Chapter Three

Bella

The only thing we could do was to hike back to the village and hope for a Mechanic. The village was almost deserted when we got back, like a ghost town, but we did find an old man who gave us directions to someone who might be able to help! His shack, for want of a better word, was up a dusty track and we both dreaded what we might see when the door opened. Taking a deep breath I knocked loudly.

"Senor could you help us? Our Jeep has broken down and Carlos in the village said you may be able to fix it."

"What the fuck are you girls doing here and on foot? Are you suicidal?"

We whirled terrified as the voice barked angrily from behind us. The owner of the voice was a surprise though. He was young and good-looking with strangely muddy brown eyes and a southern drawl.

"Sorry if I startled you but it's not safe round here, especially for strangers. Jeep broken down? OK I'll have a look, show me the way."

"Don't you have any transport?" Sam groaned, but he just shook his head.

"Only my feet darlin'"

I'd heard a voice very similar to his before from a similarly strangely beautiful young man and hearing another picked at the scabs formed over the place where my heart had once beat. He looked at me for a minute silently.

"Have we me before?"

"No"

"You look familiar. I'm sure I've seen you"

"Look, could you just try to get our Jeep running. We need to get back to our hotel."

Sam scolded me for my rudeness but the way the guy kept looking at me was giving me the creeps, and good looks were no excuse for bad manners in my book.

When we got back to the Jeep he tried to start it with no more luck than we'd had and when I sighed theatrically he just grinned.

"Always pays to make sure darlin'"

"I'm not your darling and please could you lift the hood or something"

"Well I could but it wouldn't help"

"Oh why?"

"The engine has seized up. Its fucked."

"Oh great, so now what do we do?"

"Walk"

"Are you trying to be funny?"

"Well you could always wait for the bus"

"When does it come?"

"Next Wednesday at noon."

I was seriously considering doing him some harm when I saw the smoke rising from the direction of the village.

"Look, a fire"

He turned so fast it was a blur.

"Fuck! Come on girls, quick"

He grabbed one of my hands and one of Sam's and dragged us as fast as he could across the road and into a hidden stream. The water was icy and I caught my breath. A little way up the stream he picked us both up and tucked us under his arms, running through a field and into a cave hidden from view. My pulse was racing and I felt sick to my stomach having recognised what he was as soon as I felt his icy touch and saw his speed and strength.

Inside the cave he set us down and stepped back to the entrance motioning us to be quiet. I saw Sam shivering and put my arm around her shoulder but hushed her when she tried to speak, shaking my head and holding her tightly. By his response to the fire I knew it was a vampire attack but if so why had he, a vampire himself, helped us? It was an hour before he relaxed and turned back to us smiling reassuringly.

"Well I think were safe for now. I need to get you girls away from here."

Sam stuttered trying to speak but I beat her to it.

"I know what you are and what was scaring the villagers, they were expecting an attack. Who are you and why are you helping us?"

He looked stunned for a moment then smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand,

"Fuck! I knew I'd seen you before. You're Bella, Bella Swan."

The fact he knew my name took me aback.

"How do you know me? I've never seen you before"

"No but we have a mutual acquaintance"

"I don't think so. I don't know any of your people. Not any more"

Sam looked between us as we spoke

"You know each other? What's happening Bella? I'm terrified."

"No we don't know each other and I wish I were as ignorant as you Sam now please be quiet for a minute.

"Who are you?"

The man bowed with a flourish,

"Captain Peter Whitlock at your service Miss Swan."

I glared at him,

"Now tell me Captain, How do you know my name? Are you a friend of the Cullens?"

"Fuck no. Can't stand them."

I couldn't help smiling at that, we had something in common then.

"Well if not the Cullens how do you know me?"

"I'm a friend, or at least was, of Jasper,...Hale I think he went by."

"Jasper? Alice's Jasper?"

"Well he isn't any longer. She went nuts, they all did when he tried to attack you, and threw him out."

"They did what? He and Alice were married weren't they?"

"Not any more. She kicked his butt out and served him with divorce papers. That was it."

"So what happened? Where is he now?"

"That's a long story and we don't have time for it at present. I need to get you two out of here."

Sam sat on the floor looking up at Peter as if he were mad. She didn't understand how much peril we were in, but if it was vampires attacking the village then our lives were in serious danger. I'd been here before and had hoped never to revisit but here I was and now wanted to stay long enough to find out what had happened with Alice, the Cullens, and Jasper. Had they really thrown him out? That was grossly unfair, it had been my fault for being so clumsy, I was hating the Cullens even more now.

Peter had disappeared and when he came back he was in a hurry.

"We need to go now before the scouts turn up. I think they found the Jeep and caught your scents. Come on."

He dragged us from our hiding place and back to the stream.

"Run as fast as you can and stay in the water."

"Hide our scent?"

"Good girl Bella. About two miles downstream you'll come across the main highway. Flag down a ride, get back to town and pack. I'll join you when I find out what's happening and make sure you get out of Mexico safely. Now go"

I took Sam's hand and we started to run, all the while I was thinking about what he'd said. About the Cullens and poor Jasper. A couple of times Sam flagged but I wouldn't let her stop, I knew what would happen if we were caught. Finally reaching the highway we were lucky, a Police Car stopped and I told Sam to keep quiet. I told them our Jeep had broken down and we'd followed the stream to find help. They were very kind and took us back into town, right to our hotel where they checked out our story before leaving us there, safe for now.

Once in the room Sam broke down completely and I didn't blame her, I would have done the same thing in her place.

"Why didn't you tell the Police about the village and the attack, that crazy man too?"

I tried to explain without telling her too much but nothing made sense to her so I just helped her pack ready to leave then rang down to the front desk for a taxi to the Airport and a ticket for her back home.

"Aren't you coming home with me?"

"No, I have unfinished business it would seem."

"Please tell me you aren't going to meet that crazy man again Bella"

"I have to, I have to know what happened to a friend of mine. It sounds like he paid dearly for something that was my fault."

"You really think he knows your friend? That he saved us from the attackers who fired the village?"

I nodded,

"Then its too dangerous. Come with me please."

"Danger doesn't bother me Sam I've been there before and have the scars to prove it. Now go home and keep quiet about what happened here or you'll be in danger too. Just blame me for everything."

"Bella who is going to believe me anyway?"

"Don't even try to convince them Sam. Say nothing and you'll be fine."

I watched her taxi pull away, rubbing absently at the scar on my wrist. It ached, something it hadn't done in a long while.