CHAPTER 10
Kate bought a computer and installed the devise in the living room. She used it for typing up short stories and exploring the internet, she called it "surfing the web". One time she found some interesting things about Denali and Forks, mostly their wild life. Kate also searched for different places in the United States where there are the same accommodations as Denali has provided them. Abandoned neighborhood, large wild life, and rare sunlight.
Even though they found thousands, thanks to the world wide web of the internet, but they loved Denali so much, and they would be farther away from the Cullen's, they just couldn't leave.
Irina spent her time reading books; books written by the best authors of all time, so far. Some of her favorites are William Shakespeare, Charles Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Robert Frost and many more. She even studied harsh vampire fiction, and laughed to herself. Such imaginations people have, she'd tell Tanya and Kate.
It was just another morning as Tanya, Irina and Kate were hunting moose together, when they heard a sound in the trees. Kate stood up and took her ground with sparks in her fingertips. Tanya searched the woods, but she only saw her rainbow sparkles reflecting on the tree trunks and green pine bristles.
"There!" Irina pointed to the west of their circle. Her gold are eyes alert and fierce.
A dark-haired man stepped forward. His diamond skin reflects back at the women. He seemed disturbed by what he was seeing. He stared into the three women's bright gold eyes, seeming dazed by amazement.
"Who are you?" Tanya asked no louder than what she would use in a normal voice of volume.
"Who are you?" The strange, dark-haired vampire asked back in a French accent, without answering Tanya's first question.
"I asked you first." Tanya said sternly.
The cocky vampire crossed his arms and waited for her to answer his question.
Tanya sighed, "My name is Tanya, and these are my sisters, Kate and Irina." She mentioned annoyed.
"Great, you're the people I need to find. My name is Laurent. Carlisle sent me." Laurent said, walking toward the women acting as if he suddenly felt comfortable.
The three women escort the nomad, Laurent back to their home after knowing that he was safe because Carlisle sent them. Carmen and Eleazar are home and preoccupied themselves by watching the television.
"This is Carmen and Eleazar. They stay with us as well." Tanya announced walking toward the couch by Carmen.
Carmen waved and smiled a closed-lip smile, a welcoming one. "Good morning."
"This is Laurent. Carlisle sent him." Irina insisted, stepping beside Laurent and gazing up at him.
Eleazar nodded, "Welcome."
Tanya smiled at Laurent, and noticed—unsurprised—at his burgundy eyes. "You do plan on staying with us right, Laurent."
"Yes, if you don't mind. I didn't want to get into the middle of the mess down in Forks with my former coven leader, James and that Cullen family. I was heading north here anyway."
Tanya snapped in a serious mode now, "What!? What kind of mess?"
Laurent felt a little uneasy with all of the stares on him now as he explained. "Like I said, my former coven leader, James wanted something from the Cullen's and they are fighting back. Something from one the males, Edward, I think."
"Edward?!" Tanya squeaked and stood up. "What does he want?"
"James wants the human."
"Human? What human?" Kate asked, not as worried as Tanya, but curious.
Laurent shrugged and walked swiftly to the chairs and sat down. "The girl, Bella, seemed close to Edward. He protected her from James as if he wanted to save her for himself; you know a late night bite." He chuckled.
Tanya shook her head, "No, the Cullen's don't drink human blood." She felt mystified by this human girl. Who could she be? And what does she meant to him? A friend? A long time relative? How old was the girl?
"No human blood? What do they live on?" Laurent asked shocked.
Kate answered for Tanya, "The same as us, animal blood."
Laurent could remember when he found the girls in the woods, killing a large moose. He scowled in the memory and then looked at the golden-eyed people and asked, "You expect me to do the same?"
"If you want to fit in, you have to adapt like us." Kate said.
Laurent ran a hand through his shortly cropped black hair and sighed, "Whatever."
Tanya was still running through all of what Laurent said about the Cullen's. She finally came to a conclusion and burst out, "We have to go and help them!" She headed for the door.
Laurent stopped her by stepping in her path from the chair, "Don't waste your time, gorgeous." Irina narrowed her eyes at Tanya. Laurent continued, "They already started to try to hide the human girl, Bella when I left. That was yesterday, by now, James probably already caught them and killed whoever got in his way. He's a lethal and deadly tracker; I wouldn't get involved in that."
"No!" Tanya twirled around and ran toward the phone by the kitchen. She quickly dialed Carlisle's mobile phone and listened to the ring. Only one ring got through and she was immediately sent to the voicemail. Tanya didn't even listen to Carlisle's recorded voicemail and hung up. She cursed and slammed the phone back on the receiver.
Tanya was suddenly there next to Tanya, "Tan, why are you worrying? You and I both know that the Cullen's are very strong and can take care of one lonely vampire."
"Not just one, his mate as well, Victoria. She can be just as feisty as well and very fast." Laurent sounded from the living room.
Kate grimaced at Laurent. She turned her head back to Tanya and whispered, "That's still only two against seven."
Tanya stood as still as a rock. She is still unsure if she wanted to run down to Forks tonight, or keep calling until she gets an answer.
Kate threw an arm around Tanya and gave her a squeeze. "Come on, Tan. They're fine, call them again tomorrow."
Tanya sighed morosely, "Fine."
They walked back into the living room.
Laurent sat in one of the chairs with his hands behind his head. "So where can I stay?"
Irina danced to Laurent's side again with a joyous smile, "With me of course!"
Tanya and Kate glanced at each other with a smirk and back to the overly excited Irina. Tanya and Kate both knew each other long enough to talk with their eyes. And that glance they just shared, said "Well, Laurent's already taken and that means hands off. Or else." They giggled, softly.
Irina shot them a deadly glare and made the girls cut their giggles short.
Laurent ignored the giggles and stood up. "Will you show me my room then, beautiful?" He looked to Irina and held out and arm for her to take it.
Irina smiled and wrapped her slender arm around his muscular olive-toned arm, "Our room." And she ran upstairs, pulling Laurent with her, to their bedroom, where they will spend most of their time there.
Kate giggled again, and Tanya only smiled. She still worried about the Cullen's.
Kate, Carmen and Eleazar tried to keep Tanya busy all day and night and then the next day. All three tried to keep Tanya's mind off of the Cullen's. Kate took her out at night to pick up men, and Carmen and Eleazar went shopping for clothes down in Juneau.
Tanya felt empty for a day and a half. When she returned back from Juneau that night, she ran straight to the phone. Tanya dialed Carlisle's mobile phone again. This time after the first ring, a familiar voice answered.
"Tanya?" Carlisle asked. His voice sounded confused and surprised by her unexpected call.
"Carlisle, you're alive!" Tanya exclaimed.
Carlisle chuckled softly, "Of course we are, Tanya. What made think we weren't?"
Tanya felt stupid now. She should have just listened to Kate and stopped worrying too much. Kate was right; the Cullen's could take care of themselves. "Well, when Laurent came and said that you were fighting that lethal tracker, James. I… I just felt like I should—"
"Don't worry. Edward took care of him."
Tanya's stomach fluttered. Her mind was screaming with joy. "That's good, I'm glad everyone's okay. Wait, everyone's okay, right?"
He chuckled again, "Yes, yes. Everyone's fine. Well, except for Bella, but she's being treated as we speak."
Tanya frowned. She almost forgot about the human girl. "Who is Bella?"
"Uh, Bella is Edward's love interest."
Tanya felt an indescribable blow in her stomach and blew away her flutters. "But she's human!" She felt so ugly. Edward didn't want her and her perfect features, but he would rather chase after a dull and plain human. Why does she even bother? She felt terrible.
"What Edward wants, is what Edward wants. I can't change what he chooses." Carlisle said reluctantly. He sounded like he's explained this before and was getting irritated of repeating it. "Anyway, Bella was injured by a tracking, nomad vampire—"
"James." Tanya inserted, cutting Carlisle off.
"I suppose Laurent has spoken to you about this?"
"Yes, he explained everything…except the human." She answered, her tone souring.
"Well, James broke her leg, broke a few of her ribs, cracked her head open, and she…lost a lot of blood." He murmured sadly. As if he cared for the human.
Tanya smiled to herself at the girl's injuries. It's cruel, but true. She already disliked her.
"He also got some venom in her system."
She made her voice sound concerned, "Is she all right? Is she a vampire now?"
"No, if she was turned into a vampire, she wouldn't be in the hospital right now. She would still be in the transformation. You know that Tanya."
"How did you get the venom out, then?" Tanya asked mystified.
"Edward had the choice to either let the transformation follow through or suck the venom out himself."
Why would Edward want to keep her human and not a vampire? If he loved her, then he would want her forever, right? Why did he always have to be difficult? He's still very unreasonable. "Well, I'm happy for Edward and the rest of you guys. I'm glad you didn't get hurt, and everybody sends their concern and happiness for Bella." Tanya had to practically choke out what she just said.
Carlisle could hear it in her tone. He chuckled, "Thank you, Tanya. I'll be sure to tell Bella when she's hopefully back on her feet. Goodbye for now."
"Goodbye, Carlisle." Tanya hung up. Kate was in the kitchen across from Tanya and sitting on the counter, she heard everything on the conversation. Tanya turned to look up at her, her expression ghastly, "I can't believe Edward. I just can't believe him."
Irina was on the mountain side of the huge cliffs in the Denali National Park. The mountains height ranged from five thousand to a little over six thousand feet tall. Irina chose to climb the highest mountain in the Denali National Park region, which was six thousand, two hundred and fifty feet tall. The mountain was covered in snow and thick clouds surrounded the sky around her.
The breeze was strong as it made her short, pale hair blow from her face as she ran. She had no destination to anywhere but up and around the mountain side. She ran as fast as she could, she felt like a bullet shooting through the heavy snow on the ridged rock side. Terrified, she looked over her shoulder, expecting it.
Because she wasn't running to someplace, she was running from someone.
She turned her face back to the front of her. She made another turn around the mountain and found a small cave. It wasn't really a cave, just an opening that was small enough for her to hide from the outside openness.
Irina stopped breathing and watched the opening of the cave-like hole. She watched for the chaser to pass, so she can run the other direction to safety, for now.
But nothing went by. All that went by was the snow going fifty miles per hour. She listened for the footsteps in the snow and pound against the hard rock ridge. Nothing, but the wind.
That's when Irina thought to start to edge out of the cave. Maybe she lost the chaser a while back. She only thought of getting out to safety.
A flesh-ripping, growl erupted, inside the small cave, behind her.
Irina flinched deeply and started for the opening with her great speed. But thick, steel-hard arms clasped around her body and slammed her hard into its body.
The snarls continued in Irina's ears as she squirmed and thrashed as best as she could to get away from it. Irina started to scream for help, but no one will hear her screams because she's too far up the mountain for anybody to hear.
It turned her around in its rough and large hands, so she would face the chaser.
As Irina screamed, the chaser leaned in and pushed its lips to her lips, hard. Irina's scream stops and she kisses it back.
Irina's pulls back, laughing, "All right, you caught me, Laurent!"
Laurent holds her in his arms tighter, "I wasn't done catching you." He kissed her again, this time softer and more passionate.
"How do you do it?" Irina asked Laurent, "How do you always catch me, and get to the place I go, before me?"
Laurent touched his forehead to Irina's forehead, "I have more human blood in my system. Therefore, I am stronger and faster than—" He quickly pecks her on her lips, "—you." It's only been almost a year since he had human blood and he started animal blood for Irina. Although, secretly, behind Irina's back, he cheated and snuck in some humans.
Irina smiles happily. She is finally happy with someone. She doesn't feel as alone as she did ever since her mother died. Laurent has given her friendship, company, love, pleasure, and hope. She has found her mate for eternity.
They continue to kiss in the cave with the white, blizzard winds surrounding them. They were on top of one of the hugest mountains in Denali, and it was one of the most romantic moments for Irina and Laurent. From where they were, the world is below them, as they share their love with each other.
Another month passes and while on a hunt by himself,—after convincing Irina that he wanted to hunt alone—Laurent was surprised to be found by a old friend.
She stood there in the snow, her wild hair blowing across her face. A devilish, yet angelic smile grew across her beautiful mouth. Her eyes a bright red and taunt on Laurent in a skeptical way.
Laurent kept a serious expression, "Victoria."
Victoria nodded back, "Laurent."
"How have you been?" Laurent asked almost concerned. He didn't want to go back with Victoria and James; he had a great life and a mate he loved. But somewhere deep down, when he saw Victoria's red eyes, he missed the hunt and kill of humans. He craved the sweet and warm taste of human blood, and the adrenaline of the chase. "How is James? Where—"
"James is dead." Victoria hissed with venom.
Laurent never expected this. He didn't think James would've lost to the Cullen's. But then again, he and Victoria were outnumbered and she snuck out. He now understood Victoria's rabid expression. Her hands in tight, clenched fists and her beautiful mouth in a menacing frown. "I'm sorry, Victoria. Is there anything I could do to help—"
"That's why I'm here." Victoria cut off rudely. She wanted something from Laurent and she isn't going to waste time by chatting. "I need you to do something for me. Just a small task and it's not too risky, I promise." Her voice is high, but frightening.
Feeling like he should help from all the years they've spent in their clan, Laurent says yes.
Victoria smiles that devilish smile again, "Good. I need you to go back to Forks, Washington and check on that little twit of a human, Bella. Find out if she is still being watched over by the Cullen's." She spat.
"Why do you care about her? I thought it was Edward that killed James."
"I want her dead!" Victoria screamed, "It's the best revenge, Laurent. Think of it, if Edward thinks he can kill my mate, then I will kill his puny, little love, Bella!"
Laurent did think her plan over, and it did make perfect sense. He thought from her point of view and her distraught. What if Irina was killed and he couldn't see her ever again? Laurent couldn't imagine it, and he can understand intently. Plus, he's been Victoria's friend for years and felt obligated to help her.
"Just break into her room during the night, and don't wake her up. And most importantly, do not kill her!" Victoria kicked through the snow towards Laurent.
Laurent stayed where he stood. "Why can't I kill her? What if I'm thirsty?"
Victoria scowled deeper, "Then hunt on the way! That's my job, which would be my reasoning to track her down in the first place. I want to kill her; I want to torture her to death. And I'm going to make it slow and very painful. I will make her wish for faster death. And Edward, when he finds out about her terrible death," Victoria reached a swift hand on Laurent's jaw under his ear. Her hand grazed down to his neck, "he'll feel the same pain that I felt when he killed James. Mate for mate."
Laurent moved his head back away from her fingers. "Fine, I'll leave later in the evening."
Victoria smiled sweetly, her hand still outstretched near Laurent's neck, "Thank you, Laurent. You're such a good resource." She lightly smacked Laurent's cheek. In a flash, she spun around and started walking back south. "Be sure to get back to me on the news about Bella!" She shouted over her shoulder. And then she was gone.
Laurent headed home first. He entered the cabin and found Irina already wrapped around his body.
"How are you, love?" Irina asked, her face pressed up against Laurent's chest. "I missed you."
Laurent wrapped his arms around Irina's shoulders, "Missed you too, Rina." They both gave each other a little nickname just for fun. His nickname for her is Rina, her nickname for him is Rent.
Irina smiled and looked up into his dull and dark eyes. Her smile faded, "You haven't fed." It was a statement, not a question.
Laurent nodded, "I know, I was just came back to tell you that I have to see an old friend out of country. I won't be back for a few hours." His hands drew from Irina's back to her shoulders.
Irina didn't like him leaving her for only a few hours that seemed like years for her. She pouted in her most attractive way; bottom lip jutted out slightly, her chin pointed down, and her eyes glazing up at him through her thick eyelashes. "Take me with you then."
As much as that made Laurent want to melt and give in to her, he couldn't let her know about Victoria's plan against her and her sister's alliance with their close friends, the Cullen's. Irina wouldn't allow Laurent near Bella's house if she knew who Bella was. And if she stopped or interfered with Victoria, Irina would be killed by Victoria. No way Irina was going anywhere with me, Laurent thought to himself. "No, you cannot come with me."
Irina never let go of her potent pout, "Please? Oh, come on, Rent, it'll be fun. Just the two of us."
Laurent grimaced, "I'll be back by this evening, I promise, Rina." He kissed her on her pouting lips. "I return with a great pleasurable night for you, babe." Laurent raised his eyebrows.
Irina smiled and looked down, as a blush, "Alright, fine. I love you, Rent."
Laurent lifted her chin with his fingers, so she would look into his eyes. "I love you too." He kisses her again, deeper. He gave her a quick and tight hug and left.
