A/N: I dont own Twilight

Chapter Fifty-Three: Charli

"Jacob!" I screamed as he leapt from the woods in a flash of fur and teeth. His growl was so deep it reverberated in my chest and I could feel his intense anger mixed with an intense desire to kill.

He easily flattened Lyra to the ground and my heart fluttered excitedly. This is almost over, I thought as he dug his claws into her shoulders and growled menacingly. To my complete surprise Lyra grinned back at him and like a flash of lightening she was on top of him her teeth gnashing dangerously close to his neck.

The chilling sound of multiple wolves howling in unison suddenly rang so loudly in my ears I couldn't even think. They came from all directions soaring out from the darkness of the woods like giant ghosts landing gracefully on enormous padded feet. They inched closer and closer to Jacob and the other vampires their grey and brown fur standing on end all along the length of their backs. Their growls were so loud that if I closed my eyes I could almost imagine it was thunder.

"Are you ok?" I heard a voice whisper above my head. It was Alice and she was crouched in a powerful defensive stance her eyes never leaving the scene unfolding in front of her. She reminded me of a cat, poised and ready to strike at a moment's notice. I nodded even though I knew several ribs were broken and I could taste blood in my mouth.

"Please, help Jacob." I begged my eyes wide with fear as I watched Lyra cling, and lunge and snap at the brave russet wolf. Alice's eyes narrowed and she nodded.

"Ok." She whispered taking one last look at me to make sure I wasn't lying to her. Satisfied that I wasn't bleeding out or actively dying she disappeared from my sight and reappeared beside Jacob seconds later.

She looked like a tiny warrior standing amongst the circling wolves, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett and Carlisle pinning down Amun, and Rose and Esme cornering Kebi. I assumed Edward and Jasper were somewhere behind me fighting Ashley.

"You are too late mutts!" I heard a musical voice screech happily. I turned just in time to see Lyra swing her legs down and around Jacob's barrel chest, her body sliding so that she was hanging from him upside down. She leaned in and bit down on his fur covered neck and I could hear the sickening crunch from where I was sitting several feet away.

"No!!!" Edward roared as he jumped through the air his body slamming into Lyra's sending them both crashing to the ground. As she tore herself away from Jacob I heard the ripping sound of flesh being torn from flesh and I could see the fur and blood and meat that was clenched tightly in her blindingly white teeth as she fell, her limbs thrashing wildly as she and Edward tumbled into the muddy earth.

My eyes wide and my heart racing, I turned back to Jacob and was horrified to see a river of red pouring from the wound in his neck. He coughed and I saw saliva tinged with red foaming at the corners of his mouth and rolling off his tongue. He stumbled and his powerful shoulders slumped as he turned his head in my direction. As his eyes found mine I felt my stomach flip and I tasted vomit in my mouth. I spit and tried my hardest to hold back from getting sick.

"Carlisle! She severed his jugular!" I heard Alice screaming. "Carlisle!"

Her voice was frantic, and I wanted to look around to see how far Carlisle was from Jacob, but I couldn't tear my eyes from his. I felt tears pool in my eyes and spill over my cheeks and I forced myself to begin dragging my broken body towards his. With each movement I could feel my shattered ribs moving unnaturally in my side making me gasp for breath.

Jacob also took slow staggering steps towards me and then with a groan he collapsed in a heap a few feet from me. When I made it to him I wrapped my arms around his neck and gently stroked his cheek whispering in his ear that I loved him and I was there and everything was going to be ok. It had to be ok, I wasn't ready to lose him yet. I could feel my heart breaking with every ragged breath he took. My arms were covered in his blood, so much blood, could someone recover from an injury like this? His eyes fluttered closed and his body shook violently for several seconds and then became perfectly still.

Then all I could hear was screaming. Such terrible screaming it sounded like the heart was being cut out of a live animal. I wanted the screaming to stop but I didn't know how to make it go away. I wanted to hold Jacob, I wanted to feel him in my arms but all I could hear was the awful tortured screaming.

Then there was nothing.

Silence.

Wind on my face, cool and freeing; rushing past my ears with a loud whoosh.

Weightlessness, floating.

I wondered if I was dead. If I was dead where were the bright lights? Where was my mother? Where was my Jacob?

Falling.

I felt like I was in a dream and I had just jumped off a huge building and the earth was rushing towards me so quickly it was nothing more than a blur of colors and lights. Wake up Charli. I begged myself. Wake up now.

I spread my arms preparing for impact, praying that my death would be quick. Wasn't there an urban legend that said that if you dream you are falling and you don't wake up it means you die? I welcome you death, I murmured. To my complete surprise I felt the wind catch under my arms and the sensation of falling was abruptly replaced by weightless floating.

Soaring.

My eyes opened wide.

The earth was so far below me that trees were nothing but tiny flecks of green against snowy mountains. I felt my heart hammer wildly in my chest and I screamed. The unfamiliar screech that came from my mouth was so loud and so wild that I was startled and reflexively pulled in my arms and tried to cover my mouth with my hands.

Falling.

I was falling again. The wind was rushing past my ears, the earth rushing at me blindingly fast. I spread my arms and with a violent snap, returned to soaring.

What was happening to me?

I looked to my left expecting to see my hand and fingers fumbling through the air like I was a strange human bird and they were my fleshy wings. But instead of my hands I saw only snowy white feathers fluttering delicately in the air, cutting through the clouds like a knife to butter.

I must be dead, I thought, my mind racing. I am dead and I'm in limbo between reality and the afterlife. I could come up with no other explanation. At least no other explanation that actually made any sense.

Jacob was dead. The thought popped into my head like an unwanted memory that wouldn't stay buried. I felt my heart stutter and the pain that welled up in my chest was almost crippling. I felt like my heart was imploding and the air was slowly being squeezed from my lungs. Jacob is dead and it is all my fault.

I had a sudden and desperate need to get back to the ground. I tilted my body so that it was pointed downwards and I felt myself begin to drift towards the earth in a controlled descent.

As the trees came closer and closer I realized that I had no idea where I was. There was nothing familiar in sight. There were only trees and mountains and miles and miles of untamed wilderness.

I crashed to the earth with more speed than I had intended. In my mind I had planned a soft landing, my feet stretching out to meet the spongy earth, running for several steps until I could come to a graceful stop. My actual landing was not even close. I stretched my toes out as planned but realized, too late, that I was coming in to fast. My knees buckled as I touched the ground sending me hurdling forward like a cannon into the rocky bluffs.

There was a blinding flash of white light and then darkness.