First, I want to let you all know that I post the chapters as I write them, so I can't post updates as quickly as many of you would like. However, I assure you I am writing and posting as quickly as I can on this race to the finish.
Also, many of you have asked, so I thought I would address a couple of things here. First, you will not see Edward in Golden Moon. Sorry! Second, after Golden Moon is done I'll complete Of Vampires and Women and will write several more chapters from Jasper's POV. I will post a poll and I will write the top three chapters chosen by the readers. They will all be M-rated, almost exclusively for language (not lemons!,) so they will be posted separately from Golden Moon.
And now, on with the story.
All the Twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.
Chapter 50: Matador
The sight and smell of Mike's brilliant red blood pouring out of his wounds sent a wave of nausea through me and I started feeling lightheaded. I pressed my injured knee to the ground, hoping the pain would distract me from my usual reaction to seeing blood. I couldn't pass out right now. It simply wasn't an option.
Just like me, the newborns reacted instantly to Victoria's actions. Focusing on Mike's limp body, all three vampires poised to spring for their victim. Seeing that their attention was now targeted, Victoria lifted Mike's unmoving form and tossed him to the side of the clearing. His body flew through the air, crashing into a thick pine trunk with another sickening crack before falling to the ground. The newborns turned and sprang towards the body while it was still in the air. The wolves were less than a second behind. Jake hesitated for a mere moment before ignoring Victoria to leap and place himself between the newborns and Mike. The sheer volume of snarling and growling in the clearing was overwhelming. The newborns, infuriated at being delayed from draining Mike's blood, attacked Jake the same way they had attacked Laurent earlier. This time, however, the other wolves were there to assist. Two jumped on the newborns' unprotected backs and locked their jaws around the male vampires' necks, twisting their muzzles form side to side in an effort to decapitate their enemies. The third latched on to the female's thigh, causing her to lose balance, both tumbling to the ground in a tangle of pale marble and black fur.
I shot a glance in the other direction. Victoria, now completely ignored by the wolves, ran to the furthest edge of the clearing. She paused for a moment and looked back to survey the fight before searching me out and locking her eyes with mine. Even at this distance I could read her expression, which unmistakably said 'I'm giving up for now, but I'll be back again for you some day, when you least expect it.' I let out an involuntary whimper, knowing that as long as she was alive she would be plotting and pursuing my demise.
I had to blink several times to make sure the pain in my legs wasn't causing hallucinations when I saw a familiar shape emerge from the forest behind Victoria, causing her to turn and me to gasp in alarm. Jasper's crouch was anything but defensive and his growls and snarls were almost feral in their intensity. Victoria backed up into the clearing, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, testing which direction would be most advantageous for her next move. His moves smooth, his body coiled tightly like a panther waiting to spring, Jasper shadowed her movements, not giving her any openings. It was like watching an elaborate dance or a bull fight, with the opponents sizing up each other's strengths and weaknesses before engaging in combat.
Their stand off continued for a few seconds before, in one lithe leap, Jasper sprang towards Victoria, their bodies crashing into each other with a tremendous bang resembling a thunderclap as they tumbled to the ground. I cried out when I saw Victoria's teeth sink into Jasper's shoulder and shuddered when Jasper wound his left hand in Victoria's hair and yanked on it with enough power to detach her from him and expose her neck to his teeth.
A loud hiss and yelp caused me to look back to the wolves and newborns. One of the male Vampires had pulled a wolf off his back and had tossed the wolf to the side while attempting to fight off another wolf's attack on his shoulder. I saw that one of the male newborns had been completely torn to shreds and that the female was now severely dismembered, almost to the point of being completely incapacitated. I felt and heard hard pounding paws on the hard ground as another wolf leaped into the fight from somewhere behind me.
I looked beyond the fighting wolves to where Mike was laying unmoving. I had to go to him, to see if he was still alive and if there was anything I could do to help him. Ignoring the pain in my knee and ankle, I began to crawl around the perimeter of the battle scene, making my way to the other side to get close to Mike. I permitted myself one glance in Jasper's direction to see that he had Victoria pinned in front of him and was swiftly detaching extremities form her torso. I sighed in relief and continued my slow crawl towards Mike, finally reaching his body after what seemed like an interminable journey. He was lying incredibly still, but when I put my cheek to his lips I felt just the faintest hint of moving air, and when I placed my ear against his bloody chest I detected a weak and stuttering heart beat. His skin was pale and clammy and blood was still pouring from the gashes inflicted by Victoria.
I shrugged out of my jacket and placed it over his torso, pressing my whole body down onto his in an effort to stop some of the bleeding. After a few minutes I lifted myself off to notice that the jacket and my shirt front were both soaked with blood. It was clear that Mike desperately needed medical help and I had no idea what to do for him. I grasped his hand in mine, squeezing tightly, and leaned over to speak right into his ear.
"It's going to be okay, Mike. Just hold on. Hold on a little bit longer. We'll get you help soon and everything will be fine."
I wasn't sure if I was trying to reassure him or myself. His eyelids fluttered open and I could see his eyes were glazed with pain.
"You okay?" he rasped.
I sobbed. "I'm fine, Mike. Don't try to talk. Just hang on. Stay with me. The fight will be over soon and then we'll get help."
"Crazy shit," his stilted voice was already weakening.
I smiled weakly. "I know. I'm so sorry you got caught up in this. But everything will be all right. You'll see." I brushed my hand gently against his cold, clammy cheek. "Just try to rest and hold on."
A strange smell assailed my lungs and I looked up to see a fire in the clearing. Sam and Embry had phased to their human form and were gathering fallen branches to maintain the flames while the other wolves tossed bits of vampire flesh into the flames. I looked to Jasper who was finishing his task of ripping apart Victoria's remains.
My attention was brought back to Mike when his body started convulsing in front of me. He was dying. My eyes burned with smoke and my lungs were overwhelmed with the heavy, acrid odor of incense as the wolves threw vampire chunks into the blazing fire. I could hear the howls and growling of the pack as their fury whipped them into a frenzy.
I was covered with blood. It dripped from me onto him as I desperately tried to hold his torn and broken body together, to somehow protect him from certain demise. I felt the cuts and scrapes on my face bleeding as well, but my loss of blood was nothing. My wounds were superficial. He was dying! Dying, because he tried to protect me. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
"Mike!" I screamed. "Oh, God, Mike! Help! We have to get him some help!"
Sam turned towards the sound of my voice and ran to Mike's side, sinking to his knees. He peeled off my blood soaked jacket and leaned down.
"His heart stopped," he said in alarm. "Do you know CPR?"
I shook my head in a panic. Sam lowered his lips to Mike's and breathed into them twice, then started compressing his bloody chest.
I kept screaming. Screaming at the top of my lungs despite the choking smoke, until the intelligible noise finally turned into words.
"Oh my God, he can't die! Please, Sam, don't let him die!"
Jake ran over to us, still in wolf form.
"He's not going to make it," Sam said dejectedly, even as he continued the compressions. "It's not safe for us to move him to get him to a hospital and an ambulance will never make the round trip in time."
"No!" I screamed. "No, no, no, no! There has to be a way. We have to save him. He can't die. Jasper!" I looked over to the other side of the clearing. I saw that he had been watching us all along. "Jasper, you can save him. Turn him, Jasper, please. He can't just die!"
Jasper stood, but made no move to come over.
"Bella, I can't," he said loud enough for me to hear. "The treaty . . ."
I turned to Jake. "Make an exception! Please, Jake, make an exception for me. You can't just let him die like this. Please!"
"He's dying anyway," Sam said to Jake. "The Cullens can teach him not to hunt humans."
"Jacob," I screamed," You have to save him! Please! He cannot die because of me! I'm begging you, you're the only one who can do this! Jacob! Oh God - Jasper! No! You have to save him! He's dying!"
Jake turned and ran towards Jasper, phasing back to human form with his back to us.
"All right. I'll grant this one exception to the treaty if you promise to take him away from here and teach him not to harm humans."
"Jasper?" I focused on his face, not understanding why he wasn't already at my side biting Mike. "Please!"
"I can't, Bella," his voice was filled with pain and regret. "I haven't hunted today. Even from here his blood is difficult to resist. If I were to bite him I wouldn't be able to stop."
A protest of growls and snarls rose from the two remaining wolves. I felt the blood drain from my face.
"You can stop," I tried to convince him. "I know you're strong enough."
I wanted to instill him with confidence, but a small part of me wavered. If Jasper couldn't stop and killed Mike, would Jake and the pack feel compelled to kill him? Could I ask Jasper to take this huge risk in order to save Mike? And more importantly, was I really willing to risk the life of the man I loved to save the life of a good friend?
The smoke was so thick I could hardly see, but my peripheral vision somehow registered movement. A small, fast, fluid shadow descended into the clearing like a dark angel. I screamed, but then my screams caught in my throat as my mind recognized the familiar figure. Alice! The wolves turned their growls and snarling to her and poised to attack. A hand signal from Jake kept them back.
"I'll do it. I'll turn him. I have the control," she said in a tinkling voice. In a flash she was by my side. I moved back, giving her room as she leaned over Mike.
"Continue the CPR," she instructed Sam. "His heart has to be pumping to spread the venom throughout his body. Once the venom reaches the heart, you'll be able to stop."
Sam stopped compressions and moved to breathe into Mike's mouth. Alice took the opportunity to lean over Mike's chest and ran her venom-coated tongue over the gashes, sealing them up and stemming the bleeding. Sam returned to compressions as Alice sank her teeth repeatedly into Mike at various sites on his body and sealed each bite with yet another swipe of her tongue. After several dozen bites she finally stopped and looked at Sam. "We'll know the venom has reached his heart when he starts to scream from the burn. You'll be able to stop CPR then."
I looked in horror from Sam to Alice, realizing that when the venom reached his heart he would be in unimaginable pain, worse than anything I felt when James bit me in Phoenix. I had wanted this, I knew this was the only way to save him, but I still couldn't believe what I had done. Would Mike ever forgive me for sentencing him to this pain and immortality over a simple human death?
Sam continued his CPR efforts as Alice rose and started walking towards Jasper at a slow, human pace. I saw him tense and crouch, carefully assessing her approach. She left her arms down at her sides and stopped a few feet away from him.
"You're alive," she said. "I was so afraid . . ."
Jasper straightened, but his face was still suspicious.
"Of course I'm alive. What are you talking about, Alice?"
"I had a vision of you coming here to fight Victoria and then you disappeared. The whole battle disappeared. I couldn't see anything, couldn't see the outcome," she said. "I was terrified. I called to try to stop you, but you wouldn't answer so I had to come . . ."
"You called to stop me from coming here to protect Bella? Did you really think you would have been able to do that?"
"Jasper, I still love you and I forgive you. These feelings you have for Bella, they're temporary. They're not real. I know you still love me. Can't you forgive me for the things I've done in the past? Can't we start over?"
"In the past? You just admitted you were trying to manipulate me today."
"Only to save and protect you, Jasper! It has always been about protecting you and keeping you safe. I love you! After all our years together, don't you still love me?"
Suddenly Mike screamed and my attention shifted back to him. His screams were absolutely agonizing. Sam leaned away from him and watched with a horrified expression.
"What's happening to him?" he whispered.
"The venom burns," I said quietly. "It's the most horrible pain I've ever felt."
Sam looked at me sharply, clearly shocked.
"How do you know? You're not a . . ."
I rolled up the sleeve to my shirt and showed him my scar.
"Last spring a vampire named James wanted to kill me and very nearly succeeded. He bit me. Edward got there in time to pull him off me. Emmett and Jasper killed him and Edward sucked out the venom before it could change me, but not before I felt some of what he's going through right now."
"How long?" Sam asked. Paul, who had phased back to human form, came over to us and waited for my answer along with Sam.
"Three days," I said.
"This bad?" Sam asked. I nodded. Maybe worse, I added in my head.
Jake and Embry walked over to us.
"Jared's running the perimeter, making sure we didn't miss anything. Otherwise it's all over. All the pieces have been burned," Jake reported.
I looked at him in shock, then to the fire which was smaller now, no longer being fed with wood and vampire flesh. And then I remembered Laurent, and burst into tears. In all the confusion of the fight and concentrating on Mike and Jasper, I had completely forgotten about Laurent. I knew the newborns had ripped him into millions of shreds, but Carlisle might have been able to put him together if we had all the pieces. But I didn't tell the wolves and they tossed all the vampire shreds into the fire, including Laurent. Like Mike, he had given up his life to keep me safe.
At the sound of my sobbing, Mike's screams became even louder and more terrifying. Jake leaned down to scoop me up and took me away from Mike's side. I twisted in his arms, trying to get back to Mike.
"Apparently he can sense your emotions and your being upset is making things worse for him, Bella. Let's get you calmed down and then I'll bring you back to him, I swear."
I stopped struggling, realizing he was right. I buried my face in his chest, trying to stifle my sobs. Jake held me close, rubbing circles over my back with his large, warm hand in an effort to soothe me.
"It's all right, Bella. You're safe. All of the bad vampires are gone. We made sure we burned them all."
My sobs increased again at the reminder of Laurent's death.
"Bella, what's wrong? Talk to me."
"It's Laurent," I sobbed.
"Who's Laurent?"
I kept sobbing as I explained the entire story to Jake, starting with the baseball game in the clearing in the spring, James' attack and death, Laurent's return this fall and his decision to join Victoria again only to protect me.
"He put himself between me and Victoria and the newborns and he died, Jacob. He died trying to protect me. And I didn't do anything to stop you from burning him!"
"Bella, you can't blame yourself," Jake said. "If we hadn't come along, I'm sure Victoria would have burned his remains just as we had, and I'm sure he knew that too when he decided to step in as your shield. He died a hero, Bella. He died doing something he believed in. He wouldn't have done it if he didn't believe it was the right thing to do and if he wasn't willing to accept the consequences. All of us who were here fighting today knew the risks and were willing to accept them."
"But I could have saved him. He didn't have to die. If I has saved the pieces Carlisle could have . . ."
"No. I could not have allowed that. All of the vampire parts had to be burned. There was no time for sorting. And you had Mike to worry about. He was the only true victim here. Totally innocent, a bystander getting pulled into this conflict. You made the right choice, Bella. I know Laurent would agree with me."
I realized that at some point I had stopped sobbing. I wiped off my eyes and looked at Jake carefully.
"Are you all right? Were you hurt? And the others?"
"Just superficial wounds that already healed. We had surprise and numbers on our side. They didn't know what hit them. And it helped that Jasper showed up to deal with the female."
I glanced over in Jasper's direction. He and Alice were standing closer now, speaking in tones low enough for me not to be able to hear them. Their body language suggested that she was still pleading her case. I couldn't evaluate his reaction. Feeling like I was eavesdropping on a private moment even though I could hear nothing, I lowered my eyes.
"Jake, even before I found out Mike was kidnapped, I wanted to talk to you. I love Jasper with all my heart and I can't bear to be apart from him. I can only hope that after all this he can forgive me and still want me. If he does, then I will be with him. I would like to stay in Forks, but only if you promise that you and the pack will uphold your part of the treaty and leave him alone. If you can't do that, then I will leave with him."
Jake pulled back to look into my eyes.
"You'd leave Charlie and me and all of your friends?"
I looked at him, trying to convey how serious I was about this plan.
"I wouldn't want to leave, Jake, but I need to be with him. I know you don't understand and I'm not trying to force your hand. I know with the way you feel about this, it could be too much for you. If you can't guarantee his safety here, I will understand and we will go somewhere else."
Jake looked away from me. He didn't speak for a long while. His brows came together in a concentrated frown and I could tell he was trying to go through all the available options.
"Damn, Bella, could you make this any harder for me? I'm already questioning myself over what I did for you today with Mike. Was that the right decision? Bringing another vampire into the world? But you just can't leave it at that, can you?"
He was hurting and he didn't deserve that after everything he did for me. I couldn't ask him for more than he already gave.
"It's okay, Jake. I understand. Just forget I asked. I was going to leave Forks eventually anyway to go to school. This will just be a little earlier. I'll come up with a cover story that will make it easier for Charlie."
I looked over at Jasper and Alice and my heart constricted when I saw that they were still standing close together as he spoke to her earnestly while holding her hands in his.
"Besides, it may not even be necessary."
Jake followed my gaze then turned back to me, taking my chin in his hands to make sure my eyes were on him.
"Now, you listen to me. I still think this is madness and I can't pretend to understand it, and I sure don't like him or the thought of you being with him, but I know he cares about you a hell of a lot. We would have never known the other vampires were here if he hadn't contacted us. Paul, Jared, Sam and I were helping Charlie with the search, and we were all phased, so we weren't reachable. Embry was running patrols on the res. Jasper called my house first, but Billy didn't know where we were or how to reach us, so he called Emily who ran out into the forest yelling that you were in trouble and needed help until Embry found her and she could tell him the whole story. As soon as he knew what was happening we all knew and ran over here, and it looks like we got here just in the nick of time.
"Which brings up a good question. Why the hell didn't you tell us that there was a coven of human killing vampires in Forks? What were you thinking coming out here all by yourself? God, Bella, if I didn't love you so much I swear I'd strangle you myself."
I looked away, embarrassed. My logic seemed to make sense at the time.
"I knew that they were just here for me. They already had Mike. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt."
"So you came here like a lamb to the slaughter to be some sort of a martyr? Geez, Bella, you can be so stupid sometimes! Thank goodness you had enough sense to call him and that he's more reasonable than you are."
"I thought he was further away," I whispered. "I only called him because I didn't think he could get here in time. I didn't want him to get hurt either."
"Lucky for us he was nearby or that damn female would have gotten away. With all the people in the forest searching, who knows how many people she would have killed on her way out of town. I owe him for that one.
"Anyway, back to my original point," his hand returned to my chin and he forced me to look at him again. "Whatever else I think about him, I know how much he cares about you. So stop doubting yourself. I know enough from when he and I talked before and from what he did today to guarantee that if you want him, he's yours. And I won't be the one to drive you from Forks, so yes, Bells, we'll honor the treaty. As long as he keeps the terms, we'll back off and leave him and you alone. But are you sure you'll be safe? You heard him today, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't kill Mike."
"That was only because I asked him to bite Mike. You saw all the blood and how he stayed away and didn't hurt Mike or me or any of you. He is very disciplined, Jake. I know I'm safe with him. He would never hurt me."
"And what about the future, Bella? You'll keep aging and he'll always stay the same."
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," I said. I knew better than to tell Jake of my discussions with Jasper about him turning me into a vampire. I knew nothing would happen until after we left Forks, and Jake didn't need to know anything until then. No matter how much he cared about me or how much I cared about him, this was my life and my decision, and I didn't want him to have to worry about it or try to stop me.
"I always admired cougars," I said.
Jake laughed and shook his head. "I think you have a while to go before you're in cougar territory, Bella."
"Yeah, a few years, at least."
We fell silent, and I slowly became aware again of Mike's screaming. "Jake, I'm okay, now. I have to go back to Mike. See if I can do anything to help him."
He looked at me and nodded, then got up and carried me back and set me down on the ground next to Mike. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, lowering my lips to his ear.
"I'm sorry, Mike," I said. "I'm so sorry, but this was the only way. The only way we could save you. I know how much it hurts. Just let the pain out. Do whatever you have to do. It will be over, soon, I promise. And then you won't have to worry about pain anymore. I swear. Just hang on."
My voice and touch seemed to have a soothing effect, because Mike's screams turned into lower moans. Desperately searching for something to talk about that would distract him from the pain, I began to review all the books we read during our lunches together in painstaking detail, going over all the minute plot points. This had the desired effect and Mike calmed down even more. I continued to grip his hand with one of mine while I stroked his cheek with the other. I kept talking, pausing only to occasionally take a breath, doing what little I could to get him through this horrible ordeal.
I lost all track of time. I was only somewhat aware of the boys coming and going to check on Mike. I could sense that they were all relieved he had stopped his screaming, though I knew that the burn did not go away. I was only giving him enough strength and control not to vocalize the pain.
The sound of a cell phone snapping closed broke through my stupor and I looked up to see Alice put away her phone and make her way slowly towards us, her face so dejected and sad she was hardly recognizable. I knew if she could cry her face would have been streaked with tears. I looked beyond her to find some clue as to what had happened from Jasper. As I scanned the clearing, however, I started to panic and my speech faltered. My eyes darted form one edge of the clearing to the other to find even a glimpse, the barest hint of his presence, refusing to acknowledge the undeniable truth. Jasper was gone.
The title of this chapter comes from an awesome song of the same name by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Check out the link in my profile to see their MTV unplugged performance.
I'm sorry for yet another cliffy. I promise I will try to update quickly, hopefully by Monday. Three more chapters to go and in the next chapter we'll finally find out what Alice has been thinking this entire time. As always, your feedback is much appreciated.
