Blackhaven18: I got this out far earlier then I was expecting, so enjoy ladies and gents!
Song used: Hide
By: Red
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the lint in my pocket.
Warnings for this chapter: Cursing, Sexual innuendos, sexual identity, gore mentioned… yadda, yadda, yadda.
Chapter 14: Hide
Edward sat with his siblings at their usual cafeteria table during one of the rare free times when they were all together, speaking low enough so others didn't pick up on what was said.
"So, let me get this straight. You tailed Nate to ask him a question… and when you caught up with him the two of you had this deep philosophical discussion, completely forgetting about the question and by the time you realized he was already gone?" Emmett asked, his voice laced with disbelief. "He outsmarted you?"
Loud guffaws followed that completely broke the quiet atmosphere and Emmett doubled over at the thought. Student's nearby used this as a chance to look at the mysterious Cullen's and Rosalie glared at her husband.
"You are drawing unwanted attention you oaf. Be quiet."
"Let em' look Rosie! They know perfection when they see it." He whispered conspiratorially behind his hand and leaned away, propping his feet up onto the cafeteria table, "Ah, that kid knows just the thing to crack me up."
"He did not outsmart me," Edward denied, resisting the urge to hit his brother, "and although he did evade the question he did reassure me that we have nothing to worry about… as of yet."
"'As of yet'? Just what does he think is coming?" Jasper spoke up from his corner of the table.
Edward sighed and shifted in chair slightly to relieve pressure, realizing he had yet to do so in over an hour. "He doesn't know, but he seemed to have… an idea of some sort."
"Great. Just great, is it me, or does is seem like ever since Nate showed up these odd occurrences have multiplied like vermin?" Rosalie asked in exasperation.
"That may be true, but Carlisle has made it clear this would have happened either way." Jasper spoke up, "I for one am glad he's on our side." He looked down at the table, clearly remembering the strange scented bursts of power that sometimes emanated from the blond.
'Even I would hate to be that boy's enemy…' Edward heard from his brother's mind and his eyes widened at Jasper's deduction.
'Have I really been that unobservant…?' He couldn't help but question as he thought back to the blond, but each time he saw the person he always knew.
The funny, sarcastic, sweet, caring, confident, somewhat brash, incredibly trustworthy person, that in all honesty was probably the only one whose actions truly suited his mop of sunny bright blond hair and cerulean eyes.
"-ward?" His attention was brought back to the current conversation by Jasper and he noticed Emmett's large calloused hand waving in front of him.
"And he's back folks!" Emmett grinned and suddenly his smile turned almost lecherous. "So, what were you thinking about huh?"
Edward sighed and glared pointedly at him, "Nothing along that line of thought." He dead panned and looked back at Jasper, gesturing for him to continue.
"Your emotions were all over the place… are you sure you're alright?" Jasper questioned, concerned and Edward immediately felt bad for worrying him.
"Yes, I'm fine. It's just that I've heard nearly all of you at one point in time comment about how it's good Nate is fighting with us and not against us… and although he shows amazing skill for a human I'm having a hard time believing he is as big a threat as you're making him out to be." He conceded and Jasper nodded in understanding.
"Ah, I think I understand, but you must understand that you have a preconceived notion of him already, knowing him from the relationship the two of you shared. One that was more than likely based only on the information he was willing to part with."
Edward's eyes snapped back to the now interesting grooves in the table, seeing each individual ridge carved out by a sharp instrument. "It's just… I didn't think he would ever lie to me."
Jasper chuckled and leaned over to pat his brother on the back in a show of companionship, before replying, "I never said he lied to you, Edward. I only meant that with the possible training he had he probably didn't share every story with you in fear of chasing you off. Even I, in my entire human life, have never tried to speak to those who weren't in the war. It was just something they wouldn't understand because they were never there."
Rosalie sighed, "You're worried for the little human." She stated in her usual blunt manner, "And not just him but Bella as well. It's perfectly alright, I mean it is one of the reason's we've tried to avoid them all these years."
"Umm, sweetie? Maybe now's not the be-" Emmett started, but halted when his wife held up her hand.
"No, let me finish. We avoid them because of how fragile they really are, because they would more than likely fear us when all we're trying to do it live." She looked Edward right in the eye making sure he saw just how serious she was. "But then we met Bella and no matter how hard we tried to shake her, how much I despised her, she clung on like a damn leech."
Edward realized he had growled at the comparison and saw Emmett nervously tapping his foot, waiting to see if he would need to physically intervene.
"And let's not forget Edward's old flame Nate. How he showed up out of the blue and threw the family into even further chaos, with his 'we can work together' ethics and talk of 'demons.'" It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that Rosalie was still having trouble thinking demons could even be involved. "Those two…" She started again and Edward was about to berate her, "did the one thing I never expected of them… They accepted us."
Emmett sighed in relief and settled back into his chair, now no longer worried if he needed restrain his brother and Edward just stared at Rosalie. Never once did he expect a reaction like this from his usually ice-veined sister.
"They've got their quirk's that's for sure, but even when they found out what we are, what we do, they still befriended us and not because they wanted this… immortality we have."
"Dude, I think those two just got Rosie's stamp of approval and they're not even here to see it." Emmett chuckled.
Alice giggled and Rosalie looked away scowling and crossing her arms. "Rosie's right Edward, it's not everyday we come across such good friend's. Even we can tell that with all the information on Nate's past he isn't telling us that he would in a heartbeat if it was critical. He's a secretive man. Just like my Jasper."
"Yeah man, don't worry too much. You'll put wrinkles in that forehead of yours." Emmett called out and grinned at Edward's glare.
Jasper watched a number of students making there way down the hall, waving to each other and making their way outside. "The next time you're around Nate, just observe him. Sometimes… his actions remind me of us. Even though it doesn't always seem like it, he's always alert, never placing his attention on a single thing for too long. He acts in ways that people expect him to, as we do: moving unnecessarily, scratching every so often, and acting as if we are interested in the latest celebrity flub to make idle conversation."
Emmett nodded, "Yeah, I've noticed that too. It's like he turned it into a game or something. 'How long can I last until I fuck up,' too bad we've been playing longer than he has." He grinned and glanced at Alice when she leapt up from her seat to stretch.
She smiled, a knowing look in her eyes, "The last thing we want to do is chase them off. Now come on, I saw something that'll cheer us up!" She bounded off in the direction the other students' had been heading the entire time of their discussion and with one questioning look at each other her siblings followed.
"Hey! I had nothing to do with this, Newton. So, lay off." They heard and they maneuvered through the crowd in the parking lot to see what captured everyone's attention.
Seeing Nate standing there, his hands held up mock defense as Mike Newton yelled at him for ruining his truck and reputation, as well as other obscenities. The girl Nate was standing with, Jessica-something, was trying hard not to laugh at her red faced ex and nearby teachers were trying to usher the crowd back inside.
Emmett let out a loud guffaw when he saw the blond adopt an extremely convincing innocent look, that more than likely fooled all those that didn't really know him.
The principal, now able to make an appearance, took one look at the truck and paled, but circled it none the less for any evidence of who could have done this. She let out a sigh when she made her way to the other side of the truck.
"Mr. Newton?" She called and waved for him to come over, pointing out the scrawled foam words to him and the insignia.
'Stallion's Rule! Go home Spartan faggots!'
The 'Stallion's' in question being the name of another football team currently in the high school division of the area and they the 'Spartans.'
"It seems as if this was all a prank by our upcoming match competitors. Rest assured I'll be making a call tonight, but what was this all about blaming Mr. Riven?" She asked and a blush decorated Mike's cheeks.
Their previous teacher, Mr. Simmons' spoke up, "Mr. Newton has been throwing paper wads at Mr. Riven for most of this semester and must have thought the boy retaliated. Riven never left my class, Principal Ortiz."
She nodded at the information and leveled Mike with a disappointed look, "We'll chat about this later Mr. Newton. For now let's make a quick call, shall we?"
The crowd dissipated now that the scene was over and the Cullen's walked over to Nate.
"Now that was the funniest things I've seen in a while!" Emmett laughed and Nate nodded.
"He shouldn't have pissed me off." Emmett just laughed louder and clapped the blond on the back hard enough to make him pitch a step.
"Remind me never to do that. What'd the hell did you do to make him so angry in the first place? I though you didn't want to draw attention to yourself?"
Jessica, suddenly feeling very self conscious at the fact that the Cullen's were making idle conversation with one of her best male friends', squeaked in, "T-That'd be my fault."
"Mikey, didn't take very well the day she dumped him." Nate offered and shrugged. "Idiot tried to manhandle her. In a very vacant hallway might I add?"
"Yeah, Nate stopped him when he tried to touch me. Twisted his wrist and slammed him into a locker. Mike has been picking on him ever since." Jessica said and sighed to which Nate grinned.
"None of that now, you know I could never leave a damsel in distress. It goes against my code of honor." He said and Jessica giggled. "And since then I've made it my life goal to make his very existence a living hell." He cackled and Emmett eyed him.
"That was a little evil, but I like it. You've got my vote. Guy's a prick anyway."
"Yes, because I live for your approval." Nate mock snarled and stretched. "Man, all that work made me hungry. Thank Kami it's lunch. I'll meet you there Jessie, my sweet. Alice just needs to talk to me about a project." He rubbed his hands together when she left and Alice pouted.
"Well, I was going to wait, but you ruined all my fun."
"Yeah, like I'm not going to point out when you get a vision. Now, spill."
Alice huffed, but complied. "There's going to be a storm tonight and we usually play a game of baseball during that time. You want in?"
Nate's grin faltered and he cursed in Japanese, "Can't, Jake's picking me up and we're running errands for the pack. Man, sometimes I think I'm the canine with the way they're running me ragged, but hey if I'm able to get off early I'll swing by?"
"Are you sure? It's really far from our house." Edward slipped in, thinking of the hike the blond would have to endure. "Maybe it would be better if you called and then we could just pick you up."
"And ruin your guy's game? No thanks, just give me the directions and I'll meet up. Trust me on this, it'll be easier." Nate answered and Alice wrote the directions down on a slip of paper and handed them over. "So, hopefully I'll get there in time to play a round or two?"
Edward's heart nearly started beating again at the thought, but he minutely nodded his head.
"Oh, I'm so looking forward to this. We need some fresh meat to bat around." Emmett grinned and Nate chuckled and turned to walk back into the cafeteria.
"I'll see you guys later." The blond called over his shoulder as he darted around the corner.
Edward buried half of his face in the palm of his hand as he leaned against the table, thinking back to what Jasper had said earlier. If he was going to observe Nate in a crowded setting this period would have to be it because he didn't share any other classes with the blond.
Nate stared at the board as the English teacher droned on about term papers, looking as if he was fighting off the urge to go to sleep. He yawned and glanced back at the clock.
That was when Edward saw it, Nate's eyes roamed discreetly over each and every person as he turned back. It was barely noticeable and from the way the blond went about it no one would know the difference, but it was still there.
Nate took a little more time taking in the empty seat three rows back and two chairs to the left, but seeing the student make his way back inside with a restroom pass, shifted back. Edward also took note of how Nate would face forward to 'stare' at the board, when his eyes flickered to the shelving units, the flag hanging precariously above the black board, a pencil cup on the teachers desk holding a set of scissors.
He was taking inventory of every possible weapon currently in his view; Edward realized and looked back at his own paper, though it wasn't long before the blond was again the object of his fixation.
Nate's tan hand swept across the table to press lightly on a small pile of notes he had previously taken, pushing it until it reached the end of the table. He stopped until the teacher turned his back and nudged it off, sending an array of sheets falling to the middle aisle in a wispy clatter that had everyone glancing back at him.
He blinked in a confused manner until he glanced at the papers and grinned.
'Sorry bout' that, guess I'm just a little clumsy today," He explained at the teacher's questioning gazed and got up from his chair.
"See that it doesn't happen again, Mr. Riven. Now, as I was saying…" Nate was ignored as he knelt down to retrieve what he dropped and he turned his back to the board.
Edward's gaze went back to the blond crouched over his notes and Nate looked directly at him, his eyebrow raised in a 'what's the matter?' gesture.
It was a diversion.
Nate created a small scene to get everyone's mind off his constant moving around and with his back currently positioned towards the teacher there was no chance of him being caught. Nate's action also brought up another thought; in order to do something like this he would have needed to know that Edward was watching him and as far as the vampire knew he never did anything that others would have noticed.
That and Nate's gaze never faced him throughout the entire period.
Just when did he have the time to know what Edward was doing?
He shook his head, ridding himself of the thoughts and waved a hand in dismissal to the blond. Nate nodded his head slightly and reached for the rest of his paper's, before sitting back in his seat.
Jasper was right, Edward concluded. There was something to Nate that he had never noticed before, which was probably because he had been focusing so much on what he already knew about the blond.
He had no idea of this other Nate; the one that was dangerous on a scale that the vampire had no idea of how high it truly was and was obviously willing to do anything to keep those precious to him safe.
He faced the front, knowing that he would need to watch the blond far closer than he had been…
The leaved rustled as the wind caressed them with a gentle touch high in the trees, but only one dislodged from its placed on the branch and it slowly fluttered to the ground. It weaved and twirled as it fell, until that is… it landed in the outstretched palm of a figure hidden by the shadow made by nearby trees.
The man and seven others shot forward again, so much faster than any other organic creature. Crimson eyes darted back and forth looking for possible prey within distance. Within a few minutes… they spotted something.
It was a family of five, consisting of a mother, father, two young daughters and an older son out for a weekend camping trip.
The leader's lips curled into a smirk, it really was too bad their time was about to come to an end.
"James, Victoria, take one of the others and block off all possible escapes. It really wouldn't do if one of them got away now would it?" He said.
"Of course, Laurent," Victoria answered for both her and her mate, her voice pure seduction and disappeared into the tree line.
Screams rang out that were viciously cut off a few moments later and Laurent chuckled to himself.
The feast had begun.
Nate shivered as the wind blew over him, pulling his sweater closer around his neck and moved farther under the overhang of the school.
"Stupid Jacob, freaking half an hour late, I ought to castrate the-" He mumbled mostly to himself, but grinned when a couple passing high schooler's gave him a strange look. "Goodnight ladies." He called out as they left and they blushed before getting into the car. He chuckled. "Yup, I've still got it." He said as he heard the familiar low rumbling of Jacob's rabbit.
The passenger door popped opened and Jacob grinned sheepishly from the driver's side. "Sorry about that man, I kind of decided to catch a nap and over slept." He offered.
Nate just shrugged it off, "I think… my nuts might have frozen." He said, and brought his hands up to cup his angry red ears.
Jacob laughed, "Sorry, sorry, but look at the bright side at least we only have a few stops to make then you can head home and stoke up a good fire."
"Yeah, yeah, just step on it and turn that heater up. Some of us don't have those built in." Warm air blasted thought he vents and Nate held his hands in front of it, sighing in relief. A familiar flash of a light blue cardigan went by, "Hey Jake stop the car."
The car came to a stop and Nate stepped out, glancing back at the person and laughed when she almost slid into him as she came to a halt.
"What're you doing Nate?" She questioned, glancing up at him.
"Going to my job, I thought you drove home Jessica?" He asked back and she blushed.
"I kind of locked my keys in my car…"
"Is that so? I wish you would have told me, then I could have broken in, but it's too late now." He stated, and Jessica gaped.
"That's a crime you know? I can't believe you said that so casually."
"It's only a crime if I'm caught," He dead panned and looked back at the rabbit. "Hey Jake, we got time for one more stop?"
"Sure, if you hurry your ass up."
"Umm… Nate?" A hesitant voice asked.
"Yeah?"
"There are only two seats."
The blond grinned at her, "That's why you're going to be sitting in my lap," He sat down and leaned back into the seat, giving an almost lecherous grin. "Now, come and tell Santa what you want for Christmas." He patted his lap in a come hither motion, "I promise not to bite."
"God, Nate. You do realize you sound like a pervy old man, don't you?" Jessica laughed out and Nate huffed.
"Jeez, you crack one joke and you're labeled forever. Come on, we don't have all day and as good as that shade of blue looks on you, you're lips and ears do not need to be tinged with it."
Jessica weighed her options, but the heat coming from the open door made up her mind for her and she wiggled in.
Jacob sighed and looked over at his newly acquired passenger that Nate seemed to attract like fleas, stilling immediately.
Nate noticed the lack of motion and faraway look in the wolf's eyes, before grinning. "Jessica, I'd like you to meet my best friend, Jacob Black. Jake, this is Jessica Stanley."
"Nice to meet you, Jacob," She held up a proffered hand, which he shook dumbly, before regaining his senses.
"Oh, I uh, n-nice to meet you too." He gave a shaky grin.
'Smooth, Jacob smooth.' Nate thought, "You want me to drive buddy? Then she could sit in your lap."
'And let the teasing commence!'
"N-No, I'm good, where to exactly?"
"Three miles down this road and hang a left at the light, then it's about four doors down." Nate replied and Jessica gave him a look.
"Just how did you know that?"
"Oh, guess you caught me. I stalk you alright? There, the cat's out of the bag now." Nate replied, looking almost wounded. "You're just too sweet to resist."
"Right," Jessica rolled her eyes and Nate laughed.
Jacob watched the two interact periodically, but kept most of his gaze on the road in front of him. It was strange watching Nate flirt with who he now knew to be his intended, but he didn't feel threatened.
Not in the slightest.
Though from afar the two could be mistaken as lover's he supposed, from how close the two stood next to each other, the casual glances, how he teasingly pulled on a lock of her hair and she did the same… the list went on really.
However, as they pulled up to her house and she got out; thanking both him and Nate for their generosity that he knew they were only good friends and nothing more. He put the car into gear and it lurched forward when he felt an involuntary shiver travel down his spine and looking over into the passenger seat to see the blond grinning at him did nothing to appease it.
"So… Jessie huh?" He questioned, his eyebrows waggling.
"Shut it." Jacob growled and Nate held his hands up in defense.
"I'm not saying anything. Just wanted you to know that if you hurt her, you'll shoot to the top of my prank list, that and there's a dance going on in a few weeks." The blond rattled off, completely ignoring the glare that changed into an inquisitive look from Jacob.
"Is she… Is she going with anyone?" He questioned, the smug feeling currently emanating from the seat next to him multiplying ten fold.
"Mikey tried to ask her. She kicked him in the nuts in answer, though I did hear Eric, John, Henry and Luke say they wanted to… but then again that's none of my business." He said, each name he mentioned making Jacob pale further.
'Alright, I may be exaggerating a bit.' Nate thought, looking at his handy work, 'He really needs to step up to the plate though.'
"Now, come on. We've got three more stops to make and I have plans."
"Fine, fine." The rabbit revved up and Nate forced himself not to smirk.
Bella groaned as her father grilled her about her love interest, "Charlie, we're going to play baseball with his family. Not run off to Vegas."
"Hey now, don't joke about that kind of stuff Bella and baseball? You're playing?" He asked, disbelief lacing his tone before turning into full blown laughter.
"Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence old man, but to answer your question I'll probably be watching most of the time."
She sighed and fought the urge to roll her eyes when his gaze turned inquisitive on her, no doubt wondering when her infatuation became so deep. She needed to leave and fast if she was going to escape the barrage of questions.
Hearing a familiar engine outside and the door bell a moment later, she tried to bolt, she really did, but her father beat her to the door.
"Come on in, Edward." He said when he opened the door.
"Thank you, Chief Swan," Edward replied back, knowing from the look in the man's eyes that anything less respectful would warrant the use of a shotgun.
"Please, call me Charlie. I can take your jacket if you want?"
"Thank you, sir."
'Hook, line and sinker.' Bella couldn't help but think as Edward took a seat on the couch, but sighed when he winked behind Charlie's back. At least he had a plan.
"Bella, tells me you're going to play baseball."
"That is the plan."
"Well, if anybody can get Bella to do that I'm sure you can." Charlie laughed out and Edward joined in.
Bella felt the stab at her pride and stood up before her father could break anything else out. "Dad, before you make another joke, may I kindly remind you who makes your meals?"
Charlie paled and nodded, "Alright fine, get out of here, but not too late Bell." He leveled Edward with the famous parental look, "You take care of my girl, you hear?"
Bella resisted the urge to groan again as the two seemed to share a separate moment of understanding.
"She'll be safe with me sir, I give you my word."
'Well, I'm sure Charlie couldn't find any doubt in that statement.' She thought, every word practically rang with sincerity.
She stepped out of the house and halted. Right behind her truck was a jeep on steroids; it was huge with the tires being higher than her waist and spotlights on the roof. It looked like it belonged in the outback.
Bella heard a whistle of appreciation behind her and her father stuttered out, "Uh, make sure to wear your seatbelts."
"What is all this," She questioned as she eyes the number of harnesses coming off from the passenger seat.
"Hmm? Oh, it's an off-road harness."
"And where are we going exactly?" She squeaked out, thinking off all the places a jeep like that was capable of reaching as she tried to get all the buckets to fit in the right places, sighing when Edward reached over to do it for her.
He smiled lightly, "It's nowhere like that Bella. Besides, we're not driving the whole way."
"Oh, well alright that's… Wait, just how are we reaching this place if we're not driving the whole way?"
"Running," He stated and put the car into gear.
"Thank Kami! We're done, we're finally done!" Nate cried out in a theatrical manner, throwing his hand into the air and Jacob huffed.
"It wasn't that bad Riven."
"Sure, maybe not to you, I mean you did find your imprint today. That's got to count for something." Nate rebutted and Jacob rolled his eyes, but he did grin. "See? You're grinning like a fool already. Girl's will do that to you."
"Man, I thought you were gay." Jacob dead panned and ignored the dirty look shot his way.
"I'm bi Jake, meaning it really doesn't matter if they have a dick or not. If I like em' I'll do em'." Nate retorted, grinning at the look of horror on the wolf's face.
"Too much info man, way too much."
Nate chuckled, "You asked, it's not my fault your virgin ears can't withstand what I say. All the enemy has to do is call out sex positions and they'll have a weapon to your neck in no time."
"You're not a- Wait, no. I don't even want to know. Just go meet up with the Cullen's already?" Jacob whined pitifully, making Nate laugh.
"Sure, sure, I can't scar you too much in one session after all." Nate bolted out into the light drizzle and Jacob let out a sigh of relief.
Nate zipped up the forest trail, hearing the thunder in the distance.
'I wonder if they're the one's that are making that noise…' He thought, 'It would certainly explain why they wait under storms to play.'
He grinned at the thought of a good game, one where he could go all out.
He was excited.
He jumped of a rocky crag jutting out from the side of a mountain, effectively cutting his time down by another few minutes, before he halted. From where he was he had a clear view of the forest floor and the river running through it. With the clouds hanging down low, threatening to release all the water stored in its depths, it provided such a beautiful picture.
The sound of raindrops hitting the water a couple miles away caught his attention and that was when he realized it.
That was all he heard.
Even where he was at, where the rain had yet to reach there was no sound. All the animals were silent. He stilled, focusing his chakra into his eyes and ears to strengthen them and he caught a slight movement further down into the valley. The sound was barely there, but the slight tapping of someone running reverberated in his ears.
A few moments later he counted a total of eight humanoid figures as they ran along the river banks edge, but it was the speed they ran at that labeled them as non human. He caught a flash of crimson red and carefully backed up.
Vampires.
Victoria reappeared next to Laurent, the front of her dress splattered in specks of red, but it was nothing that couldn't be washed out. Unlike the two newcomers, whose front was completely drenched, well, that was to be expected.
"Any ideas of where to head next Laurent, dear?" She questioned, a pink tongue flicking out to catch a bead of crimson blood gathering in the corner of her lips.
He looked thoughtful for a moment, before a crack of thunder rang out and the corners of his lips curled up in a smirk.
"Oh, I think I might have a small idea."
Carlisle stepped up to the plate, a bat ready in his hands, while Edward was in the catching position. Just as Alice wound up another pitch she gasped and Edward's head snapped up to look at his sister and there was an instant understanding that flowed between the two.
He appeared at Bella's side, before anyone could ask what was wrong.
"Alice?" Esme questioned her voice tense and wary.
"H-How…? I didn't see… why didn't I see?" She whispered, a hand flying to her mouth in horror.
By this time the others' had all gathered, Bella in the middle, shielding her from whatever Alice had seen.
"Alice… What did you see?" Carlisle questioned, stressing the urgency in his voice.
"I had the wrong perspective; they were much closer than I thought they were. They heard us playing and it changed there path."
Seven pairs of eyes flashed towards Bella, then away.
"How much time do we have?" Carlisle asked and glanced at Edward.
"We have less than a few minutes. They're running because they want to play, but it goes blank after that." Edward scowled.
"Can you make it Edward?" Carlisle asked and Edward shook his head.
"Not carrying-" He stopped for a moment. "And if they catch a scent they'll start hunting, Carlisle."
"How many are there?" Emmett asked, looking at Alice, "Eight," She answered and Emmett scoffed.
"We've had worse odds. Let em' come." He flexed his arms.
Everyone besides Emmett, the only one in the group that seemed unaffected by the situation, stared at the leader of their coven as he thought of the best route they could possibly take.
The one with the fewer casualties.
"Continue the game," He finally decided, his voice not betraying how worried he actually was. "They are only curious after all.
It was decided that Esme would now catch and Carlisle would call. He planted himself directly in front of Bella, while the others' went back to the field now periodically scanning the tree line.
Edward stood next to Bella, while Alice and Esme positioned themselves around Bella as well, "Take your hair down Bella." He said in a low voice and Bella obediently pulled the tie out.
Seeing the others' still she couldn't help but say, "They're here now, aren't they?"
"Yes, stay as still as you can, keep quiet and please don't move from my side." He said and pulled her hair down so that it was covering her face.
"That won't help, Edward." Alice said, "Her scent has already saturated the field, I could smell her from across the way."
"I know." He conceded, frustration coloring his voice.
It was another stressful few minutes as they waited, but no one focused on the game any more.
"I'm so sorry, Bella," He stated fiercely. "I was completely idiotic, irresponsible to have exposed you like this…" His breath hitched and his gaze narrowed to the right side of the field.
Everyone turned to the same direction, hearing far more than Bella was able to…
If anyone asked Bella what it had been like she would have said it was as if she was watching a scene from a movie. Each person emerged from the tree line one by one, ranging ten or twelve feet apart.
Everyone else followed the man out in front, the one that was clearly their designated leader and two others; the leader being a tall, dark-haired man that held himself with authority, while the others' loosely converged around him. The second was a woman whose striking feature was her fiery red hair and the third man being slightly smaller than his leader, with dirty blond hair.
Bella couldn't help but notice the difference between the Cullen's and the others'. Their gait was utterly animalistic, to the point of being cat-like, stalking and shifting, always ready to attack. They looked unkempt, like dirty hikers that had been lost on a seven day journey and were now finally seeing the first signs of civilization.
Sharp eyes carefully took in each and every once of the Cullen's, assessing them and the leader smiled, a flash of gleaming white teeth coming into view.
It was the woman though that set Bella on edge, she was wilder than the rest, never standing still for more then a second.
There eyes were also far more different than what she was used to seeing, being a deep crimson red, that seemed to flash with something sinister and dark…
"Hello, I am Laurent, these are James and Victoria. The five behind us are Chris, Michael, Wes, Geoff, and Thomas. We thought we heard a game?"
As they were speaking the slightest of breezes ruffled the wisps of Bella's hair, and Edward stiffened. The second male, James, the second in command, suddenly focused his gaze on the girl, his nostril's flaring as he took in the scent. He suddenly lurched forward into a crouch, a feral snarl ripping its way through his throat. Not unlike a panther and Victoria joined him as well.
Laurent's eyes narrowed on her, "My, my, what is this?" He exclaimed in surprise, and neither Edward's nor James relaxed their positions.
"She's with us." Carlisle stated, his voice directed to James.
"You brought a snack?" Laurent questioned, belief lacing his tone and understanding dawned on his features.
Edward snarled even more harshly.
"A human," James snarled, "This goes against our very code." He hissed out next, Carlisle stiffening. "They aren't allowed to know!"
James hand twitched lightly and he straightened slightly out of his defensive crouch. Laurent let out a long sigh.
"I am afraid that James is right…" He held out a hand and the rest of his coven followed it, tensing.
Edward seeing what the man had planned, had only enough time to call out, "No!" Before Laurent's hand dropped rapidly and the others' shot of into the woods.
Three things happened simultaneously, Bella was thrown over Alice's shoulder as she and Rosalie ran back to the Jeep. While the rest of the family took off after the other coven and 'the traveler' burst forth from the forest line running in the direction of the other two…
"Holy shit, that fucker's fast!" Emmett called out as he watched 'the traveler' ruthlessly chase down the others', he having already caught his own prey and ripped him to shreds.
"How can we be sure he's really on our side?" Jasper asked as he twisted the head of the newborn he caught and threw it onto the growing pile.
"Umm... How about that?" Jasper looked in the direction his brother was facing to see the man in question throw two projectiles joined together with a wire towards the other newborn, he stopped as it swung around him and the tree in front of him.
Emmett winced when he saw it tighten and cut the newborn in half, however he didn't stop. He kept ran past the mess he created towards the last one, preparing to do the same thing to him that he did to the other.
A loud snapping from his left caught his attention, but by then it was too late. Laurent, came thrashing through the trees right towards 'the traveler.'
"Oh, shi-" Was all Emmett was capable of saying and he ran forward intending to throw the other assailant off guard, but could only watch as the dark haired vampire was able to clip 'the traveler.'
Blood sprayed over the forest floor, from what looked to be a deep wound on his side and his body lurch back from the impact. He smashed into the base of a tree as Laurent made his escape, but threw one last kunai with a small slip of paper tied on with nothing more than a thread.
Both Emmett and Jasper heard a slight sizzling as it flew through the air and they ran after Laurent since it seemed 'the traveler' had the other taken care of. The kunai embedded into the young vampire's back, he pitched forward from the impact and suddenly there was an explosion that shook the forest floor.
A few moments later they returned, not being able to catch up to Laurent and by this time the others' had joined back and they watched as 'the traveler' got up from his position on the ground slightly unsteady and when he was fully standing kick the base of the tree in a juvenile manner.
He angrily ripped off his mask and glared at the group. Emmett's jaw clicked open, Jasper's eyes widened in comprehension, as did Edward's, Esme's, and Carlisle's.
"That… could have gone better." Nate said, trying to calm his breathing and pulled off the ski mask that hid head hair, only to bunch it up at his wound.
"Dude, you're 'the traveler'?" Emmett asked, disbelief lacing his tone and Nate gave a confused look.
"The who?" He asked dumbly. "Who in the world is that?"
"That's you!" Emmett said exasperated and Nate grinned,
"I've been called a lot of things in my life, but that is definitely not one of them, but enough of that. Did you guys get the others?" Emmett nodded, as did the others' and Nate sighed. "Thank Kami, I was able to get two newborns, but Laurent side swiped me and got me off guard." He looked at Emmett and Jasper. "I saw you two chasing after him… is he gone?"
Emmett and Jasper shared a look, "He was already too far out for us to do anything about it… he got away." Emmett voiced, his tone ladled with disappointment, and Nate noticed the look of horror cross over Edward's features.
"You are wounded Nate, here let me take a look at that." Carlisle said and made his way over, being careful to not cause any more damage. "Were you bit?"
"Nah, he's got sharp claws though." Nate said and pulled what he was using to staunch the bleeding away for the vampire to get a closer look.
"I'm going to need to stitch this." He remarked and Nate nodded.
"Sure, but hang on. Edward?' He looked at the vampire, "What did Laurent think that set you so on edge?"
Edward shifted slightly, "He wasn't joking when he said that allowing human to know of us was going against the code and he follows it to a tee. He was… is going to the Volturi as we speak to inform them of our indiscretion and they will punish us for it."
"How long would you say we have?" Jasper questioned and Edward, looked down at the ground.
"… Two weeks at the most… maybe less."
Blackhaven18: And here is chapter fourteen. You can probably see where I was influenced by Twilight, I did have the book in front of me to look at the dialogue and most of this takes place in Chapter 17.
~TBC~
Words: 7,012 without the author's notes. Or nineteen pages on Word.