Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews last chapter! To the Guest who asked if I will be updating every other day or every 3 weeks like I usually do I must admit that I laughed! Yes, I am terrible with updating, but with this story, I have made the chapters slightly shorter so that I can be sure to update every other day or so. Thank you again for reading!
Five: Murder
Seth's POV
I was staring in her beautiful, sad eyes, about to either kiss her or comfort her or both, when I heard a crash and a scream.
Jane and I both jumped away from the sounds. Jane whipped around, and I heard her gasp audibly. Her hands flew up to her face, while my eyes only widened. Right at the lining between the fair and the forest, only a few inches from Jane, was a body.
It appeared to have just fallen out of thin air, and whoever the person once was, was covered in blood. A crowd quickly began to form of people that were in vicinity that had heard the crash. It started slowly, but quickly people began screaming at the horrifying sight.
"Call 911!" Someone yelled.
I wondered where everyone was, or if there was a way to help. Only, my focus was not on helping for the first time since I became a wolf. I reached for Jane's elbow.
"Jane come here," I told her quickly, panic surging through me. I knew what this was, and I knew that I had to get her out of here.
Jane didn't move, so I pulled her gently to my side and then turned her away.
"Seth," She gasped, craning her neck to look back. "Seth who was that?" Her mouth was still partly opened, her eyes glassy. This wasn't the first time that I had seen a dead person, but it most definitely was Jane's.
"I don't know. I'm taking you home."
Jane looked at me quizzically, confusion covering her freckled face. I knew that I was being demanding with her, but I couldn't help it. The blood pooling by the disfigured and torn up person's head, the way that the skin was pale and flaccid- I had seen it before.
This person was dead from a vampire attack.
I had to get Jane out of here.
Without thinking, I grabbed her by the elbow and began quickly walking us back towards the car. I wish that I could phase to figure out if anyone knew what the hell was going on, not because I wanted to help, but because I wanted to make sure that I could keep Jane safe and away from it.
"Seth," Jane pulled her elbow from my grasp and narrowed her eyes at me. "What the heck!"
My mouth went dry. "I think I should take you home," I heard myself saying, but I had no idea how I needed to explain myself. I was stuck in a tangled mess of trying to keep her safe with her not knowing anything about what I was, and it was the first time that I felt seriously frustrated with the secret.
"What? No, Seth," Jane furrowed her brows at me like she was angry. "I think we should go see if we can help."
"The police will help," I told her.
"The police aren't even here," Jane stated with wide eyes. "What if their kids are here or something. We can't just leave."
My face softened. Even though I knew that nothing could make me turn around and allow Jane to walk towards what could be a vicious, deadly vampire, I couldn't help but feel a pang in my gut. Jane wanted to help because she worried that the dead person was someone's father or someone's mother, and she worried that their child was now like her.
"Jane, I really think we shouldn't go over there," I attempted to explain to her slowly. "It could have been an animal attack. It might still be-,"
Jane turned on her heel, completely ignoring me as she headed with long, quick strides towards the commotion. I hurried after her, panic surging through me. I looked around frantically as I walked, wishing that I could find Jacob or anyone at all from the pack. I caught up to her immediately; if she was demanding on putting herself in danger, I at least needed to be by her side to save her if need-be.
"Jane," I reached for her hand.
"I'm not turning around, Seth," Jane's face flashed red. "Stop telling me what to do."
"I'm not telling you what to do," I tried to say without too much edge. "I'm simply demanding that you hold my hand."
Jane peered up at me oddly. "Why?"
I chose to ignore that particular question.
Jane stopped once we were at the front of the crowd that had formed. From this close, we were able to make out the dead man's face. His eyes were open, staring directly towards us. There was so much blood.
It could have been my imagination, but I swear Jane leaned in closer to me. "What do you think happened?" She asked me quietly.
"I have no idea," I lied, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her back.
"Do you think-,"
Jared interceded us. He grabbed both of us around the shoulders and pulled us back, laughing as he reoriented us in the other direction. I had never been so grateful for Jared in my entire life.
"Woah," Jared laughed. "Where do you two kids think you're going?"
"Do you know what happened?" Jane asked nervously, attempting to peer over her shoulder towards where the body was even as Jared was walking us away.
"Nope," Jared answered casually. Lying was a lot easier for just about anyone other than me.
"You should definitely go home. Everyone's already gone," Jared said. His voice was casual and easy, but from the way that he looked at me, I could tell that there was more to the story, and that my initial inclination had been correct. From "gone" I knew that what Jared meant was that everyone had already shifted, their human selves gone as they raced through the forest towards whatever the hell had committed that heinous murder. Honestly, right now I could care less about shifting.
Jane knew nothing about what I was; in fact, she was the only imprint that had no idea what was going on. I couldn't afford to leave her alone and unprotected- I wouldn't.
"But what about that person?" Jane asked, her voice filled with concern, pulling me from my inner-panic.
"The police will handle it just fine," Jared sighed.
"But they're not even here," She argued.
As if on cue, the sound of sirens blared in the distance, resulting in Jared smiling smugly. "See," He offered Jane a pointed expression. "Get out of here. Let Jake know when you're home so he doesn't have an aneurysm."
Jared patted my shoulder and then headed back in the other direction. I worried that Jane would argue, but it seemed that once she heard the sirens she seemed much more comfortable leaving. Regardless, she bit the inside of her cheek and kept peering over where the attack had occurred.
"You alright, Jane?" I pulled her to my side and hugged her tightly.
Jane shivered. "Yeah," She whispered, reaching for the bottom of my shirt. Jane grabbed a bunch of it and leaned into me. Her fruity shampoo attacked my nostrils. Jane just smelled so good. I couldn't explain it, and now that I was getting her away from the attack and closer to safety, I could actually appreciate how incredible she smelled and felt being this close to me. I rubbed my hand along her bare forearm to console her. Her skin was so smooth. I wondered if it was this smooth on the rest of her body. I couldn't imagine that it wasn't.
"I'm okay," Jane whispered softly. "I just hate blood. I wonder what happened."
"I'm sure we'll hear about it soon enough," I attempted to reassure her. What I didn't tell her, though, is that what the police said, which was most likely animal attack, would not actually be what she should be afraid of, not that I would ever, ever let anything happen to her.
We finally got into the car, and I must admit that I felt much better driving away from something that could have possibly hurt Jane. A thick, loaded silence hung in the air between us. It was incredible how different the mood was going home than it was when we were coming.
"Well, tonight could have been better," I spoke so that she didn't have to.
Jane's face fell. She pursed her lips and then looked out the passenger side window. I noticed her twiddling with her fingers in her lap.
"Not that I didn't have fun with you," I quickly cut in. "I was referring to the murder that ended out the night."
Jane's eyes widened. "Murder?" She blurted.
Shit. "Who knows," I joked nervously. "It's Forks. Crazy stuff happens here all the time, right?"
Jane looked at me oddly before turning back towards the window, a twinge of sadness still covering her expression. After a while, I noticed her shoulders begin to rise and fall quickly, like she was having trouble taking deep breaths, and decided to intervene.
"Jane?" She finally looked at me, her eyes more guarded than I was used to. "You know I didn't mean it like that," I explained timidly. "Of course I had a good time with you."
Jane smiled just a little bit, but it was a sad smile, and it didn't reach her eyes. "It'll wear on you eventually, you know."
"What will?" I asked her, entirely confused.
"My life," Jane whispered sweetly. "It's too complicated. You don't want complicated, Seth."
My mouth parted but no words came out. "How do you know that, Jane? We haven't even had our first date yet."
Jane's cheeks flushed. "It would just be better if we never did, okay? If we were just... friends. Please."
"No can do, Jane," I smiled at her.
"Seth," She complained, turning in her seat towards me. "Please? It won't work; I know that it won't. Please, respect what I want."
"I respect you endlessly," I told her slowly. "But I do not respect your desire to only be friends because you think your life is too complicated for me. One, that's not true, and two, my life is even more complicated than yours, trust me."
Jane peered at me skeptically. "Explain."
"Maybe after the second date," I stated wryly. "Sounds like something a mysterious someone would say."
Jane giggled, and I breathed in the sound. I hated when Jane was sad, and I was beginning to realize that she was that way a lot. I never wanted her to have to be that way around me, though.
"You know that what Embry said in no way changed the way that I feel about you," I told her more seriously after I could tell she wasn't as upset anymore.
Jane's eyes widened. "What do you feel about me?" She whispered so quietly I could barely hear her.
I cocked my head at her and shot her a knowing expression. "You can't tell?"
Jane blew out a long breath of air and then let her head drop back against the seat. "What a weird night," She murmured, but then she slowly rolled her face towards me. "But I had fun before everything went haywire."
I smiled right back at her, because honestly, I could not do anything else when a girl with giant, stunning brown eyes, freckles, naturally flushed lips and a skinny face looked at me like that.
"Me too, Jane."
Jane chuckled. "You say my name a lot."
I frowned. "So? I like your name."
She giggled once again, thankfully, the heaviness from her parents and then the attack seemed to be leaving the car as we drove farther and farther away from the scene.
"I don't," She admitted.
That was the second time in which she had mentioned disliking her name. It bothered me more than I would have ever admitted, because I loved everything about Jane. I couldn't imagine her with a different name.
"How come?" I asked her.
Jane shrugged. "My name was supposed to be James."
"James?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
Jane tilted her head towards me and then nodded slowly with a slight smirk on her beautiful lips. "You don't like it?"
"Ugh, no," I stated slowly. "It's very... different."
Jane giggled easily. I smiled at her without thinking. God how I loved listening to her laugh; it was so melodious, I could barely handle it. "My dad hated it, too. My mom loved it, and so he pretended to love it the entire time she was pregnant until the day I was born. My mom was about to sign the birth certificate when my dad flipped out and started crying; he told her that he couldn't go through with naming me James because everyone my whole life would think that I was a boy and that I would get made fun of. So, my mom always said that she went with Jane because she had already written the J on the birth certificate and that was the only J girl name she liked."
I bursted out laughing, imagining the scene in my head. Jane giggled softly next to me before both of our laughter died down. I thought to myself that, that was the most Jane had ever spoken at one time.
"Alright," I nodded my head. "I actually like James. James it is."
"No," Jane suddenly looked up at me with giant, panicked eyes. "No Seth! Please! James is even worse!"
"I like it!" I argued with her, but really I just wanted to see her plead back to me. It was terrible, I knew it, but it kind of turned me on, her begging me.
"No Seth please," Jane pulled on my arm. "I don't want a guy name! Please!"
"Alright, alright," I laughed and patted her knee. Jane's face heated up, but she smiled at me nonetheless. "Jamesie it is."
"Ugh," Jane moaned. "Help me."
"Janesie?" I asked, but before it was even out I could tell that this one would stick.
The corner of Jane's lip lifted up, but she pressed her lips tightly together in the center to conceal it. "Call me whatever you want as long as it's not James."
"Good," I sighed. "Though I do think you're crazy, and I still hold strong in the fact that I think you have a great name."
"The only thing I like about my name is that it's the same one as Jane Eyre."
"Is that your favorite book?" I asked.
"No," Jane whispered.
Once I realized that she wasn't going to give any more away, I asked again. "What is your favorite book?"
Jane twirled a piece of hair around her finger. She pondered this question thoughtfully for a moment before responded. "I'd have to think about it," She answered honestly.
"Great. You can let me know your answer on our first date. Dinner, Friday?"
Jane bit the corner of her lip. "Does that line really work for you?" She asked softly, her face heating up.
"I don't know. Does it? It's the first time I've ever used it. Felt very weird coming out of my mouth." Good God, I was staring to sound more like pre-Scarlett Paul with each passing second.
Jane chuckled. "I don't know," She murmured.
I was about to push the issue, but then I reminded myself that I wasn't Paul, after all, and that I didn't want to ever push Jane. She was fragile, and I knew why now. Especially after everything that happened tonight, I just wanted to give her some time.
We rode the rest of the way in silence, and this time, once I stopped in her driveway, I pulled the key from the ignition and stepped out.
I could tell that Jane was curious, but I chose to ignore her questioning. I wasn't necessarily inviting myself in- no, at the very least I was walking her to the door, but if she offered I wouldn't say no.
We walked onto the front porch, but instead of going inside, Jane walked to a small porch swing next to the door. She sat on the edge so that there was enough room for me, and then smiled up at me sweetly.
"Seth?" She asked timidly.
I smiled back at her and then shook my head. How the hell did I get so lucky? I sat down on the swing next to her and tried to ignore the fact that her thighs were pressing against mine, which was a losing battle.
"I wonder what happened to that man," Jane stated nervously, I could tell from the way that her eyes looked far away that she was thinking about it.
I noticed her shiver, and even though I had no idea if it was from her being cold or thoroughly freaked out, I immediately pulled my sweater that I had rolled up to my elbows, over my head, and then handed it to her.
Jane blushed, but she took it, nonetheless. She slipped it overtop of her head quickly, and then reached back and let her hair out of its ponytail. Her natural, incredibly sexy hair fell down overtop of her shoulders. She leaned back against the swing and stared out at the road. I couldn't stop staring at her.
"Don't you want easy?" Jane murmured, still not looking at me.
It took me a second to realize what she was referring to, though once I had, I couldn't help myself from reaching for her hand.
"No," I stated definitively before softening my voice. "I want you."
Ugh, who is swooning over Seth? How does everyone feel about the murder? I can't wait to hear your thoughts below! As always, follow, favorite, and review for a quick update!
