Hunter
Hey, guys! How's everything going? I know you've all waited patiently for The Big Reveal, so I will attempt to make this as awesome as possible.
I just bought a new MP3 and I'm going to Canada's Wonderland in a few days. On top of that, I get to go pick up my brand new contact lenses tomorrow! Squeal! I'm gonna be lookin' fine!
Thank you for all the reviews, and here's chapter ten.
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Bella's POV
The second the party ended, I raced home. I broke about ten traffic laws, and made it back in record time. After parking the car haphazardly in the driveway, I ran into the living room, switched on the lamp that sat on the end table, and dropped to my knees. My hands were quick and precise as I sifted through the mountain of unread journals, looking for the one that held the answers.
After a minute of searching, I found it.
Nicolette Colt, it read in elegant handwriting. It was an older book, and so it had been restored many times over the years.
But the stories were the same.
I opened it up and looked at the dates, marvelling at how long ago this was written.
1671 was the first marked date, and the last was 1702.
Renée always said that every family tree had their nuts. The outcasts or the oddballs that people whispered and laughed about. Nicolette Colt was our nut. She was born somewhere in France, in the year 1642, most likely in July because her father wrote about The Siege of Hull after he mentioned her birth.
She married and gave birth to a son, Elias, when she was fifteen. Her husband died on a Hunt soon after.
She died at age sixty, and nobody, not even our open-minded Hunting family, believed in what killed her.
Vampires.
I turned to the first pages of her journal. It was in Latin, so I struggled to calm myself down so that I could translate it properly.
There is no God.
I bit my lip, wondering if I got it wrong, and read the ancient words again.
Illic est haud Deus.
No, that was right.
There is no God. There is no Devine Being watching over us, caring and loving us as a mother loves her children. If we are so loved, so cherished, then why do I sit here now, alone, my son turned to ashes?
I know now that if he does exist, it is merely to torment us. He has taken everything from me. My husband, my child, only fourteen-years-old.
The work of the Devil, they say. What? This petty creature who lives in the bowels of Hell has killed one of God's greatest creations? How, I ask? How powerful could the beast be if it can destroy an angel? How could God, in all his wisdom and love, create something so vicious and evil? How could he let it do such things?
The priests will say that I should go to hell for saying this, but perhaps God is not as powerful as we believe. Or maybe he just doesn't care about us. Perhaps he loves his son more than us, and that is why he is too weak to destroy it.
Fine, I will go to hell. I will swim through an ocean of fire until I find God's rebellious child, and then I will tear into it with my bare hands! I will bathe in its unholy blood! Lucifer is no match for me! I love my son far more than my so-called God could ever dream. I will do what he has failed to do. In my love for humanity, I will kill the Devil!
I blinked several times and rereadthe last paragraph.
"Wow, this chick is a total badass!" I breathed in awe.
Quickly, I turned the page.
I cannot bear to sleep anymore. In my dreams, I see my baby boy crying out to me.
I still remember the recoil of the gun when I fired it at his beautiful face, hoping to kill him as quickly as possible so that his pain would end.
That memory is almost as horrible as those eyes.
Like Hellfire, they were. Glowing red and staring right at me as the creature devoured my darling boy's blood. I remember charging at it, watching its mouth turn up into a smile and knowing that I would be its next meal if I did not kill it now. In desperation, I drew my sword. It had been bathed in the blood of the damned, so it cut easily through the rock-hard creature's pale chest. It dropped to the ground and I hacked at it, chopping its bloodless body to bits. If anyone had tried to stop me, I would have done the same to them.
When I could barely move my arms, I took my gas lamp and through it at the pieces. Then I watched until it burnt to ashes.
My baby woke up soon after, screaming that his skin was burning. I held him, trying to comfort him, praying that the pain would end, but I could see what was happening. He was too pale, too cold, too much like the creature. I sobbed into his hair and told him how much I loved him, how I would make the pain go away.
I do not know if he understood a word, but at the end, when I loaded my rifle, he smiled at me with gratitude. I will never stop seeing that smile. It will haunt me to the grave. My only source of comfort is knowing that I will see him in the afterlife, even if I am sent to Hell. I will claw my way out and barge through the gates of Heaven. I will kill an archangel if it means seeing my boy again.
Take heed, for I am Your creation, Lord, and I am coming.
I barely processed the end of her entry. All I could see were the burning, red eyes that she and Jacob had mentioned. I remembered Alexander's eyes with perfect clarity, and I knew exactly what Nicolette saw when she came upon her dying son and his murderer.
Their pale, hard skin. Their burning red eyes. Their lust for…blood?
"I'm skipping Biology today." Edward's voice echoed in my mind. I remembered seeing the lancets in the blood-typing kit. I remembered the smell of the blood…
"Oh my god," I whispered. The journal dropped out of my hands and slammed shut.
Had he known? Had he known about the blood-typing? Aside from the first week after I arrived, I never saw any of the Cullens skip class. It was too much of a coincidence.
Well, I didn't have any other explanation. He didn't fit any other myth to my knowledge.
Was it possible that I had fallen in love with a vampire?
I blinked.
"Where did that come from?" I asked. The empty room gave no reply.
There were a lot of things Hunters couldn't do. First and foremost, we couldn't tell anyone about our world unless we were saving them from it, and even then, it was better to give people crackpot excuses than to give them a "The Truth Is Out There" speech. Humanity wasn't ready to find out that all their nightmares were real.
The other rules consisted of not getting caught by police, and taking reasonable steps not to hurt any humans while Hunting a monster. It was the whole staring into the abyss thing.
As far as I knew, no one had ever told me that I couldn't fall in love with a monster, but it was probably frowned upon.
I stopped that line of thought. Was Edward a monster? He certainly didn't act like one. He was polite and a little out of touch, but I didn't think that he was evil. I was a good judge of character, so I knew he wasn't a bad guy. My vision from weeks ago, the one involving the van, told me that he was willing to risk his secret to protect me.
But then…
Another memory assaulted me, the one about the security guard. I'd assumed that Edward and his family only ate animals, but maybe their tastes weren't so limited. Perhaps it was some sort of monthly indulgence.
No, I didn't believe that. But still, what else could've killed him?
And Edward, he wasn't a perfect gentleman. He'd snuck into my room at least once. Still, the way he looked at me sometimes…
Make him change you, a raspy voice whispered seductively. It seemed to come from somewhere in the back of my mind.
My eyes went wide. I reached up to touch my forehead as a sharp pain began to grow there.
He can make you immortal! Alexander was more than willing to do the same, but he is dead because of your rash actions and now you must convince another to change you. You must threaten to expose him if that is what it takes make him obey, and you must act quickly!
No…I moaned in response.
You could stay young and beautiful forever, never fearing death the way you do now. You could be so powerful…
The pain grew until I couldn't stay sitting. I collapsed on all fours and rested my head on the leather-bound journals, gritting my teeth, and shut my eyes tightly.
No!
I lifted my head and opened my eyes wide, mentally forcing the voice to go away. My headache retreated as quickly as it came.
And then the light bulb inside the lamp shattered.
I stared at it for a long time, clock ticking in the background, until a dog barked and startled me out of my daze. I looked around and noticed how dark it was. I checked the clock and realized that it was almost midnight. Slowly, robotically, I made my way up the stairs and climbed into bed. I kicked my shoes off and pulled the blanket over me. I rolled onto my side and stared blankly out the window. My room was bathed in shadows and colder than usual. An owl hooted outside and then flew off in search of food.
After an hour or so, I drifted off to sleep.
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It was dawn. I was outside Waylon Forge's, a friend of Charlie's, house.
And then I was inside it. There was Waylon singing in his boat, preparing for an early morning trip. He had on a dark stocking cap, a green shirt that said, "Kiss me, I'm Irish", and a black jacket.
Suddenly, I heard a growl, and so did Waylon. He fell silent and looked around.
"Hello?"
I heard a rustle of fabric, but I couldn't move to see where it was.
"Joe? Joe?" he called, standing up and taking a few steps. Looking around and finding the room empty, he shrugged and started the motor on the boat. He began to set out, but something stopped the boat.
A woman stood at the end of the docking bay, her vibrant red hair and pale skin seeming otherworldly in the dark room. She wore black pants, and a black shirt with a white, flowery pattern. She also had on a white mink coat.
She also had the strength to pull the motorboat back against the docking bay.
Waylon spun around in surprise, but smiled when he saw the woman crouched down and staring at him like she was sizing up a package of meat.
"Hello," he said again, but this time there was a flirty note in his voice.
His demeanour quickly changed when a man jumped into his boat behind him. The intruder had pale skin, blond hair, dark jeans, and no shirt. On his chest rested something that looked like a necklace.
"Nice jacket," the blond man said.
Waylon stuttered out, "Wh-who are you?"
The blond man tilted his head. "It's always the same inane questions. Who are you?"
"What do you want?" the redhead continued tauntingly.
"Why are you doing this?" the blond finished.
There was another rustle and a black man with long, dark hair appeared, sitting down on the boat. He was dressed in some sort of orange suit. "James," he said, sounding bored. The blond man looked down at him. "Let's not play with our food."
With that, the woman kicked Waylon against the side of the boat.
I woke with a start, sweaty and panting from fear. Flashes of the events that followed assaulted me. I saw the intruders hold Waylon down and sink their teeth into his arms.
Finally, mercifully, the flashes stopped.
"Well," I muttered. "I guess that explains what happened to the security guard."
And it's going to happen again…
That thought sent me reeling. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was just coming up. How long did I have? Could I make it in time?
I put my shoes on and made sure I had my knife and a lighter. I avoided the glass from the light bulb in the living room, ran outside…and stopped.
This was so much bigger than before. This wasn't just one guy in a public place. This was three blood-sucking creatures of the night in an isolated area, with no one to pretend for. It was hard enough killing Alexander, but three at once?
I needed some backup. Fast.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialled the Cullens' number, remembering it from my research into them. I hoped they weren't going to be cranky this early in the morning.
My fingers drummed against the roof of my car as I waited for someone to pick up.
"Hello, Bella?" Carlisle Cullen's voice asked questioningly.
"Hey, it's me," I breathed, relieved.
"Is something the matter? Are your headaches acting up?"
That threw me for a loop, but I recovered quickly. "What? Oh! Yeah, no, I mean…I'm fine, really. Can I talk to Edward for a minute?"
There was a short pause. "I suppose so," he answered slowly.
"Great!" I injected as much enthusiasm into my voice as possible. The sun was moving a lot faster than usual, or so it seemed.
I got into my car and started the engine just as Edward said hello.
"Hey, how's it going?" I said, pulling out of the driveway and speeding down the empty streets toward Waylon's house. "Quick question, do you know where Waylon Forge lives?"
His confusion was apparent. "Um, yes, I suppose. Is something wrong? You sound upset."
I took a sharp turn and winced as the tires squealed. "Sorry, baby," I muttered to the car.
"What?" Edward asked, sounding surprised.
"I was talking to my car," I explained. "Would you mind meeting me at Waylon's place?"
"Why?" he asked, still flabbergasted.
"Because," I began, "I think he's about to be eaten by three red-eyed sons of bitches, and I kind of want some backup."
"Bella, what are you talking about?"
"Just get over here!" I ordered as I pulled into Waylon's driveway. The house came into view. Through the trees, I could see the river where he and Charlie used to fish.
My hands shook as I took out my lighter and a matchbook. My gun was still in the inside pocket of my jacket. I pulled it out and checked the magazine. It was fully loaded and ready to go. I put it back, ready to reach for it at the first sign of danger.
I took a deep breath, got out of the car…
…and slammed right into Edward Cullen.
I stumbled back into the car door. "Dude!" I exclaimed in surprise. "You move fast!"
Edward did not look amused. "What are you doing out here, Bella?"
I shrugged and looked up toward the house. "I'm trying to rescue someone. Are you coming?"
He didn't let me move. "There's no one up there. Why would you think Waylon was in trouble?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "How do you know there's no one up there?"
"I checked." He sniffed the air and his eyes darted around as if in search of something.
"No you didn't," I accused. "But if you're so sure, then you won't mind me checking it out myself." I started to step past him, but he grabbed my arm.
"Bella, please."
"Please, what?"
We stood glaring at each other in silence.
"Hey, Edward! Are you done talking to your girlfriend yet?" a voice called out from the trees.
I whipped around, reaching for the gun, and then I saw that it was just Emmett. He emerged from the forest with Alice at his side, both dressed in stylish jeans and long-sleeved shirts. Emmett gave Edward and me a big grin. Alice smiled and waved.
"She is not my girlfriend!" Edward told his brother with a huff.
"Oh, did you break up with her?" he asked playfully.
Alice frowned and looked around, her nose twitching. "I think someone was here," she said.
"Alice!" Edward scolded.
"She already knows, brother-dear, so don't take that tone with me," Alice responded, placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward.
I turned around and saw Edward freeze, but then I was distracted.
"Son of a bitch!" I yelled, startling everyone. I stared out at the river as I saw Waylon's motorboat drifting aimlessly along. I could just make out what I thought was Waylon's body.
I looked around, already knowing that it was too late. It was probably too late the moment I woke up this morning. There just wasn't enough time.
I slammed my hand down on the roof of my car, suddenly feeling like I could cry.
Why had I dreamt about Waylon at all? There was nothing I could have done. The girl from Seattle was safe because I'd had the time. I was safe from the van because of Edward. If I'd known about my dreams earlier, I probably could have rescued the security guard.
So, why, why, why did I have to see something without any hope of stopping it?
Edward said my name and I opened my eyes.
He looked worried. His hand started to reach for me, but it dropped back to his side, as if he was afraid to touch me…
…or as if he thought I was afraid of him touching me.
I blew the hair out of my face in a huff. "We gotta report this to the police," I said, pulling out my cell phone.
"What are you going to tell them?" he demanded.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to tell them that there's been another animal attack."
Edward's eyebrows shot straight up. "Really?"
I barely restrained another eye roll. "No, I'm going to tell them that three undead, blood-sucking creatures of the night decided to have him for breakfast," I said. Then I rolled my eyes again.
"Uh oh, busted," Emmett muttered in a singsong voice.
"Bring her home in a couple hours. We'll make lunch," Alice told Edward. She and Emmett then walked back into the forest, heading for home, I assumed.
He stared after them with a blank expression as I dialled the police station in Forks.
"Yehllo?" a tired voice answered.
I made my voice sound rough and slightly accented, like an older man's. "Yeah, I'm wondering if anyone's seen Waylon Forge. He was supposed to meet me last night, but I ain't seen him. Can you send someone out to his place to see if he's all right?"
"And who am I speaking to?"
"Bobby Singer, I'm an old friend," I responded, trying to keep my gruff tone as close to Bobby's voice as I could.
"All right, I'll send someone to check it out. Will I be able to get a hold of you, Mr Singer?"
I told him one of Bobby's numbers. He had several in case someone needed him to pretend to be FBI, CIA, etc. "Listen, I gotta get back to South Dakota, so you give me a ring if something's wrong."
"Sure thing, Mr Singer." The officer hung up and I quickly dialled Bobby's number.
"Bella, something wrong?" Bobby's voice sounded more comforting than usual. I was relieved to hear from him.
"Not much. Listen, the Chief of police in Forks is probably gonna call you soon. Just tell him you're an old friend of Waylon Forge's and that you were supposed to meet him last night to go out, but he never showed, okay?"
There was a long pause. "What did you do?" he asked.
I looked quickly at Edward and rolled my eyes. "Nothing, I just might've gotten caught up in something. I'm handling it, though. So, can you?"
He read the desperation in my tone and interpreted it accurately. "Fine, I'll talk to him. Waylon Forbe, right?"
"Forge," I corrected.
"Forge," he repeated. There was a few seconds of silence. "Your mom's in Arizona right now, working on a poltergeist problem."
"She okay?" I asked.
"She's alive," Bobby responded. That was the standard Hunter answer. As long as you were breathing, you were fine.
"Good, I'll call back soon. Right now, I gotta hide from the cops." I hung up and pointed to the passenger side of my car. "Come on, Superman, we can't get caught here." I started the engine as he sat down in the seat.
With a roar of the engine, we took off deeper into the forest, avoiding the main roads, and keeping out of sight.
After a few minutes of travelling, I parked the car in the middle of the dirt path. "So," I began, turning toward my silent passenger. "You guys are vampires, huh?"
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Well, this seems long enough. No real action, but I was mostly trying to be informative. There's gonna be a lot more talking in the next chapter, too. Edward and Bella have some explaining to do.
I just got back from Wonderland last night. It was a blast. The Drop Zone is bloody terrifying, but you have a great view of Toronto just before you go plunging towards the Earth.
I've found that contact lenses aren't as bad as I thought. They're kind of annoying to put in and to get out, but otherwise they're okay.
Oh, and if I offended anyone with the whole there is no God thing, I'm sorry. I was just trying to convey how much pain Bella's ancestor felt. Still, you have to admit that it was a pretty badass speech.
I have to go pry these things out of my eyes now. I'll get started on the next chapter soon.
See you later.