HUNTRESS OF THE SEA
CHAPTER SEVEN
Disclaimer: I in no way own anything that is directly related to Twilight or the Percy Jackson series.
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Bella ran, hardly feeling winded at all.
If anything, she was exhilarated, free. She wasn't worrying about a bunch of pesky vampires and werewolves; she was doing what she was best at – preparing to vanquish a monster.
She jumped over fallen trees, dodged bushes, and rarely left a footprint in the ground. She ran until she could only hear the hellhounds following her, what may have seemed like it would have been hours was only minutes. Once she was positive that the Cullen's and shape shifters were far behind her, she whirled around, ready to face the two hellhounds. They weren't all that far behind her, able to match her brisk pace by going in and out of the shadows. Shadow traveling meant that they could be fast, but they would be tired. Bella sighed, feeling a bit disappointed at the easy kill.
Still, she notched her arrow and raised her bow. She could hear their paws trampling straight towards her. So she aimed for straight in front of her and breathed in and out.
Crack!
The hellhounds burst into the scene, barreling right through a fallen tree and wildly running straight forwards Bella. They pushed and shoved at each other, both trying to get to Bella first for a tasty demigod snack. Drool fell onto the ground as their tongues lolled around. Bella wrinkled her nose in disgust. She didn't feel bad about killing these two.
She let her arrow go.
It soared through the air, easily finding its target.
The hellhound howled. It slammed to a halt; doing everything it could to dislodge the arrow in its check. The only thing it managed to do was make the pain worse. It started to howl louder. Bella hardly waited; she had already notched another arrow and let it free. The hellhound exploded into dust.
The last hellhound whined. But it didn't stop running. It had briefly paused when its companion was hit, but it now charged straight at Bella. It was too close for her to shoot another arrow, and besides, she had wanted a fight.
Bella's bow and arrow disappeared, a knife appearing in her hand instead. She took her stance, ready to jump when the hellhound was too close to stop. It kept running, eager to sink its fangs into Bella. Right before it could snap its powerful jaws into her, she jumped, soaring through the air above the hellhound. With a crash!, the hellhound ran straight into the tree. The tree groaned, tipping over just a bit.
Bella landed safely behind the hellhound. She whipped around, ready to have some more fun with the monster.
The hellhound whined, but shook itself off. It put its nose to the air and quickly smelled out Bella. With another growl, it turned and charged for her.
This time Bella prepared herself to take the beast out.
"Bella!"
Too late, Bella had hesitated. The hellhound bulldozed into her, clamping its jaw around her leg. She lost her balance, her legs knocked out from under her. With an Oomph, she landed on her back, her head smacking against a rock. For a second, she saw stars. And then she felt the pain. Her leg was throbbing from the pressure of the bite. She tried her best not to cry out in pain, though she was sure she whimpered.
The hellhound ran, dragging Bella with it. Through hazy vision, Bella could see its destination; a shadow near one of the trees. It was going to shadow travel with her.
Bella's eyes searched for anything she could as a weapon. Her knife had flown out of her hand when her head smacked the ground. She reached out around her, desperate to pick up something useful, but she could only find leaves and small rocks.
"Bella, no!" someone wailed. Bella's mind was too hazy to register the voice. Still, she picked up the sound of leaves crunching. The others had found her, obviously. If she didn't do something fast, the hellhound was sure to go after them and there was no way they would survive an attack.
The hellhound heard them too. Its ears pricked up, momentarily distracted from the demigod in its grasp. Its steps faltered, slowing enough for Bella to reach out.
"Ah!" Bella grinned. She had grabbed onto a rock. It was sturdy enough and big enough to cause enough damage to make the beast let her free. She steeled herself, knowing that what she was about to do would probably cause her to pass out. The hellhound turned its head towards the noise the vampires were making, probably checking to see if they were demigods.
Bella saw her moment.
She gathered herself, and swung her arm with as much strength as she could muster. Pain shot through her trapped leg, but she kept on going. The rock found its target on the muzzle of the dog. The hellhound immediately opened its mouth to yowl in pain. Bella yelled as well, pain shooting up her leg. She thought she would pass out. She didn't have enough sense to catch herself as she fell, so she landed back first on the ground.
She groaned, spots dotting her vision.
"Bella!" someone shrieked again.
Despite her injury, she grabbed the hidden knife in her boot. As quick as she could, she stood up, favoring her left leg. Her eyes quickly scanned for the monster. The hellhound had already recovered and had begun charging. It smashed Bella into the tree behind her, knocking the breath out of her. She gasped for breath. Full of fury and adrenaline, Bella raised her arm and brought the arrow down into the hellhounds head.
She slumped to the ground as the hellhound was finally defeated and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
"Bella!" Edward cried, his voice closer than Bella had suspected. With the threat of danger gone Bella was able to sense that everyone was now surrounding her. She groaned at the thought. Unfortunately Edward took it the wrong way.
For a second, she had the sensation of floating through air. Her eyes snapped open.
"Put me down now!" Bella yelled, rage kicking in. She immediately tried to wriggle herself loose.
Edward held her tighter. "No, Bella, you're hurt. Just stay still."
Bella growled. "I said put me down now!" she screams, thrashing in his arms now.
Edward held tight. He glanced at Carlisle worried about Bella's sanity.
"Bella –" Carlisle stared, moving forward to help.
Bella's eyes widened and she fought harder. She didn't care of the scene she was making. She didn't care that everyone was looking at her like she was crazy. All she cared was that she was out of Edward's grasp.
With a grunt, she finally managed to roll out of Edwards arms, landing on the ground at his feet with a thud.
"Bella!" Esme cried. Carlisle immediately appears at Bella's side.
"Stay away!" Bella yells, flopping onto her back. She can feel their worried glances. Sucking in a breath, Bella's pulls herself halfway up. Using her arms and her one good leg, she moves as far away from Edward and Carlisle as she can. "Stay over there," she warns when she sees both of them take a step forward.
"I need to check your wound," Carlisle pleads, his hands up to show he meant no harm.
Bella shakes her head. Her leg is profusely bleeding, and she can start to feel herself lose grip on reality. "It's pretty bad," she says.
"I know," Carlisle responds. "But maybe I can fix it." He moves closer to Bella again, gingerly touching her leg.
Bella hisses. "No male is to lay a hand on me." She stares Carlisle down until he reluctantly nods his head. Bella sighs, slumping against the tree behind her. "And besides, you couldn't fix it, even if you tried."
"What do you mean?" Alice gasps.
But it's too late. Bella has let herself succumb to the darkness, unable to stay conscious any longer.
"Bella?" Alice cries, rushing forward to shake her shoulders.
"Stop, Alice." Carlisle says.
But Alice is hysterical. She turns on Carlisle. "Do something!" she yells at her father.
Carlisle sighs, defeat plastered all over his face. "You heard what she said. Even if I tried, I couldn't."
"What?!" Edward yells.
Jacob growls, moving forward. "You have to try, bloodsucker."
Carlisle shakes his head. "Even if I did, I could hurt her more. I know nothing of what just attacked her."
"That doesn't mean you just let her die," whispers Rosalie. Everyone looks at her in surprise. She's standing in the back of the group, silently watching Bella. She raises her head, her eyes flashing determination. "We owe it to her to at least slow down her injuries. Maybe after that, we can find this Camp Crazy, or whatever, and get her some help."
To everyone's surprise, Leah nods her head in agreement. "Rosalie's right."
Carlisle and Edward share a glance. Edward eyes plead with his father.
Carlisle slowly nods his head. "Alright. Let's get her to a hotel. Seattle isn't too much farther." He glances down at Bella, unconscious but still able to seem so strong. He looks around to Rosalie. "Would you mind carrying her?"
Rosalie rolls her eyes, though Carlisle can see no real sarcasm behind it. She's only doing it for show. "Fine," she huffs, stalking forward. Everyone half expects her to yank Bella up, but Rosalie surprises half the group again by carefully lifting Bella off the ground.
"Let's go."
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Carlisle worriedly paced back and forth in the small room. Everyone is crowded onto one of the two beds, even the three werewolves, all of them watching him.
They had safely made it to Seattle within an hour. No more monsters attacked them, which was a good thing since none of them would know what to do. And while they had been able to discreetly get Bella inside, they hadn't been able to move since.
It had only been half a day since Bella fought off the two creatures she had called 'hellhounds.' And while he had been able to stop the flow of blood from her leg, she was still slowly bleeding. At this rate, she would be gone by the end of the day.
"There's nothing more I can do," Carlisle finally sighs, rubbing his eyes in frustration. He lets out a groan.
Jasper didn't need to be an empath to feel the despair in the room. It could practically be cut with a knife. Carlisle had just delivered the news about Bella. While Rosalie had a good plan back in the woods, it didn't look like Bella would even make it to Camp Half-Blood, let alone through this night.
"What if we were to steal some supplies from the hospital?" Edward says, desperation flowing off him waves. Jasper can't help but wince at the emotions Edward is emitting. It's enough to make a single person insane.
Carlisle sadly shakes his head. "I was able to use a belt to stop the major flow of blood, but there's something peculiar about Bella's skin."
"What do you mean?" Emmett asks.
"Well," Carlisle thinks about the best way to put it. "It's stronger somehow. I wasn't able to put in a single stitch with the supplies I brought."
Everyone gasps.
"But, but how?" Esme splutters.
Carlisle shrugs. "The only thing I'm sure of is that we are not equipped to help Bella." His shoulders slump in defeat. "She was right."
Esme and Alice try to stifle their sobs, but to no avail. And Edward appears to have gone into a state of shock. The whole room falls into a state of depression so bad that even the room appears to get darker.
Only, it had gotten darker.
"What a dismal place, even by my standards."
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Annnnd, my foot's asleep.
This update is for Mona Lisa; whose review made me proud of my book cover picture. Hooray!
I'm so tired, I'm gonna cry. But I'm cat-sitting. And this baby cat likes to meow and be played with, while I like to sleep and watch movies on my laptop.
I don't like this chapter. I don't know I just wasn't feeling it. It's what I wanted, but not exactly how I wanted it. Close enough though. But excuse my lack of ability to write a fight scene. Yeah, I had no idea what I was writing.
Okay, well, everyone should review. Maybe each review will help my cat (Winnie) stop hissing at baby cat (Isis), so that I don't have to sit in this one room all day with Isis. Yep, true story.
And now, let's push that review button!