I don't own anything Twilight. Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyers. No copyright infringement intended. I'm just playing around with her creation.

Chapter 1: A Not So Happy Birthday

Bella's Point of View

Even if I was by myself, I could still celebrate his birthday. I know I was supposed to forget and move on, but…that just wasn't possible. Even if he didn't want me anymore and didn't love me, that didn't mean I would feel the same way and not want him, ever.

I had spent the last month or so trying to find this special place, our meadow. I had managed to stumble across it yesterday, literally. It didn't emit the same magical aura it had the first time I was here, I figured it was due to the fact that I didn't have my supernatural companion.

I was back today in order to celebrate his 105th birthday. To the rest of Forks it would have been his 18th but since I was privy to his families LITTLE secret, I knew the truth.

I laid out a blanket on the dried, brittle grass and kneeled down on top of it. I looked around at the once gorgeous and whimsical scenery, now arid and dull and like every other field I've seen, and very lonely. I sighed and pulled the small piece of chocolate cake from my bag then pulled back the saran wrap.

I cut away a small bit with my fork and held it to the sky. "Happy Birthday……"

After almost a year I still couldn't say his name. I put the fork in my mouth just as my eyes started to sting and my jaw tightened as I tried to force away the tears. I should not be here; I should not be doing this. I must be a masochist for putting myself through this kind of pain.

But at least if I was going to breakdown here, I would be alone to do it.

Alone. That was a word I never thought I would say after I had met him. Anyone could tell how much in love we were. Angela would tease me repeatedly (always in a nice way) about how we were so 'sickly sweet in love.'

Where had it all gone wrong? So I got a paper cut, big deal. It was less blood than when James attacked me and Jasper hadn't done anything then. It would have been a minor thing if he hadn't of shoved me away into a stack of glass plates, resulting in the damage being more severe.

I could understand if Jasper left for a bit to cool off, it's not like I held a grudge against the poor guy. But why had he left me? Why did his family leave me? He thought I was in danger cause of what he was, heck; I was in danger just walking from my room to the toilet.

I scoffed as I replayed our final moments together in the forest behind my house. The point when I stopped living, where my life ceased to be. Sure, after four months I could finally pull myself from my room, but in Jacob's words, I was a shell of what I used to be. I never smiled or laughed, listened to music or read. I even ripped the stereo out of my truck that Emmett installed on my last birthday. Everything reminded me of him.

How could he do this to me? Did Alice not see how this would affect me? How his leaving would kill me? Or did he just not give a damn? I guess when you fall out of love, you stop caring.

Somehow I had managed to finish my slice of cake and I started to clean up. At exactly that moment, a figure stepped out from the trees about thirty feet away. I stood up and gazed out over the dried up grass to the still form on the other side.

I was surprised to see someone, I was far from any trail here and I wasn't expecting company. Then my eyes focused on the motionless figure, the whitish skin, and the eyes, that even at a distance the color was obvious. This face was not the one I wanted to see. This was not the face I grieved for, but I knew that the man facing me was no stray hiker, like I had thought at first.

"Laurent!" I cried in astonished delight.

I probably should have been afraid of him but I seemed to be missing the fear gene, or so I was teased about often enough.

When I first met Laurent he was a member of James's coven. He was afraid of James so he hadn't been involved with the hunt that followed; a hunt where I was the prey, plus being protected by a bigger coven than his own helps. He had talked about being interested in the vegetarian lifestyle; so he'd gone to Alaska to live with the other civilized coven there, the other family that refused to drink human blood for moral reasons. The only other family that lived like… but I couldn't let myself think the name, his name or the family name, they were taboo for me. For some reason I was okay with saying the other family members names, but I couldn't say his or the last name I had dreamed of taking as my own some day.

Sure, I should have some a semblance of fear, but all I felt was overpowering satisfaction. The proof stood in front of me, proof that, somewhere in the same world where I lived–he did exist.

"Bella?" he asked, looking more overwhelmed than I probably was.

"You remember." I smiled.

He grinned back. "I didn't expect to see you here." He strolled toward me; his expression didn't look all that surprised, it was hopeful actually.

"I do live here. I thought you'd gone to Alaska."

"You're right," he agreed. "I did go to Alaska. But I'm back now. When I found the Cullen place empty, I thought they'd moved on."

"Oh." I bit my lip as the name made the wound in my heart and soul throb violently. It took me a second to compose myself. Laurent waited with curious eyes.

"They did move on," I finally managed to tell him.

"Hmm," he murmured. "I'm surprised they left you here. No offense, but weren't you kind of a pet of theirs or something?"

I smiled dryly. "Yeah, kind of."

"Hmm," he said, thoughtful again.

At that precise moment, I realized his eyes were too red if he was trying to adapt to the animal blood. After all this time, his eyes should be golden brown by now or at least close to brown not this startling crimson red. All good vampires had golden eyes.

I took an instinctive step back, and his curious, dark red eyes followed the movement. The corner of his mouth twitched upward.

"Do they visit often?" he asked, still casually and took a deep breath.

"Lie," from somewhere in my memory, a beautiful velvet voice whispered apprehensively.

I was surprised at the sound of his voice. The motorcycle was safe as kittens next to this, so why was I hearing his voice now? I did what the voice told me to do.

"Sometimes," I tried to make my voice composed and relaxed. "You know how they get distracted…it's probably not as long to them as it is to me," I was beginning to babble. I needed to shut up.

"Hmm," he said again. "The house smelled musty and unused, like it had been unoccupied for a while…"

"Lie better than that, Bella," the voice nearly hissed.

"They never stay long," I tried. "I'll tell Carlisle that you stopped by." I pretended to deliberate for a second. "But I probably shouldn't mention it to…Edward." I had the hardest time managing to say his name, and it twisted my expression (along with my stomach) on the way out, sullying my deception. "He has such a temper. He's still irritable about the whole James thing." I rolled my eyes and waved one hand facetiously, like it was water under the bridge.

"Is he really?" Laurent asked pleasurably… almost like he was happy about that fact and it concerned me.

"Mm-hmm." I didn't trust my voice so I kept my reply short.

In my head, I heard a low snarl as Laurent took a casual step to the side, bringing him slightly closer to me.

"So how are things in Denali? Carlisle said you were staying with Tanya and her family?" My voice was too high and I hoped he didn't notice the worry that laced it.

"I like Tanya, she's very nice," he mused. "And I like her sister Irina even more… I'm not used to being in one place so long, it was strange, but I enjoy the advantages, the uniqueness of it. But, the restrictions are difficult; I don't know how they've managed for so long…sometimes I cheat."

I couldn't swallow or breathe. My foot started to slide back, but I froze when his red eyes flashed down to catch the movement.

"Jasper has problems with that, too." I said in a faint voice "but he's doing pretty well considering."

"Don't move," the voice whispered. I tried to listen but the urge for flight was very great and I had to bite my lip to focus on my movements.

"Really? Is that why they left?" Laurent seemed interested.

"No," I answered honestly. "Jasper is very careful."

"Yes," Laurent agreed. "I try to be also."

He deliberately took a step forward. I need to think fast.

"Did Victoria ever find you?" I asked, breathless. It was the first question that popped into my head. It was one of the worst questions I could have asked.

Victoria, who had helped James hunt me, and then disappeared, she was not someone I cared to know about at this exact moment. But Laurent paused.

"Yes," he said, hesitating on that step. "I actually came here to do a favor for her." He made a face.

"What favor?" I said eagerly, inviting him to continue. I needed to know what he as doing so I could think of a way to counter.

"She's sort of… upset with you, Bella."

"Me?" I squeaked. I staggered back another step. The frantic growling in my head made it hard to hear.

"I know, it seems a little backward to me, too. But James was her mate, and your Edward killed him." He shook his head and chuckled.

His name tore against my unhealed wounds like a hot serrated blade. Even now, while I skirted along the perimeter of death, it would be a pain I died with.

Laurent was oblivious to my reaction. "She thought it would be more appropriate to kill you than Edward – mate for mate. She asked me to get the lay of the land for her, to scout ahead. I didn't imagine you would make this so easy for me. So maybe her plan was flawed, apparently it wouldn't be the revenge she imagined. You must not mean very much to him if he left you here defenseless, fair game."

Another stab, another jagged tear through my chest, another scream I had to bite back.

A mischievous grin rearranged his features. "You've caught me at a very bad time, Bella. I didn't come to thisplace on Victoria's mission at the moment, I was hunting. I'm quite thirsty, and you do smell… simply delicious." As if he meant it as a compliment Laurent looked at me with approval.

Laurent's weight shifted slightly, and I stumbled back another step. He frowned. "I suppose she'll be angry, all the same."

"Then why not wait for her? Besides, your eyes aren't black, you can't be that thirsty." I choked out.

"Well, aren't you very educated on vampire anatomy." He smirked at my correct observation.

"Threaten him," his beautiful voice was distorted with dread as he ordered me.

"He'll know it was you," I whispered obediently and tried to sound confident. "You won't get away with this."

"And why not?" Laurent's smile widened. He gazed around the small opening in the trees to see if there was anyone else present. "The scent will wash away with the next rain. No one will find your body; you'll simply go missing, like so many, many other humans. If he cares enough to investigate he might think of me, but I've been in Alaska remember."

"Beg," my hallucination pleaded.

"Please, don't-" I gasped.

Laurent shook his head, his face kind. "Look at it this way, Bella. You're very lucky I was the one that found you and not Victoria."

"Am I?" I mouthed, faltering another step back.

Laurent followed my steps, lithe and graceful.

"Yes," he assured me. "I'll be very quick, you won't feel a thing. Oh, I'll lie to Victoria about that later, naturally, just to appease her. But if you knew what she had planned for you, Bella…" He shook his head and cringed in disgust. "I swear you'd be thanking me for this."

"I would be thanking you? And what if Victoria found out the truth? What would happen to you then?" I was pulling at loose strings now. I didn't know what to do so I just stalled until I could think of a plan.

Laurent shrugged indifferently and took another step closer. "That's a minor technicality. I'll think of something if it comes up."

"Don't just stand there, do something!" the velvety inner voice shouted at me, startling me into action.

Not knowing what else to do to protect myself, I acted on instinct. With all my strength I brought my leg back, and then swung it, kicking Laurent directly in the groin. I didn't wait to see if he doubled over like a human would, I turned and ran.

"Oh like that did any good." It was the only thing I could think of. I didn't her my mystery voice giving out any more suggestions. Oh great, now I'm talking back to the voice in my head.

Just as I came to the tree line I was violently knocked off my feet when my hair was pulled and my body came to a shuddering stop. I landed on my back and winced as I looked up and saw Laurent standing over me with a smug smile.

"Did you honestly think a human could hurt a vampire, even in that way?" his voice was cracking, obviously trying to stifle a laugh.

I cringed and rolled onto my side. The force of the impact to my back had rendered me speechless and nearly immobile. A cold hand grasped the back of my neck and pulled me up to my feet. I recoiled when I heard him whisper into my ear.

"On second thought, I will take you to Victoria and let her do what she wants with you."

Great, I made matters worse. Before I could even think to react, I felt a fist jab into my stomach and everything went blurry. I hazily remember myself being thrown over Laurent's shoulder before he ran into the forest at top speed, and then everything went black.

____________________________________

Jacob's Point of View

With the Cullen's gone, the whole pack was surprised when we came across the scent of an unknown vampire. We followed the scent for miles. Everyone grew worried as the scent meandered closer and closer to town.

We emerged into a small clearing and I looked around. I wonder if this is the same clearing Bella was searching for. It was small and around the area we had been searching in before…before I grew so hairy.

I was stunned when Bella's scent hit my nose, it was fairly fresh. She had managed to find her meadow. I felt a small grin inch across my muzzle as I thought of how happy she would have been.

Then another smell assaulted my sense of smell and the fur on my back stood up like I was a porcupine.

Vampire!

I growled as I followed the scent and it started to mingle with Bella's. Near the center of the clearing the two smells were very concentrated, like they had stood here talking for awhile. There was a backpack and a blanket dropped haphazardly on the ground but no other sign of her. Panic started to overtake all common sense and I started to search the clearing for Bella.

Jake calm down, we'll find her.

Sam was too calm. I tried to follow her aroma of freesia but the odor of vampire was too strong.

The vampire has my Bella!

We managed to find a trail of Bella's fragrance along with the vampire's stench and we tracked after it into the forest.

Where is that damn bloodsucker taking her? Why didn't he just stay in the field?

That's a good question Jake. Usually they just stay put. This is a first.

We followed the trail more slowly than we normally would since we didn't want to chance loosing Bella's scent. The vampire had a good lead on us and we were all starting to think the worse.

I've heard of take-out before, but this is ridiculous.

SHUT UP PAUL!

The rest of the four pack members snapped at Paul, me included. I don't think vampires do take-out, no; she was taken for another reason. And I'm pretty sure that reason had to do with that dame mosquito that broke her heart.

We kept on the odors for countless miles until the scent came to an abrupt and deadening halt. We looked out over the waves of the Puget Sound near Port Angeles and all our hearts dropped.

Now what?

I'm not done searching.

Jake, we're not suggesting we should stop looking. But we do need a plan.

Fine, you plan…I'll keep looking for her.

I put my nose to the ground and started to trace the coast line for some kind of scent, anywhere. The leach had to come on land at some point.

I will not take a break until I find Bella again! This is my fault, if only I hadn't been avoiding her, then she probably wouldn't be in the forest alone. DAMN IT!

End Notes:

Wow! It took me only a few hours to type this chapter up, maybe I was a little too eager. Is it a good start?

So where is Laurent taking Bella? What does Victoria have planned for her? Will Jacob find her…in time for who knows what?