Chapter Eight

Renesmee

I barely slept the night before the move. I remember heading off to bed some time after midnight but it hadn't been a peaceful sleep. My dreams were full of anxiety and fear of absolutely nothing in particular. The shapes in my dreams twisted and blurred much too fast for me to make out any sort of meaning, but the emotions I felt were very clear.

I spent four hours tossing and turning in my partial sleep. It was as though I knew it was only a dream and that I could pull out of it and wake up at anytime, and yet it wasn't until I felt the sharp burn in my throat that I finally opened my eyes.

I blinked a few times and peered out my bedroom window. It was still dark out and the moon shone brightly down on the earth. I rolled over and glanced at my alarm clock. Only a quarter after four. I rolled out of bed and swapped my shorts and tank top for a pair of jeans and a purple dress shirt. I buttoned up the buttons covering my breasts and left the top and bottom ones open. I then rolled up my sleeves to my elbow, headed toward the open window and jumped out.

Softly I landed on the cool grass. Instantly I heard the animals of the forest scamper away in fear. A rabbit darted off to the left, a couple of squirrels ran up the nearest spruce. I tried not to think about it as I ran into the thick trees, but the further I ran the more fear I sensed around me.

On and on I ran, deeper into the night and far away from my house in search of a meal. It had been so long since the last time I hunted and I wondered if my new body would offer any new abilities. I quickly noticed that I was more graceful on my feet. My feet were barely kissing the moist grass where before I was stumbling into every rock and root. And I felt more power in my stride, more force in my - wait! What's that?

I froze mid-step and the burning in my throat intensified as I made out the sound of three tongues lapping up water in a near by stream.

Deer... one male, two females... the scent was much too easy to pick out. It was a warm smell, sort of like a mixture of wood, nutmeg, grass and manure. But the most alluring smell was that of the blood. One of them was injured and the scent only excited me further.

There was no need for thought for now I was running with pure instinct. My limbs loosened and my strides became longer; every push propelled me further than the last. Thirty yards away I caught sight of the deer and my body crouched down. I singled the larger female out. The male was huge and would fill me up in a few bites, but he was also the injured one, and I had no desire to drink tainted blood.

By the time they heard me, I had already sunken my teeth into the doe. The other two fled as fast as they could leaving the victim behind to kick and scream until I sucked all of the rich, warm blood out of her. In seconds the doe went limp and I moved my mouth over her warm body, trying to drain her of every last drop of crimson liquid.

Every mouth full of blood eased the burn and set a wave of adrenaline rushing through my body. Unfortunately the blood ran out long before I was full. I stood up and ran further north in search of some better game. I knew where the mountain lions liked to play.

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I could feel the warm sun beating down on my skin and the last thing I wanted to do was to open my eyes. And so I continued to lay against the same tree I had fallen asleep on hours ago, after I had captured the mountain lion. The forest was so much nosier during the day. I could hear birds chirping, fish jumping and rabbits nibbling on grass. Granted that the sounds were a good deal away from me; I was very aware of the empty fifty foot radius around me as well.

Bothered by that fact, I finally opened my eyes and stood up, brushed myself off and took one last look at the dead puma before I ran back home. I tried to ignore how quickly the forest turned quiet around me, but it was hard to do.

"Hey, we were wondering where you went!" called Emmett from the backyard, seconds before I actually made it out of the shadows of the forest. His skin sparkled like millions of tiny diamonds in the sunlight and I could feel my human side being drawn to him like a fish to a shiny lure.

"Needed to hunt," I replied with a smile. "It's been a long time and I fell asleep afterwards."

He chuckled, "The deer tired you out that much, huh?"

"Not so much the doe, but the puma was fierce." I grinned.

"A mountain lion all by your self? Nice work, Ness. Edward would be proud if he wasn't so worried over you."

"Renesmee, you're home." At that very moment my father appeared at my side, grabbed me by my shoulders and gave me the once-over.

"Dad I'm fine, really!" I barked and tried to pull away before he read too much. Unfortunately it was hard to not think of the struggle I had with the puma and my thoughts and emotions ran quickly through my head.

My father dropped his hands and frowned. "You're lucky you won, you know that right? That animal almost ripped your head off!"

"But he didn't, okay? I'm fine and I'm full and everything is okay."

"Edward?" My mother floated around the side of the house and came towards us, "Renesmee your shirt is torn and filthy, I think you better head up to your room to change. We'll be leaving in an hour. Try to be ready by then." She smiled softly and I took the hint and jogged to the other side of the house.

I showered in three minutes and then spent the next ten staring at my reflection trying to decide what I should do with my new looks. My hair was still curly and bronze and I was determined to do something with it, although I didn't really own any kind of styling products. I wrapped a towel around me and headed down the hall to Rosalie's room. I knocked twice and opened the door a crack when I heard her voice.

"Hey baby, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Um... I was wondering if you still had some of your hair products out. I wanted to do something to my hair, not really sure what though."

Her face lit up in seconds.

"Oh-my-god! Come in! Do you know how long I've been waiting to get a hold of your hair?" She tugged at my arm and I jumped in the room as she shut the door behind me. She led me over to her vanity table and sat me down on the chair. "So? What would you like me to do?"

"Um, I don't really know. I mean I like it curly, but it's a little too curly." I fingered one of the ringlets as I spoke.

"Yes I know what you mean, and I think that you'd look great if they were toned down a bit." As she spoke she headed to the corner of the room where a couple of boxes were and rummaged through them, just as there was a knock at the door.

"Did I hear someone say make-over?" Alice asked as she peered into the room.

"It's not really a make-over," I replied, "I just need some help with my hair."

"And make-up. You would look fabulous with some baby pink lips," interjected Rosalie.

"And you need some new clothes too! You can't continue to wear those horrible cotton t-shirts now that you've got this smoking hot body! You're a Cullen after all and there is a standard to be met." Alice's grin scared me worse then the hand full of bottles that Rosalie had suddenly dug up.

"But - I don't want to look totally different! I still want to look like me!" I cried.

"Aw honey, you'll still look like you! Don't be silly. We're just going to add some little touches to make you look your best. All the girls in high school will be wearing make-up and doing their hair. So it's best to try it out now and see what looks best."

"Okay Rosalie, you got me there. But where am I going to suddenly get this new wardrobe?"

"You'll just borrow from Rosalie," said Alice as she attacked some of the cardboard boxes that were on the floor, "And then later we'll go shopping!"

I sighed and sat back as Rosalie squirted some creamy pink goo into her palms and then massaged it into my hair. I watched as she heated up her Chi flat iron and ran a lock of curls through it. My tight ringlets disappeared and I had to admit that I quickly got excited.

By nine o'clock my make-over was complete and I had a hard time trying to tear my eyes away from the mirror.

"You are both brilliant! I look amazing!"

"Yes you do, but we better get a move on here if we want to make it to Hope by two." smiled Alice as she helped Rosalie re-pack the lotions, sprays and discarded clothes into the boxes.

"Oh! My bed needs to be taken apart still..."

"Don't worry about that, Jasper took it apart fifteen minutes ago. Everything in your room is packed and on it's way to Hope!" Alice grinned.

"On it's way? Who's driving it there? I thought we were all going together."

"Oh, well Edward thought that he shouldn't be here when - I mean that he and Emmett should head down there first to get a head start on things before you came." Alice back-tracked.

"Huh? Wait, what? He thought he shouldn't be here when what happens?" I asked. No one paid me any attention, instead both women picked up the boxes and zoomed past me and out the front door.

"Hold on a second! When what happens?" I called out as I chased after them. I was about to follow them out the front door when the voice on the other line of my mother's phone call caught my attention.

"Yeah, I'll be there shortly. I'm just saying good-bye."

"Oh okay then. Jasper's got your papers all in order. We'll wait for you; there's no rush. Take your time."

"Sure, sure," Jacob's voice was so moody and sad that I was tempted to yank the phone out of my mother's hand and speak to him. But he had hung up quickly and I was left to stand there and wonder if he was okay.

"Renesmee, you look beautiful. I'm guessing your Aunts got a hold of you." My mother smiled as she ended the phone call.

"Yeah, they did. That was Jacob." My mother nodded to my non-question. "Is he alright? He sounded upset."

"I believe he's fine, but you can call him if you want." she said as she extended the phone to me. I didn't take it, instead I turned around and headed for the door. "Renesmee, are you alright?"

"Yeah Mom, I'm fine." I called back into the house as I stepped onto the porch and into the warm sunlight. The others were quickly moving in and out of the house, packing up the last few items that needed to be packed. Pictures, paintings, tables, chairs. I walked off the porch and headed for the garage around the side of the house.

"You look very nice Renesmee," called Esme from across the yard. I smiled and waved a thank-you and continued into the shade of the eight car garage. My father's Volvo was missing and so was Emmett's Wrangler. I walked across the two empty stalls and pushed on past Rosalie's BMW on the way to my shiny blue Cooper, but I had to pause in front of my Dad's Vanquish.

It sat there like a wild little animal, black and sleek with the sexiest curves found on a car. I reached out and let my fingertips glide against the smooth paint; a shiver ran down my spine.

"God I wish I could take you out for a drive..."

I sighed and headed for my Cooper. The doors were unlocked and the tinted windows gave me a pleasing reflection of myself. My eyes searched over the baby pink lips and dark eye makeup, over my softly flowing hair with just the right amount of wave and bounce. I had been worried at the time about Alice's selection in clothing but the slinky top with the denim skirt looked really nice together, especially since I had the T&A to fill it out.

It was obvious though how mature I looked, and the longer I stared at my self in those four inch heels the more I wondered if I could really pass for a high school senior. Not like I knew much about what high school seniors looked like. The only examples I had were from the millions of movies that I watched, and in almost all of them the girls looked young and inexperienced. And the woman I saw now staring back at me looked anything but inexperienced.

I looked past my reflection and saw the car keys and papers that were laying on my passenger seat, along with my favorite pair of D&G sunglasses. I opened the door and sat down. I then shuffled through the papers to make sure that my driver's license was there, put my sunglasses on and then eased the car out of the garage.

"Going for a ride?" asked Carlisle when I slowed down next to one of the vans.

"I thought I'd go for a quick ride now to get some experience with day time driving. Unless you need my help,"

"No, no. We're all fine here. Just take it nice and slow. I know how Rosalie likes to take it to a hundred but there are a lot more cars out during the day." He smiled and I drove past the other moving trucks and headed onto the highway for the first time during the day.