Redshift by Ashlynn Chantrea (free ebook reader for ipad .txt) 📕

“No,” Zephyr and Meadow said together, “We’re going.”

“And what do you plan to do if Jane and Alec are already there? And who knows how many others they might be traveling with.”

“We’ll kill them.” All three growled as one.

“That’s what I thought you’d say.” I shook my head, “No, you’re too volatile. Just Rain and I are going. And if we run into them, we’re coming straight back.”

Zephyr and Meadow argued with me, demanding that they be allowed to go too. I refused but they wouldn’t give up. It didn’t matter to them that teleporting so many could wear Rain out too quickly or that we were trying to avoid a fight with the Volturi. They wouldn’t listen.

A growl ripped from deep in my chest. They went silent.

“This isn’t a negotiation.” I said through my teeth, “I’m the only one unaffected by them. I’m the only one that’s ever won a fight with Felix. You. Are. Staying. Here!”

They continued to glare but didn’t fight me anymore.

Then Rain grabbed hold of my hand. As soon as her hand touched mine, she teleported us to her home. We stood outside a small, faded blue house. It had a big porch with a rocking chair, a little round table and a bench off to one side. I could see all three girls easily fitting on that bench.

The sun was shining outside, no clouds in this part of the country. I marveled at the way our skin sparkled, all eight colors of the spectrum refracting off the surface. Rain noticed too.

“Wow!” She sighed.

The sound of movement from inside broke our concentration, bringing our attention to her grandmother inside. Her grandmother moved slowly, molasses in the winter slow.

I looked at Rain. She was staring at the front door. I wondered what she was thinking right then. How many memories were making it through the fog?

“Do you want me to go in alone? I can try to break this to her gently.” I offered.

Rain shook her head, “She’s very understanding. She’ll be okay. There isn’t a lot about the world Granma doesn’t know.”

We walked up to the door and I knocked. I knew I wouldn’t break the door down on accident. We waited, Rain holding her breath.

As her grandmother opened the door I noticed the irritation at the back of my throat. So annoying. I wondered if it would ever just go away.

She looked at us, not saying a word. Her eyes locked on Rain and stayed there for a minute. I hoped this wasn’t going to cause a heart attack for her. Her heart was pumping faster now.

“Hi Gran.” Rain said, her voice loud enough for her grandmother to hear.

“Rain?” She whispered.

“We’ve come because you’re in danger.” I told her softly. “You need to come with us.”

Her grandmother completely ignored me, “What have you become?” She asked Rain.

“A vampire.” She replied.

“Zephyr? Meadow?” She inquired.

“They’re like me.”

She waved a hand at her like that didn’t really matter, “Are they all right?”

“Yeah, they’re okay.” Rain said with a soft smile, “They were so mad they couldn’t come with me. They miss you a lot.”

“I miss you girls, too. It’s so quiet around here without you. But I knew you’d come back.”

“Gran, I need you to do something for me. There are other vampires after us. Horrible, evil creatures. We got away but now we think they’re going to come after our families. We’re going to go get them. Take them somewhere safe. I don’t think many of them are going to be comfortable with us. I’m going to have to surprise them when I take them away. Could you help smooth things over? Keep everyone calm? We’re trying to help them and we don’t want them to panic.”

“Of course I will.” She said enthusiastically.

“You’ll need a coat, Gran.” Rain told her, “Where we’re going, it’s going to be very cold.”

I was surprised by her thinking of that. It hadn’t even occurred to me that the humans traveling with us would be affected by the weather. And it should have. I was becoming accustomed to the nuances of this body and forgetting about how it had been while I was human. It wasn’t that I forgot what it felt like. I had forgotten to care, to take note at all.

Once her grandmother was appropriately dressed, Rain took hold of her grandma’s hand and mine. Then we were in Alaska. Everything was white, covered in snow. Rain picked up the shivering old woman and we ran to the house a quarter mile in front of us. Rain had seen a picture of it in Carlisle’s house. I could smell the other vampires inside.

I knocked on the door, unsure of what the protocol for house calls to vampires was.

“Come in.” A woman’s voice said softly.

The door was unlocked. We walked in.

Inside stood five vampires, two male and three female. They too had gold toned irises. How many vampires embraced this style of living? Was this the real reason the Volturi sought to destroy Carlisle and others like him? Were they showing others that there was a way to live peacefully with humans? Would so many really follow them?

Now was not the time for questions. We had many others to bring and we couldn’t be as upfront as we had been with Rain’s Gran.

“Thank you for this.” I said to the clan standing in front of us.

“Of course.” A female with curly blond hair replied.

“We’re glad to help.” A tall male with short, dark hair said.

“We should be thanking you.” Another female added.

“Revolting against the Volturi was very brave.” The other male said and then smiled, “My kind of vampires.”

I didn’t really know how to respond so I turned to Rain instead. She had set her grandmother down and they were looking around, taking in the scenery.

“We need to go.” I said to Rain.

She looked at her grandma, “We’ll be back soon with the rest. Remember, some of them will be frightened and some might try to leave. Keep everyone calm, okay?”

“Don’t worry about a thing, honey.” She said confidently. “I’ll put some tea on.” She walked towards the kitchen like she owned the place. The vampires didn’t seem to mind. They smiled at her.

I whispered low so the old lady wouldn’t be able to hear, “Please make sure no one leaves.”

“Don’t worry, young man.” Her grandmother replied, “Everyone will stay until its safe.”

I looked at her. She was in the kitchen, poking around in the cabinets.

All of us looked in her direction. She shouldn’t have been able to hear me. Even a healthy young person shouldn’t have been able to hear me. The only ears strong enough should have been the vampires.

Then the old lady looked up from what she was doing---setting tea cups out on the counter---and smiled at me. She looked me right in the eyes. It was like she knew what I was thinking. Her grin spread wider.

Creepy.

“Come on,” Rain said, she sounded like she wanted to laugh. She grabbed my hand, “Let’s go.”

We went back to work. It wasn’t easy. Most, we had to take by surprise. It was easy to sneak up on them, keeping them from hurting themselves trying to get away from us was not as simple. Once we got them into the house in Alaska, Rain’s Gran had a pretty good handle on things. She talked to them, gave them tea and somehow kept everyone tranquil. There was something about her, something unique. The thought crossed my mind that she might be something more than just human.

I insisted that we get my parents last. Partially because I felt like I could handle it if my parents were taken. Of course, I’d go back to the Volturi if they did have them but I’d make sure it was just me. No one else. I could handle the Volturi, the others couldn’t. I didn’t want to think of what Jane would do to them if they did go back.

We made it to my parent’s house. The sun was hiding behind thick, dark clouds. I was grateful. Having to hide from the sunlight and trying to acquire people was troublesome. This way we only had to worry about finding and taking my parents back.

I wondered if they would recognize me. What would I look like to them? Would they see some of what I had looked like before lurking beneath the surface of this handsome face? Or would they only see glowing red eyes and marble skin?

I froze. I didn’t want them to see me. I didn’t want them to recognize me. This would be too much for them. They wouldn’t be able cope. I wouldn’t just be dead or missing. I’d be a monster. They’d see that I was a creature now, something to be feared and hated.

Rain noticed when I stopped.

“I can do this alone.” She whispered to me. “I’ll come back for you.”

As much as I wanted to be the leader, to shrug off the fear and pain and do what I came to do, I couldn’t. I couldn’t get around the look of horror I knew I’d see on their faces.

Then I heard something out of place. I immediately went on alert. Soft footsteps moved through the alley. They weren’t human. And we were outnumbered.

“Rain,” I whispered urgently, “Get my parents out of here!”

She looked uncertain for a split second before disappearing into the house. I heard the start of a shriek that was cut off. She teleported them away as soon as she appeared next to them. It must have frightened my mother, seeing a red eyed girl appear out of nowhere. But at least she was safe.

I wasn’t so lucky.

They moved through the hedges, slowly coming towards me at the side of the house. I looked around. It was the middle of the day in a well-established suburban neighborhood. Most people were still at work or out doing their daily errands or what-have-you. No one was watching me.

So I ran.

I hopped the neighbor’s backyard, over the front and back fence in a single leap, landing in the alley. From there I sprinted down the alley, listening for signs of life, trying to avoid any unnecessary collateral damage. I navigated the allies and back roads to the park. There were jogging paths cut through the dense forest. At this time of day I knew no one would be walking these paths.

I knew they were following me. I could hear the sound of their feet lightly touching the ground as they loped gracefully through the woods. Their capes made more noise than their feet, brushing against the trees and bushes as they rushed by.

The forest wasn’t that big. It was all that was left of what was once a large expanse, cleared to make way for the businesses and shopping centers I knew I would find if I kept going in this direction. There were people there. I could already smell them. There were too many. I wouldn’t be able to keep all of them from seeing me, from seeing something. Someone would get hurt. Caught in the cross fire. I couldn’t let it happen. When I came to a small clearing in the trees, far from the hiking trails, I stopped.

“So very clever.” Jane sighed in her usual bored tone, “I told Felix you would figure out that we were tracking down your precious humans.”

They flowed through the underbrush, their gray cloaks snagging on stray twigs and branches here and there. It didn’t interrupt the flow of their movement. They stayed perfectly aligned, slowly coming towards me into the clearing.

“You should tell Aro he should put someone with more intelligence in charge of his army.” I said, eyeing Felix.

His lips pulled back in a sneer.

They paused, halting their advance at the edge of the field. I had surprised them with the name of their leader.

“You’ve been conversing with the Cullens, I see.” Jane said.

“Carlisle is very knowledgeable and willing to share his wisdom.” I answered.

I looked at the third vampire. I hadn’t seen him before. He stood as tall as Felix but