CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

(JPOV)

Rana remained unconscious as the night wore on, her breathing shallow and unsteady. I watched the rise and fall of her chest, waiting for her eyes to open and meet mine once again. She was eerily still and her color had not changed back to the translucent shade it had been. I studied her face further, seeing the changes there as she remained hauntingly motionless.

She was intriguing.

I couldn't fathom how she could have the ability to bleed and return to a weak mortal state after being turned into a cold one. It made no sense to me and I couldn't recall anything from the legends that spoke of something like her.

There was a caring and gentle way about her that reminded me too much of my mother, making it hard for me to see her for the cold one she was. I glanced over to the framed picture of my mother standing with my father that Rana had on her small table by the window, my mind struggling to recall a single memory of her around back then.

The pain in my body had eased and become more tolerable now that the spell Rana had me under was no longer active. My eyes settled on the rise and fall of her chest as I watched her, contemplating on trying to run back to La' Push and drag the others back here with me. My head was full of Bella's tears as the pull to return to her grew stronger, making me pace the small confines of Rana's cabin. The hours passed and as the dawn broke of another day, I heard Rana gasp, her body bolting upright suddenly as she let out a cry.

I went to her, seeing her wide eyed gaze lock on mine with fear. She stared at me like she couldn't remember who I was at first.

"You're okay, Rana." I assured her, holding my hands up in surrender, so she would know not to be afraid of me. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I almost made it-" She sighed, holding her hands out in front of her as she looked at them in disbelief. "How long have I-?"

"Since midnight. I brought you back here."

"The spell!" She gasped, getting to her feet and tripping from her fast movement. I caught her before she could fall and she stared up at me in shock. "I'm-..."

"Human." I replied, studying the warm hue of her deep brown eyes.

She pulled herself out of my grasp, whirling around to look in the full length mirror that was across the room, her hands touching her face and body, as if she were checking to see if she were in fact all there.

"I-I'm breathing." She stammered, turning back to look at me with confusion clear in her gaze. "What- What did you do?"

I shook my head to her in disbelief at her words. As if I alone could turn her back to human. As if that were a power I possessed.

"I didn't do anything, Rana. You left here on your way to hunt- Remember? And you were weak. From the spell you tried to heal me with. It drained you of all your energy and you needed to feed-"

"-But I didn't make it- I remember collapsing by the river and then- nothing?"

"I went looking for you. After you'd been gone for hours. I found you there- by the riverbed. You were dying and I brought you back here. You told me you didn't think you would make it. You don't remember any of that?"

"No-" She blankly replied, sitting down on the edge of her cot. "I only remember being- warm. For the first time in years- I could feel warmth all around me. That was you, wasn't it?"

"I carried you back here." I replied, seeing her stare at me as if I somehow held the answer she was looking for.

"None of this makes any sense, Jacob. I've been frozen in time for years. Never moving forward. The last time I experienced anything as a human was just after your mother passed."

She stood then, rushing over to me with her hands outstretched toward me, her plea simple.

"Touch me-"

I took a step toward her, pressing my palms against hers and hearing her gasp when she pulled away as if she had been burned.

"You don't feel like before and you don't have the same scent."

"Neither do you-" I countered. "You smell like the ocean- ..."

"Your mother used to say that I spent so much time there that eventually I'd smell like it-" She smiled, glancing up at me. "That was before-"

"That's now-"

Her eyes wandered over my face as she stepped back. Her look uncertain when she took hold of a kitchen knife and pressed it to her palm.

"Rana-" I warned, seeing the blood run down her hand as she sliced into it. Her expression wincing and dazed when she realized that she could feel pain now. "Are you alright?"

"I bleed-... just like you-"

"But you don't heal fast like me." I replied, wrapping her hand in a towel and holding it in my own to stop the blood flow. "You're not invincible like before."

She looked up at me with sadness in her young face, her eyes pooling with tears when she spoke again.

"Oh Jake... I don't know if - I can help you now. My magic was more useful and effective as a vampire than a human. My powers are not as great."

I met her sorrowful gaze and felt the weight of her words sink into me when her free hand reached up and touched my cheek.

"I know."

"This wasn't supposed to happen." She sighed, wrapping her arms around me in an embrace that took me off guard. I stilled, waiting for the tremors to start from her closeness and soon realizing they wouldn't this time. She was as human as I was. "I failed you."

I wrapped my arms around her in return, tucking her head under my chin and realizing just how small she really was.

"There has to be a way... Maybe I can work on another spell-"

"No." I replied. "You're not toying with the spirits, Rana. You're finally back to being human. It's not your job to fix me."

"I have to... for your mother. It's what she would have wanted."

I went silent at her words, feeling her small arms tighten around me. My thoughts went back to Bella as Rana slowly pulled away, moving across the room in a hurry and digging through a pile of books. She looked frantic as she tore through the many pages, hunting for something specific.

"What are you doing?" I soon asked, as she lifted her head my way.

"I'm looking for the spell my great grandmother left me years ago. It helped your father, Billy once."

"What-"

"Before you were born, and before I knew what your dad really was- he was injured- badly. Your mother called me in the middle of the night crying over him. We were still only teenagers, but she begged me to help him. This was the spell I used and it healed him, Jacob."

"What kind of injury-"

"Your mother swore it was a bear attack when he had been out hunting. Of course, I believed her then, not knowing that in reality, he'd been hurt in a fight with a vampire. His injuries were severe and they weren't healing the way they should have been. I spent hours using this spell and it worked for him. I know your situations are much different but the healing power the spell itself has will work for you, too. I just have to find it here somewhere."

"... what will it do to you?" I asked, placing my hand over the book she tried to paw through.

"I don't know-"

"Don't lie-" I replied, moving myself in front of her as she tried to avoid my gaze.

"I can survive it."

"How do you know that? Did it make you sick before? When you healed my father?"

"Yes- But I recovered-"

"You might not this time." I countered.

"Well that's a chance I have to take for you, Jacob. I just have to. You are Sarah's boy- and she would want me to try."

I watched as she moved on to the next book, eagerly rummaging through the pages as she hurried to find the spell.

A/N: Hello everyone! Short chapter but look for another tonight! xoxo Please review and tell me your thoughts! Till next time...