Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine.

"Bella!" relief colored his tone. He jumped up as if to run and hug me, but he stopped himself when he was a few feet away, hesitant. An apprehensive expression crossed his beautiful features. He thinks I'm going to bolt again.

"I-I'm sorry" I stuttered. It sounded more like a question than a statement. "For running off like that, I mean." His eyebrows pulled together, and he looked like he wanted to ask me something, but I spoke before he could. "I love you." I said, my eyes burning with nonexistent tears.

Whatever he was going to ask, that must have answered it, because he proceeded to run forward at vampire speed and pull me into his embrace. In that moment, I felt at peace. I was a vampire. He was a vampire. Neither of us would ever die. It could be like this forever. It would be like this forever. It was amazing how the tense mood had changed so quickly in that moment. I pulled back to look at his angel's face.

"Where's your family?" I asked, looking over his shoulder into the bedroom.

"Our family, love," he corrected, tracing my lips. "Is still in Forks."

"Then why are we here? Where are we, anyway?"

Edward's expression turned tormented. "Alaska. Alice had a vision about you and thought it would be safer for you here," he paused, listening "and from how devoid the forest is of animals, I'd say she was about right."

I bit my lip and looked down. "What happened in that vision, exactly?"

"You. Humans. Bloodbath. Screaming." I guessed he was trying to not to make it sound as graphic as it was. I buried my head in his shoulder, ashamed.

"I'm sorry." I whimpered. He laughed.

"Don't apologize for something that won't happen, love" My head shot up and glared at him.

"Do you really believe that? Do you think I'm just going to be immune to blood from now on and walk past humans humming show tunes?" I nearly shouted at him.

His expression grew discomforted. "No. We're going to keep you away from them until you've built up enough resistance."

"Oh yeah? What about Renee and Charlie? What are we telling them? And if I can resist animal blood, how do you know I can resist humans?"

"We'll have to stage our deaths soon. The town of Forks still thinks Emmett and I are camping. You've gone missing, and we'll set it up like you got into some kind of car accident, destroying your truck. Your body will never be found. Emmett and I will come back soon and I'll hear the tragic news that you're dead, thus resulting in me committing suicide. Our family will stay and mourn us for just enough time to not seem suspicious, and then promptly leave Forks, claiming it held too many unpleasant memories for them. And humans will still be hard for you, but not much harder than it is for Jasper now."

"What?!" I don't know if I was more worried about not seeing my parents or him leaving soon to pretend to kill himself.

"It's the only right way to do things, Bella. Do you want to see your parents and accidentally kill them?" I tried to keep an angry face, but to no avail. My head fell back into his shoulder sadly.

"I'm going to see them" I said stubbornly. Edward didn't answer. "I can't do that to Renee. Or Charlie. I can't." my voice broke on the last word. I wasn't going with that plan without a fight. Edward gently pulled my head back up to meet his.

"You're eyes are dark, love. Go." He said, stroking my cheek. Then He motioned towards the forest.

"I just hunted a few minutes ago." I told him, confused.

"You're a newborn. You'll want blood a lot more often than necessary. I don't want you to be thirsty all the time." My throat did ache, but that hadn't changed since my last hunt. Even then, the relief didn't last long. I nodded, kissed his lips, and ran off into the woods behind me.

Due to the fact most of the wildlife within a few miles of the house was now dead, I had to travel out farther than I did before. After much running, I finally smelled an animal. I caught the scent of something that must have been large--perhaps a group of them. I dashed towards the source of the scent. It took a lot longer to get there than I had thought. Weird. I could smell it quite a length away. As I got closer, I realized the blood's scent was sweeter than anything else I had ever smelled. I found myself running faster and faster as the scent got stronger. It was mouthwatering.

When I got close enough, I slowed to stalk my prey, my eyes wild with thirst. I was no longer Bella. I was the hunter. I was the monster within me now. I moved soundlessly, crouched down into the greenery. It was painful to move so slow when the blood was so fresh and sweet smelling. Finally, I got to where there was a clearing, wielding a ceiling of bright white stars against a navy ocean. Focusing in on what the clearing held, I found my prey. Eight of them. All separated into three large tents.

Humans.

Alice's vision was right.

Sorry for the wait on this chapter! It wasn't as long as I'd planned, but I had to cut out a lot of things.

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