Chapter Eight

Stranger and Stranger

Bella Swan

March 2005

The moment Archers head left his body, Garrett was released from his forced position, and he helped me dismember Archers remaining limbs before we piled his pieces together. I was shocked that he seemed to trust me. Once everything was stacked, Garrett handed me a matchbox from his backpack and I took it from him in total surprise.

"Come on, Bella. The man's been torturing you for months. You deserve the final blow." Garrett grinned at me and shook my shoulder in encouragement. "Send him to hell, kid."

I struck the match and immediately threw it onto Archer, repulsed by it being in my hand, and I realized the innate fear of fire vampires must have. It made sense to me. It was the only thing that could really kill us.

I couldn't believe it. Watching Archer burn, the purple smoke rising and perfuming the air, seemed so surreal to me. I welcomed the awful smell of too-sweet incense for the first time in my new existence. I couldn't believe that I had done it. I was free.

Something twisted inside of the pire. And I realized after a moment of staring at it that it was one of his hands. His hand that had thrown me to the concrete that December night and held me down as he'd attempted to kill me. His hand that had offered a deceptive comfort early into my new existence. The hand that had grabbed me and torn my leg off in order to teach me my first lesson as a soldier. The hand that had punched me, choked me, and forced me into submission time and time again.

I grinned, cheek to cheek, and the beginnings of a laugh left my mouth. My spirits suddenly lifted, and I felt months of pain and anger lighten in the light of the fire. The fire that was burning the vampire that had tormented me. One of the terrible monsters in my nightmares was gone and could never hurt me again. I could rest a little easier knowing for a fact that he wasn't somewhere in the world waiting to cross my path again. I felt oddly at peace despite the fire blazing a foot away from me.

"Well done." Garrett praised me and I wanted to hug him. I felt an extreme amount of thanks towards him. "Thanks for stepping in when you did. That talent of his was wicked."

"It's the worst, it couldn't affect me, but he was using it on the others to keep me held hostage." I explained with my eyes still glued to the fire.

"It didn't affect you? That's why you kept going?" He questioned. "How did you resist it?"

"I don't know how. My brain is just broken and wouldn't ever make me do as he said to, I guess."

Garrett whistled, "Doesn't seem broken to me." He sounded impressed. "Wait, did you say "held hostage", why were you being held against your will?" He turned to me with a concerned look.

"I'm from a southern army." I answered. "Most of the southern parts of New Mexico and Texas, but their territory covers a lot of northern Mexico too."

"The newborn armies are still a thing?" Garrett looked completely scandalized. "What the hell are the black cloaks even doing if they haven't stopped them yet?"

"Black cloaks?"

"Never mind them, you'll be fine. Don't want to scare you unnecessarily." Garrett shook his head. "So, now that you're free, what's your next move? Let me say, I don't recommend you going back south. You would either get caught in the problem again, or, run into trouble somewhere else. I don't go anywhere south of interstate forty, not unless I'm past the state of Texas, anyway. I didn't know the armies were still running, thanks for that information, but there's still plenty of hostile nomads in that area that I avoid."

"Thanks, that's very helpful." I nodded. "But I'm actually headed north. Archer wasn't lying about that. I'm going to Washington."

"Nice place for a vampire to hide out, especially the north along the coast, there's lots of rain and dense forests." He nodded. "Of course, you're welcome to follow along with me if you'd like to. I'm probably heading to Louisiana for awhile. It sounds like I'm taking the long way now. It's one of the only southern states free of any fighting. Everyone gets along in the big easy." He grinned.

"That's nice of you, but I'm set on Washington. I'm from there and just need to get home."

Garrett nodded, "Understand that. Still, don't be a stranger."

"Thanks, you too. I really can't thank you enough for your help. It's like being woken up from a nightmare." I told him, hoping to show him how thankful I truly was.

"No problem, glad to help." He smiled again and offered me his hand. As I went to shake it, he took my hand and lent in to give me half of a hug. "I wish you luck, Bella."

"Thank you." I told him again, offering him another smile as we broke apart.

Garrett pointed me in the right direction and told me to just run in a straight path. He told me that when I started to smell the hint of people in the headwinds, I should run on the outskirts of the city before resuming my path. He smiled once more as we parted ways.

By the time I hit northern Nevada, night was almost over, and I needed to find somewhere to hide out from the sun. I was lucky enough to come across a deep canyon while still sticking to my straight path towards Washington. I dropped down the side of the ridge and hit another stroke of good luck. Just several yards away was a cave nearly hidden by dried up trees and bushes.

I ducked inside the cave and sat down deep inside of it to where I was sure the sun couldn't reach me. The day was spent daydreaming with excited anticipation. I couldn't fathom being so close to home while having absolute freedom. I was doing fine on my own as well! I hadn't encountered a single problem throughout the night and managed to find a great shelter for the daytime. The day passed by quickly, and I resumed my path towards home the moment the sun was down.

I hit Oregon quickly and kept to the forest, the towering trees created a canopy that gave me a sense of security. I slowed down to appreciate the beauty of it all, while still keeping to my straight path. The air smelled so clean and was free of any scent of decay or dangerous vampires. The aromatic scent of pine and fresh rainwater was nearly intoxicating to me.

As I dodged a major city and returned to the forest gleefully, it was suddenly all very funny to me. I had never enjoyed the outdoors before my change. Forks had always been too wet and too cold. Phoenix was always blistering with heat and a horrible amount of bugs. I laughed at the irony of my newfound love of the outdoors, a true laugh that I didn't think I'd ever managed in my new existence, and birds and other wild animals scattered from their hiding spots as the sound echoed through the trees.

I figured I'd made it halfway across the state by the time the morning began to approach. My joy slowly began to dwindle into a feeling of anxiety. I had no good options to hide out from the sun nearby, and I felt I couldn't risk leaving the safety of the forest, so I found a few large fallen trees. I did my best to lean them against the trunk of a large tree in a way that made a small shelter. I found foliage to drape all around the trees and, once I was satisfied that no sunlight could get through, I crawled in and sealed the opening up with the foliage I'd collected.

I sat down and leaned my back against the tree that was supporting my makeshift hut. I spent another easy day in my hiding spot. There was even enough coverage around my shelter that I was able to peer out through the dense leaves. I could look around the forest while not being exposed to any light. The sky was full of dark clouds and the light rain that had began overnight picked up throughout the day.

Towards nightfall, I thought I heard someone laugh from far off through the trees. A high pitched, tinkling, bell-like laugh that just barely reached my ears. I went still, my instincts telling me to stop and listen in order to avoid detection. I didn't hear the noise again after a long period of time, and I breathed a sigh of relief that it had only been my mind playing tricks on me. Maybe solitude was not the best choice for me after all.

Once I was sure that night had fallen again, I returned to my path towards home. I hit the state of Washington by midnight. I stopped and stared at the "Welcome to Washington, the evergreen state!" sign for a long moment. Relief flooded through me, and I wanted to be able to break down and cry and grieve all that I had lost during my new existence.

I had been subjected to horror, pain, betrayal, and stripped of my humanity all in just over three months. I thought of how easily I had killed people for the sake of consuming their blood, I had killed without thinking every time, my last kill only days ago. How did I expect to control myself enough to not harm my father?

How could I expect anyone, human or vampire, to ever be able to stand my presence? After all the terrible things I'd done how could anyone accept me? I'd killed innocent people, I'd killed innocent vampires I had been brainwashed to believe were my enemy, and I'd done it all while becoming a lethal machine in an attempt to escape my captors. I had strategized how to kill each of my fellow soldiers one by one, trying to be as prepared as possible in any potential scenario, and had fought them using the deadly tactics I'd discovered. I was capable of so many terrible things.

Even in my turmoil, I was determined to at least make it to Forks. If I couldn't talk to my father, then I'd do my best to see him from afar until I figured out a plan. I was so close and I was not going to stop yet.

I carried on my path and felt a surge of excitement over how close I was to seeing Charlie. However, I recognized that I hadn't been to Forks in years. As much as I had daydreamed and tried to hold on to my human memories, my real memories of Forks were very unclear. I felt like I was trying to look underwater every time I tried to think of a specific memory. My mind was muddy and slow when trying to piece together a true memory.

I looked upwards and admired the tall evergreen trees that seemed to touch the sky, and the action seemed familiar. Just as I was beginning to piece together a memory of sitting on the wet ground of the forest, a brilliant streak of lightning and the boom of thunder distracted me. I was frustrated that I'd gotten distracted and let the memory slip away from me. A harsh rain began to pelt me, even through the dense tree canopy, and I moved deeper into the forest to try to avoid the worst of the storm.

I was growing more determined with every step as I neared my destination. The rain fell in relentless sheets, nearly blinding me as it poured down my face and into my eyes, and I thought about finding a covering of trees to stop in for a bit. But, just as I was beginning to look for a place to stop, the rain began to ease to more tolerable levels, so I decided to carry on.

It was an accident when I suddenly approached a major highway, and I froze as soon as my feet hit the blacktop. I jogged along the tree line until I found a sign, which said it was the 101 north. I remembered that the 101 north ran right through the Main Street of Forks.

I had only been traveling along the highway for an hour or two, enjoying the stop of the rain, when I smelled him. A vampire, male, that smelled of juniper, vanilla, and musk. I was slightly surprised that the scent didn't send me into a full panic. It was almost soothing. Before I could move to continue along the highway, a honeyed tone humming a tune of a song kept me firm in place. I had to hear the voice.

I was not disappointed, "Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars," He sang in a captivating tone.

The song felt familiar. It seemed like a tune my mother might sing badly, as she baked equally terrible things in the kitchen, or, maybe I'd heard it playing from the radio in my dad's yellow kitchen. I moved several yards closer, moving as quietly as I could through the thick underbrush, trying to hear more of his song.

"Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars." He continued to sing and I decided I wanted to see if his face matched his velvet voice.

I moved a little closer, to where I could barely see him through a break in the trees, "In other words, hold my hand. In other words, baby, kiss me."

I crouched down and pulled the ferns away from my view of him. Immediately, his shock of copper-hued hair, a mixture of reds and light browns, was the first thing I noticed about him. It was wild, but it strangely worked for him, and slightly damp from the remaining dew on the ground. His face was all angular lines, but there were a few softer features that made him still seem young. He looked up from the sketchbook he'd been drawing in to reference something in the distance, and I gasped in surprise as I ducked back behind the ferns.

"Who's there?" The pretty vampire called out, but I couldn't force myself to move.

Yellow. Yellow eyes. He had yellow eyes.

The eyes of the coven the Major is traveling with.

I tried very hard not to panic, but it was so difficult to think of the right thing to do next in my state of terror. I had fought like hell to escape Maria, Archer, and the entire damned army...all to end up running right into the Majors territory? I knew they were in Washington. I had kept the warning Maria had given me in the back of my mind continuously, but I didn't think I'd run into them practically in my dad's backyard! This wasn't fair. I couldn't die now while this close!

Run, my brain screamed at me, but it didn't seem like the right decision to make to avoid detection. I couldn't handle six vampires, plus the Major of all people, tracking me down. I was not skilled at avoiding detection in that way and had never learned to cover my scent trails.

My gut was telling me to stay hidden and bide my time. The pretty vampire would come to investigate, and I would be able to get the drop on him and run far away before any of his coven mates came to find him. Maybe I'd be lucky and be gone long enough that they wouldn't even have a scent to follow after me.

"Hello?" He called out again, and in my terror I hadn't noticed him walking in my general direction. He was still just on the edge of the clearing, so I had some time before he reached me, and, thankfully, the wind wasn't pushing my scent in his direction.

I was strategizing how to distract him enough to get him to look in a different direction long enough for me to climb up into a tree to hide. I noticed a stone in my reaching distance and quickly grabbed it. I could throw it to either direction and try to have his attention follow it, but I couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't see where it had been thrown from. I'd just reveal myself if it wasn't timed right. But, how could I gauge when to make the distraction if I couldn't see him without him seeing me?

I was rooted to my spot, my brain screaming at me to run while my gut was telling me I had to get him down somehow before he got me killed. It was an impossible problem and I had no idea how to solve it. I needed some kind of guide.

"Stop!" A bright, tinkling voice called through the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. "You need my help!" She claimed as she joined the male vampire.

My breath stopped as I started to become more and more resigned to the idea that I wouldn't be able to escape. My chances were dwindling, especially when I couldn't tell which of the females Maria had described had joined the male, and I couldn't be sure that I could beat their strength or talents.

"Alice, why are you-" the male began, but the girl, Alice, continued speaking.

"It's her. She's a newborn, remember? She's misinformed, emotionally driven, and so frightened right now." Alice spoke softly as she seemed to be reminding him of me, as if she knew me personally. "Bella, it's okay, I promise we won't hurt you." She called out to me.

I threw my hand over my mouth before I said something stupid out of my shock, like ask her how she knew my name or how she could promise me something like that.

Alice did not seem undeterred by my lack of a response, and her voice sounded soft and friendly as she continued on, "Bella, I know you're tired. You've been fighting for so long without any rest. Your new existence has been a nightmare."

I hated that she was right.

Although I didn't know how she could know so much about me, it was all true and terrible and I felt instant shame. She seemed to know all of the horrible things about me and what I'd gone through and done.

"You can rest now, Bella." Her sweet voice promised, "Come out, it's alright. The sooner you come home then the faster we can explain everything to you. You can trust us, Bella. We only want to take care of you."

I heard Archers voice in my head, telling me the same line the moment I awoke into this life, "You can trust me, Bella. I'm here to take care of you." But he had lied, along with Maria, and thrust me into a world of pain and horror. My trust in him was shaky from the moment I met him, my talent telling me not to believe in his words.

But, my talent was telling me no such thing now.

Now, all I wanted was to be able to trust in someone, or anything, that had a scrap of worth left in them. And the girl, Alice, sounded so sincere and kind and genuine that she made me feel like I might even trust her someday. The male, although he hadn't spoken again since Alice started speaking to me, had sang so beautifully and seemed like an angel with his unmarked skin and gentle nature. I wanted very badly to belong somewhere where people were kind and sincere and gentle.

After taking a deep breath, I stood slowly to my feet. I realized I was still holding the small stone, however, and slipped it into my pocket discretely before holding my hands out in front of me. A clear sign of a truce.

"Finally." Alice smiled at me widely.

She was the short child-like woman with short black hair Maria had described to me, the one that she seemed to hate for some unknown reason, and I began to see just how jaded Maria could be. Alice was beautiful and unique amongst our kind, that much was obvious to me, and I guessed that Maria's vendetta was completely personal.

Alice held one of her unmarked hands out to me, beckoning me forward, "There you are, just like I'd thought I'd find you, let's get you home, hmm?"

I couldn't find my voice. I had no idea what to say to her or the pretty boy who was looking at me with wide eyes and an unreadable expression on his face.

"Bella, are you alright?" He asked me when I made eye contact with him.

No one had ever asked me that before and meant it sincerely. That was something Sequoia might ask me after I'd been beaten to the floor during a training session as false sympathy. It was clear in his eyes that he meant it in the most literal and honest sense. I was stunned. Suddenly, I felt as though I was making the right choice by attempting to trust them. My head was still adamant that this was all some elaborate trap and that I needed to run, run far away and never look back, but I decided then to fight the instinct.

"I think I am." I nodded apprehensively.

Alice smiled, "Would you like to follow us home then? We can answer some of your questions, get you checked over and cleaned up, and then we'll tell you absolutely everything you want to know. Okay?"

"First, tell me how you knew my name. Then, I'll follow you." I promised her.

Although I wanted to trust them completely, I needed to have more balance in the information exchange. The trust would have to come slowly and they would have to be willing to follow at my pace for a bit.

"Alice sees the conditional future." The pretty boy began to explain to me gently and I looked at Alice in shock. "As the news began to report your disappearance, Alice saw what had happened to you. She knew that you'd eventually come to Forks to meet our family and we as a group decided that we would help you as much as possible."

"I didn't come to meet your coven." I disagreed. "I was actively trying to avoid it."

Alice nodded, "Yes, I know, you've come to try and see your father. But, I hope you've realized that it's not a wise decision. Not yet, anyway." She spoke the exact revelation I had not even a full twenty-four hours ago.

"That's right." I agree half-heartedly.

"Wait," the pretty boy interjected, "why were you wanting to avoid us?"

"Maria's got her brainwashed into thinking Jasper is a monster." Alice turned to him.

"Typical." He scoffed in disgust.

"Funny enough," Alice began to chat with him as if catching up with an old friend, "Maria's thinking she sent her latest minion, Archer was his name, and Bella here to convince the "Major" to return to her and build up her army again."

"Why would she think that he'd ever return to her? She's a terrible woman. I thought we made that point clear in Calgary!" He fumed.

"Oh trust me, we did. She's just gotten desperate again." Alice smirked like she'd won a great prize. "Anyways, Bella, you're not in any danger here and Jasper certainly isn't going to hurt you or take you both back to Maria or do any of the probably countless other things she scared you with."

"But Maria said-"

"There's a lot of things that Maria has said that are untrue, Bella." Alice looked at me with a deeply sympathetic expression. "Come home with us and we can explain things to you, okay? I promise you that it's okay. We're not going to hurt you."

"I really want to believe you, I do." I shut my eyes tightly, my instincts warring with my own needs and wants for the first time since my change. "It's just so hard to."

"I know you've been so unhappy and in so much pain. I promise you that if you come with us you'll never have to hurt that way again. You never have to cause anyone pain against your own will again. You will never be forced to be someone you don't want to be."

"No more?" I asked hopefully, but my voice sounded full of doubt even to myself. "How can you promise me those things will never happen again?"

"Well, we can't truly promise anything I suppose." The pretty boy spoke, his eyes still sympathetic and sweet. "The future changes all of the time, but, you will never be used as a soldier here. We will never intentionally cause you any harm and we will protect you. We aren't a coven, we're a family, and we always take care of our own."

"A family? Not a coven. How do you manage that?" I asked, the term sounding so alien in the context of this new existence I'd been forced into.

"Come home with us and we'll introduce you to everyone. We'll show you that we're a true family unit. We can tell you everything you want to know there." Alice smiled. "Our family is very eager to meet you and speak with you themselves." She encouraged me.

I forced myself to make slow strides towards them and joined them at the edge of the clearing, being sure to stay several feet out of their arms reach.

"Well, it's a start, and I'll gladly take it." Alice beamed at the pretty boy before motioning for me to follow after them.