"Hey, Jasper," Alice said cheerfully as she danced towards him, "You were outvoted!"

Jasper sighed softly but caught her as she pirouetted into his arms. I watched from my perch on the counter as Alice flirted and Jasper smiled lovingly at her. Even though he was much calmer than Alice, they were perfect matches—anyone with a brain could see that. "What was the vote for?" I asked finally. Alice giggled as she jumped over to me. "We were voting on who should take care of you while we went hunting," she explained. I hissed through my teeth, my fingers clenching on the marble countertop I was sitting on. Babysitting was the world that applied here.

"Aw, come on, Emily," Alice soothed. "Jasper's a great brother! Just ask Bella, or Rosalie, or Emmett—wait, not Emmett, but you get what I mean!" I forced myself to relax—as a Newborn, my temper was quick to flare and slow to cool.

"Sorry," I mumbled. A wide smile came onto her face. "Ooh! You'll have so much fun with Jazzy!" She cheered, jumping up and down, clapping her hands. She was a blur, even to my Vampire eyes. 'Jazzy' cocked his head at me, a slight smile on his face as he rolled his eyes at Alice. I nodded back, also smiling. "Well then," Jasper started, and Alice immediately stopped bouncing, "Let's go before she dies of hunger."

Both he and Alice laughed at that and I slid off the counter. I felt much better now; the fire and stiffness had left my system, and now I felt amazing. I finally understood how Superman must feel.

I caught my reflection in the dark window of the kitchen, and stopped to take it in.

My eyes had darkened from gold to bright, bright red. My skin was pale, instead of the slightly tanned cream; my face had thinned and…matured, so that now I was like a sculpture myself. My hair, which had previously been a milk-chocolate brown, was now one shade darker. I fingered a lock, and a feeling of longing for my old self filling my mind. I missed my hazel eyes, my chocolate hair with 'caramel', natural highlights, and my humanity.

I realized how much Bella was taking for granted with the gift of having "human moments" before she changed, having a choice…I still hadn't done so many things, and if I didn't wake up from this nightmare soon, I'd never do them

"Emmy," Alice whispered, taking my hand, snapping me out of my reverie. Jasper took my other hand and they both steered me to the garage. Jasper had stopped trying to make my mood lift with his powers—it was no use at the moment.

Jasper swung himself effortlessly onto his silver motorcycle, and I realized that I was supposed to ride behind him. "What?! No way in hell am I going to ride that!" I exclaimed. Alice rolled her eyes, and before I could protest, she had pushed me onto the bike behind Jasper. My arms instinctively shot around Jasper's waist; and before I had time to let go and get off, he had revved it up and we shot out into the woods.

I screamed—in sheer exhilaration. "Isn't this awesome?" Jasper asked. His voice was normal in volume, but my ears picked it up easily, as well as his own delight. "Heck yes!" I exclaimed. "Edward had to make me promise to stop thanking him," Jasper commented, and we both laughed. Alice's Porsche drew level with us, and Jasper leaned forward over his bike.

"Don't hang on too tight," he called to me, and I remembered that I had the ability to crush his bones without even noticing. I carefully loosened my grip on his waist enough to allow him a bit of no-crush room, and then we sped up. And then the race really began.

As we sped through red-lights, went off-road, and even squeezed through stand-still back-ups on highways, I couldn't stop smiling. I was absolutely in love with this part of my new life.

I knew the rest of the Cullens were following, keeping up in our race, but I also knew that Jasper and I were winning. I smiled to myself and shook my head, sending my long hair flying. The feeling of wind howling around my ears and flying through my hair was one that I'd never, ever forget.

We finally reached some forest (which one I didn't know) and Jasper swung the bike around, sending a spray of dirt up in a wave on our right side. We grinned at each other. "That was so awesome," I murmured happily, trying to keep from jumping up and down in excitement. He smiled and then the others pulled up. Alice was pouting. "You beat my car!" She looked ready to throw a tantrum.

Then I noticed something—all of their eyes were dark now, not the usual gold. I wondered when they had last hunted. Had Eclipse already happened? Where were we story-wise? I thought deeply, but my train of thought was cut short by a delicious scent.

I froze, my eyes closing as I inhaled deeply. The smell filled my lungs, my throat, heck I could even taste it in my mouth. It was mouthwatering, and something inside me stirred. I knew what it was: the instincts of a hunter.

I could hear the paws padding against the ground, and knew my prey was far away—if you were a human. I felt a smile grow on my face; a carnivorous grin, the expression of a huntress who knew her prey was close, and had no idea what was coming.

I opened my eyes, a low rumble building around me—they were hungry too. "Let's go." Edward disappeared, obviously hunting after mountain lions. Emmett and Rosalie followed. Carlisle looked at Jasper and Alice, who nodded, and then he and Esme were off. "Alright," Jasper murmured, coming up next to me. "Let's get some lunch."

I crouched down, head held high, sniffing the air to find the right scent again. Mmm…

"Ready? Set?" Alice prompted. "GO!"

And I zoomed off.

As I hung on to Jasper's waist, head down to keep us streamlined, I thought about the hunt. Truthfully, it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me—excluding that first motorcycle ride, of course. Getting into a fight with a huge coyote like that…thrilling was the first word I could think of to describe it. I felt bad for the coyotes, but…well, it was better than humans.

And then afterwards, having enough control to play-fight with the others, my family…I let that word roll around in my head, tasting its feel on my tongue…it felt new, but old at the same time. It…it hurt. I felt a tug on my mind, as though someone was tapping on my shoulder (mentally) and then a feeling of peace and sleepiness washed over me. I rested my head on Jasper's back, my big brother…I'd always been the big sister, the oldest—now I was the youngest. I had people to depend on now, not the other way around.

It felt good.

I smiled at Jasper, who had looked over at me to see if his emotional help had worked. He smiled back slightly and nodded, before turning his eyes back to the road.

We sped through the woods, dodging trees easily, and when we finally pulled up in the garage. When everyone had gotten out of the car, Edward began talking to Alice and Carlisle, so low that even I couldn't pick up what they were saying. Rosalie, Emmett and Esme came over to my side and they asked how I liked this so far.

"I love it," I admitted, smiling, "there are some things I know I'll miss later on, but at the moment, this is the best day of my life."They all smiled at me and Esme gave me a big hug—I didn't hug back as tightly as I'd have wanted to, to be careful. Rosalie listened to something as Alice cheered and jumped up and down, and then looked at me with mock sympathy. "If Bella's experiences have anything to say, you won't like what's going to happen to you next," she said.

I frowned, wondering what she had meant. Then, as Alice danced over, an evil smirk on her pixie face, I knew what it was.

Shopping.

"I saw that you have enough control to go shopping with me and Bella today!" She cheered, and dragged me off to her car. "Someone kill me now," I pleaded. Jasper smirked and went off to talk to Edward, Emmett and Rosalie laughed and went inside, while Esme and Carlisle followed. Edward shook his head and waved.

"Say hello to Bella for me," he said as I was thrown into Alice's Porsche. Alice closed the door behind her and then we were off again.

I sighed and sat back for the ride, excitement beginning to bubble up inside me. I was going to meet Bella.

Was it that horrible? I don't know--why don't you tell me what you think?