Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, I don't own any of her books and characters. I do own my own characters and my story.

Thanks to my reviewers: snowyflake, musicbee, xMyLonelyAngelx, ..existance, Spalana, Emiliana Keladry, MRAJ and 13WolfGirl13.

I know you all wanted me to update really quickly, so hopefully you weren't waiting for too long.

I made it one of my longest chapters, to make up for the cliffhanger ending of the last chapter.

Leah's POV

Seth! I called uselessly after him.

No. I refuse to believe that my Katy is gone. She can't be. Seth thought stubbornly as he kept running into the gloomy trees, still on the trail of the bloodsucker and Katy. Or was he on the trail of two bloodsuckers?

Don't! Seth growled.

I lengthened my strides, catching up to Seth once more.

Hey, Leah, I've got to tell the others. Sam's distant mind thought.

Ok, bye then. I replied, trying to keep my 'voice' from shaking with emotion

Be careful, Leah. I don't want to lose you.

Sam's concern touched me. He cared about me still, even if was just because I was part of the pack.

After a while, I didn't notice the trees flashing past, nor the ground trodden by my paws as I ran through the continuous, monotonous forest that I was sick and tired of.

Night fell, but Seth and I only stopped once, by a stream for a few mouthfuls of icy water to keep us going. Our path was lit by pale moonlight.

The blood-stained clearing lingered unwelcome in my mind. Seth was bothered by it too, but above all he feared for Katy.

I lost track of the time it took for us to find it: another clearing in the trees.

I was afraid of what this clearing would hold. More blood? Another body? One leech? Or two?

Which would be worse? Seth was thinking. Katy being a vampire, or Katy being... He trailed off, leaving his thought incomplete, but I knew all too well what it was.

Dead. Seth decided almost instantly.

I wasn't so sure of that.

Katy, the vampire would look similar, but we Quileutes were never meant to be friends with vampires. It wouldn't work. Our Treaty with the 'vegetarians' who used to live in Forks proved that: we could co-operate by staying apart, but...

Hi, Leah! Jacob's familiar mental voice greeted me cheerfully.

Now isn't really the time, Jacob. I thought wearily. The clearing was drawing closer and closer every second.

Sure, sure. I'll hang around, see what you find.

And with that, Jacob shut up.

I tried to get an idea of what to expect to find in the next clearing by sniffing the breeze, which had strengthened into a gusty wind, but the wind was blowing the same way we were going. If there was a leech there, it would already know that we were coming.

I leapt into the clearing a heartbeat after Seth.

The first thing that struck me was how much this clearing differed from the previous one. Long green grass hid the large expanse of ground, completely clean. A bubbling stream cut through the centre like a knife, breaking up the reflection of the moon and stars into shards of liquid silver. Clusters of whispering ferns covered the opposite side of the enchanting place.

Well, enchanting apart from the figure that stood on the other side of the stream, hands spread out to show peace.

I snarled.

Filthy bloodsucker!

Shut up, Jacob! I mentally growled.

And as for Katy...

A human shape writhed in agony on the ferny bed of the clearing's other side.

It was her.

"I mean no harm," the leech explained calmly. Her skin seemed to glow in the light of the moon. Her short, curly hair was ice-blond, and it too appeared to glow. It looked like a person made of pure silver stood before us.

Well, silver apart from the deep burgundy eyes, mirror-like as the moonlight reflected off them.

"I have simply created a companion for myself, to help me track my age-old nemesis. This human will be a tracker, but the other one back there was useless, so I disposed of it." The vampire waited to see our reaction.

This human will be a tracker? She must be one of those irritating leeches with additional powers. Great.

Trivial thoughts passed through my head, like what this bloodsucker thought we were. It was obvious she knew that we posed a danger to her, and her body seemed poised to react immediately whatever we did.

Seth flew at her, claws outstretched.

His attack took the vampire by surprise. I could tell that she was not the fighting type, despite her earlier claim about finding her enemy.

Seth didn't look like he needed any help as he tore the vampire apart, piece by piece with screeching sounds that hurt my ears.

I skirted them and jumped the stream in a single bound. A few more strides and I stood beside Katy. I knew nothing about the process of a human becoming a vampire, but I was fairly sure that it was too late.

A howl ripped through the clearing.

Before I realised that Seth and the vampire were gone, I was at the place of their fight. White shapeless things lay around me, creepily twitching.

I couldn't pick up anything from Seth apart from his rage that filled him up, and exploded out of him as he ran.

More screeching noises came from within the forest. It wasn't as piercing from a distance, and I assumed that Seth was getting along fine by himself.

Or maybe not...

A tearing agonising knife burned through my head.

As swiftly as the pain had come, it was gone.

I struggled to understand what had happened, my physical memory of the spasm fresh, tormenting me.

Leah! Jacob called, fear in his thought-voice. Are you alright?

I – I think so. I replied shakily.

Then it must have been Seth getting hurt.

Oh no, not Seth, not my little brother! I was supposed to look after him, and now something had happened to him, something awful, and it was all my fault. If I hadn't let him pursue that leech, he'd be fine right now.

Seth! I shouted to him, hoping against hope that he wasn't too badly injured.

By that time, I was flying through the forest, weaving in and out of the trees without thinking.

A few minutes later, I'd found him, a bundle of sandy fur dumped on the blanket of pine needles coating the ground. It looked like he'd been thrown into the trunk of a splintered pine tree, and rebounded off it.

I nosed him onto his side. My mind whirled and frothed with panic. What if he was seriously injured, what should I do? How could I get him back home to La Push if he couldn't walk? How could I-

Calm down Leah. This time it wasn't Jacob, but Sam.

Why did it have to be Sam, at a time like this, when I was already scared and worried? I didn't need any more distractions.

I made an effort to slow my mind, and suddenly another thought struck me: what if the bloodsucker had hurt Seth just to double back around and get to Katy, and then take off while Seth was unable to follow her?

Focus, Leah! Sam ordered. How badly is Seth injured?

Seth looked like he'd just gone to sleep. I couldn't see any sign of physical damage.

He must have hit his head, I told Sam and Jacob.

Tentatively, I stretched my mind toward Seth's. All I could feel was a sort of fuzziness, penetrated occasionally by a flash of conscious understanding, then sinking back intounreality.

Seth! I called softly, trying to rouse him from his stupor.

Must... Seth thought groggily. Bloodsucker...

He was waking up!

Seth! Can you hear me? I asked excitedly.

Leah?

Yeah, it's me. You hit your head, but you're waking up now. Take it slowly, I cautioned him.

My advice was not followed as Seth leapt unsteadily to his paws, ready to take off after the leech again. He wobbled once, twice, and would've fallen if I hadn't jumped over to his side.

I said take it slowly! I scolded Seth, annoyed. Don't teenage boys ever listen?

Must – kill – bloodsucker, he thought, sounding like a robot.

The vampire ran away, I said, hoping that I was telling the truth. We should go back to the clearing now.

Seth agreed wearily, and together we made our way back.

I sniffed the air, and a wave of relief crashed over me. Nobody had been here since I'd left.

And Katy...

Seth broke away from me, stumbling over to the fern-lined border. I stayed where I was, giving him some privacy with his imprint.

I settled down by the stream, head on my paws, watching the dancing reflections of the fading moon and stars in the shimmering water. At that time, I felt more lonely than I'd ever felt in my life. I had nobody. I was alone, completely and utterly despite Seth being only a few metres away and my permanent mental connection with the pack.

Awww, feeling lonely, Leah! Jacob teased.

You are going to pay for that when I get home, I snapped. Just go away!

To my relief, Jacob phased back.

Sam had gone too, and Seth wasn't thinking anything I wanted to hear, so I kept out of his mind.

I couldn't sleep, I couldn't relax, so I planned ahead. I didn't see any way to save Katy from becoming a vampire. I didn't know when she was bitten, I didn't know how long the transformation took. We'd just have to take her back with us, I decided. There was no point hanging around in this unknown place, where the vampire could return at any moment. We would leave in the morning.

Hey, Leah, Seth called. You get some sleep, I'll stay awake and keep watch.

Okay, but wake me up after an hour. I replied. We're going home in the morning, and morning isn't far off.

There it is! My last chapter in 2008. Sorry about the strange format up there, I'm not sure what happened! So... please review and I'll try and finish the story soon.

addictedbooklover

Oh, and if anyone wants to read a very random fanfiction, try cheesepuffman's story Crazy Cullen Chaos. He's making me put this in!