Survivor

Once upon a time I believed in stories that started that way. The prince rescued the girl and they lived happily ever after. Now I believe life gives you problems. If you wait on the prince, you may die of old age... or in my case go crazy.

It started when I jumped off a cliff into storm roughened waters. I didn't know it but Victoria was at the bottom waiting for me. I hit my head on a rock and when I woke up I was in Victoria's lair. The walls were rock. I was in a cave somewhere. No doubt I was far enough from civilization that no one could hear me if I screamed. To prove the point, she tortured me body and mind. I screamed but there was no prince charming to hear my cries. There wasn't even a bigger monster ready to get rid of her.

For her big finish she turned me into a vampire so I could suffer for eternity. The burn was like nothing I could have imagined. She nipped my finger and there was nothing I could do but scream as the venom slowly invaded my body. It started in my hand and went slowly up my arm. From there it branched out to my heart. I remember begging and pleading to die the entire time but there was no one there willing to grant my wish. Victoria was the only one there. She laughed when I screamed. By the time that I was a new vampire I had burned for more than a week.

I woke up to a strange and overwhelming new world. There was too much space in my head. Light was too bright, my body felt strange to me and my senses gave me too much information. I was held in a cage. I was at her mercy.

She threw humans in with me though my newborn year. I hated myself more each time I fed. Every time she told me it was Edward's fault for not caring enough to protect me or take me with him. She taunted me that I had been left for her, human and defenseless, while they went on to their next life, the next school, the next human. Eventually I began to believe it.

I had no one but Victoria to talk to. Her and my food. Eventually I could talk to my food, though they were afraid of me, and with just cause. Another human was never brought for me until I killed the one that was caged with me so none of my food lived. I tried to leave them alive and talk to them but no matter what I did eventually the thirst took over and the human died.

This lasted for 15 months 23 days and approximately 9 hours. The girl that came out of that cage wasn't Bella Swan but a creature of vengeance. I wanted to punish Edward for each and every moment of my torture and captivity. Victoria promised to help me and I took my place at her side. We moved at night and fed inconspicuously. I didn't know where I was going only that I was eventually see Edward again, just one more time. He wouldn't live for another meeting.

At 15 months 25 days and 2 hours I first saw myself in a mirror. We had broken into a clothing store to get the basics for both of us. We needed to be able to be seen by humans without causing a panic so I dressed as the innocent girl I no longer knew. Victoria went for something more sexy.

The next sunrise, dressed as Bella swan I went hunting, not for a human to sate my thirst but for a vampire to make suffer. There were no new vampires around. I screamed in frustration. Victoria told me that I had to learn to fight.

I followed her instructions and eventually I could fight. I was fierce; a goddess of destruction born from the ashes of a girl I could barely remember. I fought a few nomads that we ran across. Afterwards Victoria would tell me what I did wrong in the fight. Victoria made a mistake though. As she trained me and I learned how to fight I reached a point that I could fight better than her. Her usefulness was at an end. Eventually I used a combination of surprise and skill and killed her.

It was 16 months 10 days and about 23 hours that Victoria died and I started out on my own.

I played my part to perfection. I was a scared vampire looking for a new way to live. I couldn't stay long, there was someone following me. It didn't take long till I met up with Garrett. I don't think he believed me completely so he stayed with me as I fled from imagined danger. When Garrett finally believed me he told me about his friend Carlisle and his family. They were living on the outskirts of Quebec Canada. Garrett helped me get clothing appropriate to the weather to keep up the human charade as we paid a visit to his friends.

It was 24 months almost exactly before we caught up with them.

Garrett and I had developed what he thought of as a friendship during the time though things never got physical. I didn't really know why. He was good looking enough, funny, and a good story teller but to me he was my ticket inside of the Cullen house.

He left once I was in Quebec Canada, something about a girl he'd been keeping waiting. I watched the house for 3 and a half days before I approached.

Alice opened the door to me. I changed my story. Victoria was hunting me after I managed to escape her. I was welcomed in with open arms. They were all very apologetic about abandoning me. Jasper had gone to visit friends which made my ruse all that easier. There was no one who could read my mind and Jasper wasn't there to read my emotions.

The family had a pack mentality though it seemed. They never went anywhere alone. I only wanted Edward's life. He was the one who had convinced them all to leave me. Then I'd leave.

I could learn to hunt animals on my own. Surprisingly that desire was real not faked to gain access to the house's inhabitants. I had come to have some genuine affection for the rest of the family by the time Jasper returned. He seemed to believe the reasons for my return.

The problem was Edward. He believed that now I was back I should fall into his arms. He was so sure I should forgive him. He followed me around almost constantly. That would have been fine. It would have given me my chance. But even with Edward's constant pursuit there was always someone else nearby. I could have screamed but I had become a patient hunter.

It was 25 months and 20 days before I had my shot at Edward. I approached from downwind as if I was stalking any other creature. Edward was focused on hunting. He didn't notice me.

I lept at Edward and I would have had his head if my leap hadn't been intercepted midair by Jasper. I found myself fighting for my life. I had been more than a match for the nomads we had crossed so this didn't worry me, except that Jasper wasn't the one I wanted to fight. I didn't want his head. The scary thing was I was loosing. Eventually Jasper had me on my knees with his mouth at my throat.

I guess I hadn't fooled him at all and to make it worse now he was going to kill me and I was never going to get my chance at Edward's head. I wasn't ready to die, even though I had prepared myself that my revenge might result in my death if I was successful.

Jasper's teeth scored my throat and I waited for him to take my head but he hesitated, sniffing me. I did the same and the world changed. I needed Jasper. I needed him to take me. I wanted to belong to him. But, I had to find a way to kill Edward. The two motivations clashed in my mind and heart.

I passed out, though I could feel Jasper carrying me. It was a long time before he put me down, a lot longer than if he'd simply taken me back to the house.

Was Jasper going to torture me now? I hadn't gotten my chance at Edward and I needed Jasper. Would he hurt me more?