Characters are © Stephenie Meyer
A/N: Sorry this has taken so long and sorry there is only one POV. I lost my job and haven't really been in a good mindset to write. There is a tiny something from Bella's POV after this though.
There was a question about Nessie's wound: Ramses attacked her in her "dream" (more about that later)... reasonable deduction is that only a vampire (or possibly a werewolf but not likely) could break her vampire skin. She thought of a brilliant albeit stupid idea of reopening that wound that wasn't fully healed so the rescue party wouldn't be suspicious that she jumped down 20 feet unhurt. Of course, she is half human, unlike her family who would not bleed out, and she lost enough blood to need a transfusion.
More about Ramses and a lot of fluff!
Chapter 6 - Reality
I felt fine the next morning, knowing already that I had slept yet again for an entire twenty-four hours straight by the placement of the sun in the sky, but my sleeping habits were soon overshadowed by the throbbing pain in my arm. They are never going to let me live this down.Jake's scent was incredibly strong in my room and I thought back to a few times when I woke to only a semi-conscious state, thinking that I saw him there at my bedside. I could only imagine what I looked like after my latest adventure and decided to face the music and got up to looked in the mirror.
Once again I screamed.
I knew I had to stop screaming like that and scaring everyone to death-at least figuratively speaking-but my eyes were blood red. I couldn't help but to compare myself to Jane. I was soon completely preoccupied with my new look, and couldn't answer my family who was frantically crowding into my room.
"Sorry. My eyes... they surprised me." My hair was darker than Jane's, and I was obviously older, but we both had soft features. It was definitely the eyes that made Jane so terrifying to me. Her eyes to me represented death. "I thought they would-always be brown. I didn't think I had vampire eyes."
Jasper calmed everyone down, especially Jacob who looked like he hadn't slept in days, and was now hovering directly over me.
"It was from the blood they gave you on Monday. I don't know why it affected you this time when it didn't as a baby. Perhaps because you ingested it when you were younger, but this time it was given intravenously? I'm really not sure. Don't you remember talking about this on Monday?" Carlisle asked concern.
"Mmm, it's kind of fuzzy."
"Dumbest thing you've ever done," Jake mumbled.
"Yeah, thanks Jake, I know that," I hissed. I forgot about my arm for a second and winced when I leaned against my dresser to get a better look at my face.
"Careful, Nessie!" Jake led me by the elbow back to sit on my bed. "You're so much smarter than this, what's with your sudden recklessness? I would say act your age, but you would probably have a smart comeback to that."
Back to being the big brother. "Get out of my room, Jacob," I said between a clenched jaw, and Jake looked absolutely torn at my words.
"Jake, please wait in the living room," my dad asked calmly. When Edward spoke like that, you listened.
"I want to be alone," I demanded. Everyone filed out, my mom lingering a little bit longer than the rest.
"Jake didn't mean anything by what he said," she promised, giving me a sly smile. "And I'm sorry that you take after me when it comes to great-bad ideas." She was referring to the story I had heard about a dozen times when she decided to distract two blood thirsty vampires by doing the same thing as I did; opening an old cut. The entire situation almost ended is disaster because of it.
I climbed back into bed, more embarrassed over my actions than anything. Then there was the confusion racking my mind. How could Jake could act like my brother one moment, but would show so much more affection the next? It was making my head spin.
I couldn't imagine that I could sleep anymore than I already had, but as a natural escape from the real world I did finally drift back off... and into Egypt.
Almost immediately the hot air choked me and I could taste the raw sand in my mouth as an arid gust of wind blew through the door. Ramses was there, but this time I was prepared. He was wearing the same garments he had been the last time I had seen him, and the sun was in precisely the same place in the sky. The same boy from the first dream ran by the doorway again, peeked in and ran off.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"So you believe me now, child?" He walked towards me, this time I didn't move away. I was back by the door anyway, and could run again if necessary.
"Please don't call me child, and I'll ask it again, where are we?"
"Have you figured out what I am?" He raised his eyebrows in curiosity.
"You can get into people's dreams... you can take them over."
"Close." He didn't seem as menacing as he had before, but the trust still wasn't there. "Only yours. I'm here for only one purpose, and that is to get you to come to Egypt."
"Are we really in Alexandria?" Everything was so real, but almost seemed almost staged.
"No. I just had to show you where you needed to be. It is only an illusion, but unlike dreams which are built from your memories, I am in your mind, creating this-hence why you can be physically harmed." He looked down at my bandaged arm. "I do not think you know how sorry I am for doing that to you... but there was no other way I could prove the reality of this."
"Why do I need to come to Alexandria? Does this have anything to do with that silly prophecy?" I had my hands on my hips; Ramses no longer scared me. "I am no prophet's child or whatever gibberish someone made up."
"That is why you must come here. You all must believe or you will fail."
"Fail at what?"
"Your destiny. Our destiny. You must-"
Ramses was gone. The bright sun was replaced with the cloudy evening sky of Oregon, and the sandy building for my bedroom. My father was standing over me.
"Please tell me you saw that," I said seriously. "Please tell me you believe him."
"I...I don't know. We really need to get in touch with Eleazar." Without another word he spun around and walked out of the room. I heard him talking to Carlisle upstairs, and the musical tones of the phone were dialing.
I could smell Esme's cooking in the kitchen which lured me from the confines of my room and out to face everyone. Jake was sitting on a stool, but instead of stuffing his face, he was only playing with the casserole on his plate. When he noticed me he shot up.
Before he could open his mouth I put my finger up silencing him. "I don't want to talk to you right now," I snapped, and walked out to the garage.
I could tell he was following me, afraid to say anything at first. When I finally turned around to look at him I was surprised to see how close he was, and spun back the other direction when my face went flush.
"Nessie? Nessie what's wrong?" I could feel the heat radiating off of him. He called me Nessie, the name he called me when I was a little girl. When he thought of me as a child.
"Can you just go away?" I couldn't bear to be near him and feel this way. I didn't know how to turn it off.
"Please tell me what's wrong? I'm sure I can help."
I pressed my lips together and faced him. "You're the problem, Jacob Black."
His face distorted as if I struck him, his hands were stiff at his side, not sure what they should be doing. "Nay..."
"No, let me finish! You asked!" I couldn't let him interrupt again or I'd never get any of this off of my chest. "I can't tell what you want from me Jake. You get so close, but then you talk to me like I'm your little sister. You call me your friend. You give me a friendship necklace, but the next second you don't seem to see me in that way at all. It's weird and it's confusing. I don't know what you want from me!"
His big strong hands found my shoulders and then they slid down my arms and rested there. "Do you honestly think I still look at you like you're my little sister?"
I finally looked up at him, way up. No, he wasn't looking at me like that right now, but in the way I dreamed that he would. I felt his hands carefully move down to my waist, pulling me in slowly as if I may break. I couldn't remember in my adult life ever being this close to him; this aware. I would have sworn I was in the middle of cardiac arrest at the rate my heart was beating. He leaned his tall frame down so our lips were only inches apart. I closed my eyes afraid I was about to wake up from one of my ridiculously realistic dreams, but when his lips met mine I had never felt so awake before in my life. His lips parted and his warm hand moved to my cheek, the other tightened around my waist even more. His lips left mine and he kissed down my neck and back up again, sending electric shocks through my spine. He ended with one last soft kiss. When he stopped I opened my eyes to his smiling face.
"Satisfied?" But he didn't let me answer, his lips silencing me once again.
This was what my first kiss was supposed to be. It was supposed to make me feel like I was going to explode inside. Make me feel like I would drown if it ever stopped. It was supposed to be with Jake, his lips warm, not cool, against mine. Some part of me that I had never recognized before was telling me this was the only way. It was that part of me that had felt so detached in his absence. That part was now alive. I was finally whole.
"I'm sorry," he hummed in my ear. "I didn't know how-how to tell you how I felt. I was afraid. I didn't want it to come out this way-I didn't want you to ever be this upset. I'm so sorry."
I felt tears stinging my eyes. "How do you feel?" I had to hear him say it or it wouldn't be real.
"I never stop thinking about you, Renesmee. You're there in my thoughts every second of every day. If I could, I would never leave your side. I am absolutely. Completely. Head over heels for you."
"That's good," I reached up and ran my hand down his face because it was something I had wanted to do for the longest time, "because I feel the same way."
He pulled me to him again, this time wrapping his arms completely around me and holding me so tightly against his chest I could feel the thud every time his heart beat. I rested my head there, over his heart, feeling mine grow ten times the size it had been for seven years. It was no longer big enough to hold my feelings anymore; it had no choice but to grow. He rested his chin on my head as he had done on Monday after the accident in the cave, but this time there were no boundaries like there had been only two days ago. There was nothing in between us.
"I wonder what the reactions are going to be when we go into the house," I said into his shirt.
He laughed and lifted my chin, kissing me on the nose. "We're pretty transparent; they all are very much aware that this was coming."
"They know?" I gasped. "Even my dad?"
"I know they seem nosy at times, but they are very respectful, especially Edward who always knows what's on everyone's mind. Give them some credit."
We stood out in the garage tangled in each other, but it was over too soon when I heard our names being called in the house. "Guess it's time to face reality." I frowned.
He stopped me before I could walk out and hooked my hand in his, intermingling our fingers. This is the best feeling in the world, I thought to myself.
I agree, Jake replied silently. We were meant to be, that is why he was the only one that could hear my thoughts.
We were at the bottom of the back porch, I could hear everyone in the living room, and my stomach began doing somersaults. "Do we have to?" I looked up at him with doe eyes.
"I think so," he said and winked. "But first..." I didn't need to ask what he meant by that because he grabbed my face and kissed me again with more confidence this time, not holding back. It didn't last long as we both noticed several figures in the window watching us. "That's just in case you chicken out later," he teased.
Alice was jumping up and down when we walked in, giggling as she hugged me. There was no hiding anything; both Jake and I couldn't stop smiling and wouldn't move more than a few inches away from each other. Esme and Carlisle were glowing, my dad even looking happy. My mom was the only one that held an odd expression. I could tell she was happy and even proud, but there was something else there...
"Finally!" Alice cheered. "Oh this is so wonderful! I should call Rose and Emmett!"
"Why don't you just call the local newspaper," I sassed.
Jasper came behind Alice and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Let's not go too overboard. Besides, I'm quite sure this relationship isn't legal in the state of Oregon."
I hadn't even thought of that. I was only sixteen, technically, and Jake was twenty-four. "Secret is fine with me." I still hadn't stopped smiling.
I had wanted to ride my bike, but that was quickly shot down by my parents and Jake. I thought Jake was about to suggest something, but he stopped mid-sentence, nodding slightly to my dad.
"How about a movie night?" Esme suggested. She had purchased one of the stove top popcorn kettles and enjoyed making it the old fashion way, testing out different combinations of flavors on us.
I thought for a moment and realized that it would give us a reason to sit on the couch together-very closely on the couch together-and although I was pretty new to all of this, from watching my family it seemed as though movies were appropriate times to do that. As far as I knew Jake was new to all of this also, which is why when we first sat down it took us an awkward minute before we figured out how to sit as close as possible while remaining both comfortable yet proper. I was sitting only feet away from my parents after all.
No one really paid much attention to the movie. I felt all eyes on us but, my eyes were on Jake's hands. I was fascinated with them, running the tips of my fingers up and down each one of his and then circling his palm. Every once in a while he'd close his fist and squeeze me. That minute gesture meant so much more than words. My mom winked at us, allowing relief to wash over me because her original reaction made me a little nervous. I figured that meant her shield is up, and when I yelled Daddy! in my head and there was no reaction from Edward, I felt much more comfortable. My dad on the other hand, although he was trying his best not to make a fuss about it, was obviously not a fan of his temporary mental deafness.
You're beautiful, Jake told me. I would wait until we're alone to tell you out loud, but I just can't wait. I've wanted to tell you for so long. I wish we were alone, now,
You're going to be trouble, he accused.
I didn't answer, but turned my body away from the television and laid down on his chest. This, I had decided, was my favorite place in the world.
"Phone!" Alice said out of nowhere, and as usual, the phone rang only seconds later.
Carlisle was murmuring into the phone, but walked far enough away that I couldn't hear who was on the other end. My dad got up, walking closer and away from my mom's shield.
"No, thank you anyway, we really appreciate it," Carlisle hung up the phone turning back to us. "That was Eleazar. He knows nothing about any vampire who can enter dreams as this one does."
"He told me he could only do it to me," I insisted. "He said we have to go to Alexandria."
Jasper fiercely shook his head. "No way, it is way too dangerous if Alice hasn't seen anything yet. We cannot allow it. If the Volturi find out that you are so close to them they may come for you."
"I'm going to have to agree with Jasper." Carlisle sat back down with Esme. "Until we have some proof of what is waiting for us, we cannot make a move."
"But what if this is what we've been looking for? Ramses said that's where the truth behind the prophecy is!" I slumped back down on the couch and crossed my arms.
For an entire second I forgot I was sitting next to Jacob until he began to stroke my cheek with the back of his hand. "If it's meant to be it will happen," he whispered.
The rest of the movie was dreadful now that my mood was ruined. No matter what Jacob showed me in our own special way, it wouldn't pull me out of my silent tantrum. I just couldn't bring myself to believe that Ramses wasn't telling the truth. How could I explain my arm? How could I explain the heat and sand and smells? It was all too real to blame on a silly dream.
For the first time I wished myself to sleep. I laid my head back down on Jake's chest, concentrating on his heartbeat and slowly let myself drift back to Egypt...
I wasn't in the room, but a staircase made out of the same sandy blocks the grotto was built from. There were lanterns hanging on the walls, with only a few lit, allowing saving my eyes from dealing with complete darkness. Behind me, at the top of the stairs, I could see what looked like daylight barely making its way downwards. In front of me the stairs disappeared into shadows, but my eyes picked up the faintest possible glow at the very end.
The sand crumbled from the wall as I dragged my fingers down the wall of the spiral staircase, carefully placing one foot in front of the other, unsure of the structure's stability. The glow was getting brighter as I moved more quickly down the stairs, my nose beginning to pick up scents. Vampire. Wood. Linen. Leather. I now was sure that the light source was made from candles because of the way they danced in the shadows. When I finally reached the end, Ramses stood with his back towards me, looking down at a desk against a far wall.
The room was enormous. The ceiling reached as high as Carlisle's library walls, and the shelves made from ancient wood lined each one from top to bottom. Old parchment and scrolls were stacked haphazardly on each one, some journals with broken leather bindings helped to keep them in place. Several desks, their matching wooden bodies were dark from years of rot, were lined up against the walls with yet more paper covering their surface.
"What...what is this place?" I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that a place this large could be found so far deep under the earth.
Ramses turned, delighted at my new found interest in his story. "This is what is left of the Royal Library of Alexandria."
The name didn't ring any bells for me.
"One of the greatest libraries ever built, child. Julius Caesar himself burnt it to the ground, by accident of course, and along with it many precious documents of the early eastern world... or at least they thought they were gone." As if he forgot he was in the middle of an explanation, Ramses walked across the room in silence, fingering through the books on one particular wall. "Mmhmm," he said to himself. "They were saved by our kind, unbeknown to the humans, and kept here since before the supposed birth of Christ."
Now it was my turn to look at the timeworn paper strewn over the desks. They were all in languages I did not know, some were not even in the modern day alphabet, but in symbols and signs. Finally, I found one scroll that almost fell apart in my hands. It was not quite one language, but a mixture of several romantic languages combined. I could pick out certain words, stringing them along in broken sentences, but not able to figure out the meaning.
"What language is this in?" I asked, still attempting to make sense out of it.
"A dead language from back when the world spoke only one."
"Wait, are you telling me that there is truth to the Tower of Babel?" We obviously were not religious per se, but Carlisle and my mom both believed in an afterlife that our souls would journey to. I knew the stories of the bible, including the Tower of Babel that tells the tale of mankind building a tower up to the Heavens to reach God. To punish them and make sure nothing like that happened again, God made them all speak different languages.
"Child, please, look at me," Ramses pleaded, still standing several feet across the room. "Look here, this table-this is where you must go. This is what you must show your family."
"Can't you just show me now...?"
I fell back into an empty space; the one between sleep and awake. The library was gone, Ramses was gone, and I could once again feel Jacob's warm body under mine.
"Renesmee? Nay, wake up!"
No, no I have to get back there. I didn't see enough!I was in Astoria, in a room full of vampires and a werewolf. No Egypt, no library, no prophecy. "Why in the world would you do that?" I sat up glaring at my family.
"Maybe I should be the one asking you what on earth you were dreaming about," Jake retorted. He must have seen my dreams through our touch.
I looked up at my dad, hoping he had been watching too, and from the expression on his face I was sure he had seen it all. "We are still not doing anything until Alice sees something tangible." I was about to interrupt but he cut me off before I could. "No, your dreams are not tangible!"
"They aren't dreams!" I snapped. "How do you explain my injury? You saw my dream this morning! Just because Eleazar has never heard of one, that doesn't mean it isn't possible! What about Benjamin? Can I e-mail Audrey? Can I see if they remember anyone from Egypt that fits the description?"
"Renesmee, you're just having a difficult time separating reality and fantasy. I used to have extremely real dreams also. Ask your Dad." My mom was now sitting with us on the couch and her tone, as if I was still a child, was patronizing and insulting.
In one last attempt to lash back at my parents, I turned to Jake and kissed him hard on the lips. I didn't even bother looking at any of their faces; the absence of breathing was enough to know I had given them a hypothetical slap across the face. I flounced off into my room, not hearing another word out of any of them. I would show them reality.