The day everything changed had started out normal. Jamie, ecstatic with his perfect record, now enjoyed a sizable territory. Hunting was bountiful, which meant it was less stressful. Humans only repopulated so fast, so the more territory you had, the less careful you had to be.

Bella had managed to numb herself during hunts. Blood ruled her existence in those first few months, but she was regaining a part of her conscience.

It wasn't like she had much choice. Jamie or no Jamie, she knew she needed blood to exist. But it was getting increasingly difficult looking into the faces of her victims, seeing the absolute terror there. They knew they were going to die. So she tried not to look. It worked, for a time.

The first time she was able to exert any kind of self-control was when she had grabbed a girl that was a few years younger than herself.

Just as Bella was about to lean in for the kill, she stopped short.

The girl was sobbing, begging, fighting against Bella's grip with pitiful effort.

Renee.

It was inexplicable. The girl looked nothing like Bella's mother. She had deep tan skin, jet black hair cropped to her shoulders, and brown eyes. But looking into her terrified face, all Bella could think of was her mother. She couldn't bite.

The burn ached in her throat, demanding the girl's blood, but for the first time, she was able to resist.

"Bella." Jamie had come up to them then, moving the girl's hair away from her neck so he could lean down and sniff. The girl grew more frantic, pulled harder, and screamed louder.

"Bella, finish that, please. I can't handle the noise any longer, and she'll start drawing attention," Leanne said, disposing of her own meal, the remains of what had been one of the girl's friends.

The group had certainly picked the wrong deserted alley to sneak off to.

"Bella, what is it, love?" Jamie's lips were at her own neck now, his whispered words tickling her skin there.

"There's something… about her."

Bella couldn't stop looking into the girl's face. The human was practically hyperventilating now, her pulse impossibly quick. It was becoming harder to resist.

"There's another option," Jamie whispered again, his lips trailing up to hover over her ear. "You could add her to our ranks."

Bella froze. Could she do that to this girl? She knew there were only two options for this human child, now that she had seen them. The choice was obviously being left to Bella, though. Meal or soldier? Definitely-dead or only-sort-of-dead?

Would she even be able to stop halfway? It seemed like it would be impossible. Only Jamie and, occasionally, Leanne could do it, that she knew of.

She yanked the girl closer, accidentally snapping one of her bones, and felt her ineffective fist beating against her.

"I'm sorry, either way," Bella whispered to the girl before sinking her teeth into her neck.

It was bliss. The girl's scream cut off almost immediately into a gurgle, her fight diminishing, and her soft body melting as Bella greedily drank her blood.

There was nothing, no pleasure in the world, which could compare to drinking blood. It was both the ultimate relief and the ultimate pleasure. She felt most alive in the middle of a kill, as if the human's last few heartbeats were her own, pumping the blood into her body.

If there was one downside, it was over too quickly. No, this girl would be a meal. Leave the soldier creation to Jamie, who had over a century of practice.

"Now, Bella, if you intend to keep this one, you need to stop."

No! She wanted to snarl, but settled for clinging even tighter to the limp body. She wanted every drop.

And just then, a picture of Renee's face came back clearer than it ever had.

If it hadn't, Bella wouldn't have been able to do the impossible, which was lift her mouth away from the soft neck and throw the girl as far from her as possible.

She heard the sickening crunch of bone as the girl smacked into the side of a building twenty yards away. Bella worried for a second that she had accidentally killed her before she heard the frantic flutter of a heart.

"Well done, Bella," Jamie said as he went over to inspect their pending addition, but Bella bolted back to their home base, not trusting herself to resist resuming the feeding.

She sat with Leanne all night in the rafters of the abandoned warehouse that was currently home. They were monitoring the other newborn's carefully, but Xavi did well keeping them in line. Bella had to begrudgingly admit that he was invaluable to their little coven.

It wasn't until the next night that Jamie came back carrying the girl. The sound of a heartbeat still made Bella's throat burn in anticipation, but enough venom had spread that the smell was no longer enticing. A few hisses came from the other newborns, so she and Leanne dropped back to the ground floor, just in case they had any issues.

"Come meet your first creation, love." Jamie set the girl down in the back corner of their cavernous space, growling at whoever dared to inch closer.

Bella approached slowly, taking in the girl's appearance, hoping for answers as to why she had had such a reaction to her.

"She's not screaming," Bella said, perplexed at the small whimpers.

She remembered the fire of transformation better than any of her human memories.

"Most do, but some don't," Jamie said, lifting the girl's wrist and pressing his nose to her skin, taking a deep inhale. "Smell that." He held the girl's wrist out, and Bella obliged.

"Venom," She answered.

"It smells like you," Jamie corrected.

He then caressed the changing human's dark hair, his hand lingering. "I can see why you wanted to save her. Such a pretty little girl."

Bella couldn't stop the hiss, and clenched her jaw.

But Jamie just laughed. "Careful, love. I've been known to have many favorites."

He thought her reaction was jealousy, but it had been something entirely different. She didn't want him to touch this young girl. She was so meek, so vulnerable.

Bella didn't correct him though.

In the two days it took the girl to finish her transformation, they had had to dispose of several of their newborns. Being in the city had its advantages of an abundant food supply, but it also meant they had to keep a lower profile.

It was one of Bella's least favorite tasks.

"It's a good thing we're adding one soon." Leanne glanced over to the writhing, whimpering girl in the corner. "Hopefully she can show better control than this one did."

Leanne kicked the dismembered body at her feet before tossing the pieces to Xavi, who was waiting at the dumpster outside.

The thick, sweet, sickening smell of burning vampire hung in the warehouse for longer than Bella cared for. It kept the others in line, though. A looming threat of what happened to those who stepped out of line.

The girl suddenly twisted violently, her whimpering becoming louder.

"Please, please," the girl cried out. Bella took her hand, but the girl yanked it back. "Please kill me!"

Bella pressed her lips together, stilling completely as she watched the final stages of the transformation. Should she kill her? Would that be the most compassionate thing to do?

She didn't have an answer, but also knew she couldn't bring herself to do it. So she waited, and watched, and stressed about the decision she had made. Some moments she wished she had drained the girl and been done with it; sometimes she wished the transformation would happen quicker so that she could explain herself to the poor thing; most of all, though, Bella wished she had never gone down that alleyway.

It wasn't much longer before the girl settled, becoming completely still, and opened her eyes.