*Jack's P.O.V.*
"Edward!" I screamed.
The vampire I knew as Luci shot forward with impossible speed and grace towards Edward. He was braced for the attack. Her fist collided with this cheek making a horrid, loud, crack. Like two large pieces of marble slamming into each other. Edward was flung back into the wall near the destroyed doorway he'd entered from.
I winced away from the loud sound. I struggled in vain against my restraints. I could hear Luci pummeling Edward. The only reason why he wasn't fighting back was because of Teddy. I had to get out and I hoped that I could use their brainwashing to my advantage. I rolled over to Teddy's feet.
"Teddy!" I hissed. Teddy looked at me blankly, still pressing the knife to their throat.
"Huh?" They said.
"I'm going to cut my wrists!" I tried to make it sound urgent, "The tape is too tight."
Teddy's face lit up with panic. "No! Don't do that!" They leaned down quickly to me and quickly sliced at my restraints.
"Don't listen to him!" Luci's voice called from the doors. "He's lying!"
Teddy looked at me confused. "Were you lying to me?"
I bounced up and punched them in the face. They looked dumbfounded and then they fell flat on their back; dropping the knife.
"In my defense, you hit me first!" I muttered. He had dropped the knife. I picked it up and used it to free my legs. With the adrenaline pumping through my veins I felt like I had been reset to faculty settings. I stood up armed with the knife. I looked to Edward. He was not in good condition. He had multiple cuts and he struggled to get to his hands and knees. Luci was grinning at him.
"No!" Edward shouted.
Then she was on me. I took a swing at her with my knife. The blade shattered on contact. I gasped and took a step away from her.
"Sounds like you got a few screws loose." She said as she tilted her head. I ran for the exit. I couldn't help it, panic took over and I ran towards Edward. I didn't make it; I was nowhere near fast enough. Luci was in front of me in a flash. She grabbed me by my throat with her left hand. My feet swung into the air like a dog suddenly pulled back on its leash. She grinned at me.
"You watching Ed?" She asked. My heart pumped faster and faster as I watched her slowly open her mouth wide and bite down hard on my arm. I heard what sounded like a hurt animal yowling. I realized with a jolt of surprise that it was me yowling. I was suddenly flung away from Luci. I slammed into a wall. My lungs flattened out against the wall and all the air they held dissipated. Every fiber of my being erupted into pain. It felt like all my bones had been ground into a fine powder. When I landed on the floor, I hit the ground at an angle. I heard the crunch rather than feel it. My head fogged up again. My body trembled. My stomach did all sorts of gymnastics. My vision dissolved. I felt so sleepy. I knew I shouldn't close my eyes, but they were so heavy.
"What the ****?!" I heard Luci screech. Her voice hurt my eyes, I closed them and drifted away.
*Edward's P.O.V.*
Zhi took advantage of my relationship with Jack's friend. She slashed at me and bit me. I looked at Teddy and sure enough his eyes were fixated on me; making sure I wasn't fighting back. One of her swings sliced into my cheek. Her attacks were shallow. They were meant to draw blood; not to mutilate. She was torturing me. I bared my teeth and snarled at her. It was all I could do, and she reveled in the power she had over me. She didn't even have to use her powers to control me.
"Teddy!" I heard Jack say. "I'm going to cut my wrists! The tape is too tight." I looked to him. I heard Teddy's panicked thoughts as he couldn't go against the orders Zhi had given him. He leaned over and freed Jack's arms. Zhi quickly glanced at Teddy over her shoulder.
"Don't listen to him!" She hissed. "He's lying!"
It was too late though. Jack was up and with it enough to punch Teddy out. Teddy fell down and dropped the knife. I tried to get to my hands and knees. It had been such a long time since I'd seen this much of my own blood.
"I want you to see me kill him." Zhi said. I glared at her. "She's going to taste so good."
"NO!" I growled.
Then, Zhi did something to me that she'd only done a few times in the past. We didn't know she could do this because up until then her mind control power didn't work on me. The first time had been an accident, the subsequent time destroyed our relationship. She couldn't control me verbally. But she could control me with her thoughts.
She bombarded my mind with her own will. All I could feel was her wants. I had become an extension of her. There was a small part of my mind that was still me and it was going to take some time to expand my presence in my mind again.
While I struggled with that, she ran to Jack who tried to defend himself with the knife he'd taken from Teddy. As he swung the knife, his ankle popped; not in a painful way. The joint was just naturally loose. It was a holdover from when he had broken it as a child. The knife shattered like glass. Most human weapons couldn't hurt us, vampires.
"Sounds like you got a few screws loose." I heard Zhi say to Jack, referencing his ankle. I could hear his heart rate increase, his breaths as he began to panic. He ran towards me. I tried to get up, but my body wasn't mine yet.
Zhi dashed in front of him and caught him by the throat with one hand.
"You watching Ed?" She asked me. I could feel her smile as though it were mine. My face wanted to emulate her grin. I closed my eyes.
I felt Zhi glance at me; I felt her bite into Jack's arm. His blood exploded from his arm. It was delicious and warm. I could feel it roll down my throat.
"AAAARRRGH!" Jack screeched.
No. I didn't want this. It wasn't my throat his blood slid down, it was hers. Rage pulsated from the center of my brain. It forced Zhi's mind out and my will surging back through my body. I shot up to my feet and charged her. Before I could reach her, she tossed Jack across the room. He slammed into the far wall and fell like a limp rag doll; his limbs were bent in awkward directions.
I collided with her. She was stronger than me. She was fully fed with human blood. I was able to push her over a few inches, but her frame was rigid.
"Wow, it's never taken you this quick to recover from me." She smirked. "You must really like this guy." She pushed against me for what felt like hours though it was only a few seconds. Then she suddenly pulled away from me. I fell forward but caught myself.
"Teddy!" She cried, sounding scared. "Are you going to let this crazy guy attack your girlfriend?"
I paused. Teddy dragged herself up and glared at me.
"Hands off my girlfriend!" She hissed. She lunged at me. I jerked backwards away from her. I was too strong to fight her. Zhi smiled as she made sure to stay behind Teddy.
"You coward!" I snarled.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Teddy yelled. She took a swing at me. Her coordination was off. She was still disorientated from Jack's hit. I easily avoided Teddy's blows, but my speed had taken a fatal dip. Teddy backed me to the wall next to the door I'd entered.
"Teddy!" I groaned. I was getting tired. "I'm your friend."
"Anyone who hurts my lady is not my friend!" Teddy growled defiantly. I could feel the power of her protectiveness and I knew I was done for.
Suddenly, a part of the wall to my right crumbled with an earth shattering smash. Zhi looked towards it. The head of the giant wolf who'd headbutted it's way in, shot forward and clamped its mouth around Zhi's throat and upper torso.
"What the f***?!" Zhi screeched.
The giant russet wolf shook Zhi around like a dog toy and tossed her to the other side of the gym in the opposite direction of Jack. She hit the wall with enough force that it split. She fell down and didn't move. She must have been stunned.
I looked to the wolf in awe and noticed that someone was perched on top of it, using a backpack as a shield.
"Alia?" I gasped. Alia's eyes were wide with concern.
"Hey!" Teddy yelled at the wolf. The wolf stepped away from her, startled. I took advantage of Teddy's distraction. I slipped quickly behind her and clamped my hand over her nose and mouth. She struggled but she was no match for me. I didn't kill her, I just knocked her out.
"Oh my gosh!" Alia called as she slid down the side of the wolf.
"She's fine." I panted. Alia walked up to me and put her hand on my cheek.
"Are you ok?" She said loudly to me. I looked into her eyes. She had come here to help Jack. She was surprised that I was here and seeing me now had shifted all of her concern away from Jack. I saw myself in her mind, I looked like I'd been mauled by a bear.
Oh no! Look at Jack, is he ok? He looks like he's dead! The wolf thought as he whined. I recognized the mental voice. I looked at him.
"Jacob?" I muttered. My knees buckled. I fell down to my knees.
"Edward!" Alia yelled. I looked to her. "I'm going to Jack. Ok?" Why was she talking so loudly? I nodded.
"What will it take to make you ditch this guy?" Zhi screeched. The three of us looked at her. Alia's eye's widened and she ran to Jack. Zhi flashed after her.
It was up to me and Jacob to protect Alia and Jack.
*Alia's P.O.V.*
We were driving in nervous silence now. Jacob had listened to me explain the situation.
"So." He finally said. "If this vampire can control minds, doesn't that mean that as soon as we show up, we'll be under her control?" I hadn't thought about that. She'd easily gotten me to break up with Jack. I thought quickly.
"I'll put earplugs in." I said. "That way I can't hear her." Jacob nodded.
"Ok, what about me?" He asked.
"Earplugs too?" I offered.
"They're not going to fit in my wolf ears." He said. "I don't want to end up fighting on the wrong side."
I thought for a moment and then smiled. "It doesn't have to be my earplugs, as long as you've got something in your ears." I opened my bag and ruffled around for my Vampire Dagger. The blade was made of silver and was patterned with crosses.
"Whoa!" Jacob exclaimed as I stabbed my seat. I pulled out the foam and fluff from inside.
"Do you think this will work?" I asked.
"We'll have to see." He said. "We're here." He parked next to the curb.
"Right." I said. I made to open the door, but I got distracted by…
"Ok. I'll sniff them out and you can ride on my back." Jacob said as he began to remove his clothes. He started with his shirt and then moved to his pants.
"Whoa! Whoa! Hey!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing?" Jacob looked at me with an awkward smiled.
"My clothes don't change with me." He explained. "I like these pants. They got a lot of pockets."
"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed. "Are you going to strip down completely?"
"Don't look, k?" He called. I got out of the car with my bag and stood in front of it as he removed the rest of his clothes. I was getting an odd combination of emotions from this.
I peeked at him. He was leaning out the door, hands on the ground outside, back half still in the car. He had his eyes squeezed tight.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Shush!" Jacob said, "I've only done this twice before. Give me a second." He shifted his weight between his hands. "I swear this never happens." He joked.
"Oh my God!" I groaned. I covered my face and turned away. Suddenly my car rocked to the side. I spun around. Exiting the driver side of my car was a giant russet wolf. He stood up.
"Alright." I said. "Let's get ourselves tuned out." Jacob nodded. He kneeled down so I could mount him. I stuffed the makeshift earplugs into his fluffy ears. Once I did mine, I tapped his side.
Jacob gave a mighty woof and ran to the school. He charged the side of the building. I thought he still needed to find Jack, but his speed implied that he already knew where he was going. Oh dang! I thought, He's going to ram it! I held my bag over me to protect myself from the debris. I held myself to his fur as he broke through.
I felt Jacob lurch forward and start shaking under me. I lowered my bag to see why. Jacob was slinging the vampire back and forth in his mouth. Then he spat her out and she flew into one of the walls, denting it.
I looked around. I saw Jack lying on the floor on the opposite side of the room. My heart stopped. He looked so… dead. My glance continued down, and I started when I saw who was next to Jacob. It was Edward and Teddy. Teddy looked mad. Edward suddenly grabbed him and began suffocating him. I was alarmed. I slid off Jacob and looked at Teddy after he fainted. He was breathing. Edward had just knocked him out. I looked at Edward. His clothes were torn up and there were deep gashes in his skin.
Edward said something to me, but I couldn't hear him. I was glad my earplugs worked so well. I put my hand on his cheek.
"Are you ok?" I asked. I looked into his eyes. He looked like he'd been mauled by a bear.
Jacob became antsy, he shifted his weight urgently. I looked at him and realized that Jack needed more medical attention than Edward did. Right on cue, Edward fell to one knee. But Jack still needed more help.
"Edward." I said. He looked up at me. His expression was pained. "I'm going to Jack. Ok?" He nodded.
Suddenly he and Jacob's head snapped to the direction of the evil vampire. I turned to see what they were looking at. The evil vampire was slowly getting up. I was going to have to trust Edward and Jacob to fight her. I grabbed my bag and rushed to Jack.
I had more combat tools than medical tools, but I worked with what I had. I put on some latex gloves and checked Jack's vitals. He was alive! I was relieved! I continued my inspection by patting down Jack's body. He moaned gently as I did so. He seemed to have a full-body bruise. Nothing felt broken though and he didn't seem to have any open wounds except one at the base of his skull and the gash in his left arm. He groaned loudly when I got to his right leg. I rolled his pant leg up and saw that his ankle had swollen up. It was probably broken.
I flinched when I heard Jacob yowl in pain and the evil vampire cackle. I was freaked out with the knowledge of how loud those sounds had to be for me to hear them.
We were in over our heads.
I popped out one of my earplugs, pulled out my phone and dialed 911.
"911 what is your emergency?" The voice asked calmly.
"Forks school." I said slowly and quietly. "5... no, 3 students down. Possible spinals and multiple fractures."
"What happened?" The voice asked.
"There's so much blood." I wept.
"What happened?" The voice repeated.
I couldn't answer this time. The evil vampire had made her way past Jacob and she plowed into me. The side of my head, my shoulder, and my good hip smooshed into the wall. I fell next to my bag. I pulled out my dagger and defended myself. The vampire tried to slash my face, but her hand slid across my blade. On contact her skin burned. She howled and she held her hand. She glared at me, livid. I gulped.
"Stab yourself." She said, her voice eerily calm. A smile played at her lips.
I had no choice but to obey.