Burning all that Was
By thunderspeak
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns everything. Including my life.
Summary: Ephraim Black killed a girl a long time ago, and her spirit comes back to haunt the Black household. Fires, exorcisms, and many post-it notes later Jacob find himself falling for girl he can never have. Jake/OC
AN: IMPORTANT- Now the first few pages of this chapter is slow, but I promise it gets much more exciting. Especially in the next chapter…. Dun dun dun.
Enjoy, and pretty please with sugar, REVIEW! (and I'll update 10x faster and might actually finish this story…)
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Fire can either spread warmth or burn everything in its path, and this particular fire chose to destroy.
This fire wanted to be set free, to have revenge.
Imprint: (noun/verb) any impression or impressed effect; to leave a mark.
Soul mate: (noun) a person with whom one has a strong affinity; one of a pair, each incomplete without the other.
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Emily and Sam, Kim and Jared, Claire and Quil. Perfect for each other. The wolves would die for their imprints, give up everything they have. Is that really fair?
But nothings perfect, Jacob attempted to soothe himself. However if his attempt was a plane, it would have burst into flames and crashed into a mountain of broken glass.
On to more serious matters, Jacob absolutely loathed Imprinting. It was as if the wolves were the moon, being pulled in to the gravitational pull of what was earth, the world, their soul mate.
Forever. Which is a damn long time, the very tired and grouchy Jacob Black thought.
He wanted Bella. And he wanted to be her moon, her light in the darkness. She was already his world and everything, so would it change very much?
But she chose the vampire, the blood sucker, the monster. And despite that, Jacob had always thought Edward was very cranky and too protective. Too controlling.
He would have given her freedom.
Why couldn't he have imprinted on her instead? He had thought about this for days, wondering how it would be like if he did. Fantasizing almost. But nooo, fate or god or whatever decided he was perfectly fine being a lone wolf. Snickering at his cheesy pun, Jacob sped up.
So he ran. Losing himself to the beast within, running on instincts like any other animal. He hadn't been human for weeks, and although deer was acceptable he sorely missed a hamburger.
Jacob had been running for days throughout Canada, trekking through snow and forest, ignoring the freezing cold. Sam and the others had pleaded through their thoughts for him to come back, whispering
…He's just a blood sucker…
…She doesn't know any better…
…lots of hotter girls…
The last one courtesy of Quil.
And finally he grew tired enough, physically and of their badgering, to make the decision to come back home. There was ice on his fur, but it was shaken off as he ran across the border into the reservation where it was extraordinarily, sunny.
Even the weather mocked his dark mood.
He was home, but he would forever be running from the fact that despite everything- all his work keeping Bella alive during her death-like state, she had cast him off.
Just like Edward had to her.
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She was running for her life.
Jumping over rocks, roots, and twisting through the thick forest was not something she had expected to be doing this dark and stormy night.
She heard howls behind her and paws approaching fast, so she pushed herself harder despite her ragged breathing and hammering heartbeat.
The trees' were burning, dying under the intense flame but all she noticed was that it was so hot. Everywhere around her was fire licking across the ground, leaping towards her small frame.
Why are they after me? She whimpered in her thoughts.
The wolves were gigantic, human like eyes peering through all the thick fur. And they were human (she was not crazy, she assured herself). Moments before they leaped at her throat the wolves were just ordinary boys who happened to come upon a not so ordinary event.
Of course, before their clothes ripped and they were suddenly huge furious wolves.
Earlier, they had discovered her secret, and it was a one way ticket to her death. She ranted to herself while running, who were they to judge who should live or die?
She also vaguely remembered their appearance, all looking very similar to each other; brown eyes, brown hair, and at least a foot taller than her. In the moment of their appearance, they stood stock still with surprised expressions.
And then they turned wary, scared, and angry.
At first she reached up, wondering if there was something on her face before realizing what she was doing with her hands. And she felt undeniably, incredibly stupid.
Cursing very unladylike words in her mind, she clenched her fists and glared. In any chance, she would have gladly taken on these human men. But she was greeted with menacing teeth and fur instead of the human faces she saw only a moment before. These she would not even attempt to take one.
Fight or flight? And then began the run for her life.
Nearing the dark edge of a cliff she realized this was most definitely the end. There was no way out and if she jumped… that was just killing herself, considering she couldn't swim.
She would have mourned this a bit longer, but a growl from behind snapped her out of her thoughts, sending goose bumps up her arms.
She turned slowly and tried to stand very still, but her whole body was shaking. Her eyes widened as the wolves slowed and bared their teeth at her, thick growls.
"St-stop!"
In the back of her mind, even at this moment, she tried to see her eyes through the wolves' perspective. Tangled hair and wild eyes, wild with the need to live. Her mother would have cringed.
She remembered raising her hands up to protect her face, the fire still burning around her, and screaming as loud as she possibly could. But that didn't stop them or bring any one to her pathetic rescue.
In a millisecond they lunged, huge white teeth crushing down on her shoulder and her leg-- and maybe she was in shock, but all she could remember was the sickening crunch of her bones being snapped.
Her vision faded from her and she remembered gasping because of the mind jarring pain… And finally darkness, very cold and sleepy. Death was easy she thought, and she let it take her.
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As soon as Jacob entered the reservation, Phase back entered his mind. The sharp order came from Sam, who sounded rather agitated. Jacob wryly whispered in the back of his mind what a "Welcome back" that was.
And stop being so sarcastic. Came Sam's voice again, and this time Jacob became silent.
Jacob was trotting through the forest, making his way back home to Billy, but it seemed all the wolves needed him to phase. And now, before he approached his house.
How odd.
But he complied, quickly pulling on his shorts and jogging too where Sam and the pack stood impatiently. God they were gaining numbers. Ten of them stood now, all carrying the similarity of an animal like air about them.
"Welcome back!"
"Hey dude you won't believe what Paul did at Wal-Mart…"
Snickers followed and he chose to ignore the random statement (but promised himself to ask what did happen later), before turning to Sam and cocking his head to the side.
"What was the rush in phasing?"
The pack glanced at one another nervously and Jacob sensed some inside information being withheld from him. Jacob almost had the urge to put his hands on his hips and tap a foot, waiting for an answer like Leah frequently did just to annoy them.
"Well… some strange things have been happening at your house," Sam paused, still undecided if he really wanted to be the one to tell Jacob his house was—
"Well what is it?" said person grounded out, obviously in a slightly agitated mood. Decision was made.
"Go ask Billy."
Jacob sent him a withering glare, ignoring the slight laughter from the pack before heading off towards his house. He felt as if he was walking into impending doom and had the want to turn and run away again.
Seeing his dad was not something he was looking forward to, one reason because Jacob had left on his escapade without asking for permission or giving notice. He foretold serious punishment in his future.
But the curiosity was practically bursting through his skin as to why everyone was freaking out about his house being… what?
In his driveway was a black, unfamiliar car parked behind his Rabbit.
Ah, how he missed his car. After giving an affectionate pat to the Rabbit, Jacob slid through the front door and towards the sound of voices.
He didn't necessarily want the many loud words of welcome from his father at the particular moment, so he hid behind the living room wall prepared to eavesdrop on the conversation between Billy black and an unknown man.
"…but of course their will not be any drastic measures taken."
"What about my furniture? And all the electrical problems… I don't think I can take another rampaging vacuum cleaner!" Billy replied to the mans obvious dismissal of the whole situation.
The other man sighed. "Look there is nothing I can do, unless you want a full exorcism which is costly and will destroy the soul of your ghost. Do you really want to do that?"
"No…that would be cruel. Are you sure this ghost isn't dangerous?"
"Not at all, perfectly harmless. It's probably just bored, so there's nothing to worry about."
A squeak of the wheel chair and Jacob backed up, sensing the end of the conversation.
"Alright then. But you will come by if I have any serious problems?"
"Of course. You have my number. See you around Mr. Black!" Jacob heard the man walk out the back door, leaving the room filled with a steady silence.
Jacob was still hidden, and he took in the information. His father had to be kidding! A ghost? That was slightly preposterous and he wondered if his father had finally gone senile.
Ignoring the slight hypocrisy with his thoughts considering he was a fabled creature himself, Jacob scowled at this turn of events.
His father was still in the kitchen, and Jacob heard him sigh heavily. Oh, how he had missed his father.
"Dad?"
Moving towards the kitchen, Jacob stood in the doorway nervously awaiting his father's reaction. Billy looked up and a smile spread across his face erasing the withered look from the earlier conversation. Billy was seeing his son for the first time in weeks.
Jacob stooped down from his incredible height and braced his father around the shoulders, Billy patting him on the back. It was a Kodak moment.
"Are you… going to stay this time?" was the muffled question Jacob heard.
Oh dad… Jacob could hear the loneliness in his father's voice, and a surge of guilt hit him. Was he being selfish running off? He hadn't even thought of how his decision would affect other people, it was just a constant 'Bella' fog covering his mind.
Pulling back, Jacob lifted his lips into an attempted smile, trying to assure his dad that he was truly alright and there was no need to worry.
Billy gave him a "Do I look that dumb?" look and Jacob let his smile drop, his face relaxing and shoulders slouching. Billy motioned for Jacob to follow him into the living room, and they sat down together.
There was a small silence, but not awkward just very tired. And Jacob being the obnoxious teenager he was, broke it.
"I heard we have a ghost."
That was something Jacob never expected he would have to say, but here he was asking the question like it was so ordinary. Billy slumped a bit and glanced at his son, and strangely, he looked a little peeved. This was not a common feature on the mans face.
"Unfortunately. Just some slight disturbances, nothing to be worried about."
Jacob was not convinced; from his packs wariness to his fathers sleepy looks he guessed this was a serious issue.
"Dad, I know there's more to it and I won't stop bugging you 'bout it," Jacob teased gently.
"Fine," Billy glared unconvincingly, "the pack noticed it first. If they were in their wolf form they couldn't come near the house because they would see things."
"See things?"
"Yes, like they were in another persons' thoughts. The main ones they told me were running through a forest, burning, or falling of a cliff," he listed them off his fingers, "Strangely all of these visions took place in La Push."
"That's weird. What do they mean?" Jacob was now honestly intrigued.
"Well, I first asked Sue Clearwater and she said it must be a vengeful spirit. She convinced me to call the joke who was here earlier to come check it out," Billy let out a patronized sigh, not at all happy with the man.
"He said the visions were probably memories of the spirit and he doubted the spirit knew that it was letting these memories loose."
Jacob was in a state of ignorance and figured there must be some other rational explanation for these occurrences to happen.
"Ah and he mentioned it is harmless."
Jacob swore he heard doubt in his fathers voice and a mumbled, 'Harmless my ass' under Billy's breath but decided it must be his imagination. His father was a very peaceful guy.
But Jacob was sorely confused. That wasn't what he heard in the conversation just minutes ago between Billy and the man. He remembered something about "rampaging vacuums".
Billy answered his inner questions.
"He was wrong. Soon things were disappearing and reappearing, and any electrical item was acting up. The lights, fans, refrigerators. Vacuums…" Billy added the last one scathingly.
"Dad. Seriously. Vacuums?"
"Look, I want to see you get away from a fast, loud, and vengeful vacuum in a wheelchair!" Billy snapped. Jacobs only response was a shrug of his shoulders.
"The worst thing happened a few days ago, and then I decided to call the guy back to help us get rid of it," Billy sighed. "But I can't just kill the soul for a few pranks."
That was Billy. Too kind for his own good even if the soul was sending possessed items after him.
"What was the worst thing?" Jacob questioned, and Billy blushed slightly.
"Well your bed... kind of, burst into flames."
Jacob blinked a few times and ran his hand through his hair aggravated, touching his shoulders now from weeks of no proper maintenance. His father looked like a kid who had just stolen from the cookie jar, so Jacob pushed his anger down.
But he was so looking forward to a warm comfy bed to come back to. After pushing the wishful thinking out of his head, Jacob found the situation slightly humorous in a morbid sense.
"My bed," Jacob paused and chuckled a bit, "burst into flames?"
"Well….I got you a new bed."
Before his father could say anything else of the matter, Jacob was up and bounding towards his bedroom. He hoped it was kind size, or a water bed!
His wide smile dropped and darkened, and Jacob had this desire to sink to the ground and never get up. Everything was just going so badly wrong. The bed his father had in mind was different then he had expected
Jacob stood there staring, lamenting in self pity, not hearing Billy wheeling up behind him and cough nervously.
"Sorry son. I just didn't have any money and the whole frame was burnt—"
"Thanks dad, I really appreciate it," Jacobs voice was detached, but he tried to cram as much graciousness and enthusiasm in that sentence as possible. His father had really tried and it wasn't fair for him to be so… teenager like about this.
Billy obviously didn't fall for Jacobs' facade and gave a small "Humph", muttering something about ungrateful kids, before turning and wheeling away.
Jacob finally settled down in his new bed, this time smiling at the few cushions his father had piled at the foot of the bed for extra leg room. God knows Jacob needed it. It was a nice gesture that once again brought a wave of guilt atop Jacobs already raging emotions.
Tired from hours of running and complicated conversations he situated himself under mountains of covers and closed his eyes.
"Moomph." Jacobs's feet hung off the edge of the bed at least 5 inches, as the cushions flopped over into a pile on the floor.
Turning over he grumbled.
'It's so good to be home.'
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And that's the end of glorious chapter one!! So, I was wondering if I should continue? If this story really sucks then please tell me. Feel free to give me suggestions, ask questions, or even flame me. =]
So pretty please review! They make my day.