Numb But Moving

Chapter 7: She's Free!

BPOV

            I took deep, unnecessary breaths. I felt myself nearing the point of hysterics. The burning crater in my chest was causing me to react oddly. I knew crying would do no good; I knew nothing would get rid of the pain, but that didn’t stop my sobs or the panic I felt when I realized I would never again be able to produce the tears that would help release my pain.

            I could feel myself retreating into what felt like unconsciousness. Logically, I knew that was impossible for a vampire, but I was grateful for the escape.

            As I nestled into a far corner of my mind, I watched as another part of me stood myself up. I knew I should have felt worried about the fact that I was splitting my consciousness in a way, but I would take anything to get away from the pain. And by being stuck in the corner of my mind I could still feel the pain, but it was dulled and felt far away.

            I sat back and watched the show as my body seemed to move out of the shack on its own.

 EPOV

           My breath was coming in short gasps as the panic came over me. The hyperventilation reminded me of when the same thing would happen to Bella, which only caused more trouble in my attempt to gain control. I knew in some part of my brain that I needed to calm down or I wouldn’t be able to do anything useful.

I had been following Bella’s trail for an hour or so before it disappeared. I tried to calm myself by thinking logically. How would she make her scent disappear? Unless it was a special kind of power, there must be a logical answer. My breathing slowed back to a quick, but steady rate as I thought.

Going underground could do it, but was unlikely seeing as the ground looked undisturbed. She may have doubled back and went in a different direction, but I hadn’t smelt any fork in her trail. I looked up at the sky trying hard to puzzle to keep my sanity.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. All the breath whooshed out of me before I climbed the tree closest to me. There was nothing there, but that didn’t mean much. When I jumped to the next tree over I thought I smelt a faint something of her.

Excited, I tried to follow her trail once again before I realized it was impossible. I would never be able to catch up to her if she continued moving in this way. For every tree I came across with a bit of her scent there was another four or five I had to jump into that held nothing.

Defeated and depressed I did the only thing I could. I called for advice. I rang Carlisle, who answered before the first ring ended.

“Did you find her?” His voice was anxious.

“No…” I said low, “I followed her trail but she took to the treetops. I can’t follow it from there, there’s too much possibility in where she leapt to.”

I heard an appreciative chuckled in the background followed by, “That’s what she’s done to us a thousand times…you’ll never catch her by chasing her.” Demetri. He sounded almost fond of her, which surprised me, considering the fight they had had hours previously and the way he had treated her.

Jealousy got the better of me and I growled before Carlisle answered over the continued chuckles. “Well there’s probably nothing you can do from there. Come home and we can work out how to find her. Maybe our guests can enlighten us further on Bella and her movements.” I heard another chuckle in the background.