Set in the newborn vampire's point of view. Bear with me, the majority of this chapter is based on Chapter 25 in Eclipse but it will start to move after that. All text in bold comes directly from the book.

I do not own any of the characters or settings.

I was lucky not to be on the pyre. All the same, I held no trust for the six other vampires in the clearing. Maybe the one in charge really would keep his promise, but judging by the huge amount of purple smoke behind me, I doubted that he would do me any good if the others decided to attack.

The other blond one was watching me closely, almost crouched in front of me. I had just begun to examine him more closely when I smelled it: blood. And not just any blood. This was the scent we had been searching for, the entire purpose of our journey.

The girl came into the clearing in the arms of yet another one of them. His snack? This new vampire looked strong and he would undoubtedly use that strength to protect his property, but I didn't care. I had to have her. I could feel my nails digging into the rock-hard skin of my legs as I fought against my instinct to attack. Ravenous as I was, I had enough of my mind left to know that I did not want to end up in flames.

I held myself back for a few more moments, watching the group talk but unable to concentrate on their words. This torture was too much; I threw my head back and screamed wildly with frustration and longing.

Immediately, the blond one came closer, hovering over me in preparation to attack. I cringed away from him, my hands clawing at the ground in an attempt to control my vicious yearning.

"Have you changed your mind, young one?" The leader was here now, talking to me. I worked hard to pay attention to his words. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself."

"How can you stand it?" I groaned at him. Being kindling didn't seem so bad right now; my throat was already on fire. "I want her."

"You must stand it," said the leader. "You must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now."

In response, I clutched at my head, trying to block out everything, especially my raving thoughts of the girl's mouthwatering blood, or how it would feel to sink my teeth into her neck….

I did not notice the arrival of four new, cloaked vampires until one of them was speaking to me.

"You there. Your name."

I looked over at the oddly childlike female who had spoken and felt my face freeze. This one was dangerous, worse even than the ones who had so efficiently destroyed my coven. I cringed internally at the subtle malice in her eyes.

As if to prove me wrong, she smiled gently at me. I had barely enough time to register how ironically angelic the smile was before agony ripped through me. I felt myself arch off the ground, shrieking and writhing as every nerve in my body burned. This was almost as bad as the change. Certainly it was more pain than I had ever expected to feel in this body.

And then, mercifully it was over. The pain stopped as suddenly as it had come and left me gasping.

"Your name," the female repeated.

"Bree," I forced the word through my throat.

My tormentor smiled again and the anguish made my screams return. When it ended, I added a new word to my mental description of this creature: evil.

"She'll tell you anything you want to know," said the one with the human. He was holding onto her protectively. "You don't have to do that."

Through my residual shock, I managed to feel surprised. He had no reason to protect me when I still couldn't keep my eyes off of his pet.

"Oh, I know," she answered him with a grin. The word "sadistic" added itself to my list of her personality traits.

The female began to ask me questions. I answered them without hesitating like I had when she'd asked my name. I would do anything if it meant that smile stayed off of her face. They were questions about our numbers, our motives. If I were not so intent on avoiding pain, I would have scoffed. Like any of that mattered anymore.

Finally she finished with me and turned back to the others. It was one of the worst things she could have done. Now that the threat of pain was gone, I had nothing to distract me from the girl. I began to compulsively claw the ground again, leaving deep furrows in the earth.

"We could explain the rules to the young one." Young one? They were talking about me. I forced my attention back to their words. "She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Of course," the leader agreed with the auburn-haired one, the one with the human, who seemed to be his second in command. "We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree."

The female paused, considering. Her expression was torn between amusement and obstinacy. Finally, amusement won out. A wry smile crossed her lips. "All right," she said in a voice almost as angelic as her torturous smiles. "Let's see what you can do."

I did not trust her face or her words. Neither did the others. I could see their wariness and shock as they watched the cloaked figures disappear back into the woods and leave me to my new fate.

Quickly and silently, the auburn-haired vampire led his pet out of the clearing and away from me. I breathed a small sigh as her scent lessened. The urge to spring up and kill her was still strong, but it was easier to control with her gone. I was tempted to smile in relief but then I looked up and met the strange yellow eyes of the remaining vampires. Every one of them was staring at me cautiously and now even the leader seemed uncomfortable.

I was lucky to be free of the pyre, but I wasn't so sure that these new arrangements would be any better.