Renewal [Emmett Cullen] (1)

[36- Baseball]

A couple minutes later, we all met by the front door. Edward carried the bats and balls. We were all dressed in athletic gear, not that humans would but if they saw us, they would assume we were outdoorsy people going hiking or something.

Carlisle led the way. The sun was just disappearing behind blankets of ominous black clouds. Just as Alice predicted, I heard the deep rumbling of thunder through the valley. We ran for less than 10 minutes, weaving through the forest as it grew denser and denser.

We followed Carlisle up a steep rocky outcrop, not even the best rock climbers in the world would dare to scale it. It was too dangerous for humans, huge fragments of limestone tumbled down, shattering into millions of pieces before landing on the forest floor. He led us a couple hundred feet through the tall trees and drying moss, around a massive hemlock tree, and we were there, on the edge of an enormous open field in the lap of the White Mountain peaks. It was twice the size of any baseball stadium.

Jasper immediately started marking bases.

"For the teams, I was thinking myself, Edward, and Emmett vs Alice, Jasper, and Eleanor." It seemed like an even distribution of skill. Our team was batting first. Carlisle was on what I though was the pitchers mound, Edward and Emmett in the outfield.

"You don't play with them?" I asked Esme when walked home plate.

"No, I prefer to referee — I like keeping them honest," she explained.

"Do they like to cheat, then?"

"Oh yes — you should hear the arguments they get into!"

Jasper was swinging the bat; it whistled almost untraceably through the air. I waited for him to approach home plate, but then I realized, as he took his stance, that he was already there — farther from the pitcher's mound than I would have thought possible. Esme stood several feet behind him, catching for both team, she was impartial. Of course, we didn't wear gloves.

"All right," Esme called in a clear voice, which I knew even Edward and Emmett would hear, as far out as they were. "Batter up."

Carlisle pitched, the ball effortlessly sailing through the air wickedly fast, with my vampire vision I could clearly see it. The bat somehow made it around in time to smash into the ball. The crack of impact was shattering, thunderous; it echoed off the mountains — I immediately understood the necessity of the thunderstorm.

The ball shot like a meteor above the field, flying deep into the surrounding forest. Jasper went all the way to second base before Emmett threw the ball back to Carlisle.

It was my turn, I picked up the bat on the ground. It was heavier than I expected, probably reinforced with steel so it won't bend under the force. I took my position on home plate and nodded to Carlisle. I attempted to aim for the edge of the cliff we climbed up to get to this clearing. Hopefully the ball would take slightly longer to get to, giving me more time to run the bases. It must had been a few hundred yards back but I was certain I could hit it that far. Carlisle winded up and pitched, the bat intercepting the ball at precisely the angle I wanted. It cut through the air as Emmett darted across the field to throw it back but by the time he threw it to Esme, I had already passed home.

"Home run!" Esme announced. The rest of our time batting quickly progressed until we had 3 outs and switched over. Alice was pitching and Jasper and I were on the outfield.

Alice stood straight, deceptively motionless. Her style seemed to be stealth rather than Carlisle's intimidating windup. She held the ball in both hands at her waist, and then, like the strike of a cobra, her right hand flicked out and the ball smacked into Esme's hand.

"Strike one," Esme called as she hurled the ball back to Alice's waiting hand. She permitted herself a brief grin. And then her hand spun out again. Emmett hit the ball deep into the forest, I took off after it. Emmett might of been the strongest but I was the fastest.

When I sprang from the fringe of the trees, ball in my hand, a wide grin on my face, Emmett scoffed. We were both so competitive.

"Out!" Esme cried in a clear voice.

I learned the other reason they waited for a thunderstorm to play when Edward, trying to avoid my infallible fielding, hit a ground ball toward Jasper. Jasper ran into the ball, and then raced Edward to first base. When they collided, the sound was like the crash of two massive falling boulders. The game ended when the thunder did at about 3 in the morning.

"Did you have fun?" Emmett asked as we ran back home.

"Yeah. It was incredible! I want to play again."

Everyone chuckled. Emmett and I took a detour and hunted for some deer nearby. After going for 2 weeks without hunting, I was eager to satisfy my thirst.