Forever Young

Chapter 2

Why was I here?

The question kept repeating in my mind, and for good reason. 

What a silly place to be. What a silly way to die.

The sun was just starting to rise, and the river reflected the orange light softly. My eyes were on the treeline, though, watching for any movement. I could just barely see the tip of Renesmee's house from here.

I hadn't slept at all the night before. Usually, I needed about seven or eight hours of sleep. Another dumb human quality. But my nerves had been too high, knowing what decision I was going to make this morning. Knowing how foolish I would be. 

We hadn't specified a time to meet today. So I would just stand watch until she arrived. 

If she arrived. I had to remind myself that I had never actually told her I was coming. And if she didn't arrive, I had to remind myself that that would actually be the best outcome.

The minutes turned to hours, and I became restless. I only stayed still for this long when I was sleeping. When I was awake, I was always running and singing and climbing. Staying still felt so...useless.

Probably because waiting all day for a girl who may or may not show up was a very useless thing to do.

Maybe her vampire family had finally turned against her, and so she couldn't come. Because she was dead. It was a sad thought, but she had gotten more time than most hybrids, I imagined. I was lucky. I had learned to take care of myself early on, and my father had left instead of waiting around to kill me.

There were footsteps coming towards me. I had been so absorbed with my own thoughts, that I hadn't noticed. They were only about 100 yards out now. I wanted to run, but if it were a vampire, that would incite a chase. And that was one creature I doubted I could escape. My best bet was to stay quiet, and hope that Resnesmee being able to see me through my gift yesterday had been a one-time glitch.

I stayed completely still as the footsteps got closer. At least there was a river between us. It would give me time to react.

Renesmee stepped into sight from the treeline. I felt my body lose its tension. Though I still hadn't decided if I would actually approach her again or not, at least I didn't need to be too weary of her.  

Before I could make a move, a giant wolf stepped out from the trees, coming just behind Nessie. My eyes grew wide. I wasn't sure if it was one of the same wolves that I had messed with the other day, but it was for sure the same species. I remembered how aggressive they had been about me running past them. They had to be territorial. Would this one attack Renesmee? Did she have enough vampire in her to fight it off?

Why did I even care?

Renesmee glanced around and I stayed low. Even if, for some reason, my power still did not work against her, I had chosen this branch carefully. It was high and covered by leaves and other branches. I was sure that I was out of sight. She sighed and leaned into the wolf, who showed no aggression, or even annoyance, towards her.

I wondered why Renesmee seemed upset. And, even more, I wondered how she had trained a giant wolf up as a pet. I wanted a giant wolf. 

A low rumble escaped the wolf, reminding me of the growls and howling behind me as they had chased me. I grinned to myself. They were more fun when they didn't like you, I decided.

They sat on the dock and I had to stop myself from groaning aloud. How long would I have to stay in this tree? In theory I could turn and leave, but Renesmee might be upset if she saw me. And there was no way I was going to approach that giant wolf, or even risk it chasing me. One howl from that thing while Renesmee was down here could bring the vampires running.