Dearest Readers,
Sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think. Things keep getting more interesting as it goes on, so make sure you have followed/favorited this story to keep up with the future updates (which will be coming shortly).
XOXO Ally Layne.
Bad Moon Rising
Chapter 19: Bella Tries to Drown Me
I was lucky I couldn't drown.
As for Bella… Well, she didn't have the same luxury.
When we hit the waves, a few things crossed my mind:
Who the fuck was Edward
When the fuck was Edward
Why the fuck was Edward
Was this Edward some kind of celestial being that was going to beam out of the sky and save Bella's ass? I was really not in the mood to deal with another deity but if that's what this whole thing's about, I guess I could make it work.
But Bella had to know that by jumping off this cliff, alone, she would essentially be committing suicide.
Unless this Edward thing would show up and somehow save her.
So, in my curiosity, when the bubbles disappeared from our crash into the water, I watched Bella as she slowly sank down, holding her hand out like ET to something that was definitely not there.
Was this some sort of acid trip?
Because I'm going to be straight- you do you and everything, but once you start endangering other people because of your crap then I start to get angry.
I grabbed Bella's hand and swam up to the surface, watching as her eyes drifted somewhere else and she mouthed a name that was becoming all too familiar for me. "Edward."
On either side of us, two forms crashed down into the waves, and I could hardly make anything out from the amount of bubbles that surrounded them. I immediately grabbed my sword (that I was lucky enough to have on me), and prepared myself for one of those vamp-twats to come to try and harm us.
However, I was wrong.
As soon as I hauled Bella up to breach the surface, she gasped for air and two heads of dark hair popped up about 6 feet on either side.
"Andie!" Jake cried out, quickly swimming over to get to where I was struggling to hold up the flailing Bella.
"Here, take her!" I called out, forcing Bella into his arms.
He looked down at her in shock. "Bella, are you-"
Another voice called out, "Andie wa-"
Then I was pulled under.
The vice grip of a cold hand on my ankle was strong, stronger than what I had expected. My body was whipped through the water and essentially thrown down onto the ocean floor, where I looked up to see a familiar redhead sneering down at me.
Ugh, friggin vampires.
Her sneer turned into a smile as she stalked forward.
I quickly realized exactly what those killer whales meant when they referred to vampires as floor walkers- they literally could walk on the ocean floor. She had dragged us out about 30 feet, so there was no way one of the wolves could try to free dive down and help me.
I smirked.
It's not like I was going to be needing help, anyway.
This Vicky bitch was in my domain.
She looked extremely confused. Her head tilted to the side, making her red hair dance around like fire coral. Her eyes narrowed at me, making my smirk become even more pronounced.
"You wondered what I was," I said, holding my arms out at my sides. "Here I am."
"Are you some sort of siren?"
"Nah, but one of my half brother's has a tail. So that's a little awkward," I admitted.
She looked even more confused. "Then what are you?"
"I'm so not telling you, this is too funny," I told her. "Normally the monsters already know who I am so I'm really enjoying the suspense."
Slowly, I reached for the sword strapped to my waist. I pressed the middle of the hilt with my thumb, making the blade shoot out in its perfectly balanced form.
"What are you?" Victoria snarled.
I smiled. "I'm the thing that's gonna kill you." My feet were firmly planted on the ocean floor as I twirled my blade effortlessly. "If you knew what I was, you wouldn't have come here."
She tilted her head, her red hair shooting around her like a flame amidst the current. Then, without warning, she attacked.
Had she not been underwater, she might have been too fast for me to handle. But here? With one push of my hand, she went flying ten feet back.
"What do you want with Bella Swan and the wolves of LaPush?" I demanded as she visibly struggled to regain her bearings.
She snarled, and tried to attack again.
"Okay, I see how it is," I muttered.
Quickly, I reached out as she moved to try and tear me apart with her hands- brutal, I know- and gripped her red hair, threw her over my shoulder, and down onto the ocean floor. I allowed the water to funnel down onto her form, making her feel the full force of the ocean.
She wasn't going anywhere.
And I was going to get some answers.
"You're creating an army," I said, leaving no room for confusion. "And I want to know why."
Victoria snarled again.
"Let me guess. It has to do with Bella Swan and her former Vampire Lover? Out of some sort of selfish pettiness, you're trying to create a large newborn army, for what? To get one human? To get revenge?" I continued, crossing my arms. "Well, you're gonna stop."
"What are you?"
"If I were you I'd stop asking that question and start giving me answers, or I'll have to cut your head off."
Her red eyes widened. "What-"
I pointed my sword at her throat. "If you ask me what I am one more time, you're dead, Vicky. Simple as that."
"A sword is not capable-"
I cut her off by slicing my sword slowly across her arm, leaving a gaping wound in its path. "Want to repeat that?"
She looked between me and my sword, eyes widening.
"I suggest you start talking," I told her. "And maybe, just maybe… I'll let you live. Only so I can kill you later."
"The Cullens-"
"Bella's former vamp lover's family?"
Her eyes narrowed. "It's a coven. One of the largest in the world. And they need to be stopped."
"So you are creating an army to do what? Annihilate them?" I scoffed. "Guess what, Vicky. They're not in the Pacific Northwest anymore. Take your army and go someplace else."
A glint sparked in her eyes. "They'll come back. They will need to stop me. And protect her."
I smiled. "You won't be anyone's problem for very much longer, I can assure you that."
"They killed my mate. They need to feel the same pain-"
"Oh, get over it. Everything dies eventually, Vicky. I'm gonna die one day, and you're gonna die before that. Doesn't that sound nice?"
She growled. "You don't know the pain-"
"Of losing someone I love?" I scoffed. "Been there, done that. That's life. Welcome to the club, bitch. Losing someone doesn't give you free reign to go on a murder spree."
Her glare turned into something different. Something… like awe? Or glee?
"Riley."
Ugh. What is it with these women and saying random-ass names?
Well, I had my answer as soon as what felt like a bull-dozer crashed into my back, sending me sprawling forward.
"The fu-"
Being slammed into the ground allowed me to lose my concentration on holding down Vicky for just one second- but that was all she needed.
She slashed me across my throat, in what should've been a killing blow.
The blond vampire was behind her, and dragging her away as I recovered. I knew she was watching as my skin, arteries, and veins all healed themselves within seconds after she lashed out.
I allowed her one last smile as she and the blond vamp ran away.
"I'll be seeing the two of you later," I promised them, grabbing my sword from the floor where it had been discarded in the fray.
The ocean itself was the one who would know my promise to kill those monsters.
I looked around, searching for any sort of help. And score! A few fish were swimming around, before coming to greet me as soon as I spotted them.
Princess!
I bit back the grin that threatened at the title. Instead, I rubbed my throat warily. "Do you mind keeping tabs on a vamp-tramp for me?"
The small group of fish shared some looks before one bowed their head. We will do our best to serve our Princess. Is it the one who gave you that scar?
Scar?
I pointed at my throat. "It scarred?"
It was recent?
"They are running away now, most likely toward Seattle, that way," I said, pointing them in the direction. "Would you track them? Make sure they don't come near these waters?"
Of course, Princess.
"I will be back within a few days to check on the progress," I told them. "Thank you."
Without any more words, I shot back up to the surface, to be met with five frantic faces and one dead-looking Bella Swan.
Well, her eyes were open and she was breathing, thank the gods, but everything else about her… looked dead.
Before I even made it to the beach, Jake had run right back into the water with wide, fearful eyes as I saw me breach the surface. "Andie, thank God, thank God-"
He wrapped me into his arms and swung me around in an embrace, which I was willing to reciprocate. Being in his arms felt nice.
But in a friendly way, of course.
"Jake, is Bella-"
"Bella's fine," He spoke, pulling away from me slightly so he could study my face. My heart warmed at the warmth that I found in his eyes. "But Andie… I was- we were so worried about you… the vamp dragged you under?"
I felt his hands move from around my back to my face, as he caressed each cheek with a fondness that nearly brought tears to my eyes. Of course, this was all friendly. Friends do this. Because we are friends.
"Are you okay?" He asked, peering into my eyes as he demanded the answer from me.
I nodded. "Just a little shell-shocked. But I'll be fine. Vicky put up a fight, though."
He blinked.
His eyes narrowed at something below my jawline. "Andie, what… what happened?" I felt one of his fingers trace the scar that the fish had warned me about. "Is… did she…?"
I placed one of my own hands on his cheek and gave him a small smile. "I'm fine, Jake. She got a good hit in, but I saved myself. I'm okay."
He closed his eyes as he let out a low, long sigh. He rested his forehead on my own. "You have no idea how frantic I was."
I patted his chest, but stopped as I felt how hard his heartbeat was pounding. "I promise I'm okay, wolf-man. You can stop your worrying."
His eyes opened. "But-"
"Worrying over what could have happened is only a waste of time," I told him. "We can only move on and keep going forward. We're both okay, Bella is okay, we're all okay, okay?"
He barked out a laugh. "Okay."
"Okay."
"Stop hogging her all to yourself, Jake," Embry called out to them, interrupting whatever little friendship moment they had going on.
Because that's all this was.
Friendship.
Right?
They walked back onto the shore, where Paul met Andie with a massive hug that made her feel like her innards would crunch to dust. "Paul, I'm fine-"
"Don't do stupid shit like that, Ands-"
"La Hottie, let me go, now."
"Nope. Not gonna happen."
"Dude, I didn't get to give her a hug," Embry grumbled, and I could practically see him crossing his arms and pouting like a little kid.
"It's my turn to hog her," Paul claimed, as if it made every sense in the world.
I sighed.
After a few rounds of playing pass the demigod, I had been given hugs by nearly every member of the pack, minus Sam, who probably was going to strangle me later after hearing about what happened. But I wasn't the only one to blame, here.
I looked over at Bella, who was sitting on a log, staring out at the horizon glumly. She looked just as dead as she did earlier, and I supposed the wet clothes weren't helping things.
"What made you do that, Bella?"
She blinked.
The others immediately went silent at our exchange, and Jake started to shift hesitantly. "Bella… did you jump off the cliffs?" He asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, she did. And she pulled me with her."
The pack exchanged a few looked with each other at that revelation.
"Do you understand that if I were anyone else, you would've killed me?" I continued, looking down at the other woman intently. "My death would have been your fault, Bella. By pulling me with you into the water, if I weren't the daughter of Poseidon, I would have died. You should have died, too. Is that what you were after?"
She blinked again.
"Bella?" Jake asked hesitantly.
"I'd like to go home," she spoke, her voice hoarse.
I stifled a growl. "Yes, I'd like to go home, too. But your selfish actions nearly made that impossible, don't you see?"
Another blink.
This time, I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Just next time you try to kill yourself to see your dearest Edward again, maybe don't drag me with you."
Jake placed a hand on my shoulder. "Ands…"
"Take her home," I told him. "She needs a friend."
His grip tightened. "But… you-"
"We can meet up later," I promised, placing one of my hands on top of where he gripped my shoulder. "We can talk more about all of this then, but I think Bella… she's not okay, and she needs a friend, Jake."
He let out another sigh. "Alright. I'll see you later, then?"
I grinned. "Of course. You won't be getting rid of me this easily, Black."
Paul walked up and placed a large hand on his shoulder. "We'll bring her to Sam and Emily's," he said. "She'll be fine."
Jake's hand moved from my shoulder to my face in an instant, where he rubbed his thumb against my cheekbone with a silent reverence I had not seen from him before.
But still, this was all just friendly. Friends do this. Friends look at friends like this.
He leaned in and placed a tantalizing kiss upon my other cheek.
I blinked.
Friends kiss cheeks. This isn't a big deal. Nope. Not a big deal at all.
"I'm so happy you're okay, Andie. I'll see you later, okay?"
I felt a gooeyness in my chest that must've been the only answer for why I was only able to nod dumbly at him, ignoring the snickers coming from some of the pack members on our sides.
"See you, Ands."
He wrapped Bella up in a jacket and brought her to where his truck must've been waiting.
Paul slowly edged to my side. "So… you and-"
"We're just friends," I snapped.
He let out a chuckle, throwing an arm around my shoulders as he directed me to the trail that led to Sam and Emily's. "Yeah, sure you are."
I rolled my eyes, grabbed one of his nips, pinched and twisted.
He yelped, followed by laughter that came from Embry and Quil behind us.
"What was that?"
"A nipple twister."
"Why-"
"Because you're being a dumbass, La Hottie. And you're also not wearing a shirt, so it made it all the more easier."
After that, I know he'd claim differently, but he pouted all the way back.
