Red (Twilight) (Edward Cullen)

RED

**Autumn**

The desert air felt dry against my skin as the car sped down the highway, the landscape blurring into a wash of beige and dusty greens. The tension in the car was thick, pressing down on my chest like a weight I couldn't shake. Alice was focused on the road ahead, her eyes narrowed in concentration, while Jasper sat beside her, his gaze occasionally flicking back to me in the rearview mirror. I could feel the subtle waves of calm he was trying to send my way, but they barely made a dent in the storm of fear and anxiety raging inside me.

It had been days since we'd left Forks, since we'd started running. Days since everything I knew had been ripped away, replaced with this frantic need to stay one step ahead of a monster. James was out there, hunting me, and it felt like there was no end in sight.

I pressed my forehead against the cool glass of the window, trying to focus on anything other than the dread pooling in my stomach. But my mind kept circling back to the same thoughts, over and over again. Edward. My heart twisted painfully at the memory of his voice on the phone just hours ago.

"I love you, Autumn," he had said, his voice raw with emotion. "We'll get through this. I'll come get you soon, and we'll leave until it's safe. I promise."

I wanted to believe him, wanted to hold on to the hope that we'd be okay, that this nightmare would end and we'd have our happily ever after. But there was a darkness gnawing at the edges of my thoughts, a voice whispering that things didn't end well for people like me. I wasn't one of them—I was human, fragile, breakable.

And I had fallen in love with someone who was anything but.

Alice's voice broke through my thoughts, startling me back to the present. "We're stopping soon. Jasper and I need to switch cars again, just to be safe."

I nodded numbly, too tired to respond. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the landscape. The bright colors of the Nevada desert faded into muted tones, and I couldn't help but feel like I was fading along with them.

The car slowed to a stop, and Jasper opened the door, stepping out into the cool evening air. I followed, my legs stiff from sitting for so long. As we swapped cars, I glanced up at the sky, watching as the stars began to appear one by one, like tiny pinpricks of light in the darkening sky.

I wished Edward were here. I wished we were anywhere but here, anywhere but running. I wished for a lot of things that I knew I couldn't have.

The new car was smaller, less comfortable, but I didn't care. I just wanted this to be over. I climbed into the backseat, curling up against the door as Jasper and Alice settled in up front.

 The engine rumbled to life, and we were off again, the endless road stretching out before us.

Time passed in a blur, the monotony of the drive making it easy to lose track of everything but the fear gnawing at my insides. My eyes grew heavy, and before I knew it, I was slipping into a restless sleep, the hum of the engine lulling me into a fitful doze.

When I woke, it was to a sharp, stabbing pain in my side. My eyes flew open, panic surging through me as I realized I wasn't in the car anymore. I was lying on the cold, hard ground of a dimly lit room, the air thick with the scent of blood.