Bella took a deep breath and composed herself. Her clear, chocolate brown eyes appeared serene but her mind was actually very busy. She was contemplating on how to successfully accomplish her mission tonight.
Ahhhh… Her lips twitched in an evil grin, her eyes sparkled mysteriously. She can almost smell the sweet scent of victory that subtly combined in the notorious chills of the wind. Her target's painful death played in her vision, it was vivid and she loved it.
She knew that tonight everything will go according to her plans. No one can stop her. Not even the devil himself.
Her plans were well laid out and she will execute it with ruthless grace and cunning ministrations that marked her notoriety as one of the greatest assassins of the British government, if not the best.
Her mission tonight was just a piece of cake. She had been in a more challenging mission, a lot of them actually, but she handled those dangerous undertakings with sheer grace and notoriety that only Bella Swan can successfully pull off.
Her record was spotless. All missions successfully accomplished. No failures. Just success. It was a feat that only a few assassins had ever achieved in history.
She was an epitome of victory and tonight will just be another ordinary night in her action filled, assassin life.
She was honed to perfection and yes, she was but perfect.
She felt her heart excitedly pound faster inside her luscious chest as growing anticipation overwhelmed her. The hunger to kill her target consumed her with such power and greed that fueled her blood to rush exhilaratingly to her veins.
She can't wait for the moment to lay her bare hands around her target's Earthly flesh and suck the very life from it. She'll surely leave her victim not just mere lifeless but spiritually battered as well. It was her specialty.
She grinned evilly at the thought.
"Ready?" The baritone voice momentarily derailed her evil thoughts.
Bella glanced back at the pilot's direction. Her eyes darted at his big bulk and her stare zoomed in to his handsome face. She smiled at him impishly, flashing her pearly set of white teeth, telling him that she was more than ready, more than words can say.
She was pleased that he had asked her that question. She was waiting for it. She was dying to hear from him that they were already at the insertion point and that she can jump off the chopper and play with the wind.
The pilot answered her sweet smile and she knew instantly that he'll be at her mercy if she wanted to. He looked smitten by her treacherous beauty, like everyone else of his kind - men who easily fall for vulnerable looking, fair skinned women with long, straight, dark brown hair and soft, chocolate, brown eyes. She had the power to evoke that silly, heroic instinct among men who see her as a helpless, fragile, young woman.
She looked harmless by the way with an aura of a damsel in distress and her victims usually buy her trick. Little did they know that she was actually very dangerous and she was the death of them. Of course, they will only realize that on the brink of death.
"Five minutes and we'll be at the insertion point," he announced gently.
"Good! I'm ready," she answered without hesitation, without showing any signs of trouble. She raised her chin in a proud manner and stared directly into the pilot's deep-set, almond-shaped eyes.
"Good Girl!" He grinned at her and then checked his instruments.
Bella knew that everything that she needed for tonight's mission was all securely strapped around her little body. She was well armed and physically and mentally prepared to go for a kill.
The pilot gave his signal and she kneeled confidently on the pounding floor of Britain's most powerful chopper, the Boeing AH-64 Apache. It was a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with reverse-tricycle landing gear arrangement, and tandem cockpit for a crew of two.
Her shady government was surely one of the most powerful forces in the world. In fact, her mission tonight was launched in order to maintain and protect its revered reputation.
She was tasked to eliminate Mahmud Kareem, a war veteran and a senior adviser to the Palestinian government and now an advocate of peace negotiation between Gaza and Israel. He had achieved a milestone that no one had successfully did for over hundred years as he had just months away brokering for what seemed to be a lasting truce between two rival nations.
The world was shocked at how Kareem managed to achieve such feat. It was unbelievable but sheer diplomacy proved to be the best working solution to stop the war and loss of lives in the world's most dangerous place.
The truce and the impending end of relentless war between Israel and Gaza was actually a good news. The world was celebrating early. Everyone was happy that finally world peace has come, but her shady government was not at all pleased.
War between Israel and Palestine was the number one source of Britain's humongous income for decades now. If there is peace, the demand for weapons and other war paraphernalia will plummet to a high low and will surely leave Britain's already top notched economy dwindling into a pit of destruction. Of course, her shady government won't allow that to happen.
Mahmud Kareem needed to be stopped dead on his tracks before he can set up a final meeting with Israeli government representatives; before the two rival countries can successfully sign a lasting peace agreement.
The man must be disposed of, asap.
She had no business about how noble Kareem was or whether he was a family man, nor the Israeli-Palestinian politics, nor the lasting peace… those were bull craps by the way. She only cared about her job, no more, no less. And she was out to kill, by hook or by crook!
She waited for the pilot's final signal as she rearranged her goggles. And as soon as he raised his hand on the air, signaling her that they were in the perfect position, altitude and time, she gave him her signature salute and jumped off the chopper.
She felt adrenaline rush consumed her entire being as her body floated in space, as darkness filled her vision. It was cloudy and the night was dark. But she cared less.
She was free falling when she took care of her parachute. It blasted into the air and seconds later, she was smoothly floating along with the wind, safe and sound.
Then she calculated her destination target. She should land about a few meters away from the safe house where Mahmud Kareem and his armed men were secretly hiding. The man knew that there were threats over his life so he made sure that he was in an untouchable and safe hideout prior to signing the peace agreement.
Safe, huh! She snorted. Those foolish Palestinians had no idea at how frail their intelligence actually was. Her powerful government was able to intercept their highly, private intelligence report and had successfully tracked Kareem's safe hideout.
Boom! That was how they got them. And she was here to deliver the bad news.
She laughed with sheer mockery.
It almost took forever before her parachute flew parallel to the wild, tall trees of the forest. Kareem's safe house was located at a very strategic position; it was nestled on top of a steep, tall mountain. But the peak of the mountain was actually relatively flat and homage to a virgin forest. It was wild and dark in there… wild and dark just like her… and she liked it.
Kareem's hideout was like a fortress. There was no easy access over the land. The mountain was so steep that it was impossible to climb. The only possible access was through air transportation, which she utilized of course. But they have to fly at a very high altitude on top of the mountain so as not to create any noise. With a very strategic location and guarded with heavily armed bodyguards, Kareem seemed to be very safe at where he was.
Until tonight.
Edward sniffed some air and his ever sensitive olfactory nerves caught a strange but interesting scent. His head and body automatically rotated to where the scent was coming from. It was so powerful and intoxicating.
Strange... he thought.
He sniffed again. And the scent became stronger even more, consuming his whole attention now.
He totally disregarded the bear that he was actually stalking for a hunt. He was not interested anymore. All he needed to do was to know where the freaking scent was coming from, who was the owner of it. He was drawn to the powerful scent like metal to magnet.
That scent! It was his first time to smell such scent. It was hard to describe. There was a combination of frailty, innocence, sweetness, wickedness, fierceness and darkness to it that it boggled his mind.
How can a scent be that?
And as the scent became even stronger and noticeable, a different kind of thirst, something that was so powerful, engulfed him.
He was stunned.
That must be impossible! How did it happen?
But he felt really thirsty and it was freaking him out. It was a very powerful thirst that he had experienced for the first time in his vampire life. Even when he was still a newborn vampire, who had uncontrolled cravings for human blood, he had never felt this kind of thirst. It was almost irresistible and unbearable.
Heck!
It struck him when he least expected it. Not now. He had been a vampire for over 500 years and he had already mastered the technique on how to not long for a human's blood anymore. It was abomination to him.
He fed on animals' blood. And he wanted to stay that way.
Until tonight.
Well, he was thirsty, alright. That was why he was in this thick, rain forest where fierce beasts roam around. This was his favorite place to hunt as there were still lions and bears that he can feed from. They had enough blood that can sustain his thirst for weeks.
He called the place, the Dark Forest. It was literally dark in the middle of the forest. The rays of the sun can't even penetrate the forest's floor anymore. The trees were tall and huge with thick branches.
It was a virgin forest so to speak. Situated on top of a very tall, steep mountain, it was untouchable against human's interference.
He had actually discovered the place by accident. He was travelling around the world then, from Forks, Washington where his clan, the Cullens lived. He had been thirsty while circling the globe and he looked for a nearest place to hunt. That was how he discovered the Dark Forest.
Since then, it became his favorite hunting place. It was very far from Forks but coming here was worth all his efforts. He had a lot of beasts to feast from with blood supply that was more than enough to satiate his thirst for weeks.