Author's note: Chapter has been edited. Thank you to my beta editor Fainting Fancies 10/18/09
Chapter 14 – The Painful Truth
June 2009 – Present
Returning to the Cullen home after a long day of hunting instruction, Edward led Amy to one of his favorite spots. The Douglas fir that stood stoically outside of Edward's bedroom window had provided him with years of enjoyment. Not only did the tree allow for easy access into the house, it provided a dramatic lookout into the forest and nearby mountain terrain. Hoping to share this special treasure with the woman he loved, Edward watched eagerly to see Amy's reaction as they approached through the darkening twilight.
Choosing to leap, Amy followed Edward as they moved from one small conifer to the other, finally reaching their destination. The lofty branches of the giant tree bent slightly in submission as the two glittering bodies landed with a soft thud against its trunk. Unaware of the apparent danger, a pair of squirrels scolded the intruders in a cacophony of angry chatters. Swishing their bushy tails indignantly in agitation, the furry animals scampered along a thick branch. As the prey approached, the squirrels came to within inches of the predator's hand, tempting Edward's senses. His eyes followed the hapless creatures in practiced malevolence, but as his hand reached out to strike, Amy gasped.
"No, don't. Leave them alone. They're so cute," she pleaded in mock horror. "Besides, you can't be hungry after feeding on that moose." Her lyrical laugh tinkled as brightly as a German glockenspiel on Christmas day.
Directly below Amy, Edward smiled, his heart soaring. It was such a relief to see her so happy. During the past few hours, Amy's attitude had begun to slowly change for the better. Not only had he succeeded in teaching her the skills to survive, she had accepted him unconditionally along with the uncertainty of this new way of life. He was not, however, vain enough to believe this new-found heaven would last. He realized his happiness was only a selfish denial of the truth. In just a few short moments, he would know the pain of loss. But until then, the present was much too beautiful to ignore.
Unable to resist, he casually reached up to rub Amy's ankle as her legs gripped the sap-streaked surface above him. She looked down and returned his glowing, hopeful smile.
"Try and slide down here," he invited with a mischievous grin. "Don't worry. If you fall, I'll catch you."
"Promise?"
"Of course." Opening his arms wide, Edward chuckled, the sound of his boyish laugh clearly indicating a challenge.
"How about if I just jump?" Without waiting for an answer, Amy leapt gleefully into Edward's waiting embrace. With a shriek, she almost overshot him, but he easily blocked her fall and held her tight to his chest. Impulsively, he placed his hand behind her head and began to pull her into a kiss.
"No, Edward. Don't do this to me again." Amy breathed softly on his lips before turning her head away. "It's not fair. You can't just tease me, and then …" Swallowing hard, she placed her head against his chest. He didn't fight her. "You said I had to know everything first. That we couldn't be—"
"Together," he finished, his voice suddenly turning as cold as a glacier.
"Yes," she agreed, her own voice taking on an icy seriousness. "Not until I've heard everything. And, if that's what we have to do, let's get it over with."
Nodding grimly, Edward crouched and leapt across the threshold into his open bedroom window. Amy glanced around silently as he placed her on the polished, wooden floor. But Edward gave her no time to ask questions. He had already moved to the doorway. Looking back, he held out his hand.
"This way. They'll be waiting."
Believing this had something to do with his family, Amy squared her shoulders and ran her fingers through her tangled hair before stepping forward to join him. If she was going to meet her fate, or whatever truth Edward had in store for her, at least she'd be doing it with a clear head.
Edward's eyes never left her as they stepped out into the hall. The house was silent, but a soft breeze flowed from Edward's open window and out into the hallway, fluttering the leaves of the Ficus tree that stood in a pot on the landing. Just as they reached the head of the stairway, Edward's head snapped forward toward the front of the house. Something had caught his attention. At the same time, his hand gripped Amy's with the strength of a steel trap.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked, her voice shaking.
"Stay here," Edward cautioned, and in his vampire way, he moved down the stairs and out to the front porch.
Alice was already there. Glancing behind Edward, Alice noticed he had a shadow. Amy had bolted down the steps after him, refusing to leave Edward's side.
"I think she'd rather be with you, Edward," Alice said. It was obvious she had heard Edward's remark to Amy. The worried expression never left Alice's face, but she held out her hand to Amy. The young woman took it and stepped up so that all three vampires were standing together, united on the porch. Edward placed his arms around both women. The gesture warmed Amy's heart and calmed her somewhat, but she was anxious to understand what was happening.
"They're almost here," Edward said to Alice, ignoring her earlier comment. His prominent eyebrows were knitted together with concern, forming a tight knot above his blunt, chiseled nose.
Alice tilted her head meaningfully toward Amy. "Have you told her yet?" she asked.
"You know I haven't."
"There's not enough time," Alice warned. "They'll be here in just a few minutes. They …" Alice looked at Amy sadly. "I see a fight, and it doesn't look good. You know what they intend to do."
"Yes, I've heard them. Sam wants to end it," Edward said grimly.
"Sam?" Amy asked. "You mean San Uley? Is Sam a vampire, too?"
"No," Edward answered patiently as he shook his head. But he added one last defining statement, his voice filling with disgust. "He's a wolf."
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November 2008
One by one, the three of them appeared. Edward was first, but he stood politely at the threshold of the locked garage, waiting for the others while the snow continued to swirl in icy gusts across the parking lot. At this elevation, a foot of new snow had already accumulated, and by the look of things, another foot or two might be on its way by morning. Edward didn't mind the snow at all. The fully frozen flakes slid off his glittering skin like sand against marble. Only a few clusters managed to pile up above the collar of his coat and atop his broad shoulders.
Almost lazily, Edward stood in front of the sign, the ice partially obscuring the words 'Highway Department – Olympic National Park.' Below it, a bright, red arrow hung precariously on hooks, its broad, flat frame swinging crazily forward and back in the vicious wind. It pointed stubbornly east, indicating the direction of the superintendant's office.
Jacob bounded into the lot, followed immediately by Quil, the two leaping energetically with each step as they sprang forward. The two wolves moved effortlessly through the drifts. But as all three figures met at the side door next to the garage, Quil and Jacob abruptly phased. Despite the wind and the wicked blasts of snow that pelted their human bodies, both young men seemed completely unaware of the arctic conditions. The snow simply melted upon contact with their naked skin.
"Where do you carry the key?" Quil teased.
Impatiently, Jacob rolled his eyes. He didn't even bother to answer as he reached up above the door jab to extract a small, metal box. "Magnet," he mumbled in irritation. His mood was sour. It was almost three in the morning, and he was tired. All he wanted was to get this over with and go home. What he really wanted was some much-needed sleep. When the lock finally sprung open, Jacob lunged inside, his impatience growing in an exponential fashion.
"Nice place you have here," Quil commented as he moved around the garage. He stopped in front of a large tool chest and began to slide open the drawers.
"Just leave that alone," Jacob ordered. "Here, put on some clothes." Dragging a pair of overalls out of a nearby locker, he tossed them at Quil. He had his own spare pair of jeans tucked in an old backpack stored at the bottom of the same locker. Without further comment, he pulled them on. The t-shirt, however, remained in the sack.
Edward had eased in directly behind Quil, but he had kept quiet. Now, however, the smell overwhelmed his vampire senses. He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Can we open the large door? Just for ventilation?"
"Yes," Jacob growled. "Is there anything else I can do for you two to make you feel at home? Maybe some martinis and a bowl of pretzels?"
"Nothing for me." Edward grinned and leaned against the side of a truck. "But if you have any sort of sound system, I think some classical music would be nice. Opera perhaps?"
"Now listen. Both of you." He eyed Cullen first, then Quil. "This isn't a fucking party. You asked me here to talk. So, dammit, let's talk." Seeing Quil bouncing a four-foot diameter tractor tire he'd found in the corner, Jacob yelled in exasperation, "Can you please put that down?"
"Easy, Jacob," Quil replied calmly. He picked up the massive tire and placed it back against the wall.
"You're right," Edward added. "Let's get right to the point."
"Yes, let's," Jacob agreed, the sound of his voice bordering on a growl as he spoke through gritted teeth.
Quil eyed Edward and then crossed his arms. Now that they were actually there and confronting Jacob, Quil had grown reluctant. He was all for Edward making the first move. Sheepishly, Quil stared at the floor.
Edward frowned, but never hesitated. "It's about Amy."
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June 2009 – Present
"A wolf?" Amy asked. Her face could not have looked more perplexed. "As in – a real wolf?"
"Yes," Edward answered. "Listen, we don't have much time. I wanted to prepare you, but now—"
"What? Tell me!" she pleaded.
"It's Jacob."
The shock saturated Amy's features. If she had still been human, her face would have been drained of blood. As a vampire, however, her skin remained as pale as bone china. She simply stood in place and quivered. Her mouth opened, but no sound escaped.
"He's here in the house," Edward tried to explain. "But he isn't well. The transition—"
A crackling of branches from the northwest end of the yard interrupted Edward in mid-sentence. The disturbance signaled the arrival of the pack. With raised hackles and bared teeth, the five wolves bounded across the lawn and spread out in a line facing the porch, their extreme size and aggressive posture assuring the vampires that they were prepared to fight.
"You have no right to be here. He's one of us now," Edward threatened as he stepped away from Amy and Alice.
Each of the wolves took a step closer, their guttural growls increasing in intensity. Edward crouched slightly and growled back, his teeth and fangs fully exposed. A confrontation seemed unavoidable.
The front screen door opened slowly, and Carlisle stepped cautiously onto the porch.
"There is no need for aggression," he said calmly. "Jacob is no longer alive."
Amy gasped, but Alice wrapped her arms around her. "Wait," she whispered in Amy's ear. "You must hear the rest."
The lead wolf took another step closer, but the animal's movement signaled a transition. Sam Uley phased into human form and stood before the group, his face consumed with hate and malice.
"He is no longer alive because you killed him," Sam spat.
"He would have died anyway," Edward replied angrily. "The mountain lion tore him to shreds even before he got dragged off the cliff. When he hit the rocks—"
"NO!" Amy screamed. "No. Stop it! Don't say it. I don't want to listen."
Alice hugged Amy tightly and tried to get her to calm down.
"Edward had no other choice," Carlisle explained softly. "He was only minutes from death."
"He would have been better off dead," Sam said. In a dangerously low voice, he added, "Filthy vampire. You broke the treaty. Now you will pay. Jacob and Amy must die."
Amy's shock could not have been worse. In terror, she looked at Edward hoping she hadn't heard those damning words. Edward continued to stare stonily at Sam.
"Wait!" Another wolf had phased out of the pack into the shape of a young man. Quil stepped up to Sam and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure? Jacob couldn't possibly be ...." He shuddered but forced himself to continue. "A wolf can't become a vampire. Maybe he's still one of us. Can't we see him?"
"You do bring up a good point," Sam replied softly to Quil, the pack leader's face tense as he weighed the options. He turned back to Carlisle, refusing to speak directly to Edward. "Our kind heals quickly. If Jacob wasn't killed instantly, he would have healed and been made whole again. Why didn't you leave him alone?"
"He wasn't …" Edward closed his eyes, knowing it would be too hard to believe. Jacob's body was in pieces, his organs pulled inside out. No amount of self-healing would have helped. It was remarkable he had lived those few minutes – lived long enough to call Amy's name.
No one moved as they waited for Edward to continue, but the words wouldn't come. All he could hear was Amy's voice in his head begging him to save Jacob. Don't let him die …
"I want to see him," Amy cried out into the silence. "I want to see Jacob."
The vampires on the porch and every member of the pack turned in unison to look at Amy. Edward slowly took two steps forward and drew her into his arms, but she struggled to look up into his face. With a frightened look of shock combined with a growing sense of anger, Amy pushed hard on his shoulder to break out of Edward's hold. With the strength of a newborn, the action propelled Edward like a bullet across the porch, his body slamming into the house with a crack.
Immediately, Carlisle took a step forward, his eyes flicking toward Edward to make sure everything was fine. They all watched as Edward slowly picked himself up off the ground and adjusted his shirt, the sleeve now hanging tattered off his bare shoulder. The three remaining wolves began to growl defensively, but Sam ordered them to relax as he signaled the pack with a wave of his hand.
Quil had remained quiet throughout the incident, but his face was shadowed with worry as he finally spoke to Sam. "Amy's right. I think we should see him. He could tell us his side of the story. We could find out if Cullen's telling the truth."
Sam's face grew strained, but he shook his head. "What does it matter if Jacob is a—"
"No," Embry grunted angrily. He, too, had phased back to human form, leaving only two of his kind remaining as wolves.
"It can't happen," Embry continued. "Physically, it can't happen. Wolves – I mean our kind of wolves – we can't become …" he paused and shook his head. "Vampires."
"All right," Sam agreed with his pack. "Mr. Cullen," he said turning to face Carlisle. "Take us to see Jacob."
"No, it's not possible. He's not well. Perhaps in a few days—"
Sam raised his head and signaled for silence. "We will see him now. Stand aside."
"You don't understand," Carlisle tried to explain. "He's not fully changed—"
From above their heads, a low, mournful groan erupted. The sound, filled with pain, changed abruptly into a howl. The group outside on the porch and lawn stood frozen as they listened. No one moved.
Out of a window on the second floor came another scream. It was Esme. "Carlisle!"
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