Yay! Chapter 2 of an original one-shot! People talked me into it, what can I say.
Disclaimer: All Twilight characters owned by Stephenie Meyer.
The Scent of Blood
Hands and eyes locked, muscles straining, table groaning from the pressure, Bella and Emmett were having the arm-wrestling match of a thousand lifetimes. No one could resist watching, grinning, impatient to see who the winner would be. Bella had been losing at first, but as she became more accustomed to her new strength, Emmett's arm started to take the plunge. Everyone, excluding Emmett, laughed when his arm finally came to a rest on the table.
"That was just… incredible," Edward congratulated Bella with a kiss and a laugh. Esme was sighing, looking at the new dents in the table left from their elbows, but with a wry grin. Emmett stalked into the living room, pouting. Rosalie followed him, trying to keep back a grin.
"Come ooooooooooon, Bella, we REALLY have to go do things!" Alice complained, unable to hold back her excitement anymore.
"Wait a minute, Alice," Carlisle cautioned. "Bella, does your throat ache? Does it feel dry?"
"Not really," Bella replied after thinking for a few minutes. "I feel fine." Carlisle walked to the front door, and opened it only a crack. With a slight breeze, the scents and smells from the outside hit Bella like a sack of bricks. The scent of the ever present rain, of the trees and grass, and something more compelling that Bella didn't recognize at first. With the last scent, Bella's throat instantaneously ached and felt extremely dry, just as Carlisle said it would. "Okay, NOW it aches."
Carlisle smiled knowingly, closing the door again. "You can smell the blood of animals from the woods nearby. There hasn't been anything alive in our house since the graduation party except for you, and obviously, you are quite accustomed to your own scent. The other scents have faded away by now. If you were to go anywhere without feeding first, you could lose control. That wouldn't be too bad if there were only animals nearby, but if, say, a hiker were nearby… You understand the importance of hunting before doing anything outside of our home."
Alice sighed deeply, disappointed once again that they would have to wait before being able to do all the fun things she had planned, yet understanding of the importance of hunting.
Bella's brow scrunched together suddenly, her mouth twisting down into a frown. "Bella?" Edward asked worriedly. "Is everything ok?"
"No…" she trailed off. "I think…" Her face paled. "I think I'm going to throw up," she admitted sheepishly, hurrying to the bathroom.
Edward followed her to make sure that she was ok. "Ugh, cereal," he commented when she was through. "I guess you shouldn't have eaten right before you made the change."
"That's still affecting me now?" she asked, incredulous.
"Well, it was," Edward replied with a twist to his mouth.
"So that's what happens when a vampire eats human food… I should never have dared you to eat that pizza a long time ago…" she muttered.
He shrugged. "Sometimes it has to be done to keep up this charade. It doesn't happen often, but if you spend enough elapsed time near a human…" Bella quickly washed her mouth out.
Edward, Carlisle, and Bella went to hunt soon after, at around twelve o'clock. They went through the garage and straight into Edward's Volvo so that Bella would be less likely to get hit with the strong scent before they were at a safe enough distance from any humanity. Bella caught sight of her own eyes in the side view mirror of the car before getting in, gasping with surprise at the brilliant color of her eyes. She knew that they would be red, but was still shocked when she saw them for the first time. She hadn't even glimpsed them earlier in the bathroom mirror.
"I want a rematch in one year," Emmett called from the living room.
"No way!" Bella complained. "I want a perfect record!" She could just hear Emmett's grumbling coming from the other room, but he sounded like he would give up on the chance of a rematch.
They drove to a remote location along the mountain range, to a difficult area where not many people would hike because of unfriendly terrain. The nearby animals would be big game, yet herbivores. She should start with easy prey, without even the chance of being hurt. They told her, before any of the car doors were opened when they pulled off the shoulder of the rarely-used road, that for her first hunting trip she should simply let her instincts take control and follow them wherever they led her. Edward or Carlisle could redirect Bella if she began heading somewhere that people would be more likely to be found.
As soon as the car door opened, the blood-scent hit her even harder than it had before, more concentrated and with what she could only describe as more flavors added in. The different flavors represented different species of animal, each with their own individual scent and flavor.
She took Edward and Carlisle's advice, speeding off, not even bothering to shut the car door behind her. The bloodlust she felt throughout her entire body and constricting her throat was too overpowering to resist. She was vaguely aware of Edward and Carlisle shadowing her, far enough back to not get in her way, but close enough to be able to race ahead of her and stop her if need be. One of them occasionally raced off after a glance at the other to hunt for themselves, but they were generally both watching over Bella.
As when she first awoke, Bella found that everything was crystal clear. She could hear the quiet rain falling on leaves high above, the almost silent whisper of the wind. She could hear and almost sense the quiet, slight movement of animals, and the blood that pulsed through their veins.
She fed on large deer, quickly yet harshly ending their lives, simply biting their throats and not releasing that hold as she had previously been advised. Their lives would end faster with multiple bite wounds, yet less blood would be wasted from one simple bite. The leftover bodies could simply be left where they fell, as other carnivores and scavengers would take care of the remaining meat.
Bella though on what Alice had said when she told her about a vampire's venom while being pursued by James so long ago. As predators, we have a glut of weapons in our physical arsenal - much more than really necessary. The strength, the speed, the acute senses, not to mention those of us like Edward, Jasper, and I, who have extra senses as well. And then, like a carnivorous flower, we are physically attractive to our prey. She decided that Alice was entirely right. Their artillery was ridiculously inescapable. Without effort, Bella could track down any animal she wanted silently, and be upon it so fast that it didn't know what had killed it.
Near sunset, the ache in Bella's throat was almost entirely gone, her thirst sated, and they decided she would be as safe as she could be so early in her new un-life. For the first few months of this new existence, vampires were almost never safe for anything that still had a pulse.
On the way to the car, Bella smelled a more powerful aroma. They had taken a different path then the one they took into the forest and mountain range.
"Human," Edward told her when he saw a new hunger alight in her eyes. Edward and Carlisle each took one of her arms, and slowly and carefully led her towards the scent. "The people are far enough away, so we'll bring you just a little bit closer," Edward told her, tapping his temple and reminding her of his built-in radar. "Don't worry, everyone will be safe."
They guided her to the edge of a copse where she could see a small cabin near the center. She could see someone inside the cabin through a curtained window, and couldn't help but sniff at the air for the scent which her body craved. She caught it on a faint breeze.
The scent made her entire body feel alive again, re-awakening her instincts, tightening her muscles, making her growl quietly. She felt Edward and Carlisle's hands tighten on her arms, as well, and stopped breathing to calm herself.
"This is what we fight every day, Bella. At a much closer range, and much more concentrated than what you can smell now," Carlisle informed her.
"We'll help you, of course, first only giving you this long range "contact" to get used to the smell. As you get better, you can start moving closer and closer. You'll learn to fight what you are, and listen to your own conscience," Edward said. "Let's go back home," he added with a smile.
As they drove into the garage, Alice was in the doorway leading into the house, jumping up and down from excitement. "PLEASE, BELLA? Let's go!!!" she shrieked excitedly.
"Alright, alright!" Bella replied. Carlisle nodded his approval, now that Bella had hunted and seemed well prepared for whatever Alice wanted to put her through. Alice wouldn't bring Bella to do something dangerous, as she would have seen anything in a vision.
"Keep a close watch, Alice, Edward," Carlisle warned them. "No matter what you may have seen in a vision, Alice, don't let anything happen. Also keep in mind that Edward and Bella are supposed to be on their honeymoon, so don't let anyone who might know about their wedding see them even from a far distance."
"I'll keep a constant watch to make sure nothing changes," Alice assured him, as Edward said, "If I even think anyone is nearby, we'll disappear A.S.A.P."
A/N. Really short, I know, and still pretty generic. I'm still trying to figure out where this is going to go, I'm open to suggestions :D