Ok, so I would really like some input on this chapter. I worked really hard. I hope you like it.

Nessie

I wake up to a pair of golden eyes peering through thick lashes at my slumbering body. I sit up quickly, as if pulled by a string. The tension unravels when I realize that it is only my mother staring down on me while I sleep.

"Good morning Sweetheart," Mom says with a small chuckle.

"I yawn and stretch my back before replying. "Morning. Why do you look so eager?" I ponder out loud as an after-thought.

"Because it's a big day Renesmee. Edward and Jacob are coming home."

My excitement overrides the cool reserve I usually hone. I leap through the air into my mom's embrace and plant a kiss on her blemish-free cheek. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Mom laughs and squeezers me to her just a little tighter. "Get dressed, Hun. We're gonna celebrate."

"Celebrate?" I ask with one eyebrow raised skeptically. Immediately my mind assumes a shopping trip with Alice. Unfortunately, shopping with Alice is only fun for Alice.

"Yep. It's a surprise." In one fluid motion Mom sets me firmly on my feet. "Wear something that you don't mind getting a little messy. I'll see you in ten."

I guess I can rule out shopping unless we are shopping for a pig. Opening my closet, I wonder if I even own something that Alice would approve of getting messy. I guess I will just have to wear something that I don't mind getting messy—or even better, ruined.

I begin a frantic search for a blouse I noticed a few days ago. A bad first impression dooms you from the start. The same can be said of clothes. The shirt I am looking for is altogether ridiculous for a person like me. It is pink, for one. More than that though, it shows a hefty amount of cleavage and naval. As I put it on I realize that I could probably hide more skin in a bikini.

Alice never messes up with pants and skirts. Therefore, I opt to wear a pair of dark jeans that won't stain. For shoes I toss on an old pair of converse. And just like that, I am ready for whatever adventure awaits.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Mom asks when I meet her in the living room. Her eyes bulge slightly out of her head as she takes a moment to scan my body.

"Alice got it for me," I admit. Lowering my voice, I add, "I thought getting it messed up would be a great way of ensuring I never have to wear it again."

After a solid minute of thinking, Mom slips out of the room and returns with one of Uncle Emmett's massive hoodies. "You might need this later." She tosses it into a backpack before strapping it to her shoulders. She slips her hand in mine and tugs me fervently out the door.

She pulls me around the house and deep into the woods. About a mile into the thick trees, she slows to a stop. "You ready?" she challenges with a sense of urgently.

"For what?" I ask. I really have no idea what she wants from me, but I'm not so sure I trust whatever she has up her sleeve.

"To hunt, Silly. Did you really not realize that that's what we are doing?"

I cannot believe what I am hearing. A couple years back the family cut me off from blood. They said I should learn to survive on human food alone so that I can have better restraint around humans. And they were right. I rarely even thirst for blood anymore. It comes only when I am PMS-ing or too close to humans. "You said I'm not allowed to hunt," I test. I really am not in the mood to fall into some trap.

"Well I changed my mind. I think you deserve a special feast."

"Deserve? In case you forgot, I ran away from home yesterday."

"Renesmee, I want to hunt with you," she snaps back.

"Why?"

"Do I really need an excuse to spend time with my daughter?" she shouts.

I can feel the heat capturing my cheeks. "We're not just hanging out! We are hunting Mom! And you forbid me from doing that! So now I just want to know why you suddenly think it best for me to kill some animals. You've been lying a lot lately and frankly, I'm not sure I can even trust you!"

My anger has left my mom speechless. She opens and closes her mouth as if she cannot find the words her heart longs to say. I've won and I'm gloating in my superiority. "You're right. You deserve to know exactly why I'm going back on my word." Her voice is now so soft it is practically a whisper. "Renesmee, blood makes you stronger. I want you to build back some of that strength you initially had."

"Why?" I ask, still confused.

"We are living in unstable times. I want to make sure you are equipped to fight just in case a time comes when you will need to."

"Is a fight coming?" I ask with tears streaming down my pink cheeks. For the first time it really registers that I am in danger.

"Not yet. But we are going to take precautions. You will now only eat human food for lunch. At breakfast someone will hunt with you daily."

"What about dinner?" I pose.

"You will drink direct human blood from blood bags Carlisle can get."

"Why human blood?" I am honestly scared to start drinking this stuff again. I go to school now. Will I be able to refrain from biting my friends if I get a taste for the stuff?

"Carlisle believes you will be at your absolute most powerful if you introduce human blood into your diet. We vampires would be just a fraction stronger if we drank human blood like most others. Carlisle thinks that you will increase in strength drastically because the human blood will react with your blood causing excess strength. We don't know for sure if this will work, but it's worth a try."

My mind seems to be a grenade with the pin pulled. It's going to explode with questions. Yet, I push the fears and worries back and trust in Mom's reassuring smile. She is right. And soon I will have Jake and Dad here too. They will make sure I don't do anything I regret.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore," I admit. It has been so long since I've given myself over to the more primal side of myself.

"Just give yourself over to your instincts Renesmee. It should come natural. Just listen. What do you hear?"

I focus as hard as I can on my environment. At first all I hear is my own soft heartbeat, but as I listen harder, more sounds illuminate my ears. There are birds flying east. Their wings flutter rapidly. A squirrel scurries up a tree nearby. Really far off I can make out a running stream, and in the stream, a tongue lapping up water. "There's an animal drinking out of a stream," I state very confident in my analysis.

"Is that the furthest you can hear?"

I listen one more time to come up with the same results. "Yes."

"You're weaker than I thought," she mutters. "Alright. Well now I want you to just allow yourself to follow the sound. When you are close enough to smell the animal, I want you to focus only on the burn in your throat. I want you to let it control you. Give in completely to your thirst."

Taking a deep breath, I take off in a full sprint. I rarely run as fast as I can, but whenever I do it feels great. I listen only to the sounds of that tongue sucking up water. Sooner than I imagined, I begin to hear a heartbeat, faster than mine own. I skid to a stop about twenty feet from the grazing deer. It turns and looks at me, tensing in fear. I close my eyes and breathe its scent in deeply. The pounding of its heart gives way to the sound of blood being pushed and tugged into the small cavities.

My throat sparks and soon is scorching with an overwhelming thirst. Saliva entrenches my mouth. The deer takes one hesitant step away from me and I am in pursuit. It runs quickly from me, but I am faster. My legs push me quickly in front of it, cutting off its escape. "Gotcha!" I snarl.

With one leap I am on top its thick body. I slide my mouth over the furry neck and find an artery. With a sharp bite, I have warm deliciousness flowing into my lips like a fountain. Groans and grunts rip through my throat as I gulp in the blood. It tastes marvelous after years of waiting. Before long I have the deer completely drained. I drop the limp body from the ground and wipe the blood from my not soaked lips.

"That was good Renesmee," Mom says from a branch in a near by tree. In my haste to retrieve the deer I totally forgot she was lurking. "Are you still hungry?"

I think for a moment, assessing my insides. I feel fuller than I have felt in a long time. Yet, I also am limber and alert. Am I hungry? "I'm not sure," I admit.

"How 'bout this?" I go find something to drink. Then you can go again if you want more."

"Sounds good to me," I reply with a smile. Mom's golden eyes flicker briefly. I wonder what I must look like all soaked in blood. I probably look like her. It's a weird thought even for me.

"Well I will try my best to go slow enough for you. But once I give in to my hunter instinct I might lose you. You can follow my scent, right?"

I nod as an answer and wait. She leaps down from the tree and lands soundlessly on her feet. In a quick stride she is off into the thick trees. I stride as long and as fast as I can, but I can't really keep up. As we near a herd of elk, he speed increases drastically. No matter how fast I try to push my small legs, I cannot keep up.

Soon I am following only her scent which is easy to pick up after years of exposure. I break through an especially thick part of forestry and find my mom mid-hunt. She stalks a large elk with amazing grace. I don't ever remember seeing my mom so feral. She moves so fast, I struggle to see what happens. One second she is staring the elk down, and the next she has it firmly in her mouth.

I watch in awe as she drains the elk of its life. Part of me is a little scared. The other part of me though is in obsessive admiration. I want to look like her when I hunt. More than anything I want to be that graceful.

"More took off that way," she says pointing a perfectly clean finger. Unlike me, she has absolutely no markings of what she just did. "Do you want more?" I process the question before answering with an affirmative. I know that to be as good as Mom, I will need practice. "Alright then. You lead."

Just like that, I get my vampire swagger back.