The Hunter

Chapter 1: "The Hunted."

A/N: Beth is played by Shannon Sossamon. Her singing voice is played by the singer from Flyleaf.

Beth Sanderson walked through the woods surrounding Forks, her backpack in one hand, Romeo & Juliet in the other. It was required reading but she'd already read it as Shakespeare was her favorite author. She was looking for the perfect place to read it.

She stopped at a fallen log and leaned up against it, soaking in her surroundings. She loved the woods. There was nothing more comforting to her than the smell, sight and feel of a forest. She lived in the woods most of the time. She hardly ever went home anymore. Not that there was much to go home to. Her father worked all the time and her mother was a drunk who couldn't be bothered to throw away her empty vodka bottles.

Beth curled up and started reading her book, reciting lines aloud that she liked the best.

"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!" she read with feeling.
"So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows," a voice quoted from behind her.
"As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

She smiled and turned around, her eyes falling on a beautiful young man who was breathtaking in the extreme.

"Hello," she said.

His hair was long and blonde, tied back in a ponytail. He wore an open jean jacket with no shirt underneath and denim jeans that looked faded and worn. His eyes were dark, a red that almost looked black, like blood. His skin was pale as moonlight. He was beautiful.

"Hello," he said with a grin that looked a little frightening in its intensity. "Don't you look… appetizing."

She tilted her head in confusion, but smiled nonetheless.

"You know Romeo & Juliet," she said in wonder.

"Yes," he said, licking his lips, the look of a predator in his eyes. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, I think it's wonderful," she said with enthusiasm. "Do you?"

"No," he said. "I always found Romeo to be a bit of pansy."

She frowned.

"Then why memorize it?" she asked, taking in his breathtaking beauty with wondering eyes.

Was it possible for a human being to be that beautiful? And if not then what was she looking at?

"I was bored," he said as he looked her up and down like some kind of treat. Perhaps it was what she was wearing. She was only in a tank top tied around her midriff with jeans and a jean jacket. It was a revealing outfit but not too sexy. She certainly looked nothing like him.

"Interesting way to cure boredom," she said with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow.

He grinned.

"You're interesting," he said. "Stand up and come over here."

She didn't hesitate to obey his order, rising from her seat on the damp ground, brushing off her backside and stepping over the log and toward him. She was curious. She would be the first to admit that. He wasn't like anyone she'd ever met. She didn't even know his name and already she was fascinated.

She stood a few feet from him and he closed the distance, circling her, looking her up and down.

"You know, for a human, you're actually rather lovely," he said with a feral grin.

"Human? And what are you, a vampire?" she said snidely.

He threw his head back and laughed, and suddenly she was frightened. Something was wrong. People didn't have red eyes. Something was off about this guy.

"I have to go," she said suddenly, frowning.

She turned around to get her backpack but she was forced to stop because he was standing right in front of her. What? How was that possible? Had she lost her mind?

"I don't think so," he said, baring his teeth in a wicked smile, his eyes impossibly dark.

Her breathing became uneven and she took an involuntary step back. Her foot caught on a tree root and she began to fall backwards. She felt him before she saw him move. His arms were around her before she could blink, supporting her totally. He lowered his head to her neck and sniffed the skin.

"God, you smell good," he breathed against her skin.

"Please…" she said, hardly knowing what she was asking for.

His body was so hard and solid, so cold and inhuman. She could feel it through their clothes, the impossible hardness of his body. It frightened her.

His tongue trailed up her neck and he nipped at her skin roughly, drawing blood. Her skin burned where he'd bitten her. It was like no pain she'd ever felt. What was he doing to her?

He sucked at her skin, worrying the wounds and drawing more blood.

"Please-" she said, cut off by him biting sharply at her neck.

She felt violated. This was all wrong. What was happening to her?

Things started to get hazy as he drained the blood from her body, drinking deeply from her neck. She didn't know what was going on but the searing pain had stopped and all that was left was a dull ache.

She felt herself begin to fade. Her vision was all black and white spots, her thoughts were getting unclear, and all she could do was live in the sensation of being held by strong, cold arms, pressed against a hard, lean body.

Then her world faded to black.

Beth woke up to the sounds of birds singing. Her eyes fluttered open. She was laying in the middle of the forest. Memories flooded her mind. The man she had seen, the one who had drunk her blood. She was alive? How? Surely he'd been a vampire. Why hadn't he killed her? And had he really been a vampire? Was that even possible? She could think of no other explanation for it. He had to be.

She looked around her, frightened. There was no sign that anyone else had ever been in the clearing. Had she imagined all of it?

Her hand went to her neck and came away with blood. No, she hadn't imagined it. Her neck was deeply sore and ached terribly. But she was a cutter so the pain didn't bother her that much. Only the fact that she'd just been attacked by a vampire and lived. She wouldn't tell the tale. People would think she was insane. No, she couldn't tell anyone.

She felt weak and limp when she moved. She tried to sit up but she was so tired it took several tries. When she finally did manage to sit up she noticed that her backpack had been moved from behind the log to next to her. It was unzipped. Someone had gone through it. The vampire.

She opened it the rest of the way and rifled through it. The only thing missing was the book of poetry she wrote in. She couldn't imagine why that would interest him. It was just the ravings of an unstable girl who needed therapy and heavy psychological medications.

She rose from the ground and slung the backpack over her shoulder. She picked up Romeo & Juliet from where it lay on the ground. She walked home. It was morning, she found out when she got home. Her mother was still passed out on the couch but her father had already left for work. It was too late to go to school, not that she'd be able to hold her head up in class with as tired as she was, so she went to bed.

Bleed, bleed, I always bleed

When I want to be freed.

Angry, alone, scared and broken,

So many tearful words left unspoken.

I hurt, my soul's pain,

Grips me in agony again and again.

Bleed, I always cut and bleed,

When I want to be freed.

The numbness dies on the tip of a razor,

Blood drips from my arm, a new intense flavor.

Bleed, bleed, I always bleed when I want to be freed.

James read the words over and over again. What would this pathetic human know of a soul's pain? What did she know of souls? What pain could she possibly have in her life that was so terrible?

Still, she interested him. He wouldn't have spared her temporarily if she hadn't. He would hunt her secrets, make her tell him everything, and when his curiosity was satisfied, then he would end her life. Until then, the game would go on.

Let it begin…