{It's been multiple mulleniums, and almost all of the human race has been wiped clean from the face of the earth. Vampires have taken shelter and have gone longer without feeding. Some have turned to canibilism. All the while, the cullens, -after splitting up a while ago after the control was lost- has been reunited accidentally. The sad loss is that only few remain, and many have disbanded and left, turning back to the animal instincts. }




Ash tossed the last of his blood supply away from him. His lips still stained with the red liquid. Human blood had never satisfied him. He was a real cause to the issue at hand-vampires eating vampires.
The werewolves were thriving, like most would without a spear or bullet through the head. Ash snorted. He bet everyone of those mangy mutts laughed at the vampires desperation.
The last rays of the afternoon seeped through the broken windows, shining on the scattered glass and thick layer of dust to rest on a heap of magazines and papers. On the top, was the last TIME magazing. On it in big white letters was scripted: "THE END IS NEAR?" and had a picture of a vampire-its eyes glowing redish silver as it hunted in open daylight.
Ash's eyes locked onto the portrait...it was himself. He had let his guard down, and forgotten all about the photographer. Granted, he had killed him after the magazine was published.
Ash kicked the pile with his heavy boots, and watched the mushroom cloud of dust rise. He looked around again.
He was in an old abandoned cell. All the walls were cold hard stone, with bloody words inscripted in the concrete. A few human bones were tossed carelessly around the floor, where the dust made a haze in the lightless room. There were three windows, dirty and covered in flith, with each pane busted through. Dried blood still stained them.
A steel door with a variety of intricate and complicated locks and bolts. It was rusted and a red-brown stain was threatening the hinges.
There was only one pile of candle sticks in the corner with a pack of matches that would show any sign of light from the room.
Pushed to the side was a cot, where moth-eaten blankets were made up perfectly, as if no one had used the bed in many years. Which was true to say the least. A trunk was at the foot of the bed, locked tightly shut for even wandering eyes to never sneak a peek.
A dripping, cracked metal sink was in the corner by the door, and a cracked mirror hung over it.
Ash sighed and got the his feet, not bothering to dust off his pants from the layer of dust that had settled there. He went to the faucet and turned it on rinsing his heads and splashing the cool water on his face.
He then looked at the spider-webed glass and took in his appearance. His dark hair curled around his face, pleading to be cut. His eyes had turned from starl-like silver to a light crimson with silver thickly painted into them. His lips were split, where dried blood still stained his sickly pale face.
His white shirt was stained with blood and dirt. He shook away his hair and pried away from the monster in the mirror.
It couldn't be him. It couldn't.
He searched along the cold floor, fuzzy with dust. He grasped the handle to a knife, and lifted it up. It was large, and still was stained from where it had wounded another. Ash looked into the mirror, feeling the silver so close to his fingertips, and making the flesh become thin. Blisters were forming. He walked to the mirror, contemplating, the grabbed a lock of his overgrown hair, and pulled the knife through it.
He cut until their was a fair amount of black hair to the collection on the floor. His hair was still long, but its curling made it look natural and kempt, like a sane person's would.
He dropped the knife with a short gasp as the iron in the handle burned his skin to open the blister. He held up his hand to see the scarlet liquid, still too dark to be human, pool slowly around the open wound. He pressed his fingers to his shirt, applying much pressure to stop the bleeding.
That's when something caught his eye.
It shone in the failing light, like a star in the morning sky. It was by the closed trunk, but still stood out amongst the papers, magazines, thrown items and dust.
When Ash bent to examine it, he could feel the heat from the silver warn him. He picked it up yet, with his good hand and looked at it closely. It was a locket, carved with the letters AL and clasped shut with a carved silver daisy.
It was Ash's sisters.
There was a noise from outside the made Ash pause and his pupils to dialate, his irises disappearing quickly.
War was outside, and if war wanted him, war would get him. He snarled, fangs bared. He quickly tossed the locket onto the bed and started to open the window to the steel door to peer out at whatever wanted him.
War would wait for him, War would get him, but he was no foolish man. Ash opened the hatch and looked out the peer hole.
Nothing but the threatening ash. It's grey mounds hid away the human bones and frightening sights. Trees and bushes once grew, with wild flowers bloomjing along the floor. But not anymore. Now it was burned, grey and depressed.
Ash then noticed it. A figure moving toward his hideaway. He snarled again, closed the hatch and opened the locks on his door. He leaped away from the threshold and took a fighting stance, his fangs bared.
He would only realize that he would straighten, and relax as recognition overcame his hostile behavior.

Dark and grim. That was the only thing that came to Jessica's mind as she walked taking in the scene around her. THe world that had once been filled with vibrant colors, buzzed life, bathed in warm sun was dark, quiet and reeked of death. With every step she took, the ground would crunch beneath her tenis shoes and she would look down to make sure the crunching noise had not come from stepping on the remaining skeleton of a human.
The world had become a depressing place. War and hatred sucked all the life out of the world. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen someone smile. Her kind hardly smiled anymore and nearly all of the human population was extinct.
The sky iverhead was darker than usual. Normally darkened by the thick smoke, the sky was always dark. But today there must have been storm clouds as well.
The heavy smoke made it nearly impossible to tell if it was a sunny or cloudy. No one was aware that it was going to rain or storm until the first rain drop hit the ground or the first bolt of lightning came rocketing through the thick smoke.
When the war began, Jessica had decided to venture out on her own. Sometimes she regretted the decision. She missed her family, but she figured in a war such as the current one, family would be more of a hinderance than help.
The day was silent. So silent, it was almost defeaning. There wasn't even the sound of a cockroach scurrying across the rugged terrain. Everything around her was still.
Jessica was examining the darkening sky when her toe caught something causing her to stumble foreward slightly before regaining her balance. She looked down and saw something silver that had been stuck into the ground. Leaning down to inspect it, Jessica saw that it was a knife that's blade had been driven into the ground.
Hesitantly, Jessica pulled on it. It didn't budge. The blade must have been shoved into the hard dirt qith a lot of force, possibly in a fit of rage. Wrapping her whole hand around the handle of the knife, Jessica pulled with enough of her force for it to slide out of the ground as if it had only been in a leather sheath.
Turning it over in her hand, she noticed something had been crudely carved into the handle. "A ton" were the only things Jessica could make out. The handle was rusted, and the crude etchings were wearing away.
Holding the knife pointed toward the ground, Jessica continued to walk when something iup ahead moved. It was a small movement, but with her heightened vision, she could see it as clearly as if someone were jumpng up and down, waving their arms like a lunatic.
The movement seemed to be a small hinged door of some sort. Nothing big enough for anyone to go through, it hadn't been a door. Watching closely were she had seen the movement, Jessica was shocked to see a crimson eye with silver in it peering at her. Crimson and silver. Jessica wondered at the strange eye color. She had once known someonw who had had silver eyes, but she hadn't seen him in many years. A picture came to her mind -a vampire with long black hair and silver eyes- but she couldn't put a name to the face. It had been so long she had uttered that vampire's name, her mind -too preoccupied with the war- had forgotten it.
Just as quickly as the eye had appeared, it disappeared and a swift movement of the small door followed. Curious, Jessica walked up to where she had seen the eye and spoke clearly "Hello?"
She didn't expect an answer, so she went on. "Is anyone here? I...I"m looking for a friend, and I thought maybe you might know him..." She trailed off. She knew it was a stretch, but she had to try. The possibiity that the eye she had seen could have belonged to a canibilistic vampire who would have no qualms with attacking her never even registered as a thought.

Ash's eyes flashed as the voice rang in his ears. It was familiar...back to when the great depression of war was hidden in the shadows.
Of a great white house of windows.
Of multiple vampires forming a coven.
Vegetarian vampires....
"Jessica?"
Ash stood straight, his eyes still flashing with a hostile grace.

Jessica heared her name spoken from the other side. The voice brought back the image of the vampire she had seen earlier in her head. Hearing the voice, she suddenly remembered the name to whom it belonged. "Ashton?" She said it slowly, using his full name. "Ash?"

Laura walked through the deadend woods. At one time they were filled with life. Leaves were green, trunks had been brown, birds flying through the air.. but that was before the war. Before things had turned dark and desolate.
She wore no shoes, as there was no point. Her jeans had been new, once upon a lifetime. Laura's shirt had multiple tears in it, but what was the point of changing? It wasnt like there was anything that would be better.
Blood streaked her clothes, and she was pretty sure it was in her hair and on her face. She could see that it was crusted under her fingernails. It would have bothered her. But now nothing did. She was numb to the world. Since her eyes had gone red, nothing was the same as it had been. Not for her anyway.
Laura walked down a long road. It looked as though nobody had used it in years. That was fine with her. She prefered to be alone.
Laura's eyes wandered, always on alert. She saw something in the ground. A.. hole? It was only large enough for the blade of a knife. So there has been fighting here. She assumed.
She continued walking.
Her long black/brown hair had matted her head with leaves and sticks thrown in. She thought she had had a sister that would have been bothered by this, but she couldnt remember.
There were a few things she could remember though. Small flashes of things. There was a flash of a little girl playing with a little boy. Her brother? A flash of a warm smile. A hot bath. Animals. Warm eyes smiling back at her..
She pushed the thoughts aside, not wanting to remember. It all hurt to much.
She walked on.

Ash played with the locks and stepped out. He was surprised with who he saw, granted it had been many if not thousands of years since he last saw one of the familiar vampires.
His eyes narrowed, he wasn't sure wether to trust her. He knew that she was kind, from what he could recollect, but this war had been going a while, and things changed.
Every vampire changed.
He looked her up and down. She looked...uncharacteristically exhausted; as if she had dragged herself along. He let his face relax, but his muscles still at the ready.
"I haven't seen you in a long time." His voice had changed. From once smooth, it was now hardened with the hunt and quiet.

Jessica nodded her head stiffly in response as she took in Ash's appearance. He looked different than the last time she had seen him. There was a wild glint in his eye that hadn't been there before -but then again, almost everyone had the same glint in their eyes, war can do that to a person, his hair was shorter than she remembered. The ends were rough and uneven as if he had hastily chopped it off, which had probably been the case. He was covered in blood and dirt the images that flashed through her mind atseeing the blood slightly disturbed her. She was used to the violent feedings of the age of war, but not from those she had once called family.
"It has been a very long time," she finally said. Her voice was crackly from the perpetual thirst that consumed her. "The years have not been kind to you either, I see. We're all living in hell, and I'm afraid things will only get worse...."

Ash nodded, the corners of his lips falling slightly. "Maybe," His eyes were unflinching, and he could hear another approaching, but curiousiy started to claw at him,
"How's the..." He raked his brain to find the words. "The Cullens?"

"I don't know," Jessica answered honestly, her expression grim. "I left over a century ago. The war had changed things between my family and I couldn't take the tension in the house, so I left. I haven't heard from any of them since. But I imagine they aren't faring any better than we are." She heard footsteps coming intheir direction but didn't say anything. "What about you? How have you been spending the time?"

Ash's eyes clouded over and looked away from Jessica. His past wasn't bright, in fact it was like looking into the coal after the fire was put out. "After we left the Cullens, Alysa and I...we thrived for a few years maybe in New York and Chicago. Then we moved again, when the war made food scarce. We ate off of Vampires, causing some of the cause to this war...." He paused. "After the war was nearing its pinnacle, a vamp who was staying with us turned on us. He got Alysa first...I got him." He hand wa shaking profusely, an te tremor made his whole side shudder.

Jessica's expression softened slightly. "I"m sorry," she whispered, "That must have been horriblle." She looked around the room, taking in the sorrow sight and sighed. "Times have been hard for everyone. I'm afraid things will only get worse before they get better, if they get better. I don't know how much longer any of us can go on living like this." She motioned to the room with her hand. "Because we all live in conditions similar to this, or worse."

Ash nodded and paused. "I am part of a pck now though," He paused and his hand stopped trembling. "They accepted me as long as I don't..." He picked his words, though they were simple. "Slip up." He blinked and looked to his right, where he heard the soft murmur of feet. He saw her now, another vamp from what it looked to be. His mouth twitched and he tried to catch the scent, but findng it useless in the smog that had forever hung around.

"A pack," Jessica repeated slowly. "How large?" She found the fact that he had found a group to be a part of, even when Ash and his sister had been part of their family, he had still been somewhat of a loner. He was the last person she would have imagined to be part of a pack when groups were rare thanks to the war.

Ash shrugged. "Around twenty, I believe, but I..." Rarely see them around anymore... "I'm not completely affiliated anymore."

"You rarely see them around nowadays, you mean?" Jessica asked, raising an eyebrow. It had been so long since she had been around someone with coherent thoughts, hearing Ash's voice inside her head had almost startled her. "Why is that?"

Laura got only a few feet farther before she heard voices. No, you dont hear anything you fool. Its your mind playing tricks on you like before.. Even though she didnt believe it, she walked slower, and kept looking around. With each step she swore the voices got louder. Soon she saw this.. thing. She wasnt quite sure what it was, but there was two people standing, talking. This was an unusual thing around here.
Laura stopped walking. "He-" her voice cracked, not letting her finish. She hadnt used her voice in a while. She had no reason to. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Her voice was rougher then it had been, but that was only because of lack-of-food. She hadnt eaten in a few months.

Jessica looked over her shoulder, tinking she had heard a voice. "Did you hear something?" She asked,turning back to look at Ash. "Or am I just hearing things?"

Laura saw something move. A head maybe? She took a cautious step forward and tried to catch the scent. Smog made it impossible of course. She stepped another couple feet closer. "Is anybody in there?" She asked again.

Jessica bit her lip and looked up to where she knew for a fact she had heard a voice. It sounded vaguely familar also. She looked back at Ash questioningly.

Whatever calm had stored in Ash after talking with Jess left him as quickly as he had heard the voice. In its plae was hostility and caution. "Another one?" He began to crouch, his eyes blazed fire. Still, recognition was making his senses numb. "Who's there?"

Jessica watched Ash as he crouched down. His stance remnded her of something menacing and feral. She was used to seeing people in such unwelcoming positions lately what with the war. "Ash," she whispered almost inaudibly knowing he'd hear her. "Is it just me, or did that voice sound familiar? I know I've heard it before, I just can't think put a name or face to the voice."

Laura put her hands up, as to show she ment no harm. **Sorry guys, my shift key is sticking, so i'm not even going to bother with it** she took a step forward, and slowly made her way toward the voices. "i'm... laura. i mean no harm. can you say the same?"

Laura? It did sound familiar. His mind played with the name only to come up with the vegetarian vampires, the Cullens. He stood straight again, but his senses were still a livewire. "Laura....Are you..." He paused. "Did you live with the Cullens?"

Laura stopped walking. "Y-yes..? Who are you? Do I know you?" she tried to focus her dark gaze on the person speaking, but it was difficult because of how dark thing were. Once upon a time that wouldnt have mattered. This was a different time.

"Laura?" Jessica whispered. As soon as the name escaped her lips, realization came crashing through. Images flashed in her head of a dark-haired vampire with golden eyes. She saw herself hugging the vampire as if they were....well, sisters. For a brief moment, the thought of throwing her arms aronnd her entered Jessica's mind but she quickly shook it away. She couldn't. Although she was sure it was the Laura she remembered from so many years ago, everyrthing was different now.

A female's voice peirced Laura's ears. She knew that voice. She would know it if the world was ending. Well, if it was worse then it already was that is. "Jessie? Your.. your alive?" Laura took a few more steps forward before reaching a wall. She leaned against it, using it for support. Soon she was sitting on the ground, with a hand on her forehead.

"Alive," Jessica echoed Laura's words and turned her head to look at Ash. Her gaze swept across the room, taking in the sordid condition of the place. "Existing," she mumbled. "But not alive. No one is alive anymore. No one can live again until the hatred stops, the smog clears and the bombing halts." She said this all under her breath. She wasn't saying it to anyone, just merely talking out loud.

Laura smiled. Well, tried to smile. It came out more of a grimace then a smile. She still had that same sense of humor that Laura almost remembered. "Even still. I thought you had all.. gone." She looked toward the other person, the one who had first recognized her, and cocked her head to the side. She had seen him before.. a long time ago.. "Who are you?"

Jessica smiled wryly. So she wasn't the only one who hadn't remembered Ash. THe knife that Jessica had found stuck in teh ground was still firmly gripped in her hand. She looked down at the engraving. "A ton" it said. But the gap inbetween the two words was large enough to fit two letter. Perhaps at one point it had said "Ashton?" As soon as the thought entered her mind, she knew it was true. She could feel it. Something flowed from the cool silver of the handle and into her hands. It was something familiar..something powerful.

Laura looked at Jess. "Jessica, who is that? Why do I feel like I know them?"

Jessica looked up at Laura, her smile widening. "You really don't remember? Think back to when we were with the Cullens. I know it was long time ago, but try. When I was a teenage, before I was changed. Try to think back to then."

Delilah sat in her house, drinking blood from a bag. She discarded the blood abg when it was empty. She stood up and sighed, looking around, her whereabouts unclear. That's the way it was now. She never remembered anything. The only thing that was ever important to her was torn away in the war. She kept pictures of them in her wallet. The Cullen's. She thought hard about what had happened, but couldn't seem to wrap her mind around it. It had happened so quick. Delilah sighed and stepped out into the darkness of the forest. She wandered far. She heard voices, but thought she was imagining them. She walked towards them, feeling like an idiot for following. The voices seemed vaguely familiar. Like they were from her past. She sighed in disgust. She was disgusted with herself for even thinking that she heard them. Sighing, she sat down, but she was still hearing the voices.

She got up after a few minutes, and started in the direction of the voices, if that would shut them up.

Ash's face was blank, but he could tell the realization coming from Jessica's scent. He remembered everything, almost. And he recognized the knife that Jessica gripped in her hand. His gaze brushed past it to Laura. "I was new, I was different. Back then I smiled and had a companion." He paused, still blank. He opened his door and looked at the locket. He was tired, and thirst still burned his throat. The locket was silver, and would make him bleed and blister. He didn't care. He clasped it around his neck and tucked it underneath his shirt, not visible from any eye. He walked back out and shut the door. "Excuse that," He paused. "I...forgot about something. I will need to leave soon..." It wasn't all a lie. Dusk was breaking, and Ash needed to search for the lone herd of deer that still roamed the area.

Jessica glanced over at Ash and then held her hand out to him, taking the knife by the blade so that the handle was facing him. "Here, I think this is yours," she whispered. "I found it sticking in the ground and I was curious...I'm sorry."

Delilah wandered towards the voices and gasped when she saw figures moving. Could it be---? she thought asked herself. She wandered closer, barely breathing, if breathing at all. She watched the figures turn into people. People that she knew. Gasping, she stared, wide-eyed at them.

Ash blinked and looked at the small dagger. It gripped it in his hand, "Thanks..." he murmured, putting the knife into his pocket safely. He remembered the dagger now, he had used it every now and again...until he lost it.

Laura closed her eyes and tried to remember back to when she had been happy. She shifted through the painfull memorys first, the found the happier ones. The ones that hadnt seen the light of day in ages. Her eyes flashed open with shock. "Ashton?" Seeing his face, and finding that name, she knew she was right. "Wow. Why now? Why now after all these years of thinking you were all dead, like everyone else, am I finding you? Why? I dont understand it."


**Okay, just so you know, (If you havent already figured it out) when I said something about a memory of a little girl and little boy, and warm eyes smiling back at her- that was Amanda Lee, Little Edward and Phil. They were murdered during the war, leaving Laura all alone. She's quite depressed about it.**

Delilah just stared as the figures talked, figuring it was her imagination. She finally summed up the courage to go talk to them. "Ash? Laura? Jess?" she asked hesitantly.

Ash looked at Laura. "Perhaps fate has decided this misery has a turning point." It was a positive remark, something Ash hadn't been able to speak in many decades.



Ash turned when he heard another voice, to see another female vamp. This one was different yet the same all at once. She was familiar, but when Ash tried to go back into his memories, they were blurred. But she knew his name...who was she?

Delilah hesitantly stepped forwards towards them. She noticed that Ash turned to face her with a look of confusion on his face. "It's Delilah, remember?" she asked.