Jared grinned at me evily. "Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?"

"Don't hurt him!" I yelled.

"Hurt him?" He looked genuinely shocked. "No, no, my dear. I'm not going to hurt him... per se."

I leaped towards him, my teeth bared. Ethan put a restraining hand on my shoulder. The once silent footsteps became louder and louder as they moved towards us. Tears dripped down my face. How could I let this happen? I now put the love of my life in danger. No. I won't let that monster hurt him. My Jake. Mine.

"Nessie?" A different voice this time. Leah's.

Please, I silently prayed. Don't let them get hurt. Please.

Jared hid behind the doors.

My heart shattered as Jake and Leah burst through the auditorium doors.

"Nessie!" he shouted.

My eyes were heavy with tears. "No!" I sobbed. "Please! Go!"

Jake sniffed the air. Then he glanced down at Ethan's hand on my shoulder. Pain crossed his face.

"Renesmee..." he whispered. That was the first time I heard him say my full name in a long time. "I... I still love you."

"I...I---" I began.

"Bravo!" Jared clapped his hands. He leaped out from behind. "That was quite a show! Well, welcome to the show, mutts!"

Leah crouched to the ground.

"Leah," I warned. "Not here. Not now."

She locked eyes with me and understanding passed through us.

"Good girl!" Jared chortled. "Want a doggie biscuit?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "Give me one good reason I don't kill you right now."

"Because, my dear, you can't!" he laughed.

Her eyes narrowed. Jake grabbed her shoulders.

"Leah, don't," he whispered.

"Now where were we?" Jared asked. "Ah, next game! A roleplay! The rules! You must at least try to act, and it must amuse me. Come on, my little victims! On stage!"

We all walked up onto the stage. The red curtains pulled back onto a set of a family room.

"Our characters," Jared began. "will be Renesmee, Mutt, or 'Jacob', and Ethan! This is going to be a drama about love! After all, it is a battlefield. Please, please! Begin!"

We stood up and glanced nervously at each other. Ethan went and stood behind the door. I followed.

"I can't do this!" I yelled, slamming the door. "Go... please."

He followed after me. "Don't say that!"

"I don't love you!" I screamed. And I meant it. I didn't love him. I loved Jacob!

He looked stunned. "Yes you do! You have to give me a chance!"

I rolled my eyes. "I love someone else." I turned to Jacob. "I love you." I hoped he knew I wasn't lying.

"I love you, too," he murmured.

I ran across the room and into his arms. They were so warm. I felt safe, as if this whole nightmare could disappear when he held me.

"Please, give me a chance!" Ethan pleaded. "I love you."

I turned around. Jacob wrapped his arms protectively around my waist.

"Leave her alone," he said.

Ethan locked eyes with him. "Make me." he challenged.

Jacob was across the room in an instant. His arm pinned Ethan against the wall.

"I said, leave her alone!" he yelled.

I had a feeling we weren't acting anymore.

I yanked Jake off and pulled him into a kiss. Ethan watched, stunned at my abrupt movement. I pulled away and continued.

"True love never dies," I said. "I was a fool to think so before. I should have never second guessed you. I'm sorry."

"I love you," Jacob whispered.

"I love you, too." I whispered back.

Ethan stormed off the stage.

"Bravo!" Jared clapped. "Excellent! You should win an Emmy!"

Jake and I rolled our eyes and climbed off the stage.

"What else do you want us to do?" Jacob asked.

"Well, I was considering having you all tap dance," Jared mused. "Or maybe even puppet theatre!"

"Dumbass," Jacob said under his breath.

"Mutt," Jared shot back. "I would be very careful. Remember who you're talking to!"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Laurel and Stephenie were tied up once more. Although, it's not like Jared couldn't catch up to them if they tried to make an escape. But, if he were distracted, maybe they would have a chance. If he were busy...

"You know," Jared said to Ethan. "You're the second vampire to ever fall for a human. Or part human at least. What's so appealing about them?"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "They're just like us, Jared."

Jared nodded. "Maybe," he said. "But you can also say they're like primates. In fact, they're more like primates. So full of flaws. I don't see the appeal. Except for their scent! It's so... inviting! Being in that school full of children, it was just so tempting! Not that I didn't cheat a few times..."

What a jerk. He thought he knew me. He didn't! He didn't know anything about me or any of the rest of us! Oh, just to get the chance to ring his neck! No, to rip him apart, flesh from muscle, muscle from tissue, that would be what I would kill for! I wanted him dead. I wanted him to rot in hell. He deserved worse than hell! Hell would be too good for him!

"You're a bastard," I said to him.

Jared simply chuckled. "You have much to learn."

I raised my eyebrows. "Do I?"

That caused him to think. "Hmm... yes, I believe so. But new game!"

I sighed. How many more stupid games would he want to play before he killed us all.

"It's a scavenger hunt! You have to look through this whole building for the items. Now, here's what you're looking for. A barrel, a bottle of aged wine, a pillow filled with down, a welcome rug, and some fishing wire." He grabbed Stephenie. "Find all these items, and you delay the girl's death. If not" he sniffed Stephenie. "She'll make a mighty fine meal. Go!"

We raced off down the corridor: first Jake, then me, then Leah, then Laurel. The front of the building was filled with towers of boxes.

"How are we going to find all this?" I asked.

"Leave it to me," Jake said. Leah and he started sniffing the boxes.

Laurel pulled me aside. "Okay," she said. "What's going on?"

I sighed. "You'll never believe me."

"I'll believe anything at this point."

"Well, you know all those tales about... vampires?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Well, it's somewhat true."

"Somewhat?"

"Well, we do drink blood. But we don't sleep in coffins... actual vampires don't sleep at all. And we don't burn up in the sun... we sparkle. But I'm only half. My mother was human when she had me."

Laurel let it sink in. "I believe you, strange enough."

"But you can't tell anyone. For your safety."

"I won't," she promised.

"Done!" Leah announced. All the items were tucked safely into the barrel. She rolled it down the corridor.

"Are they vampires too?" Laurel asked, gesturing to Leah and Jake.

"No," I said. "They're werewolves."

"Oh," she said. "Normal enough."

She took the rest of the walk to let it all soak in. It was quite a bit, but I was fairly sure she could handle it.

"Bravo!" Jared clapped as we walked in. "I didn't think you could do it, but you did!"

We all rolled our eyes, careful not to be too sassy. Stephenie was still locked in his arms.

"We finished your game, Jared," I said. "Now, let her go."

He shoved her to the ground. She was on all fours and heaved up and down, but nothing came out. I rushed over to make sure she was all right.

"What's your next twisted game?" I asked, patting Stephenie on the back.

"Hmmm...," he pondered. Then his eyes lit up. "More guests. Just more to join the show."

Author's Note: Hehe. Yeah, I like the title of this chapter. What do you think? Lots of eye rolling. Lol! So yeah, I thought is was pretty fun :D Just my future thoughts: I am most definitely going to do a sequel. I already have plans, and I wrote the prelude. And I was thinking about doing a side project, Jake and Nessie still, but it's all human. The 'theme' would be Nessie is rich, popular, and everyone is jealous of her. Jacob thinks she's the snottiest girl in school. Nessie never notices him until they're put in a situation where they depend on each other to survive. What do you think? It was just a thought.