Chapter 21

Through Cassie's eyes

"Now we're keeping secrets from Jake too?" Bella asked. "Let him in." She told Carlisle. I wondered if she knew she didn't own the house.

Jacob walked in, looking rather mad. And by mad, I mean a combination of angry and crazy. He faltered when he took a look at Edward's dead expression. I wonder if that's how I would look if I didn't try to look cheerful.

Jake dropped to his knees in front of Bella.

"Bella, what's wrong?" He asked her. Bella asked Rosalie to help her up. Jacob protested, thinking she was too weak to stand, which she was.

"I'm answering your question." Bella snapped. When her blanket fell, so did Jacob's jaw. After some stuttering, Edward asked the question I had been dying to hear.

"Outside, Jacob." He snarled at the wolf. Jake eagerly agreed and Bella weakly protested. Edward said they would both be coming back, which kind of disappointed me. I decided I wanted to be Jacob's backup, just in case.

"Cassie, don't." Edward told me. I realized that I had already grabbed my glider as a weapon. Mumbling to myself, I sat back down on the carpet. Stupid vampire.

"Hey, Cassie?" Bella croaked. I looked up at her from my spot on the floor.

"Yeah, Bells?" I asked gently. I felt as if I talked to loud she might crack.

"You would tell me if they started fighting, right?" She asked. Rosalie glared at me.

"No." I told her.

"Why not?" She protested, hitting her small fist against the arm of the sofa.

"You'd try to interfere and end up getting hurt." I told her with a shrug.

"They shouldn't fight." She argued.

"If it helps, they aren't fighting, just talking." I said. Rosalie soothed Bella.

"It doesn't matter what they do. My brother will take care of the dog." Rosalie said. I'd never really asked them why they thought of themselves as a family.

"Why 'brother?'" I asked Rosalie. She looked at me as if I had spoken in a different language. "Why do refer to him as your brother? Isn't he just a member of your coven?" I asked her.

"No, we consider ourselves a family." Carlisle told me. I nodded, but I still didn't understand. "So, you get to choose your family?" I asked. Carlisle smiled and nodded. "Lucky." I muttered.

Jacob and Edward came back in the house. Edward looking desperate, Jacob looking like he was about to do something he really didn't want to do.

"We're going to let Jacob and Bella speak privately." Edward said robotically. I knew the thought of leaving Bella, only for a few moments tormented him. I had to hand it to the guy. Yeah, I had seen plenty people die, but I had never seen anyone that I loved die, mostly because the only person I had ever loved is my mother.

"Over my pile of ashes." Rosalie hissed at him.

"Bella, Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?" Edward asked her like she was four years old. Bella assured Rosalie that she would be fine. I sighed. This meant that I had to get up from my spot on the floor.

I moved to the kitchen, where Esme had made some soup. I wondered who the soup was for, considering that Bella couldn't keep anything down. I sat on a stool by the island and placed my head on the cool granite, feeling the other three heartbeats in the house.

Bella was just leading Jake on, and it bugged me. How on earth could she do that? The boy was in so much pain that she had gone off and married the vampire. The vampire that should be the only person she was in love with. Instead, she just kept the wolf on a leash, never allowing him space to get over her.

I could feel his shaking, but I knew Jacob was a practiced werewolf. There wasn't much reason to worry, but of course, I did. Believe it or not, I actually cared for Bella. I had never had a sister before, and I was going to make the most of it, because I wasn't sure which one of us was leaving life first.

When Jacob left, Esme put the soup in front of me. I stared at it, not sure what I was supposed to do. Did she want me to go take it to Bella? I looked to her. She smiled.

"It's for you." She said. For me? For a moment, I couldn't think. Someone was doing something nice, for me. Had it been poisoned? Were they trying to kill me? Is that what was going on? Was Bella's pregnancy that much of a secret?

"No one is trying to poison you, Cassie." Edward said. "It's just food." He growled, insulted that I would think that, and he left the room. Esme looked hurt, but understanding.

Should I eat it? Esme's face of pain made me feel guilty, so naturally, I reached for the spoon. I stopped myself. Was that what she wanted? To guilt me into eating it?

The soup steamed, sending its mouthwatering scent curling towards me. I could feel my stomach growl. Figuring they owed me for helping with the newborns, I said my thanks and dug in.

The next morning was chaotic. Since I had to sleep at home, let's face it, I'd never fall asleep with a vampire near, I missed everything.

"What's going on?" I asked the Cullens.

"The pack is planning an attack." Carlisle explained. "Jacob, Leah, and Seth have broken away from the pack and are now patrolling to see if the pack will attack."

"Gosh, you miss one night." I muttered.

The Cullens had decked the place out. They had pushed the clean white couches away to make room for a hospital bed. Bella had multiple tubes implanted in her body.

I always knew Bella was small, but this was ridiculous. She seemed puny compared to me. Her wrists became frail and thin. Whatever traces of fat, and some muscle, were gone, leaving her to look like the skeleton in Mr. Banner's classroom. She was so pale, I had to double take to see the difference between her and the bed, but the bags under her eyes helped me with that one.

Carlisle was explaining to Jake how the fetus was killing Bella. He told him how an ultrasound wasn't an option, because the skin around it was too thick.

"I could help with that." I offered. Edward's eyes snapped to me eagerly.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, I can feel through cement, why not vampire skin?"

"Yes, yes," Edward nodded. "I can see what you feel." He told me eagerly. Jacob looked disgusted.

"Wait, if you can feel through skin, then you see things like, organs. What else can you feel?" Jacob asked. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't gross about it like he was probably thinking.

"Bella, can I try?" I asked her. She looked to Edward for the answer. Edward nodded and Bella lifted her shirt. I didn't gasp like I wanted to; instead, I just stared at her swollen abdomen. Blue splotches aligned her pale skin and stretch marks framed the stomach.

Placing my hand as gently as I could on her stomach, I closed my eyes. Yup, that was defiantly a fetus. It was just so… weird.

"Well?" Bella asked.

"I think she's a vampire, but there is something off about it. She feels more like a werewolf." I told them and took my hand off of her stomach.

"A girl?" Bella whispered.

"What do you mean 'she feels more like a werewolf?'" Carlisle asked me. How to explain this…

"Different species have different… feelings, I guess. Um, density would be a better word." I explained.

"What?" Bella asked.

"Okay… how do I put this in terms you'd understand… Okay, I got it. Humans are like Jello, squashable and soft. Werewolves in human form are like wood, tougher, yet breakable. Wolf form is a different story. Vampires are like cement, hard, cold, and heavy, very heavy." I explained. "The fetus is more like a werewolf, not as soft as a human, but not as hard as a vampire."

"Carlisle?" Edward murmured. Ugh, why do these people murmur so much? "Perhaps we've been going about this the wrong way." Edward went on to explain how the fetus was thirsty. Rosalie mentioned that they had O negative blood lying around.

Quick question. What are vegetarian vampires doing with human blood? Edward and Rosalie thought up the idea of having Bella drink the random blood. I wanted to gag. Didn't Bella faint at the sight or smell of blood? How the heck was she going to swallow blood? And how on earth did Jasper stand being around the O negative "lying around?"

Jacob and I stood side by side, waiting for Bella to get on with drinking he blood. While she and Jacob had a little talk, I took my place on the floor. Why on the floor? So I could feel everything. Plus, I just wasn't used to the plushy couch the Cullens had to offer. I used to sleeping on the ground.

Bella was handed the blood, and hesitantly sipped on it. I briefly wondered whose blood it was, but cleared the thought from my head. Bella admitted the blood tasted good, and I had to hide my gagging with coughing. That was so disgusting.

"The person that blood came from is probably still walking this earth." I said. "I wondered if they ever thought someone would be drinking it to keep their fetus alive." Jacob elbowed me in the ribs, telling me I was only making it worse.

I think the most disgusting part of that experience wasn't the whole blood-drinking thing, the fondness she felt for the taste, or even the slurping sound at the end. Nope, none of that was the worst. It was the fact that something so horribly gut wrenching, was that it had made her better.

"Do you want anymore?" Rosalie offered.

"You don't have to drink more right away." Edward said quickly.

"Yeah, I know. But… I want to."

"Ick!" The Cullens glared at me. I just shrugged, it was gross, and I was right about that, but none of them seemed to be disgusted. Well, except Jacob, we were in the same boat.

Jake told Bella to get better, growled a curse, and hurled himself out of the door, leaving me with the Cullens. Gee, thanks, Jake.

I feel like the chapters are getting longer and longer. I guess that's a good thing?

The main purpose of this chapter was to show Cassie's hostility towards vampires and her… fondness towards werewolves. I had to break out the old Breaking Dawn book to get these quotes and story line, but I like how it turned out… so yeah.

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