Into The Wild by Miss Baby COMPLETE

Into The Wild by Miss Baby COMPLETE, E - I

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Fanfiction based on Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series
Rated M for Mature.
Into The Wild
By Miss Baby
Summary:
No one who values their life ventures into the woods after dark. However, when the man Bella
loves disappears in the woods surrounding Forks, does she really have another choice? AU/Canon
pairings/Humans and wolves.
~*~
~ Prologue ~
No one who valued life ventured into the woods after dark.
It was a truth that every inhabitant of the small town of Forks knew to be self-evident; a lesson every child within
the town learned as soon as they were able to understand the underlying message.
Danger.
A danger that lay within each and every one of them, though only a select few of the town elders were aware of
that. To the others, it was just a terrible curse, laid upon the town in retaliation for an equally terrible crime.
It had happened long ago, so long that with each passing generation the story had been added to and made so
wondrous that it was almost hard to believe. However, the essence remained the same and would never be
doubted, not when almost every inhabitant of the town had first-hand proof of it: the woods that cut the town of
Forks off from the rest of the world were cursed by an ancient magic, imprisoning all those who dwelled within
the city limits.
It was the finality of that truth that had driven Charles Swan, chief of police of that same town, to the watchtower
that stood tall amidst the pastures and plough lands that made up the border between the town and the forest. It
was the place where he had spend many a night in his life, sometimes tense and wary, always vigilant but never as
anguished as he was that night.
"Good evening, Chief Swan." Much to his own mortification Charlie was unable to hide his reaction to the sudden
noise coming from behind him, inwardly cursing himself for not paying better attention to what was going on
around him. "How fare you this night?" He shouldn't have been surprised by the doctor's nocturnal visit to the
watchtower. Over the last six days Carlisle Cullen, his childhood friend and the town's doctor had become a
regular feature up at the tower. It was common practice for every father out there with a son on the brink of
adulthood.
"As well as any father with a child out in the woods," the policeman sighed in his characteristic half-growl. "But I
don't think I have to explain that to you. How's Esme?"
Now it was his friend's turn to sigh, his face clouding over as the memories of the last few days seeped back in.
"Coping as well as could be expected, though I wish I could do more for her."
The memory of the unspeakable
pain and anguish on his wife's face when he left her that day, visible even as she lay asleep, had haunted him as
he went about his daily work, treating wounds and curing fevers to the best of his ability.
He had never felt so powerless before, not even when he had watched his sister slip away under his hands,
knowing there was nothing he could do to save her. And now he'd lost his last remaining tie to her: her son, the
boy he'd raised as his own…loved as his own.
"And you?" The gruff voice of his childhood friend pulled him out of his dark thoughts.
"The same."
Silence fell between them after that, the comfortable silence between two friends who needed no more than two
words to know how the other was feeling. Both elders of the town, they had stood beside each other during
hardships and challenges over the years but none as big as the one they were facing right now.
"She will be safe, Charlie," his friend reassured him. "If there is anyone who could make it out there, it's her."
"I know," Charlie grunted, his eyes never leaving the dark shadows on the edge of the wood, "but I still wish I'd
never let her do this. No offense…."
"None taken," the other man replied with a sigh. "Though I think you would have been hard pressed to keep her
there against her will."
"True." Charlie chuckled even in spite of himself. "But you forget….I
am
the chief of police after all. Locking
folks up is part of my core business."
Their conversation was cut short by a loud sound coming from the darkness in front of them, a lonesome howl
reverberating through the trees.
"What the hell was that?" Carlisle breathed, his eyes frantically scanning the darkness in front of them, the
answering howls of the rest of the wolf pack making their skin crawl.
"What the hell do you think," Charlie cried, his hands gripping the railing so tight it was in danger of breaking
into two. "It's the wolves….they must have caught her trail."
"Charlie I….."
"You'd better get back home, Carlisle," Charlie barked, his shoulders squaring and his eyes narrowing. It was a
shift in demeanor Carlisle knew all too well. He had witnessed it countless times when they grew up. It was the
end of their conversation. "You're not supposed to be out after dark anyway. Esme will be sick with worry."
Carlisle breathed in a deep breath as he watched his friend, the shadow of Chief Swan's proud, commanding
frame standing out against the dark. He wished it would be different, that their roles would have been exchanged,
that it would be his son out there searching for Charlie's daughter. Not the other way around.
It wasn't supposed to be the other way around.
Still, Charlie could hope where he could not. His child had only been out there for a day, less even, when
Carlisle's boy had set off into the woods six days ago.
Six nights of listening closely.
Six nights of watching the same damn tree line, hoping for a sign of life.
Six nights of knowing, when the wolves began to howl, that all hope should be abandoned.
Six mornings of starting all over again.
"I'm sorry," he spoke in the general direction of the shadow of his best friend.
Because he was.
~ x ~
Meanwhile somewhere deep in the forest Bella Swan was lost in more ways than one. Initially when she had set
out into the forest earlier that day, determination and focus on the task at hand had been enough to keep her going,
but as night fell and the forest gave birth to sudden movements and unsettling sounds, both of those had vanished
like snow before the sun, leaving only fear.
Fear for herself, but most of all fear for those she loved.
Her father.
Her sister.
Her lover…
If only she could have found him. If only she knew…
The thought that he might still be alive there somewhere, needing her, while she was standing there in the middle
of a moonlit clearing petrified with fear…
"Pull yourself together, Bella," she growled at herself. "It's only trees. Trees and leaves and roots. Nothing to
fear."
Although
, her subconscious was quick to add,
roots had made her slip more often than she cared to remember.
Not to mention the thorns on the brambles…..
"Just put one foot in front of the other." It was easier said than done with a body that had suddenly decided to
speak a different language than her mind. Between the throbbing of her slightly sprained ankle and the crippling
fear, movement was pretty much the last thing her body had in mind. The only thing that could make it move, in
the end, was the image of the one she had set out to find.
I have to find him.
Next thing she knew she was on the edge of the clearing, her eyes scanning into the darkness, hoping to satisfy
themselves that all was safe and hopefully detect a sign of life…human life.
It all happened so quickly, her brain barely catching up as the horror scenario's it had made up all came true at
once.
A twig snapping underneath her feet.
The bloodcurdling howls of the wolves, followed by the sound of living beings moving through the forest at a
dazzling speed.
Moving towards her…..
Preferring light to darkness Bella backtracked into the clearing again, though she realized that the sense of
security the moonlight gave her was nothing but falsehood. The wolves would react the same, whether they could
only see her fear or just smell it.
The only difference was that she would be able to see them, though in retrospect she wasn't quite sure whether or
not that would be an advantage.
A dark shadow crept out from beneath the tree line, minutes after Bella had backed into the clearing, it's piercing
eyes and bared, glistening teeth the only things standing out against the darkness surrounding it.
It must have smelled her through the forest, fear and the dried up blood from where thorns and branches had
scratched her skin guiding it towards her through the darkness like a hungry man towards a roasted chicken.
And with the same purpose…..to devour.
Instinct took over right that moment, her sore foot forgotten or just blocked out by the adrenaline rush, survival
outweighing visibility as far as her subconscious was concerned and Bella took off in a sprint, the fabric of her
dress rustling against her legs as she ran for dear life, hoping that the cover of darkness and the thickness of the
forest would somehow shield her from the evil that pursued her.
It was to no avail.
Soon the rustling of branches and the heavy foul breath coming from the animal's snout could be heard behind
her, stopping only when it paused to emit a deep, low howl, the answer coming almost immediately and from a
space right behind her.
Crap!
Spurred by fear Bella made the capital mistake of looking back, the shadows of at least five wolves closing in on
her making her feet pick up speed and loose every caution they had held on to until then.
The result was almost immediate, a slippery tree stump causing her to lose her balance and crash onto the ground.
The fact that the adrenaline coursing through her veins overrode the pain she would normally have felt only a
small blessing as she scrambled for a nearby tree.
She had seen death many times, even in spite of her young age. As a volunteer at Carlisle Cullen's clinic she had
stood by powerless as men with the strength of juggernauts crumbled before her eyes, not to mention watched as
her own mother sacrificed her own life to save that of her unborn child.
However, she had never given much thought to how
she
was going to die.
Not until then.
A frightened whimper left her mouth as she crawled backwards, her hands clawing at the earth beneath her as she
pressed her body against the wood of a tree, hoping it would somehow protect her.
"Please…." She whispered at the dark shadows moving in on her, a lone tear dripping out of the corner of her eye.
A figure sprang forward from the circle of wolves that surrounded her, its menacing snarls a taste of what was to
come.
Bella's voice barely registered above a whisper as she started to pray, the words leaving her lips in a frantic flutter
as the shadow slowly but surely crept forward.
She prayed to be saved.
She prayed for a quick ending.
But most of all….she prayed for the man she loved, more than her own life.
As the beast before her crouched, his figure poised to strike, the moonlight caught its eyes, a familiar shimmer
catching her eye.
She would have recognized those eyes anywhere, having caught that same shimmer from across her father's
dining table many, many times.
It was then, and only then, that Bella screamed.
~*~
~ Chapter One ~
"Jess, are you sure?" Bella's surprise was obvious as she withdrew her hands from the earth she had just been
digging up in search of potatoes.
"Yes! Edward Masen is the perfect man for me! Why is that so hard for you to see?" her sister cried out
impatiently. "I love him and I want to marry him and bear his children!"
If Jessica had known her exultant words and exaggerated gestures only served to show how childish and ill-
considered her plan really was, she would probably have chosen others, or held her tongue entirely.
The problem was, Jessica rarely ever thought twice about what she said or how she came across. It was a trait she
had inherited from their mother. And like her mother, she got awaywith it because of her beauty and because her
easy, open character made her ignorance sometimes seem almost cute.
Her older sister Bella, however, took more after her father. She was thoughtful, silent and reliable. It had always
been in her nature to put the wellbeing of others before her own, even if it meant getting her heart broken and her
hopes crushed. "Are you sure, Jess?" she asked, her eyes squinting against the light of the sun. "I mean….did you
speak to him about it?"
"No, not yet," Jessica huffed impatiently, "but I'm sure he'll come around as soon as he finds out that I'll have him.
After all….he'd be hard-pressed to find another unattached girl as pretty as I am in this town."
"You don't mean…." Bella's face drained of all color as she thought of the possibility that her sister, the girl she
had practically raised on her own ever since their mother died, was entertaining the thought of throwing
convention and good manners completely out of the window. "Are you saying…" she continued cautiously, "I
mean….am I right to understand that you are going to speak to him directly?"
"Why not?" Jessica shrugged, playing with a strand of her shiny light brown curls.
Bella dropped her tools, her hands trembling with a mixture of anger, shock and disappointment. "Why not?"
Bella huffed. Jessica's eyes narrowed as her sister repeated the words, only with a voice conveying the
mortification Bella felt. "Jessica, women do not just blurt out their feelings whenever they feel like it! There are
proper ways in which this should be dealt with."
"Proper ways," Jessica grumbled as if propriety was something utterly disgusting. "I'm sure he'll only like me
better because of my spirit and spontaneity."
She rolled her eyes when Bella didn't seem to be so convinced of that, her impatience and annoyance only
increasing with everything her sister said. Why couldn't Bella see the logic in all of it? She and Edward would
make such a beautiful couple and, even though Edward might not have seen it yet, she was convinced that once
she had spoken to him he would see it too. Why should she risk all of that simply because of something as dull
and stupid as etiquette?
"Mike always says that it's about time we got rid of those stuffy, archaic manners the old folks want to impose
upon the young," she tried, remembering how this same subject had been a recurring grievance amongst her
friends. She could only wholeheartedly agree with Mike. New times called for new ways. It was about time the
old guard, including, as it seemed, her sister, would realize that.
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