D E L I L A H R I V E R S was an incredibly punctual person. If you weren't fifteen minutes early, you were late. It's a sentiment Erin had heard countless times over the last seventeen plus years she's been alive, her mother's motto, and something she'd taken to heart after so many years. It's the sole reason why she found herself pulling into the Swan girls driveway exactly twenty-two minutes before they planned on hanging out. The tires on shit-box, as she lovingly referred to her car, having squelched loudly against the damp gravel.
It was a sound that Erin would forever call Swan Summoning, as no sooner did she force the gearshift into park the Swan girl was walking out the front door of the two story white paneled home. Almost falling down the front steps as she went. An orange backpack was on her back, clearly weighing her down as Erin killed the engine to shit-box, hearing it sputter out as she grabbed her own hiking bag. A winter-camo bag she'd bought years ago at Newton's Olympic Outfitters, back when she'd gone through her hiking phase. She'd gotten her hiking boots around the same time, boots she wore currently - even if the "hike" they were about to do didn't call for any real equipment. Erin figured "better prepared, than sorry" applied as she'd even thought to grab the dollar store first aid kit from her vanity before leaving.
Erin liked to be prepared, especially considering her propensity for impulsive decisions. She's seen enough horror movies in her short lifetime to know the importance of being prepared for when such decisions led her astray. She had a canister of bear spray, rations, an old trail map, extra water bottles, dollar store ponchos, and even a throw blanket all loaded inside the zipper part of her bag. She'd even strapped her combat knife to her jeans belt loop, just in case.
She'd heard about the recent spike in murdered hikers and was keen to not end up a statistic...at least, not yet.
"The meadow we're hiking to isn't that far," Bella said as soon as she was standing in front of Erin. Her hands clutching the straps of her backpack with enough force that her knuckles were as white as printer paper. Her usually pale skin appearing rather pallor, a stark contrast to the deep, purple bags that polluted the flesh beneath her eye-lids. "Thanks for coming with and...everything, I guess."
"I guess you're welcome," Erin teased in response as shit-box clicked behind her. "Are you good? We don't have to go if you're not up for it."
"No!" Erin jerked at the intensity of her dismissal. "I - I'm fine, I feel fine." Erin didn't believe her for a single second, already cursing herself for agreeing to spend the day with her mentally unwell history partner - or more specifically, agreeing to spend time with her in a non-group setting. She should've invited Jess and Ange to come along. While Erin's primary reason behind her current association with the Swan was to irritate her mother; the secondary reason Erin was even bothering with her was an attempt at improving the lunch table - friend group dynamic. Ever since Bella started sitting at their lunch table again it's been weird. Her unique skill to make any situation awkward paired with her newfound depression had begun to really put a damper on the lunch period, something Erin wanted to try and fix, if only a little. "Can we just - please do this? Please."
"I mean, we can," Erin stressed the next part in mock warning. "But if you pass out, I'm definitely saying I told you so. I'll even be real smug and snarky about it."
Bella smiled softly, shaking her head as she began walking in the direction of the woods. "You say that like I'd expect anything less from you."
Erin feigned offense as her hand rested atop her heart as she made to follow. Gravel crunching beneath her boots almost too loud to her own ears. "I'll have you know, I take incredible offense to that comment, Swan!"
Their light banter continued as the two girls began their hike, voices carrying across the eerily silent forest. All signs of life seemingly nonexistent within aside from the perpetual shades of the evergreens, tall and proud as they strained skyward. Most of the thicket still darkened by the lingering frigidness of a Washington winter, as dark as many of the branches that warred against neighboring trees overhead. A tangled, chaotic altercation of bark in varying hues that had Erin's fingers twitching with the sudden urge to translate her vision to paper. To encapsulate the chaotic beauty of nature and immortalize it within the confines of her sketch book. It'd been so long since the desire to draw had struck the Rivers girl, Forks having sucked upon her inspiration like a leech, to the point she scarcely doodled.
So to suddenly have the urge, the inspiration, tickling upon her fingertips was a strange occurrence indeed.
"It's actually really pretty out here," Erin told her while fishing a granola bar out of her bag. She offered Bella one, she declined. "Makes me wanna sketch."
Bella shot her a glance over her shoulder. "You draw?"
"Used to," Erin met the fellow brunettes gaze. "Why do you sound shocked? I have hobbies you know."
"No, I know, but you just-" Bella was stuttering, cheeks flushed a vibrant red that radiated against her pallor face. "You just don't seem like the type for art.
Erin's brow rose.
"No! Not like that, I just - you just," the pallor girl sighed. "You just seem like you'd enjoy more intense hobbies."
Erin couldn't help the undignified snort that left her lips. "You wouldn't be wrong. I was an archer and I dabbled with fencing though I wasn't necessarily good at it." Erin told the brunette. "But I also took a shine towards artistic expressions, music, art, writing. I enjoyed them as much as I did archery."
"Was?" Bella questioned, looking at her quizzically.
Erin shrugged, tucking the wrapper into a zipper part of her bag. "Everything becomes monotonous after a while. It's hard to stay interested in something when it's all you can do."
Liar, her mind taunted. She forced the offending thought away, burying it deep into the depths of her mind.
"I...guess." Erin watched as Bella finally stepped free of the underbrush as the two girls reached their destination. A sprawling meadow laid out before them that surely must be quite the sight during the summer months. Remnants of life littered beneath their feet, crunching with each step forward. Erin made a mental note to come back in the spring with her sketchbook and pencils. It would be a sight worthy of immortalizing...
Yeah, the sudden burst of inspiration was becoming almost concerning for the Rivers girl who shook her head before turning towards the fellow brunette.
Bella's face was skewed with grief, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. A noticeable shaking of her hands as she clung to the straps of her backpack with crushing force. Erin was momentarily concerned that the girls legs would fail her, her entire body quivering beneath her obvious grief. It didn't take a genius to piece together the significance this location held for the pallor brunette. The grief that seemed to suddenly overwhelm her as she reached the center of the meadow, her legs failing as her knees collided with the coarse, overgrown grass beneath her.
"Bella!" Erin was at her side in an instant, her hands upon her shoulders as she listened to the girls labored breathing. "What's wrong?"
"I -" Bella finally looked up, chocolate eyes flickering through a torrent of emotions as Erin peered into them. Eyes that settled on confusion as soon as she glanced over her shoulder. She stood immediately, her entire body tense as Erin turned to look behind her to find a strange man watching them. Erin immediately forced Bella behind her, right hand falling to the blade at her waist.
"Laurent," Bella's face shown with confusion at the newcomer. Erin glanced quickly towards her before looking back towards the man. His muscular figure on full display as he wore only a suit jacket with matching pants in the same deep purple color. His skin appearing grey in comparison as he stood relaxed, running a single hand through the long braids that adorned his head. His wide, crimson red eyes a shocking sight that had every single, flawed instinct in the Rivers girls body screaming fight or flight. Whoever this Laurent was, was someone whose acquaintance Erin did not want to make. Bella may know him, but that meant jack-shit to the girl whose heartbeat was pounding a hundred miles a minute in her chest. Threatening to shatter her rib cage with the force of each beat.
Most violent crimes were committed by people you knew, and this Laurent was definitely giving off murderer energy in the way he watched them. Eying them like prized meat to be cooked and savored.
"I didn't expect to find you here," Bella huffed as Erin kept her firmly planted behind her. A soft click sounding as she flicked open her combat knife though she kept it low as the man began to circle them. The distance between them a mere ten feet, if Erin had to guess, far too close for the Rivers comfort as she held the blade with bruising force.
"I went to visit to Cullens, but their house is empty." The Cullens? I knew they had to be involved with something! "I'm surprised they left you behind. Aren't you sort of ah," he paused, his body turning to face them as his circling slowed only momentarily. "Pet of theirs."
Erin could feel Bella recoiling behind her, eyes never once leaving the darkened man who so casually taunted them. It was as if he was a true predator, circling - toying with his food. A wolf, circling the sheep. Her heartbeat still pounding against her ribs as she attempted to appear unfazed by the stranger. Though her ebony gaze, harsh as it was, only seemed to make the red eyed man smirk in amusement. "Yeah, you could say that." Was Bella's response, something that, in any other situation would've raised red flags towards the Cullens treatment of the girl. Right now though, Erin couldn't fully think straight as she tried to keep as much distance between them as possible. She'd pester the Swan later.
The if there is a later, was left to ring in the back of her mind. Unacknowledged.
"Do the Cullens visit often?" He was fishing for information, Erin could tell from a mile away.
"Yeah, of course they do." Erin interjected before the Swan girl could. The lie flowing from her lips with a practiced nonchalance that had the Swan girls eyes boring into her skull. "I think Dr. Cullens at the hospital as-we speak. He said something about some kind of surgery, doctor nonsense, I'm sure you understand."
He looked at her, his eyes light and a smirk growing across his lips as his head tilted slightly to the left. She adjusted the grip on her blade.
"I'll tell them that you," Erin internally cringed as Bella spoke. Erin knew the moment she'd opened her mouth that they were fucked. "That you stopped by. I probably shouldn't tell," Laurent was closer, looking as entertained by the girls horrid lie as Erin was terrified. "Um, Ed...Edward," she coughed. "'Cause he's pretty protective."
"But he's far away, isn't he?"
The silence was loud.
"Why are you here?"
"I came as a," he paused, still watching them with a murderous intrigue. "Favor to Victoria." Who the fuck was Victoria? What had the Cullens, and Bella by association, gotten themselves into? What had Bella dragged her into? They rang through her skull with the same intensity of her heartbeat. A thousand questions she was unlikely to find an answer for anytime soon. Her hand tightened painfully around the handle.
No! She thought, defiance flooding her entire body. I refuse to die here.
"She asked me to see if you were still under the protection of the Cullens, she feels it's only fair to kill Edward's mate given he killed hers," what the fuck is going on? Was the loudest question in her mind. Mates? Killed? He spoke in so many riddles Erin was struggling to make sense of, though perhaps that was his goal. Confusing them with nonsense...the only thing Erin knew for certain, was that this Laurent was going to kill them. Bella was his target, and she had not a single doubt in her mind that she'd be collateral damage caught up in whatever mess this was. Her grip slackened, then tightened once more.
No. I refuse. Thinking quickly Erin made to grab at the canister of bear spray, tucked into the water bottle netting of her bag. She knew he must've seen the movement, but he didn't react to it - made no acknowledgment of it. A little victory for the Rivers girl who was refusing to die. Not today, not yet.
"An eye for an eye."
"Edward would know who did it!" Bella yelled before Erin even had a chance to respond. "He'd come after you."
That made him stop circling, something that felt far more dangerous. She knew he was ready to strike. Her mind whirling with situations and scenarios. She took a deep breath. "I don't think he will. After all, how much could you mean to him if he left you here unprotected." He began a slow approach. Erin tried to force the Swan girl backwards, to put more distance between them but she wouldn't budge. "Victoria won't be happy by my killing you, but - "
"I won't let you fucking touch her!" Erin said before her mind could even process that the thought had left her lips. Her blade raised to chest level, though she kept her left hand lower. The can of bear spray out of his direct sight as he eyed the blade in her hand. Before suddenly appearing directly in front of her at a speed humanly impossible. She gasped, her heartbeat pounding ever faster.
She could feel death at her back.
"You are rather foolish, threatening me with such a - " he howled as she used his speech against him. Her left hand jerking up and spraying the contents of the canister directly into his eyes before immediately dodging left as she assumed he'd swing out blindly. It was a move that would make her old self-defense instructor proud, as she yelled for Bella to run.
She didn't have a chance to see if she'd heeded her words as scarcely a second later a hand was around her throat tearing her off her feet and cutting off her flow of oxygen in a single instance. He appeared to have no lingering effects from the spray as he hoisted her upwards with an ease that, had she currently not been trying desperately to breathe, would've shocked her. But as it was, she was too occupied trying to pull his hand from her throat, swinging her blade with wild swipes that didn't even break skin. Full force stabs against the flesh of his arm did nothing but tatter the fabric of his suit. Dread was the only thing she could feel as she gasped for breath.
Black spots had begun to gather at the corners of her vision. She was almost positive someone was saying something but it was muddled under the sound of her own heartbeat pulsing in her own ears. Her vision was fading, red eyes all she could see as her lungs screeched for air while her entire body burned. The clutches of death tearing upon her form with such force. No, no, no! It rang in her head so loud it almost overcame her own heartbeat. I refuse, not in Forks. Not in Forks.
Her body hit the ground hard. Air suddenly filling her lungs in painful gasps as she felt hands hauling her to her feet. The world swirling around her in a kaleidoscope of colors as her stomach felt fit to do a full 360 within her body. She felt fire, blazing through her trachea and searing her vocal cords as she tried to talk, to make some noise to voice her nausea over the greedy gasping of her own lungs.
"Erin...walk, c'mon we gotta move!" It was Bella's voice, cutting through the pounding in her ears. "We've gotta move, please, Erin c'mon. I'll explain, but we need to move!"
Erin moved.