As promised, here is the next chapter.
(Chapter 9)
"I'm going to rip her apart with my teeth!" Edward's angry voice woke me from a deep sleep. My mouth was cottony and my eyelids crusty, but I wrenched them apart to find myself back in the Cullen's hospital room in much worse condition than the first time I woke up here. Pain was everywhere. "I'm going to track her down and bite her until she screams as loud as Ivy screamed."
"Edward, she's awake." Rosalie's soft voice said to my right, I looked over and was surprised at her appearance. Vampires didn't sleep or run out of energy, but I could almost swear she looked tired.
"Ivy, how do you feel?" Esme asked on my left, her hands fluttered through my hair in a comforting gesture, I leaned into her touch.
"I feel like I got attacked by a vampire." I moaned, moving was a bad idea. "Where's Carlisle?" I asked, I needed to see my foster father, my chest felt tight with worry and panic tried to fill me when I imagined him abandoning me. I knew it was just disorientation from waking, but I was too weak to fight the fear.
"Calm down, Ivy," Jasper soothed from the chair in the corner. "He's just getting you some pain medicine."
I nodded and allowed the calm he sent to cover me like a warm blanket. I had almost died. A stranger with some history with Edward and Bella almost killed me. "Who was she?" I asked in a hollow tone.
"Her name is Victoria." Edward said moving to stand by the bed. "I killed her mate, James, when he attacked Bella last year. And now she's out to hurt me by any means necessary. Ivy, I am so sorry. I had no idea she'd try to hurt you."
"She didn't try," I said, trying to drag up some of my usual sass, "She succeeded." I pressed a button on the side of the bed—even that hurt—and made the bed rise to a sitting position. "Please tell me the werewolves killed her."
"No." Edward said, regret heavy in his voice. He started prowling around the room like a caged animal. He had revenge on his mind if I was right. "She got away."
"Damn it." I laid my head back and felt tears leak from the corner of my eyes and disappear into my hairline.
"Is she awake yet?" Carlisle asked coming through the door with Emmett. Ice I hadn't realized had formed in my chest suddenly exploded.
"Carlisle?" I called desperately, holding out my hand.
"How's my girl?" He reached over and grasped my palm in that cold grip. I pulled myself up and carefully wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
And then I let myself really cry.
I sobbed against his shoulder, prickles of pain radiated across my abdomen, arms, head - pretty much everywhere - but I ignored the aches and let myself cry because I wasn't crying from the pain, I was crying because of the fear. I didn't want to die and miss out on life. I cried because I finally found something to cry over after all these years on my own and I didn't want some evil bitch to take it away from me.
"Shhh. It's alright, Ivy. You're safe now." He said, smoothing my hair back. I felt more than saw as the room emptied, and then I felt another weight settle on the bed next to me. I was wrapped in Esme and Carlisle's arms as I continued to weep.
"I didn't want to die." I said thickly, when the tears finally began to slow.
"And you didn't, darling." Esme kissed my cheek. "You were so brave and we're so proud of you."
I nodded and sat quietly for a while. Any ordinary human would get tired of this position after a few minutes, but Carlisle and Esme were vampires, so they stayed exactly as they were until I finally felt the weight of fear melt and the blanket of peace cover me once again. They were here and they weren't going to let Victoria hurt me again.
And neither was I, revenge was on my mind too.
"I'm so glad you're alright." Carlisle sighed with relief. "I've never been more terrified than when Alice came to me and said she saw you stumbling around in the woods bleeding. My human daughter, all alone." He actually shuddered and I loved him for it. I felt warmth spread thorough my soul at his words. I didn't know mom long enough and dad, well, that was a train wreck. I was truly beginning to see Carlisle and Esme as my actual parents and it was a beautiful thing. Scary and unpredictable, but beautiful just the same.
I pulled away slightly and Carlisle handed me a kleenex. "You need rest." He suggested kindly.
"But I want to try to heal myself." I said pitifully. "It hurts."
"I know it does, sweetie." Esme said. "But you should gain some strength before you try. Sleep for a few hours then we'll go from there, alright?"
I watched as Carlisle filled a syringe and injected it into my IV. Sleep enveloped me almost instantly and I fell asleep in their arms.
I couldn't be sure, but I thought I mumbled the word "revenge" before I lost all thought.
"Water!" I woke-up in mid-yell several days later. "Water!" I was over my pain threshold and then some. I couldn't take the sharp, agonizing aches anymore.
"Hang on, Ivy." Emmett said, pulling the IV carefully from my arm and lifting me into his brawny grip. We flew up the stairs and I felt the strangest sense of deja vous when I found myself in the same large bathroom and looked in the same mirror at my blood stained appearance.
I didn't look too closely, though, just jumped into the brimming tub. It took a scary amount of time, but I finally connected the energies and the water began to glow. The healing process was intoxicating as it chased away the pain in my muscles, my ribs, throat, face, and arm.
Normally an hour would have sufficed to heal injuries like this, but it was nearly twice that before I finally rose to the surface. But unlike the last time, just Edward and Emmett were there to greet me.
"Hey." I said, panting for breath and completely exhausted. That was new. Usually I felt perfect after a full healing session. Then again, I had never been poisoned with vampire venom before…
"Are you alright?" Edward asked, helping me sit at the edge of the tub.
No, something is definitely not right. "I'm fine. It's normal." I lied, wanting to spare them from worry. Plus everything would go back to normal soon, right?
Edward's dark amber eyes tightened ever so slightly. "You can tell us the truth."
I froze. "Wait, you still can't read my mind, right?" I asked. I needed the privacy of my mind, no need for an outside party to sift through the crazy that was locked behind this cranium.
"No, you're like a silent corner in the room." Edward said, a slight smile on his lips at the horror in my voice.
"Good. Because I'm thinking some things you won't be happy with." The image of Victoria sliced and diced and lit on fire paraded through my mind with a lot of pleasure. She was going to pay for what she almost took from me. "Oh, no!" I gasped, suddenly remembering. "Jake! Jacob Black was with me, did she-? Oh God! Is he dead?" The idea ripped a hole through my chest. His happy smile erased and joyous laughter silenced was absolutely unacceptable. I jumped to my feet, full of righteous outrage, and lost my balance immediately. Damn, that venom really put me through a loop.
Note to self: never get bitten by a vampire again.
Emmett caught me easily and sat me back down. "Take it slow, little sister, alright? No need to crack your head open."
"Is Jacob alright?" I begged for the information. When my duo of immortal brothers exchanged strange looks I was so sure they were about to tell me he was dead. I started to hyperventilate. "No, no, no! He can't be dead!"
Edward answered, patting my back in cold, soothing circles, "Calm down, Ivy. He's alive. Victoria didn't kill him." But there was an odd tone in his voice that was far from comforting.
"I feel a 'but' coming on."
"But," Edward added. "He changed. He's a full werewolf now."
I took a second to filter that new information. He must have been one of the wolves in the woods that chased after Victoria. At least he was strong enough to fight for himself now. "Good. That's good news." I sighed and felt my muscles relax.
"How is that good?" Emmett asked.
"Because he'll be strong enough to come with me when I go after Victoria." I stated, knowing they wouldn't take it well.
I interrupted their random growls and obstinate commands to "Stay out of it!" or "It's too dangerous!"
"She bit me!" I matched their vehemence coming to my feet again and staying on them this time. "She was going to torture me to death! It may have been to get even with you, but it's personal for me now. I'm going to rip her apart and then I'm going to set her on fire and dance around the flames. And Jacob is going to be there with me."
"It's too dangerous." Edward repeated, his face a mask of stormy frustration and Emmett's was just starting to brew.
"Fine." I said backtracking, "We'll all work as a team. She needs to go down and I have to be there to put the nightmares to rest. I need to see her ended with my own eyes."
"Ugh!" Edward roared. "Ivy, look at you! You've practically been in a coma for eight days! You're weak. Even with that tub of water behind you, I doubt you could hold your own against me even if I was taking it easy on you. Can't you stay out of it?"
"Not possible." I crossed my arms defiantly. "Bella and I aren't the same person, Edward. You don't need to protect me like you do her. I need rest, but I'll be back on my feet soon and when I am, we're going after her. I just need to talk to Jacob first and see if he's in."
"I won't work with a werewolf. He's just as dangerous as Victoria now." Emmett said. At least he didn't say I couldn't fight too. Sometimes Emmett was my favorite because he didn't baby me.
"I have to talk to him in person, at least. I need to see that he's okay for myself."
Edward was frozen with anger for several seconds, if it wasn't so scary looking, I might've laughed. "I'll get his phone number for you, but you can't see him in person." He held up his hand when I started to protest. "Humor me, Ivy. Just this once."
"Fine." I huffed and sat back down, fully prepared to sneak out and drive to La Push at the earliest opportunity. "But I want the number now."
"Fine." He snapped and pulled out his cellphone. "Hey Bella." He said after a few rings. "I'm with her right now… Yes, she's awake. She's doing alright. I think she just needs some more rest… I am too… Listen, do you have Jacob Black's phone number? Ivy wants to call him and make sure he's okay… Don't worry Bella, no one is going to hurt Charlie. I'm coming over now to keep an eye on you both… Thank you… Alright, see you soon… I love you too."
He hung up and jotted down the number and passed it to me. "Here. I have to go. I'm glad you're better, Ivy. We're going to stop her. I promise." He smoothed my wet hair back and then he was gone.
"What do you want to do now?" Emmett asked, lounging against the huge vanity.
"I want to shower, then call Jake. What about you?"
"I want to watch that show you were talking about last week."
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" I laughed. Oh, the irony.
"Yeah. It sounds kick-ass."
"Well, I'm game. Do you have it on DVD?"
He paused in thought, probably mentally going through every dvd in the house in a matter of seconds. "No. I'll go buy it."
"All of it?"
"Why not? I can afford it." He said with a sly grin.
"Fine with me. Hey, grab me some gummy bears, will you?"
"You got it. I'll be back soon. How many seasons are there all together?" He swept me up in a careful hug.
"Seven, but there's a spin-off show called Angel that has five seasons." I warned. "You'll probably want those too."
He tapped his chin like he was making a serious decision. "I'll buy them all. Better safe than sorry." He winked and darted through the door.
"Don't forget about the gummy bears!" I called, hearing his reply -a booming laugh - drift from outside. Vampires were so damn fast!
I took a nice long shower and felt a lot better once I was clean and smelled like coconut lime shampoo. I scooted to my room quickly to avoid an awkward run-in in the hallway in just a towel. Once I pulled on a soft sweater and yoga pants (I practically had to smuggle them in the house to avoid Alice's intense hatred for anything comfortable) I picked up the landline since I wasn't sure where my cell phone had gotten to after the attack, but I didn't dial the numbers.
There was a steady ache growing in my stomach, a fluttery annoyance that wouldn't leave me alone. Stress. Stress for Jacob. I knew hearing his voice wouldn't be enough. I had to see him in person to make the flutters fly away.
I stared at the crumpled number and made up my mind. Five rings later it went to voicemail, "Hey Jake. It's Ivy. I'll be at the beach in thirty minutes, meet me there." I threw down the phone, slipped on some shoes and started for the front door.
Alice intercepted me at the bottom of the stairs, a slightly dazed look fading from her eyes.
"Why did I just have a vision of you sneaking away to see Jacob Black?" She demanded.
(Author's Note: In this fic, Alice can see visions of werewolves. It's less complicated that way, plus I never thought Meyer's explanation for Alice's 'blindness' made any sense.)
"Shhh!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the empty kitchen. "Don't tell anyone, please Alice? I have to see him."
"What do you feel for this boy exactly?" She asked, looking me over slowly.
I shrugged, "He's my friend. And we almost died together, that creates a special bond. And I might like him just a teensy little bit. I don't know." I bit my lip, "Wait, what did you see in the vision?"
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows furrowed. "Things are about to change more than I ever realized. The future really is lost."
"Alice, what does that mean?" I was so sick of this 'lost future' crap. Alice and Edward were so tightlipped about it, but anyone could see that it was big.
"It doesn't matter anymore." She said quickly, pulling me to the side door. "Take my keys. Go see him."
"Really?" I held the car keys in my open palm in surprise. "You won't stop me?"
"Could I stop you?"
"No." I lied. She could if she wanted to. I wasn't at full strength yet. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to cross the boarder, but it was too late to turn back now.
"Then go, I won't tell anyone you left, but as soon as Edward comes home he'll figure it out. He sort of has a knack for reading minds, you know." She gave me a gentle push toward the door.
"Alright." I kissed her cheek and threw open the door. "Thanks Alice."
"You're welcome. Who am I to stand in the way of true love anyway?" She said and closed the door in my face.
"What!?" I half-shrieked, I could hear her muffled laugh on the other side. She had to be joking. I convinced myself that she was playing a trick on me as I took the familiar drive to La Push, realizing with a start when I pulled up to the beach access that the car I borrowed from the Cullen's was still parked where I left it more than a week ago and the birds hadn't been kind. I had to find a way to get it back home and wash it or Jasper would kill me. I parked and took a deep breath. It was still early, the clock hadn't struck 6:30 yet and the cold weather was successfully keeping people off the thin strip of beach.
I left the car and stood ankle-deep in the churning waves for a few minutes, soaking in the power the ocean provided and watching the ends of my hair dance in the wind. Then I felt a presence join me on the shore.
I turned to see Jake make his appearance. His hands were in his pockets, head down as he walked. I almost gasped. The boy I knew was gone, in his place was a man. He now stood roughly six-foot-six with thick packed muscles straining the chest, legs, stomach, and arms of his t-shirt. His face was more angular now, like he'd aged five years in a matter of days. His long hair was gone too, cut short to lay messily around his head. (I had to admit the short hair was working for me) And the dry sand puffed around his feet when his powerful legs landed, gliding him smoothly across the bumpy terrain.
"Jacob?" I knew it was him, but I had to ask. The changes he had gone through were just too insane to believe—and I could control water with my mind!
He looked up at the sound of my voice (His warm, brown eyes remained the same, at least) and stopped in his tracks. I mean completely froze like a statue between steps.
He stood there and just stared at me, this strange expression on his face, like he was staring into the sun but couldn't look away. I felt very self conscious under his gaze. "Jake, are you okay?" I crossed my arms and took a step forward. My voice seemed to pull him out of his trance.
Suddenly he was closing the distance between us, the lines of his face pulled into an intense stare-down that speared me in place where I stood. He was like a man possessed. My mouth went dry as he towered above me, casting a shadow across my face. I thought I'd never be able to speak again, but I was wrong. There was no way I could've stopped the little squeak that escaped me when his long arms darted out quickly and pulled me close to him.
His hard-packed chest was unyielding in the best sense, I couldn't help but notice. My heart started beating and I vaguely noticed the ocean swirling around my ankles begin to steam.
Then he was kissing me. His lips were soft, but commanding, taking control of my tongue in a practiced movement that made my knees weak. I leaned into him, standing on my tip-toes to reach his mouth better and dug my fingers in his hair, hardly realizing how insane this was. He was firm, but gentle and smelled like Old Spice and his skin was searing hot, but deliciously smooth. I was enveloped in the sensation of Jacob Black and I didn't want to come to my senses anytime soon.
Unfortunately, my body had other plans; plans that involved oxygen. I pulled away, gasping for breath, my head spinning. I actually swayed on my feet once and nearly fell. Jake effortlessly swung me up into his arms and sat us down on a nearby rock.
I didn't speak for a while, waiting for my heart and head to slow before I dared say a word, but it was Jacob who broke the silence. "What just happened?" He asked, looking at me in this tenderly confused way that made my stomach clench.
"You're asking me?" I said incredulously. "You're the one who started the whole kissing thing!"
"Yeah, but it's only because-" He hesitated.
"Because?" I prodded.
"I don't know what's happening to me, it's like I'm seeing you for the first time and I suddenly had to kiss you because I'm—" the words tumbled out of him, but he clamped his lips shut defiantly before he finished.
"Jake!" I complained, pushing his arm. Why wouldn't he finish his damn sentences?
"Because I'm suddenly in love with you for no apparent reason! That's why!" He burst.
"What!?" I shrieked, coming to my feet.
He stood also, looking distressed. "Look, I don't know what's happening!" He sounded so upset, it calmed me down a notch. "One second I'm following your scent to the shore and the next I look up and it's like I got hit by a sledgehammer! What is happening to me?!" He collapsed back onto the rock and hung his head.
We barely knew each other. I mean, he's a good kisser, but, but… WHAT!? In love with me?!
I deliberated for three seconds before I caved and put my arm over his shoulders. His tense muscles relaxed at my touch. "You just transformed for the first time only a few days ago, you haven't given yourself proper time to adjust. I'm sure it's just confusion from—"
He shook his head. "No, this is different." He looked at me sideways.
"You're right Jacob, it is different," A deep voice spoke from behind me. I jumped and spun, taken completely by surprise. Jake rose too and faced the tall, muscled man who waited behind us. He stood straight backed, with short black hair, bronze skin, and a stoic expression on his face. If I had to guess, I'd say he was in his mid-twenties and from the similarities in build between him and Jacob, I'd say he was also a werewolf.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Sam, Jacob's pack leader." He said, not sounding superior or domineering, but frank and factual. "From what I could gather by your… greeting," He cleared his throat pointedly. I blushed a dull red, "Jacob just imprinted on you."
"What's imprinting?" Jake asked.
"I'm sorry I haven't told you about imprinting yet. I didn't think it was a priority among all the other things you needed to learn, but apparently I was wrong." Sam gave Jake an almost sad smile. "We call it the Soul Mate Bond. It's a primal werewolf instinct that allows you to immediately recognize your true heart-mate at first glance. For all intents and purposes, she is your perfect match, Jacob. You will never love another for as long as you're alive. And probably beyond."
I looked between the wolves like they just grew second heads. "Um. Do I get a say in all this?"
Sam nodded slowly, eyeing me with curiosity as he stood like a solider awaiting orders, "Of course. A werewolf feels the bond instantly, it's up to the woman to choose to be with him or not. Although, just like you are his perfect match, he is your soul-mate as well."
Jake looked at me worriedly for a moment and I felt the distinct impression that I was expected to choose right then and there. My head was spinning, and not in a good way this time. "You're telling me I am Jacob's perfect match? And he is now in love with me all because of some wolf thing?" Sam nodded. "Okay, this is just too much." I turned and started for my car like a bat out of hell.
What was going on!? I just wanted to make sure Jake was okay, I didn't want to end up with a soul mate! I mean, yeah I wanted to eventually fall in love, but I didn't want it to happen so fast. I didn't even know how I truly felt about Jake, let alone know to the core of my being that I was ready to commit to him as my life partner! And to top it all off, Jake didn't even know about me, the real me. Powers, past, and personality. The three P's of any lasting relationship.
I kept running, very much aware that I was being pursued. I didn't need to look over my shoulder to know that Jacob was gaining on me faster than should be possible.
I just managed to grab the door handle on the loaner car when his warm hand snatched my arm and turned me gently to face him. "Ivy, wait."
"For what?" I ripped my arm from his grasp, my eyes flashing with something akin to anger. Misplaced, yes, but anger just the same. "To hear you tell me you love me again? I get that this isn't your fault, Jake, but we've only met three times! I nearly died the second time and now you're a werewolf and I'm supposed to rationally accept this imprinting thing, or whatever it's called?!" My words rose louder and louder as I stared at his anxious, yet annoyingly handsome face. "Well you're just going to have to give me more than five freaking seconds to process this!"
I felt a wave of vertigo hit me and the world spun. I sat down hard on the curb and cradled my head in my hands, taking deep, even breaths. It looked like Alice wasn't joking about her vision after all. Damn her for not giving me some kind of real warning.
Jake sat next to me, but didn't speak. He was smart enough to know not to piss off an angry woman further.
Well, well, well. Life just literally sucker punched me in the nose and now it looked like I was just going to have to deal with it head on, like always. I needed to think this through as carefully as possible.
Was Jacob a nice guy? Yes. As far as I knew he was very nice.
Was he attractive? Definitely. He wasn't hard on the eyes before, but now. I only had two words: hot damn!
Did he ask me to make any sort of commitment to him? No.
Did he want me to make some sort of commitment to him? From the look on his face back there, definitely yes.
Did I want to make some sort of commitment? Not at the moment. I'm not even seventeen yet!
Did I want to date him? Maybe… Yes, I suppose. Couldn't hurt right?
Was this a bad idea? Probably.
"Alright." I finally broke the contemplative silence. "Talk."
"You think you're the only one who is freaking out right now?" Jake said right away, like he had been waiting for permission to speak. "I thought you were just some girl I met on the beach. A girl who I was just beginning to form a tentative friendship with before I almost got her killed by a freaking vampire! And now I can turn into an animal at will, and sometimes even against it, and now I take one look at you and I'm suddenly madly in love and I'll never feel differently? God, I belong in a science lab." He was shivering now, little tremors running up and down his arms and legs. I assumed he was cold before I realized the shaking was probably something more wolfish in nature.
"Take a deep breath." I commanded sternly, forcing myself to stay next to him. I was scared of his new volatile nature, especially since Edward was so adamant about seres being dangerous, but I didn't want Jake to feel like more of a freak. He immediately obeyed me, taking in long draws of crisp air. I placed my hand on the near-blistering skin of his forearm and the shivering stopped all together.
"How did you do that?" He asked, looking at me in reverent awe.
I frowned, "Do what?"
"I've lost control of my emotions at least a dozen times and phased on accident, but you tell me to take a deep breath, touch my arm once, and I'm suddenly fine?" His body relaxed further and he flexed his fingers appreciatively. "Right now, at this exact moment, is the first time in days where I feel like I'm not about to fly apart into a million pieces."
My heart ached for his confusion and fear of his new self. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hard squeeze. "Is it really so bad being a werewolf?"
He sighed and leaned into me. "It has its ups and downs. Sam and I are the only members of the pack although there could be more. Apparently our werewolf nature stays dormant until there is a legitimate threat by our sworn enemies: vampires." He practically spat the word. I shifted uncomfortably. I was quite fond of several vampires at the moment. I felt an awkward conversation brewing on the horizon. "Sam has hated what he is since he hurt his girlfriend, who he apparently imprinted on too—I only just found out. He lost control once and Emily was standing next to him and he… well, she's scarred up pretty bad because of it. I guess his self-loathing is rubbing off on me."
"But there are perks, right?" I nudged, trying to find a bright side to this strange situation.
"Yeah, a few." He smiled and ran a hand through his hair and down his newly chiseled face. "I'm stronger now, and I can run for miles and miles and not break a sweat. I heal really fast too. I can hear better and see better and smell better, although the latter isn't always a good thing." I chuckled at the thought, "But being in wolf form is kind of scary, it's like I lose parts of myself to the animal inside and forget what it's like to be human for a while." He shivered. "But the speed, the raw power, is incredible."
"I bet." I whispered, trying to imagine being fast enough to run down a vampire.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" He said, turning on our shared perch to look at me better.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Why do you smell like water?" He asked it like he was afraid I would be offended, it was a strange question after all. I laughed instead.
"Well, does water even have a smell?" I said with a grin, knowing full well that it did.
Jake sniffed the air around me appreciatively. "Well, it's not so much water as it is rain. You know the smell the air gets right before a huge storm?" I nodded. "That's what you smell like; fresh with just a hint of power under the surface. I haven't come across a scent quite like it so I was just wondering. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He looked away, the copper skin on his cheeks turning slightly red.
"It's fine." I said, touching his hand briefly. The red deepened much to my amusement. He was really cute when he was embarrassed. "I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I'm a water elemental."
"A water elemental?" His eyebrows bunched in confusion. "What's that?"
"It will be much cooler if I show you." I stood and dragged him to his feet by his hand, he didn't let go as we walked back to the ocean and I didn't either.
"What do you know about the mythical underworld community?" I asked.
"Sam has been teaching me a lot, ever since my first phase it's been like information overload. I know there are witches and fortune tellers, ghosts and vampires. And I know all about werewolves, obviously." He smiled impishly down at me. Way down. I shook my head, he was a complete foot taller than me! And I thought he was big before!
"Yes, those all exist and you should be able to sent them out because each class has its own distinct smell, or so I was told once by a reliable source." The reliable source was Emmett. He told me witches smell strongly of herbs and spices and soothsayers smelled like dusty books and alcohol, but he said the latter was probably because most soothsayers became alcoholics in their efforts to stop the visions that plague them.
Ghosts didn't have a smell, but you had this shiver of pure cold run down your back if you were about to see one, I knew that from personal experience. According to Emmett, werewolves smelled like wet dog, but I seriously doubted that. Jake smelled like a forest after a torrential downpour, it was far from the unpleasant stench of wet K9.
"There are also elementals." I continued the little lesson. "They control three elements with their minds: water, air, and earth. Possibly fire, but no one has ever met one before. I am a water elemental, so I can control water with my mind and simple gestures, and I have to tell you, it's pretty bad ass." Jacob chucked and I let go of his hand to go to the ocean.
I looked around carefully, but saw no one one lurking about and readied myself for a demonstration. I stood in the waves and faced Jake who was watching curiously.
First, I made the waves stop around me. It was a subtle trick, but one that took a surprising amount of concentration. Jake's eyes widened as he looked from me to the still water radiating out ten feet. I jumped up and froze the circle, landing on a disc of smooth ice.
"Whoa!" Jake exclaimed, his eyes as round as a full moon. He took a step closer.
"Come on." I pulled him up onto the little platform. When his bare feet made contact with the ice it started to crack. His body heat was melting it! He smiled apologetically, but I held his hands and made him stay, slowly melting the water until we were standing on wet sand again. Then I pulled thin tendrils of water up and made them swirl and curl around us in a flaunting show.
"This is incredible!" Jacob laughed, his brown eyes alight with wonder. I transformed a tendril into a liquid butterfly and it alighted on his hand and froze. He stared at the intricate detail in his palm, watching as it slowly melted from the heat of his skin. "You're amazing, Ivy! How long have you had these powers?"
"I think forever probably." I shrugged, pleased with his reaction. Call me big-headed, but I thought I deserved a bit of awe. "I can do a hell of a lot more than that, though." I pulled up a ball of water and shot it down the beach with a single punch. It hit a towering pine tree and made it quiver. "I can hold my own in a fight." I sent a disc of frozen water down next, hitting the same tree and slicing it in half. It tumbled down with a loud crash. I wiped fake dust from my shoulders, acting casual.
Jake made a low whistle. "Nice."
"I can also breath water."
"Breathe water?" He shook his head, "No way. I don't believe it."
I rolled my eyes. When were the haters going to learn? I held out my arms and fell back, at the last minute sending up a large wave to break my fall. I sunk down to the bottom of the three foot shallow and just relaxed. Through the dark water, I could see Jacob standing over me. After a minute passed he started shifting nervously. Then another minute passed, and another. His hands darted out and grabbed my shoulders, hauling me to the surface.
"Jake, I'm fine!" I said over his frantic, 'Are you alright's?'
He took a deep breath, "Don't scare me like that again."
"I told you I could breathe water!" I argued. "I'll definitely do it again, that trick has saved my life a time or two." I said, making a wiping gesture with my hands and making all the water on my body slide off, back into the ocean until I was dry.
"Saved your life how?" Jake asked in a suspicious tone.
"When I was about thirteen, out on my own in the big bad world, I was doing some street magic with my powers. Nothing huge, but enough to get me a nice wad of cash. Anyway, some guys thought they'd try to take it from me." I explained.
"And what did you do?" He asked in a curiously controlled tone.
I shrugged. "I couldn't do much of anything at the time. I had never really messed with my powers that much. I was shuffled around a lot, first through an orphanage and then foster care, so I was never alone long enough to practice." I cringed inwardly at the dark memories. I hated living with strangers for those long years. Nothing felt more unsettling than going into 'my new room' to find a small patch of wall with other foster kids names penciled in. One after the other, with dates only lasting a month or two.
"Anyway, I was traveling through this little beach town at the time and they caught up to me by the water. I fought them as best as I could, which pissed them off more than anything else, so they tried to kill me."
"They what?" Jacob barked in horror. The tremor thing starting up over his limbs again.
"Well, they took my money, threw me in the water and held me under until I went still. They thought I was dead and wrapped my body in a bag and put rocks at the bottom and tossed me over a pier into deeper water, which hurt a lot, but obviously I survived because I can breath water." I shrugged. It was hardly the worst thing that had ever happened to me. The real horror stories are about what happened in the foster system, not out of it.
Jakes hands were shaking and his jaw was clenched so tight the muscle jumped.
"Chill out." I said, taking a step back to give the angry werewolf space. "I'm alive, see?" I waved my arms to demonstrate. "It's okay." He squeezed his eyes shut and took deep breaths until his body was calm once again. I exhaled loudly when he was back under control. "Wow, you're a hothead now, aren't you?"
Jake rolled his eyes. "Apparently for the next several months, I will be."
I grinned and looked out over the water. The sun was beginning its descent into the ocean. I felt better for having stood in the waves and replenished a bit of my energy, but I was still very hadn't spoken enough at all, but my plans for conversation had changed with the whole imprinting thing. I still needed to discuss my scheme for revenge. "I'm exhausted, Jake. I only just managed to wake up from my mini coma today. I need to leave soon." I said, moving to sit back on the same big rock as before.
He sat next to me right away, it was like he couldn't bear to be more than a few feet from me. It was kind-of annoying in a cute way. "A mini-coma? And you just woke up today?" He asked, looking me over for injuries but finding none.
"Yeah. I can heal myself with water. Normally, I would have been out and about within hours of a beat-down like that, but I was a bit taken aback by the venom. I wasn't sure how to get rid of it." A shock ran up his spine, and he was so close to me it somehow transferred and traveled up mine as well. I shivered.
Mere days ago I had survived a vampire bite… Wow, I was pretty bad-ass.
"She bit you?!" He grabbed my face, tilting my head to either side to look at my neck. Then he grabbed my arms and checked those too. His thumbs ran down the smooth expanse of skin stopping at one spot. The spot where she's bitten me. "Here?"
"How did you know?" I asked, looking at the blank canvas of smooth skin. "There's no scar."
"It's cold. Bella has a cold scar on her arm in the same place. I only just realized it was from a vampire." He said, looking slightly green around the gills. I felt the skin and realized he was right. The skin there, though unmarked, was decidedly colder than the rest of my body. Weird.
"Yeah. She tried to get me twice, but then you came in. Thanks for that, by the way." I said, nudging his shoulder with mine.
He shook his head. "I shouldn't have left you there. When we chased the red-head off, I came back to see how hurt you were, but there was just a trail of blood. I followed it until it crossed paths with more vampires. I figured the Cullen's had come to get you." He said, muttering something very quiet under his breath, but not so quiet I couldn't understand him.
'Can't let their midnight snack die.' Fire burst in my veins.
How dare he!
"Oh. So you assume that's all I am to them? Food?" I shook my head with disgust and started for my car. "You have no idea what the hell you're taking about, Jacob."
"So tell me what I'm supposed to think, Ivy?" He said, keeping pace with me, sounding very agitated. "They're vampires!"
I rounded on him, practically spitting fire. "Don't act like you're some kind of expert just because you're a werewolf! You only just learned about vampires and you really don't know as much as you think you do. Every vampire I have come across after I ran away from foster care was completely devoid of any and all humanity. I had to put them down because they were nothing more than mindless blood junkies."
"Yes, they are." Jake broke in.
"Except the Cullens." I clenched my fists to hold myself back, because at that moment, I really wanted to punch him square in the face. "I hate vampires more than you do, trust me, so do you think I would ever lay my head down in a nest of vamps if I didn't know that they weren't going to hurt me?"
"I don't like the idea of you vulnerable with them, Ivy. They can't control themselves. What if you catch one of them off guard? It could be something as simple as cutting yourself shaving. Anything could happen, they could turn on you in an instant. You don't know what it's doing to me on the inside when I think about your life in danger. If they hurt you, I swear to God—"
I cut him off with a single glare, "Like it or not, they are the only family I've got. They have fed, clothed, and supported me these past weeks because they wanted to. Not because they had to or because they were getting monthly check for taking me in. To them, I'm their sister and daughter. I haven't had that since I was eight and I'm not giving it up now all for some boy I don't even know! And I don't give a shit if you don't trust them, Jacob, I love them!"
He looked slightly wounded by my words, but still didn't look like he was going to get off his high horse anytime soon. I ground my teeth together with a snap and took off for the car again. Jake called out after me, but I didn't want to hear anything else he had to say. Soul-mate my ass. I wouldn't let anyone talk bad about my family. Especially him.
"I'm sorry! Ivy, wait a second! Can't we talk about this?" Jake called behind me, catching up. Thank God it started raining. A nice downpour I could use nicely.
I spun and gathered the droplets around me into a huge ball with a single swipe, then pushed it into his chest with all my anger behind the blow. To say he was caught off guard would be an understatement. He flew back in a high arc and landed with a splash several yards in the ocean. God, I hoped that hurt.
"Get over yourself, Jacob Black!" I screamed before jumping in the car and taking off as fast as I could.
Well, well, well. Love is certainly in the air. And just like real-life, everything isn't all gumdrops and rainbows.
Don't worry, they'll work it out... or will they?
The lost future, as I'm sure you've already guessed, has a lot to do with Edward and Bella's timeline since they were the ones causing all the trouble in the books. Now that Ivy has literally punched her way into the Cullen's world, things are going to turn out very different.
Next chapter is on the way!
