Disclaimer: The characters of Twilight are owned by Stephenie Meyer. The content, ideas and intellectual property of this story are owned by Just4ALE.

A Flash Forward

Styx: Renegade

#

"I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue," I muttered as I took off running.

I swiped that tube of Super Glue from his desk before we ran. Does glue even have a smell these days? Does it smell nice like dry erase markers? Is it like how chloroform is supposed to smell? I would think they'd have the technology to make it odorless and non-toxic, but who knows? I could open it...

I heard the sound of the engine speeding up somewhere behind me. Legs versus wheels. Not exactly a fair fight.

Why the hell did I even grab it anyway? It's not like I've had to glue anything together in a long time. I'd say, in general, I'm a stapler or tape kinda gal. Yeah, even paper clips suffice when need-be.

I willed my feet to keep going despite my seemingly endless state of panic.

Wait, who cares whether I glue, staple, or tape? And why am I thinking of 80's movie lines in the middle of this craziness? What the hell?

Distraction! Distract yourself from the danger closing in on you, you fool!

I made it out of the open parking lot areas as soon as I saw the black SUV enter this section of the park, and ran for the woods. I scrambled through the eucalyptus trees, thankful he'd convinced me to wear green and brown today, forgoing my usual black. At least dressed like this, I had a chance of blending in a little.

What are the other lines? Are they any more relevant?

"'…wrong week to stop smoking… to stop drinking… to stop taking amphetamines.'"

Nah. None of those were applicable even in my wildest dreams. I wasn't a smoker, was basically a teetotaler, and forget about drugs.

Now I wished I'd done those things. Fuck, I had a honkin' big list of things I wished I'd done before I died.

Hey, look at me! I thought the word 'fuck'! Glad to know he's had such a profound effect on me already!

Another bullet went whizzing by, about five feet away. Holy crap! Where IS he? He said he'd be right back! Why did he drag us to the Presidio? We need to be far the hell away from San Francisco right freakin' now!

I was scrambling up the hill through the dead eucalyptus leaves, keeping the Park Trail path in sight to give me a general sense of the direction I needed to go. I ducked and weaved, praising the fog that was rolling in as I hid behind trees to avoid being in view of the car down below. I hadn't been to the Presidio recently but I thought if I made my way up to the top of the hill, I'd hit 101 somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge. I struggled to keep my thoughts focused. Where was I going? Could they follow me this way or was there another way up for them? If he came back, would he be able to track me?

I should have never listened to my girlfriends.

"I think Jasper is right, sweetie. You need to start living life again. Go for it!"

"You're a shoe-in to win: you're the queen of riddles and puzzles, you geek!"

Yeah, thanks gals. Thanks a lot.

I should have stayed in the damn apartment.

Who was I kidding? Sitting in that apartment was what got me into this mess in the first place…

~twtm~

"Well, it appears we have some night-owl Steelers fans here on the left coast. Mark from the Mission asked me to play Styx's Renegade for him in honor of the Steelers-Chargers game this weekend. Well Mark, I'll play the song for your pansy-ass team's defense, but only after someone answers my question.

Riddle me this, Batman: How many of the original members are still part of the band today? It's not as obvious as you might think…"

~#~

Stupid radio program. Stupid velvety, seductive voice that kept me up listening until the wee morning hours. Yeah, I knew the answer and I had called in.

The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found me…

Who the hell "they" were and why they were after me was all part of the mystery.

So here I was, running for my life. And at that moment, I only knew one thing for certain…

If we made it out of this alive, I was going to kill Tony-Fucking-Masen.

A/N: Hi! *waves* New story. Very different from the American Vampire Series. How? Well, a human story. There's a woman. There's a late-night 70's radio host. They talk. Eventually, they meet.

The DJ does take requests - although he has some VERY strong opinions - so if you have any favorite 70s bands/songs to suggest, they might be used in later chapters.

I hope you'll stick around to read.

Thanks to the Irritable Grizzzly for her beta-tude.

Post A/N: Also not mine – Lines from the movie Airplane and lyric references from Styx's Renegade.