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Chapter 21

The healing process was sluggish. I was confined to a bed 24/7; I couldn't go outside under any circumstances, I couldn't walk around the house. I couldn't run through the forest or get piggyback rides from Jake. I've never been so bored in my life. Dad noticed this and he put a TV in my room hoping that it would help me, but I've never been one to watch a lot of television. One day, I got so bored that I tried sneaking out. Unfortunately, Dad caught me before I even got a chance to do anything. He became extremely furious and he threatened to give me the first medication, the one that would paralyze me, if I ever snuck out again.

I couldn't go out and hunt; I had to eat human food. But since it took my body weeks to fully heal, I got used to human food. More than that, I started to like it. I could finally see why some people were addicted to food and why, even though they're unhealthy, people ate junk food all the time. It tasted so freaking good! My favorite foods were pizza topped with bacon, Philly cheese steaks, hamburgers, fried chicken, turkey… pretty much anything with meat in it. So at least one good thing came out of this.

Jake was mostly away doing pack business. And when he came back, he was always tired and wasn't up for much. I tried not to make him feel bad because he said that he was doing extra work, making sure the that woods were completely safe. Making sure that I was completely safe. He didn't want any vampires sneaking through his perimeter again.

Uncle Jasper and Emmett were still out searching for Nahuel. They weren't having any luck finding him. I couldn't help but feel relieved when they came home every night empty handed. It meant that Nahuel was still out there. I still refused to believe that he was behind the attack. Evidence or no, Nahuel was my friend; he would never try to kill me. Unfortunately, no one else felt this way and so the hunting raids continued.

Today was one of those days where everything was a struggle. I woke up in the morning with an immense amount of pain in my stomach. I groaned. Was this wound ever going to heal? Because of the type of medication that I was using, the pain never really went away. It just kind of lessened. But I could still feel it. And so after the first week, I had gotten so use to the pain that I was able to ignore it. But today, the pain was back to what it originally had been. It was like my stomach was on fire. I tried calling for some help but I was afraid that if I opened my mouth I would screech and scream at the top of my lungs, worrying everybody in the house and maybe everyone in a 5-mile radius.

But luckily, Dad was listening to my thoughts and he ran in with a bottle of the disgusting green liquid. But when I drank it, I chucked it down like it was a bacon flavored ice cream shake. The medicine would take a while to kick in, so Dad stayed with me in the bed, holding me, humming to me, trying to get me to go back to sleep. Even though I wasn't able to, I was still grateful that Dad was comforting me

Finally, when the pain dulled, I was able to sit up straight. Dad went down to cook me some breakfast. He was surprisingly a good cook for someone who hadn't been human in over a century. I sat impatiently, waiting for him to come back. But pretty soon my restlessness was overwhelming. I had to get out of this bed before I go nuts.

Hesitant but eager, I lifted the covers off of me and climbed out of the bed. Dad didn't seem to notice what I was doing yet. I walked slowly to the door. I hadn't used my legs in weeks. They felt so stiff. Opening the door, I caught a whiff of eggs and bacon. I licked my lips eagerly and went down the stairs. As soon as I walked into the kitchen, Dad realized what I was doing.

"Renesmee!" he shouted. "What are you doing?"

I ignored him at first and slowly walked my way over to the kitchen table. I pulled out a seat at sat down, folding my hands on top of the table.

"Waiting for my breakfast," I answered innocently. I smiled, trying not to make him too angry with me.

To my dismay, he wasn't appeased. "Hilarious. Go back upstairs and get in the bed."

I frowned and tried to plead with him. "Oh C'mon Dad, please?" I said sticking my bottom lip out. "I just wanted to stretch my legs."

"Well, you can stretch them on the way back to your room," he said dismissively.

But I didn't move. I just stayed exactly where I was. I didn't look in his eyes. I looked everywhere but.

"Renesmee," Dad warned his tone made my skin crawl.

I didn't answer. I look down and started playing with my fingers. Dad sighed and walked over to me. He pulled a chair and sat down across from me.

"Do you remember what I told you the last time you tried to sneak out?" Dad said. When I didn't answer he continued. "I told you I would give you the first medicine if you ever did it again."

I groaned. Crap, I forgot about that.

"Did you?" he asked. "Well if you go upstairs right now, I won't give you that medicine."

I sighed. Worst choices ever. "Aw, Dad, please?" I begged. "Let me jut stay until after breakfast. And then I'll go straight up. I promise."

I made my eyes go bulgy wide and I stuck out my bottom lip. "Please?" I dragged out the word, almost singing it.

Dad sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. "You eat and then you go right back upstairs. Do you understand?"

I smiled and nodded eagerly. "Thank you!" I said and reached over the table to hug him. He kissed my forehead before getting up to go finish the eggs. While he was cooking I was looking all around the room. I haven't been down here in so long. The only things I've seen in the past couple of weeks were the walls of my room and they aren't anything special.

Way to soon, dad came with breakfast. It meant that my time down here was almost up. I tried to drag out the time however. I ate slowly, taking small bites and chewing with exaggerated slowness.

Dad noticed what I was doing and rolled his eyes. "You are so difficult," he said to me before walking away to clean up the rest of the kitchen.

Eventually, I finished the meal. I sighed and pouted.

"Don't look so down, love," he said. "You'll heal faster if you're resting."

Before I got a chance to answer, the front door busted open. It slammed against the wall. I jumped a little at the sound. Jake ran into the room shirtless. He must have just been in wolf form.

"They've got him," he said to Dad. Then he looked at me, shocked that I was out of bed. "Oh, hey Nessie."

My blood went cold. Oh-no. They found him.

"Where is he?" Dad asked standing up.

"About 2 miles east. Emmett and Jasper got him." I got up too. I was ready to run out and see Nahuel.

Dad nodded and looked to me. "Stay here," he ordered. I looked at him incredulously. "I mean it Nessie, I don't want you to see this."

"But-" I tried to say, but Dad cut me off.

"No, Nessie. Go upstairs. And stay there." With that, he took off running out the door leaving Jake and me in the room.

I ran up to him and through myself into his arms. I was silently pleased that I was able to move this fast. I wasn't able to move this quick earlier today. The more I was up the quicker I healed.

"Jake," I said. "You have to take me to him."

Jacob shook his head. "No, Nessie. It's too dangerous. I won't put you at risk, again." Jacob clearly wasn't going to be persuaded.

But I persisted. "Jake C'mon. What am I suppose to do? Sit here while the rest of my family tries to kill my friend?"

Jake nodded seriously. "That's exactly what you're going to do. There's no way your going to be caught in the middle of that."

I rolled my eyes. Over-protective fool. I pretended to give up. I sat down on the chair and crossed my arms across my chest.

"Stay," Jacob said backing up. Then he turned and ran out the door.

I counted to ten, and then I followed him outside. No way was I missing this.

~BREAK~

I was pretty smart about the way I followed him. Jake, in wolf form, was running fast. Me, not being at my strongest, stayed at least 15 yards back from him. I hopped on the tree branches. Hopefully, he wouldn't notice me.

Eventually, we got to a clearing. I stayed behind, perched high on a tree branch. In my position, I was able to look down on the scene below me. I wasn't too far back for Dad not to hear my thoughts, but at was at a good distance. If he wasn't listening for me, he probably wouldn't notice me. And I had a feeling he would be focused on other things.

Looking down and I saw Nahuel. He was on the ground. He was clearly grimy, like he'd been rolling in dirt. My uncles must have ruffed him up pretty badly, I realized with dread.

Speaking of my uncles, they were both there standing on either side of Nahuel. They were poised, ready to attack if need be. Dad and Jacob were standing in front of Nahuel.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Dad asked in a hard tone of voice. And I thought the way he speaks to me when he was mad was scary, but now I realized that that was nothing compared to how he was speaking to Nahuel.

Nahuel, much to my disbelief, smiled at him. "Sorry?" he said making it sound like a question. It seemed like he was making a joke.

Dad wasn't amused. Nahuel had been sitting up but Dad kicked his chest and Nahuel was thrown back a couple of feet. My heart jumped at the sight of Nahuel getting beat.

Emmett, being the fighter that he is, also through in a punch. His fist connected with Nahuel's face. I cringed at the sight of it. I saw blood coming out of his nose.

"You are truly pathetic," Dad sneered before he walked closer with Jake on his flank.

"Did he do it?" Jasper asked. I held my breath for this answer.

This was the moment that I'd been waiting for. For everyone to be proven wrong. For Nahuel to defend himself and show everyone that he's not guilty. For him to show that he would never put me in any danger.

"Yes," Dad said. "He ordered the attack."

I accidently uprooted the tree branch that I was holding. What? That's not possible. Nahuel couldn't have done it. He wouldn't. I didn't believe it.

"You're sure?" Emmett asked his fist clenching. He was getting ready to punch him again.

"Yes," he said through his teeth. "His motives are not what we think. But he's definitely the one who ordered the attack."

I grabbed my chest. The physical pain in my stomach was nothing compared to the emotional pain in my heart. Oh God, no. Why Nahuel? Why did he do it? I can't believe that he hates me so much that he would to have people kill me.

Upon learning the confirmation, Emmett pulled his fist back, ready to strike. But before he got a chance to, Jacob threw himself at Nahuel. His teeth bared, Jacob bit into Nahuel's stomach and hurled him across the field. Jasper happened to be standing in the way, but he was easily able to move just in time and Nahuel ended up smashing into a tree.

I stuck a fist in my mouth to stifle a scream that was building up in my throat. No way was I going to let everyone know that I was here. It was just pure luck that Dad hadn't heard me yet.

Jake ran after Nahuel ready to strike again. I begged silently for someone to stop him but no one did. He struck Nahuel's face with such force I was surprised that it didn't come off. I was glad, but still surprised.

At that point Dad looked up in my direction. He was looking straight at me. Uh-oh. I just got busted. I groaned. I'm going to be in so much trouble when I get home.

Still looking at me, Dad pointed towards the house. He was telling me to go home.

I sighed. You'd think that since I'm already here, he would just let me stay. Please? I thought.

Dad looked at me with an expression that said no arguments. He shook his head and pointed again.

I grunted and folded my arms. It's not fair. Why is everyone trying to keep me out of the loop? Don't I have a right to know? Don't I have a right to know what happens to one of my friends? Why was he keeping me away? Why didn't he want his daughter to see what he was doing? If he was so ashamed at what he was doing then maybe he shouldn't be doing it at all.

Dad sighed and closed his eyes. My little rant must have got him thinking. Please? I asked again.

Finally, Dad opened his eyes and he reluctantly nodded. I squealed in delight but then I realized what I was witnessing. I turned gloomy again watching my uncles and Jake take turns in beating Nahuel.

Why did I want to watch this again? Oh right. Because I'm an idiot. But I went through all this trouble to be able to stay so I might as well just stay and watch what's happening.

Dad turned away from me and ran over to where everyone was standing. He bent down in front of Nahuel and grabbed his neck. He raised him up until Nahuel's feet weren't on the ground.

"I don't want to kill you," Dad said through his teeth. "But I will if it'll keep my daughter safe."

Nahuel seemed close to passing out. There were bruising covering every each of his face and there were tears on his clothing.

Despite all this, Nahuel smiled. "What are you waiting for? Do it. No one's stopping you," he taunted.

I sighed. Did he think my Dad was bluffing? I hope Nahuel knows that Dad won't hesitate in ripping his throat out.

Dad, disgusted, through him against the tree again.

"Should we finish him?" Jasper asked.

"Hell Yeah!" Emmett shouted. Jacob second him with a growl. But they were waiting for Dad to agree.

But then Dad's eyes went wide. His body came still. Too still, like he did when he was in shock.

"What? What is it?" Jasper asked.

Dad only managed to say one word, "Volturi." And then he was interrupted by two wolf howls.

I gasped. The volturi? Here? Oh my God. This is bad. This is really, really bad. We won't be able to win a fight against the Volturi.

Emmett and Jasper caught on quickly. "What? There here?' Emmett asked.

Dad shook his head. "No. Nahuel contacted them."

What?! I shouted in my head. Jacob growled in a fit of rage.

"What did he tell them?" Jasper asked.

Dad thought for a moment. He was looking at Nahuel. "I don't know. He stopped thinking about it."

Jacob, not hesitating, struck Nahuel's head. For once, I didn't cringe when Jake attacked him. He was trying to get him to think about what it is he told the Volturi. And now since he got the Volturi were involved he wasn't just hurting me…he was hurting my entire family. Everyone was now in danger. That is something that I could not forgive.

"Dammit!" Dad yelled. He must have heard what Nahuel did. "Don't kill him. We need him alive."

"What! Why?" Emmett asked, disappointed. He wanted to continue pounding on Nahuel. But I had a feeling that Emmett would be doing a lot more fighting. Much more than he would like.

"The Volturi. They're coming. He's the only one who can stop them."

This is for all you people who wanted him to get beat up. Sorry I didn't get to explicit, but I'm a pacifist and its hard for me to right about violence. However, if that is something you want me to do more, don't be afraid to yell at me in the reviews. I take into consideration all types of criticism. Review and tell me what you want and what you thought about what happened. Thanks!