24 - The Doctor
Jenny was screaming at the top of her lungs, I was keeping up the pretense of trying to pull away while going through my list of curse words. I emphasized some of the swearing with trying to kick them in the shins. I tried not to kick too hard, no need to hurt my toes. I wanted to resist enough that I would not rouse their suspicions but not too hard that they would notice that I was stronger than your average twenty year old girl. I kept taking cues from Jenny and trying to mimic her actions.
Had I been human my forearms would have been covered with bruises, two big males had grabbed each one of my arms and were part dragging me and part carrying me to our destination. Jenny was getting the same treatment, she too was trying claw and fight her way away from her captors - amazingly despite her desperate attempts there was no scent of blood in the air. I wished with al my heart that it was possible to tell her not to bother fighting but that would give me away. Right now I wanted them to think of me as a puny, weak little human. I was safe for a moment so long as they did not find out that I was a wolf. I knew vampires had this huge grudge against wolves.
For the moment was the key word, I was safe for the moment.
I was glad that one of the leeches threatened to break Jenny's jaw if she continued to scream. It was not that I wanted her hurt, but it was hard for me to think with as much noise as she was making. In a morbid moment I wondered how much louder she would scream if she actually knew what these things were.
I looked around trying to glean enough information about what was going on so that I could decide what my next step should be. They were leading us around Forks, away from any habited areas, but at the same time we were getting closer to the Rez. I am glad we had told Sam about "Alice's" vision, I only hope he took it seriously and increased patrols. The main problem was that even if I shifted to wolf form I could not communicate with any of Sam's pack, so unless one of my pack was in wolf form I was screwed. But I might get lucky and run into one of Sam's patrols.
Speaking of Phil and his visions, he was not going to like it when I did not answer my phone, I really hoped Blossom was right when she told me he would completely overreact. I could really use some back up, though I don't know how he would find me. My phone, with the GPS device, was in my car. I had taken it out of my back pocked when I got in the car and put it in the cup holder.
Phil is really smart, he will figure something out, maybe he will have a vision. I told myself, otherwise I would have to come up with a plan to deal with six vampires all by myself. I looked them over one more time, they did look domesticated, that was glaringly obvious. Their clothing matched and was of the right size, another thing was their hair, it looked clean and combed. They looked of varying nationalities, all spoke english but two of the males and one of the females had a heavy accent that I could not place.
They were discussing something at vampire speed but I could not understand what they were talking about, it did not help me that they would switch to another language every other sentence. Jenny was now being carried, her screams were little whimpers right now. She would try to kick out every once in a while, I think the poor girl had exhausted herself fighting. This observation did not change much, there was no way Jenny could outrun these guys and if we managed to make a run for it I would somehow have to carry Jenny.
It did not take us very long to get to our destination, we had gone west while staying close to the coast. I could hear the waves in the distance as well as smell the salt in the air, the Pacific Ocean was close by. This was a good thing in my book, if I can somehow get away I would head for the water. The leeches would not be able to follow my scent through the water, I could not go as fast as normal since I had to take Jenny with me so maybe we could get lost in the water.
We got to a small cabin in the middle of the woods, the building was so small it should really be called a shack. There was plywood on the ground next to the windows, I got the impression the vampires had pulled the pieces of wood off the windows and moved right on it. The underbrush of the forest had grown so that it was touching the back wall. This was not Phil's cabin with it's constant care and all the modern amenities. I wondered if it was someone's abandoned hunting lodge. There was no discernible road leading up to the place, so whoever used this had to walk here. That would mean no electricity and probably no phone for me to use.
My eyes were moving all around trying to find some way to escape, that was when I heard the door of the shack creak open. Out walked another leech with ruby red eyes. These were some really well fed vampires, I wondered why we had not picked up on their activities before now. The suspicion popped into my head that they knew there were wolves in the region and were working to avoid notice; it was not like our existence was a great secret anymore.
The new leech was dressed in dark pants, and a bright orange polo shirt. His boots looked designer, again I wondered how he was getting the money to fund this little operation. Other than Carlisle I did not know any vampire that had a real job. I was going to go with the assumption that this was the "he" the other leeches had been referring to.
"Doctor, we brought you what you asked us. We think this is one of the natives you wanted." The vampire holding my right hand spoke in a ingratiating tone. I heard one of the other leeches mumble "kiss ass" under their breath. It was so low that it was barely discernible even with my extra wolf hearing. There was some tension among the ranks, this was good to know, a possible weakness that could be exploited later on.
I looked around trying to figure out what the hell this "doctor" could possibly want with me. It was not very reassuring that I could smell old blood radiating out of the small cabin, looks like we would not be his first victims. Again I wondered how Sam had not picked up on the fact that there were seven vampires operating in this area.
The doctor was very excited when he saw me, his eyes lit up as he rubbed his hands together. "Looks like one of the natives, this is good. Go hunting for more of them, I can deal with these two."
I tried to keep the smile off my face. Yes send you little minions away. Your ass is mine, bitch. I really needed to improve my vocabulary but I was willing to bet most people would consider my words appropriate for the current situation.
"Can we get the brown haired human?" One of the vampires asked, she was eyeing Jenny with a hungry look.
I panicked for a moment, this would not be good, I needed Jenny to stay with me.
"I will require her so that I will not kill this one when I try to impregnate her." The doctor leech told them with a scowl on his face.
Impregnate me? What the hell was that supposed to mean?
My mind was trying to do too many things at once, but the fear was giving me a little extra computing power. I remembered the guardians talking about some South American leech that was going around impregnating human women, trying to create hybrids. But then why was he looking for "natives" as he called me?
"Remember, leave no evidence. There are some werewolves around and we don't want them knowing what we are doing. Now go find me more." The doctor told them curtly. So they did know about wolves, luckily they did not know about the fact that I was one too.
"You don't need to worry about drinking from this one," the leech holding my left arm growled with a great deal of disgust. "She really stinks." The feeling is mutual you leech.
Without warning I was shoved through the open door of the cabin. I pretended to stumble and fall as I stepped over the threshold. I quickly looked around, trying to find some clue as to who these guys were, and any means of escape.
Nondescript furniture, check, old blood, check, pack of vampires, check. This really was not looking good. Hey Phil you had better call me and notice I am not picking up the phone because it looks like your vision is about to be fulfilled. Much to my dismay I noticed that there was no back door to the place.
Jenny was thrown inside as well, she did not fare as well as I did. I heard the crack of bone breaking as she landed on her hands and knees. She gave a cry of agony, I quickly moved over to where she was on the floor. She was whimpering and cradling her left arm, half carrying her as far away from the leech as possible I tried to prop her up next to the wall. Her left wrist was at a very odd angle, I did not need a medical degree to know what the problem was. Fortunately it had not broken through her skin, I do not know what would have happened had there been blood. I got the distinct impression that these leeches would not try to restrain themselves too much if Jenny started bleeding.
"Leave me so that I can do my work. Science takes a great deal of concentration and I do not need an audience." I guess he did not like an audience when he raped a girl. Yeah well he would be in for a surprise when this girl took him down.
I watched and waited as the other leeches left, I was finally getting lucky. The doctor was very certain of himself, his arrogance was going to cost him today. I might not be able to burn him, but tearing him apart would give me a great deal of pleasure. And as an added bonus it would give me enough time to make my get away. I had decided at this point retreat would be the best course of action, especially since I had to keep Jenny alive.
"Leave me to my work, and don't come back unless it is to bring me more test subjects." The doctor gave some last minute instructions to his henchmen before coming into through the door.
"Divide yourself into two groups, that way you can cover more ground." I had heard him instruct them. "And make sure no one notices you, especially not those abnormal light-eyed vampires." Then I heard the sweetest sound ever, the whooshing sound the leeches made as they left - this was looking really good for me.
"What do you want?" My voice came out somewhat growling and my hands were shaking, I needed to hang on for a little bit longer. I had to buy some time so that his minions would be far enough away that they would not come back to help him. My plan was pretty simple, phase and kick his ass but first I would have to move away from Jenny so my phasing would not harm her. This was harder than I originally thought as Jenny would not stop clinging to me, finally I just stood up and walked towards the leech - Jenny was not about to follow.
"You are a lucky girl, I am very picky about my test subjects. You should feel honored that you are in the presence of such an important scientist." He told me while looking down his nose at me. I could not help the look of disgust that spread on my face at that time. Fortunately he was too busy going on about himself. "One of the few researchers of my kind, I am far superior to these humans that claim to study science. Their feeble minds cannot even comprehend what I am doing." He went on and on and I let him, biding my time, hoping that the other vampires got far enough away that they did not hear. Seriously this guy obviously was not a James Bond fan, otherwise he would know that the bad guy does not go on blabbing his plan to the good guy.
"Why am I talking to cattle, you cannot possibly understand my genius." He did not look like he was actually expecting an answer. This guy certainly liked the sound of his own voice.
He turned his attention to Jenny. "Now it is time for a light snack before I start the experiment." Jenny realized that the vampire had her in his sights again started screaming at the top of her lungs.
The leech made his final mistake, he turned his back on me. I did not waste time taking off any of my clothes before I phased into a wolf. The speed with which I phased was possibly faster than when Phil and I met the three vamps in the forest, but I had a great deal of encouragement since if I did not do this fast enough Jenny would die. The sound of my friend's screams were welcome for the first time today, they helped disguise the noise of me phasing and ripping through all my clothes.
I was right that the leech doctor was somewhat on the dramatic side, he was dragging out the stalking of Jenny. He was moving at human speed towards my friend, that fact probably saved her life. Had he been moving at vampire speed I would not have been able to stop him before he bit her.
Poor Jenny looked left and right while trying to press herself into the side of the shack trying to escape the crazy thing heading towards her.
I jumped on his back, making him topple over less than a foot from Jenny. I bit through his neck as fast as I could, before he even had a chance to recover from my surprise attack.
I then proceeded to systematically remove his arms and legs, which by the way what the legends fail to mention is that as much as vampires might stink it was nothing compared to how horrible they tasted. I threw his limbs to the four corners of the small room before I shifted back to human form. I did not think it was possible, but Jenny's screams got louder. I don't know why she was bothering going to college, she could make a fine living as an opera singer.
"Would you stop screaming for a minute and listen." I said grabbing her upper arms and giving her a little shake. She flinched and I remembered she was probably seriously bruised there from being carried by the leeches.
Jenny's eyes were as big as saucers, and filled with fear. I knew she needed me to stop and reassure her but we really did not have the time for that. One of the leeches arms was moving closer to his body, I quickly kicked it away before it could touch Jenny.
"If you want to live I need you to come with me." I knew it sounded cliche but she would not survive against these leeches. "I promise I am one of the good guys. Do you understand what I am saying?"
"Leah what was that?" She asked looking down at the vampire in pieces scattered around the room. "And what are you?"
"I will explain in a little bit but we really have to go. Now." So I might have growled that at her but she seemed to understand the urgency of my voice.
"I don't think I can walk very fast." She said nervously. "I think my foot is hurt or something kicking one of those things."
"Don't worry, I will be carrying you." I told her quickly as I picked her up and moved around the still twitching vampire. I kicked his head one more time. "Fucking leech, I will be back for you later." I told the leech doctor's head as we headed out the door. I wish there was a lighter or something to set his parts on fire, but getting Jenny to a safe spot was a priority right now.
I tried to pick up the scent of where the other vampires had gone so that I could go in an opposite direction but they had spent a lot of time in this region and their scent coated everything around the cabin. I could not tell what was fresh and what was old - time was of the essence so making quick a decision was important.
"To the coast it is." I told Jenny knowing she would not understand what I was talking about. I am sure we made a lovely picture, me naked as a jaybird carrying a girl in my arms. But at least we were both still alive, for now.
I worried about the scent trail I was leaving behind me, I had a unique smell so they would be able to track me if I did not break the trail somehow. I could outrun them in wolf form, but I was too slow in human form carrying Jenny.
Crossing a large river that would be my best tactic for covering up my tracks. Unfortunately I could not think of any major rivers in my vicinity. I looked at the girl in my arms, she was whimpering with every step I took, while trying to cradle her left wrist. My running must be agony for her, I was jostling her arm with every step as my large strides moved us away from the shack. "What to do? What to do?" I mumbled under my breath.
I needed help with both Jenny's hand and the six leeches running around, changing my course I moved through the woods making a straight line for the reservation - I was hoping to find sanctuary there. I needed someone to take a look at Jenny's hand, preferably from the medical profession but more importantly I needed backup. Please let my pack be home, it would really suck to have escaped the leeches only to be captured again.
I should have known fate was going to screw me over, she had been a total bitch to me in the pat year. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving through the trees, and whatever it might be it was moving very fast. There were only two things I knew that could move that fast and one of them was vampire. I did not stick around to ask if it was friend or foe, instead I switched directions again; this time heading towards the strong salty scent of the ocean.
I soon saw the break in the trees in front of me, I tried to pick up speed while making sure I did not smack Jenny's head against a tree. This was going to be a hail mary, as we cleared the tree line I picked up even more speed. Jenny was starting to moan really loudly as I jostled her, she sure as hell was not going to like what would happen next. Not bothering to stop and look down I jumped off the cliff trying to get as far away as possible in order to avoid any rocks that tended to be close to the shoreline. We flew through the air for what seemed like eternity and then we hit the water.
The speed and angle with which we entered the water made it feel like hitting a brick wall. I immediately lost my hold on Jenny, the waves water pulled her away from my grasp. I kicked my way back to the surface to catch my breath, much to my dismay Jenny was nowhere to be seen. "Jenny?" I said but not too loudly, I did not want to alert the vampires. They were faster in the water than I was, and they had the extra advantage of not having to breathe.
I treaded water while trying to spot Jenny, hoping against hope that she would come up to the surface on her own. Not knowing how much breath she had left when we hit the water I did not wait for her too long. Taking a deep breath I went back underwater to try to locate her. Between the seawater stinging my eyes and the turbulence of the waves lifting up all sorts of sediment visibility was horrible. There might have been a flash of her pink shirt somewhere to my right so that is what I followed. Heading up to the surface I quickly took another breath and swam towards what I hoped was going to be Jenny.
She had been pulled down further than I had originally thought, it was a good thing I had werewolf strength or we would both have lost our lives to the Pacific Ocean. I dragged her to the surface but did not give her too much time to recover. Wrapping my arms underneath her arms to keep her above water I used my strong legs to kick and propel as through the water. There were jagged rocks close to shore so I took us parallel to the shore, there should be a safe place for us to go to shore soon.
I finally spotted what I was looking for, a natural cave. The coastline was riddled with these things, the water carved them out of the cliffs taking the softer stone first. Seeing a possible sanctuary I kicked extra hard and I now steered us towards the shore.
Jenny collapsed as soon as we hit solid ground, she was shivering uncontrollably after being in the frigid March water. I had forgotten she was not immune to the cold Pacific Ocean, she was probably going to get hypothermic on me. I dragged her inside the shelter of the small cave, the tide was going out right now so we would be safe here for a few hours. The cave was twisted so that it almost curved back on itself, I had hit pay dirt with this place. If we went all the way into the tunnel part of the cave would shelter us so that we would not be seen if someone stood looking into the cave. This is where I deposited Jenny's shivering body. It would be good spot to wait to be rescued, the way Jenny was shivering I did not think we could make it to the reservation without backup.
"Jenny are you all right?" I asked stupidly not knowing what else to do.
"I am so c-cold." She said through chattering teeth.
"I need to get your clothes off, my body is warm it will help you get a little warmer." I tried to remember everything I could about survival training. Get their wet clothes off was one of the first and only things I could remember.
I stripped her down to her bra and panties. I had to rip her shirt off so as not to jar her broken wrist. I wrapped myself around her, trying to press as much of my warm skin against her shivering body as possible. Hmmmm now we were both naked as jaybirds.
She did not say anything for a few minutes but I felt like her shivering lessen a bit. I should have probably shifted to wolf to see if my pack was looking for me, but I did not think Jenny could handle it right now. She was clinging to me like a baby to her safety blanket.
"What were those things? I have never seen a person do that." She asked her teeth still chattering loudly.
"Leeches ... vampires." I told her by way of explanation, at this point I think the secret was out.
"Those things only exist in stories." She told me in a matter of fact voice.
The situation did not really call for it but I could not help but laugh. "I wish that was the case, but unfortunately not."
She was quiet for a few minutes before she asked another question. "Why did you jump in the water?"
"So that they could not follow our scent. Vampires have a really good sense of smell, as well as hearing. I am kind of hoping the crashing of the waves will disguise the fact that we are hiding here." It was loud enough that I could not hear anything going on outside, so theoretically nothing could hear what was going on in here.
"Oh," she said, not being able to come up with a better answer. I was kind of proud of her, she was taking this pretty well. Most people would not have been this calm when they were being chased by bloodthirsty vampires and their friend turned into a large wolf.
I looked around us, taking in our surroundings. Trying to decide how defendable this position actually was. I saw something that made me laugh again.
"Did I not tell you I would show you a tidal pool? Well if you look to your right there is one right there." I said pointing in the right direction with my chin. There was a beautiful one teeming with life.
"I think I would have preferred to see one under a little bit different circumstances." Jenny told me with a small laugh. "So what are you?" She continued in a very quiet voice.
"I am a shapeshifter, some might call me a werewolf but I don't do the biting thing." I reassured her. I was surprised that I could tell her this, for some reason Sam's edict must be wearing off. I wondered if it was a factor of time or distance?
"So how did you become this...um shifter?" She asked searching for a polite word for what I was.
"I was born this way, and certain things triggered the transformation." I told her in a matter of fact voice. Trying to make sure she understood that I was not contagious or anything.
"So did you kill that guy?" She asked again after a few minutes.
"Sorry no, I could not find anything to burn him with." I told her, regret filling my voice. "The only way to make sure they are permanently dead is to set them on fire."
"So does that mean he will come after us?" She was not reassured by my answer.
"Only after his companions piece him back together." I told her with a smirk. That leech got his ass handed to him today.
"So where did those things come from? And how come I never heard about them?" She asked in a scared tone.
"That is a really long story." I answered with a sigh. One I was not sure I wanted her to know, she did not need to have my nightmares.
Jenny's shivering had slowed down but not stopped completely, her hair was still wet, I remembered something else about hypothermia. You were not allowed to fall asleep because you might never wake up. I should keep her talking just in case.
"What do we do now?" Jenny asked after some time while I racked my brain trying to remember more survival skills.
"I though we were being followed by them and did not want to fight that many. So right now we are waiting for the vampires to move on, in a little bit when you dry off some we might try to make our way to my home." It was not the best plan but it was better than any other I could think of.
"Can we call the police?" Jenny suggested in a hopeful tone.
"They would not be very helpful. In fact they would pretty much just end up dead. So it would be best if we did not involve the authorities." I quickly explained. I hated to burst her bubble but I would not want her calling 9-1-1 on me. That would cause more problems than solutions.
"What if they capture us again?" Jenny asked in a small voice.
"I am trying to avoid that at all costs but even in the even if they manage to recapture us we still have a chance to survive." I told her trying to reassure both her and myself.
"What do you need time for?" She asked the question I wanted her to. I could have just gone along and told her without making her ask but I wanted her to keep talking. If she was talking she was not falling asleep on me.
"Very soon someone is going to call me on my phone, to check in and make sure I am unharmed. When I don't pick up he will move heaven and earth to find his Princess." I said this to comfort her but I knew it was the absolute truth as soon as the words left my mouth. It had taken being kidnapped by a group of vampires for my brain to put the pieces together. I kind of had a Princess Buttercup moment - everyone remembers that part of the Princess Bride where Buttercup finally realized that every time Wesley says 'as you wish' what he really means is I love you. Well I figured something out as well, Phil was bound to me.
Every time Phil had called me Princess it had been his way of saying I love you, I should have known by the tone of his voice - it would soften whenever he said Princess. I had been told over and over again how protective the family was of their mates, the fact that Phil called me every couple of hours should have been a large clue for me. I might not know what we were going to do in terms of the future but I knew that at this moment he was searching furiously to find his Princess. Everything else might be confusing but I knew with a certainty that Phil would find me and he would not care who or what he had to destroy in order to accomplish his mission.
I shook my head just thinking about it, had I been so involved with my own problems that I had not realized the significance of how Phil treated me? The fact that he could never say no to me, and if I even hinted that I wanted something he would go out of his way to get it for me.
Phila had told me that the family was really happy when they first bound to their mates. This is exactly how Phil had been when I first met him, nothing would bother him - not even me being a constant bitter shrew. Come to think of it, the only time Phil had been unhappy around me was when he thought I was in danger.
Blossom had told me that when they bound they took their mate's dreams and made them their own. My dream had been to get better, to get over Sam, Phil had pushed and prodded me until I realized that it was not Sam I was missing but castles in the sky. Then when my dream had changed into going to college and making something of myself, Phil had practically filled out my applications. He had not left it alone after that, instead he helped me find a place to stay as well as suggested the job I should get in order to support myself. I mean hello, how blind was I?
"Are you sure?" Jenny asked me in a dubious tone. I had been so involved in my revelation that I had almost forgotten about her.
"Don't worry he will come, and when he does he will help me tear those vampires apart." I assured both Jenny and myself; but I was getting more sure of Phil by the second.
It was like a light had gone off somewhere in my head, all of Phil's actions and reactions made so much more sense when I added the fact that Phil had bound to me.
"So this guy that is going to save us, is he like your boyfriend?" Jenny asked almost like she was hearing my thoughts.
"Not exactly," I told her trying to think of a way to explain it to her. All of a sudden risking my friendship with Phil did not seem that much of a risk compared to the potential reward. He was not my boyfriend, but I was going to rectify that problem as soon as possible. On top of all that the bastard owed me a real date: we are talking flowers, dinner and a movie.
"So how can you be so sure he will save you?" She asked in a worried tone.
"Because he has already saved me." I told her though that was not quite correct. I had save myself, Phil had just helped push me in the right direction. There was one thing that I could not understand, why the heck he had not told me he had bound to me. It would have made my life a heck of a lot easier if he had just come up to me in that dinner and said 'hey there, I am your soulmate'. Ok so that would not have gone off too well, I would have probably tried to kick his ass while pushing him away with both hands. He could have said something after he took me to the island, I would not have ripped his head off at that point.
Jenny was starting to whimper even more now, any little movement would cause her to cry out - now that she was no longer freezing to death she must be aware of her broken wrist. In order to distract her from the pain I asked about her family and what it was like growing up on a dairy farm in Idaho. It was in the middle of her explanation as to why you need a glove that went all the way up to your shoulder while examining a cow that I suddenly put a hand over her mouth. She opened her mouth to protest, but she must have understood quickly because her eyes suddenly got large and she too looked towards the front of the cave. There had been a noise, one that stood out from the sounds of the waves as well as the occasional birds. It was the sound of footsteps, I would guess they were made by heavy boots. The noise was not easy to identify since the sound echoed off the walls of the cave.
I pulled away from Jenny and put a finger on my mouth indicating that she needed to be quiet - she was a smart girl and froze almost instantly. I quickly went to look around the bend trying to be as quiet as possible. It would be best to get a little distance from Jenny, that way she would not be in the way if things got down to a fight. I could only hear one set of footsteps, if it was a leech they would be easily taken down. I could not recall if the doctor's minions wore boots or not - well I would find out soon enough.
It had been late afternoon when we made it to Forks and I was going to hazard a guess that we had been in the cave for several hours because the sky was completely dark now. Fortunately my eyes were pretty good even as a human, so I was able to make out the person that just appeared. The only problem was that when things got really dark all I could see is black and white, and so the scene before me was somewhat monochrome.
A woman was walking past the mouth of the cave, I was happy to note that she was moving at human speed. There was something in her hands, it looked like a piece of fabric. Shit, it was a part of Jenny's shirt.
The woman was dressed like a hiker, with boots and a large backpack. She was tall with dark brown skin, that went against the vampire theory and I was happy to note she had a heartbeat. That was another point in her favor.
"Leah are you all right?" She asked in a low voice as soon as she saw me. She had the facial structure that resembled Blossom slightly. "My name is Josefine, Phil is looking for you."
She had said the magic word, Phil. "I am fine, not a scratch on me."
She nodded in acknowledgement but not before she looked me over. "He is very worried, do you want to call him?" Josefine continued as she came closer to me.
She pulled out a small phone, the twin of my own phone that had regrettably been left behind in my car. For a moment I did not believe it, I think we were safe. One of the family members had found us. This was Kendrick's partner, if she was telling the truth. But I do not see why I should not trust her considering the family resemblance.
Before I accepted the phone ran back to Jenny, who still plastered to the wall. "This is Jenny, Jenny this is Josefine. She family and will help us."
"She is all wet? What happened to her?" Josefine asked in a worried voice as she crouched down next to my friend.
"We jumped off a cliff," I told her with a shrug not really ready to give a full explanation. There were other things to worry about, like the fact that Jenny's shivering had gotten worse since I left her alone.
"Jenny, I need you to listen to me. We need to get you dry." Josefine told me as she shrugged off her backpack.
"Careful her wrist is broken," I warned as Josefine ran her hands over Jenny's now extremely blue looking skin. I noticed Jenny was not talking much, but she might have been too busy being cold.
"Call Phil," Josefine reminded me in a stern voice, offering her phone once more.
I opened the phone and found Phil's number while I watched Josefine move Jenny away from the cave wall. Then she pulled a large, thick blanket out of her back pack. I watched as Josefine then wrapped both the blanked and her arms around Jenny, she quickly murmured some incomprehensible words. I was amazed to see steam rising from Jenny's wet hair, it was soon dry.
I was so distracted by what Josefine was doing that it took me a moment to realize that I heard Phil's voice on the phone.
"Hello? Sassy? What is wrong?" I heard him ask in his low voice, even across the phone I could hear his worry.
"Umm... hi Phil this is Leah?" All of a sudden shy, what was I supposed to say to him. Hi I finally figure out that I am your mate?
"Leah? Are you hurt? Where are you? Never mind, Sassy has you. I will be there in a few minutes." I heard the click of him hanging up.
"Phil is coming," I told Josefine as I handed back the phone. She shifted Jenny in her arms so that she could put it back in her pocket. I would have offered to hold Jenny in her stead but Josefine did not seem to be bothered much by the weight of my friend.
"Would you like some clothes?" Josefine asked looking me in the eye. In the stress of the situation I had totally forgot the fact that I was naked. Well except for the bracelet Phil had given me.
I ignored her question while I looked down at the bracelet with the mismatched flowers. For christmas Phil had given me a pearl necklace and earrings set, something every young lady should have. For going to college he had given me a perfectly fitting navy blue suit, in case I ever have to look professional. So why had he given me this bracelet that was mismatched, unless there was something about the it that I was missing. Maybe Josefine would tell me, in the past I had learned more about Phil by talking to his family members.
"Josefine? Sassy?" I asked drawing her attention away from where she was examining Jenny's now flushed face with a worried look. "What do these flowers mean?"
Josefine looked me in the eye for a few seconds probably wondering what the fuck I was doing asking about flowers in an emergency situation, I was worried that she would not answer. She looked down at my bracelet her eyes going wide with surprise for a moment before she looked back at me. Finally I heard her resigned sigh, and I could practically smell victory.
She held onto Jenny with one hand, touching each flower on my bracelet as she explained it to me. "Flowers in the old days could be used to send coded messages. Each flower had a certain meaning and when combined could tell a complete story. Forget-me-not means true love, purple hyacinth means I am sorry, please forgive me, and Gardenia means you are lovely but it could also signify a secret love."
I laughed as I remembered a conversation with Phil. I had asked him in anger once if he knew what love was and he had answered that he did indeed. I had fired back wondering if he had told the girl that he loved her, Phil had answered that he had indeed told her but she was not listening.
If giving some coded flower message was his version of declaring his love we were going to have to work on his communication skills.
I was staring at the bracelet when something suddenly grabbed me from behind lifting me off the ground, for a moment I stiffened afraid that the vamps had found us but then I smelt citrus and sage. This time there was also a liberal dose of sweat mixed in but I did not mind. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I felt his arms move up and down my back and arm checking for harm.
"Now Leah how could you just go off..." He started to lecture, I could tell he was upset with me because he was calling me Leah.
I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I sure as hell did not want to be lectured right now - what I wanted was some comfort. Pulling tightly against his neck I got him close enough to press my mouth against his. It did not take Phil long to figure out what I was trying to do, but I always knew he really was a smart boy.
I had not even completed one foray into his mouth with my tongue when a dry voice not interrupted us.
"Um Phil can you come look at her arm? It does not look good." I heard Sassy say.
I thought of every bad word in my repertoire, what was it with the women of the family that they saw the need to interrupt when things were getting good. I was going to drag Phil to the island and bar his door while we worked this out. My mind instantly came up with several scenarios as to how we could 'work it out'.
Phil let me go with a reluctant sigh, he took off his fleece jacket and put it around me before he went over to examine Jenny's arm.
"It is the left one I am pretty sure it is broken," I told him while I zipped up the jacket. It was long enough that it fell all the way to the middle of my thighs, it was saturated with Phil's unique scent making me inhale deeply as I moved to see what was going on with Jenny.
"Yes it is broken but that is not the real issue," Phil said then he followed it with some cursing under his breath. I was impressed, there were some words I did not know. I was going to have to ask him to teach me.
"This will require extensive surgery." Phil continued as he pulled out his phone. "She needs to go to the island, it will be far faster than anything we could do here." He quickly called Carlisle and told him about something called compartment syndrome.
"I will text everyone to tell them Leah is all right. Kendrick is with your pack so he will tell them." Sassy told me at the same time as she started texting away on her phone.
We went outside the cave, as Phil pulled out his silver tablet to make his calculations for a jump. Pretty soon Jenny and Sassy had disappeared into the mirage.
I looked up at Phil while we waited for my pack to come join. As I had noted before the sun had already set, I could not tell if the mist coating us was from the clouds overhead or from the crashing waves.
"What happened?" I said as he pulled me into his arms. I worried that he might be cold, since I was wearing his jacket. But he seemed not to notice in fact his body temperature seemed to be higher than mine, I decided to think about it later as I snuggled into his shoulder.
"You did not answer your phone. When I had it tracked I found that it was located somewhere in the middle of the Puget Sound." His voice sounded strained. "Don't do that again."
"Please, please tell me my car was not there too." I said feeling hopeless. I would rip those leeches apart if they touched my car. But who was I kidding I would rip them apart regardless.
"I am afraid that might be the case, we could not find your car anywhere." He went on to explain that he had called Jake and several members of the family to search for me. "I should warn you, Sam knows that you are somehow missing, we told him Seth got a strange text message from you."
I sighed, I really did not want to think about Sam right now.
"Tell me what happened with you?" Phil said rubbing my back comfortingly while he rested his chin on the top of my head. I inhaled the wonderful smell of Phil, liking where I was. I told him about stopping with Jenny to find her some tide pools, how I had made the decision not to reveal myself as a wolf, and how I had escaped the "doctor" with Jenny in my arms.
"We found the hut, there was no one there. There was no sign of any of the others either, but the scent of vampire venom saturated the floor. Do you know what they wanted?" I could hear the frustration in his voice, it must really be bugging him that he had nothing to attack. Which reminded me of something more vital than bloodthirsty leeches.
"I have a few questions for you Mister." I pulled away from his arms, though only far enough so that he could see my glare.
Suddenly he looked even more worried, he should be since he was in deep shit with me right now.
"Would you care to explain this?" I told him raising my arm so that he could see my bracelet.
His worried expression cleared, he really had a good poker face. "Don't give me that look. Josefine or Sassy or whatever her name is told me what these meant. I want the truth all of it. If I have to sit here all night having a staring contest with you that is what I will do."
"You don't have all night. Your pack is nearly here and I would win all staring contests." He looked up above us as if he heard them coming.
"Then why don't you just give in and tell me." I tried to be reasonable.
His poker face was broken by a slow smile, the dimples came out in full glory. "Now why would I give into you, when it is so much more fun to get you all riled up?"
A few hours later I was sitting in my bed at my mother's house, getting more and more angry. Not only had Phil managed to avoid my questions, but the arrival of Sam's pack had forced him and Kendrick to disappear. I had warned him before he left that he had better tell me the full truth. I had borrowed Seth's phone as soon as we got home to try to call him but he was not picking up.
"There could be a pack of vampires ripping me to shreds and he does not answer his phone." I mumbled under my breath. I kept grumbling before I finally gave up on Phil and decided to call Carlisle instead to see how Jenny was.
Carlisle reassured me that Jenny was doing fine, the surgery had gone well and she had not woken up because they were keeping her sedated.
I threw the phone on top of my side table and flopped down on my bed. "Jerk, why won't he pick up the phone." I decided a shower was in order, since my hair was crunchy from my salt water swim earlier.
When I came back to bed I searched my drawers for an old tshirt, as I walked to my bed I noticed something on my pillow. It was perfect white rose, just on the cusp of opening up. Attached was a rose charm to add to my bracelet along with a note:
White rose means eternal love. Phil.
A/N: I apologize for any typos, it is late and I am too tired to re-read this chapter.
All right, Leah finally figured out what everyone has been telling me. Whip out with the kazoos. Or better yet let us back cake in celebration, I need to find a good recipe for a nice boston cream pie. You know what I am talking about, creamy pudding filling with chocolate on top. I feel like the computer on Portal, I don't know if any of you played that video game but anyway the computer keeps promising cake at the end - turns out the cake is a lie.
Speaking of cake, went to a birthday party the other day, I was not really interested in going but then they lured me over with promises of homemade cake. Leah might be a good slut, I am more discriminating in that I am a dessert slut. Turned out it was store bought angel food cake, I usually have no problem with this because I chop it into pieces, layer my cream cheese whipped cream and top it off with fresh berries. You can go crazy for fourth of July and do strawberries and blueberries and make a little flag.
Did they do that, no of course not, instead they added canned whipped cream and put it in the fridge, needless to say the whipped cream deflated and became liquid that then made the cake all soggy, and kind of nasty and gummy. I was seriously pissed off, I was promised cake and I got that crap instead. Needless to say now I am dreaming of good cake and will keep talking about it until I break down and make me some. All right I take my dessert seriously as I am sure you can tell by now, and I was very upset by the poor offerings of "birthday cake".
ASH186: Yay, you were right, Leah is his mate; he did go a little bit crazy but in the end she kind of got herself out of the mess, he just came and helped her get all the way out.
ABarbieStory: Seriously you need to get some sleep, every other one of your reviews is I need to get more sleep :D. Not that I don't appreciate the conversation. I guess Leah was looking for a 100% guarantee with the imprinting before she jumped into love. I am going with the she really got hurt with Sam and is immensely cautious regarding giving her heart away again, but fate is a fickle bitch (ok so in reality I am the mean one) and has made it so that she has to fall in love before she can know.
Ms Animegoddess: Glad you liked the pot smoking scene, though I felt kind of bad about writing it. Leah is turning into quite the delinquent with Phil helping her along. Glad you like my plan to make everyone else fat around me, though honestly I do enjoy eating healthy foods. Watermelon is my absolute favorite and I could probably eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cooking can be fun, the problems is learning how to keep general ingredients around and cooking with what you have.
Keither Serenity: She could not have fought all six of them, this way she only had to take one down and Jenny is still alive. :D I don't think one of the aliens are going to come back, I think several family members mentioned that they are gone from the area. On the food note, I see my plan is working. :D