Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for several reasons.
Chpt 28 Gate Crashing
BPOV
Lifting my inner shield and growling quietly at the effort I hurry toward the underground garage where I left the car and even with my lack of experience it isn't long before I realise that something is very wrong here in San Antonio.
I haven't seen a single vampire but I can hear them around me. Shouting, running and the tell-tale crash of stone bodies coming together in a fight. The humans seem to be completely oblivious, most of the sounds out of their range of hearing, but they do glance up from time and comment to each other about the thunder rolling overhead.
Quickly I make my way down from street level, paying my dues and flinging myself into Sweet-Knees, intent on getting out of the city as fast as possible.
After a brief internal debate I let my shield back down, being an unobservable entity seems like the best option right now.
And it works nearly all the way out to the interstate when a minivan comes out of nowhere and shoves me off the road and spinning into the brush.
Instantly I'm out of poor Sweet-Knees and getting ready to voice my indignation at the occupants but the two kids in it are wasted beyond any kind of coherence.
Fucking brilliant.
Undecided I hop from foot to foot, I want justice for my car which is looking very forlorn, but I don't want to wait here for the cops and I do not want to get caught up in whatever is going on down here.
The kids are climbing out of the van, shaking their heads to clear them and peering at me in consternation.
"Hey lady, where the fuck did you come from?" One of them demands.
Down the road numb nuts, are you blind?
Growling again I yank my backpack from the passenger seat and start walking away.
"Lady! We gotta exchange insurance or some shit."
I flick my hand and keep walking. Even car ownership seems too complicated for me right now.
"Aw man, Seth. My mom's gonna rip me a new one . . . . Hey dude, watch where you're going, am I fucking invisible or something . . . ."
The growl he gets in response causes me to glance back.
Vampire.
Ignoring the two kids he comes after me, walking quickly and purposefully.
Crap. I'm not feeling real sociable right now.
I walk faster.
He walks faster.
Behind us the kids are bickering about who's going to call their mom and own up to totalling the car. How soon can I run, would they even notice now? I doubt it, they're not exactly the sharpest tools in the box at the moment.
And while I'm still thinking about it the vampire behind me breaks into a run.
Decided I take off like a scalded cat.
Its eerie being chased through the dark in silence, it lends it a whole other patina of 'wrong' to the experience. Even our feet barely make any sound, so fast are we moving and so light are our footsteps. It's also frightening not to know why you're being chased, who's chasing you and what they'll do if the catch you. Somehow I don't think he wants to sell me a souvenir.
I don't know what to do, he doesn't seem to be gaining one me, which may or may not be deliberate. In theory we could run like this forever. On the other hand do I really want to risk him catching me out in the middle of nowhere? I'd probably be better off doubling back to civilisation, the only problem is, back the way I came there seems to be some sort of fight in progress.
Oh god! All I wanted was to sunbathe, was that really too much to ask? Apparently, yes.
Unconsciously I'm running parallel to the highway, just out of range of the car lights. I could flag someone down I suppose but it's risky, my pursuer might have no compunction about murdering innocent humans in order to get his hands on me.
Reluctantly I swerve away and head out into the wide open spaces, back toward Rocksprings, there's nowhere to hide out here but there aren't many people either.
I haven't eaten since before Memphis and running on fear is setting my throat on fire.
"Why are you following me?" I howl in despair after a half hour or so.
"Why are you running?"
"Because you're chasing me."
I slow slightly. He slows too.
"I'll stop if you stop." He says after a couple more miles.
"You stop first."
We run on.
"Alright." He says and abruptly his footfalls cease.
I stop more slowly, turning to face him but still walking carefully backwards.
He looks a couple of years older than me, with black medium length hair curling over his ears and at the nape of his neck, his build is similar to Carlisle's, long and lean. His eyes are dark red, fringed with long black lashes. Clearly there's no such thing as an ugly vampire.
I stop moving.
"You're an animal drinker." He observes in surprise. "I didn't realise they had any animal drinkers."
"They?"
"The Mexicans."
"I'm not Mexican. I'm from Phoenix."
He narrows his eyes and frowns slightly.
"I thought you were one of them. Who are you here with?"
"Just me." I wave my tatty backpack at him as if it will explain things. "I'm travelling, I wanted some sun."
"You came down here on your own? Are you scouting?"
Does he mean boy scouts? Do I look like a boy scout, dib dib and whatever?
"Sunbathing."
"You came down here to sunbathe?" He asks as if it's the craziest thing he's ever heard.
I shrug lightly. It's not sounding like the best plan in the world at the moment admittedly.
"I'm not sure if I believe you in light of the fact there's a battle raging behind us in the city." He says finally, eyes narrowing again.
I'm at a loss for what to say to convince him, maybe I should just start running again? Cautiously I take a step back.
"My name's Cornell." He offers suddenly.
"Bella."
He smiles slightly.
"I'm not sure I believe your story Bella but you're not much use to the Mexicans running around out here. And I'm no help to my side. I ought to get back."
I nod encouragingly.
"I'm not sure what to do with you though."
Leaving me to get out of here as fast as my legs will carry me would be good. I'd certainly appreciate it.
"I should probably take you back. Just in case."
No, sorry, not feeling remotely sociable.
Cautiously I take another step back.
And this time he steps after me.
I take another, he follows suit.
Great, a very slow motion, stalemate.
"There are others coming." He says suddenly, stopping and cocking his head to one side.
I freeze. I can hear running feet too, lots of them.
"They're not mine, no one knows I'm out here. Rescuing you or after me do you think?"
Again I shrug and he glances over his shoulder.
And I'm away and gone, feet flying so fast they barely touch the ground.
A volley of shouts erupt behind me, the sound of stone bodies crashing together and the ground shakes slightly underfoot. There's vicious snarling and screeching, it sounds like a dog fight. Then more shouting and more running feet as the fight spills out in all directions, I don't think the battle is confined to the city anymore.
The night is clear and still and despite my flight the sounds still carry quite clearly over the open ground.
Someone's coming after me. Fast. And someone's coming after them.
My fear spikes. If he thought I was with the other side then it's entirely possible the other side will think that too, as in I'm on his side. And that can't be good . . . .
With some relief I reach the range of canyons and gullies I was in this morning and now I should probably think about hiding, maybe I could even make use of my shield, get them to forget about me. But the damn fight seems to be following me and in here the sound travels strangely through the ripples and depressions in the land. Now it sounds like it's all around me and I'm in the middle of it.
Not wanting to blunder into someone I slow and try to relax, focus in on what's going on around me. I don't know what to do with my shield, down and they might just pass me by, up and at least I'll have a better idea who is around. God I wish Eleazar were here to ask. I don't know what to do . . . .
I slow even more feeling like I'm in a maze with an unseen monster stalking me. Decided I let my shield down and will it to be thicker and stronger somehow, even if they can smell me I don't want them to think about me, I want to be ignored. I want to be ignored . . . .
Gradually the noise of the fight quietens but I can still catch the occasional sound of vampires moving around carefully.
Obsessively I think about increasing the strength of my shield, visualising extra layers going on like lacquer. The only problem is I don't know if it's working . . . .
"They're in here somewhere." A voice whispers somewhere above me and I freeze like a cartoon character, foot poised in mid-air.
"How many are left?" Another voice responds.
"I don't know." The first speaker admits.
"Fuck."
Don't notice me, don't notice me. Please.
"Do you recognise the scent of the vamp he met out here?" One of the voices asks after a moment.
"No but we'd better find her too, he might have passed her something we need, maybe called in re-enforcements."
"Fuck. The boss will have a fit if this goes wrong after all this planning."
Mexicans? They don't sound very Mexican.
"Alright." The first voice concludes. "Get the others to spread out around the edge of this area as best they can, maybe we can catch 'em on the way out. No sense chasing 'em through here and getting picked off one by one."
And as if to confirm his assessment a piercing scream rends the air somewhere over to the east of us.
"Fuck!" The both curse in unison heading in that direction.
A new fight breaks out over that way and I use the cover of the noise to creep further into the gully in search of a nice little hiding place, still focussing on re-enforcing my shield since it seems to be working. Of course I've forgotten the drawback in doing that as I back around a corner and bump into a stone whose arms close around me immediately, trapping me and covering my mouth to stifle the scream.
Once more I freeze.
"Nice to see you again Bella." Cornell whispers in my ear. "You really should look where you're going."
"Umph."
"Keep quiet." He points out needlessly as he releases me and turns me to face him.
No problem.
Another fight breaks out a few hundred yards away and again vampires are drawn to it from every direction.
"This must be worse than I thought if he's here." He whispers, his lips brushing my ear.
He?
"So I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt Bella, since you'd be a singularly inept spy."
Thanks, I think.
"We need a diversion and hopefully some of my coven are still out there. The next time a scuffle breaks out we're going to run for it, opposite directions, hopefully there won't be enough of them left to chase both of us, at the very least they'll have to spilt up and I think there's only four or five left."
My brave eyebrow shoots up, it doesn't sound like much of a plan to me. And four or five, is he nuts?
"If we stay here they're going to flush us out or find us eventually." He points out reasonably. "All they have to do is track our scents and ring us in, they'll figure that out soon enough."
I watch his eyes, they look sincere.
"Once you're out in the open head north and don't stop. You're fast, they won't catch you. They won't follow you much further north in case the Abilene Coven are waiting for them, especially not now we've split their force."
Jesus he might as well be talking Chinese for all I understand.
"What about you?"
"I have allies I can go to. I've already got word out, they'll be waiting." He looks at me expectantly.
Reluctantly I nod. What else can I do? I don't want to stay here and be 'found'. And I've a suspicion it wouldn't be good to be found with him.
Another shout goes up.
"Wait." He whispers, turning me around and pointing me in the direction I need to go.
Again running feet head toward the noise, shouting instructions and apparently wading in.
"Now!" Cornell urges, giving me a little shove.
Immediately I spring away, sprinting down the gully as it opens out into a broad flat space.
"There she is!" Someone shouts.
Oh fuck. Already?
I risk a glance back as three vampires drop down from the gully walls and charge after me.
"Don't let her get away!"
Cursing my luck I keep running, I've no other option now.
And for a few miles I think that maybe this is going to work but then I realise that another vampire is coming in from the left, cutting off my route north and with a sinking heart I veer away.
My shield isn't working anymore either, my pursuers are all focussed on me and I'm guessing there's no way I could deflect them now, not even if I had time to think about it. Instead I will it up, wanting to have as information as possible.
Which is when I notice the air up ahead is heavy with the scent of the forest after rain and my skin prickles.
Asshole.
Somehow not surprised after a day like today, I hurl myself up an incline and over the edge into a huge natural bowl lined with stiff grass and the odd gnarly shrub or rock. I passed through here this morning . . . .
And there, in front of me, arms folded across his chest and looking supremely pissed off, is the orifice in question. Wearing low slung jeans, a white t-shirt, cowboy boots and a black Stetson, tipped low over his eyes.
"Run!" I yell as I launch myself down the slope.
