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A flash of lightning cuts through the air, illuminating the whole baseball field and the forest surrounding us. An intense roar of thunder follows it, making my heart shudder. In that one mere moment of extra lighting, I got a good look at the three vampires standing before us.

The woman has long, curly, brilliant orange hair that reminds me of fire. She possesses a seductive, almost feline beauty. A white, feathery shawl is wrapped around her shoulders. I didn't think any vampire could be more intimidating than Rosalie, but this red-headed woman terrifies me.

The next is a man with dark skin and dreadlocks that run down to his shoulders. He also possesses a mustache. He's showing off a muscular torso through his open jacket.

Finally, the last is a man with long blond hair tied behind his neck in a ponytail. He's wearing dark jeans and a dark leather jacket as well.

They are all barefoot and have blood red eyes that indicate their diet is made up primarily of human blood. This realization frightens me to the core.

Another flash of lightning strikes before the dark-skinned vampire makes a move. He holds up the baseball that I had hit into the woods. I get scared for a second that he might have been able to pick up my scent from the ball, but he doesn't make it known if he did.

"I believe this belongs to you," he says. He tosses the ball to Carlisle who catches it with ease.

"Thank you," Carlisle says, keeping his cool. All the Cullens are acting completely natural in order to hide my identity as a human. It appears that I'm the only one having trouble remaining calm. I can't stop my heart from beating erratically in my chest.

A terrifying thought then occurs to me. Vampires have excellent hearing. Sooner or later, they're gonna pick up on the sound of my heart thudding. I begin to panic. No, no, there's nothing I can do about my heartbeat. I'm a sitting duck.

That's when I spot movement out of the corner of my eye. It's Edward's foot. He's tapping it to a steady beat, the same rhythm that my heart is beating at. Edward is a genius. He's using the tapping sound of his foot to mask the sound of my heart beating. He must have realized that something needed to be done about my heartbeat before I did.

"I am Laurent," the dark-skinned vampire introduces. He nods to the red-headed woman. "And this is Victoria." The named red-headed woman eyes us up. "And James," Laurent finishes. The blond vampire named James tilts his head as if to scrutinize us.

"I'm Carlisle," Carlisle introduces. He gestures with his head to the rest of the Cullens and me. "This is my family."

"Hello," Laurent greets. I find Laurent's tone ominous. I don't think he can be trusted at all.

Carlisle speaks up again. "I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us," Carlisle informs the three vampires.

"Our apologies," Laurent says. "We didn't realize the territory had been claimed."

Laurent sounds sincere, but I still can't tell if he's really being honest or just saying things for show.

"Yes, well," Carlisle begins, "we maintain a permanent residence nearby."

"Really?" Laurent says in a surprised yet impressed tone. "Well, we won't be a problem anymore. We were just passing through."

For the first time since the nomadic vampires arrived, I start to feel a bit at ease. It sounds like they don't plan on bothering us for much longer. Thank goodness.

Victoria speaks up for the first time. "The humans were tracking us," she explains, "but we led them east. You should be safe."

"Excellent." Carlisle nods.

I expect the three nomadic vampires to leave at any second, but they don't. Instead, Laurent speaks up again. "So," he says, "could you use three more players?"

Anger swells inside of me. I don't believe this. They want to play baseball with the Cullens. How hard is it to make three nosy vampires to just go away?

Carlisle doesn't answer Laurent's question immediately. Instead, he exchanges glances with the rest of the Cullens. I start to become worried. I don't think Carlisle knows what to say in order to make them go away without exposing me.

"Oh, come on," Laurent presses, "just one game."

Carlisle sighs lightheartedly as if he didn't just hesitate to answer Lauren's question. "Sure. Why not?" he gives in. "A few of us were leaving. You could take their place. We'll bat first."

I hold in a smile. Carlisle's a genius. The Cullens will just let them play with them for a bit while Edward and I are given the green light to leave, problem solved.

Carlisle tosses the ball at the nomadic vampires. Victoria catches it smoothly. "I'm the one with the wicked curve ball." She smirks.

Jasper grins. "Oh well, I think we can handle that," he says confidently.

Both the Cullens and the nomadic vampires begin to laugh with excitement and competitiveness. They all spread out their separate ways except for me, Edward, and James. Edward and James stare intensely at each other, neither one moving. I tug on Edward's sleeve to remind him that we need to get going.

Edward finally breaks out of his trance and takes me by the arm. He leads me away from the baseball field and towards the jeep. I feel more calm now that I know I'm going to be on my way safely home soon.

A gust of wind from the thunderstorm suddenly blows past me. Almost in slow motion, I can feel my hair swirl behind me in the wind. A knot forms in my stomach. The same horrible feeling I had when the nomadic vampires first arrived.

No! my conscience yells.

The horrible feeling in my stomach spreads to my whole body. It makes my eyes widen, and my breath falter. I just know something's wrong. Hesitantly, I turn my head back, and my eyes land on James.

James has his chin lifted up like he's sniffing the air. When he brings his head back to level, he makes eye contact with me.

"You brought a snack."

Horrified, my body becomes limp. I clutch onto Edward's arm for support, scratching my nails on his marble-like skin. Unable to regain my balance, I fall to the ground on my back.

James snarls at me, staring me dead in the eyes. He takes a step towards my helpless figure on the ground. All I'm able to do is spasm for air.

Edward leaps protectively in front of me, snarling back at James. The other Cullens race to my aid, also standing between me and James. All of them growl in warning at the blond vampire. Esme notices that I'm still on the ground and helps me to my feet. The whole time I don't take my eyes off James.

Both Victoria and Laurent run to James's side.

"A human?" Laurent questions.

"The girl is with us," Carlisle announces protectively. "I think it best if you leave," he warns them.

Silence falls over the two vampire covens until finally Laurent speaks up. "I can see the game is over," he says somewhat disappointed. "We'll go now." Laurent backs away slowly to show that he's being true to his word. "James," he reprimands when the blond vampire doesn't follow his lead.

After James licks his bottom lip, he follows Laurent begrudgingly. Victoria also begrudgingly follows Laurent. James puts his arm around Victoria and sniffs her hair as they leave, which leads me to suspect that James and Victoria are probably mates.

I remain standing as still as a statue. Shivers run all over my body. This isn't over. I know it isn't. James had a look in his eyes as he left that resembled a child reaching for a cookie, even after his mother told him to stop. I know for a fact that my blood is extra appealing to vampires for some reason, so that could be why he's so obsessed with me. All I am to him is weak and simple minded prey, delicious and appetizing. I don't think he'll give up so easily the chance to taste such sweet and alluring blood as mine.

Oh my God, what have I done coming here? Why did I think being with Edward would be so easy? He's a vampire, and I'm not. His kind has to kill to survive. Human or not, they have to kill something , and now I'm the prey of a psychopathic vampire. He doesn't need to sleep or use any weapons to find and kill me. His body is a living tracker, created for the hunt. He could kill me within seconds before I even have a chance to scream, and I would be helpless to defend myself.

A tear slips down my cheek. I don't wanna die.

Carlisle puts his hands on Edward's shoulders. "Get Rebecca out of here," he orders. "Go."

Edward comes over, puts his arm around me, and jogs me back to the jeep. He swings the passenger door open, and I jump inside. He scrambles to help me get my seat belt on, but in his haste, he struggles to do so.

"I got it! I got it! Just go!" I yell at him.

Edward obeys and slams the passenger door shut. He comes around to the other side of the jeep and takes his spot in the driver's seat.

"He's gonna come after me, isn't he?" I ask as soon as Edward turns the jeep on, and we take off into the woods. He drives so fast that I have to hold onto the arm wrests in order to feel somewhat secure.

"Listen to me," Edward says. "James is a tracker. The hunt is his obsession. I read his mind. My reaction on the field set him off. I just made this his most exciting game ever. He's never gonna stop." Edward looks at me with angry eyes. I know he's not angry at me, but angry at himself for letting me be put into such danger.

"I wanna go home," I say quietly.

"No," Edward says immediately. "I'm taking you away from Forks. We'll get a ferry to Vancouver."

A terrifying thought comes to me. "But what about my grandparents?" I ask. "James will probably track my scent to my house, right? They're gonna be there."

"Doesn't matter!" Edward yells.

Anger swells inside of me. "Oh yes, it does matter," I snap at Edward. "Look," I calm my voice down a bit. "I know you'll never forgive yourself if I get hurt, but I will never forgive myself if my grandparents get hurt, and I'm not going to let anything happen to them because of me. You hear me? So you're gonna turn this jeep around right now and take me back to my house." I've never been so firm with Edward before. It feels good to take charge for once. He needs to know where I stand. I'm not just going to let him make every decision for me.

"Just let me get you out of here first, alright?" Edward pleads.

"No!" I snap. "You have to take me back to my house. I'm not just gonna leave them to die. We . . . We can figure out a way to lead James away from my house when we get there, but we can't just do nothing."

Edward sighs in defeat and turns the jeep around. It takes us about twenty minutes to reach my house. We come up with a plan on the way there. Here's the plan: I'll tell my grandparents how much I hate Forks, and make sure to make a scene, so there is a good chance that James will hear me yelling or hear about it from someone else when the people of Forks gossip about it later. Then, I'll run away in our family's spare car before my grandparents can stop me. James will know I have left town and leave my house alone.

I really hope this plan is gonna work. I'm not going to like fighting with my grandparents, but I'll do whatever it takes to protect their safety.

Once I get out of the jeep, a dash up the front steps of my house and swing open the door. I find my grandparents lounging in the living room, probably having been waiting for me to come home from my date.

"I'm done," I announce firmly, wrinkling my brow with anger.

With concern, Grandma stands up from her recliner. "Done with what? Edward?" she asks.

"No, I'm done with Forks. I hate it here."

Grandpa then stands to his feet. "Did Edward hurt you?!" he demands.

"No, he didn't do anything. He's not the problem. This horrible place is the problem. I'm never happy here. Every day is always dark and gloomy. The kids here drive me insane, and I just wanna go back home."

Grandma takes a couple careful steps towards me. "Sweetheart, honey, we're not going back to California. I know you miss the beach and the sun, but I promise things will get better. I didn't like it here at first either. I understand how you're feeling."

I shake my head. "No, you don't," I snap. "You'll never understand." With that, I sprint up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me and locking it shut.

I grab my backpack off the floor and begin to fill it with necessities that I'll need on the road. I feel a rush of wind beside me and relax when I realize that it's just Edward.

"Can you grab my snack bag out of that drawer?" I direct, pointing to the drawer set beside my desk.

Edward does as I say and brings me my snack bag. He hands it over.

"Thanks," I say, stuffing it into my backpack. I zip it up afterwards and sling it onto my back.

I look into Edward's eyes. "This is really hard for me, you know. I've never fought with my grandparents like this before. I don't know if I'll ever be able to face them again after this."

As if on cue, I hear footsteps outside my bedroom door followed by heavy knocks. "Open the door, Rebecca!" Grandpa yells.

Tears start to form in my eyes. The realization of how much leaving my grandparents is gonna hurt settles in. "I can't do this." I shake my head.

Edward looks me in the eyes. "You have to do this," he encourages. "I'm gonna go do recon. I'll meet up with you later," he says before disappearing out the window.

I breath heavily to myself. It's time.

I unlock my bedroom door and slip out. Grandpa is still standing there. "Why didn't you open the door when I told you to?" he demands.

I summon up a fake glare. "It's my room. Leave me alone." Without another word, I brush past him and run down the stairs.

Grandma meets me at the bottom. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving. I don't wanna be here anymore." I brush past her like I did with Grandpa and make a beeline for the kitchen. After opening a drawer and taking out a lighter that we use for lighting candles, I walk towards the front door.

Grandma tries to block my path. "You are not going anywhere, young lady."

"I promise I'll be safe," I tell her before stealing a quick kiss on her cheek. I then swing open the front door and head out. The damage has been done.

Author's Note: Just a hilarious Twilight video for you guys:

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And as always don't be a silent reader! Remember to vote, comment, share, and give me your theories and thoughts! Constructive criticism and any criticism for that matter is always welcome! Know any other Twihards? Let them know about this story!

Y'all, due to a lack of people commenting and voting, I'm not going to be updating the next chapter of Fatal Desires until it gets at least 5 more comments and some more votes. I know I'm sounding arrogant, but I see the silent reads pouring in. I know you guys are reading, just please give me some support with a few votes and comments. It's not much to ask for. It'll only take a few seconds to do it :)