A/N: So this was a little harder than it was supposed to be, because Leah absolutely refused to let it go down the way I'd originally planned. We battled over this shit and to make a long story short, she won. I THINK I'm sassified with the end result, so I'm not gonna bitch too much.

As always SM owns all things Twilight

Prey For Protection

Chapter Thirteen:

Bella

Leah parked her truck and shut the engine off with a sigh. We sat there for several minutes in a comfortable silence, both staring out the windows and across the giant puddle previously known as the student parking lot. I was immediately grateful for the nearly knee-high boots I'd allowed myself to be talked into wearing.

"At least it's Friday," Leah said pulling the hood of her black raincoat up over her hair.

I grunted my agreement, adjusted my own hood and shouldered my bag before clamoring out of the truck and into the dreary drizzle. We walked across the parking lot and I felt a chill run down my spine as I took note of how vacant it appeared.

I stopped, my stomach having twisted into a nearly painful knot, and looked toward the trees half expecting to see Edward or… I stopped myself from following that train of thought, and let loose the breath I hadn't realized I was holding, when I saw nothing but trees in the distance. I silently scolded myself for being paranoid and foolish. The dream was just that - a dream, I reassured myself.

Leah had just stepped onto the sidewalk when she realized I was no longer with her. "Hey," she called, her voice thick with concern, "you ok Bells?"

I forced a tight smile onto my face and nodded as I briskly crossed the rest of the lot to join her. "Sorry," I mumbled as I caught up, "I just spaced out for a second," I shrugged and looked away quickly, praying she wouldn't push for more.

Luck was on my side, for once, and she just shook her head and continued walking. When we arrived in front of my building, where we usually parted ways, she looked up and smiled at me. "Cheer up," she said with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Screw the rain, and the puddles and even the bad dreams. It's Friday, T-minus seven hours and counting until the weekend."

I chuckled and shook my head at her, leaning forward to give her a quick hug and reveling momentarily in her extreme warmth. "See you at lunch," I called out as she turned and headed toward her class. She waved over her shoulder and picked up her pace, turning around the corner and out of sight.

I hurried into the building, slipping and sliding precariously on the wet linoleum. By the end of first period I was vehemently cursing Leah's choice in wardrobe. The slick floors were the equivalent to a minefield to someone with my grace and poise, or lack thereof, and the boots I wore offered absolutely no traction.

I literally slid into my first period classroom, clutching desperately at the doorframe in an attempt to keep myself upright. And who other than Mike Newton would walk in behind me and graciously offer to help me to my seat. I felt my skin crawl as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, holding me much tighter than necessary, as he led me down the aisle and to my desk. He grinned and winked down at me as I slid into my seat, before swaggering back to his own.

Embry, of course, walked in right behind Mike, and witnessed the whole thing. He wore a huge smirk as he sauntered to his desk, eyeing me with obvious mischievous delight. After flopping into his desk he turned to me, and I could feel my face already burning in embarrassment at the teasing that was sure to come and likely not to end for a very long time.

He quirked a brow and quietly scoffed, "Newton? Really Bella?" and then turned back around to face the front of the room with a chuckle. I huffed and rolled my eyes at the back of his head, resisting the urge to verbally deny his ridiculous implication.

Over the course of the hour, Mike 'dropped his pencil' no less than a dozen times; each time trying to catch my attention by waving, coughing, even quietly calling out to me from his spot several seats up from mine. I pretended not to notice, and when he persisted, I eventually shot him the meanest look I could muster, before pointedly ignoring him.

Embry loved every minute of it. I thought he was going to burst in his seat as I watched his shoulders shake in silent fits of laughter. When Mike wasn't looking, Embry would turn around and wiggle his eyebrows, or say things like, "So how long has this been going on?" and "Wonder what Jake'll say when he finds out?"

When the bell rang, Mike immediately shot up from his seat and offered to 'help me' to class. Embry almost lost it at that, until I shot him my all-time best death glare, at which point he opted to intervene.

"Hey. Newton," Embry said gruffly as he rose from his own seat and grabbed his books. He plucked my messenger bag up from the floor before pulling me up from my seat and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. Mike's stance shifted as his eyes rested on Embry's hand on my arm before looking back up to nervously meet Embry's stone-cold glare. "Bella walks to History with me and Jake," he said simply, and led me out of the classroom. He managed to hold off his laughter until we were out of the room and a safe distance away from the door, but then I thought he was going to fall over laughing.

He was still hysterical when we met up with Jacob outside of our History class. Jake stared at me unblinkingly for a moment, and then lowered his eyes quickly to the muddy linoleum of the hallway. He stepped forward to give me a brief hug and almost whispered, "You look great today Bells," in my ear as he pulled away.

His attention was then brought back to Embry, whose fit of laughter showed no signs of stopping. "What'd I miss?" He asked with a wide grin as he watched his friend struggle for air amidst his laughter.

I simply shook my head and rolled my eyes, continuing into the classroom without remark. As I carefully made my way to my seat, I caught sight of Embry, still standing in the hallway, clutching Jake's black leather jacket and gasping for breath as he tried to describe 'the look on Mike Newton's face,' and the events leading up to it.

I groaned internally as I sat down. Between the two of them I'd be hearing jokes and lewd remarks about Mike Newton until we graduated. By the time they came in, snickering of course, the tardy bell was ringing, and I threw myself into Dr. Andrews' lecture on the American Civil War.

I'd never been more grateful for having Jessica Stanley in a class with me, as I was in that class on that day. I'm sure her uncanny ability to distract Embry played a significant role in my surviving the hour with even a shred of dignity intact.

When the bell rang they walked me to French class, like they always did, and again I found myself grateful to Jessica and her 'distractions,' as I only had to listen to the teasing from Jacob. When we reached the door to my classroom, Lauren was waiting in the hallway. She stepped in between Jake and I and snaked her arm through his, gently bumping me aside with her hip and a snide grin. I chose to ignore her and said goodbye to the guys before turning into the room.

During the first half of class I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. I glanced around the small classroom and was surprised to find the dark-haired girl I remembered from Seattle, Edward's adopted sister Alice, staring at me with an odd expression on her face. When she realized she'd been caught staring, she quickly looked away. As class progressed I cast her several sideways glances, and found her staring at me almost every time.

I wondered then if perhaps Edward had said something to her about me, and my heart sped up a bit at the thought. When the bell rang signaling the end of class, I made it a point to offer her a friendly smile when I caught her eye upon leaving the room. Couldn't hurt to score points with the sister, I thought, chuckling to myself as I headed to Calculus.

I nearly collided with Embry as I turned into doorway of our Calculus classroom. He smirked and leaned down to whisper with a chuckle, "Too busy daydreaming about Newton to watch where we're going?"

I pulled my arm forward and sent an elbow in the general direction of his gut. I winced at the impact and rubbed my elbow soothingly as the sound of his mocking laughter followed me to my seat.

Alice entered the classroom several moments later and took her seat on the other side of the room. Just like during the previous class, I found myself watching her out of the corner of my eye whenever I had the chance; and just like during the previous class, she spent a considerable amount of time looking at me with a puzzled expression on her face. My curiosity was peaked, and I decided I'd ask Edward about her during Biology.

When the bell rang, I scurried out the door as quickly as I could without falling. I hated being stuck walking to lunch with Embry, Jessica, Jake and whoever his flavor of the day was. The whole fifth wheel thing was incredibly uncomfortable, and since Jake's latest interest appeared to be Lauren Mallory, I was even less interested in walking with them than usual.

I was one of the first into the lunch line. I made my way through quickly, grabbing an apple and a bottle of lemonade and pausing just long enough to pay for my selections. Most of the tables were still empty as I made my way across the cafeteria and out the double-doors that led out onto the terrace. I tried to ignore the disappointment I felt as I glanced at the Cullens' still empty table on my way out. I reminded myself that I'd get to see Edward in my next class and headed to our usual table.

I laid my jacket across the bench, still damp from the morning's rain, and sat down at our table. Embry and Jessica were whispering to each other and she kept giggling and looking around like she was afraid someone would overhear them. She grinned at him and nodded her head and he immediately sprang up from the table, pulling her with him.

"We're gonna…" he hesitated, eyes darting around, obviously trying to think up an explanation for their impending departure.

"Go for a walk," Jessica finished for him with a giggle.

"Yeah, we're gonna go for a walk, we'll catch you later." He wrapped his arm around her waist, and the two of them took off.

I shook my head at their retreating forms and turned to see Jacob and Lauren heading my way. I desperately looked around for Leah, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. Lauren shot me a nasty look as the two of them took their seats. Jake set his jacket down first like I had, but Lauren was apparently oblivious to the wet bench, at least until she sat down on it.

"Shit!" She cried out as she quickly stood back up, running her hands over her wet bottom.

I couldn't hold back the snort and chuckle that escaped my lips at the shocked and disgruntled look on her face.

She glared daggers at me. "Think that shit's funny do you?" She spat at me. "Get over it Bella. It's no secret that you're just jealous that I stole Jakey out from under your nose." She smiled smugly and tossed her hair over her shoulder, leaning closer to Jacob.

Jacob almost choked on his milk at her words, and immediately shot me an apologetic look. He swatted her off of him and scooted an inch or two away, turning his head to give her a reproachful look.

I took a deep breath and tried counting to ten, but it did nothing to calm me. I was sick and tired of her nasty looks, the snickers when I passed her in the hallway and her over all crappy attitude. I'd never done anything to the girl, yet she'd seemed to have issues with me on first sight.

"Lauren," I addressed her as I rose to my feet. "I have no idea what your problem is, but I sincerely recommend you work on solving it. I don't know you and you don't know me, so don't go assuming a goddamn thing about me. For your information, if I was interested in Jake in that way, I promise you, you'd still be sitting inside the cafeteria desperately trying to find somebody to pay some attention to you." I grabbed my bag and slung it across my shoulder and snatched up my jacket. "You are an ugly, petty, little girl and if you don't stay the hell away from me, I will kick your skanky ass all over this school. And Lauren… My dad is the sheriff. Think I'd get in much trouble?" I asked quirking a brow at her. Charlie would so kill me if he ever found out that I'd said anything close to that, but she didn't need to know that. I leaned forward placing one hand on the table and sticking the index finger of the other right in front of her nose. "Don't. Mess. With. Me." I said pointedly. With that I spun on my heel and stormed off, leaving my apple and my drink at the table, along with a very shocked Jacob Black.

I decided to walk out to Leah's truck and drop my bag off. My Biology book was still in my locker and I already knew that we were going to be doing a lab in class. My gym clothes were in my gym locker, so there wasn't much point in lugging it around.

After depositing the bag under the seat of Leah's unlocked truck, I laid my jacket against the truck door and leaned back against it. I took in a lungful of the fresh, clean air, and briefly wondered why Leah hadn't shown up for lunch, she was usually one of the first to get there.

A few minutes later, I pushed off the truck and started heading back across the lot toward the buildings. I couldn't force myself to go back to that table and face Jacob and Lauren again. I knew Leah would be upset when she got there and found me absent, but even the threat of her temper lacked the power to move my feet in that direction. So instead of heading back toward our damp, bimbo-infested table, I strolled off in the opposite direction, toward the gymnasium.

I glanced toward the football field, beyond the gym and to the right, and remembered that the track was located directly behind the gym. I slid my arms into my jacket and decided to walk a lap or two to pass the remainder of the period.

Along the way, I heard a disturbingly familiar giggle, and out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of Embry and Jessica beneath the bleachers to my right. I looked away and quickened my pace until I was out of hearing range, shuddering at my luck in even coming across them, and not wanting to worsen it by being seen. A moment later I stepped onto the track and started leisurely making my way around it, content in listening to the sounds of the birds and the gentle rustling of the wind through the nearby trees.

Leah

I quickened my pace as I stepped out of the building and headed toward our table; cursing Mr. Sweeney and the 'little chat' he'd asked me to stay behind for. I despised US Government; the room stank due to the fact that Bloodsucking Barbie was one of my classmates, and it was boring as hell. The homework assignment had become of blur of compromises and ratifications as Bella droned on and on about the beauty, glory and wonder that was Edward Fucking Cullen. I sighed at the memory and let out a frustrated huff. I'd blown the homework assignment and today's pop quiz. 'Maybe Edward Fucking Cullen should do the extra credit assignment to ensure that my grade wasn't affected,' I thought sourly.

I hoped Bella wasn't overly annoyed, I hated leaving her alone with Jake, Embry and their (not-so) significant others. They were generally shit for company these days and could make anyone uncomfortable at times with their outrageous displays of 'affection', if you could call it that.

When I turned the corner and our table came into view, I stopped dead in my tracks. I shook my head to clear it from the onslaught of dark thoughts that overcame me on seeing that Jacob was sitting at the table alone. Bile rose in the back of my throat as I sprinted the remaining distance to stand beside Jacob. He looked up on hearing my approach, with an odd expression on his face, something between shock and amusement.

"Where's Bella?" I questioned immediately.

His expression became curious. "I figured she would've hunted you down." He answered flatly.

"Why would she hunt me down Jake?" I asked. "We meet right here every day."

My heart was pounding fiercely in my chest and my earlier sense of foreboding had returned tenfold. "Do you know where she is or not?" I demanded, my voice rising with my sense of panic. "And where the hell's Embry?"

Jacob shrugged, "Bella was here. Embry and Jessica disappeared as Lauren and I were coming to sit down. Lauren sat on the wet bench and Bells got a giggle out of it. Lauren turned vapid and Bells…" He shook his head and grinned, "Well, Bells flipped that shit on her ass," he chuckled. "Basically told Lauren to go fuck herself and stay the hell away from her. You would've been proud Lee-Lee," he finished with a sad smile.

I felt my mouth twist into a wry grin and fleetingly thought about how much I would've paid to see that shit, before refocusing on the fact that Bella was missing and I had a really bad fuckin' feeling about it.

"Jacob," I said forcefully, ensuring that I had his full attention. "I haven't seen Bella. She's obviously not with you, and if Embry and the skank snuck off together, I doubt she's with them. You following me?"

His expression tensed as he nodded his acknowledgement. "Wanna split up and look for her?" he offered.

I nodded and thought of the first place I wanted to look. "You go see if she went on to her next class and if she's not there, check the parking lot; maybe she went to my truck. I'll check the lunchroom and around the gym. You have your phone?" I asked pulling mine out to show him I had it. He pulled his out of his pocket and nodded. "If there's any kind of problem call me, I'll do the same. Oh and you need to call Embry and tell him he needs to put his dick back in his pants and help us find Bella. I can't believe you two let her wander off!" I ranted before spinning on my heel and heading into the cafeteria.

Once inside the double doors, I quickly scanned the room for any sign of Bella. I then looked for 'their' table and quickly found it directly to the left of me. I was almost disappointed that she wasn't sitting there, having finally worked up the courage to approach him outside of their classroom.

I half-jogged across the room and into the lunch line to verify that she wasn't in there hiding or, god forbid, buying something to eat. I wasn't the least bit surprised when I didn't find her there. I hastily walked back across the lunchroom toward to double doors that would lead me back outside.

I'd just reached the doors, and raised my arm out to push them open when a sudden gasp to my right brought my attention back to the bloodsuckers' table. The tiny, dark-haired, female appeared to stiffen in her seat. She was grasping the table with both hands and staring off into space like she was having some sort of 'episode' or something. The blond male, I assumed he was her mate, was rubbing her arms reassuringly and whispering into her ear.

The big, burly one and Bloodsucking Barbie were staring at the small one with strange expressions, a mixture of concern and curiosity, best I could tell. But, it was Bella's bloodsucker, Edward, whose reaction confounded me the most. I heard a hushed 'No!' escape his lips and he practically sprang from his seat.

The small one dropped back into her seat, episode seemingly over, and looked up at Edward and then over at me. I lowered my arm and turned to face them expectantly, although what exactly I was expecting I didn't have a clue. She turned back to him and they exchanged meaningful glances for a moment, as though they were speaking without words, and I briefly wondered if bloodsuckers could read minds. At that very second, Edward turned to look at me with a raised brow.

I shook my head at the obvious coincidence and realized that both Edward and the tiny dark-haired pixie were approaching me. I shuddered, as their sickly sweet stench grew stronger as they neared.

"You don't smell especially appealing yourself," he said as the two of them stopped directly in front of me.

"Edward!" the pixie admonished, as I stood gaping. She looked as anxious as I felt when she turned her gaze to me. "Could we speak to you? Outside?" she asked in her childlike musical voice. "Please?" She urged, almost desperately.

Every fiber of my being screamed no. Animal drinkers or not they were my mortal enemies. The idea of walking outside of the security of the crowded lunchroom with not just one, but two bloodsucking leeches – alone… It went against everything I knew.

My instinct however, told me to go, in spite of everything else.

So I did.

I pushed the heavy door open and the three of us walked out into the damp and dreary day. We walked in silence for a moment, the air between us thick with an urgent tension as he headed toward the gymnasium. Once we were beside of it, they stopped and the pixie started speaking quickly.

"OK. This is a lot to swallow and I get that but we don't have a lot of time so I need you to listen carefully or Bella's going to die." I felt a growl rumble low in my chest at the perceived threat, and took a defensive step backwards. She rolled her eyes and breathed out an exasperated sigh, "We're not going to… Geez! Why would I even… My god… Just listen! There are others, like us but different, you know, human drinkers. They're after her, and they're going to get her."

I relaxed my stance and stared at her, "How do you-?"

"Please! Listen! I think it's today! She's wearing the same outfit!" I gaped in confusion and she must've noticed because she decided to backtrack a little for my benefit. "I see things," she explained, tapping her forefinger to her temple. "Visions, the future. It's all relative but… I saw Bella being attacked by two of our kind in the woods behind the school," she exclaimed, throwing her tiny little arms around as she spoke animatedly. "In my vision she was wearing the very same outfit that she's wearing today. That means it happens today!"

"Fuck!" I cursed, as the nagging sense of impending danger ran through me again.

I pulled my phone from my pocket to call Jacob, hoping I could explain the urgency of the situation without having to go into detail about my conversation with the mind reading, future-seeing bloodsuckers. As I scrolled through my contact list, the most ear-piercing, earth-shattering shriek I'd ever heard rang out through the air.

"Bella!" I gasped, dropping my phone and setting off at a dead run toward the rear of the gym. I quickly glanced around as I ran, trying to figure out how many witnesses were at risk, and was grateful that the area appeared vacant.

It was then that I realized that the tiny vampire was running toward the trees, some fifty plus yards in front of me, and Edward was nearing the tree line almost a hundred yards ahead of her. That fucker was fast! I pushed myself harder, cursing the limited speed of two legs and barely resisting the urge to phase before reaching the shield of the trees.

I screamed for Jacob and Embry at the top of my lungs as I picked up on an unfamiliar flavor of vampire stench. Fucking pixie knew what she was talking about, I thought as I neared the trees, eyeing the spot where the bloodsuckers had disappeared from view.

I slowed myself and finally stopped at the edge of the forest, straining to hear the sound of voices coming from just a few feet inside the cover of trees. I crouched down to peer between the branches, and saw Edward and his pint-sized companion talking to someone. I couldn't make out the 'visitors' until I adjusted my position to look between a different pair of branches.

Standing between trees, were two unfamiliar leeches, one male and one female. I could see half of the male's face; his skin was chalky pale with a hint of olive to his complexion. His hair was black and cropped short like most of the boys on the reservation wore theirs. I fought to stave off the instinctual growl that threatened to give away my location as I tried to quickly plan my attack.

There were two of them. I acknowledged the fact that I was outnumbered, but I definitely had the element of surprise on my side. I glanced around quickly, hoping to see Embry or Jacob approaching. When I didn't, I silently cursed them both and vowed to have the skin of their testicles made into a belt.

As that particular thought crossed my mind, and brought a brief and likely sinister smile to my face, I noticed Edward cringe slightly. My new position allowed me a view of all four of them, although I could only see the back half of the unknown female. She appeared to be a little smaller than Bella, her hair a dark brown and stopped above her shoulders.

'That's right,' I thought at Edward, remembering the exchange of meaningful looks that had taken place between him and the pixie in the lunchroom, 'you can hear me can't you?' I asked silently.

He appeared to look up into the branches above, and then quickly looked at the ground beneath his feet. I realized that he was nodding his acknowledgement without alerting the newcomers.

I was impressed with his wits, with their gifts, and their obvious over-eagerness to help. I was however, slightly begrudging of the fact that since I'd thought all of that, he knew it. I saw him smirk a bit at that.

I tried to take in as much of the scene in front of me as possible. Gauging the distance between us, and the time it would take me to get to them. I realized then that I still hadn't seen Bella.

I looked to Edward and silently asked, 'Where's Bella?'

He looked directly at the female; still half blocked from my view, and nodded his head infinitesimally.

'The female has her?' I wondered, and again he acknowledged me with a minute affirmative.

'But she's ok?' It was the last thing I needed to know and of course, the most important thing of all. I was apprehensive about how slow he was to confirm, but after a moment he did and I nodded in self-affirmation. The only thing left was to get her to safety and rip those fuckers to shreds.

I could see the left half of the female, but I couldn't see Bella. It seemed safe to assume that Bella was to the female's right. If I could take the female off guard and come in between the two vamps…

I planned and plotted as quickly as I could while Edward and Alice kept the visitors occupied with chat of permanent residences and alternative lifestyles. A few excruciatingly slow, yet desperately fleeting moments later, when I felt confident enough in the plan I'd concocted; I looked to Edward. He furrowed his brow and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment with a look on his face I could only describe as resolute. He bowed his head and gave a small nod.

As soon as I stepped past the tree line I phased. For the briefest of moments my thoughts went to my newly shredded R&R jeans. The ones I'd been buying when we'd run into the local leeches in Seattle. These fuckers were paying for my goddamn jeans, if I had to take it out in flesh.

I leaped immediately onto the female, taking her by complete surprise, and ripping her left arm clean off. I shoved Bella away and into the dainty, waiting arms of the bloodsucking pixie, who cradled her bridal style and fled with her.

"Her name is Alice," Edward scoffed as he threw the male into a nearby tree, ripping one of his legs halfway off in the process. He'd thrown himself at the male just as I'd charged into sight and lunged at Bella and the female. I had to admit that it was perfectly timed.

"Thank you," he called out smugly from his position, leering over his opponent, behind me as I pounced onto the female a second time. Being around a mind reader was one of those things that got old really fast, I realized. I snarled at his smugness, and then pointedly redirected all of my frustration into the complete and utter destruction of the bloodsucking bitch in front of me.

She screamed over and over for Felix, and I assumed that that was the name of the male that Edward was fighting with. I felt an unbelievable surge of power with every ounce of flesh I ripped away. This was what I was meant to do, and few things in life can even compare to the euphoria of being in one's element like that.

I tore off chunks of flesh in a near blind fury. She'd come here to hurt my best friend. I felt no mercy whatsoever as she begged for me to just kill her. A clear liquid seeped from her wounds, and I quickly realized it was venom. I tried to avoid it, but when I couldn't I found that the burning it caused my flesh only fueled my rage at this vile creature. She picked the wrong girl to fuck with, and I would not allow her the opportunity to make that mistake again. I would however, make sure she died slow enough to fully appreciate the weight of her error.

A foul, pungent odor engulfed my senses and I caught sight of the pyre Edward had constructed. He was tossing the final pieces of 'Felix' onto the flame. The putrid smoke that rose from the fire was thick, heavy, and purple in color. My momentary fascination with the smoke and its flames allowed the female an opportunity, and she was quick to take it.

She threw me off of her with, what had to be, every ounce of strength she had in her small battered body. I wouldn't have thought it possible, she only had one fucking arm. But, one second I had her pinned, and the next I was flying through the goddamn air until I came crashing into a tree. The definitive, snapping sounds of bones breaking pierced my ears and I was engulfed in a strange, warm, numbness before I hit the ground with more snapping and breaking sounds echoing in my ears.

I knew that I was hurt, but I couldn't feel a damn thing as I sprang straight back up to my feet and sailed through the air at that bitch as if I were a four-legged Supergirl or some shit. It was cool as hell. Trust me, because I fuckin' saw it. I don't mean saw it like I was doin' it either. It was as if I was watching me do it… from above me… err something… It was probably one of the singularly strangest things I've ever experienced. Ever.

I landed on that bitch jaws to jugular, and I clamped down and ripped her fucking head off. Just. Like. That.

As her head flew off and landed with a thump next to Edward's foot, the headless remains kept struggling with me as I crashed to the ground on top of it. Edward was there in a flash and quickly set about tearing the remains of her to bits and adding the pieces to the stinking, burning, pyre.

Just as Edward gently withdrew the lifeless torso out from under me, Jacob came thundering through the trees. It was obvious that he grievously misinterpreted the situation, because as soon as he spotted us, he literally exploded into a huge, vicious, snarling, mass of fur and rage.

He lowered himself on his haunches; teeth bared and ready to spring at Edward. I mentally screamed for him to stop, but his fear and rage were so prevalent that he either could not or would not hear me.

I heard Edward speaking to him, but I couldn't make out his words. All of a sudden, the numb warmth that had encompassed my body lifted, like a blanket being stripped away, and the excruciating pain that I felt was like nothing I could've ever imagined. I was compelled to curl into myself, but any attempt at moving was met with more unbearable searing pain. I tried to scream, but no sound came, and the effort left a fire in my lungs and chest.

I heard a faint, pathetic-sounding whimper, and detachedly realized it was coming from deep within me. I felt Jake's fur brush across my face and heard a familiar voice in the distance, but I couldn't focus on anything as the darkness took me over.

Moments, or hours later, I could faintly discern several familiar voices nearby. I felt myself being lifted and the pain was almost more than I could bear. I tried to call out for Jacob, needing to make sure that Bella was ok, but I couldn't force myself to form words.

I felt someone near my ear and heard Edward's smooth reassurance, "Bella's fine. Alice is taking her to my father to be checked over as a precaution."

The next voice I heard was unmistakably Sam's, and he seemed to be talking to Jake. I heard a heart-wrenching sob and a desperate cry that sounded like Jake, but different. Then Sam's voice again, comforting and familiar in tone, but the words… The words he spoke made no sense. Jacob phased, I sensed it more than saw it, and with a final, forlorn howl, he took off, running through the trees.

I'd been unable to phase back and my heart shattered when I understood his pain. Jacob had found Embry, as Edward and I battled the leeches, but Embry and Jessica were already dead. The words swam in my head, until they were all I could grasp. My brother, my friend… When the darkness came to claim me again I welcomed it. My final thoughts were of Embers, his quick smile, his boyish laughter, his eternal optimism, and the fact that he was gone. Forever.

A/N2: Sooo... I've never written anything like that. Hit the button and tell me what ya think.