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CHAPTER THREE sᴄᴇɴᴛ
Somehow, despite Alice's alarming premonition, we managed to stay quiet about it when Edward arrived with Bella. She didn't ask about it, nor did she seem to want to, probably thanks to Edward's insistence, and as they arrived, the first thing that was mentioned was Esme's plane tickets and the fact that they would finally be put to use. Esme was brilliant at acting surprised, so much so that I had thought it genuine at one point, as if she was truly surprised that Edward had managed to convince her, knowing how stubborn Bella could be.
We all sat in the living room, the television playing background noise with a classic film, one which Rosalie would quote every so often as the line was said. Half an hour in, two chess sets were brought out: one modern looking one with bright squares, looking like it was from the sixties, and another older one, which was chipped at each side.
"Is this Carlisle's set?" I asked, picking the Queen from the loved set. Alice nodded.
"Thomas, William's brother," I added as if she'd forgotten the boy from my past, but Alice looked as if she'd remembered him as if he'd been a friend to her. "He had a set just like this one. It was his grandfather's."
"Is that how you learned to play?"
I nodded, thinking fondly of the times before things had changed.
Bella groaned as Jasper let out a call of checkmate. She'd gone into the game knowing the hopelessness of playing against a vampire who was older than most of us, but by the mortified look on her face, she was more embarrassed than she wanted to be.
I'd lost interest in Alice and Edward's game of chess after five minutes. The fact that it was unlikely that either would win, given their gifts, paired with my obvious bias, left the game far too annoying to watch.
"Bringing Rose onto your team isn't going to make you win," Alice said as Rosalie dropped to my side, opposite Alice.
She glared playfully at the insinuation. "Hey."
Alice shrugged, smirking. "You can't deny the truth."
"Oh, is that how you want to play?" I said, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "Did you hear that Rose?"
"I know how Alice plays," she said, not caring that Alice could hear. "The trick is to try not to think about what you're doing until you do it."
"That's worked for you before?"
"No." Rosalie was actually smiling. "But two makes a charm."
After ten minutes, Alice was already obviously winning. Rosalie sighed, letting out a rough groan as she looked at the chessboard for her move. She nudged her head, letting me move it: our knight took her rook.
"Good move," she hummed, nodding as she observed Alice's next move.
"Thank you," I said, but then at Alice's next move, I could see the exact trap we'd fallen into. "What the hell?"
I fell back against the carpet, covering my eyes, shielding my gaze from Alice's smug look. Beside me, Rose was laughing, her eyebrows raised, her observations never ceasing.
"I give up!"
"You can't give up if you've already lost," Alice said, nudging into my side, pulling my arms from above my head.
I shot her a playful glare. "I didn't lose. I gave up."
"Which is worse?"
☾
I'd never been to Florida, but from what Alice had told us all, Edward was hating every second of it.
The rest of us gathered around the back of the house at noon. The sun was higher and hotter than it usually was, meaning darkness would inevitably come quicker, and following from her worry yesterday, Rosalie was pushing Emmett and Jasper out of the house by half-past twelve. The two shared a look as they joined us, taking shelter beneath the blooming trees.
"Have you seen anything else, Alice?" Carlisle asked.
"She's passing the docks earlier," she said, eyes widening, a blankness taking over. "She's passing now. She must have changed her mind since yesterday."
"But she's taking the same route?" Jasper asked. Alice nodded.
"We need to leave now. Will we be able to intercept by the woodland area at the bypass? It will be quiet there, out of the way," Carlise said.
"Yes. If we leave within the minute," Alice said, moving to lead beside Carlisle.
I remembered the string that seemed to hang in the air in that area, the slither of a scent that separated vampire and wolf. "What about the pack? That's bordering their territory."
"We'll be able to drive her away before she can cross over," Emmett said, face hardening as he prepared himself for the chase.
Carlisle nodded. "Alice take the head with me and Emmett," he said. Alice didn't argue with him, but she glanced back, looking at me with a bold resolve. "Esme and Elide take the middle. Jasper and Rose can take the back."
Nothing else was said as we took our positions, spreading far out to cover more ground.
The trees seemed to still, tense, as we sprinted through. Nothing moved, nothing spoke. Not even a whisper from the leaves. It felt wrong, as if somehow our surroundings knew before we did that things would not go as planned. It felt as if the forest was hiding from that very ending.
"We have ten seconds," Alice shouted up in front. "Now Emmett."
Emmett lunged, an animalistic growl leaving his throat. But victoria was few seconds too early, and already she was slipping through his fingers. Red hair whipped behind her, teasing him with her flooding scent, which tickled the air. Emmett slid against the floor, using his palm to curve himself around, flipping his legs so he stood again, already hot on his heels.
And then, as he drew closer and closer, the rest of us spread around her, cutting her in, I sensed it. The burnt smell that coated the air as thick as treacle, the smell of earth and fire bundled together, lacing the air like poison. The pricking smell warned me to run. With us so close to the treaty line, the wolves were never far behind.
"We're getting too close," I said, watching as Esme frowned beside me, but didn't slow.
"Alice, do you see anything?" Carlisle asked.
"No."
"We have to pull further back!"
"No, we've got her," Emmett shouted, somehow making his body accelerate further, toying with the string that separated the territory.
He was playing with fire, dangling on the edge of a tightrope. One side was failure, the other the snapping jaws of wolves. Emmett's determination would not let him fall. But the imagined cheers and shouts around him were replaced with the pounding sound of massive paws colliding with the forest floor.
The pack erupted from behind the trees, snarling as they chased the other side of Victoria, only metres away from Emmett.
"Emmett, pull back!" Rosalie shouted from the back of the group.
But Emmett lunged for Victoria. A wolf- the largest one- jerked forward, knocking him to the side, out of her reach before he could cross into the territory. Emmett snapped, pushing the wolf from him as they began to fight. Rosalie pushed past us, face darkening with rage targeted to both the wolf and her partner. Jasper met her halfway, helping to separate the two as Carlisle met with the leader, a grand wolf with a dark, umber coat. Sam.
"Alice, do you see her?"
"She's leaving..." Alice said it in a way that sounded as if she doubted herself. "Victoria is gone."
