Hunter

Did you miss me, my patient readers? Guess who's back and better than ever! It is I, your King!

I just finished Wolverine a little while ago and decided it was about time I got back into the swing of things. Just to let you all know, I never leave a story hanging without the intension to complete it. That goes double for Talent Search. After I finish this chapter, I think I'll continue writing that next.

For those of you who haven't heard, someone nominated this story and Talent Search for another contest. Here's the website: www(dot)bringmetolifeawards(dot)weebly(dot)com. Feel free to vote for me! (Hey, that rhymed!)

All right, enough of this boring chitchat. It's time to get to the story.

Here's chapter nine.

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Bella's POV

I headed to class, head pounding, and slipped inside the room.

Immediately, I was aware of the smell. Rotten eggs. Sulphur. Fire and brimstone. I sniffed hesitantly, my eyes scanning the room for threats, and wondered how I could slip the word Cristo into a conversation without sounding even crazier than normal. Cristo was Latin for Christ. Any demon in the vicinity would flinch at the name, and their eyes would turn black.

A second later, I realized how stupid I was.

It was a science class, and like most science classes, it contained a chemistry lab. Obviously, someone forgot to air out the room over lunchtime after a completely normal experiment took place. There were no demons in Forks.

I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at my empty table. My headache worsened as the smell pervaded my nostrils, but there wasn't much I could do about it, short of skipping class.

"Hey, Bella!" Mike hurried over to my table with an eager smile. Underneath the happy-go-lucky charade, I could see his jealousy.

Damn it! And I thought he and Jessica were hitting it off.

"You're still coming to La Push this Saturday, right?" he asked.

La Push…I searched my mind for a memory and smiled. "Oh, the beach on the reservation? Yeah, I'll be there." I gave him a fake smile. "Maybe I'll invite Edward," I added, just to crush any residual hopes he might have about getting with me.

The light in his eyes dimmed. "Sure, I guess," he answered dejectedly. "I'll see you there."

I gave him a little wave and then my forehead collided with my desktop. "Ow," I murmured into the wood. I rubbed my head as I looked up.

Mr Molina entered the classroom, and I realized I should have ditched.

In his hands, he held several cardboard boxes. In each box sat a blood typing kit.

Normally, I was okay with blood. As a Hunter, you got used to it. I knew how to clean and stitch wounds before I started kindergarten. The smell always bothered me though, because I always associated it with Mom. The backseat of the Impala was coated with bloodstains from our less successful hunts. I knew every story behind every one.

Like I said, normally I was okay with it, but not then.

Not with sulphur filling the air.

Not with my head aching and the lights flickering.

Not since I got out.

The teacher's voice faded. Everything faded. I wasn't in class anymore.

I was in hell.

It was so dark. So cold. Why did everyone think that hell was hot? There was no fire to bathe the damned. The only warmth came from the blood that ran down my arms, my legs, my chest.

"Beeeelllllaaa," something whispered, its rotting lips pressed against my ear. "Do you want to get down? Say the word. Take the knife. You won't last much longer if this goes on."

My body shook as the pain, the cold, the fear burst out of me. I opened my mouth, my lips cracked open and blood dripped onto my tongue as I spoke. "That's what I'm counting on." I stretched my lips - ignoring how much it stung - until it looked like I was smiling.

"Bella? Are you all right?"

I jerked out of my stupor and found myself face-to-face with Mr Molina.

I nodded automatically, but that just made my head hurt that much more. "I think I need to leave," I finally answered.

I didn't wait for his reply. I ran.

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Edward's POV

I was sitting in my car when Bella dashed out into the parking lot. For a second, I wondered if she had chosen to join me, but I quickly realized that she was in distress. She ran to her car and slid underneath the hulking vehicle. My surprise doubled as I looked back toward the door. Mike Newton stood there, searching blindly for the girl.

Where did she go? Her car's still here. Man, Mr Molina is gonna be so pissed…I wonder if I could get something from the vending machine before I go back to class…

I tuned him out as he went back inside and got out of my car. I crouched down and looked at Bella's shivering form. What was she doing under there? It was far too cold for her tastes.

"Bella?" I questioned, not wanting to scare her.

She shivered, but otherwise didn't move.

"Are you alright?"

"Go away Edward."

Edward, not Superman, or any other sobriquet she usually gave people. What was wrong with her?

I pulled off my jacket and slid it over to her as I saw her shiver again. "You can give it back later. I don't want you to catch a cold," I explained.

She looked at the jacket, now muddy and wet, and then looked at me. She smiled faintly. "Thanks, Superman."

I smiled back, unreasonably pleased by her use of the stupid nickname. "You're most welcome."

She laughed and slid out from underneath her car. Her hair was matted with mud on one side. Her clothes were a mess…and I could swear that those were tear marks on her cheeks.

I decided not to mention them. Bella might've actually hit me if I did, and I didn't want her to hurt herself.

She ran a hand through her hair and made a face as she realized what a mess it was. "Damn, I better go home and shower." She started to turn away, and then stopped. "Hey, you wanna go to La Push this Saturday?"

The question caught me off guard. I remembered Eric Yorkie asking her about a beach trip just before we arrived at school this morning.

Damn. Of all the beaches, she had to choose the one that I couldn't go on.

"Sorry," I answered. "I'd love to go." She had no idea how much I wanted to stay with her. "But my family and I are busy this weekend. Maybe we could get together some other time?" I asked hopefully.

She looked at me suspiciously, as if trying to gauge whether I was telling the truth. After a moment, she looked away. "Whatever. I'll see you around." She waved at me as she got into her car and drove away.

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Bella's POV

I didn't bother going to school the next day, but I did call to apologize for leaving during the middle of class. I needn't have bothered. According to Mr Molina, I looked like I was about to lose my lunch. Mrs Cope told me that it was fine.

Therefore, I had a three-day-weekend.

By Friday night, I had over ten messages from friends asking if I was still coming to the beach. I figured, what the hell? It wasn't like I had anything better to do.

Early Saturday morning, I dressed in three layers of shirts, plus my leather jacket, and my thick blue jeans.

Then I headed for the beach.

I wonder if anyone else caught the utter ridiculousness of that.

Beaches were supposed to be hot and sunny. La Push happened to be a strip of land that bordered on a large quantity of water. In everyway that counted, it was not a beach. I did not build a sandcastle. I did not wear a bathing suit. And I did not! Get! A! Tan!

As I arrived, I parked my car as close to the exiting path as I could. You never knew when you had to make a quick getaway. Besides, I wasn't going to risk getting sand on the tires if I could help it.

I spotted a bonfire and saw that the party was in full swing. The guys were down near the water, playing chicken with the waves. Angela and Jessica were parked as close to the fire as they could get. In spite of the heat, they were huddled under a thick wool blanket. I rolled my eyes and strode over to them.

"So, Mike got me this cheap perfume, and I mean cheap! It's probably like $3.99 or something. Can you believe that?" Jessica whined.

Angela shrugged her shoulders. "Men don't know much about things like that, Jess. I think it's nice that he bought you something without you having to ask. Most guys wouldn't be caught dead buying perfume for their girlfriend."

"Or maybe he's just hoping I'll break up with him so that he can go after Miss I'm-So-Awesome! Not that he'd have a chance against Edward," Jessica grumbled.

I decided it was time to interrupt their little heart-to-heart.

"Hey, guys!" I said cheerily. Both of them jumped and spun around as I approached. "Ain't it a grand day? The sun's shining. The grass is green. There's not a cloud in the sky!" I gestured up to the menacing, dark grey overcast that hung above our heads.

Angela chuckled good-naturedly. "I know. It's not exactly one of Mike's brightest ideas. Still, there's whale-watching."

I sat down on the log opposite them and crossed my arms over my thighs. "Did you know that they use whale vomit in some fancy perfumes?"

Jessica's eyes widened and her lip curled back in disgust. "What are you talking about?"

I shrugged, as if this was an everyday conversation. "You know, whales produce this waxy oil that protects their stomach lining and intestines. It's called ambergris. Though sometimes they don't throw it up. Sometimes it comes out the other way."

Jessica's face turned a pale green and she brought a hand up to her mouth.

"What kind of perfume do you wear, Jess?" I asked.

As if I couldn't guess.

"Well, anyway," I continued when I was sure that she wasn't going to answer. "Mr Molina was talking about it in Biology a little while ago. Mike just about had a fit! He muttered something about having to return something to the store. I saw the receipt - and man - I didn't know they made perfume that costs over a hundred and fifty dollars. Did you?"

Angela seemed to have caught on to what I was doing, for she started to literally shake with laughter. Jessica was oblivious to her friend's condition. She stared longingly at Mike as he pushed Eric into the freezing water and laughed hysterically.

I shook my head. My work was done.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up, tensed and ready for anything. My knife was nestled safely in my pocket and I had a Jericho 941 F 9 mm semi-automatic pistol on the inside pocket of my jacket. I also had some salt and holy water on me, just in case.

I relaxed when I realized it was just some kids from the reservation. There were six of them, three of which were very tall and brawny. The other three were smaller, younger, and not nearly as tense.

Then the biggest of the six flared his nostrils and locked eyes with me.

His actions were so animal-like that I found myself studying him like a Hunter, even more so than usual.

There was something off about him.

I broke my gaze off to look at the two boys beside him. They stood almost as if they were flanking him, something I'd done with my mother and the other Hunters we associated with. If I had to guess their rank, I'd say that the big guy was the Captain, the guy on his left was his First Lieutenant, and the angry guy on his right was his Second Lieutenant. The three little guys barely qualified as Privates. They were just along for the ride.

Angela noticed them next and waved. "Hey, what's up?" she called in greeting.

The boys took this as an invitation to sit down around the fire. Mike, Eric, and Tyler saw and ran over to meet them, pushing and shoving and roughhousing as much as they could on the way over.

I gave the big guy a wide berth, but I felt his eyes on me the whole time.

They introduced themselves and I made sure I remembered everything.

The big guy was Sam Uley, a nineteen-year-old high-school dropout. His First Lieutenant was Jared. His Second Lieutenant was Paul. The three little guys were Quil Ateara, Embry Call, and Jacob Black.

"Black?" I repeated, the name triggering a memory from long ago. "As in William Black's son?"

The boy in question gave me a cautious smile. "Yeah, that's me. Um…what's your name?"

I figured that was who-the-hell-are-you? in polite-speak.

I held out my hand, avoiding the fire. "Bella Colt. My mom and your dad were friends back in the day."

Back in the day, of course, meant the year Renée turned nineteen and went on her first solo Hunt in Port Angeles, where she met her future husband. Charlie and Billy were already good friends, and what with Quileute superstition still ripe in Billy's mind, it was easy for Renée and him to get along. As far as I knew, Billy was the only connection she'd had with the supernatural world after her parents died and she quit Hunting forever.

That is, until a demon paid a visit to my nursery.

"Oh!" Jacob's face lit up. "Yeah, I remember you now. You're Chief Swan's daughter." His face contorted into chagrin as he realized what he'd said. "I'm sorry about your loss," he finished dumbly.

I waved my hand in the air as if swatting flies. "Don't sweat it. It was years ago. How's Billy?"

Jacob blushed and looked down. "Well…he's kind of in a wheelchair now…diabetes and all…"

For a second, nobody seemed to know what to say, then Jessica sighed. "Well, this is depressing. It's too bad Edward couldn't come, eh, Bella?" She grinned slyly at me and winked.

"Edward?" Jared repeated stiffly. "Cullen?"

I nodded silently, not liking the way he said their name. Something was up.

"Yeah," Mike chipped in. "Bella said she was gonna invite him. Did you get the chance?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I asked, but he had plans with his family."

"The Cullens don't come here," said Sam. His gaze stayed fixed on me and I saw him sniff the air again. His eyes flickered to my jeans for just a half-second and I suddenly knew that he knew about my knife, and probably my gun. And not just that he knew they were there.

The others turned back to their own conversations, and Sam's strange behaviour was forgotten.

I didn't forget, though. I looked at him, watching as the flames danced in his dark eyes. He looked back at me, sombre and eerily calm.

He's dangerous, I decided. Very dangerous.

But guess what, Sammy?

So am I.

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As the day wore on, we split up into smaller groups. That made it easier to get Jacob alone.

"Mind if I steal him for a minute, boys?" I asked Quil and Embry with a wry grin. I wrapped an arm around Jacob's shoulders and patted his chest. "I figured we could reminisce about our childhoods."

Jacob's friends were caught off guard, but shot Jacob two equally mischievous grins. "No problem, Bella. Have fun, Jake!" Quil said, laughing.

I dragged Jacob away before he could protest. He was tense under my arm so I released him. Once the others were out of sight, I turned to him. "So, what's up with Sam and the Cullens?"

"Huh? Oh, that," he replied, looking down at his feet and blushing furiously. "It's complicated and kind of stupid actually."

"Don't tell me. Did Dr McDreamy break his mom's heart?" I asked playfully.

"No!" he objected, as if offended. "No, nothing like that," he continued in a softer tone. "It just that…there are these old stories. Quileute legends and all. I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

"I can keep a secret," I answered, smirking internally. If only he knew…

Jacob seemed lost in thought. Finally, he made a decision. "Did you know that Quileutes are supposedly descended from…wolves?"

I studied him carefully as he spoke. "Wolves, huh?"

"Not the wolves you're thinking of. We come from the wolves that turn into men. Your people would call them werewolves," he explained.

Werewolves?

Unconsciously, I rubbed my left arm just above the elbow. When I was eleven, still too young to Hunt - and in a town where you couldn't leave a thirteen-year-old home alone for more than an hour without social services barging through your door - Renée was on a Hunt for a werewolf.

The lore about silver bullets was crap. The only way to kill a werewolf was to destroy their heart with a weapon powered by demon blood.

Needless to say, the Hunt went bad. I was stuck in the car, waiting for Renée to come back. I looked up, and there was a werewolf trying to take a bite out of my mom.

Me - being impulsive and overprotective and dumber than a pile of rocks - unlocked the door and ran toward it with only my knife and desperation on my side. The werewolf knocked me away, no sweat, but I distracted it long enough for Renée to shoot the mother right through the heart. I came out of it with a broken arm and had to stay with Pastor Jim for the rest of the summer while it healed. It used to hurt in the cold sometimes, but since I got out…

I shook those thoughts away. "And what does this have to do with the Cullens?" I pressed, trying not to sound too eager.

"Well…" Jacob began, drawing out the word as he thought of what to say. He turned to me and grinned. "Do you like scary stories?"

Kid, my whole life is a damned scary story.

I grinned back. "I love them."

We stopped in front of a few large stones and sat down. Jacob thought for a moment before he began.

"According to my father, the Chief of our tribe…" He glanced at me quickly as he told me this, possibly hoping to see awe in my expression. I did my best to appease him. He smiled and kept speaking. "Quileutes have always had magic in our blood."

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," he continued jokingly, "My ancestors were Great Spirit Warriors - shape-shifters. Their power allowed them to turn into wolves to scare off their enemies and protect the tribe."

"One day, the warriors came across…a creature," he whispered. I leaned in closer, listening with rapt attention. "It looked like a man, but it was hard, like rocks, and cold as ice."

Jacob tapped the stone he sat on to demonstrate, but I barely noticed. I remembered Alexander's cold, hard body pressed against me, and then I remembered Edward's cold, hard skin when I kissed him.

I suddenly wasn't sure if I wanted to know anymore.

"The creature killed two children from the tribe, so the Spirit Warriors attacked it. Their sharp teeth tore into the creature, ripping it apart…"

I remembered how my knife slid through Alexander's throat, and I suddenly knew what Jacob would say next.

"…but only fire could completely destroy it."

I shut my eyes as I desperately tried to block out the image of Alexander's burning corpse.

Jacob kept going, oblivious to my discomfort. "They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone…and they were right."

"The woman took her vengeance, slaughtered everyone who got in her way. The Chief, Taha-Aki, was the only Spirit-Warrior left after his son was killed. He was old and frail, but his fury made him powerful, and he charged at the woman. Soon though, he weakened. There was no one to help him…"

"…no one but his wife."

I could see it all; the fighting, the bloodshed, it flashed behind my lids like a wonderful, horrible movie.

"She was nothing but a human, with no powers like her husband and son, but she did have one thing…"

I opened my eyes and saw Jacob looking at me. I couldn't control my expression, so I knew he must've seen my horror. "What?" I questioned.

"Courage," he finished. "She plunged a knife into her stomach and the smell of her blood distracted the creature long enough for her husband to destroy it. Her sacrifice saved the tribe."

I took a deep breath. "And what does this have to do with the Cullens?"

Jacob smiled. "Years later, centuries in fact, my great-grandfather stumbled upon a new family of these creatures, only they were different. Their eyes didn't burn red, and they spoke like men. They didn't hunt and kill humans, and they did not want to hurt the Quileutes, so my great-grandfather saw no reason to destroy them. As long as they stay off our land."

"So, the Cullens, they're like the creatures your great-grandfather met? The good ones?"

"No," he answered, and then he grinned. "They're the same ones."

It'll hurt, but I'll have eternity to make it up to you.

"But, what are they?" I pestered.

Jacob shifted his legs and drew a line in the sand with his finger. "Our people call them Cold Ones, but your people call them vampires."

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Well, I think this should do for now. I gotta go get started on the next chapter for Talent Search and the next chapter for Hunter. Even I think this cliff-hanger is cruel.

Adieu, my faithful readers.