Sorry, this is a short one. I'm working on a longer one right now.
This night I was wandering. Like Bella wandered, but it was too dark for me to see anything. I had no idea why I was so scared, but I was terrified. And I wasn't looking for something. Something was looking for me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Something would hear me. It had excellent hearing.
Then again, the hammering of my heartbeat would give me away. I had no choice. Maybe if I got to the car. He's faster than a car, I was reminded myself. He was coming. I didn't have to trust my senses. I felt him behind me all the time. I felt phantom teeth grazing my neck. I swatted at it, only to hit nothing.
It was too dark, but I knew who it was.
I found a staircase. A house. I was in a house. Who's house? It wasn't as though I could tell, but I walked up the steps slowly. I wasn't going to run. They want you to run. They want to chase you first. I wasn't going to give anyone that pleasure.
"This is stupid. Turn back and go to La Push," ordered a voice. It was Paul. My heart fluttered and I spun around.
"He's right," said another voice in the darkness. It was Jasper. Another spark of hope.
"I'm not allowed in La Push," I whispered. "The treaty..."
"Would that really stop you? A stupid piece of paper?" Paul's voice asked. "It's never stopped me." I thought on that for an instant. It had never stopped Paul, but it was much more easy for him to break the treaty. The wolves did it all the time.
They would never tolerate my presence. Not even when my life was at stake.
Then I felt a someone behind me. Cool hands glowed in the darkness. It was the one thing I could see clearly. I turned around slowly to see a beautiful smiling face that struck me with fear. He was on the lower step, slightly shorter than me because he was behind me on the staircase.
He grinned, trying to be friendly I supposed. His black hair waved around his face, red eyes sparkling. His eyes weren't like I'd seen before. They weren't hungry or angry or confused. They were truly pleased to see me. And I couldn't stop looking at him horrified.
"He won't want you when I'm done with you," Laurent said his black locks swaying as he shook his head. I heard Paul growl somewhere in the darkness. My lip was trembling. With one hand on the banister touching the smooth wooden railing, the other hand was locked at my side. Laurent stepped up to my step. Now he easily towered over me.
I could smell the vampire's tantalizing smell that was designed to be beckoning, but it had the opposite effect for me. It made me recoil. Laurent caught me before I could move too far back. His face was full of sympathy. His thumb touched my cheek gently, stroking away my frightened tears.
"You had this coming, little liar," Laurent said, his soft smile staying put. I was crying hysterically now, my pleas stuck in my throat. I didn't want this. I didn't want the pain. I didn't want eternity. I didn't want the monstrosity, the bloodlust, or even the beauty. I couldn't become this.
Paul. I should have told him where to find Laurent. I should have let him and Sam take care of it. Bella could have found out about the wolves some other way. I could have told her myself. Now there was no one to help me. Neither Paul nor Jasper were coming to my rescue now. No one.
"Cammy!" Paul's voice raged. Lauren't's lip pulled back into a pearly grin, this shifted into a wild snarl and then an open mouthed growl. He pressed me against him, hissing in delight as his teeth sliced through my skin in such a practiced way. I cringed with the crunch my tendons and muscles made in the power of his jaws. The immediate pain lessened with my screaming as I buried my face into Laurent's shoulder. The coolness of the venom mingled with my warm blood. Then Laurent pulled me away.
He watched in sick fascination as I was numb at first. Then the coldness became fire. Like something that was so cold that it felt like a burn, like dry ice. Then it progressed until it became nothing but burning. I wanted to thrash, but Laurent held me still.
"Don't worry," he said in the same French-tinted accent I remembered. I craned my neck to look at him. I couldn't see that smile as anything, but menacing. My body was shaking as the fire leaked through every inch of my veins. "I'll be here the whole time. I'll always be here."
I awoke screaming into my pillow and I couldn't stop until my breath ran out. My eyes were wide and I gasped stupid into the fabric of my pillow. Before I could smother myself I raised my head and looked around the room. My purse was crumpled up into me, the expensive leather was bent and twisted from my death grip on it. I refused to let it out of my sight. It was never away from me. Usually I walked around with straps wound around my arm twice.
Just a dream, I told myself. Laurent was not here.
Not that I could see.
I picked up my eyes and looked around my room. Like that would help, but I had to look. Would Laurent bother hiding? What if he was in Forks looking for me? What if he got impatient waiting for me to grow another complete year? What if he wanted to go against the books? What if he wanted me now?
I closed my eyes.
Vampires are very patient. They have to be. They live an eternity. But I couldn't shake the feeling that there was another pair of eyes on me. Edward maybe? Just waiting for me to leave the books alone for one second.
I was losing it. I shook my head and made myself turn over in bed. Edward wasn't here, and neither was Laurent. I was alone.
Somehow that thought was just as terrifying. So I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep until morning.