Bella laid on the hard forest floor, paying no attention to the sharp twigs digging into her back and the pebbles making permanent indents in her palms. She wished the physical pain would take away her mental pain, but unfortunately for her, it seemed to be working in reverse. The mental pain far outweighed the pain she felt inside, and so she couldn't even feel the branch that had been poking her back uncomfortably for the last hour.

Six days since they left the village, three that they had stayed near Tenzie's grave before Vince finally decided it was time to move on, rather Bella wanted to go or not. She had kicked and screamed, cried out the entire time, but in the end the vampire got her far away from the grave and wouldn't let her return no matter how much she begged. For once, vampires losing the ability to sleep was working against her, and she didn't like it one bit!

In truth, Bella knew Vince was only doing what was best for her. He had lost someone close to him as well, and he knew that if she stayed near the grave, she would never move on. Hell, even she knew that; she just didn't think she was ready to go yet. But as Vincent once pointed out, everything happened in threes for them, so it was probably best to leave on the third day.

Currently, the vampire was out searching for blood to drink and food for her. She hadn't eaten in a while, and even though she continuously told herself she wasn't hungry, her stomach let out a symphony of growls in disagreement. Life would go on, it seemed, and Bella would eventually have to move on from Tenzie.

Losing Edward had caused a great deal of pain to the human, but it was nothing compared to this. As much as it shamed her, for she had cared deeply for Tenzie, she continued to think of how easily it could be Edward in that very situation one day in the future. She had to stop it, if only for him, because now her love for the vampire was the only thing keeping her going.

No, that wasn't true. She still had Vince. He might make a horrible Tenzie substitute, but he had liked the werewolf as well, and he was still her companion. If he wasn't going to give up, then she couldn't take away his reasons for believing in her. It was still so hard though, to let go and move on, and Bella just wasn't sure she was ready to fight again, not without Tenzie.