Love Bites

All About Alice

I stared at the note that Alice and Jasper had left behind for me. I couldn't have been in the bathroom for more than forty minutes when all hell silently broke loose. Bella had snuck out under their noses and they decided to leave me behind, so they left without a fucking word.

I should've been excited. At least I could light up a cigarette without someone bitching. Or I could go outside and enjoy some fresh air. Still, I couldn't help but be a bit scared to be alone without some protection.

I would've even preferred Jasper's company.

"I can't believe they left me behind." I crumbled up the little sticky note that Alice had left on the bathroom door and threw it at the wall.

Even though I was upset and scared, there was still a bright side to it. If Bella was with James and Victoria, no one would harm me. I probably should've been comforted by that fact but I still found myself a bit worried.

Although Alice's note forbade me from going outside of the hotel, I didn't want to be alone. So I left our hotel room and ventured down into the lobby.

The lobby wasn't empty, and I was thankful for it. I grabbed a random magazine and sat down to read it. I wasn't particularly interested in it but it gave me something to preoccupy my mind until Alice came back.

I couldn't have been sitting in the lobby for more than ten minutes when I felt a cold hand touch my shoulder. "Hello."

My heart dropped down to my stomach. "What are you doing here?" I looked up to find James peering down at me with a smile.

"That's not the question you should be asking. You should be asking what I plan on doing to you." He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Go on, ask."

"I'm not interested in the answer." If anything the only question I wanted to ask was what happened to Alice.

"You'll experience it soon enough, I suppose." He grumbled, upset that I wasn't playing into his game. "I'll make you a deal... if you come with me I won't slaughter everyone in this room... including that child over there." I looked around the room. I couldn't let any innocent person die, let alone a child. "It's a good deal, Aspen. Your measly life for the sacrifice of twenty. You'd die a martyr."

"I'd rather death not be in any of the options." I huffed. Wasn't there a way we could all survive?

James shrugged. "Well, that wasn't a choice now was it?"

"No, it wasn't," I mumbled.

"Come on. I've booked us a room on this floor." He tightened his grip on my shoulder and practically pulled me up to my feet. "So how have you been Aspen?" He put his arm around me as he guided me toward the hotel room. "Not in the mood to chat?"

He was the last person I cared to chat with. "Why me? What the hell have I done to you?"

"Well, you see..." James stopped in front of the hotel room and opened the door. I stared at him blankly and he practically shoved me inside. "I'm a tracker. I love to hunt. This was a skill I've gained from my childhood but when I became a vampire it became my gift."

"Gift?" I couldn't care any less about his gift. But I figured the longer I kept him talking the longer I had to escape somehow.

"Everything about my senses as a vampire has been modified to make me a better hunter. I'm far stronger and stealthier than regular vampires. My sense of smell allows me to track my target farther than most vampires can." James bragged.

"Does anyone else have this gift?" I asked.

James rolled his eyes. "I think I know of one but I have yet to come across him. And when I do... We'll see who becomes the hunter and who becomes the prey." James smirked. "With my gift mixed with my advanced skills, none of my targets have ever escaped from me. Not a single one."