Volia! Sooner than expected, the seveth chapter!
I have named the cat in my mind. This isn't in the chapter / story at all, but I have decided to call it Jack. Partly because it reminds me of my cousin's cat. Although this cougar isn't psycho and try to eat you if you touch it. Seriously, i have scars. And i am truly sorry about what happeneds to Jack so please don't kill me.
I own nothing, Stephanie Meyer owns my soul...etc. Characters, plot etc. are all hers because she is god and therefore owns the world. Well my world at least...aka Twlight.
Music! Okay, for this i would recommend Hotel Chelsea Nights by Ryan Adams for the first half and some awesome Fratellis music for the second. May i recomend Henrietta and Chelsea Dagger? (dude, thats weird, like 2 of my fav songs have my sister's name in them...)
Hayley
My eyes snapped open before my imagination could finish the daydream it was creating. No, not daydream; a daydream would have involved Bella in my arms with no urge to drink her blood. This was a nightmare, and the worst one possible at that.
I looked around the tent quickly, my eyes settling on the cat sleeping on my chest. Its little body was rising and falling with every breath of unneeded air I took into my lungs. Sensing my change in breathing patterns, the cat stretched and dug its claws into my already ruined shirt. It turned its piercing blue eyes to face my ocher ones.
"What?" I asked it. I automatically tried to scan its mind before remembering it was an animal. I stared blankly into its eyes, the blankness reminding me somewhat of Bella's mind. He tilted his head and continued his sharp assault on my eyes. He mewed pathetically, a long whining sound that rang through my head.
"You're hungry." I said, without needed an answer. He turned his eyes away and licked his paw, as if sensing I finally got what he meant. I rolled my eyes and sighed as I got up, taking the little mountain lion with me. I unzipped the tent and walked out into the fresh night air.
The full moon illuminated the campsite, showing every indent of the rocks and casting large shadows from the trees. The only other thing glowing was a large shape sitting on a log near the non-existent fire.
"Emmett." I greeted. He looked over at me and grimaced when he saw the cat.
"Still have your lunch with you, then? Do you need a paper bag to carry it in?" I could hear the black humor and sarcasm dripping greasily from every word. I scowled.
"What do you propose I do with it?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
"We both know this isn't about the cat," he said darkly.
"Then what is it about?"
"You, Edward, it's about you."
I let out a small breath of air through my teeth. The cat's hair stood on end from the hiss. "What about me?"
"Face it Edward, that cat is you. Or at least you think it is. We might as well call him Little Eddie." I shot him a warning glance. The cat sensed the tension and a little growl erupted from his tiny body. I put a comforting hand on its head. "I'm serious. Its mom is dead and it has no one. It's all alone and you want to protect it, even if it's against your nature." I rolled my eyes, ignoring the truth emitting from his statement.
"Well, Little Eddie," I started cynically, "is hungry. I'm going to go find him something to eat."
Emmett snorted and shook his head. Yep, he's lost it. Crazy as…well me…he's got it bad.
I shot a glower at Emmett but he wasn't looking, too absorbed in his thoughts of me. I didn't care if this seemed crazy because it also felt right. I didn't feel like arguing so I ran into the woods, cradling the cat in my arms. I could now see Carlisle's strange need to protect things weaker than us and to overcome the obstacle that had been thrown in our path. Humans, this kitten, Bella…they were too innocent to be tainted by our world.
A sudden movement in my arms jolted me from my thoughts. I looked down to see the kitten no longer there, resting between my cold marble body and equally stone-like arms. I stopped and retreated, retracing my steps. I felt a pang of loneliness ring through my cold heart. One more thing in the world that doesn't want to be near me. I thought bitterly. I began to walk back to the campsite when I picked up on the little mountain lion's scent.
I couldn't let it go. I had to protect it, I thought fiercely. Against my better judgment, I followed the scent of the lion into a familiar clearing with a large fir tree and a rotting deer's corpse. The smell made me recoil but my eyes settled on the little kitten in the middle of the clearing, sniffing cautiously.
I approached it carefully, not wanting to make it run away again. As I inched closer, it seemed to pick up on the scent it was looking for and he bolted before I could catch him. I looked miserably around the clearing, searching for a trace of the cat, when, to my surprise, I found him.
He was lying next to the cold, mangled body of his mother, nuzzling up to her neck. He seemed frustrated when his mother didn't respond to his touch. He jumped up and grabbed her ear between his teeth, pulling her head down so her eyes could meet his. He let go of the ear slowly as the facts clicked together in his tiny head. He stared at me accusingly. I felt the immense guilt rush over me, threatening to overcome me.
The little cat walked up to me and rubbed his head against my leg, perhaps in sorrow, or was the memory of this little cat so small, he had forgotten the mother that had raised him. I looked down as the rubbing sensation near my foot stopped. I watched the cat walk back over to the mountain lioness' corpse and lay down in between the lifeless paws, waiting for its mother to wake up.
The guilt stabbed through me, puncturing every ounce of my being as I watched the cougar watch its mother's face expectantly, as if any moment it would wake up and everything would be okay. My fists were clenched. 'Anything would be better then that waiting,' I thought, 'Anything.'
Before I knew what I was doing I approached the little mountain lion and it's dead mother. He stared at me again, his blue eyes drilling holes in my head, conveying the sadness it felt. I picked the little baby cat up and stroked his soft fur gently as I lowered my mouth down to its neck.
This time, there was no sound. Not a whimper or cry of pain. The cat merely closed its eyes as I sunk my teeth through its neck and watched it slowly sink into unconsciousness and then death. I wasn't thirsty so I simply took one gulp of the sweet innocent blood before removing my mouth from its jugular. I let out a small sob and put the dead kitten next to its dead mother, in between her protective paws. I turned quickly and composed myself before walking to the edge of the clearing. I glanced back at the dead animals. From there it seemed they were merely sleeping, the baby comforted by its mothers embrace. I looked away as I realized that they would never wake up from that permanent slumber.
I ran as fast as I possibly could, far away from the newly reunited family, back towards the campsite. I stopped on the edge of the forest and composed my face and emotions before facing Emmett. I was simply lucky I wasn't with Jasper.
I walked out of the forest and into the blinding sunlight that was coming up over the hills. Emmett looked up at me and my empty arms, eyeing me suspiciously. The sun danced off his skin, showering the ground in a rainbow light.
"Where's your pet?" He asked, jokingly.
"Dead." I answered, keeping my face smooth. I could see the shock flutter across his face before settling on an amused expression.
"Get hungry?" He lifted an eyebrow, conveying the actual seriousness behind his light tone.
"No, it ran away…to its mother. It would have died anyway. I just figured that…this way…he'll be with someone he loves, instead of being killed and eaten by something else." I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the last thought. Despite myself, I had gotten attached.
Emmett nodded his head, not wanting to pry any further on my motivations. "So, I won't mention this to anyone?" I nodded as a rush of relief flooded me. If Rosalie had ever found out about this I would have never lived it down.
"Thanks," I said, weakly.
Emmett nodded thoughtfully. "You're only human." His booming laughter filled the entire valley, echoing off the surrounding mountains. "So, we still have a day and a half left, what should we do?"
I smiled wryly. "Feel like annoying some grizzlies?"
A big smile broke out over his face. "Do you even have to ask?"
"Not really," I told him, tapping my temple. He laughed and caught me around my middle, laughing as he tackled me to the ground. I groaned as my back hit the hard dirt ground. Of course it didn't hurt, but it did take me by surprise.
"That's for being boring and depressed yesterday. I want happy Edward back, the one who hits the grizzly in the back of the head for me to make him even more aggravated." He was standing over me, his hand extended. I couldn't help but laugh.
"I was thinking about flicking his ears this time" He laughed with me as I took his hand and he pulled me up without effort.
"First one to find one gets ten points?" I asked slyly, already eyeing the forest meaningfully. I knew I had advantage in speed.
"And the first one to get him to stand up on his legs gets twenty." He added. Emmett had the advantage in annoying things to death. I laughed.
"Ready, set…Go." I said, running into the forest, leaving Emmett far behind. I could hear his growl of frustration as he fought to catch up.
You aren't going to win that easily. And I get an extra fifty points for having to put up with you yesterday.
I was about to respond when I picked up the scent of a wonderfully delicious animal.
"Hey Emmett…" I said, knowing he was close behind me. "Ten points for me." I heard a small growl of excitement behind me. I slowed down so that he could catch up with me and soon we were running side-by-side, following the invisible trail.
The day continued on similar to this. We picked up on the scent of a bear and followed it. When we found it, we had a little fun annoying it nearly to death, before leaving it physically unharmed but a little emotionally damaged. Emmett only killed one by accident but we were thirsty enough to not let it go to waste.
It was around twilight when we had finished with our game. I was up by ten points and Emmett was a little sore about loosing.
"I had to put up with you and that little rat last night. That should give me another twenty points at least." He complained as we ran back to the campsite. We had made our way deep into the wilderness, hundreds of miles away from where we started. I couldn't help but laugh.
"But, technically, you should loose fifty for killing that last grizzly." I laughed. He shot me a glare. He was a very competitive person.
"That wasn't my fault. I just got a little…overexcited." He struggled with the right word. I grinned at him.
"Fine, make it a tie?"
"Fine." He said grudgingly. "I'll beat you next time though."
"Probably," I said just to boost up his ego. Emmett wasn't fun when he didn't get his way. "So, when are we going to head back?"
"I was thinking in the morning, it would be nice to drive in the sun. And the windows in the jeep are tinted enough so that we won't be giving anything away." He smiled.
"And that means we'll be back in the evening on Sunday."
"Just enough time to finish your homework," he said, laughing. He abruptly stopped.
"What?" I asked
"Well, I forgot to do an English assignment. My teacher said if I don't get it done by tomorrow, I'll get another detention. Rose would kill me."
I couldn't help but snicker as dread washed over his face. He glared at me again.
When we got back to the site I quickly ducked into the tent and changed my shirt. I pulled off the light gray t-shirt – one of my favorites – that was torn to shreds from the bears' powerful claws. I threw it into a garbage bag with the shirt that the mountain lion had destroyed the day previously. I slipped on the last shirt I had packed – a green and white short sleeve polo that Alice had bought for me – and walked out of the tent. I hoped that we wouldn't run into any more creatures with large claws because Alice would kill me if I destroyed her favorite shirt.
Emmett had already started packing up the rest of our supplies and the moment I stepped out the tent, he rushed over and pulled all the sleeping bags and packs out. Within seconds, the green tent was rolled up and back in the tent bag where it belonged.
"I figured we would pack up tonight, reduce our work in the morning." Emmett said with a grin. I nodded in response and walked over to the bag that held my stuff. I pulled out one of my books and settled down on the ground to read. The moon was full and bright in the sky, shedding light on the small clearing. Emmett continued to pile our stuff in a heap before pulling out a cell phone.
"You think we get reception out here?" He asked, holding the cell phone high over his head.
I shrugged. "Probably, you'll just have to find it." I said with a slight smile and with that Emmett took off searching for bars.
I heard a loud whoop of triumph not far away. I snorted as I looked over to the west and saw Emmett in a tree, the moon just giving enough light to see his silhouette. Some mental pictures that I would have preferred not to see quickly followed that.
"Emmett!" I yelled over to him. "I know that you are talking to Rosalie but would you please stop what you are thinking?" I grimaced painfully as a quick stream of crude thoughts came my way. "EMMETT!"
Sorry bro, I just got a little excited. I'll keep it down.
I accepted this and continued to read my book, To Kill a Mockingbird. It was one of my favorites. I think that was because of the strange way I related to the reclusive and mysterious Boo Radley. The fact that he had a secret that he couldn't share with the world and everyone thought he was such a monster, in a way, that was what life was like for me.
I had gotten to the part in court where Atticus Finch was defending Tom Robinson while Jem, Scout, and Dill watched from the balcony when the sun started to peak over the trees. I had been too absorbed to realize that Emmett had returned and was laying on the grown, just looking up at the sky. I put the book down and turned towards Emmett. He was deep in though, mainly about Rosalie, but that wasn't a surprise. That was mostly what he thought about even when they were together.
"It's morning, we should get going." I said quietly. Emmett snapped his head up, wrenched from his thoughts.
"Yeah." He said, getting up. I could tell he was eager to get home to his wife. He brushed off his jeans and gathered up the packs, putting them on his back as if they weighed nothing. I put my book back in the pack that I would be carrying and glanced at Emmett. There was a slight twinkle in his eye.
"Wha…?" I began to say but before I could finish, he took off in the direction of the jeep. I let out a growl of frustration for not reading that little move from his mind before taking off and following him into the woods.
I slowed as I passed near the clearing with the two mountains lions laying in it. I felt more of the guilt from yesterday wash over me before I sped up again; wanting to distance myself from the two creatures I had killed.
Emmett beat me to the jeep. He had a large grin on his face as I emerged from the woods.
"What took so long?" He asked, leaning on the side of the car.
"Nothing." I said as I went over to the passenger side door. Emmett ran around the side and hopped into the Jeep, his hands gripping the wheel and his foot hovering eager to press it down as hard as possible. I didn't bother buckling in this time.
It was a long drive. I stared out the window for most of it, watching the sunrise slowly in the east, uninterrupted by clouds. The day edged on and my eyes followed it as it began its descent into the west.
We arrived home just as the sun was turning a red hue the colour of blood and slowly sinking below the tree line, letting the stars dance in the darkening sky. Emmett put the car in the garage and ran out of it, excited to see his wife. He nearly took the door off when he slammed it and left me alone in the garage.
I got out and grudgingly got all the bags from the trunk. I hitched them onto my back and ran into the house. Emmett was already on the couch with Rosalie, his arm over her shoulders and her body curled up on his side. They were whispering intimately into each other's ears and picture even more intimate things in their heads.
"Thanks for helping with the bags, Emmett," I said sarcastically interrupting their private moment.
"Sorry, I had more important things to do." he replied without taking his eyes off Rosalie's face. I pretended to shudder in disgust and Rosalie smiled, giving her husband a kiss on the lips. Okay, so maybe it wasn't all pretend.
I put the camping equipment in the basement and threw out our ruined clothes. Even though it took just seconds to put everything in its place, by the time I came upstairs and into the living room, Jasper and Alice were cuddled up on the couch, looking as though they had been there for hours.
"Sorry for not warning you guys earlier," Alice said when I entered the room. Her eyes were fixated on the Weather Channel and a large sun that was beaming across the screen.
"It's going to be sunny for the next couple days, you could have extended your hunting trip."
"Yes!" Emmett cheered, standing up. Everyone looked at him, questioningly. He stopped his victory dance and cast a large smile at us. "I have longer to finish my English project!" He explained triumphantly. Alice and I laughed and Jasper gave him a dry grin. Rosalie looked away, her face teeming with disapproval.
"So," Alice said, addressing everyone in the room, "What do we do for the next two days?"
"Hey Edward and Jasper, you guys up for some friendly competition? You know, Basketball, Football, Soccer…all revised of course." Emmett said, his eyes gleaming in excitement.
Jasper sent a little calm towards him to keep him from bouncing off the walls. "Emmett, remember last time we tried to play soccer?" Emmett and I snorted, the thoughts he was having echoed my own. Jasper's expression mirrored Rosalie's. "You know they never did find out what happened to that poor man's car."
That did it; Emmett and I erupted into full out laughter. Jasper couldn't help but smile. "How were we supposed to know that a ball could break all the windows and put a nice dent in the side of the car?" I asked, trying into calm my voice enough to get the sentence out straight.
I looked over at the couch where Rosalie was sitting, glaring at her immature husband with her arms crossed. Alice's eyes were far away, her body tense as she saw something that had yet to come. She snapped out of it seconds after I lay my eyes on her.
Edward…I need to talk to you outside. It's important.
I gave a slight nod and glanced over at my brothers. Emmett was reminding Jasper of the time during a game of football when Emmett tacked him and they had flown into the side of a house. Jasper had a painful expression on his face, not liking to remember his screw up's.
Alice got up and left the house without much notice. She stopped by Jasper quickly and squeezed his hand. She motioned that she was going outside. He nodded and continued on his conversation with Emmett. I walked out after Alice, only pausing to give warning looks at my brothers. They understood not to listen or follow.
I walked out side and glanced around, looking for Alice. I saw her small figure, pale and glowing, by the edge of the trees. I walked over to her quickly, sensing the nervousness in her stance.
"What is it Alice?" I asked when I got close enough to her. She looked up from her intense staring contest with the ground. Her eyes were full with worry.
"In two days, Tuesday night, Bella is going to go to Port Angeles." She started, her voice so low, I had to strain a little to hear it. I didn't see the significance of the statement.
"And?" I urged her on. She looked away from me, casting her eyes back towards the dirt.
"See for yourself." she murmured. I peered into her mind.
Bella was walking on a darkened street. Four men approached her and backed her up against a wall. The leader grabbed her and pushed her down on the ground, tearing her shirt off, exposing her. The four men leered down at her, hungrily gazing over every inch of skin. Two of them pinned her down while the others began to violate her in everyway possible. She screamed in terror, gasping for help. No one came. Afterwards she lay in an ally in a pool of her own blood, shuddering in fright. Everything went black.
I drew away from Alice's consciousness with a gasp. My hands had clenched into fists and my eyes had gone hard. I worked hard to keep the anger and horror out of my voice. "When, Where?" The panic leaked into my expression and voice. Alice looked at me sympathetically with equal amounts of dread over her face.
"On Tuesday in Port Angeles." She said, "I don't know the exact time, just the day. Edward, I'm not sure you can stop this from happening."
I turned away and took off into the forest, my body automatically taking me to the place my soul was anchored, Bella's house.
I took my place in the tree outside her window and gazed into her room. She was tangled in the sheets of her bed; her hair was strewn about her pillow carelessly. I looked over the beautiful creature that was radiating innocence, an innocence that in two days would be taken and destroyed. My hands tightened into balls at the thought of it.
I took off again, this time going deep into the forest, away from everything. I couldn't let this happen. I wouldn't. I just didn't know how to stop it. I couldn't go to my family. They would tell me to leave it alone, it what was supposed to happen. Rosalie would get very sensitive about it – considering what happened to her – but wouldn't help me. It would possibly make her even angrier. No, my family was out of the question.
I couldn't go to Bella and tell her not to go. I wouldn't be in school for the next few days. What would I have done anyway? I couldn't tell her anything without giving up my family's secret. I couldn't do anything. I would have to sit on the sidelines, helpless, and watch.
No. I had to do something, anything.
Terribly sorry about the freaky vision that Alice had. I did try to keep it tasteful.
And i am also terribly sorry about killing Jack. It was nessesary.
Please Review! I'm hoping to get 50 by the time i get my next chapter up.
Any more than that and i might explode from happiness.
Hayley