Twenty-Nine (Part Two)

"This is a trap."

Leah didn't want to think about it.

Jacob sent Embry an exasperated look but didn't counter the younger cop's declaration. Instead, he helped everyone with the equipment, including handing Leah a couple of extra UVs. "We gotta get out of here," he said.

Leah nodded.

Embry repeated with a series of gulps. He didn't want to leave from his safe position, but Leah knew he would end up following orders just like everyone else. "Twenty-three people just giving up?" He shook his head. "Like that? We're dealing with vampires…This doesn't seem right."

It most likely was, but Leah prayed that the claim was only Embry's paranoia speaking. According to the camera, the only movement came from agents and the other task force members moving in. "Jacob's right," she said, dropping the small camera into the inside of her jacket. "We need to move and help out."

Embry threw up his hands in defeat.

"Maybe those leeches finally saw the light," Jacob threw in with a shrug. It wasn't a convincing statement, but Leah appreciated the effort. "Maybe they realize that surrendering would be in their best interests. I don't know…. Stranger things have happened."

"But Irina turned herself in," Embry stressed. "Irina. And Jasper—doesn't that seem suspect?"

"It does," Leah answered for Jacob. "But we have orders. We have to remain optimistic."

"Cautiously optimistic. Now, come on," Jacob said, checking his gun. "We're going in. Leah, you're in the middle. Embry, you're in the back."

"Got it," Leah nodded. This wasn't the time to be questioning anything. They had received a message from Paul (via the feds) to be on the move. The feds were going to need assistance because the vampires weren't going to leave the tunnels quietly. Everyone was closing on the covens.

"You ready?"

Leah removed her gun from her holster and checked it. All chambers stocked with ultra-violets. She had some regular bullets, but they would remain inside the side pockets of her cargo pants. She had replaced them early with all UV's, figuring that her targets would most likely be vampires. And if not, the bullets could definitely cause damage to the human body.

"Yeah."

As she walked inside the tunnel, Leah thought of Embry's comments from a couple of weeks about claustrophobia. The fear of being closed-in with nowhere to go. The fear of the unknown. They had some space; they could move around, run back or march on forward, but what would they find? Who, or rather what, would they bump into? It could be vampires or, worse, the children of the moon.

Leah paid close attention to Jacob, picking up on his cues. He was on guard, but not stiff. Not worried. It gave Leah some assurance that not everything was going to hell. At least, not yet.

"I thought you'd be more excited by the change of events," Jacob told Embry, gaze remaining straight ahead. There was nothing but barely lit, rounded concrete walls before him. "If this is indeed a trap, that'll be more action for you."

Leah snorted.

"I didn't mean it like that," Embry retorted before mumbling to himself under his breath. Leah didn't catch what he said, but judging from Jacob's random light scoff, he must have.

Leah glanced behind her. "Beggars can't be choosers," she reminded Embry.

Embry rolled his eyes.

Jacob scoffed again.

"Oh, come on, Leah," Embry whined. "Whose side are you on? By the way, have I told you guys how much I hated these goddamn tunnels?"

"Only every other hour for the past two weeks," Jacob said. Leah could picture him rolling his eyes. "I think we've gotten the point by now."

Leah gave Embry a look of reassurance as she continued followed Jacob, keeping an eye out for any surprises. She would occasionally glance over her shoulder to check on Embry.

The cop's expression turned more serious, almost matching Jacob's, but with an additional tinge of irritation. Leah concluded it was because of his enhanced sense of smell. His nose would scrunch up now and then.

"Picking up anything?" she whispered to him, causing Jacob to pause and looked back. She motioned him to keep carry on. Nothing of note was happening.

Embry's expression didn't change. "Sometimes, I wish my nose was as weak as yours..."

Leah nodded and pressed on. It wasn't an insult. She couldn't imagine what he and Jacob were picking up. To her, the tunnels, spanning sixty miles, smelled musty caused by the standing water beneath her feet. "How do you deal with it?"

"You get used to it," Jacob answered for Embry.

"Not willingly," Embry added. "They were definitely lying when they said there was no shit flowing down here."

"We're walking through underground tunnels that had been sealed off for years," Jacob said, "What the hell did you expect?"

"At least, it's not too hot," Leah said, glancing down at the map Embry had given her. From the looks of it, they were close to the intersection. She heard noises—shots and loud thumps.

"At least, it's not too hot," Jacob repeated, and then stopped, causing Leah to lose her footing as she tried not to crash into him. "Sorry—yo, Embry, you're catching that?"

"Those assholes have perfect timing," Embry grumbled.

"Yeah," Jacob mumbled and then asked, "Leah, picked up anything on the camera?"

Leah looked down at the device. "Just shouting and more shouting. Weapons, drawn."

"Knew this was gonna happened," Embry muttered, staring at Jacob.

Nothing else was said; Leah could only look between the two men as they engaged in a conversation with their own eyes. She could pick up that they were both alarmed. "What's going on?" she asked.

"We have company," Jacob said. "Hey, what do you know? We're here."

Leah looked ahead and released a relieved sigh. They were here, only feet from the intersection where a horde of people, both law enforcement and their new arrestees, just going through the motions of an arrest. No one paid them much mind except for Paul, standing at the other side, waving wildly.

"About damn time," Embry said.

Leah nodded and then paused. Her eyes roamed around the area and then again. She pulled on Jacob's arms, forbidding him to leave. When he turned around, confused, she asked, gulping, looking around for the third time before resting her eyes on Jacob. "Where are they? The wolves? The children of the moon?"

The children had been left unsupervised and, therefore, free from their chains and out of sight. And no one had seemed to notice during the commotion caused by the first shots and the subsequent mass arrests, not even the mobsters. Unless, they did, and Embry was right all along. Perhaps releasing the children was a part of their escape plan—

The problem was, as everyone had soon found out, much to their distress that children weren't loyal to anyone but themselves, Leah realized as she remained crouched down behind a metal pallet, full of UV's, with Jacob by her side. She was fighting after every instinct to shield her ringing ears. She wasn't used to be around so gunfire… but she couldn't freeze now.

She wasn't freezing. She wasn't in shock, just accessing her surroundings. Nothing but chaos, pure pandemonium. Bullets were flying everywhere; people on both sides were dropping like flies. Most of those arrested were free and shooting back—not to the fault of the arresting agents. Everything had gone to shit so quickly; they didn't have time to re-fasten the cuffs.

The children of the moon were putting up a good fight; they were no longer playing idling, defending themselves against the bullets. They were huge. Massive. Far larger than Jacob's wolf and their fangs were longer, sharper. Dripping with saliva and blood, snarling at whoever dared to cross them. Launching themselves at anyone they pleased.

Leah had never been so terrified in her life. She didn't move or run away like some of the others did, just to get mauled down by the wolves. Both humans and vampires were on edge, not knowing what to do.

That was the reason why the children of the moon had been kept in chains, Leah realized with a gulp. She looked up at Jacob, hoping he had some sort of a plan because she had jack-shit. Unfortunately, he also didn't have anything. He checked out his surroundings, conflicted. He wanted to phase; she could feel the desire rolling off of her, but rationality was holding him back. Not many people on the lawful side knew about him; not everyone would understand.

Leah yelped as a bullet hit the edge of the pallet serving as her protector. Too close for comfort. Jacob glanced down at her, to check on her, before crouching beside her to reload his weapon.

He made another shot before lowering onto the ground. He checked with Leah again as she peeked from behind the pallet, trying her best to make a good shot, but everything was moving too fast. The vampires, the wolves—now only a few in action while the other had dispersed to goodness-knows-where after the first shot rang.

"Not used to this?"

"Better at one-on-one."

Jacob placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Leah gave him a small smile in return and insisted, "I'm fine." She looked down at her weapon. She knew how to use a gun. Many of guns. She was trained in this, damn it. "Don't want to hold you back."

"You're not."

Leah muttered thanks to Jacob while he stood back up. After whispering a small prayer under her breath, Leah returned to action, getting in a few shots; one hit the leg of a Volturi goon, causing the man to yelp in agony while his hand was still on the trigger, resulting in his semi-automatic to continue dispensing bullets as he collapsed onto the ground.

Yes— Her silent celebration was interrupted by another pushing her aside. She looked up, ready to speak her mind until she realized that it was only another task force member, not a mobster.

Stephen? Steve? She had only spoken to young cop a couple of times, more pleasantries than anything. He had never bothered him, and she had never bothered him. Jacob wasn't too alarmed. They shared a look, both apprehensive yet determined, before nodding and getting back to business.

But then at the corner of her eye, while Jacob and Steve were exchanging gunfire with the mobsters while rushing to the other side, Leah noticed an escapee. A man whose description she couldn't catch running in the opposite direction. Away from the cops, behind the cops, rushing away in top speed.

Don't play a hero.

Even with Paul's words playing on repeat inside her mind, Leah couldn't ignore the man; she couldn't let him go, let him escape. Not after shooting at a couple of agents, who were in serious condition. He appeared to have been arrested earlier, as evident by the broken-handcuffs dangling from his wrists—No, she couldn't let this happen.

Without thinking further or giving her partners a heads up, Leah shot up from the ground and took off running.

It was stupid. Reckless. It went against her police training and her common sense. She could only imagine Paul's reaction, but Leah kept on. She needed to apprehend the man; she didn't know why she was adamant about doing so, especially without back up, but she couldn't, wasn't, going to let him escape.

When she finally caught up to the man, she demanded him to freeze in his place. As expected, the mobster did not; instead, he turned around, facing Leah with a finger still on the trigger.

Leah's eyes narrowed as she tried to maintain her focus on the figure standing about twenty feet away inside the barely-lit tunnel. Her gun was trained on him, ready to shoot the moment he stepped out of line. "Drop the gun!"

He did not. Instead, he opened his mouth wide, baring his fangs.

Vampire, Leah realized, gulping. She tightened her hold around the handle of her gun. "Drop the gun!" she demanded again.

This time, he did. But then, before Leah could do anything else, he charged at her.

Leah immediately pulled the trigger but missed her target. Suddenly, she got the wind knocked out of her, being tossed to the ground with a vampire on top of her. She kicked him off and shut up quickly before bracing a kick; she struck the butt of her gun across the man's face, causing the weapon to tumble out of her hand.

Before she could retrieve it, the man launched at her once again.

Leah might not have been the best shot, but she had her fair share of experience in hand-to-hand combat. She never tried to overpower her opponent, considering that most were bigger and stronger than her, but instead aimed to attack their weak-points—which in this man's case, was his neck.

The man might have been strong and a vampire, but Leah had fought stronger and tougher humans. Newborn crossed her mind as she stood up, only to be brought down by another kick. This time, she didn't fall on the ground, only against the wall before dogging a punch.

And then, with as much power as she could muster, she kicked the man, right in the mid-section, satisfied as the man wheezed out a painful sound before leaning over. Vampire or not, kick to the midsection would always do the trick.

Leah scurried away, picking up her gun along the way, and before the vampire could recover, she pulled the trigger.

The result wasn't what she wanted, but it was what she expected. Her mind wasn't focused on making the fatal shot to the head or the chest. She had just pulled the trigger on instinct, knowing that it wasn't easy to bring a vampire down.

The bullet hit his thigh; it wouldn't be a quick death, but it would be a death. A shot to the thigh was dangerous because it housed a major artery. The artery was ruptured; he was going to bleed to death.

He must have known it. He didn't reach for his gun a few feet away; both hands were on the wound. It painful; he was wheezing, biting down his screams, eyes wide. Color shifting from red to black back to red and then... hazel.

Leah breathed heavily as she watched on. She could have run off; she should off, but she found the sight in front of her fascinating. He was dying, returning to his human form in the process.

She didn't remove her eyes from the man as he tried, in vain, to stop the light from traveling along his body. Nor when he finally passed.

Leah looked down the tunnel. No one was around. Not Jacob, not Embry. Not anyone from the task force. Or the feds were. It finally hit her that she was now alone.

Fuck, she cursed under her breath. This was what happened when she made rash decisions. This was what happened when common sense didn't convince her to stay with the crowd. And now, she was alone with sixty miles of tunnels to search through.

Leah took a deep breath. She didn't have time to wallow; she had to keep on moving. She had to follow the action… the gunshots, the shouting—She looked down at the fallen soldier one last time before walking away.

After a few moments, Leah stopped and turned around, approaching the now-deceased vampire. She knelt next to him, making a concerted effort not to look at his face. This wasn't her first kill, not even the first out of self-defense, but it still unnerved her.

She searched throughout his body for something useful, like ammo. He had to have something. All of the gangsters did, but unfortunately, she couldn't find anything.

Fuck.

Standing up, Leah her gun. Fuck, she cursed again. All the UVs were gone. She quickly reloaded her weapon with the backups, while cursing her decision to forget to take the spare UVs off her desk.

With her weapon held out in front of her, Leah moved further into the tunnel. She kept her eyes and ears for any movement, but the dimming lights obstructed her vision, and her hearing still hadn't fully recovered from the earlier gunfight.

All she wanted was to recognize something, anything—

There it was.

Leah nearly fainted at the sight of the familiar sub-basement and rushed towards it. This was perfect; she now knew where she was, and could clearly remember the route she and crew had taken about—she took out her phone and checked the time, 12:03 am—an hour before.

She could only stay for a few moments. All she wanted to do was gather herself and deep a deep breath without worrying about facing another being. She could hear the faint sounds of gunfire and shouting from all directions—Damn, the action was still happening. Disappointing, but expected.

Just one more minute, she vowed.

Fuck. She should have never left. Vampire-escapee, be damned.

Bracing herself against the discarded metal desk, Leah took a series of deep breaths. She reached out for the radio attached right below her shoulder and worked it to check-in with the rest of the taskforce. She was unsuccessful.

Strange, she thought, returning the radio. She pulled out her phone from her pocket. No signal. Of course, there wouldn't be. She was too deep inside the earth.

Leah then retrieved the camera from the inside of her jacket and inspected it. Great. Just her luck. The screen was damaged. Huffing, she dropped in onto the table. The damage wasn't the end of the word; the tape might still be salvageable, and—

Her attention turned sharply to the left. Leah pulled out her gun, holding it in front of her. She could hear the movements, but couldn't see the newcomer… until she did. There he was. Another man. Based on his blood-red eyes and fangs, a vampire, dressed in a black suit. Must be of the Volturi.

"Freeze!" she commanded, but the man ignored her. He approached her, too quickly for Leah to move until she noticed the barrel of the man's gun, aimed straight at her. With no questions asked, she pulled the trigger, hitting him on the shoulder. The man winced, but then instantly recovered.

Leah held her breath.

Fuck, it was those goddamn standard-metal bullets.

She pulled the trigger again.

The man didn't falter. He was still moving towards, Leah, at a slower pace, this time with his gun still aimed and expression still emotionless—

More shots ran out.

And without another thought, Leah collapsed onto the ground.

What—Leah's thought process was cut off by the overwhelming need to catch her breath. She barely registered the sound of footsteps, heading away, not towards her. What the—it was then when it hit her; she had been shot, once in the abdomen and once in the shoulder. Beyond the confines of her bulletproof vest.

She tried to stand up but immediately fell back down. Seconds passed before she attempted to move again, this time onto her side, painful but effective. And then, through the impossibly dimmed-lighting, she saw it. Blood. Blood on her hands. Blood on the cold ground.

Leah had to get out of here; wounds, be damned. Reaching out for her radio and her gun was out of the question. Reaching for her phone under her was impossible. All she could do was ignore the sharp pain throughout her body as she slid along the ground, using her good arm.

She couldn't stand up; it would be too painful, but thankfully, her knees seemed to cooperate with her. Fifteen more feet, she told herself. Fifteen more feet and she would be behind that door, into the clearing. Outside—she could smell the damp, city air.

Leah would get there eventually. She would be able to move under the threshold into freedom. Once outside, she leaned over, coughing up some blood before finally gathering enough willpower to maneuver around so that she could sit up against the stone wall.

Panting heavily, she tried to make herself comfortable.

It only worked, somewhat.

Leah finally looked down at the damage done to her body. Two shots. Fatal? She couldn't tell, but she was still bleeding heavily.

The shot to the shoulder wasn't the issue; the one right below the hem of the bulletproof vest was and demanded her undivided attention. She pressed down onto the wound with her hands, lowly groaning at the sharp pain, almost bringing her to tears.

No, she couldn't cry now. What she needed was a distraction—she surveyed her soundings. Nothing but stone walls and patches of green lodged between where the wall met the concrete ground. The only light came from the street light above and from the entrance to the basement, several feet away from her.

Leah kept her focus on metal grates high above her, looking for any openings or possibly a passer-by, but she soon gave up. It was after midnight; nothing would happen for another few hours... if she were lucky.

She wasn't at street-level. Fuck, she cursed when the realization hit her. Twenty feet or so separated her from the sidewalk. There was no other way to get out besides climbing up the rickety ladder about ten feet away and pushing up the metal ceiling.

That wasn't going to happen. Leah might not entirely be sure how injured she was, but she knew that wasn't going to happen. Looking down, she dared to remove her hands. Nothing but blood painted them, and now, her shirt. Soaking them. She was still losing a lot of blood.

She quickly pressed down on the wound again with one hand, ignoring the sharp bursts of pain. She tried to use her other arm to get the radio, but the pain wouldn't allow her to.

Resigned, she dropped her arm.

This is it, she decided, shutting her eyes. There was where she would take her last breath. Outside of the Martin building on a warm and damp August night. Far away from where the action continued within the tunnels. Alone.

She could faintly hear the commotion over the radio: the bullets, the shouting, the roars, and the faint sirens from above. The rustling of footsteps, the sound of cars rushing along the wet road from above.

"Where the hell—"

Leah shot opened her eyes, and there Jacob was, standing several feet away from her, eyes widened, breathing heavily, and drenched in blood—It must have been bad inside; she could hear the increasing sound of sirens. Had to be several police cars and some ambulance in the area already.

Maybe, he would pick her up and take her up above, where she would be rushed to the hospital— but he didn't. He didn't even use the radio to notify everyone that yet another cop was down.

And then it hit her; he wasn't doing any of those things because there was no point.

Before she knew it, Jacob was standing right in front of her. He crouched before her and shrugged off his jacket, pressing the garment hard to the wound, causing Leah to scream. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."

She wanted to reach out to him but couldn't. She tried to say something, but could barely speak—she didn't know what she wanted to say. She froze when she felt his bloody hands on her cheeks.

"Do you trust me?"

Leah didn't hesitate. "Y-yes."

Jacob eased the pressure on Leah's wound and leaned forwards, eyes locked with his partner, searching for a rejection. Leah didn't give him one. Satisfied, Jacob glanced down at the wound, swallowed, and looked up back. "I'd never do anything to hurt you," he declared in a quiet, yet unwavering voice. He cupped Leah's face with his bloody, trembling hands. "I swear to fucking God, I'd never do anything to hurt you."

His voice, it held so much conviction... She believed him.

She believed in him.

Leah closed her eyes again, hands still pressed against her bottom wound. Thinking about everything, everyone—Jacob, her mother, Seth, Aisha. Emily… Harry; she'd see him again.

She felt Jacob's presence, still hovering over her, mumbling under his breath, touching her arms, her shoulders, her neck, wrapping something around her mouth... but it wouldn't matter. Just give it some time, and she'd be gone... Think happy thoughts, she thought as her mind drifted away. Think about seeing her father again. And no more pain, physical or emotion—

Leah tensed at the feeling of strong hands tight around her arms. She struggled but couldn't, opened her eyes, but didn't see anything. Smell anything, taste anything, just the loss of feeling in her arms, only to be replaced by the sharp pain bearing down on her neck.

It wasn't quick. It wouldn't let up it.

The fabric around her mouth muffled her screams.

She struggled against Jacob's hold.

And then, everything stopped.