Chapter 2 – The Hunt

EPOV

I didn't want to be a monster, but right now, I couldn't help it. I was nearing my prey. I could see it. The big cat. Laying there amongst a pile of dead leaves. Calmly cleaning his paws from his very last meal. Little did he know that it would have been his last.

He was blissfully unaware of my presence. I was the greater predator, my prey sitting just beyond the bushes in front of me.

The thrill of the hunt started to pump adrenaline through my veins. I laughed at that. Nothing could pump through me anymore. My heart no longer beat. I was dead. Yet here I was, crouching amongst the undergrowth, eyeing up the best meal I'd had in months.

I pounced…Jumping straight onto my preys back and sinking my sharp teeth into the hollow of its neck. The poor thing hadn't even managed to let out a cry of help. The blood starting rushing down my throat, the lion slowly loosing its strength was giving up its futile efforts of trying to fight back.

Drinking the blood of a mountain lion was by far the sweetest thing I had tasted in months. The warm liquid, sliding down my throat, was like liquid gold.

If this was truly liquid gold, I ad to be the richest man on earth considering the amount I had drunk.

Finishing up I checked to see if I had made a mess of my clothes. Giving myself the all clear, I gave my hunting partner a call.

"Carlisle, are you finished?" I shouted, knowing that he would hear me.

"Yes son, I am, are you ready to head back home?" he answered and I turned to see him walking up behind me.

"Yes, shall we" I gestured to him so we could start heading back.

We started running, the pair of us at equal speed. Besides my music – which was my passion - running through the forests of Washington was by far, my favourite thing to do. The smell of the pines as I raced by them called to me and screamed "home", and it truly was. The town of Forks was the best place we had ever lived. The abundance of wildlife was another thing that drew us to the town; there was always plenty to go around.

My family always enjoyed living here. We haven't been back since the late 1930's, much to Esme's dismay, but now we had returned, and the family was once again content.

Edward, do you smell that. Carlisle thought, snapping me out of my reverie. He began to come to a halt.

I slowed down to a halt, just as Carlisle had and began to take in my surroundings. I inhaled deeply, taking in the scents around me. Pine, from the trees, a few deer a couple of miles away and something else. Something sweeter, something I knew to well to be deadly.

"Vampire" I said. Carlisle nodded confirming my thought.

"Alice hasn't said anything about any visitors has she?" Carlisle asked, his face trying to hide the worry.

"No, she hasn't. Which leads me to think it's either someone has been toying with her visions or they are simply passing through and they showed no concern. Do you think we should follow their scent?" I replied, knowing that my own face was beginning to show concern.

"Yes, I think we should just on be on the safe side." He said and with that we took off after the trail, both silently praying that this was just someone passing through.

Young Vampire POV

That smell. That delicious smell. Simply mouth-watering. I had to have it. I had to taste it.

I took off after it, running like a madman, knowing that in a few short minutes my thirst would be practically satiated. The scent was growing stronger, I could smell it more clearly. Some sort of flower, freesia perhaps. Maybe if I was patient enough, it would come to me.

I stopped just before the forest met a road. I recognised this road, it was barely used, it was the back alley instead of taking the freeway from Seattle to Forks. Nobody ever used it unless they wanted to avoid traffic. Perfect timing. This little road led down to the small town of Forks a few miles away. Perfect, that way no-one would arrive anytime soon and I would be able to have my meal in private.

I crouched down behind a small bush at the edge of the road and waited as patiently as possible. Waiting for a small car by the sounds of it to come into my view.

As I stared off towards the bend in the road, waiting for my meal I noticed that it had started to rain. Even better. I thought, the rain will wash away any traces of me.

So busy in y thought I failed to see the car round the corner. The scent coming from within even stronger as it passed right by my nose.

I watched as the car past me and I began my chase, keeping just inside the tree line as to not be seen.

I kept up easily with the car, managing to dodge the trees every shape and form. I began to go faster; passing the car so that the distance between us would mean I would land right on top of it and not miss and fall off.

That's when I leaped, jumping out of the confines of the forest and onto the car. The impact of my landing made two footprint shapes on the roof. Shit. I thought. Maybe I'll be leaving a bit of evidence behind.

All of this had happened in a matter of seconds. Impossibly fast for the humans inside but relatively slow for me.

As the car began to swerve due to the shock of the impact. I heard the strangled screams of the three humans inside. One male and two females judging by the sound of it, a family, desperate for their ordeal to end and walk out alive. How delicious, if only they knew.

The car swerved and hit a pot-hole in the road, causing the car to jump and spin uncontrollably, and head into the tree line. I decided now would be a good time for me to jump from the car as to not do myself any damage or leave anymore evidence.

I jumped just as the car collided with a rather large looking big oak tree trunk. Causing the bonnet to splinter off into hundreds of pieces while the rest bent round the trees trunk at such a force it uplifted the roots.

There were no more screams.

I casually walked up to the driver's door, please with my actions, and looked through the shattered remains of a window to se the driver, barely alive. The blood had streamed of his nose and a cut on forehead. I lost it! Completely immersed in the scent of blood, I ripped the door off its hinges and threw it behind me. I proceeded to rip the body out of the car and sunk my venomous teeth into his neck.

This blood was nothing like I had ever tasted. So sweet, I couldn't get enough. I drained him quickly needing more.

I spotted another woman in the passenger's seat.

Dumping the body in my arms I ran round to the other side of the car. Disposing with the door like I did the first, I didn't even bother to drag her out the car. Biting into her neck was just as glorious as her partners, so sweet like chocolate but thick like honey.

My god I was in heaven.

I looked over my shoulder to see a young girl, unconscious, still strapped in, and in the back seat. She had curly brown hair just past her shoulders, she didn't look very old, maybe seven or eight. But the smell radiating off of her had the combine force of both her parents.

I just had to have her.

I pulled away from her mother and went towards the back of the car.

I went to open the door and do what I had done to her parents before her when I heard something.

Not just on thing. Two. Two people, more specifically running towards the wreckage. Incredibly fast. They had to be vampire coming to investigate.

I looked up to the other side of the road and saw two men emerge from the forest. One had blonde hair, the other a unique shade of bronze. They didn't look overly old. They also looked exceptionally clean considering they were vampires.

Until I noticed their eyes.

They weren't the ruby red I had come accustomed with. No, they were a yellow gold. Amber, Topaz I couldn't put my finger on it.

They looked at me and bent into a crouch prepared to fight.

I remembered how those with the yellow eyes chose to drink from animals, not humans. I remembered they were more civilised. I knew there were only a few covens in the world that chose this lifestyle. I never quite understood it. Why deny what you are.

Knowing I was outnumbered and would more than likely loose, I turned and ran away from them, leaving my meal behind.

I would be back; I would drink that girl dry. No-one was going to deny me that.