A/n – Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does!
Thanks to all my reviewers! I'm so sorry I left it on a cliff hanger, but if I didn't have cliff hangers nobody would want to read more!
Shout out to GoldfishCullen2000! (Because you wanted one!) Please read and review her stories!
Big thanks to Asper Whitlock because without your profile I wouldn't have been able to finish this chapter! :) (Note to Asper Whitlock – You probably don't have a clue what I'm talking about, but on your profile I used The Suffering Story to think of how Victoria is feeling) Thanks again!
Also, in response to my guest reviewer – I know I'm evil! There will be plenty more cliff hangers! :D
Here's what you have all been waiting for!
Chapter Three – Familiar Faces
I take one last breath. One last look at the meadow. One last look at the two vampires racing towards me.
Whoa, wait, what? What did I just see? Vampires?
I have to do a double take, not quite sure of what I have seen. There really are vampires. Unless of course they are another figment of my overly active imagination.
I hold my breath. I close my eyes. And hug myself. I wait for the agonizing pain of being ripped to shreds to come. But nothing happens.
I look up only to find that Jacob has leapt over me.
I twist around sharpish. He's gone. I'm alone. In The Meadow. Unprotected. Great.
Well, Bella, what's the worst that can happen?
You get drained of all blood by the vampires coming for you, they–
Stop right there! Calm it Bella! You're going to be fine! Just fine!
I take in a large gulp of air. I keep breathing heavily, in and out, in and out.
Something cold grabs my shoulders.
"Edward?" I gasp.
The something turns me around, using much more force than is needed.
But it's not Edward I see.
I see another vampire.
A girl.
A girl with long, ginger hair.
A girl who I know, very well.
A girl who seeks revenge.
Victoria.
"Victoria?" I croak uneasily, still trying to get over the fact that I'm alone in The Meadow with a vampire who would stop at nothing to kill me.
"Did you think that I wouldn't find you?" she begins, "Did you think that your vampire boyfriend would protect you forever?" she questions, but I don't answer, afraid of what I might let myself say, because the last thing I want to do is make a vampire, who could drain me in seconds, angry.
"Where is your vampire now?" she circles around me, staring at me, just waiting for me to attempt to run so she can sink her teeth into my flesh.
I had already experienced that before with James and the pain had been excruciating, so I wasn't really looking forward to it the second time round.
I follow the moon-shaped scar on my broken left hand where James bit me. It feels cold, freezing cold. A mix of dry blood and black soot outlines the bite mark. Both are bold, evil colours, which are usually associated with the dark side. Vampires.
"Aren't you going to try and scream for your boyfriend?" Victoria smirks.
"We broke up", I whisper, as I pull back a strand of hair over my ear.
"Say it louder", she orders.
I know she's only doing this to make me suffer, like she did when she lost her mate James who was killed by Edward and the rest of the Cullens.
"We broke up!" I scream, but I don't stop there, I continue, "He left me! He said it was for my own safety, but I would rather die than live without him! He's gone!" I brush my fingers through my hair in a relaxing way, trying to calm myself down so I don't cry.
"You and I are similar, in a way", she's still circling me, her eyes black with hunger, "We've both lost someone we love", I look of sadness shines in her eyes, for just a fraction of a second, nothing more, but then it turns back to hatred, "Shame I have to kill you", she studies her nails for a moment.
"You don't have to", she glares at me evilly, "We both want the same thing, revenge on the Cullens", I hesitate for a moment, "And I can help you with that", Victoria considers my offer for a few seconds.
I'm lying. Of course. I don't want revenge on the Cullens. I want the complete opposite of that. I just want to see them again. I want them back. I miss them all, even Rosalie, who is probably glad Edward finished with me. But I know that won't happen again.
I'm only trying to buy myself some time, before she kills me. So I can try and think of a plan to escape death. Only, I'm having no luck.
I can't run. She has super speed.
I can't try and fight her off. She has super strength.
I can't scream. There's no point, because nobody else can hear me, apart from Victoria.
"Fine, I won't kill you", an wicked smile slips onto her face, "Not yet, anyway", she adds.
Victoria dashes towards me and clasps her frozen hand around my neck, lifting me high into the air.
"I–I–ca–n't–bre–ath–e", I splutter, not able to form my words properly.
Her smile turns to a frown as she studies me, trying to find a hint of innocence in my eyes. A bit of innocence which proves I didn't have anything to do with James' death and that it was all down to the Cullens.
But I know that it was all my fault. If I hadn't had moved in with Charlie, from Phoenix, I never would have met Edward and put myself in danger. I never would have fallen for James' trap and I never would have gotten the bite mark on my wrist.
I shudder at these memories. Memories I'd rather forget.
She releases me from her clutches and my weak body drops into the patch of flowers below, crushing them all together. My face is pale white, drained of all colour and my heart begins to beat rapidly, desperately trying to refill my body with the much needed oxygen it was unable to previously take in because of Victoria.
Using my unbroken right hand, I stroke my neck, attempting to remove the red marks Victoria's nails indented on my skin, but with no luck. I bring my hand up into view. It's covered in blood. My blood. My blood from the mark Victoria created.
Her nose points up into the air.
"Blood", she says one simple word, which seems much scarier than it actually is when coming out of a vampire's mouth.
Venom starts to build up inside of her mouth. I can see by the look on her face that she's struggling not to kill me right now. She has the same expression on her face Edward used to have when he was around me – hunger. I can almost feel the pain she is going through; the constant fire burning in her throat, the venom circulating her mouth ready to inject it into my blood stream and her body craving my sweet blood.
It seems like she hasn't fed for weeks.
I fumble anxiously around in my pocket for a tissue and I press it tight against the flowing blood. I know I can't let Victoria taste any of my blood, unless of course I want to end my life.
"Victoria", I begin, my voice low in a calming way, "You can control yourself, you aren't thirsty", I lie, but not convincingly enough.
She's at my side in an instant, her eyes empty and black with hunger.
Venom drips out of her mouth and onto a ladybird below. At immediate contact the ladybird shrivels up and dies.
That could be you, Bella.
Great. Thinking positive are we?
She lunges for my throat and I leap to the right, crushing a patch of flowers in the process. Victoria's head smashes down onto the ground and her teeth get stuck in the earth. While Victoria is distracted I run back into the forest as fast as my legs can carry me and stop to rest on a tree.
I breathe heavily.
Well done Bella you managed to escape death for the second time today! Only seven lives to go!
I pivot on my foot and come face to face with Victoria again. She's angry, really angry and not to mention hungry.
I begin to think about Edward. I want him to be the last thought in my mind before I die. I know I should be more positive but there is no way I'm going to escape death now. All my lives are up.
She leans in closer to me. Her lips press across my neck, edging closer and closer to the blood. I clamp my eyes shut, not wanting to witness any of the following actions which were about to take place, since I had already seen it before. Once was definitely enough.
"Goodbye, Bella", she snarls, as her lips open wide revealing a set of pearl white teeth.
I can feel them about to plunge deep into my neck.
A large wolf howl echoes through the forest, causing Victoria's head to flick up, interrupting the beginning of her feast.
A name comes to me instantly. Jacob.
Victoria springs up into the tree above as Jacob in wolf form prowls through the curtain of ferns, nearly ripping it to shreds. I study him for a moment. He isn't injured severely. But then I notice the deep gash on his back leg.
"Jacob?" I race over to him and I examine his injury.
The blood is still seeping out of it, so I reach forward to dab it with a tissue, but he backs away, back into the meadow. I follow him, not wanting to be left alone with Victoria again, whose scent has mysteriously managed to go unnoticed by Jacob.
The smell of burning hits my nose in an instant, as I push past the overgrown curtain. I look over to where Jacob is sitting. He is next to a bonfire and the flames are roaring up high into the sky. The bright orange flames juxtapose the calm, pale meadow, indicating that it's not supposed to be here.
I edge closer to it. As I approach it I get a better view of what's burning inside. There is a pile of wood chunks and slumped over it is a dark figure. I circle around it, so I can take a glance at the person's head. But when I have fully rotated I find that the head isn't there. The person is headless.
I observe the body more closely, only to find that there is not only a head missing, but there is also no blood on the body. That can only mean one thing. It's a vampire.
Jacob nuzzles my hand and drops something down onto my feet. I bend down and turn it over, only to discover it's someone's head. Instead of darting out of the meadow screaming, I lean further, so I am able to have a go at figuring out the identity of this anonymous person.
The vampire's eyes are nearly pitch black, like Victoria's and his braided hair which matches the colour of his eyes, drapes over his dark skin.
Colour drains from my face as the realization of who the head belongs to sinks in.
It's Laurent.
He is one of the two vampires I saw heading towards me, before Jacob leapt over me. He was the reason why Jacob had left me alone in The Meadow. Jacob had been trying to protect me from Laurent, only he hadn't realised that Laurent hadn't come unaccompanied.
Jacob grabs the head in his mouth and throws it onto the fire. It reunites with the rest of its body and begins to burn slowly. That is the only way we could ensure that Laurent wouldn't come back.
In an attempt to make me feel better, Jacob nuzzles my hand. I flinch in pain and he backs off, realising that he touched my broken hand. He whimpers slightly and a look of hurt flashes through his eyes. I step forward, my heart pounding against my chest and I stroke his head, as his tongue hangs out happily.
I stand there, for what seems like hours petting Jacob. All my worries and doubts seem to go away somehow.
The rustle of twigs and leaves in the tree a few metres away cause all my worries to come flooding back. Victoria must be coming impatient now, but at least my neck has stopped bleeding, for now.
The same question repeats in my head.
Why hasn't she attacked me yet?
Then the answer hits me. She is afraid. Afraid of Jacob. But what I can't understand is why a born killing machine would be afraid of a wolf that she could kill in seconds with her venom.
I gaze into Jacob's eyes. There is a look of protection and love in them. Victoria and I both know that he would do anything to ensure my safety, even if meant killing himself to do so. That's why she must be frightened of him, because she knows she can't get to me now without going through Jacob first.
Jacob's ears prick up and he lunges forward to Victoria's hiding place. His loud growls boom through the forest, frightening all animals within its hearing range. Victoria lands gracefully onto the ground, ready to face her fears, knowing full well she has advantages over Jacob, giving her a high chance of winning in order to claim her prize.
Me.
Jacob opens his mouth wider, revealing a set of razors which were eager to sink into its enemy's neck and a floppy pink tongue. Victoria stares deep into her competitor's eyes and makes the first move. She leaps onto his back, pinning him down onto the ground and bares her teeth, ready to drain him dry.
He struggles under her firm grip and seconds before she is about to inject her venom into him, he kicks his front legs up causing Victoria to smash into an innocent tree, which is unluckily in the wrong place at the wrong time. The force is so strong; the tree plummets to the ground, uprooting itself in the process.
The tree is dead. I knew this is a sign telling me that Jacob would be joining the tree soon if I didn't do something drastic to help him.
I rattle my brain for a solution, but I discover nothing that will be of any assistance to Jacob. I know I need to act soon; otherwise this will be the end of Jacob and I, but there's nothing I can do which will distract Victoria long enough to give Jacob time to attack her by surprise.
That's when the answer comes to me.
The only thing that will distract a hungry vampire is blood.
I know what I have to do in order to save Jacob.
I gradually crawl over to the bush which sits behind me. Victoria and Jacob are too busy fighting to notice my movement. I rummage through the earth, trapping dirt up my finger nails, but I decide I don't care anymore, where I'm going nothing else will matter.
I'm looking for a sharp object. Something that will pierce into my flesh. Something that will create a wound deep enough to cause my precious blood to flow out. I continue to dig through the earth, until I find some pieces of glass. I don't know why they're here, but that's beside the point, I live in a world of vampires and werewolves, anything is possible as far as I'm concerned.
I rise into a standing position, with my fingers clasped around the sharpest piece of glass and my body trembling at the thought of leaving this earth. I've never given much thought to how I would die — though I've had reason enough in the last few months — but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.
I stare without breathing, at Jacob, for the last time. Surely it's a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.
"Victoria!" I yell, as her head sharply turns to face me, interrupting her fight with Jacob.
I smile at Jacob and he twists his head in confusion. I bring the glass into view and before Jacob can object to my actions, I plunge the sharp end into my chest. The pain is excruciating, but I attempt to block it out.
I release my weapon from my body and I watch as the blood pours out onto the ground, circling me like a river. Victoria is by my side, lapping up every last drop of blood, but I know she will be dead soon.
I close my eyes and wait for the pain to stop. I know that soon I'll be in a world where there will be no pain anymore, just love.
The thought of Jacob telling Charlie of my death pops into my mind. It will break his heart. The news that his only daughter is dead. But what about Edward too? Surely he will find out and never forgive himself for leaving me.
And then I think of Jacob. The person I did this for. The person I truly love.
Whoa! What did I just say?
I love Jacob Black! I love Jacob Black! I love Jacob Black! I love Jacob Black!
I repeat this to myself over and over in my mind. It seems to be comforting me.
The truth behind why I stabbed myself comes to me.
I stabbed myself because of him. To save Jacob. All because I love him.
All along I have been denying the truth of how I really feel. All the time when I thought I was in love with Edward, I was in love with Jacob instead. Edward had just been in the right place at the right time. He had been there to fill the gap in my heart. A gap that now can only be filled by Jacob.
But now, Jacob will never know the truth. . .
A/n – Cliff hanger again! Sorry! :)
This is not the end! There is plenty more to come!
Hope you enjoyed and please review!
~ Penguin :P
