105Disclaimer: Don't own New Moon
Here's a more actiony chapter for you!
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Aubrey was preoccupied all through school. Her thoughts kept shifting back to the voice, Kurt, and Roger at the Hall. Several teachers told her to wake up, though sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. The other students seemed preoccupied as well, though their focus was on a dance rather than supernatural beings with the ability to kill each and every one of them without effort.
"Are you going?" asked Jaquis as they sat down to lunch out on the green lawn. Aubrey blinked and looked around at him.
"Huh? To what?"
"The dance," said Jaquis. Aubrey stared at him incredulously. He raised an eyebrow. "Well are you going?"
"No...well...I...Don't you think it's a bit out of the question?" asked Aubrey. Jaquis shrugged.
"I don't see why it would be," he said.
"But...Kurt-"
"He can take care of himself for one night," said Jaquis. Aubrey looked at the ground. Jaquis put an arm around her shoulder. "You have been stressing too much."
"I guess...but I have reason to. He's still new to the lifestyle..."
"I know. But there's only so much you can do before he has to take over for his own actions," said Jaquis. "Now do you want to go to the dance?"
"I have no one to go with," said Aubrey. Jaquis cleared his throat. She looked up. "What?" Then her eyes widened. "Oh! Do you want to go with me?"
"If you want me to," said Jaquis, smiling. Aubrey nodded.
"Yeah, come with me," she said. Then her face paled. "I need a dress! I need shoes!"
"We'll shop later this week. We have Wednesday and Thursday still."
"Right...okay," said Aubrey. Jaquis was staring at her, smiling still. She raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing."
Aubrey went back to class with her mood considerably lighter. Calculus wasn't even that bad. Not as bad as it normally was when she was preoccupied, that is. She just hoped Jack didn't see her grades anytime soon. In Literature, Mr. Edeson took pity on them. Or rather he took pity on himself.
Aubrey had vaguely noticed that, day by day throughout the semester, Mr. Edeson had become increasingly more tired and resigned. It was obvious that his life outside of school was causing him an insurmountable amount of stress. Aubrey empathized, but was too concerned with her own problems to press further into his situation.
"Just read the next story in your book," sighed Edeson from his desk, running a hand through his hair.
"Which one, Mr. Edeson?"
"I don't care!" replied Edeson, picking up the book and flipping to a random page. "The...Cask of Amontillado! Read that until class ends. There will be an exam over it tomorrow." The students doubted it, but they opened their books. Aubrey flipped her copy open and flicked her eyes to the first word.
'Working hard?'
Her eyes widened and she gasped. A few other students looked around at her. She coughed into her hand and unhooked her hair from behind her ears so that it hung in a curtain around her face. The voice in her head laughed.
'I can't see how you can concentrate on your schoolwork while your brother and father are being torn limb from limb by an uncontrollable creature of the night.'
'Kurt isn't uncontrollable,' retorted Aubrey mentally. She hoped that her tone sounded strong, because her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
'You can't know for sure. If you had seen other newborns, you would not be so confident,' said the voice. Its tone grew smug. 'That may be sooner than you think...' Aubrey grimaced.
'What do you want with me?' she demanded. A laugh rang through her head.
'Now wouldn't you like to know,' it mocked in a singsong tone. 'I think it is more amusing to keep you guessing.'
'Play with your food before you eat it?' replied Aubrey darkly.
'You might say it would be more playing than eating,' said the voice. It laughed at her derisively, fading.
Aubrey stared at the book pages in front of her. The words seemed to be vibrating. She was dazed. Spots danced across her vision and she realized she wasn't breathing. She took a shuddering breath. Then another. She had to force herself to breath. A few people turned around and looked at her. She could see the alarm in their eyes as they saw her face.
"Mr. Edeson?" she heard someone say.
"What is it?"
"Something is wrong with Aubrey..."
"What's the matter, Miss Moore?"
The voices seemed distant. The room seemed distant. Aubrey stood up, her hands shaking by her sides.
"May I go to the nurse?" she asked in a weak, quiet voice.
"Are you alright?" asked the teacher. Aubrey bit her lip.
"I don't feel well," she said. Edeson nodded and she left the room quickly, her legs numb.
Aubrey did not go to the nurse. She staggered down one hallway towards the front entrance of the school. Her thoughts were in a jumble and her adrenaline was rushing. She broke into a run. Outside, she slowed to a fast walk, heading down a sidewalk. Her arms crossed protectively across her middle, hands clutching her elbows, and she was breathing quickly.
The voice was threatening her. It had driven Kurtis to murder. What else was it capable of? Whose voice was it? Why did it want her? Aubrey had no doubt that the voice was capable of kidnapping her if the owner appeared. There was no question in that. But now she had no protection. If she had been back in Forks with Marek when the threats had come, it would have been a different story.
She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and sank to her knees, a sob racking her shoulders.
Marek. How she missed him. How she loved him. She had been hurt before by his absence from her life, but now the entire pain came swarming upon her in an uncontrollable wave. She doubled over and several tears hit the pavement.
The ordeal with Kurt had covered her pain, as someone would find something to do to distract them from the pain of an injury. Marek was a part of her, and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, there was no avoiding the truth that a part of her was missing.
Aubrey wondered if he had moved on. She wondered if he had turned another girl in her place. Then she gasped at the fact that, if not for Guy's revenge-seeking criminal, she wouldn't be human still. She sobbed again and bowed her back as her shoulders shook. The lovesickness was unbearable. And it was worse when mixed with her fear of the disembodied voice.
The next thing she knew, she was running. Her mind was strangely blank, as if someone else was driving her towards her destination. She vaguely noted that it wasn't towards home...
"May I help you?" asked the woman behind the counter. Aubrey distantly heard her own voice speaking.
"Excuse me, but do you have a phone I could borrow?" The voice didn't sound like hers, yet she knew it was hers. The woman looked hesitant, but she nodded.
"Yes, in the back. Is it an emergency?"
"Yes, sort of," said Aubrey. The woman led her into a back room where a phone sat on a table.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.
"No thank you, I just need the phone," said Aubrey, using all of her strength it seemed to smile. The woman left and Aubrey was alone. She picked up the phone, then stopped. She didn't know how to call America from England.
Then she thought back. There were country code numbers. What was America's? A faint memory of Jack trying to call an old work associate floated to the surface. 001. She dialed it and then the phone number. She held the receiver to her ear.
It rang.
It rang again.
Another ring.
"Hello?" Aubrey breathed.
"Bella?" she spoke. She heard a gasp on the other end.
"Aubrey!?" she heard Bella exclaim.
"Yes, yes it's me," said Aubrey.
"Aubrey! Where are you? You just suddenly disappeared!"
"It's a long story and I don't have long," said Aubrey. "Look, I'm in England-"
"England!?"
"Yes, and-"
"Marek is looking for you!" Aubrey stopped, breathing. It took a long time before she spoke again.
"Marek?" she asked. "He's still there?"
"I don't know how long he's been here, but he showed up asking about you a few months ago, and then I saw him again recently and...Aubrey, he's back on his old habits. His eyes were red."
"Bella...Marek..." Aubrey couldn't find words. She was so happy to know that he was still there. Kurt floated into her mind. "Bella! I've got a newborn here! He's in my house-"
"A newborn vampire!?" exclaimed Bella. "Aubrey! He'll-"
"It's okay! I-" Aubrey paused as a voice floated through the door of the room. IT was the woman, and...another woman. They weren't discussing the store.
"She wanted to make a phone call. I assume she'll be out in a moment. She seemed in a terrible hurry."
"Thank you for calling us. We are trying to rid Clemenside of the problem of students who skip out of class."
"It was my pleasure, Professor Brockwood."
"Aubrey?"
"I have to go," said Aubrey quickly, hanging up the phone.
She looked around the room she was in. There were no windows, but there was a backdoor that seemed to be used for deliveries. Aubrey tried the handle. It was locked. She examined the hinges, and then looked around. She rummaged through a few drawers and found the tools. Every store needed them for quick repairs. She picked up a screwdriver and pried up the hinges out of their metal encasings. The door came loose. Aubrey lowered it quietly onto the floor, and then ran out into the street, heading for home.
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