Hunter

Hello, ladies and gents! I have three hours until class starts, so I figured this was a prime opportunity to write up another chapter. Like I said, I won't be showing Bella Hunting too much, except in flashbacks and journal entries. I hope those are satisfying enough for now. I don't want to stray too far away from the main plot with a bunch of hokey Monster of the Week stuff.

Without further ado, here is chapter twenty-three.

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Bella Colt: Journal Excerpt, September 18th, 2010

Getting back into the Hunting life is harder than I thought it would be. I've been keeping to myself the past few days, just brushing up on the basics. Yesterday, Ruby gave me a crash course in telekinesis. I don't think I did too bad, and Ruby was impressed, but I still somehow feel like I've just touched the surface of what I can accomplish. That psychic handbook Alice gave me might actually come in handy.

Alice.

Damn, I haven't thought about her, or any of them for that matter, since I left Forks. I still can't get over how they could all just leave me like that. But, hey, I'm tough. I don't need them. I've got my weapons and my mom's journals, and Ruby to keep me company. Who needs a bunch of fangless, sparkly vampire jerks to be happy? I sure don't.

I'm a soldier. I don't need anybody.

I'm better off alone.

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Bella's POV

Saturday, January 1st, 2011

DEATH TOLL ON THE RISE, POLICE FEAR GANG ACTIVITY

Why there of all places? Why did it have to be there?

I sighed loudly and dropped the newspaper back down onto the table. We were at a small diner in Salt Lake City. A Mom and Pop place. It was quiet. Plus the fries were good, and that was all I cared about.

"You know those things are basically a deep fried heart attack, right?" said Ruby, being her usual, snarky self.

I didn't bother looking up as I stuffed another handful of the salty snack into my mouth. "Don't care," I said after I swallowed. "It's not like I'm going to live long enough to have one."

"You will if I have anything to say about it," she replied crossly, and I finally looked up.

Ruby had ditched the blond girl's body a few months ago at my insistence. She had gone the more environmentally friendly route by adopting the body of some Jane Doe who'd been in a vegetative state for three years after a bad car accident. According to my demon ally, the body had been vacant for a while.

She'd kept the name Ruby though. Said she liked it. I didn't mind. It made things less complicated. And her new body worked better when I needed a decoy, as long as whatever we were Hunting didn't see her face. We shared the same long, brown hair and dark eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Her nose was bigger, her jawline less pronounced, and she was about an inch shorter than me.

"Glad to know you care," I said.

She snorted and crossed her arms on the table, laying her head down into them. "I care about you surviving long enough to make some of those bastards pay."

"Sure, I know." My eyes were drawn back to the headline. DEATH TOLL ON THE RISE.

Ruby heaved a sigh and sat up straighter, leaning her head on her hand. "What's wrong?" she asked, mockingly sympathetic.

"Why does it have to be in Washington?" I lamented.

She tilted back and looked around the room, as if the answer was written on the walls. "Because bad things happen everywhere, including Washington?" she answered, making it sound like a question. She shrugged and stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth.

"Why do you always sucker me into buying you lunch? You don't even need to eat."

She smirked and leaned forward conspiratorially. "Think of it as payment for the lessons, and the blood. I've noticed that the latter is getting more difficult for Hunters to get their hands on."

"Yeah, you'd think with all the demons running around, we'd be drowning in the stuff."

Ruby smiled and tilted her head back. "Well, what can I say? My kind is smarter than yours."

"That's debatable."

"I'm smart enough to know that you're stalling." She smirked triumphantly as I glared at her. "What's the problem, Bella? Usually when I find you a good Hunt, you're out in the car before you even finish reading the headline."

I looked away. "I'd just prefer something a little more concrete. It could be gangs, after all. Not everything is supernatural."

"Have I ever been wrong, Bella? About anything?" She snatched the newspaper away from me. Her eyebrows went up in mock surprise. "Oh, I get it," she said loudly, dragging each word out slowly. "You don't want to be that close to Forks." Smugness radiated off her as I snatched the newspaper back.

"Maybe I don't. What does it matter? I'm sure there're a lot of other places I could be right now."

Ruby shook her head with a smile. "Nope. Seattle's little problem was the only thing I could find on short notice. Everything else is either a false alarm, or it's being handled by another Hunter."

I looked down at the headline again. Someone, or, more than likely, something was loose in Seattle. And here I was, debating about it over lunch with a demon.

I grumbled under my breath, stood up, and went to pay for the food. The lady behind the cash register smiled brightly at me. She looked about sixty. Her hair was gray and curly, her eyes bright blue, and she wore an apron with a grinning yellow cat on it. For a second, the woman's and the cat's smiles seemed to merge together.

I lurched and nearly tripped into the counter, feeling nauseous and headachy all of a sudden. I recognized the signs immediately and fought to keep my composure.

"How was the food?" the cashier asked as I gave her the money.

"Great!" I replied chirpily, forcing a smile. I was running out of time. "Keep the change," I stammered out, and then raced for the door. I heard her call out, "Happy New Year!" as I stumbled outside. Ruby already had the car door open for me.

"Come on, Psychic-Girl," she said, sounding long-suffering as she ushered me into the passenger seat. I dove in and rested back against the headrest. My eyes watered as my vision blurred. "Stop fighting it," she ordered. "Relax, Bella. Just let it come."

I forced myself to calm down, breathe slower. Ruby touched my arm, letting me know that she was still there as the vision started pulling me under…

A flash of red and white, blurring through a forest at incalculable speeds…

An open field filled with dead flowers and a familiar, hungry vampire…

Jacob, twisting in his bed, growling with pain…

I lurched out of the vision, breathing heavily.

"What did you see?" Ruby asked immediately.

I took a few more gasping breaths before I answered. "I'm not sure. It wasn't very clear, but we need to get to Forks. I think something bad is going to happen to Jacob."

"Who?"

"Never mind." I rubbed my temples and got out of the car. "Move over. I'm driving."

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After spending almost seventeen hours cooped up in the car, we finally made it to Forks. The Sunday morning drizzle was in full swing as we pulled into the driveway of my old house.

Being back wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

It was much worse.

Ruby took off the minute we arrived, stating that she would go check out Seattle and bring me back some information in a few days. I didn't bother asking if she would stay and help me unpack. I wanted to be alone.

I went through the old routine. The salt lines I'd left were still intact thanks to the duct tape, but the Devil's Traps and other demon wards needed to be redrawn. I got to work immediately. There was no telling what might've been hiding around here, waiting for me to come back.

Great, now I was paranoid. I hoped this was the right thing to do.

I thought about my vision of Jacob, and decided that it was, no matter how much it sucked.

It was only after I'd finished that I realized there was no food in the house. I could have made a quick stop at a grocery store, but I was starving already, and Port Angeles was a decent drive away. Besides, gas prices were up again. And, frankly, I didn't want to shop anywhere locally, just in case I ran into anyone. I didn't want the whole town to know that I was back just yet.

My excuses were reasonable, but they were still just that, excuses. I knew what I needed to do.

I had to go see Jacob.

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I managed to locate the Quileute Reserve without too much trouble, but finding Jacob's house was a little tougher. The last time I was there was when I was still just a toddler. Renée had made a point of avoiding Forks for Charlie's sake. I felt a dull ache in my chest at the thought of my dead parents, so I pushed those thoughts away.

As urgent as I was, I knew I had time. With all the training Ruby gave me, I'd learned how to predict when my vision was likely to occur. It wasn't a fool-proof method, since I relied solely on instinct, but so far I hadn't been too far off in my estimates. The vision of Jacob in pain wouldn't come true for a while: a month, at least, maybe two. But I wanted to get close to him. Hopefully I could prevent it from happening at all. As much as I hated my visions, if it would help out a friend, I'd go through a hundred a day.

I navigated the unfamiliar pathways, craning my neck as I searched for something that would jog my memory. I huffed in annoyance and parked my car in front of what looked like a convenience store. I hated asking for directions.

Luckily, my saviour came in the form of two teenaged boys.

"Hey, Quil! Embry!" I called, trying to get their attention. I recognized them from the beach trip. It seemed so long ago, but I could suddenly recall nearly every moment of that day. And why wouldn't I? It was the day I had unlocked the secrets of the Cullens.

I quickly shoved that thought aside as well. I'd gotten very good at doing that in the past few months.

Embry was the first one to recognize me. "Bella?" he replied hesitantly. "Bella Colt?"

I got out of my car, shivering slightly as the cold Washington air seeped through my jacket. I needed to buy a winter coat if I intended on staying. I gave them a wide grin. For some reason, I was ridiculously glad to see them, and not just because they could help me find Jacob. They'd seemed like such fun-loving guys when we'd hung out together around the campfire, although my memory of Sam Uley's strange behaviour still bothered me to this day.

As I walked towards them, I had the weirdest sense of déjà vu.

They were big, much bigger than they had been last year. Their t-shirts displayed the corded muscles of their arms, and their sweatpants stopped an inch above their ankles, as if their legs had grown too long and they hadn't had time to go clothes shopping. Or was that the style now? I never did keep track of fashion trends. But what were they doing wearing t-shirts in January? I was pretty sure that it was below freezing out here, and the wind was not helping. How could they stand it? Was I just not used to the cruddy weather or was there something really strange going on here?

I suddenly remembered Jacob's massive growth spurt and found myself eyeing them with a little more caution. Was it normal for boys to shoot up so much so quickly? I had never taken the time to study the growth patterns of adolescent boys, but I didn't think it was.

I saw them exchange glances, catching their looks of surprise and suspicion. I tried to lighten the mood. "What? Am I not allowed to drop by and say hello to the Quileute Cuties?"

As expected, they both blushed and looked down, grinning slightly. Embry shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "Sorry, Bella, we're just surprised to see you. We didn't think your friends, uh, the Cullens, would let you come here."

My eyes turned fierce. "I don't know what you mean by that. I haven't seen the Cullens in months," I told them sternly.

They both looked up, stunned. "You mean," Quil began, licking his lips nervously, "you didn't leave with them?"

"No!" I answered sharply. I suddenly realized what they meant. The Cullens and I had disappeared at the same time. Everyone knew I was close to the family, so it was only natural for people to assume that I'd left with them. I needed to dispel this rumour as quickly as possible if I hoped to get close to Jacob. Billy and the other tribe leaders probably thought the Cullens had changed me into a vampire and fled for the hills to avoid a confrontation.

"But then," Embry asked, brushing his dark hair back with his fingers, "where have you been? Why'd you just take off all of a sudden?"

I shrugged, as if I were perfectly nonchalant about the whole thing, not burning up inside with anger and resentment. "Edward and I had some irreconcilable differences, so we decided it would be better to go our separate ways. They took off to who-knows-where, and I went on a road trip with a friend of mine. I didn't see the point in sticking around. Too many memories."

"Oh," Quil responded, and then grinned again, showing me that he still retained some of his boyish looks. "Jacob's gonna be happy about that."

I smiled back. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you guys about. Can you give me directions to Jacob's house? There's no food at my place and I wanted to mooch some dinner out of him."

They laughed. "We were just heading over there ourselves," Embry said. "We'll lead you there."

"Shotgun!" Quil yelled abruptly, sprinting for the passenger door of my car.

"No fair!" Embry yelled back. He made a valiant effort to catch up with the slightly younger boy, but Quil's head start gave him the advantage.

I just laughed and shook my head at their antics. Embry ended up leaning over my shoulder from the backseat as he pointed the way to Jacob's place.

The Black residence was a small wooden place with narrow windows. The dull red paint made it resemble a tiny barn. I tried to remember what it looked like in my childhood, but came up blank. It must not have made a big enough impact on me. Then again, I was only three or so when I was last here.

The first person I saw was Billy. He was sitting in his wheelchair in front of a rusty red barbeque, flipping burgers and hotdogs with a spatula. He hadn't noticed our approach yet, so I stopped a moment to study him.

He looked very old. The Billy in my memory was younger, thinner, and more vibrant. His age and loss of mobility had caused him to gain a sizable potbelly. His russet skin was wrinkled and sagged slightly around his jawline. I tried to reconcile the two images of the same man in my mind. Everybody around me seemed to be getting older.

But not Edward. He would never get older.

I shook my morbid thoughts from my mind and got out of the car. Quil and Embry followed suit, engaging in a little roughhousing as they argued over who would get to sit up front next time. The noise drew Billy's attention and he smiled in their direction.

Then he spotted me.

I was glad that Quil and Embry were too distracted by their quarrel to notice the look of utter shock that graced Billy's face. I knew that they would only ask questions that we didn't want to answer. Billy quickly rearranged his expression into one of pleasant acknowledgement, but he couldn't hide his penetrating curiosity from me.

"Hey, Billy!" Quil called out with easy familiarity. "You think you can whip up some extra burgers for Bella?"

Billy nodded, wheeling himself inside the house. I guessed that he was grateful for the chance to regain his composure.

"Hey, Jacob! You'll never guess who's here!" Embry shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. He was staring into a stand of trees and bushes just behind the house. There was a faint outline of a dirt pathway that led from a small gap in the trees to the back entrance of Billy's house. I assumed there was some sort of garage back there. The ground looked treacherous, so I was pretty sure Billy couldn't navigate it in his wheelchair. Jacob probably went back there to get some privacy.

Perfect.

I peered into the shrubbery, looking for some sign of life. I wasn't disappointed. After a moment, Jacob emerged from the trees. He wore a bright red t-shirt and blue jeans. His hair tumbled down past his shoulders in slightly messy waves.

Seriously, what was up with this t-shirts in January trend?

Jacob brushed a hand through his tousled hair as he walked towards us. His hands were greasy and stained with oil, and I shuddered at the thought of how long it would take to wash that out. Having long hair has its downsides.

He suddenly froze in place as his eyes finally zeroed in on me, then he grinned broadly and began to jog over. The excessive joy he obviously felt at seeing me made me feel guilty. I wished I'd come back sooner.

"Bella! Hey! What's up?" he asked in a rush as he stood before me, looking down and grinning.

I nearly gawked at how much he had grown. He was over six feet when I left, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was six and a half by now.

What was going on?

Of course, I couldn't let anyone know what I was thinking, so I just grinned back and said, "You tell me. You probably have a better view from up there."

He laughed, and the sound was much deeper than I remembered. Still, I couldn't help but smile. That sound seemed to brighten the day. "Yeah, I thought you looked a lot shorter than before."

I gave him a playful smack in the gut. "Watch it, Sunshine. I'm not short; I'm average. You're the giant here."

He laughed again, and I decided it was one of the best things I'd heard in months.

"So, what are you doing here? Not that you can't drop by whenever you want. It's just that…" he trailed off, embarrassed.

I shrugged. My neck was starting to ache from looking up at him, but I didn't want to move back. It would be rude. "I just got back into town, and I realized I have no food at the house, so I came to mooch some hotdogs out of your dad."

Jacob looked confused for a second, but then Billy rolled back outside, carrying a half-empty package of wieners. "Need some help, dad?"

"No, I got it," Billy replied gruffly, wheeling himself back over to the barbeque. He added the extra wieners and went back to flipping the burgers with his spatula. "So, Bella," he began, "is everyone back?"

It didn't take a mind reader to guess who Billy was referring to.

"Nope, haven't seen the Cullens in months," I said as nonchalantly as possible. I was getting better at this.

"Oh?" he asked, like he wasn't sure whether or not to believe me. "Then, where'd you take off to?"

"I decided to go on a road trip. You know, just doing odd jobs around the country." I didn't know exactly how much Billy knew about the Supernatural world, but I figured he would get the hint.

"Oh!" he replied, a little startled. "You're being careful, of course, after what happened to Renée…" He drifted off and continued flipping burgers.

"Who's Renée?" Embry asked, confused.

Jacob gave him a look that clearly stated he should keep his mouth shut, but I answered him.

"She was my mom. She died a few months ago, while on the job."

Embry's eyes widened. "Geez, I'm sorry!"

I gave him a small smile. "No sweat. I'm cool with it."

There was a short, uncomfortable silence. To my relief, Billy broke it by announcing that dinner was ready. The three boys and I quickly began stuffing our faces. I knew that teenaged boys ate a lot, but after Jacob went back for his fourth hotdog and fifth hamburger, I began to get suspicious again. I had downed three hotdogs, and I was already feeling full. Wasn't it unhealthy to eat so much meat so quickly? Wasn't Billy worried about that?

"Slow down, Jacob," Billy warned, "If you keep that up, you're gonna pop."

Jacob shrugged and stuffed half his hotdog into his mouth. After he finished it, he whined, "Sorry, dad, but I'm starving!"

I gave Billy the faintest look of suspicion before I stood up to throw my paper plate into the garbage.

"You done already, Bella?" Jacob asked with surprise.

I smirked at him. "This may come as a shock to you Jacob, but even I like to limit my chances of having a coronary."

He snorted and reached for another hamburger. I wandered into the kitchen and stuffed my plate into the wastebasket. At the same time, I gave the interior of the house a once-over, looking for anything suspicious.

Maybe, I thought doubtfully, Jacob will eat some bad meat and get food poisoning. That would explain my vision of him writhing in pain. Salmonella was not fun.

However, that didn't explain the part about the red and white figure blurring through the forest, nor of Laurent, James's ex-flunky, standing in the middle of a field with the dark burgundy eyes of a hungry, human-eating vampire.

Vampire.

A figure blurring through a forest, with white skin and red hair. Red like…

Victoria's.

I almost smacked myself.

"How could I be so stupid?" I wondered aloud.

Of course Victoria was still hanging around. I'd killed her mate just a few months ago. Why didn't I think? I suppose with all the fuss made over James's abilities as a Tracker, the female vampire had just slipped my mind.

Okay, I thought, trying to clear everything up, so Victoria and Laurent are back in Forks. They may even be responsible for the deaths in Seattle. Still they didn't seem like a likely team. Laurent had left James's Coven easily enough when things got too hot for him. So why would he be working with Victoria?

Because he's afraid of her.

There was the answer. Laurent had struck me as kind of a weakling, whereas Victoria probably resembled her mate in terms of sadism. It wouldn't take much to convince the coward to help her deal with this one, little human, especially since her vampire "protectors" were gone…

But what about Jacob?

I froze in horror. There was only one thing I could think of that could tie those three together.

One of them was going to bite Jacob.

With that thought, the bare light bulb above me shattered and rained glass down onto the floor.

"Damn it!" I cursed, looking around widely for a broom and dustpan. I was just glad I was wearing shoes. I spotted a closet and open the door, revealing the required cleaning accessories, as well as a fresh bulb. I wondered how long it would take for the others to notice my extended absence.

I hastily swept the broken glass into the dustpan and dumped it into the garbage, covering the shards with some used napkins. Then I carefully unscrewed the obliterated light bulb and tossed that in as well. Finally, I screwed in the new one, cursing again as the light came on and blinded me momentarily. I always forgot to switch off the light before I did that.

When everything looked normal, I made my way back outside.

"Hey, Bella, what took you so long? We were about to call in a search party!" Jacob shouted jovially as I reappeared.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I just went to the bathroom, Sunshine. No need to worry your pretty little head over me."

Quil and Embry laughed in response, and even Billy cracked a smile. Jacob just smiled and shook his head.

I checked my watch and squinted as a headache started to build up again. Not a vision one, thank goodness. "Hey, listen guys, it's been fun, but I've still got some unpacking left to do back home."

"Unpacking?" Jacob asked. "So, you're staying?"

His hopeful, puppy-dog eyes only served to make me feel more guilty. If he got hurt because some monster was after me…

"For a few months, at least," I reassured him. "And don't think this is the last time I'll come over to mooch some food off you guys."

"You're welcome anytime, Bella," Billy said.

I smiled at him in response, and then headed for my car. "Quil, Embry, you guys need a ride?"

"Naw, we're good, thanks!" Embry called back.

"See you soon, Bella!" Quil added.

I waved back to them as I got into my car to drive home.

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Well, there you have it. Chapter twenty-three of Hunter is now complete. And with its addition, the word-count for this story will go up to over one hundred thousand. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I'll try to have the next chapter finished before school lets out…in April! I love college!

Phew, I gotta motor. My psychology class starts soon.

Adieu, faithful readers.