CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
(JPOV)
Rana was diligent with her preparations, being sure she had all that she would need before beginning the spell. She was thorough and cautious when she showed me the warn page where it's words were held. The instructions of it were clear and she had been nothing but nurturing when she handed me a white sheet, explaining that the spell required me to be without any clothing. She left the cottage then, giving me privacy to remove my jeans before returning, her caring eyes meeting mine as she laid the book down beside me. There was a hesitation in her stare that made me reach out and catch her hand before she turned away.
"I trust you." I whispered, as her hand reassuringly squeezed my own. "I know you can do this."
"I don't want to harm you, Jacob. Grown now or not - to me- I still see you as the little boy your mother cherished. I fear that may be my weakness here. If it becomes too much-"
"I can take it- I'll be okay, Rana."
Her gaze lingered on mine and I could see that she wasn't completely convinced. I didn't want her emotional attachment to cause her to stop the spell because of my reaction to it.
"The spirit warrior that's been dwelling in you as a host will resist this. He will fight me - worse than before- because he knows its coming. Stopping the prior spell we tried last time has given him an advantage he didn't need. I would be lying if I said that I didn't fear for you, Jacob."
"It can kill me... Can't it?" I asked her in return, seeing her body tense before me as she tried to avoid my gaze now.
"Yes... but I won't let it get that far. I'll stop it first. You have my word."
"What are the risks to you? Could you lose your strength like before? Could it... kill you?"
"Being a vampire only made my unique abilities that much more powerful. Now that I have lost that part of me, this will take a heavier toll on my body than I'm used to, but I have confidence that I can complete it before it consumes all my energy."
"Is there a way for you to get your energy back?" I asked, seeing her hands now hovering above the opened pages in the book.
"My kind often harness their energy through close human contact- intimately speaking- it is the best way for us to manipulate the forces around us so we can achieve our goal."
I nodded to her in understanding as she knelt down in front of me, gesturing for me to lie down as her eyes closed and her hands came to rest mere inches above my chest.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes."
My hands instinctively balled into tight fists at my sides as her whispered chanting began. The sound of it reminding me of something tribal... something my own kind would have used years ago. The way she spoke it was intriguing for me to hear, her words powerful as they flowed off her tongue effortlessly. The sound of it was alluring and I found my hands soon relaxing at my sides as a wave of unfamiliar calm settled itself over me like a shield. I felt her hands delicately touch the bare skin of my chest as her voice became more audible now. I recognized the hushed tones from before to be that of protection, like she were pushing herself harder to somehow guard me from the pain that was coming. It was not lost on me that she cared enough for me to do this. She was trying her best to make this all more bearable for me.
I braced myself when her hands pressed more firmly on my chest, her words ceasing for a mere second as my insides began to blaze with a heat that would turn anyone to ash. I closed my eyes and heard Rana's hushed chant return from before, the sound of it somehow pulling back the fire that tried to consume me. She was using all the energy she had to shield me from some of the torment for as long as she could, all the while focusing hard to complete the spell.
Hours passed as Rana dutifully followed the spell, her determination evident in every word she spoke. When her voice suddenly raised and her small frame began to shake above me, I drew in a quavering breath and tensed, waiting for the agony to wash over me without remorse at any second. She had worked tirelessly to ward it off this long and I could feel her strength dwindling as a result.
It hit me with savage force then, exploding with a blinding whiteness and choking the breath from my lungs, as it's biting blow cut right to the bone. My chest grew tight and my heart constricted in it's exquisite powerful wake, like it were afraid to even beat again. I fought the urge to scream, feeling Rana's hands press further down onto me. Her chanting louder now with every word that spilled from her. My hands were balled back into tight fists as I tried to pull myself away from the lashing agony that was clawing its way through me from the inside out. The fire grew scorching as it licked its way up my back, my mind screaming out as the pain drove through me with debilitating intensity. The stabbing weight of it made me bite down on my tongue in an effort to silence the yell that I could feel building now. I swallowed the rustic taste left behind from it and listened to Rana, her voice swiftly changing to a tone that was laced with authority as she continued.
My bones began to shift as my body violently protested the change, forcefully bowing under the stabbing pain from it. I could feel the warriors resistance, his biting anger setting my every nerve ablaze and making my muscles feel torn and shredded from the pull. He demanded to be felt. Demanded to be acknowledged and I cringed as the invisible torment took hold of me, making me feel as if a noose had been placed around my neck. I counted the seconds... ten... twenty... then thirty, the pain growing to new heights of unendurable agony. A harsh half-stifled yell filled Rana's small cabin as I tried to swallow it down the best I could, my skin soon covered in sweat from it. The sharp shock waves of nauseating pain was the only thing I could feel or even acknowledge now. It was all I had been reduced to. I lost all sense of time and surroundings. My head began to throb profusely and I struggled to pull any air into my lungs, the suffocating burn claiming every inch of me.
Rana's hands remained firmly pressed to me, the heaviness in my chest making me gasp. My bones forcefully shifted then, the cabin filling with the sick cracking sound, followed by my ragged scream. It made me wish for death. A foul curse left me as I tried to overcome the brutality of the warriors hold.
"Fuck!"
My yelling was deafening and sounded unfamiliar to me, the force behind it, straining my vocal cords until I couldn't scream anymore, the taste of blood fresh in my mouth now.
Rana's chant suddenly changed, and I heard the tears in her voice as my eyes flared open, seeing spots of vivid color fade before me. My body bowed again, my ribs feeling broken and my chest too heavy to draw in air. I couldn't stop the choked cry that left me when Rana's eyes suddenly opened and met mine. Her tone softer and her words different than before now. Tears ran down her face as her eyes locked with my own and a clear vision of my mother came to me. Her arms outstretched to catch me while I ran to her as a child. She gathered me to her, quieting my cries as blood dripped down my leg from the small gash on my knee. Her words hung in the air around me while the vision played out.
"Shhh... It's okay. I'm here- I'm right here my sweet boy."
She pulled me up into her arms, holding my child like frame close to her as she kissed my tear stained cheeks, her presence feeling so close to me now from the vision that I could almost reach out and touch her again.
Rana's chant grew louder and I sucked in a sharp breath as the brokenness in my body threatened to take the vision of my mother from me. I focused on it, holding Rana's secure gaze as she continued on with the spell. I felt as if someone was stabbing me as her hands began to lift from my chest, pulling the weight up with her with unparalleled concentration now. My body shook as the tremors tried to claim me, the looming shift soon ripping me away from the vision and hauling me back into the tormented present. I could sense the spirit warriors presence lingering just beneath the surface - Rana's spell was working.
The tone she spoke in suddenly turned angry and I knew he was fighting her for control, fighting to stay where he was and continue to dwell in me as a host. Droplets of blood soon stained the white sheet that covered me and I felt the jolting pain sink heavier into me as Rana's skin paled before me, her small frame trembling with the effort to remain in control.
The heat roamed over me as she pushed herself, her hands still hovering a mere inch above my skin. I held back my screams until I couldn't, until the chilling sound of my bones snapping in protest to the change made my vision blur and my tears fall. My throat was raw when Rana let out a strangled cry of her own. The desperation in it making me know that she was rapidly running out of energy. In spite of this, she kept going, her chant growing to shouting and her hands further rising as the weight on my chest pulled upward and then suddenly vanished. The pain in my body began to rapidly recede, beginning in my fingertips and toes and drawing back further into my arms and legs.
I could feel the spirit warrior leaving me.
Rana's eyes met mine again as the blood dripped from her nose and her hands shook. The undiluted agony quickly became a dull ache and I let out a ragged sigh, my skin dripping with sweat as I tried to draw in a steadying breath. Her hands raised further above me and her skin became nearly translucent as a haunting cry came from her. The pain erased itself from me then and the tremors receded upon her last word. I was breathless and sore... but I was alive.
She had done it. The spirit warrior was gone from me.
Rana's gaze met mine once before she fell down to the floor, her weak body collapsing there below me as she gasped for air. My strength was weaker than usual and my stance unsteady as I pulled myself up from the cot, seeing her lifeless form laying there.
"Rana..." I breathed, sinking down to the floor and quickly pulling her into my arms as I thought of what she had told me earlier about how human contact replenished her energy. She suddenly gasped again, desperate for air, her eyes full of fear when they met my own. "It's okay. I'm right here with you. You're safe with me, Rana."
"Jacob-" She choked out, her hand touching my cheek before her eyes closed and she became motionless. She was barely breathing as I cradled her close to me, her head falling back while I stared down at her. "Don't leave me. Please..."
Her skin then changed before me and the sickening sweet scent filled the cabin again as her body became hard in my arms. I marveled at her change, hearing the breath leave her body and her skin grow colder to the touch. I felt the wolf in me begin to rise from the close presence of her and I forced him back down, focusing solely on her face as she laid in my arms. I didn't care what form she took... vampire or human... I wanted her with me... that's where she belonged.
A/N: Back again for another update! This chapter was intense! Please tell me your thoughts in a review! Should Jacob keep her with him? You guys are awesome :-) Till Next time...