Escape into the Ocean.

After leaving Charlie's house, we made our way through the forest towards the school in hopes of crossing a fresh trail left by Jessy and Victoria. However, we were out of luck. Every trail we came across was old.

 {"Let's set up near the school and see if we can spot them."}

 Nodding her head, Edythe took the lead, and we looked for a likely spot to wait out the night. The next four hours were boring but nice. We talked about anything that came to mind, it helped they Edythe could practically see my answers as soon as I thought them. Though this wasn't the best way to communicate at times. I had never really thought about how much time I pondered a question and thought over my answer before vocalizing it. Luckily, Edythe was understanding and let me explain when I needed to. After so much time reading people's minds, she was aware that the first thought that popped into people's minds was rarely what they truly meant. 

 It was about 2am when Edythe paused and turned sharply towards the school. "They are here. Jessy broke the lock on the front entrance. They are looking for the admissions office."

 {"Can you tell if they will come out the same door? Most people exit the same way they enter, it's a habit that has to be consciously broken."}

 "I can't tell, they aren't thinking about leaving right now. Jessy is upset that they are here at all. He wants to get Charlie to make you chase him, but James wants information about Bella. Veronica is upset that James is being chased by Edward and Emmett. But she believes he will lose them by going north into Canadian territory they know well."

 {"Let's go down by the entrance, there should be enough shadows to hide in that are close enough to ambush them when they come out."}

 We both moved as quietly as we could, Edythe stopped talking to me so they wouldn't pick up the sound. Once we were in place, I intently watched the entrance, and Edythe was reduced to only being able to answer questions from me in a yes or no fashion. Even that was not easy as I couldn't see her nod or shake her head because I was so focused on the doorway, so we got around that by her placing her hand on my side and tapping my shoulder once for a yes and twice for a no. 

 After about 15 minutes, I heard two sets of light footsteps approaching the door and prepared myself to pounce. The first out was Veronica, followed immediately by Jessy. As soon as Jessy cleared the doorway, I leaped towards them both. I intended to take them both down at once, but Veronica reacted surprisingly quickly, and all I was able to do to her was scratch her back from right shoulder to left hip. 

 As Victoria bolted away, and I let her go, my true target of this ambush was Jessy. Edythe hesitated to chase after Veronica in worry for me, so mentally I shouted, "Go after her!"} and watched as she disappeared after her. Unfortunately, that slight distraction allowed Jessy to pull himself away from my grasp. Trying to maintain control of the vampire, I bit down on the closest part of him that I could.

 My bite tore a piece of the vampire from his body, but Jessy was able to scramble away and make for the nearby woods in an effort to escape me. I kept right after him, not giving him a chance to escape. Jessy's movement was slower than I expected. I pounced on his back and tried for a bite at the back of his neck. 

 As soon as my front paws touched him, he ducked down to the ground, causing me to overshoot him. Still in the air, I twisted and turned so I would land facing him. With my claws out and digging into the ground, I didn't slide far. Jessy had stopped and crouched into a defensive stance, his eyes wide and panicked. 

 "OK, Thomas. This is enough, just let me go and you will never see me again. I will never enter this territory again. I haven't done anything to any of your loved ones yet, so we can let bygones be. I promise I will call my brother off the Isabella girl as well. He is closing in on her as we speak, that's why he isn't with us. I could be your last chance to save her."

 He was panting, not because he was out of breath, of course. But because he was scared. I knew it and gave him a low growl in response. 

 "Just let me get Veronica, and we are gone." Jessy continued talking even as his eyes were looking for an escape. 

 I slowly started to inch forward, staring at him intently, my mouth slightly open. He tried to step back, and he stumbled a bit. That's when I noticed that he was missing half of his left foot. It must have been what I had torn from him when he was escaping my grasp. He wasn't going anywhere quickly. I started to circle him, moving towards his left side, making him constantly adjust it and use his right foot as a pivot to keep me in front of him. I tensed for a jump at him and flexed like I was making my move, and watched as he tried to jump back, falling for my feint. 

 When he did that, I knew I had him. He was off balance and helpless, so this time I pounced for real. When we collided, I bit into and tore off his right arm. My back claws were going to town on his lower abdomen and shredding him with ease. Jessy screamed in fear and pain as my claws and teeth were unopposed by his natural defenses he prided himself on. 

 When he fell to the ground, I did not hesitate. I just calmly approached him, staring into his fear-filled eyes until I opened my mouth wide and clamped down on his neck. His head popped off his shoulders just as easily as Henry's did during my first shift. I heard someone approaching and turned to see Rosalie and Esme. Quickly, I shifted to my human form. 

 "Can you two take care of the body? I need to find Edythe and make sure she is okay."

 Without waiting for a reply, I shifted back and went in search of my love. Running as fast as I could while praying that no one was looking out their window, I followed the scent left by both vampires and was relieved when the trail led me back into the woods. 

 Listening for any sound that would indicate a fight, I moved as quickly as I could. But between the fight I had just gone through and the distance I had run already, it wasn't long before I had to move to a slower pace as I tried to catch my breath so I could go at my top speed again. As I followed the trail, I began to smell salt in the air, the ocean was nearby. A couple of minutes later, the trail led me to a cliff that overlooked the ocean. 

 I looked out into the water but was unable to make anything out. In my frustration, I roared at the ocean. Almost immediately heard Edythe's voice. 

 "Thomas, I'm coming."

 I looked down the cliff face and saw Edythe climbing up the sheer drop with ease. The sight of her caused me to relax and reflexively shift back to human. 

 "Are you okay?"

 "I'm fine, just give me a second to get up there."

 In seconds, she was standing next to me, checking for any injuries, and I was doing the same to her. 

 "I am sorry, Thomas, she got away. I almost had her before we got to this cliff. She jumped and was gone into the ocean before I could spot her after following her in. Are you okay? What happened with Jessy?"

 "I am fine. As for Jessy, your mother and sister were burning his body as I came in search of you."

 Edythe hugged me tighter, "That's a relief, it took everything I had to leave you to fight him alone. Let's get back so they don't worry any more than they have to."

 I shifted back to my tiger form, and we made our way back to town, sticking to the forest this time. When we got close to the school, we found Rosalie and Esme in the woods watching as the last of Jessy's body burned away. The smell in the air made me sneeze and shake my head. 

 "Are you two okay?" Esme asked as soon as we appeared. 

 "We are fine Mom. Victoria got away, though. I was really hoping to end this part of the fight tonight. They got all of Bella and Thomas's information from the school records. I heard Victoria speaking on the phone, so I assume James now has the information as well. Have you heard from Edward?"

 "Yes, he and Emmett are on their way back. They lost James in the Vancouver airport. Edward is thinking about going to Bella and hiding her while Alice looks for the safest way to take him down."

 "With you two being here, I assume Carlisle is watching over Charlie?"

 Esme nodded her head.

 "Well, we should probably head home so Thomas can get some sleep and be ready for school tomorrow. I need to call Alice and talk with her."

A.N. 

I know I said it would be two chapters, but I just couldn't concentrate on my writing with my wife excited about the vacation trip. I am taking pen and paper so I can outline the next book and maybe do a better job of it. See you all in a couple of weeks, stay safe so you can read more of my story.