~Annika~

I jumped over fallen trees and rocks. I was planning on letting the werewolves go free because they didn't look very happy behind the bars. But so Aro can't totally kill me for doing so, I planned to let them go free right next to the Romanians. First I had to find them though. The wolfie people listened to me without struggle. At this rate we should be able to find them. The wolves would be able to sense other vampires and the only other vampires that should be coming towards this way are those Romanians. Everybody wins this way.

This was my second time out of the castle. The first was to hunt down humans for Mookie, Charzy, and no name and I didn't get to travel very far. Now, I was in the woods! It was almost nightfall too so I would have to stop since werewolves actually do get tired.

We stopped by this large rock and the all laid down on their backs to rest. They were still in their human forms though. It was kind of hard to start a conversation with one of them because most of them didn't even know how to talk because they were raised in the wild. The ones that could talk were antisocial and kept to themselves. So I was practically alone with nothing but my thoughts to keep me occupied.

I sat on the rock and looked up at the sky. It wasn't entirely dark yet but it was dark enough to see the stars and the moon. They looked pretty tonight. The only time I got to see them was through a window but now I'm looking at them in person.

Some of the werewolves started to moan and groan a little. I looked back at them and felt my stomach tie itself in knots. Ah, crap. They were changing into their wolf forms. I could hear the crunching their bones were making as they started to jut out. Their faces stretched to make muzzles. Finger and toe nails were now sharp claws. Fur started to sprout on their skin. Drool dripped from between their sharp teeth and they growled menacingly once they caught sight of me.

My spikes naturally sprung out of my own skin as defense. When they saw I had a weapon they faltered. One brave wolf jumped out and tried to clamp his jaw around my leg but the spike there went all the way through the roof of its mouth, killing him. I pushed his head off my leg. Sadly, seeing a member of there own pack killed didn't make them stop their advances. I took one of the spikes out of my wrist that could grow back and threw it at one of them, but I missed.

I ran off as fast as I could (my spikes retracted back into my skin when I started running). Werewolves were really fast too. Now I can see why Caius wanted to get rid of them all. Taking a bunch of werewolves with me into the woods alone was probably not my best idea yet. I feel stupid now, but at least they aren't behind bars anymore. That was something to be happy about if you wanted to be optimistic about the situation. However, I didn't want to be optimistic about this.

I crashed into a few trees by accident and some of them fell on top of the wolves. But there were still a lot following me. We were causing a ruckus. I wouldn't be surprised if Aro heard all of this. Probably not. We were pretty far away from the Volturi.

I turned around and scratched a few more. I was making very deep wounds in their skin. I could hear the sound of rushing water. There was a river nearby! I jumped over rocks and dodged more trees, heading towards the sound.

I reached a dead end. There was a huge cliff and I was at the very edge. But I found the river! At the bottom of the cliff. Oh, that's just perfect. The barking and growling was getting louder. I turned around and I couldn't see them yet. But the thuds of their paws on the ground were getting closer too. Well, I had nothing to lose so I jumped.

When my body collided with the water it made a big splash. I swam back up to the surface and shook my wet hair out of my face so I could see. The remaining werewolves were standing at the edge of the cliff, continuing to bark at me. I could tell they weren't going to jump. It was too far for them and they would kill themselves by crashing into the rocks or drowning.

I swam over to land on the other side of the river. I sat on the grass for a moment to relax my mind after that fiasco. I rang the water out of the skirt of my Volturi dress (all the females wore dresses that stopped in mid-thigh and the guys just wore pants). I laid back and curled up on the grass. Well, now I can fulfill the dream of leaving out in the wild considering I had gotten myself lost. Okay, now I felt even stupider. I hope Aro didn't send anyone to find me because I am still going to make my way to Romania.

The wolves turned around and left once they realized they couldn't get to me. It was quiet now. The sound of the river, the crickets chirping, and the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees calmed me down a bit.

I stood up and went back to hiking towards my destination. Off to go finish what I started. The piece of land I was on was only big enough for a few people to sit on. It was surrounded, but two sides, by another cliff with rocks that looked even more dangerous than the one across the river. I didn't mind. The rocks couldn't hurt me so I hitched my leg onto one of the lower ones and started to climb up. When I got to the top I faced with more of the forest.

I was still a little shaken from being chased and had to sit down again. When the sun came out I would start out again. That gives me some time to sort out my thoughts.

~Alec~

Jane was strutting out in front of me. I wasn't too happy about the idea of going slow. Jane still had the spike and was twirling it around like a baton. One of these days she is going to hurt herself.

Suddenly, Jane stopped in her tracks and looked back at. She held a finger up to her lips to tell me to be quiet.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered.

I listened for a moment and tried to hear what made Jane stopped. It was barking. And the sound of trees crashing down to the ground followed by yelps. All the noise sounded as if it was very close by.

"Do you think that's the werewolves?" Jane asked.

If it was, we were screwed even more than before. They were that close. Jane grabbed onto the sleeve of my cloak and started to pull me away from the noise. I yanked back harder and she tripped and fell into the dirt. She pushed me and I fell on top of her.

"Stop it," I hissed. "Annika could be where the wolves are."

"If she is then she's probably torn apart by now!" Jane hissed back.

I didn't want to think that. I stood up and headed for the barking. Jane followed and kept close to me. The closer we got, the more the barking and growling seemed to simmer down. I broke out into a run. Maybe they were leaving.

"Alec!" Jane whispered called to me.

I turned around to see that Jane was pointing at the ground. I followed her finger with my eyes to see what she was pointing at. Dead bodies. Dead bodies of werewolves. They were still in their wolf form but with large gashes slashed into their skin. Whatever cut them seemed dangerous.

"Maybe it was the same thing that left this spike that did this too," Jane suggested and held up the black object.

I nodded. "Come on."

We ran on for a few more miles until we could hear the sound of water rushing and Jane stopped again. This time I already saw what made her stop. Trees that have fallen on more werewolves. Jeez, were there anymore left at this point? I looked up from the bloody mess and saw an opening. Curious, I walked forward quietly in case those weren't the last of the wolves. I made it just in time to see about twenty wolves scamper off along the side of a cliff back into the woods.

Jane caught up and ran over to the edge of the cliff. That made me nervous to see her that close to the edge. I waked up behind and looked over the edge too. The water was pretty calm.

"Well, it looks like down is the only way to go," Jane said and jumped into the water.

I shrugged and jumped in with her. Jane was treading water and smelling the air.

"Annika's scent is really strong here," Jane remarked and swam over to the only little piece of land in sight.

I swam after her and climbed out on the strip of land too.

"It's extra strong here," Jane said again.

The way she was sniffing the air reminded me of a dog. Jane sniffed her way over to a rock wall and started to climb.

"Come on, fatty!" She called and hulled herself over the edge.

I am not fat. But I climbed up after her and came face to face with Annika. She looked surprised and Jane was smirking in the background at the shocked look on my face. I wrapped my arms around Anna in the tightest hug.

"I thought you were dead," I murmured softly in her hair.

She didn't hug back, instead she stiffened. I didn't let go though, not even when Annika started to nudge me away little by little. She then placed her hands on my chest and pushed me away completely. This made Jane laugh out loud. Oh, shut up, will you.

"Okay, time to go," Jane said and tried to pull Annika back towards the water.

She didn't budge. "I'm not going back. I'm going forward to Romania!"

Jane gave her a pathetic look. "Um, why?"

Annika stood up and brushed the dirt off her knees.

"Because I'm tired of everyone complaining about them and yet at the same time no one is doing anything," she answered.

"We still have to go back though," I added in.

Annika shook her head. "Not yet. I'm going to Romania."

She turned on her heels and marched forward into the trees. I noticed she was barefoot too. I got up and hurried on after her. I heard Jane sigh but the sound of her small feet padding through the dirt followed.

"Annika, I'll go with you," I said and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Okay," she answered simply. "I don't mind."

Jane caught up with us too but didn't say anything. She looked crabby again. Probably because our stay in the forest has just expanded.

"Anna, where are your shoes?" Jane asked looking down at her feet.

Annika stopped and looked down then shrugged. "I don't remember." And she continued to walk. "I'm going to walk for awhile, just letting you know," she added.

She quickened her steps a bit so she was out in front of us.

"Let's look for somewhere to stop. I'm done traveling for the night," Annika called back.

She stopped in front of a large tree which had very thick branches. Smiling, she climbed up into the tree out of sight. Jane looked even more annoyed at the fact that Annika wanted to sit in a tree than I thought was possible at the moment. Anna's head popped out from the leaves. She was hanging upside down by her knees.

I placed my foot on the side of the tree and hoisted myself up. Jane raised her eyebrow and stayed put.

"This is my branch," Annika claimed and pointed to the branch she was perched on.

"Well, then this one is mine," I said and climbed up onto a branch bigger than Annika's.

She snorted. "Fine, you can have that branch. It's ugly enough to match your face. How perfect. I hope it's big enough to hold all your weight. Probably not."

Finally! I was waiting for what seemed like forever for her to say something like that.

"Are you seriously arguing over which tree branch to sit on?" Jane asked and climbed up into it herself.

"Yes. Don't you do that?" I answered jokingly.

She rolled her eyes at me. Jane started to crave away at the bark in frustration with the black object we found. I honestly don't know why she kept it. Annika's eyes followed it as Jane roughly craved lines down the bark.

"Where did you find that?" Annika asked.

Jane looked up from her little "art project" she had going on. She looked down at the long spike in her hand.

"Found in lodged in the ground, why?" She responded.

"Well, that's mine," Annika stated. "It's my power. Spikes shoot out of my skin when there's danger and some can be snapped off to use as projectiles. It's kind of a sucky power, really."

Jane stared at her in confused. I was sort of shocked myself. How can a power that doesn't involve the mind be considered crap?

"How does it suck?" Jane asked.

"Well, I look really stupid when I use it!" Annika exclaimed. "Not being modest here, I really do look like an idiot."

Jane shrugged and went back to her carving. Annika, who has seemed to have forgotten all about what we were just talking about, started to climb higher in the tree. Some leaves fluttered down as she did so.

Jane sighed. I could tell she was getting restless. She stabbed the spike into the tree branch and started to climb out of the tree. I couldn't see where she went. I jumped down a little, but not completely out of the tree, to see where she went. I hung from one of the lower branches to see Jane sitting on a nearby rock, mumbling to herself angrily. That means to leave her alone so I climbed back up into the tree.

Annika was sitting on one of the highest branches that looked too little for me to even try to get on without breaking it. She caught me staring and smiled then hopped over to the branch next to hers. More leaves fell as she did so. Some landed on my head but I shook them off. She kind of blended in with the surroundings since it was so dark outside and she was wearing dark clothing and her hair is black.

I sat on the highest branch that was thick enough for me to sit on. I was much heavier than Annika so I couldn't go much higher otherwise I would snap branches off. I was startled slightly when the branch shook a little when Anna sat down beside me. I wasn't expecting that. She looked up at me with no emotion on her face. Her eyes were starting to turn a darker red. Great, that reminding me that we needed to find humans to feed off of and clearly there are none in this forest.

She jumped down onto my branch, startling me slightly. Annika bounced a little and made more leaves fall. By tomorrow morning, probably all the leaves will be gone! Not really. Annika leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my waist. Apparently, somebody is lonely right now and wants attention. I wrapped my arm across her back and let her sit there with her face in my chest.

"You smell weird," she said, breaking the silence and her head shot up. "You smell like perfume that hookers wear," she added.

I nodded. "I mostly likely do. Jemma was hanging around in my room and it looked like she sprayed everything of mine with some perfume she got Heidi to buy her."

Annika let her hands drop from my waist and she gripped the branch. Her glance was fixed on something bellow us.

"I just noticed something," she said.

"What?" I asked.

"We're in a tree," she said simply.

I laughed a little at her remark. I leaned over to give her a teasing peck on her forehead (she was used to it) but she moved her head up at the wrong time and I ended up brushing my lips against hers. I quickly pulled away once I realized what I was doing. She had a serious look on her face with some confusion. Annika then pushed me out of the tree with both hands and I landed on the ground sprawled out on my back. I take it she didn't quite like that very much.

Jane was now staring at me, trying to hold back her laughter. I gave a glare and she stopped and went back to what she was doing before but I could still tell she wanted to laugh at me.

I got up and brushed the dirt off. I left a big dent in the ground too. I looked back up into the tree and I couldn't see Annika anymore. She probably moved to a different branch.

So, let's take a look at my mental check list. Found Annika? Check. Aro is now pissed off at us for leaving without permission? I can guarantee he is. Did my week get better yet? Nope, not really.

A/N: I've decided my updating day will be Saturday for now on. It'll just make things easier for me.

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~W~