I was startled awake by the sound of a chuckle. Pain quickly filled my body, reminding me of what happened just before I passed out, I let out a weak groan.
"I bet you feel like shit right about now."
The red eyes were back, and they were hovering just a few feet above my face. I tried to scoot away but quickly realized my hands were tied to something above my body, "Why?" the question popped out of my mouth involuntarily.
"I couldn't have you getting away before the fun started," he ran a hand through his long blond hair, tying it up into a pony. I knew what he was, a vampire, back at the village, we trained for years and then went through the change before we ever got to see one in person, and man, he was scarier than I could have ever thought to imagine.
"Are you going to kill me?" my voice was quiet; it was just my luck to escape the village only to die at the hands of a vampire.
"Not right away," his smile shot pure fear down my spine, "I mean it's not every day that I get to play with a hunter this young.
"You know what I am?" I knew he could smell the fear pouring out of me, his red eyes began to darken, turning an almost black color.
"You're not the first hunter I've come across, but you are the youngest. How long ago did you complete the change?"
He gave me a sharp kick in the ribs when I didn't answer right away, "A few hours ago, I think," I gasped out, I had no idea how long I had been unconscious for.
"What a treat this truly is," he turned away from me for a moment, giving me a chance to take in my surroundings.
We were surrounded by rock; it must have been a cave or something. I could see the entrance; it was dark out and snowing. There was a fire burning in the center of the room, I assumed it was more for me than for him. Vampires, to my understanding, didn't get cold, or hot for that matter. His movement drew my eyes back in his direction. He was taking his shirt off.
"Wh- what are you doing?"
He smirked and threw his shirt to the side, "I think you know what I'm doing," he kneeled over my body, his hands went to the hem of my shirt.
"Don't touch me," I cried and kicked him square in the chest, I may not be a full-blooded hunter, but I still had some strength to me, just enough to knock him on his ass. I tried to stand my self up; my body protested, reminding me that I tumbled down a mountain not too long ago. I was able to roll up onto my knees when a pair of arms clamped around my torso. I tried to wiggle my way out, but it was like I was being held by iron bars, he didn't budge.
"That was a mistake," his cold breath sent shivers down my spine, "I was going to have a little fun, you know? Not hurt you too much," he ran his nose down the side of my neck, I was expecting something to happen when he touched my skin, hoping that my newfound power of draining life would work against him, but nothing happened and all my hope shattered.
At first all I felt was a pinch in my neck, nothing too painful, and then the burning started. It only took me a second to realize that he had bitten me and was now draining me. The pain didn't take long to spread throughout my body, the burning entered every fiber of my being. I tried clamping my teeth shut, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of hearing me in pain, but I couldn't stop the quiet cries coming from my body. He released my neck after a few seconds, running his tongue over the wound.
"My favorite thing about hunters is that no matter how many times they are bitten, they will never turn into a vampire," he murmured in my ear, "But that still doesn't stop them from feeling the pain."
"Please, stop," my words fell on deaf ears.
He growled in response, his hands practically ripping my jeans from my body. He let my body slump forward, my face in the dirt. I could hear him undoing his pants behind me, and I knew there was nothing I could do. My body was so overcome with pain that I could no longer move, I had to lay there and take it. I tried to focus on the pain and block out everything that he was doing to me, but I just couldn't. I felt every touch, heard every sigh and moan. After what seemed like ages, he released my weak body, letting me slump further onto the ground, the pain from his venom still keeping me immobilized.
"There is a town two miles east of here," he pulled his pants up and loomed over me, he grabbed the rope restraining me and ripped from my hands, "I will be seeing you again."
He vanished in a blink of an eye, leaving me alone. My sobs filled the empty cave, echoing off the walls. When the pain in my body began to ebb, I forced myself to stand and get a better look around. My pants were shredded in a pile on the ground and my coat and boots were nowhere to be seen. A shred of hope-filled me when I spotted my backpack sitting near the fire, I grabbed a pair of pants out and the extra tennis shoes that I packed and quickly threw them on. I grabbed an extra shirt and pressed it against my neck, trying to stop the blood that was flowing.
"How did this happen?" I cried to the empty cave, a fit of coughs took over my body, spraying blood all over my hands and the ground, "Fuck, I'm going to die out here."
In that moment I wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground and give up, to die, but I couldn't. I refused to let myself die this way, violated in a dirty cave, where no one would find me. I forced myself to layer on the shirts that I had with me before I threw the pack over my shoulders. I stayed in the cave warming myself around the fire waiting until it had gone out to finally leave. The sun was just beginning to rise as I was leaving, I took off in that direction, hoping that the vampire was telling the truth. Because if he wasn't, I would surely freeze to death out here.
I don't know how long I had been walking for before I hit a paved road, I almost cried in relief. The chances of my survival were increasing greatly even though I could no longer feel my body because of the cold, and my head was beginning to get foggy. The sound of a car in the distance pulled me from my thoughts. A black car whipped around the bend in the road, and it would have surely hit me had the driver not swerved last minute, the breaks squealed as it came to a halt. The driver leaped from the car and ran over to me.
"I am so sorry; I didn't know you were standing there. You're bleeding, do you need medical attention?" the beautiful blonde stranger asked. There was something about him that I wasn't quite sure about, something that made me nervous.
"N-no," I said through chattering teeth, the cold was really starting to get to me.
"So, you're out in the middle of nowhere, soaked to your core, a bloody bandage wrapped around your neck and you don't need medical attention?" I failed to notice that the passenger of the car had gotten out and approached us. He had the same beauty to him, and when I looked closer, I noticed that both strangers had golden eyes. Alarm bells set of in my head, trying to make me remember something important.
"I'm fine," I forced the words out of my mouth, my nervousness now turning into anxiety, there was something off about these men. Realization snapped through my body, they were both vampires, I vaguely remember talking about the different kinds of vampires in my studies. I couldn't remember why they were different, but I knew for sure what they were, their eye color was a dead giveaway. I took a couple of steps back from them, trying to put some distance between us and ended up tripping over my numb feet, landing in the snow with a soft thud.
"Are you okay?" the blonde vampire approached me, "Let me help you up."
"No! Don't touch me," I scrambled to my feet, putting my fists up in front of me, ready for a fight.
"My name is Carlisle and I am a doctor; I'm not going to hurt you."
"Your lying," I growled at him, "Your kind always lies."
"What do you mean our kind?" the second vampire sounded offended.
"Vampires," I spit back, "You're all the same, telling lies to get what you want, or using for to take it when lying doesn't work. I'm not going to let your kind hurt me again, I'll die before I let that happen."
Carlisle gave a sharp look to the other man standing there, a few seconds passed, like they were having a silent conversation, "I think your confused, there are no such things as vampires, please let me take you to the hospital and look at you."
Everything happened fast after that, Carlisle reached for me grabbing my wrist, when his skin touched mine the flood gates opened, and his energy flooded my body energizing me slightly. His golden eyes darkened and widened at the same time; surprise filled his features. With my newfound energy I planted a kick square in his chest, knocking him back a couple of feet, and to my dismay, he stayed on his feet.
"Edward grab her," he yelled as I turned to run.
In the blink of an eye, arms wrapped around my chest and I could no longer move. I struggled against him as memories from earlier flooded my head. The words, 'that was a mistake,' echoed through my head. Panic filled me, I couldn't let that happen again, I wouldn't.
"Get your fucking hands off of me," I screamed at him, "I won't be hurt, not again."
"We aren't going to hurt you," Carlisle kneeled down in front of me, "What are you?"
Instead of answering him, I kicked at him, I wasn't going down without a fight. Edward gave me a sharp shake, "answer him," he growled in my ear.
Tears filled my eyes as I struggled against his grip, I could tell it was no use and the energy that filled me moments ago was already fading, "I'm a hunter," I let my head hang in defeat.
"A hunter?" Carlisle's voice was filled with confusion.
"A vampire hunter."
"There is no such thing," Edward growled from behind and held me tighter, "Tell him the truth."
"I am," I cried out, his strong grip made me cough, spraying Carlisle's face in blood, "Shit I'm sorry, please don't eat me."
"Edward you're hurting her."
"I'm barley touching her, it's not enough to hurt her," he shot back.
"It's not his fault, I was attacked by another vampire earlier, one with red eyes," I told them, it wasn't a complete lie, I had been attacked, but that wasn't the cause of my bloody cough. I didn't want them to know that I was sick, that I would be an easy meal for them. "I have proof that I'm a hunter, the vampire bit me and I didn't turn, pull my shirt down and you'll see."
Carlisle reached over and pulled my sweater to the side, he gasped at the sight. I wasn't sure what the bite looked like, but by the look on Carlisle's face, it wasn't good. He released my sweater and looked me in the eyes like he was searching for my honesty.
"Edward get her to the car we are taking her to the hospital," he ordered.
"No please, I'm really okay," I really didn't want to get into a car with two vampires, I was almost sure that I would never be seen again.
"There is no room for discussion…" he trailed off, "What is your name? I'm sorry I forgot to ask."
When I didn't answer him immediately Edward gave me another shake, causing Carlisle to glare at him, "It's Bella."
"Well, Bella, you need to be checked out, and I would like to have a conversation with you when you aren't about to freeze to death."
He must of noticed my body shaking, but it wasn't from the cold, it was from fear. Edward made quick work dragging me to the car and stuffing me into the back seat. He clicked on the child locks so I couldn't escape while they were driving, I gave him a glare. Carlisle started the car and turned on the heaters, filling the car with warmth. The drive to the hospital was a quiet one, at least it was for me, it seemed like Edward and Carlisle were having a silent conversation that consisted of looks and head nods.
Carlisle opened the door for me when we arrived, "You're not going to run are you?"
"I wouldn't get very far," I sighed in defeat.
"Very true," he chuckled and led me inside.
He must have been a doctor here because all the staff knew him. It didn't take long for him to get me into a private room. He shoved a gown in my hands and told me to change. He shut the door softly behind me, giving me some privacy. I quickly pulled off my wet blood clothes and threw the gown on. Nausea filled me when I caught sight of hand-shaped bruises on my legs, I didn't investigate further but I was sure that there were more. My thawed body was sore, reminding me of everything that had happened in the last few hours. I had just hopped into the hospital bed when Carlisle entered the room again, this time in a white lab coat with his name embroidered on the front.
"He did more than just bite you, didn't he?" his eyes widened at the sight of my bruises.
"I don't want to talk about it," I choked out, tears filling my eyes, "Just do what you need to do and ask what ever you want so I can get out of here."
He looked at me with soft eyes, like he actually felt bad about what happened to me, "Do you mind if Edward joins us? I'll need his help cleaning the wound on your neck."
"Like I said do what you need to do."
Edward must have been listening because he entered the room just a few seconds after I said that it was okay. His eyes immediately zeroed in on my bruised legs, they turned from gold to black in a few seconds. His low growl filled the room, filling me with fear making me shake.
"If you cannot control yourself you will have to leave," Carlisle gave him a pointed look.
"I'm fine," Edward bit back, "How are we supposed to help her if we can't even touch her."
"You'll have to wear gloves," I tore my eyes away from Edwards and looked toward Carlisle, "Whatever it is that I can do only works with skin on skin contact."
"That's very good to know Bella," the sound of gloves snapping filled the room, "Can you turn your head towards Edward while we clean this?"
I turned my head in response, looking towards Edward I noticed his eyes had lightened a bit, he must have calmed down from whatever was upsetting him. I shifted my eyes down to stare at the buttons on his shirt, I really didn't want to have a staring contest with him the whole time.
"This will probably burn, I am going to be using alcohol to clean the wound," Carlisle warned me.
"Nothing could be as bad as the burn that I felt a few hours ago," I was right, the burn of the alcohol was a minor inconvenience compared to the pain of the venom I had felt.
"I am so sorry you had to go through that," he continued to clean my neck, "Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?"
"You just asked one," my voice was laced with sarcasm, "but yes, ask away," I added when Edwards growl filled the room.
"What exactly is a vampire hunter?"
"Its exactly as it sounds, a person that kills vampires," I told him.
"I'm sorry, that was a bad question to start with," his chuckle filled the room, "does your kind have any special abilities? Like does everyone have your ability to pull energy?"
"There's not really anything special about us. We have almost the same amount of speed and strength that a vampire has, but we don't start out with it. We have to train up to that strong and fast," I explained, "Which is why I wasn't able to kick both of your asses earlier, I am very young," I paused, unsure of how to explain the next part, "I am the only one that has the ability to pull energy, as you called it, there was some unforeseen complications with my change that left me with this curse."
"What change are you talking about," he couldn't keep the curiosity out of his voice, "Are you all immune to our venom?"
"We don't start out as a hunter when we are born, we are like regular humans. The hunter gene is dormant until we are strong enough to handle it. We train every day, strengthening our bodies, and when the elders and the chief think we are strong enough we go through the ceremony that starts the change," I told him, "I drank the vial I was handed, and then I shut down from the pain. I don't know how long it takes, it felt like hours to me, but when it's over you either wake up a hunter or you're dead. It is really a rather barbaric way to become a hunter, but it's our way," I paused thinking about his second question, "We aren't immune to the venom in the sense that we still feel the pain from it, but yes, no hunter can ever turn into a vampire."
"Fascinating," his hands leave my neck for a moment, "You are going to need stitches to close this wound."
"No stitches," I said with force, "I don't plan on coming back to the hospital."
"Of course not," Edward let off another low growl, sending shivers down my spine.
I forced myself to meet his eyes, "What is your problem?"
"You are my problem," hatred filled his face, "We are helping you, a hunter, who is probably going to turn around and try to kill us. Or tell the others of your kind about us, and then come and hunt us down."
"First of all I never asked for your help," I growled back at him, "You made me come here, against my will, secondly it will take me months to years of training to become strong enough to kill a vampire on my own, lastly I don't have anyone to tell. I am all alone now."
"What you're such a fuck-up that your own people don't want you?"
"Edward, mind your manners," Carlisle scolded him.
"Something like that," I glared at him, "Carlisle I'm serious no stitches."
"It will take longer to heal Bella," he was trying to reason with me, "You'll have a bigger scar."
"No stitches," I repeated, "Are we almost done here? I need to go."
I really did need to go, I needed to put as much distance between Alaska and myself, not only because of the vampire from earlier but also because I was soon going to be having a murderous chief after my ass. Carlisle huffed in response, he layered the wound with gauze and had Edward finish the bandaging. Carlisle had Edward go and grab me a pair of scrubs from the hospital's supply closet, he didn't want me to get back into wet clothes.
"I thought you said that you had no one to go to?" Edward asked when he got back, more anger and rage-filled his face.
"I don't."
"Then who is Phil and why is he looking for you?"
"Oh shit," my day couldn't possibly get any worse.