Let's go hunting, shall we?

Chapter 7

In a quiet, calm valley a few miles away from Evermore, the sun began to slowly rise, painting the sky with shades of pink, orange, and red. It was a perfectly peaceful setting accented by a rich green canopy of trees and one could hear a small stream over a hill bubbling away.

Edward sat on an outcropping of rock. Alone and unable to enjoy the setting around him. He was too tense. Too unsettled. Too panicked.

"Go hunting, he said," Edward whispered under his breath, terror filling his heart as he remembered watching the man in question run after, capture and then of all things, bite a red deer in the neck before drinking its blood.

"We are the weapons, he said."

Edward had found the act repulsive but rather it seemed quite natural and he had felt a strong pull to do exactly the same thing.

But sane men did not run after deer. They certainly did not wrestle them to the ground and drink their blood.

Did they?

But he had. Edward remembered the uncontrollable urge that had overwhelmed him and how before he even knew it, he was running toward a buck, taking it down easily and quickly. The beast was drained in the blink of an eye without so much as a wrinkle in Edward's carefully pressed suit.

Horrified at what he had done, Edward had run for who knows how long and for who knows how far.

He listened carefully for Will's approach, knowing deep inside that Miss Swan's brother-in-law was watching him and was thankful that the man kept his distance.

He lowered his head and ran his hands through his hair, tugging in frustration. Nothing seemed right. The world as he thought he knew it was unraveling quickly and nothing made sense anymore.

"Edward?" Will quietly murmured.

His eyes shot up in the direction of the voice. Fortunately, Will was a safe distance away, leaning against an ancient oak tree, his arms folded across his chest. He watched Edward impassively with a completely neutral expression on his face.

Edward's eyes drank in his surroundings—the lush green trees, a small piece of scorched earth where a bonfire had once been, though it appeared to have been a long time ago and a few seedlings were peeking through the blackened ground.

Images flooded Edward's mind. He saw Bella pressed up against the very tree Will reclined against, pinned between himself and the bark, the shock in her eyes giving way to softness as he kissed her throat and then her collarbone. He remembered a small cut and the sweet, sweet taste of her blood.

Edward's eyes flashed over to Will in a panic.

"What's wrong?"

Edward shook his head frantically.

"I'm not the mind reader here, boy," Will said calmly. "You'll need to give me a few clues as to what's going on in that head of yours."

The scene grew clearer and clearer in Edward's eye.

Him pinning Bella against the tree, his hands trailing up her legs, under her skirt.

Him murmuring that she was his while unfastening the buttons of her dress.

Her trying to stop him but him continuing on.

Her not knowing what else to do and slapping him across the face with her left hand because he had her right hand immobilized.

Edward ceased all movement.

"Oh, God," he sighed in horror. "Bella, I…"

Edward began before he realized she was not there.

"I'm going mad," he hissed, eyes wide in panic. "There's no other explanation for this."

Will pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Alice's number.

"We have a problem," he said quietly. "I tried to take him hunting and he panicked. Now he's having some sort of attack or breakdown or…Hello? Alice? Hello?"

The call had abruptly ended. Will tried to redial but nothing happened.

"I've got this under control," a gentle female voice broke through the silence in the woods.

Elizabeth Masen appeared at Edward's side. She placed one hand on his broad back, rubbing soothing circles. He relaxed almost immediately, head still bowed.

"Your wife is waiting for you at your home, William Lawrence," Elizabeth said in the same calm voice. "The two of you need to take a trip away from here. She and your leanai allowed me here but are also causing too much conflict."

"Leanai?" Will whispered, eyes wide.

"So you know the term?" Elizabeth smiled broadly as he nodded.

"Wonderful. Now off you go. Edward will be just fine once you have gone. Dr. Cullen has been called to the house and will discover Edward here is suffering from a relapse of the influenza that took his father's life and nearly ended his and my own. Hallucinations are quite common with a fever. A few days from now, when the air is cleared, he will be right as rain and ready to court the delightful Miss Swan."

Will studied Elizabeth silently. He was quite good at reading faces and hers held nothing that would indicate any line of deceit.

"Who are you?"

"Elizabeth Masen."

"How can I know I can trust you?"

"You cannot know with certainty."

"But … How?"

In his human life, Will had not been a classroom educated man. He had grown up on a farm, educated at his mother's knee until he was 7 or 8 years old at a time when superstition and old wives tales were more common than teachers and textbooks. Later, his classroom had been his father's stables and fields. Horses and crops he knew. Dependence upon nature, he knew. And sometimes there was just that leap of faith one had to take when the things you could see and the things you could feel inside were not the same.

"Don't be so bound up in the how or the why," she murmured gently. "Just be thankful for the provenance."

Will's eyes widened as the words of his mother came out of Elizabeth's mouth.

"Catherine sends her love. I'm just here to grant a wish."

Elizabeth gently threaded her arm through Edward's and guided him toward the road.

"We will take the long way. You go the other," she requested, her back to Will. "Let Bella's gift be realized."

As soon as Edward and Elizabeth crested the hill, he took off toward 321 Meyer Lane and found his wife sitting atop a trunk filled with their possessions.

"I take it you saw Elizabeth," L murmured, receiving her beloved's kiss on her cheek.

Will nodded before helping his wife stand.

"Jesus in a petticoat, this is a mess," she grumped as he loaded their belongings into their rental car.

"That it is, my dear," Will said with a smile.

The two climbed into the vehicle with Will behind the driver's seat. The engine roared to life and the two headed out of town on a lesser used road. L remained silent, chewing on the inside of one cheek as she thought about her interaction with Elizabeth and Maggie just a few hours before.

"What are you mulling about so seriously?" Will asked as they cleared the edges of town.

"Something Maggie said when she came by the shop and Elizabeth said we needed to leave town."

"And what was that?"

"Maggie said I made a coal watch."

"A what?"

L repeated the sounds over and over, coming closer and closer to the correct pronunciation of Caol Áit.

"A thin place," Will breathed.

"That's what Elizabeth called it."

"I'll get a message to Alice once we get to our destination," he assured her. "That would explain quite a bit."

"Why don't you explain it to me," she said grumpily with a yawn.

Will smiled at his wife as she settled into her seat even further.

"After your nap."

"Not sleepy."

"Of course."

L stuck her tongue out lazily and was snoring softly just a few seconds later.

~BE~

Another short chapter but it's only been a week & I got to play nursemaid for part of it. (Who knew how loud hospital waiting rooms could be? Silly me thought I could write while DH had a routine procedure done)

So now we have said farewell to L & Will and can focus on Edward courting the fair Miss Bella Swan. I'm excited!

I plan to catch up on review replies today and tomorrow so keep them coming! I love hearing what y'all think!

DeJean