Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Claws

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 09:

Bella had spent the day getting used to the discomfort she constantly felt. She had deduced the day before that she obviously had some physical connection to Leah Clearwater that caused the woman discomfort as well when they were not close. Bella also had some what of a possessive streak when she was around Leah which made no sense.

She had two options. Call the Organization and ask for information, perhaps go back in for study, or stay away from Clearwater and learn to live with the pain.

She chose option number two. Bella was used to pain and this burning in her chest was nothing compared to other discomforts she had felt in her life.

So here she was, back in school, and grumpier than usual.

It did not help when she realized Jasper Hale had switched seats with the girl next to her and judging by his face would be very chatty today.

“I suppose we can talk quietly and both hear each other?” he asked her.

“You are supposing I want to talk to you?” Bella answered back.

The man shrugged his shoulders without looking at her.

“Maybe not but it appears to me you are more comfortable talking to vampires than humans. It isn’t easy being different. You don’t feel like one of them, do you? I understand. Edward says you are a shifter and no threat to us. He says we should leave it alone and is very tight lipped about what he knows. You must have done a helluva job scaring him. Alice however thinks you want friends.”

“Alice needs higher heels.” she told him. “I don’t need friends. I have friends.”

“The black ops guy pretending to be a very bad history teacher? The gym teacher?”

Bella faced him. “Edward had the right idea. Leave it alone Jasper. You don’t want to get involved in my world. Nothing good can come from it for you, your mate or your family.”

Jasper seemed to disagree judging by the look on his face. “Humans know about vampires. That is a threat to my family, even if you aren’t.”

Bella smiled despite her horrible mood. “Humans have known about vampires for centuries and a lot of other things that go bump in the night. Your kind is oblivious and naive to think they can kill humans since vampires came into existence and no one would notice. The people I work for don’t know about you. I had never run into animal feeders until I saw your large brother draining a deer. I could have called for backup, more like me, things that are worse than me. Your entire coven would have been overran and destroyed in minutes. I have no desire to hurt innocents though nor your family. Be thankful and leave it alone. Nothing good can come from becoming involved in my world.”

Jasper stared at her for a moment then turned towards the front. Realizing Mr. Gavin would be putting on another movie he turned back to Bella. If he couldn’t read her emotions at least he was good at reading faces.

“Why? You don’t want to hurt innocents but most shifters are unable to stop themselves from attacking vampires. Why did you bother? You have obviously been attacked by vampires before. I would think you would hate all of us.”

Bella smiled and shook her head. “I’ve never been attacked by vampires Jasper. I have attacked them. They tend to fight back as I am sure you can understand.”

Bella could tell Jasper was surprised by this and would hopefully remain quiet for the rest of class.

It didn’t last long though.

“I’ve attacked a few vampires myself. Maybe we can compare notes sometimes.”

Bella looked at him, annoyance obvious on her face.

“You were in the Southern Wars judging by the number of scars you have. Its either the Southern wars in the US or the European wars that happened between Italy and Romania approximately a thousand years ago. Judging by that slight accent you try and hide, my guess is Southern. I told you, humans know more about your kind than you can imagine. I would like to see this movie. I haven’t seen a lot in my life and I am enjoying this one. Could you please stay quiet for the next forty five minutes?”

Jasper realized he may have been pushing her information sharing enough for the day and did stay quiet for the remainder of the class. Bella was thankful and hoped the Cullens would go back to their original strategy of avoiding her after her conversation with Edward.

She realized this was not to be though. They had given her a few days reprieve but when she returned to her locker it became clear the Cullens would not heed her advice and stay away.

She took the can of Meow Mix from her locker and read the note taped to the top.

Sit with us at lunch. Can’t sit out in the rain all the time. We promise not to bite if you do. Emmett

Assholes. Emmett. She should have killed him when she had the chance.

Sighing to herself, she decided to get this over with. They were not going to leave her alone until they knew more. Perhaps if she told them enough, a little more, the Cullens would understand the need to stay away.

This is what she got for allowing her human side to make decisions.

At lunch Bella looked over the lunch room, saw the smiling face of Angela Weber and the smiling faces of the Cullens.

The girl thought of moving towards Angela but the others sitting with her shot that idea down. Bella had no doubt if she went outside, one of the Cullens would follow. She also noted it was a full on storm and while standing in the constant drizzle of Forks may not seem suspicious, standing in pouring rain would.

She also had her brown leather jacket on and had no desire to ruin it. Walking around in soggy blue jeans did not appeal to her either.

So the Cullens it was.

Grabbing four burgers she made the quick walk over. Taking the seat they had obviously left vacant for her, Bella as usual tossed the buns to the side and began eating in silence.

After the burgers were gone, she rubbed her chest, wishing the ache would go away for a few moments. A part off her hoped the scent of vampires near would take her mind off whatever this connection was that caused her pain.

Bella sat back and saw five vampires were staring at her.

“What? Thank you for the Meow Mix, Emmett. It was very considerate of you. I can hear five bunny rabbits hunkered down not far from here. Shall I bring them back and let you all suck on them? It seems fair after all.”

“What the fuck are you?” Rosalie finally asked.

“I told Edward, right Edward?”

“You didn’t tell him everything.” the blonde pointed out.

“What color underwear are you wearing Rose?” Bella asked, enjoying the surprise on her normally frozen face.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. What color are your underwear? Are you wearing any? Do you prefer thongs? Lace, maybe regular cotton? You strike me as more of a thong girl. What about it Rosalie? What are you packing underneath that hot dress?”

Rosalie said nothing but Bella did enjoy that scowl she had become so used to returning to her face.

“Not going to answer me?” Bella guessed. “You shouldn’t. It’s a private matter. Why should I answer private questions? Edward told you I am part Jaguar shifter. That should be good enough. I was invited for lunch, not an interview.”

“Humans know about us.” Rosalie whispered. “Forgive me for being concerned.”

“Humans have known about vampires for a very long time. They don’t know about your coven thanks to me. Your welcome.”

Rose shook her head, her scowl definitely in place now. “And your human friends? The ones you travel on military choppers with to fight whatever the hell a Wendigo is? They know. They are military.”

Bella shrugged her shoulders. “At this point I’m not sure if they are humans. Humans have a greater sense of self preservation. Those idiots seem to have been born without one. They won’t say anything. If they had, believe me you would know by now. You truly think I am the only one of my kind? There are many others, some things worse than me. You don’t want to run into those. They would have attacked you without a second thought.”

Emmett snorted.

“I get it, you are some supernatural badass who likes secrets. Do you really think you could have taken me down, much less Rose and I together?”

Bella looked at her empty plate and seemed to give this some thought.

“Maybe, maybe not. It wouldn’t matter though. My kind, when we become locked in a battle that’s it for us. We fight until the enemy is dead or we are. Winning or losing is not something we consider once the fight has started. I would have ripped you to shreds or you would have ripped me to shreds. I stopped myself before I engaged. Had I engaged, you may have won the fight. You are large but I have fought larger and won. I have been outnumbered and won. I probably would have died but I promise you would have needed someone to burn my body because you both would have lost your eyes. I like to blind vampires first. I can’t do anything about the heightened sense of smell and hearing but I can take out sight. So, who is next? Ask away.”

Bella heard nothing so she looked up and saw five faces staring at her as if she were an alien. Perhaps she had told a bit too much of the truth.

“By the way, Rosalie, I suspect you are a thong girl, no lace, cotton blend and I am guessing red today? Only a guess though. How close am I?”

Judging by the look on Rosalie’s face, Bella was on the mark.

“So, what do you guys do for fun when you aren’t repeating high school? You can’t suck animals and have sex, I mean fuck all the time, right? Edward, where is your mate? Is she too old to pass for a high school student?”

Edward closed his dropped jaw and slightly shook his head to regain his bearings.

“I… I don’t have a mate.”

“Girlfriend?”

“No, never.” the man admitted.

Bella looked at him with barely concealed surprise.

“How old are you?”

“I… I was born in 1901.”

Bella’s eyes widened. “117 years old and you have never had a girlfriend? Why? I grew up in a hidden lab in the Amazon Rainforest cut off from the world and being experimented on daily from birth and I managed to have a girlfriend. Don’t you get lonely?”

“You grew up where?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“Rainforest. Hidden lab. Surely you didn’t think I was born this way. I told you I had vampire venom in me. I know you have all figured out that what I am is not natural. You think I went to elementary school like this? Hold on, my history teacher is on his way over.”

“Miss Swan.” Ty greeted her when he arrived at the table.

“Mr. Gavin.”

Bella looked at him and saw a grim faced Dan Hawk behind him.

“You interested in a field trip?”

Bella smiled genuinely for the first time that day and turned back to the Cullens.

“Sorry to cut lunch short but thank you for the invite and cat food. I have to go hunt now. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Bella raced out of school, Ty and Hawk trying to keep up. She slipped into the front passenger seat, happy to see her box was in the back.

Once the other two were inside, Hawk grumbling about the backseat of the sedan being too small, Bella asked the most prominent question on her mind.

“What am I facing?”

Ty took a deep breath. He had hoped they never ran into one of these things. They were the only creatures they had no chance of helping Bella defeat.

“We are going there to look at the scene. Its about 40 miles away. Some hiking trails, lot of forest, you know the drill. Some hikers came across a body torn to pieces on the trail but decomposition hadn’t set in.”

“Sasquatch? Maybe another Wendigo?” Bella asked. She wasn’t happy about this. Forty miles away was too close to her own claimed territory.

The man shook his head. “Body torn to pieces but no blood. Connolly is on scene with Dante. They thought the rain may have washed it away but this guy was drained dry, only blood on the ground or around was on his body and that wasn’t much. Almost like he was licked clean.”

“Vampire.” Bella whispered and grinned. Perhaps this would take her mind off the constant ache in her chest.

“Yeah, but we are there to investigate, look around, see if we can find any clues as to whether he left the area. We aren’t there to fight unless we have to. We got our weapons modified… we hope. Using short range flame throwers on the rifles. Hawk has the big boy in the trunk.”

Bella shook her head. “This isn’t some two legged overgrown primate. The speed I will have to use, the speed the vampire will have… you couldn’t keep up. Vampires are on me.”

Ty shook his head. “Lets just take a look and see what we got before we make any hasty decisions, okay?”

Bella nodded in agreement, knowing full well she would do what she felt was necessary. If she could track this thing through the water and find it, she would kill it before it took anymore hikers out.

“Something else you should know. The County Sheriff hadn’t dealt with anything like this before. He called your Dad… Chief Swan. Charlie is there with Connolly. They have the scene contained but we may need to drop you off a way so you can sneak over to the body without being seen by local cops. We can pass as cops but you are 17. Nobody is going to buy you being there.”

Bella stiffened at this news.

“Get Charlie out of there. He is cover. That is all he is. He won’t be around vampires. He isn’t… he isn’t allowed. When we get there, send him home.”

Ty shook his head. “Can’t do that. He is a cop and is the only one who really has a right to be on the scene. He was called. If he goes, we have to go. Don’t worry Bella, we will keep him safe. Slightest sign of trouble and we will get him out of there.”

“I’m not worried about him.” Bella told the man quickly.

“Sounded like you were worried there for a minute.” the man pointed out.

Bella wasn’t sure what to say. Was she? Of course she was for a good reason.

“He is my cover. If he is dead my cover is screwed. That’s why he shouldn’t be there.” she told him, a slight shake in her voice.

Ty raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Keep telling yourself that Bells. We got twenty five minutes till scene. What do you want to listen to?”

“Taylor Swift.” Bella immediately answered.

Ty rolled his eyes. “Fuck no. We ain’t listenin to Taylor Swift. You want pop, whatever but pick somethin else.”

“I want Taylor Swift.” Bella repeated.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I said no. I’m drivin so the beats are mine.”

The beats are yours? This may be the last few hours of my life. I want to listen to Taylor Swift.” she told the man with a pout.

“Number one, this ain’t the last few hours of your life. We are there to look. Number two, you tellin me if you were about to die you would want that crap in your ear?”

“Yes. Its not crap. You told me to listen to various genres of music and I have. I like her songs.”

“Nobody likes her songs Bells!” Ty told her.

“I do!”

“Jesus Christ Gavin, would you just put fucking Taylor Swift on already?” Hawk asked from the back. Ty looked at him in the rear view mirror.

“You like Taylor Swift, don’t ya Hawk? That explains a lot.”

“I don’t like Taylor Swift!”

“Everybody likes Taylor Swift!” Bella yelled. “Put her on or I am slashing through this car Black Panther style!”

Ty almost denied her again then thought better of it. Cringing he took his phone and found a Taylor Swift playlist on his iTunes streaming account.

“Thank you.” Bella told him, sitting back and closing her eyes, foot tapping.

“Didn’t I give you a list of MCU movies and what order to watch them in? I know you haven’t had time to work your way up to Black Panther. You were supposed to start with Iron Man. They don’t make sense unless you watch them in order.” Ty reminded her.

“I like Black Panther. He’s cool. Why would I watch a movie about a human who has to rely on technology to fight?”

“You better watch how you talk about Iron Man, girl.” Hawk told her from the back.

“Black Panther is the coolest. He can rip that Iron suit to shreds.” Bella argued. “Something my support team needs to remember.”

Ty shook his head, growing angrier by the second. It had taken him two hours to figure out the order to watch those movies and then Jack showed him a list on the web.

“Do you even know why Black Panther had to become King? Did you watch Civil War?” Ty asked.

“No.” Bella admitted. “But I am drawn to a person in a black suit with claws ripping things to shreds. I’m sure you can understand why. Stop giving me shit. I want to listen to Taylor Swift so I will fucking listen to Taylor Swift. I can’t shake it up with you talking constantly.”

Ty shook his head and did his best to keep the song out of his head. He was still unsuccessful by the time they reached the scene after having dropped off Bella a half mile back.

The two men found Connolly, Dante and Chief Swan a quarter mile down a hiking trail from the road, standing over human remains. The body looked like it may have been a 30 something male with sandy blonde hair and a thin but muscular build. Difficult to tell now due to his limbs being strewn about, a chunk of his throat missing and a look of frozen horror on his face.

“What a fucking mess.” Ty mumbled. “I’ve seen suicide bombers in better shape than this guy.”

Connolly said nothing, having become numb to sights like this. He had been here for two hours and found nothing. Dante had convinced the local Sheriff that this had been a bear attack but it wasn’t easy.

“Its a new vampire.” a new softer voice told them. Ty saw Bella, decked out in one of her black suits, this one zipped up the front with no spot on her legs for her blade.

“How do you know?” Dante asked.

“The body is still here for one. An older vampire would have never ripped a body apart like this. Judging by the lack of blood, the arms and legs must have been ripped off after he fed. That indicates extreme anger. Vampires are calmer after feeding. An older vampire never would have fed this close to the road. He may still be in the area. Have the trails been closed?”

Dante assured her they were.

“He won’t leave a hunting ground this soon after a feed. He is probably waiting somewhere for another.”

Bella bent over the corpse and smelt.

“Damn rain.” she mumbled, then ran away, deeper into the forest. Before any of them could wonder if she had actually picked up a scent, she was back.

“I found footsteps. I think he is traveling by foot avoiding the trees. He may double back or just find a nice place to relax until his next meal comes along. I think I can track him. I’m going to try anyway. Watch my GPS. I will be stalking so if you see not moving for twenty minutes don’t be surprised. If you see me not moving for thirty minutes come pick up what’s left of my body.”

Charlie paled at that thought. He had been horrified by Bella’s injuries after the last fight but seeing her like this now, prepared to go into a fight with no backup, made him sick.

“Charlie, you need to go home.” Bella told him. “They have weapons that can help them escape. If this thing doubles back you will be defenseless. We have this. Tell the Sheriff to take the body and clear the scene quickly.”

The man shook his head. “They can claim the body. I’ll be in my car waiting to give you a ride home when you get back.”

Bella rolled her eyes but did not have time to argue.

She raced through the forest, piking up footsteps when she could, taking to the trees when she lost the path finding scents rubbed against the branches when the newborn had taken to the forest tops.

She estimated she had traveled thirty or so miles when she slowed down. Landing gracefully on the ground, she examined the footsteps carefully and judging by the shortening of strides, decided he had slowed and began walking, no doubt enjoying the scenery and looking for his next meal now that the rain had stopped.

The vampire she was hunting had taken a moment to stop and decide his next move. The recent feed had not been enough. He needed more but the rain had no doubt scared the humans from his personal game trail. With no direction in mind, he tried to take in his surroundings, sniffing the air now that the rain had died down, hoping to find a trace of human scent.

A human scent was closer than he could have imagined. It seemed to be near him, very near.

But the scent was off. Human definitely but something else, something he had never smelt before.

The sound of a heartbeat.

The sound was wrong though. It was too slow to be human, especially this far away from a town after walking through the storm.

Perhaps it was an animal. Whatever it was, the heartbeat was behind him.

He turned to look for the human but saw nothing but large tree trunks.

The sound was definitely from behind the third tree in front of him.

He moved quickly towards it to discover… nothing.

The sound was where he had been previously standing now. The newborn vampire, only days old took his time, using his other senses, not just listening to the heartbeat but for the sounds of feet moving.

He heard nothing.

Walking slowly to where he had been, hearing the heartbeat but seeing nothing, he searched the ground for footprints.

Only a single animal print was on the ground, a small boot print with what he could swear were claw marks resembling the end of a cougar’s paw.

The heartbeat was still there, nearly on top of him.

He slowly raised his head, searching for what must have been a cougar.

All he saw was a flash of black falling down on him.

A sharp pain caused him to shriek and he hit the ground. Something had hit him hard enough to knock him to the ground. Another vampire?

He raised his head quickly and growled only to realize one eye was gone. He was blind on his right side.

It was his right side where he heard the soft but quick footsteps come from. When he managed to turn he saw the same flash of black, his throat cut deeply and spinning him around into the large trunk he had been next to.

The newborn roared, one hand over his empty eye socket and the other holding his throat where venom leaked.

He tracked the sound of the heartbeat and raced towards a depression in the ground where it must have been hiding. Reaching the sound he found nothing.

The man was suddenly pinned to the ground face first, claws piercing and pushing his shoulders and legs to the ground and large teeth buried in his neck. He heard a deep grumbling and screamed when the back of his neck was torn only to be replaced by another bite. The claws moved down his back, the teeth, the hot teeth clamping down on the right side of his throat and pulling.

Finally a twist from the powerful creature and his head detached from his body.

Bella stood over her kill, breathing heavily then roared. Her body was exhilarated by her victory and the taste of vampire venom in her mouth.

She felt alive, no thinking of the aching in her chest or her lost love, or estranged father or the scientists who turned her into what she was. All she felt was the joy of a successful kill.

Five minutes later she had torn the body to shreds and looked at the pieces surrounding her. Taking a deep breath she allowed herself to transform into her human form and spit the venom out of her mouth.

She knew she should send a text from the communication device on her wrist to the team. She needed a lighter. The girl would take the head with her to be burned later after discovering this vampire’s identity. He was new enough that he would be listed as a missing person somewhere. The rest of the body needed to be burned first.

Bella’s head snapped up when she heard another sound, no heartbeat but footsteps moving towards her very quickly.

No breathing, no heartbeat, meant another vampire.

Another one? This close to a newborn? His maker?

No, an experienced vampire would never do what this one did. A female, deep red eyes, torn clothes and blood all over her body was standing in front of her not moving. She looked crazed and sounded like a rabid dog.

Definite newborn. Why was she here?

The female vampires eyes drifted to the head in Bella’s hand.

Old boyfriend?

Bella, grinned, dropped the head, shifted and roared in answer to the newborn’s snarls.

Before she could engage three streaks attacked the female. The sound of breaking marble filled the area, a final whimper from the newborn and the three vampires turned towards Bella.

Even in her animalistic state, she recognized the three Cullens, Edward, Jasper and Emmett who were smiling.

Jasper stepped forward.

“Hope you don’t mind but we didn’t think it was fair that you got to go on a field trip and we didn’t. That was some impressive work. I don’t think I have ever seen a vampire shredded like that.”

Bella shook her head in annoyance.

“I can’t believe it took three of you to take one vampire out.”