61Hey hey hey! I was so happy at the reviews that I just had to update, and fast... I hope I don't disappoint you guys with this chapter. I'm working on improving myself. Oh, and yeah, if any of you have some time and great kindness, would anybody like to beta this story? Or suggest someone who could? I kinda don't know how this Beta thing works. I'm sorry
And so. Here we go. :)
Run. Run. Keep running.
A flash of red through the forest.
Stupid mutts are nothing...Just keep running.
The red streaked past, followed by several brown ones.
Where the hell is Laurent when you need him?
A curse was heard; one of the hulking brown figures had fallen into a trap. There was no time to celebrate, however, as the remaining wolves gained on her.
Keep running. You cannot fail. Not now.
An image of stormy gray eyes flashed through her mind. Involuntarily, she shuddered, feeling disgusted immediately after at the weakness she had shown. Suddenly, her ears picked something up: waves crashing on rocks not four miles from here. Her heart soared and she let out a small laugh of triumph. Quickly changing courses, she reached a cliff and, turning to give her pursuers a feral grin, she jumped.
The wolves stopped, staring down at the sea where the redhead had disappeared. She had slipped through their fingers. Again.
Several panicked birds flew out the treetops as frustrated howls pierced the night sky.
...
She twisted and turned in her bed, pushing all the covers away from her as several images floated through her mind, disturbing her dreams.
"The mudblood... America. Find..."
"No... no. Stop..." Red and black, red and black, swirling dizzyingly around her head. Suddenly, an all too familiar face swam in front of her, her eyes and hair a painful red. The face opened her mouth and a laugh was heard, a cruel and malicious laugh, one that promised torture and death. She turned and ran, hoping to get away from it, but to no avail; her legs turned to lead and everything seemed slowed down, suspended in time.
"Give me... Hermione..."
A cold, disembodied drawl, one that sent shivers up her spine. She whirled, trying to place the source of the voice, but seeing nothing in the darkness; even the face of the hunting female had gone. Then she saw it - a pair of piercing gray eyes, staring straight at her, at her thoughts, at her soul.
"Avada Kedavra."
A flash of bright green... and her own brown eyes flew open. Sweating and panting heavily, Bella opened the window, letting air in. Several howls could be heard in the distance, but she wrapped herself up in her blanket and fell back to bed; in the morning, she remembered nothing of the dream.
...
"Good morning, Bella, Mr. Swan. Do you need any help?" asked the English girl as she entered the kitchen, seeing Bella at the stove. It was a typical rainy Monday morning, at least as typical as it could get in a town full of vampires, mysterious wolves and clueless townspeople. Charlie and Bella both looked up at their guest, smiling.
"No, no, sit down. Bella's almost done, anyway." Charlie said, offering her the seat across him. He gave her another awkward smile before clearing his throat and disappearing behind the newspaper once more. "Don't mind him; Dad's not really good with people." Bella said, placing the food on the table and sliding into her seat.
"Well, let's eat.. You look like you've been up all night; were you not able to sleep?" She asked, concern in her voice. Indeed, the young witch had stayed up all night, going over various plans and reading the files she had once more. And when she heard several faint howls sometime around three in the morning, she couldn't help but think that perhaps there was more to this "pack" of Animagi than she thought. She just shrugged, however, and replied that jet lag must have caught up to her.
They finished breakfast quickly, and, bidding her father a hurried goodbye, Bella showed Hermione to her truck. "It's not much, but it gets me there." She said, patting the truck fondly. "Charlie gave it to me when I first got here, you see."
"Well I think it looks nice." Hermione replied, giving Bella a small smile, who laughed. "Yeah. Right. As nice as the weather today is. Come on, get in, we'll be late for your first day."
The drive to school was uneventful, though Hermione couldn't help but glance around, nervously playing with the straps of her bag which held her wand. Bella, noticing this, told her not to worry. "I mean, you'll be the center of attention for a week or so, but it'll pass." She said with a wink.
"Attention, I can handle." Hermione replied, thinking of Harry and Ron, feeling a pang of loneliness. She missed them, all of them, and she had no idea of what was going on over there right now. Holding on to the saying "No news is good news," however, she shook her thoughts away. She had a mission to do, and the sooner she finished it, the sooner she could get back. Speaking of her mission...
"Bella, may I ask you something?"
"Yeah?"
"Last night, did you hear anything...unusual?"
"Unusual how?"
"Like... howls. Wolf howls."
Instantly, Jacob and his pack came to Bella's mind and, wishing to pass it off as nothing out of the ordinary, she shrugged. "We've got some wolves around here, but they never come near the homes." She said nonchalantly.
"I... I see." Hermione wasn't convinced, however. She knew those howls came from more than just ordinary wolves. Those howls almost sounded like... like voices. She turned to stare back out the window, wondering if the Swan girl really knew what they were or not.
The school was tiny and gray, somehow fitting the description of a small-town school isolated and hidden from the rest of the world. Despite her being muggleborn, she was taken aback by the small campus; she had become used to the large, sprawling grounds and huge corridors of Hogwarts. There weren't much people in the parking area, but those who were there were staring at her unashamedly. She ignored them, however; she wasn't going to be intimidated by them, not when she had faced much greater dangers than curious teenagers. She couldn't see why vampires would want to live in a place like Forks; every little thing was noticed and disappearances amongst the townspeople would have become really huge issues.
"Elizabeth, over here!" Bella called, cutting into her thoughts. She was standing a few paces away with three other people, her arms around one of them, a tall, pale guy with striking golden eyes. She moved over warily. There was something off about them.
"This is Alice Cullen, Jasper Hale, and my boyfriend Edward. Guys, meet Elizabeth Puckle." She said happily. Alice and Edward narrowed their eyes, while Hermione's widened. She was surprised; she knew the vampires were around here somewhere, but she never thought they would make it this easy for her to find them. The air seemed thick and heavy with tension, each side weighing the other, trying to stare each other down; and then in a second it was gone, lifted by the soft, tinkling laugh of the pixie-like vampire. "A new friend! This is great." She skipped over to shake Hermione's hand. "What do you say we go shopping together this afternoon?" Bella groaned, but Hermione agreed. What better way to gather information than to spend a whole afternoon with one of them? In the end, Bella conceded, at Alice's pleas. "Perfect! I'll see you at lunch then. Come on, Jasper!" With a nod, their silent companion turned and left, catching up with his mate. "I've got to go too, love. I'll see you at lunch with your... friend." Eyes still narrowed at Hermione, Edward stooped to give Bella a kiss on the head and he too walked away. There was something wrong with the girl, he was sure of it. He couldn't read her mind, but it felt different from Bella's... It was like there were really walls constructed to keep him out, tangible walls that felt as though he could knock them down if he tried really hard. And that aura she gave off - It was an aura of such immense power, it was almost... magical. He shook his head. Magic didn't exist in humans, and if her heartbeat was any indicator of it, she was as human as Bella was. He sighed. More troublesome humans have shown up.
"Hey, Bella? This may sound weird, but do those friends of yours really study here?" Bella had to laugh at that question. The Cullens really did look too beautiful for this school. "Yeah, I actually met Edward in Biology class. He's been my lab partner since that day." Hermione was stunned, and the gears in her brain started whirring quickly once more. Vampires. In a school filled with defenseless humans. She looked askance at the girl beside her, pointing out the different parts of the school. Does this girl have no idea of how much danger she - and the whole town - is in? I knew she's been in contact with them, but to actually be with them every day... Doesn't she at least sense something dangerous? Has she no sense of self-preservation at all?
"Elizabeth? Um, were you listening?" Snapped out of her reverie, Hermione turned to face the questioning look Bella was giving her. She smiled apologetically. "Yes, I'm sorry, I was just a bit distracted, and I'm still a little tired. Shameless, aren't they?" she said, glancing at a group of girls they had passed by, and who were staring straight at her, whispering amongst themselves. "Ignore them, it'll pass. I got the same treatment too when I first moved here a year back." Bella said, pausing to give the girls a hard glare. "As I was saying, we've been invited to La Push tomorrow evening. That's the reserve for these native Americans. I've got a few friends over there, and I think you'll hit it off with Jacob Black, my best friend. You'll see. Oh, here we are." Bella opened the door to a room and Hermione followed her in. Her brain was now going on overdrive. If her hunch was right, then tomorrow evening would be rather eventful; she had a feeling this Jacob Black had something to do with last night's howls. She didn't know how, she just had this feeling. He was Bella's best friend, and with the way the muggle girl was going now, she had reason to suspect that he was more than an ordinary human. Bella has a vampire for a boyfriend; What are the odds her best friend's something else as well? Once more, she wondered at her host's tendencies to attract magic like no one ever has. Little did she know that he was far more significant than just another unregistered delinquent she had to round up.
...
The candles flickered in their sconces, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Three figures waited with bated breath outside a huge chestnut door before it opened and a small diminutive figure bowed them in. With a barely a glance at each other, they entered, not sure of what to expect. It was a large and depressing room, with a single high-backed chair at the center, the fireplace their only source of light. Several cloaked figures stood in the shadows, silently watching the new arrivals' approach, faces obscured by silver masks.
"You're late." All three cringed as the cold hiss washed over them. One of them, presumably their leader, stepped forward.
"We've had trouble, sir. There are guardians on the land, shapeshifters, designed with the express purpose of destroying our kind."
"I was told you were the best the Volturi had to offer. It seems I was... deceived."
The silence that followed was tense, dangerous. A few heavy minutes passed. Unable to bear it any longer, the smallest of the three stepped forward, snarling, her hood falling to reveal bright, crimson hair. Swiftly, the other two held her back as the twelve or more cloaked figures raised their wands.
"A single word, and your puny, immortal life would end." The voice hissed with amusement. "Put your wands down. Draco." The shadows shifted, and a young man stepped forward. He wore a cloak, like the rest of them, but he had no mask; evidently, he was not yet fully part of them.
"Go back with them. You know what to do." With a low bow, Draco Malfoy exited, his hood covering the smirk that had formed on his face as the three vampires followed him out.
So what do you think? I really wanna know what you think. Either that or I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you want Bella to die, so imma finish her off... Just kidding. Oh yeah, thanks for all those who reviewed last chapter... Oh and I'm sorry if Hermione's OOC, she's such a complex character and I kinda find it hard to stick with it. I'm working on it :D