Sam's mouth fell open in horror.
"Jacob?" He whispered, taking a two steps toward me while I took two steps back and kept the distance between us what it was.
"I'm sorry," That was truer then he'd ever know. I couldn't lie to Sam...couldn't hide anything from Sam. Hell, right now, I couldn't even run away from him. I pulled off my sunglasses and dropped them on the grass.
I saw pain and shock flicker across his face as he saw what had become of my eyes...the blood splatters, the dark red.
"You're alive," Despite what I looked like, even I couldn't mistake the warmth in his tone as well as the burning curiosity. But before I knew it, he was hugging me to his chest as hard as he could.
Acceptance stung me. He didn't care how bad it looked. He didn't. He just was glad to have me back...all the pain my death must have caused the pack...I could feel it in his body. He pulled away and examined me more closely, not taking his hands off my shoulders.
"Where were you?" He asked me softly.
I couldn't answer...I just shook my head. I couldn't act...
He saw that in my face, probably thinking of real horror. He hugged me again.
"You have to see Billy. Come on. Hell you have to see everyone,"
"I can't," I whispered. Now he'd know what I was sorry about. Or at least a part of it. He stared at me with a bemused expression.
"You get contacts?" He asked, eying the maroon in my eyes, now that he was close enough, he could see the swirling electrical current as well. I didn't have to have a mirror to know it was pulsing under my lids...wanting me to strike him, to find the oval of energy that would suck him dry.
But i had control enough to speak...and once again, my sanity was on the balance. " No...I...its my natural color."
He froze, letting me go and taking a step back. It didn't matter if this shade of red was something he hadn't seen before. He was thinking of the worst scenario.
"What happened to you, Jake?" He spat accusingly. " Where have you been this past month?"
"The worst kind of hell, Sam. The worst kind,"
" Who? Who did this to you, Jake?" Sam asked, searching my eyes and stepping back into place in front of me. I recoiled from him.
"I can't tell you," I stated flatly. He scowled at me.
"You don't smell right...There's something off about you," Sam told me, this time his movement to me was so fast. He had his face on my right shoulder and he sniffed a little. He pulled away...I didn't see disgust on his face, but he was frowning at me.
"There's something about your blood...It's not right. You...Jake..?"
I opened my mouth to answer him, but instead I just shook my head of the dark memories that had occurred in my absence.
"The wolf spirit has left you," Sam concluded.
"Hardly...if that were the case, then I wouldn't be here," I said in a scornful voice.
"Then what happened?" He pressed.
Before I could answer, before I could even shake my head. There was a distant rustling sound behind me. Sam and I heard it. Instantly, Sam's nose wrinkled in disgust and he grabbed my elbow, pulling me rather hard behind him. I followed his gaze to the angel adorned headstone that had a figure standing next to it. With the pale moonlight, he contrasted well with the surroundings, like he was apart of the moon and the moon was apart of him.
Erebus didn't look at us immediately; his eyes were closed as he faced the sky in apparent appreciation of the cold air. Then, quite slowly, he opened his eyes and began to walk towards us. He stopped only five feet away from Sam...I could feel the tension in Sam's burning body...the fury..that a bloodsucker had the nerve to show its face on the wrong territory.
"Are you lost, leech?" Sam spat. He sounded like me.
Erebus's lips stretched into a wide smile that I felt make me flinch. " No...I think I'm exactly where I want to be, mongrel."
Sam snarled at the epithet and he released me. " Go, Jake. Get to your house. Tell the others to meet me here."
" Jacob Black, you move one inch...," Erebus threatened without finishing.
Sam froze, his head turning to the left so that at least one eye could see me. " You know him, Jake?"
Erebus answered. " Oh yes. Jacob Black and I are the best of friends. He had a job to do here, you see. A job he is currently failing."
My eyes tightened. Sam looked from Erebus to me, his mouth open...but when his eyes returned to me, I saw the flicker of betrayal in there that set my frozen heart on fire from pain.
"Yes...I guess when you want something done, you have to do it yourself," And before I could even move a centimeter, Erebus drew out a silver, nickel plated pistol and shot a silenced bullet straight at Sam.
I heard it whizz across the air before it penetrated Sam's left shoulder.
He immediately staggered backwards into me in shock. His right hand shakily reached up and touched the newly formed hole. And then he gasped...gasped in pain. He doubled over, vomiting blood.
"SAM!" I screamed, spinning around so that I could bend over next to him. He wasn't looking at me, not even realizing my hand was on his back. His face turned a strange sea green color as he choked on some blood before it spilled out of his mouth in a torrent.
"You son of a bitch!" I snarled at Erebus who was gingerly placing whatever gun he had pulled out back in its holster. " What did you pump him full of?"
"What else?" Erebus retorted. " My venom. It's a painfully slow death. I wasn't counting on you chickening out...getting all sentimental...Now we'll just place him in your grave...no one will be the wiser."
" NO!" I growled, and Erebus's mouth tightened into a line. " I'm not. We're going to save him. "
Sam continued to groan..His face had completely paled, he looked like an off white doll. He fell to his knees, still clutching his stomach, all the blood in his body seemed to be leaving him. I felt spasms of fear prickle in my head.
"There is no way," Erebus hissed, and I looked up to glare at his livid expression, sparkling in the moon light. " I did not bring any Devil Gene with me. He's already dead. He doesn't even know we're here anymore."
Hopelessness flooded through me. I pulled Sam onto my lap and held him there. His gaze was unfocused. I heard choking gasps get caught in his throat as he stared up at the night sky, unseeing...
There was no choice...Either I opened a place on his body and on mine and let me bleed into him, there was only one other option. I did not wish this power to be bestowed upon anyone else. I didn't want to see Sam hesitant to ever touch Emily's face again...after inflicting so much pain. I didn't want Sam to lose the ability to phase. Our Pack needed him...he was getting married...everyone needed Sam Uley.
I placed my hand on Sam's forehead and gripped down. He gasped while I located the oval in front of his heart. I immediately began to stretch it, starting to recede the venom that was coursing through his bloodstream. The oval grew bigger...bigger...the size of a baseball, the size of my fist. Color began returning to Sam's face and his black eyes found my maroon.
In that split second, a small smile lit Sam's face. He blinked and I saw water moisten his eyelids. His right hand, so full of blood reached up and grabbed my head. For a second, I thought he was going to crush my skull with his hand, but I felt the wetness of his blood stain my face.
And then freezing cold hands closed around my throat and I was pulled upward. I didn't see anything but a flash of white and black before I was soaring backwards. I felt my back collide against something hard. The pressure made the hard stone crumble and fall forward. My body slid under it and I saw the tombstone...my tombstone, cracked and broken over my mound.
My eyes flew up, Erebus was standing over Sam, the gun filled with his venom pointing directly at Sam's head. Sam had his hands up as if in surrender, closing his eyes as if preparing to take the shot.
"NO, SAM!" I screamed through the night. But I found my cry useless when Sam rolled onto his left side just in time, cringing from the pain in his shoulder, but as he faced me, he winked. I basically felt the fire tremble down his spine. I watched his legs and arms undergo some tight spasms. His face extended, his back stretched in one rolling extension. And he was as huge as I remembered him, as tall as a horse, black as night...darker then the sky..something out of a nightmare...but as I looked at my old Alpha, I couldn't help but feel fear and relief at the same time.
He didn't look at Erebus who was taking aim again, instead he shifted to the side and let a deafening howl rip through the air. The sound sent unwelcome memories through my mind. I shook them off, knowing that the Pack was not far behind now...I kept a tight, unconscious hold on the oval in Sam's body...if I let go...there would be no hope.
Erebus lowered the gun and tilted his head to the right at Sam. Sam was growling, ready to spring...but Erebus was totally calm. He closed his eyes and focused on something...Sam prepared to leap, but then he suddenly let out a weak whine, looking past Erebus at something.
I followed his gaze, but there was nothing there...I expected a part of the Pack...maybe Jared...Paul? Leah?
I got up and stepped on the broken headstone to up my height, still there was nothing. Yet Sam was whining...letting out soft moans in response to something.
And Erebus was smiling, crossing his arms with smugness all over him.
"SAM!!!" I gasped when it came together. Erebus shot an irritated look in my direction before he raised his gun hand towards me...he wasn't aiming...he was holding palm out while the trigger of his pistol dangled on his pointer finger. I saw the air moisten and blur in front of me.
Bella.
As soon as she appeared, she grabbed my waist and buried her head in my chest.
"I'm scared, Jake, I'm scared!" Bella cried out, tears in her voice. I tried to disentangle myself from her, but her grip was surprisingly hard, and she cried when I started resisting her. Over her shoulder, I watched Sam shift around Erebus and break into a run down the cement walkway towards the Emily that wasn't there.
"NO!" I yelled. " It's not there! She's not real!"
The Bella in my arms shattered like glass and my hands closed over air. For one half-second, Sam let out a howl before his black eyed gaze went in my direction. I made my eyes plead with him, praying he realized what I did. And that distraction...was all that was needed.
I heard for the third time, a silenced gunshot.
Sam staggered backwards on all fours. I reached out towards him, but the range was too far...and there was far too much venom coupled with his own blood. His head fell to the gaping hole in his chest, and then he looked to me...his muzzle falling open, showing me his teeth...his eyes lost the light that I had grown to both hate and love. He blinked once...twice...then closed his eyes before he fell onto his right side, letting a soft breath escape his body.
And my scream of horror never left me: silent and unmoving.
After one shocked second, I broke into a run, leaping over my headstone towards Sam, but once again, icy hands grabbed my white shirt and tackled my into the cement. I felt my nails dig into Erebus's wrists, triggering my worst instinct. The oval was in his chest throbbed, but he merely looked agitated at my projection of power. He grabbed by collar and shoved my head against the ground.
"Not yet," He hissed in my ear.
"No..now...I'm going to kill you," I growled.
" You'll die with her," He told me. I shook my head. No more looming threats. I wouldn't have it. At this moment, nothing mattered.
"This is what we came here for!" He roared in my ear. " You wanted her to live! You made your choice!"
He pressed me into the ground, seeing the orange glare in my eyes...and shaking his head again. " Not yet. You'll get your chance."
I felt fire lick my insides at his words. I would not wait...There was no beast within me...We were one and the same. My nails tightened in his wrists and I closed my eyes with concentration...he would die tonight...and nothing else mattered.
I watched the color recede from his face. While I held him so tightly, he couldn't dig into his pocket and draw out the biggest threat on me. I watched his burgundy colored eyes turn back to their natural color. He growled...and I felt him focus internally...his own..useless power. He was a fool for thinking this would work now..Even if she was real..and she was there above me, I wouldn't take this moment back...I wouldn't stop....
Somewhere above me, Bella stood, pleading with me to stop, but my vision blurred into a haze of red. I grew the oval into a basketball size of his venom with ease. He coughed, losing control of his projection while his heart fired off into thumping beats. Like a film going haywire, Bella's body flickered like static before she shattered. The pieces of Bella evaporated around us.
I felt his flesh soften under my hold..soften to a human level. He was gasping and green veins were running rampant in his neck and face. He gasped a shuddering breath, his eyes wide on my face while I held him at arms length.
Like a rubber band...Like a slingshot, I released.
A fountain of blood gushed out of his mouth and spilled on my neck and right shoulder. It stung and burned like acid. I cringed and released his hands. Another combustion burst from his chest and I knew his heart had exploded...exploded so much that it burst through the flesh around his once beating organ.
His whole weight fell onto me...Lifeless.
I shoved his body off of me and stood.
I was covered in blood...and reeked of bloodsucker. The leech venom was throbbing painfully on my throat and shoulder..but I knew the Devil Gene was acting like a white cell agent. It made the pain recede, but not by much. My gaze fell to Sam's lifeless body in front of an unmarked grave...The wolf had left him...There he was, completely human. By this angle, he could have merely been sleeping, curled up in a ball, if it weren't for the puddle of blood underneath his waist.
The gate opened behind me...and I wasn't surprised...I didn't turn away from Sam's body, glistening in the moonlight...the evidence of my treachery and murder. As my heart was flooded with emotion...the red dispersed from my eyes.
I heard more then a dozen footsteps behind me...I looked into the full moon, shining down at me, making the blood on my skin and shirt glisten
"Sam!!" A female voice cried. I heard someone rush past my right side and I automatically looked to the left, unable to look at Leah in the face. She wasn't alone. I could smell Seth...and hear his uneven breathing. He was already crying. He ran with Leah to Sam's body.
"YOU!" Someone roared behind me. " Turn around! Right now!"
So someone was already taking control. That made me happy...at least they wouldn't become strays now...Leah's eyes were full of tears, even without looking at her, I could see the sparkle of her tears from the corner of my eye. She looked up, saw me...and I heard her mouth open with a popping sound.
"Jacob?...It can't be...," Her voice was complete shock.
Seth looked back at me too, his expression mirroring Leah's.
Paul. " That's impossible! Jacob? YOU! I said turn around!"
Jared. " Hey, you heard the man. Turn around, bro...It's not right to rip someone apart in an act of vengeance when their back is to you."
Deja Vu.
I slowly turned waist around and my legs copied the movement. I heard several gasps of shock. Jared and Paul were ahead of Quil and Embry who were looking at me like I was a ghost. I didn't know what was on my face, but I destroyed the pain that might have been there.
"You're alive," Paul whispered. His look of shock instantly evaporated as he took in the blood on my clothes to the body behind me and next to me. " Amazing."
"Yeah," I responded. There was an edge to my tone and I had to put forth my whole effort to make it sound menacing and cold. " I suppose I am."
They were fooled by it. Paul's eyes narrowed and a violent tremor ran down his whole body. It had to take everything for him to sound human. " You did this?" He nodded towards Sam and the body infront of me.
I closed my lips and grounded my teeth together. " Yes."
"No," Quil whispered in shock.
"Jacob?" said Embry tentatively.
"Why?" Leah whispered. I didn't even hear her come behind me...but her voice was still full of anguish...I couldn't look at her. It was easier to look at Paul...ready to phase into something much bigger and stronger then me at the current moment.
"I want to be Alpha...I thought I made that clear from day one," I lied through my teeth. The misery in my voice was still masked.
I heard roars of fury all around the circle. Never had I seen Quil and Embry look at anything, let alone me, with so much hatred. There was no fondness for their old friend...Sam had taken my place in my absence...the big brother, the best friend...and I had robbed them of it...I had brought the enemy here...I deserved the death that they wanted for me... I deserved much worse.
But that was it. They needed to hate me. They needed to hate me with everything they had. They needed to never trust the dangerous hell spawn that I had become...because there was no Jacob Black in me. Jacob Black should have a tangible form that should be under that shattered gravestone. I was a predator...and I had one last thing to do before I died...before I joined Sam in the next world.
Even Leah...I suppressed a wince.
"We will all die before we serve you, traitor!" Paul seethed. He was aching to phase, but Jared had placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Then I guess...," My voice came out a hiss, vicious. " You'll all die."
Another fission around the circle. I still couldn't turn around to see Leah or Seth. A convulsion heaved through Paul's body. He threw his head back, and a real growl tore from between his teeth. He fell forward on his hands, vibrating violently. There was a loud ripping and tearing sound as he exploded into the wolf. Black fur blew out of his back, coalescing into a shape five times his normal size. His muzzle wrinkled over his razor sharp teeth as he glared at me with as much as hatred as Embry and Quil.
Paul scratched the ground with his paws, ripping snarls shooting in the air. He looked to the moon and let out a ear-splitting howl. The answer was the domino effect of phasing throughout the circle.
I heard Embry shout to Leah and Seth before he went to the point of no return. " Get Sam out of here!"
I cracked my neck and shrugged my shoulders. The Pack went into a counter clockwise circle around me, strategizing amongst themselves where I couldn't hear. I followed Paul's motion. He would strike first...he had already claimed it. As I followed him, I saw Seth and Leah around Sam's body which sent a flame of pain through my torso. I looked at Leah, who met my gaze. She shook her head and her eyes glistened.
Even now, pain looked so pretty on her. Why hadn't I ever noticed that before? There was no such thing as beauty like Leah's.
I gave Seth and her my last. A fleeting look of the true emotion behind everything....regret.
"JACOB!" Leah screamed, stepping towards me.
And then the Pack engulfed me and I made no move to stop them. They were off...Ripping and tearing at every thing they could get their paws on. I didn't even bother defend myself...Quil's teeth clamped into my left calf where I felt blood run down my leg in a tickling sort of motion.
It was Paul who had thrown my onto my back, his claws sunk into my chest, rekindling the old wound that I had made myself where the phial was. I could feel the white hot fire from his body on top of mine. He growled and let out a howl at the smooth victory he had attained preparing to sink his teeth into my neck.
I could feel my right leg being jerked from side to side where Jared and Embry had gone into a game of tug of war to see who could rip it from the joint.
There was no point in fighting back.
I had been closer to death then this...this was just more painful, because each swipe, each cut that Paul had marked my face and chest with was a mark of the betrayal I had done tonight.
And then Paul prepared...Dinner was served. I felt saliva drip into the venom already embedded on my neck...and that made the liquidy skin bubble and burn like peroxide.
I closed my eyes and braced myself....
Remember why you came here.
As always, even if it had come thirty million times tonight, Bella's face broke through in my mind. Much more real then any projection that Erebus could have provided. The expression on her face was angry...disappointed, naturally, that I was giving in...and giving her up.
Instantly, the fiery pressure on my chest was gone. The gnawing wrenches around my legs were gone too. Death...It felt so good to be released from pain.
But there was no release...the pain came back full blast. Except that no one was continuing it. My eyes opened to the starry sky only to hear the sounds of pure agony all around me. I looked on either side of me...Everyone had unphased. They were clearly recoiling from something...draining them.
"I look inside myself and see my heart is Black," I stated, slowly rising to my feet while there was groans of pain around me. Paul was closest to me, his eyes wide as he looked up in my haze of red.
I felt my face grow cold before I used my foot to turn him over on his back, still controlling the oval in his chest. I expanded it ever so slightly. He groaned and then growled with seething fury.
"They said I was out of the game," I whispered as I knelt beside Paul and took a handful of his hair so that his chin shot up in the air. " but I'm holding all the cards now."
My eyes flew to Embry and Quil...I gently contracted their ovals so that they could breathe again, but it was Jared and Paul that I kept a hold on..They needed to hear this. " I'm going to say this slowly...so you'll understand, you got me?...Tomorrow...at eight o'clock A.M. sharp...you're going to come down to the First Beach and we're going to settle this..once and for all."
"What're....what're you doing...Jacob?" Paul asked through labored breaths. His skin started turning pale under my hard gaze.
" Killing you," I answered simply. " But I want to savor that moment for tomorrow. You be there...so will I."
He didn't respond, merely choked in a gasp. I let him go and let him breathe. He needed to live so he could hate me. I walked around him to the only unmoving body in this circle, kicking Erebus to his front. I knelt down, ignoring the giant gaping hole in his chest glaring at me. I dug in his pants pocket and drew out, not what I was looking for...a cellphone. I pocketed that. But deeper in was that little black something.
I picked it out...it was no taller then my pinky finger. Black and thin. It had a series of buttons on the right side, all leading to the thing at the top that was a round red button...
Something so small could kill a monster. This was a prize. I would have given it to any one of them..these men that deserved nothing more. But I had to ensure something first...and there was truly only one person that I wanted to hold the key.
Tonight was my night to be selfish...Hell, I was selfish all over.
I was a monster...a devil...I knew now why they called the new entity inside me, the Devil gene. Because it had distorted me, taken everything from me...I turned away from the weakness of my brothers...I couldn't bear to look at them any longer. I painted a mental picture of every face here and committed it to memory.
The gate was in my direct line of vision and I walked towards it...my whole body aching. I didn't realize that my legs had been gouged so badly, that it hurt to move them at all. And so my stride changed to that of a limping man, dragging one foot back, then the other with each step I took. As soon as I was at the gate, I snapped my fingers and the rubber band of Draining Power held over Jared and Paul was gone.
I retraced my steps...walking back into town without a second glance back at where I had left. I attracted stares...knowing I looked worse then I felt. I could deal with the searing scratches...the burns across my face.
Before I knew it, Room 128 was right infront of me. I pressed my side into the door and staggered inside, leaving the door wide open.
I picked out the cell phone that stayed next to my detonator and called the first number in the phone book without looking at the name. As it rang, I threw off my jacket and the torn, bloody white shirt underneath.
The voice that I heard sent a tremor of hate down my spine.
"Erebus," Caius hissed. " I told you to call me when the job was done..Not at your leisure. We're at the airport now. I'm about to-"
"Erebus is dead," My voice came out flat and cold, interrupting his stupid anger.
He was silent for the longest moment, then I heard a rumbling laugh in his voice. " Well now...I come to expect something...and you take me a little by surprise. Did it end badly?"
"No. You got your wish. The Alpha of the La Push Pack is dead too. Your leech interfered...and I didn't take it too well," This was a half-truth. If Erebus hadn't come in...I'd...
No, this was my fault. Completely.
" Aro will be disappointed," Caius answered me and my eyes flickered coldly at the nonchalance. Each life in his coven was disposable...My own included. " He rather liked Erebus. A good man."
"Man," I snorted derisively. " Whatever. You're at the Forks Airport?"
"Will you be joining us?" Caius asked, still sounding amused.
"You're forgetting something. I have the murder weapon now. I did my side of the bargain. You live up to yours," I said.
" I gave you my word, Jacob. She is safe from me," Caius said in a voice that suggested he was insulted by me doubting him.
"Then I'll be seeing you," I told him, hanging up. I didn't turn around, but a new scent had saturated the air. I pressed a button on the phone and placed it to my mouth while I placed my hand against the TV and leaned against it.
"Yes, Leah?"
She took a few more steps forward and I made no move to stop her from drawing close. A warm hand traced my shoulders, my back, down my arm. Leah's other hand followed the same pattern and she closed the distance between our bodies, laying her head on my back gently. The warmth sent a flood of emotions through me...all of them tying into that aching throb in my chest.
" I know you didn't kill him," She whispered against my back. Her voice was my tender, like she was talking to my gravestone again.
" Sam's number was up the minute I decided to come back, Leah...It doesn't matter whether I pulled the trigger or not," I winced, because this assessment described the situation to the core.
" What happened, Jake?" She traced the cuts and scrapes on my back, gentle as she could...It actually felt good...like the heat was taking the pain away, the opposite effect of ice. "Where did you go?"
" Italy," I answered. I licked my teeth and set my tongue on the top.
"What happened?" She asked me again.
" They killed me," I answered. I felt Leah shudder against my skin, but I wasn't worried about scaring her. She had a lot more bravery then I was used too. She could handle bloodshed...and there was so much of it. "and then just like that...I was brought back...like magic. Poof."
"And then?" She pressed her forehead below my neck.
"Why do you want to know, Leah? It's not like the story has anything happy in it,"
"Because I care about you Jacob. You don't know how hard this was for me...This whole month...you left without a word...and you made damn sure I didn't follow you...and we thought that you were dead...you don't know...how...empty...I've been...you don't know...," Her voice cracked and broke. I felt something more wet on my back.
I looked up at the ceiling. " Why did you come here, Leah?"
"You didn't deny it, Jacob...You didn't kill him...Seth knows I'm right. We found vampire venom inside of his stomach where he...," She couldn't continue. " You...you weren't the one..."
I had nothing to say to this.
" Why did you lie, then, Jacob?" She asked me, plea hard in her voice.
"Leah, let me ask you something. Not as Jacob Black, not as your Alpha," I chuckled at the word, because she never thought of me as that big Alpha. " As your friend...or former friend anyway...If I asked you...to leave. Would you? If I asked you...to make sure you never saw me again...would you be able to do it?"
She was silent for the longest moment, her cheek pressed against my back. Finally, I heard her exhale and place her chin against me. Her voice was low. " No..."
"I'm not good for you, Leah...I'd break you worse then Sam ever could," I told her, my voice earnest.
"Why do you say that?" She tightened her hold on my shoulders and her voice was full of tears. " What's hurting you, Jacob? Why did you lie to Paul and the Pack?"
"Because I don't want you near me tomorrow," I answered, trying to shrug out of her grip, she didn't release. " The Cullens have more on their plate then the Pack now."
I felt her freeze. She didn't know what I was talking about.
" I'm not the only one pissed off about the spawn they created," I answered her unasked question. "The people I've become part of...their not happy with them...and tomorrow morning, their going to come and destroy the Cullens."
She was still frozen, but I felt her thaw and tremble against my back.
"You're with them...What?...What are they?" She asked, her voice harsh. " What was that power they used on you?"
" The Volturi. The sickest group of bloodsuckers on the planet...and as for the power...I don't know where it came from," I told her honestly.
"You're with them?" She asked me. Her hands slid down my back to my waist where she wrapped her arms around me and pressed her whole body into mine. I didn't resist this...it was enough, how much pain I was causing her. Rejection was a sick thing...and I had my share of it.
"Don't pity me, Leah...Come tomorrow, it won't matter," I assured her.
"What's tomorrow for you?"
"I'll die," I simply stated. " The Pack will be happy...At least there's that."
"You didn't kill Sam, Jake. I know that...I can tell them otherwise. They'll see for themselves," Leah told me in a hard voice. "And you won't be dying either."
I turned around to face her. My battle scarred face was glistening back at me in her eyes. She took a quick intake of breath at the sight of my blood red eyes gazing in her black ones. But even so, she kept her hands on my waist, not willing to let me go.
"I already believed you were dead for long enough...Don't do this to me again," Leah whispered while a tear rolled down her cheek. I caught it there with my two fingers and let the drop fall to the ground.
"This time, I'll stay out of your life," I promised. " I won't cause you anymore pain."
"You're not causing me pain now...I'm glad you're here," Leah said, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Then why are you crying?" I asked, my voice working to sound amused. " If you're glad, you don't cry..."
"Their called tears of joy, Captain Obvious," She stated, matching my effort. She sobbed and looked to the ground, her voice becoming serious again. " Don't die, Jacob..."
Some broken instinct in me, decided to act on it. I pulled her into my chest and hugged her there as tight as I could. She sobbed into my shoulder...not caring anymore about all the weakness she was showing me. " If I could, then I would...I'd go wherever you would go."
"I love you, Jake," She cried. "Don't die. Don't go. Stay. Stay with me."
"Stay with the Pack tomorrow...if you get scared, run away, okay? Just run away," I whispered in her ear. She tightened her hold on me. I kissed her cheek and held her to me for the longest time. " Don't tell them tomorrow...Just let them believe what they believe."
"What? Let them believe that you killed Sam?" Leah asked incredulously. I nodded slowly and she shook her head.
" Just do as I ask...for once....It's not going to be pretty tomorrow, but I am going to end this...once and for all, I'm going to end this," It sounded more like I was trying to convince myself.
"By ending this," I felt her tiger-kitten anger. " Do you mean dying?"
"It all depends on what I decided to do before that...That's all that matters, Leah...I've learned something...This whole month...I've lost everything in this short span of time...and I know that. I'm not going to fight the hands of time...I'm not going to fight Fate. Even though Fate hasn't been so kind to me...The first time, I was worried so much about revenge...that nothing else mattered to me. I would have burned the world if someone gave me the chance to get my revenge. I blamed that killer spawn...I blamed myself. I didn't regret loving Bella. I regretted hoping there was a chance for us. That's not going to happen now. I could have lived with that. I could have lived knowing she was at least happy."
" But she won't be happy. As much as my heart desires me to kill Edward, she would never be happy with me if I took his life. Even if I didn't deal the hand that killed him, she would hate me with her whole being. The two of them...They belong together."
"I've hurt her so much," My voice broke. " You don't have a Sam to break you, but you know how I feel. I can't live in this world any longer, Leah. It's too chaotic, too full of death. I had to see that with my own eyes to know it. "
I tilted my head to the side. I wouldn't cry. No more tears...I brought her warm hand up and placed her palm over my chest where she could feel the uneven beating of my heart against the phial of Vampire venom. She gasped, obviously able to feel it...and hear it now that I had quieted.
"What is that?" She asked softly. " What am I feeling in you?"
"Venom...it's still infectious to my heart," Her eyes grew wide and I continued with a wry smile. " That was the going rate to serve the Volturi. Either I joined it or I died. Either I fought for them or I died. But when they told me, I didn't care about that. I really didn't. They held Bella's life on the strand when they realized that. They put the Pack and my family's life on there too. I knew I had to live so that I could stop them."
Leah's eyes were wide as they could go...I saw more sparkling tears begin to roll down her eyes and I simply wiped them away with my knuckle. No regrets...no mourning.
" As for...how I feel... how I feel...," I chuckled at the two answers I had bubbling on the surface of my mind. "...How I feel...This...inside...me...," I squeezed her hand and felt the inner corners of my eyelids prickle painfully with my own anguish. I curled my fingers around hers. " I wish I couldn't feel anything, Leah...I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing."
I dropped her hand while she held onto me...and the blissful feeling our moment brought was soon lost in the hands of time.
I had to leave La Push. The jeep that Leah had given to me was relatively slowing to a crawl when it left the Quileute border. I was able to pay my last respects to Sam before he went under. I had to take the car keys from the Clearwaters and leave when a windswept and woken Emily came rushing demanding to see Sam. But the wailing cries of pure sorrow followed me all the way down the lawn.
Leah had offered to let me use her shower before leaving with my refusal...so even though the new black t-shirt and jeans were clean, there was still dried blood staining my face and neck. But the collar of the shirt covered the fresh burns from Erebus's venom on my throat. I was safe from the nasty idea of water in the fire.
My phone rang and I stopped on the empty street next to a small shopping center to pick it up.
"Jacob?" Caius's voice came from the other side.
" Yeah..," I answered blandly.
"I trust you will be present for the battle tomorrow at noon," Caius told me softly.
" Hmm, " I murmured. " What does it matter to you if I do or not? I was planning on just to see if you kept your end of the bargain."
" Oh I'm sure you want to be able to see it for yourself, Jacob Black. I doubt you'll be spectating...I expect my Guard to be in top shape before a battle. That's why we're hunting before dawn...Perhaps you should join us," Caius mused.
"Back up for a second, you Volturi rat," I snarled. " I'm not part of your Guard. Not anymore. You gave me your word. Why should I have any reason to stand on the frontline with you?"
"You'll do whatever I tell you to do, dog," Caius hissed fiercely. I could hear something rustle in the backround and knew he had gotten up from wherever he was sitting. " You really think I would have been inconsiderate of every possible outcome? With your raw, nearly uncontrolled power so near? It was practically transparent...I knew one slip would lead to Erebus's downfall."
I paused, not quite understanding...but my throat constricted on a lump...The lump signifying some small part of my mind that knew where this was going. " What're you talking about?"
" You really think your leash was cut off and handed to you?"
My muscles tensed and I felt my teeth grind together, causing my gums to throb in protest. " You're lying."
" Am I?" Another rustling noise and I felt something scratch against the holes of the phone. I held the phone away an inch away from my ear. He depressed something.
As soon as he did, I felt something constrict in my chest, seeming to tighten my ribs around my beating heart. I felt the phone slip out of my hand as I gripped the steering wheel and I pressed my forehead against the hard leather padding.
Deja Vu.
Not one month ago, I was doing this...dying...But this time, it was my heart started beating threateningly in my chest, completely out of my control. It took all the strength in my body to calm it down. Each thud was a thud against the thing that didn't belong. Each thud was uneven, hard, because it could not beat as efficiently as it would were there no phial tied around it. It seemed to weigh it down, destroy its essence with each beat.
I heard him hissing into the phone, knowing what I was doing, seeing right through all the torture I was going through, placing a mental picture to it. My eyelids wrinkled from the effort of keeping the pain from touching every pore in my body. I hadn't realized my other hand was gripping my t-shirt in front of my chest.
I steadily picked up the phone on my lap with a shaking hand. My heart hadn't calmed an inch but I was getting used to how out of control it was and I was able to breathe deep and even.
"Good job, Jacob," Caius muttered victoriously. " I was wondering whether you'd believe me. I thought a dosage of proof on your side of the line would help that matter."
I snarled in reply, and he merely laughed. " You will meet us in the forest tomorrow. I expect nothing less. And remember something...A word to the not so wise...Keep your mind closed."
Seattle was never a cool drive to me. I usually didn't go because of how much gas it wasted. That wasn't a concern of mine anymore. I weaved through the forest outlands with ease...a while ago, speed was also a minor concern...but getting pulled over didn't bother me either. The prick cop that dared to try to pull me over wouldn't last half a minute.
I laughed at the suddenly violent direction of my thoughts. No wonder there was no beast or monster in my chest, encouraging these thoughts, because I was doing it myself now, without the assistance.
I suppressed a growl when I reached the intended destination. It was basically restaurant avenue, and I had to go to one of the more "classy" ones at the end. It was right next to The Pacifico. This one had some famous Italian name with two old fashioned medievil looking torches outside at the door.
I parked in front of the Italian restaurant, ignoring the offers for valet as well as the remarks about this being an unsuitable place to park. I didn't want to be here longer then I should have. My attire was not quite fitting for a fancy resaurant anyway. I may have had change of clothes, but the fresh cuts and scratches from my run in with the Pack was all over my face and body.
. I didn't have to wait long for the party I wanted to come from the doors. I plopped off the hood of my car so that they could get a better view of me.
It was the entire Volturi coven...shuffling out like a swarm of black ants. I saw the Order of rank clearly. Aro, Caius and Marcus were in the front..Behind them was Alec, Jane and the three I hadn't had much conversation with: Chelsea, Demitri and Felix. Felix was all muscle. I was reminded of Paul...and a little of Emmett Cullen. He was more brawn then anything...quick and easy would the deaths on his hand be. He had no redeeming abilities, but I assumed, like with Erebus, Aro was "fond" of him.
And Chelsea...She was one of those few that wasn't going to use her ability on me. She had no reason too either. She could bind and unbind relationships, make them stronger or weaker. Caius had suggested she try the ability on my binding to Caius and Chelsea said it was impossible since my seething hatred for him, prevented a "binding" from even being there. I disagreed with that since I had to deal with his crap which brought a level amount of...stuff there, but it made me content to know that I wouldn't be forced to like the blackmailing bastard.
And then there was Demitri. Caius had warned me that if I ever intended to run away, which was never the case, I would have an extremely difficult time outrunning Demitri. He was a tracker. Though he didn't look like one...he was a little darker...just a tad, then other bloodsuckers. He had an olive complexion that made him blend well with the mortals. When his red eyes found me, his face split into a wide smile...that was mirrored on several other faces.
Aro extended his arms to me. " Ah Jacob!"
I was amazed at how much pleasure this bloodsucker could fake. I read his face and knew behind that mask of delight was the anger at me for killing Erebus. He studiously kept it hidden from the coven though.
I wrinkled my nose as he hugged my shoulders and gave me a squeeze into his chest. Over his shoulder, looking eerie in the light, Jane looked furious. I winked at her and she took a step towards me menacingly. Caius placed a hand on her shoulder with ease to calm her. I could feel my thoughts swarm into Aro's head from our touching. What did it matter now? I wasn't free from my chains to the Coven...so he would not sense betrayal..he'd see as far back as he wanted...this whole night would play back in his head..easier then it would for me. I couldn't relive it.
''You see, Caius? He is here! There was no reason to fret," Aro told his brother, looking to the side where he knew Caius to be. He didn't release my shoulders. " I knew he would come, just as you expected."
"Of course, Aro," said Caius smugly. " It's all in the bargaining."
I licked my teeth, but didn't say anything. We were causing quite a scene. A gathering of the pale, cold faces, except for me. Aro recognized that in my thoughts..but it didn't seem to bother him. I took a look in his eyes and saw that they were black with thirst.
Ugh. Nasty parasites.
"I suppose we will see you tomorrow morning," Aro said, letting me go and taking only my left hand. He pressed something into my palm and I didn't look down at it, not yet. He nodded..a smile pasted in his light face. He looked like a Father saying goodbye to his son...and I wouldn't play the part. I merely nodded, looking at Caius instead. I didn't need a heart implosion tonight while I was sleeping. This was my way of assuring him that I would be there.
Caius crossed his arms looking thoughtful..but he shook his head, amused and turned to the Guard behind him. He hissed something in Italian and the group began to follow his lead towards the cars. I looked away when I saw a gaggle of women in their late thirties, eagerly following the Volturi. Aro stayed a moment longer, winking at them as they passed, then he looked to me.
"Dinner?" I said, trying to keep hate out of my tone.
"And breakfast," He said with a smile. I narrowed my eyes. " until tomorrow. Keep that address close, Jacob Black. Spada del Volturi."
I watched and felt him release me and begin following the group. He threw his arms and began speaking rushed Italian to the giggling women in his little purr. I shuddered at the death that they would have to face...like Gianna. But like Gianna, there was little pity...the term "Don't play with strangers" applied here as much as it did with Gianna. Too "pretty" people were never a good sign.