Sorry about the gap of no updates. I went away and was planning to update while I was there but internet was sketchy at the best of times and I was so busy. Here is a nice long chapter to make up for it and the moment that many of you have been asking for is coming up!

Lackofbetterchoice

xxxx

Chapter 9

The night was cold and damp, water droplets gently brushed against my face as I flew through the air. The moon highlighted the edges of the forest and I could see branches twist and curl beneath me. It looked far more sinister at night than during the day. Part of me wanted to simply fly all the way through the night and let myself be taken over by my bird instincts, which always remained in the back of my mind. I couldn't do that though, I had a mission and people to protect.

I started with the area where the latest victims had been found, landing in small clearing near the very centre of the forest. They must have been hiking for a long time to get this far. Police and medics had cleared away the bodies and with them, much of the evidence, to my disappointment. Any footprints or tracks had been destroyed by so much movement and activity in the area. Of course, the police and medics were looking for animal tracks, why bother looking for signs of a human?

I wandered around the immediate area, trying to disturb as little as possible, looking for anything that might point me in the general direction. If the story was in the paper today, then there must be some evidence left.

Eventually, I found it. A tell tale sign that I only I could know. It was five long scratch marks across a tree only five minutes from the clearing. It was understandable why it would be mistaken for a wolf scratch but this was different. It was up high on the truck, as far as my arm could reach and the pattern the scratch marks were placed was also different. I placed my hand on it and moved it down, my fingers following the line easily. It was like someone had very sharp, very long fingernails. Or they were half way through their transformation from human to wolf.

In the school, I saw these markings all over eraser cells. When they transformed it seemed as if they would explode with fur and teeth but the claws were always the first to appear, half human and half wolf hands lunging at you with fury and hate...

I closed my eyes and gripped the tree. Deep breathes, in and out. Remembering this made my body tense and hum with energy building up to be used. It was hard to know what emotion I was feeling. My first instinct was to hate them all but then I remember Ari. Then I couldn't hate them anymore. I couldn't hate them because they were just being controlled like I was in the school; it wasn't their fault they had been turned into brainwashed monsters.

I opened my eyes slowly and released my grip from the tree truck. Scorch marks remained where my hands had been. I had unconsciously used the tree as something to pour my energy into, to stop it getting out of control.

It didn't matter if I hated them or not, I thought. It's kill or be killed and if they are hurting people or want me dead then I've got to stop them. No matter how I feel about it.

I slowly went back to the clearing and sat down on the cool damp grass. I ran my hands through the blades around me as I slowly counted my breaths and closed my eyes. The palms of my hands were sweating and it was difficult to keep them from shaking.

In theory it should work, I thought, but 'in theory' hasn't always exactly worked out well for me in the past. I could control electricity and huge amounts of energy. Jeb's theory was that I could send out pulses of energy out as an extension of myself and use it as a sort of sonar.

We'd never tried it before because I could risk losing control of the energy and destroying things or setting them on fire or allow too much energy into my body or kill someone else with an electric shock or show off my location to the enemies I was looking for or ...well you get the idea.

If I didn't try it though, I could be searching for ages and never find anything. Forks forest was huge and I had no idea if the erasers were even staying in the forest or if they'd moved on. I had to try something quicker.

I began to feel my body hum with energy and my skin heated up. My hair began to float around me, being charged with static. I was gathering electricity from the very air around me. I couldn't create it just simply bend it to my will.

Soon I felt I had enough energy and slowly closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and as I breathed out, I allowed the energy to be released into the ground around me. The result made me gasp and almost stop the flow in shock. I sent the energy out in waves, and it pulsed through the forest like a heartbeat. In return I was suddenly given I metal map of the forest around me, as if it was printed on the back of my eyelids. I could sense where everything was. I knew that a mile away, a fox was pouncing on a rabbit or three miles away, an owl was shifting on a branch. After about three miles the metal images became less clear and by four miles they disappeared all together. That must be the limit of my range, I decided.

After getting over my initial amazement, I remembered my mission. I needed to find the erasers. I closed my eyes again and concentrated on finding a wolf like shape, fast moving and aggressive. After a few minutes I found nothing. I decided they must be in human form and so concentrated all my energy on finding any human in the area. This was where I hit the jackpot.

Two miles to the east were two fast moving shapes, too big for an animal but way too fast for a human. It was running at least fifty miles an hour, treading so lightly on the ground and making it hard for me to grasp a full picture of what it was.

"Hmm...It seems the erasers have got an upgrade since I last met them." I said to myself and cut off the pulsing energy, making my visual sonar disappear before my eyes.

I stood up but far too fast, the clearing began to spin around me and before I knew it the back of my head hit the ground. My breathing was fast and deep and my limbs were heavy like lead. I swore to myself of not thinking how much this trick might have cost me, having that much energy flowing through me must have nasty side effects.

Slowly I got up, sweat dripping from my brow. I had to find the eraser before it got away, but I couldn't fight it like this.

"You're looking a little pale there Max," A deep male voice suddenly called out in the darkness.

I suddenly jolted up right, straight into a fight stance. My eyes scanned the trees around me, looking for the voices owner. My breathing was ragged and hard.

"Who's there?" I called out. The voice seemed familiar but I couldn't place where I'd heard it.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me, though I guess since your owners have left you really don't have much to do with our kind anymore."

"My owners?" My jaw clamped together and I tensed.

"Your...well I can't exactly call them vampires. They're a disgrace to the name. Aren't you their little mutant pet?" The man then stepped out from behind a tree. His dark skin and burgundy coloured eyes struck me with recognition.

"Laurent," I hissed with a mix of suspicion and anger. "Long time no see."

"Yes it has been a while hasn't it? I just happened to be running through the area and just this..." he paused, looking for the word. "Sense told me that you were here. Perhaps you know what it was? He leaned against a tree casually, he didn't take on a fight stance or looked threatening but I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him and didn't relax.

When I didn't answer, Laurent went on to say. "In fact I was so sure that you were here that I called a friend." He pointed to the other side of the forest where another familiar face appeared. Her wild red hair framed a sneer, showing some very sharp teeth. I almost jumped in shock, why didn't I sense her approach? I must be weaker than I thought.

"You remember Victoria, don't you?" Laurent said, slowly stepping closer.

"Of course, how can anyone forget that glare? Have you come back for another beating?" I smiled innocently at Victoria and she snarled in response.

"Easy Victoria, we're recon remember." Laurent said

"I don't care what we are, she needs to die!"

"She will, but we need to find the Cullens as well."

"She's the one who killed James, not them." She exclaimed. Her furious eyes never left me.

"He's the one who tried to kill me first. All was done in self defence." I said, slowly walking backwards. I didn't want them to get too close in case they decided to spring into action. I needed to keep them talking to bide time so I could regain my strength and draw in more energy without them noticing.

"Why are you looking for them?" I asked. I didn't say the Cullens, I didn't want to say it.

"Your owners?"

"They don't own me!" I spat back. I was thinking of retreating but the more I stayed and talked to them the more I wanted to fight.

Laurent raised his hands in defence. "Sorry, I assumed you were a pet of theirs or something. We've got new leaders and they are very interested in both the Cullens and you. Of course, we all came back to Forks thinking that we'd meet everyone again but obviously only you are left. I guess you didn't mean as much to them as we thought."

I only glared in response, determined not to show them how much that last comment hurt.

"Who are you following now?" I asked through gritted teeth. The two vampires slowly began to edge closer, their sinister burgundy eyes never leaving me. I slowly walked back in response, ready to whip out my wings and put up an energy shield at the slightest sign of attack. I started to pull electricity from the air even faster and was for once thankful for the cloudy sky overhead.

"Ah, that's for us to know and you'll never find out. You see, we are technically working for our leaders but we do have our own motives which your ultimate demise. We were only supposed to scout out the area and see where everyone was but not attack you. But we'll just say that you panicked at the sight of us and we acted in, as you call it, 'self defence'."

I took that as sign that our little conversation was over.

I snapped out my wings and quickly put an energy shield around my body. I released my retractable knife that I had attached to my arm and got ready to use it. Victoria was quicker off the mark than Laurent, lunging at me with speed and fury, a dangerous combination. I barely had time to form a block before she slammed into me. The energy shield pushed her back but also sent me flying into the nearest tree. As I got up there was a cracking sound and although I didn't dare take my eyes off my attackers, the sound effects gave me a good idea of the tree crashing to the ground.

I ran my fingers along the edge of my blade and it melted at my touch, I moulded it into a sphere. Laurent made a leap but then but I sent a round house kick to his chest and as he stumbled back I threw the sphere into his face. I watched him fall onto his back, trying to rip the metal off his face but I kept it liquid and moving.

Unfortunately, I took my eyes off Victoria who took her second chance and rammed into my back, grabbing onto my wing. I kicked blindly behind me, and luckily made contact but into the process twisted my wing. It throbbed with pain as I grabbed Victoria's neck and sent an electric shock straight through her body. Her face became contorted into a silent scream.

"If I've beaten you before, why on earth do think you'll win this time?" I said, pinning her to the ground. Her limbs were paralyzed with electricity and I watched her eyes slide fearfully to Laurent who was still struggling wildly against the liquid metal. I made sure to cover his eyes and ears so he couldn't know what was going on.

Victoria's eyes slid back to mine and she managed to choke her words out. "Winning a battle doesn't mean you'll win the war and trust me, the odds are not in your favour. You've signed your own death warrant." She gave a small strangled laugh and spat in my face.

Suddenly my became tinted blue and the hand I had around her throat became tighter and tighter, cutting off her laugh and making her struggle against her forced paralysis. My hands began to smoke and the smell of burning flesh began to fill my nostrils. My hands had become so hot with energy that it was burning her. I was staring into Victoria's eyes as the light slowly dimmed.

STOP. A voice screamed and I realised it was my ownvoice pleading with my body. I had no control over my body. My killer instincts had taken it from me. I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks and my arms shake as I tried to fight the instinct but my grip didn't loosen until finally I heard a deafening crack. Victoria's neck had snapped in half and cracks sliced into her white stone-like skin. It was as if someone had broken a rock in half as there was no blood, simply dust.

The blue tint faded and suddenly control over my body returned to me again. I jumped back from the body, holding my hands up as if it was going to jump up and attack again. My breathing was heavy and the only thing I could hear clearly was my own pulse thumping quickly away in my head. I could feel my jaw hang open as I watched the headless body twitch, its hands grabbing blindly at the grass around it.

All energy left me, I suddenly felt so incredibly tired and tears wouldn't stop streaming down my face. My eyes wouldn't leave Victoria's body as I tried to understand what had just happened.

I hardly noticed that Laurent had now become free of the metal trap and hesitantly began to walk towards me, debating on whether to try his luck at killing me or run. He would have had a good chance at killing me then as I was so lost and weak, there wouldn't have been as much of a fight. But unfortunately for him, we weren't the only ones in the forest.

We both heard them before we saw them, the growing rumble of paws hammering against the earth and the unmistakable roar of a beast. Before either Laurent or I could think to move, five huge wolves burst through the clearing. They were bigger than I'd ever seen before with huge claws, bigger than my head.

Three of the wolves went straight to cornering Laurent while two others simply watched me as I sat there with my back against a tree, eyes wide and nowhere to run. My wings were pulled in tight against my back, throbbing from Victoria's attack. I tried to pull more energy and more will to fight but I couldn't get much together. Suddenly the wolves looked to each other, as if to have a silent conversation and then turned away to focus on Laurent who made the clever decision of a tactical retreat, and the body of Victoria.

One of the wolves picked up the body with very sharp looking teeth while the other grabbed the head. Without warning the wolf slammed shut its jaws on it and smashed the head into hundreds of pieces, sending dust flying everywhere. The wolf spat out the remains and then followed the rest of its pack who had run after Laurent.

They were gone as quickly as they arrived. Before I knew it, I was alone in the clearing. I waited until my heart and breathing had calmed down and my hands stopped shaking before daring to try and stand up.

Slowly I collected the shards of metal from my knife and stuck them in the pocket of my hoody. I was torn between following the wolves and going home. What if I lost control like that again? Every second I wasted the erasers were getting away but if I confronted them would I have enough energy to fight and stay in control of my animal, killing instincts. On the other hand, if they wanted to kill me they could have done it then and there.

I looked to the gap where Laurent and the wolves had gone through. It was littered with broken, fallen trees and footprints. They would be easy enough to track.

Finally I made a decision. I could at least follow them in secret and find out where they hide. I put the hood over my head, covering my face as much as possible, and followed the wolves into the darkness.