Hey! This was published in Tidbits from Twilight and I removed it to enter it into a contest. I ended up not entering it so I thought I'd republish it up here. Enjoy!
Main Character: Victoria
Situation: Before she met Laurent and before she met James, Victoria was alone. She wasn't one for company, but she did enjoy the casual game...
She ran.
Quickly, quietly through the jungle she ran; her eyes unfocused, leaves in her unbound hair.
She ran past two men – hunters who held their breaths as she practically flew past.
Her grace was unbelievable. Every step was swift, effortless.
The two watched as the woman with the tattered clothes and pale porcelain skin continued to sprint through the jungle, her vibrant red curls flying about behind her.
The woman, seemingly unaware of the hunters, suddenly stopped at the base of a large tree and, without any hesitation, began to lithely climb it.
She went up. She climbed up the tree more easily than they thought possible, and stopped in one of the high hanging branches. She crouched as if to jump, then hesitated.
The redhead straightened up, turned her head towards the hunters and winked, finally acknowledging them. Then she jumped, grabbing hold of a vine splayed lazily on a branch above.
Then, she really was flying.
The redhead pumped her arms and legs, letting out the occasional giggle. Her laughs were almost musical; they were as beautiful to the ear as chimes tinkling in the breeze, and not even the least bit breathless as she easily glided from vine to vine.
Her grace, her speed . . . it was almost inhuman.
She swung fast, faster than she sprinted, and the two hunters had to run to keep up.
Every now and then the hunters grew tired of weaving between the many thick trees.
But whenever they would slow down, the redhead would giggle, egging them on, making them more determined not to lose sight of her.
But they weren't fast enough. They very soon lost view of the redhead's fiery tresses, and despite how long they searched, they couldn't find her in the complicated maze that was the jungle. The hunters decided, after hours of searching, it would be alright to give up. Besides, it was a rare cloudy day, and already the sun was going down.
The slightly taller one pulled out his compass, and they both turned in the opposite direction - west, towards the edge of the jungle, near a river where their campsite was located.
But after they had taken not even two steps, a big THUD! made them turn back around.
She had jumped down from the heavens as if an angel.
And there, in all her wild splendor, stood their jungle girl.
Up close her beauty was . . . indescribable.
The men greedily took in her slender figure. Her worn shirt was strategically torn just under her reasonably sized chest, giving the men a view of her toned stomach. And her tattered shorts allowed them to take in her smooth shapely legs.
They were so taken by her form they didn't, at first, bother to look at her face.
When they finally did look, what they saw both awed and alarmed them.
They saw a striking face of course, probably the most – no definitely the most striking face they had ever seen. But what disturbed them were the ruby red eyes that peered beneath the fiery strands on that face.
Her eyes were even brighter than her hair.
The hunters exchanged a slightly worried glance.
They had heard stories of a red-eyed monster that preyed on people who walked through certain parts of the jungle. In fact, a native had told them to stay out of the jungle altogether if they knew what was good for them. But that was just a native. And the stories were just that- stories.
Besides, how could this beautiful woman be even the least bit dangerous?
"You gave up," Their jungle girl said with a pout.
The taller hunter gasped. When she spoke, her voice was like silk. He watched as her pout melted into a predatory smirk. This was no normal woman. She was too beautiful; she was too graceful.
Something was off.
The other hunter, though, was instantly appeased. He took a step toward his jungle girl, enraptured.
"You gave up," She repeated, the predatory look still there. "You know what that means?"
"Tell us," The shorter hunter breathed with another eager step.
The jungle girl took a few smooth steps so that they were face to face. "That means I'm it."
The shorter hunter's eyes, which had strayed to her chest, looked up in confusion. "Wait, what?"
The taller hunter slowly stepped back in fear.
Something . . . something told him that this woman was not what she appeared to be. His heart went into overdrive, adrenaline rushed through his veins as he struggled with his fight or flight instinct.
Quick as a flash, the jungle girl bent her head so that her lips were leveled with the shorter man's neck. Her exposed teeth pierced easily into his skin.
Not wanting to discover the outcome, the taller hunter turned and ran as fast as he could, the haunting screams of his companion trailing behind him.
Who knew how long he had until the jungle girl had her fill of his friend and came looking for him?
The screams grew fainter and fainter as he ran until they stopped abruptly.
He knew what that meant.
Disgusted with himself, he picked up his pace.
He felt like a coward for running away and leaving his friend for dead. But could he really say friend? To himself he admitted that he didn't know the man very well. They had only known each other for barely a week. Each had shown up at the same place for the same business and because of that decided to work together.
As the hunter aimlessly stumbled through the jungle, he wondered if he had known the other man longer, if he would have been able to just leave like he had done.
The hunter decided he would have.
He had a thing for being alive.
The hunter took a chance look back to see if the jungle girl was trailing behind him. Nothing.
When he looked forward again what he saw brought him to a jerky stop.
He quickly unsoldered his previously forgotten rifle and pointed it at the ready.
"Don't bother," She said. The jungle girl pushed off against a tree she looked like she might have been leaning on for a while.
Slowly she circled him, assessing him. And he turned too, careful not to leave his back to her.
The hunter noticed a bit of red on her beautiful face. "You have blood on your chin," he said, repelled.
The jungle girl wiped away the bit of blood with her forefinger and brought it to her lips. "I'm not usually a messy eater."
"What are you, then?" He questioned, ignoring the way his body reacted to the visual.
"Me?" The jungle girl rested her chin on her fist as if she were pondering. "Hmm, well I've been called an abomination, a monster, a psycho. . . the devil." She added with a sly grin.
The hunter paled, took a trembling hand off his rifle, and crossed himself. With both hands securely on the weapon again, he took a deep breath. "If you come any closer I'll shoot, " He threatened.
The jungle girl simply snorted and carried on. "But those are just names I've been called. Do you want to know the title I would give myself?"
The hunter stayed silent.
"Killer," She stated as she crouched down. "That would be it. That's what I am. That's what I do. I take away life."
She lunged at the hunter. He managed to pull the trigger of his rifle just once. Harmlessly, the bullet simply bounced off her skin.
In one fluid movement she launched herself over the hunter and onto his back, one hand at his throat while she snapped the rifle in two with the other.
"And now I'm going to take away yours," She said.
Slowly, she sunk her teeth into the soft skin of the hunter's neck.
The jungle girl had won.
And with her, winning always came with death, because it was simply what she did.
She took life away.
U.U