No One's POV
In short, Jacob was having a horrible month.
The wait of having Bella gone on her honeymoon with that leech was driving him insane. It had been almost a month, and if anything he expected, one way or another, the news of something. He sat up nights imagining what form it would take.
Charlie sobbing on the phone – Bella and her husband lost in an accident. A plane crash? That would be hard to fake. Unless the leeches didn't mind killing a bunch of bystanders to authenticate it, and why would they? Maybe a small plane instead. They probably had one of those to spare.
Or maybe the leech would come home alone, unsuccessful in his attempt to make her one of them. Or not even get that far. Maybe he'd already killed her on their first night together. Because her life was less important to him than his own pleasure.
The story would be so tragic, Bella lost in a horrible accident. Victim of a mugging gone wrong. Choking to death at dinner. A car accident, like Jacob's mom. So common, it happened all the time. That was probable.
Would the Cullen leech bring her home? Bury her here for Charlie? Closed-casket of course. Jacob's own mother had been the same.
Jacob vindictively hoped that the leech would come back, within his reach.
Maybe there would be no story at all. Maybe Charlie would call to ask his dad if he'd heard anything from Dr. Cullen, who just didn't show up for work one day. The house abandoned. No answer on any of the Cullens' phones. The big mansion burned to the ground, everyone trapped inside. Of course, they would need bodies for that story. Eight humans roughly the right size.
It would be tricky to track down the Cullens, if they didn't want to be found. Of course, Jacob would have forever to look. If you had forever, you could check out every single piece of straw in the haystack, one by one, to see if it was the needle. Jacob was counting on that.
Right now Jacob was antsy, he wouldn't mind dismantling the entire haystack. At least it would be something to do. He hated knowing he could be losing his chance. Giving the bloodsuckers the time to escape, if that was their plan.
Sam wouldn't let him though. He wouldn't risk the pack on the chance of attacking and breaking the treaty. Let them do it first, his reminder and command echoed in Jacob's mind.
But finally Jacob had enough of doing nothing and sitting around, he had to do something, check in at least.
Kicking his motorcycle into gear he was off, perhaps less fast than his wolf form but certain more discrete, this way Sam and the pack couldn't stop him at least.
"Hello, Jacob." Carlisle answers the door, his eyes serious as he stares at Jacob. "How are you?"
To say the least, Jacob was disappointed that it was Carlisle instead of Edward to answer the door. Carlisle was too human, to compassionate, at least for a leech.
"I heard Bella made it back alive."
"Er, Jacob, it's not really the best time." Carlisle says politely, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Can we do this later?"
"Why not?" Bella's voice suddenly breaks the silence, but it sounded dry and cracked, as if she needed water. "Are we keeping secrets from Jacob, too? What's the point?"
"Come in, please, Jacob." Bella asks, voice breaking more.
Carlisle looks even more uncomfortable, but let's Jacob pass.
"Excuse me." Jacob says automatically, sliding pass the doctor, keeping his back to the wall on the defensive side as an instinct in a house full of vampires.
They were all there, well most of them. Jacob noted the lack of the super model blonde and hulking mountain man, Rosalie and Emmett he remembered their names were. He wondered where they were briefly, he vaguely remembered them at the wedding when he danced with Bella.
Then his eyes shifted to Edward.
He had seen many expressions on Edward's face before. He had seen him angry, seen him arrogant, and once in pain. But this, this was beyond pain. It was agony. His eyes were half-crazed. Edward didn't even look up to glare at Jacob.
Instead he stared down at the couch beside him with an expression like someone lit him on fire, his hands like rigid claws at his side.
Jacob couldn't even enjoy it, only understanding one thing. There was one thing that could make Edward look like that. Bella.
Bella was half-hidden behind the arm of the couch, curled up in a loose fetal position, her arms wrapped around her knees. And for a long second Jacob couldn't see or smell anything amiss, except for the Bella he loved, her skin still soft and a pale peach, her eyes still the same chocolate brown, not red like the newborns they fought before.
Then he really looked.
There were deep circles under her eyes, dark circles that jumped out because her face was haggard. Was she thinner? Her skin seemed tight, like her cheekbones might break through. Most of her dark hair was pulled away from her face into a messy tangled knot, but a few strands stuck to her forehead and a light sheen of sweat covered her skin. She looked so fragile. She was sick. Very sick.
As Jacob continued his appraisal, Bella suddenly got sick, Alice moving a waste basket in front of her, giving pause to Edward who if anything, looked more in agony.
"Sorry about that." Bella whispered.
Edward just moaned quietly, thudding to his knees, Bella pressing a hand to his cheek comforting him.
Jacob was completely dumbfounded, everything he was seeing he was not understanding.
"Bella, what's wrong?" Jacob dared to ask. "Are you all right?"
"I'm so glad you came to see me today, Jacob."
"What is it, Bella?" Jacob insists, stepping closer, eyes wary as the pixie-like vampire, apparently Bella's self-appointed body guard crouches into a spring.
"Help me up, Alice?" Bella asks, looking to Alice pleadingly.
Alice looks like she'd rather smash Jacob under once of her fancy high heels of her boots.
"Please, Alice."
Alice finally concedes, leaning over Edward who is still on his knees.
"No." Jacob says. "Don't get up."
"I'm answering your question." Bella snaps testily.
The blanket falls from Bella, revealing Bella's body. It was swollen, her torso ballooning out in a strange, sick way. The rest of her seemed thinner, like the big bulge had grown out of what it had sucked from her. Her distorted body, the bones jabbing against the skin on her face. This was worse, so much worse.
Jacob suddenly understood. Bella was pregnant, but whatever was inside her was taking her life to feed its own. Because it was a monster. Just like its father.
Suddenly Edward was on his feet, eyes flat black.
"Outside, Jacob." He snarls.
"Let's do this."
"No." Bella gasps, stumbling forward to latch onto Edward, Alice moving as well to steady her.
"I just need to talk to him, Bella." Edward says in a low voice, assuring her, gently stroking her face. "Don't strain yourself. Please rest. We'll both be back in just a few minutes."
"Behave. And then come back." Bella insists, staring at Jacob insistently.
"I'm not ready for you to kill me yet, Jacob Black. You'll have to have a little patience." Edward says, once a few paces down the driveway.
"Patience isn't my specialty."
They continued to walk down the drive, pausing almost at the end before Edward suddenly turned to Jacob.
For a moment Jacob realized in comparison he was just a kid to Edward. A kid who had lived all his life in the same tiny town. And he would have to live a lot more, suffer a lot more, to ever understand the searing agony in Edward's eyes. His face was a face of a man that was burning at the stake.
"It's killing her, right? She's dying."
"My fault." Edward whispers, his knees giving out. "Yes. Yes, it's killing her."
"So why hasn't Carlisle done anything? He's a doctor, right? Get it out of her." Jacob asks, not understanding.
"She won't let us." Edward answers, seeming exhausted.
That was just like Bella, true to form. To die for the monster spawn Jacob thinks bitterly.
"You know her so well." Edward says again, obviously reading Jacob's thoughts. "How quickly you see… I didn't see. Not in time. She wouldn't talk to me on the way home, not really. I thought she was frightened, that would be normal. I thought she was angry with me for putting her through this, for endangering her life. Again. I never imagined what she was really thinking, what she was resolving. Not until my family met us at the airport and she ran right into Alice's arms. And then I heard what Alice was thinking. I didn't understand until I heard that. Yet you understand after once second."
"Just back up a second. She won't let you?" Jacob asks with sarcasm. "Did you ever notice that she's exactly as strong as a normal hundred-and-ten-pound human girl? How stupid are you vamps? Hold her down and knock her out with drugs."
"I wanted to. Carlisle would have."
"No. Not noble. Her bodyguard complicated things." Edward read Jacob's mind again.
From what Jacob always understood Bella and Alice had always been close, so it didn't make sense that Alice wanted Bella dead. So obviously there was something else. Did Alice want Bella to be a vampire that bad? Or what? Bella told him some of the Cullens had gifts, Alice included. Alice was the seer, right? So did it have something to do with that?
"You're right. My sister can see the future. But Alice is quite efficient at blocking me when she wants to. She's too preoccupied with taking care of Bella now. I don't know what she's seen and she certainly isn't telling me now. And with Rosalie and Emmett gone, gallivanting around Italy by themselves… Not that they would be much help. Rosalie all but hates Bella. But perhaps, at least another person on my side, understanding my point. Rosalie would see it as another threat to expose us and Emmett would of course side with his mate, no questions asked…" Edward trails off in his musings, almost as if he had forgotten Jacob was in front of him.
"Forget the blondie and hulk. They're not here. You can't worry about that now. So you take the pixie out first. Your kind can be put back together, right? Turn her into a jigsaw and take care of Bella." Jacob points out, like Edward is a special kind of stupid.
"Esme is backing her up. And Jasper would never go for it, even if he isn't totally on board, he would never allow us to hurt Alice. Carlisle won't help me with Esme against it." Edward trails off again.
"You should have left me with Bella."
"Yes."
"We didn't know. I never dreamed. There's never been anything like Bella and I before. How could we have known that a human was able to conceive a child with one of us?" Edward whispers.
"When the human should get ripped to shreds in the process?"
"Yes." Edward agrees. "They're out there, the sadistic ones, the incubus, the succumbs. They exist. But the seduction is merely a prelude to the feast. No on survives." Edward shakes his head.
"I didn't realize they had a special name for what you are." Jacob spits bitterly.
"Even you, Jacob Black, cannot hate me as much as I hate myself."
"Killing me now doesn't save her." Edward says quietly.
"So what does?"
"Jacob, you have to do something for me." Edward pleads.
"The hell I do, parasite!" Jacob growls.
"For her?" He asks, looking half-tired and half-crazy.
"I did everything I could to keep her away from you. Every single thing. It's too late."
"You know her, Jacob. You connect to her on a level that I don't even understand. You are part of her, and she is part of you. She won't listen to me, because she thinks I'm underestimating her. She thinks she's strong enough for this… She might listen to you." He chokes out.
"Why would she?"
Suddenly Edward lurched to his feet, eyes burning brighter, a crazy look to him. Jacob wondered if he was actually going crazy. Could vampires lose their minds?
"Maybe. I don't know. It feels like it." Edward answers. "I have to try to hide this in front of her, because stress makes her more ill. She can't keep anything down as it is. I have to be composed; I can't make it harder. But that doesn't matter now. She has to listen to you."
"I can't tell her anything you haven't. What do you want me to do? Tell her she's stupid? She probably already knows that. Tell her she's going to die? I bet she knows that, too."
"You can offer her what she wants." Edward says with no inflection.
Jacob stares, not comprehending.
"I don't care about anything but keeping her alive. If it is a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants. She can have puppies, if that's what it takes." Edward says, meeting Jacob's stare, his face frenzied under the thin layer of control.
"But not this way!" Edward continues with a hiss. "Not this thing that's sucking the life from her while I stand there helpless! Watching her sicken and waste away. Seeing it hurting her. You have to make her see reason, Jacob. She won't listen to me anymore. Alice's always there, feeding her insanity, encouraging her. From whatever she has seen. Protecting her. No, protecting it. As if Bella's life means nothing anymore."
Jacob nearly chokes. What the hell was happening? That Bella should, what? Have a baby? With him? Was he giving her up? Or did he think she wouldn't mind being shared?
"Whichever. Whatever keeps her alive."
"That's the craziest thing you've said yet." Jacob strangles out.
"She loves you."
"Not enough." Jacob denies.
"She's ready to die to have a child. Maybe she'd accept something less extreme." Edward reasons.
"Don't you know her at all?"
"I know, I know. It's going to take a lot of convincing. That's why I need you. You know how she thinks. Make her see sense." Edward all but pleads.
Jacob was reeling. This was- was impossible. Wrong. Sick. Borrowing Bell for the weekends and then returning her Monday morning like a rental movie? So messed up. Yet so tempting.
He tried to push the image out of his mind, but they came anyways. Bella in his arms, Bella sighing his name. Worse still, the new image of Bella healthy and glowing, so different than now; round with his child.
"Make Bella see sense? What universe do you live in?" Jacob chokes out, trying to shove the thoughts out of his mind.
"At least try."
"Where is this psycho crap coming from? Are you making this up as you go?" Jacob demands.
"I've been thinking of nothing but ways to save her since I realized what she was planning to do. What she would die to do. But I didn't know how to contact you. I knew you wouldn't listen if I called. I would have come to find you soon, if you hadn't come today. But it's hard to leave her, even for a few minutes. Her condition… it changes so fast. The thing is… growing. Swiftly. I can't be away from her now." Edward admits.
"What is it?"
"None of us have any idea. But it is stronger than she is. Already."
"Help me stop it. Help me stop this from happening." Edward asks.
"How? By offering my stud services?" Jacob bites back. "You're really sick. She'll never listen to this."
"Try. There's nothing to lose now. How will it hurt?"
It would hurt him, Jacob thought.
"A little pain to save her? Is it such a high cost?" Edward challenges.
"But it won't work."
"Maybe not. Maybe it will confuse her, though. Maybe she'll falter in her resolve. One moment of doubt is all I need." Edward says convinced.
"And then you pull the rug out from under the offer? Just kidding, Bella?"
"If she wants a child, that's what she gets. I won't rescind." Edward answers.
Jacob still couldn't believe this. Bella would punch him for sure, not that it would hurt him. She would break her hand again.
He wondered if he should just kill Edward and be done with it.
"Not now. Not yet. Right or wrong, it would destroy her, and you know it. No need to be hasty. If she won't listen to you, you'll get your chance. The moment Bella's heart stops beating, I will be begging for you to kill me."
"You won't have to beg long." Jacob promises.
"I'm very much counting on that."
"Then we have a deal." Jacob says, wondering if he himself was crazy for even accepting this.
Edward nods, offering his hand.
"We have a deal."
Hello everyone,
So just in case you were wondering... I know I write descriptions of my OC's, sometimes in-depth or sometimes vague ones... And I did mention having a Pinterest account that had all my character boards on it for my stories. But in case you don't have an account, in my mind...
Anastasia is played by the gorgeous Doutzen Kroes (when she had brown/blonde hair), Afton is played by Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore from Vampire Diaries) & Justin is played by Nathaniel Buzolic (he's Kol, also from Vampire Diaries).
I don't really describe Afton much though to be honest, he's kind of just there... My bad. Poor guy. He is important though.
That's all for now!
Polkadottedgiraffe11
Edited 2/10/19
