Chapter Thirty Six

Leah

Charlie hadn't spoken, only nodded an acknowledgment of my presence, I couldn't even begin to understand the depth of his sorrow and horror and it was all my fault. I was the one who had brought her here only for her to die. The doctor said she had probably been infected before we left Forks but that didn't help my guilt, somehow I felt Bella's death was my penance for becoming a guardian when my sex rarely did. Everyone kept saying there was no hope, nothing they could do, but that wasn't quite true. There was a way to save her, only one, and it would mean damming her immortal soul, was it even right to think about it? I felt I owed it to my friend to at least bring the subject up so I asked to speak to Johnny in private. He studied me before agreeing and we went across the snow covered road to another cabin that served as his office. It was deserted apart from Johnny for which I was grateful and I took a seat across from him and began to speak before I lost my courage.

He listened to me in silence, his face impassive and not until I finished did he speak.

"I understand your love for your friend and the guilt, albeit unjustified, that you feel but do you understand what you are suggesting Leah?"

"Yes, and I've thought long and hard about this but it's her only chance to survive, to live."

"To live? I hardly think that describes the condition your friend would find herself in. Vampires are our mortal enemies, they prey on humans Leah, they kill to obtain their nourishment. Would you consider making yet another? Turning your friend into one of them? Do you have any idea what is involved in becoming a vampire?"

I shook my head,

"You would be condemning her to days of excruciating pain and torment as the vampire venom moved through her body like cancer, eating away her human cells, killing the human being that she is and then when she wakes up she would find herself mad with blood lust. Newborn vampires are responsible for three-quarters of all vampire attacks on humans. Just think of all those deaths you would have on your conscience besides which as a vampire Bella would become a threat to your brother and sister guardians, is that what you want? You should think very carefully about the consequences of such an ill-advised course of action."

I was still unsure although I did think about the things Johnny had said. Up to a few days ago I would have agreed with him wholeheartedly but now…..now things had changed. It was Bella laying there, my friend I was thinking about and that changed things. I knew Johnny wouldn't sanction calling Jasper to save Bella but could I sit by and watch her die when I could have saved her? Of course I couldn't accomplish it alone, I wouldn't countenance Jasper coming on guardian territory, that would mean guardian deaths, my brothers, maybe even my sister, losing their lives but if there was a way of getting Bella away from the reservation…...I needed to be sure what I was contemplating was right and the only other person I could talk to was Charlie. Bella was his flesh and blood and if he thought her becoming a vampire was better than watching her die then it had to be right, but by telling him I would be breaking every rule, both of my kind and those of the vampires, and that was a serious burden of guilt. I might well be expelled from Denali which meant a life alone as a nomad, solitary and dangerous, was it really worth it? Was Bella that precious to me?

Charlie

I sat with Bella until my eyes began to close of their own accord, I hadn't stopped for food, drink or sleep since I spoke to Johnny, and Annie, who had introduced herself earlier insisted I leave my daughter's bedside to eat and rest for a little while in another room the other side of the cabin. I didn't think I could sleep but I found my eyes closing once more after Annie promised to wake me if there were any change in Bella's condition which I took to mean if she slipped into a coma. I hadn't been asleep long when I found a hot hand clamped over my mouth and a nudge to the shoulder. Leah stood over me, a finger to her lips, looking furtive, and I sat up warily. She leaned in until her mouth was at my ear and whispered low,

"I really need to speak to you Chief Swan but not here. Please come with me, I may be able to help Bella but I need your assent."

I shook my head to clear away the cobwebs, save Bella? But the doctor had said there was nothing that could be done.

I slipped out of bed and into my boots and coat and followed Leah cautiously out of the room through the window. Whatever she had planned must be against the wishes of the others here or she wouldn't be leading me out into the snow in the middle of the night. The silence was shattered by a cry from Bella and I turned back but Leah tugged urgently on my arm to force me on.

Once in the shelter of an open fronted vehicle store she sat on a snowmobile and motioned for me to join her, where the hell were we going? Surely we would be heard or seen if we left the village and if she thought I would go now, with Bella dying…... But it seemed he had no intention of going anywhere, instead, she leaned close and began to talk. I wasn't sure what I expected but it sure as hell wasn't what I was hearing. How the hell could she sit here in the freezing cold with her best friend dying just a few hundred yards away and come out with such shit? Did she really think I would believe such crap? I got to my feet furious with her,

"That's enough Leah, I don't appreciate you dragging me out here and making up stupid fucking stories. What's gotten into you, girl?"

I started back across the road then froze as I heard a low warning growl behind me and turning around real slow I saw a huge wolf standing in the shadow of the building I had just left. Was it going to attack? Had Leah seen it? If she hadn't and came out it might well savage her. I didn't know what to do but I couldn't just leave her unprotected and then before my very eyes the wolf began to shimmer and distort almost like clay that was being squeezed by a potter and in its place stood the naked form of the girl I knew as Leah Clearwater. She nodded to me and disappeared back inside while I stood open mouthed in amazement and horror.

It seemed everything she had told me, about shapeshifters and vampires was true and the only way to prove it to me was to change herself, into her wolf form. I felt my hands still shaking and rammed them deep in my jacket pocket as I trudged back to the transport building and the wolf girl wondering what I would do and if I were brave enough to take her suggestion.

Leah had returned to her place on the snowmobile dressed once more and watching for me warily.

"I'm sorry if I scared you Chief Swan but it was the only way to prove I was telling you the truth. You see, shape-shifters do exist, and so do vampires I'm afraid to say."

I nodded taking my place beside her still wary having seen what she could become.

"Why would you suggest this if you hate the vampires so much?"

"Because I love Bella more and I don't want to see her die Chief. She stuck by me during my darkest hours, I can't do less for her. But we don't have much time and I have to get in contact with Jasper Hale."

"Why can't he come here?"

She shook her head vehemently,

"No, it would start a war. We have to get Bella off the reservation without anyone seeing us. He said he would wait for her in Talkeetna but I think he's in Anchorage now."

"Why would he be in Anchorage?"

She explained with guilt written on her face what she had said to him,

"So you see, he won't listen to anything I say, he'll just think it's another lie or a trick."

"But you think he'll listen to me?"

"He has to, he'd do anything to keep Bella alive Chief, he loves her."

"Then we need to get in contact with him and think of a way to get Bella out of here but that's not going to be easy Leah."