Sam's p.o.v.
I burst through the door and I saw what I hoped was just me having a very realistic nightmare. My baby sister was lying on the ground surrounded in a pool of her own blood and it looked like her lungs were trying to jump out of her chest.
Leah screamed and Emily gasped beside me. I couldn't move as Embry brushed past me and picked her up. Tears pooled in his eyes as he looked upon our sister as she dripped with blood, her head hanging over his arm limply.
"It's okay Tape, hold on for me… please," he whispered, his voice cracking and sounding broken. She groaned and he kissed her on the cheek. She looked so small and weak, my heart cracked strait down the middle. I looked around and saw Emily trying to calm Leah down, a feeling of déjà vu coming over me. I closed my eyes and took a breath to come back to earth, my alpha mode coming in full swing.
"Embry get her downstairs and out to my car. We need to get her to the hospital, now." I ordered. Embry nodded and rushed down the stairs as he cradled her in his arms, tucking her in close as not to bump her head on the wall. I followed him down the stairs and heard the heart rates of my pack mates quicken as he ran past them.
Leah and Emily were right behind me as I ran outside and jumped in the front seat of my car, ignoring Jacob as he got out of his car and tried to ask me what was going on. I don't have the patience for him today.
Embry opened the back door and gently laid her in the back seat of my truck and sat down next to her. Emily hopped in the passenger seat and Leah sat in the back. She and Embry laid Taylor onto their laps, Leah stroking her head and whispering to her softly. My heart was beginning to break even more as I pulled out of the drive.
I couldn't help but to look into my rearview mirror to see Jacob yelling at Seth and Quil, no doubt wanting to know what was happening. Jared and Paul were yelling back at him and he pushed past them and got in his car. The boys piled in behind him and began to follow us.
Anger boiled up inside of me. Oh, now you care… I shook my head and focused on getting my baby sister to the hospital so we could figure out what was wrong with her. I'd never seen anything like that before, her ribs and lungs showed clear through her chest like her skin was see-through. It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen…
I heard Tape whimper and everyone's heart sped up including mine. I accelerated and weaved through the traffic becoming impatient with every car that was going under 60. I felt Emily's hand caress mine and I relaxed knowing that I needed to slow down for the sake of all of us staying alive. When we finally got to the hospital I pulled into the emergency entrance and stopped the car. Leah hopped out of the back and Embry gently carried Tape out of the backseat. I got out of the car and ran inside with Embry and Leah, Emily trailing behind us.
"Can somebody help us please!" I shouted amongst the commotion in the ER lobby. Then I heard Taylor take a sharp breath. I turned around and her eyes flew open and they looked like they were going to pop out of her head. More blood began to gurgle and pour from her mouth and I noticed that Jacob had come inside and he was holding his girlfriends hand. Taylor lurched and screamed as they came closer and it hit me.
I know what's wrong.
"Get away from here Jacob! You're doing this to her!"I yelled at him. I noticed Leah's eyes widen with understanding and she put her hands over her mouth, no doubt to keep from screaming. Embry looked more and more afraid as ourbaby sister squirmed in his arms. I walked over to Embry and reached out for her, he looked at me then at Taylor's twisted figure then handed her to me. I nodded over to Leah and he walked over to her and helped her to get Jacob and Jasmine out of here before they killed my sister.
Three nurses and a doctor came into the room with a stretcher and I noticed from the smell that the doctor was Carlisle Cullen, a vampire. I laid her down on the stretcher and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes as they began to roll her to the ER.
"Samuel Uley?" the vampire asked me as they took her inside. I nodded and looked through the glass windows at my sister in pain. "Is she a…" he began to ask. I shook my head, and then I faltered.
"Well… she is half Quileute. We have the same father, so there is a possibility of her changing. But it hasn't happened yet. Do you think that this has to do something with that?" I suddenly became afraid that my sister might have to be cursed with the same fate that my pack mates and I had to endure. I wished for anything but that when she came here, but my wish is apparently not coming true. She'd been through enough already. She doesn't need this added drama, especially on top of Jacob's bullshit.
"It might. I noticed that when you put her on the dolly, her legs were abnormally shaped and she had bits of… fur on her legs. In patches like she was beginning to change but, she was maybe having some difficulty. I don't know what it might be that caused that but I think that you should let me examine her at my home. There are things that might become suspicious to other doctors and might expose you, and maybe even me. It's safer that way for the sake of our existence staying secret." He explained, watching for my reaction.
I just sighed and nodded. He waited a couple of minutes before he walked inside the room. After about an hour the nurses left the room and told me that she was cleaned up and that Carlisle said I could go inside.
I'll have to explain all of this to her now. She knows the legends of our tribe but she doesn't know they're true yet. She just moved back here a week ago and she's already going through all this. I thought that I could protect her here but of course all of this had to happen. Jacob and his stupid girlfriend Jasmine… I never liked her. I've always had this bad feeling about her and now I know why.
I walked into the room and gazed upon the fragile shape of my baby sister. Déjà vu slapped me in the face as I watched her chest slowly rise and fall. I saw Emily's face flash in my mind. Her beautiful face in such excruciating pain and it was all my fault… I blinked back tears as I saw Taylor shift in her bed and groan. Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled when she saw me. I smiled back at her and pulled a chair to her bedside.
"Hey, how do you feel?" I said as I stroked her forehead, pushing her bangs from her face. She smiled and closed her eyes.
"Like shit… my chest and legs still kind of feel funny. But other than that I'm just really exhausted." she mumbled. I sighed and thought of how I should tell her exactly what was happening to her. The werewolf part was only the smaller half of it. How could I possibly tell her that her best friend was killing her?
Jacob didn't know yet, but his decisions were the reason we were in this mess. Why did he have to imprint on my sister? On top of that, why does he have to be such an idiot? That dumb, hardheaded, asshole, stubborn… my hands began to shake and I felt Tape's hand reach out and take my hand.
"I'll be alright Sam, I promise… btw, what's that smell? It's… really sweet, it kinda burns my nose. You smell it?" she said, wrinkling her nose. I had forgotten all about the vampire standing by the foot of the bed waiting for me to explain to her. Carlisle stepped forward and I sighed, dreading what I was going to have to say.
"Well, I was about to explain that to you, along with why you're in here," I said slowly. She just looked at me expectantly and I took a deep breath. "You know how when we were little we would always go down to the beach on Saturday nights around the bonfire and sometimes the tribe elders would tell legends of the tribe's history?" I began, and Tape slowly nodded her head.
"Well, do you remember the story of the sprit warriors and how chief Kaheleha had joined with the wolf and gave our men the ability to turn into wolves and the story of the cold ones…? How they smelled to them…" I waited as she furrowed her brow and nodded again, even slower this time.
"Yeah… but I don't get what that has to do with anything," she said scanning the room until her eyes landed on Carlisle, and then they widened. I feeling of dread overcame me as she came to the realization. "Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me that you're a werewolf? If this is your idea of a joke it's not funny," she said with frustration.
"I'm not joking Taylor. It's why we're always gone, we patrol around the reservation. We protect our people this way. All of the guys are, even Leah. She used to be the only girl in the group but now…" I stopped as I noticed her face change.
"Okay so, then that means Dr. Cullen is…"
"A cold one, a vampire… but he's different apparently. His clan doesn't drink human blood, only the blood of animals. We have a pact with them,"I explained. She just nodded and chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments.
"You said Leah used to be the only one. What does that mean? Are you trying to tell me that I'm one too?"she asked, sounding unfazed. I nodded and she just smiled. "Kick ass. I move to La Push and suddenly have super powers. Man this was great idea. Way to go big bro," she chuckled.
I just sat there in disbelief at how easily she was taking this. Other people probably would've had a nervous breakdown and gone into shock, but nope, not Taylor. I heard a chuckle and I turned to see it came from the bloodsucker.
"Well you're taking this rather well I see. And feel free to call me Carlisle okay? I'm going to be your doctor if that's alright with you." He said as he walked toward the other side of her bed. She smiled and nodded, reaching out to shake his hand. He took it and smiled at her.
This whole situation was creeping me out to be honest. She was just so cool with everything, but I really shouldn't be surprised. It's typical Tape to be completely accepting of the things that are thrown at her. But I was surprised that she wasn't a complete train wreck after what her mom told me had happened to her a couple years ago. I would think this would make her relapse or something.
"I don't mind it at all. I think you're incredibly awesome doing what you do. I mean being a vampire and working in a place chocked full of blood and not killing anyone, that's so bad ass. I'm sure I'm in good hands," She said, smiling even brighter. The bloodsucker just smiled back at her and nodded.
"Good then. Well I think that it's time I tell you that your brother and I have decided that it's best for you come to my home so I can examine you further and make sure that anything wasn't severely damaged during your… attack I guess is how I should put it. My family won't be around too much with it being the summer time and such. So you should be able to rest and heal in peace while I run my tests." He explained, Tape just smiled some more and nodded.
"Well then I guess I'll be looking forward to staying with you I guess." She beamed. Carlisle smiled back and headed towards the door before stopping by me.
"Do you wish for me to tell your friends that they can see you now?" he asked me and Tape. She nodded vigorously and I furrowed my brow.
"But Jacob can't come in if he brings her. Leah will know what I mean," I added before he nodded and stepped out of the room. I felt Taylor's eyes on me and I turned to see her confused scowl. I sighed as I began to tell her the reason she was here in the first place.
"I'm sorry Tape but its Jacob's fault you're in here. You know what imprinting is right?" I asked. She nodded again, this time looking a little peeved. "Well… the reason I left Leah is because I imprinted on Emily," I paused as her eyes got large and she tilted her head to the side.
"It wasn't a choice I made and it wasn't easy for me because Leah didn't know I could shift yet and I still loved her a lot… we tried to make it work for a little bit but… we didn't know that us being together would end up hurting Emily," I stopped as the memory came back to me. Hearing Emily scream as me and Leah kissed at Leah's front door, finding her crumpled on the floor like we found Taylor…
"So what exactly are you trying to tell me Sam…? Jacob imprinted on me?" she said taking my hand. I looked in her eyes and saw the hurt clear in them. The little girl in her was screaming at me and it hurt.
"Yes… and as long as he's with Jasmine your life is at stake. An imprint is not supposed to be separated, ever. And I learned that the hard way. I don't want you to have to go through what we did, I refuse to put you through that after what happened to you with James. I refuse to let anything happen to you Taylor. You're my baby sister and it's my job to protect you." I said as anger boiled inside of me at the thought of that filthy thing touching my sister. I thought I would phase right there.
"Wait… you know about that? Who told you?" her voice rang in my ears, bringing me back. I looked back into her eyes and she looked horrified. "She wasn't supposed to tell anyone, not a soul. Is that why you're doing this, letting me stay here? Sam, the last thing I want or need right now is your sympathy! Did you tell anyone else about this, is that really why no one's been by the house? Answer me Samuel!" she said, gripping my hand tighter. Her voice gained another octave every time she hurled a question at me.
I felt guilt come over me because she was right. I probably wouldn't have given her another thought if her mother hadn't called me frantic one night telling me that Taylor was gone.
"How much do you know?" she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. I wiped it and she sighed impatiently.
"I, uh… your mom told me pretty much everything. How long you were gone, where they found you, the tapes they found… what he did to you… I'm sorry Taylor, I should've told you that I knew. No one else but Emily knows, I promise. But you do know that eventually you're going to have to tell them Tape. They're your family just as much as I am. You especially have to tell Embry, he's becoming more and more suspicious of me. I can't help but worry on patrol…" I said, sounding sheepish. She turned over on her side and ran her hand through my hair.
"Sammy… I'm okay now, I promise you. That was two years ago. I'm okay, as long you don't tell anyone else Sam-face. I don't need you all to be worried about me. I haven't had a nightmare since last summer and I've been eating regularly. As long as I'm here in La Push with you Sam I'm okay." She whispered. I looked back up into her eyes and I saw so much in them, too much to process. I just sighed and heard the door open behind me.
