-Chapter 15: Mexico Mambo-

Angela's heavy heartbeat thudded through my back and into the rest of my body, spreading her furnace-like warmth deep into my chilled skin. Her grip was tight, her arms and legs were wrapped around me in a death grip and I could hear the subtle groan of her teeth from the amount of pressure she was biting with.

I hadn't wanted to run with Angela – hell, I didn't even want her to come with me at all – but my first attempt at flying with her resulted in lots of puke and a change of clothes.

I shivered just thinking about the smell of partially digested food coated in stomach acid. It certainly wasn't one of the better smells of humanity; that was for certain.

The trees around me passed by quickly as we headed north, though not as quickly as I could have gotten there by flying. I growled in impatience, causing Angela to flinch. She held tight to my back, though, never wavering in her grip. I glanced down at the forest floor as it zoomed under my feet, considering how much damage a human body would take if it were to hit at this speed.

It would probably die horribly.

I leaped across the highway in front of me and continued on my less-traveled path toward our destination. After another five minutes of travel, I felt Angela adjust her grip on my neck. Her hands stretched one at a time before clasping back in place. I sighed inaudibly into the howling wind; she was getting tired.

Luckily, the familiar wave of mental voices inched its way across my mind, signifying a rather large population of people was approaching – most probably a city or large town. I slowed my speed down, inching my way into an Olympic run so I didn't startle my passenger.

I could only see the outskirts, but the city – and it was indeed a city – looked like a miniature of Mexico City from my spot hidden in the forest. I looked up at the canopy, eyeing the consistent spray of sunlight shooting between the branches. On my back, Angela stirred and shifted, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, you can get down now, Angela," I said with a smile in my voice. The first time we had come across a road, it was populated and crammed with cars; we had had to wait for an opening. Angela mistakenly took my pause for an opportunity to dismount and stretch from the bumpy ride. She had only gotten halfway off my back when I had started to move again. She hadn't really let go at all after that.

She sighed in relief and stepped down, cracking her joints and walking around in a circle to move her muscles around. I took in her tall form and snickered. If anyone saw us – not that anyone would – it would have been quite a sight. Angela was very tall for a woman, and I imagined the sight of her riding on my back would be similar to Emmett riding on Edward's.

Ridiculous.

Angela unzipped the backpack Henry had given her, and took out a bottle of water and a wrapped sandwich. She took a seat under a tree and started eating, leaving me to my own devices.

Angela and I had stayed with Henry for a little over two weeks as I explained vampirism to the elderly man and helped Angela control her cloaking ability so she didn't spontaneously disappear in public. It didn't take very long to teach her, which surprised me since mastering my own took decades to accomplish.

The vampire issue, though, was a little more difficult.

Henry's face was pale and his heart was racing unsteadily. His fear was palpable and I could tell he wanted to be anywhere but where he was at this moment. I sat the lawnmower back down on the ground gently and turned to face the withered man.

"A…vampire?" Henry gasped, taking a small step away from me unconsciously. I nodded.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Henry," I assured him, though I could tell he didn't believe me.

"Be present, O Lord, and protect us through the silent hours of this night," Henry said under his breath.

Oh, great. Prayer.

I sat down slowly on the concrete floor of the garage and crossed my legs into an Indian-style position. The only way I could present myself as less threatening would be to lie face down on the ground, and I wasn't about to do that.

"What do you want?" Henry choked out, his left arm clutching his chest as though I were about to rip his heart out and feast on the bloody organ. His mind flickered to bible scripture and of old vampire legends – demons who tricked and stole souls.

"Look," I started, shaking my head. "I'm not like that. There's nothing mythical about me or other vampires. I'm not a…demon; your soul is safe. And I know this sounds kind of pathetic, but what I really want – need – is a friend."

"You are no friend of mine," Henry backed into the wall behind him with a thud, making himself flinch. "Please…just leave me. I have healed your…" he gestured to Angela, who stood off to the right and behind me, unsure of how to address her.

"Friend," Angela supplied, shocking me. I turned to face her. "I'm her friend." I gave her an appreciative smile and turned back to Henry.

"But still," Henry said. "That does not answer the question of why you want to…befriend me."

"I…don't know," I breathed out and stood up slowly, so I didn't startle the already-terrified old man. "Some very bad people – vampires – hurt Angela and me. We needed a place to stay and you were there, ready to help.

"Maybe I'm finally growing a conscious after all these years," I shrugged and moved closer, stopping when Henry's heartbeat started to rise again. "Or maybe I'm saving up all my malevolence for them." I spat, and immediately offered an apologetic smile as Henry flinched. "I just…I feel the need to repay you for some reason – to help you."

"I don't want your help," Henry whispered. His voice was weak and frail as images of me lifting his heavy lawnmower with one hand flipped through his mind.

"I could give you a very long and healthy life," I baited him with the same tactics I had used for Dr. Stein. "I could give you your youth back."

"No!" Henry grasped his throat, imagining himself drinking the blood of helpless humans for eternity. I shook my head.

"Not vampirism," I reassured, holding up my palms in a nonthreatening gesture. "It's an injection – a medicine – that will preserve your humanity while making you ageless. You probably wouldn't live forever; it's naïve to think otherwise. But, you could live for hundreds of years – maybe more."

"No," Henry repeated, less intense this time. "Death is a natural part of life – I do not fear it. I have lived a long life – I am content with this, as it is."

"Come on," I sighed, extending my hand to Henry. "I have more to discuss with you, but you look like you're about to keel over from a heart attack. Let's go back inside the house and sit down."

Henry eyed my hand for several seconds before slowly reaching for it, keeping eye contact with me as he inched forward. He flinched from the cold, metallic texture of my palm, but didn't let go.

I tugged the old man into the moderately-sized living room and sat him down in one of the recliners. Angela trailed in as well, and even though she was still a bit wary of me, I could sense the trust she felt in me. She took a seat next to Henry and curled her feet underneath her in the plush piece of furniture.

"Television isn't natural, either," I continued our conversation from the garage, nodding toward the flat screen hanging on the wall. "Indoor plumbing – even this house – they're unnatural. That doesn't make them bad."

"There is a difference," Henry shook his head slowly and grasped the edges of the recliner's armrests. "Inventions are one thing, but dying is a part of life. You cannot have one without the other."

"I'm not here to debate philosophy with you, Henry," I smirked at him. "But if you think that aging is a natural part of life, you're wrong. There's no gene that controls aging and there's no reason for it to happen at all. It's not programmed in like your hair or eye color. It's…poor design – that's all."

Henry said nothing, though his mind was alive and rebelling against what I told him. Deep inside he wanted what I was offering – everyone does. It was the outer, religiously-moral shell that his religion had molded him into that rejected me. He felt he had an obligation to his creator to resist.

"I can't," Henry finally won against his false morals. "I'm 72 – much too old to live forever." I cracked a smile and moved closer to him.

"First of all," I began. "It's not immortality in the traditional sense – you can still die. Second, you wouldn't be 72 forever. The formula I use does more than stop aging – it reverses the process. It's a slow procession, to be sure, but every year you'll get a little younger instead of older."

"But…" Henry's eyes widened as he imagined himself shrinking into a baby and reverse-aging into nothing but a few cells on the floor. I laughed and shook my head.

"No, it only takes you down to your…peak physical age. For males it's usually around twenty-one to twenty-four," I assured him. "Besides, it'll take decades for you to age backward that far – it's slower than aging forward." I shrugged and Henry's heart rate and wide-eyed stare relaxed.

"That's…amazing," Angela said out of the blue. I turned to look at her as she stared back at me. "Why would you keep something like this to yourself?" The disapproval rolled off of her and I flinched minutely.

"Because it can be inherited through procreation," I replied. "And the world is overpopulated enough as it is without adding a generation of ageless babymakers to it."

Understanding replaced the disapproval and she nodded, imagining the famine that would infect the world as so many people fought for limited resources.

"I'll have to think about this," Henry said with a rough voice. His eyes were distant as he weighed his options.

"Take all the time you need," I returned.

Henry had eventually accepted my offer after I assured him that if he found perpetual youth to be too boring for him I would kill him myself so he wouldn't have to suffer. I had told him a gun to the head would work just fine, but then he had informed me it was a huge sin to kill yourself.

It was about that time – through the talks of agelessness and vampires – that Angela told me she wanted to call her parents to let them know she was OK. Henry offered her the phone, but I stopped her from taking it.

The chances were extremely low – I knew – but Angela calling home to Forks could be a very bad idea for everyone.

Since the Volturi were cloaked by their collection of hybrids, I was unable to see if they would respond to the attention Angela would get once the people of Forks realized the missing girl was alive. They were the ones behind her abduction and incarceration, after all, and someone escaping from that hell hole would obviously know something about vampires.

Besides the Italians, there was the Cullen's to consider. Angela was Bella's friend, and if there was one place my new family would show up, it would be Forks. It was a miracle already that Alice hadn't seen Angela here and decided to come rescue her – putting her back in potential contact with the Cullens was not a good idea.

I told her all of this, of course, and she had been upset. She missed her mother and father and twin brothers, I knew, and to be stopped from going to them felt like another form of imprisonment to her.

She made a fair case, though. Calling home would only really be a problem if her parents didn't keep their daughter's survival a secret – something Angela assured me wouldn't be a problem with her parents.

"Besides," Angela had said. "Even if anyone does come for me, I can turn invisible and you can fly us away."

Of course, she told me this before our first flight together, but I could still evade anyone who came for us well enough on foot if it came down to it.

The girl in question stood up from underneath the tree and stuffed the trash from her lunch inside the backpack. She slung the bag onto her back and walked back over to me as she cleaned the residual mayonnaise and breadcrumbs from her face.

"Are you sure my ability can stop you from shining?" Angela asked hesitantly, squinting at the dull glow that was nearly always visible during the day. Her scent flared and the dull burn in my throat ignited. I was long overdue for a hunt.

"No," I replied. "But I am really looking forward to being invisible in a supermarket. Can you imagine all the stuff you could do?"

Angela blushed and looked down, clearly thinking of things more fun than I was. I snickered and looked out of the tree line, toward the skyline full of buildings and a few skyscrapers.

"Besides," I continued. "I need to get some new clothes as well." Angela nodded but said nothing, squinting off into the same direction I had been looking. "And we need to get you a new pair of glasses."

"I need an appointment for that," Angela grimaced. "I had an extra pair at home but…" She trailed off and a wave of sadness flared through her.

"Don't worry about it," I smiled and grabbed her hand, channeling Renesmee's power and overlaying my sight onto hers. "I can be your eyes."

"Holy sh…crap!" Angela exclaimed as her eyes went wide. "You have really good vision. I'm guessing it's a vampire thing?"

I nodded and released her hand. She frowned as she was left with her normal sight, causing me to smirk again.

"Well," I let out a breath. "Shall we test out my new invisibility?"

"Sure," Angela shrugged.

"OK, I'll disappear and stand in this beam of light," I pointed to the solid strand of sunlight that broke through the canopy above. "Tell me if you see anything." She nodded and I closed my eyes, concentrating on the newest ability I had acquired back at Henry's house-mansion.

The sensation was strange, mostly because I actually felt something come over me as I disappeared from sight. It was similar to Bella's shield – like a mental curtain that flowed outward – but it wasn't nearly as elastic.

The sounds around me – birds chirping, cars driving, and the steady thumping of Angela's heartbeat – became muffled, like I was swimming underwater, and I gasped aloud. My eyes opened, and this time I found myself squinting.

I wasn't blind – in fact, my vision was still much better than a human's – but the details were muddled and blurred. I breathed in and wasn't completely surprised when the burn of my thirst was considerably muted. Not gone; just dampened.

"Emily?" Angela called, looking through my body. From her thoughts, I was completely vanished. I shook my head and moved into the sunlight.

The result was…strange. The light hit my skin – which I could still see – and reflected just as harshly as it would have had I not been invisible. That wasn't the strange part, though. The light didn't…go anywhere. There was no reflection of light on the trees or on Angela – the light that hit me and bounced off just…disappeared into thin air.

I turned and swayed, making the light bounce off me in different angles. The results were the same: the light vanishing as soon as it reflected off my skin.

I released the hold I had on my power and the world burst back into its full HD experience, causing me to flinch from the sensory overload. Angela gave a small shriek as I popped back into focus. She held a hand over her face to hold back the light that was only now beginning to scatter across her face.

"Anything?" I asked, moving out of the beam of light and back into the shadows.

"Nope," Angela tilted her head to view the canopy above. "So I guess this means another piggy back ride?"

"Yep," I smirked. "We're going to stay incognito the whole time we're in the store, since I don't have enough money to buy anything. Are you going to be able to stay invisible for that long?"

"Umm," she screwed up her face as she considered my question. "Probably – as long as we shop fast and you cloak us until we get there." I nodded and turned around, motioning for her to climb on my back.

"All aboard the Ambrose Express," I jested. Her warm hands wrapped around my neck and I concentrated.

The curtain of distortion rippled around me again, muting my senses to the outside world. I checked over my shoulder, but I could still see Angela just as clearly as I always could.

"You can see me, right?" I asked her. "You're not grabbing onto a block of air are you?"

"No," Angela chuckled. "I can see you just fine. Are we…?" I nodded and took off slowly, building up my speed as I sped down the blacktopped streets in broad daylight. I guess the dampening effect her ability had on the senses didn't register to her, since she had such poor senses to begin with compared to a vampire.

Several blocks into the sprawling city, we came across a surprisingly familiar sight: Walmart. During my stay with the Cullens, I had enjoyed the finer, more expensive clothes Alice insisted upon, but I had never considered the clothing from Walmart beneath me. The relief and excitement coming off of Angela as she caught sight of the blue sign revealed she was fine with the selection as well.

I sped past the sliding glass doors and darted around the thirty or so people shopping in the store at a more human speed. No one could see us, but a tornado-strength wind flying through the doors would have been bad. I headed for the women's restroom at the back of the store, since it was usually the one least-often occupied – it was empty, thankfully, when I strolled in.

"Alright," I looked back at Angela, who was still riding on my back. "Meet back here in fifteen minutes. We'll both be invisible, so get what you need, come back here, and I'll use your thoughts to find you. OK?"

"I got it," Angela nodded, but I could easily feel the undercurrent of nervousness she gave off. She had gotten much better at controlling her fading in and out of sight, but holding the cloak and saying solidly transparent took real effort for her.

"You'll do fine," I smiled reassuringly.

She nodded again and closed her eyes in concentration – vanishing from my senses, yet I could still feel the pressure of her weight on my back. She slid off me and moved away; the bathroom door opened and closed. I gave her a few seconds head start – so there was less of a chance I would run into her – and then exited the bathroom.

My fingers dug into the tender flesh of the man in my arms as I sucked the last of the blood from his veins. His broken neck creaked as his head lolled to the side, brushing against my cheek and making me growl in irritation. His bones crunched and shattered as I dug in deeper with my fingernails, drinking until absolutely nothing more could be squeezed out.

I held the body away from me and took in my surroundings. The afternoon sun was bright overhead and the steady foot traffic that surrounded me was all-encompassing – both made me smirk and let out a laugh. Who would have thought I would have ever fed in broad daylight with so many witnesses around? This invisibility thing was a real kick.

With an appreciative smack of my lips, I waved my hand and disintegrated the empty corpse into dust and bone fragments. Only a few droplets of blood splattered against the brick wall, a testament to my ravenous thirst. He may not have been bad guy material, my meal, but he was trying to break into a car when I whisked him away. That had to count for something, right?

I went back into the alley where I stashed my clean clothes I had stolen – borrowed – from the San Luis Potosi Walmart. In a blur, I disrobed and pulled on my new jeans and black t-shirt, pulling on the dark-grey hoodie over top. Luckily, good-ol' Walmart had tennis shoes in my size, and I pulled on the black-striped, white shoes as well.

Without a backward glance, I flew up into the sky and torpedoed toward where I had left Angela in the woods while I went to feed.

Angela was upset when I told her what I had to go do – she even began to cry, imagining me killing her or Ben in place of whatever unlucky bastard I happened upon. I wasn't unaffected by her cries for me to feed from animals instead of humans – of course I understood, having both empathic and telepathic abilities.

It wasn't enough, though. I needed this. Worrying about Angela had distracted me from the growing tension that continuously built under my skin, and I already felt light and free from my recent kill. My burning thirst was temporarily quenched as well, and the combination of both needs being fulfilled left me resolute that this was the right thing for me to do, regardless of Angela's feelings otherwise.

I landed a few paces away from Angela – who was still talking on the disposable phone she had stolen from Walmart – and shifted back into focus. Angela jolted slightly at my sudden appearance, but continued on with her emotional conversation with her mother, who was begging her to come home.

"Sweetie, please!" the voice begged. "We thought you were…Angela, please! Just tell us where you are and we'll come get you, baby."

Angela shook her head as she clutched the plastic phone in her hand. She was silently crying, the salty tears left streaks down her cheeks as they dribbled to the ground. She turned away from me, hiding her face and lowering her voice to a level where a human wouldn't be able to hear what she said from where I was standing.

"Mom, I can't," Angela whispered. "They…I'm going to help stop the ones who killed…who killed Ben. I know you miss me, but I'll be back – I'll come back, I promise."

"Angela, wait," the voice pleaded.

"I have to go, mom," Angela said, swallowing back a sob.

"Angela, no," her mother frantically said through the phone. "Wait, just-"

The call was abruptly ended by Angela flipping the phone closed. She collapsed to the ground on her knees and sobbed aloud, hitting me with waves of love, longing, and desperation – but also resolution. In her hand, the phone started to ring.

I darted forward and held out my hand. Angela placed the still-ringing device in my palm and I crushed it quickly, making the ringing die and crackle as the plastic was turned to dust. Her hands started to open and close and her arms wrapped themselves lightly around her torso.

I crouched down to her level and frowned. I had always been a stranger to emotional tension and how to help those who were grieving or upset. Ryan used to call me a psychopath – and maybe, on some level, I was. But I still felt for people, even if it was a fraction of what a normal person would feel.

Taking a deep breath I wrapped my arms around Angela, who had slowly shifted to silently sobbing, and awkwardly hugged her to me in a strange show of support. She returned the hug, clinging to me and wrapping her own arms around me. My shoulders stiffened as I became familiarly uncomfortable with the close contact, but I held still and let her draw whatever comfort she could out of my embrace.

End notes: And so I'm back! Sorry for the long-term abandonment, but I had things to do (like Symbiosis).

I had considered keeping Henry in for another chapter, but it would have been a filler chapter with little action. This chapter was a little jarring and jumpy, but hopefully you got the gist of what has been going on for the weeks spent near Mexico City.

Next chapter is probably going to be a shift in POV, which I don't like to do too often. It's needed for the story, though, and so it will be done.

Bye, now.