Earth and Fire
14
They are running. They are free-falling. They are flying.
Benjamin's hand is closed around Leila's and they race forward. Her hair is unbound and flying behind her. Their hearts flutter in their chests, perfectly in synch.
Benjamin pulls her behind a building, pressing her back against the brick wall, his body hovering protectively over hers. He peers around the corner, trying to quiet his breathing. "I think we lost them."
Leila shakes her head, her eyes burning with anger, "Adelet won't give up. I'm his trophy." Her lip curls, "I want to kill him."
Benjamin looks down, a cross between amused and tired. "I think, if you killed the Sultan's son, we'd be in a worse situation."
She sighs and ducks her head into his chest, whispering, "Where do we go next?"
"There's a hotel a couple miles away," Benjamin says, "It's a tiny hub at the edge of town. Adelet probably assumes that we'll go out of town, so he won't check there."
"Are you sure?"
"No," Benjamin mutters, "But we can't keep going if we're tired. Then they'll definitely catch us." But as he says this, his stomach twists terribly and he doesn't know why.
.
.
"There's nothing I can do," Carlisle says, his voice forlorn and a little confused. "It just seems that she has a stomach bug."
"A stomach bug?!" Jacob protests, "Carlisle, she was puking out her guts and loosing consciousness! You can't blame this on the stomach flu—"
"Plus, she was having hallucinations!" Seth cuts in, "We saw them! They kept changing, and he was there," Seth points to the Egyptian vampire, who is still there, starring into space.
Edward walks forward, shaking his head, "They have similar thoughts." He says, "They are experiencing the same things."
This peaks Carlisle's interests, "Does Benjamin have a second gift we do not know about? I didn't think it were possible…"
Edward shakes his head and looks to Jacob to explain.
"Leah…kind of imprinted on Benjamin." He says slowly, as if afraid that Leah will spring up and strangle him for telling her secret. "But it's different." He hurriedly continues, "In her head…it's not a normal imprint. Imprinting is like…a chain connecting two people's hearts. Her's is more like a gold cord—"
"To the soul," Edward finishes, ignoring Jacob's annoyed look in his direction. "I've seen it in Benjamin's mind."
"Maybe because she's a female wolf?" Carlisle rationalizes.
Jacob just shrugs, "There's really no history on female wolves. We don't know." Jacob frowns, "Plus…she hasn't actually talked to the elders yet."
-:- -:- -:-
They are burning.
They are alive but they are burning. And Benjamin tries—God, he tries to stop it. Hands shaking, palms up towards the flames. His fingers are blazing.
He has this gift, this wonderful wonderful gift, and he cannot use it. Why isn't it working? Why can't he control the flames?
The fire bends a little, getting bigger instead of smaller like he had intended.
There is this screaming, and he knows that its her, knows that it is the love of his life. He has to help her, he has to control the flames, he has to get to her….
But they are burning.
.
.
"Where will we go?" Benjamin asks her, his smile wide, his face in the crook of her neck. He breathes into her and she smells just like jasmine.
"Anywhere," Leila answers in that way of hers. Her fingers comb through his curls, "Anywhere you want."
She lays back, looking at the stars, "We're free now."
.
.
"I saw him!" Leila bursts into the room, her hair spilling out over her shoulders. Her fingers tremble as she puts a palm on his bicep. "I saw him. He's after us." and her lips trembles, and her eyes try to stay brave, "Him and many others."
Benjamin stiffness. He doesn't have to ask to know who she's talking about. His hands comes to cover her shaking fingers, "We have to leave."
"Yeah," Leila agrees, still shaking. Benjamin closes his eyes, trying not to think about what Adelet must've done to make her so afraid. He shakes his head and wraps his arms around her. Leila is still against his chest. She takes a shuddering breath and thens says, "C'mon, let's pack."
They both look around at their scattered belongings. The little hotel they'd been staying at had become something like a home.
.
.
She curses herself for getting Benjamin into this. If she hadn't made him run…if she had just stayed put…he would be safe.
He would not be burning.
Leila knows that Adelet started this fire…trapped them inside and lit a match. He had burned everyone inside.
Just because of her.
All because of her.
All because she was selfish.
All because she was in love.
Oh God, she is burning. Oh God, oh God, oh God.
She is burning.
.
.
"Two kids," Benjamin decides. "Girl and boy, and they have to look like you."
"No," Leila disagrees, rolling around on the hotel room's bed. "No no. Three. Two boys and a girl, the youngest." She says. "And the boys have to look like you."
"The girl will look like you," Benjamin proposes, "Same hair, same attitude—"
"I couldn't deal with her," Leila laughs, falling back against Benjamin's knees, "I'd kill her."
Benjamin just finds it funny, he nods. "Probably. They boys wouldn't leave your side, though."
"The girl would like you way better than me," Leila responds.
"That's because you two would be one in the same," Benjamin grins, his dimples appearing in his cheeks. "I can't wait to start my life with you."
.
.
.
She is screaming. She is screaming for him.
As the flames grow higher, the farther apart they grow. Black dots dance in front of her eyes, and she swears that there is a figure in the smoke. It moves with blinding speed and grabs her lover around the chest.
Leila knows that she has started to hallucinate. She knows because when she closes her eyes, she sees Benjamin. She can see him smiling down at her, she can hear him whispering to her. He is saying that he loves her, she is saying that she needs him. He is kissing her forehead and her fingertips and her belly. He is holding her against him.
She can hear his voice over the flames and it sounds like God.
His hands are around her waist and she feels like this is what heaven should feel like.
.
.
.
As the flames grow, Benjamin fades. He is still fighting though, and he tries. He tries to get to Leila, even though everything hurts.
He wants to cry, but no water will come.
He reaches an arm out, only to have it burned. He can on longer tame the flames.
Then, something black blurs past him. A sliver of pale, and then…then he flying.
The burning stops. Benjamin lays back, barely breathing, hoping that he has died.
"Can't believe…risked life…you." Someone is talking and he can't catch all the words. Benjamin tries to open his eyes, and when he does, his vision is assaulted by bright red starring back at him.
He doesn't know what happens after that. All he knows that he is burning once again.
.
.
.
Sweet clarity. Everything is white and golden and glistening. Benjamin figures that he must be in heaven.
He feels empty, despite the fact that he is in paradise. Is this what heaven is like? Empty? What can he possibly be missing?
"Hello," A man with red eyes greets him, his smile wide and stretched thinly over his teeth, "I am Amun. May I ask your name?
Benjamin raises slowly, trying to figure out why he can count the flakes of dust in the air. "…Benjamin." His voice sounds different, and he finds that him raising slowly isn't very slowly at all.
"Do you now who you are, Benjamin? Where you came from?"
He frowns, "I know who I am." But his tone is confused. He feels like he should be panicking, but his heart is still in his chest.
He is so empty.
"I don't know where I am from." He continues.
There is a block there. It terrifies him. And why isn't his heart beating? It should be beating. Something feels terribly wrong. What is he missing? He's missing something, he has to be. Heaven shouldn't feel like this.
"Can you do things?" The man called Amun asks. The question perplexes Benjamin. Sure, he can do things. "Can you control the elements? Do you remember that?"
Benjamin slowly nods (although not so slow) He opens is fists, and with that, fire. Easy as breathing…except…Benjamin is sure that he is not breathing.
"Excellent," Amun praises, "You are a gifted one."
Benjamin stares at his palms, at the flames, feeling completely…empty.
-:- -:- -:-
"Give us an update, Edward."
"Leah's gone blank," The vampire says, perplexed. "Benjamin is…"
Benjamin jumps suddenly, looking like he is going through the vampire equivalent of dying. He is burning, his chest his hurting, he is making broken, horrifying sounds in the back of his throat, His eyes are black as coal. "They killed her."
There is a beat of silence and the room goes still. "…What?" Jacob dares to ask, his eyes dancing between the Egyptian vampire and his Beta.
"Amun let her die," Benjamin explains in a way that doesn't explain anything. He doesn't try to elaborate, he just exits the room. He is outside in a second, his hands around his coven leader's throat. "Why?" He shakes him, ignoring the surprised look in Amun's red eyes. "Why wouldn't you save her too? Why would you leave her to burn?!"
Benjamin releases him, leaving a confused Amun to hover over him. "Benjamin, I don't understand…"
"Why Amun? Why not save us both?" He falls to his knees, digging his head into the ground because he feels too tired to stand. "Why not let me die?" He wants to cry, he wants to die. "She was pregnant. I lost two people that day."
Amun just looks confused and slightly alarmed. Benjamin is making chocking noises at his feet, his eyes darker than the coven leader thinks he's ever seen them.
The wind blows strongly through the trees, no doubt by fault of Benjamin. He clutches his chest, wishing that his heart would work, so at least he could feel the heartbreak he hadn't got a chance to feel. He couldn't mourn what he had forgotten. The wind becomes even more forceful with that thought.
How could he have forgotten this? Something like this….
He thinks he hates himself more than he hates Amun for turning him.
Tia is suddenly at his side, her hands fluttering around him as if she is confused about how to comfort him. Benjamin has never had to be comforted before.
Benjamin just shakes, something he hadn't known a vampire could do. The trees bend behind him and even the air grows warm around his body and then—
"I believe you, now."
Benjamin turns slowly, is eyes focusing on the tall Native girl. She looks sickly and her fingers are shaking at her waist.
"I believe you," She repeats with eyes that are terrified. She closes her them, and when she does, she sees Benjamin as Leila had saw him. "Fuck," She swears aloud, and even her voice is trembling. "I don't know what to do about this…" She hesitates, wavering amongst the vampires. "So…I'm gonna…run."
Then she transforms into a giant wolf. Her fur shakes around her and she twists out of the way of the shocked vampires. She flies into the woods at a speed almost unheard of.
Benjamin and Tia watch her go, Tia's hand awkwardly rubbing his back. Benjamin stands and begins to take soothing breaths, even if he doesn't need them. "It's okay," He says, more to himself than anyone else, "Leila isn't gone, she's here, and that's here." He tells Tia, even though he knows she won't understand. "I have to talk to her."
"Not right now." Jacob puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping his movement. Seth is to his right, looking dangerous. This surprises him, as Benjamin has never seen the other Clearwater so much as frown before. "Look, I don't know what the fuck is happening, but Leah is our sister and you did something to her."
Jacob's grip becomes painful, and he pushes Benjamin hard in the chest. "You need to tell us what the hell is going on."
AN. Heyyyyy
I actually forgot that the Volturi thing is actually a thing that still needs to happen.
sorry this took forever.
review?