Forever Young

Chapter 25

From the nearest hanging acorn, there was a loud cracking sound. But it wasn't a treebranch this time- It was a whole new tree, bursting from its shell and growing outward, towards me. Dodging Mike's grasp, I ducked under the swelling tree and scurried out of the way as it flew into the cave, blocking Mike in.

Wood couldn't kill a vampire. Even a massive oak tree, growing at impossible speeds. But it could slow him down.

Knowing that I only had seconds before Mike punched his way either through the tree branches, or the rocks that made up the cave, I dove for the river. I could feel how injured I was, could feel my body screaming at me to stay still and stop making my wounds worse. But I forced myself to keep moving, knowing that the only thing that could save me was the water, which would hide my scent.

Luckily, this river was deep. It allowed me to fully submerge myself and then alter the current, helping me to speed off quickly with limited movement on my part... which was good considering how much pain I was in.

In my weakened state, I had to come up for air every few minutes. Each time, I would just barely put my face above water, taking a few quick breaths before diving back under. I wanted to make sure there was absolutely no way for him to follow my scent. 

I kept swimming until I came to a big body of water. It was salty, like the ocean, and it hurt horribly when the water touched my wounds. Still, I kept going, swimming all the way over to the other side of the water before finally pulling myself on to land. 

This area wasn't as secluded as I would have liked. There was a bridge nearby, with cars driving over it. So I dragged myself over to a patch of bushes and trees, hiding among the leaves as I coughed and struggled to catch my breath.

I had gotten away. But I was hurt. Really, really hurt.

My body was weak, and taking much longer than usual to heal. I was exhausted and sore and thirsty. But I was still too close to the body of water that I had escaped through, and I needed to keep moving, finding new bodies water to tread through until I was certain my trail was completely untraceable.

Forcing myself to my feet, I glanced around me. There was a big sign near the bridge, and I squinted, trying to make out what it said from such a far distance.

The words were too long for me to even try to sound out, but I still recognized one. Oregon. That was the state just below Washington- Carlisle had shown it to me on the map several times. That must have been the bridge that connected Washington to Oregon- I was in a whole new state!

Part of me, a big part, wanted to make my way back across the water. Washington had become my home, and I felt displaced as I stared at the land on the other side of the bridge. That was where my family was.

But I had been fooling myself. Whether the Cullens believed it or not, I was a monster. I had murdered the woman who had loved me most in the world. I was so evil that my own birth father wanted to kill me. So evil that I had spent almost a full day, huddled on the ground of the cave , trying to brainstorm ways to kill him- my own father. And I was the reason that a violent vampire had broken into the Cullens house, the reason Renesmee had been threatened by a red-eyed vampire as she slept in her own bed.

I didn't belong in a house. Or with a family. I didn't deserve love.

Turning away from Washington, away from my home, I started running, making my way deeper into the forest in Oregon. It almost physically hurt me to do so, knowing I was running away from my family. Knowing they would miss me, and be scared, and not know what had happened to me.

You have to do this, I told myself. You don't belong in a house. You belong in the forest. You're wild. Besides, if you go back to the Cullens, you put them in more danger. That gives him a reason to go back to the house. You'll lead him right to them!