Chapter 14: Fred

Bree heard the distant steps of the Cullens behind her. They echoed in the unnervingly silent forest. It felt like everything had stopped to look at the chase—the animals, plants, even the storm raging in the sky. Now what was left of the once great thunderous rain was small drops of tears running down the leaves of the trees.

The newborn's head stayed bravely looking forward regardless of the silent pleas behind her telling her to stop running—to stop her long planned escape so that she could be given to the Volturi to be killed. She wasn't going to let the voices turn her mind around, no matter how desperate the shouts of the yellow eyes were getting. She was finally free—well, almost. She needed to find Fred and get the hell away from the territory of the rich coven.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, trying unsuccessfully to turn invisible. But just like her gift had refused to work when she had run for the first time from the Cullens, it didn't budge this time either.

Her mind gave up trying to get it to work and instead concentrated on the scent of her friend. Fred's familiar chestnut, rose, and honey-mixed scent hovered in the air. It led her through endlessly feeling bushes and trees. They stroked her body parts harshly as she ran between them.

The constant continuation of the same plants made her wonder, was she stuck in some type of twisted loop? She hoped she would soon find a way out of the strange-looking forest. She had no interest in getting stuck in the yellow-eyes territory for too long.

The voices behind her had ceased, causing a bad inkling in the pits of her stomach. Part of her hoped that the lack of noise meant her capturers had given up, but she knew better than that. They were still after her. Probably planning what to do.

She was afraid that if she were to get caught, she would be immediately killed by them. Surely she had now angered all the rest of them and worsened the southern-accented vampire's desire to end her. She would be doomed if Fred didn't soon show up from somewhere. She was really counting on him. He was her only way to escape.

Her feet thrummed against the slimy mud. It splashed around her like a protective shield, coating her in the brown substance. Her expensive clothes from the Cullens were getting completely ruined without a pity. She couldn't care less about them. Her life was more important than the cloth pieces. Alice would surely disapprove of what she thought, but she wasn't here, so the girl was free to think what she wanted.

The young teen moved with ease in the small rain. It wasn't a match for her or her plans, even if it would have tried to be. Luckily for it, it wasn't. She was almost thankful for the rainstorm. Without it, she wouldn't have been able to escape as easily.

The water droplets fell on her face, washing away some of the smudged mud that had reached her face with the help of the strong splashes her shoes made.

A wild warning snarl reached her ears, leaving her just enough time to dodge her sudden attacker. She plunged to the ground, not daring to stop to turn around and see who had charged at her. Her feet continued running, their fast pace leaving no time to think properly as she sped through the wet forest.

She arrived at an extremely familiar river. It danced before her as its surface invited her once again to escape through it. Seeing it was like deja vu. She jumped in it without hesitation, trusting that it would help her to safety like the last time. Maybe she could swim all the way to the end of it and see what would come of it. The only downside to doing so was losing Fred's scent.

She glanced behind her, seeing a muddy enraged Rosalie coming towards her. The blond goddess's eyes were full of rage. "Bree! I demand that you stop immediately."

Bree dipped under the surface of the river, starting to swim hastily along it. She had really angered the blond vampire, as her dodge a minute ago had sent the other vampire clearly to a mud pond. It was unfortunate for both of them. There was a very provoked immortal following the newborn, who most likely wanted revenge for making her fall into the filthy substance. Rosalie had seemed proud, even cocky, about her golden locks prior to the incident, and now they were dirty because of the crimson-eyed girl. She needed to swim fast so she wouldn't be caught by the furious blond following her.

She had to hold her desire to try to appease the goddess and tell her that she could just wash her hair. Tell her it would be fine. But she doubted it would be much of a help at this moment. She was, after all, still getting chased like a rabbit towards a hole. She only needed to hope the hole had a way out on the other side.

The water tugged her from all sides as her hands and legs pushed her forward in it. She got caressed gently by it, pushed onwards by the weak stream.

Rosalie's splash into the water carried itself onto her ears. She propelled faster ahead, attempting to shake the yellow eye from behind her.

She swam anxiously in the river, trying to fasten her pace every now and then in hopes of finally getting away. Her horrified eyes widened as she noticed how the long river folded in two directions in front of her. She didn't want to give the Cullen behind her enough time to catch her, so she chose the left side without much thought.

She plunged in the new direction, letting the few fish swimming past her continue their way in the other direction. As they did so, a new idea struck her.

She could swim slightly away from sight and stop all of her movements. There was a small possibility of Rosalie following the fish instead of her. It wasn't like the blond goddess was able to smell her scent under the water.

With new confidence, the young teen swam three metres onward until stopping behind a corner. She closed her eyes and wished for the best.

To her joy, her plan worked. The other immortal decided to turn to the right and moved in her new direction with long, certain kicks.

Bree waited until she couldn't hear the woman's movements anymore and continued her swimming route, going to the left.

The rest of the way to the end of the river was astonishingly peaceful. If she hadn't been chased by the Cullens, she would have probably stopped to admire all the things coming her way as she propelled under the water. The soil walls on both sides of her turned into solid stone ones as she went further, the colourful seaweeds bouncing around her, her performance never to be forgotten. It was magical.

As the sixteen-year-old girl neared the river's end, she gave one more glance to the underwater world in preparation to rise back to the surface. Her eyes swept the sand with their reluctant gaze, attempting to stall her from returning to her own world. She wasn't ready to go back up yet, but she had to.

Timid, but assured, she rose. Her lungs exhaled, relieved, as she broke the water's calm surface.

The rain had stopped. All that was left of it were the trees and plants shedding the water droplets off their skins. Their leaves moved in the wind and accepted the invisible air's help in drying them.

The young teen swam cautiously to the bank of the river, her body parts coming one by one into contact with its rocky texture. She stood up on it, studying her environment. The unassuming area was filled with nature. Huge trees stared at her soul as she took a step forward. Ferns tickled her soggy clothes as she walked alertly forward. She wondered if this was still part of the Cullens territory.

Her body went rigid as a snap behind her stole her attention. She swiped around just in time to see a honey blond flash in her peripheral vision.

Hard hands jerked her backwards and made her smack to the ground. A shocked cry left her lips as she hit the dirt with force.

Jasper's face popped into her field of vision. His scarred face blazed angrily—a darkened expression in his eyes hinting she was going to die. "I'm going to give you one chance to return peacefully to our house. If you decline, I will kill you."

The newborn snarled furiously as fear took hold of her. She tried to jump back up, only to get pushed back to the ground.

"I suppose you made your choice." The southern-accented man spit. He grabbed her by the neck, imprisoning her in his deathly hold.

She bit the vampire as her last attempt, getting a hiss out of him. It made her feel accomplished for a blink of an eye before reality set back on her. She was going to die if she wasn't able to get out of the terrifying man's grip.

His hands tightened against her neck, causing a scream from the girl. She struggled and kicked Jasper, refusing to go down easily. She wasn't going to give up until she was truly dead.

Her neck flared in pain as the scarred man pressed it harder. He forced her feet into the air, leaving her to flail them in vain.

Bree closed her eyes. She could sense how her neck was about to break. It was crumbling under the southern man's marble hands like porcelain.

To her utter shock, she fell from his hands, landing on the soft forest floor. Everything swam in her vision as she tried to make sense of what had happened. It hurt too much to move, so she ended up gazing around.

Her confused crimson irises met up with another set of red eyes. They glanced at her as their familiarity registered in her brain. Fred.

The boy stared at her, his tall features outlined against the calm sky. "Bree?"

The newborn couldn't respond. She blinked in surprise at her friend's sudden appearance. Her mind had not yet finished processing the fact that her saviour was in front of her. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out of it.

As silence erupted between the two, she took it as an opportunity to study his comforting features. She'd never thought she'd be so overwhelmingly pleased to see the boy's curly blond hair and muscular body. She had only concentrated on finding him and nothing else. It embarrassed her. She hadn't even thought about what she'd do after finding him. There hadn't been a single thought of what they'd do in the long run, but now that they were reunited, she was left baffled by all the paths they could take. Would they form a coven? Or end up going different paths? Maybe they were going to become fugitives in the vampire world, running forever from the Volturi without breaks.

Terror came back to her expression as she remembered Jasper. Had Fred dealt with him already? She tried lifting her head to see where he had gone, but the attempt ended up causing jolting pain to travel through her body. It made her wince.

"Don't move. That jerk hurt you quite badly," Fred instructed. He pressed her head delicately back against the soil. The grass poked the back of her head as her head came to rest on it.

She let the curly-haired vampire keep her still before letting a whisper come from her lips "Fred?"

The boy lifted one of his eyebrows. "Yes?"

A small smile formed on her face. It radiated in it brightly, regardless of how small it was. Fred was truly here. She had made it to safety.

The other vampire returned her smile, his warm eyes relieved. "I almost didn't make it in time. The scarred vampire was about to light you on fire with his pocket lighter."

"He was?" Bree gasped. She hadn't noticed Jasper pulling anything from his pockets, but then again, her eyes had been closed.

"Yes, you were very lucky."

The newborn's eyes widened. She tried to avert her gaze to see where the southern-accented man had disappeared. "Where is he?"

"The asshole? I force him to back down with my power. We should be safe for now, but we do need to leave soon," Fred explained. He looked around, tilting his head cautiously. "Where is Diego? I thought you went to search for him."

A stab went through the girl's heart as she frowned. She had shoved the thoughts of her other friend deep inside, wishing to never need to think about him, yet here she was about to reveal the black-haired boy's faith to Fred. "Victoria and Riley killed him."

"What?" The curly-haired vampire let go of her in surprise.

"I- I couldn't find him on the battlefield and realised they must have killed him. Riley acted oddly after he disappeared, and I put two and two together."

Fred let silence fall between them before opening his mouth. "I'm sorry for your loss. You two seemed close."

"Thank you," Bree said silently. A gentle sigh escaped from her as sadness took over her being. She let it swirl inside of her for a minute till pushing it away, not wanting to ruin the mood of the reunion.

Her neck tickled. It was beginning to slowly heal on its own. She opened her venom-filled mouth, dipping her fingers inside of it. She needed to help her neck heal quicker; otherwise, the two would be stuck in the area forever. Her hands became coated with the sweet substance as she pushed them into her mouth. When she deemed they had enough venom lingering on them, she brushed her fingers against the damaged parts of her neck.

As the substance touched her marble skin, it began to worsen the tingling on her skin until it faded away completely.

She felt pleased with her actions, tracing her hands carefully across her neck in an attempt to figure out if it was fully healed. To her joy, her skin felt smooth.

Fred eyed her from his place. His gaze was strictly on her. "Are you ready to go? Or do you need more time?"

The young teen sat up warily. She looked around, making her crimson eyes settle on the boy after scanning the environment. "I'm good." She nodded.

"Great," the curly-haired boy said. He rose from the grass. "Should we go then…or do you need to do something first?"

The words caused the newborn to freeze. She pondered in her head if there was anything she wished to do before leaving for good. It was weird that she had finally successfully escaped from the yellow-eyes. She'd thought she'd feel happier and more elated, but a strange feeling overtook her. She wasn't sad per se, but maybe slightly wistful. The feeling was unexpected. Why did she feel it? There was nothing binding her to this place.

The murderous Cullens didn't deserve it. She was fairly sure it had nothing to do with them. She didn't care if they died because of her actions. In fact, they deserved to suffer for selling her to the Volturi. Or did they? The sixteen-year-old girl shook the unwanted emotion from her head. She was being silly and needed to just leave.

She stood up next to Fred, giving him a firm nod. "We can leave."

"So…umm…Why was one of those yellow-eyes trying to kill you?" Fred asked suddenly. His question made them stop in a peaceful forest clearing.

The two had been running for fifteen minutes. The sun was starting to set on the horizon, its golden rays overtaking the forest with their breathtakingly beautiful strokes against nature. If Bree hadn't known better, she'd believe the sun had managed to set everything on fire, including her and Fred.

The girl pressed her lips together. "I escaped from them."

"Escaped? You mean to tell me that their coven kept you as a hostage?" The blond boy gasped.

"Yes. They captured me and kept me guarded in their huge house. Sometimes I was allowed to go outside, but most of the time I had to stay inside." The newborn spoke. She relieved all the memories of the long week and half in her mind. How she had drank from the animals, sat in her room, chatted with various members of the coven, and walked on the demonic stairs.

"They have a house?" Fred asked. He looked taken aback by the revelation.

"Yes. They are also rich. The leader works at a hospital."

"They sound...odd," the curly-haired vampire mused. He gazed quickly at the disappearing sun and added, "But interesting."

"I guess," Bree answered simply. She wasn't interested in speaking about the Cullens. They had only brought trouble with them and almost killed her in the process of trying to force her to live in their residence. She was lucky to be free from them. To start a new life with Fred.

Her thoughts salivated at the thought of being able to go explore the world. As a vampire, she could travel almost anywhere in the world. Her immortal body couldn't get tired or die from exhaustion, giving her a lot of new opportunities. It would be amazing to travel from continent to continent. She desired to first go to Canada, the closest country to them and the place where she was supposed to meet up with Fred originally. She would need to ask her friend if he would be willing to explore the earth together, or at least bring her to Canada.

"What did you do when I was stuck with the yellow-eyes?" Bree inquired curiously. She wanted to desperately know how long Fred had waited for her in Vancouver and why he had decided to come search for her. It puzzled her.

"Well, at the start, I waited for you and…Diego, but when I didn't hear anything from either of you, I ended up hanging out in Vancouver for a couple of days." The boy started. He rolled his eyes before continuing "Eventually, I began to feel a bit guilty for leaving you two alone, so I made the hard choice to try to find you."

The newborn listened to the other vampire silently. Her eyes were set on her friend.

"I wasn't sure where to start searching for you, so I went to Seattle and followed your scent here. I was able to detect you, but that asshole from before drove me away from Forks," Fred spoke. "I tried to come up with a plan to sneak into the yellow-eyes territory without them noticing, but every time I tried, they somehow found out. Today I finally just decided to run here without much of a plan, and it seems like it worked pretty well."

Bree smiled. "Thank you for coming to save me. Without you, I'd be toast."

"I'm glad I did too," Fred grinned. His expression turned more serious as his awkward gaze fell on her. "I couldn't abandon my only friend."

The young teen's lip corners rose. Her gleeful eyes turned to look forward as she took a step onward. "I-."

As soon as she took the step, her legs got glued to the soil. Her body became rigid as her muscles tensed up. She could smell them now. The disgusting scents of shapeshifters toxicated the air around them, more clear than ever. She should have concentrated on where they were going, but once again, her idiotic mind had not done its job. They had to get out of the territory of the Quileutes.

"Bree?" the curly-haired vampire next to her asked. He had taken a step towards her, staring at her, confused.

"We need to get out-" The girl didn't have enough time to finish her line before a threatening noise caught her attention. She swept to its direction, fear evident in her pupils. This was not how her escape plan was supposed to turn out.