Hello! That last chapter was really fun to write. It was a bit dark, but what good it a story without a little darkness?
I hope you're enjoying so far!
Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight.
(Chapter 8)
Needless to say, I skipped school altogether the next morning. I woke up in bed covered in black ash, it had pretty much ruined my sheets and blankets since the tiny particles of burned memories had burrowed into my clothes and hair and transferred to every surface I had touched, which was a lot surprisingly, especially since Carsile carried me to bed and all.
I took a long shower and bounded down the stairs, completely ravenous. Esme was in the kitchen making me food as usual. I suspected that once she heard me wake up, she started on breakfast. I had yet to come downstairs and find the table empty. I wanted to help out, but I could tell it made her happy to feed me, although I hardly knew how she managed such delicious food when her taste buds were basically useless.
"Morning, dear." She said as she poured even circles of pancake batter into a pan.
"Hey, Esme. How was your night?" I took a seat at the counter and watched rain mist against the large window. A water elemental could get spoiled with so much precipitation.
"Quiet." She said, sliding a plate of steaming cakes and syrup to me, along with a large glass of milk. "I'm on my way to meet Carlisle for lunch."
"Okay." I said, knowing that she and Carlisle "ate" lunch together once a week at the hospital cafeteria to keep up appearances. And possibly to keep the admiring crowd of nurses and patients at bay. Carlisle was quite the looker, after all, and a girl had to defend her territory. "I think I'll go to La Push and clear my head." I said, remembering my plans to meet Jacob later this evening. We only just met yesterday, but it seems like a lifetime ago now.
"Alright, but promise me you'll be careful." Esme worded the command carefully, but I knew she worried about the big bad wolves that lived across the boarder.
"I will." I said, taking a bite of fluffy goodness as she picked up her purse and made a move for the door. "Esme?" I said, stopping her. She turned with an expectant smile on her face. "Thank you, you know, for taking me in."
She smiled so genuinely I couldn't help but smile too. "Thank you for staying. Being mother to this lot is a joy, but they don't really need me and that's something I've always wanted—to be needed."
"Carlisle needs you." I pointed out, warmed by her words.
"Not the way you do." She said, darting to my side to hug me and kiss my cheek.
I hummed through the rest of breakfast and went upstairs to change into a swimsuit to wear under my clothes, then I was off to La Push. I had slept in, so when I drove up to the beach it was just before 2:45 in the afternoon.
There were a few walkers scouring the beach for shells, so I moved further down until the shoreline disappeared into a thick chunk of dense forest. I wouldn't go in there, only God knew what was hiding in those dark tangles of limbs and leaves. I contented myself with sunbathing on a large boulder and answering texts from my 'siblings' that came about every fifteen minutes. I couldn't help but chuckle at their poor attempts at 'casual' check-ins.
"Hey Ivy!" The newly familiar voice of Jacob Black called from down the beach.
I leaned up on one arm and waved when I saw him walking towards me. "Hey Jake!" I called back. "What brings you here?"
"I should ask you the same thing," He said, lying next to me, "We weren't supposed to meet until later, and you're on my rez, remember?"
"Right." I smiled. "I came a bit early. So, how was school?"
"Torture." He with a dramatic eye roll. "You?"
"I was sick last night." I lied smoothly, "So I played hooky today."
"That's a great way to start your new year, give everyone a taste then disappear the next day, they'll think you're all mysterious." He wiggled his eyebrows and sat up, crossing his legs to face me. There was an easy smile tugging the corner of his mouth and mirth shining in his eyes, his happiness was infectious.
"Yeah. Me, mysterious. That'll be the day." I scoffed, leaning back to let the sun dance across my face.
"Want to go for a walk?" Jacob asked above me, casting a shadow across my face.
I sat up slightly and held my arm over my eyes, "Where?" He gestured over his shoulder into the woods. "Umm…" I said slowly.
"Come on." He said, rising to his feet. "I grew up here, I know all the best spots. There's a trail in there that leads to a great cliff diving spot."
"I don't know…" I hesitated and looked into the thick brush of green and brown.
"I promise there are no monsters in there." He said. I resisted the urge to cringe. He couldn't promise that. Of course there were monsters out there. Vampires, werewolves, witches, even soothsayers could get ugly when provoked. "Or are you too scared?" Jacob taunted.
Now, that did it. No one called me a coward and lived to tell the tale "No. I'm not scared." I said shooting him a withering look. "Fine, we'll go. Lead the way, Mr. Black."
He laughed and pulled me to my feet. We walked side by side into the woods. He prattled on about this-an-that and it was fun for a while, we had a couple laughs, exchanged a few sassy comments, but then, when the shoreline had disappeared from view and the path we trod on became darker and darker, a sinking feeling swept down my spine. We weren't alone.
"Jake, wait." I halted him with a hand on his arm. He started so say something, probably a joke at my expense if I read his expression right, but I guess he saw something in my eyes that stopped his words. I held a finger up to my lips and searched desperately for some water.
"We need to leave. Now." My voice was barely above a whisper. Oh, what was I thinking? This was was such a bad idea.
"What's going on?" Jake asked, his eyes alert as he peered into the too quiet depths of the woods. I only just noticed that the birds and bugs stopped chittering.
"We should really head back—" My words were cut off when a flash of porcelain skin and bright, fire-red hair bolted from the woods between Jacob and I. Her impossibly strong hands darted out and grabbed us by our throats, lifting us from our feet. I thrashed against her strong hold, panic swamped me as pain and desperation for oxygen invaded my mind.
"Cullens." The fierce red-head with a pinched expression said - in a surprisingly high pitched voice I might add. "Why do two humans smell like the Cullens? More of their pets?"
Did this bitch expect us to answer? I could barely think past the pain of being held up by my neck, let alone use my voice. Black spots danced in my vision before she finally dropped us on to the ground. I moved to lean protectively over Jacob, the pair of us gasping for breath. I needed water right now or we were both going to die.
"What do you want?" I rasped, very aware that Jacob was shivering underneath me, probably from shock. This was my fault, she was obviously looking for the Cullen's and I carried their scent. Now Jacob would die for trying to be my friend. Damn it, why was life so unfair?
"You." The vampire ignored my question and pointed her long finger at Jake, red eyes flashing with pure loathing. "I've seen you with the girl, with Bella." Her lip curled around the name as she took a step forward. I tried to move between them, but she kicked me away with a flick of her ankle, I flew back five feet, the splintering of broken ribs radiating through my chest with an undeniably awful sensation as I smashed into a rock. I clenched my teeth around a scream.
She picked Jake up by his shirt, jerking him to his feet in a movement that could have snapped his neck. She smiled at the pain in his expression. "What do you want with Bella?" His voice sounded like chipped rust.
"Isn't it obvious? I want to cause her pain." A terrible smile curled on her lips. Then she pulled down the neck of his shirt down and poised herself to bite him.
"NO!" I screamed, rising to my feet as if I could somehow stop her. But she stopped of her own volition. Her eyes went wide with disgust and loathing as she stared down at him.
"Ugh! Werewolf." She tossed Jake aside like he was nothing more than a rag doll, his tall frame crashed into a tree ten feet away. He didn't move or make a sound.
"What do you want, bitch?" I screamed, fear pumping in my veins like a bad acid trip.
She was an inch from my face in the blink of an eye. I squeaked in fright and tried to back up, but she pushed me against a tree. I moaned when my ribs protested the motion, then my foot splashed in a shallow puddle. Oh, thank you God!
"You," She said, poking me in the chest hard enough to leave a bruise. "You're the one who smells of the Cullens."
"Back off." I said, slowly pulling the water up around the tree so she wouldn't notice. "i'm warning you. Just walk away."
"As if you could stop me," She laughed, leaning in close and my heart nearly stopped in my chest. The terror was so incredibly overpowering I nearly lost my concentration and dropped the water. "I'm going to make you scream again and again. And when Edward finds your body, I'll be here. Just close enough for him to hear me remember how you died. And then he'll know I'm coming for his mate the way he came for mine."
"You're sick!" I yelled, the water was ready, I just needed the right moment to strike because there wasn't enough to rip her apart, I'd need the ocean for that.
She roared, I mean literally roared like a lion. My ears rang in my head, aiding my fear and disorienting me further. In practiced movements, she pulled my head roughly to the side, nearly breaking my neck in the process, and lunged to bite.
But if she thought she was going to drain me, she had another thing coming. I bellowed out a battle cry and shot the water straight into her mouth, freezing her jaws open. The impact pushed her away from me as she clawed at her face desperately, I was pleased to see panic in her soulless eyes.
I didn't pause, I took off like a shot in the dark, scrabbling as quickly as I could through trees and bushes. I ignored the thorns that tugged my hair and the pain in my ribs that escalated with every breath. The light was ahead, and beyond that was water: my savior.
"Come on!" I screamed, urging myself to run faster. But I was never going to be fast enough. She wasn't there and then all the sudden she was. I was tackled from behind, the vampire's weight settled on my back, sending me down onto the ground with the force of a sledgehammer. "Uh!" I moaned, spitting leaves and dirt from my lips, more ribs were broken, robbing me of breath.
"An elemental, huh?" She said, pulling me around to face her. Her hand shot out and smashed against the side of my face in a backhand that felt like a brick to the face. I know I passed out for a couple seconds, when I came to I couldn't see out of my left eye, tears were draining from both from the pain, and globs of thick blood were pooling behind my teeth.
I spit, aiming for her face but missing thanks to my blurry vision. "Finally! Seven seconds can turn into an eternity when you're immortal." The bitch said crouching over me, her head tilted to the side as if to study me.
"They'll come after you, you know." I said, in a voice so weak, I hardly recognized it.
"I'm looking forward to it." She said with a crazed grin. "I hope this will hurt you as much as I think it will." She struck like a cobra, her teeth clamped down on my forearm sinking effortlessly to the bone.
Oh, how I screamed. My lungs filled with air as an agonizing shriek scrambled from my lips. The pain of the venom racing through my veins was unbearable. It burned like fire inside my arm, climbing up steadily until it reached my elbow, and it kept climbing.
"NO!" I thrashed against her hold, she was drinking my blood! The venom entering, getting sucked back out, then being re-injected. It was the stuff of nightmares. "STOP! STOP IT!"
Her head came up and she licked her bloody lips, a smile on that eerily beautiful face. She'd bit me. I was turning! I couldn't let that happen. I didn't want to be a vampire!
"HELP! ALICE, HELP ME!" I screamed as loud as I could, hoping a vision could be sent her way somehow.
"Time to play." The vampire said, moving to my other arm, I tried to pull away, but she was too strong. She lowered her jaws to my skin with agonizing slowness, ready to bite again.
Then, the growls came. We both turned at the sound. I could barely focus on the two wolves that stepped from the dense brush of woods. I was saved; from the vampire, at least.
The wolves were both equal in stature and size—tall and broad, but incredibly large; more bear than wolf. One had midnight fur and the other was a red-brown, like clay dug up from a riverbed. The vampire wailed, a clear temper tantrum, and turned to run. The black werewolf made chase and took off after her, closely followed by its red companion. I was left alone to bleed.
"No, no, no, no, no." I sobbed as I examined the wound. Silver venom seeped from the edges of the bloody gash and I knew even more of the damned stuff was racing through my veins. I had to try and get it out.
The burning was all consuming, but I had to keep moving or it was all over. I scrambled drunkenly to my feet and walked toward the light. I made it three feet before I fell. Angels were looking after me though, because I just happened to fall face first into a shallow creek. The water tasted slightly salty, so I knew it was tied to the ocean somewhere along the way.
I stretched my hand out and pulled the stream closer, making it deep enough to sink my whole arm in. It took several minutes and every added second cost me dearly. I forced myself to focus on sending threads of water through my wound, up my veins and capturing the venom poisoning my body and drawing it out.
If you think it was a pleasant experience, you'd be dead wrong. It was the most excruciating of all the pain I'd suffered so far. Or ever in my entire life. But I couldn't pass out, I had to stay awake or it would be too late. My screams helped keep me conscious, they were loud and annoying. But mostly horrifying.
Slowly, agony after agony, I had tracked down all the venom in my system and pulled. It came squelching out of my wound in a puddle of silver mud. I wiped it away and scrubbed my skin with heated water, but for some reason my healing water wouldn't close the wound on my forearm. I slowed the flow of blood as best as I could with my powers but I was too weak to completely stop it.
I was drained and soaked, shivering from the cold and blood loss, and not to mention in a lot of pain. The first thing I wanted was my dad. But not my human dad. I hadn't longed for him since I was twelve.
No, I wanted to feel safely wrapped in supernaturally strong arms, especially if I was about to die. "Carlisle." My tearful voice trembled. I wanted Carlisle more than I wanted anything in the world right now.
I don't know how I did it, but I pulled myself to my feet and started walking. I knew as long as I kept the ocean to my back I would eventually pass over the boarder and the Cullen's could collect me. "You're not dying here, Ivy." I commanded myself. "This isn't how your story ends, not after everything you've been through."
I was crying, sobbing really, as I walked. I concentrated on just making it from one tree to another, all the while feeling my blood drip from my arm, down my fingers, and to the forest floor.
Finally, the voice of an angel cried out. "Ivy!"
"Alice, I'm bleeding!" I choked out the warning before I sank to my knees in a pile of dead leaves. My vision was blurring, so the world was just a mixture of greens, yellows and, reds. I didn't like the red.
"Oh God! Carlisle, hurry! She's been bitten!" Alice's horrified voice sounded like it was coming from miles away, but I could feel her cold hands pulling me up.
I blinked and tried to focus as her face came into view. "Red-haired vampire, two werewolves. Bit me, tried to heal myself, didn't work." Carlisle's worried face swam before me and only then did I allow myself to pass out.
So, what'd you think? Victoria is such a bitch. I always hated her.
Chapter Nine is coming up right after this one because I can't bear to let that last sentence hang.
I hoped this chapter stressed you out a bit (mwahahah!)
;)