Chapter 8 (Jacob)

I debated for a long time before I phased and ran home to grab a change of clothes. I didn't want to leave the girl now that I'd found her. I never wanted to leave her again.

But I couldn't introduce myself in a pair of cargo shorts and without any shoes. So, I phased and ran home, quickly grabbing the only pair of jeans I had without holes in them and a gray button down shirt Bella once told me looked good on me. The best shoes I had were my boots, so I quickly scrubbed them clean before tying the laces together and throwing them around the back of my neck. They would annoy me, but I'd need them later.

My plan was a loose one. I'd just have to track the girl until I had a good opportunity to introduce myself. I felt like a stalker, but there was no way around it. I needed to meet her or I would go crazy. Plus, I promised myself, the stalkerish behavior wouldn't last long. Just until I could arrange a casual introduction…just until I could convince her to see me again.

I tied the clothes around my ankle and threw the boots around the back of my neck before I phased again and ran back to Bellevue. The trip didn't take long; I was casually strolling—on two legs—the streets near the yellow house by dawn. I made it a point to avoid the street she lived on. Even I was a creep, I didn't want to be seen as one.

Instead, I strolled backstreets and side streets, listening closely for signs of waking in the yellow house. I was anxious to hear movement and also terrified that movement would start. I knew now what had happened when I saw her. I'd imprinted. I no longer belonged to myself or to anyone else. I belonged to the beautiful girl with the big eyes and round face, and I didn't mind at all.

After a while, I needed to move closer. As people woke up, I couldn't tell which sounds came from the yellow house and which ones came from the neighbors. As much as I didn't want to stalk, I had no choice. I slid back into the trees I'd been in the night before and waited. I closed my eyes, making sure not to watch anything, but I listened and I smelled. I let senses other than sight take over. And when the girl finally left the house for the day, I moved.

I ran, still under the cover of the trees, to the far corner of the street, seven houses down from the yellow one. As soon as I was back in view, I went back to a casual, strolling pace. I could see the girl walking toward me with a black backpack slung over her shoulder. As she walked, she looked up at the sky. It was a good thing there was nothing on the sidewalk in front of her, because she wasn't paying any attention to it at all.

I was only three houses away from her now. If she'd seen me at all, she hadn't acknowledged it. Instead, she kept moving her feet along the ground, eyes trained on the clouds. I was tempted to look up with her, but I wanted to place myself so that she'd have to bump into me and I might miss the opportunity if I were distracted. Only two houses now. My heart pounded in my chest. If she'd not been simply, beautifully human, she would've heard it.

I wished I'd paid more attention to Sam's descriptions of imprinting. Could she feel me the way I felt her? Did she have a sense, even a small amount of knowledge, that her fate, her future, was about to run her over?

One house. Only one house separated us. Praying for a few seconds of good acting, I turned my head and looked at a car across the street. Normally, I'd know everything about that car—the make, model, engine size. But today, I barely even noticed that it was red. All I noticed was the slightly cool skin of the girl contacting mine as she ran directly into me.

"I'm so sorry!" Her wide eyes got wider. I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face.

"No, I'm sorry," I said. "I should've been paying more attention."

"You really should've." A grin was playing around the corners of her mouth, engraving a single dimple on the left side. It was the cutest wrinkle in the skin I'd ever seen.

"Um, I'm Jacob." I stuck my hand out.

"Ashley." She slipped her fingers into my palm as she shook my hand. "I've never seen you around here before." Her face was innocent, but her suspicion bled into her voice.

Shit. I hadn't thought this far ahead. I needed a cover story and I had nothing. God, I was such a creep. "Yeah, my uncle lives a few blocks over. I'm staying with him while I visit the university." It was such a lie. It would unravel with even slight questioning.

"Oh, what are you planning to study?" Her left brow lifted slightly. I couldn't tell if it was just a natural reaction or if it was a tell of her suspicion.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm really interested in mechanics."

"I see," Ashley answered. That smile was dancing around her mouth again, but it refused to show itself. She was going to call me out for the liar I was soon. It was time to walk away and hope I could come up with some way to run into her again later.

"Well, anyway. uh, sorry for running you over. It was nice to meet you, Ashley." What an understatement.

"Nice to meet you as well, Jacob."

She walked past me, readjusting her backpack on her shoulder as she went. I stayed still and listened to her footfalls as she moved further and further away from me. This was bad. I was going to have to double up my efforts and try again.

"Jacob?" she asked, turning back toward me.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to get a coffee this afternoon? I get out of class at noon. I could meet you downtown at 12:15."

I absolutely hated coffee. "Yeah, I would love that." A smile split my face in two, finally eliciting a returning one from her. It was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen, lighting her face up from the inside out and making her seem even more angelic.

"Cool. There's a coffee shop on Main Street that makes a great Americano. I'll meet you there." She gave an easy wave as she turned and continued walking. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face as I watched her go.

I called a cab and spent the rest of the morning wandering around the University campus. Eventually, I would have to explain to Ashley what I was and what had really happened this morning, but for now, I wanted to keep up the story that I was just visiting campus. No need to freak her out on day one. That felt more like a third date kind of conversation.

I started to feel nervous as noon drew nearer. By 11:30 I couldn't take the aimless wandering anymore and I started to make my way downtown to try to find the coffee shop. It wasn't hard to find, and I ended up being almost twenty minutes early for my date. Luckily, Ashely was early too.

"Hey there," she said as she shed her backpack and settled in across the table from me.

"Hey yourself. How was class?"

She shrugged. "Not my favorite, but tolerable. Come on, I need some caffeine."

I followed her up to the counter. She ordered an americano, and, not knowing anything better to order, I got the same thing. I also ordered a couple bagels and muffins for us to share.

Ashely was incredibly easy to talk to. I learned that she was majoring in photography, and those were naturally her favorite classes to take. She hated math, tolerated literature and history, somewhat enjoyed learning new languages, and despised science classes with labs.

She preferred the outdoors to the indoors and one of her favorite past times was hiking new trails she'd never been on before. I smiled to myself as I imagined spending a day with her moving through the woods and watching her discover a new sight.

"What about you?" she asked. "What hobbies do you have?"

"I like to hike too. And I also like anything with a motor. I enjoy fixing up cars or riding motorcycles."

"I can see that." A soft grin spread across her face as she flicked her eyes up at me, and I was struck again by just how beautiful she was. "What about your family?"

"I live with my dad. My mom died when I was a kid. I have two older sisters too, but they don't live at home anymore." I considered telling her about all of my brothers, because that's what they were for all intents and purposes, but that still seemed a little bit too much for now.

"I'm sorry about your mom," she said. I could tell she genuinely meant it.

"It's alright. It was a long time ago. What about you? What's your family like?"

Her eyes suddenly went a sadder. "They're really good people. I have three sisters and my parents are really awesome." It was such a strange way to talk about family. I stayed quiet and waited for her to go further.

"I don't remember my dad at all. My mom got sick and died when I was really young. My older sister, Bree, took care of me as long as she could, but she was just a kid herself. There was only so much she could do. Eventually, I was taken away. I was a lucky one though. The Robinsons began fostering me really early and eventually adopted me.'

"I haven't seen Bree since I was taken away. She wasn't home when it happened."

"I'm really sorry," I said. There was nothing else I could say.

Ashely tipped back the rest of her coffee. "Anyway, that's enough of that. I have to go work an art gallery this afternoon. But," she pulled a sliver of paper and a pen, "here's my phone number. If you're still in town this weekend, give me a call."

I took the paper and placed it in my pocket. I would definitely be in town.

Once Ashley was gone, I started turning our conversation over in my head as I started the trip home. There was something about it that bothered me, but I couldn't figure out what it was. It was something about the sister. Something lurked in the back of my mind, some connection I should be making.

When I was far enough out of town, I stripped off my clothes, tied my boots back around my neck, and phased. As my paws dug into the dirt, I remembered how I'd gotten here in the first place. It was so much clearer now to remember the hunt, to remember the anger and the need to hunt the newborn.

I stopped dead in my tracks. That was it, the connection I was missing. I'd only seen Ashley because I'd been hunting. I followed the newborn's scent right up into the tree…where the newborn had been sitting and watching Ashley. And what had I heard in the swirl of sounds as the scent had gotten stronger? I'd heard the blonde Cullen tell Bree to run. Bree. Ashley's sister. The newborn was Ashley's sister.

I let loose a growl of anger and frustration. I couldn't hurt the newborn, now. Ashley probably wouldn't care that her sister was now a bloodsucking demon. I'd seen the pain in her eyes when she talked about Bree; it wouldn't matter to her at all what he sister was. She would want to know that her sister was safe, and she would reject me if I killed her.

I didn't want it to be true, but I knew in my bones it was. Still, I had to make sure. I dug my paws into the soft earth again, this time running toward Forks and the Cullen house. I shouted at Edward in my head as I approached, making it overwhelmingly clear that I needed to speak to him.

"Jacob," he said, meeting me a quarter mile from the house. The sick scent was scalding my nose. I phased, wanting to be able to speak for myself, and was begrudgingly thankful that Edward turned to the side to give me a moment of privacy while I pulled on pants.

The man I saw when he turned back to me was not the arrogant one I'd known up until this point. He was a man clearly in pain, like he was being burned alive.

"I never wanted this for her," he said, reacting to the sight of himself in my mind's eye. "This was never supposed to happen." His voice matched his face—fragile and on the edge of crumbling into nothing.

"Is she…she's transforming right? She's not dying?"

"Is there really a difference?"

I didn't realize until that moment how big the difference was. If she was just transforming I could still see her. I could speak to her and still have my friend. That made all the difference in the world.

Edward's head perked up. "Why did you come here?"

I sighed. This wouldn't be a fun conversation to have. I tried to slow my thoughts, not wanting to give the story away to him before I could get the words out of my mouth. I wasn't good enough, though.

"Incredible," Edward whispered. "I wouldn't believe it, but I can see the change in your mind. You've really imprinted, haven't you?"

I just nodded my head. "I guess I should get to the point. What's your newborn's name?"

"That creature is not mine." His voice was a hiss, automatically eliciting the urge to phase in me. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head. I was here to get information, not to fight. Not today.

"Alright, sorry. Believe it or not I didn't mean to offend you. What is the newborn's name?"

"Bree." It was one short, clipped word.

Dammit. I let my thoughts loose then, replaying the day and letting him see why this mattered. His stone-cold face didn't change. There was still a burning man lying beneath his black eyes. He still looked like he was only a second away from screaming in his own anguish. And still, he put a mask in place, trying to keep me out.

Finally, he spoke. "I understand why your actions are now limited." His voice was honey smooth, perfectly controlled, and completely fake. "That does not limit mine. I have every intention—"

A guttural, blood-curling scream ricocheted off the trees surrounding us.

"I need to go back, Jacob. I'm sorry."

He turned and sprinted back to the house without another word. It dawned on me that the screaming belonged to Bella, and I followed him. I didn't even care that it was a crypt of vampires I was charging into.

The doctor met me at the door. "Jacob, come in," he said over her screams.

"What the hell is happening to her?" I demanded.

Carlisle looked down at the floor for a moment. "It's the pain of the transformation. It happens to us all. This is very normal."

"No offense, doc, but this isn't normal at all."

He gave me a wry smile in response. Still, his words did make me feel better. Carlisle wouldn't actively step aside and let Bella writhe in pain for no reason.

"She's nearing the end now. The screams should stop soon, and I think she'll wake tonight or by morning at the latest." He stepped further back into the house. "Please, come join us."

Warily, I crossed the threshold into the house and followed Carlisle into the living room.

"Jacob," Carlisle's wife said. I could never remember her name. "Hello. Can I offer you something to drink?"

"No, thank you." I didn't know what vampires kept around on hand for house guests, but I didn't think I wanted any of it. I turned back to Carlisle.

"So, she wakes up tonight. Then what?"

"Well, she'll need to hunt. We're also going to need to address Charlie soon. He's called here twice looking for her. Alice is at his house now, pretending to help look for Bella. I think he still suspects that Edward is somehow involved, and as we can't get Edward to leave her side long enough to go to Charlie, I'm afraid Charlie will come here."

"What are you going to do? She won't be able to be near him will she?"

"No," he answered. He looked sad about it. "She won't. Most likely, we'll have to stage her death and then leave."

I recoiled. I hadn't realized they'd take her away!

"Of course," the female said "you are welcome to visit us at any time to see her. We'll just have to ask that you keep the secret."

"Why should I?" I was suddenly hostile.

"Jacob, there are laws that forbid us from revealing what we are to humans. If Charlie found out, his life would be in danger. The best we can do for him now is give him his chance to mourn."

"How much time?"

"It'll be within the week. We're just…well, we'd like to get some things in order first. I've always given my other children the chance to dictate the end of their own human stories. I'd like to ask Bella how Charlie will be receive the news, and if she'd like, I'll let her choose how we frame the story."

"You mean you'll let her choose how she'll fake die?"

"Yes."

He went quiet, staring at me intently, but with an expression of extreme compassion on his face.

"How'd it happen?" I asked him. I didn't realize before how desperately I wanted to know this.

"We took in a newborn from the battle she was repentant, and wanted to convert to our way of life. We were trying to be careful, but there was a miscommunication. Bella thought Bree would be gone, so Bella came to visit Alice. Unfortunately, Bree was here. The scent of Bella was too much for her though.'

"Emmett stopped her before she could kill Bella, but once the bite was administered, there was no one here to stop the transformation. Edward and I are the only two who could've, and neither of us were here."

"So, where's the newborn now?"

He looked at me in alarm.

"Jacob, even though this was a mistake, she is still a part of my family. I won't allow you to harm her."

"I'm not going to," I answered with a sigh. "I can't. I imprinted on her sister."

Both Carlisle and his wife looked shocked at this information.

"I…is congratulations the right thing to say?" I grinned at that.

"It works as well as anything else. It was inconvenient, considering I was full-out hunting your newborn when it happened. But Ashley still loves her sister. I don't think she'd every forgive me if I hurt her. And I don't think I can live with that."

"Well, selfishly, I'm very glad for that," Carlisle answered. "And as for where she is, I really don't know. Rosalie and Emmett took her away. Edward is…he's very angry right now. They're afraid he'll hurt her, and to be honest, I agree in their fears. Alice and Jasper have had to leave as well to avoid giving Edward hints of where Bree is hiding through Alice's visions."

"Is the little newborn worth it? It seems that she's torn your family apart."

The female answered now. "Of course she's worth it. We offered her a home, and a family, and we meant it. It will work itself out in the end."

Even as she said the words, her brow furrowed, betraying her worries.

"I'm going to go check on Edward," Carlisle said. "You're welcome to stay."

Considering I had nothing else to do, I took him up on the offer. I was still worried about Bella. Those screams had rattled me, and I wanted to see with my own eyes that she was okay. Plus, without Blondie here, I thought the other Cullens were pretty tolerable, as far as bloodsuckers went.

I sat down on the couch and thought about Ashley. I wondered if I should tell her about her sister. If I did, I'd have to tell her how I knew. Which would mean I'd have to tell her what I was. That would happen eventually anyway—I'd go to take her hand in mine and it would feel like I'd just pulled it out of a fire. She was perceptive and she would definitely ask about it.

Then, I imagined that conversation. She would absolutely be freaked. But maybe she would come around quickly and everything would be okay. Or maybe I would have to be patient, like Sam.

I noticed there was a loud pounding coming from upstairs. It sounded like hummingbird wings, just way louder. I listened more intently to try to determine what it was, and it finally occurred to me that it was Bella's heart. Carlisle and Esme also came into the living room to stare up at the sound.

"Why is it beating so fast?"

"It's the venom," Carlisle answered. "Jacob, it may not be safe for you to stay here. She'll be thirsty when she wakes, and while I don't think you'll smell particularly appetizing to her, she may be thirsty enough not to care."

"It'll be alright," I answered. "There are enough of us to stop her from doing any real damage." After a second, it occurred to me that I'd just assumed they would help me. "I mean, you guys wouldn't let her kill me, right?"

"No, Jacob, we won't."

The pounding grew louder and faster, no longer resembling a heartbeat at all. With my increased hearing, it seemed to reverberate through the house, like a bass drum beating through my chest. There weren't any noiseless spaces between the beats now, it was just one long sprint of noise. Then, it stopped all together and the house was silent.

Bella was awake.

And, that's a wrap on Jacob's voice for now! There are only three chapters left before I wrap this story up, two from Bella and one from Bree. When I'm completely finished, I'd love to share with you all some of the things I imagine would follow this particular telling of the story. Maybe I'll write those one day, if you are interested. Until then, be on the lookout for the next chapter soon. It'll showcase Bella's first hunt, and a very emotional (but oh so necessary) conversation between Bella and Edward.

Also, I couldn't help but incorporate S Meyer's vision of Edward as a burning man while he watches Bella change. It was one of the most impactful things I remember reading in Breaking Dawn, and I knew it needed to stay here as well. -SS