I flipped through the newspapers from the last few weeks. Headlines Read:
“DEATH TOLL ON THE RISE”
“POLICE FEAR GANG ACTIVITY”
“Murder Epidemic Continues — Police Have No New Leads”
“SEATTLE TERRORIZED BY SLAYINGS”
The death toll in Seattle had made headline news for the past few weeks and I knew I had a limited amount of time before the Volturi would have to put in an appearance. I was almost surprised they hadn’t. I’d been breaking all the laws and it was only matter of time before they would put an end to what I had done. I only hoped that by the time they found me I would have tasted the sweet blood of Bella Swan and the Cullen family would finally be destroyed.
I was very limited in the control I had over my newborn soldiers. As not to draw attention to myself, the newborns knew nothing of who I was. I was simply their creator. I would transform the young humans in complete darkness as Riley brought them to me. This way as they would never catch a glimpse of me. Riley would be the only person they would see or know. He would educate them on who they were and what they had become, only telling them what they needed to know as to maintain order.
It has been difficult to say the least. Relying on Riley in many ways has been nothing short of a complete disaster, bringing me these babies, teenagers no more that 15 years old in some cases. Often it was difficult for me stop long enough to transform them. So young, so small, I unknowingly drank many dry. Regardless all were seemingly disturbed in some way exhibiting no control, worse than your typical newborn. Riley was a newborn himself and therein laid the difficulty in teaching them restraint. I would have proved a much better authoritarian, however, because of Edward’s ability to read minds and Alice’s insight’s into the future I couldn’t make any decisions regarding Bella Swan’s demise. I was even worried that if I thought of her for too long Edward would somehow track me down. I figured the only way I had a chance of getting to them was by enlisting someone else to make all the decisions. It would have to be someone they did not know and could not anticipate. If a decision was going to be made it would have to be at the last minute. This covert system plagued my mind. You have no idea how hard it is not to think of ways to kill your enemy and even worse to put your desires in the hands of another person.
Figures, the one prey James never caught would not only be the pet of a vegetarian vampire coven but the friend to a pack of werewolves. She would be no easy feat, yet all these obstacles made me cling to the desire of cutting her throat all that much more. I knew I there was a strong chance I would face the Volturi’s death penalty for my public indiscretions but to avenge James was my only purpose now. Even if it meant a slow and painful death, it would be worth it to see Bella Swan and the Cullens pay for the love they had taken from me.
It infuriated me that James should die because the masochist Cullen boy decides to fall in love with a human. That night in the woods, we all had gotten a whiff of the girl and the burning sensation was unbearable. How could the Cullens torture themselves with a scent such as hers for so long? James and I in all our years together had never encountered a love between a vampire and human that did not end in death or transformation so why should this experience be any different? No vampire brings a human for a night out of baseball if not as the midnight snack. The more I thought about it the more it sickened and angered me. I never asked to be a vampire. Yet here I am, thirsting on the blood of humans, damned to roam the earth forever as is Edward. If he loves her that much, why not just turn her into one of us? Why punish himself and all of us other vampires that find her so appetizing? To protect her from his own kind, kill his own for this simple girl made no sense to me, made no sense to my James.
That’s what sparked James’ interest in the girl to begin with, the fact that Edward was so quick to protect her, not as his meal but as something more. It didn’t help that Alice, the only prey that he was never able to catch, had made her way into the Cullen clan. She too ready to protect Bella. James, overwhelmed by her human scent, tracked her nearly eight decades ago helpless and alone in that asylum. I had never seen James so infuriated when he found Eli, a vampire worker in the asylum, took it upon himself to intervene by changing her into a vampire before James could catch her. To James, the hunt was a zero sum game. What Eli had gained in a new vampire, James had lost in dessert.
For James, Bella in that instant, had become the forbidden fruit. The greater the challenge, the greater and more enjoyable the reward. She could have been the most delectable human he had ever killed. At least that’s what he would tell himself. For him, for US, the hunt became our purpose. There was always a new target and the more difficult the better. I admit that’s what I loved about him, his love of the hunt. He was the best tracker I had ever encountered, a prized predator in my eyes. I thought of him as my piece of heaven in an eternity of hell. He was the chaser and I the evader. As a pair we fit so neatly together. We did.
Now I was knee deep in newborns, wreeking havoc on Seattle with little time to convince Riley to take some course of action. My poor, pathetic little Riley. I found my small town Forks boy only five miles from the Swan home. The day I transformed him he was on his way to Antioch University in Seattle, finally taking that step to leave home for the first time. I can’t believe that was almost 18 months ago. Little did he know how his life would change. The key to his allegiance was to make it seem like what I did to him was worth more than he could ever imagine.
As my first knight in this game of chess I needed to find someone who knew his way around Forks, could exhibit some self control, was mature, yet impressionable. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to his baby blue eyes and blond hair and youthful energy. His attractiveness would only help in my plans to seduce him. I knew the best way to draw him in was for him to fall in love with me and to convince him of an impending war. If he loved me, he would fight for me and by implanting these ideas in his head that we could control Seattle I could sit back and watch a war unfold. It wouldn’t be long until he was putty in my---
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. I had forgotten the time and I was sure it was Riley at the door.
“Victoria?” Riley slowly opened the front door. Respecting my paranoia he quickly checked behind him before closing it. It was important no one, especially the newborns catch wind of where I was. Should the Cullen clan come into contact with any of them I didn’t want them to collect valuable information regarding my whereabouts.
Riley was never late for our evening rendevous, a clear sign of his commitment.
“You’re right on time. I missed you while you were gone.” I slowly approached him with my pleading eyes, arms curling around his neck to draw him in. I always began our meetings affectionately and lovingly before getting down to business.
“I can’t wait until this ordeal is over with. I hate being apart from you for so long.” When he spoke to me he always looked deeply into my eyes. He was holding me so tightly now as if afraid I would flee if he let go. I’ll admit at times I felt vulnerable to his touch.
Out of loneliness perhaps I longed for his embrace. Sometimes I even caught myself wondering what would happen if he were to survive.
He gently combed his hands through my hair and gently touched my lips with his. Without breaking hold he led me to a loveseat where we sat engulfed in one another. I always looked forward to these moments but I knew how long I would allow it to last. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t get emotionally involved but I couldn’t. Even Riley was expendable. I would allow this lovefest to go on for no more than 15 minutes. Then I would see where we were in numbers.
Riley quickly pulled away. Barely audible, he asked, “Are you okay? You seem to be somewhere else. What is bothering you?”
All I could think to say was, “How many?”
