XXIII. Fascinating creature.

"Wait, wait, wait," Alice called out as she rushed into the room, Jasper and Emmett following cautiously behind her. "You promised I could be there be first time! What if you two run past something reflective?" she reasoned with a pouty frown.

"Alice," Edward muttered with a deep sigh that was a little irritated and annoyed, his hold tightening a little on my hand.

"It will only take a second!" she reasoned with him as she held her hands up in defense, giving Edward a pleading look before she turned around and rushed out of the room.

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked up at Edward, a little confused. "What is she talking about?" I asked him softly and he pursed his lips as he slowly shook his head in response, letting out another sigh.

My gaze turned towards Jasper and Emmett who looked at me with caution. They were visibly on guard as they eyed my every single move. I met Emmett's gaze and he offered me a small smile. "There she is." he mused.

"Emmett. Jasper." I greeted them as I offered them both a smile. I wanted to step forward and hug them, but I knew it would be the wrong move. They were both too guarded against me.

"You look well, Ana; this fits you." Jasper complimented me as he gave me a nod of acknowledgment.

Alice returned with a foot-length mirror and set it down against the wall while Edward playfully covered my eyes with his hands. Alice stepped beside me and I could physically feel Jasper tense up that she stood so close to me. He inhaled sharply and his knuckles popped as he clenched his fists nervously.

Edward lifted his hands and my eyes went to the mirror. I sucked in a sharp breath as my mouth fell open. My hair was darker, and much more healthier. I looked as lushes as the hair of women in the hair commercials. My body was fuller, my back straight, pushing out my chest. My hips curved beautifully in a way it never did. My skin was pale, paler than usual, my jaw and nose sharp. And my eyes no longer held its beautiful green color. Instead, it was now a deep crimson red.

"Oh my God..." I whispered as I let my eyes run up and down my body, trying to gather what I was seeing. I never thought of myself as ugly, but this was a whole new self-esteem boost for me.

"Beautiful, right?" Alice said softly as she looked at me, a smile gracing her delicate features.

I let out a soft chuckle as I looked at her, nodding before I returned to the mirror. "The eyes?" I asked softly as I stared into my own eyes. It was unsettling to see the changes in myself, seeing myself look so different.

"They'll darken up in a few months," Edward assured and I tensed up as my face fell a little. "Animal blood dilutes the color more quickly than a diet of human blood. They'll turn amber first, then gold," he explained.

"Months?" I questioned in shock, my voice harsher than intended and everyone tensed up, treating me like a ticking time bomb. A very sudden calmness washed over me and I pushed my lips as my eyes shot towards Jasper. "I'm fine, Jasper. I'm fine." I assured. "It's just a lot to take in."

"You should take her to hunt now." Carlisle insisted as he looked at Edward before ushering his other three children out of the room.

My attention turned to Edward, and he took my hand, leading me towards the large open window of the second-story room. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked up at my husband. "The window?" I questioned.

"It's the most convenient exit." He replied with a shrug of his shoulders before flashing me a small grin. "If you're frightened, I can carry you." he teased softly.

"We have all eternity, and you're worried about the time it would take to walk to the back door?" I questioned him, eyes narrowing as I raised my eyebrows.

Edward's smile slipped and he gave me a look. "Delia and Jacob are downstairs,"  he explained. I silently stared at him for a second before looking away. Although I didn't let my hurt of how I was being treated, show in my eyes, Edward could still feel it. "Love, it's not that we think you'll hurt anyone...we just want to be cautious," he explained gently.

I nodded my head, silently staring into the forest, watching a squirrel climb up a tree branch a good few feet away. "I know," I whispered as I looked at Edward.

Edward leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead. His lips were soft and warm and the kiss was firm, not as gentle as what I had to make myself used to. I tilted my head back and Edward smiled before pressing a kiss to my lips. I couldn't help but smile into the kiss. It felt better than any kiss we had ever shared.

He pulled away and then pressed one last kiss to the tip of my nose before completely pulling away from me. "Watch me," he instructed and I nodded, watching him carefully.

My eyes widened as Edward took a simple step out of the window and fell. I grabbed onto the window and peered down, seeing my husband look up at me with a grin as he stood on the ground below. "You make it look easy," I told him.

"You can do it." He assured me, and although his voice was a whisper that I would have missed when human, I heard him loud and clear.

I inhaled, filling my lungs with unnecessary air and then I took a step out the window. I fell, and with a split second, I landed on my feet right in front of Edward. I stumbled a little, and Edward reached out, steadying me as I stood up straight, giving him a thrilled smile.

Edward returned my smile before taking a step back. He winked at me and then turned around and took off running. Seeing Edward run wasn't something I had ever truly seen before. My human eyes could never keep up. But now I could see him clearly, my eyes following him as he looked at me over his shoulder with a challenging smile.

I returned his smile before taking off after him. Edward was fast, extremely fast, but in my small victory of being a newborn, I was faster. I ran past him and I could hear his soft chuckles as he followed me.

Feeling the wind brush across my body, smelling the damp forest, hearing chirps of birds and rush of water nearby, send a rush through me. I was dead, but this was a new sense of being alive.

My feet took over my body and mind as I kept running, heading in no particular direction. It wasn't until we reached the edge of a mountaintop that Edward's voice stopped me in my tracks. "Ana," he called out and I halted, turning to face him. "Did you want to stay in the country? Or were you planning to continue on to Canada this afternoon?" he asked teasingly.

If blood still flowed in my veins, it would have rushed to my cheeks. I gave Edward a small smile as I shook my head. "This is fine," I replied.

"Down there," he instructed me as he nodded toward the forest below us. "Come on, I'll help you," he said as he held his hand out to me.

I looked at his hand and then at the forest. I felt a rush of confidence in myself as I smiled softly to myself. I stepped up to the edge and peered down. I repeated the action I took earlier at the house, stepping out onto nothing and falling. I landed on the ledge beneath, wobbling a bit before looking up at Edward.

Edward stared down at me with a proud smile on his face. "Or not," he commented softly as he slowly shook his head.

As I jumped down to another ledge, Edward followed until we both reached the damp floor of the forest. "What are we hunting?" I asked him as I raised my eyebrows.

"Elk. I thought something easy for your first time..." he explained as he began walking in the direction where the sound of rushing water was coming from.

"Where?" I asked him, not hearing or smelling anything that could be meant as food.

Edward led me a few feet further before coming to a stop and turning to me. "Hold still for a minute," he told me and I came to a stop next to him. "Now close your eyes," he instructed and I immediately closed my eyes. "Listen. What do you hear?"

Everything around me went silent as I focused on the forest. I could hear the soft howl of the wind, leaves rustling and tree branches scratching. There was a rush of water, and an eagle flew above.

There was the snap of a tree branch and my head slightly tilted. Another branch snapped, and leaves crunched by the creak, and I turned my head, my eyes remaining closed. A breeze blew from the northeast direction of the creak and my mouth pooled with venom, my throat aching as I smelled it. It was hard to describe it, but I could smell the meat, the blood. "By the creek, to the northeast?" I questioned softly.

"Yes," Edward confirmed, and I could hear and feel his proudness of me. "Now wait for the breeze again and... what do you smell?" he questioned softly. As the breeze blew through, I could smell the animal again, the rich smell of its blood, the tangy smell of raw meat. As I focused on the smell, I could hear the hard thuds of a heartbeat, then there was another, and I frowned as I struggled to focus on distinguish them from each other. "I know it takes some getting used to," Edward whispered.

I pursed my lips and tried to focus again, focusing on sound rather than smell. There were two beating steadily close to each other and another a bit farther away, closer to the water than the other two. "Three?" I asked softly as my eyes shot open and turned to Edward.

"Five. There are two more in the trees behind them." He replied, sending me a proud smile for my good work so far.

"What do I do now?" I asked him hesitantly, clenching my fists as I swallowed down the venom filling my mouth. The burn in my throat was unbearable and if I had tears, I would be crying.

"What do you feel like doing?" Edward questioned and I frowned at him. Was that a trick question? Was there a difference between what I wanted to do and what I should do? "Don't think about it," Edward told me when he saw my frown.

My eyes shot to the side when I heard a faster heartbeat, it was harder than the elk's. Edward's eyes widened when he heard it, too. A gush of wind blew through and as my hair blew across my face, it wasn't the vanilla shampoo I smelled. Me and Edward smelled it at the same time, the warm and mouth-watering aroma of blood that was distinctively different from an animal. I could only compare it with freshly baked bread, still warm and steaming, being placed beside two-day-old bread that was cold. Which one would you pick?

I turned sharply in the direction of the smell, my lips parting as a raging hunger filled me. An animalistic feeling spread through me. "Ana!" Edward called out as his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me back.

I was stronger than Edward, he had admitted it himself earlier. I could have easily broken free and run. By the time he would catch up to me, someone would be dead. But I didn't fight, instead I sunk back into his touch.

For a moment, only a split second, I imagined it. Imagined sinking my teeth into the man in the forest, tasting the warm blood that burned at my nose. And then it all disappeared; the urge to kill slipped away. I could still smell the blood, still hear the beating heart, and my throat was still burning, but I no longer had the urge to kill; I had no appeal for this human's blood.

"I have to get outta here," I whispered before breaking free from him, running in a direction opposite of the Elk, of Edward, of the bleeding person in the mountains. I ran and ran until I heard the sharp screech of a mountain lion.

I came to a sharp halt, coming eye to eye with the beast. It bared its teeth, hissing before lunging at me. I launched back, wrapping my arms around its neck and sinking my teeth into its furry flesh.

By the second gulp of blood that filled my mouth, the animal went still. I closed my eyes, feeling the burning in my throat be extinguished with every gulp of the warm blood. Jacob's fears in my kitchen the night he cut his hand, was not needed, it turns out.

Edward, completely stunned and taken aback by me turning away from human blood, from a hunt, took a second to follow after me. When he caught up, the lion mountain was dead and drained; my throat was no longer burning, and my mouth was covered in blood.

He approached me with slow steps, taking in the sight with shocked eyes. "Ana, are you okay?" he asked softly as his brows knitted together.

"Yes," I replied as I stood up and turned to face him. "I'm still thirsty," I admitted sheepishly, feeling only a small burn linger in my throat.

Edward stared at me, his brows furrowing even more as he slowly shook his head. "How did you do that?" he asked softly as he took a few more steps closer to me.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Do what?" I asked him softly, immediately filled with worry that I had done something wrong.

"Ignore human blood like that," Edward replied as he slowly shook his head, struggling to understand what I had been able to do.

"I don't know," I whispered as I shook my head at him. "One second, all I was thinking of was killing him, and then suddenly, I couldn't think at all," I muttered as my brows furrowed even more. "I was aware of everything around me, the sound, the smell, you, him. I could feel the burn in my throat, his smell burning my nose...but the urge to kill him was gone." I explained softly. "My mind was hazy again."

"You truly are a fascinating creature, Anastasia Cullen," Edward whispered as he stepped in front of me, his hand coming up to cup the side of my face and I offered him a small smile.

Together we hunted a little more, each taking down an elk before cleaning up at the creak. As I washed my hand in the water, light reflected on my skin and my lips fell open in awe as the sun glistened on my skin. Like my skin was embroidered with the tiniest diamonds. I lifted my hand, inspecting the soft glow with a small smile. My head turned and I caught Edward watching me with an adoring smile.

I stood up and approached him. "Take me to Delia." I pleaded softly. "I need to hold my daughter."