A/N: Here's something for you to chew on over Xmas. Hope you enjoy. Have a Happy Holiday Season everyone!

Musical Inspiration: Fresh Blood - The Eels

I changed into my tank and shorts in the bathroom and crawled self-consciously into the bed. "So you're just going to watch me? What if I snore?"

Edward chuckled, "Don't worry, snoring is the least of our worries; vampires sleeping is quite a rarity."

"How rare?" I asked as I felt a large yawn coming on.

"So rare it's non-existent. I'm hoping to see whether I can tell if it's an actual REM cycle you're going through or more of a state of unconscious… like… fainting, or something."

I remember nodding, but after that it all becomes sort of fuzzy.

As I lay there drifting into a dream I thought I heard him whisper to me.

"Goodnight sweet princess…"

My dream was interesting, but nothing out of the ordinary; unless you count a vampire sleeping and dreaming out of the ordinary. Personally I had been in on the secret life of vampires just under a week now. It seems like ages had passed.

I woke with a start; the room was in total darkness but I could feel tension on the bed around me. "Edward?" I whispered into the dark room before me. I didn't think he would have left me.

"Bella." He whispered back. Even in his whisper I heard the strain in his voice. He was sitting on the end of my bed, I could not tell if he was facing me or facing away.

With my super hearing I could hear footsteps creeping up the stairs, toward my room.

"Bella, you need to go. Get out. Run as fast as you can and don't look back. Whatever you do, do not look back." Edward said, his voice tighter than I had ever heard it, he sounded as if he were in pain.

"Edward, are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"Now, Bella. Go NOW!" he said.

I rose quickly and headed for the door.

"Window, Bella, use the window, HURRY!"

I reached the window and turned briefly, "Edward, why…what's going on? Why can't I look back?" I said, the fear evident in my voice now.

"Because we'll be hunting you Bella. Please, go quickly."

I heard a loud gasp as I turned and ran. I jumped quickly from the window, thinking of what I had just done only after I had done it. I had never jumped from a second or third story anything and I had just jumped out a window like it was second nature.

I was confused by Edward's words. I replayed them in my head as I ran. 'We'll be hunting you' – what could that mean? Where they playing a prank? Was this some sort of vampire initiation like fraternities in college had?

He didn't look like he was joking. And it hadn't sounded like just a thing they routinely did. His voice was strained; he sounded like he was in pain. And then there were the others. I could hear them moving toward the room as he spoke.

I ran like there was no tomorrow. I ran not even knowing what direction I was going. I ran until there was nothing but ice and snow around me and still I persisted. I ran and ran, and as I ran, I cried. Most of the tears froze to my face but I didn't stop until I reached the sea.

I stood on the edge of a great precipice and stared at the angry blue deep before me. The sun was at my left and seemed to be trying to set, but not making much progress.

'The Midnight Sun.' I thought to myself. I gathered my courage and looked back. There was nothing behind me but ice and sparkling snow. The glitter of the crystals in the midnight sun reminded me of something I had seen not long ago.

I looked down at my skin expecting to see the same effect but to my dismay, I did not glitter like the Cullens.

I could feel my face scrunch up into a frown; the tears rolled down my cheeks and as before many of them froze there.

I was alone, and I was afraid. Obviously I was in the far North, but exactly where I had no idea. I must have passed Alaska hours ago. I had been to Alaska many times with Charlie on fishing trips. Alaska, even most of the more northern parts had some grasses and other features poking through the snow.

This wasn't even frozen tundra; this was pure ice all the way down. Surely I hadn't reached the pole. But honestly I wasn't sure.

I sat down, my thin cotton shorts and tank would have instantly doomed me as a human. All I felt now was the barest chill every now and again. As I sat, the longer I sat, I thought I could feel my skin harden. I was empty of tears, but my fear and distress stayed constant.

After some time; it seemed the sun had spun round me nearly one full time. Was that a day up here? Was it, perhaps half a day? I wish I had paid more attention in science class.

Finally my eyes began to get heavy again. Edward had said vampires were not supposed to sleep… did that mean I was not a vampire? I also still blushed and retained warmth to my skin; both of which concerned Carlisle enough to cause him to leave immediately on my behalf.

Should I worry? What would become of me?

So many questions swirled in my head as I leaned against a nearby snow bank. I let my breathing regulate, and began to drift again. I wondered how often I slept… did I follow a natural circadian rhythm like humans?

I let out a long sigh willing sleep to take me under and let me forget my pain and trepidation if only for a short time.

-Meanwhile, some distance behind Bella-

JPOV

I could only barely smell her scent on the wind. It was as if she had run in circles, backtracking and going around in patterns like a fox.

She had disappeared only minutes before we burst into her room, thirsty and on the hunt. None of us knew when things in the house had changed, but once it did, it seemed we could no longer control ourselves.

Even Edward had bent the frame of the window, forcing restraint as he watched her flee. He too had felt it and had had enough strength to warn her to get out before we were upon her.

The event itself is hard to explain; one minute we were all sitting around talking and laughing, and the next we all grew quiet.

Emmett, Rosalie and I were in the living room, Edward was in her room. It took only a shared glance between us and a nod from Emmett before we all stood. Each of us somehow understanding what it was we were about to do.

Even now the smell of the hunt drove us ever onward toward her. Each of us knew we must have her… none of us were willing to aid the other for fear of losing that sweet fresh blood for ourselves. As I looked around at my brothers and sister I could see the greed in their eyes, I could smell their lust.

She would be our undoing. At this point in time I believed we would all kill each other just to have her to ourselves.

I had not been able to contact her by thought since earlier, before she got lost. Things were beginning to get very strange indeed.

APOV

As I walked toward the all but sunken form in the snow I saw her stir. I think she could somehow sense me. I stopped in my tracks and let her turn. She had fallen back into a deep sleep. How long she had been out I couldn't say, but it had been long enough for the ice and snow to turn her from nearly human pale to icy sparkling white.

Had she still been human I would have said she had been frozen dead for days. In the form she was in now, however, she simply looked ethereal. Her eyelids were frosted and frozen. Her lips were a stunning violet hue. Her skin was so icy white it was nearly blue. She looked like an ice queen or a snow fairy.

The closer I came to her sleeping form, the more I noticed my body change. This must have been what I had seen happen to the others in my vision.

My senses became more agitated. Suddenly I was hungry. Not ravenously so, but enough that it was noticeable. I backed away and ran, hunting for some prey that would sustain me enough that I could approach her again.

I caught and drained the first polar bear that I came across. I had no time to play around, this was business.

After I felt satiated enough to approach her again I did so.

As I was kneeling beside her, half holding my breath, she woke.

BPOV

"Alice?" I muttered. My voice was rough with sleep.

"Bella… are you okay?" Alice replied softly.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I'm not hurt…not at all. Just scared… alone…. Alice what's going on?" I could hear the panic in my voice but I didn't care. All I wanted was answers.

"Bella, I'm not exactly sure what's going on. I saw what happened though… I wish I knew why. It seems you had a feeding frenzy effect on the family… as I approached you the first time, I got hungry too, but I had enough strength to find other food.

Even now I'm kind of holding my breath. I don't exactly smell a 'human prey scent' coming off of you like when you were human, but something about you seems to incite hunger in the rest of us. Don't worry; I called Carlisle and told him what happened."

"So you knew where to find me? I mean, by your vision?" I asked, only half understanding what she was saying.

Alice nodded.

"So where are we?" I asked, wondering if she was having to try harder to hold her breath.

"In the arctic circle, very tip of the Northwest Territories in Canada before having to take a ship to go any further north." She replied softly.

I took a deep, icy breath. Where are they, Alice?

"Behind you… still in Alaska somewhere; you've outsmarted them somehow and they've lost your scent. None of us are all that good at tracking anyway, but you definitely have us beat in the art of illusion and escape." She said with a small humorless chuckle at the end.

"Why aren't you attacking me Alice? I can feel it… I know you want to." I asked tentatively.

"Because it would hurt me more later on if I did… unlike the others, I have the advantage to sort of live things before they happen… I already know how I would feel… the others too. I guess it helps."

I nodded but kept my distance. Alice was strong but I was not stupid. Funny, right now I felt more like their prey as one of their kind than I ever had as a human. Then again, as a human, my senses had been as sharp as a rubber ball comparatively.

A/N: I think I've lost most of my readers due to my extended abscence here for some time. Truly sorry about that; lots going on. As you can see I'm desperately trying to regain some of my writing composure and I hope you guys will continue to enjoy the junk that comes out of my head. Love you guys' comments on stuff, it blows me away that anyone else would enjoy what I put down on paper, but I'm sincerely glad you do! Hope you all have a very Happy New Year!