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ONE; THIS SHOULD BE EASY, RIGHT?

IN THE LATE 1570'S, Alexander Kim woke up to a dry throat and a world filled with fresh blood. A woman peered over him, eyes as red as her hair and her mouth twisted into a devious smirk.

"Good morning, Alexander." He blinked, noticing that she was holding a man by his neck. The man's eyes were pleading for Alex to help, but once he saw that his orbs were the same shade as the redhead's, he lost all hope. "Here's your first breakfast. Enjoy diligently."

Alex was about to ask what the woman meant, but he took a breath, smelling the sweet scent of the man's blood. If anyone were to ever ask him, Alex would say that his first meal was his best — he had never felt more power than when the man underneath him squirmed and cried out for help.

Victoria smiled as she watched him, immediately sensing that he would be a great asset to her. When he looked up, blood spilling from his mouth, she grinned and wiped the remains off with her finger.

"Welcome to the new world, Alexander."

The two lived harmoniously for years. Alex was always under Victoria's thumb, obeying every command and worshipping the ground she walked upon. Alex learned to love himself as a vampire, and hated to think about what he was like as a measly human. Usually, Victoria would've grown bored of him until she discovered that Alex had the power to wipe a person's memory. He could easily make a person forget everything about themselves and he could add extra thoughts into their mind. Victoria loved him even more for his power.

He thought his life would remain at peace until Victoria began being hunted by James, a powerful tracker. Victoria and Alex were both able to dodge every single attempt that James tried to make, and the idea that Victoria was such a challenge to him intrigued the vampire. Victoria and James soon discovered that their love for killing could mend into love for one another.

Alex was brutally tossed aside after James warned him to stay away.

"She's my mate now, Alex," James growled, holding Alex up by the collar of his shirt. "You stay away. Find another woman to latch onto."

Alex was forced to be alone for the first time as a vampire, and he felt completely alone. The sudden tidal wave of emotions brought him to a killing spree, something that harmed a small city but not damaging enough that the Volturi would step in and kill him. However, Aro warned the man that if he was wise, he would bring himself to find a new anchor and control his feelings.

It was in the state of Rhode Island that he found Jia. She was a beautiful woman — gorgeous beyond any standards. She was extremely soft-spoken with Alex, and he realized that he could trust her after staring at her crimson colored eyes.

Jia took Alex under her wing but unlike Victoria, she guided Alex on how to kill humans without causing future damage. Alex lost himself once in a while, but Jia usually brought him back.

In 1934, Alex first met the Cullen family and took an immediate interest into Rosalie. She became the light of his life for a year, and he fully dedicated his whole self to her. In that year, he stopped feeding on humans and began to feed on animals. He followed the ways of the Cullen family in order to make Rosalie happy.

But in the year 1935, Rosalie realized that she wasn't in love with Alex when she laid her eyes upon Emmett.

Alex was heartbroken and devastated, vowing that he would never forgive Rosalie or the Cullen family for turning him into a person he barely recognized. He returned to his life of killing humans and walked back into Jia's arms with apologetic words.

He promised to himself that he would never let love attack him again. The only person he could love was Jia, the mother figure in his life.

He doesn't learn to love until Victoria returns to him, assigning him with a mission that'll change his whole perspective on the emotion.

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"Don't be stupid, Alex. You're smarter than Victoria. She knows how to get inside of your head and manipulate you."

The vampire chuckled, blinking at his reflection in the mirror. "Would you relax, Jia? I haven't had a challenge like this in a while, and it'd be nice to indulge myself once or twice."

Jia's eyes narrowed. "And what if the Cullens come back? They'll kill you for doing any harm to this Swan girl. From what I've heard, she was the subject of Edward's affection."

"Was, Jia. That's the key word here," Alex winked at her. "The Cullens moved to Ithaca months ago, remember? I'm sure that little human of theirs means nothing to them anymore."

"You do realize what you're signing up for, right?" She hissed, following him as he walked over to his closet, pondering on what to wear. "You're going to be working with Victoria, something you swore you'd never do again."

"I know all of her tricks by now. She hasn't got anything to hang over me."

"James is finally dead. She's vulnerable and your first instinct is to be with her, Alex. You think I don't know that?" She said, making him stop in his tracks. He hated that she knew him inside out and could always predict his next move. "James is finally out of the picture like you wanted. Victoria was right about still having a connection with you. You know that just as much as she does."

"Do you trust me?" Alex suddenly asked, spinning around to face her.

She didn't skip a beat. "Of course I do, Alex."

"Then trust me when I say that I'll come back to you. This is a simple task, and I want Rosalie to see it. This is something that actually has me excited, and I want to see how far it'll take me."

She sighed. "Alright. Promise you'll come back?"

He grinned and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry. I always come back to you."

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"You've become awfully close to Jia. Should I be jealous?"

"Don't start that shit with me, Victoria. I swear I'll kill you on this journey if we start speaking about lovers."

Victoria raised her eyebrows at Alex's harsh tone, but says nothing more about the sensitive topic. "This mission will be easy for you. Bella Swan is nothing without Edward Cullen protecting her. Just another human for you to slaughter."

Alex laughed. "That's what I like to hear."

The two continued to run in silence, trees becoming a blur past them as they zoomed from city to city. A thought suddenly sparked in Alex's head, and he decided to voice it out loud.

"So what's the deal with this Bella Swan? Why can't you kill her yourself?"

Victoria took a moment to mull over her answer. What Alex didn't know was that Bella had been heavily guarded by shapeshifters. When Victoria sent Laurent to check if Bella was still there after the Cullens left, Laurent had been mauled by a pack of shapeshifters.

She definitely wasn't going to tell Alex this, understanding that he would probably run back to Jia and never speak of Bella Swan again.

But Victoria loved her revenge. She wanted to see Edward's face when he found out that his precious Bella was killed. It served him right after murdering James after he was just having a little fun.

"I'd rather have someone else do my dirty work for me," Victoria spoke, trying to control her emotions. She knew that if Alex sensed that she was lying to him, he would be out of the deal. "Besides, you're my number one go-to. Remember how diligent you were to me in the old days?"

He chuckled dryly. "You mean when I was young and naïve? Yeah, I remember getting screwed over and manipulated by you."

Victoria winced slightly. She could remember the late nights of hugging Alex close to her, whispering false promises into his ear. She truly enjoyed playing around with him, but she couldn't lie — the only real love she ever felt was with James. The one thing she and Alex had in common was that they both liked to kill for fun. James understood her and loved her.

"Don't be so temperamental, Alex. This journey could be our bonding time together."

With those words, Alex picked up his pace. He knew he would be no match for Victoria, who was extremely fast, but she got the central idea of his thoughts and trailed slightly behind him so that she wouldn't bother him.

When they reached the border of the state of Washington, Victoria completely stopped in her tracks. Alex raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What? You're not going to come with me and check if I've done the job correctly? From what I remember, that's your favorite part of the job — telling me my mistakes."

She shook her head. "I'll be close when you're done, don't worry. All you have to do is find her and kill her. Her scent is strong, it makes her easy to find."

He clenched his fists. "I swear, if you're lying to me about something-"

Her jaw tightened. "Would you put your pettiness aside for once? Just get the job done, Alex."

His furious expression turned into a serene smile. "Pleasure doing business with you, Victoria. I sincerely hope that Edward Cullen comes back to kill you."

"Same to you, Alex."

She saw a flash of blonde hair before he disappeared into the woods. She exhaled, hoping that he would get the job done. She really did not want to fight a pack of werewolves.

Alex ceased his steps when he saw the 'Welcome to Forks' sign. He had not seen the ignorant words until he decided to check on Rosalie a few years ago.

He recalled the way her golden irises peered into his blood red orbs, blonde hair cascading down her shoulder as she tilted her head at him. He remembered Emmett standing right beside her, hands gripping her waist as a blatant symbol of their love.

"Alexander," she said, the name rolling off of her tongue so easily.

He tried to not let his true emotions show and grinned. "Greetings, devil in disguise. Say another hello to your giant bear for me."

Emmett growled threateningly, but Alex simply smirked at him.

"Alexander," Rosalie repeated. "What are you doing here?"

"Just enjoying the marvelous view of Forks," he mused. "I drained two annoying hikers on the way here, so you're welcome for that."

At the mention of murders, Carlisle showed up next to his two adopted children. "Hello, Alex. It's nice to see you again."

"You don't have to lie to me, Carlisle. After all, I was one of your children before, remember?"

Rosalie shook her head at Alex's uncensored tongue. He was only trying to make her uncomfortable, and she reminded herself of that in order to calm her temper.

"Yes," Carlisle spoke, unsure of what to say. "Is there a reason you've decided to come visit again?"

Alex blinked his eyes at the three, knowing that they were easily affected by the color. It was impossible to not think about how amazing human blood tasted, and he could remember how dull an animal's blood felt on his tongue. It satisfied his thirst, but it never satisfied the lust for blood that sat deep within his soul.

Even through all of that excruciating torture, he put his differences aside because he loved Rosalie and respected her morals.

And then she went and fucked him over for some burly guy she found dying in the woods.

"Just to see how everyone's progressing. Has Forks suited you?"

"Cut the crap, Alex," Rosalie sneered.

He threw his hands up in the air. "Woah, why so vindictive, Ice Princess? I'm trying to talk to Carlisle."

Emmett finally spoke up. "You're trying to ruin our lives."

Alex chuckled. "Now, why would I go so far for people like you?"

Emmett was the one smirking this time, leaning forward to taunt him. "Because I have someone that you will never get a chance to be with again."

Alex wasn't deterred by his statement. "What do you think we did in that year of knowing each other, Emmett? I'll give you a hint to get through that incoherent brain of yours — we definitely did so much more than sit around and talk all day."

Emmett lunged at him, angered by his implication. Rosalie and Carlisle were quick to hug him back.

Alex snickered, taking a step back. "I think I've seen everything for now. I'll catch you later, Rose?"

Rosalie was quietly whispering to Emmett, trying to get him to calm down. Carlisle called after Alex. "If you're hunting, do you mind not doing it so close to Forks?"

Alex grinned. "Anything for you, Carlisle."

He was jolted back to the present, hating that he was reminded of Rosalie as he stared at the Forks sign. Everything in his life always had to drift back to either Victoria or Rosalie, and he just wanted to be rid of them once and for all.

"Can I help you, son?"

Alex turned his head, observing the policeman as he sat in his car. The man slightly jerked when he saw the color of Alex's eyes.

"Ah, yes. Would you mind telling me where Bella Swan is?"

The man hesitated. "Chief Swan's daughter? Yeah, I know who she is. May I ask who you are?"

Alex shot him a blinding grin. It was enough to make any human dazzle in his beauty. "Alexander Kim. I'm afraid you chose the wrong person to talk to today, sir."

The man's hand drifted down towards his belt, fingers hovering over his gun. He gulped, attempting to cover up his fear, but Alex was able to clear his mind of all thoughts. The man suddenly couldn't remember what he was doing in the first place, and Alex was satisfied, feeling slightly hungry.

He opened the passenger side of the police car, crawling into the seat. He rolled his neck around, sighing contently.

"Welcome back to Forks, Alex," he whispered softly as his teeth latched onto the man's wrist.

Screams echoed throughout the forest.

there might be a lot of flashbacks in this book, just warning you