Chapter 14: Another One Bites the Dust

A very small part of me was very excited to be traveling. I even felt guilty about it, but tried to keep my past in my past. Carlisle said it was perfectly normal for newborns to fully regret their killings. The thought was inconceivable until I found myself making it through the day perfectly content. Still a newbie, my eyes were a hideous red, so I had to stay out of sight from humans as we traveled. Carlisle was accustomed to being so careful. He was several hundred years old and it literally was lifetimes ago when he had suffered as a new born.

Carlisle kept my mind busy with stories as we traveled. I learned all about his first few years and his adventures on his own after leaving the Volturi. Still suffering from a burning throat, we hunted much more than he was used to, but he was kind and never complained.

We shot northwest across the bottom tip of Wisconsin and quickly made our way into Minnesota. To my surprise, our feeding changed from bland deer. Carlisle pointed out the variety of meals, such as bison, black bears, bobcats, mountain lions, elk, foxes, and wolves. It was just over a mountain range when we spotted two mountain lions lying below in the ravine. His steady hand pointed in the direction as my eyes followed. I could see the two animals soaking up the sun on a large rock. It was a beautiful sight seeing the two creatures inches from the cliffs edge. They stretched their slender limbs twisting and turning to scratch their backs. The scenery alone was breath taking. It was as if my meal had been laid out for me and teased me from below. Quietly, we zigzagged down the said of the mountain. The lions seemed completely unaware. He told me in his thoughts to go right as he went left, one for each of us. He told me to be prepared because it would be my best meal yet. I visualized an earlier experience he had had so I knew to expect them to fight back. I was excited by the thought and licked my lips in anticipation. I did as he said and he was right. I fell in love with the mountain lions blood. It was so sweet and thick. I felt the warm liquid slide down my burning throat. The sensation created a tingle throughout my cold, hard body. Exquisite. The creature tasted so much like a human I had to look down to be sure I had not made a mistake. Carlisle smiled as be backed away, leaving the carcasses for the birds.

"Told you." He said as I wiped my mouth. I was almost as good as Carlisle when it came to feeding, but not quite yet. I was satisfied for the moment, but already hoping to find another mountain lion just so I could experience the sweet sensation all over again. We continued over the ridge heading into North Dakota. He was right, I thought about feeding all the time or how my throat burned. Either way, without his stories I could see myself going mad from the thirst.

North Dakota served the same type of meals as Minnesota and I would soon learn that most of the upper states had the same animals roaming their lands. I would be pleased since the mountain lions were not being attacked by the human soldiers like bison were. Carlisle taught me not to feed on the endangered species. We did feed on one just because nothing else was near and he thought I should know what they tasted like. They tasted slightly bitter and reminded me of the moose I had for breakfast. I told Carlisle I would prefer sticking with cats in future. He chuckled shaking his head.

"You should be so fortunate that mountain lions are thick in these parts, so we will be feeding on many mountain lions. It's good to know your preferences. It will help keep your appetite from humans at a lower risk." He smiled waving me to continue with him. I like that part. Mmmm, mountain lions.

In a small camping area, Carlisle showed me a map of Montana, which we had just reached that morning. Ft. Peck Lake, about mid way across the state was our next destination. We stopped along the way a few times, just briefly. Carlisle hated traveling so the breaks help keep him sane. I would feed during those times while he propped himself against a tree with his books.

That night we reached the lake and set a small fire. I could hear humans on the other side of the lake and Carlisle eyed me carefully. Stay close, he thought. I nodded before I went looking for my meal. Unfortunately, no mountain lions, but the black bear I ran into sufficed.

"Carlisle?" I said walking back into our camp.

"Yes, Edward?" he closed the book laying it to the ground.

"What if these," I paused, "Denali's, what if they don't like me?" I shrugged.

"Oh, believe me, they will love you Edward. Three girls in the mountains utterly alone? No, they may drive you crazy more than anything." He chuckled going back to his book.

I sat thinking about what it might be like to meet a vampire girl. Carlisle stood quickly turning to face the darkness behind him. Of course, the darkness was not dark to our eyes, but I squinted my eyes as if I needed to. I could hear rustling coming quick, so fast, it was not an animal. I could smell something, but not sure what it was. It was their thoughts that alerted me to the guest heading our way.

"It's a male and a female." I said quickly. Carlisle nodded a thank you. "They're wondering why we are here." I continued.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here, Renee?" a voice said smoothly from the dark. I could clearly see the outline and face of the vampire. The female came out from behind him with a smirk on her face. Carlisle stood between us protectively. This was my first encounter with vampires beside Carlisle. I felt protective of him as well and took one-step forward lining up with him. Carlisle, the gentleman he is, smiled warmly at our visitors. I felt the danger in the air, their thoughts as they assessed us up and down. They were gauging whether they could take us or not.

"May we help you?" he said friendly. I noticed his fingers twitching to his side. He was preparing himself for an attack. I glared back at them already feeling the urge to attack myself. I was curious if they had powers too.

"My name is Sebastian and this is Renee." He cocked his head to the side eyeing us one at a time. Renee slowly took two steps towards me on the right as Sebastian took his two to the left. Carlisle and I watched them suspiciously. If they wanted a fight, I was ready. I had so much pent up energy I wanted to tear someone's head off.

The fire flickered behind us. It was dark here in the woods of Montana. Just us vampires out in the night while the humans slept peacefully in their homes just miles away. We could hear a faint noise from the party on the other side of the lake. They had no idea what lurked in the night so close by. Carlisle and I had ignored them for several hours, but now even I worried about them. I could see Sebastian and Renee register the noise as Carlisle and I becoming less interesting.

"My name is Carlisle Cullen, this is my son, Edward." He said trying to pull their attention back to us. He was such a martyr, or would that be saint? Knowing Carlisle, both. It was the first time I heard him call me his son. It distracted me for a moment as I struggled to remember my own father. The memories, already becoming faint. That bothered me and I immediately regretted burying my journal. Strangely, I liked it, but at the same time I didn't. Renee was very close to me now and Sebastian was right at Carlisle. We edged closer together but not reacting defensively, yet.

"Nice to meet you both." Sebastian slithered. It was obvious that he was up to no good. "Renee and I have been hunting this area for a long time and never had any trouble from trespassers." He emphasized trespassers titling his head back a centimeter, but enough for the reflection of the fire to glow in his eyes. They were bright red, brighter than mine. He fed on humans only. Carlisle and I was a threat to their meal across the lake. Wrong time, wrong place.

"We were just taking a moment to relax. We're heading to Idaho to meet up with some friends. Just staying a few hours before moving on." Carlisle lied. He was right, vampires could lie exceptionally well, but I'm sure they knew that as well.

The humans became louder as one screamed in excitement. Sebastian and Renee didn't take their eyes off of us for a second. They didn't even flinch. They were older than I, obviously, because everything made me flinch. If only the humans knew they were teasing two very thirst vampires they would keep it down, but they only became louder.

"Well, I can see we have ourselves a situation, Edward." He said without turning his face towards me. I kept my eyes on Renee who was within reach.

"Yes." I agreed having no idea what he was talking about.

It was silent for a moment, as everyone seemed to be waiting for the others. I could hear Sebastian planning his attack on Carlisle and Renee was thinking of me. She had no plan but to take me as her own. The thoughts revolted me.

"I don't think so." I spat disgustingly at her. Her eyes widened as she realized I had been listening to her thoughts. Sebastian didn't hesitate; he lunged at Carlisle's neck. I watched as Renee's face turned towards their fight and I reacted as well. I flew forward slamming her into the tree. She was shocked, shaking it off as she bounced to her feet. I was ready for her and I didn't care if she was a girl or not. In my new world, that didn't make a difference. We were all equally as strong, except for me, the newbie, I was stronger. I had my newborn strength still and took complete advantage of it. I could hear Carlisle telling me to tear her head off and pull her to pieces. He was struggling still with Sebastian himself and winning. I did as he told and easy manipulated her. It was fantastic that I could see her every move right before she did it. Within seconds I had tore her arms off. She screamed out in agony or whatever it was. I couldn't imagine vampires suffering real pain. I didn't want to find out either. I kicked her limp body back into the dark where her body smashed into a large bolder. With one foot on her chest. I took both hands and ripped her head right off of her shoulders. She turned an ashy gray and partly crumbled like dust. I watched amazed. Carlisle was finishing Sebastian off behind me.

"Bring her here." He shouted.

I collected the arms and head and threw them into the fire like Carlisle did with Sebastian. We grabbed the rest of their bodies and tossed them into the growing flames. Still, in the background, the human's voices echoed over the still water. They were lucky for now because we had saved them.

"I'm thirsty." I laughed half-heartedly.

Carlisle grinned, "Then we better get going before I have to throw you in the fire."

We started out jogging, but then he really started to run. I suppose he wanted space between me and the loud humans. It didn't take long for him to point out a mountain lion. I passed by him without even trying, running straight towards the creature.

Sweet.