One shot, then another.

Neither of us spoke for what seemed like hours. In reality, only seconds passed. Bella turned her head, straining to hear what transpired just a few miles away. The echoes of sirens snaked through the canopy. An ambulance, and as the sound reverberated over the hills, it became obvious it was moving in direction of the shots. Bella's face twisted in horror, but neither of us gave wings to the words that would make the truth tangible.

The ringing of Bella's cell phone finally broke the silence.

Her voice was broken and raspy. She had forgotten to breathe before speaking. "Please, tell me I'm wrong."

Alice's voice wheezed an answer and my mother's body surrendered to the ground. The roar that escaped from her throat was neither a human scream nor a vampire's growl, but a heart-breaking and angry amalgamation of the two. For a creature whose eyes could bear no tears, it looked as though they would release floods.

Slowly, I began to realize what was happening: a gunshot, then two more, a call from Alice, and then a shattered woman heaving dry tears. I could hear Alice's voice calling from the cell phone that was still clutched in Bella's hand, braced around the back of her neck.

I seized it and called out in desperation. "Where is he?"

"In front of the First National Bank. Renesmee… he's won't make it, and she can't get there in time to stop it. That doesn't mean she won't try. Do you understand the danger in what Bella is going to consider?"

Bella would think, if she could only get to him before his heart stopped, she could save him. She could save him by killing him.

"How long does he have?" I asked.

"Three minutes."

"But the ambulance…?"

"It won't get to him in time," Alice assured me. "Edward is coming and he'll keep Bella from… Wait, everything's changing. Nessie, I can't see what you're deciding, but you must not do anything."

I could sense in the distance my father's bearing through the forest. I only had seconds to make up my mind, but so little to go on. What did I really know?

There had been an armed robbery attempt on the bank, it seemed. Shots had been fired. Two miles southeast of the distraught woman buckled on the ground next to me, my grandfather lay on the ground, dying. An ambulance was en route, but he wouldn't survive long enough for that to matter.

From a half-mile away, Edward's eyes found us. If I was going to run, it had to be now. I turned and sprinted as fast as I could before he could make any effort to stop me, before Bella could carry out the vision which Alice had seen. Even in that moment, I knew the cost of each footstep. Making this decision threatened to destroy everything we had. How could I be so selfish? My presence at Charlie's side would not evade his death. Maybe I shouldn't...

No, the decision had been made. Alice had already seen it, hadn't she? Rather, she had seen that she could not see anymore. Because it was me who would go to Charlie's side. Alice could only see me in the periphery of the future. In the future, I was already with him.

"Renesmee, no. You can't!"

Edward occupied the space where I'd stood just moment's ago, leaning down to the embrace my mother. I was already a quarter-mile away, standing in the middle of an empty road where shortly an ambulance would pass. I took just a moment to turn back to him. I owed him recognition, if I could not offer him obedience.

"I will not let Charlie die alone," I answered, swallowing back my own tears. I must focus now. I must not lose my resolve. There would be time for tears later. Later, I would ask for forgiveness in lieu of asking for permission. "I'm sorry, I have to."

No more words.

I ran faster than I ever had. A constant plea ran through my head: Charlie, don't die. Not yet. I'm coming.

I was trying as hard as I could to avoid being seen, but I was so focused on reaching the bank that I couldn't be certain if I was successful. If Edward would have been running full speed, they may not even be able to register his profile with their human eyes. What about me? I could outrun a deer or lion, but this was hardly faster than a car on the freeway. I had never had the need to test my limits, so I did not know if my hybrid body was capable of that unfathomable performance.

Flashing red and blue lights of police cruisers rose above the horizon. Ten seconds, and I would reach him. How long had passed since Alice declared three minutes? Sixty seconds? Only two minutes remained in the life of a man I loved. Fighting against my impulses, fighting against my desires, I slowed to a human pace.

A small crowd gathered around him, all police. The department had only ten members- plus a chief. Seven were here. Outside their tight enclosure, I paused.

The scent of Charlie's blood reached me on a shifting wind. My body stiffened and I unexpectedly found myself fighting down my instincts. I wanted to lean down next to him, to hold his hands in his final moments. At the same time, the heat of thirst was burning in my throat, promising an easy release.

With a deep breath, I pushed myself forward through the observers. One junior officer leaned on Charlie's left side, putting pressure on the wound. Delicious apple-red liquid pulsed through the improvised bandaging. I forced myself to look quickly away, and caught Charlie's eyes.

"Nessie?"

His voice was weak and airy. One of the bullets must have punctured his lung. I could hear blood pooling in the back of his throat. He gave a fragile but beaming smile. All eyes turned on me.

"Charlie," I cried.

I dropped to my knees on his right and took his hand. The rest of the force was all wondering who I was, no doubt. Though I frequently visited the Swan house, we made certain I was never seen in public with them. Though a well-liked man, Charlie had few friends, and none of them among the officers. Still, Forks was a small town. Strange faces were rare. The minds of the surrounding crowd were occupied with the severity of the moment, but this would surely stir up questions later.

But I didn't think about all the consequences. In the back of my mind, a quiet tick-tock that had started 80 seconds before droned forward.

"I'm so sorry, Nessie," he whispered, trying to raise his hand to my check. I weaved his fingers through mine and raised the back of his hand lovingly to my face, brushing it against my cheek.

"Shhh, there's nothing to be sorry for."

"I won't be with you anymore," he continued as though I hadn't spoken. He knew. He knew this was it. "You tell everyone… how much I… love…"

Speech was growing beyond him.

"Charlie, I love you, so much," I cried. "I wish I could show you…"

I hesitated. Was it too much of a risk? Surely no one would have any idea what was going on. They didn't even know who I was. I could already hear the whispers of the officers behind me. Who is she? Isn't that Bella? Bella is older, she's married. Looks like Bella, though…

The ambulance crept nearer with every moment. Alice said he would not survive long enough for it to arrive. Already his heartbeat faded as his eyes dried and his muscles surrendered.

"Bobby," the man pressing down on the wound shouted to an officer behind him. "Clear a path for that ambulance to get in here. Don't you die, Chief."

I leaned closer to him and pressed my lips to his check. I took a quickened, deep breath and let the warmness of my inner visions flow out my fingertips and into his hand. His eyes rolled sideways in an attempt to see me, or perhaps to see where all the images floating through his brain were coming from. I couldn't tell him in front of everyone, nor had I the time, how much he had meant to me, but I could show him. I sorted past our most precious memories in the space of a few seconds.

The first time we met, when he called me the prettiest baby ever born…

The late summer evening we ran around his backyard catching fireflies, and Sue trailing us with a mason jar…

The birthday party Alice had thrown for me and Bella a few years ago, and Charlie's bewildered face looking at our nearly uneaten cakes, both with a huge candle "3" burning on top…

His and Sue's wedding party on the reservation two years ago...

Charlie dancing with me last summer at my parent's impromptu fifth wedding anniversary party...

Charlie and me walking on La Push with Sue, Jacob and Seth six months ago…

The connection broke.

Blackness.

His last breath slipped past his placid smile just as the ambulance's tires came to a stop. Two burly paramedics leaped out, equipment in tow as one of the officers encouraged me to move out of the way. For a moment, my attention was too scattered to remember to give in.

"Please, miss, let the paramedics by."

He pulled on my shoulders as hard as he could. I let go of Charlie's hand. It fell the ground limply. I stood and backed away as a breathing bag was placed over Charlie's mouth. On his other side, another paramedic began chest compression. My mind flickered back to a memory of Bella, covered in blood, nearly ripped in two, with Jacob and Edward trying to restore her heartbeat, before Rosalie's face emerged before me.

"Miss?"

My head turned to the officer who had been holding the makeshift bandage over Charlie's gunshot wound. He was standing right next me. My mind was being overrun by grief. I had been too distracted to hear his approach.

His face was set in a most curious glance of wonderment, but inside, I was numb. I was lost in the painful realization that the paramedics' efforts would be in vain: my grandfather was dead. The tear drops pooling in the bottom of my eyes drew down my face at last.

"Miss… Nessie?" he was almost half smirking. What an inappropriate expression to be wearing just feet away from a man whose life had just ended. I could see the struggle in his eyes, trying to figure out what question to ask first. "Did you know Chief Swan?"

Did I know him? He was already speaking of him in the past tense?

I nodded curtly before realizing the mistake. No, I shouldn't make this public connection. I quickly forced myself to shake my head in denial, hoping to cancel out the first indication.

"Then… why are you… who are… how did you know…"

"Officer Newton!" another officer beckoned.

Thank goodness for the distraction. The second officer directed Newton to the sound of the dispatcher coming over the radio a police motorcycle. Newton walked towards the bike to get a better listen. I listened too, quite capable of hearing at this relatively minor distance.

"Suspect getaway car has been located abandoned two miles east south east of incident, on NFD 29 near Three Bends. Suspect is believed to be on foot and trying to escape into the forest. Believed to be armed and heading towards the river."

"Nessie!"

I whipped around to discover Jacob running towards me, his arms outstretched, his car still idling behind him. Had Alice called him? He would have been coming through town about this time, I recalled, on his way up to our place. It didn't take me anytime to reach him twenty feet away and throw myself into his arms. He squeezed me as hard as his arms would allow him, almost painfully, though I knew he would not hurt me. The hot tears blazed down my cheek, soaking into his shirt. My life's comfort held me close.

"How did you know?"

"Edward called me and told me to find you," he answered, kissing my hair and stroking my cheek. It seemed oddly intimate an action from my best friend, but it was so soothing I didn't stop to wonder. "I'm so sorry."

But something else was bubbling inside me now to confuse the hurt. My two halves, in conflict, unable to resolve between loss and anger. They met in the middle, becoming the fire to rage.

Jacob looked startled as I erratically broken free of his embrace and headed towards his car. I sat behind the wheel without even asking his permission. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob slide into the passenger's seat, a look of total bewilderment on his face. I realized how insane I must look, going from a flood of tears to an unyielding determination to hunt in the space of half a minute.

"Miss? Miss!" Officer Newton shouted as I put the car into gear. "We need you to stay here."

His demands did not cause me hesitation. My foot pounded down the gas. Jacob's tires squealed as we took off through Forks, back towards Three Bends.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked desperately.

I swallowed hard before verbalizing the stark truth. "Charlie's dead."

The sound of my voice was different. Was I growling? Jacob's eyes turned to me horrified and accusatory.

"The son of a bitch who did it got away, but I overheard where the bastard is from the police scanner."

I couldn't tell who was more shocked by my new found ability to express the profane: Jacob or myself. Jacob ripped his phone quickly from his pocket. From the dial tones, I could tell he was punching in Edward's number. I took my hand off the steering wheel and closed the flip phone in his hand.

"Don't," I pleaded, not taking my eyes off the road as I took a sharp left turn through a red light, barely missing a bicyclist. "Edward is with Bella, and Bella needs that now. Besides, you know he won't be able to control his temper."

Jacob was dumbfounded. Wolf as he may be, his brain still moved at a human pace. His eyes became a clear indicator of the thought scurrying past: Then what are you planning on doing?

A half mile ahead, several state police cruisers lights reflected against an empty Passat. I pulled over to the side of the street before they could see Jacob's car clearly, parking far up into brush as I could. I took the keys from the ignition and tossed them into his lap. As I turned to open the door, Jacob threw all his strength to hold me to my seat. It was easy for him. His strength was so much greater than my own. He turned my chin towards him and looked deep into my eyes, trying to steady my emotions. Lightning broke across my brain, as I remembered what Bella had said to me not a dozen minutes ago, "between you and his pack."

How could have so much transpired in such a short time?

My Jacob begged, "Renesmee." I couldn't recall having heard him address me by my full name before, and the formality forced my concentration back to him. "Please, sweet, take a second and think about what you're trying to do here."

His burning hands cupped both of my tear-drenched cheeks. His brown eyes melted my own. The tears were pooling again, but so was the burning in my throat, for the first time getting the scent of a trophy climbing a heavily forested hill a mile in front of us. My soul ripped into pieces. I had to make a decision: avenge one man I loved, or to turn my back on another. What was Jacob seeing now as he looked at me? Was he seeing innocent Nessie, the girl whom he had watched over all his life? Or was he seeing a vampire determined to seek out satiation for her bloodlust and revenge?

I took several deep breaths, and the tension in Jacob's hands relaxed a little. He began stroking my cheek. His mouth broke a little smile, a prideful smile. He was proud of me?

"The police will get him. There's no way he can get away over this terrain. Right now, your mother and father need you to be strong. Come on, let's get you back home."

A flash of Bella, broken and screaming on the ground, trembling in Edward's arms, fighting for tears that would not come ran through my mind and quickly flowed into Jacob's through our touch. I didn't mean to share it, but my overly stressed psyche couldn't keep control. I saw Jacob wince at the pain of my memory. Another image followed: Charlie's final words.

You tell…everyone… how much... I… love…

Jacob's breath caught in the back of his throat, seeing through my eyes Charlie's last breathe part his lips, all while hearing my internal self-conflict- Charlie's blood so sensuously flowing and tempting. The temptation to partake, to save him, to kill him. Surely, Jacob could sense my unease. He could understand how much I had to restrain myself…

Recalling that sweet, sanguine scent doubled back on me without warning, as my senses found its twin - or at least, a close cousin - drifting down the hillside and burning my throat. Jacob called to me as I flew from the car and into the forest. Behind me I heard a loud crack, and then beside me the wolf running, keeping up my pace with ease. Jacob could outrun me, I'd known that. He could turn on me, stop me, pin me down. Why didn't he? Perhaps because this sense for vengeance was just.

The wind aided my efforts, blowing a distinct scent of gunpowder, sweat and adrenaline down the hillside. A mile west, I could hear the jingle of dog collars and human footsteps. Canine units, I concluded. But their German Shepherds could not outrun my wolf and me. We were nearly on him. I could taste the murderer's aftershave, sense his trembling as he struggled to climb through the thick undergrowth into a clear opening ahead. I quickened my pace instinctively. I had hunted many times, but never a human. To my surprise, the task wasn't more difficult, it was easier, more natural. It required no thought, no strategy, no effort.

I scaled the hillside in mere moments. Forty feet ahead, I spotted him where the trees thinned and the canopy opened to sky. The thick foliage where I stood, however, obstructed my view. I climbed a tree to gain perspective; Jacob circled behind the clearing and dashed off into the forest. We were a united team, both intent on the same goal. Kill the human. Avenge Charlie. Suddenly, I lost sight of Jacob, but I trusted in his tactics as my partner.

I growled at robber across the meadow as I landed in striking position ten feet away from him. He leaned against an outcropping, trembling, pointing his revolver in my direction. Suddenly, his tension eased, the gun falling to his side.

"If you know what's smart for you, kid, you'll turn around, run right back into those woods, and pretend you never saw me."

He had been expecting a police officer, and instead here was a pale-skinned, brown-haired, teenage girl dressed in a hoodie and jeans. I used his misconception of the threat I posed to my advantage. In half a second, I crossed the distance, seizing his shoulders and dangled him three inches off the ground, his back against the cold stone of the outcropping . The gun thudded to the ground. Despite the fact that he was larger than me by at least four inches and fifty pounds, he seemed like a rag doll in my grasp. The scent of the gunpowder lingered on his person. Palatable fear raced through his veins. I felt my lips part into a wicked smile. That fear: so sweet, like peaches. It made the air taste… delicious.

No, I mustn't. The authorities were on their way. All I had to do to ensure justice was to keep him from escaping, and take my leave before they made the clearing.

I lowered his body and allowed him a chance to stand. His knees buckled and he stumbled to the ground. A smirk came across his face as he laughed up at me.

"See, kid. You're got strong arms, but you're weak willed. Walk away. You don't need to be tied up in all this."

I leaned over, grabbed his hair and jerked his head back up.

"Why did you do it? Was it for the money?" I hissed. I had never heard my voice like this before, inhuman and serpentine. My body instinctively lowered to allow my teeth to dance along his jugular. "Is that why you killed an innocent man? Is that why you shot my grandfather?"

His arrogance melted as he met my feral stare. His instincts had finally kicked in, telling him somehow I was a bigger danger to him than he could possibly be to me.

"What are you?" he cried, his whole body shaking. "You didn't see me shoot anyone, kid."

Moving too fast for him to see, I threw his back against the rocks and placed my hand over his neck. I stretched out my consciousness over him and showed him Charlie's dead face.

"What the hell…"

Jacob emerged from the forest into the clearing at last. Behind him, another graceful body ran full speed, almost a blur out of the corner of my eye. It came to a rest on the edge of the clearing thirty feet away. Edward looked at me pleadingly.

"Renesmee, don't…."

But it was too late. Holding his shoulders back with both hands, I let the monster within take control. Flesh shredded under my teeth, and I came to life in a way I never had before as the hot liquid hit the back of my throat. The sensation of his blood filling my mouth felt almost nostalgic. I pulled forth his life effortlessly, drinking it down like a starving man. The last inkling of guilt melted as I was overcome with a sense of justice. This man had killed my kin, and now he paid the price.

Jacob pounced, knocking me off of my dying victim. I growled, hissed, threw fists at him. He phased back, using his massive human body to hold me down. I resisted, but he was too strong. I looked up in his face, his countenance determined but conflicted.

We were both acting on instinct. My vampire instinct led me to hunt and attack a human. His inner wolf led him to take down the attacking vampire. But where I failed to reconnect with that human part of me, he had succeeded. At last, I reigned in my bloodlust and calmed, bringing my breath under control. The temporary serenity at regaining my control ebbed away the next moment when I came to grips with the new sensation of being utterly, wholly sated in a way animal blood had never allowed. It was glorious and horrid all at once. So this was why Jasper struggled so much, why so many other vampires looked at us with disdain. Living on animal blood, we were small echoes of our true selves. The cost of that evolution, however, was the afterward, when the monster within, his hunger satisfied, crept away and left us alone with the understanding of what we'd done. How could giving in to these animal urges, make me anything less than sub-human?

I felt the guilt begin to crash over me as my father's face came into focus over Jacob's shoulder. Without warning, another gun shot. Jacob fell to my side, as the shot pierced his right shoulder blade. He howled in pain. In the distance, the police dogs shifted direction, coming directly towards us. Edward's movements were too swift for even my eyes to follow. One moment he was beside us, then ripping the gun from the murderer's hand, then twisting his neck in a smooth snap, delivering on the promise of death I had started.

"Get Nessie out of here," Jacob cried out as my father came to his aid. "Don't worry about me, stupid leech."

"But you've been shot," Edward argued.

"I'll be fine," Jacob returned, though the blood flowing from his wound filled me with doubt. "Edward, please. Renesmee is going to need you more than she needs me right now. The police are almost here, you have to go now."

What? How could he say that? He wants us to just run away and leave him wounded and bleeding with a dead bank robber's body?

"GO! GO NOW!" he barked.

Edward picked me up from the ground and set me on my feet. He pulled me by the hand across the meadow in the direction of Cullenswood, running at a full sprint. I turned back as we reentered the forest. Police dogs charged Jacob, who sat crumpled up on the floor of the meadow.

I gasped at the stark truth. I let go of my father's hand. The velocity of the abruptly stunted run made me tumble forward to my knees. I cupped my hands over my face. The scent of fresh blood stained my hands. Edward looked at me, panic stricken.

"Oh, lord," I cried. "What have I done?"