Disclaimer: I still own nada but my own thoughts and the laptop I'm pounding them out on…
Sorry for the delay, with spring comes yard work and bbqs and of course Darick and the funbags, they are an awesome local band that were in town for the holiday weekend – you can check them out on youtube and if you live in RI CT MA or NY you can catch them live they fucking rock – but ya gotta be 21 and older to go anywhere they're gonna play.
Thanks to everyone for the reviews, we got a few newbee's this time around at least to the favs alerts and reviews and HOLY FLYING CHOCOLATE COWS!! (I LOVED YOUR REVIEW!) hehehehe… Only one person asked for another point of view and while I can't give you exactly what you want, I can give you a little look-see… ok so our reviews are now in the 90's which is nothing compared to most of the stories I read but my own proud little accomplishment anyway so THANK YOU!! This is my first fanfiction, hell this is my first story, so that rocks!! Alright I know you're ready so … On with the show…
Forces of Nature Chapter 25
APOV:
"What the hell was that?" Rugger asked as the cave rumbled around us. Dust, dirt and grime flying through the air like a rogue wave headed in our direction.
"RUN!" I heard Luke shout, as he and Rose rounded a corner barreling towards us. Jasper's hand clamped down tightly on my own, as he propelled us forward. The air was now thick, and I could feel it caking on to us, looking for a place to settle, it was surpassing us causing the light at the end of the tunnel to dim a bit. I started coughing harshly, and Jasper pulled me closer, pulling the collar of my shirt up to cover my mouth. We spilled out into the sunlight gasping for clean air, but still feeling the grime that was now caked in our throats.
"What was that?" Rugger barked out again, his voice raspy with the soot.
Luke looked cautiously at Rose, before answering. "Aro and Jane were behind us, we didn't know what else to do, Rose caved it in." his words were more frantic than they should have been. Why hadn't I been watching? I would have known that they were following us, I should have known better than to let my guard down, I mean we weren't even safe yet, and I was walking around in my Jazz induced haze.
Jasper pulled me closer to him, turning my head to look him in the eye. "Don't you go beating yourself up over this." He drawled in his soothing southern accent. I had a feeling that he would know me this well even without his power. The back of his hand brushed the apple of my cheek, before he settled my head against his chest, kissing the top of my head. "Did it work?" he asked them.
I watched Rose squirm and ring her hands, as I opened myself for a vision. She didn't answer, I did. "Yes, Aro and Jane won't be able to catch up to us now." I saw them covered in the dirt soot from the cave in, coughing and hacking their way back to the entrance behind the falls. Aro was irate, and Jane was cowering beside him, obviously afraid that she had not done her job. A brief flicker came of another vision, not much, but enough to cause me to suck in a harsh breath, my eyes widening in panic, as I removed myself from Jasper and looked at Luke and Rose. My mouth hung open for a moment unable to speak, long enough for everyone else to start to panic, Jasper trying to pull me back to him, and help me reign in my fears.
"Bella… Jake…" it was all I could get out at the moment.
Jasper's head whipped to attention first directly into my eyes and then to Rose and Luke, before settling back on the entrance to the cave.
"The blast weakened the roof of the cave too much, causing another collapse. Jesus, Jasper, they pushed us forward out of the way, but there wasn't time." Luke was shaking his head trying to will the truth away, as Rose broke into sobs.
"FUCK!" Jasper screamed out turning, and running towards the cave entrance.
"Jasper!" Ryan shouted as he, Penn, and Rugger lurched towards him. "Jasper, man" Ryan continued, "you—we, can't go back in there, the soot is too thick, without the proper ventilation or masks we wouldn't last long enough to be able to even help them. The gases that have been released in to the air from the bedrock alone could kill us."
"So I just leave them there? I just leave her to suffocate?"
"Shit…" Rugger let out, before looking up embarrassed as if he didn't mean to say it out loud.
"What?" Jasper growled at him, "we're wasting fucking time!" his voice was no longer full of sweet southern gentleman, but that of a harsh confederate soldier.
"Jake's a fire breather, he's gonna burn up the oxygen faster, he could even cause an explosion. We can't go back, she wouldn't want us to go back" he was shaking his head, as his whole body spasmed for a moment fully aware that he was going against his own nature to run back in, "we need to finish the mission."
I had heard all of them, but my body was numb and I felt like I was floating on my back on an ocean wave, except I was standing up and on solid ground. The movement of my body was making me nauseous but I needed to see as much as I could.
"Alice, are you ok?" I heard Zafrina's thick accent, as her larger than life hand settled on my shoulder, dwarfing me as she steadied my body. "Her eye's are almost white." She whispered to whomever, I least I think it was a whisper. "Alice?" she asked again.
My head snapped up, and I felt color coming back to my cheeks.
"Alice,"Jasper's voice now, so concerned.
I steadied myself, putting the puzzle pieces together. "They're ok." I said. All of them looked confused. "Bella, Jake, they are ok for now, but your right. We have to go. We need to take Kate back with us."
"Where is Kate, if she's not with Bella?" Senna asked her voice hesitant.
Chills took over my body, as I pictured my vision of her body, bloody and broken in the back of Bella's car. Jasper as always was the first to sense my feelings, but Luke caught on quickly, I'm sure because he loved her. "In Bella's car." I said, as Luke was now the one to sprint forward, only this time away from the cave, and towards the light trail that would lead towards the cars.
The other's followed behind him, well everyone except for Jasper. He was looking back at the cave.
"I don't know if I can do it." He whispered his voice broken. He looked back at me, letting me see his red-rimmed eyes, the agony on his face, profoundly evident. Jasper was always one to hold back his own feelings. Everyone else's were so strong he did his best to avoid his own in most circumstances. "I can't just walk away and leave her behind."
"Jasper, it's not safe for you to stay here, James, Jane, Aro…"
"I know." He said but he didn't move.
"Jasper…" I waited for him to look at me again. "I love you." He grasped my hand tightly kissing me quickly.
BPOV:
Jake ripped me backwards towards his chest just after our hands left Rose and Luke's bodies pushing them forward. The rocks had already begun a thunderous tumble, sending dirt and debris into the air. He wrapped me up in himself against his solid chest, moving us backwards and to the side coming to rest along one of the sidewalls of the cave. I kept my eyes closed, the grit in the air already burning my lungs as Jake and I both pulled our shirts up over our mouths like a make shift air filter, huddled against each other, trying to protect our bodies from the falling and rolling rocks as best we could. The sound was muffled by the cave walls and the already fallen rock that had formed a wall behind us, but it echoed horribly in our ears since it had nowhere else to go.
Eventually the avalanche of rock halted, but the dirt and grime floating in the air had yet to settle as we slumped back against the cave wall. When the light feeling of dirt landing on our skin lessened, I chanced a peek with my eyes, keeping my shirt over my mouth to keep the air as clean as possible.
Jake was taking slow deliberate shallow breathes and the heat was stifling, and only seemed to be getting worse. There was no light. Our flashlights lost in the ruckus, and what little light that had reflected from the waterfall or the cave outlet farther beyond was now gone, hidden behind a newly formed, solid rock wall on either side. I had to feel it out it was too dark to see, but the jagged piles and lack of light told me everything I needed to know. No light, no air. Not good.
I tripped over a rock that jutted out a bit farther than the others at the bottom, falling hard on my hands and knees. "Oof!" I decided to crawl back towards Jake. Feeling around on the ground for him, the wall other rocks, whatever could possibly let me know exactly where I was.
I found his foot, and came to rest next to him again. The heat was increasing and his breathing remained shallow and measured.
"Jake are you ok? Are you hurt?" I asked concerned.
"No, I'm fine Bells." But something was off.
"Yeah me too, just another lazy Saturday in store for us here." I said trying to lighten the mood just a bit, but he didn't respond. "Really Jake, are you ok?"
"Shhh." He said, "Talking takes more air, can't you feel it? We're already limited."
He was right, we needed to stop talking, the air was already stagnant, and I hadn't even come up with a plan yet. I nodded my reply at him before I realized that he couldn't see that so I took my hand found his and squeezed, assuring him I understood.
No air was bad for anyone, but he would be the first to be affected. He was a fire thrower, fire needs air to breathe, without it, and it just… goes out.
I pulled my knees up to my chest, placing my arms on them, and leaning my head against my arms. I kept my eyes open now, hoping that they would adjust to the dark, give me at least a little bit of sight.
OK think Bella! I yelled at myself.
There was nothing to do; after all, we only had so many options. The air would run out soon, if I didn't use my powers, but the whole thing could cave in on us if I did. Not that it mattered either way, since we would most likely run out of air before I would be able to clear enough rock even with my powers.
APOV:
The ride back to the compound was long and miserable. Senna and I flanked Luke in the car that we rode in, as he was unable to compose himself enough to sit with Kate's body.
We were lucky that we were able to get him out of there as it was, he seemed determined to march back into that hell hole of a town and look for Aro and his goons himself. If I never saw that place again it would be too soon. And Luke going back in there would have meant certain death. As soon as he made his decision I saw it, thankfully we were able to secure him in the car and take off.
The five-car trolley that I watched in my mind's eye as it approached me was down to three. Bella's car was left behind, hopefully it would be used to get them back later, if it all worked out, my vision was too blurry. I couldn't pin point an actual outcome. This never happened to me and I was frustrated beyond belief. Drawing my knees up to my chest, I pulled at my hair as I rocked back and forth in the back seat of the car. Why couldn't I read this? I thought as Ryan whipped the car around the twists and turns.
We had to go back the long way, adding a couple hours to our trip since the bridge had been taken out by Aro's lackies on the way here. The sun was rising hirer in the sky and I knew that my friends must be getting tired.
Friends, it had been so long since I had a friend in my life, there was always Jasper and Bella, but they had to keep their distance to keep me safe. I knew it was needed and I knew that it was every bit the hell for them that it was for me, but I still missed them terribly. Nevertheless, these people were my friends too. Certainly, I had never met some of them before, but someone can't go out and risk their life for you and not be considered a friend.
I could already see that Rose and I would be close.
My body was tight from the tension in my muscles. Everyone else in the car was silent. Ryan, only paying attention to the road, Senna had drifted off to sleep about an hour ago, Luke sat ram rod straight staring straight ahead with a glazed over look never speaking once. Finally I rested my head against the cold window of the car, staring out at the bright sky, it was getting later in the day now, and I knew my friends had to be tired, they were going on 40 hours awake.
My eyes drifted closed, and the next think I knew I was awakened by the jostle of the car on rougher terrain. My eyes snapped open to find that we were on the twisty, narrow, gravel roads that lead to the compound and the Cullen Home. It had been a long time since I had seen Esme and Carlisle, and while I knew and understood why they did what they did, it still hurt to know that I would never really know them as the parents that they could have and should have been.
Gravel was kicking up from Rugger's tires ahead of us, and every once and a while one would hit the car dinging off it quickly.
I took a moment to compose myself.
We were bringing home the body of a friend, while missing others. I was seeing my biological parents for the first time in 3 years, and I would be meeting my brother for the first time ever…and she would be there. What damage has she done now? I only hoped that I could control it.
BPOV:
The heat was stifling now, making it even harder to breath in what crusty dirt filled air we had. I could feel Jake burning up beside me, his body starting to go limp from the fatigue that had surely set in. We couldn't just sit here, we had to do something.
"Jake…I'm gonna help you move ok?" I said in a breathy wraspy voice. My throat was burning from the dirty air and the dry heat. I grasped his hand tightly to re assure him. "I'll be careful." I promised, as he squeezed my hand in return.
"I'd rather die doing something about this than sitting here, I trust you Bella." His voice was soft and broken up from his body's over use of the little bit of oxygen was able to get. I used my powers to carefully raise him up and walked towards the opposite side of the cave. I wanted him settled into a safer place, and I needed to remove the rock from the side that we had been on since it seemed less dense at least from what I had been able to feel out. I used my own body to make sure that I was moving him in a clear path, and settled him in the crook of the sidewall of the cave and the rock wall that had separated us from Aro and Jane.
We had to go forward, continue on the path that we had been on, there was no going back. A meeting with Jane would never end well. I carefully navigated my way through the dark back to the other side of the cave, and used my powers to carefully start to remove rocks , packing them away carefully behind me. I was getting light headed and dizzy. My body was swaying as I stood, continuing to lift the rocks carefully hopeing the let in some air at the very least, and make an escape if we were truly lucky.
"Bells…" Jake's voice rang out a little stronger but clearly with concern.
"I'm ok Jake, you ok?" I asked trying to keep my voice strong, he didn't need to know that I soon wouldn't be able to continue.
"Bells, do you smell that?"
My sense of smell was gone, I had a feeling that my nasal cavity was probably packed with the once airborne dirt. "Huh?" was all I could manage as I removed another rock carefully from the wall, hoping this wouldn't be the one to make them all come crumbling down.
"Sulfur…"he rasped out quietly.
EPOV:
What the hell was going on here? Mom and Dad? From the size of this girl, she looked like she was probably fourteen or fifteen years old. I hadn't gotten a good look at her face yet, but Tanya was howling, and it drew my attention back to her.
Kate.
Rugger was still carrying her towards the house, eerily reminiscent of the day that Sam carried Billie's body. Tanya had stopped following and was screaming at Carlisle and Esme now, I couldn't focus on what she was saying as I watched Rugger carry Kate past me as if it was in slow motion. She had been a good friend to me during my time here.
"Where's Bella?" I heard someone ask, and my head whipped around to find Carlisle looking at Alice and Rose. Luke was standing in the background as if he were standing in a coma, his eyes were dead, his body unmoving. Rose broke into a sob again and the pixie went to her and held her hand, looking up at her as she used her free hand to softy stroke her back.
"Rosie!" I heard Emmett's loud boisterous voice echo through the air, and turned to find him sprinting towards her. I was still rooted in the same spot; it seemed my body didn't know how to move. My eyes snapped back from Emmett, to Rose and found that she was still sobbing, but she was looking at me, before she turned and fell into Emmett's arms.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen, I thought I could control it." She said brokenly through sobs into Emmett's chest. His arms were wrapped tightly around her and he was stroking her back lovingly rocking her from side to side, telling her everything was ok as he shhh'ed and rocked her.
Carlisle was hesitant, I wished for two seconds that he would grow a pair of balls and find out where the fuck my girl was, since I obviously couldn't be trusted to move or breathe never mind fucking speak at the moment.
"Jasper?" Carlise said hesitantly to the small girl who had relinquished Rose to Emmett.
"He went back to try and save her and Jake." She replied soft and sad, but when she did she wasn't looking at Carlisle, she was looking at me. I had never met her before, but she seemed to know I needed the information.
My anger flared, they had left her behind. AGAIN! They had left her behind! "What the fuck happened?" I screamed suddenly able to walk and talk as I stalked forward and Rose sobbed harder into Emmett's chest.
"Edward…" Tanya grabbed for my arm, pulling me towards her as I tried to make my way closer to the Rose and the short girl, Ryan, Penn and the others had made their way inside following after Rugger earlier. I shook her off me, not even bothering to look at her. I knew I would feel bad if I did. She had only been honest with me, and now she just lost her sister, but no matter how angry I was, I needed to know what was going on with Bella. Hell, I needed Bella.
The short girl shot a death glare at Tanya, and then back at me. Her face turned angrier than anyone I had ever seen. "Do you even care? What have you been doing with your time here little brother?" she sneered at me.
I was taken back for a moment, little brother? Do I care? "I don't know you from Adam, don't even dare to pretend that you know how I feel" I ground out through my teeth.
"Oh I know better than you think." She protested, hands on her hips yipping at me like she was a Chihuahua / pit bull mix. "I know that you're sitting here shocked right now to find that you not only grew up in a life completely different from your own, finding out you have a different set of parents, finding out you have a sister. Finding out that you were meant for so much more than you ever wanted in this life that has fallen into your lap and taken over every ounce of your being. I know that you love her, but you want to deny it because of the doubts that this one," she sneered at Tanya, "has put in your head. I know that you think that I can possibly know what I'm talking about, but I do because I was you not that long ago. But I know that I love Jasper, I always have even before I knew him, and I will a thousand lives from now. I know that I did what he and Bella wanted me to do, which was come back here." She laughed for a second as her head snapped back to Tanya with another death glare. "and I know that I will sit here, in the house of the parents that I hardly knew, and wait for Jasper to come back to me. I will wait and he will come." She stilled for a minute, her eyes paled and glazed over, and it was eerie, and I was rooted in my spot again unable to cut her off even just to tell her to go fuck herself. "And I know that you will walk away." She said with a deep frown now. She looked back up at me, eyes pleading, "be careful little brother, you may not enjoy the consequences of your actions. Sometimes the smallest gesture can be misconstrued; the smallest act can set in motion a tiny ripple, which may someday turn into a tidal wave." She shook her head at me and stalked past me into the house.
BPOV:
I groaned internally, afraid to use the limited air we had to vent, but I was screaming in my head. 'are you kidding me? Sulfur! This couldn't get any worse.' I wanted to bang my head into one of these rocks repeatedly. 'I mean come on!!! Sulfur! No oxygen, a mountain full of sulfur and a fucking flaming Indian! How the hell do I get myself into this shit? I want a white sand beach with turquoise water that's a constant eighty degrees, I want to lie on a roof top in Greece and stair on the stars and swim in the ocean. I want Edward…'
I composed myself the best I could, "hold on Jake, we got this, I just need you to hold on." I said to him as I moved another rock. I knew that we shouldn't be using the air to talk, we needed every last little bit, but none of that would matter if the sulfur catches fire, and I knew my friend needed some encouragement. I heard some rustling from where he was, but I didn't have the time or energy to ask him as I continued to maneuver the rocks. There were so many more than I had imagined and we hadn't even gotten to a point where more air was getting in yet.
Soon I found myself too tired to stand and move the rocks so I propped myself up on my knees and continued my careful movements. I couldn't take another cave in. The girl in me wanted to break down and cry, and the knot in my throat told me I was getting closer and closer to letting her smash through the surface.
That when I heard it.
"Bella! Jake!"
Jasper…
"Bella!" I heard again, but I was still afraid to yell out for him, I wasn't sure how much longer the oxygen would last, and how much rock would have to be moved to get more.
"Bella!" It came again, this time, a rock moved that was not from me, and I could see a small amount of light coming. The air had become so stagnant that I could feel the fresh cooler air seeping towards me.
"Jasper…" my voice finally rasped out.
I moved another rock and he did too, me with my powers him with his own force, and he climbed through the opening grabbing me close to him. "I thought I lost you." He rasped out, his own emotions certainly mixing with mine.
"God, Jasper. I have never been so happy to see you."
"Yeah, that's what I figured." He said with another tight squeeze.
"The others?" I asked.
"Probably back at the compound by now." He said as he pulled back from me but kept his grip on my arms. "Jake?"
Jake grunted from our right, and Jasper used his flashlight to find him.
"We need to get a move on." Jasper said, standing up and pulling me to my feet. "Sulfur."
"We know." I groaned as he helped me through the hole, in the wall, and went back to help with Jake. The extra oxygen was already doing good for Jake and he was able to stand and walk to the opening with Jasper's assistance. Jasper and I carefully helped him through as he gulped in deep breaths of the air.
"Not too much, the air on this side isn't much better, there's just more of it." Jasper said, as we helped Jake to his feet with a little less effort this time and began our trek out of the cave.
"I never want to see Twins Falls again." I told him as we spilled out into the bright sunlight.
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AN: ok so here is an update. I'm not too sure how I feel about this chapter, and I probably could have played with it for a month, and rewritten it four or five times, but I am already over my normal time limit for getting an update out so here goes, don't be afraid to tell me what 'cha think!!