Bond Broken
Seth's POV
Serena was everywhere. Her scent coated the forest, and the memory of her haunted every other aspect of my life. Jacob forced me to take breaks after weeks of tracking her. There were days when I went to Carlisle's and crashed on the couch, others consisted of me laying on the cool floor of the cave where Serena and I often went. The pain from being apart from her was damned near unbearable. None of the wolves had ever experienced this with their Imprints. I laughed, "None of the wolves had a psychotic killer kidnap their Imprints," I turned over trying to think back to the last time Serena and I were actually on great terms. It was right before she got her memories back.
"Everything was so much easier," I whispered.
"It's just...You know, when you're here, like this," I brushed a hand over her cheek, "Rosy cheeks and a normal heartbeat, I worry a lot less. Maybe because you're not a totally different species. Maybe because humanity is something we both have in common now. But, I prefer this," She held my gaze, "Just us, living our lives without any blood or fighting...so I guess what I want to say is, why can't we just stay like this?"
Suddenly, I heard footsteps outside. I got up and checked who it was. Jacob.
"You should sleep on a bed."
"I don't want to go home, the only reason I'm here is because you made me stop looking for her, Alpha."
"Seth, you needed a break, the Imprint is starting to take it's toll on you and you're letting it cloud your judgement."
"I don't know if you knew this Jake, but my judgement was clouded way before she was taken–"
"You need to stop blaming yourself Seth," His voice softened.
"The only thing I need is to find Serena," I stomped off and phased heading to the Cullen house.
Seth… a dozen voices echoed in my head.
Shut up! I growled begging for the pack to get the hell out. I phased back into my human form when I was about a mile away from Carlisle's happily tuning out everyone who was concerned, and happily going back to the ghost that haunted me.
I walked up the porch and took my usual seat in the living room trying to close my eyes and lose myself in the memory of her, as if maybe that would provide me with some way to find her.
Seth… She whispered. The house was empty, just like it always was when I got here. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
"This isn't right. Seth stop it. This is ridiculous, I want you. I choose you,"
"Serena, you don't. You want Sebastian, you want everything to go back to how it was before you got here. I've noticed something," I chuckled, "You hold onto everything. You take on everyone else's pain and try to protect everyone. You're trying to protect me from getting hurt. By making them leave, you're trying to protect your family from you. By letting him go you're trying to protect him from almost getting killed again. By becoming human and living in La Push you think you can protect everyone from Tobias. Stop focusing on everyone else. Stop running from yourself."
"That's not what I'm doing!" She snapped and shoved me away. "That's what you want? You're-you're just ending this?"
"Yes. It's over. We're not together anymore…" I shifted and dashed away from her running as far as I could.
"Seth!"
Seth, Seth, Seth…
"Serena," I whispered."
"Seth?" I opened my eyes and Renesmee's brown eyes, full of concern looked back at me.
"What's up Ness?" I shot up expecting her to tell me that they had found her. But when I looked around… No one was home. I looked back at the hybrid who only smiled tightly.
"My mom went home with Dad. Everyone else is still looking…"
"So why––"
"I figured you'd be here…" She twisted a curl around her finger, "you look like hell. She doesn't want you looking like hell," Her voice got smaller when she mentioned Serena.
"I'm fine Ness," I got up, trying my best to say that with conviction.
Suddenly the door was flung open and Renesmee and I froze.
"Cazzo!" Iris. "Fuck!" She stomped in slamming the door back. Gabriel followed behind her catching the door before it slammed back and probably broke. "Another dead trail. How many times–-" She looked in the living room and saw me. Her eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth at me, shooting me the most menacing look. I only met her glare. This is how it always went, when we interacted. All of the blame that each of us felt was directed at me. The one who she tried to stay human for in the first place. The one who tried to change her into something she wasn't. Into something she didn't want to be…and the one who made her run away to La Push without her family and tried to make her hurt the wolf she loved.
She never said anything during these silent interactions. Neither did I. Everything was left in the atmosphere. All the blame, all the shame, out there on the table. She stomped upstairs pulling Gabriel along. He only met my eyes without any form of expression.
"You should go home Renesmee," She nodded, smiling sadly at him as he disappeared from view and went upstairs with Iris. They sat in her room whenever they were too frustrated with the lack of progress we'd been making. I plopped back down on the couch trying once again to see her even if only in my dreams. This time the sleep didn't come.
"Do you want anything?" Ness chimed from the kitchen. When did she get over there? I walked over and saw her stirring up some batter.
"You're making pancakes?"
"Jake mentioned that you haven't been eating…" She said, "Since, it's nearly noon but not quite so...Pancakes seemed like the best option. That, and I'm pretty much craving something sweet but it still counts as breakfast, so yes, pancakes.
"Good morning," She flipped a pancake, "I made pancakes...well...I'm still making pancakes," She laughed.
"Seth?"
"Hmm," I tried my best to stay focused.
"So did you want some?"
"No, Renesmee––"
"Good because I wasn't asking and these two are yours," She handed me a plate.
"You realize that I am older than you?"
"Yes," she beamed, the sadness still coating her warm brown eyes, "But I am far wiser."
"Jake is too nice to you," I shoved a piece of pancake in my mouth, they tasted like cardboard. I guess, with the all the stress, I couldn't even stand to taste food anymore. I cleared my plate because I knew that the young vampire wouldn't let up until I did. I guess in a way she thought that she could be closer to Serena by taking care of me…
Hell, I couldn't even be close to Serena…
"I'm going back out there," Before she could open her mouth I dashed off into the woods again, following yet another trail left behind. My guilt growing until it starting eating me alive.
Serena's POV
I woke up after another night or perhaps day of torture, Tobias had covered the window. I looked around and realized I was in a bathtub full of water, clothes still on. When I tried to get up My hands pulled me back. I found myself handcuffed to the tub. There was a chuckle in the corner.
"Time to exercise those lungs bird," Tobias stepped in front of me and placed a towel over my face. "Now if you start to feel faint, just go with it," He laughed and proceeded to throw water over the towel, drowning me without actually drowning me. I held my breath for as long as I could but eventually I had to give up and choke on the water that was cascading over me like a waterfall. So far, I had put up with the torture, never screaming or crying since that first day. I knew that this was a game of will. If I could fight long enough, I'd be able to buy my family enough time to find me.
I don't know how long I was waterboarded for. Hours, minutes? Eventually, Tobias stopped and laughed as I coughed the water out and gasped the air into my lungs.
"Well, looks like your lungs can last pretty long," He chuckled.
"Funny," I choked out.
"Time for the next test," He smirked walking toward me. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply,
"Oh and what exactly is that?" I laughed, my voice hoarse. Suddenly there was a sharp pain in my side, in a split second, Tobias had stabbed my side.
"A stab wound? That's the best you can do?"
"That," he said, "was just for fun." He reached over and undid the handcuffs pulling me out of the tub. I had to bite back a wince because of course, the knife was still in my side, Preventing me from healing. He sat me down in a chair ripping my shirt open to reveal the wound. He sat in a chair across from me and picked up a metal rod, with a flat end. He also picked up a blowtorch, I know it was a blow torch because he made sure I saw the flames coming out of it. I knew that if I tried to get up I'd lose, so I didn't bother. He placed the torch a few inches away from the rod making sure I watched as it started to heat up.
"Fire, is as dangerous to vampires as it is to humans,"
"Fascinating," I said trying to keep as calm as possible.
"For humans, being burned alive is one of the most excruciatingly painful ways to die," Tobias continued his eyes darkening, "Some say the real burden is life as opposed to death," He chuckled, "Humans are so weak. They can't even find the beauty in their own lives," He hadn't been much for conversation these past couple of days...weeks...I was curious as to why he insisted on drawing out this interaction. Even worse, I was afraid of the seconds that ticked by because it was excruciating, waiting for the pain. Akira never made me wait. "Vampires have it easy, kill or be killed. Eat or starve. We're superior because of this, because we understand the importance of life. Blood sustains us, time avoids us...but fire… it destroys us," He smirked, "Flames can disinfect wounds, needles. Wipe away our impurities. Beautiful isn't it?" He looked over at me, the rod was becoming red hot. "But you see, Little Bird, there is nothing wrong with drinking from humans, with our strength, with living forever. Absolutely nothing." He narrowed his eyes at me, "And yet, you killed the one person who had done nothing but support you, care for you. You. The worthless little hybrid who couldn't stop yearning for humanity. Well, now you have it." He growled, turning off the blow torch and in an instant he removed the knife from my side and shoved the rod against the wound in it's place, "Tell me, is humanity everything you wanted it to be?" I couldn't hold back and had no choice but to scream from the excruciating pain that erupted from the red hot metal being pressed against my skin. "Fire burns away our impurities, perhaps it's so painful because you're the corrupt one, not me," I screamed louder and he only laughed in response twisting the rod against me. That was how it went, as the crazed nomad continued to brand me. "Don't worry, it'll heal still. But, I'll be sure to make sure you don't forget your place."
Seth's POV
The trail I had been following was another dead end. I was sitting under a tree in human form, my head in my hands.
"Where are you?" I whispered. But no one answered, no one ever did anymore. Why did I push you away? Why did I let you go alone? Tears fell down my cheeks. "I'm sorry, just come back...just come back," No one heard me and Serena didn't reply. For the first time since becoming a werewolf, I felt cold.
Serena's POV
Everything hurt. The rapid healing I copied from the wolves was starting to fade and the process was slowing down. Tobias, of course, knew this and made sure that I was wounded all over my body to further slow the process. I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up.
I lost track of time. I didn't know if I had been in this room days or week. It could have been months. I tried my best to block out my brother as much as I could, not wanting him to feel what was happening to me through our connection. I laughed trying to sit up. My wrist was pretty badly sprained but it was starting to heal.
"C'mon Serena, you can do it." I pushed myself off the ground dragging my bruised and cut up body along the cool wood floor. When I sat against the wall, I tried to think back to happier times. For a brief second, I even missed Akira's venom. At least then, I could lose myself to the thirst. At least then my body didn't break as easily. I winced as I placed a hand on my waist feeling what seemed like a cracked rib, or maybe three. "Baseball bat," I whispered, relieved that Tobias held back a little in an attempt to drag on my suffering. "How long has it been?"
Oliver…
Serena! Oh my god, where have you been?
I had business to attend to. I winced, laughing hurt my abdomen.
Your healing slowed. A lot.
Key word being, healing. Slowly but they're still healing.
You're running out of time!
I'm fine. How many days has it been? My brother was silent. Oliver?
It's more than days, Bambina.
Weeks?
Just get some rest.
Don't hide things from me, dammit. If I can take all of this shit from Tobias I can handle a time frame!
Almost three months. I froze. Months. I had been gone months, I had been tortured for months. Knives to my sides back and front. Bullets to my legs. Hell, he had even brought a whip a few times. I'd been branded and burned countless times.
"Did you really believe it had been days?" I laughed to myself despite the pain. "Why else would the wolves' healing fade this quickly?"
Just hang in there.
I put up the wall that separated our thoughts. Trying to stand and failing. Dammit.
Suddenly the door was opened just a crack and Tobias slid through, "Well well birdie. Looks like you've been bad while I was away…" He grinned, "No matter. I've got a surprise," In his hands were two huge bricks which he set down gently, "This'll be fun I promise," He flitted to me, grabbing me by the hair and forcing me to meet his eyes. Still wearing gloves. "Wanna know what I learned today?"
I spit in his face, earning myself a punch in the gut. When I coughed blood came out. Yes. His eyes darkened as he watched it drip from my lips. I smirked, knowing that he was as drawn to it as any vampire would be. The reason he left was to go hunting. "Go on, have a taste," He growled at me. "C'mon Tobias, I hear it taste like the sweetest honey imaginable. I know you smell it. Right now, it's probably surrounding you, begging for you," I licked my lip cutting my tongue with my teeth. He seethed at me his eyes focused on the blood. C'mon take a bite...His hands still had gloves wrapped around him but if he bit me I'd still be able to copy his vampire.
He took a step toward me, the irresistible hunger taking over his entire body. Right when his face was a breath away from my own, he froze. Before I could press my forehead to his hands wrapped around my neck. "Nice try bird," He chuckled squeezing until I passed out.
Seth's POV
Her scent was everywhere. Embry and I followed it as it got stronger and stronger. We had never found a trail this potent before.
This could be it.
Seth, don't get your hopes up…
I ignored him, because by this point I could already see her smile, You're late Clearwater.
We were so close. I pushed myself harder trying to close the gap between us. The scent got stronger, and stronger until finally, I stopped.
There was a body, a few feet away from me. A girl with pale skin and jet black hair, blood pooling around her body which was face down in the ground. Her hand was reaching for something, when I took a few steps to see what it was, I saw that it was the blue pendant that Emily had given Serena…
Serena…
Seth, I love you. I choose you.
Don't leave.
Seth!
My vision blurred, Embry, in his human form rushed ahead of me.
"No pulse," He quickly moved to flip the girl over, I shut my eyes, falling to the ground, my heart beginning to shatter.
I was shocked that she knew I imprinted on her. Was she weirded out? "It's fine Seth, I don't mind it. At first I was taken aback, I mean I'm a vampire, you're a werewolf." She jumped into the water, "But, I like you. So no matter what, I'll stick with you."
She was gone.
Seth.
"Seth!" Embry boomed. I glanced at him, still in my wolf form. Jake and Quil had arrived with Emmett and Rosalie. "It's not her," His voice wavered a little. I shifted back into my human form and walked over to him stepping into the blood that had pooled around the girl. He showed her to me and I noticed...freckles, and brown eyes. I could breath again. It's not her. It's not her. I almost laughed from relief. She was still alive somewhere out there.
"But the blood," Rosalie whispered from a hundred feet away, "There's so much of it and it's definitely hers I mean I can't even get any closer without losing it," Emmett nodded next to her.
"He broke her neck," Jacob confirmed, "This might be a warning," I narrowed my eyes at him. "What if there's more…" Suddenly, Rosalie's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"You found a body too." Iris said on the other line.
"Yeah but it's definitely–"
"Her blood, Oliver says that he's been draining some of it into blood bags, transfusing it with human blood to remove the wolf," In other words, Iris was trying to tell us that we were running out of time. Dammit.
"It's a wig," Emmett pointed out his voice strained as he tried to hold back the thirst and walk to where we were. He leaned down, gently pulling it off of the girl, whose hair was blonde and not black.
"Rosalie. It's not just us. Oliver found one too," Iris said softly.
"What's he trying to do?"
"Alice can't tell he knows how her gift works so he keeps changing his mind to show her numerous possibilities at once," she sighed, "We're doing everything we can."
Click.
There was a loud silence among us as we came to terms with the possibility of being too late and finding Serena, not a copy or a girl in a wig but the hybrid girl we all had come to love.
"I'll move her and call Charlie," Embry said lifting the girl's body up.
"Move her?" I asked stupidly still shaken by the discovery.
"There's no way we can explain the blood, Seth," Jacob informed me, "Em, make sure it's not somewhere close by we can't risk them finding this before the rain washes it away," Embry nodded and walked slowly away carefully holding the girl.
"Seth," Rosalie said softly, "Are you alright?"
There was only one answer for that question. No. Nothing about this situation was alright. She should be here, laughing with her brother and the Cullens. She should be playing piano with Ness and Edward. She shouldn't have ever left their house in the first place. She shouldn't have been in the woods by herself crying because she had just gotten dumped. She shouldn't have been pulled away from her family to try and stay with the wolf who kept yanking her away and shape her to his image of her. If it wasn't for me rushing into this relationship with her, she might be happy. Happier than she was. Only now did I realize that that's what an Imprint was all about, making sure our imprint lived a happy and full life...not a relationship and selfishness.
"I'm going to keep looking," I turned on my heel and started running, shifting into my wolf form and looking for the next trail.
Serena's POV
Whack! I coughed, blood coming out of my mouth. Clutching my stomach with on hand , I used my other to lift myself up but could barely hold myself up. The healing was slowing and it was all Tobias's fault.
While I was knocked out he performed blood transfusions. While I was awake he beat me to a pulp. Today or was it tonight? His choice of pain? A baseball bat.
"Well, that was fun," I growled spitting up some blood and shooting Tobias my most menacing glare, "I didn't know you could play baseball like that," I glanced at the bat in his hand then back to him.
"I have to say bird, I didn't think you'd last this long," He spun the bat around. I hoisted myself back up, my body only barely obeying me. "Although I can see why this sport is America's favorite pastime," Crack! Just as I had gotten back on my feet, I was knocked back down definitely feeling a broken rib or two on the way.
"I call foul," I coughed feebly trying to be strong. I couldn't get up anymore it hurt too much.
"I'll give you a little break," He touched a spot of my blood on the ground licking his finger and savoring the taste. "I have to go visit your other half and his merry band of wolves."
"What are you going to—" Slam. The door shut and he was gone. Dammit.
Briefly, I wondered what the others were doing. How Seth was doing. The way everything happened was wrong. I shouldn't have let Bash come back.
I chuckled to myself. You were going to tell Sebastian to stay. Seth gave you the out that you wanted. Why hesitate? I frowned. Because, I couldn't bring myself to hurt Seth. He was innocent, he didn't ask for this life, for me as an imprint. For my crazy history. I wish that I could still be the girl with no memories, even if I lost my family forever. I didn't want him to hurt. I didn't want to but...he was right, I wasn't the girl from La Push anymore, I'm the hybrid twin from Italy. The one who fell in love with Sebastian, the one who lost him and would have done anything for just one more second, one more second with him.
"I love you Seth," I whispered to the void, "I'll properly apologize to you when this is over. I promise," I clutched my ribcage praying for the healing to work faster to no avail, "you deserve better. You're one of my best friends, you put me back togethe—Ah!" Tears burned my eyes as rolled over to my side and felt the sharp pain brought on by the bat. C'mon heal. I groaned as the slow process began. The pain was so bad, that I passed out.
Seth's POV
I was on the beach. We had found a total of 7 fakes. The news is calling the supposed serial killer, the Doll Maker since each girl is dressed up and made up to appear like porcelain.
None of these girls helped lead us to Serena, they only made things more confusing and grim. I was starting to lose hope that we'd ever find her. The Cullens had managed to catch Tobias' scent a few times but, he managed to lose them using his gift.
Fear was apparent in all of us. We were all afraid of the same thing. Losing Serena.
I laid on the sand, it was a rare sunny day in Forks. On days like this Serena would lay on the ground anywheere and let the sun's rays just shower her in light. Her skin used to shimmer and she'd always smile over at me and say my name in her honey sweet voice, beckoning me to go to her. She loved the sun despite being a vampire.
I wondered if she'd ever be able to do that ever again, as the suns rays coated my skin I noted how, I would never shine like she did.
Serena's POV
Splash! I bucket of ice cold water fell on me startling me awake. I began to shiver slightly and Tobias was inches away from my face, "Time to wake up birdie," He smirked, "Your wounds have already healed, I was starting to get worried," He faked concern as he looked me dead in the eyes, "Now I think it should have completely faded away by now considering I've done several transfusions on you already. This time you healed almost normally, hmm. Well, no matter, it'll all end soon and then we can have some real fun!"
"Gee, I was already having a blast Tobias," I deadpanned slowly rising to my feet only to find that there was a rope tied around my ankles.
I looked back at his menacing grin, "I told you, we're going to have some fun." He rubbed his hands together lifting up a backpack, "Now you're going to need to put this on," he lifted a blindfold stalking toward me, "rather, this'll be on while we take our little field trip, just in case." He slipped it on me and lifted me up.
"Let me go!" I thrashed and screamed, he laid me down and slapped me across the face hard.
"If you make one more sound or attempt to run I'll snap your neck!" I didn't know what to do. He leaned down his lips nearly touching my ear, "You're just a weak pathetic human right now Bambina. It's just like you always wanted. Except, now you can't run, you can't fight back and you can't take a hit. You're weak in this state. Completely defenseless." I froze, fear began to creep into my heart, he chuckled, "That's right you should be afraid, you're my plaything right now. I'm the one with all the power and no one, not a single soul, is here to save you," Something snapped in me, "You've been here for months and no one has found you yet. They've searched and searched but haven't come anywhere near you." He lifted me off the ground, I couldn't see a thing because of the blindfold but he ran a vampire speed the whole way. I knew I was outside, I could hear the rustling of leaves, it was freezing.
After a while, he stopped and laid me down, "Dont move," He growled, his gloved hands traveled down my body slowly, the leather on my skin reminded me of how defenseless I was, he lifted my shirt up tracing lines on my stomach, they traveled down to the button of my jeans, already cut up from numerous torture tactics, I could feel his hands hover there. Suddenly he hissed, "It's getting harder to resist Bambina," He sighed, suddenly there was a loud crash, Water? I breathed in the air and could smell the sea salt. The crashing continued, I turned my head in the direction of the noise.
"So you finally noticed? We're right back where you're life here started," He began tying something to my legs. I didn't try moving. "Don't worry, no one is going to see this, everyone is a little distracted at the moment," he chuckled.
"What are you doing Tobias?" I hissed, as he tied my legs to the bricks from before, "Stop!" I cried. The thrashing of the waves grew louder and angrier.
"This was your wish right? You wanted to go back this? To your human life?" He laughed placing handcuffs on my hands, "Now you can," He brought himself close to my face and removed the blindfold revealing that I was outside, "Except this time, you won't be washing up on the show from soft timid waves, you'll do what humans do, sink, drown," He smirked, "No one is going to save you, no one is going to pretend to be your family. There's just you against the ocean. Sinking lower and lower until your human lungs run out of air," He laughed. Oliver! Oliver!
No answer. Oliver! I kept trying to call him, "Looks like your gift is fading based on your fear, you're almost fully human.
"No! Shut up Tobias!" He lifted me up with the bricks holding me over a cliff. I looked down at the furious waves crashing against the rocks. "Stop!" I tried to hold it together, tried to stay strong but I couldn't help the fear blossoming in my chest, I lost everything the last time I fell into an ocean, I didn't want to lose it all.
"They're not coming for you Little Bird. You'll be all alone," He whispered, "Betrayed by the one you love," I became confused.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"If the Cullens had found you before the wolves did maybe things would be different, maybe you'd be better protected and have less attachment to your humanity. Perhaps you could have lived happily with Sebastian, maybe you could have been saved from this torment if the wolves, your wolf hadn't begged you to stay human for him. You wouldn't have run away from the good Doctor's home to La Push, and tried to stay human to keep the wolf happy. And just maybe, you wouldn't be drowning, all alone," He laughed tossing me over the cliff.
"No!" I cried feeling my legs dragging me down, down, down until I sunk into the water the waves crashing against my body under water. I held my breath. Oliver! Oliver! My fear began to intensify, I saw Seth under the water with me. Seth! Help! Seth! But he turned away laughing. I kept trying to pull myself up but I kept sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean's abyss. I thrashed and waved my arms under the freezing cold water. Sebastian appeared with Iris, Gabe and my family. Help! Water began to fill my lungs. Please!
You said you belonged with humans. Alice said.
You chose him, you chose them. Sebastian smirked.
So go on and be human then. Oliver laughed and they all began swim away. My lungs burned. I was choking, too much water too much. No! No! Help! Please! No! No...no… My vision blurred, my thrashing slowed and the burning started to fade, I didn't feel cold anymore, I didn't feel anything. There was a brief pain in my chest, it was like something was being stripped from me. An image of Seth flashed in my head but faded while more water entered my mouth, It left me feeling weaker, more alone. Wait...please. Suddenly, I stopped fighting because I couldn't anymore. My body refused to listen and my eyes began to close. I continued to sink down, down, down…
Seth's POV
This time we heard her. "Seth! Seth" We had run into Vancouver when suddenly we heard her screaming, "Oliver!"
I ran ahead of Jake and Embry the desperation to be near her taking over my body.
Seth, wait.
Shut up Embry that's her voice!
I pushed myself faster, hanging onto the sound of her voice, like wind chimes against the cool air, suddenly it all went to hell.
It started with a sharp pain in my chest freezing my entire body, causing me to fall and skid across the ground.
Seth! Jacob yelled in my head. I didn't know what was happening. My body began to convulse I couldn't stop it.
Whoever a wolf imprints on, cannot be harmed. A loud voice boomed, I heard a piercing howl echo in my ears. My body lost all it's warmth. It's their most absolute law.
Imprint. Cannot be harmed. Suddenly, I saw her. Absolute law.
Seth. She smiled.
Seth, She called.
Seth! She cried.
Seth, she laughed
Seth, she whispered, nudging me awake.
Seth, she sighed, frowning.
Seth.
I cried out feeling my body painfully shift back to it's human form. In an instant, she was gone. It felt like I was being held down by her and then I was left to float into the void of space left behind. Everything, every moment, every kiss, every interaction was ripped away just like she was. Ripped away from me and when the pain subsided, I felt empty. It felt like there was nothing.
"Seth!" Jacob shook me but I felt like an empty shell. She was gone. I didn't know how I knew but she was.
"God, that hurt like a bitch what was that?" Embry groaned. Howls echoed in the distance.
I couldn't move, all I could think about was the fact that, "She's gone."
"What are you talking about?" Jacob asked his eyes full of concern.
"It's over. We lost her."
"Seth?"
"My imprint, it's gone."
They both stared at me wide eyed. It was the truth, that's what had happened, she died and my imprint to was just stripped from me. Those voices must have been the elders of the past.
"C'mon we should get back maybe someone on the reservation will know something," they both shifted back to their wolf forms and waited for me. I got up robotically and tried to shift, but couldn't. I felt too hot. My vision began to blur. Shift back dammit. I tried again, my body heated up but I was stuck. Suddenly, everything around blurred, An imprint is our most sacred bond. One must protect her and always be there for her. I swayed and all I saw was black.
Edward's POV
When I heard the series of howl's that sounded off in the woods, I thought they had found her.
We all thought they found her.
We were back at Carlisle's going over possible locations and mapping out every trail we had followed. Alice had convinced Oliver to come back with us. He hadn't spoken to Serena in months since she filtered him out. He had started to grow more and more irritable as the time dragged on. He was also thirstier. Maybe it was because he wasn't hunting as much but, it worried me. Mainly because Gabriel was watching him more closely and hiding his thoughts from me.
Something wasn't right with Oliver… I was leaning against the doorjamb when the howling started. We all looked up and Oliver fainted.
"Oliver!" Iris cried, catching him right before he hit the ground. Gabriel was with them in an instant.
"Something's wrong," Edward, get Carlisle. I looked toward the woods in front of the house waiting for Jacob to shoot out of them.
"Oliver? Oliver, son can you hear me?" Carlisle tried to get a response out of the boy to no avail.
Water, there's water everywhere. I can't breathe.
"Iris," Gabriel ordered. She nodded, humming a tune that came out more like a sharp screech.
Suddenly, Oliver shot awake, his eyes blazing red. Gabriel grabbed Renesmee and caged her against the wall. Blood.
Everyone sprung to life, Jasper held back the growling boy with Iris and Bella reached for our daughter still caged in Gabe's arms
Emmett and Rosalie stood in the gap between them unsure of what to do.
As if stunned, Oliver stopped his growling and thrashing and his eyes went back to normal. He grabbed his throat confused. "I'm sorry," He panted. He was breathing hard as if he had been drowning. "I'm sorry," he whispered again. Gabriel moved away from Renesmee nodding at her when she thanked them. He narrowed his eyes at Oliver, What a relief, we still have time. I was about to ask what he meant by that but Jacob came running out of the woods carrying a flushed and panting Seth to the door.
"Doc, we need you!" Embry hollered, the three of them stumbled in and Seth groaned in pain.
"What happened?"
"He's burning up! We don't know what to do," Carlisle mirrored our shock a wolf, with a fever? Seth groaned as Jacob set him on the couch. Carlisle began to examine him carefully.
"His heartbeat is furiously rapid. He's starting to panic. Seth it's Carlisle, try and stay still," But he didn't listen the youngest of the pack began to thrash in an attempt to get over his pain. Absolute law. Absolute law. An imprint cannot be harmed.
"I'm going to have to give him a sedative," Carlisle quickly grabbed it from his office and injected a heavy dose. Seth started to calm down and ended up passing out, his breathing remained heavy and his heartbeat was still unusually rapid.
"Jacob what happened? Tobias did he…"
"No, we heard her voice, then he fell mid run and there was this huge pain that rippled through all of us and then he said that—"
"You what?" Oliver exclaimed, "You heard her? Did you find her?"
"Oliver, Seth was hurt we stopped following the trail," Oliver began to tremble with anger.
"What if it was her!" He growled narrowing his eyes at Jake, I knew these wolves couldn't be trusted.
"Oliver, calm down," Esme admonished.
"I can't calm down, we've been searching for four months! She's running out of time and these mutts couldn't even stay on a trail!" His hostility was surprising. Oliver had always been very composed but now he seemed frantic, his thoughts were all over the place and thirst was on the back of his mind. I kept Renesmee close to me, just in case he had another outburst.
"It was another dead end," Quil said from the front yard, holding a tape recorder. He pushed play and we heard the recorded cries of desperation from Serena. He frowned stopping the tape. Oliver growled and stomped out, when Iris tried to follow he brushed her off. Then, for the first time since he arrived, Oliver used his gift.
There was a slight shimmer as his body rippled, then a beautiful, big, black panther with sapphire blue eyes and shiny white teeth growled at us.
"Oliver, we'll find her—" The panther roared, climbing onto a tree, his tail hanging down, he looked away from us. Lost in thoughts of his sister. "Fine then, act like that," Iris growled back at him. "Impossible!" She hissed stomping up to Serena's room and slamming the door. Only then did he turn his head looking toward the window of her room. I didn't mean to snap at you, dammit.
"Dude, that's the biggest panther I've ever seen, it's nearly the size of Jacob in his wolf form!" Emmett whispered.
"I didn't know he could shift into animals too," Carlisle mused.
Gabriel sighed, annoyed and watching Oliver's tail hanging off the tree. "He can basically shift into anything or anyone he wants. Not bugs though, or frogs for some reason. But when he does shift he's stronger and faster, well, bigger than any of the animals he turns into," He turned around and sat on the couch, "As long as he's touched it he can shift into it."
"Fascinating," Carlisle said. So both of their gifts are associated with touch. The twins really were gifted, I mean Alice had the strongest gift among all of us with Bella coming in second. But compared to Serena who could copy gifts and Oliver who could copy physical aspects, we were just minor players in the game.
Jacob, Quil and Embry were deep in thought gathered around Seth lowering their voices so that they were only barely breathing out their words.
"Spit it out Jacob," I said loudly, narrowing my eyes. The three of them looked over at us.
"Seth said that she was gone…" Quil began.
"I think that means their Imprint is gone…" Embry continued.
"How is that even possible?" Carlisle asked.
The three of them stayed quiet. Before I could hear what they were thinking Seth woke up.
"It's possible if she's dead," His eyes looked sullen. Iris immediately rushed out of Serena's room and before any of us could stop her she grabbed Seth and shoved him against the wall. Gabriel, I noticed looked not in the direction of Iris and Seth, but in Oliver's direction. He didn't even flinch when Seth said that, he just looked at Oliver. His expression was that of someone waiting for something to happen.
"What exactly are you talking about?" Oliver had shifted back to his human form slipping his clothes on so quickly it would seem like he had them on the entire time. His eyes narrowed at the boy in Iris's grasp.
"Iris," Esme started but it was too late the two of of them had gathered around Seth glaring at him.
"She's dead. That's why the imprint broke, that's the only way it would break," He explained.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Iris growled tightening her grip on his shoulders.
"Oh I think I do, it's been four months Iris! Do you honestly believe she's still alive? Do any of you?"
"How could you even think that?" Oliver said sharply, "How could you, for a second, think that I would ever just stop looking for her? She's my sister, my family, my blood," His voice got lower and lower with every word. "And she's not dead," he hissed.
"You haven't even been in contact with her! You haven't heard from her in––" There was a loud boom as Oliver punched Seth square in the jaw so hard he had been thrown out of Iris's grip and into the next wall, a large crack forming.
"Watch your mouth!" He roared, His anger is getting out of hand, Edward. It was true, Oliver was becoming more and more aggressive. Gabriel tried to get him to calm down by placing a hand on his shoulder but Oliver shoved him off. "She's not dead!"
"You can punch me all you want Oliver," Seth laughed, "But, believe me when I say that all we're looking for is a corpse!" Seth was clearly hysterical, he wanted Oliver to hurt him the way she was hurt. "The search is over."
Suddenly, the same thing that had snapped in Oliver before snapped again. His eyes flashed back to red and he snarled at Seth. "No wonder, she was so desperate to find measures to keep you. You're not loyal to her at all! Did you ever care for my sister, Seth?" That was all it took for Seth to snap. Despite his fever he still was eager to fight Oliver over those last words.
"What the hell did you just say to me? How dare you question my feelings for her! I was the desperate one!" He growled, "I was there for her when you abandoned her, when you left her to die in the ocean, when you brought the killer back to town!"
Oliver lunged and Emmett and I followed trying to get to him before he did any serious damage.
"Hey!" Jacob yelled stepping between them. Oliver smacked him out of the way and out the window. He shimmered and transformed back into the panther. He growled at Seth, c'mon mutt make a move.
"Jake!" Renesmee and Quil went outside to make sure he was okay. Given the amount of glass that had shattered, even Jacob would be cut up from that.
"I'm fine," His wounds had already started healing, Quil made sure to keep Renesmee away from the glass.
"Oliver!" Esme cried, trying to reason with him, but his eyes were still red and he bared his teeth at us. Stay out of it!
"Oliver, this isn't going to bring her back," I tried, the panther moved closer to us baring his teeth.
She's not dead!
"None of us said she was," I cautioned everyone to stay where they were, Seth started to pant again his heart rate continuing to speed up. The mutt did!
"He's just hurting...we all are," He softened. Just then Iris, who had been moving behind him and in front of Seth, tackled him and tried to hold him down. He flailed and growled attempting to claw her with his large paws.
"Oliver!" She cried attempting not to hurt him and not get hurt, "Shift back, please…" He continued to try and hurt her roaring.
"That's enough!" Gabriel boomed. Oliver froze glaring at Gabriel. "Shift back right now." Oliver snarled in reply. Jasper sent a wave of calm his way and he started to slowly let his guard down. "Shift. Back!" Gabriel barked. The whole room was silent. We were waiting for Oliver's next move all ready to play defense if we had to.
After a few seconds, Oliver's eyes returned to his original color and he shimmered back to his human form. Gabriel threw a blanket at Iris who covered him with it. He remained quiet sitting in front of us, his eyes still full of aggression. Iris kept her arms around him, she was afraid. He had never done that to her, he had never acted like this ever. It left the both of us worried. Please, please get a hold of yourself.
Gabriel, on the other hand, knew something. He sighed in relief when Oliver shifted back. So there's still a chance.
Carlisle and Esme walked them to the home we had built, figuring they needed to cool down, Carlisle told me to try and figure out what Seth was trying to say.
Jacob and Embry rushed over to Seth, "You alright?" He continued to pant and sweat his body started to shake, Absolute law. Cannot be harmed. "Seth?"
"The imprint is...gone Jacob," He panted, "She's gone. There's no point in continuing this search. Why else do you think this is happening? She's not coming back!" Seth clutched his head.
"I think...he's right…" Quil agreed.
"Wait a second, we can't just stop looking for her," Emmett said.
"This has never happened to any of us before, we don't understand it but, something snapped in him… we all felt it," Jacob sighed, "He can't even shift right now, maybe this is what happens when an imprint dies."
"Maybe this is what happens when an Imprint is too far from the wolf that's bonded to her for too long a period of time!" Rosalie snapped.
"I don't think so," Seth said, "I don't care what anyone says...I'm done." He walked past all of us stumbling a bit and when Renesmee tried to stop him, he smiled sadly at her. "This search is over, she's gone. You all have to accept this," He maneuvered around her and walked out of the door where Leah was waiting for him, she helped him walk into the woods and then he was gone.
Everyone was silent. Should we listen to Seth?
Jacob was the first to speak, "I won't put Seth through anymore pain, I'm calling off the search."
"Jake wait," Renesmee began, "We can't just––"
"Ness, there's nothing more we can do for her," He placed a hand on my daughter's shoulder but she brushed him off.
"Oliver still believes she's alive!" Renesmee had tears building up but she held them back, "We can't say she's…dead... until we see it with our own eyes. You can stop looking but, I'm going to keep looking––"
"We're all going to keep looking," Jasper corrected standing next to Renesmee narrowing his eyes at Jacob. Bella nodded standing next to them. He looked at all of us, hoping for one of us to be on his side.
"Edward," He began, "You know I'm right, be reasonable, are you really going to keep putting your family through this grief? Renesmee doesn't deserve this––"
"Serena, doesn't deserve this, Jacob," I corrected. We stood there glaring at each other until finally, he relented, Do what you want, my decision is final. He walked out shooting one last apologetic look at Renesmee, Embry and Quil following behind, then they shifted and dashed off into the woods.
"Do you think they're right?" Bella asked, breaking the silence that had fallen in the living room.
"I think they believe they are," I sighed, plopping down on the couch.
"I can't believe they'd do this again," Emmett growled.
"Do what?" Bella asked.
"Abandon her, it's like when she was turned all over again, only then she was safe with us but now, how could they just...just go on without her? Without at least knowing what happened to her?" Rosalie went to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"We're not doing that, Emmett, that's what really matters," Jasper nodded beside them, sending calm waves their way.
Alice had remained in the corner of the room the entire time. She didn't talk much after Serena disappeared, every time one of us tried to she'd wave us away. Jasper was getting more and more worried about her. She rubbed her temples trying to see something other than the numerous ways the blue eyes girl was being tortured.
Seeing that is what was hardest on Alice. Tobias had an idea on how her gift worked and used it to his advantage. Since, he knew his decisions were being watched he explicitly decided every way he wanted to inflict pain on her. Which, of course, would be relayed back to Alice. She was taking it hard. He knew exactly which buttons to push with all of us. I had never seen my sister look so helpless before, she was always one step ahead of everything, she wasn't used to following.
Serena has been gone for four months, every trail had led to a dead end. We hadn't seen Sebastian since the night she disappeared. Maybe he already knew…
"Gabriel is hiding something," I announced. Everyone's eyes zeroed in on me.
"What do you mean?" Bella asked.
"He didn't even flinch when Seth mentioned that he thought Serena was dead, he was just paying attention to Oliver," I mused, pausing to try and find a way to explain it
"You think he was in on this?"
"Emmett!" Alice hissed.
"I'm just saying––"
"Tobias is his brother," Rosalie interjected, eager to protect her mate.
"The way he looked at Oliver though wasn't skeptically, he looked worried," I corrected. I had never intended to strain the trust my family had in him.
"He felt genuinely, worried too," Jasper mentioned. "After Oliver got a hold of himself again, he was relieved. Alice remained quiet in the corner. Maybe I was right after all. I immediately tried to find out what she was thinking about but she masked her thoughts.
"We should talk to him," Bella interjected, "We're not going to find her if we don't work together––"
"We should stop worrying about Gabriel," Alice announced, everyone looked to her shocked. My siblings knew to trust Alice but wasn't she at all worried about this?
"But if he knows something––"
"Rose I'm sure if he did know anything, he would have told us. When it comes to Serena, he won't hesitate to get all the help he can get. So brush away your skeptism, we have to focus on her right now."
Everyone nodded, understanding and willing to put the matter aside for now.
Suddenly, the phone rang, I walked over to it, "Must be Carlisle," Alice flitted over and grabbed it right before I put my hand on it. I looked over at her.
It's not Carlisle… She answered, "Hello?"
"Alice?" We all froze, after four months without a word, this phone call was surprising.
"Sebastian," She sighed relieved that he was okay.
