DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! DO NOT SUE ME!

Dæmon Rising

So she was nothing, was she? That which was unimportant, yet could destroy and recreate an animate being. Of course, that made perfect sense! Not. Alice was just as confused as I, and it was to she that the memory had been sent. I could not think of it as a vision, if only for the fact that Isabella had joined with the shadows when we saw her.

I knew something was wrong when Victoria told us it was unnecessary to find her captor. She had been thinking that we should track her down and dispose of her, but something, presumably Isabella, had taken control of her voice. She hadn't fought the control, however; rather, she was terrified of disobeying the command. She was afraid of wherever she had been, the feeling of loneliness she felt, surrounded by darkness.

What was this creature? Alice had said she wasn't a demon, but I was doubting my sister's thoughts, as she was. She had, after all, followed Isabella, until she was nowhere to be found. And the blade that had pierced my skin, what could it have possibly been made of? Vampire teeth? It certainly stung like venom, but that was absurd. Where could one find a supply of vampire venom, no matter what manner of creature it was?

Edward?

"Yes, Alice?"

You couldn't hear her thoughts, could you?

I hesitated before shaking my head. Alice didn't respond, but she started translating the German anthem for the Alsace Lorraine flag into English. She was hiding something.

Three weeks passed, and there was no more news of Isabella, or of the nomads James, Laurent, and Victoria. The rest of my family had long since forgotten about all of it, but I couldn't seem to rid myself of Isabella's expression when Emmett and Alice shied away from her. She almost looked... hurt, as if she didn't like being feared by them. And that girl, Karen, she said, was she really back with her mother? Suddenly an idea struck me, more of an urge, really. I needed to know if Karen was truly safe at home, or if Isabella had somehow hurt her, or kidnapped her as she had Victoria.

I checked the police records of the vicinity, and sure enough, their was a report of a failed kidnapping, of a little girl named Karen Lansky. She had been 'hysterical' when she returned home, but local officers were able to discern that three adults had taken her, two men and a woman. Other than that, all the girl would say was that she was saved by an 'angel,' whom she described as a female with black hair, dark eyes, and wearing a long black dress. There was no name, no other information that Karen would share. Neither the kidnappers nor the mysterious savior had thus been located. So Isabella had spoken truth. But I still had to see it for myself, talk to the girl. Maybe she, like most children, was observant enough to have noticed something important about her 'angel.'

Standing outside her house later on that night, I could easily see that the family was not home. From a window I noticed boxes, piled on top of each other. The family was moving.

"I assure you, they are unharmed."

I whirled around, metaphorical hackles raised. I hadn't heard her coming, or caught her scent. Yet there she stood, directly behind me, looking for all the world as if I'd struck her. Then she gave me a sad, half-hearted smile, and stepped past me to the window. She made a motion with her hand, and then a little leather-bound book appeared, resting in her palm. This she offered to me, and as if by magic, it opened to the last entry, promptly dated three weeks ago. The day Karen had disappeared. Her diary. I looked back at Isabella, and her eyes portrayed a morbid sense of expectancy. I read the passage, curiously, yet with a growing suspicion of what I would find.

Dear Diary,

Mama wouldn't listen to what happened. She heard I got kidnapped and shut out all the rest. So I have to put it here. The mean people grabbed me when I was walking home from Jacky's. They said that if I screamed, they'd hurt me. Then they took me to a dark street, where no one else was around, and the lady told me that they were going to kill me, and that it would hurt really bad. Then the angel came, and she told them to let me go, but they wouldn't. She disappeared, but she was still talking, and then the mean lady got all burnt up by black fire, and then the angel had a hold of me. I was afraid, because I couldn't see anything, and I screamed, but nothing came out. And then I was on my front porch, looking around for the angel. When I went inside, Mama started crying, and tucked me in, and then I wrote this. So, now somebody knows, and a diary won't tell me I was making things up.

Yours forever,

Karen

"Like I said, she is perfectly fine. In fact, she thinks her mother is overreacting. She's sad to move away."

I almost jumped as the diary flew closed, then disappeared.

"What are you?"

She sighed, that sad look in her eye expanding to shape her expression.

"I am not important, as I told Alice."

"Then why did you send Alice the memory?" I surprised myself by saying. I hadn't thought of the possibility before, but it had an air of truth to it. Isabella bit her lip and glanced to the side, apparently ashamed of her reasoning.

"That was selfish of me. I apologize. I just... I mean.... No one remembers me anymore. And... well... Alice wanted to know. So I showed her. I'm sorry." She looked so lost then, so sad. Like she was begging for forgiveness, and no one would give it to her. And despite this, or perhaps because of it, she was... beautiful.

"It isn't me who needs an apology. It's Alice. You should speak to her, and properly introduce yourself to the others."

I watched her as she debated, a genuine smile slowly forming on her lips. She nodded finally, and looked me in the eyes.

"Would you like to see how I travel?" She asked, leaving open the option to decline. I returned her smile, and she held out her hand for me to take. Then we were soaring through blackness, and not moving at all at the same time. It was the most amazing experience I'd ever had, in all my immortal years. After what seemed like hours, but could just as easily been seconds, or centuries, for all I knew, we were standing outside my family's home in the forest. I could hear Alice rushing to the door, and Isabella took a deep, calming breath. Then she flashed me a brilliant smile, taking mine away.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

"Looks like I have to be, because the cavalry has arrived."

Bella took his BREATH away, not his smile. So... anyways.... Mwa haha! I'm back from the dead! Well, my internet access is, anyway. Read and review, s'il vous plait!