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Chapter 17- Why does this always happen to me?

Bella's POV-

He just stared….like literally stared with his head clocked one side- in an almost comical manner, confusion and curiosity visible on his face in buckets….somehow seeing the sight in front of him…and yet seeing none of it at the same time.

Strangely so.

Finally, after five long minutes of wait- it seemed like an eternity had passed by- Laurent laughed.

Yes, laughed- held his belly in and laughed a full, embarrassing laugh, as his eyes scrutinized the two of us, making me squirm at my place in obvious discomfort.

"Ah, the company you keep, Isabella!" he commented, shaking his head in amusement. "If you can't get the original product, make do with the fake one…." He sighed, pausing. "You managed to crack me up. I haven't been this amused in centuries. Not since I found out how much fun it was to play with your food and make them pee in their pants."

Ew. Gross.

Either way, I didn't know whether to take offense to that, or be proud of myself- for the making him laugh part, obviously! And so, I just stood there. Waiting and wondering of what comes next.

I mean, rationally speaking, I was aware of what came next. I wasn't that dumb a crayon in the box.

But the way in which Laurent was behaving….it didn't look like he was in any hurry to finish the job.

He looked….perfectly relaxed….for lack of a better word.

It was strange.

And certainly unnerving…

Very, very unnerving.

"So, Isabella, how have you been?" he creepily smiled, making it seem like we were old acquaintances catching up, rather than he being the predator and me being the prey, a situation that was really not in my favor. "I see you have made new friends. I can't say it is much of an improvement, though." He eyed Quil up and down, almost like one took in the sight of their favorite dish in the whole wide world….

Yeah, so not the best analogy out there.

But a girl has to do with what she has!

"Why are you here, Laurent?" I demanded to know, burying down the urge to whimper and cry at the mere sight of him.

Trust me.

It was a heavy urge.

Almost uncontrollable.

He smiled- yes, smiled. "Aww! Look at you, trying to be all brave? I certainly enjoy the attempt."

Jerk.

Was James this cocky and annoying?

Nah.

He was just a sadist. Plain, simple bloodsucking sadist.

He did not bother with the minor details, such as insulting a person before you brutally drained them dry.

Nope, he was just all 'I am here to kill you and I will do my work with perfection'!

At this point of time though, I had no idea which approach was better.

James minutely- very, very minutely- seemed to be a better predator than Laurent.

I mean, hear me out-

With James it was a guarantee, I would be dead meat in the next five minutes.

But with Laurent, I could be dead- or I could not be dead?

There was just no guarantee given.

That was a lot to leave to fate, and honestly, that made me nervous!

So, yeah, I was so not a happy camper at the moment.

But you know who was an even worse camper than me?

Yup, you guessed it right!

It was Quil.

Who-for the record- stood- silently- glaring at Laurent for all this while, unable to understand why he was glaring, but yet doing it nonetheless.

He was quivering- slightly.

Not enough to garner immediate attention, but noticeable at the same time.

Though, it did not seem like he was coming down with something severe…

Which was a good thing, considering I doubt Laurent would be accommodating enough to postpone my murder until the ambulance left with Quil safely in tow.

Heck, at this point of time, the odds were really not in our favor, and at best I could only hope that Quil was left alive, surviving to tell the tale.

Yes, I am indeed aware that it seems unlikely a possibility as all of hell; but a girl can dream, can't she?

Anyhow…

"Who are you?" Quil growled out, almost convulsing right then and there. "Why are you here?"

Quil!

Stop it.

Let's not anger the beast more than he already is.

It is really not a wise thing to do…

"I think you should leave. Your presence is making Bella uncomfortable."

Yup, I could easily hear the unspoken- it is making me uncomfortable too- in that sentence, so prominent that it was.

"And I should care, why?" Laurent smirked. "Victoria will definitely be glad to know about this latest development, though. Poor thing! She is still under the misconception that the human would be pining after her lover. She would definitely not be pleased to know that you have moved from original to, well, not so original."

"Victoria?" I squeaked, ignoring the rest of his monologue. I would think about that on a later date, for now we had more pressing matters to deal with.

"Yes." He grinned, showing all of his exceptionally shiny teeth, causing me to squirm even further, searching for some safe place to run and hide. Of course, I was aware that he would find me irrespective of whether I hid or not, but who was to tell that to my instincts?

They just wanted to keep me safe, you know?

"Uh-huh!" He hummed in agreement, seemingly overly amused by the situation at hand. "She wanted to come here herself, but I convinced her to delay her visit, stating that I would make sure that her visit is not in vain. Being a good friend and all of that."

"Why?" I whispered, crossing my fingers behind my back. "Why does she want to visit?"

He smiled. "Oh, dear, Isabella. Do you not know a thing about vampire mating? Your mate killed her mate! It is obvious that she would want revenge."

It seemed an obvious enough conclusion to reach in his mind at least, or so it seemed from the way he stood glaring at me.

Creepily, I must add.

"He is not my mate." I squeaked. "Edward was never my mate. He left me."

He would never have left me otherwise.

I ignored the fact that Quil was giving me horrifyingly confused looks, simultaneously shaking- keeping my eyes trained on the- can pounce any time- lion.

"Oh." Laurent dramatically sighed; his eyes full of pity. "Humans are such innocent fools. I sometimes wonder of what would happen if there had been nobody above you in the food chain. It would have been a catastrophe for sure."

Well…

Okay.

"While this has been fun and everything," Be confident. Look fucking confident. "I have to leave now. My friend, here, is not feeling too great, as you can already see. So, while I would like to say that this has been a pleasure… you know…it has really not been much of a pleasure…and so yeah…."

Start walking.

Start walking.

I quickly grabbed Quil's hand in mine, dragging him towards the woods surrounding the meadow, leaving a dumbfounded Laurent behind.

Seriously, he looked partly confused and partly shocked, as he just stood there motionless and expressionless.

I am pretty sure no one had ever spoken to him in that tone before.

But... there is a first to everything, as they say.

And if the man preferred to talk and waste time, he should be ready to face the consequences of me attempting to escape.

It wasn't rocket science.

I would try to save my life.

It was literally a given.

"No. Wait." Quil came to a sudden standstill, forcing me to do the same, anger radiating through every pore of his, as his eyes demanded a wide sack of answers from me. "Who was that creepy creepster? And why are we running away?"

"Not now, Quil." I muttered through gritted teeth, once again beginning to pull him in the direction of my truck, knowing that we had no time to waste here.

Laurent would catch and corner us in mere seconds, even less than that, probably.

No…

We needed a head start.

Like, really, really needed a big one.

I don't where the wolves were, but I could only hope that they arrived before Laurent caught us and gulped down the two of us for breakfast….

"No." Quil snatched his arm away, stomping his feet in visible defiance. "I want some answers. I am not going anywhere, otherwise. So, you better give me my answers."

"Damn it, Quil!" I spat the words out, running a tired hand through my hair. "Can't you see it? He will kill us if we don't hurry." I sighed, clarifying at the look of confusion evident on his face. "He is a vampire, Quil! Pale skin- red eyes- cold as fucking Antarctica, remember?"

I did not bother to see his mouth drop open, or to recognize the fact that his seizures had definitely worsened.

I had to get us out of here….and that was the only thing on my mind….

"Ah. Found you!"

Shit.

"Did you really think you could run from me?" Laurent evilly smirked, suddenly appearing in front of us, taking a glorious step ahead in our direction- all games having officially ended. "You're a feisty one, I will give you that. Maybe, I should change you and make you my mate. I could do with the amusement in life."

Ew. No.

I would rather die.

"Victoria would definitely not be as happy, but she is no tracker. And I know good places to hide. She would never be able to find us."

Um, no thank you.

Like I said, I would rather be dead.

"Laurent…" I whispered, scared beyond words.

Yes, definitely scared.

"Shh, now, my little mate," he grinned. "I will see you in three days. Say goodbye to your friend, though. At least in his last moments he will know what a real vampire looks like!" He cringed, once again eyeing Quil's attire in disgust and discomfort, the fake fangs enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

I could definitely agree to that.

"Laurent, please," I begged, taking a step away from him. I don't know what exactly I was begging for, but it wasn't this, for sure.

He smiled, walking closer and closer… the chances of my survival drastically reducing with every step that he took ahead.

It was over.

It was all over.

I had wanted to be a vampire…but not like this….never like this….

The wolves hadn't been able to save our lives.

They had failed.

Or so I believed, until a blur of silver headed Laurent's way- faster than the wind, taking the man by surprise, as it pounced on him and in one good move ripped his head apart from his shoulders, not a second wasted in giving the opponent that meagre chance to plan his move.

I stared- open- mouthed, the other wolves gathering around the headless corpse, tearing at it and throwing the body parts mercilessly in the bonfire, Jared having phased back to light the fire and do the necessary routine work.

It was like a train-wreck, you just couldn't look away, so captivating that it was; the purple smoke almost mesmerizing.

And so, I clearly missed the fact that Quil was no longer just convulsing- something much more severe and worse about to happen- paws replacing his hands and legs as fur began to cover every inch of his, groans of immense pain leaving his mouth on repeat.

I had for sure heard Emily's tale, but I hadn't learnt anything from it.

Or I would have known to have moved away….to have saved my life….

But as it stood, I did neither, accepting my fate as a heavy thud hit me square in the face less than five seconds later, immeasurable pain accompanied in dozens…

I accepted it.

What other choice did I even have?

My eyes began to shut, consciousness escaping me…a faint voice reaching my ears….sounding vaguely like an amused Jared….

"Never thought I would live to see the day when a vampire turned out to be a werewolf. It is true; expect the unexpected in life."

And…that was it.

That was literally the last thing to reach my ears before pain trapped me in its extremely tight grasp, forcing me to surrender.