Chapter 2

*Hermione's point of view*

It has been a little over a week since I had arrived at Forks Washington, and it has rained every single day. I found a decent area in the woods were there was just of enough of a clearing for my tent, but not enough so it was a noticeable area. I had made camp and put up a fair amount of protection spells and started to plan out my next course of action. Sitting at my little table drinking a nice hot cup of my favorite tea I scanned over the maps of the forest that I was currently camping in. Apparently most of the forest was part of a Native American reservation and the rest was part of a national park. From the outside Forks seemed like any other small town, where nothing interesting could ever really happen. But after some research there appeared to be recent reports of people going missing inside these mysterious woods. It was then that I decided that it was time for me to go visit the local library and go through their newspaper archives to see if I can gather any more information on the so called "bear reports". However this trip was not all pure business; I also desperately needed a new book to read.

Around 9am I made my into the little town of Forks and it was the first day I had ever seen sunshine since I had arrived here in America, and I could not help but smile. The sunshine always seemed to brighten up my day, literally! It took me about an hour to make it to the library and it was your stereotypical small town library, which was located in the main town square. The second that I walked into the charming little building a calmness swept over me as the familiar scent of old books filled my nose. My smile grew even more as I realized that it was a Thursday, so the library was completely empty; except for the kind librarian who greeted me when I entered. I had the entire place to myself.

I could have spent days sitting inside that tiny library mulling over the hundreds of books that it held. I wasn't used to American style literature, but it was a refreshing change from the books I had read back home. But after about five hours I decided that it was time for me to make my journey back to my camp site. I had done an incredible amount of research, pouring over many different articles; anything that seemed out of the ordinary or had anything to do with the bear reports I looked over. But before I left I made sure to get a library card and checked out a few books as well.

As I stepped outside I was pleased to see that my perfect day was only getting better; I was surprisingly welcomed by the bright sun shining down on me and a cool breeze. I decided that it wouldn't hurt to take some time to check out the town; it would be much better personally to survey the area when it was not pouring rain. So I set out, taking in all that the little town had to offer; which in all honestly wasn't a lot. It actually was about the same size as Hogsmade, but the atmosphere was something completely of its own. The air was thick with hidden mysteries, secrets that were never meant to be revealed. There was something defiantly different and it was getting harder and harder to suppress the overwhelming curiosity. Once again my mind started to drift away where my head was swimming with all the possibilities that this town could offer.

As I walked I didn't have any real particular direction in mind so I just followed the road to see where it would take me. It wasn't until I heard footsteps running up from behind me that I became instantly on guard; gripping my wand that was safely hidden inside my pocket. I didn't look up until the footsteps where in passé with mine, and it was then that I realized that I had completely and utterly forgotten my main plan of staying out of the public eye. I had managed to walk all the way to the town's public high school right when it was being dismissed, and I had attracted many stares from the students existing the parking lot. With a sigh I kept on walking attempting to ignore the blond boy that was trying so desperately to get my attention.

"Hey you don't look like you are from around here? Are you visiting?" The blond boy said who was completely ignoring the yells from a girl who was still standing in the parking lot. If I had to guess she must be his girlfriend or something. At this point I could not help but look up; he was about the same height as Ron; which cause a slight ache deep down inside me. But I made sure to never show my true emotions on my exterior. The only feature that really stood out was the boy's eyes; they reminded me so much of Harry's eyes, only blue. I suddenly realized that I had not slowed down my walk, making the boy have to jog a little to keep up with me.

"My name is Mike, there is going to be a party on the beach near the reservation tomorrow night. If you are still around you should come." Mike said now jogging so that he was more in front of me, I could not help but smile at his determination. So with a shrug I said maybe and smiled as I bid him goodbye and crossed the street; heading in a new direction. Mike took the hint and started to head back to the parking lot where the girl was still yelling at him; she was indeed his girlfriend.

As I traveled down the new road I could not help but smile a little, it has been a long time since I was noticed, and not to mention it was by the opposite sex. Unfortunately I had a mission that was my top priority and there was no time for socializing. After a few minutes of walking I decided to head back to my camp site. With a quick glace to make sure no one was around I pushed my way through the brush and back into the woods.

The brilliant sun was just about to set, as a since of sadness washed over me. After meeting Mike it reminded me of all the normal aspects of life that I had missed out on. Now I do not regret for one second the choices I made, but it never seemed to ease the loneliness that would haunt me when the night over took the day. By now the sun was very low making the sky look like a canvas of water colors, where the clouds where big brush strokes of pinks, purples, and blues. As I walked my heart began to pick up in speed as I realized I was not alone in these dark secretive woods. Gripping my wand I kept walking forward, taking in my surrounds incase I needed to find an area for cover.

Suddenly the footsteps that where following me had come to a halt, making me go on full alert. I too slowed down and started to silently pull out my wand; my eyes scanning everything in sight. The air had turned cold, and it was then that I realized that I was in one bloody hell of a bad situation. I too had now come to a stop, I steadied my breathing and strained my ears to see if I could pick up on where my follower had disappeared to.

"Hello my little mudblood. What are the chances of meeting your beautiful face out here in the middle of nowhere? Aren't I a lucky man to be so close to one of the golden trio; the brightest witch of our age." My heart stopped as well as my breathing. I could feel how close he was to me as I froze in my spot. He leaned in from behind me and whispered sinister words into my ear.

"Well, well you smell absolutely delicious tonight, Miss Granger." he said as he held my hair close to his face, inhaling all my scent. It took me a moment to register the complement, and then I realized that it was not a complement that anyone would want. The situation went from bad to downright dangerous, and instantly by brain went into full throttle.

"Should I be saying thank you, or should I be asking what you are doing here in America? Or did you not hear? The war is over, Harry Potter won, and your dear Lord Voldermont is dead." I said with a sneer, but not even a second after the words left my lips the Death Eater instantly appeared right in front of me, our faces only mere inches apart. It took a great deal of effort for me to remain emotionless and to keep my composer. But I remained still and stood my ground with my head held high, eyes forward; refusing to show the ever growing fear that was building up inside of me. For there was something not right about this Death Eater, and I had a sickening feeling that I already knew the answer.

"Never say the Dark Lords name you filthy mudblood!" The Death Eater snarled as he made an attempt to grab me. However figured he was not going to take this news particularly well so I started to apparate back to my camp site, but I was caught off guard by the Death Eaters incredible speed. In a blink of an eye he had pushed me so hard that I flew back at least ten feet; it would have been further if I didn't make contact with a tree. As my body finally touched the ground I was sure that I had broken a few ribs. But I had experienced worse pain in the past and was instantly back on my feet, wand out and ready.

We went back and forth sending out various spells and deflecting them. I was growing more and more nervous as I had figured out the truth behind this Death Eater; he was a vampire, and if his speed didn't reveal his true identity it was his blood red eyes. My mind was going into over drive as we fought, spells bouncing off trees and rocks. I had never seen a vampire in person, but I had done plenty of reading on the subject and what worried me was having a vampire so close to a town filled with innocent people. My new focus was making sure that the fight did not get anywhere near the main roads or the town. I had to protect the people of Forks. That was my new priority. However it was getting increasingly harder to fight off not only a powerful wizard, but also a fully developed vampire.

Spells where getting more difficult to deflect, mostly because no matter what direction I turned to he was already there. At this point I knew it was time to start unleashing my more reserved tricks, so I started to use teleportation instead of apparition. Only a few wizards had ever perfected teleportation, me being one of them. It was much more useful due to the fact that unlike apparition when you teleport you can teleport anything you want and in retrospect what you didn't want teleported won't follow you. So each time the vampire got his hands on me I would teleport out and away. With apparition if he had got a hold of me he would be apparated with me as well. This was clearly pissing him off more and more, but for me it was a lifesaver for I was slowly moving the fight deeper and deeper into the woods.

Never the less even with my tricks the overall control of the battle was slowly slipping out of my figures and I was growing incredibly tired. I had taken quite the beaten during the battle, broken bones, cuts and it was getting much harder to keep my mind focused. But no matter what I did I wasn't having any effect on the Death Eater, I wasn't even leaving any scratches on him. To make matters worse we were nearing an old road and I could only pray that no one would drive by and see the blinding battle that was ranging on in the woods.

Just when I thought that I had gotten some distance and time to catch my breath I was sadly mistaken; as I turned around there he was, hand gripped tightly around my throat. In an instant I was lifted off the ground and that's when true fear engulfed my soul; this was it, this was the end. I wish I had time to say goodbye one last time to all the people that I love. But just like the other times I was not lucky to have death granted to me, instead torture seemed to be my only friend in this world. It only took the Death Eater a second to cause some serious damage. I was thrown against a tree and before I could even hit the ground I was caught and then thrown against another tree, and right when he was going to smash me against a very large rock, as I presumed, I heard that all too familiar crack and another voice entered the picture. At this point I had to use all my strength to stay conscious as the voices faded in and out. I could not really grasp everything they were saying but before I knew it I was being thrown one last time up high into the air. This was it, I was defiantly going to die and no one will ever know where I was or where to find me. When my body finally made contact with the ground I slowly allowed myself to drift off to into a well deserved sleep. I had to admit there are only so many times that you can cheat death and I had definitely cheated death one too many times. It was finally time for me to meet death and hopefully follow him to the heavens. The last thing I remember was seeing the beautiful canvas that was the evening sky. The mixtures of pinks, purples, and blues; it was a glorious site to see as the colors faded away to blackness.

To Be Continued….