DISCLAIMER: Some of the text and characters are from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga, which I do not own. Only the characters & text that were not in the original series are mine.
Josh left as soon as one of my family members opened the door, not even caring about the tuxedo, he leapt away from the porch with a ripping sound as the fabric tore to reveal a white wolf dashing across the yard.
Alice, who had opened the door, winced at the sound of ripping fabric, but she ushered me inside. The scene that greeted me in the living room was baffling.
A reddish brown wolf stood in the middle of the living room with Renesmee standing next to it, gripping its shoulder fur, the rest of my family were standing or sitting around the area, looking anxious and tense.
Carlisle turned as soon as I got past the couch, and he pulled me against him in a hug. His embrace told me more than words. He had been terribly worried about me, and judging from the eased tension in the room, that had been on a lot of their minds.
"What's going on?" I managed to ask past my father's tight embrace.
Edward was the one to answer, "Jacob has told us that when he was on patrol with Seth and another young wolf they ran into our southern friends…literally. They gave Jacob a message to take to us…"
I was starting to get scared, "What was the message?"
"Leave this territory or die," Bella said, since Edward apparently didn't want to say it.
I was very confused and frightened as Carlisle released me from his embrace and Esme wrapped her arms protectively around me, and Carlisle put his arms around both of us.
Jasper sensed my confusion, "I believe I know what they're thinking, since I was once like them." Everyone was all ears now. "When I was with Maria we fought with other covens for feeding grounds." All right, that much made sense to me. "Sometimes we were drawn to areas simply due to the…quantity…of prey, other times we were drawn to an area by a coven's supposed strength…" A small intake of breath greeted these words.
Edward glanced at Jacob, "Jacob's asking if that's what's drawing them here…our reputation."
"I believe so," Jasper sighed. "What other coven has ever stood against the Voltouri and lived?"
Silence greeted this last statement. Esme said quietly, "And we can't expect help from the Voltouri either…they must still want us eliminated…!"
Emmett growled, "That's why they haven't interfered. They think this southern coven can do us in with their newborn army.
"I was hoping they'd let bygones be bygones," Carlisle murmured, closing his eyes.
Rosalie spat, "What did we really expect? We are still considered a threat by them since we are such a gifted coven!"
"Alice?" Carlisle questioned, opening his eyes. "When will this attack start?"
Alice's eyes took on a glazed over look as she sought the answer. She gasped and her eyes refocused, "Within the hour."
Carlisle sighed, "That doesn't give us much time…."
"Do you want me to see how many there are?" Alice inquired.
"It couldn't hurt," Carlisle answered.
Her gaze became unfocused again, and when her eyes focused on us again, she breathed, "There are at least one hundred of them." There was a sharp intake of breath.
Edward spoke suddenly as Jacob growled, "Jacob's pack will fight with us…he's going to send one of his pack to speak with Sam now."
Carlisle looked at me, "We need to get you somewhere safe."
"Can't I help?" I asked, trying to sound brave, though my voice trembled, betraying my fear.
Esme smiled and brushed my bangs away from my forehead, "You'll help by staying out of sight."
Another growl came from Jacob, but this time, Renesmee translated, "I think Jacob's wondering if one of the wolves can go with her?" Jacob nodded.
Edward looked thoughtful, "It worked when we were hiding Bella from Victoria…" Jacob nodded again.
"Let's go with that same plan again," Jasper said suddenly. Everyone turned to stare at him. "Bella left a trail that time, remember?"
"We had more time to prepare than," Rosalie snarled though. "We will NOT use her as bait or to leave a trail!"
Emmett nodded in agreement, "It's too risky this time, Jasper."
Jasper looked at Carlisle, who sighed, "We had more warning last time…if we had one more hour or so I would agree to let her leave a trail but…" He cast an anxious glance my way, but he didn't finish.
Edward nodded at the door just seconds before there was a scratching at it. Esme walked over to the door and opened it to reveal a chocolate brown wolf, Quil. "Quil will take her to a spot away from any of the fighting…I hope." He was obliviously voicing Jacob's thoughts as soon as Jacob thought them.
Everyone cast a questioning look at Alice who shook her head, "Now that the wolves are definitely involved, I can't see where the battle is going to take place…"
"Get her to safety now…" Carlisle said quietly. Quil nodded and got onto his knees. I easily climbed onto his back and then we were off. His long strides taking us further away from the house where I had grown up…
My heart gave a painful twinge as I realized I hadn't even told them all that I loved them. I might not be seeing any of them again and now… Tears stung at the corners of my eyes as Quil's strides lengthening until we seemed to be flying over the ground. Away from everything that was familiar…
Quil stood tensed in the forest clearing that he had picked as our "hiding spot". It was away from any possible point of convergence of the southern vampires and my family and my friends…vampires and werewolves alike. Quil had only become agitated recently, and I couldn't figure out why for the life of me.
After what felt like a couple of hours, he started to whine as he glanced off into the trees and then at me, his tail tucked between his legs and his ears flattened against his head.
I thought I knew what was bothering him; he was here with me while his daughter was in the midst of battle. He wanted to help her and his friends Jacob, Embry, Seth, all of them. I said softly, "Go ahead. I don't think any one of those southern vampires will come up this way."
His tail shot into the air and he wagged it happily as he took off towards wherever the fight was…that was the biggest mistake either of us had ever made and would ever make. The fighting was closer to my hiding spot then either of us could have imagined as I was soon to find out.
Quil couldn't have been gone very long when I noticed that the birds were no longer singing and everything seemed to have eerily quiet. Standing up I looked around, hoping to get a clue as to where the predator was. There was no indication of where the predator was, my eye roving over trees, shrubs, red berry bushes…Berry bushes? There weren't any red berry bushes…! I took off running, the two glowing, blood red points from the bush imprinted on my mind.
Running from a creature that I'd come to love and respect was not something on my top ten things I want do list…but it's something that was inevitable…when you lived with vampires you lived on the edge.
One. Two. I whipped to the left, trying to avoid the killer that was behind me, taking his sweet old time, knowing that he could take me at anytime.
I remembered my brother's words, "They're stronger, and faster, but they are not smart, you'll just have to outmaneuver them…" One. Two. Turn again, a different way, making my path confusing. One. Two. Whip around and bolt backgrounds, throwing him off my tail…hopefully! It was a good thing that I was in Track, not to mention that I was abnormally fast for a human, one of the few perks of living with vampires. One. Tw-!
I felt my foot catch against something, a root most likely, and I tried to wrench it free, but that only made things worse as I fell to the ground, my right foot still caught in the root's hold. Pushing myself up, I tried desperately to regain my feet, but something wrenched my foot free from the root and threw me across the clearing, as I hit a tree, the wind rushing from my lungs, I gazed at the predator, as he stalked forward, he grabbed me by my left arm and lifted me up, grinning at me, showing his white, sharp teeth, before he flung me across the clearing once again. He didn't wait for me to hit the ground, he was next to me, still grinning, he stepped on my arm and a sickening snap resounded throughout the clearing, and I barely managed to contain my scream.
The predator taunted, "Come now, scream, this won't be fun if you don't scream." He stepped on my left arm and I hissed in pain, refusing to scream. My consciousness was fading but I could swear a familiar snarl split the air…
Shapes were blurred, but I could easily recognize my father's shape as he hurtled into the clearing, slamming into the newborn. The newborn took a wild swing, but Carlisle nimbly dodged to the side.
The newborn taunted, "They knew that our plan to have us all split up would take you off guard! You're family is split up, unable to work as a unit!"
There was a ferocious snarl from Carlisle before there was a scream and the sound of something being ripped apart, but that's when my world went black. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel pain as my lungs struggled for breath and my body screamed for relief from the pain it was in.
I felt a gentle touch on my chest, but that was enough to make me cry out in pain. I heard my father take a sharp intake of breath. He probed several other spots and I cried out each time, and my breath started coming in gasps, and I tasted blood as I coughed.
I felt lips press against my forehead in a kiss before my father whispered, "Forgive me." And then I felt something sharp pierce the flesh near the base of my neck, then twice more on my wrists…
