The drive home with Jake was fun. There's something to be said for two almost indestructible mythical beings in a classic muscle car on an empty highway. As Jacob veritably flew us home, we chatted about nothing serious ... I wasn't ready to start thinking about what awaited me once I actually got back to Forks.
As we cruised into Forks and headed towards Charlie's house, I mentally braced myself. Even this long after the fact, it was still difficult to look at my house without thinking about Edward. I couldn't even glance up at my old window without thinking about him sitting outside of it, watching and waiting to sneak in.
Jake pulled over to the side of the road just before the driveway. "Do you need anything from your room or the house, Bells?" he asked.
I turned to him, confused. "Am I not staying at home?"
Jacob smirked. "Nope."
"And Charlie's okay with that?" Ever since my change, Charlie had been uncomfortable around me, but I highly doubted he would let me come back to Forks for the holidays and not stay with him.
"Charlie's not there either."
I'm sure my confusion still showed through in my expression, but Jacob's eyes sparkled with mirth. "With everything that's been going on," he added, " we decided it would be better if you and Charlie stayed on the reservation. Not to mention that it'll be way more fun."
"And Charlie's okay with this?" I asked skeptically.
Jacob just chuckled. "Are you kidding? He's already been there two days and I've never seen him so happy. Billy's been joking about adopting him and making him an honorary Quileute."
"So, he's been staying with you guys?" My brow furrowed at the thought, since Billy's house was not that large, and sleeping in close quarters with my dad just seemed like a bad idea all around.
"Yeah," Jake replied, "But don't worry, you're not going to be sharing a room or anything. In fact, Emily was really hoping you'd stay with her and Sam."
At that statement, I smiled, since I had spent a lot of time with Sam and Emily after my change. I missed them both, but particularly Emily, who had not shied away from me, even in those early days. Quite the opposite, in fact, since she was instrumental in making me feel like I was still a person, still a girl - not a freak or a monster.
Since I really didn't need anything from home, I gestured Jake onwards. I was somewhat relieved that I wouldn't have to experience that moment of entering my room, my brain frantically searching for even the most remote trace of Edward, as if anything of him would be left after this amount of time. He did a pretty comprehensive job of eliminating all traces of himself from my life. After my change, I had wondered if my enhanced vampire senses would pick up on something, but by then, I think it had just been too long. Well, oddly enough, I thought I had caught a hint of his scent for a second one evening when I was lying on my floor, pasting together some photos to bring with me to college. But it was gone just as quickly, leading me to believe that I had most likely imagined the whole thing, just another product of wishful thinking.
As we approached the Black household, Jake slowly pulled around back and stopped the car. "Hang on for a second before you go in," he said.
"Now what?"
He jumped out of the car, and quickly took off the jacket he had been wearing for the entire ride. I had thought it was strange, since as long as he'd been a wolf, he no longer ever seemed cold. "Put this on," he said to me, handing me the jacket.
"Um, Jake, I'm already wearing a coat, and it's not like I even need that one."
"Yeah, but Bella, unless I'm totally off base, Charlie is going to want to hug you when he sees you, and you're COLD. And smell funny."
I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, you sure know how to make a girl feel good."
He smirked, but continued, "Seriously, the jacket will still be warm, and it'll tone down that Eau de Vampire that you always seem to be wearing. It'll be better for Charlie."
I sighed, but Jake was right. I knew that Charlie knew that something was obviously off about me, but it was still less stressful for him if I tried to make myself more human, even if I couldn't be the old Bella. So, I took off my coat and shoved it in my suitcase, and wrapped Jake's jacket around me. It wasn't just warm - it was an inferno, and it enveloped me totally.
"You look cute in that," he said unexpectedly.
"Thanks," I replied, "too bad it smells, though."
"Hah. Come on, Vampirella, let's go inside."
We trudged in the front door, only to find Charlie and Billy totally engrossed in a football game.
"Yes!" Charlie yelled, jumping up and pumping his fist in the air. Billy started clapping loudly.
"I take it someone just threw that funny-shaped brown ball at someone else, and he caught it?" I deadpanned.
"Bells!" Charlie exclaimed, my presence catching him off guard. "We didn't expect you guys for another half an hour, at least." He moved around the chair and, as Jake had predicted, grabbed me in a big hug. "I missed you, Bells. I want to hear all about school and everything." He paused and looked at me sheepishly, "Do you mind if we watch the rest of the quarter, though?"
"Not a problem," I chuckled, trying to keep my voice to normal human levels. "What you guys didn't take into consideration was that Jake was driving a Mustang. I'm sure Quil and Embry will be back in my old truck … eventually."
Charlie laughed, but his attention was quickly grabbed again by the game.
"I'm going to take Bella to drop off her stuff at Sam and Emily's, and then we'll be back," Jake stated.
"Sounds good, son," Billy replied. He had been watching me with a level stare since I came into the room, his face emotionless. "Good to see you, Bella," he added. I'm sure he was saying it for Charlie's benefit, but I replied with a smile anyway, "You, too, Billy - keep an eye on that one," I nodded towards Charlie. Billy chuckled briefly. "Always do, always do."
"Come on Bella, I'm pretty sure Emily baked some cookies for you." Jake pulled my arm back towards the door. Once we were outside, I turned to him, "Jake, I can't eat cookies. You know this."
"I know," he replied with a smirk, "but I can."
He dodged out of the way as I tried to swat him playfully, and then we both got back into the car.
After we made the short drive to Sam and Emily's house, I got out of the car and started to take off his coat, seeing as how I didn't really need it anymore.
"Keep it on," Jacob said quietly. "Even though we're pretty safe here, we don't want to tip Victoria off yet to the fact that you're here, or that you're, well, a vampire. It'll help mask your scent."
"Okay, I can understand why her not knowing I'm here is a good thing, but she has to know that I'm a vampire, Jake. I mean, she bit me."
"Yeah, well, it didn't take last time, you remember? She knows that her boyfriend, or whatever, bit you, too."
"But I didn't change only because of an immediate intervention by Carlisle and Edward," I interrupted. Jacob's gaze flattened slightly at my mention of the Cullens.
"Yeah, but does she know what happened?"
I really thought about it for a second. "Maybe not," I mused.
"Even though I seriously doubt we're going to have any trouble with her, we're trying to keep as much from her as possible. Like, I know she's smelled us, but I don't think she really understands what we are, either."
"Yeah, god forbid a vampire should ever believe in werewolves," I muttered.
At that moment, Emily burst out the front door. "Bella!" she exclaimed happily, "I'm so glad you're here! I hope you'll stay with us." She ran up and hugged me, and I carefully hugged her back.
"Of course, I'll stay, Emily. It'll be nice to have some girl-time, too. Please tell me you aren't watching football."
She laughed, "Of course not, I'm watching the cooking channel. Come on in!"
"Hey!" Jacob exclaimed, "What am I? Chopped liver?"
Emily rolled her eyes at him. "Like I don't see you everyday, twice a day. Come on in, I just made some cookies." Jake looked at me triumphantly, and I had to stifle a laugh.
...
I had been back home for a couple of days, just hanging out with everyone, thankful for the perpetually overcast skies of the Pacific Northwest in winter. My third night there, though, I knew it was time for me to hunt, if I was going to continue to spend time close to any humans. I was sitting out on the porch, tying my sneakers, when Jake jogged up, his eyes gleaming.
"Jake, I think I need to -" I started, but he quickly cut me off.
"Hunt, I know. And guess what we just found?" he added excitedly. At my gesture, he continued, "She's back."
The nerves that had been plaguing me at Dartmouth returned with a fury. "You're sure?" I said, even though I knew the answer.
"Yup. I came to get you since I knew you'd want to head out anyway. You need to learn her scent, and you can grab some deer while we're at it."
"It's so weird that you make it sound like we're going to swing by McDonalds." I muttered quietly.
Jacob chuckled at my statement, but was obviously too wound up to banter back and forth. "Put on my jacket, and let's go."
I grabbed the jacket from the back of the couch inside the house, and by the time I had returned to the porch, Jake was in wolf form. He huffed impatiently, and turned towards the tree line.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I said, jogging after him, "Don't get your panties in a bunch." He made the equivalent of a wolfy laugh, and started picking up the pace.
We flew through the forest, and it wasn't long before I could tell we had been flanked by some of the other wolves. Quil and Embry, most likely. I could hear them, but couldn't quite glimpse them through the trees. All of a sudden, Jacob stopped in front of a huge tree. He turned back to me and whined.
"What is it, Lassie? Is Timmy up the tree?" I heard one of the other wolves make a coughing sound suspiciously like laughter. Jake actually rolled his eyes, and bumped his nose against the bark. I walked up to the tree and took a deep breath. The strongest scent was that of the woods, of earthy, damp ground and green, living things. Then, I could smell Jacob, who had just touched the bark. Underneath that, though, there was something else … a thread of scent, sweet and unnatural, with an unpleasant tang to it. I turned to face Jacob, my eyes wide. "That's her." It was a statement, not a question. Jake was obviously waiting for me to say something else, so I breathed in deeply once again. The scent was not strong, but at the same time did not feel old, or faded. I looked back at him again, a slight tremor of alarm passing through my body. "It's recent, huh?" Then everything clicked into place. "She was up on one of the branches for a little while, maybe in the past day or so."
Jake yipped his approval, moving restlessly.
"Where did she go?" I mused out loud, looking up into the dark framework of branches overhead.
I felt a gentle, warm tug on my hand, as Jacob gently pulled me deeper into the woods. He obviously had the scent, although now that I knew what I was looking for, so did I. We followed a meandering path through the woods, eventually coming out right at First Beach. The trail disappeared into the water.
I stood at the waterline, staring outwards into the dark churning depths of the Pacific Ocean, briny spray misting my face. After a moment I looked back at Jacob, who was panting happily, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
"So, now what's the plan?" I asked.
Jacob came right up to me and head butted me in the stomach, making a funny growling sound. I had to laugh. "Is that really what my stomach sounds like? Somehow, I doubt it. You're right, though, it's time to eat. I'll race you!"
And I took off into the forest, Jacob right at my heels.
...
The next day, Jacob came to get me again. As we walked into the woods, he began talking.
"Now that you're here, we want to plan out some strategies for luring her in. Up until this point, we've just been waiting, keeping an eye out, mostly playing defense. But that's about to change. " He began to jog, "Come on, we're going back to the beach to meet up with everyone."
"Everyone" turned out to be the entire pack. While Sam was Alpha, Jacob had obviously risen in the pack hierarchy, and, given my role in all of this, Sam was letting Jake take the lead in terms of planning the whole "Operation Victoria," as I mentally referred to it now.
I sat on a log and prepared to listen.
"So, what do we know about this bloodsucker?" Jake began.
"She SUCKS!" came a reply from the gathered throng, followed by some snickering.
"Seriously, you guys," Jake rolled his eyes, "this is it. Now that Bella's here, we can end this."
"We could have always ended this," someone muttered on the other side of the circle. Jake turned hard eyes in that direction. "Do you see her?" He gestured in my direction forcefully. I made a conscious effort to keep my head up, and not duck and hide my eyes, as I wanted to. "That bloodsucking bitch out there did this to Bella, to a human. On our turf. We dropped the ball, and Bella's lucky that she survived. Yes, she might be a vampire now, but we get to use that, and she gets her revenge. It's only fair that we waited for her, that we support her - it's the least we can do. We should feel lucky that she's willing to help us."
His speech was short, but there were many murmurs of assent as he finished. I would have blushed if I could. Jake looked at me expectantly, so I felt like I should get up and say something, if I wanted to be taken seriously as an equal in this whole endeavor.
"Thanks, everyone, for your support. I don't blame you guys in the slightest for what happened to me - and I really appreciate everything that you've done for me and my family and friends since then. Jake, you asked what we know about Victoria? Well, she wants me, plain and simple. So, now that I'm here, and have your help, we can work together to end this, and make this town, this land safe again."
"Yeah, Bella!" I could hear Embry yell, "Let's kick some bloodsucker ass!"
I started to sit, but then thought of something. "I think you guys should use me as bait," I added. "She won't be able to resist." I sat down.
Jacob grinned at me from across the circle. "Great minds think alike. Especially since you're way more indestructible now, and can be part of the team. This is what we came up with: I'll grab some clothing from your house - some that still smells like pre-vampire you. We can each take it and make a path through the forest, rubbing it on trees, and so on, just like if you had gone through the woods as a human. Then, at the end of the trail, you'll actually be there. And so will we. We can surround her while she's focused on you ... and then the fun starts."
The end of Jake's speech was drowned out in a cacophony of howls, cheers, and whistles. Jacob met my gaze, and I smiled. I hadn't heard the plan before, but it was simple. And it just might work.
...
Over the next day, we hammered out the details. Billy would keep Charlie indoors and out of the line of fire. A couple of the younger wolves would stick around to make sure no one else got hurt. The wolves would take some of my clothing to leave a strong scent trail. They wanted to start doing that immediately, to try and lure Victoria in to the area of the woods that we wanted, so that there was a better chance she'd be in the area when I was actually there. I would have to put on some old clothing, too, since I still needed to smell like me at the end of the trail, hopefully pulling off the charade of me as possibly human for as long as possible. I wasn't too worried about that part, though. I knew Victoria was obsessed enough that she would come after me, vampire or human.
When we were deciding on where to actually stage our ambush, I said quietly, "I know where we should do this." I knew it had to be off reservation land, to lull her into a false sense of security. She had to believe it was me, and that the location I was in made sense. So, I said to Jacob, "There's a path that leads into the woods from my house. If you walk about a quarter-mile in, there's a small clearing. I think it'll be perfect."
Jacob was silent, since I knew he had seen the clearing in Sam Uley's head from the night Sam found me in the woods. That night. There was an odd sense of poetic justice in the fact that Victoria would meet her end in the same location where I had truly met mine, over a year ago. Blinking out of my momentary reverie, I realized that Jacob had come up and slung an arm around my shoulder. "It's perfect, Bells. She's going to pay." I knew that he realized I would be taking out my revenge on more than just Victoria, if we were in that particular place in the woods. There were no words for how much I appreciated his support, and my eyes pricked, as if with tears, even though it was no longer possible for me to cry.
Jake insisted that I be the one to strike the first blow, although I wasn't as sold on that point. But he was adamant, telling me that I had come so far, that it was the best way to get some closure. At this point, I'd take any closure I could find, so I finally concurred. Deciding that there was no reason to wait, we planned on laying out our trap the next day. Which meant that I had to go back to the house and get some of my old clothing for Jacob to bring back to the pack. Thankfully, without any prompting on my part, Jacob came with me.
As I unlocked the front door, I tried to keep the memories at bay. Not only the ones involving Edward and the other Cullens, but the ones from after as well. Jacob followed me silently in and shut the door behind him. "You want some help?" he asked, and I knew he wasn't asking about picking out clothes.
"I'll be okay, Jake, thanks," I replied.
I went upstairs into my old bedroom. I'd only been in college for a few months, but I already felt so separate from it, like it was simply a remnant of my childhood once again, a memento of a former life.
I opened my closet door and turned on the light. I still had plenty of clothing here, although it was mostly sweats and stuff like that. I dug through the closet, finally coming up with a pair of jeans. I grabbed a couple of hoodies and a handful of t-shirts.
After I had enough clothing, I stopped for a moment in the center of the room and turned slowly around, taking everything in. I was sure I'd be back at some point, but not for long, and never again to stay. A thousand memories assailed me as I looked at everything in the room: my bed, the chair that my old quilt once sat on, my dilapidated old computer. I took a couple of steps to the window and looked out, thinking about how many times I had done that before, trying to get a glimpse of Edward, knowing he was out there somewhere. This time, though, everything just felt empty. I shivered, and turned to go back downstairs.
As we walked away from the house, I gave Jacob some of the clothes I had grabbed, keeping enough that I could fully dress myself the next day. We decided that I should walk into the woods in the early evening, to give her time to "discover" my scent, and so that I would have the impending darkness as another motivating factor to lure her in. As we headed back to the reservation, we said little, but I could feel Jacob's restlessness, as the end to this whole saga was finally in sight. At least for him.
...
The planets seemed to be aligned in our favor, since the next day, an early morning scout found traces of Victoria around my house. Whichever wolf had found it had immediately backed off, since we hadn't come this far just to spook her. It gave me the creeps to know she was so close, though.
So, early evening, Operation Victoria went into effect. The plan was for me to go ahead alone, with the wolves waiting a short distance away, downwind. They had already made some runs through the woods the night before with my clothing, so the path already smelled like me. Or, human me, as it were. Once I detected that Victoria was in the immediate area, or once she actually confronted me, I would send a text message to Jacob that would alert the wolves to head in. He was going to remain in human form until he got my message, then shift quickly to lead the wolves to our spot. In the meantime, I just had to keep her occupied until the furry cavalry arrived.
As my feet crunched along the path at an excruciatingly slow human pace, it was hard for me not to relive that last walk into the woods with Edward. My heart clenched with every step that I took, an earthquake of pain tremored along the fissure line in my chest. In some ways, it felt like no time had passed; instead, I could be a ghost, reliving the same moment over and over again for eternity. I held my hands out, gently touching the leaves and bark of the trees on either side of me. If only I could bleed on them somehow, I thought, it would be perfect. Still keeping up with the "possibly human" charade, I purposefully stumbled as I came into the clearing, catching myself hard on a log on the side of the trail.
To increase my appeal, I was wearing headphones, listening to my MP3 player. I had a journal tucked under my arm, and a satchel with snacks slung over my right shoulder. I had even put on makeup to disguise the perfection of my vampire skin. My cellphone was in hand, ready to send the text to Jacob. I decided to use that moment to take a break and pretend to tie my shoe, and then rummage around in my pack for some food. Right as I pulled an apple out of my bag, I heard the feather-light sounds of feet hitting the ground behind me. I resisted the urge to react, instead pretending nothing was amiss. However, I clicked the SEND button on my phone in one smooth movement, dropping it into my bag as I turned around.
Victoria was about five yards away from me, staring in my direction with a broad smile on her face. I pretended to jump in surprise when I saw her.
"Well, well, you've been harder to track down than I imagined," she drawled.
"I moved away," was my quiet reply.
She cocked her head at me, regarding me intently for a moment. "You smell ... different," she said, slight puzzlement on her face.
"Do I?" I responded, stalling.
"Yes, I didn't pick up on it at first, but it would appear that you didn't quite escape from our last little meeting unchanged."
I remained silent and backed up slowly, pretending to look around for a means of escape.
"I have to say, I am impressed with your control for one so young. Your clan must be proud of you."
I was sure she'd already been by the Cullen household and seen that they hadn't been there in a long time, so her comment puzzled me slightly, although I didn't let it show. I didn't respond, trying to look unsure and nervous, which wasn't that hard, actually.
"The eyes threw me for a moment, too. It would seem you share their preference for vermin." Her face twisted in disgust as spoke. I slowly kept moving, backing up, keeping her in front of me, well out of arm's reach. It was at that moment that I felt the hair on the back of my neck prickle, and in one synchronized movement, a circle of massive wolves appeared, emerging like ghosts from the shadows. I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. I was impressed that I hadn't heard them approach.
Their appearance seemed to startle Victoria, who apparently hadn't heard them either. She quickly plastered a haughty expression on her face. "Interesting ... pets," she spat out, earning a warning rumble from Jake, who was visible just to her right.
"My friends, you mean?" I asked sweetly.
She sneered at me. "Somehow it doesn't surprise me you're hanging out with these animals. It's a good thing you won't exist past today - you're an embarrassment to all vampire-kind," she said with disdain.
For some reason, that was the comment that finally set me off, and I bared my teeth at her in a cruel approximation of a grin. "I would never want to be like you in a million years," I ground out, "You're a waste of space, a waste of a gift, a waste of a life. All you do is destroy."
She laughed, tucking a piece of fire-red hair behind her ear. "Oh, our little girl's finally got some backbone. Too little, too late, though."
Through my slowly building haze of anger, I decided that I'd give her one last chance, a final gesture to the peace that Carlisle had worked so hard to establish and keep. "Victoria, you're obviously outnumbered here. This is your last chance to let this go, to just move on with your life." My comment earned me an irritated growl from Jacob, who clearly did not appreciate my last-ditch attempt at diffusing the situation.
Her eyes gleamed with madness and rage. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? To strip me of my vengeance? To take away what is mine by RIGHT!?" she ended with a shout.
I shook my head, realizing there was only going to be one possible outcome from this encounter. "What is it with you people?" I muttered. "Does having an endless existence mean you get caught up in the most medieval of pursuits? I did nothing to you ... ever!"
"But your mate did, and now I will inflict the same on him." Victoria answered angrily. She kept turning slowly in a circle, her eyes darting every which direction, looking for the slightest indication of weakness in our circle.
I saw Jacob bristle slightly at that comment. I just sighed and said flatly, "I have no mate, Victoria. If you had really looked around for just one moment, you would have seen that."
Undaunted, she looked me straight in the eye. "Yes, you do, you stupid girl. Even I'm not that blind. And he will pay. Nice try, though," she added snottily.
I shoved down the feelings of confusion and sorrow that her statement provoked. It wasn't worth arguing - she would never accept the truth that if I had a mate, he would have been there at that moment, that I would never have been alone.
"But this chase has been so fun," she smirked as she continued her show of bravado, "that I think I won't just stop at you. The fun with newborns is that you are still connected to your human life. Your father lives in this town, so do your friends. I think it's fitting that I honor James's memory by hunting every last one of them. This is not over, Bella Swan," she finished with a hiss.
I looked at her in that moment, at the anger twisting her features, the obsessive need to destroy etched over her entire body. I glanced over at Jacob and nodded almost imperceptibly. At my signal, both Quil and Embry shot forward, flanking her, and each bit down on one of her arms, pinning her in place. I stepped forward the last ten paces, placing my hands almost gently on either side of her head. I looked her in the eyes and saw the first flickering of true panic, as she realized she wasn't going to escape. This time, I couldn't find the same compassion in myself that I had felt last time we were this close. "Yes, Victoria, it is," I said calmly, and then ripped her head off with a violent twist.
Before I could even process what was happening, the wolves were all over her, ripping, tearing, howling in celebration and victory. I stumbled backwards to get out of their way, tripping on a tree root as I did so. Before I could stop my fall, arms immediately caught me. I hadn't even seen him slip away, but suddenly Jacob had appeared behind me, back in human form, just in time to stop me from becoming the clumsiest vampire in history. Keeping me upright, Jake wrapped his arms around me from behind, and rested his chin on my shoulder. We stood there silently, watching the rest of the pack finish off what remained of Victoria. Shortly after, a few members shifted back to start a large bonfire, and then both human and wolf began pitching vampire pieces into the roaring flames.
"How are you feeling, Bells?" Jacob asked softly. I hadn't moved, hadn't even taken a breath.
"I feel ... I don't know, Jake. Relieved and sad, I guess. I just killed someone. It's a lot to process."
"I'm proud of you," Jacob responded, and I could tell from the warmth in his voice that he meant it. "You stood up for yourself, for your family, for your friends. Don't ever forget that she had a choice, and she chose to come after you."
"I guess so." I replied quietly.
"And, technically, she wasn't dead until we ripped her into tiny pieces and threw her into the fire."
The thought of Victoria somehow reassembling herself from tiny parts made me shudder. Jacob laughed, breaking the solemn mood. "What is this?" he added playfully, "Do we have a squeamish vampire?"
I turned and smacked him on the shoulder. "You're just lucky you're on my good side, mister," I said as I nodded toward the now dwindling flames.
Jacob smirked and held his hands up in surrender. "Yes, ma'am, whatever you say, ma'am". I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't keep the answering smile off my lips.
Right then, Embry and Quil ran over, as humans, their words coming out so fast over one another that I doubt I would have been able to untangle them without my vampire hearing.
"Bella that was so awe-"
"You were amaz-"
"I can't believe that you ripped her head-"
"Did you see the look on her face when-"
"We totally have to do that again-"
Jacob snickered. "See," he said to me, "everyone agrees that you kick ass, Bella. They'll all be talking about you at our next bonfire get together."
I shuddered slightly, "Always what I wanted to be ... a cautionary campfire tale."
Jacob just laughed in reply, throwing an arm around my shoulder as we turned back towards home.