The Hunted
Following on from Breaking Dawn….
Chapter 1Renesmee is sleeping, a little girl with breathtaking red curls, the most perfect peach skin and a smile so infectious it could melt ice….
"Nessie honey, its time" Edward called coming into his daughters bedroom, she was lay flat out on her back, her flame colored hair spread over her pillow, and her favorite wolf teddy lay next to her, a gift from Jacob, and a constant reminder of his affection for the little half vampire.
Renesmee opened her eyes, sitting up to rub away the nights sleep, unlike her vampire parents she needed sleep, and it was only recently she'd gotten used to not falling asleep in the arms of her family, beds where nicer she'd decided, now aged 11 months but looking more like a 4 year old nessie could stretch out more here, although Jacobs big strong arms where comfy too!
Even more so when he was in wolf form, and she could sleep beside him, with her tiny fingers tangled in his rust colored fur.
"But daddy, I don't want to go" she gave Edward her infectious grin, knowing before he'd replied she'd already won him over, he sighed
"Nessie, it's important, we discussed this weeks ago, we must try our best to keep you a secret until it's the right time".
He went over to her and sat next to her on the bed, pushing the wolf teddy onto the floor deliberately as he sat in one fluid movement, nessie noticed but ignored the action, she was used to her daddy's dislike of how much her Jacob visited her.
"Oh daddy, can we just stay here this time, I want to meet her, you and mummy are getting to spend a full weekend with her, why can't I be with you"? Nessie leaned over with her arms outstretched, Edward opened his arms and scooped her up tight, her pyjamas all creased, her skin all warm, he snuggled into her neck breathing in her unique sent, she reminded him of Bella, before she was changed. Just not as delicious!
Renesmee was referring to Bella's old friend Lily, who they where expecting a visit from that day, she'd heard news of Bella's wedding, she'd been in Bali at the time, on some adventure of other, un-reachable by phone apparently so they'd left a million messages for her with her dad and brothers, her mum had passed when she was tiny, so she'd been brought up by her father and older brothers, they where the outdoor kind so Lily was destined to lead an active life.
"We've discussed this nessie, the wedding was enough of a shock for her, she has all of mummy's new family to meet, with meeting all of us together do you think she could handle knowing mummy had a baby girl too"? Edward knew he had to be honest with Renesmee, even though she was young in age and appearance; her mental maturity was well beyond her years.
Nessie jumped back, off Edwards lap and landed softly with her bare feet on the hard stone floor, "that's unfair, everyone's going to be there, you, mummy, nanny Esme and papa Carlisle, Alice and jasper, even Emmett and Rosalie, its just not fair" she pulled her hands up over her face, a sobbing sound came from her, first quietly then gradually louder.
"Nessie, please don't do this, you know what papa Carlisle thinks, please help daddy out and just for today be a good girl and spend the day with your Jacob", those last two words came hard for Edward, but her knew nessie's week spot for "her Jacob" was his only choice to get through today.
Rename stopped crying to look up, her eyes puffy and red, her cheeks stained with the lines from her tears, her mouth changed into a half smile, Edward thought he'd gotten his way, Renesmee knew different, the plan had been to keep her a complete secret until Lily's return to LA, now Nessie knew she had a chance to meet her mummy's friend if she just stayed out of the way for a day, plus she got to spend the day with Jake, which was a bonus anyway!
"Ok daddy, I will help you both, but you must promise me, that no matter what mummy, or papa Carlisle says, you'll promise to let me meet Lily"?
She clambered back up on Edwards knee. He leaned over to wipe the tears away from her cheeks, smiling gently he agreed "Ok Nessie, I promise" he put his hand over his chest "With all my heart" he said kissing her gently on her forehead.
"I don't know, I thought your mummy had me wrapped around her little finger, that's until you came along and showed me what that actually meant, my little Nessie, how could anyone resist"? he jumped up, throwing her over his shoulder quickly, she giggled and screamed with delight. "I love you daddy," she said nuzzling into his neck and kissing him softly on the cheek.
There was a knock at the door, but Edward already knew who it was, he could smell that scent miles away.
Bella came out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around her smooth body, her skin dripping wet and slightly warmer from the remainder of her hot shower, it would soon fade, any warmth had left her body a long time ago.
"Jacob, come in, its open" she yelled around the corner so he could hear her through the living room door and outside. She ducked back inside the bathroom to finish getting ready.
Edward's lips tightened and Renesmee looked up, "Daddy, be nice!" she said and ran to great Jacob, in two huge leaps she was across the room, Jacob let out a huge laugh as he caught her within his huge arms.
"Nessie, you are getting bigger by the day, soon you'll have to carry me"!
He smiled as she touched his cheek, choosing to show him her thoughts in her own special way, she seemed to do this more with Jacob than with anyone else lately, something else Edward disliked.
Jacob nodded, then laughed "your spoilt nessie, and not just by me it seems".
He smirked and looked over at Edward, who realising she'd told Jacob of their conversation this morning rolled his eyes and gave a shrug of his shoulders.
Jacob smiled back. "You want coffee Jake" Edward murmured under his breath as he headed into the kitchen.
"Yep, and if you want to rustle us some breakfast up too I wont say no, I'm starving today".
Jacob dropped down onto the small sofa, making it seem even smaller with his huge frame on top of it. He put nessie down beside him, and she turned to speak "Where are we going today Jake" she said picking up the TV remote, she passed it to Jake who began flicking through the channels.
"Well little nessie, I was thinking about taking you back to La Push to see my dad, he's missed you since the last visit and I know he's looking forward to you visiting.
"I love Uncle Billy" she squealed with delight, and then slightly louder so Bella could hear "Mummy I'm going to visit uncle Billy with Jake!"
Just then Bella came back out of the bathroom, her hair still damp, tied up in a loose bun, fully dressed in a soft lilac cashmere jumper and black velvet tight trousers.
Jacob looked up as she came into view, "Hey Bella, enjoy the shower?"
He moved over to make room for her to sit, she gestured there was no need. Vampires didn't need to rest like humans, most of the actions like sitting, and fidgeting where only used to convince others of them being human, to "fit in".
"It was bliss" she said walking over to scoop Nessie up in her arms.
Little Nessie gave her a big hug, "Honey you slept well"? More of a statement than a question, nessie wrapped her arms around her mothers neck, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Mummy, did you hear me? I said, Jacobs going to take me to la push to see uncle Billy"
Bella passed Nessie back to Jacob and her spot on the sofa beside him, "Yes I heard you honey, I think the whole of forks heard you!" "Now, have you eaten breakfast"?
Just then Edward came in, he slid over to Bella, in a swift movement, so quick Jacob nearly missed it, and kissed her gently on her forehead.
"I'm on it," he said passing a plate of pancakes and maple syrup over to Jacob, he turned and gave Nessie her Disney Princess beaker with donated warm blood in.
Her usual drink was animal blood, but when Edward wanted to spoil her he kept human donated blood that they had gotten from Carlisle and his links to the donor blood bank in nearby Port Angeles.
Edward stood back next to Bella, "mmmmm you look divine" he said and bent over for another kiss, this one he let linger slightly longer, enough to make Jacob roll his eyes and smirk, making Nessie laugh at his face. "What's up with you two" Bella said, taking a playful swipe Jacob, who had nearly finished the huge stack of pancakes Edward had made.
"You two at it again, smoochy smoochy" he said impersonating the noise of them kissing against the back of his hand. Nessie chuckled and jumped down off the sofa, placing her empty beaker on the nest of tables that Renee had given as a wedding gift to them.
"Mummy, can I wear the pink dress Alice gave me today?"
Jacob picked her up to carry her into her room "Which pink dress" he said laughing, "You have a million pink dresses nessie"!
Bella wrapped her arms around Edward, pulling him in close, she rested her head against his back, and peered around his body, as they watched, Jacob went into Nessie's wardrobe and started laying out all the pink dresses he thought she might want on her bed.
"What's the plan then" Bella said, pulling away and walking over towards the fireplace, she stared into the mirror, twiddling with strands of her hair, which had come loose.
Edward came up behind her, meeting her reflective gaze over her shoulder in the large guilt mirror, which hung above the blazing fire.
"Well, once Jacob has Nessie dressed and ready we're supposed to go up to your dads and pick Lily up from there, your dad rang this morning whilst you where in the shower and said something about her plane getting in early".
He pulled her round to face him, and pulled her in by her waist so her body was touching him, he bent down slightly; he kissed her softly at first, and then more passionately getting carried away. She could never have enough of Edward, even though not needing to sleep had its advantages, she could devour him every second of every day, the good thing was, that he felt the same.
Suddenly there was a clearing of throats as Jacob and Nessie came back into the living room. "Sorry to interrupt guys but we're set to go" Jacob said carrying nessie in one arm and her backpack in the other hand. "I've packed her an overnight bag, just incase, but I'll bring her back here if you want" he strolled over to where they where stood to pass nessie over to say goodbye.
"No that's ok Jake, she can stay at yours, but promise you make her sleep in her own bed this time, she's getting to big to sleep in your arms, no matter how comfortable she looks, or what she says" Edward said kissing his daughter gently and mouthing "be good". "And remember nessie, no blood for meals whilst your in La Push town ok" He added.
"Its ok Edward, we've got it covered, me and nessie are going to go and hunt later in the woods, hence her outfit"!
Bella looked and realized Nessie had on her pink dress she'd been given by Alice the week before, but on her feet, instead of the matching pink ballet style shoes, where little pink boots designed for running through woods, and hunting.
Edward and Bella said their goodbyes to their daughter and Jacob and made their way up to the main house, as they approached Bella spotted the familiar black Porsche 911 parked inside the garage next to Emmett's Jeep.
"Oh crap," she said in a whisper, "She's already here". They both looked at each other and headed into the house.
As they went in through the main door they could hear laughing coming from the kitchen area. "Are you ready"? Edward asked looking at Bella who looked very worried.
"Yep, I'm about as ready as I'm ever going to be" she glanced in the long mirror next to the coat hook and took in her reflection, she'd took the time to apply a little blush and slipped in a pair of contact lenses to change the colour of her eyes back to a normal hue.
"You look amazing" Edward said, brushing a stray hair out of her face.
Bella laughed, "That's kind of the problem"!
They walked into the kitchen; hand in hand, stood at the cooker was Esme stirring something Bella couldn't quite see. "Bella, Edward, you're here" she said coming over for a hug.
Sat beside Carlisle was Lily, she was a similar height to Bella, had deep red curls going right down her back, her skin was lightly tanned, which made Bella and the rest of the Cullen's look more pale in comparison, her lips where full and she had bright blue eyes which had been accentuated by lots of fake lashes and mascara. She had a huge smile on her face.
She stood and ran over to Bella, Edward and Esme, "Wow Bella, married life suits you" she said smiling, she took the time to look her friend up and down, aware of the changes, but not being able to pinpoint any.
"Lily, I've missed you SO much, I'm so very sorry you had to find out over a voicemail, we rang and rang for days" Bella embraced her in a hug.
"Let me introduce my new husband" Bella said pulling away slightly before Lily could feel the coolness of her new skin through the thick top she'd chosen deliberately. "This is Edward".
"Wow, like wow, Bella" Lily said blushing slightly. "Lily" Edward said holding his hand out to greet her.
Lily shook his hand, and flinched slightly at his cool grip. "Sorry, we've been outside walking, I need to warm up a little" he said smoothly removing his hand.
"Its lovely to meet you finally Edward, I've heard so much about you, its nice to see you for my own eyes" she took a step backward so she was stood back next to Bella.
"Why thank you, its good to meet you too, now I have a face to put next to Bella's stories about you both when you where children". He looked at her and tried to picture her in all the tales Bella had been telling him since they had heard she was visiting.
Lily turned to face Bella, " Well, I've met most of your new family, what else have you been hiding from me" she said looking serious.
Bella and Edward looked at each other worried; they glanced over towards where Carlisle stood. "I was joking Bella"! Lily said laughing.
They all took turns chatting about what she'd missed at the wedding, Lily wanted to know every detail, so Edward ran and got the wedding album Esme and Alice had helped create for them.
"Wow, you sure have a lot of good looking family" Lily said towards Esme and Carlisle.
They both smiled politely "Why thank you Lily, that's a lovely thing to say" Esme said passing her a glass of red wine.
"So, what's your plans whilst you're here Lily"? She said sitting back down next to Bella.
Lily shrugged her shoulders "I'm not sure, I've popped in to see your dad, but he was just leaving for work, I wouldn't mind heading into town, taking a look around" she placed her glass down carefully, glancing around she noticed how everything was spotlessly clean and tidy, Esme must keep a strict house she thought.
"Well, Id be pleased to give you both some time alone, that's if you want it" Edward said.
"No chance" Lily said smiling " I want you with us, I've got to get to know my best friends new husband!"
Just then Alice and Jasper came in the room "Hey" Alice said approaching Lily.
"You must be Lily, I'm Alice, Edwards sister"
Lily held out her hand to shake, but Alice fully embraced her in a hug
"Oh" Lily said slightly embarrassed.
"Excuse my sister, she doesn't understand personal space" said Edward,
Jasper introduced himself politely and then joined Carlisle and Emmett in the kitchen out of the way, leaving Edward and the girls to chat.
About an hour passed and they eventually decided to head into Port Angeles.
Esme politely declined the invitation saying she still had to prepare some things for the meal that night.
The others headed off, in Alice and Edward's cars, Bella going with Edward and taking Lily with them, Alice driving Rosalie.
By the time they returned it had gotten dark outside, the sky was clear, showing only the faintest of stars far away. The air was cool and fresh but as they climbed out of the cars it began to rain, forcing them all to rush inside leaving their purchases from town inside the cars.
Edward was last inside he took off his jacket and hung it next to Bella's and Lily's.
"Wow, we where lucky to miss that downpour" he said brushing his hands through his hair to fix the damage from the rain.
"I see its still the same old wet Forks it used to be" Lily said following Bella into the living room.
"Oh yeah, same old same old" she replied offering a seat to her sister.
Carlisle came in looking serious "Edward, Bella, Can you come into the kitchen for a minute, there's something Esme needs help with"
Edward saw the look on his face, and went through with Bella "we'll be right back Lily" she said briefly turning to speak to her sister.
Jacob was stood against the refrigerator, looking very worried, his trousers where splattered in blood, but there was no wound she could see.
Bella was the first to speak "Jake, where's Nessie?"
"Its ok Bella, she's upstairs safe" he gestured towards the living room where Lily was chatting to Alice about some band she'd seen.
"I'm so very sorry but I didn't know where to go, or what to do, I thought it was best to bring her home, and you where still out, and I didn't want to ring and worry you even more"
Bella darted over to Jake in a flash and had him up against the fridge by his neck, a low growl came from her throat. "What did you do" she spat through her clenched teeth.
"Bella" Jake choked "Its ok, she's ok, the bloods from me, not her, she's safe, I swear" he continued to struggle to remove her hand. She was still strong from being a newborn and he had to fight to breathe.
Esme came over and placed a calming hand on Bella's shoulder. "Bella honey, relax, Renesmee is well, she's asleep in Edwards old room, and she's untouched, I promise"
Bella relaxed her grip and let Jake go, she took a few steps backwards but kept her eyes firmly on Jake, Edward came over beside her "Jacob, you better start explaining before my wife rips out your throat, and I rip your limbs apart"
"Ok, ok, it was going ok, we went to la push, my dad played with Nessie for a while, she got hungry so we went out to hunt. We where far into the clearing by the beach when Nessie said she'd smelt something nice. We headed off to look for what it was, she was only inches in front of me when it happened, she's lucky she wasn't next to me" he trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.
Edward glared at him "You better continue Jake" he said looking at the way Bella had tightened her stance in front of him, her teeth slightly bared and a low growl deep inside her chest escaped from her lips.
"Well, we found what she'd smelt, it was just some deer, some does with their fawns grazing, I was already in wolf form, so I stopped to give Nessie head lead on the closest fawn"
He paused to cough, "It came from nowhere, all of a sudden I smelt human, and then before I could turn around I was thrown onto the ground by a force I couldn't see, my left leg was in agony and blood was everywhere, then I heard the second shot, I jumped as quickly towards Nessie as I could, I managed to land just beside her and it caught me in the rear"
"Someone shot at you and Nessie, Jake"? Edward spat through his teeth he looked at his wife who was just as worried.
Jacob opened his trousers, pulling one side down gently to reveal a large dressing, which obviously Carlisle had put over the wound; deep red blood was already coming through it and onto his trousers.
"Who was it?" Bella said pulling Edward close, relieved in a way that it was only a minor injury and that according to Esme that Nessie had escaped unhurt.
"I don't know, I was too concerned trying to grab Nessie and run, I managed to get her to crawl onto my back, I ran as quickly as I could in the other direction, normally I'm a fighter not one to run, but against a gun, and with Nessie on my back I was taking no chances.
We're lucky that kid is brave cause they kept shooting, didn't lay up till we where clear inside the woods"!
Edward went over to Jacob, "Jake, I'm so very sorry for jumping the gun, I assumed when I saw the blood it was Nessie's and I cant apologize enough, but we want to thank you for saving my daughters life" he looked over to Bella, who was still in shock.
Bella embraced Jake in a hug, gripping him tightly round his waist
"Jake, oh god, thank you so much, you put your life in danger to save Nessie, and I'm so glad she was with you today. I owe you my life".
"Ouch Bella, your kinda squeezing my ass a little and I'm still quite sore you know". Jake flinched back a little rubbing his backside
Bella let him go and went over to Esme "Is she really un hurt?"
Esme smiled "Yes, she just wanted to tell us all the tale about how her Jacob had saved her from the bad men" she chuckled.
"There was more than on guy?" she replied.
Jacob pulled out a barstool and sat down gently, slightly leaning on his right side to avoid making the wound worse. "We think there was three, I got the scent of two of them, but Nessie was certain there was three, and that kid is very rarely wrong"
Carlisle spoke up. "From the bullets I removed from Jacob, both of them where from different guns. One was a 177 Caliber Break Barrel Air Rifle, and the other a 308 Winchester. Both of them capable of doing a lot of damage".
"I can't believe, there is someone out there shooting at my daughter" Edward said angrily.
"Did Renesmee see any of their faces?" he said taking a quick look in at the others entertaining Lily still.
She was still engrossed in something Alice was saying about a new pair of shoe's she had just bought and from what Edward could hear it was something to with Jimmy Choo, whoever he was?
"No, she had her head buried in my fur" Jacob replied. "I told her to keep down as flat as she could, I just wanted us to get away safely, I wish I'd looked back to see who the fuckers where" he said angrily.
Bella stepped over to him, and looking her old friend in the eyes couldn't believe how much she owed him "Jacob, you did the right thing, getting Renesmee out of there was the smartest thing you could of done".
She touched him lightly on the shoulder "I'm just glad, neither of you where killed" she added.
"I better get back in to Lily" Bella said walking back towards the living room where her friend was sat.
"She'll be wondering where we all are" she said to Edward.
Emmett headed in, he threw Jacob a shirt and some new trousers, "You better put these on mate if you don't want to scare our new friend in there" he said chuckling at the bare chest and blood stained pants that Jacob had on.
"Thanks" Jacob replied, slightly worried that he had to wear something that smelled so badly of vampires for the rest of the evening. He popped the shirt over his head and quickly changed his trousers, flinching slightly when the material of his denim jeans rubbed against his leg where he'd been shot.
Jacob joined the rest of them in the living room, Lily looked up when he entered "Hey, you must be Lily?" he said and offered his hand to greet her.
"I've heard so much about you, I'm Jacob, but everyone calls me Jake", he sat on the piano stool opposite the sofa, the furthest seat away from the smell of all the vampires in the room.
"Hey Jacob" Lily said glancing towards Bella with a smirk on her face "I've heard so much about you too" she said blushing. Edward looked to Bella, who quickly looked away without meeting his eyes.
"That's nice, well I hope it was all good," he said
Lily again glanced over at Bella "Yep, defiantly all good" she added.
Edward acknowledged the look between the girls but chose to ignore it.
"Right" He said standing "Who's up for some music, its far too quiet in here tonight considering we have a guest"
He went over to the stereo system in the corner of the room and pressed play on the cd that was already in. Esme went back into the kitchen.
Alice also excused herself and followed Esme, saying she was going to help her finish setting the table for dinner.
"Bella, can you pop upstairs and grab be the napkins from the cupboard on the landing" Esme called through.
Bella, knowing the table had already been set, and probably had been for a while took the gesture as a chance for her to check on Renesmee, so stood and went towards the stairs.
"Sure Esme, on my way" She called back.
When she was out of sight she flew up the stairs lightening quick and went straight to Edwards room, pausing slightly at the door to compose herself she pushed the heavy wooden door open gently.
Inside in the middle of the small room was Edwards huge old bed, which he'd bought for when he was away, and Alice had been forced to baby sit Bella in his absence.
A huge cream satin duvet and millions of pillows surrounded Bella's tiny little girl, lay curled up in a ball sleeping peacefully, Bella approached the bed silently and sat down beside Nessie. She placed her hand on her daughters back and began to cry.
All the memories of nearly loosing her when the volturi came to eliminate the Cullen's came flooding back and she couldn't stop the tears flowing, she sat for a few minutes sobbing silently, thanking Jacob and god.
She felt Edward sit down beside her in the dark, she leaned over and put her head in her husbands lap, he cradled her, gently stroking her face, calming and soothing her as best he could.
He hummed her song to her, which used to make her fall asleep but couldn't anymore, because she couldn't sleep. She had no need for rest, but it still soothed her, along with his touch, more than anything else in the world could.
"Bella" he said "my angel, lets not think of things that could have been, lets think of the present, our daughter is safe, tonight we have a guest to entertain, tomorrow is another day and we can take it from there, Emmett and Carlisle are already planning to go tonight to the place where Jacob was shot at to see if they can follow any scent"
He stood, pulled her up off the bed and into his arms, cradling her gently. He lifted up her face so she was looking directly into his eyes and kissed her gently on the lips, on her nose and then her forehead.
"Now, lets go back down before Lily starts thinking you've disappeared on her" he said gently pulling her towards the doorway.
Bella glanced back at her sleeping daughter, Renesmee smiling in her sleep, obviously dreaming, Bella stepped out after Edward and closed the door behind them.
Back downstairs, a party had officially started, Alice had Jasper up dancing. Emmett and Rosalie where also up but dancing slower than the music playing, their body's touching more than they should in a public place.
Jacob had moved and sat next to Lily now, who was on her second glass of wine, she hadn't noticed, like most other humans wouldn't that she was the only one actually drinking, the others appeared to be, but Bella knew from her time spent as a human around vampires so much that appearances where deceiving.
"Bella, where have you been, you've been missing all the fun" Lily stood up and passed her friend a glass of wine. "Drink and catch me up" she laughed. Bella took a large swig out of the glass and smiled. She held up the napkins she'd grabbed on her way down stairs and gestured towards the kitchen, once inside, she spat out the red wine into the sink and placed the un-needed napkins inside a drawer.
When she returned to the living room, Carlisle appeared and offered her up to dance. She accepted and when the next song came on the majority of the room joined them. Edward with Esme and Jacob even asked Lily up, and from the way he danced you couldn't even tell he'd been shot, twice, less than 30 minutes ago!
After the second song finished they agreed it was time to eat and headed into the dining room, Esme had very carefully laid out a smaller portion for everyone else bar Lily, who didn't seem to notice, or didn't mind.
"Wow, this is delicious" Lily said wiping her mouth from the remainder of the desert, "Did you make this yourself?" she asked Esme.
"Yes, it's an old family recipe, passed down from generations before" she said collecting the plates up, the others had barely touched their portions of cake, just cutting it up and moving it round their plates to look like they had eaten some. It was easy to appear human, when you had lots of practice at it.
They retired to the living room, after hearing Edward could play, Lily had begged him to play her something on the large grand piano in the center of the room.
He sat, and gestured for Bella to join him, so she went over and sat beside him on the old large leather seat.
When he began to play, she closed her eyes, it was the song he'd written for Nessie, the days following the attack from the Volturi had been stressful, although relieved they where safe, they had worried for so long beforehand that they'd spent hours at the main house just wanting to be close to their family, who they'd very nearly lost all together.
"He's amazing" Lily whispered to Jacob, who was sat beside her on the sofa, the only other member of the party who had requested cheese and crackers after dinner!
He nodded "That's Edward" he said chomping down another cracker pilled high with bree. "You should see him hit a ball" he said smirking.
Rosalie heard the remark and flashed Jacob a glare as if to say shut it.
He acknowledged the look and went back to his food.
Soon things started to wind down, and Lily and Jacob became tired so they decided to call it a night, it was gone 1am and although Bella could not tire, she had to admit she was feeling slightly off this evening, not sleepy but kind of distant.
"You wanna crash here Jake" Edward asked standing to offer him a helping hand to get up off the sofa. "You look pretty shattered, you can have my old room".
Jacob thought of Nessie sleeping peacefully and decided it had been to much of a close call that day in the woods and thought he'd be better as close to her as possible until they knew who'd took a shot at them both.
He yawned "If you don't mind Bella?" he asked.
"Sure Jake, its all yours, I think I'm gonna help Esme clean up, Alice, can you show Lily to the guest room"? She said collecting some glasses, most of which where still full.
"Sure Bella, night all" she said and lead Lily up towards the guest room Esme had prepared for the visit. Jasper followed them up, carrying Lily's overnight bag.
She had been booked into a hotel in town, but once Esme heard she was a very close friend of Bella's she'd offered a room for her first night to give them more time with each other.
Edward yawned and stretched his arms in the air, another human gesture and said he'd be up shortly too.
Once Lily had disappeared they headed outside the back to talk about Jacob being shot.
"Are you sure, I mean, I didn't think there where any out there anymore" Emmett said to Carlisle who was examining the bullets he'd removed earlier from Jacob.
"Whats going on?" Edward said approaching, when he got close he saw the bullets that Carlisle held, inscribed in the top of them clearly enough for a vampire to see, but nothing a human would notice, where two initials H.A
"Whats H.A stand for?" said Bella joining them
Edward looked up at Carlisle, Bella noticed the look and asked again "What does it mean"
"Hunters Association" said Alice coming out of the house with Jasper to join them.
Bella looked puzzled, Edward explained "It's usually one human, given a calling as they say, to kill the likes of, erm, well, us!"
"Jacob and Nessie where being hunted?" Bella asked confused
Carlisle came over and put his arm around his newest daughters shoulders "I'm afraid so, and by a quite experienced one too, apparently only hunters that have killed more than 100 vampires get to use these type of bullets" he placed them in Bella's hand, so she could see them.
She examined the tiny shells, and placed them back in Carlisle's hand, she turned to Alice and the rest "Have any of you ever come in contact with one of these before".
"I did, back not long after I was changed" spoke Jasper "I was in Monterrey at the time, trying to take it over with the newborns and Maria, we'd all but taken the city when she came, she smelt like a human so we didn't run, but with her came others, others with great knowledge of our kind, of how to kill us, the shells that Carlisle pulled out of Jacob were'nt meant for him, they where meant for Nessie" he trailed off, picking the bullets up.
"See here" he pointed towards the initials carved on the heads "this is where they put the poision" he showed Bella, on the letter H she could see the residue of some liquid and it smelt funny to her heightened scences.
"They thought Nessie was a vampire" she asked confused "But she's not, she's clearly alive"
Carlisle shook his head "Remember this happened before, and the hunters are'nt as understanding about half-breeds as the Volturi where, to them a vampire is a vampire, and seeing Nessie with a large wolf probably made it worse" he finished and pulled out a map.
Edward spoke next "We need to eliminate her Bella, and the ones she brings with her, this is going against everything I believe in, they are human, but they are hunters, they wont stop until they have caught us. And seeing Nessie is a child they probably already know she wouldn't be alone, they'll be looking for us all"
"We cant kill them, not if they're human" she spoke up, "I cant allow it" she shook her head but in her heart she knew what they had to do.
"We wouldn't make you or Edward help" said Jasper "This is something far too complicated for a new vampire and her husband who have their emotions in the hunt" he looked up at Edwards bedroom window where Nessie slept peacefully.
"We leave in 1 hour" Carlisle said folding up the map. He took a bottle out of his pocket and held it up for Bella to see.
"It's a drug, we'll try and sedate them first and try and make them see reason with us, if we cannot then we'll have to finish them" he put the vile back into his coat pocket along with the map.
Bella looked towards Alice for help "Can you not see the outcome" she said hopefully.
"Bella, I didn't even see this coming, Jacob is so close to us lately that he clouds my visions, but even if he was not, I'm unable to see because the decision has not yet been made, all I could see now would be Carlisle's plan, which he's already just told us all" she looked down, embaressed that she couldn't be of any help.
Bella suddenly didn't feel so good, her vision fading all of a sudden, she took a step back, suddenly suprised by her lack of balance, something she'd thought she'd left behind for good, she stumbled and then she yelled "Edward!"
Upstairs Lily was sat up in bed, she reached into her bag and pressed speed dial on her mobile phone.
A voice answered. "Yes"
"Its me" she said standing and going towards the window.
"Is it done?" the voice asked
"Its done, each of them sipped from their glasses, for my viewing of course, none of them drank but they all had their lips on the tip of the glasses long enough for the drug to take effect". She looked down out of the window, the group below deep in conversation.
"How long." the voice asked.
"Just about now, put him on" she replied.
Watching from above she saw them fall one by one onto the ground. Edward clinging onto Bella as they collapsed to the floor, Jasper fought the drug the most, managing to glance up to the window to see Lily smugly staring back down at him, an evil glint in her eye in the moonlight.
"Its done" she spoke into the phone.
"Are you certain" the voice replied.
"Yes, Daddy I said it was done" she smiled and hung up.