Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I just love to write with her characters. No copyright infringement intended.
Six
25 miles East of Santiago, Chile
March 30th 2089
Renesmee is running. Nahuel, too – inches in front of her he's showing the way through the dense-lying mountains. She feels his long, black braid slap her face from the wind running in the speed they do create.
For a short second, she thinks of outrunning him. After all, she is capable of deleting her own scent. Her scent – she can easily delete what will lead others straight into the arms of whom they are running from. It would be easy to leave Nahuel behind, while continuing herself. It would be so easy to leave him to take responsibility for their actions.
But she won't leave him to suffer their consequences alone. She carries on, at his side.
Her skin is glowing faintly in the light the sun is casting. High above, it is positioned in the middle of the sky, gazing down at the two of them as if it knows perfectly what they've done.
She regrets it a little now. Her life would have been better if she would have stayed with Jacob. Jacob was good for her. He would have kept her out of trouble. He would have kept her out of the trouble she found with Nahuel.
Her mind has, for all of these years, persisted in telling herself that Jacob is fine, wherever he is. He probably never even searched for her for very long. He has moved on, he too has realized that she wasn't good for him. Their relationship had been a mistake – an imprint gone wrong.
Of course she misses him – he is the best thing that has ever happened to her – but at the same time, she knows that it has been for the best. He would never approve of her new lifestyle. He would never let her become who she now is.
It is for Jacob's best, them being apart. At least, that is what she is trying to tell herself. She is with Nahuel now.
High above, sparkling snow is coating the tops of the devastatingly high mountains. Diamond-like dust is being transferred into the air by the wind above. In the mess she's in, she imagines switching paths, climbing up those mountains, going so far up that nothing will hurt her.
She continues to run. Run fast, away from something she knows it's just a matter of time until she'll be surrounded by – she and him are being chased.
Santiago is such a beautiful city. It is such a shame that after all of the merciless murders, executed by Nahuel and Renesmee, the city has become blacker and blacker on the world map. Now, it is a dangerous place with inexplicable killings never ceasing to scare the life out of the population.
All this fear due to Renesmee and Nahuel. Nahuel, the boy she pretends to love. Really, she's just using him for the thrill of the blood.
The blood is worth it all, though. She now indiscriminately kills for that heavenly red drink, without as much as a second thought. Even as she is running between the high peaks of Chilean mountains, she can't bring herself to regret starting to drink human blood. Her other family members are ignorant fools, brain-washed by Carlisle in his feeble attempts to do the world some good by not following through on their natural diet.
As hopeless as their situation is, she's not scared, perhaps because she has no idea what is in front of her. The last time she met them, they were more than merciful – and she is falsely supposing that is their nature. Soon her ignorance will backlash, and she will realize she has been wrong. Oh, so very wrong.
It is Nahuel who is keeping her running. Fear is oozing off of his body, just like her beaming confidence never seems to wither. It will.
At first, when she came across his path, Nahuel helped her heal. Her expectations hadn't been too high – living with someone equal to her was even better than she imagined. With him, she dealt with her past and stopped the cutting. She accepted herself. He made her think she was invincible.
As the years passed, she grew. She started putting herself first. Always. Boredom crept in and she dragged herself and Nahuel into a spider's web, impossible to get out of. A spider web consisting of sucking the life out of humans. They got in too deep. Too many killings. Too many throats ripped to shreds.
Too many killings had brought them to this – the running, the fleeing. Nahuel, scared to death in front of her. They are running from the coven of vampires that will most definitely crush them to death. Only, Nahuel is the only one who really senses the inexorable future.
The Volturi…
She knows it's them – Nahuel does, too. They're not stupid.
All of a sudden, a dark, cloaked figure appears in front of them. It is far away, 500 yards, but yet, Nahuel stops in front of them, knowing.
He's panting, not because of the running – out of fear. Fear that weakens him, fear that has him gasp for air.
There are more than one, she realizes as dark spots take form in front of them. Two, three, five, eight… She quits counting after eight. They were more last time – they won't hurt them…
She knows about the laws, the law. Keep it a secret. Stay hidden. She and Nahuel have. They've done nothing wrong. Just… feeding. Indiscriminately.
"Stay calm," she urges, not convinced he'll do as she says.
The wind above screams as the mountain peaks cut through it, just like a knife. It is far from cold enough for them to freeze, but Nahuel is shivering next to her anyway.
Stay calm…
One tiny cloak is ahead of everyone else. Rensmee casts a glance at it – a girl, younger than she. She wants to laugh, how pathetic, but time runs out as inexplicable pain suddenly strikes her from behind, like a stab in the back. Against her will, she falls to the uneven, sharp ground, instantly remembering.
Jane.
The pain sets her on fire, licking her burning limbs until they don't exist anymore. It shuts everything out. Her thoughts dissolve into a distant, velvet darkness as the pain consumes her. There is nothing but the never-ceasing agony that is eating her up, leaving nothing in its demolishing aftermath. She's disappearing. It hurts. Suddenly, she's fragile as a little bird.
Nahuel has lied. She isn't invincible.
A/N: Thank you so much for the response to the previous chapter! And thanks to my beta, Vanessa James!
