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Jacob was still keeping an eye on me two days after our last encounter. For anyone who was wondering, no, I did not manage to get him any sandwiches.
He was stretched out next to me while I watched the boys push and shove at each other, taunting and challenging to jump off the highest cliff into the cold water below them.
"Are you absolutely sure it's safe?" I whispered.
Jake opened his bleary eyes and looked at the guys. "Yep, they got this. Relax," he said.
I turned back to them just as Sam jumped; his body straight like a blade, arching with rough grace into the water. I couldn't help shivering as the cold spray of the sea hit me.
It was probably wrong of me but I was happy, lax, almost unthinking which was very new for me. Hanging out with Jake and the Pack made me feel…normal…safe, warm. It was so similar to how it was with the Cullens but they were just so…carefree…I realized I'd craved that more than I'd let on.
"Tell me again, what happened?" I said for maybe the fifth time.
Jacob let out a resigned sigh.
"I told you, the rangers are going to be in the woods again and we're taking a break." He said. "Charlie's in there today," I said, rocking back and forth once, worry seeping in my careful voice.
"He'll be fine. Harry Clearwater's with him." He said, lying down again.
I didn't push him again, looking back over the guys to see Sam looking over at us, his eyes thoughtful. I searched my mind, wondering what reason he could have to be looking at me like that when it hit me. He was waiting for me to say if anything was going to happen. He was waiting for me to tell them what happens in the book version.
"Jacob, you might want to be careful with Harry." I said, loud enough for Sam to hear.
He inclined his head before turning around to the water and I glanced at Jacob but he was already snoring lightly.
I stared at him for a while, taking in the shadows over his young face. He had dark circles under his eyes, I noted, no doubt the result of late night patrols.
I nearly snarled at the prospect. Jesus, why couldn't Victoria give it a rest? She wasn't going to win this – not in any universe, be it Book, Movie or this world I was in.
It still wasn't enough to buoy my mood. I was frustrated, slightly bored, and the worst part of it was…
I missed Edward.
I missed Alice.
I just missed my vampires, period.
It had been two weeks now. I knew Edward was stubborn, as stubborn as I was but even I stooped and made amends. He had just…vanished. From my life, my circle, my routine…it hurt a lot more than I had ever thought a guy could hurt me. Maybe it was the fact that I had never felt like this for any boy before. Maybe it was because in this world they were part of the reason why I stayed.
They were part of the reason why I thought staying here – in this world – away from my family, my friends, was worth it. They were why I didn't just grab everything and take off, searching high and low for a way to get back.
So, what do you do when the people who are supposed to want to keep you with them shun you like you mean nothing?
You mope and whine then you get over it.
At least that's what I did.
I spent the first couple days unbothered with the no contact from the vampires, then the next few days…stress eating and now I was dragging back into sad land. However now, in the basking heat of the rare sunlight with the much happier company of Bella, Stephen and the Pack I was slipping back to my normal defiant territory.
I was going to be defiant – very much – and I was going to see how long he was going to hold out on me.
Did that make me a bad person, a bad girlfriend? Well, who cares…?
Fiddling with the radio tuner, I frowned at the scratching sound emanating from it.
I'd borrowed Bella's truck to visit the Reservation and even though Jacob had said that he could always come pick me up, I'd insisted on driving myself. Since, Stephen was taking Bella to Port Angeles in his car; I had the run of it for the day.
Of course, I knew Bella's radio was ancient, I also knew tinkering with it when the vehicle was in motion was dangerous but the road was empty and I was trying to distract myself so I would drive myself home instead of the Cullen House.
It was lightly drizzling; the rich smell of wet earth blew in through the windows and the faint droplets of rain hit my elbow where I was dangling it out the window. I smiled up at the sky, contemplating stopping the truck and just letting it pour over me. Rain was so refreshing; I was sure I would feel better after that.
There was also a very large chance that I would catch a cold so I let that idea go.
I finally made it to a station that didn't crackle on the song and I started humming along with it, still looking out the window.
I thought about Edward again. It was getting disturbingly often now; this missing him business was taking my focus off. Irritated, I decided to wave the white flag first. Reaching across the seats, I dug around my backpack for my phone.
Pulling it out, I was about to slide the lock pad when movement outside the window caught my attention.
I looked up and even as my eyes travelled up, the tree, which was right at the curve of the road, swayed.
In front of my now quickly widening eyes, the tree cut through the air and just as I drew closer, fell, falling right in front of the truck.
My feet fumbled for the brakes, my hands spinning the steering wheel as I swerved right off the road. For a split second, I saw Tyler's face, his eyes shining with fear just as the wheel spun out of my hand and I banged into the tree line.
The truck, massive and powerful as it was, raised its tail end then landed back down on the ground with a mighty crash.
I stayed where I was, my hands and feet frozen as the rest of my body shook. I caught sight of my face in the mirror that had snapped at an angle, reflecting my pale and terrified face.
Well, that was certainly…frightening.
I looked at the phone that had fallen from my hands and reached for it, quickly noting the NO SIGNAL sign at the corner. Great, that was just my luck.
Still shivering and shuddering, I pushed at the jammed door. The window had smashed inwards, the glass caving towards me but not completely breaking. Spider web lines crisscrossed over it and finally, I had to bundle my elbow in my jacket and ram it in the door, pain shooting through me.
I swore madly, my eyes wandering around to see if there was anything I could use to get out.
Seeing no way out, I raised my hand, holding my phone and slammed it against the window. The glass flew out, some of them slashing me but I only winced, using my jacket to hack away the rest of the pieces so I wouldn't cut myself any more. I reached out and grabbed the handle, turning it to open the door.
Even as it opened, I tumbled out. Mud and sand clung to my wounds but I quickly brushed them off. I couldn't risk an infection on top of everything when I noticed it.
It was completely silent.
No bird calling, no cicadas, no buzzing insects, nothing at all to mark the presence of life. This kind of silence only presented one conclusion.
There was a predator around.
I didn't have to be a genius to know which predator it was. Backing up quickly, I went to the road, looking closely at the tree.
Roots still clung to the base, clumps of mud and soil hanging on, no way had it 'fallen'. Someone – someone with incredible strength had pushed it off.
I swallowed.
My phone was now broken, no way in hell was that truck going to work, and to top it all off, I was completely stranded.
My only choice was to head up the road in clear sight of Victoria or to head into the woods, hoping that one of the rangers would find me or that the wolves would sense me.
Or I could always just wish Alice had her eye on me, but this time there was no intrusive presence at the edge of my consciousness.
I couldn't expect help.
I was completely alone.
Even as I deliberated, a loud snap of twig made me look up sharply at the other side of the road. My eyes peered through the trees, trying to find the tell tale sign of orange hair.
Jesus, Tulika, my brain snapped at me, I think that just made your decision. I wholeheartedly agreed.
Without another look back, I hit the forest ground and took off running.
It was more difficult running in the woods than they made it seem in the movies.
For one, even with the adrenaline and all, I was still sluggish and disoriented from the accident. Second, I had no idea where I was. Sense of direction only worked when a trail was in question and right now, I was running without one in sight. Third, I was pretty sure that I was being toyed with.
Victoria had been playing me since the beginning. If she wanted, she could've sneaked in and just grabbed me without alerting the Cullens and the Pack. She'd warned us first and was now just trying to scare me so I would make a dumb move.
I think running helter-skelter through the woods with no idea where I was headed summed up 'dumb move' nicely.
I slowed, trying to listen for footsteps or any sign of life but nope, nothing again.
Had she emptied the entire woods to jump me?
I turned around slowly, fighting against my better judgment. Could I head back, maybe? At least try to get the truck running again?
As I finally came to a stop, I heard the very familiar sound of running water.
The falls, of course, if I managed to get there, there might be the chance that I could get to the Pack first.
Just like that, my feet were moving again, rushing towards the loud waterfall.
There was more silence, until; a low snarl broke the silence.
My feet stuttered and I stopped, my eyes widening and I looked back, something I probably shouldn't have done.
You know when in the horror movies the heroine turns, the viewers expect a jump scare but seeing the ghost was a whole lot more scary? Yeah, that doesn't work in real life. In real life, it's like looking for a spider. If you don't see it, don't expect to sleep easy that night. For all you know, that eight legged monster could be in your bed.
For me, hearing the snarl but not seeing her was just like that. Probably, worse…
Closing my eyes, angry at my stupidity, I ran again, emerging at the very ledge of the highest cliff. I let out a cry, falling back, sliding just a couple inches so my feet hung over the edge. I stood up, peering over and gauging the distance. Even if I could jump that height, I would be shattered from the force of the water.
Oh…son of a…
This was it, end of the line; I had no way of escaping now.
This was her intention. She had brought me here, guided me so she could catch me completely helpless.
I turned around slowly and this time as expected she was standing among the trees, watching me. I could see her hungry smirk even from the distance.
She had me. She had me easy and on a golden platter.
I was dead but I was not going to go easy.
What did I have to lose anyway?
My family and friends were unattainable. Charlie and Bella would think it was an animal attack. The pack would watch Stephen and the Cullens…well, lately it didn't feel like they cared all that much after all.
"What are you waiting for, then?" I called, trying to color my voice in sarcasm instead of fear.
She didn't answer. She didn't even move.
"What…? James was a lot more on coming than that, you know."
I was taunting her. It was low, even for me, but I could not help it.
Now, it was going to get me killed because I'd made her mad.
I took a tentative step back, edging as close to the end of the cliff as I dared. The lighter rocks crumbled under my weight, loosening and falling into the unobservable depth.
I watched with grim determination as Victoria's face melted into something distinctly not beautiful. It was not inhumane, beyond just cruel. She was vindictive, malicious and there was nothing short of a miracle that would save me now.
I thought if Alice could see her decisions now.
What must she be planning?
Laurent had said she had a whole torture routine planned for me…well, from the way she was glaring at me, I wasn't so certain she was going to let me survive today.
Her eyes, a flaming red with just slight undercurrents of amber – I was surprised that she had amber eyes, I always thought of her having bright green eyes like a cat – narrowed and she let out a feral snarl.
This was it.
She was going to charge any second now and I was going to be either abducted, held down in some basement and be tortured for as long as I could take it or either she – more likely – she was going to rip me apart into tiny, tiny pieces and scatter me into the ocean raging below us.
Victoria finally moved, her body crouching down into an unmistakable coil.
With one final snarl she blurred, moving impossibly fast, zipping towards me completely uncontrolled. Her fingers were hooked into claws like she was itching to scratch my face off, her teeth white and bared, fiery hair disheveled.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact.
The woods echoed with the howl of wolves out for blood.
Victoria's snarl if possible intensified and she skidded to a stop, eyes fixed on me for just a split second before she apparently decided to let it all go to hell and go for my jugular – literally.
She lunged at me; fingers dangerously close when something huge and black as night erupted from the tree lines, heading straight for us.
It leapt, strong, muscular body aimed towards the female about to tear me apart and Victoria twisted, her body sliding out of the wolf's jaw, gracefully, not even scratching herself on those razor like canines and without another glance at me took off in a completely different direction.
The shock and the displacement of wind due to the motion of the large animal finally pushed me over the edge.
I teetered perilously on the precipice of the cliff for a heart stopping second and then everything slowed down.
More rocks crumbled and fell away and my body tipped back, the soles of my shoes, sliding against the slope of the ledge. My arms shot out, grabbing at the nothingness of salty wind before the floor of the forest and trees vanished from my sight, replaced by the brown, rocky wall of the cliff and the dull grey stormy sky above.
Wind whistled in my ears, whispering of my impending doom and my mouth opened as my body picked up downward speed.
I wish I had some form of epiphany on the way down.
Isn't that what happens?
That's what they show in books and movies.
The girl or the boy in a dangerous situation from which they couldn't possible get away from and they could see the white light at the end of the tunnel and angels sings with harps and demons rush to get to their untainted souls…?
They realize that the one they loved had been in front of them all along…
They realize they had the power to actually defeat and save the evil villain…
So many answers to so many questions but nothing like that happened to me.
I couldn't even scream; my brain wouldn't let me think…instead there was a static in it much like the radio of Bella's truck. I wondered if it was a coincidence or some sort of cosmic message.
This was the kind of death that would be hard to explain.
Why was I in the forest?
Why was I stupid enough to stand at the ledge?
I had no answers.
Well, it was time for goodbyes, I guess.
Goodbye my family and friends from my world, Charlie, Bella, Stephen, the Pack, Billy, the Cullens and even Roosevelt Sorenson.
Goodbye, Meyer, my enemy, this has been real and…
Finally, goodbye Edward, hopefully, you don't get as bad now that you already know how to deal with my loss.
With these merry thoughts I crashed.
I hit the sea with the force of a headlong train collision, loud, messy and deadly.
For a second the water supported my battered body before gravity set to work, pulling me down like an anchor to the water bed. I felt the pressure build up, as I coasted off with the flow of the waves, pulling me farther and farther away as my senseless brain scrambled to get some semblance of safety but I was too far gone.
With an almost relieved feeling, my eyes closed.
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