CHAPTER 21 - BREAKING ON HALLOWEEN

Re-uploaded. Please review if you like it. I am sorry it took so long.

Renesmee

The school was crowded with screaming people by the time we reached the grounds. Lights of different colors flashed through the windows almost as quickly as vampire speed. Cheer and loud music echoed through the thick walls.

Seth left the car first and the others followed. Leah looked very uncomfortable with what she was seeing though she did not turn. Jacob and I walked slowest. He was in no hurry to get into the partying crowd. I, on the other hand, was helplessly nervous. My parents had always told me how places with such atmosphere smelled more appetizing to vampires, which was why I wasn't allowed to attend this kind of scenarios. In fact, they had just reminded me of this lesson earlier this evening. Sweats meant that people were dancing, and dancing made their blood pump more intently, and that made them smell more appetizing. I wasn't worried about it earlier, but the moment we parked the cars, the nerves caught up with me. I didn't want to ruin this night, but I don't know if I could maintain in control when the smelly building was only a few yards away from me. The smell of sweat was already beginning to touch me.

Jacob stopped abruptly and turned his head in my direction.

"Are you scared, Nessie?" he asked.

I shook my head, trying to hide my nerves.

His lips lit up to a weak grin. "Very nice imitation, your hand has already spoken for you." His eyes flickered down for a split second to prove his point.

I blushed. It was so embarrassing. I had managed to keep my nerves in check the whole way, and now I let it take me over.

He turned his body right to stand in front of me. His other hand landed softly on my shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna make sure you stay out of trouble. And we're gonna have a great time. You have nothing to worry about."

His words enchanted me, it was as though there was magic within them. I was instantly calmer.

"C'mon."

He dragged my hand gently, pulling me forward.

We walked past the doors in the shadowed hallway. I clutched Jacob's hand with more force, but restrained myself enough to make sure that my grip didn't hurt him, and inhaled slowly. The scent of blood flowed faintly in the sweaty air, many times more strongly than outside. I tried to focus on the scenery instead; the dark halls were decorated with fake spider webs, flashing lights that imitated a horrific scenery and rock music that echoed loudly in the walls, like it could easily break someone's ears. The only real lights that lit the place were a hallful of green light bulbs. The people seemed to adapt to the atmosphere very quickly. Everyone was dancing, sweating and screaming their lungs out with the music. The loudspeakers were playing "Bronze" by Micah Treats.

A set of lips suddenly touched mine. The warmth already told me who it was. My nerves were suddenly gone; I forgot about the details of our surrounding. His lips pulled away slowly.

"Feel better now?" he asked through the loud music.

I grinned and nodded. The smell was no longer touching me; I was in complete control.

Quil and Embry came back.

"Hey, you joinin' the party or making out?" Embry asked.

We laughed and went further down the screaming hall. Until we reached the gym. There music was louder than anywhere around here, more cheerful screams and movements echoed inside.

"Here's where most of the party takes place," Jacob said.

He turned his head to me and asked. "Are you ready?"

The other wolves waited for my answer.

I nodded. "Let's rock!"

They burst into laughter - even Leah showed a restrained grin.

"All right, let's do it!" Ricky exclaimed and placed his hands on the doorknobs. "The rest of us do have someone to go home to." Then, he pushed open the doors. The moment he did it, the warm smell came rushing toward my face, through my nose. I didn't let it bother me though.

Jacob held his hand in front of me, waiting. I deliberately took a deep breath, and took his hand into mine. Then he pulled me forward, guiding me through the dancing crowd. Wherever their bodies touched mine left sweat and heat to my skin.

Seth, Quentin, Embry and Michael separated from us as they allowed the atmosphere to take over their bodies. Leah strayed to a corner while Ricky and Quil remained at the entrance.

We stopped below the disco ball in the center, and then Jake began to dance, his arms and hips shook in different directions without following the rhythm. He was careful not to drop his bow and container. I took five deliberate seconds to observe my surroundings to find someone to imitate. I followed a few girls' moves and shook my hips while lifting my arms up in the air. It felt weird to dance this way, but also funny at the same time. This wasn't like waltz or tango, it was just breakdancing randomly... like a little lunatic.

Jake slowly placed his hands around my hips, and I placed mine around his neck.

"You're a natural, Nessie," he commented.

I winked. "I know. Although I have to say... -" I touched my fingers to the back of his neck, and showed him how I felt while I talked. "- I feel kinda stupid dancing this way."

He laughed loudly, though the sound was covered by the loud music and cheers.

"Well, you ARE new to this, so it only makes sense that you'd feel funny about this," he mused. "And it does make sense that you would dance like a little lunatic."

I punched his chest lightly. "Shut up!"

We danced and shook until the music shifted to a new song. As much as I enjoyed this, some privacy and silence with my wolf-boy would be great, so I held both of Jake's hands and started pulling him through the crowd toward the entrance. A tail swung by and hit my face before I saw it coming.

I turned and saw the double-sized tiger mask turn in my direction. The lifelessly wide eyes looked somewhat cute like a teddy bear with an open grin and a tongue sticking out. I didn't need to remove the mask to know who it was in the costume.

"Hey, Martie," I greeted.

He waved his hands in response, probably because he knew the piercing music would be blocking his voice when it was hidden within a thick mask. Then he placed his hands on both sides of his mask and lifted it from his head. His hair and face was covered with sweat.

"Hey," he said as he placed the mask under his arm. "How's the party, guys?"

"Great, it's great," Jake answered and then asked in a teasing tone. "How's it going for you?"

"Fine. Great. - Hot!"

I laughed, and then dragged Jake away without another word to Martie. We continued to walk through the crowd and into the hall. I stopped abruptly when I spotted Julie right beside the door with Mark, the quarterback, leaned against the wall. She turned her head and gasped the moment she saw me.

I gazed at her appearance. Her hair was pulled up to a giant bunny ball with what looked like a silver crown around it. Despite the blinking flashes, I could see the pitch black mascara and make-up, with fair white powder marked on her skin, and crimson red on the lips with a drop of red that ran down from mouth to chin. Her costume was a black and tight skirt from the 60's and a set of matching gloves that covered up to her elbows. A shiny silver bracelet tied around her right wrist. When I gazed down, I noticed long socks that covered most of her legs and black heels. She looked like Elizabeth Taylor with a drop of fake blood on her mouth.

Mark was wearing a British musketeer costume, but had the wig and hat in his hand.

"Hey," she said in a breath. It was easier to hear voices now that we were outside the dancing arena.

"Hey," I replied.

She examined me with wide eyes, and then said. "Wow! Nice outfit, Nessie. Didn't know you could look so good in a costume like this."

It felt like a stab against my skin, but I ignored her meaning behind the words. "Yeah, same here. What're you dressed up as?"

"A vampire version of Elizabeth Taylor. And you, a Greek goddess?"

"Psyche, actually."

"Oh... never heard that name." Her smile fell down a level. "But it seems to suit you." Her attention shifted to Jacob. "And Jacob, nice matching outfit. And those funny wings. Lemme guess, Cupid?"

He nodded with a slightly hard face.

"Well, be seeing ya," I ended our conversation and began to pull Jacob away again.

I felt her eyes on my back as we left, and it gave me a feeling that she didn't like what she saw. Or perhaps it was my imagination that she was jealous of me.

We found an empty and non-decorated classroom exactly two turns down the hall. I led Jacob inside, letting him close the door behind us. When he did, the sounds of music and cheering echoed in the walls and in our superior ears, but it would do for some privacy. I slowly turned to him and stared into his eyes, suddenly dazed by his handsome face, which lit up to my favorite smile. He looked so much more beautiful with it.

I leaned forward and up till my lips met his.

Renesmee and Jacob

Our kiss melted with our bodies. The flames on our skins burned brighter, contained well in our cores, but also drew us closer together like magnetic energy. We knew that this was what we both wanted.

To stay like this. Forever.

Renesmee

A sudden shriek broke our union.

We both looked at the window where it came from. It took a second for me to realize that it wasn't connected with the partying atmosphere in the building. It was a distant cry of pain and fear. I tried to interpret the mysterious scream, but the closest kind that I could relate to was when I was hunting animals. The sounds of shrieking animals when their skins were crushed by my sharp teeth. When I was drinking their blood.

Jacob was at the windows before I could fully understand what was going on. He turned to me with a hard, angry expression. Whatever he was seeing, it was probably very disturbing. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see him in this mood.

"What is it?" I asked.

"There're vampires here," he said in an anguished voice.

I used a half-second to understand what was on his mind. Unlike the way he treated my family, he wasn't as accepting to other vampires. And now there were some of them feeding on our school grounds. He wouldn't tolerate that. And neither would I.

"I have to stop them."

I took a step forward. "Let's go."

"No!" he shouted urgently, and then spoke again in a little calmer tone. "Nessie, I need you to get the others."

"What? Are you going to fight them alone while I go off to bring reinforcement?"

"Please?" he begged. It was as if he didn't want me to help, but I knew that he was right. The more wolves at present the better - we did not know how many vampires there were out there.

I nodded and reluctantly sprinted out of the room. On my way out, I could hear glass shattering behind me and hard footsteps thudding off-floor.

As I ran back to the gym, I had to constantly remind myself that there were people in the halls to watch my speed. It was a frustrating thing to do - there were people being hurt or killed, and most of all: Jacob was facing the murdering vampires on his own. I made it back to the gym, where I had expected Leah to be at the door - except she wasn't. Great! The crowd and lights made it hard to differentiate who was in the gym.

I tried to sniff - the scent of wolf was easy to catch despite the overwhelming smells of sweats and strong human blood. I followed it through the crowd, pushing away people who blocked my path. It went against the grain to be rude when they did nothing wrong, but I was in too much of a hurry to be gentle now. I spotted Seth by a table of treats, who was talking with a girl whom I recognized as Teri. I shoved my way to them.

"And did you know that my mother used to shove fish up my throat?" Seth told Teri, who seemed amused by whatever story he was telling her.

"Hey, Seth," I interrupted. "Something's wrong. Jake needs you outside."

"What?" he asked in confusion.

I touched his face and quickly showed him the moment we heard the painful cry - keeping the kissing part to myself - and what Jake asked me to do. His face turned anguished.

"Excuse me, Teri," he told her. "Something's come up. I gotta go." Then he turned to me. "Um, Quil and Quentin are in the men's room. Embry and Ricky are over by the DJ. -" He pointed to the corner. "- Leah went outside, so she might knows what's going on. I don't know about Michael."

I nodded, and then we walked away in different directions.

Jacob

I jumped out through the second-floor window, phasing mid-jump and landing on the ground with a loud thud. My costume was entirely in pieces - I'll have to face the rage of Alice after this.

A breeze sent the scent of blood to my nose, along with the scent of filthy bloodsuckers. It smelled somehow familiar, but I put the thought away and broke into a run. Hope that I won't be too late. There was no way to determine how many there were, and I was glad to have asked Nessie to go look for the rest of my pack. That brought reinforcement and kept her safe.

I followed the smell all the way to the parking lot. And there they were.

Three pale-white male vampires - two blonde-haired, one brown - across the lot. Two of them were feeding on a girl in a gothic vampire outfit, and the other one had tossed aside the now lifeless body in a bear costume. They spotted me the moment my aggressive growled reached them.

My chest was flaming with rage, and then I could see were my enemies standing in front of me. Killing what I was meant to protect. The growl grew louder and louder in my chest, my muscles locked in anger.

One of the bloodsuckers took a step forward, with a grin on his face.

"Look, we got ourselves a new meal," he said in a mocking tone. The others laughed with him as they dropped the half-dead girl to the ground.

I snarled once and then jumped across the lot with as much strength as I could provide. I landed 20 feet from their spot, then charged at them just as they began to sprint out of the way. One of them jumped over my head. I calculated quickly and pushed my way upward and caught the bloodsucker's leg with my fangs. Fighting as hard as I was able, my teeth flung the vampire to the ground and ripped off his lower leg. He screeched and writhed as I did.

Before I could bite off his arms, one of the other two came tackling toward me, sending me flying away and crushing on two vehicles.

Just then, Leah's mind entered mine.

Jake! she screamed. You're there already?

Yes. There are three of them, we're in the lot. Hurry!

I'm on my way. Images of her surrounding told me that she was right around the corner. I felt instantly apologetic for her, because she had phased. But there wasn't time to apologize.

The bloodsucker snarled angrily as he charged in my direction again. I quickly got to my feet and leaped out of the way before he could catch me and landed on the other side. The other one was ready to attack when Leah came into view and caught them by surprise.

Seth's mind entered ours just as Leah sprinted into the battlefield.

Jake! Leah? he thought surprised.

Yes, I phased. Now, be careful!

Be careful, lil' bro. There's three of them.

On my way already. Nessie's gone to find the others.

Good.

One of the vampires charged at Leah while the one closest to me resumed his attention. I launched forward, fangs open, ready to bite off his limb. But he jumped over me right before I could touch him, and landed on my back.

Jake! Leah screamed in her thoughts as she snarled. Seth's thoughts were worried.

I'm okay. Just take care of the one in your eyes.

I felt my enemy's cold arms around my torso. I jumped and turned as I struggled to freedom. This was getting close to the time I got crushed by a newborn vampire.

Seth didn't pause when he came into the lot, running directly toward us - me specifically. I'm coming!

He jumped, opened his mouth and ripped the vampire off my back and landed two feet away from me. The vampire cracked the ground as he fell.

Ricky's mind entered. He had Nessie with him.

No! I screamed loudly, snarling at the same time. What were you thinking. Keep Nessie away from here!

I didn't ask her to come, she insisted to help, he answered. Anyway, Embry's gone to find the others.

That may not be necessary, because there are only three of them. And one's already lost a limb, Leah said as she faced off her vampire.

Well, it's already too late.

I didn't want to hear it anymore. Ricky, just keep Nessie off the parking lot! We'll be fine on our own!

Alright, geez! He stopped running and blocked Nessie's path.

"What is it, Ricky?" she asked in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

I tried to focus on our enemies instead. Seth's vampire had already gotten back up on his feet, and Leah was facing one on her own. As much as I wanted to help, there was one more vampire unattended, so I had to take him. He snarled angrily at me as I ran toward him.

"What're you doing?" Nessie shouted as she listened. "C'mon, we have to help. Quit stalling already!"

I'm gonna have to phase to tell her, Ricky suggested.

I didn't like that. No, just keep her there.

I lost attention when something crashed into me. Something rock hard and big - a black Jeep, and knocked me flying several feet away. I struggled to my feet and tried to shake off the shockwave.

I'm okay! I answered the worried moods.

Embry, Quil, Quentin and Michael were with us now.

On our way, Jake, Embry informed.

They picked up my mood and ran past Ricky and Nessie without pause.

And then Michael recognized what we didn't. Hey, that's the scents we caught in La Push. It's the same. Why are they here?

Let's just take care of them, I urged. There wasn't time to analyze.

I struggled to focus on the disabled vampire in my front. He balanced with one leg, his eyes bore into mine and his lips pulled back over his lips as he hissed. Then he leaped into the air. My eyes paid attention to his movements, his arms spread out as he prepared to crush me. I crouched and jumped upward with my mouth open. In that instant, I pinned him to the ground with my paws on both of his shoulders and sank my teeth around his neck. He screamed as I bit off his neck.

The other two snarled angrily, but Seth and Leah kept them occupied. Just then, Michael, Quentin, Quil and Embry made it into the lot. The one in front of Seth picked up a truck and thrusted it at my friend. He pressed his paws harder against the ground and pounded his head sideways to knock away the vehicle. It flew to the side with new impossibly large dents on the top.

But that wasn't a launch. The bloodsucker was.

He knocked Seth to the ground before he could resume his focus.

Quil! Embry! I called in my mind.

Got it! They replied together and then ran toward them. And Leah left her enemy to get to them.

But it was too late. The vampire dropped his elbow on Seth's left ribs. His mind and mouth screamed in pain as his ribs broke.

I stopped myself from finishing off my kill right before Leah knocked the vampire away. She bit and ripped him apart like crazy as anger motivated her. Embry and Quil were about to shift their attention to the unattended vampire, and Michael and Quentin to mine.

But Ricky's eyes caught us off guard. Nessie had leaped high into the air and landed behind him. Before he could try to catch her, she made her run.

Stop her! I demanded him with a panic edge.

I was about to rush to her side to stop before when my kill punched me to the side, breaking my jaw.

Michael and Quentin came to our side and finished off the headless vampire. Embry and Quil focused on the unattended bloodsucker, who growled angrily as he watched his friends die.

Nessie made it into the lot with Ricky closely behind her in time to see them rip apart the vampires. She didn't pause to take in what turn the fight had taken.

Ricky followed instead of trying to outrun her now. All right, I'm not taking responsibility for being unable to stop her, 'kay? She's very persistent.

I growled angrily at him until they reached us. Nessie made her way to my side and supported my body with her arms.

I didn't have time to pay attention though. The remaining bloodsucker thrashed angrily at Embry and Quil. Then he looked to one side, and then leaped into the air to the left and landed next to the half-drained girl. We were too busy to pay attention before, but now I could hear her accelerated heartbeat.

He eyed at me in furious anger. Nessie jumped in between him and me and shielded me with her arms. When the vampire hissed at her, she hissed back. I barked angrily in response to his act.

It went against the grain to watch Nessie confront such strong vampire. She was not as strong as the rest of her family, or us, and certainly not as strong as the angry vampire. The others readied to protect her for me.

"Oh, my God!"

We all turned in the direction of the distant voice. And there he was. A human boy. Not just any human.

Martie.