Born, raised, then reborn again, Serena Shepherd has lived in Seattle her entire life. She has hardly ever left the city and refers to it as home.
When a vampire kills Serena's father, she no longer calls it home. In a heated desire for revenge, Se...
Darkness had wrapped itself around every last tree that stood tall and proud in the vast forest that separated the cities of Seattle and Forks. Serena kept her eyes in thin slits as she focused all of her attention on the flames of red hair that were flowing chaotically in the distance. The woman copied Victoria's every twist and turn as she followed her through the forest, her hunting instincts taking over as she dodged tree roots and fallen branches.
Serena was able to gain some distance on Victoria as the vampire began slowing down. Her hair bounced left and right as Victoria looked around, trying to figure out which way to go. Serena slowed her pace down to a cautious walk as she approached Victoria from behind but kept herself camouflaged with the trees. Her skin was the brightest thing about her, the moonlight causing the pale porcelain to gleam in the dark. Serena didn't dare to even breathe as she darted behind the tree that Victoria was standing on the other side of. An eerie feeling creeped into her body and the redhead spun around with her lips curled into a snarl. Ruby coloured eyes darted back and forth in the darkness but failed to catch a glimpse of the vampire that was less than ten feet away. Not bothering to stick around any longer, Victoria began sprinting through the forest once more in a blur of orange hair and pale skin. Serena chased after the woman at the same speed to avoid losing her.
Aggressive rustling reached Serena's ears and drew her focus away from Victoria for one brief second. She tore her eyes away from the woman in an attempt to see what else was lurking in the woods with them but by the time Serena had refocused, the vampire was gone. The raven haired woman let out a low growl in annoyance as she forced her feet to run faster. Wind whistled in her ears as her body cut through the bitter air, traveling at a speed greater than cars on a freeway.
The air left Serena's lungs in a gasp as she heard wolves howling in the distance and the rustling got louder. It was the familiar sound of footsteps crunching on the forest floor in a determined run. Before Serena had much of a second to process what was happening she witnessed six pale figures bolt through the trees about fifty feet to her left. She could tell just by the streams of colour that one wasn't Victoria, which only led the woman to wonder where she had gone and who all these other vampires were.
Serena watched the group of strangers through the corner of her eye, studying their appearance as best as she could. One of the males was tall and bulky with a grey sweater on and black hair. He seemed to be the fastest as he led the way through the forest. Victoria had returned to view and the leader charged after her. He nearly caught up with the woman but Serena grimaced as a loud thump echoed through the forest as he went flying into a tree. The man quickly recovered and snarled at the redhead as she briefly glanced over her shoulder.
The vampires started slowing down as Victoria disappeared, then reappeared in the air. She had jumped over something and her chasers seemed to be giving up. Serena didn't break her stride as she passed the vampires and copied Victoria's actions of leaping over a large ravine that cut through the forest. Her skin scrapped against a rough boulder as she landed on all fours about ten feet away from her enemy. Both of the women stood up slowly, their matching red eyes locked together. Victoria cocked her head to one side in amusement before glaring over her shoulder at where the strangers stood. They watched the females from the other side of the cliff but didn't dare to jump across.
"Wait. They're on their territory." The voice of a man with straight blonde hair rang out as he put his arm up to block the other vampires. Victoria looked back at Serena before heading off while Serena's attention was still focused on the six people above her. They all started running in the same direction as Victoria, following her on the edge of the cliff.
Serena's legs started pumping again as intense snarls filled the air. She ran after Victoria but her pace slowed down drastically as two massive wolves with thick brown coats ran down from a higher level of the cliff. They cut in front of Serena and had their sights set on Victoria, their large paws leaving deformed prints in the mud as they ran after her. Victoria was much faster than the wolves and managed to jump across the ravine again as they snapped and pawed at her. Fear settled into Serena as the wolves turned around and two pairs of hungry eyes settled on the vampire in their territory. The woman had her palms facing towards the animals as she slowly backed up but by the way they were snarling Serena knew she didn't really stand a chance. The vampire ran and jumped across the ravine at the same time both wolves came charging at her, their jaws snapping shut in midair as they missed their target.
Serena had ended up in the midst of the group of vampires as they continued on their pursuit of Victoria. The woman had a hard time deciding if she should even continue chasing the redhead of just get out of harm's way. She obviously wasn't the only one who wanted to see Victoria's head on a silver platter.
"Emmett, no!" A blonde female yelled out as the largest vampire got closer to Victoria and followed her over the ravine. Victoria got away but the so-called Emmett was met with a snarling wolf that threw him backwards into the water. Serena was left alone as the five vampires ran to the edge of the cliff to see if Emmett was alright. He stood in the ravine facing the wolf, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly with every breath he took as the pair snarled at each other.
"He's alright." The male with blonde hair spoke as he slowly turned around to face Serena who had caught up with them at a slow pace. She panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath, glancing at every golden eyed vampire that stared her down.
"I'm not...here to hurt...any of you." Serena stated between heavy breathes as she slowly went to raise her hands in defence.
"So then what are you doing here?" The blonde woman that had yelled Emmett's name snapped as she walked forwards with a discontent expression written across her pale features.
"I was tracking Victoria. She's trying to kill one of my friends." Serena replied with her head tilted slightly to the side as she studied the blonde.
"Bella? How do you know Bella?" A petite woman with short black hair asked with thin furrowed eyebrows.
"I found her here and warned her about Victoria. Good thing her boyfriend is a vampire." Serena stated with a soft smirk that caught the attention of the blonde male.
"Edward is my son." He stated. "What's your name?"
"Serena. I'm from Seattle." The raven haired woman declared who she was before being introduced to every member of the Cullen family. She even officially met a dripping wet Emmett who had just climbed up the side of the cliff. Serena explained to the Cullens how she had found Bella and her powers that came with being a vampire. She learned all about the family's troubles with James, Victoria's late mate who Serena had only met a couple times, and shared her story about Victoria killing her father. Serena wanted to tell them about the army in Seattle but figured that could wait until Bella and Edward were home from Florida so that she would only have to explain it once. As Serena spoke with the Cullens in the middle of the forest, she couldn't help but allow her gaze to shift to Rosalie every now and then. The blonde stood with her arms crossed over her chest and an unimpressed glare on her face as she stared at Serena, listening to every word that flowed out of the dark haired woman's mouth.
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