Chapter 12: Starry night sky.
“Come on Ness, we’ll go for a swim." Jacob took her hand in his.
"That sounds great!" Renesmee smiled.
"It’s quite a walk, is that okay" Jacob teased.
"It sounds like an adventure to me! Let's go!"
Renesmee tied the hem of her baggy T-shirt in a knot just below her hips. Jacob yanked his shirt off over his head and tossed it onto a low branch.
It had taken them an hour and forty-five minutes of hard running to get to the river, but it was worth it. The surface of the water was smooth and dark, reflecting a sky full of stars. Renesmee took a step towards the riverbank, anxious to cool off.
Jacob’s hand on her shoulder made her stop.
“Even though the river looks calm, there is a pretty strong current so I want you to hang on to me at all times, okay?” Jacob looked like he might be changing his mind about swimming so Renesmee quickly agreed.
She climbed onto Jacob’s back, her legs finally long enough to wrap all the way around his waist and lock into place at the ankles. Jacob waded into the water and compensated for the current with seemingly effortless strength and grace.
“We are going to swim upriver against the current and then float back here to get out. Okay?”
“Sure Jake, you can be the river guide this time.”
“I’m serious, Nessie. I don’t want to have to swim all the way to the ocean to find you.” She tightened her grip around his neck and waist and Jacob seemed to relax a little.
Renesmee could feel Jacob’s muscles roll beneath her with each powerful stoke of his arms. He was doing a modified breaststroke with his head always above water so they could talk to each other.

*When they had stopped to rest*
“Nessie, I could stay here forever, but we have to get back.” Jacob sounded sad and worried at the same time.
Renesmee didn’t want the moment to end, she was afraid she would wake up any minute and find out it had all been a dream or a trance induced hallucination. She didn’t want to go back home in case Blake was still there.
“Jake?” Renesmee shivered, suddenly overwhelmed with nervous energy. Her heart began to pound again. What is wrong with me? This is Jake. I can tell him anything.
“Are you cold, Sweetheart?” Jacob asked as he tucked her in closer to his side. His body heat was more than enough to keep her warm. Jacob had been calling her “Sweetheart” for years, but now it had an entirely new meaning. She felt a warm glow of happiness spread as she shivered again. Renesmee had so many thoughts and feelings tumbling in her head and in her heart, she was sure she would never find the words to express them.
She placed her palm on his cheek as she whispered,
“I love you, Jake.” Old words spoken in a new way would now and forever mean so much more.
Jacob scooped her up into his arms and held her next to his chest as she continued to project all that was in her heart. His eyes mirrored the wonder and awe she felt. He gently brushed a stray strand of hair off her cheek, letting his fingers trail down to her free hand.

*When they had gone back in the water*
Renesmee didn’t know how long they had been floating down the river, lost in their own thoughts when Renesmee realized she was no longer worried that her parents would find out. It was as if the river had washed away all her troubles, leaving her mind and body in a state of peace and relaxation.
The current was strong, but since the river was so wide, it wasn’t really noticeable. It was so peaceful, the common sounds of the jungle, weren’t common tonight. The chirruping insects calmed her nerves like a lullaby, while the lonely call of a night bird touched her heart with a strange and pleasant ache.
The lukewarm river water felt like velvet against her skin. Drifting effortlessly, her body completely relaxed and weightless, gave her the sensation of floating in space. She scrunched up her eyes so the only thing she could see was the starry night sky above. She felt a tenuous connection to something infinitely greater than herself. Maybe it’s God?
Renesmee wasn’t sure what she believed about God. No one in her family actually talked about it. She knew that her father and Carlisle both believed in the Christian God. Renesmee found it hard to believe that the endless expanse of the universe, and the miraculous variety of life surrounding her in the jungle just happened by chance.
“Jake?” Renesmee hated to disturb his musings, but she suddenly felt like she had to know.
“Do you believe in God?”
Without hesitating even for a second, Jacob replied,
“How could there not be a God when every one of my prayers has been answered.” Jacob squeezed her hand and Renesmee knew he was referring to her.
“How about you, Ness? Do you believe in God?”
“I do tonight.”
The peaceful bliss of the moment was shattered when somewhere in the distance a jungle cat snarled a challenge into the night. It was if someone had thrown a switch, shutting off the half-human girl and activating the primal predator lurking within. Renesmee had never felt the urge to hunt so intensely. She answered the cat with a growl of her own. She let go of Jacob and tore through the water with a singular purpose. Hunt. Track. Kill. Feed.
Jacob took off after her, he managed to grab one of her ankles and pulled her back to him.
“Nessie we don’t have time to hunt tonight, we have to get back.” She began to recover when she felt the beat of Jacob’s heart next to hers, his arms wrapped securely around her. What is wrong with me? I just hunted last week. I shouldn’t be this thirsty. Renesmee whimpered as her throat burned with desire for the predator’s blood.
Without a word, Jacob rolled onto his back and pulled her head up onto his shoulder so it was well above the surface of the water. He turned Renesmee onto her back as he draped his arm across her waist, creating a circle of warmth and safety for her to rest within. Renesmee whimpered again as Jacob brought his other arm across his chest, and ever so gently, lowered his wrist onto her lips.
Renesmee’s hands curled around Jacob’s forearm and she pressed his wrist tightly into her open mouth. Jacob gasped briefly when her teeth sank into his flesh, piercing skin, muscle, and artery. Renesmee’s nails dug into his arm as she moaned in ecstasy. She drank hungrily, savouring the hot, pulsing stream of living blood as it poured down her throat. Nothing can compare with this; there can be no delight greater than this in the entire world. In the entire universe. The current of the river picked up speed and the formerly smooth surface of the water began to churn and foam. Renesmee hardly noticed when the force of the rapids sucked them both under the water. She was still feeding when they resurfaced.
Jacob’s quiet moan brought her to her senses. She pulled away and began to worry when the bite didn’t begin to heal immediately.
“Oh Jake, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to take so much! Are you okay?” The river roared in her ears as the current spun them around. Renesmee was truly frightened as she clung to Jacob.
“Sure, sure, I’m fine... blood ‘generates quick… ‘member? Wolf thing.” The river was so loud and Jacob’s words were so quiet and slurred together she could barely understand him.
“Oh Jacob, Jacob, I don’t know what came over me, it’s never been like this before.” Renesmee began to cry quietly.
“I will never drink from you again, Jacob! I promise.”
“S’okay” Renesmee had never heard Jacob’s voice sound so weak before. She had never been so terrified before.
Jacob’s eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went completely slack, as the angry river sucked them both beneath the surface.