A/N: Khehe, you're exactly right; she did x3 But she's all shy about it cause she's never liked-especially never imprinted on-a guy before.
Chapter Six – "Hope"
"He lied," she repeated, feeling very small and vulnerable just covered with fur, still clutching her clothes to her chest.
"What do you mean?" Jacob asked, still frowning, his hand still on her shoulder.
"He's—they're—not going to l-leave just like that," the blonde said, looking like at any moment she could dissolve into tears. "I know him; I know w-who he is."
He looked at her in confusion, not understanding how she could know this vampire when they'd both only just seen him. Unless there was something more, and there obviously seemed to be, from the way she was reacting, looking like she was about to start hyperventilating any second now.
"It was him and Narcyssa and Kaelan, I'll never forget their names, or their faces. Or their scents, never." She took a step back, her gaze sweeping around feverishly, and all at once her legs gave out.
He caught her quickly, holding her up, and she clung close to him as much as she could, still clutching her clothes. This was awkward, her being so close to him while still technically being naked.
"What did they do?" he asked, keeping his arm around her to hold her up nonetheless.
"They…they killed my parents…and my brother. They took everything from me," she whispered, hiding her face against the side of his chest. She couldn't help but notice how warm he was—more than warm, he was unusually hot.
He was quiet for a long moment—usually hearing of the things vampires did infuriated him, but this was different. This felt more personal, more upsetting. Again there was that tugging on his thoughts, this time it was so close, like being right on the verge of remembering a name that was on the tip of your tongue. But then it was gone once more, out of his almost-grasp. He could feel the anger sweeping over him, his temper approaching the snapping point. But he couldn't, not so close to Ginevra. He had to stay as calm as he possibly could.
"I'll destroy them," he said, his voice low and more threatening than if he'd shouted the words.
He turned, starting to leave the barn—he could follow the bloodsucker's scent easily, it was fresh and strong and he would have no trouble tracking him down and ripping him to pieces—but Ginevra caught him by the arm, her slender fingers cool and much stronger than a girl her size should be, and he hesitated.
"Don't," she said softly, "You can't take all three of them, not with what Narcyssa and Kaelan can do."
"They have powers?" Jacob inquired, turning back to her.
She nodded, averting her gaze as she quickly pulled her clothes on, having emerged from her state of shock. "The woman…she makes people stop moving-paralyzes them. But I'm not sure how…haven't really stuck around to find out," she said. "And Kaelan…" she hesitated, dressed again now, the fur fading out from her arms and legs, "…He's an illusionist. He can make copies of himself."
He nodded slowly, absorbing this information, "Leeches and their powers," he muttered under his breath, "What about the one that was here?"
She shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself, "Doyle doesn't have any powers. Not that I'm aware of anyway."
"So what do you suggest we do?" he asked dryly, not upset with her, but rather the vampires, "Wait here for them?"
"Yes, actually," Ginevra replied, "It' better than you going after them alone, because I—I think I have an idea." She almost bit her tongue changing that last part—almost slipped, said something she didn't want to yet. Something she was still scared to say.
"Would this idea involve shredding those bloodsuckers?" he asked, oblivious to her near slip up.
"It would. We wait for them to come to us, separate them, and…yeah," she replied, pacing back and forth a little anxiously.
"Sounds like a plan," he said, nodding in approval. He was happy so long as he would get to destroy those vampires.
"They won't be back until tonight, so we have until then," she said, fighting down the urge to go and run to some place high, "They've…always struck at night. So I don't see any reason for them to deviate from that trait."
She didn't want to do this, didn't want to be standing here planning an attack against the three vampires who had killed her entire family. She didn't want to think that at nightfall they would be coming back and she'd have to fight them—she would rather let some one else take care of this, let Jacob take care of them like he'd wanted to. But she couldn't do that, couldn't let him face them alone like that, it was too dangerous—and she cared too much about him. She knew that she couldn't run from them any longer—for six years she'd thought she was free from them, but that's what she'd thought the other time. She'd been five when they'd killed her parents, and her brother had taken her away. Six years later they'd come back, and she'd lost him as well. This was the final time—she wouldn't lose some one else, not again, not ever.
Her mind wandered to that strange scent she'd caught that night-the night she'd found Jacob when he'd fallen over the cliff. It had been so strange, so familiar and yet not. The scent of a vampire—quite easily one of the three, since they proved to be in the area—and yet it was mingled with something she almost recognized. Or maybe it was that she was blocking it from her mind, preventing herself from fully remembering whatever it was. Either way, it unnerved her just to think about it, and she hoped that they never ran into the owner of that unique scent—because she had a terrible, dreading feeling about it.
She'd made breakfast for them both, and despite her anxiety, she found that she was starving. However, she paused to watch how much he was eating so fast. He'd requested four eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast—and she'd gladly made it all. It was something to distract herself, and the fact that she'd never cooked for anyone but herself before. She was just amazed that he was actually eating it all, and so fast, like he was starving.
Feeling her eyes on him, he looked up. "What?" he asked self-consciously.
"Nothing," she replied, looking back down at her plate as she stabbed at her eggs, "I've just never seen some one eat so much."
"I'm a growing boy," he mumbled, averting his gaze.
"My brother was a growing boy, and he never ate that much," she'd meant it jokingly, but it came out serious and a bit sad.
A moment of silence passed between them as she tried to figure out how to remedy the awkward situation she'd created.
"You miss him a lot, don't you?" Jacob asked.
She nodded, ducking her head. "He was such an awesome big brother. He saved my life so many times, we always looked out for each other," she said quietly, "We never really fought, like siblings usually do, we were…we…"
Surprising her, he reached across the table and laid a hand over hers. "We'll get them, for what they've done to you, and your family," he promised, "I'll make sure they never hurt you again."
He wasn't sure where these feelings came from, but he had the desire to protect her, to make her happy. He cared about her.
She blinked, her heart skipping at the contact, and her hopes soaring at the sentiment. "Thank you," she murmured shyly, blushing slightly as she looked back down at her plate once more.
She poked at her eggs again, her appetite escaping her somewhat as she thought ahead. "You're not worried?"
"About?" he asked, somewhat puzzled as he returned to attacking his breakfast—his other hand remained on hers.
"About those three, tonight," she said.
He shrugged, "Why should I be? They're only a couple of leeches."
Ginevra was quiet for a moment. "But what they've done…" she whispered.
"Don't worry," he said easily, "A vampire is no problem for me, freaky powers or not."
"But I-" she started.
He stopped then, inclining his head as he waited for her to say whatever it was that was on her mind.
She dropped her gaze to the table, "Yeah, sure."
She was still too scared to say what was really on her mind—she feared rejection, especially since she'd never really interacted much with anyone outside of her family. Sure, some of the people in town she talked to, but there wasn't anyone she felt even close to this way about. And, even more, it was because this was the most important thing that could happen to her, emotionally speaking. She remembered hearing her parents talk about it way back before everything started, but she didn't remember what they'd called it, or anything more specific. She'd asked her brother about it once, but he'd disregarded the idea of it because he was too pre-occupied taking care of the both of them to worry about some silly matter like that.
She looked back up to Jacob once, enough to see his still questioning gaze, and shook her head, refusing to speak any more on the subject.