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CHAPTER FIVE ᴛᴇʀʀɪʙʟᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢ
Alice's blindness was a problem we'd faced before, but never to this scale.
It was unsettling, to Alice, to not be able to anticipate each move the opponent would make. For the rest of us, though it was normal to have no glimpses of the future, we'd grown used to being able to rely on her abilities. But as we raced through the rainforest, feet carelessly digging deep tracks into the mud, we had no foresight at what would greet us. The presence of Renesmee and the wolves and now Nahuel created a permanent fog.
Zafrina and Senna would have a few days on us, enough time to join the witnesses that would hopefully be there to support Edward and Bella's claims. Kachiri, for her own reasons, remained behind, watching from the edge of a clearing as we disappeared into the morning, picking up speed in hopes of reaching the water by nightfall. It was quicker to swim part way, reaching the western coast.
It gave us time to observe the hybrid in a way we had not been able to understand Renesmee. His heart was eerie to hear as we sprinted across states. It was unnatural to hear the sound run with us, rather than away. His steps seemed louder too, and more laboured, without taking its toll on his apparently immortal body- the appearance of a human run, so messy and powered, yet with the speed and agility of a vampire. It was incredible in its own, unique way. Addictive to watch, like a racehorse around a circuit
When it came to the water, Nahuel seemed unsure. They'd never reached the sea within their hunts, never going far from their home. But even still, he tossed himself from the cliff with an immortal's elegance, crashing into the waves and resurfacing again a moment later. When we reached the same coastline that Alice and I had departed from, Nahuel and Huilen waited behind, letting us climb up first, emerging onto the rockface that I'd seen the pack jump from so many times.
It felt different, setting foot on the pack's territory then. Different in a wrong way. There was no wolf to warn us away with snarls and neither was Sam there to guide us across from boundary to boundary. No, the pack would be grouping with the Cullens on the clearing, if Alice's past visions were still no be believed- if the presence of Nahuel or the wolves didn't change anything.
There was a frown on her face as Alice stepped into the shadow of the trees. They were so different to that of the rainforest we'd run from. Thinner, more spindly. The scent of pine was more distinct, in the absence of such dense undergrowth. Her hands touched the bark as she slowed to a walk, feeling the roughness of texture as if it could bring some hint of what we were hurrying into.
"Everything feels so still," I said, drifting past her, further into the shade.
Where she stood in the treeline, the sandy light of dusk fanned across the horizon, painting shimmering speckles of gold dust onto her skin. This type of sparkle seemed different to the bright luminescence the sun of Brazil seemed to spark- it was softer, cooler.
