Today was the last Friday of June; it was summer vacation. Most people, humans more specifically, were rejoicing because of this. Many high school students were planning road trips, hanging out with friends, finding summer jobs, going to camp and/or preparing for college. My family, however, was celebrating for a different reason: no more pretending to be human; we could be vampires.
To celebrate the end of the school year, and the end of our charade, we had all decided to take a trip with our spouses. Emmet and Rosalie went to Africa; Jasper and Alice went to South America; while Carlisle and Esme went on a tour of Europe.
Edward and I had opted to stay a little closer to home. We simply took a 'hiking' trip to the Rocky Mountains. There was plenty of big game to satisfy our thirst; however, there were also a large number of tourists camping. That one fact slipped had our minds completely… or at least my husband's. We were 'vegetarian' vampires; the tourists should not have been a problem; they weren't for Edward. I, however, had a dilemma. I could voice my fears of straying from my desired diet and ruin the trip for us, or I could tough it out and resist the humans. I chose the latter.
That turned out to be a mistake.
Our goal was to go to the peaks of the mountains, high enough that there was not enough oxygen for humans. This also meant that we had limited choices for meals, so we had to go down the mountain to find more food. It was Sunday, the third day of our trip. We had traveled several hundred feet down the mountain in a matter of seconds and had started our hunt. Edward and I had shared three mountain lions, two grizzly bears and countless deer. Edward was full; I, being a new-born, was not. I was searching for more game and was Edward casually running behind me when the wind changed direction. I picked up on a new scent.
"No," Edward whispered in fear and disbelief. Fear for the innocent now being hunted. Disbelief because he knew he wouldn't be able to stop me.
He had picked up on the scent a split-second after I had. But that portion of a second was enough to give me a head start. I tore off through the woods in search of the deliciously sweet scent. Edward caught up to me quickly and tackled me to the ground; even a new-born I was still slower. Although he was faster, I was stronger. I shook him off easily and kept running. Finally, my prey was in sight.
A thundering growl ripped through me as I launched myself at the hikers. I grabbed one and drained him quickly. Edward grabbed me and tried to pull me away but I was in a feeding frenzy. I pushed him off of me and growled threateningly. Edward knew there was nothing he could do now; I was in what I called 'new-born mode.' I quickly drained two other hikers. As I held the last hiker, the fourth, I looked into his eyes. I saw nothing but fear and confusion. I sunk my teeth easily into his neck. When I pulled away I looked into his eyes again. They were wide open, frozen forever in fear. It was then that I came to my senses. I gently closed the eyelids of my last victim; I could not look at the frozen eyes anymore. At least if they were closed, he looked a little more peaceful.
I dropped the corpse before collapsing to the ground, surrounded by my kills. My body shook with tearless sobs. Edward sat down beside me and scooped me into his lap.
"Shhhh," he whispered, "it's not your fault. I should have been able to stop you. I should have been able to hear their thoughts before you caught their scents. I should have been able to stop this. You did nothing wrong…"
"Stop it!" now I was angry, "Stop blaming yourself. It's my fault. I lost control and killed those people. Not you."
"Bella…" he started.
"No," I stopped him. "I did everything wrong. I thought I was stronger than that. I resisted humans in Forks; why couldn't I stop myself here?" I asked in a harsh whisper.
"You were already hunting; you had let your instincts take over and ignored your self-concise. You caught the scent of the humans and you didn't think about right or wrong, or the fact that you strive to resist human blood. You are a new-born, and you were thirsty. When vampires are thirsty, they hunt," he explained. "What you did was only natural."
I knew he was trying to comfort me, to tell me it wasn't my fault. However, it was my fault; I killed these people. Their deaths were because of my lack of self control, not his. Knowing that this was a lost cause, that Edward's opinion would not change I sighed and stood up. We had to get rid of the bodies.
"What should we do with them?" I asked pointing at the four carcasses scattered between the trees.
"We could make it look like they were attacked by a bears. It will be a while before anyone realizes that they are missing. It'll be even longer before they are found."
I stared sadly at the bodies for a few moments. Realizing that I wanted nothing to do with these deaths anymore, Edward raced around at vampire speed. He distorted the bodies with gashes and other wounds. He finished and I had to admit that it really did look like a bear attack. It saddened me further to know the reason behind his need for this knowledge.
After the Incident, as I call it, Edward and I called it quits and we flew back to Forks. I was surprised to find that Alice and Jasper were already waiting for us in the door way when we arrived. Of course, I really shouldn't have been surprised; Alice must have seen the whole thing, from the beginning of the hunt to the decision to return home.
I walked up the front steps at a slow human pace. Edward was racing around at vampire speed putting our things away. When I reached the top of the stairs, Alice embraced me in a tight hug.
"Bella, it's okay. Everyone slips up and you're only a new-born. You didn't do it on purpose. Just remember that you feel guilty while most vampires find pleasure in killing humans. That's what makes a difference."
"Thank you," I murmured.
"Jasper wants to talk to you."