Chapter 9:
Dead Men Tell No Tales

   "Bella's a mom." Hunter chuckled. Bella wiggled underneath her stare but she laughed with her. It was still surreal to see her best friend pregnant, full grown tummy and all. "Please don't make that a thing." Bella said, running her hands over her unborn child.

Hunter shrugged her shoulders, "You already did." Bella tilted her head with a sigh. She couldn't control how angry Hunter got, she only hoped that this wouldn't drift them apart. "You're upset still?" Bella asked, disdain on her face. Hunter nodded with her chin in her hands. A sigh fell from them both, "I thought you'd be the most supportive."

Hunter sat up, "Supporting your inevitable death?" Bella rolled her eyes. She was tired of arguing. "How could you do this to me?" Hunter cried silently, anger in her eyes.

   "How could you do this to me?" Bella asked louder, "You're scowling at me and making me feel like an idiot, that's not what friends do to each other."

  "It's what I do when I've lost so many people." Hunter spit back. "If there is a chance that you will survive, I will take it. Even if it means killing that baby myself." The lie slipped out effortlessly and surprisingly. She would never harm a child but her anger got the best of her.

Bella gasped in shock, her heart tearing in two, "How could you say that to me? That's so selfish." Hunter held back more rude comments and secrets, her mind traveling back to Edward who was even more selfish than she was. "How do you think I'd feel? Watching your casket go down like the others? How do you think I'd live with myself knowing that you could've survived?"

Bella opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. This was her baby and she wouldn't kill it. She couldn't. Hunter leaned forward and grabbed her hands, the warmth engulfing Bella's cold ones. "What happened to forever?"

The look on Hunter's face made her sick. Sick with guilt. She believed that she'd survive this birth. No promises were being broken. "Why can't you just have faith that I'll make it? I'm strong enough."

Hunter exhaled deeply and her eyes shut. She was not strong enough, anyone can see that. "Look at yourself Bella, you look like a zombie." Bella stiffled a laugh. "This baby is killing you which means that when it's born-"

   "He. When he's born." Bella cut her off sheepishly. Hunter nodded slowly, confusion gracing her face. "How do you know it's a boy?"

Bella shrugged, "It's just a guess. When I picture him I see a boy." Hunter blinked. "We'll see."

The hybrid shook her head angrily, "You won't see." Bella rolled her eyes again. The lack of faith Hunter had in her was difficult to accept. "You're wrong." Bella mumbled, touching her stomach lovingly again.

Hunter got onto her feet, "And what if you do die? What was the point of it all? Me coming back here, you getting married. How is any of this right? I can't- just don't do this Bella. Live, okay? I need you."

Bella ignored the pang in her heart. The hurt in Hunter's eyes were piercing into her like daggers, but she had to stay strong. She knew she could do this. "Everything's going to be okay, Hunter."

Her teeth tug at her bottom lip before she turned around, moving to walk out. "Don't leave." Bella cried out.

Hunter lingered by the threshold of the living room and her fists form at her sides. Hums of voices and snarls filled her head and she grunted.

"We have to protect the tribe. What they've bred won't be able to control its thirst. Every human will be in danger." It was Sam's voice, it was like he was standing right beside her.

   "Hunter?" Bella asked as the hybrid flinched. She ignored her and concentrated on the voices. But they were gone in an instant and she couldn't hear it anymore. A huff left her nose and she turned back to the pregnant girl, "Bella, I know how this ends. I can't stick around to watch you die."

Without another word, she left Bella alone on the couch. She could only think of one thing right now and she was going to do just that.

___

She was more careful when picking her victims. Someone who has no more family. No one to worry for them or suspect them missing. Someone who was alone and damaged, healthy too.

This had to be the fifth person robbed of their life. Crimson liquid oozing out of two small puncture holes on the side of their neck, quickly ending their life. Their bodies were in tact, a merciful perk of falling victim to a blood-sucker.

It was dark in the cave. It was small but she had enough room to keep the explorers in one section. They each watched in horror, watching her tear through the flesh of their colleagues with no problem. The metallic smell was nauseating for them but to her it had to be better than any perfume.

"Why are you doing this?" They'd ask her, whimpering and trembling. The sight excited her, it made her feast taste better. She didn't talk the entire time, she just fed and fed and fed until they were all dead.

This was the biggest mess she made. Six dead bodies in a very unstable cave. Blood coated her cheeks and chin, leaked down her chest and stained her shirt. Even her hands were tinted in the red she craved so much.

Yet after her biggest kill count, her gums ached for more.

"Hunter." His voice hit her like the strongest wave of the ocean, yet it was soothing and soft like satin sheets. Her mouth unlatched from the already dead man and her eyes widen like a deer caught in headlights. Her secret was out. She released her hold on the body and it tumbled to the ground.

Edward stared in horror as she turned around, bloodied and monstrous. "What happened to you?" He asked, slowly moving towards her.

Hunter was frantic. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hands shook like she was on drugs. The smell of the amount of blood made him stiffen, his senses urging him to join her. But he kept his chin up and his back straight, he had to stay in control in order to save her. These people were already dead anyway.

   "Don't look at me like that." She sneered, holding her stance as if she was ready to attack him. Edward held his hands up in surrender and he came to a stop. It was almost like she was afraid he'd take her 'meal' away. "Why would you do this to them?" He asked her, his eyes widening at the amount of bodies laying around.

Hunter shrugged, "I made sure they were nobodies before I did anything, trust me. I'm never messy." Even more shock came across his face. He begged to differ with the amount of blood that coated her body. There were six dead bodies, that number was a mess all on its own. But that wasn't what shocked him, it was the fact that she said never.

   "You've done this before?" Hunter pursed her lips and shook her head in defeat. No one was supposed to find out about this, only the Quileute pack. Now she had to keep Edward from outing her to the rest of the people. "Oh please, don't act like you had a clean slate. It's normal to go off the rails every once in a while."

Edward didn't know what to say. Was there anything he could say? She was right. Every vampire has had a falling out with their diet at least once. Some don't even have diets. It didn't make her worse of a monster than the rest of the vampire population, but he couldn't wrap his head around her actually submitting. He always thought she'd have more restraint because of her other half.

   "You can't do this again." Edward deadpanned. He was serious but she didn't care. Killing people was wrong and she knew that, but she couldn't survive off of anything else. "Like hell I'm listening to you." She scoffed, turning back around to move the bodies against the cave wall.

Edward glared. He didn't know how to approach something like a rabid vampire, one that unlocked its frenzy and refused to get out. Human blood was a drug and it was hard to get off the ride when you just got on. "I'm serious Hunter. You can't keep killing innocent people."

She shrugged her shoulders again, showing him just how little she cared for the situation. "I can't keep killing and you can't stop loving. What a pickle we're in." Edward's hands formed fists and he yelled out angrily before sending his fist into the wall.

Hunter's eyes widen just as the entire cave began to shake, dust and pieces of rock falling down. The cave was on the brink of collapse and Edward kick started it. She huffed angrily before tossing the last dead body with the rest. "Come on!" She yelled above the grumbling sounds.

Boulders fell in and the walls crumbled with ease. Edward grabbed onto her and the were out in milliseconds. Once they were at a good enough distance, he stopped and Hunter pushed herself out of his arms. "What's wrong with you?" He asked her, hurt by her actions.

"How did you find me?" She asked, bending down and dipping her hands in the creek beside them.

   "Bella sent me after you so I followed your scent." He explained, watching her wash the blood off her face. "She's not doing too well."

Hunter rolled her eyes, "This isn't news." Edward could sense the anger she felt towards Bella and he'd be lying if he didn't feel the same. "The baby is stronger than Bella and it's feeding off of all her nutrition. It's like it's eating her alive."

The hybrid shook the water from her hands and stood up again, her face not shocked, surprised, or hurt at all. She knew Bella wasn't strong, it didn't matter if she had faith or not. This was the real world and they had to think realistically. The baby's life meant Bella's death.

   "Carlisle says her heart will give out before she gives birth. He doesn't think turning her would work either." Edward finished, his eyes filled with regret and pain. He did this to her. Had he just been honest with her, she'd be alive.

   "I don't care anymore." Hunter lied, her face hard and void of emotions. "Bella made her decision and who am I to stand in her way." Edward blinked in disbelief. He didn't believe a word she said. Bella meant the world to Hunter and if she died, there was no coming back from that.

He shuffled, "What are we going to do about your human problem?" Hunter frowned. She wished that she could somehow hypnotize him and make him forget about it all. She didn't want another person watching her like a hawk. "You are going to keep your mouth shut about it." She told him threateningly.

She stomped away from him and he followed, her scent filling his nostrils blissfully. Even after committing murder, he found her flawless. He wanted so badly to just run away with her and never come back. "I wish I'd done things differently."

   "Too bad." She told him, climbing over a hill of rocks. A rock slipped out from beneath her foot and a yelp escaped her as she fell back to the ground. Her eyes shut when dry dirt powdered over her, awaiting the earth to smack against her back.

But instead, cold arms wrap around her and relief floods her body. Her eyes slowly but surely open and she finds Edward's face inches away from her own. His breath fanned her face and it smelled of mint, as if he's been chewing gum all day.

   "You're always there to catch me, huh?" Hunter breathed. She never understood why she always wanted to scan his facial structure. It always started with his eyes and ended with his lips, the ones she wanted to feel badly.

A grin grew onto his face, "Always." Hunter bit back her own smile and released her hold on his neck. He hesitantly put her back on the ground and let out a deep sigh. It took everything in him to hold himself back.

He would have her, no matter how long it took.

___

Later that night, Hunter found herself in the spare room of the Cullen's home. Her hands were loose at her sides and her feet carried her to the full body mirror where she stared at herself. Except she didn't see herself.

Her hair was brushed to perfection and her skin flawless as ever, not a pimple or wrinkle in sight. The only thing that wasn't perfect was her eyes. They shined brilliantly in the lamp light, a sinister dark red staring back at her. It was what she was becoming, a true vampire.

She could even feel the undead chill circling her body, threatening to rise above the surface of her skin. If her warmth were to disappear, she'd find it hard to live with herself. That would've meant that she caved so far deep into the metallic taste that her body didn't even need her living parts anymore.

Her contacts had dried out, the brown mask failing her at the worst time. Now she had to walk around in her true identity, showing everyone her sinful secrets. She was afraid of what they'd think of her. A dangerous villain amongst them, risking the revelation of their existence.

They wouldn't be wrong to think that. She was relentless, a hungry beast that was never satisfied. One day she'd forget to dispose of the countless bodies, or leave a witness alive. One day she'd be the reason for her own demise. All because she let her emotions control her.

"Sam's lost the element of surprise, and he doesn't want to take you on outnumbered, so he's not gonna come at you head on. He's got the place surrounded and he'll wait for his opportunity."

Jacob's voice filled her ears and she came crashing back to reality. Sam was plotting the death of Bella, claiming that the unborn baby was a danger to the living world. She had been hearing the Alpha all day, his voice buzzing in her ear, telling her commands that she ignored.

It was easy to block him out and fight the urge to run back to him. Hunter would never let anyone control her, much less a man. Sam may be an alpha, but he wasn't her's. The tattoo that sat on her arm stung when she resisted, her connection to the pack reaching to hold her hostage with them. But her connection to Bella was far stronger than that.

She would not let them get close to her.