Jacob's POV

God Damn it!

I ran like hell. Like hell in a snow storm. That wouldn't help anyone now. Especially not Renesmee.

It was darker than black- almost like an ink splatter that just happened to be in the design of a feather. A damn realistic one, too. Again, not something that could've ever been done in a tattoo parlor. The design pulsed with a red glow; one the shade of blood. It got brighter and brighter by the second.

I kept running, but I couldn't speed up. I didn't know whether that was because I was scared myself, or because I was already running the fastest I could.

"Just hang in there," I said, trying my best not to make it sound like begging, not to make it sound like she might really die; not to make it sound like a lie.

She coughed again, and started to shake uncontrollably- almost like a kid who "forgot" their coat in a blizzard.

Not a long way to go, I thought, and then Edward will be able to hear my thoughts. They should be back from hunting by now.

"J-Jacob…" Renesmee stuttered. My internal babble stopped.

"You okay?" I asked. She nodded. Liar.

"H-how did y-you-" she coughed again and stopped talking. I knew what she was going to say, though.

"You know when you told me you dropped a book or something?" I asked. She nodded her head. Barely. "Yeah, well, you seem to have forgotten that I was holding your wrist. You showed me everything. Besides, do you think that if you didn't show me, I would have let you go? Edward would have killed me for letting you go out at that time- alone- just to get a book. A fake one, at that."

"Then w-why did y-you let-" but the coughs came again. I'm regretting it now.

"I…" I chose my words carefully, but there was nothing to substitute what I was going to say, "I… don't know." I admitted. "I guess… maybe I- I needed to know…" Know what? Know if my suspicions were right? Would I really risk her safety for that?

"Know… if he was a threat to you." I added quietly. I don't know if she heard. "Anyway," I shook my head and spoke louder, "I wouldn't speak too much if I were you… you look like your going to cough up a lung." Or cough up your life. She took an effortful breath and closed her eyes.

I finally rounded the Cullen property. I always got nervous coming up their lawn. Either because of Blondie, Edward or Bells' over reactions. But today was completely different. I was nervous for two different reasons; (1) Was Renesmee going to make it through this? (2) Was I going to make it through this?

My nerves started to get just a little out of whack. My heartbeat grew faster and faster. A figure zipped around the area with lightning speed. The only clarification I had to identify the person was the scent. It was a vampire, I knew this. I could only pray that it wasn't Edward. The scent closed in slowly behind me.

The voice came in a hostile snarl; human ears would only hear the whisper, but I knew this voice and the accusations that came along with it too well.

"Jacob," The voice began. I shuddered. "What happened to my daughter?" The voice came in some twisted, sarcastic form of politeness. But I could hear the accusations behind it. The hidden meaning in the hidden meaning- What did you do to my daughter?

"Edward," I began, "Please calm down. Because I'm not. And as you can see, I don't want to go wolf-o while Nessie's like this." He sneered at my comment.

"Oh, I'm calm. Calm as anybody could possibly be. Calm." He snarled sarcastically. "Now please, take your dear, sweet time explaining what happened." I sighed.

Renesmee coughed again. Edward's eyes narrowed. I didn't need to be a mind reader. He walked around to face me, and held his arms out. I sighed again, and gently placed her in his waiting arms. He held her closely.

"Are you alright?" He asked Renesmee quietly. Her eyes fluttered open. There was a faint upturn of the corners of her lips. It disappeared when she noticed Edward glaring my way. She shook her head as they silently communicated. He gently put her down.

I would have laughed, had I not been concerned with her balance. She was so stubborn, like Bella. But I loved that, anyway. It was amusing! She knew she couldn't run on her own, which was the only reason she tolerated being carried by me; but she figured she should at least try to stand up.

Nessie hobbled this way and that, but after a few moments, she managed to stand up fairly straight. She breathed deeply.

"See?" She was putting in a lot of effort to speak, but she managed to. "I c-can… stand." She staggered backward, but caught herself as mine and Edward's arms shot out to spot her. She put one hand out to tell us she was okay. Our hands began to recede slowly. "I… told you. I-"

She was interrupted by a blood-curdling scream. One that would bust anybody's eardrums. It took me a second to comprehend where it came from.

Renesmee.

Her eyes shot open wider than I'd ever seen them. She grabbed onto her shoulder again, and fell to her knees.

"Renesmee!" Edward and I called. Bella's voice chimed in, literally a second later.

"What the hell happened to her!?" She screeched, zipping by us.

I watched, horrified, as Renesmee went into another fit of coughs and took her hand off her shoulder. It was blood soaked. Her left shoulder was as well. She took one last shuttering breath, and passed out.

"Shit." It was the only time I've ever heard Edward swear. On a normal day, I would have teased him about how polite he acted most of the time, and how he needed to cut loose, but not today. Not when I was thinking the same thing.

She was really going to die.