Blast from the Past
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you for the wonderful reviews on this story. I really appreciate it. Nikki :)
Part Forty Eight-A New Life and Death
Jacob, with the pack hot on his heels, reached the house. The distinct smell of vampires was all around, one stood out in particular, Edward Cullen. Jacob roared his defiance in the air and the others echoed him. They began to follow the scent which led them straight to the main house. At that moment Kim and Angela burst out of the front door, Billy was behind them. When he saw his son he signalled him frantically.
"Jake, she's not inside. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave her. I was just so worried about you." Tears rolled down Billy's weathered cheeks as he spoke.
Jacob couldn't answer his father, he gave him a long look before continuing on his search. He could actually smell Bella and the children, they were close, very close. He began to make his way to the back of the house when something stopped them all in their tracks. A low humming sound assaulted their ears, it was so piercingly loud it made all the wolves heads hurt. Jared actually collapsed, his legs falling under him as he tried to bury his head in the dirt to stop the noise. It felt like his brain was exploding. Kim screamed his name and ran to his side, weeping.
The others managed to tolerate it slightly better, but it was still hampering their movements as the sound was bouncing around their heads making them disorientated. Jacob had to call on all his strength to try and combat the noise. Bella was close and she needed him. He staggered forward a few steps and shook his head to clear his ears.
Billy and Angela were watching the pack closely, they couldn't hear the humming noise and they didn't understand what was happening. Chelsea had pitched the noise at a certain level so that it was impossible for humans to hear. "Jake." Billy said worriedly as he watched his son draw to a halt and keep shaking his head.
While they were preoccupied watching the pack, Afton crept up on Billy and Angela, he laughed to himself as he suddenly grabbed Angela from behind and lifted her up. Billy stared in shock as he saw her moving along in mid air as if she was being carried by an unseen force. She was struggling and fighting against her invisible assailants hold. "Help me." She screamed.
Her piercing cries forced Jacob to gather himself together, he howled again, trying to get the others to fight against the debilitating noise. "Angela is in trouble, move." He issued an Alpha command through the pack mind and this seemed to motivate the others to fight harder.
Paul, Sam and Embry staggered after Angela and her invisible captor. The further away they got from the humming noise, the easier it was to shake off it's effects. Afton didn't think of this as he ran in the opposite direction to his wife. He was having too much fun splitting up the pack, he gave no thought that once the wolves were out of range of the noise that they would regain their full strength. As soon as he reached the trees, Paul, Sam and Embry were far enough away for all their faculties to return. Within seconds they had Afton surrounded, they couldn't see him but as he was carrying Angela, they knew exactly where he was standing.
Afton quickly dumped Angela onto the ground, she rolled over in the dirt but was thankfully unharmed. Afton tried to sneak past Paul and Embry but he hadn't factored in their superior sense of smell. They couldn't see him but they could smell his strong scent and this enabled them to pinpoint exactly where he was. As one Paul, Sam and Embry launched their attack. The silver grey wolf landed on top of Afton forcing him to the ground, as his head hit the dirt his power was disabled and he reappeared in front of them. He rolled onto his back as Paul's strong jaws aimed for his neck. He hit Paul in his eyes but he had no chance with Embry and Sam there too. The grey and black wolf clamped their teeth around Afton's neck while their pack brother held him down. With a sharp tug Afton's head was ripped from his shoulders; his death cries echoing loudly through the air.
Chelsea's eyes flared open as she heard her mates dying screams, she stopped humming and this freed the other wolves up. Once the debilitating noise was lifted they could move. Jacob sprinted around to the back of the house, followed by Quil and Jared. He found Bella crouched on all fours, flanked by J and Jaymie. In front of them stood a petite, insignificant looking vampire. Jacob knew not to be fooled by appearances, he briefly wondered what had happened to Cullen. The smell of burning gave him some idea that Edward had been dispatched by the female vampire.
Bella glanced back at Jacob with tear filled eyes. J and Jaymie stared wide eyed at the large wolves. "Jake, she's up to something." She cried out to him.
Chelsea bared her teeth at Bella, but Jacob stood over her and the children protectively, roaring his defiance at the female vampire. Quil and Jared blocked her in from the other side; she had nowhere to go. Instead of looking petrified she gave them all a smug smile, infuriated though she was at the death of her mate, she was still in control. She turned and looked Quil straight in the eye. "KILL HIM." She screeched.
A loud buzzing filled Quil's ears and his vision turned red. Against his will his head turned and fixated onto his Alpha and best friend, but he no longer saw Jacob that way as Chelsea's powers manipulated his perception of his ties to the pack. Quil launched an unexpected attack on Jacob, who was unprepared for the assault by one of his closet friends. He was knocked off of his feet as Quil landed directly on him and pushed him away from Bella and the children. They rolled around the back of the house, fighting and snarling at each other.
This left Jared alone, he looked between the small vampire and his pack brothers, indecision written all over him. Chelsea tapped her chin, a delighted expression lighting up her face as she revelled in the wickedness she had caused. "What are you going to do then? Save your Alpha or let his mate and the children die?"
Jared growled at her words, really there was no decision to make. He crouched low, ready to spring at Chelsea. "Tut tut." She said. "Bad decision." She began to hum again and he immediately rolled over onto his back, his forelegs clawing at his ears, trying to stop the insistent noise.
Bella, who was still in so much pain, urged the children to leave her. She couldn't move but they could. "Go." She whispered.
"Momma?" J said fretfully.
"I love you J, but you need to go, please. Find Even Bigger Chief." Bella begged him.
J nodded at her. He took hold of Jaymie's hand and pulled her after him as they fled around to the front of the house. They saw Billy with his hand to his mouth as he watched the vicious fight between his son and Quil.
"Even Bigger Chief." J cried out as he ran over to him,pulling Jaymie with him. Billy quickly held his arms out and the two children both tried to crawl onto his lap.
"Kim," Billy called out to her. She was hovering in the doorway of the house, panic written all over her face. "I need your help."
She slowly made her way over to him and the children. Billy made her take hold of Jaymie while he kept J on his lap. "We need to get into the house. They mustn't see any more of this." With one desperate glance at his son and Quil, Billy led the way inside.
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Chelsea laughed to herself as she stared down at Bella. "Oh I see you sent the children away. No matter, I will catch up with them."
"You are alone now." Bella yelled at her. "You can't hope to win."
"I'm not alone my dear. Yes my poor Afton is gone but I have another. He is on his way right now, I left him alone to despatch your friend, Alice." Chelsea's smile widened as she saw despair wash over Bella's face.
"He would never hurt Alice. I don't believe that." Bella whispered.
"Really? The heart is a fickle thing my dear. She betrayed him in the worst way, there was nothing left for him so he joined me." Chelsea laughed again. "Oh don't worry my pet, you will have a much more exciting life as one of my guard. Your power is immense, it is only weak as a human, but as a vampire there are no limits."
Her words pierced Bella's despair. She recalled Alice telling her about the shielding power she possessed. It was something she hadn't given much thought to, but Chelsea had just revealed she could still use it even as a human. That was why Jane had not been able to harm her when she was in Volterra. Maybe if she tried really hard she could expand it to help Jacob, Jared and most of all poor Quil. Closing her eyes Bella concentrated hard, it wasn't easy with the constant pain of her labour assaulting her body, but this was a life or death situation for all of them.
Chelsea was busy keeping up the constant humming and making sure she had complete control over Quil. She wasn't aware of what Bella was trying to do. Bella turned her attention inwards, trying to find that inner core of strength that Jacob was always telling her she possessed. Images of the time she was in Volterra flashed through her mind, what was it that set off the power? She had managed it there under a very stressful situation and she hadn't even been aware that she was doing it. More intense labour pains washed over her and she bit her lip to stop crying out. "Come on you can do this." Bella mumbled to herself. It felt like there was some kind of mental barrier she had to break through; gritting her teeth she imagined herself breaking through and with a surge of adrenaline she did it.
A glowing light pulsed out of her body, first spreading over Jared and then increasing in ever wider circles until it encompassed Jacob and Quil and then even further still, finding its way to Alice, who was fighting for her life against an enraged Jasper.
As soon as the light engulfed Jacob and Quil they stopped fighting. Quil rolled away from his Alpha and stood on unsteady legs, his sides quivering. "Jake, dude. I don't know what happened." He said through the pack mind link.
Jacob ignored him, he regained his footing and charged back around the corner of the house to find Jared back on his feet and grappling with Chelsea. She was an experienced fighter and Jared was having trouble subduing her. She hadn't counted on Jacob's sudden reappearance. He let out a loud growl as he told Jared to back off. "She's mine."
Jared let go of Chelsea and she jumped gracefully back onto her feet. She seemed about to open her mouth to say something when Jacob launched his whole body at her. He hit her square in the back and they rolled over and over. Chelsea tried to grip around his middle so that she could squeeze the life out of him but Jacob was too astute for that, he clamped his teeth down on one of her arms and shifted backwards, thus pulling it out of it's socket.
"NO." Chelsea screamed as she hit him in the stomach with her one good arm.
Jacob was winded but only for a second. Rolling over quickly he spun around and before Chelsea knew what was happening his teeth ripped into her neck and severed it from her body. He threw it far across the ground. Chelsea's body staggered around for a moment before dropping onto the muddy ground. Jared had already phased back. He pulled a lighter out of his shorts and quickly set fire to Chelsea's torso and then her head.
Bella was weakening, she had heard rather then saw what had happened. With Harley now engaged and ready to be born the glow of light around her body began to fade and then flicker out. She raised her head briefly and saw that Chelsea had been vanquished, she gave a sad smile before rolling onto her side in a dead faint.
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Embry, Sam and Paul returned with Angela to the Black's house to find chaos. They phased back and learnt from a shaken Quil what had happened. Sam demanded to know where his wife and child were. Hearing their voices made Billy, Kim and the children come back out of the house where they had been hiding. As soon as Jaymie saw her dad she ran to Sam and he picked her up, cuddling her tightly.
"Daddy," Jaymie whimpered.
"Where's Lee?" Sam asked desperately.
"Sue and Charlie took her to the Clearwater house." Billy told him quickly. "Seth is there too. Sue thinks the baby is on it's way."
"Brother here." Jaymie whispered.
"What was that, sweetheart?" Sam asked her.
"Brother here." Jaymie said again.
"Does that mean mommy has given birth to little Harry?" Sam checked again.
Jaymie nodded tiredly. Sam looked at the others. "I have to go."
"Yes, go and see your family." Billy encouraged him.
Sam nodded at him as he left, carrying Jaymie in his arms.
Embry was looking around, he had thought that Alice would be there, he couldn't see her anywhere. "Where's Alice?" He asked Quil.
"She was never here." Quil rubbed his aching head.
Fear shot through Embry as he tried to recall when he had last seen her. It had been when he had kissed her. She hadn't followed him. "I need to find her." Before anyone could stop him he had phased back into his wolf form and headed for the trees.
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Jacob was holding Bella in his arms, she had finally regained consciousness and was staring up at him in relief. "You're okay." She wept. "I was so scared."
"I know honey, but I'm fine now. The vamps are dead." He told her gently. "It's all over."
"The children?" Bella questioned him.
Jacob carefully lifted her up in his arms. "I think they're with my dad. Let's get you inside."
Bella clutched onto him, gritting her teeth as more pain shot through her. "Hurry Jake," she gasped. "Your son is about to make his entrance."
Jacob walked as fast as he could to the front of the house, Jared was right behind him. They found the others standing outside the front. Kim ran straight over to Jared as soon as she saw him and began examining him for injuries. He assured her he was alright and she calmed down.
"Momma," J cried out. He left Billy's side and ran over to Jacob. "Daddy."
"Hey little man. Now I just need to get your momma into the house. Harley is coming so we need to make her comfortable. Can you stay with Even Bigger Chief for me?" Jacob asked him.
J nodded bravely. "Yes daddy."
Jacob smiled at him. "There's my brave boy." He nodded at his dad as he slipped into the house. The others following after him.
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Harley was born twenty minutes later. With Kim and Angela assisting, Jacob was the first to hold his son in his arms and also cut the chord. He grinned happily at Bella as he placed their crying son on her chest. Angela immediately began to clean Harley up, briefly took him away to wrap him warmly and quickly weigh him, then gave him back to Bella.
Jacob sat next to her on the bed as they both looked down on their newborn. "He's inherited your skin tone and hair." Bella said weakly as she examined him.
Jacob watched in fascination as Harley gripped onto one of his fingers, giving a slight yawn. He opened his eyes for a second and they could see they were the exact shade of brown as Bella's and J's. "He has your eyes." Jacob kissed the top of her head.
"We did it, Jake." Bella whispered. "We did it."
"Yeah, we did." Jacob leaned down and kissed her softly. "I love you."
"I love you." Bella echoed him.
There was a soft knock on the door before it was opened and Billy rolled his chair in, J perched on his lap. "Is it okay if we see the new addition?" He asked.
Bella nodded. J jumped off Billy's lap and ran over to join Bella and Jacob on the bed. "Harley." He peeked at his new brother and rubbed the top of his head softly.
Jacob put his strong arms around all of his family, hugging them close. Billy watched them all happily, wiping a tear from his eye.
A/N-More coming soon. Thanks for reading!
