Disclaimer: Not mine. Belongs to Stephenie Meyer Chapter ten
Vanessa's pov
Last night Jacob and I had made love for the first time, but this morning, I woke up to a cold bed. When I went to find Jacob, I could almost see the wall he had put up around him. He was cold and distant and he hardly spoke to me. I didn't know if it had to do with his father keeping a close eye on the both of us, or if something had happened between last night and today, but something was completely off.
I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he just told me he had to talk to Sam about something, leaving me behind with his scowling father. I retreated into his room, intent on hiding out for as long as I had to be here.
Somewhere during the morning I must have fallen asleep because I woke when a vicious pain shot through my abdomen. Groaning I curled up into a ball. When the sharp stab of pain didn't come back I unfurled and tried to get up.
There was still a burn low in my gut. It was dull, but constantly nagging. I tried worry about it, but as I checked my phone if my dad left a message on Bella and found none, the pain became more prominent. I debated calling him, but I didn't want to do that around a group of highly sensitive ears on the reservation. I'd rather go back to the house and call him from there.
So I got up, got dressed and headed back into the small living room. The wolves were crowded around it, speaking quietly with their heads together.
"I'm heading home to get some things and check for messages. I'll be back in a couple of hours," I muttered.
Jacob didn't even spare me a glance. I frowned. Was this what imprinting meant? That he could simply ignore me, because he thought I wouldn't leave him? What the hell was going on. The throbbing pain increased even more, and I had to grit my teeth not to double over to ease it.
When I was safely on the road to Forks I allowed myself to feel the pain completely. I pulled over to the side of the road and curled up on the seat. To my surprise I started crying. I hardly ever cried, no matter what happened, but something about this crazy situation made me feel desperate and incredibly lonely.
For the first time in my life I realized how much I relied on Bella being close by, because in that moment I really missed her. Even when things were horrible between us with the whole mess I created with Casey, she was still close. She was still in the same house as me, despite her unwillingness to talk to me. But now she was gone and I had no idea where she had gone.
I wanted, no needed, to know where she was and if she was okay, so I pulled out my cell and dialled my father's phone.
Charlie's pov
When we arrived in the dead of night, Carlisle had gone straight to Bella's and had not wavered from it during an exhausting amount of tests. While he was working on determining what was happening with Bella, I pulled Edward aside and explained to him as calmly as I could what Bella's nature was and that it might be the cause for her falling ill.
"Damn it, I hurt her," he muttered once I was through speaking.
"You didn't know," I offered, although I had a hard time not tearing into him for taking my daughter away from me. Right now, Bella needed all of us to pull together in order to find out what was wrong with her.
Somewhere around dawn Carlilse finally left the bedroom, but he did not look hopeful. "I can't find what's wrong with her. I tried testing for a pregnancy, but that came back negative. I did some blood tests for infections or bacterial diseases, but they're all negative. The only thing I found is that her blood seems to be altering, but it's too early for me to determine what exactly is happening. It looks almost the same like blood during the changing process, but because of her genetics I can't be sure that she is indeed changing."
I groaned. I had put all my hope on Carlisle to find the source of the problem, but now that he had no definite answers I was going to have to call on the one woman I really didn't want to speak to right now.
"I know one person who will have the answers for us. She won't be pleased about this, though. She'll kick my ass for this." I muttered the last part, but judging by Carlisle's quiet snicker he heard.
I made the call and as expected I got the tongue lashing of the century, but at least she agreed to come and help.
While we were waiting I explained to Bella what I was and what her mom was. She cracked a couple of jokes, which made me feel a little more comfortable. At least she wasn't too sick to poke fun at me.
Half way through the morning I got a call from Vanessa and I instantly felt bad for leaving her hanging without information.
"Nessie, I'm sorry I didn't call you," I said as soon as I picked up.
"It's okay, dad. Did you find her?"
"Yes, she's right here. She's sick, though."
"What's wrong with her?"
I frowned at the strained sound of Vanessa's voice. "Ness, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Just a stomach ache, dad. Nothing too serious."
I nearly dropped the damn phone. "Do you have a temperature?"
"I'm starting to get one, why? What's wrong with Bells?"
"Ness, does your stomach feel like it's burning from the inside?"
"Yes. Dad, you're scaring me! Is Bella okay? She has to be okay, dad."
"She's okay. But I don't know how bad it'll get. I need you to go to the Cullen's house and ask them to get you out here."
"What? Dad, are you serious? Those people are dangerous!"
"Trust me, baby girl. They will get you out here safely. Alice is already calling Jasper to come and get you. Just trust me."
"Daddy, I'm scared."
I felt my throat close up at the naked fear in her voice. "I know, sweetheart. I'm scared too, but we'll work it out. We'll find out what's happening and then we'll make sure the two of you will get the treatment you need. I promise."
I heard her suck in a shocked breath. "I think they're here. One of them is really big, dad. Are you sure about this?"
"I am. Don't worry, you'll be fine."
Vanessa's pov
I was trembling as I closed my phone and fumbled to get the door of my car open.
"Are you Jasper?" I asked, even though I knew he had to be.
"Yes. Come on, Ness. We need to get you to you sister sooner rather than later."
"Okay," I whispered.
He asked me permission to pick me up, which I granted. He slung me over his back, told me to close my eyes and hang on and then he was off like a bullet from a gun. It took me less than thirty seconds to get motion sickness, so I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed with all my might that he would hold on to me.
I had no idea how long we ran for, but at some point they came to a grinding halt and Jasper spun around quickly, a menacing growl coming from his throat. I shivered involuntarily. He let me slide down to the ground and took my hand in his.
"Vanessa go with Rosalie and don't look back. Promise me, okay?"
"Okay," I murmured, as two smaller hands grabbed my waist. I hardly had the chance to open my eyes before Rosalie was running, with me on her back and behind us loud growls and hisses were heard.
"Rosalie, what's going on?"
"The wolves tracked us when they caught out scent during their patrol. It was pure dumb luck, but the boys need to keep them off our tail if we want to get you to Canada."
"For what it's worth, thank you."
"Don't thank me. I was convinced we were right to send your sister away and now look where it got us. I just wish I could beat some wolf-ass with the boys to get this frustration out."
I chuckled. "You and me both. Jacob supposedly imprinted on me, but now that we've had sex, he completely ignores me."
Rosalie snorted derisively. "Bastard. Trust me, you'll be better off without him, imprinted or not."
"If you would have said that yesterday, I would have told you to shut up because you knew nothing about it, but now, I'm inclined to say you're right."
"Let's hope the boys can shake them off and make it out to the house safely. When we get there we'll call in reinforcements just to be safe. We need more hands to help with the fighting if it gets to that."
"How many of you are there?"
"Like us, not many. But our father, Carlisle, has made many friends during his time on earth and despite our differences in lifestyles, they would stand up with us in a heartbeat."
I stayed silent after that. Of all the people that vied for my attention, I didn't think there was even one willing to stand up for me when it counted. I felt disgusted and sad at the same time. All this time I thought I was so high and mighty because I was popular, but when I truly thought about it, I was no more connected to others than Bella had been. My loneliness was merely disguised under the presence of many acquaintances.
I groaned inwardly when I though about all the shitty things I had done to my sister ever since I started garnering more attention than her. The things I said to her in the past couple of years were ridiculous. As they replayed in my head, they sounded petulant and spoiled, even to myself.
"I have to apologize to Bella when we get there. I've been a horrible sister," I muttered, more to myself than Rosalie.
"I know the feeling. I always lash out whenever I feel insecure and over the years they all just started to write it off as me being bitchy. Emmett knows, though. And you do."
"I hope I can change, at least for Bella's sake."
"Kid, you're human. You can change. I've been set in my ways ever since I was changed. There aren't many things that a vampire changes for."
"I'll keep that in mind if your brother changes my sister. She should be the same loving, far too accommodating Bella, but more durable, right?"
Rosalie snickered. "She'll probably need the durable part. I noticed her tendency to trip when we were in school."
"Do you think we get to go back to school at some point?"
"Who knows? First you need to focus on getting you and your sister healthy again, because you are really starting to burn up."
"I hardly notice, because you're so cold."
Bella's pov
I was tired, so tired. I just wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep, but Edward's frantic worry was enough to keep my from giving into the fatigue. Apparently we were waiting for the oracle, I rolled my eyes again. Alice was oracle enough for my tastes, but this woman was supposed to have the answers we needed, so we waited.
And then there was the situation near the border. Jasper had sent Rosalie and Vanessa off together to reach the house, but he and Emmett had gotten stuck fighting off the wolves. Rose and Nessie arrived just a while ago and Alice and Carlisle took off with Rose to get the boys out, while Esme stayed behind to call reinforcements.
Vanessa had been sitting beside me, looking worse for wear herself, but she hadn't said much. She just held my hand.
I glanced up at Edward, who was still pacing like a caged animal. Suddenly I was tired of it. "Edward, stop that!" I snapped. "You're making everyone nervous. I told you, it'll be fine, so stop worrying."
"How can I stop worrying!" he yelled back. "The only girl I ever loved is so sick she can hardly sit up and it's all because of me! I'm a monster for taking you away form your normal life. I should have left you alone."
"Don't you dare start on that, Edward! You are not a monster and I happed to think that what we shared was something beautiful, but if you insist on regretting what we did, maybe you shouldn't be here!"
His eyes flashed angrily. "Don't say that. I don't regret anything. I love you and it kills me to see you hurting."
I closed my eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath. "Okay, but please stop pacing. It's making me cranky."
"Sorry, love. Can I get either of you something to drink or eat? I need to get out of the house for a little while."
"Some juice would be great," Vanessa croaked from beside me.
I looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah, I'm thirsty."
Edward nodded. "Anything else?"
We both shook our heads and he laughed. "I can finally tell you're twins," he said before giving me a quick kiss and leaving me and Vanessa to ourselves.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
"Better than you. The pain is getting better to handle, but I have a feeling like I'm on fire. It's annoying the hell out of me."
"Me too. So what happened to Jacob?"
"He's an ass. We made love last night and this morning he was giving me the cold shoulder so much that he seemed like a completely different person."
"So this pain you're feeling started after you made love?"
"Yes, why?"
"It's the same for me. It started after we made love. Edward first noticed the change in my blood and then the stomach ache started. Did you use protection?"
Nessie's eyes widened. "No. Oh, god, we didn't think of it! Oh my god, this is bad. Who knows what that guys genes are doing to me?"
"Yeah, tell me about it. I still can't believe dad's story."
Ness nodded. Dad had pulled her aside as soon as she arrived and told her everything he told me. "How do you feel about all of it?" I asked.
"Strange. Like I'm not me anymore. It's crazy."
"Yeah, I know."
The door opened then and a frail looking old woman came shuffling in. It took me and Vanessa a minute to recognize her, but when we did we both smiled.
"Gran!"
A/N: Hi guys! So, just in time for Christmas! I hope you guys enjoyed it and will let me know your thoughts on how things are developing.
A very merry Christmas to you all and a happy new year. (In case I don't get around to uploading before the new year.)
Hugs and kisses,
Mo