I slowly walked through the doorway of my dimly lit house, Lin tucked safely behind me. There was no sign of anyone else. I grabbed Lin's hand and turned the corner into the living room, I had a gun on top of the antique armoire in the corner specifically for this kind of situation. Quickly, I reached up, grabbed it and loaded it. It was small, just a shotgun.

It had been so long since I held a gun with a serious intention to fire it. What was it? Almost eight years, the same year I killed Bella. I didn't kill her with a gun though, no, it was a kitchen knife through the heart. I messed up though, I must have missed her heart, she didn't die instantly. I remember she fell to the floor with a thud, gasping for air, it sounded so wrong. I stood there over her, horrified, the blood soaked knife in my hand. I watched her dying movements as she thrashed on the floor trying ever so hard to grasp at her wound. I did nothing to save her or stop her suffering. It felt like forever before her body became motionless and her irregular, pained breathing ceased. There was so much blood. So much agony.

I had to get those thoughts out of my head. My morbid memories had a time and place, but for the time being I had to deal with the present.

I gave the main floor of the house a thorough sweep. I checked every room before I decided it was probably safe to go upstairs. I gestured for Lin to follow me.

Bo's bedroom was the room I was most worried about. Emilio was the type of sick man that would do that, although I really didn't think there was much of a difference whether he waited for me in Bo's room or anywhere else.

Slowly I eased the door open. My heart was racing as I pointed the gun inside the room. At first all I saw was the pale blue walls and white crib on the far wall. I looked into the corner that was obstructed from view by the door; nothing but a vacant rocking chair. I felt a wave of releif before I noticed a note taped to the chair.

Hurriedly, I grabbed the note, it was written in neat, cursive handwriting. The first time I just scanned the note barely reading it, then I went back and read it more carefully.

Jacob, dear old friend,

It's been so long since we've seen each other, it almost seems like you've been avoiding me for the past eight years. I am sure that isn't true though. We were much too good of friends for that.

I was just thinking about the days back in high school when we used to do buisness together. Remember, it was you, me, Vivian, Domnic, Kraven and Bella? God, everything was going so well until you killed you're girlfriend. I'm quite sure you remember that though, don't you, Jacob? Why in the bloody hell did you kill her? You know I would have done the job just as well Jacob, maybe even better. You did a good thing though, that's why I respected you so much. She was weak and she was a coward. The bitch was going to go to the police, not that that would have stopped us, right Jacob? We weren't weak like her, we were strong. The police couldn't have done anything. They were almost pitiful weren't they, Jacob?

But then you ran away, making me reconsider you. Maybe you were weak like her. Maybe you deserved to be dead too. But hell Jacob, you are some good at hiding. It almost hurts me to want to kill you, after all you did do your share in the day, before you disappeared on us. I am not going to kill you right away though, you should feel lucky, Jacob. This is because I am a man of honour and want to kill you fairly. Besides you still owe me for your cowardice.

This brings me to the point of our encounter this morning. Yes, I knew you recognized me, Jacob, so why the fake name and bullshit lies? It hurts me to know that you don't have enough trust with me to tell me about your son. He's quite precious, isn't he? You don't have to worry about him yet, Jacob. He's perfectly fine for now, but I just can't be sure how long that will last. So, I should hope you don't waste any time in finding us. I can assure you you do not want to get the police involved. It will be the last stupid decision you ever make, even though you'll be dead soon enough anyway, Your wife might have to suffer a bit too...

You know what's best,

Your friend, Emilio.

This was bullshit. I furiously crumpled the letter up in my hands and threw it at the opposite wall. The man was insane. Your friend, the thought of those words made me sick. The nerve of him walking in on my life like that!

I couldn't control my anger as I knocked the rocking chair over. He was just here. Just in this room mere minutes ago. The letter was so long, it must have taken him a while to write, which meant he couldn't have gotten far, or maybe he was still here...The thought seemed so likely, as he wanted to be found. I pulled Lin tightly behind me, I never wanted her to leave my side again. I wouldn't be able to cope if both my baby and my wife were taken by my enemy.

The day was ending, twilight was upon us, very soon it would be pitch black outside. I turned to Lin, grabbing her hand in mine, "I think he's on our property still, maybe out in the barn."

"I'm so scared Jake," Lin replied, her face morphed into a fearful expression I had never seen before, "Don't let him hurt any of us, please."

"He won't hurt you guys. I can't promise that though. I can't promise anything. I wish I could lie to you and say everything will be okay, but it might not be. It might end very badly. If I die, Lin, I want you to be strong, okay? You can do that for me. Just take Bo and run, run to the police. He says he is stronger than them, and maybe he is, but only in numbers. I'm certain he's alone though, but I have been wrong before."

Lin was close to tears now, I could see that what I had just said hurt her more than any physical pain, "Please don't do this. I can't bear the thoughts, you wont die. If you do, I will die too."

My heart was twisting with the pain of seeing my wife like this. I embraced her tightly, never wanting to let her go. Her crying became louder as I kissed her jaw and moved down her face until I found her mouth. We kissed more passionately than I had ever remembered, it felt like a farewell to me, which it sort of was.

I slowly pulled away from her, looking at her tear stained face, "I love you, Lin, you know that. You know i've loved you since the day I met you, and will love you until the day I die. You were the best decision I ever made. I hope to god I don't die today or tomorrow, but I might. You always have to know I love you, and that my dying wish would be for you to get better and move on. I want you to continue doing what you love and raise our son. He will always need you to be there for him. If I die he wont remember me, that thought hurts so much."

"I love you too, Jacob Black, but I really think we should be looking for Bo right now."

"I know," I sighed sadly, "The poor kid. He really needs us right now. God, he's probably so hungry. I feel so awful."

"Don't. There's nothing you could have done. I remember from what you've told me about your past, which is really probably very little, Emilio is the most dangerous, evil and cunning man."

It was true. He was all of those things. I just had to find him and give myself up for my family. All would be well soon enough. If I killed the bastard and came out alive, even better.

"Let's check the barn," I decided with determination, "It's as good a place as any."

____________

We had wasted far too much time. I realised that later, after the barn was cleared by my gun and I had decided it was safe. I felt chocked. I had no idea what to do. Nothing made sense. Why would he want to hide in this town and wait for me to find him?

Then it was like a light bulb went off in my head. He wasn't here anymore. Why couldn't I have seen the god-damn truth earlier. He went back to Forks, the town I lived near to growing up. The town we did our so-called buisness in. The thought of our 'buisness' made me shudder. I had to get to Forks, and fast.

I could be there by morning, maybe sooner if I drove fast. My truck wasn't built for speed, but it would have to pull through for me now. I was mentally calculating the hours it would take to get there (5-7 hours? Maybe less?). I really didn't relocate that far away, now that I think about it. I mean, we live only about an hour away from the U.S border, of all the places we could have moved.

The trip took until daybreak to get there. We were lucky enough to make it to the border on time and without much hassle. We warned the guards of Emilio in case we crossed the border before him. We told them that he had our baby, despite his threats towards what he would do if I notified the authorities of him. Besides, they weren't police technically. After passing the border the ride became very long and tense, Lin and I barely talked to one another except to make a few rude remarks at each others expense. She would say something along the lines of 'drive faster, Jacob,' and I would say 'Shut up, bitch. Why don't you drive?' Those, I knew, were not wisely chosen words.

I could barely blame Lin for not wanting to converse with me after those snide comments started slipping out. I really just couldn't help myself as my mood just constantly got shittier and I become more anxious. God, the anxiety, it was the worst part of the whole ordeal. My heart was beating about a million beats per minute, I was sure I was on the verge of heat failure. Wouldn't that be convenient and ironic if I died before Emilio could get his hands on me, due to the simplest accidental death. Heart failure suddenly didn't seem like such a bad thing.

After what seemed like a lifetime, I could see the first signs of my hometown. I didn't like it. I felt something like a wave of nausea through me being back. It seemed like there were no happy memories here, it was like the awful ones erased them all. If I could have, I would have turned right around and gone all the way back home, instead I drove slowly through the town, my tainted memories flowing through my head like blood.