Alright here is my awesome one-shot! Yay me! This is also here to give you Solstice readers something to look at while I finish my chapters on it. So, go ahead and read and enjoy!
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"Edward, where are we going?"
He had thrown me up onto his back, and was carrying me through the forest again, like I couldn't walk. It had been three years since he'd left me, we were married now, and my changing was imminent. As I looked around at the scenery (Edward had carried me like this so many times it no longer made me sick) I began to recognize a few things, the way the ferns grew, a pathway traveled so many times it was beginning to hold its own. The trees grew denser, the vegetation greener.
"Where…"I began to repeat myself, but sunlight interrupted me. We broke through the forest, coming into a meadow, no, the meadow. It was dusted with buttercups and daisies, colors springing from its earth. Memories came to me, rushing back to me like a flood, or a waterfall. Memories that I had never forgotten, and yet never thought about. Edward was lying in the grass, sparking like he had that one day. Without opening his eyes, he patted the grass beside him, motioning for me to join him. I did so, feeling the cold dew against my back, seeping through my shirt. When I sat up, it clung to me, the chilly wetness making me shiver. Edward moved closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waits and pulling me to his chest, and despite the chill of his body, heat rushed through my veins. He raised his hand to my face, placing if over the blush that had come to my cheek.
"I am going to miss that…" he mused. A phrase that, of course, only made the burning in my face stronger and hotter. Edward chuckled, returning his arm to my waist, giving me a quick peck on the lips. I heard him mutter something that sounded like "I love you", but I couldn't be sure.
"I love you too."
His eyes met mine; he looked pleased and slightly confused. He shrugged it off, settling with rolling me onto my back in the grass. He lay on top of me, his cold chest against mine, but I wasn't feeling a shard of his weight. He kissed me again, more urgently this time. It frightened me; his mouth moved against mine with such force that I had to pull away from him, gasping for breath. He rolled off of me, lying in the grass, appearing relaxed to anyone who didn't know him. But to me, I could see the subtle tensing in his neck, the way his arms were locked into their position, like a lion, ready to spring. Something was agitating Edward, something that he had to hold himself back from.
"Edward…" My eyes, I'm sure, told the story of my worry. Edward's beautiful golden ones stared back into mine. He opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment Jacob Black walked into the clearing.
To say he walked is an understatement. His stride was so full of emotion, so full of purpose that there was no word to describe it. His eyes burned with the fire of a thousand suns. I realized then how little I had thought of Jacob since my marriage with Edward. My thoughts had rarely strayed to him, even t night, when I had nothing else to think of. Anyway, how could you think of anything when a vampire was sharing your bed? Of course, Edward was sleepless, but he made a point of lying with me every night until I drifted off into a peaceful slumber in his cold arms.
Jacob's eyes were searching mine, searching for some kind of emotion in my face. It tried to blank out the feelings running through my head, but my lying skills were at a minimum, and I couldn't lie to myself either. Therefore, I couldn't fool myself into thinking that I wasn't feeling what I was feeling. Anger, for how he had treated me, compassion, from how he had helped me and a glimmer of love, passionate love I tried to wipe all of these from my face, but, obviously, it didn't work. His eyes were darting, nervous.
Edward was at my side in a second; not holding me, but his shoulder was against mine.
"Bella…" His voice was beautiful, and it lured me away from Edward. His voice was second in my mind to only…I glanced back at Edward, then took a hesitant step toward Jacob. Edward let out a loose growl. I turned back to him; put my finger on his lips.
"Behave." One word and Edward turned to stone. I went back up to Jacob. He was trying to formulate what he should say to me, I could see so in his face.
"Bella…" He tried again. He shook his head, black-brown tresses quivering over his head.
"I never stopped thinking about you. Bella…"
The hurt in his eyes was so deep that I couldn't bear to look at him. I cast my eyes down, focusing on a single buttercup that stood out from all of the others. More yellow, more golden. Jacob touched my arm gingerly, and I jumped back, surprised at this sudden contact. When he touched me again, I didn't move away. His hot skin felt so strange after the cold embrace I had experienced before.
He leaned in closer to me.
"Kiss me, Bella."
I heard a gentle snarl behind me, but I didn't turn toward the sound. I looked in Jacob's eyes tenderly, then put one of my hands on his face. I leaned into him, slowly, never taking my eyes from his. I closed them when I was inches from his face.
"I can't."
I whispered it to his neck, then drew back, my eyes pleading with him, willing him to understand. The sadness in his eyes turned into anger. He began to shake gently, then violently. I watched in fear. I knew what was happening, and I knew I needed to get away, but I couldn't. Jacob disappeared, enveloped in a strange e cocoon. I heard a cry behind me, from Edward, screaming at me to get away, and I began to, but not before razor sharp talons raked down my face.
The growl behind me became a full-fledged snarl. I reeled back, my hand to y face. When I pulled it away it was streaked with crimson blood. I could only imagine the jagged claw marks that ran down the side of my face that had been toward Jacob. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, blood coating the shoulder of my shirt. The same shirt that had been covered in dew only a moment ago. The pain, I did not feel. It was like the ballet studio so many years ago, in so much pain that numbness overtook me.
My vision was blanking out now, but I could see a blackish figure strolling toward me. No, I thought. Surely not Jacob. I began to protest inside my mind. Surely Jacob wouldn't be the one to kill me. A gust of cool air awakened my senses slightly, and I could see Edward standing in front of me, my protector.
"You will not take another step toward her."
Edward's musical tones were suddenly harsh and angry. I imagined his eyes were black.
The dark figure moved closer.
"If you leave now I won't be forced to kill you."
Jacob, or who used to be Jacob, tossed his head, his shaggy fur rolling across his neck in glistening waves.
Edward crouched, moving like a lion. He walked toward Jacob, forcing him to back up, away from me. I wanted to protest, couldn't think of anything to say, and had no energy to do anything. Edward was till standing there like stone, but ready, almost eager to pounce. It turns out he didn't have to, Jacob made the first move, leaping off his haunches, throwing Edward to the ground.
Edward had the tables turned in a second, grabbing Jacob's front legs and yanking him around. Jacob was on his back now, with Edward hanging over him. Jacob lurched up, snapping with his deadly, stiletto-like teeth at Edward's face. Edward reared back, leaping up with motions as fluid as a mountain lions and backed away a half step. Jacob was on him again before I could see what was happening, ripping with the same talons that had clawed my face. Edward grabbed his back leg, twisting it with all of the force he could muster. A sickening snap sounded through the air, and the sweet smell of blood permeated through every corner of eh meadow. The meadow that had only a second ago seemed cherry and passionate had now become a war ground.
Jacob limped away from Edward, his back leg twisted to an impossible direction, blood matting the fur around it. He seemed to think he was not hampered unduly by the loss of one leg, and ran toward Edward again. This time he latched onto Edward's shoulder. Edward tried to rip him off, strangling him around the abdomen, but the strongest part of a werewolf is his jaws. When Edward finally ripped him away, Jacob kept his teeth bared, ripping jagged lines down Edward's arm. If Edward could have bled, he would have, and in thick streams like rivers. As it was, his skin was hanging off of his arm , the muscle in it exposed. When he flexed his arm back, wincing in pain, you could see the grey mass contract. The sight was sickening, and I gagged. I was almost certain to pass out before this match was over.
Edward was recovering now, his lips were still taut, and he was clearly in pain, but he still fought on. He wrapped his arms around the wolf's abdomen, squeezing like an anaconda. Jacob was kicking, clawing with his back legs, putting deep gashes into Edward's abdomen. Eventually Edward's hold got so tight that he couldn't breathe, and the clawing became more urgent, and he was gasping as hard as he could for breath. Edward was merciless. Jacob gagged fiercely, then retched. Edward dropped him instinctively, and Jacob lay there for a moment in the grass, breathing deeply, limp. It was a wondrous sight to behold, Edward standing over him, his eyes black, ruthless in his attacking. And Jacob, the wolf, lying, waiting to be defeated. Edward bent down to him, looking almost gentle in his motions. Jacob seemed to know death was imminent, and didn't struggle. I wanted to cry out, to beg Edward to stop, but I couldn't, because, in a way, I wanted this to happen as much as he did. I knew one thing, few tears would be shed over Jacob's death. When Edward's hands reached Jacob, he sprung up, ripping at Edward's neck, clawing at the places that were already injured. His teeth were cruel in their attack, tearing jagged marks like the one all over his body, except closer to his face this time, his beautiful, beautiful face that didn't deserve such torture. I considered sacrificing myself, throwing myself into the midst of the battle, trying to stop it with as much force as I could. But my motor functions had completely deserted me, I was lying there in the grass maybe ten feet from the fighting, the blood that was all over me beginning to dry in caked clumps. Edward was struggling with Jacob, he didn't need to breathe, so Jacob's hold on his neck wasn't that big of a deal, but it was still painful, just how painful I could only imagine. How grateful I was at that time to only have a face wound, and yet my anger at Edward for trying to protect me like this and putting himself in danger was extremely potent. Then Edward did something very…un-Edward-like. When he did this, I could've sworn he was Emmett, he was acting so much like his older brother. He brought his fist down onto Jacob's face, knocking him aside and forcing him to relinquish his hold. More blood was coming from his wounds now, and the crimson liquid was streaming down the top of his face, down his snout and into his eyes. Determination was showing all through his face, and a little hesitance. He knew that Edward could kill him easily, and he had to approach this delicately. But he never got the chance. Edward threw him to the ground six feet away, his body crashing to the earth and rolling a few more paces from where he fell. Edward appeared by his side in one of those movements that no one could possibly follow. Jacob's eyes met his. Edward took a step forward, unwittingly landing on Jacob's broken leg. Jacob howled and yipped like a wounded puppy. The cries seemed to awaken Edward. He hesitated.
"Do it." The voice sounded strange. Where had they come from? From my own mouth? From the weak and hurt girl who had lain in the grass, watching her knight in shining armor kill the one other person who she cared about most?
Edward looked away from Jacob, and I knew he understood. He knelt down next to Jacob. I looked away. A snap sounded out, and after a nearly silent yip, an eerie stillness settled over the meadow. Edward came back to me, limping slightly on his left leg. And we walked off, Edward's arm around me, with only a glance at the lifeless body behind us.
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Wow, depressing right? I do kind of hate killing Jacob, and I know I'll get a few Jacob lover's angry comments, but I can take it. At any rate, review?
Another note: I MAY continue this story later as I could take it so much further than just a one-shot, but that will be WAAAAAAAAAY in the future.
