𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 of Bree Tanner

CHAPTER 28

HIDING
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The sun hid behind the tall trees, its weak rays pushing themselves into the clearing as animals began to get ready to go to sleep.

The two vampires crouched in anticipation. Their eyes were set on the location of the incoming noise.

"We need to hide," Bree hissed silently. She didn't want to have a confrontation with the wolves. They had caused enough trouble for her in the past, and because of their alliance with the Cullens, she wouldn't be safe around them. They couldn't know she was in their territory yet again.

The girl flipped her crimson gaze frantically around, trying to figure out where to hide herself. To her horror, there were almost no hiding spots nearby. She and Fred would be doomed.

"Let's hide in the tree," the curly-haired boy next to her suggested, pointing to the nearest brown tree trunk.

She nodded, accepting his proposal. The huge tree five metres from them was better than nothing. It didn't have particularly camouflaging leaves, but at least it could possibly bring some type of coverage to the two immortals. Hiding in a bad hiding place was a lot smarter than not hiding at all.

The newborn ran to the tree, jumping to its highest-reaching branch. She didn't want to leave anything to speculation and wanted to make sure it was as hard as possible for her to be found.

Fred climbed next to her. Their eyes met anxiously as they prayed together that everything would turn out well. There was a good chance the shapeshifters had heard their voices, which frightened her more than she was willing to admit. She did not want to get caught. Not now. She was so close to exploring the world and dodging her fate as an ash pile. She had no desire to turn into ugly grey dust.

Footsteps froze the vampires. They leaned harder against the tree, hoping it would help hide them more.

The young teen closed her eyelids, not daring to look at what would happen when the footsteps reached the clearing. She wanted to pretend everything was going to be okay, like they weren't going to get caught, but the likelihood of someone seeing them was too great. There was no way they wouldn't be spotted.

She tried to think of ways to persuade the coming Quileute to let them go. Maybe she could offer to do a favour for them. Or give them whatever they wanted, as long as it did not involve killing or hurting her or her friend.

Tension crackled in the air. Its tentacles gripped onto everything they possibly could get a hold of until it felt like there was nothing to breathe in. The suspense had stolen all the oxygen around her. She didn't need it, but she liked being able to breathe it. She felt panic rise in her chest.

"Bree?" a voice called. "I can smell you."

They were going to die. Her escape plan was now in shatters, unable to be fixed.

"How does that kid know your name? Do you know him?" Fred whispered from his place. He stared at Bree, his gaze full of confusion.

The newborn's reopened eyes went to Seth. The fourteen-year-old boy was glancing around, trying to spot her. "He and the yellow-eyes are friends. The boy, Seth, came to their house once."

"Dang it!" Fred snarled. He directed his eyes to the wandering boy below. "I could use my power on him, and we could run away in its guise," he proposed.

The girl shaked her head. "No, don't."

The curly-haired vampire looked dumbfounded. "Why not? It would be the most logical idea."

"I want to see if he will find us." The brown-haired teen explained. Her explanation was weak, and the truth be told, she wasn't sure if she believed in it herself, but something told her to stay in her place for a little longer. She wasn't going to deny her instincts so here she was trying to reason why her blond friend couldn't use his gift on the Quileute. It was a pathetic attempt, but she was still very least going to at least try.

"Alright," Fred nodded reluctantly. She imagined he was not used to not using his gift when it was needed. He had used it constantly in Seattle's newborn army, making all the other newborns avoid him like a plague.

She felt a quick pang of regret at not using the boy's gift to their advantage, but kept her mouth shut. They didn't need it yet, and they could always put it to use as soon as things went south.

Bree averted her eyes back to the young boy strolling in the forest.

Seth moved beneath the trees. His face was full of mystification from the mystery of attempting to find the vampire he was desperately trying to search for. "Please, Bree. I pinky promise I won't hurt you."

The newborn stared at him, not convinced by his words.

"Or your friend, as long as he is nice," the brown-eyed shapeshifter added.

The words made her stiffen. How did Seth know about Fred being her friend? He had probably smelled the scent of him down below, but that didn't mean he would have realised she and the other vampire knew each other. There was no way he could've known that. Except if the Cullens had involved the wolves in the search for her and told them about the curly-haired boy's scent. The yellow-eyes had to suspect she knew the vampire, which was true, of course, but an unexpected assumption. She had never shown any interest in the scent of Fred in front of them. Or had she? She wasn't completely sure, but according to her recall, not.

The girl felt a branch's hard surface rub against her. It resided on top of her head, looking hardly even as thick as her fingers. She held her breath, wanting to gasp at the shock of its sudden movement, but managed to keep herself quiet. She couldn't give herself away.

"Bree?" Seth had moved closer to the tree. He was bound to see her and Fred at any second now. He just needed to look up.

The last sunrays hit the two vampires, making them sparkle in thousands of colours. The unanticipated situation caused the black-haired boy to turn his head up, as he most certainly saw a glow from his eye corners. "Bree!"

They had been found.

Fred turned to look at her, his eyes pleading for permission to use his power. The yearning in his gaze burned the young teen's skin. She had to make a choice. Fred seemed to want to use his gift, but was it really that beneficial to let him use it?

Could she try to talk to the boy below and make him understand why she wanted to leave so badly? Or did Seth already know that she would end up dying at the hands of Volturi if she stayed? He might not care about her safety. They hardly knew each other. There was no guarantee he would let her leave after hearing her out.

But then again, if he wouldn't, Fred could get her and himself out of the scene quite quickly. The two immortals would both be safe, no matter which option she chose.

The expectation for her to choose what to do caused a wave of stress to go through her. She didn't want to be the one to make the decision. Why couldn't Fred do it? It was his gift.

She blinked unnecessarily and studied the eyes of her blond friend. "Let's attempt to talk with Seth. Maybe we can reason with him and make him let us go." She silenced her voice, only to whisper before continuing "And if that doesn't work, you can use your power on him."