Before he could say anything more he jerked like he was suddenly having a seizure, his face twisting into that I'm-burning-at-the-stake face that haunted my dreams. He screamed a tortured cry, blood coming out with it and hitting his white Fruit of the Loom shirt and the sheets. I cringed against the wall and fought the urge to stick my fingers in my ears and hum 'Happy Birthday' to drown it all out.

"Where's Keiko?" He asked between ragged breaths, blood foaming at his mouth.

"She'll be here any minute." Bella assured. Anxiety twisted her face up. She got to her feet and lifted the roll bar of the hospital bed so Edward wouldn't jerk himself off of it.

Blondie ghosted in front of me to the IV that hung next to Edward's head. "He's out of blood." She announced. "I'll go see if we have any more." She disappeared in a streak of yellow hair through the door I walked in through.

I watched Bella as I pressed myself so flat against the wall I could've been a cheap motel painting. She worried over Edward, her fingers smoothing down his hair and rubbing his shoulder and running down his face. And her eyes were like melted chocolate, warm and shiny with adoration for the lifeless carcass sitting in the bed, shaking so bad he looked like he had Parkinson's.

My sore and aching heart spluttered around in my chest like it was dancing in a violent mosh pit. Why? Why did he have to come back? Why did he have to fuck up everything all over again? He already ruined her. Broke her. He must know what he did to her. What he's doing to her? Did he not care? Of course not! That's what parasites do. They take and take and take and give nothing back.

And now she was here again on the verge of being abandoned in the woods. On the verge of being shattered and left and by Edward Cullen – the biggest bloodsucking douche bag of the century.

And I was here. Ready with open arms to pick up the pieces, hoping one day she would look at me with half the love she looked at him.

Rosalie flashed back into the room, quickly changing out the empty back for a fresh one full of donated human blood. WHOLE BLOOD was printed in big letters on the front of the bag. I bet the Red Cross would have a bunch of issues if they knew the blood donated to them was going to sustain a parasitic monster.

On Blondie's heels was another leech. She was tiny and thin and was wearing one of those traditional Japanese dresses with big flowers all over it. Her sleeves were flipped over her arms like they got in the way. At least this one smells a bit better. She wasn't as sweet. More musky. I now understood why I smelled sandalwood earlier. "I'm very sorry, Edward-san." She said with a thick accent. I didn't see her face, but she sounded really young. "I was hoping I would've gotten here before you awoke."

I didn't want to hang around here and watch this fucked up episode of Grey's Anatomy, though. So, I let myself out into the hallway and slid myself against the wall to the ground.

"It's okay. Please don't feel bad." Edward said between coughs. His labored breathing started to even out and he didn't sound so pained.

"I'll have to go down to laundry to get you new sheets." She said.

I sighed against the wall and stared at the unfinished ceiling, stewing in my misery. God, she makes me so mad. Why did I love her so much? I didn't even get it.

A pair of small feet with red painted toe nails stopped to stand in front me. "Can I talk to you?"

I jerked my eyes up to Bella's face. She looked at me with an odd look in her eyes. They were resigned, but pained at the same time. "Sure," I said automatically. Why are you so stupid, Jacob? You know she's only going to tell you something you don't want to hear.

I got up and followed her down the hallway. This must've been some sort of underground bunker, because the rooms were all like little prison cells. Or maybe this is where the crazy doctor locks up her experiments, like, Frankenstein or Mangele or whatever. It had a creepy vibe, but that could've also been the fact that the place was crawling with vampires.

While I was looking at my surroundings, I was looking at Bella too out of the corner of my eye. She looked so well. I was totally expecting an Act II of last year. She didn't look happy, though. Her expression hard as she bit on her bottom lip and kept her eyes trained to the floor. What was she thinking about?

We walked silently up a flight of stairs that twisted up and around, both our un-shoed feet padding on the wood. Bella pushed a door open at the top and suddenly we were on a balcony. I blinked at the sudden light change, letting my eyes adjust to the start of a sunset. Bugs buzzed crazy loud in the surrounding forests and the humidity made my t-shirt adhere to my back.

"Why did we come up here?" I asked as I looked around. There was a garden below us with a creek running through it, fruit trees turning it fun and bright colors.

"So Edward wouldn't hear us." She said and leaned against the railing, her back to the garden. "He gets upset easily."

"Yeah, Carlisle said something about that." I said and turned so I was elbow-to-elbow with her. "How's he doing?" Besides the obvious, I guess. I winced at my own question.

Her face flashed through emotions, before settling on pained. "Not well." She almost whispered.

I reached out to touch her, to run my hand against her arm or wrap her up against me. Provide some comfort, like I used to be able to do. She used to run to me, pressing her small frame against my body. She fit their perfectly – like a puzzle piece finding its mate. But, she shied away from my touch this time. My heart twisted violent and painful in my chest and I dropped my eyes to my socked feet. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Why did you come here?" She asked, her voice not unkind but not friendly either. I felt like I was at a job interview, her tone resigned and professional.

"Edward asked me to." I said.

"You wouldn't do something just because Edward asked you to." She said, her arms crossing. "Why are you really here?"

She looked at me and I looked at her, my mouth opening to speak. I forgot exactly when I figured out I loved Bella. There wasn't an aha! moment like I imagined imprinting was like. No lightbulb. No sudden epiphany. I fell in love with Bella like I breathed: slowly and without thought.

Oh, how I wished I imprinted on her. How much easier this would've been for me. Because at that point, it didn't matter if she didn't love me back. I would've been anything for her: a best friend, a lover, a protector. Whatever she needed I would've been fine with. Everyone just defaulted to romantic because, well, it was hard not loving someone back when they pledged their endless devotion to you.

Not now, though. I only wanted her one way and anything else just felt like I was being stabbed through the chest with a toothbrush prison shank.

"Because I love you." I finally said, my eyes pitching down to my feet.

"Jacob," She groaned.

"Well, what answer were expecting, Bella?" I asked, the question exploding out of me. "I came here to make amends with Edward and become his BFF? Because I all of a sudden love the Cullen clan of leeches? Because Japan is the top of my list for international destinations? What answer do you were expecting?" I asked, my heartbeat picking up in my chest. "I'm honestly genuinely curious."

She made a face and looked away. She didn't have an answer to that question. We sat in silence for a long moment. I worked on keeping my breathing even. In and out. In and out.

"Do you remember our date?"

"What?" I asked dumbfounded, completely caught off-guard with her question.

"Our weird movie date with Mike last year? When we went to go see that movie…" She started.

Oh. That date. "Yeah, and then he got sick because he couldn't take the gore." I chuckled.

"What was that movie called?"

"Cross…hairs?" I guessed, not entirely sure.

"That's it." She laughed, her smile lighting up her face. I missed that smile. My heart tha-thumped harder in my chest. "Those movies were ridiculous."

"Yeah, you sure knew how to pick 'em."

We both laughed. It wasn't our usual shared laughs. These were polite, distant. Like, we were trying to laugh with each other from two different planets.

"You said, 'don't get mad at me for hanging around.'" She said, her voice suddenly intense. "You said that you weren't going to give up."

I remembered that. I was so sure of myself. Such a simpleminded idiot I was back then.

"Jacob, you have to give up." She turned so she was facing me, her brown eyes wide and full of regret. Her fist was clenched tight, her knuckles white. "You have to, okay?"

I felt my eyebrows pull together. There was a sense of foreboding all of a sudden. A dark shadow on me. "Why?"

"Edward and I…" She started. My heartbeat pounded hard in my chest and I had to focus hard to catch all of her words. "...are married."

Red. Red haze blinded me. I shook, not like Edward did – that sickly jerking or whatever – I vibrated, like I was phasing from two different dimensions. Phasing between two different forms.

"Jacob!" She yelled, her hand finding my arm. "Get ahold of yourself."

"You guys are married?" I exploded, ripping my arm from her grip. I felt like she had cracked open my chest, pulled my heart out, trampled on it and then torched it on fire. I felt tears in my eyes, on my face, boiling hot on my skin. I felt betrayal stab at me jagged and rough.

Her eyes were wide on me and she nodded. "We did it last week." She said in a small voice and then pointed to the garden. "Under those trees."

"Why?" I groaned.

"Because I love him." She said simply.

But, you're not supposed to love him. You're supposed to love me. I thought and looked to where she was pointing. I shook my head and started ripping off my clothes. I would've just jumped, but these were my last pair of jeans. "Well, congratu-fucking-lations."

"Jacob, listen to me." She said.

I paused for the briefest of seconds to look at her. To really look at her. The red in her hair and the deep brown of her eyes and her heart-shape face and her porcelain skin. And instead of the girl I loved, I just saw one of them. Another leech. Another parasite – taking and taking and taking without giving anything back. She was just one of them. It was a perfect match all along.

"I will always love you." She said lowly.

I shook my head and placed my jeans and shirt on the railing. "If you loved me, you wouldn't have married a corpse."

"Jacob!"

But, I was gone.


I ran as hard and as I fast as I could, ignoring everyone's attempt at communication in my head. I ran north, into a forest and up a mountain. The evergreen trees reminded me of home, but the heat and humidity was a suffocating reminder that I was no one

Come on, Jacob. Embry pressed. What happened?

Everyone could feel what I felt – a churning hurricane of emotions. Disgust. Betrayal. Pity, even. I don't know. Maybe a couple of emotions I didn't even have names for. I never felt this bad before in my life. I wanted to hurl and scream and shoot myself in the head all at the same time.

But, I wasn't talking. I wasn't thinking. I didn't let myself run the conversation in my head. I didn't want anyone to know. I just kept my focus on the trees and my heartbeat in my ears and the wind blowing my jowls back.

I ran and ran. I came across a temple of some sort. Another building made out of dark wood with a red roof that curved up at the edges. I kept to the forest and ran past it, continuing my climb up the mountain.

This was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake. I should've seen it. I should've known. And maybe I did, in some way. I knew that I wasn't going to like what I saw when I came here.

But, goddamn, did have to be this? A marriage? I couldn't believe it. It made my ice shoot through my veins at the very thought. I almost wished that he had turned her into a leech instead. At that point, I could mourn like I would if she had died. Mourn and then fight the Cullen clan for breaking the treaty – starting with the one who turned her. But, she was still very much alive. Her heart beat in her chest. Color rose into her cheeks. And all of that stabbed at me like a rusty knife. Over and over and over.

Being friends with Bella was mistake.

No. I wasn't going to let myself go there. I was happy at one point. Briefly. I was happy following her around like a puppy, picking up each piece that was left behind. I had those memories at least. A small token. A consolation prize.

Jacob. Sam said. Please tell us what is going on?

Nothing. I answered back. It was nothing. I was nothing. A black hole sucking everything good into my middle and spitting out blackness. Nothing.

I stopped when I reached the top of the mountain and turned around. I could see what I guessed was the lights of Kyoto – rows of buildings and houses twinkling against the dark backdrop of the night. It would've been pretty if I was in any other mindset besides heartbroken and miserable. Slightly suicidal maybe? Reckless, definitely.

I turned to the north and saw a body of water. There was a full moon out and it reflected off the surface of the water. It made me even sadder in an ironic sort of way. A werewolf under a full moon. I started howling for the full effect.

I had no more purpose here. I had no more purpose in Washington either. Besides, the pack, I guess. But, what did they ever do for me? Maybe I'll leave. Leave for good, turn into the animal I was meant to be. What's the point of ever being human again? If it was like this? If this was all I ever got?

I started back to the palace. I didn't want to. I wanted to just start running and never stop. Ran until I collapsed. Ran until my heart burst out of my chest. But, I knew if I did that, I would hit bodies of water. I had to get my things. And then I could leave and never turn back.

I found the palace by retracing my steps back down the mountain, running. I jumped back over the balcony. It was late at night now, even early morning. The sky was dark overhead and the stars that defied the light pollution of the city twinkled over my head. I found my clothes still lying over the edge of the railing where I left them. I phased back into a human, quickly jamming myself into my outfit and walking back into the castle.

I didn't hear a heartbeat in Edward's hospital room. Good. She was the last person I wanted to run into. I was just going to grab my duffle bag and leave. I'll disappear like a ghost. I wasn't even sure where I would go yet. I had $13,000 still. Maybe I'll take a trip to Paris and throw myself off the Eiffel Tower. That sounded nice.

"Jacob," Edward said in his gravely voice when I came in. "Are you okay?"

"You should ask your wife, Mrs. Parasite." I grumbled and picked up my duffle from where I dropped it earlier. I didn't even bother to look at him. If I did, I would just feel bad – his burning man face in my head. And I didn't want to feel bad. I wanted to feel bitter and angry. I deserved that much.

"Jacob," Edward said with a pleading tone. "Stop, please."

I froze. I don't know why I kept doing that. I needed to just learn to keep going. But, I stopped and looked at the pathetic creature sitting in the middle of the hospital bed. "What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry." He said and leaned forward, straightening himself up a bit. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you."

I rolled my eyes and started moved again, scoffing. "Why are you sorry? You got Bella." I got shit. Less than shit, actually. "And you got to rub it in my face in person. You should be happy."

"Happy?" He asked. His shoulders rolled forward and arms crossed his chest loosely. He shook and I could hear his razor sharp teeth rattling together in his head. "No. I'm dying."

"Congratulations." I muttered and started for the door.

"Jacob, wait."

I groaned and punched the wall, watching the plaster give under my fist. "What?"

"I have days left." He said just above a whisper. "Maybe a week if I'm lucky. Bella is my wife now," I winced hard at that statement, the words chewing on my insides. "But, she won't be when I'm gone."

"You made her a bride and a widow in a span of two weeks. I think Britney Spears had longer marriages." I said with a miserable chuckle.

His eyes dropped to his lap. "She's going to need someone when I go, Jacob. I'm afraid she'll try something-," His face twisted with pain and his fingers went to his head, a low moan escaping his lips. "She'll try something-," He rocked back and forth, his body shuddering with movement.

I scrounged up the last of my brain cells to comprehend his line of reasoning. "You're afraid she's going to try and off herself?"

His pained, red eyes snapped to me and he nodded.

"You know how ridiculous you sound, right?"

"Yes, of course." He said. "But, you know it's a real possibility. You know how unpredictable she can be. Please stay here for her. My family would protect her from any exterior threats, but she's going to need you-,"

"To pick up the pieces." I finished for him and leaned forward on footboard of his bed. "Have you ever thought that maybe I am tired of playing fifty-two card pickup every time you throw the deck of Bella's heart on the floor?" I challenged, my eyes staring hard into his.

His arms circled around his middle like he was trying to make himself small…or hold himself together. "You're all she's going to have left." He whispered.

I wavered. I imagined Bella in my arms. Bella grieving. Bella burying her dead undead husband. Bella healing. Bella finding love again. Bella having a family. Children with coppered color skin and chocolate brown eyes. Bella's beating heart against my fingertips, my ring on her finger.

"Please." He begged, his fingers rubbing his own arms, a nosebleed making its way down his face from his nostril.

I felt something in me harden like my chest had been split open and concrete was poured into me. The hole where my heart was ached. The knife in my back turned. All the pain I felt from before flooded back, lighting me ablaze. "No," I said. "She's not my problem anymore. She stopped being my problem when she said 'I do' to a bloodsucking leech."

I turned to leave, coming face-to-face with the other Japanese vampire. She gripped a black, lacquered box in her hands and looked between the both of us like she was afraid she was intruding.

I looked at her for the briefest of seconds. A millisecond, just to acknowledge her existence before I shoved myself past her. She had a young, round face. She was my age, maybe a little younger. Her long, black hair fell around her shoulders and was cut in a straight line right over her eyebrows. She had a button nose and her eyebrows were scrunched in concern.

She's pretty for a vampire. I thought.

But, then we locked eyes.

I gasped like I had been socked in the gut.

My whole existence suddenly completely made sense. It was like I was a math equation that needed one more number to be irrevocably solved, a recipe that finally found its secret ingredient, the puzzle that found its missing piece.

All of a sudden, I wasn't in this hospital room, surrounded by impending death and doom. All the pain melted and I was transported to the most beautiful place on earth. A field of flowers the most of the loveliest colors and smells. A sky above us shining with stars that twinkled only for us. It was heaven, but more so, because she was in it. She was the heaven.

My torn and aching heart became suddenly whole and started beating wildly. The strongest its ever been, like it just snorted a line of coke and shot-gunned a Red Bull. I was a man raised from the dead, and I didn't even know that I had been a zombie in the first place. My universe started to rotate on a completely different axis, my gravity fixated on this person. I was made for her and I would follow her and protect her and live only for her for the rest of my life.

And it all happened in an instant. A flash. And now my future had completely shifted. My purpose had changed. Everything that I had thought I knew, all the ties I thought I had to the people I loved were gone. Poof. Like a magic trick.

I wheezed out the air I gasped, realizing what had happened.

I just imprinted.

On a vampire.

No. No. No. This wasn't right. I groaned. I couldn't imprint on a vampire. They were the enemy. Our sworn enemy. Cold and dead and white. Bloodsuckers. I felt sick all of a sudden. Disgusted with myself, even. It went against my whole nature. What am I going to do? There must've been something wrong with me. I was seriously fucked in the head or something.

Or maybe it wasn't an imprint. Maybe I was just feeling sorry for myself because I'm a miserable, heartbroken bastard and just thought I imprinted on her. She was kind of cute. For a vampire. I had to make sure I added on that last piece of information. She was a vampire. Vampire.

But, then I looked at her again. I just stole a tiny peak at her face. The adoration literally threatened to drown me. Oh my God, I adored her. I worshipped her. I would die for her. I definitely imprinted. On a vampire.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I gripped the footboard of Edward's bed, my hand crunching into the wood to keep myself from phasing. I wasn't even angry; I was just emotional. It was too much. So much. It was like they had all been turned onto level eleven and were going at full blast in me.

"Rosalie-san said that you eat what Bella-san eats." She started, her accent making her voice soft and velvety. The box in her hands lifted and she offered it to me. "I made you some dinner."

I looked at her again, my eyes tracing and memorizing each line and shadow and curve of her face. She even smelled good. Sandalwood. They glanced down at the box which was ornately decorated with a mountain scene. I opened my mouth to speak, but I managed to make only choked, sounds like I was gargling on marbles.

"Ano…" She pulled the box back when I didn't take it, probably staring at her like she had just grown a third eyeball and a second head. "If you are not hungry, I can save it-,"

"No, no." I cut her off, almost launching myself forward. I cracked another fist-sized dent into the footboard in an attempt to keep myself together. "I'll eat it."

She brightened. Her smile was so brilliant, the sun should take a lesson. "Wonderful."

I took the box from her and opened it. Inside were a couple of rice balls shaped and decorated with other foods to look like cutesy panda bears. The bears were surrounded by vegetables that were cut and shaped like stars. Oh my Lord. I thought. I just imprinted on Hello Kitty. "This looks…amazing." I said as I took it all in, feeling the biggest smile find its way on my face. I wasn't sure if I was even capable of doing that anymore. It felt so foreign.

She bounced up and down and clapped her tiny white hands together. "Sugoi!" She said. "You will let me know if it is too spicy?" She looked at me, her golden eyes wide.

"Sure," I managed, emotions still twisting inside of me. I felt like the round basket of bingo balls at the Elks Lodge in La Push, where my dad would go to scratch his gambling itch. Turning and turning, all the emotions bouncing around inside of me in pure chaos.

"I don't think we were properly introduced," She said and held out her hand for a handshake. "My name is Keiko."

Aw, man. I haven't even told her my name yet. "Jacob."

"Jacob-san," She said. "It's nice to meet you."

It's nice to meet you too. By the way, do you know you're my soul mate? "Yeah," I managed and grabbed her hand. "Likewise."

She was cold, like vampires. But, there was a jolt of electricity between us. An intense heat that I had never felt before. And then a tug of some sort, like all of the energy in my arm was magnetized right in the middle of where we touched.

Her eyes widened at me, the smile melting from her face and she disconnected our hands. A million alarms went off in my head. What happened? Was I too hot to her? Did she see something? Feel something? Bring the smile back, please. I begged in my head.

She said something quickly in Japanese and then quickly she said "I-I need to go finish my chores." She about-faced and moved quickly out of the room. I had half a mind to chase after her, but that would probably only freak her out more. So, I glued myself where I was and watched her leave, her traditional attire fluttering behind her.

I looked at Edward, who was taking this all in with his wide, red eyes. His arms had relaxed around his middle and I watched them jerk on his lap. "What was that about?"

"I don't know." He shook his head and then tapped his temple with a shaky finger. "It hurts to read thoughts, so I haven't been." He said in his chain smoker voice.

"So you didn't hear…"

I watched a small smile ghost over his lips. "I caught the gist."

I rolled my eyes and picked up a rice ball panda. "Well, keep it to yourself." I shoved the whole thing in my mouth, the sauce in the middle instantly lighting my taste buds on fire. It was a little spicy.

He held up his hands in surrender, his smile widening like this was the most entertaining thing on earth. You would be pleased with yourself, you ailing bastard. "I won't say anything."

"Good."

"Does this mean you will stay here in Japan?"

The thought of physically being separated from her lit my skin ablaze. "Yeah," I said, looking at the food in my hand. "I'll stay."


A vampire is better than a half-vampire mutant child. Take that Stephanie Meyer. Also, review please ilysm readers 33