Chapter Twenty Three: Hiking
Bella definitely wasn't taking Jake's absence well. She keep trying to call him only to get Billy and he was getting shorter with her the more she called. I half expected him to leave the phone off the hook just to get some peace, but it was more likely that she'd show up there if she couldn't get through on the phone.
Bella had been strangely quiet around me since the day she ambushed me in the driveway. She didn't talk to me unless she had to and that was a complete 180 after the snide and scathing remarks, the yelled accusations and thinly veiled malice of the last couple weeks. I wasn't complaining but the sudden change had me worried, it was a bit too much like when she'd been a zombie after Edward's departure. Thankfully she was still talking to Uncle Charlie and her friends at school which put me a little at ease.
The new normal was exactly why I was so surprised when Bella randomly spoke to me as I pouring some milk over my cereal on a Saturday morning.
"Anna, will you go hiking with me?" She asked from the doorway of the kitchen.
"Hiking? Since when do you hike?" I asked, spoon frozen half way between the bowl and my mouth.
"It was something I was doing with Jake and I like it. I don't want to go alone." Bella said and I sighed before nodding.
"Sure, I'll go hiking with you." I agreed, it seemed innocent enough and she was less likely to get lost or killed if she wasn't alone. A little while later Bella drove us to a trail head on the outskirts of Forks and we both hopped out. Grabbing my backpack, I started for the marked trail, but Bella stopped me.
"We're going this way." Bella said pointing in the opposite direction of the trail.
"Bella, there's no trail over there." I stated and Bella rolled her eyes.
"I know that. Jake and I were creating our own trail." She said and held up a map. Taking the map from her I looked it over, there were several lines drawn in marker and several had been crossed off. It was definitely something she couldn't have done alone.
"Are you sure, you don't want to just do the normal trail? My sense of direction isn't as great as Jake's." I tried though I should have known better than to ask.
"No, we've been working toward this for a while now. I want to finish it." Bella said and I sighed before nodding for her to lead since she had obviously been doing this a lot.
We walked for a while in silence with Bella stumbling every couple yards and making this seem even more like a bad idea the longer we walked. We almost seemed to be walking aimlessly as Bella led and I tried to follow Jake's roughly drawn map, I was just about to suggest giving up for the day when we finally came to a break in the trees. Bella picked up her pace as she noticed the sun shining bright up a head and pretty much ran through the trees into the clearing.
I followed behind slower, having no intentions of accidentally falling on a root or branch this far into the forest to have to walk out with a twisted ankle or broken leg. When I stepped through the trees I was shocked at the lack of beauty before me. It was quite lackluster to have walked all this way just to see a meadow that was surrounded by barren trees and filled with grass that was just starting to grow back, a sight I was sure we could have found more easily by taking the marked trail.
I wasn't the only one disappointed as Bella dropped to her knees, clutching her chest like she was physically hurting. I was concerned and started to walk towards her till I heard the sobs. She cried for a few minutes before seeming to pull herself together and getting up off the ground while I waited patiently, looking sedately at the trees that would soon sprouting new leaves. She had just gotten to her feet and turned to look towards me when she gasped. I turned to see what she was seeing hoping it was a deer or something, but was startled to see the very man that had killed our grandmother.
I spun to face him, taking in his dirty clothes, his dreads and his red eyes. Terror froze me where I stood as I looked at my grandmother's murderer and this time I didn't even have a gun, though now I knew that it would be useless to shoot at him. Bella and I were literally sitting ducks as this vampire looked between the two of us like a cat decided when it was going to pounce.
"Laurent!" She cried and I turned my head to look at her in disbelief. She knew this monster? Of course she did, of course she would know more of them besides the Cullens. Laurent's eyes focused on Bella before a smile started to come to his face.
"Bella?" He said like he was pleasantly surprised.
"You remember." Bella said and then smiled like she was talking to an old friend. Bella stepped forward a step while I fought my instincts to run. I was praying to any god that would listen that the pack was tracking this Laurent, it was the hope we had at surviving this, though I was the only one that seemed to realize this.
"I didn't expect to see you here." He grinned and started to walk toward us.
"Isn't that the other way around? I do live here. I thought you'd gone to Alaska." Laurent stopped and cocked his head to the side.
"You're right. I did go to Alaska. Still, I didn't expect… When I found the Cullen place empty, I thought they'd moved on." He said taking another step towards Bella. Bella seemed to be entranced by the man as she just stood in place like she was frozen, chatting like he was harmless.
"Oh." She bit her lip and pain flashed in eyes while Laurent watched her curiously.
"They did move on." She squeaked out.
"Hmm," He hummed.
"I'm surprised they left you behind. Weren't you sort of a pet of theirs?" He asked and I looked to Bella stunned. He just called her a pet. Vampires thought of humans as pets? I took a step away from the man before I could stop myself and Laurent's eyes snapped to me before looking back at Bella.
"Something like that." She murmured with a weak smile while I stared on in terrified amazement at her nonchalance in regards to being called a pet.
"Hmm." He hummed again, seeming thoughtful as he watched us and there was finally a reaction of fear from Bella as she suddenly stiffened while looking back at Laurent, almost like she had just realized the danger we were in as she took her first step back away from Laurent.
"Do they visit often?" Laurent asked as he leaned towards Bella. Bella belatedly move aware like she was just noticing how close Laurent was.
"Now and then." She lied. Why is she lying? Was she trying to protecting them?
"You know how they get distracted..." She babbled and I almost wanted to pinch myself. This couldn't be real, this insanity had to be a dream.
"The house smelled like it had been vacant for a while..." Laurent said though the friendliness (if you could call it that) had disappeared from his features and he seemed suspicious now. Bella flinched but other than that didn't move.
"I'll mention to Carlisle that you stopped by. He'll be sorry that he missed your visit." She bluffed.
"But I probably shouldn't mention it to… Edward, I suppose-" She barely managed to get his name out and I knew that I wasn't the only one that noticed.
"-he had such a temper… well, I'm sure you remember. He's still touchy about the whole James thing." She rolled her eyes and waved her hand like it was nothing, but she sounded hysterical. Whatever had happened with whoever this James was, was obviously not nothing.
"Is he really?" Laurent asked skeptically.
"Mm-hmm." She hummed but it too was high pitched and showed that she was starting to panic. Laurent took another step and scanned the meadow.
"So how are things working out in Denali? Carlisle said you were staying with Tanya." Bella tried small talk again. Laurent paused his inspection of the meadow and looked back to Bella.
"I like Tanya very much," He mused.
"And her sister Irina even more… I've never stayed in one place for so long before, and I enjoyed the advantages, the novelty of it. But, the restriction are difficult… I'm surprised that any of them can keep it up for so long." Laurent's face was over come by a conspiratorial grin as he leaned in like he was sharing a secret.
"Sometimes I cheat." He confided and my panicked shot up another level. Bella seemed to finally completely comprehend the amount of danger we were in as she started to back away from Laurent.
"Oh." She squeaked.
"Jasper has problems with that, too." She said and flinched again. I looked at Bella finally realizing that she had jumped off the sanity wagon a lot sooner than I had thought. It was still a bad idea to hang around with vampire even when they were on the vegan diet, but to hang out with them when they struggled to keep to said diet was an even worse idea. It suddenly dawned on me how close I was to dying every time I'd gone to gym class, Jasper had been in my gym class before they'd skipped town.
"Really?" Laurent asked, seeming surprised.
"Is that why they left?" He pried.
"No, Jasper was more careful at home." She defended as she glanced at me.
"Yes, I am too." Laurent said with a nod like this discussion of vampire chest day was something that happened every day.
"Did Victoria ever find you?" Bella asked, leaving me reeling again as I wonder who the hell Victoria was.
"Yes, I'm actually here as a favor to her." The way he said favor, made me think that it wasn't something he was happy to be doing.
"She won't be happy about this." He said, almost seeming disappointed.
"About what?" Bella asked, almost eager.
"About me killing you." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was to everyone except Bella. It all seemed to hit Bella at once as she suddenly staggered backward. Laurent flashed from where he was standing in front of Bella to me, grabbing my arm and dragging me to stand beside Bella before I could blink.
"Let go of me!" I screamed and struggled against the hold he had on my arm though it wasn't doing anything.
"I remember you. How's dear granny?" He asked with a sadistic grin.
"Let go of me you sick freak! Get away from me!" I screamed and tears began pouring down my face.
"You see Bella… Victoria is sort of put out with you." Laurent continued his conversation with Bella, completely ignoring my struggles against his grip. This was like that day with Jake, only this time I knew that there was no way I was going to get free without Laurent willingly letting my go.
"She'll be mad that I didn't save killing you for her." He explained.
"Me?" Bella squeaked. Laurent shook his head and chuckled.
"It seems a little backwards to me, too. But James was her mate, and your Edward killed him. She thought it more appropriate than killing Edward. A mate for a mate. She told me to get a lay of the land for her, so to speak. I didn't imagine you would be so easy to get to. So maybe her plan was flawed, you obviously don't mean that much to them if they just left you here, unprotected. I suppose she'll be angry all the same." He stated.
"Then why not wait for her?" Bella choked out.
"Well, you've caught me at a bad time, Bella. I didn't come to this place on Victoria's mission – I was hunting. I'm quite thirsty, and you two do smell… simply mouthwatering." He said and leaned in to take a deep inhale along my neck making me screaming again as I fought against him.
"He'll know it was you." She stated.
"You won't get away with this."
"And why not?" He asked.
"The scent will wash away with the next rain. No one will find your bodies – you'll simply go missing, like many, many other humans. There's no reason for Edward to think of me, if he cares enough to investigate. This is nothing personal, let me assure you, Bella. Just thirst." Laurent said and started to lean in again while I screamed.
"Look at it this way, Bella. You're lucky I was the one to find you."
"Am I?" She countered.
"Yes. I'll make it quick. You won't feel a thing. I promise. Oh I'll lie to Victoria about that later, naturally, just to placate her. But if you knew what she planned for you, Bella…." He dragged off.
"I swear you'd be thanking me for this." He leaned in and I could feel his mouth getting closer to my neck as I let out another scream, squeezing my eyes shut. The pain I was expecting never came and I could feel him lean away from me.
"I don't believe it." He whispered and I opened my eyes to Sam's wolf slinking out of the trees with Paul to his left, Jared to his right, with Jake flanking Jared and Embry flanking Paul. Laurent let go of me, stepping away and I had never been so relieved to see a wolf as I sobbed in relief that I might actually survive this. Laurent slowed back away toward the tree line as the wolves advanced. I heard Bella gasp as Jake stood in front of us close enough to feel the heat coming off of him. Jake turned his head slightly to look at Bella.
Sam let out a terrifying growl and Jake snapped back to attention. As Laurent started to blend into the tree line he turned and ran. Sam let out another growl and they all ran head long into the tree line disappearing from view faster than they had arrived. I grabbed a hold of Bella's arm and pulled her with me the way we came back into the trees, both of us running to make it back to her truck as fast as possible.
It seemed like forever as we ran, my lungs burning well before the trees started to thin. I feared my legs would give out before we made it to the truck. When we burst from the trees we weren't back at the trail head where we had left Bella's truck, but on the main road. Thankfully I recognized where we were and continued down the road back to the trail head. We didn't stop running till we reached Bella's truck.
Bella cranked the truck's engine and thankfully it didn't stall as she matted it, kicking out dirt as we roared back toward the main road. I was just starting to catch my breath when Bella pulled into the driveway. The truck was barely in park before she was racing into the house rambling about wolves. Poor Harry Clearwater looked panicked and I wanted to strangle Bella for missing the point that the wolves save us while her dear friend Laurent was going to eat us.
Having heard enough of what Bella was saying Charlie took her with him into the kitchen to call the station and file a report of Bella's sighting. This left Harry and I in the foyer, Harry looking between me and the kitchen with an indescribable expression that made me what to explain myself and hide at the same time. I nodded toward the living room and Harry followed me to put lower the chance of Bella or Uncle Charlie overhearing us.
"Bella asked me to go hiking with her this morning. Embry hasn't mentioned a scent in weeks so I didn't see the harm. I didn't know she was going to go off trail. Some vampire that apparently knew the Cullens found us and was going to kill us when the pack showed up and chased him off." I rattled off quickly and then took a deep breath. Harry still didn't look happy, but he nodded.
"No more hiking." He said sternly and I nodded quickly.
"Make sure your story matches Bella's." He said and nodded toward the kitchen. I nodded again and quickly left. I felt helpless as I listened to Bella telling Charlie and the officer on the other end of the phone every detail she could think of about the wolves while downplaying the fact that we had been off trail and our little encounter with her blood drinking friend.
When they were done I headed upstairs and took a long shower to wash off the dirt and fear from the day. When I got out Bella was still downstairs with Charlie and I quickly got dressed and called out a good bye as I latched the door behind me and rushed to my car to drive to La Push. Embry must have been waiting for me to show up since he was out the door before I was even completely in the driveway and was pulling out of the car the second it was parked.
The feeling of safety overwhelmed me when I felt his arms around me and I burst into tears. He clutched me tighter whispering things in my ear that didn't hear, but were soothing none the less. He just held me while I cried and let me blubber into his chest. When I finally pulled myself together I noticed Sam waiting on the porch and sighed as I wiped at the tears that were still trickling down my face.
"Did you get the bastard?" I asked, my voice sounding choked from all the crying. Sam sighed, but nodded.
"What were you two doing out there?" Sam asked and Anna cringed.
"It didn't seem like such a bad idea this morning. Bella asked for company on a hike, Embry hadn't mentioned any vampires in the area in weeks and Bella had said this was something she had been doing with Jake, so I thought this might help her occupied. I didn't know she wasn't going on the trail till we got there, but she said they had been creating their own trail, pulled out a map to prove it. Bella's so clumsy I figured the hike would last an hour tops, but she seemed to be looking for the meadow you found us in. Bella was bawling her eyes out when that freak found us, she knew him, I guess he'd had a run in with her and the Cullen's before. It's why we were still alive when you guys got there. They were making small chat." I scoffed at the last part, hating how ridiculous I sounded to myself.
"Well, since he was being so chatty..." Jared said, making me jump since I hadn't realized he was standing behind Embry.
"did he mention why he was here?" Jared asked and I nodded.
"Said it was a favor to some Victoria, that she wants Bella dead because Edward killed her mate." I explained, the guys looked surprised, yet unsurprised with the information.
"Well we figured they were after something, didn't think it would be your cousin though." Jared stated before looking to Sam.
"Why don't you head inside, Anna. Emily was worried about you." Embry said and I quickly went inside and away from the inevitable planning session that was about to start.