No Life Kid 16A

The clearing was a mess of shattered earth and scorched wood.

And gunsmoke, of course.

Couldn’t forget the gunsmoke.

Vampires didn't hyperventilate or scream when things went sideways which was what made them panicking even funnier. The sparklers just seemed to compress, getting tighter and twtichier as they almost seemed to vibrate, each one of them moving fast without atually moving fast. 

Something about all the twitchiness made the air around them almost staticky. Like bees, kinda. 

Blue eyes blinked slow as he stood at the edge of the crater he’d made, hand still resting on the heated barrel of the Breaker. Cordite mixed with damp pine, an industrial perfume that would be worthy of Old Spice tickling his nostrils.

The Cullens were doing their thing, huddled around Bella as Edward twitched more than any of them. Zander wasn’t focused on them, though, eyes still tracking the darkness between the trees, listening to the silence. 

The three nomads were gone. Long gone. Each one of them moving at speeds at least half that of sound, they were already miles away in minutes, scents fading into the wetness of the undergrowth. Good.

Letting them run was always the play. Executing them in front of the vegetarian club would have been fine but it wouldn’t have gotten him what he needed. Need James to start his little game of cat and mouse.

To draw out the real monsters and kick up the violence, he had to let some things play out at least in a way he could track first. Still, though…

Hungry.

A thick string of saliva pooled hot at the edge of his mouth. Zander dragged a too-long tongue over his lip, catching it before it could trail down his chin.

Yeah, he was hungry. 

As much for the hunt as he was for something sweet. The spike from firing the hand-cannon was fading in his own veins, and all he had left was cold bones.

“He’s tracking her!”

Alice’s gasp had him turn around, the girl leaning against Jasper with her golden eyes wide and unfocused as she stared toward a future that only she could see. The Cullen clan as a whole had collapsed inward like he expected, a hard diamond shell around the soft and squishy human center.

Pale and small, Bella stood in the middle of them all, arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold her ribs together. As expected, Edward hovered over her, face a mask of sculpted fury as his hands hovered near his shoulders.

"I… I can see it already.” 

Alice was still talking, words tumbling out in a breathless rush. "H-he’s following her scent, learning her patterns. Bella… Bella’s in real danger, he won’t stop."

Edward's head snapped toward her, jaw locked tight enough he looked one-hundred percent a statue. "Then we take her away from here. Tonight. Somewhere he can't follow."

“And where is that?” Emmett grunted, Rosalie pressed into his side.

“Phoenix.” Edward answered without missing a beat. “Or further even.”

"No!" Bella's voice was quiet, but the girl was as stubborn as she was pale. Already digging her heels in, she looked right up at Edward with a glare. "I can't just leave. Charlie is here. If I disappear, h-"

"And is Charlie on the menu for a sadistic tracker?" Edward almost hissed, voice intense enough to strip paint. "He will be if we don’t do something."

"I... I can't just run," Bella’s breath hitched as she shook her head, looking around the assembled vampires from Carlisle, to Jasper to Emmett. "There… there’s gotta be… I mean, another way, right? We can... we can fight them?"

“The fuck is we, snack-pack?”

Dark eyes landed on Zander, widening just a bit at the sight of the massive gun resting on his shoulder. “What… what did you call me?”

“Snack. Pack.” Zander sighed as he rolled his shoulders. “Y’know, because what else would you call someone who went alone into the woods during a thunderstorm to hang with vampires you’ve known like… what? A week?” 

Bella’s face fell even as Edward scowled his way, another snort leaving Emmett’s lips.

“I mean, very brave of you but hormones doesn’t really count as courage, now does it?” 

“Are you done?” Edward hissed, actually this time. “Because now’s not the time.”

"Speaking of time," Zander drawled the last word, boots dragging through wet grass as he slid the modified Deagle into the custom holster sewn into his coat. "I’mma pack out. Don’t know ‘bout y’all, but your boy needs his eight hours."

Emmett blinked, actually frowning. "You sleep?"

"Yeah."

Golden eyes just stared at him. "...Lame."

Zander flipped him off, middle finger flying high. Fuckin’ sparklers. 

"Wait." Edward looked back at Zander, one hand raised. "It’s for the best if we coordinate, pool our efforts. I know James's type. He’s a tracker with who knows how many centuries of experience. Division is not in our bests interests."

“Yeah, and?” Zander raised an eyebrow. "I'm a vampire hunter with two years of killing vampires under my big fat belt buckle." Sure, technically, he’d  only actually killed two vampires in those two years — and both of those were two years ago — but two was already a body count on its own. “Pretty sure only Southern Jazz back there got more than me.”

"For reall, I’m down to crack open a Cold One with you boys, but sometimes and I do mean only sometimes," Zander smiled at them, "Best coordination is all about staying out of each other's way. Don't trip over my boots, I won't trip over yours."

"You don't understand." Carlisle stepped forward, the age-old peacemaker trying to build a bridge over a minefield. "The danger he pose-"

"Doc, I would love to hear about it but there’s like seven of you," Zander interrupted, cutting the older vampire off smoothly. "One of you can see the future. The other can read minds. And another one’s on vampire roids. I’m fine to help, sure, but you don’t really need me, now do you? Besides, we got different goals here."

For the most part, he was after a bigger haul. “Be seein’ ya.”

With that said, he turned and started walking toward the trail. Something's off.

Something was off and it was nagging at him the whole time he made his way back toward his car. That whole thing… it didn’t match up. Of course, it hadn’t, considering he was there, but the rhythm of it felt… weird. James had been a bit too focused his way, when he wasn’t his favored meal of the day.

Just way too interested when it came to him and less so on Bella.

Too intrigued by the gun. 

And almost locked on to the smell of him.

Huh… But Alice's visions were clear and he knew Bella was the target. The plot was the plot, after all. You couldn't argue with the psychic weather forecast.

Stick to the plan.