The Open Door

By: KellyCRocker59

Chapter Four: Stand in the Rain

I opened my eyes to find my bare body pressed against Jacob's, which was also bare. He had his arm around me, my head lying on his chest. Last night had been so perfect, and it only confirmed how much I loved him. But still, memories of the other events filled my head.

That new vampire had the ability to change Jacob back into his human form. Could she do that to Sam and the other two? While still strong, they weren't strong enough in their human forms to kill the vampire, so there was only one way to kill the new girl; the Cullens.

I didn't want to involve Edward, but I'm sure that Jasper, Emmet, and Alice would help. Together, they could easily take down the vampire, while the wolves could kill Victoria.

I was scared, though. More scared than I had ever been. If I hadn't been with Jake last night, she would have killed me. She had come close even with Jacob there. I wasn't as safe as before with the wolves when they could transform with the new vampire around. That just made it easier for Victoria to get to me.

I shivered at the thought, and found Jake yawn. I looked up at him to see him looking down at me.

"That was amazing last night." He said, smiling.

I blushed and nodded, looking down.

"Hey," He whispered, gently pulling my chin up to look into my eyes, worry in his, "Are you ashamed about what happened?"

I shook my head vigorously.

"No, it's just, I'm so scared, Jake. Last night, two of your friends died. Aren't you worried that you might not be able to protect me anymore?"

He looked hurt at my words, and I instantly regretted saying them.

"Do you not feel safe being with me, anymore?" He asked.

I shook my head again.

"No, it's just, you can't kill that vampire from last night if you can't transform. I was thinking, we need the help of...the Cullens."

He shook his head instantly.

"No, Bella. You know the..."

"Yeah, yeah, the treaty. But what's more important; the treaty, or life?"

There was silence, and then...

"Bella, it's just, I mean, I know they're the only one that can kill that bitch, but, I don't know anymore. I always thought that we had to keep the treaty, but this is so much more important."

We sat there for a long moment, and then I spoke.

"Aren't you sad that everyone is dying?" I asked.

I didn't think that it was possible for anyone to get over so many deaths so quickly.

"I-I'm trying not to think about it. As long as you're with me, I know that I can handle this." I said, looking at me with such adoration that I knew he meant every word.

"Jake, I, I love you. So much. Please, don't ever forget that." I whispered, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes.

He smiled, and slowly leaned down, kissing each tear as they made their way down my face, and then met my lips. When we parted, he spoke.

"I won't, I promise."

We stayed like that for I don't know how many hours before there was a knock on our door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Emily," The person replied, "Just coming by to say that breakfast is ready."

The two of us reluctantly got up, Jake a little less reluctantly than me at the thought of food. We pulled on our closed, and Jake held my hand as we walked out of the room.

Outside that bedroom, the feeling of despair was so present that it made me shiver. Jake gave my hand a gentle squeeze, and I scooted closer to him as we walked into the small kitchen. There were several tables, all set with large platters of various types of breakfast foods, such as eggs, biscuits, and hash browns.

Sam stood with Emily to the side, arm protectively around her waist. It was so beautiful, and it made me believe that even in the midst of this storm there could be some joy. With that thought, I gave Jake's hand my own squeeze. Over on the other side of the room stood Embry and the newly recruited Quil. Neither acknowledged us, both eating slowly and with their heads down.

If what Jake had said about me being so helpful in making it easy to stand all of the tragedy, I couldn't imagine how they felt about their friends being killed. Emily turned to us when she saw us enter the room. Her normally happy mood was easily down.

"Charlie just stayed for the night. He went to work a couple hours ago. Said to tell you that he loved you."

I nodded.

"Help yourself to as much food as you want. Sam and I already ate."

Jake and I walked forward, and Jake piled his plate high, not letting the mood of the others and the events of last night dwindle his appetite. I grabbed a biscuit and got a spoonful of eggs, as well as I glass of milk. We grabbed some silverware from the counter, and then stood in our own, much more cheerful corner. Jake ate quickly, and went back for more, grabbing more, as well as another biscuit for me. However, as he returned to me and continued to eat, Embry glared at him.

"How can you eat at a time like this? Paul and Jared are dead, and so is your dad! Aren't you sad?"

Jake nodded calmly.

"Yeah, but I still have Bella. As long as I have her, I can make it through anything."

"She was a freakin' vampire lover less than five days ago, Jake! You choose her over us?" Quil questioned.

"Embry, Quil, calm down." Sam said, tightening his grip slightly around Emily's hip.

"No! He's choosing that whore over his friends!" Embry snapped.

In a split second, Embry was against the wall, Jake's body slammed against his. Jake punched him in the face, hard. He hit him again, this time harder.

"Jake!" I called, running to him. I pulled at his arm, trying to get him off the other boy.

"Bella, stop! He called you a whore! I'm not going to just let him do that!" Jake roared angrily, though I knew I was in no danger.

"Jake, just calm down. It's okay. They're just upset about Paul and Jared. Don't let them get to you."

"Really. Listen to the bitch, Jacob." Embry snapped.

Embry flew to the ground, Jake on top of him. The boy's fists flew at the other boys face, hitting him continuously. Sam ran forward, pulling Jacob off of Embry. Jacob got to his feet and stumbled back several steps.

I grabbed his hand in mine quickly, trying to keep him calm. Embry had definitely changed the most when he became a werewolf. Jake turned to me, and entwined our fingers together, breathing heavily. A gave him a smile, and he mouthed me a sorry before turning back to Sam, who now had a hold on Embry's neck, since he wore no shirt.

"Don't you ever call one of your brother's girlfriends a whore, bitch, or any other name. When you call her those, you are calling Emily those, and when you call my fiancé a bitch, I will kill you."

Embry nodded quickly, chancing a look at Emily before turning and hurrying back to the corner where he stood with Quil, who looked terrified. Sam returned to where he stood by Emily, winding his hand once more around her waist. I sighed, returning to where Jake and I had been standing, leading Jake behind me. It felt like now, more than ever, that it was like the sunny life of joy and happiness that I had found with Jake had been replaced by a downpour of fear, pain, and death.

She doesn't know why

But she knows that when she's all alone

She feels like it's all coming down

She won't turn around

The shadows are long

And she feels if she cries

That first tear

The tears will not stop

But I wasn't going to let this pain weaken me. I was going to stand strong with Jacob. I wasn't about to let Victoria get what she wanted. If I was going to die, I was going to put up a hell of a fight. I wasn't going to fall to the rain.

So stand in the rain

Stand your ground

Stand up when its all crashing down

Stand through the pain

You won't drown

And one day when lost can be found

After what felt like a long period of silence, Sam finally spoke.

"Okay, there is a new vampire on the loose, and she is helping that other one, Victoria. The girl has the power to change us back into our human forms if we try to transform, so we are helpless against the two of them. Also, after examining all of the crime scenes, as well as what each of us was doing at the time of the three killings, I've discovered that this new vampire is especially powerful. Each of us was almost as far away as possible when the vampires struck, so they have some way in which they know where all of us are and at what time.

"After much consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible for us to take on the two vampires alone when the new girl can render us powerless in comparison. Therefore, I have asked for assistance from the Cullens."

The first thing I heard was a roar of anger from Embry.

"There is no way that I'm going to work with a bunch of filthy bloodsuckers! I'm leaving!"

"No!" Sam snapped, but Embry had already dashed through the door and was running toward the woods, shaking.

Sam ran after him, body shaking as well. I turned to Quil to see him in shock. He was the newest recruit, and I doubted that he knew too much about the Cullens. I turned to Emily, seeing her running in from outside with a handful of Sam's clothes.

"Do you know if they said yes?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Yeah, four of them are going to help us. I believe their names are Jasper, Emmet, Ali, and Carlisle."

I nodded. That was good; no Edward. I felt Jake give my hand a squeeze, and when I turned to him our lips met suddenly. It was only for a moment, because then we parted and we were left standing in a room with only two others. Emily had already walked to the kitchen, and was putting the many leftovers in containers and into the refrigerator.

"Here, Emily, let me help you with that." I said, hurrying over to help her, my fingers leaving Jacob's warm hand. I turned and smiled at him, and he smiled back, walking over to Quil.

"Thanks, Bella. Here, I'll pack the stuff up, and you can stick it in the fridge. Just put it wherever, it doesn't matter."

I nodded, and we began packing the food away. I caught some parts of Jacob and Quil's conversation.

"Hey, Jake, I'm sorry what I said about Bella. I just, Paul and Jared, Billy, who's going to be next? I just, I hope no one else has to die because of these creatures."

"It's going to be okay, Quil. We have the Cullens on our side now. We can handle this."

"You really do love her, don't you?" Quil asked, and I knew they were talking about me.

"Oh, Quil, I love her so much! She's so perfect. The way she looks at me, lord she's so beautiful. And she cares about me so much. She's funny, and caring, and, just, perfect. I don't know why that bastard left her out in the woods like he did. He just left her there to die. What I would do if I got my hands on him..."

"Bella, how's Charlie doing? I'm sure that he has tons of work to do, because of all the murders." Emily asked suddenly.

I shrugged.

"I haven't really gotten to talk to him since all of this started. It really took a lot out of him when Billy died."

Emily nodded.

"How's Sam?" I asked.

She frowned at the subject.

"This is really taking a lot out of him, too. He was really emotional when Billy died, and it didn't help when Paul and Jared got killed. I don't know how much more stress he can handle, Bella. It worries me."

Her love for Sam was so powerful that it was almost unbelievable.

"Do you really love Jacob?" She asked.

I nodded.

"He's...wonderful. He's so kind, caring, loving. He's protective without it being a negative thing, and when he holds me, it's just...do you feel the same way about Sam?"

She smiled.

"Yes. Everyday is just so great as long as I'm with him. When he kisses me it sends jolts through my heart, and when he speaks he talks like I'm the only thing that matters. Yeah, I love him more than anything."

I slid the last container into the fridge, but just as I did, the door to the front of the house flew open. I spun around to see Quil and Jacob dashing to the woods.

"Something's happened." Emily said, running quickly after them.

I followed as fast as I could. My legs were getting a little sore as we reached the entrance, but I ran on, afraid of what might be waiting for us in there. As we got deeper and deeper into the woods, I began to notice the many trees that were down; there had been a fight. My heart sank as I ran on, worried for Jacob's safety. And then, I saw it.

The ground was splattered with blood. Sam was leaning against a tree, body covered in slashes, blood flowing from him like a waterfall. Emily rushed to his side, tears pouring from her eyes. Then, I felt Jacob's arms encircle me; when had he gotten there? But I couldn't tear my eyes away from the horrifying scene.

There, lying without his arms or legs, Embry was a corpse of blood, body mutilated. But what was even more shocking was who was lying there beside him. Rosalie Cullen, throat slit, eyes wide, had never seen death coming.

Stand your ground

Stand up when its all crashing down

Stand through the pain

You won't drown

And one day when lost can be found

You stand in the rain