Ok, read the reviews and the encouragement is always what brings dead authors back to life but, to the person who asked 'why would she help a fox': I laughed so hard when I read that. Good question. I have no idea. Really made my day, though.

Here we go. Chapter dos. Sorry it's so short.

(2. Crestfallen)

Cold hands shook me roughly. "You're not her! You're not!" A man screamed in my face as he held the tops of my arms in a strict grasp. I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar face and voice in shock and terror. He looked at me with desperation and devastation. When I opened my mouth to say something, anything, he sprung up off the floor effectively keeping me quiet.

His blonde hair whipped back and forth as he looked left and right, unseeingly at the floor as if he were debating something. He looked at me and shot his arm out. That's all I saw before total darkness took my senses.

My hands were tied behind my back and the shoulder I had been lying on was stiff and ached. I began sobbing. My legs were shaking and I could barely breathe to scream at this stranger that he couldn't take me. I would be missed. The town would know if Charlie Swan's daughter were missing. He'd raised the alarm in just a few hours the time I got lost in the woods and he'd do it again, I knew. I told him so. The road was bumpy and I was getting thrown around the spacious cab of my own truck. He unworriedly looked down at me and almost whispered, "Sorry 'bout your dad."

A new wave of sobs overtook me until I fell asleep and woke again some time later. My tear-dried eyes cracked open with much difficulty and my stomach was tender and uncomfortable with the telling weight of a full bladder. My voice croaked out my need and he immediately pulled right off the road and idled on the shoulder.

"Are you going or not?" He spoke at his lap but it was obviously meant for me.

"You couldn't pull into a gas station or something? I dont even have toilet paper?!" My voice was hysterical as I felt.

"Not while you're clearly fixin' to do a runner. Need you. Now.. I'll keep drivin' if'n you prefer, but I reckon you're serious about havin' to go."

Defeated and embarrassed his hearing would pick up everything, I quietly stepped out into the middle of nowhere and made my way to the back of my truck. I crouched low to the ground in the middle of the back in case he used the rearview mirrors to watch me. Silent tears fell from my eyes as I pulled my pants back up after finishing and having the unpleasant, unclean feeling of not being able to wipe. For a moment, I imagine running but there's nothing out here but dirt roads and the same wet, green foliage naturally occuring in Washington, though I knew after all these hours driving we must've been somewhere in Oregan.

"Where are we going? Why do you need me?" I asked him, still crying once I was seated back in the cab.

"We are goin' south, but first, you are meeting experts out here. I thought you were my mate when I first saw you in my head. When you stepped into the Major's old room I could tell that the mating pull wasn't there.. but you can help me find her!" My head was shaking back and forth as he spoke and he yelled the last part at me as if it could convince me more.

"You see the future? Are you gifted? The Major?" If his mind worked like Alice's...

He looked at me sideways, "I see what is. I see the truth."

"You saw me?"

"With me", he confirmed with a nod. "You felt like the mos' precious of cargo. I thought I needed to protect you."He looked down briefly, his eyes dimmed significantly. "You don't know how disappointed I was to find you weren't how I hoped you were."

"Who?" I asked.

He shook his head. "How. I can still feel that I will meet her soon - through you. We're going to speak to a studied league about why your qualities haven't shown yet."

"What qualities?"

"Your matin' instincts should have shown themselves by now - even what with you bein' a human, still, and all. We're supposed to recognise each other."

"...I want to go home." I said in a small voice.

He looked crestfallen. "You'll soon realise that your home is with me."

I fell silent after that, unsure how to respond. I wasn't recognizing and of the highway signs leading towards California like I used to remember, but he'd been travelling only back roads so far and I didn't think he'd move onto main highways anytime soon as the sun would be coming up soon. I passed time by trying to memorize the names of places we drove past or taking in the strange textured features of this strange vampire.

"What is your name?" I spoke before I really realized.

He looked genuinely shocked at me for a moment. "...Peter." With that we drove on in silence once again until the passing scenery and sound of my trucks engine rumbling drove me to sleep. His gold eyes enough for me to somewhat relax into my seat as I formulated my plan to call police, my father, anyone. The second he left me alone I had to save myself.