Hunger

CHAPTER 19

" 'Then he took my face in his hands almost roughly, and kissed me earnest, his unyielding lips moving against mine.

'There was really was no excuse for my behavior. Obviously I knew better by now. And yet I couldn't seem to stop from reacting exactly as I had the first time. Instead of keeping safely motionless, my arms reached up to twine tightly around his neck, and I was suddenly welded to his stone figure. I sighed, and my lips parted.

He staggered back-' "

"Renesmee?" Mom interrupted softly, knocking on the door frame.

I bookmarked the page and shut the book.

"Are you hungry?"

I looked at Jacob's face and turned back to her. "I don't want to leave him."

"You need to eat something and a lot of us are going hunting right now. Unless you want to eat a sandwich or something...?"
I shook my head, remembering the disgusting taste of it.

"You need to eat honey." She frowned. "I know it's going to be hard to leave Jake, but it'll only be an hour or so. Carlisle is going to stay here with him."

"What if something happens?"

"It won't. Carlisle will be here, and Dad is bringing his cell phone just in case anything does happen. So I think it's safe to say that you can hunt for an hour."

"Just one hour." I said seriously.

She nodded.

I kissed Jacob's hand. "I'll be back." I promised.

Mom slipped her arms around my shoulders and walked downstairs with me.

The hunting party consisted of Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Dad, Esme, and Rosalie excluding Mom and me.

Carlisle was waiting by the door. "I'm going to keep a close watch on him. As Bella said, Edward and I will communicate through cell phones if something does happen." Grandpa assured me. "He's in safe hands. I've been doing this for a couple hundred years now."

I gave him a hug, letting my thoughts flow from my fingertips and into him showing him how important this was to me.

"Just go hunt and relax." Grandpa said as I let go.

I sighed and headed out first.

Mom pushed ahead and lad us out into the woods. The hunting began immediately.

I caught a scent, along with my parents, and followed it to a stream where four elk were drinking.

I attacked first figuring the quicker I got it done, the sooner I saw Jacob.

The elk crumpled beneath me, growing weaker as I sunk my teeth into it. It quenched the burning thirst I had been repressing for weeks.

The blood felt good, running hot and thick down my throat but it didn't taste as good as it felt.

After I finished, my parents were waiting for me. "There are some bears up North. I caught a scent. Shall we go?" Dad inquired.

"While you're out, you might as well get all the hunting in as you can." Mom said, turning to me.

I sighed and nodded. "Okay, but not too long."

We were off again, flying through the trees at a blinding rate, chasing a slightly better scent of grizzlies.

Dad got there first, tackling the bigger one. I went after the smaller one, letting Mom go for the other big bear.

I was surprised how fast the time flew when I was hunting. After we finished, I realized it had already been almost an hour. Mom wiped the leftover blood from the corner of her lips and Dad grabbed her hand, kissing her cheek.

"That's the fastest we've ever hunted." I heard Alice laugh, approaching us from the darkness of the trees hand in hand with Uncle Jasper. "That has got to be a record."

"Thank you for hunting so fast. I appreciate it." I attempted a smile.

"No problem kid." Alice flashed me a smile.

"Emmett and Esme?" Dad inquired.

"Present." Uncle Emmett said, bounding from the trees. Grandma ran gracefully behind him and skidded to a stop beside me.

"What'd you get?" Grandma asked.

"An elk and a cub."

"I got a couple elk, myself." Grandma smiled.

"There was a fresh scent running up west. I think it was g-"

A polyphonic ringtone pierced through the air.

Everyone froze except Dad who had the phone to his ear in less than a second. My heart raced. "What's wrong?"

I heard Grandpa answer. "Jacob's heart stopped-"

I turned and ran, not caring the rest. I already knew the rest.

I was flying so fast I knew my feet weren't touching the ground.

"Renesmee!!" I heard Mom call after me.

Panic surged through me. My veins felt frozen with fear and I was pretty sure my heart had fallen out of my chest.

To my astonishment, I saw Grandpa and Grandma's house as I breached the edge of the woods.

I scurried up the driveway and burst through the front door, sprinting up the oak staircase and to the room Jacob had been staying in.

My hand stopped at the doorknob as I heard the horrible sound that used to give me nightmares.

A long beep.

The heart monitor machine recognizing that there was no more heart beat left in the person it was attached to.

I backed away and stopped when I hit the wall opposite the door. I slumped to the ground catatonic and started sobbing.

I buried my face in my hands.

I hadn't been here for Jacob.

I didn't even get to say good-bye to him.

I tried to imagine my future without him.

Without my Jacob.

Another sob tore through me. There was no future without him. "Jacob!" I bawled.

I felt like I was floating in blackness. Nothing made sense anymore. My only reason to go on living was gone. Never coming back. Dead.