CHAPTER 10

I turned around, away from the cliff and started as fast as I could back down the hill. I slipped and slid a few times, landing in the snow, but got up as fast as I could to continue. I felt like I had no time to spare, no time to dilly-dally before someone found out. I heard my feet hit the slick ground as I skidded onto the cement that was the road.

I took a deep breath and decided what the most efficient and best way to go about this would be. I worked on focusing on the plan and only that rather than any of the possible consequences. I pulled out my cell phone from the pocket of my coat and quickly dialed the intended number.

"Hello?" I said hurriedly.

"Yes?" answered a gruff sounding man.

"This is the taxi service, correct?" I said.

"Yes."

"Can you please come and pick me up at…" I thought over my decision. I couldn't say the house it was too close, Mac would hear it and know I was leaving. "The exit to Oaklin Terrace?" I was going to have to run to get there fast enough. He took a while to answer and I tapped my foot impatiently.

"Yea, sure."

"Great, please get there as soon as you can."

"Mmhmm." He mumbled and I snapped the phone shut. As I turned down the street heading towards my destination I hung my head watching my steps. Thinking over the risk I was about to take.

Before I knew it I was at the exit, I only had to wait for about a minute before the cab driver pulled up. I made sure to pull hood of my coat so he couldn't see my face. He gave me a strange look as I got into the car. But I didn't care, or I didn't have time to care.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Volterra High" I said, disguising my voice as craftily as I could.

The car felt like it was moving at snail speed and I nervously bounced my feet. I wanted to get out and run to the school. But my judgment wasn't clouded so much as to think that the car wasn't faster.

Once the car started to pull into the parking lot I hopped out. I could do this faster; also I had no money to pay the driver.

"HEY!" he called after me. I was pretty sure he wasn't going to get out and run after me because it was only about seven dollars. But I still ran. I ran hard. A few students turned there heads as I passed their classrooms, but by the time their noses were pressed against the glass I was gone. I nearly slipped on a wet leaf.

I ended up passing the classroom that I wanted and I had to backtrack. I moved as quietly as I could up the ramp to the door, hugging the hood of my coat closer around my face. I had overlooked the slight detail of how I would get to talk to him with out people seeing me.

I took a step back from the door. There was the option of just bursting in through the door, grabbing him and trying to get out of there. But it seemed unlikely. I could try and get him to see me through the window, but others would also.

I turned around away from the door. I was trying to keep all of my plans separate instead of mashed together. I knew that I only had one chance. I started to head toward the girl's bathroom.

As soon as I got there, I checked that there was no one in any of the stalls. I closed the door to the small building and locked the deadbolt. Then I turned to the side of the wall and pulled down on the shiny red plastic of the fire alarm. I could hear the students getting closer to the door. I unlocked it and as soon as the hordes were in front of it I slipped in to the crowd, unnoticed.

I double checked my hood and kept my head looking at the ground. I tried to move with the crowd and at the same time keep an eye out looking. But then I spotted him. It wasn't too hard, his perfection emanated in each direction.

I looked ahead of me; the end a building was close. I slipped behind it as the others passed and waited for him. When he passed I almost forgot to grab him. But I did, I grabbed a handful of his sweatshirt and tugged. It wasn't enough force to actually move him, but he did look to me. His eyes surprised.

"Cassie, what are you doing here?" Rory's smooth voice asked, in a hushed tone.

"Come here." I said trying to pull him away a bit more. Out of anyone's sight. He moved but it was obvious that he was confused, nervous, and possibly untrusting.

"What is it?" he said, his eyes trained in a concentrated way. I could tell he was trying to pick my brain.

"First, do you trust me?"

"Yes." He replied looking around. The students who had been passing earlier were trickling to an end.

"Do you love me?"

"Yes" he said again. I took a deep breath.

"I know a way that the Volturi won't have to change me." I said in a quieter voice. Rory looked around and then pushed me slightly out of view a bit more.

"What?" he asked his eyes alive with interest. I could see my reflection in them. I could see my future in them.

"We need to run away." I said quickly.

His expression changed. A hurt started in my stomach.

"I- I can go by myself I guess, I just, I can't have them change me." I looked to him.

He took my face in his cupped hand.

"I'd never let you go alone. When are we leaving?" he asked.

"Now." I said determinedly now that he had already agreed. I was starting to get antsy; any minute the students would start filing back to their classes.

"Now?" he said taking a deep breath. "O-okay, let me just tell my family." He said starting to turn.

"No!" I said a bit loudly. He turned back to me puzzled. "No one can know. It will be too easy for someone else to find out. I mean if Aro touches any of their hands he'll know." I said.

"You think he won't notice you're gone?" Rory asked.

"I know he will, but it's a matter of how long we can wait until he finds out." I said. I saw Rory lock his jaw.

"Fine." He said. I sighed.

"We need to go now." I repeated.

"Okay, how about we discuss this somewhere else, the others are coming back." He said scooping me into his arms and starting to run.

I had no idea where we were headed right now, but away was better than anything. He stopped in an unfamiliar clearing, surrounded by tall buildings. I guessed it was some type of park and that it wasn't in Volterra because I had no clue where we were; though it was still in Italy.

"This is better." I said.

"So where are we going to go?" Rory asked seriously, and it almost scared me.

"I'm not sure exactly. Not back to the states, it's too obvious." I said mentally going over my options. "Do you have any ideas?" I asked hoping that he did.

"I agree that the states are too obvious. We can't cross any water though really, I have a credit card, but if I charge it anywhere they'll know where we are or where we've been."

"So what do we do, continue to move until…" I cut myself off; I hadn't revealed the other part of my plan yet.

"What were you going to say?" Rory asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." I said shaking my head as though I could rid the thought so he wouldn't be able to find it.

"No, it wasn't anything. We are in this plan together, so I'm going to need you to tell Me." he said I looked into his eyes and it felt like I was under some type of control. But I knew what the 'control' was; it was love, so I told him. Hoping against hope that he wouldn't be upset.

"My key word earlier was 'know a way that the Volturi won't have to change me'. The plan was to get away and just have you change me. Then the Volturi wouldn't have any reason to continue to chase us, and we could live together, happily ever after." I said.

Rory stood still. I could feel a horrible knot growing in the pit of my stomach due to anticipation. The longer he waited to answer the more apprehensive I became. I watched as the silent emotions flashed through his eyes, but the most prominent seemed to be sadness, worry, and fear. I didn't know what he was afraid of, the idea seemed silly. I knew that he wouldn't kill me, and I would be the one enduring the pain. After a few more minutes where anxiety started to take over my body he answered.

"Okay." It was a simple four-lettered word, but it meant the world to me.

I flung my arms around him and pulled his face down to mine, but before letting out lips connect, I murmured my thanks to him.

Once I finally released myself I looked at him.

"So when will you change me?" I asked. "I'm thinking the sooner the better." I added. And he let a small smile escape.

"I don't know." He said. But the way he said it I felt like he was lying to me.

"You didn't just say okay to get me to shut up or something did you?" I said sternly. He looked as if he was biting back a response.

"I would never tell you something to get you to shut up. I love the way you sound." He said. He always knew what to say. I didn't want to get into any type of argument, so I dropped the subject knowing that I would bring it up at a later time.

"Should we start moving tonight, or stay here? Where are we anyway?" I said avoiding his eyes. I had just noticed that each time I looked into them a feeling of sadness swept over me. His eyes held some type of pain.

"We're a bit north of Milan." He said and at this my eyes shot to his face to see if he was kidding. He wasn't. I didn't know that he could move that far that fast. "But I think we should get out of Italy before we stop and rest." He said and our eyes connected and locked.

I pulled myself to him and wrapped my arms around him in a hug. It felt odd, strange. I felt like a child hugging an adult or parent. He moved his arms around in a fluid motion. When we finished our hug he asked.

"What was that for?"

"I'm not sure, you just seem sad." I said. And out loud the words sounded awkward.

"I'm with you, I can't be sad." He said pulling me onto his back before taking off at jet speed. I closed my eyes and pressed the side of my head to his shoulder. I could barely feel him moving.

I didn't know where I was. Every breath I took felt like sandpaper was being dragged across the soft flesh. I closed my eyes and opened them a few times to let them adjust to the dim light of where I huddled.

When I could see, my eyes took in simple shapes of what looked like a store closet, full of buckets and brooms. I could tell that this was a bad place to be hiding. If I was found I would be trapped in this corner.

I moved as gracefully as I could towards what looked like a door. My knees ached and wobbled. They knocked a bucket that came crashing to the floor. It was loud to my ears and then it didn't matter. I rushed not caring what I knocked over out the door. I could feel my adrenaline taking over.

I wasn't looking where I was going. Tears were blinding my eyes. I heard something snap beneath my feet, but I didn't bother to look. Something brushed against my leg. I slowed to a stop; worried to look behind me. But when I did all I saw was a bush, lightly dusted in snow.

Sobs of exhaustion started to wrack my body.

I let myself dropped to the floor which turned out to be a small gathering of trees, thin enough that I could see past them.

My teeth chattered I looked down at my un-sensible apparel. A white cotton tee shirt paired with jeans and flip flops.

My ears were cold.

Where was Rory?

Don't let him be hurt.

Don't let them catch me.

I wasn't woken by my own internal clock, I was woken by Rory. He had shaken me awake.

"What's wrong?" I asked opening my eyes, my heart jumped at his face.

"What was going on in your dream?" he asked urgently. I rubbed my eyes. It had been one of those dreams. He had obviously seen it.

"I'm not sure, maybe I was going insane." I said off-handedly. Though it was a logical assumption as to what I had just dreamed. "What do you think was happening?" I asked him.

"I don't know." He said. I looked around. Rory had moved me around off of his back and was sitting against something. I was draped across his lap.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"In some school building in Switzerland. I figured that it was warmer in here and I didn't want you to freeze." He said stroking my hair.

"Do you know about what time it is?" I asked I could feel his head turn, probably to look at a clock.

"3:04 AM" he said.

"Oh." I said mentally calculating when I must have fallen asleep. "Do you think they know that we ran away yet?" I asked hoping for a no, but expecting a yes.

"Most likely. But if we stay around the public areas we are less likely to be caught. But that goes both ways, because we can't be seen either, we're both missing persons."

"How long have we been here?" I asked.

"About four hours." He said.

"Do you think we should continue moving or are we okay right now?" I said the anxiety I had before and anxiousness to get moving had almost completely diminished. I would rather sit here.

"We probably should." He said standing. I too stood. My legs felt cramped.

"How did you get in here anyways?" I asked twisting my back to stretch.

"I just broke a lock or two." He said non-chalantly, and it made me smile. I turned to him.

"Silly boy." I chastised. Then gave him a kiss on the cheek, his skin glacial and smooth under my lips. I went to pull my head away, but he held me close and kissed my cheek in return. I tilted my head upward waiting for his lips to touch mine.

He let his lips trail along my jaw bone, then down my neck. They stopped right at the center, directly below my chin. He kissed it softly. I felt my self inhale, but I didn't exhale. I held my breath in anticipation.

He stayed there for a moment before standing back up straight and giving me a swift kiss on the forehead. I let go of my breath.

"What were you holding your breath for?" he asked sarcastically while pulling me up into his arms.

"I have no clue; I guess I just had a rare inclination to do so." I said humoring him. He started to walk to the door that I could now see. It wasn't much lighter outside. A slight hue of purple was visible against the otherwise midnight black sky.

My stomach growled and I felt like my eyes must have widened twice their normal size in embarrassment, my cheeks flushing.

"Goodness, your stomach's growl can rival mine." Rory said humorously though it was as funny to me.

I whacked his arm playfully.

He smirked.

"I'll get you some food. I think that I saw a 24 hour supermarket earlier." He said.

"Do you have money with you?" I asked quizzically. He looked at me funny.

"What?" I asked in a reply to his look.

"I'm not going to buy it." He said.

"You're going to steal it?!?" I said, a bit loud. He put his hand over my mouth.

"Yes, now calm down." He said slowly pulling his hand away. I tried to control the question that was bubbling to the surface but I couldn't.

"But what if you get caught??" I asked. He gave me the same look.

"You can't really think that I'll get caught." He said and after looking at my expression, "I'll be in and out with food before the door even closes." He said.

"Fine." I said, disapproving, but my hunger told me that it was better than not eating. "No one is going to see us, so can I walk." I asked, my legs already starting to fall asleep.

"In a bit, I don't think you want to walk all the way there. Distance for me is much different than distance for you." He said, I sighed. "Unless you want to walk 4 miles, that is." He said.

"Fine, let me walk when we have half of a mile to go." I demanded rather than asked he smiled. And my pulse quickened. I pulled my coat around me closer. It took less than five seconds before he put me on my feet again, but I was glad I hadn't opted to walk the entire way.

I shifted my body so that I was huddled to him, as if he gave some type of heat, though he most definitely did not. A small shiver ran through me but I tried to silence it. Though we seemed calm there was an uptight nervous edge to all of our words and actions.

We were close now; the fluorescent light cast odd shapes from shadows across the ground and our feet. I could hear a few people inside. Rory turned to me his emerald eyes looking at me.

"Stay here" he said. "Is there anything in particular that you want?" he asked.

"No, just grab whatever you can, as long as it's not meat." I said.

"Okay." He said slipping away from me. I didn't have time to worry, because he was back before the door closed. His arms were ladled with a box of cheese-its, cereal, dried fruit, and a water bottle.

"You're my hero." I said in a childish voice. He gave me an easy smile and I plucked the box of cheese-it from him. We began walking. I wasn't really looking where I was going. I was more listening to him and eating.

"You know how much I love, don't you?" he asked abruptly.

"I do, I'm guessing that the attraction is just as strong as mine is for you." I said swallowing my food. He stopped me and turned me to face him; he grasped me by the sides of my arms.

"I just need you to understand how much I love; I would do anything for you." He said. I was trying to sort all of the things going through my brain.

"What's this about?" I asked nervously.

"I-I just need you to know incase anything happens." He said not meeting my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I said rushed. "Do you think something is going to happen? Are you-"he cut me off.

"Just calm down, forget I brought this up." He said.

We walked a bit longer, in silence as I ate. But I couldn't forget what he had said.

"Are you done with the food?" he asked I looked down I had finished good portions of each type.

"I guess." I said. He took them from me, and I made a small involuntary whimpering noise.

"Don't worry, I'll just knick some more food the next time your hungry." He said. I looked down a bit ashamed for partaking in stealing. " I'll be back in a few minutes, I have to find a trash can." He said. I looked up to him, my brow furrowed.

"A few minutes?" I asked. I couldn't imagine it taking him that long.

"Have you looked around?" he said in response to my question. Honestly I hadn't until he said that, I did and found that we were encased by trees all around. My heart skipped a beat in remembrance of my dream.

"Oh, I guess you're right." I said looking up. I couldn't see the actual sky. But a pinkish orange color seeped down through the branches and brambles.

"Okay, I'll be back soon, try and stay out of trouble." He said. "And don't wander off." He warned before giving my hand a quick squeeze and leaving.

I stood alone among the trees. I looked around myself. I wanted to sit on the log that was ahead of me. But I had the strange notion in my head that if I moved as much as an inch he wouldn't be able to find me. I took the chance. I sat down. It had obviously snowed here recently, the log was damp with water.

The seconds passed like hours. I felt like he was gone forever. And I could only hold off my panic and fear for so long.

What had he meant by 'if anything happened'? Did he think something was going to happen?

Was he going to leave me? No, that wouldn't solve out troubles at all.

Did he think that the Volturi were going to find us?

What would they do if they did?

I shuddered at the thought.

It was stupid for him to tell me to forget about it. He should have known that I wouldn't be able to. And now I didn't know what it was he had just left me to fend for myself against all of my horrible terrifying ideas of what he was thinking. I pulled my coat around me closer. I hadn't noticed how cold it was earlier.

There was a rustle in the bushed next to where I sat. I stopped my breathing.

I dared to look to my left, turning my head as slowly as I could. I couldn't decide whether I wanted it to be the Volturi or some vicious wild animal. But whatever it was it was scaring my. The hairs on the back of my neck were raised.

Rory emerged from where I had heard the sound.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" he asked his voice beautifully soft.

"I'm fine, just glad that it was you." I said standing and giving him a smile. Hoping that he hadn't found out from my subconscious that I had been fretting over his words.

He pulled me into his arms and I nestled my head into his chest as he began to run.