Six years have passed, in all that time the one lead we had, the cave, had come to nothing. We were older now, I in age only. Physically my body hadn't changed in years now. If only I could say the same for Nessie. Six years had wrought an abundance of changes on her young body. She no longer looked like a young child. Only six and her body was already that of a fifteen year old. Time was beginning to run out for us. In another six years what would she be?
There was so much of Bella in her. She was beautiful. Warm chocolate brown eyes, a cascade of silky bronze hair hanging down her back, pale ivory skin. She had all the beauty of her vampire kind with all the warmth of human blood coursing through her skin. It added to her allure. Much as it infuriated me, I could see the looks she drew from people. But, by far one of my favorite things about her was how alike her mother she was in wearing her emotions on her face. No matter what she felt I knew, there was no hiding it from me. Wearing it out on her sleeve like she does.
After finding the cave we had returned to the village, questioned abuela.. as much as the language barrier allowed. We learned nothing more there, or anywhere for that matter. We had traveled the world, searching until the money ran out. Plane tickets cost a pretty penny and we had bought many over the years, that and new passports to support Nessie's changing look. It had only run out a month or so ago and we were left stranded on the latest wild goose chase. Transylvania.
Dracula, the most famous of vampire legends. Stories about him are known throughout the world. Whether they are true or not is another matter. Much digging on our part had found that Dracula was based on Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Dracula. While the Dracula story was not real there was a chance that Vlad was, or still is real. Nessie is fully convinced this man was the first of the vampires and that everyone originated from him. There are worse theories out there. Surely this man, the first of the species, would have some idea. Some small hope for us, as to how long a life expectancy Nessie has.
We had been hanging out here for the past month, questioning the locals. It felt strange at first, but people had come to expect it. We weren't the first. Dracula was famous the world over. People would come to get a glimpse of the place where it originally came from. It helped. Languages came easier now, Nessie's mind was like a sponge. She knew at least three fluently excluding English, and was conversational in a few others. It helped when we traveled. Even I myself could get by if dropped off in some country alone.
It had been years now since we had been home to Forks, not since the day we left. Periodically I would call Billy and left him know we were still alive. Leah never did turn up again and everyone assumed she had perished in the battle. With no more vampires in the area the pack stayed small as it used too. Seth had gone back to Sam and I was glad of it. He needed a pack and there was no way I could offer him anything anymore. My life was Nessie now.
"Hey, kid. It's time to head out" long bronze hair shielded her face from me, as she poured over the book on her lap. It was the book on vampire lore we had escaped from Felix with.
Felix. Ever since that day he had shadowed our every step. Lurking where we least expected it. He had made it his mission to kill us. A mission made all the more personal after our first run in. The one where he lost his arm. Even missing an arm the man was a formidable fighter. He had learned to back down if the fight looked to be turning the wrong way. He could still give as good as he got. We hadn't seen him in months now. After the first incident when she was so young and helpless, Nessie had demanded to be taught how to defend herself. She made a compelling argument and so I taught her. As best I could considering my wolf form was the form I always fought in and that didn't transition well to human. She got the basic concept.
"Few more minutes" she mumbled back, tucking a long lock of hair behind her ear. I could see her profile. The straight line of her jaw, the slight curve up of her button nose, the sweep of her lashes as she blinked. Swallowing hard I turned away. Another hard thing about her growing up was that she was no longer a child. I wanted to continue being her protector. I didn't want to notice how her body was that of a young woman. It didn't help that she was so damned beautiful. More so than anyone I had ever known.
"No, not in a few minutes. Now." Her dark eyes flashed up at him, annoyance sparkling in them. This wasn't the first time I had asked her to get going. We were camping out deep in the woods in a tent I had swiped a long time ago. I was long past feeling bad for taking things we needed. Or more importantly that Nessie needed. "We need to hunt." As if to emphasize the words my stomach growled angrily.
"Fine!" She sighed in exasperation, closing the book with a loud snap. She sounded annoyed but I could see the smile playing around her lips. "Let's go before your stomach scares off all the animals in the area." I grinned and raced outside ahead of her. By the time she joined me, I was already in wolf form. As we had a thousand times before she settled herself on my back. Nothing felt more natural than this. Absolutely nothing.