Charlie Swan: Vampire Hunter

9. New Moon

     When I stumbled outside, the world had gone black. I pulled out my flashlight and gripped it in the numbing fingers of my left hand. Everything below the elbow throbbed from the exertion, but I ignored it and focused instead on the trembling spot of light that illuminated the darkened woods. Edward Cullen was nowhere in sight.

     Faint screams echoed in the distance. Spinning around I trained the flashlight at the edge of the woods. East—no, northeast. I sprinted off into the wilderness, careless of my own pain.

     The ground was still saturated under my shoes as I ran forward, dodging trees and stumbling over overgrowth. I ran until my legs ached and my lungs burned. Until my eyes adapted to the incomprehensible muddle of darkness. Until my ears no longer heard the vague echo of wolves near the coast or felt the prickling of thin branches scrapping across my skin. Until I almost lost hope.

     And then another scream came, louder this time.

     They were close. I gathered my resolve and pushed forward through the dense woods, led by the small glow of the flashlight and protected only by the gun gripped tightly in my other hand. I hadn't gone more than ten yards when my ears caught the crunch of leaves under heavy footprints. I raced around the last mass of trees and stepped out into a pasture so still I was alarmed by its picturesque eeriness.

     And there they were. Edward dragging Bella forward as she struggled feebly in his arms. When he was aware of my presence he turned expectantly. His calm face mutated into a glower when he realized it was me. His glare turned to my arm wrapped in Esme's silk blouse. He'd thought I was her.

     "Where is Esme?" he said with a sneer.

     "Let her go!" My voice echoed out into the night with enough fury to unease him.

     "What have you done with my mother?"

     "You've got three seconds to get your hands off my daughter."

     His voice grew heavy with anger, "What have you done to Esme?"

     "I left her in a pile on your kitchen floor!"

     Bella slipped from his grasp and crumpled to the ground. He lunged and let free an enraged, otherworldly shriek. I felt my courage collapsing under his grotesque, inhuman glare. I froze, suddenly paralyzed by fear.

     Edwards grisly form drew closer, but my feet stayed planted to the ground. Had I succumbed to the vampire's madness too? Or was it my own fear? My arm throbbed. The pain was the only thing more real than my fear. It was tangible. It was in the flesh, and the ache of it pulled me back from the edge of the abyss.

     Somehow, I was able to shoot him. The bullet hit him in the chest and he inhaled a gasp of pain. I shot again and again until his body was riddled with bullet wounds. His torso was tattered and gory. Blood had seeped through his well-tailored clothes. Stained his white skin red. He wailed with pain but still stood. Injured but not dead.

     I got ready to shoot again but stopped. Behind him Bella stirred. She stood, her bony frame steadying as she looked between us with a lifeless gaze. Edward stretched one long commanding arm toward her, beckoning her.

     I screamed, "Bella, run!"

     My voice didn't reach her. Instead her empty gaze stayed glued to Edward. She took an unthinking step toward him, her mind fully entranced with the vampire. I jumped to my feet as Edward wordlessly summoned her to his side.