Hunter

I'm officially eighteen! I bought a lottery ticket yesterday and some scratch tickets. I won two bucks on the first one I ever bought. Who da man? I da man.

Whenever I use any characters from Supernatural, don't be too nervous. The main focus is on Bella and the Cullens. I'm not going to bring in a whole bunch of characters just to annoy you all. The times I do bring them in are for good reasons that contribute to the plot. Sorry if you hate them, I sometimes do too.

-

Bella's POV

My cell phone woke me up. I realized I'd passed out at my desk while researching the Cullens. As far as I could tell, the family was clean. Their father, Dr. Cullen, had splendid references, and, other than the times the kids went hunting or camping, their attendance was perfect. Perfect grades. Perfect manners. Rich. Pretty. Punctual.

God, I'm gonna be sick.

My head was aching as I answered my phone, wondering who would be calling me at 2:00 a.m.

"Hello?" I croaked. I cleared my throat and tried to make it sound like I hadn't just woken up.

"Bella?" a familiar voice asked.

I jerked up straight and gasped. "Ash?"

I heard something that might have been a laugh or a sob, I couldn't tell, before he began to talk. "I can't believe you're alive."

"How did you get my number?" I asked, worried.

"It's not important right now. Trade secret from one hacker to another. Listen, I found something big."

I furrowed my brow, confused. "What are you talking about?"

He did that laughing-sobbing thing again and I realized he was probably drunk. "I can't talk over this line, but it's…it's huge. I just needed to know that the rumours were true because something…something really awful is gonna happen. I'll contact you however I can. Just please, be safe." And then he hung up.

I blinked and put my phone onto its charger. I sat at my desk, staring at the wall, thinking. Ash was an old friend. He had a mullet and honestly, he didn't seem very stable. He was a genius though. He attended MIT when he was seventeen. He was kicked out for fighting. I used to play brainteasers with him. He taught me how to hack any computer system. He also slept on a pool table, but we all have our quirks.

To sum it all up, I could trust him, and if he called me again, I would listen to him. He must have had some important info for Renée to give him my cell number.

I shook my head and changed into my pyjamas. I could still manage a few more hours of sleep before school started.

-

Edward Cullen was gone.

I couldn't understand it. Maybe I should have asked Ash about them. Maybe I should've called Renée and told her that there was something wrong with Forks. Maybe I was an idiot, because I didn't do any of that. I didn't even tell anyone about him. What could they do, anyway? If he was something other than human, it was my job to deal with him.

When he didn't show up on Friday, I figured he might not come back at all. Had I scared him away? Maybe I was reading it all wrong. Maybe he knew something about demons. Maybe he could sense that I'd spent the last four months in hell.

There were too many maybes. I needed more information, so on Friday after school, I drove out to upstate New York and found my mom's lock-up.

Hunting for centuries meant that you accumulated a lot of stuff. Sometimes you couldn't carry it all. The most space-consuming things we had were our journals. I opened the door and walked in. The room inside was dark. I was careful about the tripwire. The last thing I needed was another trip downstairs. The floor was painted with a giant Devil's Trap. I stepped over it and headed for the back room. My eyes wandered over the curse boxes until I located the bookshelves. I didn't know what I was looking for, so I simply began loading all of the books. There were at least a thousand and most of them were in pretty good shape. We tried to keep them maintained. They were our history after all.

I finished loading them up and drove back home. I figured that someone in my family must have encountered something like the Cullens, whatever the hell they were.

I made it home just before dawn and fell asleep.

-

I heard footsteps and turned to see a man in a construction helmet running. Everything was dark and blurry. Was I dreaming? I followed him without thinking about it. The man dropped off a ladder and started running again. Suddenly, I was somewhere else, and something was chasing him. They moved quickly, cornering him on the roof. One of them landed in front of him. He turned around, trying to run again, but another jumped behind him. He was trapped. A third appeared and slammed him to the ground. I couldn't see what they were.

Suddenly, my vision cleared and I got a glimpse of bright red eyes-

I sat up straight and grabbed my head. I barely made it to the bathroom before I threw up. That was it, no more driving for ten hours straight. I was obviously stressing out.

I went downstairs and prepared my breakfast. I'd filled my entire trunk and part of the backseat with books. If I was ever going to figure out about the Cullens, I would have to start from the beginning.

My head stopped hurting and I sat down on the couch with Mathieu Colt's journal. It was written around 1350 A.D. in France.

I turned to the first entry and began reading.

My God hath blessed me with a son. After burying six of my babes before they hath begun to live, my Italian angel Elisabetta hath birthed a live son. And what a son he is. Elisa says he is like an angel wrapped in sunlight. She has named him Lucius for it means light.

I wished on a falling star that my baby would live, and I believe god hath given me him as a gift. I shall cherish him and my love to the grave.

Mathieu's entries stayed about the same until Lucius was fourteen. That was when he encountered a demon. The demon killed his mother, Elisabetta, and was trying to kill him, when he spoke a Latin exorcism and sent the smoke-bitch back to hell. That is…after he cut her with one of his father's trusty swords.

Afterwards, the weapon was different. Lucius described in his own journals that the weapon became a part of him. The sword used the blood of the damned and became a tool of defence against everything that went bump in the night.

Demon blood was a hot commodity in the Hunting community. Just one drop could turn a butter knife into a deadly weapon. I'd doused my knife in the stuff when I was four. The only thing a demon-weapon couldn't kill was the smoke-bitches themselves. As far as anyone knew, all you could do was send them back where they came from. Considering their options, I think some of them wished they could be killed.

I shook my head and kept reading. I had all weekend to study up.

-

Monday morning was a relief. I was almost glad to go to school instead of sitting inside all day, reading.

My research had turned up nothing. I was still as clueless about the Cullens as I was that first day. Ash still hadn't called me back, and I was starting to worry about him.

I drove out to the school with one of the journals, just in case I got bored in class. There was a lot of snow and ice on the ground. I worried about the roads being too slick to drive around. I hoped my car didn't start to rust.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was finished the journal. There was nothing important in it.

I sat at my usual table, forcing myself not to look at the Cullen's table. I didn't want to make them more suspicious. Immediately, my friends surrounded me. Mike, Jessica, Angela and our newest addition, Eric crowded around me. Mike immediately began jabbering on about the snow. He and Jessica seemed to be planning a snowball fight. Eric and Angela sat, listening attentively, but I could tell they were bored.

Finally, Eric interrupted Mike's ranting. "Did you hear about the security guard down at Mason County?" he asked.

Jessica turned, hearing a subtle gossipy tone in Eric's voice. "What happened?"

"He was killed be some sort of animal," Eric explained. "My dad told me about it. It happened last night. It'll be in the papers in a couple days."

I stiffened. Something about what he said struck a chord in me. I subtly changed my expression to one of polite interest. "Do a lot of attacks like that happen? I mean, we live so close to the forest. Do a lot of animals come out and attack people around here?"

Eric shook his head. "Not really. Honestly, my dad says the animal population is going down. He blames global warming. It's screwing up their migrating habits and they're going farther north into Canada or something."

That wasn't the answer I expected.

Jessica suddenly giggled. "Edward Cullen is staring at you, Bella."

I froze and tried to make my voice casual, but I couldn't completely hide the uneasy edge to it. "He doesn't look pissed at me, does he?" I asked.

Jessica's eyebrows drew together as she checked. "No, should he?" she asked.

I grinned and made myself sound cocky and unperturbed. "I think I might have crossed the line when I asked him about his lipstick. Oh, and Mike, it's been raining for ten minutes. The snow has probably all melted."

The rest of my table turned to look out the window. Mike and Jessica cursed under their breath when they realized I was right. I allowed my head to turn slightly to the side so I could catch Edward's gaze. Jessica was right, he didn't look angry. He and his family were having their own snowball fight in the middle of the cafeteria. Emmett, the huge brown-haired boy, shook his head, sending ice flying over everyone. Rosalie reeled back in disgust while Alice held up her lunch tray as a shield in her dainty little hands. Even Jasper, the boy who usually looked like he was in pain, seemed to be smiling.

Edward's eyes locked onto mine…and his mask slipped. I could see pain and despair. My eyes widened slightly. He kept staring at me, and I realized I should do something.

So, I gave him a sweet smile and blew him a kiss.

I had to cover my mouth to hold in my laughter when his mouth dropped open. As it was, Jessica looked at me strangely, but apparently, she was too upset about the snow to care.

Something occurred to me on my way to Biology. Why hadn't the snow the Cullens played with melt?

-

Edward's POV

I took my seat in Biology and prepared to hold my breath.

Bella Colt walked into the room and I tried not to think about Alice's vision, but it was impossible. If I hadn't left…

Alice saw me inside Bella's kitchen, waiting for her. She came inside with bags of groceries. She seemed somewhat flustered, but I didn't care about that. All I cared about was that she smelled so good. She looked around, as if sensing my presence and pulled out a knife. She looked around warily and I came up behind her, grabbing her arm and sinking my teeth into her neck-

I forced myself not to shudder with revulsion…and desire. Eric Yorkie seemed to be working his way up to asking her to the prom. Bella seemed less than enthused. She mentioned Angela's name and thanked him for the invite. She then sat down beside me and pulled out her books. She peeked at me out of the corner of her eye. What she saw confused her for some reason. I wished more than ever that I could read her thoughts. My curiosity seemed to be increasing instead of dulling.

Mr. Molina started setting up the projector. I turned to the girl and smiled slightly, making sure I wasn't showing too much of my teeth. "Hello," I said.

Bella looked at me and blinked, bewildered. As I stared into her deep, brown eyes, I realized that the hate I'd felt for her was gone. Not breathing or tasting her scent, it was hard to believe anyone so vulnerable could justify hatred.

I continued. "My name is Edward Cullen," I said. It was a formality. She was quite aware of who I was. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week."

The bewildered look disappeared and I could see suspicion fill her face. I began to worry.

She surprised me by smiling. "Pleased to meet you, Edward, hope you guess my name."

My lips twitched. "You're a fan of the Rolling Stones?" I asked.

Bella's eyes widened in wonder and delight, before she settled back into her cocky smile. "You're the first one who's gotten that. I'm impressed."

For some reason I couldn't imagine, that made me smile wider. I looked away quickly as Mr. Molina lectured us on what to do. Bella seemed bored. She doodled in the margin of her notebook, but otherwise didn't move. A smile flashed across her face as Mr. Molina made a show of cracking his voice as he announced that the first partners to finish would receive, pause for dramatic effect, a golden onion.

I realized I was out of air. I checked on Bella and saw that she was still distracted. I leaned away from her, tightening my muscles and inhaled through my teeth.

Ahhh! Genuinely painful. I could taste her on my tongue! It took every ounce of my self-control to turn to her and smile. "Ladies first, partner," I said, pushing the microscope toward her.

She put the first slide in and checked it. "It's prophase," she said, barely looking at it. "So, what was up with the disappearing act?" she asked casually.

I ignored her question and took the microscope, rechecking her answer. "You're right, it's prophase."

"Of course I'm right," she replied. "And you still haven't told me why you left," she added in a singsong voice.

I frowned. It was no use distracting her. "I was out of town for a few days…personal reasons."

She huffed but dropped the subject. I replaced the first slide with the second and checked it. "Anaphase," I said, writing down the answer.

Bella held out her hand. "Mind if I check it?" she asked. She didn't wait for a reply but just grabbed the microscope and checked it. Her eyes widened again and she huffed. "You're right."

"Of course I am," I said, repeating her words.

She shook her head and laughed. "Guess I deserved that. Next slide?" she asked. I handed it to her. My skin brushed against hers and both of us jumped. Electricity shot up my arm. Bella's eyes shot to my face, alarmed. She looked down quickly. "Anaphase," she said.

We completed the assignment without talking. I knew that my cold skin must have frightened her. How could I have been so stupid?

I searched for a way to make her comfortable. "It's too bad about the snow," I said, trying to make small talk. Humans seemed to enjoy the meaningless act.

She looked at me like I'd just told her aliens existed on Mercury. "Not really," she said. "I don't like the cold," she explained. "I always preferred it when my mom found jobs in the south."

Ah, yes, the elusive Renée Colt, Bella's flighty mother. People still occasionally thought about her, especially when Charlie Swan had died all alone. Most of the town resented her and saw Bella as a victim of the selfish woman.

Bella suddenly looked directly at me with her intense, brown eyes. "Did you get contacts?" she asked.

"No," I said. I almost smiled at the thought of improving my eyesight.

"Hmm," she grunted. "I could have sworn your eyes were black last week."

I forced myself not to freeze. How did she notice that? Most humans, when they looked at us, tended to admire our beauty but they blocked out individual features. Why was it she saw so much?

"It's the fluorescents," I said, trying to come up with a feasible excuse. Bella shrugged, apparently done with the topic. I looked at her, trying to figure out a way to distract her. "If you hate the cold so much, why did you move here?"

Bella looked at me and started to open her mouth, then she shut it. She leaned back, crossing her arms over her pullover. "Do you want the real reason?" she asked.

I looked at her, bewildered. "That would be preferable," I finally said.

She shrugged and closed her eyes. She leaned forward and rested her head on her hands. "About a year and a half ago, my mom and I got into a serious car accident. I survived it without a scratch, but Renée was badly injured. I made a-" She flinched, as if remembering something unpleasant. "A deal. Renée got better, but a year later, it was time to pay the pied piper…and somebody died."

I had to restrain myself from sucking in a breath. Was she involved in some sort of mafia deal? That was ridiculous. It was like a plotline for a cheesy action movie.

"I thought it would be best to stay away from the people I cared about, you know, just in case they come back for me."

I couldn't understand why I was suddenly filled with rage, but the thought of a human killing such an innocent girl…

My hands tensed and I sucked in another breath of her scent. "Did you go to the police?"

Bella actually threw her head back and laughed. A few of the other students looked up, confused as to why there was joy in a place of learning. Bella leaned closer to me, and I struggled not to focus on the veins in her throat. "The police can't help me, Edward, no one can." She said this with a complete and utter sense of defeat, as if she was already prepared to die. I wondered where her mother was during this time. Why wasn't she helping her?

The bell rang and we received our prize for finishing. Bella stared at the golden onion for a few seconds before chucking into my hands. "You can use it as a baseball or something. Be sure to knock some of your brother's teeth out." She laughed at her own joke and headed for her next class.

It was insane of me to follow her.

Nonetheless, I walked with her to Mr. Banner's Supernatural class. "Why did you choose this class?" I asked, trying not to seem too uncomfortable.

Bella turned around and smiled at me. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for monsters." She did something incredibly stupid and incredibly exhilarating.

She kissed me.

It was on my cheek, and luckily, I wasn't breathing when she did so, but was she insane? I'd pictured killing her a thousand different ways in Biology and I'd very nearly killed her when she went home that night, and she had the nerve to kiss me?

I realized with some embarrassment that my mouth was hanging open. Bella laughed at me and dove into her class. She waved and said loudly, "I'll catch you later, Edward!" Of course, everyone in the hallway turned to stare at me, but I was already racing to my next class. Unlike Bella, when the other students looked at me, they quickly looked away.

I sat next to Emmett in my Spanish class and touched my cheek. It was almost as if I'd been burned. It was a nice burning, though, not at all like the one in my throat. I probably still had a deer-caught-in-headlights-look on my face, but I couldn't seem to make my brain function.

She'd kissed me?

-

Bella's POV

I'll admit kissing Edward Cullen on the cheek just to check his body temperature was probably not one of my most brilliant plans, especially since I couldn't forget how nice it felt.

I stuck my head in my book to hide what felt like a faint blush on my cheeks. That was so stupid. I never blushed. I also never spilled my life story to people who just might want to kill me. I was obviously still going insane from stress.

Mr. Banner's class passed quickly, and I started to sport an agonizing headache. What I wanted to do most of all was take about six Tylenol and pass out for eight hours.

Angela walked with me out to the parking lot. I rubbed my temples and groaned, stopping in front of a giant, red, Chevy truck.

"Are you okay?" Angela asked. I could tell she was worried.

I waved it off. "Go on ahead. I've just got a migraine. I'll be fine."

Angela was persistent. "Are you sure you should be driving?"

I snapped at her, irritated. "Yes! I'll be fine!" I softened my tone, feeling guilty. "Thanks for asking. I'm really okay."

Angela nodded, still looking unsure and walked to her car.

I set my bag down on the slippery ground and pressed the palms of my hand into my eyes. I blinked as the world unfocussed around me. I saw Edward Cullen leaning against a silver Volvo.

I thought, Man, it's really hard to look badass when you're posing next to a soccer mom car, but he can actually pull it off.

I shut my eyes again. The pain was getting worse. What was wrong with me? I tried to think of something to get my mind off the pain, but all I could think of was an old Rolling Stones song.

I'm so sick and tired.

Trying to turn the tide, yeah.

So I'll say my goodbye.

"Ah!" I cried out. I fell to my knees. I reached out blindly and grabbed the strap of my duffle bag. I thought I heard someone call my name before something changed.

I wasn't on the ground. I was standing up. I turned around as I heard a car horn and the squeal of tires. A dark blue van headed straight for me. I didn't even have time to scream.

No! I just got out!

A blue blur zipped in front of my eyes, and suddenly Edward Cullen was in front of me. He put his right hand on my neck and the van smashed into his left. The metal dented as if his hand was made of rock. I stared in amazement. Our heads turned simultaneously and we stared at each other.

I gasped and blinked. Edward was sitting in front of me. His cold hands cupped my cheeks. "Bella! Can you hear me?" he yelled.

I blinked again. "I'm fi-" I started to say, when I heard the familiar squeal of tires.

I glanced over, frozen with fear as the same van from my (Vision? Dream?) was heading toward us. Edward wrapped his arms around my waist and rolled us out of its path. The van smashed into the giant Chevy. Edward got to his feet and pulled me up.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

I couldn't answer him, not truthfully anyway. I stared at the dark blue van as dozens of students filled the parking lot. All of them were screaming for an ambulance. The driver of the van looked out the window and his eyes locked onto me. There was a cut on the dark skin of his forehead. "Are you alright?" he asked. He struggled with his seatbelt and two boys helped him out of the van.

"Just sit down, Tyler. You're bleeding," one of them told him.

"I didn't hurt them, did I?" he said dizzily. "They were right in front of me."

"I'm fine," I told him, finally breaking out of my daze. I realized that Edward was still gripping my arms. "I'm better than fine, actually." I looked around. My duffle bag had thankfully not suffered any damage. Edward released me and I picked it up. As I stood up straight, my balance suddenly vanished and Edward caught me as I began to fall.

He lowered me to the ground. "You're not fine. Something is wrong with you. You're going to the hospital."

I couldn't argue with that. There definitely was something wrong with me.

Laugh, laugh,

I nearly died.

-

Wow, I just updated Wolverine and I finished this in one day. I must really love this story. If you're feeling confused, it's completely natural when dealing with the supernatural. All will be explained.

I'm not sure if I'm going from the book or the movie. I seem to be using a little of both. You guys don't mind, do you?

This was fun to write.

I'll see you later.