I reached out with my free hand, and slid the sliding glass open. "Ready, love?"
"Yeah," she whispered. I locked eyes with her briefly. She stepped forward, and bit her lip nervously as she looked down at the ground below us.
"Just take the next step," I murmured softly in her ear.
And she did. Pulling me along with her.
As we hit the ground, Bella's face contorted, and her grip on my hand became painful.
Stress, Jasper thought. Trying to fight the bloodlust.
I nodded briefly, and touched the small of her back reassuringly. Taking a deep breath, I realized just how strong her senses were right now, as the cervidae scent was weak to my nose -- several miles off at least. Her eyes flickered between the Bella I knew emerging from behind her crimson eyes, to the predator I was unsure I was ready to observe. Her body jerked involuntarily in the direction of her prey, increasing the anxiety Jasper was feeling from her, and silently communicating to me.
"Edward," she whispered in a moment of lucidity.
"It's all right, love." I squeezed her hand in mine. "Relax. Remember that we're here, and we aren't going to hurt you, and let your body take control. It knows what to do."
After a moment of uncertainty, she locked eyes with me, and took a deep breath. "Don't leave me, okay?" Her voice wavered somewhat.
"I won't. We'll stay just far enough away for you to not feel threatened. But I'll be with you the whole time."
She nodded.
"Breathe the scent in, and just feel," I instructed. As she did so, her eyes turned black almost instantly, and the monster was released. She growled low at us in turn, and set off at a sprint.
It took her a few seconds to get used to the feeling of running at that speed, but once she did -- Lord, was she graceful. She looked like she had been like this for decades. And fast. I wasn't used to struggling to keep up with anyone -- it had been a long time since we had a newborn around. I pushed myself to keep pace with her, staying twenty yards to her right, and ten yards behind. Her posture didn't change when I established this position, so I judged that she wasn't feeling threatened by my presence.
I could hear Jasper falling behind us, further with each step. God, I hope she doesn't try to make a run for it, he shot at me. She'd be in town and causing havoc before we caught up to her.
I slowed my pace as Bella approached her target. She, however, didn't pause for a second. I didn't need to be able to read her mind to know that the predator was impatient, and just wanted the meal regardless of consequences. In her haste, two of the bevy heard her coming, and took off, alerting their friends in the process. The smallest buck had just started running when she leaped at it. She soared through the air for seeming eternity before landing cleanly on his back.
I regretted that I hadn't warned her that it would be much easier for her if she snapped his neck before starting to drink. Now it was too late. She would know now, as he struggled for a dozen seconds against her grip on his neck before slipping into unconsciousness - the brief bliss before death.
She drank greedily, and she was almost done when Jasper approached me, placing his hand on my shoulder. It's not as weird seeing her do that as you expected, is it? I shook my head slowly, and shrugged. He was right in a sense. I had imagined this to be worse than it actually was. But it still saddened me, making our new reality so much more real. She truly was one of us - her current diet proof positive.
The deer sucked dry, Bella dropped it to the ground, and stood up. Would she continue to hunt immediately, her first foray not having quenched her thirst, and instead awakening an obsession? Or would she be sated now? My inner questions were answered almost immediately. She absent-mindedly lifted her arm up to wipe her mouth, not really noticing anything but the lingering scent of the long departed deer around her. Glancing the blood on her sleeve, she gasped, and took a quick step backwards, away from the just-consumed carcass. Her eyes went wide, and my Bella was back, shocked by what she had done.
"Go," Jasper whispered, pushing me slightly towards her. I'll stop her from breaking down.
I approached her slowly, trying to not startle her too much. "Bella?"
She turned towards me, but kept her eyes on the ground, unwilling to meet my eyes.
"Bella? Talk to me." I took the final step, and reached out to touch her shoulder, hesitant at first, but more confident when she didn't flinch away.
She grabbed at my shirt, and hid her face in my chest. "I knew what I was doing, but I had no control over it. I tried to stop, but I couldn't," she sobbed.
"That's okay," I cooed, rubbing her back in small circles. "Nobody would expect you to. It takes years to learn to override your instincts. Look at me -- I still struggled to keep my head around you. You did incredibly well, love. I'm so proud of you."
"Proud of me for killing an innocent animal?" she scoffed, still clinging to me for dear life. She had already ripped a hole in the fabric, but that was the least of my worries. We'd deal with Alice's wrath later.
"Yes. You stayed very calm. You didn't fall into a frenzy, taking down animal after animal. You didn't turn on me for following you. And you got him on your first go. Not too shabby at all."
She took a step back, and looked directly at me for the first time since finishing her meal. Skepticism rolled off her so strongly I didn't even need Jasper to decipher her expression.
I pulled her closer to me, and buried my nose in her long locks. "Do you want to try it again?" I whispered.
"Not particularly. I mean, it felt good - amazing even - but.... I don't know."
"I get it. I really do. It's completely up to you, but I think you should have a couple more. We need to leave as soon as we get back to the house. And the last thing I want is for you to attack a neighboring car as we're parked at a stoplight. If you're full, you should be okay."
"Is that a real possibility?" she gasped.
I shrugged. "Emmett did it. But then, that was in the days before parental control locking."
She nodded, deep in thought. "Oh wait! Where are we going?"
"Alaska."
"Oh. Where you went when you disappeared my first week of school?"
"Yeah. Same place. There are others like us up there."
"Why can't we just stay here?" she pouted, and I had to force myself not to instantly cave to her every whim. "I promise not to go into town."
I sighed, and ran my hands nervously through my hair. "Love, yes it's true that it's dangerous for you to be so close to town. Even with your promise, we can't guarantee that you won't run off without any conscious thought." I gestured towards the fallen beast at our feet, reminding her how she hadn't been able to control herself.
She stiffened, and her eyes darted around quickly, finding an escape route. Just as she tried to run, Jasper relaxed her enough that I could restrain her in a bear hug.
"That's not the only thing," I explained. "You being bitten." Jasper winced internally behind us. "It's broken the treaty with the Quileutes. We can't stay here anymore."
Her face crinkled in the most adorable look of confusion. "Um... okay. I guess. Do we really have to leave though?"
"We do," I nodded. "It's dangerous for us here now."
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Bella, that is definitely not your fault, okay?" She looked like she wanted to protest, but just nodded meekly at my heavy tone. "Now, are you ready to try another deer? This one's friends didn't go too far away."
"Ugh," she groaned loudly. "Can you not talk about them having friends? I've spent the last 18 years ignoring the fact that what was on my plate had feelings, and parents. Ignorance is bliss, Edward. Let's keep it that way."
"Okay," I chuckled. "Let's go get you a nice juicy piece of venison. Is that better?"
"Much," she nodded, a grin spreading across her face, and filling me with joy.
Her hair whipped around her face in a strong breeze. The wind had been picking up gradually as the day wore on. It made me decide that she could have one more deer, and then we should go home. If the wind became any more intense, her senses were likely to go haywire again.
"I'll be behind you," I prodded. She turned quickly, planted a short kiss on my lips, and took a moment to orient herself again. My fingers went instantly to where she had kissed me, in horror. The taste of blood was strong from her mouth. As much as today was supposed to be all about new experiences for Bella, I hadn't considered in great depth the new experiences that I would be experiencing. Being kissed, albeit a peck, by a fellow vampire was a new experience in itself, but to be able to taste the blood on her lips floored me. I wanted nothing more than to tackle her to the ground and kiss all the residue out of her mouth. No wonder when the couples of my family went hunting together, they took a long time to return.
It was with great self-control, more-so than when I had kissed her as a human and craved her blood, that I let her go. She was already half-way to her intended prey when I fully came to my senses, and started following her. Finding her in a small clearing about a mile from her last meal, she had taken down a large doe, and was hungrily sucking at her neck. The wind was making her hair fly around her in the most ethereal fashion. I wandered casually towards her, not paying attention to where I placed my feet, and stepping into the clearing with the sharp snap of a twig.
Bella's head thrust upwards, and her dark eyes landed on me. No, I corrected myself. This wasn't my Bella. This was once again, Predator Bella. And instantly, I knew that I had come too close to her dinner. She clutched the head of the animal to her chest, and narrowed her eyes at me. A loud, territorial growl rumbled from her chest, causing my legs to freeze.
"It's okay. I'm sorry," I told her, holding my hands out in front of me, and slowly backing away. "Jasper," I hissed behind me. "Help."
I'm trying to stay out of her sight, he explained. But I'm trying. She's just hard to get through to right now. Step back behind the tree line, he suggested.
I nodded, and took three more steps into the shadows of a pair of Sitka Spruces. Her enhanced eyesight would still make my figure crystal clear, but I hoped that setting myself in the background would cause her less threat.
I stood like a statue, and Jasper spent himself trying to keep her from attacking me, and still it took several minutes, filled with growls, for her to accept that it was safe to finish her kill. As she drank, she kept her eyes trained directly on my face, her body language tense, as if just waiting for my strike.
As she finished, the wind picked up once again, this time stronger than before. It swept at us from the direction of Forks, whipping up leaves and dust in it's path. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I reached for it slowly, watching the woman before me. I was putting the receiver to my ear, when Bella stiffened, nose high in the air.
Noooooooo! Jasper screamed at me. Tackle her!
And he was out of his high hiding place like a shot to attempt to do the same. I scented the air as I leaped, and knew what she had smelled. The wind had been just strong enough for the scent of humans, even this far away, to reach us. I, myself, could only just make it out, and that was with great experience. But with her senses being stronger than ours right now, she hadn't needed experience to tell her what it was -- all she knew was that she wanted it.
Luck was on our side that newborns have very little thought for strategy. They head directly towards their target, whether for food or fight. And from our current positions, she had to get past both Jasper and I to get closer to what must be the most mouth-watering thing she had ever encountered in all her days -- human or vampire.
I managed to catch her legs as she began running, and she kicked out like she were in a life or death situation. She landed several hard blows to my head, causing me to loosen my grip enough for her to free herself. My second lunge at her was fruitless, and she made it ten yards from me before being tackled by Jasper. He held her long enough for me to catch up and wrap my arms tightly around her upper body. She squirmed and thrashed against us, and I knew without doubt that I would be unable to restrain her by myself.
As Jasper worked to calm her, all the while fighting the bloodlust that was rippling off her onto him, I held onto her for dear life. I looked into her face as often as I could, and would get a glimpse of eye contact before she ripped her eyes once more away from me.
"Bella, love, look at me," I demanded, trying to keep my voice gentle. She, instead, yanked her head away, and took a snap at me, white teeth flashing in the dying sunlight. "It's me - Edward. You don't want that, Bella. You would be devastated if you hurt someone, especially someone you know. Look at me. It's okay, you can relax."
Keep talking to her.
"Bella, calm down. Stop breathing, love. You can do it."
It must have been Alice on the phone before, because I could hear my family running towards us. They were still a long way off, though - several minutes. If Bella couldn't pull herself out of her intense bloodlust, I wasn't sure if we could hold on that long.
"Bella, please come back to us. Hold your breath."
She glanced at me quickly, and I thought I saw a flicker of her inside. Just enough to reassure me that I could pull her out of her frenzy.
"Bella, hold your breath," I tried again.
She obeyed, just for a moment, but in that second she visibly relaxed - enough that I could move so I had a better hold on her.
"See? Doesn't that make you feel better? Do it again. Stop breathing," I instructed.
She pulled in a deep breath, keening with the want that ripped through her, and then held it like I wanted her to. As she did, the wind died down to a soft whisper, and the faint scent withered away to nothing. I could hear my family screaming in my head that they were coming to help, that they were almost there, that it would be okay if we just held her for a few more seconds. But, without the constant barrage of the smell of human blood, Bella had already relaxed considerably. I couldn't have been prouder. With just my prompting, she had pulled herself out of the fury of the bloodlust.
"I think we're okay," Jasper told us, studying Bella's face intently. "Do you think I can let go now?"
"Yeah, just stay close by."
With her legs released, I pulled her in closer to me, and kissed her forehead.
"Edward," she sobbed, realization of what she had almost done flooding her.
"It's okay, my love," I cooed. "You did well. Let's get you back to the house."
Our family slowed their steps as they came into view, and I caught their eyes in turn. "Thanks," I mouthed. They each nodded, and turned back towards the house.
I received no objection when I pulled Bella up into my arms to carry her home. Instead, she curled into my body tightly, and kept her breath held. The entire journey home, I whispered platitudes to her, telling her how proud I was, and how well she had done to not rip us to shreds when we attacked her.
All she did in reply was let out a small whine like a kitten.
It was my only hope that she wouldn't flagellate herself too much for one tiny slip. Nobody was perfect, and she shouldn't expect herself to be.
