Laurent comes to me when I am reading in the sunlight, deep in the woods, afraid of nothing. He stands over me, greets me like we are old friends. We hug. He smells like a fresh kill and he has blood on the corner of his lips. It smells like iron, but also sweet and tantalizing. Like a barbeque sauce that Mike's left sitting in his lunch bag all day. "I am here to check up on a… Pet I met last year."
"Of course you are."
He runs a finger down my jaw and clicks his tongue. "It has been seventy years and it seems you have still not fed."
"No, not since the last time you have seen me."
"A shame, you were… So powerful."
"I am still powerful. I think you would do well to remember that, Laurent." He looks at me, no words needed, and then he is gone. If I had been human, I wouldn't have heard or seen but I watch as he gives me a smile before I can't see him anymore. I'm sitting down to read again when, on instinct, I put out my feelers. I let them crawl across the earth in the milliseconds it takes me to sit down and then I feel it. Sorrow, pain, excruciating grief. It bends me at the waist and puts me against the ground squirming. Humans are fickle creatures, and usually only vampires feel like this but… There's something wrong. I reach out further, my eyes burning as if I were crying, and I feel something… Worse.
It's coming from Bella.
She, like she has been lately, is somewhere where should not be.
It takes me mere minutes to find her. I can smell Laurent in the clearing, and I can see him hovering on the edge of the trees. When he smiles at me, he's baring his teeth. An invitation. A challenge.
I'm in front of Bella before she can comprehend I've even emerged from the tree line. I grab her and spin, until she is tucked safely behind me. I can smell her, and she makes venom pool under my tongue, but it's her breath and hands clutching my white dress that make me almost lose my sobriety.
"Greta?"
"Bella, stay behind me. Don't move. Try not to breathe. Laurent, stay back!" He steps into the light and we're both reflecting light from our skin. Half of me thinks I should just knock Bella out so she doesn't remember, and the other half of me is screaming at me not to interfere. If Laurent is so sure that Bella is his pet, then who am I to interfere?
"Oh, Thomasin… You used to be such a good girl."
"That's not my name anymore. Stay away from Bella and this town."
"Oh, it is your name. Remember? Do you remember when you didn't interfere with what I did? What Victoria did? Let me have Bella… We can share. Doesn't she smell so… Edible? The Cullens left her here… They don't care."
Bella pushes against me, screaming. "Leave them out of this! They're coming back, and Ed-Edward…. He'll be mad!" The Cullens? Edward? I crouch and hiss as Laurent comes closer, grinning at the woman behind me.
"Oh, yes." He chuckles, cracking his knuckles, "I'm sure he's coming back. That's why young Thomasin… Oh, I'm sorry, Greta doesn't know who they are, isn't it? Bella, I've waited to taste your blood from the moment I saw you in the clearing."
He moves quickly and, because he has fed, he moves faster than me. We collide, bodies slamming against one another and fall to the dead grass, grappling one another. It sounds like a storm, like thunder, and I can hear Bella screaming like lightning in the dark. Her voice is broken, she's howling, and calling my name. She's pleading, grasping at her hair, crying. Laurent, thank the Gods, is focusing on me.
We're neck and neck when another smell blankets Bella's and the faint scent of other vampires in the clearing. My momentary distraction allows Laurent to sink his teeth into my shoulder, but then… The wolves break through the tree line. They're snarling, staring us down, and I can feel Laurent give pause. His teeth are still stuck in my shoulder, venom sealing them in. It's going to hurt like a bitch when I rip them out.
I twist, throwing Laurent through the air toward the wolves over Bella. His head comes off in my hands and I launch it deeper into the woods. Bella scrambles toward me and I wrap her in my arms, throwing her to the ground. As the wolves pound toward us, paws on the ground and tossing up dirt as they go, I cover her body with mine. She's staring at me, panting, and I can feel the fear leaking off of her.
"Don't worry," I whisper, breathing just as hard as she is without the need to, "I'll protect you, Bella. The wolves won't get you, and no vampire will lay a hand on you." Her arms wind around my back and she turns to look above me, toward the sky. I can smell the scent of the wolves - something like forest fire, dead antelope, and rotting wood - envelop me. I can feel it's panting breath on the back of my neck. I can hear the growl building in its throat. "I'll protect you, Bella. You're my friend, and I will not let anything kill you or anyone else in this town."
She doesn't respond, staring up at the wolf. Eventually, it moves on. I can feel it's rumbling vibrations as it lumbers away and I lift my head to watch it go after it's pack. They drag Laurent's body across the clearing and deep into the woods until I can't even see them. Bella says my name again, voice shaking like her hands on my back, and I know I have explaining to do.
I just hope the Volturi won't find out.