I don't know how much time I have. I love you more than anything Jacob. You are forever with me, please be safe.
This was the last message I had receive from Liz for 21 hours and 13 minutes. She'd vanished and I had no idea where to find her.
3 days earlier.
Elizabeth Rains
"I know I know." I was starting to get very frustrated with Katie. She'd been nagging me ever since my lunch with Matt for the details. "I am very much aware that I am a 'lucky girl'. Frankly, I think I'm lucky for other reasons."
"Oh? Jacob Black?" she raised an eyebrow at me. I could tell she was being this way for one reason.
"Yes, Jacob Black. My boyfriend, my boyfriend who I am in love with." She scoffed and turned her head. I knew this was eating her up inside. "Katie, love, darling. I know you like Matt. It's obvious, I mean, only obvious to me. You should just go for it!"
"I don't know." She looked down at her shoes. Ugh. Time to tell her the truly obvious.
"You are beautiful, beyond belief. Athletic and strong, which I'm sure he loves. You are so sweet and caring and kind." She was starting to smirk a little. It was working. "And you are hilarious! He would be so lucky to even be looked at by you."
"But he chose you, Liz. He wants you, not me. But thanks for the pep talk. I really appreciate it." She walked off and Jacob took her place and gave me a kiss on the forehead.
"You are a rockstar friend, you know that right?" I suppose. Katie was being stubborn and a bit off. It was like she was trying to push me away from Jacob and onto Matt. Very strange.
"You know you are a rockstar lover." The word lover sounded more like love-ah. He chuckled a bit and we walked to his car. I sat in the driver's seat. In the few short weeks since the 'Matt Incident' I had finally gotten my permit and was feeling fairly secure on the road. Jacob was an amazing teacher; or at least he thought so.
"Ok ok ok, slow down. Good now ease into the turn. EASE INTO- " The car tipped a little unsteadily but it was fine. Jacob's breathing increased and I turned the heater in the car off.
"I was easing. I don't know what you are so worried about." Driving was easy. No sweat; well, no sweat for me. "I'm so glad that you taught me to drive. I really didn't know what I was missing out on."
"Heh, yeah. I know." He was gripping his seat, which was really unnecessary. I was only going, like, 65mph. "Could you slow down?"
"I like to go fast." It was true. "Going fast is my favorite."
"You are ridiculous" he was smirking but still gripping his seat but seemed in better humor.
"Tu est trop bête." I replied in French. Jacob hated it when I spoke French, mostly because he didn't have much of a head for languages. "Mais, je t'aime."
"Oh, I know what that one means!" he bent over and kissed my cheek. I kept my eyes on the road but the scent of his skin so close to me sent shivers down my back. I had a hard time focusing.
"You are a real driving hazard." I loved the butterfly feelings he sent through me. They were intoxicating. I made it home safe, amazingly enough. We walked in and I saw my dad sitting in the kitchen interviewing Mrs. Clearwater. She was so strong, especially having two werewolves in the house and a dead husband. Amazing woman. We walked into my room and I sat down to check my e-mail. I had another one from Lonelyguy20. We were becoming friends; he was the guy that I danced with at The Escape. He was cute and understood that I had a boyfriend. His real name was Ryan and he was a student at Portland State University. He'd actually taken a sociology class from by mom. I still hadn't told Jacob about my new friend or the dancing episode. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
The e-mail read: Hey Liz,
Things are pretty chill here, literally. We had some freezing rain and I just about froze my ass off. There was a really bad car accident in NW I drove by on my way downtown. Hella crazy, you know. I was thinking we should hangout in person. I've always wanted to come chill in Washington. Besides, I want to give you your Christmas present.
Later,
Ryan
That would never, ever work. Jake might freak, he usually didn't care what mere mortal men did. But he cared about mere mortal men who cared a little too much for me. I hadn't sensed him watching over my shoulder.
"Hey, who's that?" he asked in a pseudo good natured way. I could hear the edge in his voice.
"No one of any importance considering the present company." I replied with a big smile. He bent his head down and kissed me quickly on the lips. It was a sweet kiss that conveyed his worry while quelling it at the same time. "So, Christmas is almost upon us and I still don't know what to get you."
"You, are changing the subject. Not sure I approve." He gave me a look. I had been caught. I raised my hands in surrender.
"Please, I really do want to know." I bit my lower lip and attempted to play innocent. It seemed to be working.
"Hmm." He was weighing his options. After a few seconds he gave in. "What I want is simple. Because it is so simple I think it should be an easy present."
"Oh really? You are prefacing this a lot for something so easy." I laughed a little. His eyes darkened and he got a wolf-y look. I smirked back.
"Just you and me, alone for a night." Oh. Heh. It wasn't like I hadn't thought about that. Sex was the obvious next step and I wanted it too. There was something so cliché about being 'sexually active' in high school. I wanted to wait until college but I'd found my perfect match so soon. I needed to weigh my options now. I realized that being lost in my thought was making Jake nervous instead of responding.
"Oh, god. Sorry." Could I even pull that off? Maybe. Might take some work. "Yeah, we'll see if you will be that lucky."
"Oh?" he raised an eyebrow. I was smirking back at him and he got a devilish look in his eye. I stood up to face him because I knew this would be a classic Spontaneous Jacob Moment. Bring it on. He stepped closer to me and bent his head down until his beautiful, perfect face was close to mine. I breathed in the intoxicating scent of his skin and shuddered a little. His breath on my skin was doing crazy things to my breathing. I was staring straight into his chocolate brown eyes. He leaned in and I waited for him to kiss me. I breathless and dazed by the sudden intimacy; just then I behind closed eyes I saw a flash.
"What?" I was rubbing my eyes. He'd taken a picture of that face I was making. Jake was laughing wildly, it almost sounded like a hyena. I punched him, not hard I wasn't stupid, and sulked.
"Oh, honey. Am I lucky?" he asked with a glint in his eye.
"Nah, just cute."
I was waiting for Ryan to show up; we decided to meet at the only café in town. I had put a limit on the time; I would be here no longer than two hours. I wasn't stupid and meeting someone I didn't really know wasn't the best idea. I sensed it before I saw it. I could feel the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end. I started to feel nausea and I smelled something bitterly sweet. I wasn't prepared for this; the pack was all at Emily's house. I reached into my purse for my cell phone to warm them. A stony and cold hand grabbed my wrist; I looked into a pair of red eyes. It was the same cute guy I had danced with about a month ago. Shit. He was beautiful and terrifying. I could see something in his look and I knew then that I was going to be in trouble.
"Don't scream. Don't move or I'll change you right here." He growled. I looked around nervously anyone else. I saw that the barista was no longer in the café; they must have taken her. We were alone in the small café.
"Ok." I chocked. Ryan sat down and I could tell that he was really having to force himself not to kill me then and there. "Ryan, what happened to you?"
"After I met you a clan of vampires came to find me, and they did this." I could hear the resentment in his voice. He clearly blamed me for this. "You are going to stand up and walk outside and get into the black unmarked car. If you run, I can easily catch you and you will die."
"Oh god." I breathed. I said a silent prayer and I stood with shaky legs. I stumbled with the first few steps; I quickly put my phone in my pocket incase they took my purse. I got into the car. The windows were tinted and I was the only one in the car. I kept my phone in my pocket and practiced an old trick. Vivian and I texted each other a lot in high school and had learned to do so without looking at the phone. We had just done this by touch alone. Who knew it would come in so handy. Being kidnapped from the café. Vampires. Not a joke. Help! I managed to send this to Kim. She was the only one in the pack with a cell phone. I took my hands out of my pocket and noticed then how badly they were shaking. I wanted to throw up. A woman got into the car; she was a vampire. I heard her high pitched cackle before I heard her speak.
"Oh Ryan." She cooed. "They are going to be so happy with you."
"Thanks. It was hard not killing her on the spot." He replied. They started driving, then the black haired she-vampire decided it would be "for the best" to blindfold me.
"We don't want you to know where we're going. It'll be a surprise! Oh, you are lovely, darlin'" she had a southern drawl. I bit my lip and tensed. I was on edge being this close to the bloodsuckers. I'd never been this scared in my life.
"Please. Please let me go. Why me? Why do you want me?" I started to cry despite myself.
"Oh sweetie. I am sorry, but this needs to happen. You really shouldn't have gotten yourself mixed up with those mangy mutts." She said. I couldn't decide which was more sickly sweet, her voice or her scent.
"W-w-why m-me?" I blubbered on. The vampire turned in her seat and touched my face gently with her sick granite hands. I shuddered.
"You are the key, darlin'" she said then put the blindfold over my eyes. I'd seen that we were headed east and seemed to be staying on the highway. The vampire turned around to adjust the radio. I continued to text Kim. I'm now blindfolded, we are headed east from what I can tell. Please come soon.
Jacob Black
I'm now blindfolded, we are headed east from what I can tell. Please come soon. was the text message on Kim's phone. She had run to us and soon as she received the first one.
"What the hell? Is this a joke? This isn't funny." Paul was freaking out. He was pulling at his hair and pacing the room.
"Calm down. Quil, Embry and Paul start driving. Collin, Seth, Jared go to the café. Leah, Jacob and I will stay here." Barked Sam, everyone leapt to their feet and ran off.
"Why am I staying here?" Leah whined.
"Because you are a girl and we need your help getting inside Liz's head." Sam said quickly. There was no time to lose. This could get bad.
"What should we do? I want to go with Quil, Embry and Paul. I should be there." I stated.
"No, we need you to get into her head also. You know her the best." Sam was no nonsense now.
"Should we contact her parents and the police?" he asked.
"I don't know Sam. That might let the leeches know that she is sending us messages." I thought about it for a moment. "Her parents are pretty oblivious as it is, it might take them a while to notice that she's gone."
"Don't be stupid, they need to know." Leah chimed in. I couldn't handle the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. She could be hurt, they might kill her, or worse they might change her. What would I do if they changed her? Could I still love her? Would the imprinting wear off? I couldn't allow myself to think that way. She would be fine. We waited patiently in the stupid house for some sign; something, anything from someone.
"I can't handle this. I need to know what's happening." I said firmly. I phased and listened for something from Quil, Embry, Paul.
"We picked up on their scent and are following east, like Liz said." said Paul
"They are going pretty fast, Jake, we need to focus so we don't lose their trial." This was Embry.
I phased back. Embry had he best nose of the group, he could track anything. I tried to steady my breathing; it was hard knowing that my Liz was out there in serious danger. The phone buzzed before I could phase and check on the others. Sam grabbed it first, which was for the best because I couldn't be expected to not break the stupid thing. The message read: One of them said we are headed to Spokane. They don't know about the phone. I love you Jacob. Oh god. I phased instantly and sent the message off to Quil, Embry and Paul.
"What did you find?" I asked Collin, Seth, and Jared.
"There were two of them. One smells young and the other is a little older. They took off headed due east." Replied Jared.
"Yeah. They are headed to Spokane."
I relayed the message to Sam and the three of us sat waiting for Sam to give us direction. I was on edge and couldn't help it. I was terrified; it was almost like by taking Liz they took a piece of me. I hadn't been in this much emotional pain since Bella left; except this time was worse. Things had been so perfect the last few weeks.
"What should we do, Sam? I hate sitting here like this!" Leah was obviously annoyed. I knew she would never admit it to me, but she loved Liz. She was always vying for her attention. "Don't be stupid Jacob Black, we all love Liz." Leah had been listening in on my thoughts.
"Sure, sure. Sam, what should we do?" he was lost in thought and I could tell it was a jumble of emotions and thought. I could feel that he wanted Liz to come back almost as badly as I wanted her back. He was worried that I would run off again like when Bella left. I couldn't blame him, I probably would it that were to happen. I also knew that this was clearly the vampire's way of luring us out of our comfort zone and probably outnumbering us.
"We need to go find her." Sam stood up and walked over to Emily, he whispered something in her ear. She nodded grimly and they embraced. Leah and I looked away from their passionate exchange. When I looked back I could see the pain and worry in Emily's eyes.
"Be safe Jacob. Don't do anything stupid." She was trying to be strong it was almost hard to watch. I hugged her quickly and wiped away the betraying tears.
"I'm never stupid." I replied with a smirk. She forced a smile but I could tell that more than anything she wanted to be with us. I suddenly realized the nervousness I couldn't shake. I was shaking from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I felt serious nausea and I my senses were heightened more than usual. I needed to run, desperately. I felt the phone vibrate in my pocket and I stumbled to read the text. We stopped. Still blindfolded and in the car. They want to kill me. Hurry! I couldn't feel any worse than I did at that moment. They were going to kill the one person who I loved the most in the entire world. I would trade my life for her life in an instant, and the filthy, vile bloodsuckers knew that. In fact they were probably counting on that fact. The phone buzzed again, it would be her last text. I don't know how much time I have. I love you more than anything Jacob. You are forever with me, please be safe. I phased and started running, I ran as fast and as hard as possible. My love's life was on the line and I would stop at nothing to find her. I would not let them hurt her ever.