“Running” by MerinaGreen

          Summer is in full swing darlings, and the sun is bright and shiny! I’ve got another juicy story for you all. Running by MerinaGreen is a Jasper/Bella with a whole lot of angst and drama. Set after the wedding in Breaking Dawn, Bella is changed and her, Edward and Carlisle go to the Volturi to confirm her change. Things go wrong and Edward ends up dead, Bella missing and the rest of the Cullens searching for Bella.

Edward had been so wrong. There was a god, and he clearly cared about vampires. Enough to send destruction to her door step, just as requested. What would she have to do, she wondered, to get him to attack instead of just yell?

She watched carefully as the man, or thing, or whatever it was, continued to pace back and forth. He was spitting in his anger now, and she thought fleetingly that he looked more than a bit like a rabid dog...rabid dog...that stirred some thought, deep in her memory...

She didn't have time to complete the thought - even with her vampire brain - because the thing was finally screaming a word she understood. "OUT. OUT. OUT!" he screamed, gesturing at the cave opening behind him. And then, much more quickly than he had appeared, he was gone with almost vampire-like speed.

"Well," said Alice. "At least she's not starving any more. Maybe she'll start moving around more now, and give us some idea of where she's at..."

"What was he saying? There at the end? Could you understand what he was saying?" Jasper asked, eager to have any information that could help them.

Alice looked at Carlisle and finally smiled, "Thanks to Carlisle's paranoia, yes, I got a fair bit of what he was saying once he switched to Russian. Looks like those lessons finally came in handy, 'Dad'."

The others chuckled, too. During the Cold War, Carlisle had insisted they all learn Russian. Just in case. There'd been several instances when Alice's visions had been extremely blurry about the outcome of various situations and Carlisle thought it was best to be prepared for anything. It had been language lessons that they'd rarely, if ever, had a chance to put to good use. The Soviet Union had always been low on their list of places to visit for a variety of reasons, in spite of its varied hunting opportunities.

"And?" Jasper finally asked, the impatience of all of them reflected in his voice.

"Well, he was just asking if she was all right, if she was lost, if she needed help. That sort of thing." While she spoke, she quickly sketched, the image of the man in her visions quickly appearing on the paper Rosalie had slid in front of her on the table.

"Hmm... Just looks like a typical hiker to me. No hints in what he's wearing. Well, it's obviously not winter, wherever she is – he's wearing shorts. No way of knowing when the vision is for, though, is there?" Carlisle asked Alice, looking hopeful.

Alice shook her head. "No. It could be now, it could be next week, it could be next month. I suppose it COULD be next year, but I usually don't see this random sort of thing THAT far out. I think we could safely assume, for now, that it is THIS summer. Which puts her in the northern hemisphere. Somewhere where the people would try several languages, other than English, to communicate – including Russian. Though I'd like to point out it wasn't his first language choice."

"Hmmm..." Carlisle said, looking thoughtful.

"Well, I hope we figure out where she is quickly," Esme said, still looking slightly horrified by what Alice had just seen. "So we can go get her before she slips again."

            The Cullen’s come up with a plan to go find Bella, but trouble unfolds when the Volturi send a guard member to destroy the relationship between Jasper and Alice. Jasper leaves to go find Bella in the Russian wilderness and runs into trouble as he looks for her in the form of werewolves, thought to be extinct.
When Jasper finally catches up with Bella, they head west towards Italy, and the attraction towards each other heats up. The closer they get to their destination, the closer these to get to each other. After another run in with the werewolves, Jasper and Bella hide out and keep each other warm, if you catch my drift. When they finally meet up with the Cullen’s in Romania and discover the true nature of the events that have passed, The Cullen’s are still handling the aftermath of Bella’s trauma and the effects it has on her.  When the Volturi come to Romania to eliminate the problem once and for all, things come to a head.

            This story is quite captivating, with a plot that will have you flying by the edge of your seat. If you want more of this amazing couple, you should go check out the sequel to Running, titled Chaotic Dynamics. It’s just as thrilling and as captivating.

So grab a drink and enjoy!

“Running” by MerinaGreen: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5613495/1/