Chapter 13

Sam's POV

I sighed and leaned against the porch, watching Danny drive away. As much as I liked Danny and spending time with him, I couldn't help but think that maybe we were moving too fast. I loved him. I was sure of that. I just didn't want either of us to make a huge commitment before we really knew each other. I hated myself for thinking it, but I didn't want us to end up like Edward and Bella. Really, I didn't want to end up like Bella, heartbroken and alone.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Alice's number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Hi Sam," she chirped.

"Should've known you'd be expecting me to call," I muttered, but I wasn't as annoyed as I normally would be.

"Edward's not here," she said before I could ask.

"Then where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Liar, you know everything."

She laughed. "Hardly, but you're right, I know where he is."

"Then tell me already."

"No."

"Alice!"

"No, it'll do you no good. You should stay away from him."

"I don't need your advice."

"It's not advice; it's an order. Stay away from him, for your own good."

"Alice, what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, but the girl had already hung up. Sam sighed and walked back inside. She wanted to hunt Edward down and give him a good beating, but she was a terrible tracker, so without Alice's help, she would never find him.

"What did Alice say?" Bella asked from the couch.

"Nothing helpful," I growled as I walked past her to the kitchen.

"Well try to trust her judgment," she said, "Alice knows best."

"I wouldn't bet on that," I said, opening the fridge.

"I never bet against Alice," she muttered in reply. I sighed and peered into the fridge, which was mostly empty except for a few blood packets and some apples that were entirely for show.

"What'd you do with my possum?!" I called.

"I threw him out," Bella said, "He was getting old."

"That's why he was in the fridge!" I yelled, "I was saving him for later!"

"You can't put road kill in the fridge Sam," she said calmly.

"Yes I fuckin' can!" I argued.

"It was just a possum, go get something else to eat," Bella told me.

"I want my damn possum!" I said.

Bella's POV

I laughed at Sam as she stormed upstairs to her room. She could get attached to the silliest things. I couldn't stop myself from replaying the conversation I'd had with Edward right before he left for good. My Bella would never be mean to me, he'd said. My Bella would never be sarcastic with me, he'd said. I laughed again, bitterly this time. He'd said 'my Bella' like we were two different people. It seemed so stupid that he could realize how different I was but still expect me to be his Bella again.

I got up off the couch and stepped outside, thinking about going hunting. After a second of thought I decided against it. I wasn't in the mood to rip anything apart that wasn't Edward-shaped. I jumped off the porch and started running, not knowing where I was going or if I was coming back. I wasn't going to do one of those run-away-and-hide-out-in-Greenland-for-a-week things, but I wanted to run as far as I could as fast as I could and not worry about getting back anytime soon.

I'd been running for a few hours when I picked up a strange scent. I skidded to a stop, backtracking a few yards to where I'd smelled it. It wasn't strange really; I just hadn't smelled this type of scent in awhile. It was a vampire smell but mixed with fresh human blood. When I looked at the ground I could see a faint trail of blood platters leading off into the trees. I followed it, looking around at the trees around me. They were tall, and they made the forest gloomy at this time of day.

Gawd this feels like a scene from a horror movie, I thought, but I kept walking.

Well, I wasn't in a horror movie, but the scene I found at the end of the trail was horrific enough to fit in one. A vampire—at least I sincerely hoped he was a vampire—was bent over a human girl. The girl was pale, and from the odd angle of her neck I could see that she was dead. I winced, feeling sorry for her but also relieved that the monster had at least killed her before draining her of blood.

I made a disgusted sort of gagging noise, and his head snapped up to look at me. He quickly dropped the girl and dashed over, at vampire speed. He stood in front of me, close enough that I could smell his breath. He looked angry, and when he spoke it was in a low growl.

"Have you come to disturb my meal?" he asked. He looked me over, seeming to note my golden eyes, and his scowl deepened. "Or perhaps you've come to call me a monster?" he snarled. I'm sure my eyes widened. I had called him such just a moment ago in my mind. Could he be a mind-reader like Edward? I really hoped not.

He saw my shocked expression and chuckled. "No, I don't know what you're thinking," he said, "Your kind is just predictable."

"What do you mean my kind?" I snapped. He was being rude, and it pissed me off.

"The gold-eyes, the animal-drinkers; whatever you call it the basis is the same," he said, "You vampires who try to feed from only animals."

"What's wrong with that?" I asked, "At least we're not monsters."

"What's wrong with that?" he parroted, "Being monsters is the nature of vampires."

"Maybe that needs to change," I said, "Maybe that stereotype needs to be fixed."

"We've got a saying where I come from, 'if it ain't broke don't fix it,'" he said.

"But it is broken!" I argued.

He rolled his eyes. "I've got better things to do than argue the rights and wrongs of vampire nature with a gold-eye," he sneered and turned to go.

"Wait!" I yelled, "What about her?!" I was looking at the girl whom he'd discarded. She was dead, but you can't just leave a dead girl lying in the middle of the forest.

"I'm done with it, if you'd like to take a sip," he said calmly, and grinned at my horrified expression. "But of course you're too noble for that."

"You have to clean it up!" I told him.

"No, I don't! It'll give the local cops some fun," he said.

"You can't do that!" I yelled.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" he snapped, and suddenly he was in front of me again, getting in my face. I glared, about to say something more, but he continued. "And don't try to tell me how to live my life. It's none of your business," he snarled, "You can go back to your perfect life and your perfect mate and all your little perfect friends and stay the hell away from me."

I slapped him. It was my first reaction, but I couldn't explain it. This guy was making me angry, and it was such a simple matter to reach out and slap him, so I did, hard. He looked surprised, but I wasn't finished. "Don't say that! You don't know me! You don't know what I'm dealing with so don't tell me to go back to anything perfect because it's not fucking possible!" I shrieked, the anger pouring out. The part about the mate had stung me the most, since Edward's absence was still like an open wound.

His anger seemed to cool slightly and the look he gave me was dangerously close to bored. "Like I said, I got better things to do, see ya around, or not," he said.

"What's your name?" I asked, but my voice was calmer now.

"Conner Daniels," he said.

"Bella Swan," I replied.

"Whatever, bye," he said, and took off. I didn't bother to follow him, nor did I bother to clean up the mess he left. It wasn't my problem. Like he'd said, it'd give the local cops some fun. Plus I wasn't in the mood to hide a corpse while resisting the urge to drain the remaining blood from it. That wouldn't be very good for me.

I turned around and started running home, but my mind kept straying to Conner. He was strange, with his hatred of gold-eyes—as he'd called them. I didn't understand him, and in spite of myself I wanted to. I knew it was stupid to try to figure this guy out. He was just some random vampire I'd run into in the woods. Chances were I'd never see him again. It was ridiculous to care, but I did.

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