Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I'm just tweaking the Twiverse...and posting my first ever Quick Fic. I started out with a plan for shortish chapters (800 - 1800 words), but the chapters get longer toward the end. I hope you enjoy.

These first chapters were beta'ed by Squeaky Zorro (and Chloe Cougar, too, I think – it was a while ago), but I've written in and changed things a little, so any mistakes in grammar are all mine.

Words: 1824

Hunted in Seattle

Chapter 1

Adventure

BPOV

"Hi Dad, I'm in Seattle." I kept my tone bright, hoping that would keep Charlie from panicking. "There's been a delay with the plane to Port Angeles, and I'm going to have to stay the night. But I've got a flight booked for first thing tomorrow."

Not surprisingly, my pronouncement was met with silence.

"Um…there's nothing to worry about. The airline has organized a hotel room for the night, and I've got vouchers for the hotel restaurant. It's perfectly safe; there's a shuttle bus to the hotel and everything."

"I don't know, Bells," Charlie finally spoke. "I could drive out to get you. Wouldn't be there 'til midnight though, as I can't really get off work just now…"

"Honestly, Dad, I'd much rather stay in a hotel than wait at the airport. I'll be careful and you'll see me tomorrow morning." I crossed my fingers, hoping that he would agree to my unexpected little adventure but not wanting to sound too desperate.

Eventually, after numerous reassurances that I'd be fine on my end and a lecture about personal safety on his, Charlie gave his reluctant permission. Smiling with relief, I collected my vouchers and boarded the shuttle bus into the city.

While it was my choice to sentence myself to almost two years in dismal, dreary Forks to give my mom and her new husband the opportunity to travel together while I finished up high school, it didn't mean a delay in the commencement of my incarceration wasn't welcome. I'd never seen Seattle, other than the airport a couple of times when I'd come to visit Charlie on access visits and that was years earlier, and I was excited to have the opportunity to take a look around.

The hotel was pretty basic, but it didn't matter since I wasn't planning on spending any time there other than sleeping. Taking just long enough to stow my bags and use the bathroom, I set off to explore the city.

The tourist precinct was buzzing, and Pike Place Market was fun, just as I'd imagined it to be. I stood in the crowd and watched the fish being tossed before grabbing a hot dog with the works for dinner. The hotel restaurant had looked pretty dull, though I was sure breakfast there would be fine. After spending some time listening to the buskers and watching the street performers scattered along the waterfront, I called it a night, content with my unexpected adventure. The ever-dutiful daughter, I was on my way back to the hotel a little before nine pm as promised, choosing not to waste money on a cab when the distance was minimal and the sidewalk well lit.

In hindsight, I should have spent the money on a taxi, as that was when my little adventure went from being something fun…to something else entirely.

"Help! Somebody help me!" I heard a girl's cry, the sound coming from an alleyway off the main road. There was no one else around to hear or help, so I paused, peering into the darkness and wondering what to do. Charlie's warnings immediately sounded in my head. It could be a trap. I'd been reluctant to get a cell phone, but I was starting to regret my decision.

After a moment, my eyes to adjust to the gloom, and I spotted a young woman sitting with her back against the brick wall of the alley, about ten yards in from the entrance. She was very pretty, with the most amazing red ringlets.

"Um…are you okay?" I asked, glancing up and down the road looking for anyone who might be able to help.

"Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed, bringing my eyes back to her lovely face. "I think I've sprained my ankle. Can you help me to my feet?"

I hesitated. She looked harmless enough, pale and a little rumpled, but I couldn't help wondering what she was doing in the alley in the first place.

"Please?" she pleaded, her sweet, high voice making her sound even younger than she looked. "I know I was silly to come down here, but I saw the cutest kitten. It looked half starved, and I just had to try and save it."

I suppressed a snort. She was a rescuer like me, though I tended to focus on people rather than animals.

"Okay…" I approached cautiously, all my senses on full alert. Charlie might not approve of my getting involved, but I blamed him for my over-developed nurture gene—though in his case it had translated as 'protect and serve' rather than 'act like a responsible parent when you're still just a teenager' as it had in mine. My mothering tendency certainly hadn't come from Renee.

The girl was small, like me, and didn't appear to be any sort of threat. Still, I crouched down a short distance from her and continued to scan further down the alley just in case she wasn't alone. When no one else appeared, I inched my way closer, which was when I noticed her scent—like flowers or very expensive perfume. I wasn't normally a big one for artificial fragrances, or artificial anything for that matter, but this was the nicest perfume I'd ever smelled.

I guessed that ruled out the possibility of her being homeless, though she could have stolen it, I supposed. But her clothes were a little off; kind of ragged around the edges and an oddly mismatched collection of styles. Her beautiful hair was dreaded in places, but it didn't look like she'd had it professionally done in a salon, more like she'd not bothered to comb out the knots when they'd formed. The ankle she had resting on one knee looked fine, and I frowned, cocking my head.

Something wasn't quite right, but when I went to move back, her hand shot out and grabbed me around the wrist.

"Hey!" My cry started out as a protest but quickly became one of pain. The grip of her icy cold hand was incredibly strong, and my eyes shot up to her face in surprise. The sweet, imploring expression was gone, replaced with a fierce determination.

"It's okay," I whimpered, tugging ineffectually against her hold. "I'll help…I wasn't going to just leave you."

"Oh, you foolish girl, leaving was never an option," she hissed, and I pulled harder, clawing at her fingers with my free hand. A strange, growling noise rumbled from her chest and the light caught her eyes, making them appear a dark, blood red.

She must be an addict of some sort, I realized, too late. It was the only explanation I could think of for her strength and strange behavior.

"I've got money, if you want it," I offered, jerking my head toward my purse that had fallen to the ground beside me, but she just laughed. The eerie, bell-like sound sent a chill right through me, that and the fact that despite my struggles, I couldn't loosen her grip in the slightest.

Charlie's words ran through my mind—make noise, draw attention, do whatever you have to do to get away, to get help—and I sucked in a breath, preparing to scream. But I never got the chance. Her hand shot out, grabbing me around the neck and cutting off my airway. Screaming was no longer an option—I couldn't even breathe!

Panicked, I began to struggle in earnest, trying to loosen her grip on my neck. Then everything went crazy. The muted colors of the alleyway blurred together: dark gray concrete, brown brick, splashes of red from the girls hair, while a howling wind picked me up and tossed me like I was a rag doll. My head smacked against something hard, and when my vision cleared, I saw that I was being held up against the wall at the far end of the alley—by my throat—my feet dangling above the ground. It was as if my weight was nothing to the girl, and I had no idea how she'd moved so fast or was holding me up so easily. Surely, not even drugs could give someone that sort of strength and speed?

"Well done, Vic." A sleazy-looking man with a dark blond ponytail appeared at the girl's side, his eyes, an evil red, locking on my face. "Three in one night. You really are the most alluring vamp I know." He put his arm around her waist, and the girl turned her head to kiss him full on the mouth. They took their time, seemingly indifferent to my futile struggles and the fact that I was suffocating.

"Shall we have her here or take her back to the warehouse to savor?" the girl asked, and a faint whimper escaped my strangled throat.

The man shrugged. "I'm full from the last two we shared. You, Laurent?"

Another man appeared as if out of nowhere, with long black dreadlocks and a strange sheen to his very dark skin. His eyes were also red and roamed over my body with what I could only describe as a hungry gleam. Leaning in close, he sniffed up and down my neck, his cold nose brushing against my skin.

"I want her," he stated baldly, and I kicked futilely against the wall as my panic escalated.

The blond man shrugged and nodded to the woman who released me. Crumpling to the ground, I gasped for air, coughing and choking as my hands clutched at my throat.

"Not to drink, though she does have the most mouthwatering blood, but to keep. I want to change her," the dark-skinned man added, his terrifying words making little sense.

"Whoa!" Ponytail guy laughed. "Finally! Though I always pictured you with something a little more…exotic."

"She's not much to look at." The red-head sniffed.

"She has potential." The man with the dreadlocks continued to stare down at me with his unnatural red gaze, and I started to cry. I tried to stifle my sobs, knowing I needed to keep it together if I was going to get out of this alive. But everything hurt, and I was just so damned afraid of what they were going to do to me.

"It's her scent," the dread-locked man continued, his odd island accent sending icy shivers down my spine. "I've never smelled anything like her before, and I find it very appealing. I'm hoping the attraction will translate once she's changed."

"I guess its back to the warehouse then." Ponytail guy shrugged as the other man picked me up like I was a sack of potatoes. Throwing me effortlessly over his shoulder, he then leaped, in huge bounds, up the side of the building facing the alley like a super-villain in a Marvel comic...with me his completely hapless victim.

My head banged mercilessly against his back as we flew through the night across the rooftops of the city, and the world that had suddenly gone insane…went black.

~HIS~

I'd love to hear what you thought of the introduction. Would you have gone into that alley?

xxx TLSue