Chapter 12: Catch me if you can
I hadn't run from them like I used to. It was pain and a trace of happiness in my soul. I got near to the glass wall to look outside, feeling Emmett and Jasper's eyes glued to my back. Breathing slowly in and out and moving with exaggerated slowness like a man woken up from a long coma, I found that I could manage differently my pain. There wasn't just pain. Now, after I'd seen her face I could feel my scars healed a little, though I knew that soon enough they were going to bleed with an anguish that will put me on fire.
Nothing moved outside and neither did I. The stillness was natural for my kind and even more natural for me. It helped me to relax a bit and when I've finally felt able to face them I turned slowly as I tried to arrange my features into a detached smile. I wasn't in the mood to smile, but I had to keep going. For them…
"You're putting a brave face," Jasper thought sympathetically. I nodded absentmindedly like I'd used to do with Alice. Somehow I was missing those silent conversations between me and her.
I sat again beside them, but I couldn't stay in silence anymore. It would have been so easy to drift back to my thoughts and I couldn't let that happen. My eyes moved from the phone to the clock and back again. Most certainly Carlisle was on his way back if everything had gone well. I had to wait just a little more time to be sure what happened with those vampires and then…Maybe then I could dream about my angel.
Thoughts and feelings were pulsing through me and suddenly just one feeling remained more prominent and stronger than the others. Carlisle. Why had I permitted him to go alone? Maybe the one in danger was him. If anything happened it would be only my fault.
I got up and out of the blue I was in front of the glass wall again. I couldn't bear the anxiety I felt. All this time, I'd been so absorbed by my own feelings and worries that I neglected one of the two most precious things I had in my life. My family. Carlisle was more than a father for me. I owed him everything and now maybe he was in danger because of my stupid indifferent attitude.
I was pacing up and down like a maniac when I felt Alice's presence in the room. I turned my head toward her and she was speaking with Jasper. Not a normal way of speaking. They knew each other extremely well and it was a natural thing for them to understand what the other wanted just by a look in the eyes.
"His emotions are over the edge," he thought. "This time it's not for Bella. It's for Carlisle. I'm sure."
"Hm…That's what I wanted to say," she responded with a thought as she slowly rolled her eyes. "Carlisle will be back in half an hour," she continued out loud. "Now, you can calm down. I think." The I think part caught my attention.
"You think," I asked, monitoring her movements and thoughts.
"As it was expected there has been nothing to find there. The place was empty when Carlisle got there."
Surprisingly it didn't worry me too much that those vampires were alive. If they wanted revenge they could come and get it. I would give them revenge. I laughed to myself a low laugh, but all of them noticed my amusement.
"Anything funny," Emmett asked with that tone that was questioning my sanity. It didn't bother me. I didn't know anymore if I was sane or not.
"It might be funny if they want revenge," I verbalized my thoughts. "You'll have your part of fight for the month." He chuckled too, but we stopped as Alice shot piercing looks to both of us.
"That's not funny," she said firmly. "We shouldn't involve ourselves in fights like these." We shouldn't, but I wanted to fight. I wanted to kill and I wanted to destroy if it was necessary. The thought surprised me, not that I hadn't had it already, but it had passed a long time since thinking about it. Jasper shook his head disapprovingly.
"You sound like a little girl," Emmett told her, booming with laughter.
"Argh…I see your sick joking mood hasn't passed yet," she retorted as she turned to leave again. Alice had never liked to be the object of our jokes.
"Oh, come on. Don't be such a sulky dude," he told her, continuing to laugh.
"I'm not a dude, Emmett. I'm a woman," she growled, but it didn't affect him and her temper became even worse.
"Oh right, you're a dudette," he concluded mockingly as both Jasper and I rolled our eyes, cautioning him to stop. It wasn't such a good idea to get on Alice's nerves.
After she disappeared from my sight I remained a couple of seconds looking into nothing and then I turned to face the nothingness from outside. My entire life was made up of nothing. The hole in my chest ripped wide open and a flame of pain began to smolder inside, scratching my soul with its power. I couldn't stop the gasp that escaped from my throat.
In the glass wall I saw Jasper frowning and it felt like I'd woken up from a dream. Suddenly, the room was full and everyone was sitting in their normal places like they hadn't even left the room. The only ones standing were Carlisle and Esme. His presence almost startled me. I'd been so rapt by the wave of pain that wrapped my heart that I didn't hear him coming.
He didn't say anything. He just looked me in the eyes for two seconds, just the time he could keep his mind empty, and then he kissed Esme like he'd always done when he came back home. It took him a slight effort to make his voice casual and it could have passed unnoticed if it hadn't been for me and Jasper. We knew he was worried.
"You should hunt. All of you," he told us turning again to face me. "Especially you, Edward," he thought and as I saw my reflection in his eyes I knew he was right. When was the last time I'd hunted? When was the last time when I'd had a hunting trip with my family? For a second everything seemed so far away, so unreal… I had to strain every muscle of my body to not succumb to the pain of realizing once again that I didn't have Bella anymore.
"I strongly agree," Emmett consented with a serious tone in his voice that was on the point of becoming a deafening laugh. I was surprised at how fast they equipped for the trip, considering that they had previously hunted. I didn't even have time to say anything. When I've finally managed to open my mouth all of them were already in the cars.
"You're coming or what," Alice cried over her shoulder and I caught the smile upon her face.
"Go," Carlisle encouraged me and dazzled like a little child by all the movements around me, I turned to join them. As I got near her, Alice grabbed my arm and began to walk in her dancing style by my side.
"We'll have fun," she muttered confidently. I wasn't sure if fun was going to be a component of my life anymore. I nodded, not wanting to be a kill-joy, but she was too perceptive. "You don't believe me, right? Then, I'm glad I'll prove you wrong. You're capable of having fun, Edward. Just let us amuse you. It won't be so hard for Emmett for example," she chuckled and I laughed with her.
Emmett got into his jeep with Rosalie and Jasper and I got in my Volvo with Alice and Sonya. I knew it was going to be exhaustive to dissimulate and hide my feelings from Jasper. Still…it was worth the try.
I clenched my fingers on the steering wheel like a man does after a long period of numbness. I'd been numb for more than I could remember. The only things that were keeping me on this world now were the responsibility I had for my family and the need to protect Bella. Thinking about these I could function.
Out of mere habit I stepped on the gas and quicker than it took Alice to move her head to see if Sonya was well settled on the back bench, the speedometer showed eighty miles per hour. I smiled as I became used to the experience again. A human would have said that it was in his blood. I couldn't say the same. For me this was in the core of my being. I needed speed. It was an elementary necessity for vampires.
"Old habits die hard," Alice uttered beaming at me.
"Yeah, especially when your little sister assures you that the day will be great," I answered smiling in my turn.
"You'll see," she said in a kind of threatening tone which almost made me laugh.
"Hmm…I should be afraid," I thought out loud and Sonya from behind us giggled like an angel. I turned my head to see her and I had the impression that she would have blushed if that had been possible.
"Knowing Alice," she began with her magnificent voice, "both of us should be afraid. I think she's planning something," she accused and Alice immediately reacted. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have time to think about something else. As soon as she thought about it, I knew it too. She was planning on making a trip to some exotic island. Most certainly Esme's island. The astonishment made me forget that I should tell Sonya what Alice was thinking. "Could you, please, enlighten me if it's not an intrusion from my part?" she asked jokingly as she noticed the sudden unexplainable tension in my body.
"Apparently Alice doesn't like the cold anymore. She wants to take a holiday to sunnier places. She wants to lie on the beach all day long," I finished sarcastically as she stuck her tongue out at me and Sonya giggled again.
"Oh, that's wonderful," she whispered between giggles. "You want to be the fairy among the humans," she asked her, pinching her shoulder and then a chill went through me.
"Not alone," Alice thought. So she hadn't thought about going alone. She wanted all of us to go.
"Alice, are you sure you're feeling alright?" I asked still sarcastic.
"Like a pale bird which needs to be tanned," she answered in a false dreamy voice.
Like you could tan, I thought, but I didn't verbalize it, not wanting to be rude. "And why should that involve all of us?"
"Because the bird will be sad if she is alone." There was no point in arguing with her unless I wanted to fight over something without importance.
"Whatever you like," I murmured and the disagreement was clear in my voice, but it didn't have any effect on her. She was the cheerful Alice I'd always known.
"Exactly," she approved too confident for my liking.
I kept my eyes on the road even if it wasn't precisely necessary and let Alice and Sonya's conversation flow around me. Everything seemed so peaceful and, still, everything was pressing upon my heart. Slowly but surely, I could feel the pain taking hold of me. It was something normal not to be able to exist for too long without feeling that crushing pain. I should have gotten used to it by now. But it was impossible to get used to it. Every time was more painful than the last time.
I shook my head and from the corner of my eye I saw Alice's face. Why did it surprise me that she'd caught my second of tormenting anguish? It was natural for her to know what was going on with me. I blinked, letting her know that I was fine, but she knew that I wasn't. I couldn't fool her even for a second.
As I tried to connect with them again I realized where her sudden desire to go to the beach was coming from. She didn't want a family trip as much as she wanted to distract me, to keep my mind occupied with something. Like always she was looking out for ways to help me and I'd never thanked her for what she'd done for me. Not even once.
I would have chosen a private conversation if that had been possible, but she already knew what was coming and there was no need to avoid Sonya. After all, she'd done for me as much as Alice and I had to thank both. I tried not to listen to Alice's thoughts. I wanted just to say what I had to say, but her constant repetition of the same word was truly audible.
"Don't…don't…don't," she kept scanning in her mind.
"Alice," I whispered her name, ignoring her thoughts. "I know that everything you're doing is for me and I know how much you've helped me. Not only now, but always. And yet…I've never thanked you like I should have. I've never told you how important were each and every action you've made for me. I've never thanked you for making me smile again." I paused as I run out of words and I smiled trying to make the smile as real as I could. I knew it had sounded weird all of a sudden to open this subject, but it felt like I would never have been able to thank her if I hadn't said it now.
"But it's not enough…yet," she thought and a slight frown appeared on my face.
"Yes. It is," I rapidly contradicted her, afraid of what she might intend to do and then I turned my head to Sonya. "And Sonya…thank you too," I began, but she cut me off with a shake of her head.
"You shouldn't have thanked for anything," Alice mumbled like a whimpering child. "Now, I'm not the fairy anymore. I'm real," she complained and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.
"And who do you prefer to be?" I asked teasingly.
"Tinkerbell, of course. And Jasper would be Peter Pan. And we don't have a Wendy. How sad," she finished in a false tone of disappointment. I laughed again when I saw her satisfied expression. She had always gotten what she wanted and now I was so grateful for that. Grateful for bringing me a reason to keep going. "You can be Tootles," she meditated.
"Yeah, and we'll bring a new other level to fairy tales," I murmured between laughs.
I let her have her fun for a while, but when Emmett's jeep appeared in my rearview mirror I realized I didn't know where we were heading to.
"By the way," I said in a casual voice. "Where are we going?" Right after I finished the question I had to admit how idiotic it had sounded.
"Dancing with the lions," she breathed the words, which had been like an insult for Emmett.
"And the grizzlies," he yelled.
"Yeah, and the grizzlies," Alice agreed.
"More precisely?" I asked rolling my eyes.
"Just keep driving. You're on the good way," she instructed, trying to keep her cheerful attitude, but she couldn't fool me. She'd become tense as soon as I asked where we were going. In response I tensed too, my mind making up possibilities which I prayed to be wrong. She couldn't do something like that to me. We are not heading to Forks, for God's sake, I screamed in my mind. I would have noticed, wouldn't I?
"We've just passed near Forks," she thought reassuringly and I almost broke the steering wheel. "We'll hunt in Canada."
I tried not to be mad at her, after all she had no fault. Nothing had happened. Absolutely nothing. I couldn't believe how powerful the ache was. It had erupted in searing flames and now it was consuming me again. I'd been so close to her, I still was, but I could do nothing, see nothing, and feel nothing of her.
"I'm sorry," Alice thought and then I realized I should be in good spirits or at least try no to be gloomy.
Enough, I thought to myself, but it was easier to just think how I should be than actually make myself feel differently. The need was growing by the second and there was not need for blood. There was need for Bella and I didn't know how long I could keep up with being away from her.
Emmett got ahead of me, breaking my swarm of thoughts and his voice echoed like a thunder.
"We'll beat you there, darlings," he shouted with laughter. Yeah, sure. Like I was going to let him. I stepped on the gas reaching the speed limit in a heart beat and so the race began. I didn't have fun. Not yet. It was something I was doing for them. I had to be a good actor. I had to make them believe I was fine. But the problem was if I could be such a great actor that even Jasper could believe in my façade.
Of course, I couldn't deceive him. Why had I even thought about it? He was sending waves of relief to me when I'd outrun the jeep and not stopping myself I flashed a frown at him.
"Don't bother, Jasper," I told him. I understood that our emotions were his emotions and especially mine hadn't been a pleasure to feel lately, but I couldn't stand when he was doing his thing on me. I was a masochist by nature. I wanted to feel every emotion that was coming from my love for Bella. Strangely, but it was a sweet pain, even if it broke me each time I felt it.
"Can't help it," he thought and I nodded in his direction.
We kept racing like we used to, so long ago and we stopped just when Alice informed us that we should pull over. I wasn't in the mood for a great day as Alice had predicted, but I was trying as hard as I could. I got out of the car with a forced smile on my face and I held the door for Sonya, looking over her head directly into Jasper's eyes who was already by Alice's side.
"If you would just let us make a way into this wall you've created around you, maybe then you could really have fun. Just try to be wholly here," he thought.
"I will," I responded out loud and no one gave me any attention, except of Emmett.
"See, it's not fair. Don't begin with the mind reading again."
"Are you afraid that I'll beat you this time too?" I retorted and immediately I was sorry for reminding him such a thing.
"Ohoo…my brother has a little fight in him. Go for it, tough guy," he shouted with enthusiasm, preparing himself to spring in my direction.
These little fights used to be our favorite pastimes when Esme wasn't around to reproach us anything and I'd enjoyed them every time, but now something was holding me back from having fun again. I'd been on the point of refusing this little pleasure to Emmett when I remembered Jasper's thoughts and when Alice ordered in a serious voice: "Behave. We've come to eat."
"Yeah, but I won't be able to feed myself properly without a fight."
"You'll fight with the grizzly," she answered simply and he sprang up from his crouch going into the forest.
For human eyes we would have appeared like a normal family hiking, but we were far from normal. Alice's wondering eyes would have deceived anyone and brought the prey to us willingly, but we were not hunting humans. We had our special diet and fortunately Sonya had decided to begin again this life. I felt somehow awkward walking by her side, but her thoughts were peaceful and almost eager to let her old life behind.
I took all the scents in and I could distinguish deep in the forest what I was looking for. Mountain lions…My lips twitched into a smile and my thirst, forgotten for so long, immediately invaded my being. My throat burned violently and the pain stunned me in place. I squeezed my throat with my hand and just then I realized that the need for blood was shaking my whole frame.
In that moment I was totally out of control, my mind was focused on one thing and one thing only. My prey. If a human had crossed my way I would have killed him without a doubt. The power of my need seized my brain and I couldn't see or understand anything else. I needed to hunt, to fill the blood on my lips…As soon as the thought passed through my mind a flood of venom filled my mouth and I knew I couldn't resist for too long.
My entire silent meditation hadn't lasted more than thirty seconds, but everyone noticed my sudden moment of trance. I moved unsteadily as I registered their faces and I was grateful they were not reproachful. Alice was even encouraging me to hunt as much as possible, her only regret was that she couldn't organize us anymore as she'd planned, but she was decided to follow me.
"I don't want to be apart," she thought. "We've come here like a family and we'll hunt like a family. I really miss those times when we hunted for days together." I missed them too, but now I wasn't in the condition to think about them. Maybe after I would have finished four lions…
"I think I'll hunt," I spat through my teeth and I didn't stop to see their reaction. I darted into a run embracing what I was. A predator. And in front of me were my preys.
I run until I caught sight of the first lion and then I stopped behind a tree absorbing its scent. It wasn't as sweet smelling as a human's would have been, but it was good enough for me. I crouched, moving slowly with my eyes fixed upon the animal and in a few seconds I could feel the presences of my brothers. I moved another step and the lion turned its head toward me, looking directly into my eyes. There was no fear. Its massive body moved toward me with arrogance and so the dance began.
I moved to the left while the lion moved to the right and then I took a step forward as the lion did the same. I smiled defiantly and a growl escaped my lips, but the animal didn't lose concentration. Its big dark eyes were inflexible, not even the sound of Jasper colliding with another lion made him move his eyes an inch from me.
I inhaled one last time the smell that was making my throat burn and then I made the decisive move. I needed just a leap to put my lips on the back of its throat and suck its blood out. In a second the lion was still in my arms, groaning for the last time.
I finished too quickly to really feel the taste of the blood and I was far from being done. I needed at least three more. I rose to my feet and searched around me for the others and I couldn't stop rolling my eyes when I saw Emmett.
He was hopping up and down with a grizzly in his arms, like a child with his new toy. He would almost have looked funny if it hadn't been for his too revengeful thoughts. He'd never passed over his first fight with a bear. He never forgot that he'd been almost killed by a grizzly and inevitably he hated them and now it was a full time occupation to torture its kind.
Rose sighed bored when she'd seen him and then she tried to ignore him, but the crashing sound of the grizzly striking the ground shuddered the entire forest. I couldn't stop from thinking what would have been the reaction of a human seeing Emmett in that hypostasis.
"Emmett," Alice yelled. "You're disturbing my deer."
"Sorry, sis," he laughed. "Some of us are truly hunting."
"Or truly tussling with the poor animals," she thought.
"Can you, please, eat for once in your life normally?"
"I can't digest properly if I don't shake the soul in those inoffensive bears," he answered to her exasperation.
I chuckled silently and then I moved my eyes from him, trying to accept his primitive way of feeding and continuing my own hunt. I was faster than the others and if I was going to let my instincts take over me I would have finished straight away.
Nevertheless, I flew into a lope toward my new prey and I found it as quick as the last. The lion felt my presence immediately and darted in my direction without thinking. Most certainly Emmett's hunt was disturbing the whole area. The animal was determined to attack me. I needed just a second to look the lion in the eyes and understand where this revengeful attitude was coming from. I'd just killed its female. I let it approach at full velocity and when he got close enough to me I jumped behind its body, crouching and growling. I was debating whether I should just kill it or let it have its fight before dying and the answer was in its eyes. Fight…
I waited patiently for the angry animal to approach me again, ready to clinch it in my arms and I didn't move when he was in front of me. It wasn't in my plan to let it ruin my shirt, but somehow I didn't have any reaction when he kicked me. I fell flat on my back, feeling the weight of the lion on my body. If I'd been human this would have been the end, but I was not human. I was a vampire. And I was thirsty. I needed just a fraction of a second to change the places with the lion and put again my lips at its throat.
Blood filled my mouth and it was even sweeter than before, maybe because now I was focused not only on feeding, but on feeling the taste as well. When I finished with it I threw the carcass behind a tree and I removed the dust from my shirt, preparing to move to the next prey I could find.
I'd seen no one around me and when I did see Emmett coming, he was already all over me, laughing noisily. It wasn't the first time when he'd collapsed over me, throwing me into a swamp of mud. He knew this was the perfect way to get on my nerves while on hunting. I hated to get dirty when I was eating.
When I'd lifted up from the ground he was already a blur in the distance, but I wasn't going to give up so easily. He wanted a little brotherly love? Touching. He was going to have it.
I darted after him, guided by his laughter and in a few seconds he was in my radius. I had two options: jumping on his back or outrun him, which would mean another lost race for him and he hated to lose. The two were too sweet to pass over so I took the middle way and in any case there had been a long time since we played leapfrog.
I took a running jump and as I flew over him I pressed with all my force upon his head, making him lose his equilibrium. In a second I was twenty meters in front of him, laughing with all my heart. At first it had been natural like breathing, but after the first sensation I almost felt guilty for laughing, but still I didn't stop.
When I turned to him he was lying with his face in the dirt spitting mud and fuming. The image was too charming to be forgotten so I pulled out my phone and I took a nice picture of him. My body was trembling with laughter when I showed the picture to Alice and Jasper.
"So you're playing dirty," Emmett shot out as he wiped off his mouth.
"I'm just offering you the right ambient for eating," I answered, preparing to fly into a run again.
"How cute," he growled and darted after me, but fast as he run and still he couldn't catch me. Laughing my lungs out I took advantage of it to annoy him.
"You're out of practice, dude. You move like a snail," I shouted as the wind blew in my face.
A strange sensation crossed my body. It was like little by little the pieces of my soul were put together; like that wall that Jasper had been talking about was melting. I tried to enjoy the feeling as much as I could because I knew it was going to disappear sooner than it came and I knew that it was going to leave another scar in my unhealed heart.
"Me? A snail?" Emmett squealed behind me, making me concentrate only on him.
"Or do you prefer something slower?" I asked mockingly and that had done it. Someone should be out of their minds to mess up with Emmett's pride, that if they dare to get close enough to him to try. For me it was a pleasure.
I run faster and I changed direction, taking the way back, exactly when I knew he wouldn't expect it and his giant strides to catch me resulted to be useless. I laughed harder, seeing his efforts to catch me and for once I had to admit that it felt nice to be among them. It was easier.
"Edwaaaaard," he howled, but I didn't stop until I saw Alice, Rose and Sonya waiting for us in a small clearing, which they'd just finished making. I closed my mind cautiously, not allowing myself to remember. I couldn't think about why this seemed so familiar unless I wanted to be again a broken man.
"The grizzly is coming," I announced, ceasing to run and contented myself with a normal walk. Alice was looking at me with a huge grin upon her face and was counting silently like she wanted to keep the accounts of something.
I didn't have time to make three more steps that I felt Emmett jumping on my back and throwing me again into mud and in the same time Alice yelled graciously "THREE". I chuckled gloomy at how good she'd gotten over the time with hiding her thoughts from me and now she'd done it intentionally.
"Thank you, Alice," I gasped from Emmett's strong grip.
"You welcome," she answered unscrupulously. "You would have known he was coming if you'd paid attention," she giggled with Sonya by her side.
I decided that as long as Esme wasn't around, I could let Emmett have his part of wrestles for the day so I made his game. I dragged myself out of his grip and I jumped like a little elf on the nearest branch and he immediately followed. We could have been invisible for human eyes or just points in the trees, but for our siblings we were the day's entertainment.
"Is it show time already," Jasper asked from below us.
"Yeah, do you want to join?" I told him as I landed with a big thud and he smiled provocatively. I wondered if now I was against the two of them or if Emmett was supposed to fight with both of us. Once he got on solid earth again he wondered the same and his facial expression was priceless. I needed to take another picture.
"Say cheese," I instructed him as I pressed on the button.
"Milk," he answered sarcastically, trying to pull the phone out of my hand, but Alice was too quick for both of us. When I turned my head in her direction she was dancing with my phone in her hands.
"That's for the family album," she said maliciously and I was sure what was coming next. "And there should be photos of all of us. Including dear Edward," she finished bursting into laughter.
I tried to seem relaxed, but I was ready for Emmett to jump on my back again so I moved precociously around him. Apparently I was the only one who hadn't finished eating and I really needed more blood. I deliberated in my mind whether it was safe to continue my hunt without Emmett making a joke as it was his style or not and I decided that I should wait for a while.
I could tell that Jasper was finally at ease in my presence and that he was really enjoying the moment. He was willing to get involved into our little brotherly fight and was making plans of how he could piss Emmett off. I smiled inside me and I tried to do what he'd asked me. I was trying to be wholly here with them.
Emmett's big golden eyes were monitoring every step I took and to his desperation I was hearing every thought he had. Probably his emotions were too sharp because Jasper rolled his eyes, smiling.
"You need a little help with your emotions, Em?" he asked teasingly.
"Why? Am I too sluggish?" he inquired ironically and all of us broke into laughter. He kept his eyes on me, making me laugh harder as I read his thoughts.
"I know what you're thinking," I cautioned him, smirking innocently.
"Then you know what's coming for you," he roared as he jumped to grab me, but his thoughts gave me the right amount of time to escape his snatch. I climbed again in the trees, jumping from branch to branch with Emmett on my heels and Jasper on my right. It was unexpectedly funny.
"You believe you can fly," he began to sing, "Like a monkey in the sky…" And I was the monkey from his song…
I was still leaping from branch to branch when I smelled that sweet scent again. My head snapped in the direction where it came from and all of us froze as I've seen the lion immediately. It was lurking behind the trees and I was lurking above them. Venom crammed my mouth as I set my mind. That lion was mine.
I'd begun to crawl down the tree when a hiss deafened my ears and startled my prey. For God's sake, pumas weren't supposed to get scared. I turned my head to see what was happening and I could have been late if I'd turned it a second later. Rosalie with her skirt all torn to pieces was shaking the tree in which Emmett was climbed up and he'd fallen as soon as the tree began to move.
"Come on babe, let the man hunt," she ordered in a sugary voice which showed exactly the contrary. She was irritated that the whole day Emmett had ignored her. I chuckled under my breath, letting my eyes search for my prey.
"As I said…out of practice," my lips whispered without my accord.
"That doesn't count," he mumbled, not admitting defeat and taking Rose into his strong arms walked back to the clearing.
I didn't have to search for long. The lion was looking at me how I was making my way to the ground. With slow moves I began the waltz that was going to represent its last minutes. Like before, I remained crouched on the ground waiting for it to come to me, but this one was not as strong-willed as the last. He sensed that I was dangerous.
I approached with small steps and I let a growl escape my mouth before making the lethal step to its throat, but a voice which couldn't be mistaken penetrated my ears.
"Alice, you see? Edward is playing with his food," Emmett cried like a spoiled child, his voice echoing in the woods.
"At least he's not wrestling with it," she answered at the same time when she jumped on a deer. "Gotcha," she whispered with satisfaction. I chuckled as I did the same.
In five minutes I made the tour of the forest draining in my way the blood out of another two lions and then I knew I was full. Not bothering myself to hurry I made my way back to the clearing. I felt again like an intruder when I saw Emmett and Rosalie having a too-intimate-moment-for-others-to-see and I tried to keep my eyes away from them, but turning my eyes to Alice and Jasper I found something even worse. For them it wasn't necessary to kiss and hug to emanate love. For them it was enough a look in the eyes.
I looked for Sonya, but to my astonishment she was nowhere to be found. I was on the point of asking where she had gone when I felt her throwing her arm over my shoulders.
"Were you looking for me," she asked, appearing surprised.
"Yes," I answered too directly.
"I was just finishing my meal," she murmured with an embarrassed tone, which made me smile.
I continued to walk and just then I realized she was struggling to rise at the same level with me.
"You're too tall for me," she remarked. "I think I'll have to wear heels," she meditated.
"Rose will be a great guide," I whispered knowing that she will hear me and I indicated with my eyes the shoes she wore. Like always…five inch heels, even when she was hunting.
"It seems like Alice had been right when she predicted that it will be a great day," Sonya uttered, looking for something in the distance.
"Yeah," I murmured and she smiled satisfied.
"So you had fun," she concluded. There was no point in denying it.
"Yeah, I had." Not like I used to have, but I had as much as possible.
I was about to turn back when I've seen Alice in Jasper's thoughts whitening for a second. My head snapped to her like we were connected with an invisible wire.
"Oh, great," I heard her moaning, but it wasn't a moan of despair. I could distinguish a trace of calmness and strange happiness in her voice. "Edward, Sonya…it's time to send messages," she called to us.