Chapter 3
The hunt
The sun streamed through my closed eyelids. "Wake-up Bella." Edward said softly into my ear. I laughed. He knew I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to, but I hadn't realized I had closed my eyes. I pulled the blanket over my head. "I don't want to get up!" I argued. He pulled the covers back a little and said, "Bella we have to get started on that hunting trip." I groaned. "I want to stay here!" I protested. "Forever and ever." I added. "We'll come back." he said. I looked him in the eyes. "You promise?" he circled his heart with his fingers and said, "With all my heart." Then he did the strangest thing, he put his nose under my chin and pretty much nuzzled me. It sent tingles through my body. He nuzzled me until we were sitting up. I noticed the beautiful sunrise that was creeping over the forest in front of us. I couldn't help but stare at it for a moment or two. The deep reds bled into the oranges which eventually faded into bright yellow. I looked over to see Edward gazing at the sunrise as well. The light reflected brilliantly off his face, making every feature even more perfect than before, if that was even possible. His glittery skin captivated me. He realized my staring at him, and turned to meet my gaze.
I suddenly remembered that my skin sparkled the same way now. I had completely forgotten that feature. I held up my hand in front of me. Sure enough there were sparkles on my arm. Edward chuckled as he seemed to realize what I was thinking. I stood up and looked at my whole body, sure enough, I looked like a human shaped disco ball. I laughed and pulled Edward up to his feet. I began trying to ball-room dance, but then tripped. Luckily Edward caught me, and pretended to roll his eyes. Still holding me up he said, "May I have this dance?" I smiled and said, "You may." He began swirling me around, spinning and turning, all over the roof. Finally, he stopped and set me down on my feet again. The sun had started to slowly drift into the clouds.
" Let's go inside." He offered. I groaned and began walking toward the edge of the roof. "Umm... Bella?" Edward said nervously. I turned to look at him. "Aren't you forgetting something?" he offered. If vampires could blush, Edward would clearly be blushing right now. He held all my clothes out to me. I looked down and realized I hadn't put any of my clothes back on, and neither had he. I laughed as I reached to take my clothes from him. "May I have the honors?" he asked. I didn't quite know what he meant, but I said, "You may." anyway. He proceeded to dress me. "You know, people of the highest rank used to dress queens when they woke up in the mornings." He whispered. I smiled. "Is that what this is about?" "You are my queen." he responded. When he finished I turned around and noticed that he was now fully clothed. Normally I would have been shocked by this fact. But nothing Edward did ever surprised me anymore.
Once inside Alice, Jasper, Emmet, and Rosalie were all waiting impatiently to leave. "Would you hurry up!" Emmet said rudely. Edward glared, "We'll be right down." He added just as rude. At the same time we both ran up the stairs, and into our room. It was as if suddenly all my memories to the previous day flooded back to me when I entered our room. Everything, including Charlie. I plopped down onto the bed and curled up into a ball. Sensing something was wrong Edward curled up next to me. "What's wrong?" He asked. I sighed, "Everything." he paused and then said, "Is it about Charlie?" he asked. I contemplated this and said. "Partly." He shifted. "What's the other part?" he asked, a little unsure. For some reason I felt incomplete, like part of me was missing. I couldn't figure out what was missing. I had everything I ever wanted. Yet, something kept bugging me and telling me something was wrong. "I don't know." I finally replied. "Charlie is going to be just fine." he reassured me. I sighed and slid off the bed.
I washed my face, and put on some tennis shoes. We both proceeded to getting ready in silence. I was startled when I heard a horn honk from out side. We continued to walk down the stairs in silence and stepped outside. The whole family was ready to go. Emmet ran impatiently toward the forest, then everyone turned and began taking off into the forest, until Edward and I were standing alone. Edward grabbed my hand and we ran into the forest.
We quickly caught up to the rest of our family and began keeping pace with them. We soon arrived at out usual hunting spot, a rocky cliff with bushes and shrubs adorning it. I instantly switched into hunting mode, and subconsciously crouched low to the ground. I listened very intently for any sound of movement around me. I heard a small movement behind a bush to my left. I sprang off me back feet and began sprinting toward a bush. I barely made any sound as I practically glided across the earth. I ran right through a bush and came across three mountain lions. A mother, a father, and a child mountain lion. For some reason the sight struck me. They seemed so content. The father turned and growled at me crouching down low to the ground. I copied the movement, and prepared myself to spring. For some reason, I was envious of these mountain lions. They seemed like they had the perfect family. That seemed silly, I had my own perfect family. Suddenly the mountain lion sprang toward me. Unfortunately for this poor mountain lion, he was no match for me. I leaped toward him, and easily pulled him down in mid air. I had him pinned to the ground, I was about to strike, when I realized I couldn't. This mountain lion had a perfect family waiting for him, and I didn't want to take him away from it. I jumped off of him and threw him into the bushes toward his family and ran away. I ran deep into the forest. I didn't know where I was running but I couldn't stop myself. I just kept running. I didn't know how long I had been running, but I realized I should probably be getting back home. On the way back I realized I hadn't satisfied my thirst, and easily caught a jackrabbit, and a deer.
It took me a while to realize I was lost. I couldn't orient myself at all. I had no clue which way was north. It felt like I was walking around in circles. Eventually I came out at a clearing. I seemed to be on a beach. I walked around on the shore, trying to find some source of civilization, when something caught my eye. A tree was lying on it's side, with roots sticking up every which way. It seemed oddly familiar, even though I was pretty sure I had never been here in my life. I sat down on top of it, and had a strange feeling of déjà vu. It was like I had been here in a dream or a past life. Suddenly something caught my nose, It was Edward's scent. He had been here, I followed his trail back into the forest and all the way home. When I got home it was way past dark. The house was empty, except for Esme. When I came through the door, she swooped me up into a huge hug. "Thank goodness you're alright!" she said. I chuckled. "Esme I'm perfectly fine, I just got lost, that's all. No wild animal could be any match to me. " Under her breath she said quietly. "I can think of some who can." But she quickly replied. "We'll need to call everyone to tell them you're safe." This puzzled me. "Call? Where is everyone?" She began to walk into the kitchen. "They're out looking for you actually." She cried over her shoulder. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt. I had kind of abandoned everyone and had gone missing. I shuddered to think about how many hours I'd been wandering through the forest.
Esme hung up a little silver cell phone. "They're on their way." She reported. "They're all running. I suspect Edward should be herer very..." But her voice was cut off as the front doors flew open. I barely had time to look over my shoulder when a pair of arms scooped me up, curled me into a ball, and ran with me through the house. "Edward," I said annoyed. "Where are you going." but he didn't answer, he just kept running. Finally he sat down on a couch, not releasing me from his tight hold. He pulled my head toward him. He was basically cradling me. It felt very childish, yet at the same time enjoyable. After a long silence Edward finally said, "Where were you?" his tone was flat, pure anger rushed in every word he said. "I got lost." I said sheepishly. "Why didn't you stay close?" he said again angrily. "I'm sorry" I replied. He realized I was starting to think he was angry , and started rocking me saying. "Bella I'm not mad at you, but you really scared me there. I thought that...never mind." The doors opened again, and the rest of the family piled through the doors.
Alice instantly rushed over to me. I could see terror in her eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked looking deep into my eyes. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine." I replied. She didn't look convinced. "What happened?" she asked. "I got lost chasing an animal." I knew I kind of lied. I had been chasing an animal, but I ran away of my own accord. Still unconvinced, she turned to look at Edward, I could tell they were talking telepathically. It started to annoy me. I tried to stand up, but Edward wouldn't budge. Even as a vampire I still wasn't strong enough to pull him off of me. Only one time in my life was I able to do that, and that was when I was a newborn. Not really a baby, but a new born to the vampire world. I continued to struggle, although it did no good. I gave up and pulled a pillow off the couch and put it on my stomach.
When Edward and Alice finished speaking telepathically, Alice left to rejoin the rest of her family. Edward took my face in his hands and looked deeply into my face. "Where did you go." It wasn't really a question, it was more like a demand. "I just walked through the forest, and I wound up on some beach, but I found your scent and I followed it back. Fear suddenly filled his eyes. "Bella, this is not good." he said. He stood up, leaving me on the couch, he began pacing back and forth. "Bella, did you meet anyone while you were wandering?" This was very strange, what was so bad? It was just an accident. "No." I replied. "Why?" but he didn't answer my question. He just continued pacing. "So you got to the beach, what did you do?" he asked. " I just walked around, sat on a tree, smelled your scent, and left. What is going on?" I said. He didn't answer immediately, but then he said, "Now is not the time Bella." I was about to protest when he left the room. I stood up to follow him. He was in the kitchen with the rest of our family whispering something to Carlisle.
The vibe was calm, but I could tell it was only because of Jasper. In normal circumstances, this entire room would be very tense. When I entered the room It became quiet. Nobody looked at me, except Edward. His eyes showed that he was about to be WAY over protective. When Carlisle finished speaking to Edward, Edward stood by my side, one hand around my shoulder. Suddenly this whole situation became very aggravating. It was an accident, I didn't mean to get lost. I was safe, so why was everyone making a big fuss out of this? Finally Carlisle said, "For the time being I think we should do nothing. Let them make the first move." Then he sat down. Edward quickly escorted me out of the room against my will.
When we were out of earshot I said, "Edward what in the world is going on?" He looked at the ground. "Bella," he said uncertain. "I'm trying to make this as easy as I can for you, please do the same for me." I took a step away from "What are you talking about!?!?! Nobody has told me anything!! What the hell is going on!" He sighed and looked deep into my eyes. "Bella, I know this is hard for you, but I need you to not ask any questions. Okay?" I would have protested but the look in his eyes was utter sadness. I tried to look away, but he turned my head back toward his, and held it there. "Fine." I agreed, extremely annoyed. "Thank you." He whispered, and then pulled me into a tight hug. We stood there for a very long time. Just holding each other, it felt very nice.
Suddenly, I felt very empty. Even standing next to Edward, I had that strange feeling that there was something missing. Like I was a jigsaw puzzle missing one piece. A tear streamed down my cheek. Edward noticed and said, "It's alright, it will all make sense in the end." He wiped the tear from my face and pulled me tighter.
