Third Person
It was midnight. The time where all householders locked themselves in their homes, presumably in the covers or watching Late Night Comedy shows. It was the time where the whole town was quiet and inactive.
But not quite can be said about 20 year old, Tatum, was working well into the night at the local store. High school dropout, his dad left him when he was three, his mother died when was 17, he got into some trouble, got into drugs, he was homeless for a year. He's basically a poster child of disaster and he knows it.
Getting this job was probably a miracle to him after trying to reshape his life. Trying – because even if he won't admit it to himself – he relapses all the time but he always makes sure nobody around him sees that, especially his boss.
"I'm heading out. I trust that you'll be able to close up shop?" His boss told him a couple hours ago.
"Yeah, sure," Tatum replied.
Two hours later, he begins sweeping out the store and also known as his home. I mentioned he was homeless before but never mentioned whether or not it worked out in the end. In his mind it did. He sleeps in his boss' office every night –relishing in the feeling of sleeping in his couch – and wakes up at dawn before he could get caught. Tatum's boss always commended him for being punctual all the time but if only he knew…
His life was terrible, it had no meaning and oddly enough he was content in that because that meant his lifespan would be shortened as opposed to others who have their lives figured out. Yes. He wanted to die.
He's just wondering when it was time to.
As he grabbed a bar of Reeses and chomped on it as he continued sweeping away, blasting some music on his headsets. As he covered the third aisle, the lights flickered. He frowned as he looked up at the fluorescent lights, watching them shift back to normal before going back to his job.
Drop.
A type of liquid dropped onto the ground and the realization of what that liquid was caused him to stop in his tracks. He bent down to feel the crimson substance and took a sniff of the metallic liquid.
Suddenly, he felt warm liquid hit his face and trickle down to his shirt. He frowned as he went to touch his face only to be met by blood on his hands. He bulged his eyes and looked up at the ceiling to see the horrific of a mutilated body, drenched in bandanas of blood.
He shrieked as he tumbled off the bucket full, causing him to fall and that was when darkness crept in. Still in shock, Tatum bumbled up and charged for the doors, but only to find them sealed shut.
He groaned as he ran over to the cash register desk, scrambling for the spare key but only to find nothing. He cussed as he ran to the backdoor –given the fact that it was dark – and tried breaking the door open with his body.
He heard a gush of wind sweep past him and an ominous, eerie hum linger in the air. He could feel something coming towards him. Something fast. Something strong.
And there was no way out…
"Help!" He screamed, resorting to something pointless as he banged his fist against the door that wouldn't budge open.
"No one's going to help you." He heard a sinister voice whisper in a monotone.
"What?" He asked rhetorically, squinting his eyes towards the figure making its way to him.
He was met with bloodshot eyes and a threatening grin, before everything just went bleak.
… …
RENESMEE'S POV
Seth rushed out of the house first as Jake threw me over his shoulder, with me protesting even though I'm pretty sure I needed it because I didn't think I would be able to stand whatever's going on in the medical room.
The minute Jacob got me out of the house and onto the porch; he placed me on the ground and held me by the arms, restraining me from scuttling back into the house.
"Seth, go!" He stated before Seth jogged off to god knows where. I didn't care about anything this point. My mind was too preoccupied with all the mess to even care about anything.
"Calm down, shh! Shh!" He whispered to me, soothing me gently by rubbing his hands up and down my arms.
"How am I supposed to calm down when my friend's dying? I –" I sniveled, shaking my head dramatically.
"Hey, hey, it's okay baby!" He mentioned, placing his hands on my face, wiping my tears away. It was as if his words instantaneously took away every frightened fiber in my being and my tears just stopped.
He planted his lips on my forehead. "Okay, let's get you out of here." He said as he wrapped his hand around mine and descended the porch steps with me by his side.
"Where are we going?" I asked him as I halted on the last step, breaking our interlocked fingers as he stood on the grass.
He turned around to face me, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to the side so he was now showcasing his massive, incredible physique.
"What are you doing?" I questioned nonchalantly.
He didn't reply. He gestured for me to look away as he just continued discarding his garments, from his pants to his shoes and that's when I realized what he was doing. I spun around, closing my eyes shut and covering my mouth with strands of my hair, feeling utterly sheepish.
In a matter of seconds, I heard a low growl from behind me. I reluctantly turned around to see the familiar large brown wolf staring at me.
Jake moved close to me and nuzzled his wet nose against my hand. I snorted.
"This is no time for playtime," I told him.
He whimpered and snuck glance into the woods. I followed his gaze, my eyes transfixed on the line of Oak trees. I stared back at Jacob with my eyebrows raised. He stuck his tongue out, forming a wolf smile. I rolled my eyes as I went to hop onto his back but cheekily maneuvered myself off him and began charging for the woods.
I assumed he knew what I was doing and I heard the rough patter of wolf paws sprinting behind me. I spun around to see Jacob on my tail. I shook my head as I picked up my pace. I began running to the side and hopping off every rock in sight. I glanced to the side to see Jacob's giant wolf form fully focused on his jog; however, I could sense the wooziness creeping on him.
I gnawed my bottom lip as I grabbed onto one of the branches and swung my body around, flying to the next branch I came across with and the next and the next until I found myself reaching the clearing. I turned around to see if Jacob was behind me. I laughed when I realized I left him behind.
This was what Jake and I did all the time, from when I was just a young hybrid. We'd race into the forests of Forks and he'd always come out on top. It annoyed me to the point that whenever we even brought up the race, I'd immediately feel defeated.
Now that I actually beat his werewolf butt, certainly made me bask all the goodness of bruising his ego –which I loved by the way.
However, the feeling didn't last for long because I found myself drifting off to Lizzie. Wondering what could be happening to here by now. Is she dead? Did the child kill her? Is this what Charles wanted? Did he want her to die in the hands of his own spawn? Why wasn't I more supportive? Did I even get a chance to say goodbye?
I could hear Jake scent drawing closer and the sound of paws hitting the ground reached my ears. I stared into the sky, the full moon in the center of dusk, surrounded by clouds. It was gloomy. So accurate to how tonight should be.
"I understand what you're doing Jacob and I appreciate it. I know you're trying to get my mind off what's currently happening back at the house but I-I can't just forget what I saw." I whispered to him. After a short while, I turned around to face my favorite wolf. "Take me home."
He nodded his big head before moving towards me, facing his back at me so I could climb on him. I hopped onto his colossal furry frame and I felt the wind immediately blow my hair as we ran back home.
… …
It's been three hours! It's been three hours since I watched my friend die in front of my eyes! No. She's not dead! She can't be! But why do I feel like she is?!
"It's been three hours! They should be calling us by now." I half-whispered half-shouted in Jacob's warm embrace, staring at my phone's screen.
If it wasn't for Seth and Jake pulling me out of the house, if it wasn't for Jake's large arms engulfing me, I'd probably break down right then and there. Jake was the only thing keeping me essentially sane at this moment.
"They'll call." He told me.
I sighed as Seth walked into the room and placed a cup of coffee on the table.
"Thank you, Seth." I murmured.
He nodded as he took a seat on the chair.
"You two should sit down. All this standing is making me frown and I never frown!" Seth joked. I guess it was a tool to lighten up the mood and it worked…a little.
Jake and I pulled apart and I grabbed the coffee, taking a sip of it as I took a seat on the couch.
"What do you think happened?" I asked as I held the piping hot cup in my grasp.
Seth shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess she was ready to pop." He smiled. I rolled my eyes.
"No. I mean, what would make her crash?" I asked.
"Carlisle's probably got it figured out." Jake said as he leaned against the fire place, tossing some twigs into the flames.
"I wonder how the baby's going to turn out. I mean the kid's father is an angel/vampire, right? So do you think it'll come out with wings? Or maybe one half of the wings since it's a hybrid?" Seth questioned. I snorted lowly. "No. I'm serious, it's freaking me out. What is this kid?"
"Seth. I don't think it's the right time to come up with theories." Jake said, gesturing to me.
"We need to go." I said, placing the cup back onto the coffee table and hopping off the couch, making my way to the door.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jake stated as he gripped my wrist. I spun around to face him. "Don't you think we should wait a little while longer?"
"Wait for what? Wait for them to tell me that my friend's dead? We can't just sit here and wait for a message when we can go back there and find out for ourselves." I said.
"Are you prepared for that?" Jake asked.
I shook my head. "No. But I know that I can't sit here in suspense, hoping for something that more than likely might not happen. So, are you two coming?"
Jake and Seth glanced at each other before nodding their heads. I nodded my head as I barged my way out of the house with them on my back. We hopped into the car and drove off –although the house is five minutes away, it was dark.
We walked into the Cullen mansion to the sound of loud bickering coming from the living room.
I frowned as I began jogging into the living room to see my dad and even Emmett shouting at Rosalie who seemed to be firing back.
"I still don't understand what made you do that?" Edward sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I thought I was doing the right thing!" Rosalie retorted.
"By going against everything you believed in! Yeah! Okay," Emmett shook his head, releasing a sigh and falling onto the couch with his face in his hands.
"What's going on?" I asked.
All heads turned to us.
"Nessie, I didn't know you came back." My mother said as she walked over to me and wrapping her arms around me.
"Is Lizzie okay?" I asked, holding onto my mom's arm.
The house fell silent.
I didn't know whether to take the sudden stillness as a sign that my thoughts being answered or that there's more to the story that they're finding hard to explain.
"Guys!" I pleaded.
After for what felt like forever, Bella was the one to answer in behalf of all the distressed, livid, apprehensive faces.
"The baby um…" She began carefully. I widened my eyes. The baby died?!
"The baby's okay. It wasn't responsive in the beginning but I got it out in time." Rosalie answered. "He's beautiful. Carter's perfect."
I exhaled one half of the breath I was holding. So the baby was fine. Carter was alive but where did that leave his mother?
"And Lizzie? She didn't make it right?" I confirmed, without actually hearing it from there side.
"We don't know." Edward replied.
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"You don't know?" Jake probed.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Seth questioned.
"After the birth, Lizzie began deteriorating almost to the point of having her last breath but Rose decided to perform drastic measures." Edward pointed out.
"Drastic measures? I was saving her life!" Rosalie shouted back.
"By turning her?" Emmett snapped back at his wife.
My heart dropped.
What?!
"Guys –" Bella tried to intervene.
"Turn her? W-why? What? Did she even want that?" I asked frantically.
"No, she didn't which is also why Rosalie shouldn't have done what she did!" Edward stated.
"Okay!" Bella entered in, glaring at my father. "Weren't you the same people who respected my wishes of becoming a vampire?"
"This is different, love."
"No. It's not. Lizzie was willing to go through all of this, carrying the hope that she'd survive in the end and knowing that she might not make it scared her. She may not have wanted this for herself, she may be mad at us when she wakes up but she'll at least be happy to get to know her son. That's all Rosalie wanted for her." Bella said.
"What if she doesn't wake up? What will happen then?" Edward questioned. "Carter will grow up not knowing his mother at all and Rosalie will carry this guilt her whole life."
"Okay, take a step back brother. I feel you but you don't have to take everything out on my wife okay!" Emmett mentioned as he shot up, coming close to my dad.
"I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. I'm just trying to point out the fact that Rosalie is the one person who didn't deserve this kind of life and now she'll have to carry this with her forever. I know how it is to feel like you went against everything you stood for and endangering the life of a human even though it's not premeditated. It's not a good feeling, okay!" Edward stated.
"I know." Rosalie whispered lowly as she looked at both her brother and husband intently.
"But this is me trying to get over that. I can help the lives of two people this way. Watching Bella with Nessie over the years, I realized how important a mother to child bond is! I want that, of course…I need that but not in expense of another." She added.
Emmett immediately softened and he pulled his wife into his arms.
"I'm sorry I'm being a blonde. No offense babe." He whispered. Rose giggled lightly.
"Where's Carlisle?" Jake asked, placing his hand on my back. I leaned into him, clutching his shirt tightly.
"He's in the medical room with Esme." My dad replied as he stood beside my mother, kissing her head.
"Carlisle's running some tests on the baby whilst Esme's keeping an eye on Lizzie."
"So what are we going to do?" Seth asked.
"I guess there's nothing else we can do but wait." Edward pointed out.
The room soon fell silent yet again. So we had to wait three more days to get the answer on whether Lizzie survived the bite or not.
"Are Alice, Jasper and Nahuel still out hunting?" I asked no one in particular.
"Yeah, we texted them earlier and they told us they're on their way." Edward mentioned.
A short while later, Esme's scent lingered into the room and I lifted my head from Jacob's chest to see my grandmother cradling a creamy bundle in her arms and a warm smile plastered on her face.
"Everyone, I know it's been a rather gloomy night but I think it's nevertheless the perfect time to introduce you all to Carter James." She said to all of us.
Rosalie immediately beamed up and ran over to Esme, basically snatching the baby from her and placing him in her arms, relishing in the joy of cradling a baby again. I smiled slightly, glancing at Jake who had a straight face. I rolled my eyes.
"Renesmee, come meet Carter." Aunt Rosalie grinned at me as she, my mother and grandmother cooed at the squirming newborn. I smiled as I slowly made my way over to them, staring down into Rose's arms to see the most beautiful little creature I've ever seen.
Carter's fair skin reminded me so much of a clean sheet of paper but feeling his cheek reminded me of touching a flaming hot bowl of soup. I grinned as stroked his light coffee brown hair. His head was so soft and lustrous.
However, what struck me the most were his gorgeous dark amber eyes. It wasn't like a vampire's, and it wasn't like human's amber eyes, it was…weird. The elements of sea around his eyes, his cute button nose and his peachy lips reminded me so much of Lizzie.
"He's so adorable!" Bella stated.
"I know. He's way cuter than you Nessie, I'm sorry not sorry." Rosalie chuckled as she pressed her finger in his lip and him gurgling in return. I smiled.
I glanced at Jake who smiled back at me. I turned back to the baby and grinned. I had always thought Nahuel was the only other hybrid I'd ever meet but here I am now, seeing someone who'll grow up in both the human world and vampire world. I'm not alone. He's not alone.
As if to either add onto this amazing moment or diminish it completely, we all heard a loud patter of the heart and our heads straightaway darted towards the other room.
… …
A/N: Hey guys! I threw a cliffyhanger at you and I hope you caught it! This is going to be so intense! I can feel it!
So Carter's alive and well and Lizzie's transitioning into a vampire? Hmm…how will that play out?
And what did that cold opener in the beginning of the chapter mean?
Stay tuned!
Review please!