hey guys, i'm soooooooo sorry it took me forever to update!! please forgive me. i've really been doing my best to get to a computer but through volleyball, soccer, the beach, 4-h, and work its been kinda difficult. again soooo sorry!! I promise to make it up to u though by posting chapter 4 either tomorrow or mon. depending on the reviews i get from this chapter :) i really hope u like it!! enjoy!! (and review!!)

a/n: this chapter begins where chapter 1 leaves off with james' POV...just so that no one's too confused :)

Is it dinner yet?! (James' POV)

meanwhile...

Victoria and I waited in silence, hidden behind the bushes in front of the huge house, trying to overhear the conversation taking place inside. Abruptly, there was no sound at all and then the front door cracked open. It was shut with sudden haste and me and Victoria exchanged a confused look, then stared back at the mansion. The leaves ruffled behind us and I turned around to see what made the noise, but nothing was there.

"Hello, ladies," Laurent said from behind us, "Having fun eavesdropping?"

I whip my head around to scowl at him but he wasn't there.

"Over here, James." he said, and I heard his smile. So, he's going to be a joke tonight...wonderful, exactly what I need, I thought.

We turn around once more to find Laurent leaning against a fallen tree trunk, covered in slimy green stuff that looked completely gross but he didn't seem to notice.

"We couldn't hear anything from here," Victoria smirked, though I thought I saw her smile behind the inquiry as she asked, "What did they say about the girl?"

Of course, I knew that Victoria was on my side in tracking the girl, but Laurent was new to my clan and our traditions. I couldn't help but guess that he would think otherwise about the situation.

"Um...well, actually, they told me that..." Laurent trailed off, trying to find the right words. I was now getting impatient.

I shot him a deadly glare and he continued, still stuttering a bit, "Th...they acted like they weren't gonna let anything touch the girl as far as we're concerned."

"And..." Beside me, Victoria made a gesture with her hands. Maybe she's just as enthused and irritated as I am.

"They told me I had to make a choice," he spat out so fast and low that I had to strain to hear it.

"You had to make a choice?"

I said through clenched teeth, just to test the words out of my own mouth. Laurent had a look on his face like he was going to be sick, and I was tapping a piece of bark with one finger while gritting my teeth at the same time. I could hardly wait to get my hands on that girl and sink my teeth into her glorious neck, taking in her intoxicating smelling blood--sweet with fear...

Get a hold of yourself, you're going insane! I screamed at myself. Laurent looked down, unsure. Then, before I even knew it myself, I was slamming Laurent into the nearest tree, holding him but the neck. The already broken tree snapped from underneath us as I was still strangling--if it were possible--Laurent. Several emotions ran across his face--shock, embarrassment, anger--and then it turned to hilarity. He was choking with laughter when he noticed the hand around his throat.

I glared balefully at him, "Shut up! And get on with it!" I took my hand from his throat and put them on either of his shoulders, shaking him with anxiousness. This made him laugh even harder. I narrowed my eyes. It was almost unbearable knowing that Bella was just a few hundred feet away. Just faintly smelling her, somehow floral, aroma.

"Ok, ok! Fine!" he shouted. He snickered and mumbled something but I couldn't quite make it out. Was it 'Bloody vermin'? I'm not sure. I don't really care. All I care about is Bella and sinking my teeth into her delicate skin. Doesn't anybody else care about that? Nah, maybe it is just me... Wow, and now I'm talking to myself. Okay, I am DONE! "Goodness, somebody's a little impatient today." he sang.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!"

Laurent looked alarmed and paused.

"I'm going to find that other clan in Denali."

"You what?"

"I'm interested in the life that they've chosen an..." I didn't even let him finish his sentence. I grabbed Victoria by the arm and jerked her from her position on a tree stump, that she claimed as her throne when Laurent approached us, and ran and didn't stop until we got to Port Angeles. As soon as I knew he wasn't following us I slowed so that I was just barely visible to the slow-processed eyes of humans. I glanced around at the small city--compared to the others that I've most recently been to--observing the little shops and businesses that sprung up throughout the years. The street lights were shining on the badly paved roads. The neon lights advertising beer and alcohol blinked every few minutes or so over top of a shrunken bar. I could hear--and smell--the drunks partying inside. Now that I was going slower Victoria ripped from my death grip and planted her feet on the pavement like they were nailed in place there, and I knew that we weren't going anywhere until she knew what was going on.

One of the guys from the bar across the street tumbled his way around us and nearly crashed right into Victoria but her vampire speed beat him. All the while staring straight at me, never shifting her gaze that was becoming increasingly irritating.

"Ok! What do you want from me woman?!" I said after a while of trying to not be stared down. I guess you could say it didn't quite work. She smiled and relaxed her strained eyes.

"Oh...nothing really..." She giggled. "I just wanted to see you're face when you surrendered." She admitted.

I growled, but let it go.

"So, what now?" She questioned.

At first I really didn't know what to say. I thought of this while Carlisle was leading us to his house, and then following Bella to her's instead, just to have her run off again, but I never really planned anything out. I stood in silence, debating. Victoria silenced herself also, letting me concentrate while she shifted her gaze to the other drunken men sitting on the wall outside of the bar. I tried to keep my focus but it was getting quite difficult with the way the tall lanky blonde was starring at her with curious--a bit too curious--eyes. For once I was eternally glad that I wasn't like Edward, because I would have totally lost it if I knew that he was thinking what I thought he was thinking. I saw him flash a smile and then looked to his drunken buddies. They we're all smiling in response and I knew what was coming next. I tried to control the urge to beat him senseless as he approached us.

"Hey sssssucculent beauty," he said, slurring his words along with with his beer infested breath. "Can I buy you a dru-rank?" he hiccupped.

I knew what was going through Victoria's mind right now, but she just smiled politely, flashing her flawless white teeth at him. He stuttered back a few steps but reclaimed his balance. "No thank you, kind sir," She had the most dazzling voice, I was afraid that with all that alcohol in his system he would surly faint. "You can be on your way now." she added in a fiercer, yet still alluring tone. He took a second to get back to reality, but soon he turned and retraced his steps back to his pack of wildly amused friends.

I took Victoria's arm and lead her to a more private part of the city so that we wouldn't be bothered again.

"Ok, so I think we should go back to Bella's house and split up, because they're going to try to confuse us, and follow separate groups. I'll figure out the rest once we get there." I said after going through all the options again in my head. All the others seemed ridiculous so I just stuck to that one while still keeping it a bit unexpected so it will be more exciting and challenging. I smiled at the idea.

Ha. Well, deja vu, I thought when we arrived at the spot where we once before sat while we waited and listened for Laurent. The traitor, I had to add.

Again, we heard them shuffling around and mumbling inside but we couldn't distinguish anything. We waited in silence...again.

Almost instantly I heard an enormous engine start and I knew it had to be the Jeep I followed earlier. I waited for what seemed like an eternity as they pulled out of their garage and down the winding path that is their driveway. I caught a glimpse of Edward in the front seat so I automatically knew that Bella had to be in there with him. He would never leave her with anyone else, I was positive. But, if there was the slightest chance that I was wrong, I said to Victoria, "I'm following that Jeep." Before the words were even out of my mouth someone shot out the front door and into Bella's rusty red truck. The sent that came over me was overpowering and then I was completely confused. If that was Bella's sent then she had to in that truck right now. But then again, they might be tying to confuse me. "Okay, Victoria, you follow Bella's truck."

Victoria nodded and said, "I'll miss you, no matter how short of a time we're away." She took my face between her hands and touched her lips to mine. I was, for that moment, sad that I was leaving her. But I would see her soon enough, wouldn't I? I didn't hover over that thought for long. She pulled away. "I love you." And with a departing smile she left to follow Bella's truck.

I was a bullet through the trees as I raced to catch the oversized Jeep. Finally, I could see it. Through the trees, on the highway, was the massive Jeep that held my next meal. They're were many cars on the highway so I decided this may not be the best time to strike, but I mean, I could take down a few other cars with me, no big deal. My instincts were trying to take over so that I thought less of what was reasonable and more of what I wanted to do. I ignored my instincts as I slowed 'till I couldn't see the Jeep anymore, so that I could actually think clearly. My mind was a jumbled mess, filled with images of me sucking the life from Bella. I steered those thoughts aside so I could figure out how to get to that part.

I heard the Jeep, about a half a mile up the road, give a sharp turn into some vacant town. I had no more time to think I had to do this now.

I followed them around little streets and back roads, still going the same speed as they were on the highway. I wondered what if they would ever end up in a dead end somewhere that they had forgot about, but I stopped right there because Edward doesn't seem like the type to forget things.

I also wondered what Victoria was doing, and if she figured out if Bella was in her truck or this Jeep.

My thoughts changed course like that almost as abruptly as we turned throughout the small town. I came across something when I was going over Bella's last conversation with her father. She had said something about leaving because she hated Forks, but her dad had made her hesitate by saying that she should wait for her mother to get back to Arizona. Then it hit me. Humans are predictable. I thought, Maybe she would be in the last place I would look, the place she said she'd be.

I remember passing an airport right before we hit Vancouver. I lost Bella's sent completely just as we were turning out of the small town a while ago, so I figured this was just a ploy to get me away from Bella, thinking she would be with her mate. I didn't waste any more time. I turned and headed back for Vancouver to get on a plane to Arizona. I didn't know where in Arizona they would be, but I knew they would be there somewhere. I could get a hold on Bella's sent easily, that was no problem at all, but what if I was wrong again and Bella wasn't there? Then I would have to get back to Forks and start again, but there was no way that I was giving up. I shoved these thoughts out of my head and focused on how I was going to torture her until I got to enjoy her lusciously sweet scented blood.

I smiled as I boarded the plane.