Summary:

Bella gets thirsty and things get messy. I couple of ruffled feathers and one pissed off blonde later, we see a quite evening.

Notes:

I hope you proceed to enjoy this. I did not realize just how many error I had in this story, so I hope I got them all. Again, this was my first story from a couple years ago, just felt it should be shared now for you folks.

Chapter 2: The Cat and Mouse

No one, and nothing else mattered. I still had no concept of just how keen my senses were. Even over a mile away I could sense him, my vision of him zeroed from the high hill I was on. It was almost as if the forest was a dark night and this beating heart was a beacon. The blood running down his leg called to me. It took no more than a half of a second to stop my movement, smell the iron within the red liquid and realize that it was my reason for existence. My body moved instinctively as I was on my way to catch this prey. It would be mine. He would be mine. Emmett and the others followed closely behind calling to me. I heard nothing but faint cries. I ran faster than them, and this animal would be all mine because of that.

"Bella! Bella no! That is a human, you can't hurt a human!" Emmett desperately cried.

"Bella, I forbid you, do not do this Bella!" Edward was calmer but sterner than Emmett.

My human nature caught up to my vampire somehow. I began to hear my family calling to me, but I didn't want to stop. Blood was all I needed; it was all I would ever want again. A Battle began inside of myself. My human was at war with my vampire, and she was surprisingly strong. My human snapped my consciousness back into focus. My vampire body fought my mind's efforts. I did not stop, but only slowed my pace. The others caught up, the boys pleading with me while Rosalie remained silent.

"Bella please, I can't have you hurting a human, that is going to mess up what we have going here." Emmett was almost whining.

"You need to stop Bella!" Edward was sticking with his stern approach.

Edward moved to block my way, causing me to stop altogether. He put his hands firmly on my shoulders in an effort to shake me out of it. I slapped his hands off my shoulders and knelt defensively giving out a low growl. He backed away slightly. I stood tall; the war inside me was too much to bear. I started pacing with my hand on my head, growling all along. I couldn't take it. Why was human blood so tantalizing? I was clouding my thoughts, clouding my judgment. Rosalie began to approach. Did she not just see how I reacted to Edward? A man I would give my life for. Rosalie and I had never been what I would call friends. Tall, toned, curvy, confident, well put together; she was everything I was not. Up to this point she had never been anything but rude to me. My human never saw a fault in her, but my new vampire wasn't in the mood to handle this insulting woman.

She moved to stand in front of me, not completely blocking my way. She stood with her arms crossed, straight-backed. She stared me down, looking directly into my eyes. She was commanding my attention. With that glare she could command an army. I really wasn't sure If I could deal with her smugness at that moment. I was in pain; I just needed it to stop. At that moment, the only thing I was sure of was that blood would make it stop.

"Listen bitch, if you go all psycho on that guy we all loose this life. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather live in some of the other places we have been, but my family likes this place. You bite, touch or hurt that human in any way, its over for all of us. Including you."

I was silent as we stared each other down. It was like we were sizing each other up. She made it apparent that she would be in charge, not me. I was feeling pretty confident in my new form, but she had me beat. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. I did care about all of them, and I think she somehow knew that I couldn't do something that I knew would hurt them. I noticed I was still standing straight in an aggressive way. She hadn't moved or wavered in her stance. I backed down in defeat.

The blood was still too much for me to handle. I groaned loudly in an answer to her, and turned on my heel to run the opposite direction. I was about two miles from where I made my exit when I caught another scent. The last scent, the human was floral, rusty and sweet, making an impossibly delicious mixture. This was gamey and rusty, not as good as a human, but it was still appetizing. In the next instant I was in pursuit.

I slowed my pace and assumed stealth behind a fallen log. I was hunched, slowly sleuthing around from the log to a high rock behind the drinking doe. I made my way to his back atop a rock when another scent assaulted me. I was so focused on the doe I had nearly missed the smooth, rich savory smell of another beast approaching. I immediately caught sight of a mountain lion preying on my kill. This beast would be mine.

Just as the mountain lion made his move to attack the thirsty doe I made mine. We made a hard impact mid air a few feet from the doe. The lion was caught off guard but attempted to recover and defend himself. With a hard fall into the forest floor below we began our grapple. I moved to pierce his strong neck when he gave my back a good modification. His sharp claws cracked my hard stone exterior. His hind paws pushed my body off him and a few feet away. I landed less gracefully than I would have hoped. I twisted and lifted myself from the ground when I was met with the fierce lion once more. He had moved to grasp my shoulder with his jaws but was met with my right hand grasping his mouth. I swung my body onto his, as if to straddle his strong body like a horse riding into battle. I reached my left arm around the under side of his chest and bit with an overzealous mouthful of flesh on his neck. His skin gave way and I drank all he had to offer me as the victor.

I've never been a violent person; I have always been one to turn the other cheek. My vampire had taken over in those moments, and though I could never have imagined it, I loved the hunt. I was reborn into this life, and it suited me well.

After I had finished my first meal I awoke from the frenzy I was in. My throat had almost ceased to burn. Only a low kindle where a blaze had been. I stood up and quickly assessed what had happened. My dress was torn off my shoulder and up my left thigh. I was pretty sure my hair was something that resembled a bird's nest and my skin was caked in mud several places. There was blood on my dress and on the forest floor. I wondered if the others made this much of a mess when they ate. Then the thought occurred to me that I didn't know where the others were. It was then that I heard a throat clear. I turned to see all three of my hunting partners behind me standing. They must have been watching the whole time.

"I'm so sorry that I almost got that human, I don't know what happened…it's like I wasn't me, I couldn't control myself. I almost ruined everything." A rush of emotions was hitting me; the strongest was guilt and then fear. What if they decided that I was beyond help? They would probably leave me and see me for the impossible project I was. I would have killed that man; I didn't stop because I cared about his life. I didn't stop because it was wrong. I only stopped because of my family. What if they were not there next time?

Edward had an expression of sadness, Emmett was grinning from ear to ear and Rosalie was unreadable. This was it, Edward started towards me. He did not touch me and stood at a distance from me. He didn't face me completely, turned slightly away.

"Bella, I know this is hard. You did very good, I'm sorry you are going through this." Edward said.

"That was so awesome! You skipped beginner level Bells, next time we are definitely getting some grizzly!" Emmett was busting at the seams with excitement.

I smiled for the first time since my transformation. Emmett had a way of making me feel good. He was so careless and goofy. I needed some of that in my life. Between him and my hunt, I felt so powerful. I felt like taking on the world. We had started back towards the house. Since I was so pumped, I was feeling more competitive than usual.

"So, do you all wanna race back to the house? I want to test out my new legs…and I bet I can beat you." I said looking at Emmett. Emmett shot me a smirk in surprise.

"I'm not the fastest out of us, but I can sure beat the hell out of you in a race!" He said cockily.

"I'll beat all of you. That means you." I said taunting Edward.

Edward met my eyes but gave only a silent small smile. I hated not being able to tell what was going on with him. Clearly something was wrong, but we didn't have a minute to talk. I was honestly hoping to get ahead of the others with him and talk for a minute.

"You going to let your woman beat you back to the house Edward?"

"I don't really feel like games right now, but you guys race. Have fun; I'll just pace myself back to the house. I have a lot on my mind anyways." Edward said trying to be cheerful, but failed miserably.

"I could walk with you, we could talk?" I said in a careful tone.

"Its okay Bella, I'm not really up for talking. Maybe soon. I just need to think." He said then without allowing me to respond he changed direction and left the group.

"Don't worry Bells, He gets all "whoa is me" sometimes. He will be fine, he is probably just upset that you will be able to pick him up and carry him like a baby now." He chuckled. "He has never dated since I've known him, and I can't see him liking being the submissive one."

"What do you mean? I'm still me." I said

"You don't really need him like you did. You aren't some weak helpless lamb." Emmett said in a baby voice teasingly.

"Emmett, I love you, but you can be so dense. He is not upset that she can beat him in an arm wrestle, I think he is upset that she is going to hell." Rose spoke up. I had almost forgotten she was trailing behind us.

"Whatever lets race." With that he bolted.

I set off after him, within a minute I was on his heels. We approached the river, he choose to jump the length of the river. I choose to run the log that created a natural bridge over the water. When he landed, he landed in mud. The force of his land caused his foot to stick. He rolled into a tree. I heard a loud crack from the tree breaking under his blow. The tree was coming down. I paused in instinct to make sure he was okay. Rosalie shouted not to worry. With that I set out on my way again. Rosalie had gained about fifty feet on me in the incident. I quickly caught up to her. She began to speed up more. She was staying just ahead of me. I didn't understand how she was so fast. I was easily beating Emmett, but it was taking all of my energy to stay on her heals.

"Getting tired yet porcelain?" She asked sharply. If I wasn't mistaken, he had teased me playfully. Sort of.

I was so shocked that I lost a little of my speed. I snapped out of it and caught back up, but I still couldn't beat her. I'd never hear the end of it if she could beat me as a newborn. I was supposed to be faster and stronger. I tried my hardest, but I could only stay in sync with her. We both reached the yard to the Cullen house at the same time. I have to admit that she was much smoother at running; she was graceful like a deer. She leapt over logs with ease, her movement fluid.

I guess that level of grace in movement didn't come with being a vampire. I was definitely a lot less clumsy, but that was mostly because everything seemed to slow when I was running as a human. I could see each root and tree so much easier at my speed than I could when Edward had carried me running. Even though I could see everything, that clearly didn't mean I paid attention to everything. I had been so focused on Rosalie and beating her that I missed the obvious large house that approached. I slowed down too late, and in an effort to not create a hole in the garage, by my tank of a body, I attempted to stop suddenly. This was a grave mistake.

My feet got caught up on one another. I tripped and rolled into the garage door. The door, of course, could not stop me from barreling through. I hit a once beautiful black two-seater convertible with 2 silver stripes. The entire front fender gave like foil under my blow. I felt a sharp shot of pain to my right shoulder. I disconnected my shoulder from the car and noticed a crack splintering out on my skin. As I watched the crack and the pain quickly disappeared. I stood up hoping that I had done something that was common and not a total disaster. Vampires have to have mishaps like this in the Cullen house, right?

"You stupid bitch!" Rosalie was shouting and marching at me. I had never felt so afraid. James had nothing on Rosalie. If I were human I probably would have wet myself and fainted. Instead I just sat there like a deer in headlights.

In an instant her hand gripped the remaining fabric of my dress. Before my mind could register the movement I was sailing out of the garage and into a tree. I scrambled to my feet, my face contorted with fear. She approached with her jaw set and body rigid.

Thankfully Emmett was there to stop her. He got between us holding his hand out in an effort to calm her down. She ignored him. Her pupils we obsidian black and her face was wrinkled in anger. She balled her fists and held her shoulders straight back.

"Whoa Rose! Calm down. It's just a car; you have all the time in the world to fix it. Hey! A new project for you! You wont be bored, eh?" He said as if he was talking down a toddler throwing a fit in a grocery store. She ignored him completely. He attempted to halt her from reaching me by placing his hand on her shoulders. I thought that was his last move. That would be it for Emmett McCarty Cullen.

She stopped and looked at his hand. Then she looked into his face. I saw the anger and fire of 10,000 Hells in the look she gave him. She spoke calmly and sternly.

"So, Emmett, what you are telling me is that my 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 "Super Snake" is just a car?"

"Rose, You can fix it, you will have more to do now." Emmett said as if it were perfectly logical.

"This car is worth about five million dollars. That fender will cost me several grand to replace if I can't pound it out. Look at it!"

"I'll give you the money Rose!" Emmett said pleading.

"Its not about the fucking money Emmett! Ugh!" She clenched her fists and turned to walk out of the garage. She stopped to look at me once more. "You better stay away from me, or your face will look like that fender."

She walked out, passing my old truck she grunted and put all of her anger into one lethal blow to my truck's hood. The sides of my hood gave under the immense pressure it was under. They flew up a splash water as a large rock hits. She didn't make any apologies for her outburst; she just walked off and into the house.

"Well, she is going to be in a bad mood for the next few days. You couldn't pick the challenger or the Vette to smash?" He said in a serious but teasing tone.

"Next time I'll try to pick a better car to ruin." I shrugged and rolled my eyes.

"Bella Marie Swan! You get over here and give me a hug!" Spoken by the most musical and angelic like voice I knew. Alice didn't even give me a chance to come to her; by the time I took a step she had run and jumped into me for a full body hug. Had I still been a human I would have fallen back once more. I was slightly proud that I didn't. She gave me the tightest hug I think I had ever received.

"Its so good to see you Alice." I said softly while we hugged.

She got down off of me after a brief minute. Her face turned to a frown. She hit my shoulder with a surprisingly strong slap; my body was forced back just an inch.

"You scared me Bella, you are lucky you already turned, because I would kill you for how much worry you caused me!" She pouted.

"I didn't mean to. I thought James had my mom. I'm sorry Alice. If it means anything, it wont happen again" I said with a wink.

"Oh, its okay, I'm over it." She said with her own brand of bubbly.

Jasper stood quiet behind Alice, with a gentlemanly smile on his face. I wasn't sure if I had ever seen his smile. Usually he was in pain around me. He exuded happiness and warmth and I felt it overwhelm me.

"Hey Jasper, its nice to see you. How's it going?"

"Its going well ma'am. It is nice to see you up about moving around. I am also happy that I no longer wish to eat you." Jasper tipped his head my direction like a southern gentleman.

"Okay, so I need to show you what I got you! Vampire will have never looked so good, well, I mean on you. Its obviously hard to compete with me in the fashion department."

I would have normally groaned, but I was just so happy to see another friendly face that I entertained her. We made our way through the house and up to Alice's room. Her room was like the most organized, bright and girly room I think I had ever been in. It wasn't cheesy but very chic and delicate.

Her bed was a bright with white grey and yellow. It contained the colors in a mandala style. On floor laid a metropolis of shopping bags all neatly lined up next to her bed. She must have spent a couple thousand dollars.

"This isn't all mine is it?" I questioned in horror.

"Well, yes, but we can go back in a few weeks once Jasper has recuperated from this trip. He seems to need a little while to even out from the excitement I throw his way. He is so cute. Let's start trying it all on! If I remembered right, you are a size two?"

"Yeah, Sometimes a four in certain things, but I'm sure it will work." I glazed over for a second imagining how long this would take. "We don't have to try on all this now, right?"

"Honestly, Bella, What else do you have to do? Do you have some pressing engagement? Just humor me." She said rolling her eyes as she dug clothes out of the first bag.

I was surprised that I didn't look like an Alice clone. She saw me in a totally different style when she shopped. She bought me more Chucks, which caught me by surprise, even if they were much more stylish in the array of colors she bought. They did almost completely contrast my old worn black and white ones. She got me an assortment of vans and leather boots too. I think she bought me about 10 pairs of jeans and leggings. Some with fashioned rips and tears. All of them were skinny, unlike my old flared and boot cut pants. I had a couple different leather jackets to choose from and about a billion tanks, shirts and tops to match them with. I would of course have to get her approval on all combinations, if I didn't want a lecture on fashion.

After about an hour of trying on different combinations, at vampire speed I might add, more combinations than I knew possible we finished. I could smell wet paint and dry wall coming from nearby. We both shuffled down the hall to one of their many guest rooms. The room in which the smells were coming from was nestled in between Edward and Rosalie's room. I opened the door to see one of my favorite creatures, Esme.

She had her back to me when I first opened the door; she was rolling paint with a long stick. The room was about half done with the same color paint my old room at Charlie's house's color. She stopped when I walked in and put the brush down. She was wearing a white tank top and old Jean overalls that appeared to be veterans of her redecorating. She wiped the hair out of her face, careful to not wipe paint from a smudge on her arm onto her. She gave me a warm smile and I felt suddenly like I was truly home.

"Hello Bella, its so good to see you dear." She said opening her arms and coming to me. I was instantly drawn to her embrace. We gave a short but heartfelt hug before she stepped back and gave me a good look over.

"I see Alice got to you." She smiled.

"Yeah, I would have come said hello, but we were sort of busy with this for the last 6 hours." I said smirking.

"Oh, shut up, it took an hour! You loved it." Alice said from behind me.

The rest of the night was spent sitting on the couch watching Emmett play video games while Alice and I talked about what all had happened at the high school since I was gone. I had only missed a week, but to hear Alice tell it, I had missed everything. My thoughts often turned to Charlie throughout the previous day. I had worried about how he and my mom were, hoping everything was okay. In these moments, I almost forgot about all the worry I had for Charlie, my mom and the new struggles this life were going to bring me.