Frozen Flames

Frozen Flames; Hanging on a Thread

[AN; Thought I had better update soon! As I've said earlier, the next chapters should come up pretty soon as they are already mostly written. 16,000 words left until I reach my target, exciting stuff! Right, here it is! Enjoy and please comment if you have any improvments or you liked reading!]

Chapter Six; Hanging on a Thread

A blur was shooting towards me, gleaming, razor-sharp teeth bared, and I couldn’t move an inch. My body braced for a pain that didn’t come, and then still didn’t come, and continued to not come for a few more seconds. Only then, through the fear and confusion that clouded my thoughts, my brain registered the deafening roar that shook the air. Now, two darkened shapes dashed about in front of me. So quickly that even with my supernatural sight I could not make out who they were.

Were there more of them? More of them fighting for the right to kill me.

At least they were distracted, and I took that as the most important reason to get a grip and move now. Both men were snarling and growling now whilst gradually moving away from me through the trees. But that didn’t ease my fear at all.

I spun around and scrambled up the rough bark of the tree behind me at a speed that made me blur into the air. Any surface would present no problem to my strength but the vertical side of the tree with its many nooks and crannies was easy to scale in no time. In less than a second I was on the other side of the trunk, facing away from where the nomad had stood, with my back pressed against the bark so hard that it almost hurt. Despite the fact that I had incredible balance that would keep me on the ledge without effort, I gripped the thin branch with both hands to make absolutely certain that I wouldn’t fall. That would be the equivalent of running towards the men with my arms above my head, pleading to be killed. Killed.

You idiot Bella, you nearly got yourself killed.

Consequences of that possibility were nightmares in my mind. My daughter would have been left with a chunk ripped from her life that in her current state would mess her up so much that... I didn’t want to think about what she would do. My family would have spent the past years fighting for me and protecting me for nothing, only a few years – to be thrown away by my stupidity and a pathetic amount of bravery. And my husband...

Where was he? Had the others encountered anybody yet? I strained my sense of hearing for any sign of distress, but all I picked up was the snarls and cracks of the two nomads that were fighting over me. Maybe they’d regrouped deeper into the trees. And they’d assumed I was alright. No one would come to help if they couldn’t hear my shouts and as soon as one of the nomads won the scrap it would take them only seconds to discover where I was hiding. I was dead.

This was a decent place to die. When my mind was too full of worries to handle I always came out here to let the calming properties of nature sooth me. I had spent summers of my childhood exploring the rough terrain of the forests with Charlie and always would come out with a graze or two on my knees and elbows from his extensive hikes. In fact, being outside in the trees was Renesmee’s favourite place too. Guess I should be thanking someone for this. To die here wouldn’t be so bad - if I forgot about all the things I was leaving behind...

In the distance the growling ceased and I could hear the sound of racing footsteps. One set heading away and one set coming closer towards me. Knowing that I had only a couple more seconds to live was a feeling that filled me from head to toe with pain. Emotional pain that made my head pound and my lips tremble uncontrollably. One of them had won and they were looking for me. My hiding spot was nowhere near good enough to disguise myself from a vampire’s senses. After searching around they’d get me. They’d get me.

“Bella?” Who was that and how did they know my name already? Someone must have sent them with specific orders. Were these soldiers from the Volturi? The voice was husky and crackly – so much so that it wasn’t recognisable. I stayed pressed up against the bark as they spoke again in the same urgent tone. “Bella?”