper should keep them both. She was desperate. Carlisle and I tried to help as well. We moved several times, hoping that the change in atmosphere would bring Alice and Jasper closer, or at least push Bella and Jasper apart. But it seemed that no one could stop it."

"And one day, they were gone." Esme stopped abruptly.

I looked up at her as her words ended, expecting her mind to continue. But even her thoughts were silent. Her eyes bore the full emotion of her words. She had watched as her family fell apart. I left her first, and then Jasper left behind me. Esme had lost Bella twice. Her family was gone, and she was left alone to wander. Her heart was broken. Reeling, my thoughts shifted abruptly from our previous conversation.

My voice shook with a tension that I didn't realize had crept into my body. Death and destruction seemed to follow me these days, and my mind immediately jumped to the worse conclusion. I feared her words, but I needed to hear them nonetheless.

"Esme, where is Carlisle?"