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YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CANT HIDE... (Gabriel's POV)
March 5th, 2013
I have to admit that I'm glad to be back in Kerry again. But I will really miss Russia, I was born there, my family was there. I laughed and cried there, I had my first kiss in that town, its where I went to school.
But...as I glance at Johanna looking out the window- to see her face light up at the recognition of the streets- I realize that this is my home. I laugh and cry here too. My family and friends are here. My new life was born here, I kiss Johanna all the time, and..I could go through school again to.
Hey, anythings possible right? After all, I am a vampire.
I am happy to be home. With Johanna's hand in mine and a present for Sophia in the other, we step out of the car and walk towards the main house.
"Welcome back home," I whisper to Johanna before she opens the door.
"You too," Johanna kisses my nose.
She's been...different since Russia. Its like she has a special secret that only she knows or something.
"We're home!" Johanna yells as we walk through the door.
Unfortunately, we're greeted by solemn faces, an air of nervousness hangs in the air.
I close the door behind us, set Sophia's present on the couch and go into the kitchen.
I notice the Cullens are all here. Bella even brought Reneesme, this must be serious.
I look to Rhoan who then looks at Jordan.
I look into her eyes, "Who is trying to kill us now?"
Happiness is short lived. When everything looks fine, don't hold your breath. In other words, just because the sun is out, don't be shocked if it starts to rain. It turns out that we- for once- are not being hunted...Sophia is. Who would want to hurt her? Forget the fact that she's my little niece! Just- well- she's only a little girl! She couldn't do harm to somebody even if she tried!
But I guess the Devil and his son wouldn't seek revenge on those who deserve it...I suppose they wish for the entire world to crawl through flames, to bend to his will and to stoop to his level. I could picture it now: side walks opening up, sucking the innocent into the deep depths of the Earth. Only the evil and damned will walk. The green and blue, pink and green, all color will be drained. Fire and darkness will rule. People with dark minds and dark desires will walk with their heads held high, knowing that the Devil condones this behavior. Creatures of the darkest fairytale will become plentiful sights. No one will wonder what other creatures go bump in the night, what ones might hide in the darkest corner of their child's mind...little boys and girls will be tortured by snakes whispering evil and creatures that hide in the shadows. Wolves howling and biting at their heels. The heat of Hell will be all they know.
A world like this I wouldn't wish for my worst enemy...not even for Kali.
And most certainly not for the people who go to school, the people who wake up every morning to go to work for money for their family, the people who have or are mother and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, not for my niece.
My first question was, "How do we stop him?"
Reluctantly, Jordan replied, "WE don't. Sophia does."
Not what I wanted to hear.
She was a little girl! And I'd be dead before I would be told that I can't fight for her!
"You and Josh love her. I love her. We all love her!" I say, I was actually starting to lose my temper, "So how can you just stand by and let her walk into this alone?!" I yelled.
Jordan had gotten upset so Josh had to speak instead, "I think the fight is with her witch powers, Gabriel. We know nothing about that and therefore can't help."
I was going to look to Rhoan or Johanna for help but I couldn't take my gaze from Jordan. For once, I felt real. Like I really was standing on this ground, living right now. In this moment. I felt the cold of my skin. I'm as solid as a brick wall! My mind won't be changed.
"So what? Yeah we nothing about that but we can teach her what we know. The little things that are common sense, even for humans, in a fight. Never get backed into a corner. Always keep your opponent on the defensive. Keep moving." I don't blink, my eyes don't leave Jordan's.
"Its just like soccer, right, Josh?" I ask.
"I do know a few spells," Rhoan says from his seat on one of the bar stools, "And at the very least I could help her with concentration and technique."
"Exactly! And I'm sure Lottie and Bastien can help with the instinct. We all love her and would do anything to keep her safe. If its true that we can't fight for her, then let us help now. Let us prepare her. And when the time comes, she won't be as scared, she'll let instinct come out, she'll use common sense, her powers might be perfected. She can hear us in her memories, telling her to move faster or to duck. But, if anything else happens, do not send her into this alone."
We all sat there for a while. Each looking from one to the other. What would happen next? Would we be doing this alone? Would Jordan still think it wouldn't help?
The silence stretched, the lack of sound got deafening.
"Now," I pluck Sophia's present from the couch, "I have a present to go deliver to a lovely lady." I don't wait for an answer, not that I needed one. I just walk right out of the house with Johanna right behind me and into the grassy field that separates our houses.
Before we get too close to the house, Johanna grabs my arm and stops me, "How bad is this going to be?" She is referring to Sophia having to fight the Devil's son.
I grab her hand and look into her eyes, "I don't know."
She nods and we knock on Jordan's door. Bella answers and I introduce Bella to Johanna.
"If you two want to go talk or something I can watch the girls."
Bella and Johanna go off into Jordan's kitchen while I go into the living room.
I don't say anything right away, Vera and Sophia really are to cute. They're sitting in front of the tv with their little heads tilted back.
I laugh.
"Uncle Gabriel!" The two girls shriek. They get up and run over to me, fighting for the first hug. I pick both of them up into my arms and swing them around.
"Oh I missed you two so much!" I kiss Vera's cheek and then I kiss Sophia's.
"Where did you go?" Vera asks as we all move to sit on the couch.
So I tell them about Russia and then about visiting Johanna's parents in Pennsylvania.
"- and her mother and father will be visiting very soon for the wedding, so you two will have to be on your best behavior."
They make me pinky promises.
"When are you and aunt Johanna getting married?"
"That's a very good question-"
Johanna steps into the room and smiles at me and the girls, "March 19th is the day of our wedding. And we need you two to do something very special for us."
"Like what?!" Johanna has the girls excited.
"We want you to stand up with us and your Uncle Rhoan when we say 'I do'. We want the both of you to be a part of the wedding."
The girls go into shrieks of excitement and ask questions about what they have to do and if they will get big fancy dresses?
"Of course you do! You can go with me when I get my special dress." Johanna promises.
While Johanna and the girls are discussing dresses, I go check on Bella.
"Hey Bella."
"Hey. So I never thought you would be the type to settle down so fast."
We both laugh, "Well, I found the right girl."
Bella nods, "I was kind of shocked when she told me that she doesn't want to be a vampire. I told her about me and Edward and how I had to marry him to become a vampire, and even then he didn't want to change me right away!"
"Yeah. I was shocked too. Your lucky that you were created and had someone who loved you right away. I think that if when I had woken up, Johanna had been their then I wouldn't hate being a vampire."
"You hate it?"
"Well I don't love it. Yeah. Actually, I usually do hate it. But now I have Johanna and she makes it all better."
Bella smiles at me and we talk a little, finally I tell her, "If you want to go be with your family then that's fine. Johanna and I will stay with Sophia and Vera. I know that Reneesme was looking for you."
You didn't have to tell Bella twice. She said goodbye to the girls and to Johanna and left.
Sophia had run off with Vera into the other room which left Johanna and I alone on the couch.
"Johanna, I think we should postpone the wedding, just until after this fight blows over."
She kisses my cheek and agrees with me, "I know you won't be relaxed and comfortable until you know she's safe and it really is sweet that you want to wait."
"Thank you, love."
We were about to kiss when we heard a little girl's cough.
"What is it Sophia?" I asked. Vera was still in the other room.
She crawls up onto the couch and sits right between Johanna and I.
"I don't want you to wait to get married. I want you to go ahead and do it. Vera and I promised to be on our best behavior, remember?"
She was so grown up, and so so sweet. I wondered if she knew what she was up against, and if not, I don't want to be the one to tell her.
"Well, thank you, Sophia. And if your very sure that Aunt Johanna and I should get married in two weeks then I guess we will."
She gives us a big hug and then walks out of the room to go play with Vera.
I would feel better to postpone the wedding until after Sophia is safe, but she really wants the wedding to happen...
"Don't worry: if anything happens I can have it canceled in a flash."
I really hope so.
I got a text from Lottie saying that she and Bastien were back now and she could come pick Vera up.
"No, tell her I'll drop her off." Johanna says nicely.
She grabs her purse and car keys.
"What do you need your bag for? Your just going down the road."
"Hunny, I'm getting married in 14 days! I gotta find a dress."
She kisses me and then goes to grab Vera and say goodbye to Sophia.
I give Vera a goodbye kiss and tell her that I'll see her soon.
Right after I close the door Sophia clears her throat.
"Yes?"
I turn around and she's standing right there, hands behind her back and staring at her feet.
"Do I get my present now?" She asks with a smile on her face.
"What present?" I joke with her.
She points at the large bag against the wall.
"Oh. This?" I pick it up.
She nods her head fast.
"Who says its for you?" I tease again.
"Uncle Gabriel! Please!" She whines.
"Well, are you sure its for you?" She nods, "you can have it, IF your absolutely positive its for you."
"I'm positive!"
She reaches for the bag, "Woah now! Kiss." She gives me a quick little girl kiss. I know she really wants the present.
She pulls it out of my hands and tears back the paper. Her little face is so sweet when she sees the huge teddy bear sitting in front of her. Seriously, its as big as she is, and its soft too.
Sophia spends the next 20 minutes thinking of a good name for him, but I didn't get to know the name...yet.
Then she pulled me and the bear in front of the tv and put a movie in. I laughed when it started playing. It was that cartoon movie about Anastasia. Jordan had told me that Sophia liked this movie since I was from Russia to.
"Did you know Anastasia?" Sophia's little voice asks.
"Actually, I did. I met her once when she was about 7 years old. She was pretty and nice."
"Did she live happily ever after and marry Demetri?"
Well, I wasn't about to ruin her dreams. She thinks the movie is real, and really, what is the harm in that?
"Of course. She loved him. And they both saved each other you know. You would do anything to save the ones you love." I say pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.
I only wish that I could do something to save her.
She stops with the questions and watches the movie.
We barely get half way through when Jordan and Josh get home. Sophia is happy to show them her new bear and I realize that the three of them need to talk. I text Rhoan quick, telling him we're going out.
Sophia kisses me goodbye and I say bye to Jordan and Josh.
I meet Rhoan at the main house and sure enough he's there waiting for me.
"Where are we going?" He asks as we get into the car.
"I'm getting married in 14 days. We need to get suits."
Rhoan laughs and then agrees with me.
Yeah, so a couple hours later Rhoan and I had gotten our suits and were ready for the wedding. And then that's when it hit me:
I was getting married in 14 days!
And then I had a breakdown on the sidewalk.
"Holy shit! I'm getting married in 14 days! Where!? Who!? Food!? Colors!?"
"Its okay, buddy." Rhoan pulls me off the sidewalk and keeps walking, "I'm sure Johanna has it all worked out."
-Gabriel
March 5th, 2013
I have to admit that I'm glad to be back in Kerry again. But I will really miss Russia, I was born there, my family was there. I laughed and cried there, I had my first kiss in that town, its where I went to school.
But...as I glance at Johanna looking out the window- to see her face light up at the recognition of the streets- I realize that this is my home. I laugh and cry here too. My family and friends are here. My new life was born here, I kiss Johanna all the time, and..I could go through school again to.
Hey, anythings possible right? After all, I am a vampire.
I am happy to be home. With Johanna's hand in mine and a present for Sophia in the other, we step out of the car and walk towards the main house.
"Welcome back home," I whisper to Johanna before she opens the door.
"You too," Johanna kisses my nose.
She's been...different since Russia. Its like she has a special secret that only she knows or something.
"We're home!" Johanna yells as we walk through the door.
Unfortunately, we're greeted by solemn faces, an air of nervousness hangs in the air.
I close the door behind us, set Sophia's present on the couch and go into the kitchen.
I notice the Cullens are all here. Bella even brought Reneesme, this must be serious.
I look to Rhoan who then looks at Jordan.
I look into her eyes, "Who is trying to kill us now?"
Happiness is short lived. When everything looks fine, don't hold your breath. In other words, just because the sun is out, don't be shocked if it starts to rain. It turns out that we- for once- are not being hunted...Sophia is. Who would want to hurt her? Forget the fact that she's my little niece! Just- well- she's only a little girl! She couldn't do harm to somebody even if she tried!
But I guess the Devil and his son wouldn't seek revenge on those who deserve it...I suppose they wish for the entire world to crawl through flames, to bend to his will and to stoop to his level. I could picture it now: side walks opening up, sucking the innocent into the deep depths of the Earth. Only the evil and damned will walk. The green and blue, pink and green, all color will be drained. Fire and darkness will rule. People with dark minds and dark desires will walk with their heads held high, knowing that the Devil condones this behavior. Creatures of the darkest fairytale will become plentiful sights. No one will wonder what other creatures go bump in the night, what ones might hide in the darkest corner of their child's mind...little boys and girls will be tortured by snakes whispering evil and creatures that hide in the shadows. Wolves howling and biting at their heels. The heat of Hell will be all they know.
A world like this I wouldn't wish for my worst enemy...not even for Kali.
And most certainly not for the people who go to school, the people who wake up every morning to go to work for money for their family, the people who have or are mother and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, not for my niece.
My first question was, "How do we stop him?"
Reluctantly, Jordan replied, "WE don't. Sophia does."
Not what I wanted to hear.
She was a little girl! And I'd be dead before I would be told that I can't fight for her!
"You and Josh love her. I love her. We all love her!" I say, I was actually starting to lose my temper, "So how can you just stand by and let her walk into this alone?!" I yelled.
Jordan had gotten upset so Josh had to speak instead, "I think the fight is with her witch powers, Gabriel. We know nothing about that and therefore can't help."
I was going to look to Rhoan or Johanna for help but I couldn't take my gaze from Jordan. For once, I felt real. Like I really was standing on this ground, living right now. In this moment. I felt the cold of my skin. I'm as solid as a brick wall! My mind won't be changed.
"So what? Yeah we nothing about that but we can teach her what we know. The little things that are common sense, even for humans, in a fight. Never get backed into a corner. Always keep your opponent on the defensive. Keep moving." I don't blink, my eyes don't leave Jordan's.
"Its just like soccer, right, Josh?" I ask.
"I do know a few spells," Rhoan says from his seat on one of the bar stools, "And at the very least I could help her with concentration and technique."
"Exactly! And I'm sure Lottie and Bastien can help with the instinct. We all love her and would do anything to keep her safe. If its true that we can't fight for her, then let us help now. Let us prepare her. And when the time comes, she won't be as scared, she'll let instinct come out, she'll use common sense, her powers might be perfected. She can hear us in her memories, telling her to move faster or to duck. But, if anything else happens, do not send her into this alone."
We all sat there for a while. Each looking from one to the other. What would happen next? Would we be doing this alone? Would Jordan still think it wouldn't help?
The silence stretched, the lack of sound got deafening.
"Now," I pluck Sophia's present from the couch, "I have a present to go deliver to a lovely lady." I don't wait for an answer, not that I needed one. I just walk right out of the house with Johanna right behind me and into the grassy field that separates our houses.
Before we get too close to the house, Johanna grabs my arm and stops me, "How bad is this going to be?" She is referring to Sophia having to fight the Devil's son.
I grab her hand and look into her eyes, "I don't know."
She nods and we knock on Jordan's door. Bella answers and I introduce Bella to Johanna.
"If you two want to go talk or something I can watch the girls."
Bella and Johanna go off into Jordan's kitchen while I go into the living room.
I don't say anything right away, Vera and Sophia really are to cute. They're sitting in front of the tv with their little heads tilted back.
I laugh.
"Uncle Gabriel!" The two girls shriek. They get up and run over to me, fighting for the first hug. I pick both of them up into my arms and swing them around.
"Oh I missed you two so much!" I kiss Vera's cheek and then I kiss Sophia's.
"Where did you go?" Vera asks as we all move to sit on the couch.
So I tell them about Russia and then about visiting Johanna's parents in Pennsylvania.
"- and her mother and father will be visiting very soon for the wedding, so you two will have to be on your best behavior."
They make me pinky promises.
"When are you and aunt Johanna getting married?"
"That's a very good question-"
Johanna steps into the room and smiles at me and the girls, "March 19th is the day of our wedding. And we need you two to do something very special for us."
"Like what?!" Johanna has the girls excited.
"We want you to stand up with us and your Uncle Rhoan when we say 'I do'. We want the both of you to be a part of the wedding."
The girls go into shrieks of excitement and ask questions about what they have to do and if they will get big fancy dresses?
"Of course you do! You can go with me when I get my special dress." Johanna promises.
While Johanna and the girls are discussing dresses, I go check on Bella.
"Hey Bella."
"Hey. So I never thought you would be the type to settle down so fast."
We both laugh, "Well, I found the right girl."
Bella nods, "I was kind of shocked when she told me that she doesn't want to be a vampire. I told her about me and Edward and how I had to marry him to become a vampire, and even then he didn't want to change me right away!"
"Yeah. I was shocked too. Your lucky that you were created and had someone who loved you right away. I think that if when I had woken up, Johanna had been their then I wouldn't hate being a vampire."
"You hate it?"
"Well I don't love it. Yeah. Actually, I usually do hate it. But now I have Johanna and she makes it all better."
Bella smiles at me and we talk a little, finally I tell her, "If you want to go be with your family then that's fine. Johanna and I will stay with Sophia and Vera. I know that Reneesme was looking for you."
You didn't have to tell Bella twice. She said goodbye to the girls and to Johanna and left.
Sophia had run off with Vera into the other room which left Johanna and I alone on the couch.
"Johanna, I think we should postpone the wedding, just until after this fight blows over."
She kisses my cheek and agrees with me, "I know you won't be relaxed and comfortable until you know she's safe and it really is sweet that you want to wait."
"Thank you, love."
We were about to kiss when we heard a little girl's cough.
"What is it Sophia?" I asked. Vera was still in the other room.
She crawls up onto the couch and sits right between Johanna and I.
"I don't want you to wait to get married. I want you to go ahead and do it. Vera and I promised to be on our best behavior, remember?"
She was so grown up, and so so sweet. I wondered if she knew what she was up against, and if not, I don't want to be the one to tell her.
"Well, thank you, Sophia. And if your very sure that Aunt Johanna and I should get married in two weeks then I guess we will."
She gives us a big hug and then walks out of the room to go play with Vera.
I would feel better to postpone the wedding until after Sophia is safe, but she really wants the wedding to happen...
"Don't worry: if anything happens I can have it canceled in a flash."
I really hope so.
I got a text from Lottie saying that she and Bastien were back now and she could come pick Vera up.
"No, tell her I'll drop her off." Johanna says nicely.
She grabs her purse and car keys.
"What do you need your bag for? Your just going down the road."
"Hunny, I'm getting married in 14 days! I gotta find a dress."
She kisses me and then goes to grab Vera and say goodbye to Sophia.
I give Vera a goodbye kiss and tell her that I'll see her soon.
Right after I close the door Sophia clears her throat.
"Yes?"
I turn around and she's standing right there, hands behind her back and staring at her feet.
"Do I get my present now?" She asks with a smile on her face.
"What present?" I joke with her.
She points at the large bag against the wall.
"Oh. This?" I pick it up.
She nods her head fast.
"Who says its for you?" I tease again.
"Uncle Gabriel! Please!" She whines.
"Well, are you sure its for you?" She nods, "you can have it, IF your absolutely positive its for you."
"I'm positive!"
She reaches for the bag, "Woah now! Kiss." She gives me a quick little girl kiss. I know she really wants the present.
She pulls it out of my hands and tears back the paper. Her little face is so sweet when she sees the huge teddy bear sitting in front of her. Seriously, its as big as she is, and its soft too.
Sophia spends the next 20 minutes thinking of a good name for him, but I didn't get to know the name...yet.
Then she pulled me and the bear in front of the tv and put a movie in. I laughed when it started playing. It was that cartoon movie about Anastasia. Jordan had told me that Sophia liked this movie since I was from Russia to.
"Did you know Anastasia?" Sophia's little voice asks.
"Actually, I did. I met her once when she was about 7 years old. She was pretty and nice."
"Did she live happily ever after and marry Demetri?"
Well, I wasn't about to ruin her dreams. She thinks the movie is real, and really, what is the harm in that?
"Of course. She loved him. And they both saved each other you know. You would do anything to save the ones you love." I say pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.
I only wish that I could do something to save her.
She stops with the questions and watches the movie.
We barely get half way through when Jordan and Josh get home. Sophia is happy to show them her new bear and I realize that the three of them need to talk. I text Rhoan quick, telling him we're going out.
Sophia kisses me goodbye and I say bye to Jordan and Josh.
I meet Rhoan at the main house and sure enough he's there waiting for me.
"Where are we going?" He asks as we get into the car.
"I'm getting married in 14 days. We need to get suits."
Rhoan laughs and then agrees with me.
Yeah, so a couple hours later Rhoan and I had gotten our suits and were ready for the wedding. And then that's when it hit me:
I was getting married in 14 days!
And then I had a breakdown on the sidewalk.
"Holy shit! I'm getting married in 14 days! Where!? Who!? Food!? Colors!?"
"Its okay, buddy." Rhoan pulls me off the sidewalk and keeps walking, "I'm sure Johanna has it all worked out."
-Gabriel