Hunter

Hello, my old friends! My grandma came for Christmas and she stayed until January. She turned seventy-four on January 3rd and she stills runs around like she's twenty! She already cleaned the house, (don't yell at me about making her do anything; she seeks this stuff out like a bloodhound), and she prepared Christmas dinner for fifteen people.

And no, I wasn't exaggerating about the weather. People actually were rescued by helicopters. My step-dad's a truck driver, and he said that one of his buddies got stuck in a snowdrift on Monday, and didn't get out until Wednesday. The poor guy was running out of gas and just about frozen by the time he was rescued. It was seriously messed up. Hopefully this doesn't happen again. It was the worst storm we've had in over twenty years!

One more note, guess whose birthday was on December 26th! I'm nineteen! That would be a lot cooler if I intended to drink, but at least I can go into casinos and comedy clubs. And karaoke bars.

Alright, enough of my babbling, it's time to get back to Hunter.

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Bella's POV

September 13th, 2010

Death was all around me.

I didn't have to see it to know. I could smell it. A rotten, pungent, sickly-sweet smell, overshadowed by sulphur.

I bit back the urge to vomit, knowing that it would do no good to add to the putrid decay. I couldn't see anything through the red haze that hung in the air like a macabre fog.

Did it rain blood in this nightmarish world? Was the ground encrusted with severed limbs and exposed organs? If I tried to move, would one of those amputated hands reach out and wrap its fingers around my ankle?

"…Angel…"

The voice was only a hiss, nearly indiscernible from my own shallow breathing, but I heard it nonetheless.

I growled in response, spinning around in place as I tried to locate where it came from.

"Where are you?" I shouted. Fearlessly, I strode forward, not bothering to check and see if I was going to step on anything unspeakable. Thankfully, I didn't.

"Come out and face me!"

Soft laughter sounded to my right. I spun on my heels, grasping desperately for my knife.

Damn it! I was unarmed!

Suddenly, large, shadowed hands appeared before me through the red fog, reaching out to encase my arms in a burning, inescapable grip. I tried to kick It in the chest, but before I could move, I found myself pressed against It.

The scent of death and sulphur overwhelmed me. I gagged, twisting my head to the side, though a part of me thought it would be just deserts if this thing got a face full of whatever resided in my stomach.

Somehow, I managed to keep it together. I couldn't move my arms enough to punch It, and kicking was out too. It didn't react as I slammed my feet into Its shins, as if oblivious to any pain I might have inflicted.

"My my, Bella. Always such a temperamental little thing," It said condescendingly.

I looked at Its face. All the features were hidden by shadows, except for Its burning, yellow eyes. Despite the lack of visible expressions, I could feel It smiling. "Get the hell away from me!" I demanded as threateningly as possible.

"Why would I do that? I've spent so long searching for you." It leaned closer and sniffed my hair, then moaned with pleasure.

I jerked back in disgust. "What the hell do you want with me?"

It hissed into my ear. "Oh, Bella, ssssoo many things. There are ssssoo many things I want to do with you."

I squirmed in discomfort. "It'll be a cold day in hell before you get anything from me," I countered automatically.

As if in response, the red haze dispersed, taking the fiery hot warmth that I'd hardly noticed until now with it. I shivered, teeth chattering as the yellow-eyed monster released one of my arms and wrapped Its own around my back, keeping me pressed against Its chest. It moved Its free hand to my face; Its fingers abruptly ice cold as they made a path down my cheek, to rest on my chin.

It was nothing like Edward's cool, loving hands, caressing my face so delicately for fear that I might shatter any second. Its touch was so cold it burned, and I couldn't imagine my vampire boyfriend being so forceful just to satiate his own desire.

It ran Its thumb along my parted lips, chuckling darkly as I shivered, completely helpless in Its grasp.

"Bella, my beautiful Isabella, have you forgotten so easily that hell is already cold?"

I whimpered as It leaned down, positive that I would soon feel Its glacier lips on mine…

Then suddenly, It froze.

A growl escaped It, shattering whatever hold It had on me. I twisted out of Its grip, conscious that It had let me go.

"Who is that?" It shouted. For the first time, I heard anger in Its voice. "Show yourself!" It demanded, much as I had earlier.

"…Leave…" A new voice, so smooth and impassive that it could have been the hum of a computer monitor. It was loud, and, for some reason, I thought that whatever it was, it seemed accustomed to being obeyed.

The yellow-eyed being growled again, more savagely than before. It reached out with lightning speed to seize my arm. "And if I don't?" It asked, tightening Its grip.

The voice came again, louder this time, yet still strangely lacking in emotion. "You will release the child, or I will be forced to intervene, Azazel."

"She's mine!" It - Azazel snarled possessively. He reminded me of a toddler in the midst of a tantrum, only focused on his desires. "Go back where you came from! She's mine!"

For a second, there was silence. I felt the spark of hope I hadn't realized I had vanish as my possible-saviour didn't reply.

Then, there was light.

It filled the dark, empty world, spreading out from some point in the sky, burning away the shadows and the scent of decay.

"Noooo!" Azazel cried out in fury as the light reached him. He released my arm to shield his gaze from the brilliance, reacting as if the very sight made his eyes hurt like a wasp's sting.

I stood, unafraid of the light that destroyed everything around me. It wouldn't hurt me. It couldn't. It wanted to protect me, and some part of me wanted to protect the being from the sky who had rescued me.

The light was warm and safe, and strangely familiar. I touched my aching arms, feeling the bruises that Azazel had given me. The light seemed to sense my discomfort and wrapped itself around me. The pain vanished, and I sighed contentedly.

Azazel still snarled with fury, but I sensed he was retreating.

"You will not harm the child," the voice said, and this time I heard a touch of anger in it. It didn't frighten me, though; despite how much I felt it should.

Azazel's presence finally disappeared, and I was left standing in a world of light.

"Thank you," I said, trying to put as much gratitude into those words as I could. "Thank you so much."

"You are most welcome, Isabella Colt."

"Call me Bella," I replied automatically, not worried in the slightest that this amazingly powerful being knew who I was. "And what's your name?"

There was another short pause, as if the being was unsure of how to answer that.

"Do you have a name?" I asked, confused and somewhat forlorn. I wanted to know my rescuer. I wanted to see his face.

"My name," the voice repeated slowly, then with renewed confidence, he answered, "My name is Castiel…"

I felt the light start to drift away, and started to panic. "Wait! Don't go! Can I ask what you are?" I searched around me in desperation as the darkness began piling in again. "Castiel, please! What are you?"

Softly, a word trickled down to me through the growing shadows. "…Angel…"

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The guitar solo of Enter Sandman blared in my ear, waking me up with a start. I shook off the lingering remnants of my dream, filing away the important details for later. Reaching blindly over to my nightstand - it was pitch-black in my room - I punched the talk button on my cell phone, stopping the music.

I cleared my throat and said, "Hello?"

"Hiya, Hells Bells."

It was only after I heard the voice that I realized I'd forgotten to check the caller I.D. That was a serious problem. I was too relaxed. I had let my guard down. The fact that it was 4:00 a.m. on a Monday was no excuse. I was a Hunter with a death sentence from all sides, and I couldn't afford to be sloppy.

Still, if I hung up now, she would know that I hadn't checked first, and she would throw that in my face the next time we met.

I summoned up as much contempt into my voice as I could. "What do you want, Abby?"

"What, can't I call an old friend on her birthday?" the thief/Hunter replied in a mockingly fake hurt voice.

"You are not my friend!" I growled. "You stole the Colt, you nearly got my mom killed, and you shot me!"

"Don't be so dramatic. I hardly grazed you. And Renée made it out okay."

"And the gun?" I pressured.

"It caught my interest. It was nothing personal, Hells Bells. I would have stolen it from anyone."

"Yeah, a family heirloom that can theoretically kill demons and save thousands of lives, and all you care about is what you can get out of it. If that's how you treat your friends, how do you treat your enemies?"

"I don't have any enemies."

I bit my lip and forced myself to calm down. "What do you want, Abby?" I repeated. "You didn't call when I got out of hell. You didn't call when Renée died. What do you want?"

"I wanted to tell you that you should be careful."

I squeezed my eyes shut in annoyance. "I am being careful. Haven't you heard? I did what Renée told me to. I'm retired. No more killing monsters or fighting demons. I'm done with that."

"But they aren't done with you."

I shot up in bed. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't give you any real details. Nobody has a bloody clue what's going on, but something is definitely coming." This didn't sound like Abby. The girl I knew was playful and taunting, never serious.

"Look," I said, trying to reassure her, "I'm all sealed up in a demon and spirit-proof house. If anything comes for me, I'm ready for it."

"No, you aren't."

I growled in frustration. "Well then, how about you give me some more information so that I can get ready? I'd kind of like to live to see another birthday."

"All I know is that it's somehow related to demons. They're getting stronger."

"Yeah, I know. Jo told me about that."

"The little Harvelle girl? Please, she doesn't have a clue. There are at least three hundred possessions in the States alone, and those are just the ones we know about. I can guarantee that whatever they want, it'll mean serious trouble for Hunters in particular."

I felt a hollowness in my chest. Three hundred…This was serious. I couldn't afford to let this go on any longer without doing anything.

A small, selfish part of me just wanted to ignore everything. Why should I let a few demons destroy everything I had with Edward just to save some strangers' lives?

I'll sleep on it, I thought. Everything was clearer after a good night's sleep - not that I had many of those anymore. A fragment of my dream came back to me, the icy hand touching my face-

And besides, I needed a game plan. I couldn't just go rushing headfirst into a demon bloodbath. That was suicide.

"What are the others doing about this?" I asked.

I could almost see her rolling her eyes before she replied, "What do you think? They're running around, trying to track down as many of them as they can. A useless endeavour, as you should well understand. The only way so many of their kind could get up here is if something much more powerful is breaking them out. All they're doing is wiping the blood off the ground when really they should be stitching up the wound."

I didn't reply for a long moment. Something about what she said nagged at me, conjuring up a memory.

"Hello? You there?"

"I'm here," I replied. "What you said…about something powerful breaking demons out of hell…do you think it's possible that it broke me out too?"

This time it was Abby's turn to pause. I waited, holding my breath until she could collect her thoughts.

"I don't know," she said eventually. "This isn't anything we've dealt with before, so I suppose we should keep our minds open, but Bella…if whatever this thing is brought you back, I can only imagine what kind of plans it has for you." She paused again, and then said,"Be very careful." She hung up before I could respond.

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I couldn't get back to sleep after Abby's phone call. Instead, I booted up Ash's computer, intent on finding out as much as I could about Azazel.

To my annoyance, there was only that one article that even mentioned his name - the one about the nuns. Other than that, there was just page after page of so-called miracles.

I had to hand it to him, Yellow-Eyes knew how to play the game. With over fifty deals made in less than two years - and those were just the ones I knew about - Azazel was clearly dedicated to his work.

This was why it was so strange that he hadn't come to collect.

As far as I could tell, only a few of these people were dead, and those who had had died at the wrong time. A normal deal lasted ten years. From what I saw, none of these people had died more than three years ago, about seven years longer than even the most generous Crossroad Demon would offer.

I switched the laptop off and huffed. Nothing, no new information, as I already knew. I checked the time and, seeing that I only had an hour before I had to leave, started getting ready.

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On my way to school, I stopped to grab a coffee. Even though I poured in enough milk and sugar to change the liquid from dark brown to a light cream colour, I still couldn't ignore the bitter aftertaste. I drank about half of it on the way to school, just for the caffeine, and then dumped the rest into a storm drain and threw the plastic cup into a garbage bin at the edge of a curb.

I was overly tired, paranoid, and now my breath stunk.

I fished around inside my glove compartment and managed to find a half-empty package of minty fresh gum. I tossed two pieces into my mouth and chewed furiously, wincing as the hot flavour burnt my tongue.

What a perfect way to start the day.

I sighed in irritation as I saw that Edward wasn't here yet. I really needed to talk to him. He could help me sort out what to do about this rotten situation.

Maybe he would even offer to help.

I tried to picture Edward Hunting with me. Not his way, but mine. Guns and salt and holy water. I had a hard time picturing him holding a gun. Now that I knew what he was, what he was capable of, a boring, human weapon seemed superfluous when he could simply tear out a monster's throat with his teeth.

I quickly banished that thought. No way was I asking Edward to come Hunting with me. He had his family to think of. I couldn't let him throw all that away just to help me save the world one monster at a time.

Me, I had nobody, except for Edward, and some Hunter friends. The latter probably expected me to die at some point. They would mourn me, but then move on. We all did it. Life as a Hunter had its risks, and everyone who lived our way knew it. There was no sugar-coating it.

I thought about my coffee for a second and smirked. No, no matter how much sugar I put in it, I could always taste the bitterness underneath.

I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye, so I didn't jump when someone tapped on my window. I glanced up and smiled. "Hey, Jacob!" I greeted, getting out of my car.

As I stood up, I realized that Jacob looked…really different.

"Hello, biceps," I said mockingly. "You know, anabolic steroids are really bad for you."

Even as I joked, I couldn't help but study him like the Hunter I was. I had only seen him five months ago, and yet it seemed as if he'd aged five years. His hair was still long, so that hadn't changed much, but the rest of him…

His face was more angular, lacking any remnants of the baby fat I remembered from the beach. He was taller, much taller. It was like he'd grown an inch per month. Whereas before he had barely stood 5'8", now he easily bypassed 6 feet.

And it wasn't just height-wise that he'd grown. His forearms were bare, showing off nicely toned muscles. His shirt stretched around his torso, straining as though it would rip if he breathed in too deeply.

Seriously, was he on steroids?

He chuckled, obviously pleased with my perceived ogling. "I'm just filling out, Bella," he replied. "You know it wouldn't seem so drastic if we hung out more."

Is he hitting on me? I thought incredulously. Where was the awkward fifteen-year-old who I'd strung along with ease half a year ago? When had he grown up?

I looked down. "Yeah, sorry about that. I did promise you we would hang out sometime, but…" I trailed off, not wanting to get into it.

Jacob was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry about your mom," he said finally.

I looked back up sharply, narrowing my eyes. "How did you-"

"My dad," he answered, looking away from me as if ashamed. "I heard him talking on the phone with someone named Bobby. He told me that there was some sort of accident." He glanced back to me searchingly, clearly wondering if he should press for details.

I bit my lip and looked down again. "Hunting accident," I answered. "She and Phil, her new husband, went out looking for this…this wolf that had gotten too close to a town down south. That's what they did for a living…dealt with dangerous things like that. After I didn't hear from Renée for a few days, I went looking for her, but I was too late." I didn't like lying to Jacob, and it struck me that I could possibly tell him the truth only after I finished my story. Jake just seemed like the kind of guy who would understand. His father, Billy, was in on the whole secret world, so why not?

And destroy what's left of his innocence? Ruin one of the only good friends you have by telling him that he lives in a world populated by monsters and demons and nightmares that he can't even begin to imagine? You're such a lousy person, Bella. You should just let him have an ignorant, happy life like everybody else.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. He shifted a little and I saw that he was holding something in his right hand.

"What's that?" I asked, desperate for a change of subject.

He looked down and blushed. "Well - ah - I know it's your birthday today-"

I waved my hand over his mouth, shushing him loudly. "Don't let anyone hear you," I whispered, looking around for eavesdroppers. Luckily, we were alone in the parking lot. Most of the other kids had already gone inside, and the remainder were hanging out at the picnic tables.

Jacob laughed again, grateful for the tension-breaker. "Don't worry, Bella, I'd love you even if you were grey-haired and wrinkly all over."

"Hey, hey, hey, watch your mouth, young man!" I teased. "No way am I getting old and wrinkly. My plan is to live hard, die young, and leave a sexy corpse behind."

He laughed uproariously, and I joined in. I hadn't felt this good since before Renée…

"So, is that a present for me?" I asked, quickly focussing my attention away from my thoughts.

He nodded, embarrassed, and lifted up his hand to show me what it was.

"A dream-catcher?" I asked in amazement. I hadn't seen one of those since I was a kid. I took it from him, examining how the dark wood was twined into a donut shape. White threads hung off the bottom, with multi-coloured beads strung onto them. A piece of metal stuck out of the top, the end twisted into a loop. I wondered if I had any nails in my bedroom I could hang it over.

"Yeah…I figured…you kinda looked tired the last time I saw you…and I doubt you can get a good night's sleep after what happened with your mom…so…" He shifted and rubbed his eyebrow in discomfort.

I felt a rush of affection for him. "Ah, Jake." Impulsively, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. He gawked at me, blushing furiously. "It's absolutely perfect. Thank you so much." I would have reached out to hug him, but it was then that I noticed the Cullens had arrived.

Jacob saw them too. "Hope you don't get into any trouble with your boyfriend," he sulked, sounding as though he hoped for the opposite.

I laughed and gave him another impulsive peck on his other cheek. "Don't you worry about Edward. His bark is worse than his bite." I winked at him, glad to see his bitter expression disappear. "I should get to class, but I will definitely start visiting you more often."

He grinned. "I'll hold you to that," he said, and then sauntered off to his car. It was a red Volkswagen Rabbit, probably a 1986 model.

"Nice ride, by the way," I commented.

"I know," he replied, and I had to laugh, remembering my first day at Forks High School, and how I had said those exact words about my Impala.

I felt much better, but this memory made the next four months feel that much worse, because I now knew what I was missing.

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Just a bit of foreshadowing there at the end, no need to go crazy.

Hello?

Anyone there?

Oh, screw it! I'm sorry! I know I say that every single freaking time I update, but this time I feel it's completely warranted. I don't have any good excuses for why this took me over two months to finish, so just make sure you scream at me in your reviews that I need to get my butt in gear and stop being so lazy.

At least I made it longer than usual.

I'll update soon, (I promise).