For those who asked - yes, the ending that happened in chapter one of this fic was the original ending. Who's ready for the new pairing reveal? :D Thanks so much to my beta - I love you!
CHAPTER TWO
I ran for hours before I caught the scent of someone following me. Something, more specifically. A vampire. It kept its distance, approaching slowly but steadily behind me. I sped up, and sensed it speeding up with me. I didn't want to fight, not like this, but it seemed that I would have to. I turned and bounded towards my follower, snarling.
It was the pixie.
She slowed as I come into view, holding something out gently in front of her. "Don't run," she said in her liting voice, "I thought you might need these."
I stood, staring hard at her, all the while saying nothing. She tossed it between us, and I saw that it was a black duffle bag, wrapped in a plastic bag. After a long pause, I approached it and sniffed it, pawing at the plastic.
"I didn't want my scent to get all over your things," the small vampire explained, toying with her short hair in a fashion that would have struck me as nervousness if it wasn't for her perfect grace. My things?
I ripped the plastic off the bag with my teeth, then pawed carefully at the bag's zipper until its contents were revealed to me. I saw clothes, a few pairs of shoes - almost all seemed entirely too fashionable and borderline impractical - among various documents and… stacks of cash. A few other things jingled at the bottom of the bag, but I looked up at her questioningly before phasing quickly.
"What is this, bloodsucker?"
"Before you reject it, just think about it. You'll need it, please." Her voice was soft, and she spoke as though she was treading on very thin ice.
"And why the hell would you want to help me?" I spat.
"When we realized that Jacob's pack was protecting us, we... made some arrangements for you...Cullen-style," she added with a small smile. "This is yours. Truly."
I scowled down at the bag, then back at her.
"Just take it, please. If you want to leave, you're going to need everything in there."
I continued scowling as I picked through the rest of the bag's contents. Passports, ID's, several sets of keys for cars, as well as mystery ones for other things. It really did have everything I knew I'd need, although my pride continued to hold me back from taking it and running away.
"Just think of it as a thank you gift. Go anywhere - do anything." She smiled again before turning and bounding off.
Sighing, I phased again and grabbed the bag in my muzzle, heading somewhere - anywhere - but here.
The shrill ring of my phone forced me to lean over and answer it, despite the fact that I'd ignored the previous three rings.
"Mom, I'm trying to-"
"It's me, Leah." His voice was as warm and soft as always, and I felt a lump rise immediately to my throat as I drank it in. It's been months, yet it's felt like years since I'd last heard the voice that made my insides twist so painfully - outside of my dreams, at least. I twist in the creaky motel bed as I sit up, and I know he hears it.
"Leah, please," he sounded like he needed me, and it almost drew me in. But I knew better than to believe he could ever need me like that.
"No," I said instead of the million things my heart yearned to let out.
"She's in danger, please, I know it's not right, not like this, but please, I'm begging-"
"If you know it's not right then why are you asking?" My voice is a mix of anger and exhaustion, and I knew he could feel it through the line.
"Don't ever call me again."
"Leah, plea-"
"And don't you dare try and command me." I hung up before he could get out another word.
A few weeks later, I went back anyway.
It was night time by the time I finally pulled down the last stretch of highway that leads to Forks. Although I'd used the supplies that the pixie vampire had given me sparingly and not without a healthy dose of apprehension, I had to admit that this sleek sports car that I was tearing down the highway in was a blessing. The little town of Forks soon flew by me, and I debated whether or not I should just continue down to La Push. I knew I needed to see him sooner or later, and I didn't know if later would be the right option.
Sighing, I made the last minute decision to flip around and head to the Cullen household where I knew that Seth would most likely currently be. Unlike me, he had taken to the home very well and enjoyed his time spent among the Cullen clan and the many food and entertainment offerings they provided for him.
I soon began approaching where the long drive that led to the Cullen household would appear, and was struck by the sense that there was something incredibly wrong. It was the smell - the intense, sickeningly sweet smell of vampire. Too many vampires. Panic began to override my senses as I slammed the car to a halt just before the entrance to their hidden drive. What the hell was going on?
As if on cue, the glove compartment of my car begin to ring. I started for a moment, before hissing in annoyance as I pried the compartment open to find yet another cell phone, which the Cullens seemed fond of hiding everywhere.
I answered it quickly an excuse on my lips when the person on the other line spoke. "Leah, it's me," the pixie - Alice - said quickly.
I sighed loudly. She'd been slipping my mother the number of every cell phone they'd had hidden in their many, many properties and vehicles since I'd left, despite my protests for privacy and space. Even when I'd checked into motel rooms using cash, the phone had somehow always ended up ringing off the hook in the middle of the night.
"Don't freak out," she added before I could hang up on her. "We had a...situation. It's over now, but some of our guests are still here."
"How many?" I asked.
"A...few," she glossed over the subject. "You can keep the car, by the way."
"Thanks, but no," I said quickly, frowning at how accustomed I had become to the lavish lifestyle of the Cullens after only a few short months. I traced a finger along the steering wheel of the sports car I was driving sadly, knowing I would likely never drive something this grand again.
"Well, it's yours anyway, and it'll be here for whenever you want it," she continued casually. "Also, while we're on the topic of things, your mother and I may have done a small revamp to your closet."
"What the fu-" My curses fell on deaf ears as the line went dead. I sighed, wondering what else I had missed while gone besides Sue's newfound companionship with the bloodsuckers.
I pulled up to the house a minute later, and was surprised by the eerie calamity outside the Cullens' sprawling home. I felt sick as the stench of vampire overwhelmed my senses, clogging the fresh air around me. I made my way up the stairs to their porch, cursing silently at the loud clicking noise my heels made before slipping them off and chucking them into a nearby bush. When, exactly, had I become that girl?
Shaking off my discomfort, I opened the door to find a dozen sets of eyes on me immediately. I recoiled, instantly recognizing that not all of these were the same ochre that I was used to seeing on the Cullen family. Many glowed a dull red, signaling that they'd been feeding on human blood. I hissed back at them, darting my eyes around the room and counting the number of vampires that occupied the space. It was too many, even for me.
My standoff was interrupted by a beaming Seth, who barreled into me, hugging me tightly. "Welcome back," he whispered happily into my hair. I finally managed to tear my eyes away from the dozen vampires that watched me carefully, and hugged him back just as tightly.
"You've been okay? I asked quietly, knowing that my use of discretion was fruitless considering that all of us possessed supernatural hearing.
"I've been more than okay, actually," he said happily gesturing towards the television. As it were, there was a fresh spread of food laying out on the coffee table, which happened to include all of Seth's favorite dishes. My stomach rumbled involuntarily at the scent of the food, which somehow managed to drift its way over to my nose, despite the overwhelming stench that otherwise invaded my senses.
Seth laughed before pulling me over to the kitchen where another array of food laid out carefully across the countertops, resembling a buffet that one would see on a cooking channel more than something inside someone's home. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at the display, knowing that vampires never did anything halfway.
Seth handed me a tall glass of what looked like lemonade but faded into a gradient of yellows, and oranges and reds. I sipped it, cursing inwardly at the fact that I couldn't deny that it was delicious. Yep, perfection - as always.
I popped a few random food items in my mouth as Seth began to prattle on about all of the hospitality the Cullens had given him while I had been gone, before delving into the events of the past month that I had decided to skip out on. My heart skipped as he explained the showdown that had almost occurred, and I felt a lump rising in my throat as I realize that my little brother might not be standing in front of me right now and I had selfishly decided not to return.
Seth sensed my discomfort immediately and walked over to rub my shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay, Leah," he said quietly. "I understand. We all understand. I... I'm sorry that you had to go through this again," he added hesitantly.
My eyes widened as I realized the implication of his words. "You don't mean-?"
Seth scoffed. "I'm not that daft," he muttered, turning back to the food. "You really think I didn't know? I can be discreet, too, I'll have you know. You guys aren't the only ones who learned how to maintain your privacy while part of a wolf pack."
I opened my mouth to pry out what other secrets my little brother has been keeping before closing it quickly knowing that it wasn't the time, not with countless prying ears all around us.
"We'll finish this later," I said warningly instead, as I walked out of the room, in search of Alice.
Instead, I saw the girl. She was the size of a small child now, and her bronze hair flowed in beautiful ringlets down her back. Her face was even more stunning than the blonde vampire, and it made my heart twist as I shrunk back from her beauty. She stood happily in the living room, casually holding the hand of unnamed bloodsuckers. It made my skin crawl.
She smiled up at me beatifically, and waved. "Hello, Leah," she said sweetly, her voice as angelic as her face.
I couldn't help but turn my face up in disgust, cringing down at the child. Before I could open my mouth to return her greeting however, another, more familiar, figure flitted down the stairs behind her.
I wondered if I would ever be this relieved to see another vampire again. "Hi Alice," I said casually, hoping my relief hadn't leaked into my voice.
"Welcome!" She said happily, looking as though she wanted to come over and hug me before deciding against it. "You look lovely," she said instead, smiling happily at the dress I wore.
I thumbed the mini dress I wore awkwardly, refusing to admit that it's delicate silk fabric felt heavenly against my skin. "How nice of you to join us," I said sarcastically.
"Oh! I should introduce you." She turned two words the other occupants in the room, starting to rattle off introductions. Most of the other vampires continued to stare at me, unmoving and unabashedly, eyes trailing after my every move. A couple of the females got up to play with the child - and Seth - picking up a ball and tossing it around with her. I shuddered.
"I'm good," I said, turning for the door. "I just stopped by to see Seth, so I'm off now." I tried to ignore the child's curious stare boring into my back as she stopped playing to watch me, and marched determinedly for the door.
I wrenched it open, and there he stood. "Leah," he said, his voice pained.
I could still feel the eyes of the other vampires in the room on my back, and I stepped out, closing the door behind me. "Not here." I nodded towards the forest, and we walked for a long while, until I stopped a turned to him.
"Anything you have to say at this point really doesn't matter anymore, Jake," I said, my voice devoid of emotion.
"I know, Leah," he said. "I know, but I want to say it anyway."
I scoffed, looking off into the distance. My eyes were dry, and although my heart still panged, it was nowhere near as bad as it had the first time I'd had my heart broken. I almost laughed at the absurd convenience of it.
"I might not be able to… want you in that way anymore, but it doesn't mean that I don't remember it. It doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt me to know that I hurt you," he said sadly.
"Tell me something I don't know," I snapped back, recalling the torture of Sam's simultaneous regret and love for Emily.
"Leah," he begged.
"Let's just put it behind us," I asked him, turning away. "It's basically like it never happened in your mind already anyway, isn't it?"
"You know it's not like that, Leah," he said, reaching out to touch my arm gently.
I snatched my arm away. "Well, pretend like it is, Jake," I threw over my shoulder as I walked off in a random direction.
"Leah-" he called after me, following me. He stopped short with me as I spied a vampire watching us from a short ways away. She was olive-skinned, unlike the Cullens, but had unmistakably burgundy eyes.
"Mind your business, bitch," I snapped at her. She snarled back at me in response, stepping forward.
"Don't try me," I snapped, stepping forward as well.
"Leah, don't, she's with us," Jake tried to pull me away, and I shook him off again.
"You know, I don't really give a damn today," I snarled back at her, glaring as she continued to hiss at me. Her long, braided hair fell over her shoulder as she crouched forward in warning.
"Do not attack, Leah," Jake said firmly. I whipped my head around to glare at him.
"Wow, Jake," I crossed my arms angrily. "You're really gonna command me?"
"I'm sorry, but we really can't afford a confrontation now, not like this."
"Since when were you on their si-" I stopped short, cursing my momentary memory lapse. Since her, of course.
With a final hiss, the bitchy vampire took off in the direction of the Cullen house, leaving us alone again.
I looked at the dark sky above, twinkling with the light of a thousand stars. The trees swayed gently around us as a small breeze danced through their leaves. I looked up at Jacob, at his eyes searching me, as if looking for the cracks of the broken parts of me that he could draw back together and mend them.
"There's nothing you can do Jake," I said, reaching out to cup his jaw. I'd missed this, and I wished desperately that he would lean into the touch as he had before, and kiss me, pretending that none of this had happened.
But I stepped back, and the moment was gone. I turned and phased, taking off into the forest and towards my new normal.
I sat down quietly at on a rock a short ways away, watching the wedding festivities unfold. It was a full moon tonight, bathing the beach in a soft glow that complimented the torches that had been erected around the tables and dance floor. Music and laughter drifted towards me, along with the clicking of shoes on the makeshift dance floor they'd set up. My own glittering heels dangled from my fingers, and I pulled my bare toes through the sand, enjoying the feeling.
I watched as Sam and Emily stared happily into each others' eyes, dancing close as if the rest of their guests had faded away behind them. The looks in their eyes could only be described as magic. His free hand moved to clutch her and dip her into a kiss, his fingers dancing lovingly over the exposed skin of her back. He trailed happy kisses along her scarred face and she melted into him as he drew her upright. It made my heart fill with longing, especially when Sam trailed a hand down to her abdomen to smooth it over the bump that was well defined by Emily's simple satin dress.
My own dress was made of a similar slinky satin material in a deep red color, that was slit high up my thigh and low in the front. I looked up to find Kim approaching, wearing an identical dress to mine that billowed slightly in the wind, exposing skin up to her thigh. Unlike me, she looked slightly more demure than I did due to her flatter chest, it's low dip complimenting her bronzed skin instead of spilling out her chest.
"Hi, Leah," she said shyly, twiddling her fingers awkwardly. "Can I sit?"
I moved over wordlessly, training my eyes on the ocean that crashed in the distance instead of on her.
She sat quietly with me for a long while, smiling to herself as she watched the antics of the other pack members at the reception.
"It was a beautiful wedding, wasn't it?" she said, peeking over at me.
"It was," I admitted. Despite my annoyance with Emily's slightly scandalous bridesmaid dress choices, I had to admit that the ceremony and reception had gone off beautifully.
She reached out to tuck a stray strand of my hair behind my ear, and I flinched at the contact.
"Sorry," she blushed. "It's so pretty," she added quietly.
"My hair?" I snorted, looking at her incredulously.
She laughed softly. "Honestly?" she waved at hand at me. "All of you is… pretty much perfect, Leah. I feel like a child in this dress compared to you."
"You're kidding, right? I look like a pornstar," I deadpanned.
She giggled at that. "Leah, you look like a model," she said seriously. "At pretty much all times."
I continued to stare at her, dumbfounded. It had been so long since I'd last gotten a compliment from...anyone, really.
"I barely wanted to be a bridesmaid knowing I'd have to stand there next to someone who looks like you!" she said with a moan, reading the expression on a face.
"Jared thinks you look like a goddess no matter what you wear," I reminded her.
At that she beamed, her insecure expression melting away as her eyes driften over to where sat at the reception, sipping a drink. He looked up as if sensing her, his face melting into an equally enamored expression. She waved at him happily, and he waved back until Claire began tugging at his leg, reaching up to show him a seashell she had picked up.
"I love him so much," she said wistfully. "Every day feels like a dream with him, it's-" she stopped short, slapping a hand over her mouth as she looked at me, eyes wide.
"It's fine," I said automatically, attempting a small smile.
"I didn't mean-"
"It really is fine," I said again. "I'm over Sam," I said truthfully, grateful she had no clue about Jake.
"Was it hard?" she asked, timid again. "I mean, being here… doing this…"
"No," I said, hoping she'd believe the honesty in my voice. Being here, as in in La Push? Yes. Being here at the wedding? No. Easy white lies had started falling from my lips so easily these days that I almost couldn't tell the difference anymore. "Not anymore," I added in a whisper.
"You can love, too," she reassured me quietly.
Could I? Among all this all-encompassing, supernatural love that I had to face all day, every day, a regular romance felt cheap and pale in comparison. The absolute devotion that half the pack was tethered to was suffocating, and filled me with equal amounts of longing and heartbreak.
I stood up suddenly, brushing off my dress. "I have to go," I said, already walking off. I heard Kim call out me, but I ignored her, speeding up until I was well away from the festivities.
I wandered the empty beach, deep into the darker, more secluded areas that were shaded over by the cliffs to the point of near complete darkness. I heard the giggles of a young couple in the darkness nearby, wondering briefly if they were wedding guests. I kept walking, further and further, until I was in the forest, taking off at a run. I didn't phase, instead enjoying the feeling of the twigs and dead leaves crunching under my feet. I whipped past the trees, feeling them bend and fold at my whim as my momentum whipped them away from me. The trees thinned abruptly as I found myself standing in a small clearing, filled with flowers in soft, muted blues and purples. The moon and stars shone bright overhead, giving the small stream an almost iridescent glow. I sat down and laid back in the grass, uncaring of how the grass would damage my clothing.
It felt amazing to steal moments like this, just myself and my own thoughts in nature. I basked in the silence, save for the quiet swaying of the grass and foliage around me. I fingered the soft petals of the flower nearest to me, mindful of my supernatural strength contrasted against the fragile flower.
Could I ever feel whole while dating, knowing that any love I could gain for a man would pale in comparison to what I knew I could feel? I pinched the petal off the flower and crushed it between my fingers. Could I manage, knowing that love less than an imprint could end in heartbreak? Could I endure a cycle of that, until I could control my phasing?
My mouth felt dry as I contemplated my future, eventually aging alone as the packs' families expanded, and they grew old surrounded by love and happiness. Jacob would continue to phase for as long as he could, thriving in immortality with his undead mate. The rest would die eventually. Did I want to die, too? Could I stay alive in vain, hoping searching-
I snapped up to a standing position as I heard the unmistakable sound of...someone, something approaching. It was crashing through the underbrush, less graceful than a leech, but somehow with unmistakably supernatural speed. A slightly stronger gust of wind blew towards me from the direction it was approaching from, and it made me freeze in the crouch I had adopted.
The smell was heavenly. I inhaled deeply, sighing into the scent as I wished desperately for another gust of wind to push it forth again. My throat felt dry as I felt it drawing closer, and I willed my frozen limbs to let me phase. It was of no use - I was intoxicated by this...creature, whatever it was. I wondered for a moment if this was how humans felt in the presence of vampire. I felt a wave of sympathy rise within me at this, swallowing dryly.
It drew closer, and I made out its outline in the forest, approaching quickly. Something in me relaxed, as if my body knew before my mind that somehow, some way, this thing was safe, and wouldn't hurt me.
When it hit finally a patch of light near the edge of the clearing, my heart stopped.
He was stunning. His skin was a rich, dark chocolate, and he wore his hair in long braids. He had a sharp, defined jaw, and I was surprised to see a smattering of stubble across it, as if it had grown in that morning. His softly almond-shaped eyes were a warm teak, shining with flecks of gold. He studied me quizzically as he approached, and I noted his height that, while not towering over mine, was still significantly taller than me.
He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
I love every review you guys leave for me. Also, thank you to the person who pointed out that I forgot to tag characters - my bad!