Author's Note: Hi, everyone! Sorry for the long wait. I'll try to keep the promise to update much more frequently. I know Bella and Laurent's conversation was the same in the book, but I shortened it and changed some things around to fit to my story. I hope you're still keeping up with this. Enjoy reading and please review! :)
Bella's POV
Charlie wasn't that happy when I told him I was pregnant with Quil's baby. He was infuriated and was about to get his gun, but I stopped him. I knew he wasn't going to do anything anyway. The thought of Quil getting hurt was scary. Charlie said he knew he should've taken me back to Florida when I still had the chance, but I never wanted to. Not when Jacob and Quil had rebuilt me together.
My heart ached when I thought of Jacob. Haven't seen or heard from him since forever. Quil and I never knew what was up with him.
But I plan to find out.
As I kept calling for Jacob receiving only nothing, sometimes Billy would answer which didn't help much. First, it was either Jacob was sick or sleeping. Then it was he's not there. Throughout my attempts of trying to contact Jacob, I called my mother, Renee, to inform her teenage daughter was pregnant. She definitely was surprised, but surprisingly not that angry like how Charlie was. She encouraged me that I would get through this and that I could come back to Florida any time if I wanted to.
The gesture was nice I suppose, but I couldn't foresee that to happen in the future.
I couldn't handle being pregnant right now and that Quil had to suffer along with it. This ruined his life. He never would tell me, but I knew. I couldn't take the pressure of becoming a mother myself. It was like the ceiling collapsed above me and everything fell upon me at once.
In my truck, I turned it on and drove to...some destination where I let the wheel guide me. Later, I found myself on a familiar dirt road that led to nowhere in particular. I parked my car in the usual spot. I followed the now worn map, the one Jacob and I used when he hiked. That seemed like it was forever ago.
Underneath the cloudy sky of Forks, I set off to into the woods. Try to enjoy the wind against my face. Embracing the nature sounds and the little creatures of the lively forest.
Four miles deep I was into the forest. To the east, I could hear the stream bubbling quietly. When I went to the clearing, the place lost its beauty without the sunlight, but was still very beautiful and serene. It was the same place...but it didn't hold what I had been searching for.
I sank down right where I was, kneeling at the edge of the clearing.
I wished to have Jacob back and not be in this situation I was in. If everything would've gone back to normal...
But I'm not sure if I want to have Edward back in my life again. He left and damaged me in the worst way possible. Jacob and Quil brought life back into me again. Now, Jacob was gone and Quil was all who I have left.
Just as I was trying to get myself together, I notice an unknown figure, but he was bringing to me some sort of a faint memory.
The motionless figure stood still as a statue, the pallid skin, black hair, and the face I never wanted to see. Fear strikes through me as I recognized who the vampire was.
And it wasn't the one who I had grieved over.
"Laurent!" I cried in surprise.
Laurent was in James's coven when we first met.
"Bella?" He asked, looking more astonished.
"I didn't expect to see you here," As he grinned, he strolled toward me, his expression bemused. "Smelling so..." He breathed in the air, taking in the pleasure as if it was a drug. "Extra sweet."
"I stopped by the Cullen place and saw it empty, I thought they'd moved on."
"Oh," I bit my lip. I didn't expect to hear that name and it caught me off guard. I haven't heard anyone spoke it or utter it in a long time. "They did move on." I finally managed to tell him.
"Looks like they left you behind. Weren't you sort of a pet of theirs?"
I smiled wryly. "Something like that," I decided to ask the first question that came to my head. "Did Victoria ever find you?" I asked, breathless.
Victoria - who had hunted me with James, her mate that died, then she disappeared. The least person I wanted to think about.
"Yes," He answered. "I actually came here as a favor to her," He made a face. "She won't be happy about this."
"About what?" I asked eagerly, inviting him to continue. He was glaring into the greed, away from me. I took advantage of his diversion, taking a furtive step back.
He looked back at smiling looking like a black haired angel.
"About me killing you," He answered in a seductive purr.
I staggered back another step and instinctively put a protective hand on my flat abdomen.
"She wanted to save that part for herself," He went on blithely. "She's sort of...put out with you, Bella."
"Me?" I squeaked.
He shook his head and chuckled. "I know, it seems a little backward to me, too. But James was her mate, and your Edward killed him."
Hearing his name was like rubbing salt on an open wound. Put a dagger to my heart. He should still bring me this much pain. But it was something that's always been difficult for me to heal.
"A mate for a mate. Fair game. She asked me to get the lay of the land for her, so to speak. I didn't imagine you would be so easy to get to. You must not mean very much to him if he left you here unprotected."
That was a blow that tear through my chest.
I stumbled another step back from him.A mischievous grin rearranged his features. "Well, you've caught me at a bad time, Bella. I didn't come to this place on Victoria's mission - I was hunting. I'm quite thirsty, and you do smell...simply mouthwatering. You're very lucky I was the one to find you."
"Am I?" I mouthed, faltering another step back.
Laurent followed, lithe and graceful.
"Yes," He assured me. "I'll be very quick. You won't feel a thing, I promise. Oh, I'll lie to Victoria about that, later, naturally, just to placate her. But if you knew what she had planned for you, Bella..." He shook his head with a slow movement, almost as if in disgust. "I swear you'd be thanking me for this."
I stared at him in horror.
He sniffed at the breeze that blew threads of my hair in his direction. "Mouthwatering," He repeated, inhaling deeply.
I anticipated the oncoming attack that was bound to happen. His ruby eyes were dilated, blood thirsty.
"The sound of your heart beat coming to an end will be music to my ears," Laurent said. "But something about yours sounds...different...like there's two of them. What is that?"
I couldn't say anything. Not wanting to my baby's life into danger and jeopardy more than it already was. By my silence, he seemed to have figured it out with an understanding in his carmine eyes.
"Expecting, are you?" A smile twisted onto his face. "Tell me, is it Edward's?"
My OBGYN told me from my recent appointment that I was ten weeks along. The bump was not even visible at this stage. I already felt the intense and monumental love for my unborn baby that surpassed anything else.
The truth was far more valuable to me than to break it to Laurent, a hungry vampire. After my death, he could report that to Victoria. If I told him it was Quil's, that would put him in danger. He didn't deserve to be in this type of situation. I had to protect him and our baby the best I could.
"Yes." I lied.
His smile went wider as he let out a low, delightful chuckle. "Isn't this a lovely surprise? A half human and half vampire abomination. Definitely unheard of. Nothing to worry about. Your half breed won't see the light of day."
I was going to die right now. In this dangerous moment, I no longer heard the hallucination of Edward's voice for once. I had to sacrifice Edward in order to protect Quil. I never realized how much I love Quil until now.
Through my narrowed eyes, I watched as Laurent whipped his head abruptly to the left. I was afraid to look away from him, to follow his glance. I was too amazed to feel relief when he started slowly backing away from me.
"I don't believe it," He said, his voice so low that I barely heard it.
I had to look then. My eyes scanned the meadow for the grateful intrusion. At first I saw nothing, and my gaze flickered back to Laurent. He was retreating more quickly now, his eyes boring into the forest.
Then I saw it; three mammoth, horse sized wolves appearing from the trees. The black wolf one in the center of their V formation. Flanking beside him was a gray and brown one. The trio looked menacing and deadly as they snarled and growled at their prey.
Laurent was in pure terror as he backed toward the edge of the trees. I didn't understand why he'd be in paralyzed fear over an animal compared to a vampire like him who was so murderous to me earlier.
I gave an involuntary gasp and jumped back - which was the stupidest thing I could have done. I froze, waiting for the wolves to turn on me, but only one did. The one who was the closest to me. The reddish brown one, turned its head slightly at the sound of my gasp. The wolf's eyes were dark, nearly black. It gazed at me for a fraction of a second.
Why couldn't all of them get it over with to kill me?
For some strange reason, as I stared into its eyes, I was reminded of Jacob. Before I could study him more, the wolf looked away from me back to focus on his prey. The second Laurent ran away, the three wolves ran just as fast as him.
That's when I ran away myself back to my truck to go home. I drove past the speeding limit hoping to make it there on time. The thought of Victoria wanting to kill me for revenge, having Quil and our baby's lives in danger was too overwhelming. As soon as I came home, I went to the bathroom and felt like I had retched everything.
Victoria invaded my nightmares tonight.