Disclaimer: All rights are wholly owned by Stephenie Meyer. Any characters that may appear here are for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: A big thank you to my beta, TwilightMomofTwo, for helping this be all that it can be. You rule! Read her story, "Resurrection". ZOMG it's good!


Ch. 8 - Hunting

Charlie was a fisherman, not a hunter, so I had never gone hunting as a human. I was even more clueless as to what was involved when vampires hunted. The first time I brought up the idea of watching Edward hunt he had snarled at me. So I was a little apprehensive as to the coming activity.

Most hunters who came to the Newton's store tended to wear jeans and a flannel shirt or something to that effect. Some wore camouflage clothing or coveralls. I didn't have coveralls so I just put on jeans and the shirt, and tied my hair into a pony tail. I turned to see Edward had taken off his tie but was still wearing slacks and a white shirt. He was lounging on the sofa watching me.

"Um, shouldn't you wear something a little more…sturdy?" I asked.

He grinned at me and chuckled, obviously amused by the newborn. I felt my eyes narrow at him. "Hey, how was I supposed to know?" My voice rose slightly. "You never wanted me to come with you before."

Edwards smoothed his expression and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, love," he apologized. "You're right, I shouldn't be laughing at things you don't know. In fact, I find I'm eager to show you the rest of my world now." He rose from the couch and took my hand. "Come on." My feelings soothed, I now felt guilty because I shouldn't let myself get angry.

Emmett and Jasper were waiting for us outside. I half expected us to get into Emmett's jeep, but they started walking towards the river. Edward and I followed. Emmett turned to me, grinning. "Try to keep up, okay?" Then he and Jasper dashed toward the river and cleared it in a single bound.

Before, when the Cullens ran, they disappeared from my human eyes. Now I had no problem keeping track of them. Looking at my wide-eyed stare, Edward chuckled. "Your body knows what to do, Bella. Just let it take over. Come on." He turned as well and jumped the river.

I took a deep breath. Kids on the track team did long jump, but of course I had never gone out for that. If I had to guess, I'd say the river was 30 or 40 yards wide. Either way, everybody was on the other side waiting for me. It was either jump or swim.

I started running toward the river, aiming for a spot on the bank. It seemed as if things were moving in slow motion, and I had no problem keeping track of it all. I could clearly see a flat rock near the river bank as I drew closer. That would make a good launching pad. When I got close enough I planted my foot on it without missing, then heaved myself into the air as hard as I could go.

Suddenly I was flying, air whistling by my ears, my clothes fluttering with the passage of the wind. Thoughts of Peter Parker and the proportionate strength of a spider came to mind again, and I giggled.

But then I looked down. I was more than halfway across the river and I wasn't coming down yet. With no way to control where I was going to land, I started flailing my arms and legs as the trees on the opposing bank got closer and closer. "Oh craaap!" I yelled. And I crashed into the upper branches of a pine tree. Needles, pine cones and a couple branches rained down as I hung there.

Like with Edward's desk, I wasn't hurt, but Emmett and Jasper were howling with laughter on the river bank below. Edward gazed up at me, his hand over his mouth – whether from concern or from suppressing laughter, I couldn't tell. If I could still blush I knew I would be beet red. Trying to ignore them, I closed my eyes tightly, my teeth ground together and a roaring sound began to build in my head. I gripped some branches to steady my trembling hands, but the hoots of derision continued to assault my ears, mocking my missteps. Suddenly I couldn't take it anymore and my hands clenched, severing the branches in a crackling explosion. "You think this is easy?" I screamed. The roar filled my ears completely and I launched myself out of the tree at the figures below.

There were three of them. I landed on the big one, knocking him to the ground with the sound of a wrecking ball crashing into a building. As I got to my feet to smash him down again, another one with reddish hair tackled me from the side and we both fell. The big one got closer and I lashed out with my feet, catching him in the stomach and knocking him back. Twisting from side to side, I tried to break free but the red-head kept his arms locked around me. The blonde one approached and I snarled as he avoided my kicking feet and grabbed my legs. Arching backward, I tried to bite the one on the back of me but the big one came and helped pin me to the ground. I kept squirming and trying to kick, glaring and snarling.

Then that voice came to me again, calm and comforting, easing my mind back into my body. Slowly, against my will, my mind cleared. The roaring sound in my head subsided to a whisper, then stopped. My frantic breathing slowed and returned to normal. Edward was speaking slowly and calmly to me, his lips close to my ear. The faces of Emmett and Jasper were furrowed with the effort of trying to restrain me without hurting me. They felt me stop struggling, and slowly began relaxing their hold, watching me all the while. I rolled onto my stomach and covered my head with my arms. I felt like digging a hole and jumping in.

"I'm sorry!" I cried. "I get mad so easily now!" I had never considered myself a violent person before. Okay, there was that time I'd punched Jacob but he had really pissed me off. Now my temper seemed to be on a hair trigger and I was going from zero to psycho in nothing flat.

"Shh, it's alright, love. You can't help who you are now." Edward's silky voice resonated in my ear, his hand rubbing my back gently.

"I can't help being a raving maniac?" I grumbled. "That's just great." Self-loathing burned in my stomach, making me bury my head deeper under my arms.

Edward's soothing voice continued. "You're not a raving maniac, you're just…adjusting. That's what comes with this life, Bella, it doesn't last forever." Then he chuckled. "It's a good thing, too. When Emmett was changed he really kept us busy."

Mention of Emmett reminded me I had attacked him first. "Emmett, are you okay?" I queried him.

Emmett's low laugh rumbled in his chest. "Don't worry about it. Esme doesn't let Jasper and me really go at it, and Edward cheats. So this is the most fun I've had in a long time!"

"More fun than Grizzlies?" I asked sourly, still refusing to look at them.

"Yeah, way more fun!"

"You're doing fine, Bella," Jasper's low drawl came to me. "Remember when I told you how hard it was to keep an army of newborns? It's because they're unstable and fight with each other. If no one stops them they keep going until one's dead. You seem to be doing fairly well, considering. When you're not angry, you are quite like your normal self. I remember some newborns who would go back to fighting right after I finished calming them down. We had to put those down because they were too destructive."

I shuddered at the thought. I hoped Jasper wouldn't feel the need to put me down. The life of a newborn was a precarious existence under Jasper and Maria's command. Although as I thought about it some more, the situation was not the same. Maria's newborns were disposable, living day to day as a means to power. We were a family, and Jasper had voted in favor of me joining the family. He wouldn't have done that if I were disposable.

"I have to admit," Jasper went on. "It would be easier if I could calm you down directly. We'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way."

"It just takes a while," Edward's velvet voice assured me, and I felt the light touch of his lips on the back of my head.. "We'll simply have to be more careful." The stern warning in his voice for his brothers didn't miss my notice. "Meanwhile we really should go." He smoothed my hair back behind my ear, and whispered close to it. "Maybe you'll be less crabby when you've had something to eat."

The warm timbre in his voice roused me out of my shame. At this most inappropriate of times, I realized his full length was stretched alongside me where we had fallen, legs entangled with mine. Raising my head, I rolled over part way to look at him. He had a wry smile on one side of his lips, his eyes gazed into mine and his hand rested softly on my back. Relief blossomed that he felt comfortable enough to tease me. Part of me had worried that he might start to regret being married to an unstable witch. "Thanks for being patient," I said as I began to pull my legs free. Edward rose first and helped me to my feet. We quickly brushed most of the dirt and leaves off each other before resuming our course.

The three of them started off into the woods at a human speed trot and I followed. They gradually picked up the pace, and I sped up to match them. Running had never been my thing and I tended to fall down a lot, but now it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. As the trees, brush and obstacles rushed forward at higher and higher speeds, I found that my enhanced senses and reactions seemed to work together without my conscious input, like an auto-pilot. Occasionally the wealth of new sensations worked against me, distracting me as I ran, and I would have to catch myself. Amazingly, my body seemed to take over in those situations, keeping me upright with just a slight hitch in stride. So while I wasn't Alice, I wasn't my completely klutzy old self anymore. I laughed, wondering what the girls in gym class would think if they saw me now.

I put a little more effort into it, and pulled abreast of the three boys. My movements were not as fast as Edward's, but I seemed to cover more ground for every step so we were pretty even. A smirk spread across my face as I began to truly appreciate where his fascination with speed came from. Riding on Edward's back had been a hundred times better than the motorcycle. And while I liked the intimacy of riding on his back, running on my own was so much more thrilling.

We continued in what Edward said was a south-easterly direction for a while, sometimes on old logging roads, sometimes cross-country. Hills and mountains, valleys and rivers meant nothing to us, flowing under our flashing feet like the lawn at a city park. We would soon reach the Olympic National Park, if we weren't already inside the park boundaries. I thought I would start to tire soon but the old familiar burning in the lungs or aching in the muscles never came. After running for almost an hour, I still showed no signs of tiring. I smiled; I could get used to this.

I had always wondered how Edward was able to find his way through the woods at night. Now that I was able to see, hear and smell so much more of the world it became apparent. To human eyes, the forest was what you saw in front of you; trees, rocks, brush and that was during the day. You were inside a bubble that moved with you as you walked along the trail. At night the bubble got even smaller, even with lights. For a vampire, there was no night, no bubble. Our vision seemed to extend into the invisible spectrum, acting as built-in night vision goggles. And our sensitive hearing used the ambient sounds like a bat's echo location, drawing a rough contour map in our heads so we could always tell where we were.

The different smells of the forest also reached out to me. My human memories of the forest only involved pine and damp earth. Now I could almost taste the various flavors of the different trees and plants we passed. Predominant was pine and spruce, but the musty odor of ferns hovered in moister areas, while meadow grasses and herbs filled the air in drier habitats. Faint animal smells also distracted me, as we crossed paths with game trails.

When we eventually came to a stop on a ridge overlooking a forested valley, the predawn sun was starting to lighten the gloomy clouds in the distance. A stream snaked through the center of the valley leading downstream towards the west. It was far enough away from populated areas that we could hunt safely.

"What now?" I asked.

"Remember when I told you we give ourselves over to our senses?" Edward asked. "Reach out with them now. What do you hear? What do you smell? You can even taste the wind with your tongue."

I closed my eyes and tried. My expanded brain seemed to pull in sensations from all directions. I could hear the rush of the stream over the rocks and on the other side, the whisper of the wind through the trees. The smell of wet green vegetation was all over, the floral scents of flowers and pollen mixed with the dank of composting matter. The wind shifted, bringing a scent from a copse of trees; a warmer smell, like from a barnyard. My nostrils twitched.

"Do you smell that, Bella?" Edward asked. I nodded. "Now follow me." He charged down the face of the ridge toward the copse. The scent was like a visual trail leading me on, getting stronger as we drew closer.

Suddenly there they were, a small herd of elk feeding in the shelter of the trees. Faster than they could break into a run, Edward was among them. His strike was as sleek and graceful as a leopard's, extended full-length as he flew through the air. Swift as an arrow, he grabbed one by the head as it tried to bolt, planted his feet and gave a sharp twist. There was a dull crack and it dropped to the ground. Emmett and Jasper also brought down an animal each. The rest of the herd fled, splashing across the river and heading for higher ground.

Edward turned to me. "Here, Bella," he said. "Your body knows what to do. You're thirsty. What does your body want?"

I could feel myself being drawn toward the still warm carcass of the animal, sense the warmth distributed in different areas of its body, smell the blood that filled it. The strongest, most appetizing scent came from…the arteries in its neck. I knelt and, with no effort, lifted the 700-pound elk and sank my teeth in. Fur, hide and sinew parted like butter. The blood filled my mouth and I drank greedily. It tasted a little…how to describe it? Rather green, I supposed, and definitely range fed. It still tasted a little off. Like the black-tailed deer blood, it wasn't quite what I wanted, but it was warm and wet and helped ease my thirst.

Part of my mind, more human than the rest of me, wondered at how macabre I must look – crouched over a dead animal, lips stained and dripping with blood – while the rest of me thought nothing of it, and continued draining the elk as if I had been doing it all my life. All too soon, I drew on the open wound and got nothing; it was empty. The fire in my throat was muted but I still wanted more.

I dropped the carcass and got up to track the herd down, when the wind brought a new scent to us. It was warmer, buttery almost, and much more appealing than the elk. Without knowing that I did it, I started following the scent on the wind, moving quickly through the copse of trees until I found the source of it – a mountain lion that had been stalking the elk herd when we had interrupted its hunt.

The lion snarled when it saw me and I snarled back. Without thinking I lunged, and at that same moment I heard Edward's shout behind me. That darn ease of distraction took over and I tried to stop at the same time I launched. The result was a half-leap that came to a sliding stop on three points – one foot under me, the other trailing behind and my indestructible hand sledding across the grass – right in front of the puma. It didn't hesitate and lashed out with its claws, catching me on the shoulder and down my arm. An ear-piercing shriek rent the air as the claws grated on my skin. Off-balance, I did the first thing I could think of and punched it in the chest. With a sickening crunch, the lion collapsed in front of me, its chest caved in.

The lion wasn't dead yet. Its eyes were closed but its flanks still heaved as it tried to breathe. Not wanting it to suffer, I grabbed the cat's head and broke its neck. It twitched a couple times and then was still.

"Well done, dear," Edward said quietly as he drew closer. He was a little wide-eyed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He blinked and shook his head. "Sorry, old habits. I've been watching over you for so long I was going a little crazy watching you fight a lion by yourself."

"Oh." With the excitement ebbing, I paused to take stock. A mountain lion lay dead at my feet and I, a city girl who had never raised a weapon or hunted in my life, had killed it with my bare hands. My flannel shirt was shredded from shoulder to elbow where the cat had clawed at me, but there wasn't a scratch on my diamond-hard skin.

"This is so weird," I muttered, but I guess I was still good with weird. I knelt, picked up the lion and began to feed. It was much better than the elk, the somewhat buttery flavor I had scented still noticeable in the blood, but it still wasn't quite right. Something was still missing.

Part way through, I glanced up at Edward. Remembering that mountain lion was his favorite, I stopped. "Want some?" I asked.

He blinked at me, surprised. "Don't mind if I do," he replied, but he still approached warily. He knelt next to me and we shared the rest of the lion.

I giggled at a thought, and he questioned me with a raised eyebrow. "Vampire picnic," I said, and giggled again.

Edward snorted and handed the lion back to me. "You finish it," he smirked. "Let's make sure you've had enough."

I made a face, a little miffed at his overprotective attitude, but took it back and eagerly finished it. It was much better than the elk, after all.

When I was done I stood and looked at the carcasses we were leaving behind. It reminded me of pictures I had seen of buffalo slaughters during the Old West days, when hunters massacred whole herds for their hides, leaving behind skinned carcasses rotting in the sun. "It seems like such a waste," I said, indicating the bodies. "I feel like we ought to eat the meat too, but now that I'm one of you the thought is just…eww."

Edward nodded. "That's why we try to spread our hunting around. It wouldn't do to cause a population explosion of herbivores because we've decimated the predators in one area. Nor do we want to impact the prey animals. A few carcasses here and there return nutrients to the scavengers and the decomposers. That way we're still part of the circle of life."

Emmett and Jasper trotted up to us. "Not bad, little sister," Emmett commented. "We're done. You guys?"

The edges of the overcast clouds to the east were lightening even more with the morning sun. We had been gone for several hours. "Let's go home," Edward said.

We took off running, roughly following the scent trail we had left coming out. The miles quickly sped by. Smirking, I flexed my newborn muscles and after a while stretched out a narrow lead over the boys. I was enjoying this newborn stuff – the strength, the speed, the enhanced senses. When I was human I had stumbled and fumbled my way through the forest like a lowly worm. Now I was a bird, a bolt in the sky, flashing and darting effortlessly through the trees. The power and freedom was intoxicating. It was as if I had stepped into the pages of a comic book.

I think we were about halfway home when the trail led over a ridge and into a river valley. As I crested the ridge, an updraft from the valley floor struck me in the face. The scent was intoxicating, warm and moist and succulent. Like my human memories of prime rib or filet mignon. It didn't matter that I'd already fed. Venom filled my mouth and the dry thirst burst into flame in my throat; I wanted it. All other sensations forgotten, my body switched instantly into hunting mode and I descended towards the river like a stooping falcon, homing in on the scent. I might have heard a shout behind me but I was gone.

The scent trail led down to the water's edge, where I found them. Two of them. Not wanting to let either get away, I increased my efforts, my peripheral vision became a blur. I struck as quickly as I could, dispatching each with a solid blow to the neck – crunch, crunch. They fell at my feet; I dropped down and prepared to feed.

Suddenly my hunting senses felt the approach of danger behind me and I whirled to face it, growling. Three of them. One of them ahead of the others, shouting. No. My kill. I screamed my rage and leaped. The first one opened its arms wide to catch me and I caught it first with a solid blow that knocked it flying back into some trees. I followed to finish it but the other two cut me off. One was huge with dark hair, the other tall with blonde hair. Scuttling back, outnumbered, I wanted to return to my kill but didn't want to turn my back. A groan from the first distracted me, and the big one knocked me to the ground. The other grabbed a leg, and I got a kick in before he got the other leg too.

A voice began speaking to me, but somehow it was wrong. It wasn't the angel. I didn't want to listen, and continued to struggle, kicking and squirming. After a while, not able to break free, I stopped in frustration, waiting to see what they would do, my chest heaving with my effort. I wasn't aware of the roaring in my ears until it started to ease. My vision cleared again to see Jasper holding my legs, a welt marking his face. I could feel Emmett straining to hold me before my muscles began to relax and I stopped struggling. But where was…

"Edward?" I looked around. Jasper let go with one arm and pointed into the trees. His face was grim. Emmett helped me up to a sitting position.

The trees rustled and Edward emerged, holding his ribs with a look of pain on his face. "Oh no!" I cried. I struggled to my feet, ran to his side and would have thrown my arms around him but he held me off, favoring his left side. "I'm sorry, Edward! How bad is it?"

"I'm fine," he said in a strained voice, but I knew he wasn't. I walked at his side, wanting to support him but afraid to touch him for fear of hurting him more. He was really injured this time. I had always thought of vampires as indestructible, and the image of Edward in this vulnerable state piled the guilt up higher.

"How is it?" Emmett asked.

"I'll be alright. Eventually." Edward's teeth were clenched against his pain. "But what are we going to do about that?" He pointed at the two bodies, and I looked.

Horror swept over me and I dropped to my knees, my hands over my mouth. I should have fainted but apparently this new body wasn't equipped for it. My chest and stomach heaved in what should be nausea or sobs but nothing came.

It was Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley.

I fell, face-forward onto my elbows and screamed into the ground. "Oh my god! This is gonna kill Mike's mom! Aaugh!" I continued to scream and beat the ground with my fists, clawing at the sand. Edward knelt next to me and put a hand on my back, but I was far too upset to acknowledge him.

It looked like they had come up for a day of fishing. There were two backpacks, a couple folding chairs and a cooler. Their lines were still in the water with the rods resting in rod-holders set into the sand. Except for the unnatural angle of their necks, there were no other marks on them. They could have been asleep, waiting for the fish to bite.

"She doesn't even fish! She doesn't even like the outdoors! What the hell is she doing here?" I cried.

"You know how she was," Edward replied. "They had just gotten back together, and she would do anything to impress Mike."

"What a lousy time to decide to be Annie Oakley," I said, bitterly. Edward continued to murmur comfortingly to me. No matter why they were here, it didn't take away from the fact that I had murdered two of my friends, and would have eaten them if Edward hadn't stopped me. On top of that, I had attacked Edward again, injuring him this time. I was a nightmare.

And yet this was the life I had chosen. This was what I was prepared to trade my life for, to walk away from my parents, my friends and my human existence. To be with Edward forever, that was the price I was willing to pay.

But I thought I would be the only one paying a price. Mike and Jessica had nothing to do with this. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when a newborn vampire was in the neighborhood. It wasn't right. Nobody else should have to pay for my choices.

Even worse, I had just broken the promise I had made to Sam that I would never kill anybody. The treaty was broken. If they discovered what I had done they had the right to start the war, to attack and drive us off. Edward and his family would pay the consequences for my actions.

I needed to get away. I needed to go somewhere far from my family and friends. No, I needed to go somewhere away from people in general. Not even an absolute stranger should give their life for my choice.

The thought of leaving Edward started a fresh wave of misery, but I took a shuddering breath and pushed it back. I didn't have time for that now. I really wished Jasper was still able to control me but that wasn't happening anymore. Would I even be able to do it? Would I have enough strength? I wasn't sure, but now it was time to deal with the crisis.

"I guess we better call someone," I said.

Edward and Jasper both shook their heads. "No, we can't," said Edward quietly. "We can't leave any trace that might point back to us."

"But...but we can't just leave them here!" I sputtered.

Edward looked at me sadly. "I'm afraid we have to. Right now, I don't sense anybody nearby. If it looks like anything other than an accident, it will raise questions. And if the family or the secret is exposed…well, the Volturi were planning to check on you at some time."

I absorbed that for a moment. Everything screamed at me to do the right thing. To call Charlie and tell him what had happened. If nothing else we ought to bury them, but even if they were never found, Mike and Jessica were not the kind of kids to just run off. The authorities might think there was a killer on the loose. I wasn't sure if they would be able to put the right two-and-two together but anything was possible. I was exposing my new family to possible discovery, if anybody were to tie the double killing to them. And to expose the family and alert the Volturi would be disastrous.

We would have to walk away and leave them like we had left the elk and lion carcasses for the scavengers. Later tonight Mr. and Mrs. Newton would wonder why Mike wasn't home yet, and Jessica's parents would wonder, too. They'd report their children missing, then sit and wait for news that they would not welcome. Guilt over the misery and pain that I had inflicted with my irresponsible choices threatened to rise up and drown me again. I couldn't bear it. Now that Jasper could no longer control my moods, Edward would have to stay with me night and day or I would go insane.

"Come, Bella," Edward said, and helped me to my feet. "We have a longer road ahead of us now. Emmett?" He raised an eyebrow at his brother. Emmett nodded.

I took one last look at the bodies of Mike and Jessica. Somehow they had fallen so that they were close together, their hands almost touching. My hand went to my mouth as another sob escaped me. I couldn't feel my feet, but I was still upright as Edward and Jasper turned me away and guided me back to our original trail. An idea of what Emmett would be doing came to mind but I pushed it away.

Though still fast by human standards we didn't run as fast as we had earlier; Edward's injury hampered his movement. His face was a combination of pain and concentration, and I could tell he was keeping a sharper lookout for people. With the slower pace and taking different routes at Edward's guidance, it took us till almost noon to get back home.

When we arrived at the river Alice was waiting for us on the other side, dancing from foot to foot in agitation. I wondered how we would get Edward across the river, but before I could say anything he sped up and bounded over it. Hurrying, I jumped after him. A grunt of pain escaped him when he landed and distracted me enough so I tumbled to the ground as I touched the river bank. I was unhurt and got up to help Edward but Alice was already there. Jasper crossed shortly after and landed almost noiselessly.

"I'm so sorry, Edward!" Alice cried. "I didn't see until it was too late."

"There was no way you could have seen it in time, Alice." Edward's voice was still strained. "I was totally at fault for not keeping a better lookout. Does Carlisle know?" Alice nodded. "Alright, let's get inside," he said. I must have been moving rather listlessly because Edward took my hand in his to lead me, the other still holding his ribs. With Alice and Jasper flanking us, we made our way to the house.


To be continued...

Thanks for reading. Hope you liked Bella's first day as a newborn. If you did (or if you didn't) please leave a review.