A/N This is the first time I have ever posted any of my own work on the internet, so any comments or criticism would be greatly appreciated!
All of the characters were created by Stephenie Meyer, I do not seek to claim any credit for her work, I only hope to express my love of her literature and continue it in my own style.
If I get just one positive review then I shall post another chapter, I hope you enjoy the first. :)
Moonlight is reflected dimly on the surfaces of the leaves that whip my ankles as we run. Jared stumbles slightly; Mel senses his absence by her side and calls out to him. I watch Wanda's shoulder blades move beneath her top as her arms swing, purposefully keeping a steady pace behind her so she doesn't leave my sight. Intense beams of white light seek out the beads of sweat on her skin, the rays coming from multiple directions: we are being chased, and we are almost surrounded.
The four of us were collecting supplies, now that we have Wanda it's easily a two man job yet Jared and Mel like to come anyway, we're a team. After months of trouble free gathering we were beginning to enjoy it, it's an opportunity to leave the caves and gain some privacy: the company of the others can be a little tedious, particularly that of Kyle. I guess this time we were too complacent. As we began unloading the supplies into the jeep, Jared had taken his glasses off to lift a crate on his shoulder. Unfortunately the seeker that pulled into the slot adjacent to ours was extremely vigilant. Jared must have returned his shades to his face too rapidly and it didn't go unnoticed; a muscular man fully clad in white approached. His facial features were dominated by an overpoweringly false smile as he greeted us; his lips gradually forming a suspicious line as his eyes fell on Melanie. All it took was the movement of his hand towards a shiny silver mechanism attached to his waistband, and we were off. This was a circumstance we were prepared for, though we never expected it to actually happen, especially not now. It's why we had carefully selected the only shop in the area near a forest, it made for the best chance of escape.
Our feet pound heavily on the ground, four rhythms repeating themselves over and over again. Seekers are in hot pursuit, I'm beginning to think we can't continue for much longer when I see that the trees are about to open into a clearing, I can just make out the outline of a cliff face. We near the border of the forest, if we reach it they will catch us soon after; I am distracted for a second, and then Wanda disappears.
"Wanda" I call out to her as loudly as possible without my voice breaking from a whisper.
Whilst still running, I glance back over my shoulder to ensure that Mel and Jared are still behind me, they are. Just as I call for Wanda again, I watch Mel's eyebrows raise and her mouth open, my feet are disappearing from beneath me and my stomach surges with a rush of adrenaline. Within a fraction of a second I am plunged into darkness, I'm falling. Before I have a chance to register my situation, my body has already made contact with the floor, the impact slightly softened by a mattress of rotting leaves.
"Ian?" A small voice reaches me from the edge where it is dark, a voice that brushes my every nerve and leaves me swimming in relief.
Crawling towards Wanda, I am about to reassure her that it was me when two more people land in a heap in front of me; Jared and Mel evidently hadn't managed to avoid the hole.
"What the hell?" In the light that forces its way through the opening I can see Jared's bemused expression.
"Ow, Jare, that's my foot!" Melanie pulls her leg out from under him.
"What is this place?" Wanda asks.
We all take a moment to explore the hollow with our eyes, searching its vast depths. It is round and larger than any of the rooms at Jeb's; there are a few large rocks around the edges.
"I have no idea, but it saved our lives" I respond.
"So what do we-" Mel's question is cut short as light, unmistakably brighter than that of the sun, reaches into our hideout: the seekers must be passing.
It is as if a vacuum has sucked all the air out of our lungs as we noiselessly wait for the footsteps to fade; every time I see a shadow pass over the unevenly shaped hole I bite into my lip. They must be on a slightly different path to ours or they would fall in too, and this state of affairs would get a lot less pretty.
After a few minutes have passed without disturbance, we breathe a mutual sigh of relief. That was a near miss alright.
"I say we stick around in here until nightfall, it's the safest option." Jared states.
I hear Wanda and Mel agree but my attention is elsewhere. The bright shafts of torchlight enabled me to detect something abnormal about one of the rocks; I was now headed in that direction.
"What is it Ian?" Wanda has noticed my distraction.
I motion for them to come over.
Now I'm up close I can see that this rock is without a doubt different from the others, for there is writing etched into its surface. We all stand together and look upon the uneven grey slab, the faded writing reads:
The silver eyed ones are with us. Danger prevails over our town. We are the only hosts that remain unfilled. They seek us. We know the enemy that weakens them, yet their enemy is our enemy too. Sierra Vista, 1812.
My eyes automatically meet the glances of the others, and then all eyes are on Wanda. Interminable ideas and queries are running through my head. Could this mean that Wanda's kind have been on Earth, in this very city before? I am apprehensive, I need to know that Wanda hasn't held any secrets from me, that she hasn't withheld any information on something that could endanger us. Looking up I see that her expression conveys just as much confusion, if not more, than any of ours. Momentarily I am relieved, but I still need reassurance.
"Wanda, do you know what that means? Tell me, are you aware of another enemy?" I am unable to hide my suspicion and it seems Mel and Jared are just as eager to find out.
"No, Ian, you know I would have told you. I've been to almost every planet that possesses life and yet humans are the first race that has ever posed a threat to my kind." Immediately I am ashamed that I questioned her loyalty.
"I do, of course I know that. I'm sorry." Mel and Jared give apologetic looks too.
"There is no need to apologise, I know that this would be vital information for you, for us, I'm sorry I cannot help more." She pauses, appearing sincerely remorseful that she has no knowledge of the said enemy. "What is 'Sierra Vista 1812'?" She queries.
"Oh Wanda, we cannot expect you to know any more about it than we do, this is your first time on Earth after all! Sierra Vista is this city, and I can only presume that '1812' means that it was written 200 years ago, although the population would have been thousands of times smaller then." Mel explains.
"I don't understand, does this mean that your kind have inhabited Earth previously?" Jared questions Wanda.
"For my people to visit the same planet in two different eras is unheard of to me, but I can think of no alternative explanation." Wanda replies.
"But how could that be possible, if this invasion is anything to go by then we would know if there had been a previous wave?" This seems obvious to me.
"You are right, we only ever travel to planets by the million or we would soon be defeated, and that stone proves that humans were aware of an invasion, so it is impossible that we would have been forgotten and it is too recent for it to be passed off as myth." Wanda looks as confused as I feel.
"If we look into this more now, we are only going to surface more questions that we can't answer. I say we would be best to focus on getting back then we can tell Uncle Jeb and the others what we have found." Mel is the first to present a decent idea.
Dusk began to steal its way into our cavern and we decide that it would be sensible to start making our way out before our surroundings become entirely obscure. Jared is the tallest so he lifts Mel above his head and she just manages to pull herself out. Once Mel confirms it's clear, Wanda is next to leave, then Jared clasps his hands beneath my foot and launches me upwards as I jump. I only just manage to get grip of a root by the opening and swing myself up. It takes Jared several minutes to push the largest boulder he can move under the opening. He climbs onto it and reaches up to my hand, the muscles in my upper body and arms strain under his weight and it takes two attempts, but we are all out safely. It would normally only take us a couple of hours to gather all the supplies we need; we have now been gone for a whole day. Everyone will be suspecting the worse. Mel is probably torturing herself thinking of Jamie.
Taking a different route to the one we came by, we are moving as quickly as we can without making too much noise – every step has to be calculated with precision. I watch Wanda and think of how close we came to losing each other, and our best friends, today. My life with her now is happier than any memories I have, and even though I've lost so many people, I wouldn't change a thing. As though she has read my thoughts, she falls back beside me and slides her hand into mine. Talking is out of the question now, it would be too risky, so I look into the silver enchantment of her eyes and let her feel how much I love her. I can see that we are approaching a road, it would be far too dangerous to go back to the shop where we left the jeep, we'll have to steal another. Those bastards will be analysing everything they can from our old one. The trees stop before I expect them to, I see headlights reflected in Wanda's eyes. Now we have to act casual, really casual: we're too tired for another chase.