Hey All. It's totally awful that I haven't updated sooner, but I've had some recent issues that kept me from writing. I'm not taking a break or anything, though. I'm really hoping to finish the whole story within the next two weeks or so, but don't hold me to that.
Thank you for your support, follows, favorites, reviews, and most of all your patience!
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight Characters, story, or history. But I do own 100% of Ivy's sass. ;)
(Chapter Fourteen)
Two days later I was playing drill sergeant with Esme as we watched Emmett, Jasper, and Edward hang Christmas lights all over the house. "I still can't believe it's already December!" I said. Apparently I'd missed Thanksgiving by three days when I fell into my second coma - and don't get me started on how sad it was that I had to differentiate between comas. I already knew.
"Time moves much slower when you're immortal. I thought the day would never get here." Esme mused. "Jasper, make that one row a bit higher!" She called and the little spider monkey scampered to do her bidding. (A.N. I know, I know. But I couldn't resist;)
"Well, I'm being extra careful. My birthday is in two days and I refuse to miss any more holidays." I said. "Give it more pizzaz, Emmett!" I called, not really knowing what pizzaz was or how Emmett could give anymore of it. Apparently he thought the same if his menacing growl told me anything. I took that as my cue to back off.
Esme chuckled, "I know your siblings are just as excited as you are for Christmas. They've already been shopping. Twice, I think. They'll take good care of you, dear."
I smiled and trudged inside to chat with Rosalie a bit. Winter break and the Holidays were coming and for the first time in a very, very long time, they were going to be good days. I had a family now and that meant more to me than anyone knew. Plus being out of school for a while will be amazing.
Happiness was mine for the taking.
. . . . . .
A couple days later, I woke up from a deep sleep feeling very different. More grown up, even more beautiful, and definitely more mature. Basically, I felt like the best person on the entire face of the earth. I jumped from the bed and ran to the floor length mirror and stared at my smiling face. I was happy, more happy than I had been on this day in many, many years. "It's your day, your way." I said tapping on the glass, and giving myself a little wink.
My bedroom door suddenly burst open. "Happy Birthday!" Alice yelled and darted inside, followed closely by six vampires.
"Hey guys!" I laughed and got wrapped in so many cold hugs I was shivering by the end of the line. Esme practically forced me back in the bed to enjoy some birthday waffles in bed and everyone gathered around, either spread across my covers, or sitting around on the floor. It took some convincing, but I got them to sing happy birthday for me and after hearing them harmonize effortlessly in their perfect voices, I promised myself to never sing loud ever again for as long as I lived.
"So, what do you want to do today, Birthday Girl?" Emmett asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, if mom and dad say it's okay to skip school," I said, feeling a little thrill when I gave into the unfamiliar titles for Esme and Carlisle, "I want a full pamper treatment. Nails, brows, clothes, massage, hair, the works." Esme looked to Carlisle before they both gave me the go-ahead nod that parents do so well.
"Finally!" Alice squealed with delight. "Something you want to do that doesn't involve sparring with Emmett!"
"Then I want to go see that new horror movie about the haunted house." I continued.
"Yes!" Emmett and Jasper said in unison.
"And finally I just want to have a little get-together with everyone tonight. A.k.a the family, Bella, and the wolf-pack." I said, referring to Sam, Emily, and my dashing boyfriend. I was getting more hyped up by the second. It was easy to get excited when everyone else was. The Cullen's technically didn't celebrate birthdays because they no longer aged, but for me being a human, every birthday was an achievement to be commemorated. I had a feeling they were living through me just a little and I was fine with it. It was all because of them that I was actually having a birthday in the first place.
The last three years on my own in the world ended the same: me alone in a rundown motel with a single cupcake singing Happy Birthday to myself. I guess my wishes eventually came true, though. I always blew out the candle thinking, 'I don't want to be alone anymore.'
"This is my favorite day we've had with Ivy ever!" Rose's laugher sounded like wind chimes, pulling me away from tough memories. "This will be so much more fun than Bella's birthday."
"Hey!" Edward growled indignantly.
Alice patted his shoulder. "It's true Edward. You're girlfriend doesn't like parties, get over it." He glowered at her, but didn't try to defend his lady. It was true, Bella was a total party pooper.
"I took the liberty of booking you several appointments at the spa." Alice then told me.
"Really? When?" I asked. "I just decided I wanted a spa day like five seconds ago."
"Well..." She admitted sheepishly. "I booked them last week."
"Alice… did you have a vision or were you just planning on dragging me there against my will?" I asked in an chiding tone.
She shrugged impishly and it was so adorable Jasper laughed and kissed her. Hell, it was so cute I almost kissed the little kidnapper. "Well, I guess there's only one course of action…" I pushed my covers off and ran for the door, calling over my shoulder, "To the mall… after I shower!"
Hours Later
The Cullen's and I (minus Carlisle who had to work) took the mall by storm. After a full treatment at the spa, we threw pennies in the big fountain (and of course I used a bit of my mojo to make the water glow and shoot out the wrong direction. They mall staff called a maintenance man and watching him try to fix my changes was hilarious. Emmett and I could barely contain ourselves.) We also stopped by all the fancy gadget places and Esme bought me a pair of speakers that had water inside that danced to the rhythm of whatever music you played.
The boys and I caught the afternoon showing of the horror movie, every girl but me refusing to go, but I think it was because they were trying to let me have some brother time instead of actually being scared. We mocked them with names like 'scardy-cat' anyway. The movie was terrifying! I had always been one to scream at the jump-scenes in horror flicks and this film was chock full of screaming violins and terrifying creatures. I practically flew from my seat at one part. Emmett and Edward were laughing at me the whole. Jazz laughed too, but he was concentrating on not jumping with me because I was 'projecting my fear' so strongly he could barely tune it out.
When we got home, Carlisle was back from the hospital and had been at work per Esme's request buying purple party decorations. I sat on the couch and watched my vampire family swirl and dart around the room like productive tornados, throwing up streamers, arranging confetti, setting out party plates and hats, and placing the large cake front and center on a table. (Edward was smart and excused himself to go pickup Bella at her house so he was spared decorating detail)
"This cake has six tiers!" I cried. I measured myself next to it and was nearly as tall as me! "Who is going to eat all this? Y'all don't even eat!"
"Oh, hush." Alice tutted, fanning out purple napkins around the table, "The four tiered cake wasn't as pretty. Plus you have two werewolves coming tonight." She had me there. Those boys could really put it away.
Jasper came up next to me, smiling like a dork. "What's that smile for?" I asked.
"I can't shut you out." He said, his eyes crinkling in the corners. "You're so excited it's like a beacon of happiness."
"Sorry." I apologized, grinning nonetheless.
"Don't apologize," He assured me, "You feel very… innocent. Like the worries of the world are gone from your shoulders. I like knowing you're happy."
I blushed a little,"This is the best birthday I've ever had. No one really celebrated in the system, it was just another day, you know? And I didn't have any true friends before I moved here…" I trailed off. "It's just been an incredibly perfect day." Jasper smiled knowingly and gave me a hug.
"Well," Esme jumped down from the ceiling beam where she was just hanging streamers, "That's the finishing touch. What do you think?"
I jumped to my feet and kissed her cheek after admiring my purple paradise. "Thanks Esme. You're the best mom ever." Then I threw myself into Emmett. Jasper, Alice and Rose's arms. "And you are the best siblings a girl could ask for."
"Hey!" A voice said from behind us. I untangled myself from their arms and turned to face Edward and Bella as they walked through the door. "What about me?"
"You too, Eddie." I ran and hugged him extra hard. "Thanks for coming Bella."
"Happy Birthday!" She said, holing out a small package that was wrapped suspiciously like a CD.
"Thanks! You didn't need to get me anything." I added her gift to my large pile from my siblings and parents, smiling like a toddler at Christmas. "I can't wait to open it all."
She smiled, brown eyes crinkling in the corners. "The Cullens love to go above and beyond for a party."
"They really do." I agreed.
The doorbell rang and my excitement grew. "Ivy, if you don't calm down soon, I think your heart is going to explode." Jasper said, his feet tapping without his notice as he felt my heightened emotions.
I chuckled and made a bee-line for the door. Jacob stood tall, dark, and handsome on the other side, looking like he stepped out of an issue of GQ in his black shirt and jeans with perfectly messy hair. "Happy Birthday soulmate!" He winked, scooping me up for a big hug. I kissed him throughly and sighed when his arms tightened around me.
Could today get any more perfect?
Forty-five minutes later the complete Cullen clan and my friends, Sam and Emily, had gathered in the decked out living room for my party. Soft music played in the background as we sat together and exchanged stories. Jacob had everyone rolling as he regaled us with a story about how he lost his temper at school and phased in a broom closet, tearing the tiny space to shreds. Fliers and a bear-watch group had been organized on campus all because of him. "Did you have backup clothes?" I asked, imagining how awkward that situation must've been.
"No." Jacob admitted, and Emmett burst out laughing. "I had to sneak down the hall to the locker room completely naked to steal some clothes. And that, my friends, is why algebra is evil." My sides were in stitches as I imagined Jacob's panicked flight to the locker room.
"Well," Carlisle said when the laughter died down. "I believe it's time for some presents to be unwrapped. Don't you think, Ivy?"
There was a collective 'yes!' from my brothers and sisters before I could even respond. They darted to the table to grab gifts and pile them at my feet to open. My eyes got misty as I looked around the room, so thankful for these people who took me in and chose to love me despite my major faults. "Before I open anything, I just wanted to say thank you. These past months have been the best of my life and I've learned a valuable lesson while living here, and that is: you're born with relatives, but you get to choose your family."
"Well said." Carlisle nodded in approval. A room full of bright smiled stared back at me and I cleared my throat and blinked several times before picking up a present.
From my family alone I got an iPad, clothes, DVD's, and several books I mentioned I liked in passing and they remembered, plus a GoPro to film me practicing my elemental stuff. Needless to say, I was freaking out and feeling pretty spoiled when Emily and Sam gave me a fantastic handwritten book full of Quileute legends that was an exact copy of the real book kept by the council in La Push.
But Jacob's present really took the cake. He looked adorably nervous, comparing his gift with all my shiny new things, "I thought you might like this." He said gruffly, passing me a beautiful drawstring bag embroidered with cool patterns. I reached in and pulled out a bracelet of clear beads full of water. "Where is this from?" I breathed, feeling a unique energy signature I had never encountered before thrum against my palm.
"The beads are full of water from Mount Everest. The highest point on earth." Jacob said, smiling when it was clear I loved the gift and slid it onto my wrist, kissing my palm. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close for a real kiss. "You are so sweet. I love it. Thank you." I admired the bracelet against my skin for a moment before turning to everyone, "I feel completely spoiled right now. Thank you all for everything! I've never been more happy in my whole life." I was enveloped in a group hug before being forced over to the cake table to blow out seventeen little, white candles. I didn't need to make a wish, I couldn't think of anything else I could possibly want.
We got creative with the eating process. Emily, Bella, and I had a slice of cake each, but that barely put a dent in the top tier. So, being the crazy people we were, we took four tiers off and had a good old fashioned eating competition between Jacob and Sam. "Okay." I said, holding up a napkin dramatically. "When this touches the floor, you may begin." The napkin drifted to the floor and as soon as the first corner touched hardwood, Jake and Sam stared chowing down like a starving man who just made it out of the desert. We were all gathered around cheering and laughing as they chowed down. I looked around, struck again by how lucky I was to have these people in my life. Then Jacob won, bringing me back down to earth. He pulled me to him and kissed me, his face covered in icing which got all over me. "Ew! Jake!" I laughed as he kissed my nose and cheeks and forehead, leaving purple icing behind with each peck.
The clock struck ten and the party started winding down. "Thanks so much for having us." Emily said, an enchanting smile spread across her face as we stood outside, huddled next to our mates to keep warm. "We had a blast."
"Thanks for the book." I said after hugging Emily and shaking Sam's hand, "I want to start having Quileute lessons or something, there's so much to learn about werewolves." I said.
"I'll give you a call and we'll get together when the boys are out patrolling sometime." Emily winked.
"Sounds like a plan." I stood next to Jacob and waved as they drove off, closely followed by Edward and Bella. "That was a really great party if I do say so myself."
"It was really fun." Jacob said, "Although, I don't think I want to eat cake again for a while."
I smiled and kissed him. "Thanks again for my bracelet, I really love it."
"I'm glad." We kissed for a good long while before he eventually got in his car and drove away as well. I stared at the full moon, a wistful smile on my face, when the scariest part of the horror movie flashed through my head. I raced for the front door, but it opened just before my hand touched the doorknob.
Emmett's stood in the entrance, looking down at me with a wicked grin. "Happy Birthday Little Sis!" He said just before he smashed the last tier of cake over my head.
I gasped and stood there in shock as icing and cake rolled down my face and shoulders and landed with a 'splat' on the floor. "Emmett, you did not just do that!" I screamed, holding my hands out away from my body. He was laughing so hard he leaned over and braced himself on his knees. "I'm going to kill you!" I lunged forward, but he was too quick and darted down the hall, still laughing. I chased him around the house, screaming at him much to my family's amusement when everyone finally took pity on me.
"Hey, let go! She's coming closer!" Emmett roared when Jasper, Carlisle, Alice, Esme and Rose attacked him in unison and held him steady for me. (Edward was still with Bells as usual)
"Sorry, no can do," Jazz said, winking at me.
"She's the birthday girl." Alice chirped, perched on his back like a little backpack.
"Thank you," I said walking forward with a huge chunk of cake in my hand. "This is the exact definition of 'sweet revenge' big brother. Eat it!" I said triumphantly before crushing every last crumb in my hand into Emmett's hair and then I threw some in his open mouth when he started yelling at me which made everyone bust up until I was practically sobbing on the floor in a ball of laughter.
"Well," I said ten minutes later when I was finally under control and gave a final hug to everyone in the room that would let me close to them while I was covered in cake. "I'm off to shower and to bed. Thank you for the best birthday ever." I carefully walked up the stairs and jumped into the shower at once. It took nearly a half and hour to clean my hair of icing and I was pretty sure some blonde streaks were dyed purple from the food coloring.
I skipped to my room and locked the door, tossing my towel aside, standing in all my glory to pick out pajamas. I was just replaying the best parts of the day over in my head when the worst possible thing that could ever happen happened.
I heard the distinct sound of a vampire running very fast up the stairs. I didn't think anything of it until my bedroom door literally shattered, spraying my room with splinters of wood. Jasper stood in the doorway, staring right at me.
I covered myself with my hands, flaming with mortification. "Jasper! What the fu-!?" My completely justified f-bomb was cut off when the window shattered behind me, spraying glass across my naked back. I screamed and fell to the floor, snatching the blanket from my bed and wrapping it around my bleeding frame and looked up when Jasper's lion roar pierced my ears.
A red-eyed vampire stood behind me, staring at my blood with thirsty eyes. I was so startled that I didn't react when he ran forward, ready to rip me apart.
I didn't react, but Jasper did.
He was the warrior I always knew him to be, cold, calculative, and lethal. The fight tore my room to shreds, breaking my side tables into bits and breaking a few walls in the process. But Jasper kept the enemy vampire away from me. They roared and bit and slashed, moving so quickly I could barely tell when Jasper punched or the other kicked. But Jazz quickly got the upper hand. He blocked a blow to his chest and twisted the vamp's arm until he screamed in pain, then he kept twisting until it came all the way off. He tossed the limb aside and jumped, flipping over the vamp's head until he was behind him and broke off his head in an instant with a sound like snapping metal. He tossed the head aside and it was quiet.
No. Not completely quiet. There were noises coming from outside. More fighting! Roaring and metal against metal shrieks until all the noise died down and the sickening smell of burning vampire drifted through my broken window. Jasper retreated to the doorway, not breathing, clutching the broken frame until it dented as he tried to fight the blood lust. I finally got some sense back and reached out for my water wall that somehow managed to survive the battle and healed my back. Just when I sealed the last cut, the doorway became much more crowed with the rest of my family (Still minus Edward). I was in a state of complete shock, so I did the only thing I could do.
I screamed my head off.
Seriously, if I ever needed a job in a horror movie, I had the horrified shriek to get me a starring role. "Ivy!" Esme cried with concern, rushing to my side, an extremely worried expression her face as she peeled back my blanket to stare at my healed back. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
I pointed in absolute horror at Jasper. "He saw me naked!" I screamed, my face burning with embarrassment. Jasper ducked his head, grimacing. But my outburst seemed to have a different effect than I expected. Everyone looked grim and a bit tattered two seconds ago, but once my words registered in their ears, each and every one one of them burst out laughing. "It's not funny!" I cried indignantly, but even I couldn't stop a little relived laugher from leaking out of me.
What the hell happened to my perfect day?
Once properly dressed, I walked downstairs to find the front door open. My family was outside, gathering pieces of vampire and throwing them on a huge pyre that sent a tower of smoke into the sky, obscuring the stars from my view. I shivered and dialed Jacob's number for the third time rubbing the bracelet in a worried gesture, but the call went to voicemail. Something felt very, very wrong. My skin was crawling and I just wanted to hear his voice. Why wasn't he answering?!Certainly no one felt like laughing anymore and the tension that broke earlier from my outburst came back in full force. "What happened?" I asked, stepping closer to the fire.
Carlisle pulled me into a relived hug. "You were showering when Alice saw ten vampires arrive. We ran out to fight them, but one slipped past and was going for your room. Jasper took off to stop him when he... interrupted you." I blushed crimson. Ugh! I can't believe my brother saw me naked. It was so humiliating, I don't think I'll be able to look him in the eye ever again.
And I wish that that was the only thing I had to stress over right now. "Something is wrong." I said, "Edward should have been back and Jacob isn't answering his phone. I'm really scared, Carlisle."
He hugged me again and nodded, "You're right. Something feels very off about this whole thing. I fear Victoria is behind it all, but with Edward gone and no minds to read when he returns, we can't know for certain."
My chest tightened with panic. "This wasn't supposed to happen, everything was perfect and now Edward is awol and everyone is freaking out and Jacob won't answer his damn phone!" I dialed his number again, but this time it went straight to voicemail. Son of a bitch! Where the hell was he?!
All the vampires in the area suddenly jerked their heads around in the opposite direction, toward the woods. They gathered close to me and I focused on trying to hear what they heard. There was a loud shuffling, like a big creature was stumbling through the woods. And that's exactly what it was.
Sam's midnight form limped from the woods, his fur matted with blood and his head down as he shuffled closer on only three legs since his back right was sticking out at an odd angle. "Sam!" I cried, pushing past Emmett and running to his side. He collapsed and I cradled his head in my lap. He started phasing back to his human form and I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see him in nothing but his skin. There was the distinctive sound of a coat being removed and settled over the bleeding man before I opened my eyes. Poor Sam was a mess, covered in blood and gashes and bruises that were appearing before my eyes. "Sam, what happened?"
He coughed, spitting a glob of blood onto the ground, "We were patrolling by the cliffs after your party when ten vampires came out of the water. We tried to fight back, but there were too many. They tossed me down a ravine and left me for dead."
My mouth went dry, "Where is Jacob? Is he out there somewhere? Does he need help?!" Sam coughed again and shook his head no. "Sam!" I shook him, fear filling me from head to toe. "Where. Is. Jacob!?"
His brown eyes shifted to mine for a moment before they moved away in shame. When he finally spoke, his words made my blood run ice cold. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. They have him. The vampires took Jacob."
My breathing turned to choking gasps.
Oh no.
God, please no.
So... that happened. Please don't hate me! :)