3. Remember that moment when I thought this was a bad idea. Maybe someone will say something nice at my funeral…
Jacob
I never had one hour's happiness in her society, and yet my mind all round the four-and-twenty hours was harping on the happiness of having her with me unto death.
–Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
My whole surroundings shook, like an earthquake except worse. Why worse? Because instead of just the ground shaking and everything that was attached to the nice stable ground, it was a heap of metal thousands of miles above the ground. The lights flickered a bit and some mumbled voice above my head, like god, announced something about turbulence. My heart was pounding, possibly because I was nervous, but the pounding in my chest was nothing like the thumping in my head. Just what I needed, a splitting headache while thousands of miles above the ground in the dead of the night on the way to South America, perfect. Oh! Not to mention that I was sitting next to the reason for my headache, the origin of my predicament, and the reason for my very existence, Nessie was snuggled into my shoulder asleep.
I thought I was the one who could sleep anywhere, how was she asleep in this death trap that was taking us to our doom. Ok, I might be somewhat dramatic it wasn't taking us to our doom, just mine. Definitely mine. It had been no easy task getting out of the Cullen house earlier this evening. But it wasn't even a possibility to fail because Nessie wanted to leave and so we had to leave. She had been determined, pleading and beautifully angry about the whole situation and I had been putty in her hands. I couldn't say I agreed with this completely, running off to the Amazons when the love of my existence was slightly kooky was just not looking like the best option. But here I was on the plane, after having taken off in Rosalie's mustang in a speedy hurry after tricking a house full of vampires that could and will be ripping my head off when they find me. After dropping an absurd amount of money, with a real black American express card, on first class tickets to a flight leaving moments after we arrived at the airport. It was like a scene out of one of those rich and famous shows, what Renesmee wanted she got. I groaned just thinking about the bill on the Black American Express, Edward was going to crucify me.
Actually, crucifying me would be mild compared to what Edward might do to me. Quartered and Drawn, that might be closer definitely more painful and more medieval. Carlisle would know how to do it, he probably saw most of the age of public discipline the British were unkind to the body of criminals. Though I doubted that Carlisle would even wish that kind of pain on me, or really on anyone so I couldn't think I was special the man was just saint like. As I sat there thinking about how the Cullen's might kill me, my thoughts were intercepted by Nessie's slumbering dreams she naturally gave to me.
Leave it to her to thinking about the fun and adventure in the jungles we were heading towards. Images of a dopey South American Map came into focus, one that reminded me of high school, and then I saw the rest of her classroom and realized that it was a high school. Randomly the visions I saw in my mind were tinted red, and I understood her desire as she shown them to me of drinking the blood of the people in the room. Her hand slipped and the transferring stopped and I frowned down at her. Maybe Jasper had been right, maybe I should have tried to have more will power and not let her convince me of this. I thought back to the living room of the Victorian House, that I had called home last year. I had been the distraction and the force in getting us out of the house against the family's better judgment. I had appealed to Rosalie's need for Nessie to be happy, to Jasper's need to be precautious, to Emmett's desire to not have a headache anymore, to Carlisle's worry over her health, and Esme's worry for everyone. All in a few sentences I had convinced them that the best thing for her anger, for her health, for her current state was just a bit of time away with people she couldn't hurt. Well we didn't think she could hurt us, vampire venom could kill us but Nessie was not like the rest of them, she wasn't poisonous. It had something to do with her half-breed state of being, but she had venom more as extra way to slow her prey rather than hurt her prey. I coaxed them, but Jasper had stared at me weary like a general going into battle. He knew and I knew he knew there was something else going on. There was no way for me to mask my emotions on that, it was possible he just thought I felt they would never agree it was the same type of anxiety. But I could never be sure what Jasper did and didn't know, how he understood the emotions around him was something beyond me. If I lived long enough to talk to him again, I would maybe ask more questions.
Before we left Jasper had caught me with one of his arms, pulled me aside for a fraction of a second while Esme and Rosalie crowded Nessie making sure she was actually feeling better and wearing layers and such.
"Keep your phone on." Jasper said firmly, threatening. I stared at him innocently, attempting to keep calm.
"And be careful, she might be stronger than you. And she might want your blood." Jasper said the words carefully, but with enough force to make sure I understood the gravity of the situation at hand. We left at that moment, borrowing Rosalie's car and speeding away quickly hoping nothing would come to Alice clearly enough until it was too late. My phone had been ringing when Nessie had shut it off and I had snapped my seat belt in, Jasper was going to be angry. I shivered, if I was afraid of Edward it was nothing compared to what I thought Jasper might do to me. I mean the guy had fought a war and he had been a young commander in the Civil War. Not only that, but as a vampire Jasper had directed armies of terrifying newborns against others and done it without fear. The guy had looked me in the eye and given me a command, a direct order for not only my safety but also the safety of his niece, his family and others and I had ignored him. To be fair, she had ignored it for me but still Jasper didn't seem like he would stand for it. I had seen him fight, a lethal combination of Southern Grace and strategic fists.
"Stop worrying." Nessie mumbled at me. I snapped out of my thoughts, how did she know that I was worrying? Seeing my white knuckles clutching the end of my seat, I knew how she knew. Sucking in the recycling air around me, I felt the tension of my body loosening and I smiled sweetly at Nessie.
"Where are we landing?" I asked.
"Bogotá." Nessie responded. "We will get into the city, take a connecting flight to a smaller rural airport where we can find some locals to take us into the jungles. I am not sure where we will go from there."
"Imagine a plan created from the straws we were grasping and you might not know what we are doing after entering the dangerous jungle of South America." I rolled my eyes at her.
"Are you going to be difficult?" She demanded, I laughed. The words coming in her voice, sounded some much like Edward.
"I am never as difficult as you, Nessie you are queen of being difficult and unruly. A complete terror really." I laughed a bit.
"Stop it!" Nessie smacked my arm a bit. We sat in silence for a bit, starring out the dark window thinking our own thoughts for a few minutes.
"Renesmee?" I nudged my nose into her hair.
"Hm…" She mumbled at me, without removing her eyes from the window. Thinking about her plan, no doubt to find our friends.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked her. She snapped her head and looked at me, her eyes flickering with brimming anger.
"Don't you trust me?" She hissed.
"Look love, I love you more than I think you can understand. I am fearful that this might not be good for you. It seems Jasper thought you might be doing something you might regret." I soothed her and I had heard the conversation between the family before I had entered the room. Jasper had been fighting with the rest of them that Nessie was on the verge of her first kill, of drinking human blood. The rest of the family seemed vehemently against the very idea that Nessie would do such a thing, she was half human and would never do that.
"What might I regret, are you like my family. Do you think I shouldn't be a vampire? Maybe if I become a vampire fully, I would not be their baby anymore. If I took that rite of passage, if I drank human blood…" She was speaking rather loudly and I shushed her at the words human blood.
"If I did it." She ignored my face, looking down at my hands. "Maybe I would stop getting treated like the weak link in my family. Maybe I would be viewed on their level."
"Bella has never killed anyone." I whispered. She screeched loudly, I placed my hand over her mouth.
"It's ok Nessie. It's ok; you don't have to be like Bella. You can be your own person. We won't think of it anymore. We will do whatever you want." I pacified her and I gave her what she wanted. Removing my hand, I replaced my hand with my lips, kissing her into silence.
"Let's sleep some more, we have a great deal of traveling ahead of us." I whispered into her ear, kissing her cheek before ducking down in my seat and preparing for sleep.
"You'll still love me?" Nessie yawned quietly into me shoulder.
"I've always loved you." I responded softly before sleep came to me again. The rest of the flight was much more peaceful for me, because I was dead to the shaking and the stiffness of the recycled air. The light hit my face and I jerked awake as the voice of the plane god announced our arrival to Bogotá City, Colombia. I hit my knee pretty damn hard when I woke up, for first class seats there could have been more legroom. Nessie was glowing naturally and I smiled thinking how she achieved looking like a magazine model without the help of a computer. I was dating the perfect woman.
"Here." I stated and her eyes flapped open, her eyelashes moving like they belonged to one of the fancy porcelain dolls she had played with for three weeks when she was two. Her lips curled upward, smiling as she stretched out like a cat uncurling from a nap ready to pounce on the world. After the almost seven hours we had been on a plane, I was not looking forward to jumping onto another plane even if it might only be for less than an hour. Nessie pulled me off the plane, and led me into the airport. I was bombarded with the slights and sounds around me, alert to possible dangers and the strangeness of the differences of this airport and Hanover's. It was large, looked like any other airport maybe with more colors, and the smell of coffee dancing around me. A cup of coffee didn't sound like a bad idea and mornings were not my favorite time of day. Mornings in another country might merit me finding a cup of coffee. Nessie pulled me into a shop, a tourist place that had all sorts of souvenirs.
"Babe I think I'm going to get some coffee from across the way there. Do you mind?" I asked as I pulled my hand out of her tiny delicate fingers. She shook her head, intently looking for something around her. I didn't ask about it but walked away, as soon as I was out of the store I shoved my hand into my pockets. In my pant pocket I felt my cell phone, without much thought I pulled it out and turned it on. As soon as it was on, it vibrated frantically. Fifteen voicemails, right like I was going to listen to all of those. I licked my lips and before even thinking about listening to them I attempted to remember how to speak any Spanish.
"Por Favor…" I started and when nothing came to mind I pointed at the cup of coffee and pulled out a five-dollar bill. A young girl, maybe early twenties, so not that young handed me a cup of coffee and took the five dollars and went to pulled out change. She started speaking to me, probably to tell me she didn't have change in dollars but I shook my head.
"Keep it." I shrugged and started walking away, the aroma of the coffee was wonderful. Frank Sinatra might have been right about the coffee of Colombia, was that him that said it. Maybe not that might have been a song about the coffee of Brazil, maybe I would get to try their coffee before my trip was over. I cringed as I felt my phone went on a vibrating fritz, I looked down hoping it wasn't ringing and sighed in relief when I noticed the damn thing was just upset that I had fifteen voicemails. I pushed the button and pressed the cold material to my ear.
"Jake the phone has been ringing off the hook, the Cullens think you are coming here. Why would you be coming here, Carlisle seemed worried about something, what have you done, what is going on?" My father's voice was tense, sort of like the tone he had always had when my older sisters snuck back into the house after their curfews and he caught them.
"Jacob, people are concern about where you are with my granddaughter. You better remember I'm a sheriff, you shouldn't do anything you aren't suppose to…" Charlie rambled a bit more, and I sighed. Had they called everyone?
"Man, the vampires are looking for you. Though I'm sure you know, whatever you are doing, remember you want to keep her well." Embry sounded like he was amused with the whole situation.
"JACOB BLACK YOU BETTER WISH TO GOD THAT I NEVER FIND YOU." The screaming could have been heard on the plane that was just taking off. I held the phone at arms length as I used my thumb to push down the volume as I assumed none of the other messages would be any quieter. I skipped the yelling Bella, to the next message.
"You listen to me Jacob, I will be much less violent towards you if you make yourselves known. You understand, I don't know why you're phone is off but as soon as you turn it back on you call me and let me know what the hell is going on with MY daughter." Edward's voice was dangerously low, I almost had to turn the volume back up but I knew better. I skipped the rest of that message to get to laughter.
"Man you are so going to get hung." Seth was laughing so much I could barely understand him. That kid took pressure so badly; I knew he was probably terrified of the high alert the Cullens were on. I skipped on, deleting.
"I warned you to keep your phone on…" Jasper voice was a low whisper like Edwards, damn. I was dead. My finger treaded on the skip button.
"Jacob listen, you have to be careful. I can't see, but it seems you might run into trouble in a jungle? What are you doing in a jungle." Alice's voice was confused and distance and I was sure that she was seeing something while calling me.
"She might not be well Jake, take care of her and watch her temperature. Please call as soon as you can, and know that we are worried for both of you." Carlisle's calm and patient voice so much more forgiving than the rest.
"JACOB BLACK you have been gone for four hours! No One knows where you are!" Bella again. No need to blow out my eardrums for that.
"Jake I like you, no reason I won't tear you limb from limb if we don't hear from you soon. We called Seth and they said they hadn't seen or heard from you guys…" Emmett's voice wasn't angry, or threatening really just regular Emmett giving me the straight facts.
"I trusted you! You Mutt! Where have you taken her! What have you done? Stupid dog." Such a loving woman that Rosalie!
"Jake, please, please come back. I know it's her that has asked you for this, but this is about her safety. About all of us, remember we are your family as well." Esme voice was pleading to me, and I felt a twinge more of regret than I had with the others.
"You moron, the vampires are freaking out. And Seth and I don't know where you might have gone. When are you going to learn to think before…" Leah was in lecture mode, no reason to listen to all of that.
"She might want to drink blood, wanted to make sure you knew that." Jasper left the one sentence message. I threw a glance over my shoulder and Nessie was walking towards me with her smile wide and her warm brown eyes twinkling at me and I smiled. That was the last of them, I wasn't even sure if the last one from Jasper was sent before or after they figured out that we were gone.
"You turned your phone back on?" Nessie frowned at me. I nodded and took a sip of the coffee before making a suggestion I knew she might not like.
"Maybe you should too." I nudged.
"Not until we get off the next plane, then I will listen to the messages. Don't even think about calling anyone back yet." She commanded, pointing her finger at me.
"What did you get?" I asked eyeing the bag she had in her right hand.
"A map!" She giggled but then grabbed my hand and led me away towards another gate. I was thinking our next plane must be boarding, though I had no idea how she kept track of everything. My head was swimming with the pounding headache that had come back, and all the different voices yelling my name. I let her take me; I am sure I would follow her off a cliff if her heart desired it so. My phone vibrated again, and I pulled it out mindlessly to look at the text message I received.
"I think your phone is on. And you haven't called. Bad move." Edward was scary sometimes. I turned the phone off, I knew I would be talking to him or Bella soon enough. No need to taunt them, I might be able to convince him that the phone had lost reception. I didn't think we were going to be telling them where we were, not off the bat anyway. We shuffled onto our plane and sat in our seats, as soon as we were off the ground and it was allowable, Nessie had the food trays down. She spread out a map of South America she had bought in the store and out of her fancy purse she pulled out a stack of papers and a red pen.
"What is all of this?" I demanded, still sipping at my cooling coffee.
"The plan. These are letters from our friends, giving me some details of where we might be able to find them. And with our map we should be able to figure it out, if we start in this jungle outside of the town we are going to and then travel south. I am not sure where they might be. I was thinking that maybe in wolf form you might be able to pick up their scent." Nessie was radiant and her over excitement to the adventure ahead of us was slightly glittering off her skin. I let her chat about the plan, about where we would be going with me responding slightly nodding and giving approval where it was needed, but mostly I watched her. The way her lips curled around a smile that would make a dentist jealous, I smiled at the way her hair twirled perfectly except for the tiny strands that fought to be free of curling. Or I watched how her wrists held perfectly still as she moved her fingers slowly and carefully over her path. It was a marvel to watch her, to soak in her grace and beauty and excitement. I hoped she wouldn't grow out of her excitement for life, Edward said that vampires rarely change but Nessie was only half vampire and she had changed so often. Not only had she changed physically, growing and developing into an adult but her personality had grown and changed. She spoke more now, out loud. She sought more answers to her questions, she questioned the wisdom of her family more readily, and she had become more passionate and clumsier. I didn't ever know what to expect when I awoke next to her in the mornings. I certainly had never expected to be on a plane in South America when I had arrived at the house yesterday afternoon.
The plane landed and I had absorbed my girl's beauty and plan all in a short 45 minute period in the air. I walked with her this time, out of the plane and into a taxi that left us on the edge of town. Standing at the edge of civilization and jungle, I knew it was time to put my foot down.
"We'll turn my phone back on. I've listen to all the messages already." I stated, not leaving room for much argument. She looked at me, her eyes big and innocent but I didn't take the time to dwell as I pushed the on button. The phone vibrated, another three voicemail messages. Seriously guys I get the picture, people are mad, I am going to meet my death and destruction. How was this going to get me to call anyone back? I ignored the messages and pressed 4, Edward's speed dial. I might be scared of Edward, but I was definitely not dealing with Bella. As the phone rang I felt Nessie's move away from me, without much thought I threw my arm around her waist. She wasn't going to leave me to deal with her parents by myself, I would call and I would take the initial yelling but then she got the phone.
"You are in so much trouble." Edward commented as the phone stopped ringing almost before it began.
"Usually." I mumbled.
"JACOB BLACK!" Bella shouted in the background, but Edward didn't give up the phone to her.
"What is going on, why has no one heard from you? Where are you?" Edward asked.
"We're safe." I replied with the only answer I could think safe. I didn't wait for the response I handed the phone to Nessie.
"Daddy calm down." She hushed.
"Don't tell me to calm down young lady." Edward's voice had gotten louder with Nessie. He was sneaky with me being threateningly quiet but with Nessie he couldn't withhold his parental anger.
"I am safe. I am fine. Jake is with me, nothing is going to happen. We're around, tell mom to stop yelling." Nessie was speaking quickly.
"The phone won't be on, we want to save the battery. Love you daddy and you too mom!" She was saying over the yelling now.
"RENESMEE. You tell me where you are this instant." Edward was not having it, but Nessie seemed not to notice the yelling.
"Bye, enjoy the rest of your trip." She hung up, as the call ended Bella's name was flashing on the screen calling back. Nessie shook her head and turned off the phone.
"We'll call them tomorrow maybe." She commented as she slid the phone back into my pocket. Unbelievable. I was going to die a slow and painful death. Wait until they figured out where we were. And we didn't even call the rest of the family back, though I was sure that Edward was on the phone at this moment with Carlisle or maybe Jasper. Could I outrun them? No, not even close. I could outrun Emmett, maybe even Jasper but never Edward.
"Do you not want me around anymore, I mean I could leave that might be easier than setting up this whole thing so you're family kills me." I sighed. Nessie laughed.
"I couldn't live without you and don't be silly none of them are going to kill you." She laughed and tossed her bronze curls at me as she started walking into the jungle. Had I known that this would be the last time I saw the sun for a few days I might have basked in that moment a bit longer, but I didn't.
The next three days were a strange combination of dreamlike existence. Not even really worth remembering though I saw some cool jungles. I will forever give my lose change to saving the rainforest though I might never want to see it up close again. Besides that it was three days of being sticky from the moisture that just existed under trees that never seemed to end. We wandered, heading in the general southern direction with Nessie feeding on predators' blood of large cats, snakes, etc. While I eat fruits we could decipher as being safe and whatever I could hunt as wolf, we could say I starved for three days. This would be one of the few moments in the last six almost seven years I might have questioned why I would follow Renesmee Cullen until the ends of the earth. We didn't talk to the Cullens for those three days in the dark, wet rainforest where there was no way in hell there would be any reception and I fancied the ways I would die in my sleep. The Cullens were going to murder me, there was no doubt in my mind by the time we reached the rain forest end with no more hope of finding anyone than when we entered.
When looking back I don't know why we spent three days in that rainforest on a map it doesn't look big. Granted I might have learned that maps are subjective and a picture can't really tell me how big a place truly is. When we reached the edge, I was famished for real food and ready for something soft to sleep on. I could have lived as a wolf easily enough in the rainforest, but the problem had been that I could only be in wolf form for a few hours because I couldn't leave Nessie alone. Leaving Nessie alone in a rainforest where anything could happen to her was terrifying and unnecessary. I could deal with the thoughts of the death that was awaiting me in Hanover, but I could not bear what might happen to Nessie in that South American haven.
"Nessie, do you even know where we are and where we're going?" I demanded as we reached the edge of the jungle on that third day, sometime in the middle of the day. We reached what I thought was the end anyway, there was a clearing and the air wasn't as heavy. We were in what seemed like a clearing, there might even be somewhat of a village as I could see rooftops in the distance and some kids playing.
"We are near the edge of Colombia, if we run the rest of the way for a little we should hit the Amazon Basin, and the beginning of Brazil. We should be able to find them in the Amazon." Nessie responded, starring at her map.
"Are you telling me we are going into more Jungle?" I groaned. She whipped around and smiled sweetly at me. Her dimples forming perfectly on her checks, and even though her hair was sticking in every direction with twigs and leaves stuck in it she still looked heavenly.
"Just a little bit more?" She leaned into me, kissing me on the cheek. I hate her smile, possibly as much as I hate rain forests. If I survived this I would be putting my foot down about trips to uncivilized jungle places for an unpredictable period of time.
"Can we find food before we travel into the Amazon Basin?" I whined. She smiled and nodded, prancing towards the town that I saw in the distance. I could smell the odd spices and strong scents of food in the air and my mouth watered for some kind of protein, I was sick of fruits. Though the tropical fruit you could find in South America was much better than what I had found in the southern area of Canada when I had run off a few years back as a wolf. I followed my prancing light, the girl of my dreams and existence and decided to try my phone again. I slipped out the little phone, covered in streaks of sweat and beads of jungle water, and hoped it would still work. I pressed the on button for a second and let it sit in my hand as it woke to its surroundings. After about three point six seconds it started flashing, vibrating and beeping at me. Voicemail box full, please delete. The words flashed and commanded me on the screen. Great full, that meant they were more than a little displeased. I pressed the phone to my ear and took a deep breath.
"FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY!" Edward's voice was no longer the calm and threatening voice it had been three days ago. I deleted and skipped.
"Three DAYS?" Jasper's voice also less calmed and controlled. Delete. Skip.
"Something is wrong. Something seems wrong. She might feed." Alice's voice, distraught. I frowned and listened to the rest of her message.
"Jacob, she might give in. She seems to want to drink blood; she wants the rite of passage. Be careful." That was all she said, did she know where we were. What did Alice mean she wanted to, what kind of rite of passage. No Nessie knew that drinking blood wasn't something fulfilling, her family had proven that to her hadn't they? I saved the message, but skipped to the next one.
"IF I KNEW WHERE YOU WERE…" Bella voice was stressed, high strung. I felt the pang of guilt again. I needed to tell them where we were. They must think we were safe, it didn't seem they were worried about our safety, right?
"Listen, when you turn on the phone again leave it on for at least five minutes. We can track you, and don't think I won't find a way to even if you don't leave it on…" Jasper's voice again, not calm but not frantic either. He was planning, he would find us or at the very least he would try. I knew they didn't think we were still in Hanover anymore.
"Jake please…" Rosalie's voice cracked, very unlike the blonde to show emotion. Again the guilt was in my throat. Delete. Skip.
"Jake how long you going to be gone?" Seth sounded tired, I wondered if maybe he was doing rounds for the Cullens looking for me? I hadn't thought to try to communicate with him. I made a mental note to talk to him the next time I was in wolf form which might be later today at the rate we weren't finding food. We were walking into town now, surely looking a bit strange. I might fit in to this town with my dark skin and long black hair, but Nessie was white and glowing with her bronze hair sticking out more than a needle in a haystack. Well, delete.
"We're very worried…" Esme's voice, I could guess the rest. Skip. Delete.
"She is testing us, try to convince her this is a bad idea…" Carlisle's voice came softly into my ear, again stress apparent. Delete. Before I could skip to the next one, the phone rang in my hand. Bella, great we had skipped from the calm collected parent to the frantic one. There was no way I couldn't answer it, so I pressed the accept button.
"Bells?" I croaked.
"This is the stupidest thing you have ever done Jacob Black, and I might find the highest cliff in Hanover to push you off of!" Bella snarled at me. Yes, Bella was more than a little mad.
"Might you for a second believe this isn't about me?" I responded. She was quiet and then it wasn't her voice.
"It was her idea of course." Edward replied to me. I didn't say anything and he knew the truth without me confirming it.
"Where are you Jake?" He demanded the answer. His tone suggested it was almost a challenge for me to not tell him.
"Don't you know by now? It seemed Jasper was trying to track us." I responded.
"We think you are somewhere in South America…" Edward didn't finish his thought to me though as Nessie had taken the phone from me and pointed sweetly to a little shack that seemed to be selling food near the road's edge. She shoved some money into my hands and I found myself confused as to when the girl had time to exchange currency. I walked into the establishment and my mouth watered from the smells and I forgot my predicament outside of being hungry.
I coughed to get attention from the younger boy standing near the grill. I had begun to notice youth more often lately, I don't know if it was the daunting idea of being alive for centuries that made a person notice that being 15 should be enjoyed. Anyway, the boy looked up at me and smiled and said some string of words that I didn't recognize. I should have taken a Spanish class, a thought to late.
"Comida…" I remembered the word for food! That was amazing, though really I just asked for food. I didn't really order anything, not that I could name any of the food I stared at in English. Well there were some potatoes, and chicken and meat but they all seemed to be mixed together on the grill. The boy looked confused at me and I knew I would have to try again.
"No Hablo Espanol. Comida?" I questioned this time holding up some of the money I crumpled up in my hand. The boy laughed.
"Chicken?" He asked calmly. I nodded.
"You speak English?" I asked.
"A little." He shrugged and grabbed a plate. He dumped some grilled chicken on it. Then pointed at a few other things and nodded, thinking anything that could fill the air with such wonderful smells had to be good. I handed him money and he handed me the plate, I sat down nearby and devoured every bit of food. Nessie sat down next to me at one point, slipping my phone back into my pocket. I noticed that it had been turned back off, great. Can't wait to hear what the rents had to say.
"You almost done, I think we should keep heading south before it gets dark again. You know we want to find a good spot to sleep, we are heading into the bigger rainforest." Nessie was commenting as she pulled out her map. I ignored her and kept eating for a second, she didn't need my attention right now. I heard her speaking in Spanish to the boy, again strings of words that I couldn't understand but by her animated nature and the boy's scared tone I assumed she was asking about the rainforest maybe trying to figure out where our vampire friends might be.
Vampire Friends? What had my life turned into? Now I had vampire family, a half vampire girl friend and vampire friends. My great grandfather would be so proud of me. I should be protecting people from vampires well the Cullens were better at protecting people than even I was but the others. The others, it was their nature, it was how they survived and it was all so complicated. I finished and looked towards Nessie.
"What did Ed say?" I asked. Her bright smile fell a bit.
"Daddy is angry with me." She stated as she stood up.
"Is that what he said?" I laughed, because I was sure it wasn't.
"He spent a lot of time trying to bully me into telling him where I was." She shrugged. "And then mommy tried to guilt me into it."
I shook my head as I was getting the feeling that my girl hadn't fallen prey to either tactic.
"You didn't tell them?" I sighed.
"No. I told them that I was an adult and they would see me when I was ready to come back. They shouldn't worry about me." She flipped her hair at me as she led me into another rainforest this one bigger and scarier than the one before. Not that I was scared, well not really, but in that moment the breath was knocked out of me. Better yet, we were at the water's edge to a wide, murky looking river, that we had to cross before entering the rainforest. It was beautiful, every shade of green that I thought Crayola made up in the crayon boxes really did exist and all in one place. The Amazon Basin was endless in either direction; the view of it was daunting and seeing the canopy of the rainforest sent shivers up my spine.
"Are we going to swim across?" I demanded that was going to end any further cell phone use. This was a bad idea, how had I not convinced her that this was a bad idea yet?
"No, we're going to take one of those boats." Nessie pointed to a little canoe looking thing. Ok, well at least we weren't going to swim. I've gone crazy, I just calmed down about how bad of an idea this was because of how we were getting across a large river to the dooming looking surely deathly jungle. Stay calm Jake, man you can do this. Look at the girl, Nessie, a whole six years old and not scared of this whatsoever. Be a man, I mumbled to myself. In all fairness, Nessie was pretty fearless, maybe it was something about her youth and you know general immortality. Maybe I should take a moment to remind her that I was not quite as invincible as she is? Would that make my reckless beauty think twice? It might scare her, but worse I felt it might lead her to making reckless dangerous things without me and I would prefer she not shut out her entire band of protectors. She was already so busy trying to prove her strength and independence to her family, that I couldn't even stand the thought that she might become distant to me for my own safety. No I wouldn't remind her right now that I could easily die in the depths of the rainforest, while she would live unscathed. Well I wasn't sure how hurt she could get but Nahuel, the half vampire that had saved her years ago had been born and lived here so it couldn't be that dangerous to half vampires. Right?
These thoughts kept turning in my head as we ran across soft mounds of dirt, webs of tree trunks, and patches of wet moss. My eyes watered from objects flying into them and a dulling pain that seemed to linger in my body as things snapped into my arms and legs. My lungs weren't that happy with me either, the air heavy and hard to intake at such a fast pace. In short, those first few hours were not something enjoyable and I wasn't strolling along one of the world's natural wonders smelling the exotic plants. Ferris would have been so disappointed, granted he never had to run with a half vampire and he didn't have a few hundred years to live. I wasn't sure if I had that long either, but here was for hoping that imprinting thing wasn't a joke after all.
We came to a halt at night fall, at least I thought it was nightfall it was hard to tell what time of day it was under the protective branches of the trees above us. That's when it happened the moment was instant, but I was no longer in between two large trees in the middle of the Amazons. There was nothing around me, it seemed that I was falling but I had no idea from where. Had I been pushed? What was happening? Where was I? Then the moment of panic set in, not because I was falling but because I had no idea where Nessie had suddenly gone.
"RENESMEE?" I shouted her name, aware that my voice suddenly sounded as panicked as all the voice mails I had been listening to. My heart had stopped beating and I wildly trashed looking for her.
"Jake?" Her voice came out like a whisper. A terrified whispered from somewhere around me, I would find her! I had no idea where she was or how I could hear her. But I knew she had to be near because I could hear her and if I was falling, she had to be near.
"Nessie!" I shouted again, hoping she would dare speak louder. Come on precious, be louder for once, let me follow your voice.
"Nessie?" A different voice, one that I didn't immediately recognize was around me. Then I wasn't falling, I was back here in the rainforest between the two trees and Nessie was sitting on the ground about ten paces from me. Without another thought I went to her in a leap, scooping her up in my arms protectively. I stroked her hair carefully and whispered in her ear.
"Its all right, it was nothing." I sighed. It took her a second to get over the shock, her fright was nothing small and then the awkward voice came again.
"Nessie?" The voice questioned again. "Is that my dearest friend? My child! How you've grown!"
My neck snapped to attention, prying my eyes away from my beloved's face. I looked up to see them, three of them standing only inches away from us. I knew them at once, I had seen them almost seven years ago but you don't forget Vampires or even people that look like they do. They were the wildest looking vampires I had seen, still to date, with their darker skins and strange clothing. We had found them, the Amazon nomads that had come to her rescue years ago.
Zafrina was still the mouthpiece to their little trio, flanked on either side by two equally exotic looking women. Kachiri and Senna were quiet but in their eyes they also seemed happy to see Nessie, it was almost as if I wasn't standing there as well.
"Zafrina!" Nessie jumped out of my arms, letting one hand squeeze one of my own hands before running into the wild woman's arms. I fought my instincts not to pull her back into my arms, keep her away from the long dark arms that were now holding her. Strange the contrast between the small, well-kept frame of Nessie still in her jeans and a pretty t-shirt being swung up in the dark arms of Zafrina in her animal skinned attired.
"Where are your young mother and your delightful father?" Zafrina looked around, surprised not to see them. I choked back a bit of laugh, like a vampire like Zafrina hadn't already surmised that they weren't with us, she would have of course seen them.
"They are actually off the coast, at Esme's Island. They let me come with Jacob!" Nessie motioned towards me.
"Ah yes the shape shifter, of course. Pleased to see you again." Zafrina smiled her oddly perfect grin towards me. Something in her expression made me think she was surprised to see me again, I wondered why?
"Well child! Look at you, such a grown up. Beauty, she has her father's hair and her mother's face. Look at her, and your visions?" Zafrina asked. Nessie slipped her hand around Zafrina's arm. I stood patiently afar, leaning against a tree just watching. I knew better than to trust my instinct of fear, these women would never hurt Nessie. I have no idea what Nessie showed her but I didn't really think about it. I watched her, as Zafrina cradled her in her arms as if my girl was still an infant. In comparison to Zafrina, Nessie would forever be like an infant. Kachiri and Senna caressed Nessie on either side, petting her hair and rubbing her back as if she really were a baby. It was amazing how this girl could inspire so much love in others, so much need to protect her. I shook my head, no wonder she was a terror that thought she should always get her way.
"We will catch up later, look at you perfectly tired out. I remember little one you sleep." Kachiri commented to Zafrina more than to Nessie. Perfect, this was going to go over well with my independent girl. They were going to be like her family, attending to her every movement and desire and caring for her like the baby they remembered. She didn't protest though, as Zafrina cradle her in her arms and Senna and Kachiri weaved around and made a hammock appear almost out of thin air. Zafrina placed her in the hammock, that was large enough to fit both of us but I made no attempt to move closer yet. It was odd, I watched Nessie being dropped into a jungle made cradle. It was true in this moment I watched the young woman I had come to know in the last year, revert back to infanthood. It was like she was really just that six year old, tiny in the arms of the wild giant vampire.
"There is enough room for your Jacob." Zafrina almost cooed to her. Strange, why was Nessie so calm about this. Wasn't this what she had been running from her family for? Had I misread her, was she running from something else? As my thoughts pounded in my head my body realized how tired it was and I felt Senna, I think, pushing me towards the hammock. One of them went to lift me into it, but I shook them off, I would not be taken care of by Amazon Vampires. I jumped in with Nessie, and she curled into my shoulder keeping her arms bent and close to her chin like she had when she was a baby. I don't remember much past that last infantile moment, because I had no ability to stay awake anymore.
My dreams were unnerving that night, I could hear Alice's warning and I watched Nessie hunt. I watched her hunt and prey on the people around these rainforests, I saw the blood turn her eyes crimson and I stood afar. I watched in those dreams that night, as human and as wolf but either way just watched. I couldn't stop her and I wouldn't stop her from doing anything she wanted. I awoke startled so many different times that night, the heavy sticky air around me disorienting before I felt Nessie in my arms. It was a long night, under the brilliant stars that burned green over the leaves of the canopy. I could hear one of the three vampires were always close by and sometimes I felt the hammock rock and I rolled my eyes at the attention that was lost on Nessie. Morning came soon enough, after what was forever to me, and I jumped up gladly. I held my arms out to Nessie that yawned and fell into my arms without much thought.
"Awake then little ones." Zafrina's broken English came amused from behind us. Nessie smiled brightly and nodded, I could feel she wasn't going to be speaking much.
"Good we travel then." Kachiri stated simply.
"Run with us?" Zafrina asked. Nessie nodded and took my hand. We went running for a while, a blur of shades of greens and some browns. We ran for a while, stopping after a bit when my stomach growled loud enough for them all to hear with their absurdly good vampire ears.
"The shape shifter is hungry." Senna sighed. I had a name, was it really that difficult to remember Jacob? I mean I know it wasn't some Amazon but you know two syllables, easy enough to say. Shape shifter was two whole words and so many more syllables.
"Jake, and yeah I could use some food." I groaned.
"You should hunt." Zafrina nodded. My eyes darted, almost as theirs did normally, from the three of them and to Nessie quickly a few times. Zafrina smiled down at me.
"We will care for her." Her words were like song lyrics, unnaturally so. I hesitated when Nessie pranced to me and in her kiss transferred thoughts to me. Zafrina had protected her when she was a baby and loved her then and I had nothing to worry about in her visions. I was not as convinced and I wanted to protest that I had been there too, but it was as if she had anticipated that. She kissed me lightly on the cheek, reminding me she knew I had been there too and that I loved her more than the others but that this was why she had come. I nodded and slipped out of my clothing, without shame.
"You will hold my clothing. Not go to far, I will stay close to you at a distance." I instructed and she laughed and nodded. The three vampires watched as I transformed into my wolf form and I took off in the direction that I could smell prey. I let the wolf become me for a little while, always smelling for Nessie to make sure that I didn't stray far. For even in my wolf form I was always looking for her, making sure she was near. Not even a different shape could hide my feelings for her, not even the instincts of the wolf could ignore my distinct need for her.
I hunted for a while, running after the vampires and occasionally lose the game I was after. It was hard to maintain my proximity to them, when they kept running off and to try to hunt as well. Not to mention, my wolf was use to the atmosphere of calm woods and not living dangers of a rainforest. I would run in and out of the path of the vampires, watching as I could see Nessie and Zafrina sharing visions like they had at the house in Forks so many years ago. It seemed like an entirely different lifetime that had all happened and I was amazed with myself at the clearness of my memories. I finally caught enough to satisfy the gnawing of my stomach and I ran towards the vampires that were close enough to me. Before I turned back to myself, I remembered the thought I had about Seth.
Seth? I questioned in my mind.
Jake! Man! I had been waiting for you, didn't want to call for you. Not really know where you are, didn't want to scare you or nothing Seth chattered in my mind. The kid really needed to learn when to talk and when not to talk.
Look, I'm not going to be in shape much longer. I wanted to see how you were doing? I questioned him.
Man the Cullens are out of their mind looking for you. Jasper and Emmett left on a plane yesterday, I think to meet Bella and Edward. They didn't really know where to start looking for you…. Man that was something though; I am sure I've never seen Emmett break so many things. Seth rambled a bit.
What about the rest of them, have you spoken to Alice? They didn't bring her? I wanted to know about Alice, I wanted to know about her vision and the message she had left me.
They didn't take her, but she called them whenever she thinks she sees something. She has been worried sick, something about not being able to see clear. Seth sounded confused.
Call one of them. Tell them we've entered the Amazon Basin. Somewhere near the edge of Colombia though I think we're in Brazil. I commanded.
Sure man. Wow, Edward is going to kill you. Seth laughed in my head.
Love the support kid. I have to go, I'm losing them. I didn't wait for a response but instead moved to shifting. When I was human again, I went to where I thought the vampires had been and I didn't find them. I ran around, straining to hear them but nothing was in the vast breathing jungle around me. I could hear the birds chirping and the plants rustling but nothing else. Where had they gone? They had been right here, panic settled in me again. Without much thought I turned into a wolf again and ran with all my heart, searching for her scent. I strained to hear any words, but in mind I heard Alice, and her frantic warning from days before over the phone.
I ran as fast as I could, I let the very instincts of the hunter take over in me. I would find her. They couldn't be far from me. I ran for a while, letting the animal take over I had no sense of time. I must have been like that for a while though because when I found them it was twilight and I was exhausted. I had almost forgotten I wasn't completely a wolf when I understood the words that were so close.
"Yes we will help you, teach you if you want small one. It's not hard. But you're family, they believe in feeding on animals. Do they wish you…" The words trailed off and were lost in my transformation. I knew what was going to happen, and I wasn't sure if I could stop it if I had wanted to. I ran to them, with my human legs, I ran for her.
I got to the edge of the rainforest, seeing the little torchlights of the village they had stumbled upon.
"Nessie!" I shouted. "No, Nessie!"
She looked back at me startled and then angry.
"Jake don't!" She commanded at me, but I didn't stop. I reached her and grabbed her arms and shook my head.
"You don't want to do this." I whispered. I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince her, or myself but it didn't really matter at that point.
"I do." She was determined.
"But Nessie, it's not what you should do. You are half human, you have a heart just like mine and theirs." I pointed at the village. The other three vampires did not interfere; I could sense that Zafrina might sense that this was a discussion that should be had.
"I do. I want to be the other half of me! Vampires drink human blood. Don't you think I'm grown enough to make this decision! My family just doesn't want me to have a rite of passage! Won't you let me grow! Do you want me to stay a baby forever!" She shouted at me and then it hit me. It was as if a stupid light bulb finally went on in my head, this was about that! This entire ridiculous trip to South America, this search for our Amazon friends was about her not wanting to be treated like a baby. More than that this was about Nessie having convinced herself that she needed to hunt, to be a complete vampire before she was fully grown.
"Renesmee." I sighed.
"Don't call me that!" She screamed at me. Her eyes were red with fury as she glared me with that look there was no doubt I had lost.
"Nessie." I croaked. "You don't want to do this."
"I do! Leave me alone Jacob Black." She spat me. I fought with myself, to leave her as she asked and to stay and keep her from making this mistake. She would think it was a mistake because she would be like Edward and the rest of her family members. She had been thought to believe in souls and goodness and she couldn't just ignore it. I won with myself and held her wrists in my hands, tightly holding her to me.
"Please?" I whispered. She twisted against me and then Zafrina let the darkness fall on me. But I thought that might happen and just held my girls wrists in my hands, not wanting to admit my defeat with her. But something pried me away from her and she was lost until the darkness was lifted. I pulled out the phone from my pocket hoping maybe I would get reception for a second. I pressed the button, letting it warm up and got the warning flash that my battery was low. I ignored it and called someone who might have answers for me.
"Alice?" I sighed into the phone.
"You lost her." Alice answered me.
"Alice?" I questioned.
"She has made up her mind." She replied.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked her.
"Yes, they are on their way to get you both." Alice responded.
"Will they?" I didn't finish the thought. The phone went dead before anything was answered. I shivered; yes my grandfather would be proud I was dating a bloodsucker. Not just dating, I was in love with a young woman that would become a killer tonight if she had her way. I tried to shake the image of her red eyes from my mind but they were persistent, as I became a wolf again. And as I followed their scents I knew that Nessie would have her blood before sunrise came.
I watched her that night from a distance, and I knew that some part of her could sense me near her but she never let on. At some time before the sun rose I saw her do it. A warrior guarding one of the villages scattering the edges of the rainforest was her prey. She pounced like any good predator, beautiful even as a killer. She was silent and perfect and it wasn't much different from when we had gone hunting. Except I knew that there was anger in her, passion, and mindless desire to quench her thirst in a way she had never done before. I watched her press her lips to his neck, and I felt a pang of jealous for a second at her being so near another but it didn't last. I was revolted as I watched her drain him, his color fade and his body go limp. I was horrified and yet fastinated by the scene because the young warriors face seemed happy and I couldn't think of why. I had never before watched a vampire kill a human, but I couldn't help feeling it wasn't normal for the person to look happy.
I watched in the morning sun as Nessie finished feeding. I waited for her face to show regret, for her face to become horrified but it didn't. Instead her eyes seemed redder, her body seemed fiercer and I was scared of her as I starred down. She didn't look like my Renesmee no instead she looked like a vampire. Sorry Grandpa, I sighed in my head because I just let that man die because I fell in love with a girl. Nessie looked angry, wild, almost fitting in with the Amazons. She was different and changed, what was I going to do? Follow her to the ends of the earth if I had to, but I would stay with her because monster or not I loved her. I just hoped that maybe Edward and Bella found us soon.