Escaping Sol
War and a Texas Rose
A Twilight Fanfiction
By Ranma15177
This is going to have to be the most action that I've ever written into a fic…ever. That's saying something considering that I'm a Kenshin fanfiction writer. If you catch anything that seems wrong or slow…review and let me know!
This was a LOOOOOONG chapter. I've had to kick a houseguest out because my rental property found out that I was harboring a guest for over 15 days…WTFE! My grandfather is coming in and out of the hospital and Turkey Day and the preparation thereof kept me from posting because Eric and I couldn't get the opportunity to sit down and touch base for more than fifteen minutes. Sad but true when you can't even see your husband for more than a couple of minutes at a time. I'm going to try to keep up and I've already started Bella's chapter. I hope to have it out in less time than it took for this one to post. Please excuse my tardiness and enjoy the most violent chapter to date.
There will be violence and one graphic depiction of sex in this chapter. My story is rated M for mature. There will be more graphic depictions of sex on the horizon…I hope you don't think it detracts from the action. I think it fell in nicely.
Just for SylviX I went ahead and opened a deviantart account under the name Ranma151773012 and put up drawings of how Bella's dress looks. It's my first real attempts at drawing with a light pen (which my friend, and usual beta, gave me because she's oh so wonderful!) so please excuse the lack of shading…and well…you know. It's like my own version of cave paintings. However the dress is designed how I pictured it and Bella's doing a great job of vamping it up.
As always I don't own Twilight. I'm just going to play with the characters a little and give them back.
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EPOV
"Fuck! We're screwed!" I couldn't help but agree with Jasper's observation, no matter how crass the words were. This would probably not end well. We were surprised, disorganized, and otherwise unprepared for such an onslaught. At the same time as Jasper's vocalization I heard Sam Uley curse in my head as I heard him rattle off a warning to the pack. 'Collin, Mark, and Ellie…I need you to stay close to someone at all times. You aren't ready to fight yet. You don't know enough, and you could get killed.' The four separate groups of vampires stood at the points around us and seemed happy to simply taunt us for a few seconds. Almost twenty strong on each side…we were definitely outnumbered. I could now hear a torrent of thoughts that I assumed would be wholly triumphant from the clusters of undead men and women in front of us, but I realized only too soon that my assumption was wrong. There was a babble of confusion and morbid curiosity that was an undercurrent to the thoughts of the opposition.
Most of the newborns were chomping at the bit to fight the werewolves now that they were offered on the playing field. The large dogs were distracting them from their original targets, which I quickly discerned was us, and the leaders of each group kept trying to catch their attention and redirect their energy. Even the youngest of us knew that the wolves were an anathema to us. There were so many of them that I wondered if I could gamble on a victory. Alice had been correct in her first assumption: seventy strong, and ready to fight. My sister's one certain remaining vision had come to fruition, but far too late for anyone to actually do anything about it. We would have to fight them as we were and hope for the best.
I watched my family intently as I listened to the opposition. Carlisle crossed himself and said a small prayer for ourselves and the wolves. I could just barely make out the Latin of the Lord's Prayer. My adoptive father was an amazing man. He was capable of so much compassion. To show such concern for creatures that were supposed to be our natural enemies was exceptional. From the nervous tenor of his voice I could tell that he seemed to think we would not come out of this unscathed. Esme squeezed Emmett's hand and looked over her shoulder at all of us, as if to memorize every second of this moment before things went to hell. It was possible that one of us wasn't going to come out of this, one of us could die. I would save my mother from further pain. She was the heart and soul of our family. 'I love you Edward. I know you're listening. Can you watch over Alice for me? She looks unusually unsettled right now.'
I moved on in the circle to Rosalie's energetic other half. As usual the clear shallow pool of my large brother's mind was simplistic. Emmett was fairly buzzing with anticipation. 'Look at them all. I'm going to rough all of them up and send them packing for good.' He looked at me with a glorious smile on his face. The idea that this was fun for anyone was a little disturbing, but if it helped him to fight I would not take away his confidence. Rosalie was repeating Jasper's lesson about killing newborn vampires over and over in her head. She was such a perfectionist, beautiful and extremely deadly, but I had to wonder if that would make a difference if she were to get separated from us and she were overwhelmed. What if something happened to my first sister? The very idea of losing Rosalie was abhorrent to me. I may not have been able to be her lover as my father had hoped in the beginning, and we didn't always agree about how we lived our lives, but that was what made me her brother in every way that mattered. We competed in everything. There was no A to garner here though, no competition to win. Getting out alive was the indicator of a job well done. 'Don't worry Edward. I can take care of myself thank you very much.' She favored me with a small smile before going back to her mental refresher course.
Jasper was trying his very best to calculate the odds. I saw strategy after strategy go through his head, most of which were immediately thrown out for one reason or another. 'Edward, I need an update on our opposition.'
"Alice was right about their numbers. They stand at about seventy, give or take a few. Most of them are newborns. Each group has a central leader. The universal take on the wolves seems to be surprise…they were only expecting us for some reason. That in itself is strange. When the Volturri kidnapped Bella they must have at the very least learned of the Quileute wolves. One of them beat the holy hell out of Jacob Black and he'd been a wolf when he fought Jane if his thoughts were correct. Maybe they were hedging their bets about whether or not the others would come if things were more equal, not that I'm saying this is very equal terms. How would they even know where we lived if not for the interference of someone else? The Volturri have been mentioned in their thoughts. These vampires are nothing but a diversion that is hoping for victory. I'm afraid of what that might portend." I whispered very quickly and silently to Jasper.
Jasper threw me a quick glance before continuing his calculations. 'I agree, but at this point we need to focus on the here and now. I want to make sure we have the balance necessary to win.' He looked over his shoulder at me very quickly and I nodded my head. 'Give me something to work with. What do you think about our position?'
"As long as we don't deviate too much from our goal of taking them out fast and keeping the fact that they're newborns in the forefront of our heads, I don't foresee too much of a problem. Of course we're suffering from a lack of numbers, but I think we can make up the difference in experience and accuracy." I spoke quickly again. I could tell from the way the other side was starting to excite that we had little time left to talk.
'I agree. The leaders will be so busy trying to keep the newborns on track that we'll have time to exploit their many weaknesses.' He shook his head. 'I wish everyone could hear me in their head like you though. It might make planning this easier.'
"What would it really help? Our family is capable of taking care of itself Jasper. The wolves, for as much as I hate to say it, are their own problem. We can't communicate the same way they do, so getting your point across would be extremely hard. Besides, I think Sam can handle his people." I said this with as much confidence as I could muster. The young man did have a very firm grasp on his pack, but I had heard his speech to the young wolves that were trapped with us and I hoped for the best for them…they were just children after all.
'I agree with you to a point. These boys are green fighters though. In some ways they're as unpracticed as the newborns. They may have an innate sense for fighting our kind, but I would hate to lose men to the liability of their youth. You wouldn't believe how often that happened back in the war.' Jasper was once again reminding me of his past as the consummate soldier.
"We'll have to deal with that when and if the situation does arise. I'm sorry I can't give you more Jasper, but at this point I think we're going to just have to wing it and stick to the previous plans." He shook his head in agreement, but I could see his inner turmoil. He was stressing over his younger more inexperienced "troops" and wishing for more time to prepare them for battle.
Next to me, Alice was trembling. She looked over at me and I could see a kind of terror welling up in the depths of her eyes. 'Edward! I can't see anything in the future. It's like I've gone completely blind. Don't tell Jasper…but I've never fought without my ability. I don't know if I can do it!' Her small shoulders were shuddering and if she could have cried frustrated tears they would have been streaming down her face. I looked at Alice with a concerned expression and I looked slowly from left to right. 'I know it's not helping, but what can I do? If I tell him straight out that I'm scared of this Jasper will split his concentration. Will you watch out for me?' It seemed like an eternity ago that Alice and I had communicated in a conversation a lot like this one. It had been the day Bella arrived at the school and Jasper had been feeling weak against the bloodlust again, I hoped that we would find that peace soon and with Bella there to join us. I looked up at the sky and down at the grass to let her know. Yes…I would watch out for her.
I listened intently to the attackers again for a clue as to my bride's location. Perhaps they had seen her…maybe they knew where she was. The thoughts were jumbled from the newborns and I tried desperately to focus on the vampires that I thought looked like leaders, 'The Volturri must have tricked us, maybe they were plotting to bring us away from home to make it easier to take over the South and get rid of us.'
Thought another, 'These vampires have a small army of werewolves?'
The Female standing directly ahead of me was thinking something more complex, 'How can they stand to go against their nature? This must be the power the Volturri fears so deeply, it's just as I thought! Wonder what would draw natural enemies so close together? This is truly intriguing! I'm glad to be here now.'
Next I heard a more panicked thought, 'I thought this was supposed to be easy!'
Hearing their thoughts definitely gave me an edge. They had been swayed to come here by the Volturri…but under what pretense? If they honestly believed they were after Jasper as Alice had said wouldn't they have singled him out even once in their thoughts? At least one of them thought that the Volturri were afraid of us…could they be correct? Could our solidarity be what they were so concerned about? Is that why the Volturri had kidnapped my love? If that were the case why would they turn Bella? Wouldn't that just be adding to our numbers? We would have to leave one of these leaders alive so that they could answer our questions.
It was time to bring the pack up to speed. "Jasper and I think we should abide by the same plan as last time. It will get us through the situation at large. They are surprised to find you here Sam. They weren't told anything about you, so technically this isn't your fight." I shouted over to the large black wolf.
'Don't be ridiculous…these could be the vamps who have Bella. I'm glad they are surprised and we're still a secret to some of the vampires in the world. First we're making treaties and now we fight along side of each other, acting together like some kind of strange team. I'm glad that we aren't part of their plans…It gives us an advantage that we didn't even have with Victoria and her group. She was expecting us…even if she wasn't expecting us together .We're definitely all on the same side for now. Can you imagine how devastating this could have been if we were against each other? This would be destructive for you and perhaps for us. What a motley crew we are.' Sam, who was standing in front of Carlisle on the opposite side of me, shook his head as he thought to me…and because of the psychic connection of the wolves, everyone on his side heard the comment as well.
'I like that band. I love early 80's metal, and the 80's are back in now you know.' The tongue lolling out of Jacob Black's mouth in front of me made me wonder if he was capable of being serious or not. I saw some of the other werewolves laughing to themselves.
'Thank you Jacob. That was very helpful to the situation at large. I'll try to use that to our advantage in the fight ahead. Let's focus now people. I want a tight circle. Don't break into smaller groups until we have them confused. Stick to the same game plan.' Sam scolded the second in command who seemed to narrow his eyes at his superior.
Unfortunately for Sam's obvious desire for some kind of more formal plan, the tension snapped and the Southern vampires chose that moment to attack and as they were about to run forward I warned them all. "They're coming!" The wolves all bowed down bodies stretched back from their front paws. I could see snapping teeth and in some cases dancing impatient legs. I could see the fervor in their heads for battle as Sam tried desperately to keep them from darting ahead. My family crouched down in our circle, backs to each other, a perfect ring of snarling vampires. Alice was loudest of us all her nervousness bending slowly into aggression. I took the hand to the right and left of me. Alice and Rosalie and I gave them each a small squeeze. "Don't worry Alice…we will live to fight again." I let go of their hands and I heard my family begin to snarl like the wolves.
'HOLD THE LINE!' Jacob shouted in his head just as Leah Clearwater began to dodge forward. She let out a small whine and couched even lower.
'I wasn't going anywhere Jacob. Why do you always have to call me out?' Leah looked over at Jacob with a look of disdain on her wolfish face.
'I'm not calling you out Leah, I just expect you to follow orders like everyone else.' Jacob snarled back.
'Kiss my ass!' She was completely focused away from the advancing vampires now.
'God you two, shag and get it over with!' That had been Embry.
'The very concept of having sex with that idiot after having to watch him make out with vampire girl in my head leaves me as cold as the bloodsukers.' Leah taunted back at Jacob.
'You know what…you kiss MY ass!' Jacob had lost focus on the vampires in front of him now as well and was now practically ready to tear into Leah Clearwater instead. Everyone got a very clear mental picture of Jacob biting Leah.
'You think you can back that up Black! Come on! Bring it!' Leah was getting more angry by the second, and I kind of wondered if there might be a little sexual tension between the two of them after all. Embry may have gotten it right. I tried to refocus on the battle that was starting in front of me. No time for the Days of Our Lives "wolf edition" right now.
'Not now damn it! Focus! You can talk about your extra curricular activities when this is over and done with. Leah, don't question Jacob.' Sam was snarling on the other side of me and I heard him despite the yells and whoops of the advancing army.
Leah strained not to give a comeback. I could see it in her very stance. It slipped out anyway dripping with sarcasm. 'Sure thing lover.'
The vampires just ahead of me were running forward in an odd pattern, and when they began to near the wolves they fanned out and ran to the left and right dodging toward the oncoming vampires. It was strange that I heard no thoughts from the leader woman and her strange group, but I had watched her motion toward either side and away from our group. The wolves near me started to spiral into confusion and I saw their teeth flashing and their saliva dripping from angry mouths. 'What the hell?' Jacob started to dart toward the right. 'Quill follow me and everyone to the right of him fall to the right. Leah, you and the others will go to the left. Double up people!' The wolves immediately started to recover from the confusion and they began to move toward the sides as I watched over my shoulder and Sam engaged in battle. Each wolf was slowing the advance of the creatures ahead of them, but they were only fourteen strong together and the sides were eighteen or more on each side. They inevitably did not hold back the tide, and I watched as Carlisle leapt forward toward his attackers, Esme next to him let out a particularly vicious snarl and I watched her newborn opponent cower slightly before the woman I called mother was tearing into its terrified flesh. I heard the rending noise that signaled her victory and I turned to be part of the battle.
What had once been two unified fronts quickly dissolved into the small groups just as they had done with the twenty that we had fought before. The wolves dancing out of reach of the grabbing hands and snapping jaws of the newborns. I quickly noticed that this fight was going much the same as the last one, if things continued to progress this way it would end in our favor. Newborns were apparently no more practiced in the South than they were here. They were only a small fraction more trained, and it was when I was studying their movements to try to convey further direction to my siblings, that I noticed the female head of the group that had been ahead of me tore directly into the creature that had been at the head of the group that had stood to our north. "The group that broke up is fighting with the other three. Let them tear each other apart. Fight against the other groups." I launched forward just as I saw Alice begin a struggle with a tall newborn with sandy hair. She crawled around his height like a snake and was about to tear off his head when another came at her from behind I snarled and launched myself to the side.
A base feeling of monstrous delight flowed through my body and I embraced my nature. This is what I needed right now. I wanted to release this stress…this hold that humanity had on me that had drug me under and left me so bereaved. I let go of my despair, my constant companion for the past week, and I unleashed the fiend inside of me. This discharge of human feelings, this acceptance of my true nature, the beast within, sang through my un-beating heart and I let loose a thundering roar. The creature that had seconds before been stalking my sister fell beneath my advancing weight. I let my mind focus on the prey under my hands. I tore at the black haired female's flesh and she let out a shriek of terror. I rent her arm from her body and threw it away from her and she howled in pain. Her other arm shot out toward my neck in a bid to kill me first, but I was making a move too. I sealed my teeth around her throat and began to tear her head away from her body. The sound that reminded me of skirling steel came to my ears and I allowed a small smile as I tore her head from her corpse, my hands yanking the hair on her head back as I spat the venom from her neck out of my mouth. Her head dangled away from her body as the skull swung back and forth with my effort. The hand that had closed on my neck as I was tearing out the thin column of flesh fell lifelessly to the side and I tossed the head away. I took little time in tearing the rest of her body apart.
I looked at Alice behind me and I saw her biting and clawing at the sandy haired vampire. It was the most vicious I had ever seen Alice fight. Pieces of him were flying everywhere. Jasper looked over his shoulder and seemed satisfied with his wife's progress so far. What she had lost in foresight she had gained in unforgiving ferocity. "EMMETT!!!" I heard Rosalie scream just as I began to fight with another "dark skinned" vampire. This time it was a man only slightly smaller than myself. He let out a string of profanities in rapid fire Spanish and I quickly realized that I had probably destroyed his mate. This made me even angrier than I had been at the attacking female. My mate had been taken from me first. Bella's scent fogged my mind for a second and as I rent and tore at his flesh blindly while I heard him scream out what I assumed to be his mate's name. He was losing chunks of flesh under my tearing hands. They had stolen my love from me first! No one had a right…I closed my eyes momentarily as a splash of some kind of corrosive venom came dangerously close to my eyes. The creature could spit acid. He began to spit another column of ichor into my face as I grabbed at his jaw. His hands immediately tried to gain purchase against my own, but I was tearing off his jaw before he could stop me. I set my teeth against his flesh and tore, for a second time, the offending flesh beneath my lips. It burned with the acid that was pouring from his ruined mouth, but I was satisfied as his head came away from his shoulders and I threw the offending sphere far away from its now dismantled body.
I looked up from my position on the ground toward the earlier commotion, toward the place that I had heard Rosalie screaming. I could now understand why. Emmett was practically drowning under a group of vampires. His hands kept closing around bodies and throwing them off of him but his movements were lethargic and stilted, his mind was the only thing that was working at normal speed, and it was telling the story of his panic. They were overwhelming him, but it was not through numbers, his mind was telling me that he could hardly move. One of the creatures that were climbing all over him had a paralyzing touch. It was the small miracle of my brother's own power, his strength, that he was still able to move at all. Rosalie was trying desperately to get to her husband. Her advances stopped each time by a new foe. She let out a growl of anger and fear. I began to get up to aid my sibling as Jacob slammed into the body pile around my brother and came away with a vampire clenched in his jaws. Unfortunately I noticed that he had come away with more than the offending creature, Emmett let out a booming cry as the thing in Jacob's mouth tore away his arm as well.
"Alice?" I looked at the little vampire nearby and my sister smiled at me.
"I think I'll be okay. This isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be…but something is still kind of funny in my head. It's like a buzz…no a hum! It's humming. Like your song! Oh, it doesn't matter! Go save Emmett!" I nodded my head and ran toward my brother. He was definitely not going to succeed in fighting them off himself and I saw that they were trying to take his other arm. He would perish.
"EMMETT! Hold on, I'm coming!" I was on my feet and away from my sister before anyone else could engage me. I searched quickly into the mind of the creatures before me. One of them was holding my brother in thrall and I had to figure out which one and quickly. I watched, almost as if in slow motion, the monsters gaining their advantage over Emmett. I dodged through a fight between Esme and another woman and leapt around another newborn that was trying to fight me, Seth, the wolf that had fought Riley in the clearing tackled him. "Thank you Seth." The wolf let out a barklike laugh as indication that he heard me.
'No problem. We still make a great team.' There was one thing I had to say about Seth Clearwater…he seemed like he didn't care as much as the others did about our differences. I let out a ferocious snarl as my brother's statue still form fell under the onslaught of so many vampires at once. I couldn't see him under the pile anymore and I watched as they tore and bit at my brother's body. I crashed into the heap and went directly for the kill.
She had golden hair like Rosalie, but that was where the resemblance ended. She was, it seemed, incapable of using her power against more than one opponent. She froze my fingers in place the second they had fallen around her neck. I didn't have my brother's latent strength, and therefore I could not move an inch. I was trapped, helplessly inside my head. I heard a whine of panic rise up through my mind, as she redirected her onslaught onto me. Her thoughts were dark, and she enjoyed the tenor of battle, and even more, she enjoyed bringing pain…I saw my death in her mind. I felt her nails begin to tear through the stone flesh of my chest. 'Bella…I'm sorry. I failed.'
Emmett began to move again beside me and he aggressively tore his one arm through the throng of forms on top of him. His restored movement was like letting loose a wrecking ball on the bodies of the creatures. He threw them like rag dolls and I watched with morbid fascination as Emmett came away with arms and legs despite the handicap of losing his own arm. "Edward!" My brother knew what was happening to me, I was sure of that. He had definitely put two and two together. The teeth of the golden haired vampire dug into my stone cold flesh and I could not scream in my pain because my mouth was clamped shut and her power over me was absolute, I just lay there horrified as she began to take me apart tearing ribbons of my flesh away. Emmett took the last vampire that was holding onto his body and threw him roughly into my attacker. Her body soared away from mine but left a gaping wound where she had tried to hold onto my body with her teeth. "God! Man are you okay?" I looked down at the slashes across my chest and the chunk missing from my side and grunted as Emmett hauled me to my feet with his one good arm. I cleared my throat as it finally unlocked enough for speech and I smiled at my brother who was clearly the one who was worse for wear.
"Where's your ear?" I looked at the place on his head where the flesh had once been an ear but was now just a torn mangled mess. The whole side of his face was raked with claw marks and there were now bites and slashes all over his torso. His shirt had been completely destroyed in the tousle and his pants had been shredded beyond even Esme's repair. He looked like he'd been in a fight with a pair of hedge clippers and completely lost.
"Not really sure…but my body burns like hell." Emmett rubbed in an irritated fashion at his new wounds. Above it all was his missing arm, which was…who knew where? I was just about to go looking for the missing limb when Jacob trotted up next to us looking slightly tousled. In his mouth was Emmett's arm and he looked a little too much like someone's large faithful dog. Of course the stick he'd brought back was like something from a horror movie. He handed off the appendage and looked directly into my eyes.
'Don't laugh! I don't usually play fetch. This one is a freebie. By the way, you look like crap, nice acid burn there…kind of Phantom of the Opera.' I could tell that he was fighting every aspect of his nature by showing Emmett this kindness and his hostility toward me was irritation at the situation not with me. He felt as if he were betraying part of his ancestral heritage by giving an enemy back any part of his anatomy that had been successfully removed. He probably was actually.
"Thanks kid!" Jacob nodded his head and watched as Emmett looked at the arm in his hand and flexed the fingers in the one that wasn't attached. "Cool." At Emmett's observation Jacob let out a barklike laugh and I rolled my eyes and the three of us went in separate directions. I went back toward Alice who was currently tousling with a small female. Jacob took another one of the wolves and went toward the golden haired female who had torn through my flesh, and Emmett began to make his way through the creatures who had overwhelmed him. He was swinging his unattached arm like a club at the oncoming vampires and had Rosalie's help now as well as a small brown male werewolf. Rosalie was being particularly vicious to the offending attackers. I heard his voice in the distance say "I challenge you to a duel!" Then I heard a resounding slap. He had used the unattached arm. I rolled my eyes again as I continued to dart forward.
"Edward, oh my God! Are you alright?" Esme was starting a fire as she lit the creature she had been fighting and a purple smoke began to rise into the air. Wolves began dropping bits and pieces of their kills on the smoking remains and Esme began to gather up the other various parts of the attackers that had already been dispatched. She put her hand up to the burns on my face and I hissed. "I'm sorry dear. That looks a bit painful."
"I'm fine." I lied. I actually felt the flesh on my face reforming after the acid had eaten through it. Somehow it had been corrosive enough to burn through my face and it smoldered unpleasantly. Much like the wolves we healed quickly. I was glad I couldn't see myself at the moment. Jacob was probably right. I hoped my face healed before I saw Bella again. The skin trenches across my chest and the chunk at my side were only slightly less annoying. Another dark skinned vampire attacked me and I engaged once again in battle. If he had been allowed to get older than he was right now he would honestly become very quick, he already was for a newborn. Unfortunately for him I was still much faster. As if I were being punished for my vanity, despite my speed, he swerved left and away from my hand and I cursed loudly as he sprung up behind me. His arms were around my torso as I threw my body forward into a judo hip throw. He soared indelicately toward the ground and I pushed his head into the fire that we had fallen next to. His cries of pain filled my ears as I pulled his charring face back out of the flames and I decapitated him and put him out of his misery. "Nothing so painful that a little relaxation time and a week at the spa won't cure." My mother laughed as she hauled a body into the flames.
"ALICE! LOOK OUT!" It was Jasper. He sounded panicked and I watched over my shoulder helpless as Alice was knocked over by two larger vampires. The female she had been fighting was dispatched but she was standing over the body and it had caused her to trip when the two knocked into her. I spun around and got up, taking off at the same time as Jasper, but I reached her seconds before he did. The bigger of the two was sitting on her hips as the smaller one sunk his teeth into her throat I heard the telltale skirling of tearing flesh and I saw red. These monsters could not have Alice's life. I wouldn't allow that at all. I tore at her larger attacker I couldn't reach the smaller one. I needn't have worried about the monster at her throat; Jasper was already falling upon the smaller one…but at what price? Had we been too late to save Alice? I ripped and tore violently through the creature. He was putting up very little resistance at the end. I had torn off both of his arms and clawed through his chest until I was tearing through ribs. "Alice! God Alice…Please sweetheart. Speak to me." He was shaking her shoulders and I could see the slash through the flesh in her neck. I tore off the offending head of the large vampire and threw it toward Esme's fire. I saw her pick it up and throw it in before rounding back in our direction.
"ALICE!" Esme shrieked and suddenly she was running toward us single mindedly coming for her child. She would never have seen the other attacker coming and I threw myself at her legs, tackling my mother to the ground. The vampire went sailing overhead and a nearby smallish grey wolf, Leah Clearwater, began tearing him to bits. "ALICE! Let go of me Edward! ALICE!" She struggled against my arms, but I was not going to let her up. If this was to be their last moments together, then Alice and Jasper needed to be alone. It was then that I heard the piercing shriek of a wolf. The large black wolf, Sam Uley, was like my brother had been, covered in a group of five vampires. Unfortunately he wasn't nearly as resistant and as I watched in horror I felt his mind go quiet. The other wolves stopped in their tracks and as one they howled against their pain. It became deathly quiet. Sam was dead. It happened so fast that no one could help him. No one could have saved him, and he hadn't even screamed for their help. He had gone down silently fighting.
Meanwhile I watched as Jasper began to shake Alice by her shoulders and wail. Her eyes stared up at me sightlessly as if she were in one of her visions and Esme and I reached them just as the field broke into battle once again. I looked in vain for Carlisle. I saw him fighting beside the wolves as they tried to salvage Sam's body from the biting clawing masses of vampires on top of him. I felt myself give in to the pain of loss again. Poor Sam had been a good man. I had always respected his calm authority and love that he held for his brothers. He was even tempered and gave us respect despite the natural animosity that we shared. Alice had been such a comfort to me for all of these years. I was horrified at what Jasper might become in her absence…or if Jasper would be anything at all without her. He looked up at me with a lost expression on his face. It was like he was begging me to fix her. I was suddenly filled with guilt. If I had stayed by Alice's side this might not have happened. Rosalie may have been able to help Emmett by herself. What if I had just doomed Alice to death? All around us there was a battle going on, but between the four of us there was stillness. I began to hear more of the squeals that signaled that a wolf was injured or dead. I heard the voice of one of the younger wolves cease inside my head like Sam. I clutched at it…wishing I couldn't hear them suffer and die.
My sister lay there, cold, and unmoving. It was unnerving because Alice was always in motion. Esme turned suddenly and began to fight off a vampire that had tried to take advantage of our grief. She was extremely violent with the creature. They had obviously never seen a mother vampire protecting her children before. Jasper was holding his wife's hand. He had gone silent and reached forward to close her sightless eyes. He bent over her body holding her against his silent heart as I began to deflect another attack. I quickly dispatched the monster trying to benefit from our momentary weakness. I threw the parts in the general direction of the the purple flames and saw Embry pick them up and place them in the fire. The purple monolith began to grow in size. There were seventy bodies for the pyre today and it would grow more before I was done. Perhaps it would have been more kind to let this nameless creature come though. Maybe it would be more acceptable for Jasper to be with Alice…wherever she had gone. I considered it as I listened for my brother's internal voice, but all I could hear was his whispers mirrored in his head. "I love you Alice. I was put here to love you. I'll follow wherever you go love. Don't leave me behind? Please?" I saw his shoulders begin to shake. He would have been sobbing had he been capable of it. "Don't go without me Alice! PLEASE!"
I was focused on the scene in front of me as my mother ruthlessly tore through her victims. I understood Jasper's feelings, but until now they had been trapped inside of him, now they were coming off of him in waves. Unrestrained anguish was crashing out of Jasper and it was almost crippling for me. I watched as a vampire that was attacking from the direction that my brother was facing fell forward bent at the knees, clutching at himself, and crying out with the despair ravaging his body. I had never thought of Jasper's ability as a weapon before, but the attacker was tearing at his own flesh with the cries of agony that fell unrequited from his lips and I knew that the feeling must be unbearable. I couldn't move to destroy him…I couldn't move to protect myself. This was the same pain that I had known when I had lost Bella, and it sent me hurtling back into my grief. All I could do was stand there and feel…and now was a very bad time for that indeed. I heard the creature running at me from behind. I heard his breath coming quickly as he readied himself for the kill, and I would go down easily. I had made the joke to Emmett that I would go with my arms spread wide and accepting death…so that it was easier to tear my arms off. I had joked about it, but now, it was nothing but irony as I stood there my arms held out in supplication and my body wracked with the pain of sadness.
Suddenly, as if she were a puppet that had been jerked by her strings Alice sat straight up and her eyes flew open. She threw Jasper off with very little effort and darted past me under one of my outstretched arms taking out the creature behind me with her usual easy panache. It was as if she had seen the vampire coming and in that moment I heard her thoughts. 'Right. Left. Teeth. Remove jaw, remove arm. Insert teeth into neck from behind…and voila!' Alice pitched the head of the creature into the growing purple flames of Esme's fire. She jumped down from the trunk of the creature that fell to the ground only after she had dismounted, and ran to her recovering husband. "I'm so sorry Jasper! I couldn't get out of the vision. I tried so hard! Then I felt you, I heard you and I came back." He began to touch her face, her neck (which I noticed, had almost completely re-knit itself while she was out), her shoulders, and slid his fingers over her arms till he held her hands. It was the tenderest moment I had ever seen them share…and I had walked in on, and thrown them of my bathroom while they were making love on my sink counter two weeks ago. Alice had said it was my fault for being so completely filled with lust for my fiancée. I didn't doubt that was true. Jasper had been taking his wife liberally in every room in the house for three weeks. Bella had felt bad about coming to the house with all of our pent up sexual frustration eating at us and bothering Jasper. Alice had said it wasn't a bother. "It's an excellent distraction Bella dear. I enjoy being felt up in the closet, and you will too." She had whispered it to my future wife, but it hadn't been for the benefit of them sharing a secret, she knew I could hear them even though I was half way across the room. I smiled at her, winked and began to look through the catalog in front of me that was full of boutonnières and she had blushed a beautiful shade of red.
"Alice? What happened that made you go under like that? How did you get your power back? You're going to be okay?" Jasper called over the noise of the fighting. They were hugging each other on the ground kneeling and supporting each other's weight.
"Edward…behind you." I turned around and there was a shocked looking vampire woman who had long brown hair and a nasty sneer on her lips. I quickly sprang behind her and I tore through flesh and bone to quickly dispatch my opponent. One more for the fire that was now being tended by Quill who was walking with an extremely sever limp.
"Because it's obviously back." I said to Alice with a smile. It was nice to have my fellow freak sister back. Things were starting to die down. The wolves led by Jacob were rounding up three vampires that had begun to desert their fellows. The pile of smoking bodies was simply enormous. I could see a group of vampires conversing with my father through the purple smoke, it looked to be the group that had come from my side of the forest. Emmett and Rosalie were gathering up the bits and pieces of their fallen adversaries with the help of the wolf that I knew to be Seth Clearwater who was enjoying spending time with Emmett as the two of them seemed to be in a competition to see who could throw body parts the farthest. Every once in a while he would give him a headbutt of approval. My brother was a great guy…but he was a serious meat head.
"Yeah. I got my power back because someone, and I'm not naming any names or anything here…BELLA…was borrowing it. Apparently that's her thing." She raised her eyebrows at me as if she were expecting me to share her mock horror. "Without permission I might add." She smiled at me then and I went to my sister with a look that must have been joyous despite the pain that a smile was causing to my still repairing skin. "She's on her way, she misses you horribly and she's with the Volturri, but I didn't have enough time to figure out much else. It was really strange. I've never shared a vision before. In the end I got her to stabilize the power and turn it off…That's the thing we both saw before she disappeared. We were in the middle of a battle and I had to stop that vampire from getting you. I saw the future where that didn't go as well…you don't really want to know. Bella told me I had to save you and then she just disappeared so that I could. She was so pretty Edward!" I felt my non-existent heart lurch.
"So she's definitely been turned." I sank down next to Alice and I felt my head sink.
"I'm sorry Edward, but it's kind of what we were expecting anyway. You have to admit, it's better than the alternative." Alice looked up at me through questioning eyes and a hooded expression. Jasper was placing his hand on my other shoulder.
"Yes. I can live with this, in the end it's what we had planned anyway. I have to be strong for her. She's going to need all of us now." I watched as the last three vampires were added to the pile. Emmett and Rosalie were walking back and forth between the fire and the various bits and pieces of the vampires they had dispatched. The wolves began to become humans again, while the injured creatures made small grunts and howls of pain. I heard chaotic thoughts. One of the newer younger wolves named Nicholas was bleeding uncontrollably and internally according to the thoughts of Embry. He sniffed at the younger boy who was trying desperately to become human again. Embry kept telling him that it would kill him to return to his human form…but the boy was in shock. We had to aid the wolves that had been injured before they hurt themselves further.
I heard the pack start breaking into groups in my head. Embry was leading a group of three back to La Push to get the local meeting hall opened up and turned into a hospital Jacob had dispatched them immediately after the three final stray vampires had been rounded up. It wasn't a large building from what I could see in their minds, but none of their houses could accommodate all of the wounded comfortably until they could be treated. Only one of the werewolves was still at the reservation, a small girl named Samantha that was already getting the keys from Billy Black who was horrified to hear of the assault that had just happened and the horrible outcome. Sam Uley's body was lying on the ground and Jared was trying not to cry as he began to lift his pack brother and bring him closer to all of us. Jared called over to Seth for his help and the two of them began carrying the huge black wolf together. Leah Clearwater was in shock standing to the side of Paul who was unconscious and she was trying to get Sam to wake up by shouting his name in her head. She was convinced that he'd simply been knocked out too…that he would be fine in a few minutes. There were a few wolves that were still taking care to get any remaining parts of the vampires they had slain and throw them in the fires. Jacob was taking charge in a very decisive manner, the joking, the smile, and all of his joy seemed to have leeched itself free from his spirit. I hoped it was only temporary. It would hurt Bella to see Jacob so obviously broken.
Jacob walked toward me immediately and shifted into his human form pulling on the sweats that had been tied around his leg. Alice had turned away seconds before his change…obviously she had foreseen that as well even without her ability to see the wolves future, but it was obvious in his stride that he was making his way in my direction and he would obviously want to be human when he addressed me again. "Sam is dead. Mark is dead. Ellie is dead. Paul is unconscious and I can't tell if he's going to wake up. We have more wounded. We need your help. I know I haven't always been the most humble person…but you and your father were able to help me when I was hurt. I know you have two medical degrees and that your father is an excellent doctor. I'm begging you…" He was surprised when I rose to my feet and put my hand on his shoulder. We had sat close together on the cliff for a week, but I had never touched Jacob on his shoulder or otherwise in comfort. It only made him flinch for a second and he quickly relaxed into the gesture.
"You don't have to beg me for anything Jacob. I would help you no matter what you say. Let's get Carlisle and get the wounded back to La Push. Don't worry about the dead, my family will do their best to bring them to you in a respectable fashion. Carlisle!" I watched as my father came through the rising purple smoke and trailing next to him was a female that I recognized as the woman at the head of the southern vampires that were directly in front of me. There were only six of them now, where there had been twelve.
I watched as Jasper disentangled from Alice and rose to his feet. "Maria?"
"Jasper Whitlock as I live and breath!" Maria shook out her sable hair and smiled as if she were expecting him to be excited to see her. She ran around my staring form and threw her arms around Jasper like an old friend…or perhaps more like an old lover. "It's been a dog's age! And my word, but you haven't changed a bit!" As if she had expected him to. I was surprised to actually meet this woman from Jasper's past. She was quite beautiful, but he had described her as ruthless and I was left wondering what her angle was.
"Look. Here's the deal sweetheart. You let go of my husband or you stop living and breathing." Alice glared at the woman who was still wrapped scandalously around my brother. She gave an apologetic half grin and got down from her Ex-General. Jasper seemed more than happy that she was no longer touching him too although he had hugged her for a second.
'I'm just so happy that we had a little strategic help I can't imagine what all of that would have turned into with the extra twelve vampires. Please tell Alice not to feel jealous…Maria is a bloodthirsty monster, and I'm sure she has a hidden agenda in all of this. There must be something major for her to go out of her way to fool so many of her southern companions. It's possible that she's just figuring out a way to weasel her way out of being torn apart…but at the beginning of the fight they broke away and helped us immediately. I didn't see anyone on her side attacking the wolves…just the other vampires.' Jasper was looking directly into my eyes and every once in a while he would look warily between his wife and Maria as if he were going to spring at the taller woman at a moments notice. He had just gotten his wife back from uncertainty and I could see that he wasn't willing to experience the feeling again any time soon.
"I'm sorry sweetheart. I didn't know he'd tied the knot! Well congratulations Jasper dear! Your wife seems like a lovely woman. Very compact." Maria smiled at Alice who growled at the offending female. It was possible that Alice was going to attack Maria, but I doubted it.
I gave up watching the fight brewing ahead of me and looked at Carlisle. "We need to help the wolves. They have lost three of their number so far and will lose more if we don't get working."
"Of course Edward. Jacob please get together your wounded. If there are head or neck injuries we will need to clear them before transport. I would hate to have to re-break the spinal chord that far up on a neck." Jacob nodded his head at Carlisle's comment and the other Quileutes began to do as we had asked. "Maria, please feel free to help us."
"I think not Carlisle dear. You may be immune to your feelings against these animals, but I am not. I will follow you to explain things, but I'm not going to go out of my way to help them stick around this planet. They would just as soon take my head from my shoulders thank you very much. I'll make sure that my southern friends don't have any remaining parts lying around instead." She gave a small curtsey and looked at Jasper. "Wanna' help me? You were always good at finding the things you really wanted." Alice growled loudly as I walked away from the group to aid the wolves.
'I swear to GOD Edward I'm going to ball her up and throw her in the fire.' Alice thought at me and I snickered. She was actually taking things very well. Of course she had just looked into the future and seen herself having some very passionate moments between herself and her husband Jasper in her mind and none of them seemed to even point toward him having any feelings of passion for anyone else. They were in rooms that I didn't recognize. It was possible that we were going to leave Forks soon. I wished I could wash out my brain with a toothbrush sometimes and seeing any of my family members en flagrante was definitely a qualifying moment. I gave Alice a look of distaste. 'Oh, Sorry Edward…I didn't mean to subject you to that. Do you want to see what's ahead for you instead? Would that be more palatable?' She had a devilish look on her face.
I raised my eyebrow at my sister and shook my head in a negative fashion. I would see it when I got there. That was going to be worth the wait. I got a flash of it anyway. My feet moved slowly and carefully over the ground but I was clearly seeing Alice's vision as well. I recognized my own hands tracing patterns against the naked sparkling white flesh of Bella's stomach, the back of my hand caressing her flesh as she whispers her love to me. I can see her milky white breasts and her pink nipples only covered on the sides by the silken fabric of a robe. The smallish globes that I had taken in my hands only a week ago when my lover had been human had changed and were slightly larger now, made more womanly by her transformation into a vampire. I longed to touch them in my selfishness. Her robe was hanging precariously from her shoulders a promise of things to come as I roughly take her shoulders to kiss her trembling full lips. "Alice, I need to concentrate, and I don't think now is the time or place for such things."
'I may not read minds Edward, but I saw your eyes just now…they were pretty full of " I don't mind seeing this..' My sister fired back.
"My passions for Bella have never been in question dear sister, so it isn't hard at all to drive my mind into the gutter. I'm simply suggesting that now might not be the best time for that, I should be focusing." I scolded to Alice as I continued walking toward my goal, the wolf man I thought might be Quill.
'Stop being a wet blanket.' She laughed back at me.
I looked over with a scowl at Alice and she thought blatantly back at me. The scene had changed slightly and I was grasping at her naked breasts which rose and fell with each thrust of her lovely hips. I watched her head lean back as she bowed further backward adding to her passions. My Bella was stretched far enough for her hair to brush my thighs momentarily as her hips came up and down riding atop my own. I watched as I let my fingers trace back down to her rear and gently over the swell of her hips to help her and I saw them become viselike as she began to thrust harder and faster. Her hands were grasping my thighs in the vision and my eyes shot to where they had been in my mind and for the first time in forever I stumbled over my own feet as I heard the vision of her moan my name in ecstasy in my mind. I looked back again at my sister disapprovingly but she had a wicked smile on her face that showed she was less than repentant. 'That was totally hot if you ask me and if I must suffer, so shall you.'
"Haven't I suffered enough Alice?" I called over my shoulder and shook my head at her. She shrugged her shoulders and began to speak again with Maria and Jasper as Maria started pointing her remaining creatures in different directions under orders to do clean up. I understood that what Alice had really been trying to do was apologize for a week of my pain. It was an attempt to make up for all of the not knowing and the pure agony that had stamped all of the time between then and now. All of the visions in the world could still be wrong with a decision made either one way or the other, but if she wouldn't have lost her ability we would have at the very least known that Bella was not dead, but I had never thought that Alice was guilty. I had never believed that she was at fault for Bella's plight. "It isn't your fault Alice…it isn't anyone's fault. You don't have to make anything up to me." I had never clearly expressed to my future wife why I didn't always bet on Alice…why it was so dangerous to believe the things that may not be. It was for the moments like these. Moments where we were left knowing what might have been and feeling our despair at the loss. Why mourn for the things that hadn't happened yet. I doubted very highly that Alice would have put Bella through the "wedding torture" every day if she had known she wasn't going to walk down the aisle toward me. She had honestly never foreseen this outcome.
I approached the closest wolf and saw from his thoughts that it was definitely Quill. He looked at me with a pained expression. 'Go take care of Collin…I think he might be dying.' I searched in my memory for Collin but I shook my head.
"I don't know all of you well enough to identify Collin on sight…Can you point him out to me if I carry you with me?" I questioned him and he nodded his wolfy head. I heaved Quill up over my shoulders and he only whined at first when I jostled him. "I'm sorry, I know you have broken ribs. I'm trying to be delicate."
'Don't worry about delicate. I've never had anyone carry me before. My very own bloodsucker valet.' His thoughts were joking and I laughed along with him. 'There he is!' Quill's muzzle pointed with effort toward a small dark brown wolf that was heaving breaths out on the ground. A small puddle of blood was forming under his snout. I winced at the state of the young man. He was probably not going to survive unless we began treatment immediately and I had no glucose or anything we needed to get blood back into his body, and he had yet to be typed, I wasn't even sure what blood type he was…Even when they were wolves their blood was human, but we would need so much to keep him alive, not to mention the surgery to re-knit whatever had been ravaged. I saw the stains leading up to the boy and I feared what I would find if I were to turn him over.
'I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying.' He was saying it over and over in his head and I saw that his labored breathing seemed to be matching his thoughts, like he was intentionally piecing out his thoughts because anything else was an effort.
"Not today." I responded to his earlier thought and Quill looked up at me hopefully as I sank down next to Collin and placed Quill gently on the ground next to him. I set one of my hands against his ribs and he began to thrash. "Stop!" I cried out. He was going to make the internal hemorrhaging worse. "Quill, tell him that I'm here to help. I know he's not going to believe me."
'Collin, calm down kid. He's gonna' try to stop the bleeding, and you're doing too much of that to be safe right now. It's just Edward. Do you remember Edward? He's one of Dr. Fangs sons remember?' Quill raised his head enough to rest his snout on top of Collin's. The boy immediately calmed down. My touch had caused him to panic, and Quill's had caused him to relax.
'Do no harm.' I thought to myself. 'How can I possibly do any more harm than this?' I began searching for the various punctures and when I established that none of his damage was spinal in nature I looked over at Quill. "I'm going to have to turn him over…you're going to have to move." Quill leaned his head away from Collin and I cautiously turned him over and found the mess on the other side of his body. He had been torn open, his ribs were visible, the flesh completely torn away in parts, and I could see where there were ribs broken and it had punctured his lung…possibly his heart. It was all at the wrong angle. Quill started to shake and I saw him turn human.
"HOLY CRAP!" He screamed and held his arm and rolled a bit on the side. He had a few broken ribs, a broken arm, and his leg was fractured pretty badly, which all would probably have to be re-broken and re-knit because they had probably done so all wrong because of the wolves ability to heal. "FUCK!" He rolled onto his back and slowly started to get up. "Just in case you were wondering I do indeed kiss my mother with this mouth…" That was said weakly but definitely with humor and I tried to force a smile as he fought against the bile in his throat that I could smell. Whether it was from the incident of his broken parts, or if it was the product of seeing Collin's internal organs I would never know because I was concentrating on the chaotic thoughts of the young boy under my hands. "Good lord kid…that's a mess. Doctor Fang is going to set you up with the good drugs and you're going to see fairies and unicorns and sexy bikini models all over the place. You're going to be fine."
'The whole Swedish Bikini Team?' He looked at Quill who looked at me. It had been his first thought that wasn't in the vein of "I'm dying."
"He wants to know if he can see the whole Swedish Bikini Team." I smiled at the two of them.
"SURE! You can tell me about them when you wake up…" Collin had suddenly passed out. "Collin? Collin? Is he dead? I promised his mom that I would look out for him today. He wasn't supposed to even be here. He got stuck when the leeches chased him out of the forest. No disrespect meant."
"None taken Quill. He is not going to die either, not if I have anything to say about it. Carlisle…" I saw my father turn his head away from his patient thirty or more feet away. We were speaking as though we were right next to each other, and it was a wonder to me that we had any time left for my patient because he was going deeply into shock. I was terrified that he was going to die before I could do anything of worth. "Is it going to be possible for someone to steal an ambulance. I…don't know if we can move Collin. It would be incredibly dangerous for him without stabilization and a crash cart, and I want him to be up and running by next week." I tried not to let the skepticism enter my voice, but I knew that Quill heard it when he looked at me with panic in his eyes.
"I don't know son. Emmett! Rosalie! I'm going to need supplies as well. The wolves that were hurt are very badly injured. How about you borrow an ambulance from the hospital and bring it to us, that way we'll be able to get them some morphine for the pain and stabilize the wounded. Do not be seen." I watched my siblings dash away from the scene very quickly and I began to tear my shirt apart so that I could at least staunch the bleeding and Quill did the same with his sweat pants. Not wanting to be naked in front of everyone Quill turned back into a wolf and let out a stream of curses that I could hear loudly in my head.
"If you keep doing that you're going to actually hurt yourself." I began bunching the fabric and then wrapping it securely around Collin's body. I wasn't sure if I would be able to help the young wolf boy in time. I had never ventured into veterinary sciences, and the wolf was no more human than I was at the moment. He had already begun to lose consciousness and I heard his heart slowing down…I tried to keep pressure on the wound. Each minute there was less blood coursing through his veins and more on the ground despite my efforts. At seven minutes I could hear the slowing of his blood and I looked up at Carlisle in a panic I was going to lose my patient. Carlisle was on his fourth or fifth wolf now. I was always in awe of my father's abilities, but right now I envied them deeply because I wasn't nearly as skilled. "I need you. I can't keep him alive. Father he's fading." Quill let out a small whine. Collin's mind had gone silent and so there was no connection between them other than what I could tell him, and it was turning very bleak.
"Do you have the tourniquet tight enough? Here Alice hold this right here against Ian's artery and don't let go. He's been losing far too much through his neck. We don't have the fluids to replace extreme bloodloss yet, so were going to have to try to keep as much as we can inside the body. Can you do it? I can get one of the wolves…"
"I can do it." She placed her hands over the cloth covering the gaping tear in the wolf's neck and I watched Alice apply pressure to the wound. She looked thoroughly uncomfortable, but at the same time she looked determined. She didn't want the young wolf to die that much I could see in her eyes. "Ian, you're kind of smelly, but I know you're a good kid. I need you to stay with me till we can fix you okay?" He didn't respond to her comment and I listened for his mind. The thoughts were a steady stream of things he wanted to do. Places he wanted to go. I hoped that he would get the opportunity to experience all of it.
"Don't push too hard now Alice. They are breakable creatures right now despite their size. I'm coming Edward. Keep them as comfortable as you can Jasper." Jasper stood away from Alice and my father, distancing himself from the free flowing blood of the wounded and yet staying close. He was trying his very best to keep the feelings of the wounded men comfortable and calm.
'The failure here is partially mine. I knew better than to allow some of these boys fight. Too much inexperience and too much youthful zest for battle always ends in this kind of loss.' My brother was going to beat himself up regardless of how well the rest of the situation went. While Jasper was ruminating over the fate of his troops Emmett and Rosalie were returning from their jaunt. Rosalie was driving while a partially restored Emmett cleared the way for the vehicle. He was actually being very silent for someone who was displacing trees. I've never been so happy to see one of my siblings in a stolen vehicle before. The ambulance was running silent, but the lights were now flashing on the top of the vehicle as Rosalie pulled into the field.
Carlisle ducked down by my side and he began to take stock of the situation while I let up pressure for a second for my father to investigate his wounds. He looked at me quickly and asked for my assessment in his head. "We're looking at broken bones, internal lacerations, and I get the feeling that there may be a puncture to the lower aortal cavity. At this point that's just a guess though because I can't move the rib for fear of causing him to bleed out." My father nodded his head and needlessly rolled his shoulders as he set to work on the young man.
'Please see to the others and take over for Alice now Edward. Your skills are definitely not in question. You've done very well here.' He allowed me the time to stroke the fur of Collin's neck before I moved away. Quill seemed to be thanking me with his eyes, but he was rehearsing what he would say to Collin's mother.
Jacob walked up to our side and took a place next to Quill. "We've got the space cleared for the arrival of the injured. How is Collin?"
I looked at Jacob and I knew the doubt was showing because he looked away from me and down at his pack brother. "Really Jacob I don't know. I'm not half the doctor Carlisle is, and he's very badly injured."
"You're selling yourself short son. You've done an excellent job given the circumstances. Jacob…what are the chances of getting this boy to change into a human? It might help me get him out of the woods a little easier. I want him hooked to a heart monitor first of course. No reason to take unnecessary risks with his future." I began to walk away from the four of them and walk back to the other wounded who were lying together on the ground, the five that were laying close together and receiving treatment from Rosalie and Alice were alive only two of them were still wolves now, probably under Carlisle's orders. I watched as my brother Emmett said last rights over the bodies of the dead and he was covering them delicately with sheets. The only one who had yet to return to human guise was Sam Uley, he was still the large black wolf that I had seen fall under the weight of too many vampires at once. When Emmett made to cover him Leah Clearwater turned into a grey wolf breaking through her clothes and snarled at him. I put myself between them and the wounded in case there was a fight and we had to protect them from further harm. I heard the murderous intent in her head but I had to believe that Emmett could do this by himself.
Jacob barreled into Leah from the side as he had witnessed the same thoughts in his own head. 'What the hell do you think you're doing? Don't snarl at him! Don't you dare! They are helping us. They are all helping us!'
'NO! They can't have Sam! He's not dead. See? He isn't turning back. He isn't dead! HE CAN'T BE DEAD!' She shoved her head back against Jacob's side and took a small snap at him. Despite what she was I saw very human tears falling from her eyes now.
'It was a risk he knew he might run. We all knew it might be us.' Jacob snarled back at Leah.
'It can't be him Jacob! He's still a wolf. He is going to be fine!' Leah cried.
'Leah…He's dead.' This time his words were soft and comforting, but they had a feeling of finality.
'NO!' Shebegan struggling to get to Sam and Emmett stood back and away from the body of the wolf holding the sheet and looking sad. He couldn't hear their thoughts like I could, but he was definitely getting the gist of the conversation. 'You don't understand. None of you understand. We have to bring him back alive. He has to live!'
'Let him rest now Leah. He's earned peace.' Jacob was holding her back with a gentle look in his eyes.
'TRAITOR! LEECH LOVER!' The struggle continued, but now it was a full blown fight. Snapping jaws and flashing teeth. I watched as Leah and Jacob began to fight in earnest. She was trying very hard to hurt him but it was in vain. Animalistic growls issued from each of them, but Jacob had the upper hand. Leah was not thinking at all, just lashing out in anger. Jacob had brought her down quickly, and Embry and Seth were holding her down now as I watched the russet wolf change into a man once more.
"What the HELL is wrong with you?!? This hurts me too! Why are you fighting me Leah? What have any of us done to deserve this? It wasn't our fault." Her eyes were wet with tears and rolled with the madness in her head. "Don't make me do this Leah…Don't make me say it."
Leah Clearwater began to struggle against her brother and Embry again. Just as her sharp teeth were about to close on Embry's right leg Jacob screamed, "Stop Leah, all of you! HUMAN NOW! That's an order!" She let out a small whimper and all three of them became human at once. Right next to me I watched as Sam became human as well. His body was more obviously mauled now that the rough fur wasn't hiding the damage. His ribs were caved in, and his bones in his legs were facing in odd directions that indicated they had been badly broken. Somehow his face remained free of the utter destruction of the rest of his body. It was as if Sam had been waiting for Jacob to take the mantle of leadership from him before he could return to his natural state.
"NO!" The cry was shrill. It was heartbreaking to watch Leah crumple to the ground. I watched as every remaining wolf on the field became human…including Collin. My father cursed very loudly. Jacob would have to learn to be more selective with his words. He began to work furiously under the new conditions of his injury. A body that was already in trauma could not undergo such a dramatic change without some further damage and I heard the small monitor next to the boy crash. Quill was cursing loudly again because he had morphed once again despite his broken bones that kept splintering with the transformation. Alice had to reintroduce a more substantial tourniquet onto the wolf she had been working on earlier with the neck wound.
"Oh GOD! I'm sorry Doctor Cullen! I had no idea!" Jacob was scrambling back toward Collin and I grabbed his shoulder.
"Leave him space to work. You won't want to watch this if he can't save him." Jacob looked up at me as I said this with determination in his eyes.
"He's my responsibility now. All of them are." He spoke with conviction. He was taking the mantle of his leadership seriously. He truly believed that if Collin died it was completely his fault.
"No Jacob. Everyone makes decisions in life. Collin fought bravely for his brothers and my family. Don't be like that." I wasn't about to let him damn himself when he didn't deserve it.
"Stay out of my head Edward." He had said it with none of his usual enmity, and for once he had said my name. He hadn't called me by any of his colorful derogatory monikers. He was in pain. I tried to recall the Jacob from the past in my mind and I tried to superimpose the image on top of his face. The two were so discordant with each other that they were almost two different people. Bella had once called out to "My Jacob" in her sleep. It had immediately broken my heart because I had come to the conclusion that she was using a term of endearment. She had told me that I had misunderstood and she was using the term "my" as a way of differentiating between the Jacob that was under orders from Sam and the Jacob she had come to know before he was a werewolf. What would she think of this new Jacob?
"Let my father do what he can. Get someone to carry the stabilized wounded back to the hall and you can deal with Leah. She needs your help. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want it…" I tapped my head and Jacob gave me a very wan smile, "but she needs it." I tried to convince him to take a step back and breath. Comforting Leah would be a distraction from his cloying unstoppable destiny.
"You're right. Seth, Embry…get the wounded back to La Push. Emmett is going to load the unmovable ones into the ambulance. Quill, you need to stay in the hall until we can get a look at those broken bones." He walked tentatively toward Leah and lifted her naked form away from the bodies. They walked past my mother and the remaining southern vampire coven as the purple flames continued to leap into the sky. Esme offered Leah her shirt and the woman reluctantly took it from her. They walked into the cloying sweet smelling smoke and disappeared into its concealing rolling clouds. I heard them anyway, but I wanted desperately to get away from all of the horror of what was happening all around me. "I'm sorry for your loss Leah. I'm sorry for what happened to Sam. I know how much you loved him. He knew it too. We're all here for you." Jacob's voice was as gentle as I'd ever heard him speak with the wolf girl.
"You don't understand." Leah was whispering but I could hear her voice as clear as if she were standing next to me. My father was working to save Collin. The monitor was no longer flat, but his heart was beating very faintly. It was only a matter of time before he crashed again. He needed a stable environment. Rosalie was getting the stretcher ready next to Collin's body and Carlisle began to introduce fluids and a bag of fresh blood was hanging next to the IV Drip on a rolling stand that stood very awkwardly in the uneven ground. Emmett had left the bodies in the care of Maria and her group. Not to transport them, but to stand watch over them. Jasper and Alice were going to walk to La Push with the injured. Alice picked up the smallest of them and began walking into the forest toward La Push with Embry and Seth. Jasper was attempting to keep them calm in transit. Quill limped quickly behind them. His mind supplied the word "ouch" every time he stepped down on his broken leg.
"You keep telling me I don't understand Leah, but I do. We share a brain. I know what your feelings were. It's okay to feel broken right now. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed myself." Jacob countered to her comments.
I could hear the scathing anger and misery creeping back into Leah's inner voice, "and I'm TELLING you that you don't understand. It's the only secret that I've ever been able to keep to myself. The only thing that every single one of you doesn't know yet, and that's saying something because I had finally come to grips with everything. I had finally given up my thoughts of him for something infinitely more precious." The thought that went through her head made me run toward them. I couldn't let Leah tell Jacob what was in her mind yet. I couldn't let this fall on his shoulders he was only just barely holding together as it was.
"I'm all ears Leah. Did you imprint?" I thought I might have heard Jacob's voice become hesitant when he asked, but I heard his guess and I ran faster.
"No, well, It's Emily. I promised her that I would protect Sam from harm and that she had nothing to worry about. I failed her Jake, and now he'll never know." Leah looked sad as she spoke. I broke through the smoke and watched as Jacob looked at Leah with worry in his eyes. "She found out two days ago…she was going to wait to tell him. I figured it out because we're still like sisters. Even with all of this between us, even when Sam tore us apart we were still like sisters, but I swore to her I wouldn't tell him until all of this was over and I didn't somehow…I was able to keep it between us despite the pack. Emily is pregnant with Sam's child." I didn't need Jasper there with me to know the anguish that was breaking over Jacob when he fell to his knees there amongst the burning remains of his enemies and the bodies of his friends, one of which would never know the face of his own child.