Quil lingered on the perimeter of the property, placing himself between the two remaining bodies and a fight he understood he simply had no part of. His neck rolled to the side, following the tumbling blood soaked fur of his Alpha, happy that for now at least he had the upper hand. Judging from way Sam's vicious growls had softened to snarls, he knew it wouldn't be long now and as he raised his snout to sniff experimentally at the air, he tried to shove aside the feeling that what Jacob was about to do was wrong. Even in a different form he could still feel the sticky, thick fluid that had coated both Bella and Leah on his skin, the crimson stains covering their bodies too plentiful to see the girl beneath. It still felt wrong, but deep down he knew there was just no other way.
With one final slash of Jacob's claws, Sam's lifeless form slumped to the floor. The air around them became eerily still and feeling it would likely be necessary, Quil phased back to his human form, not bothering to cover the fact that he was standing in the backyard of Forks' resident Chief of Police completely naked.
Jacob prowled around the fallen wolf, his tail swishing low over the ground as he confirmed his kill. He could already feel Quil's anticipation in the air, and he knew there wasn't time to linger, but he couldn't help himself. He just needed a few minutes to reassemble himself into the Alpha, the one they counted on, whether they realized it or not, to get them out of this alive.
His mind felt weak, his soul heavy with the hand he'd been dealt. For a moment he wanted to turn and run, to gather Leah in his arms and bury his burden in her comfort, but instead he forced his fears to still. After a deep breath he shook out his body and he, like Quil, didn't bother wasting any emotions feeling self-conscious regarding his nudity.
"Now what?" Asked Quil, his voice sounded quite loud in the silent space.
Rolling his right shoulder until it popped, Jacob trailed his eyes over the land, trying to think of a way they could get out of this mess without suffering through an unknown amount of jail time.
"The girls?" Jake asked, his question purposefully ambiguous. He desperately wanted to get his hands on Leah, to assess each bruise, each cut, and each fragment of pain she was enduring. However, he couldn't allow himself to break down and he knew from the pictures he'd seen in Quil's mind that he needed to stay away.
"They're safe for now." Quil responded, his tone somber as he kneeled down by Embry's body, the labored breathing of his old friend only serving to ignite his anger.
"Okay. Do you think you can get Embry out of here?" Jake asked, looking down at the other two souls laying out cold on the land, one still clinging desperately to life.
"Yeah, but where are we taking them?" Quil asked, knowing the place he'd left the girls in the woods wouldn't be adequate for anything more than a brief stop gap.
Jacob truly didn't know what to do and without the luxury of time to dwell on indecisions, he decided he would think as they worked. He looked back over at Quil, who was already lining up Embry's body, ready to support his weight in his arms.
"Don't know yet." Jake replied shortly, a plan of a different kind forming in his mind. "Just get Embry out of here and then come back to help me with Paul. We need to move Sam too, but I'm less worried about that right now. For now, we just need them all away from here and then I'll figure out where to go from there." Jacob's voice carried a clear sense of confidence and authority, something he was struggling with internally. He didn't feel secure about anything that had happened in the past twenty four hours, and the only thing he could deal with right now was getting his pack assembled again in one place.
Quil didn't need to respond; he simply lifted the body of his friend carefully into his arms and walked away into the night, leaving Jacob alone.
Taking one final deep breath, Jacob hurled Sam's body over his shoulder and took off in the opposite direction towards a cave deep in the forest. His feet took him hard and fast and under the weight of the man who was yet to leave them at peace, he found his breath thickening, unshed tears stinging his eyes as he finally understood that he had taken a life.
The cave was cold and isolated, and though he knew it would never serve to be a final resting place, it still took all of his courage to leave the body of the elder wolf there, exposed and bloodied on the foreign land. He wouldn't lower himself to the things Sam had forced him to endure, but neither would he allow the guilt which was curling at the edges of his stomach to expand and take shape.
Arriving back at the clearing, Quil could hear his Alpha's heart beat clear as day, the resonant pounding chanting a much needed and soothing familiarity to his mind. His eyes swept quickly over the devastation, not stopping to linger on any one thing for too long, but noticing that Sam's body was already gone. It was only when the backdoor of the Swans' house swung open and Jacob exited with a grimace on his face did Quil step out of the tree line, drawing his Alpha's attention instantly.
"You ready?" Jacob asked, taking the yard in healthy eager strides.
"When you are." Quil responded, his forehead ruffled slightly in confusion.
"You take his legs, and try not to move him too much." Jacob ordered, though from the looks of Paul's mangled back, he wasn't sure if much more damage could be done.
Paul's dead weight was harder to hold between them than either Sam or Embry had been individually, but their feet were sure as they left the night's carnage behind. They were already a good hundred feet into the blackened woods when Jake's voice commanded Quil to stop.
"Put him down on two."
Quil didn't question the order, and when Paul's body was once again lying on the earth, Jacob turned back towards the house and spoke with his back turned. "Wait here, okay?" It wasn't an order, but Quil felt no inclination to move, no draw to the place he personally hoped to never see again.
Jacob had only been gone seconds when he returned, but something in his eyes, something harrowing told Quil that the seconds had been spent doing something that hadn't come with ease. They remained locked eye to eye for what could only have been a few seconds longer, when a strange popping sound drew Quil's gaze back over Jacob's shoulder.
He only understood when a sweet acrid scent of burning vampire flesh hit his nostrils, following rapidly but a loud explosion.
"You burnt down the Swans' place?" Quil asked incredulously, his mouth slightly open in surprise.
"It was either that or I tell him about them, about us, about everything. Hell, I still might have to." Jacob lamented, actually feeling slightly relieved that the blaze seemed to be burning with such intensity.
Even from a hundred feet away they could feel the heat pour through the trees, and as a groan broke out from beneath their eye line, they quickly refocused on the task in hand. Gingerly picking up their fallen soldier, their steps took on a more urgent rhythm as they pushed further and further back into the abyss.
"You figured out where we're going yet?" Quil asked, not wanting to push Jacob, but knowing they really didn't have time to linger anywhere for long. Not only was the night cold, but he could feel a change in the air, something he knew normally preceded a dramatic down-pouring.
"We could go back to my place?" Jacob thought aloud, but he was already shaking his head. The last time he'd shown up there with Leah in tow the Chief had been lingering, and now that his own house was uninhabitable, it wouldn't surprise Jacob in the slightest if his father offered up their roof to cover his head.
"How about Sam's old place?" Quil asked, having seen the isolated house in the memories of the pack. In theory it seemed like the perfect place, but Jake would bet his meager life savings that it was on the Chief's hit list.
"There isn't anywhere we can go on the rez that the Chief won't know about or think to check." Jacob concluded, the puzzle hurting his frazzled mind far more than it should.
"Okay, but the Chief just wants Bells right?" Quil asked innocently, his intention purely to understand what they should be hiding from.
"Yeah, but do you want to be the one to explain her injuries to him?" Jake asked rhetorically. It was up to Bella how she dealt with her father, and he wasn't about to put her in the line of fire before she was ready.
"I guess we could go to my place; my mom is out of town for the rest of the week." Quil offered reluctantly. He knew his mom would erupt if he so much as ate his lunch in the living room, never mind brought home a pack of bloody, muddied bodies.
"Are you sure?" Jacob asked, knowing full well the reputation Mrs. Ateara had on the rez, not only for the iron hand that she governed her house with, but the leash she kept on her son's neck.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Quil sighed, the scent of smoke washing away under the thick, nauseating aroma of blood, both new and old.
It took three trips, and a lot of stealth to get the bodies of his broken pack into Quil's home. Only when the door was shut and the wreckage of the night lay out like a red carpet before him, did Jacob take a shuddering breath of comprehension. He had been so intent of getting everyone out of the night, that he hadn't really allowed himself to believe that they wouldn't make to daybreak as one.
Now that the outside dangers were put to rest, and his pack was reunited, he could feel the reality of the situation slam into him. The heartbeats he heard in the room weren't vibrant enough, the feel of his imprint and his wolves in his mind were weak and he just didn't know where to begin.
"Quil, go get the doc and Sue Clearwater." Jacob said finally, snapping out of doubt into action.
After taking one step, Quil hesitated, looking back over his shoulder for confirmation. "Sue Clearwater?"
"She used to be a nurse and helped out a lot when we were little and my Dad needed help." Jacob muttered. He didn't want to move anyone fearing he might cause more damage, but he couldn't deal with the sheer volume of the blood and exposed flesh in front of him on his own.
The reservation doctor arrived first and after looking over the four bodies laid out in a macabre line on the floor, he lifted his head and slowly looked over Jacob Black was his eyes narrowed.
"Do I want to know what happened?" He asked and Jacob followed his eyes back to his friends, his brothers and his life.
Shaking his head, he knew he would have to give up a little, but he just wasn't ready to vocalize it all. He knew the day would come, and soon, when the Elders of the tribe would want a full account, but it wasn't going to be today.
"I don't know what they did to the girls, but I think both Embry and Paul were bitten by a leech." Jacob supplied, feeling a flourish of inner strength when Quil came to stand by his side, offering his silent support.
"I need you to get me a bowl…" All three heads turned as a small voice gasped from the front of the house. The doctor turned to look at Jacob expectantly, and remembering his place in all this, Jacob swept towards the dark entryway, holding his hand out for Sue Clearwater to take.
Her voice was low enough that it was only for his ears, but he couldn't help noticing the tears that were already falling gently down her soft face. "Sam did this?" She asked, already aware of the chaos that had been erupting around them from her husband's position as an Elder on the tribe's council.
Jacob brought her into the low light of the room, her hand gripping to his with a strength that surprised him. It was a sight he would've rather shielded her from, but he needed help and had so few places to turn.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know who else to ask." Jacob mumbled.
Sue didn't linger by his side for long and after taking in a long, deep breath in to steady her body, she lifted her shoulders high and rolled up her pajama sleeves to her elbows.
"Quil, go and make sure all the beds upstairs have fresh sheets on them. Jacob, go bring us a bowl of water and some towels, anything to clean up some of this blood so we know what we're dealing with." Sue's voice was sharp and authoritative and both complied easily. Jacob found himself secretly relieved to feel a small weight rise from his shoulders, understanding she was taking a piece of his burden away.
The bowls of water turned quickly from clear liquid to a deep, blushing red and Jacob found himself making endless trips to the kitchen. Each new bowl of red brought a thickness of sorrow that he couldn't seem to escape as he washed away his own mistakes, watching them swirl away from him. As the morning light grew, so did his guilt and though Sue looked to him more than once with a reprimand in mind, she kept her lips drawn tight, warring with herself over how much to push the boy who was shouldering the weight of men.
"Jake, where do you want the girls?" Sue asked softly, knowing one was his imprint and the other the daughter of the Chief of Police. Both girls were carrying scars that might never heal, but they would wake soon enough. Even though they had been sewn back together in places, bandages and casts both came off in time.
"Are they both okay?" He asked, desperate to hear anything positive. He knew both he and Sue were suffering more mentally than physically, the darkness they had drawn around themselves a practice of self-preservation.
"They will be, sweetie. They both need rest and when the doctor has a chance, he'll give them a second look, okay?" It took all his strength not to insist that his imprint be looked over now, that she be healed before the rest, but he wore the badge of Alpha with a new appreciation, one which made sacrifices for the good of his pack.
"I'll take them upstairs." Jacob said quietly, stepping over Quil's sleeping body to stand over Sue, his hand resting on her shoulder for both support and comfort.
Both Embry and Paul had been taken upstairs hours ago, and worryingly or not, hadn't been seen since. Every once in a while, the doctor would ask for an implement they couldn't provide and a weary discussion would ensue to find an alternative.
Long after the girls had been placed side by side in Quil's own king sized bed, they gathered on the landing, faces worn, eyes tight with desperate possibilities that Jacob wasn't willing to accept just yet.
"I don't know what else I can do for them, son. They need a hospital or at the very least proper medical equipment. Whatever they have running in their systems is killing them, and it's going to keep killing them, unless you figure out something else." Jacob slumped down against the wall, his hands going straight to his hair where they tangled in the dirty strands.
"If we take them to the hospital, they'll know." Jacob spoke through gritted teeth, his face still hidden from view, hiding the tears that were leaving trails down his bloodstained cheeks.
"If you don't…they die." The doctor's words hung in the air, the tension so thick that Sue couldn't bring herself to speak, couldn't find the words to make any of this better.
"I might have another way." A cracked voice spoke from a sunlit doorway, her hand gently touching the edges of the thick bandage at her neck.
"Bells, you need to be in bed, you need to rest." Jake said despairingly, his wet eyes meeting hers for just a second before he caught the hope shining back at him. She didn't understand, couldn't understand, the choice he had to bear.
"No, I need to help and right now I might be the only one who can. The Cullens owe us, they owe us more than they probably know and I think Dr. Cullen might be able to help fix what Edward did. You just need to let me go and ask." Her voice was heavy but she felt so certain if the hopelessness she'd overheard had been correct, that her way was the only way to save any of them.
"I'll take Quil with me." She said firmly, and though it pained her to do so, she pushed her body away from the doorframe which had been supporting her weight and hobbled to Jacob's side.
"Just let me do this, Jake… please?" Her eyes opened wide and Jake couldn't help his hand as it lifted softly to her face, his fingers tracing a nasty bruise on her cheek where Sue thought a fracture may lay underneath.
"You don't know what you're asking me." He replied, already feeling like two of his pack were drifting away and desperately wanting to hold his protection around everything he had left.
"I know. But I have to try." She replied so quietly and so firmly that he couldn't fault her strength.
Nodding his head, he already doubted her chances of success, but he knew just as she did, that they wouldn't be able to live with themselves, if as she said, they didn't at least try.
a/n: A big thank you to my beta Twiticulate...
Eeek, we're getting so close to the end now and I have to admit I always find these last few chaps of my stories really hard to write, so if I'm all over the place with my schedule please bear with me. I think maybe four chaps more.
Anyway, as always I'm aiming to have another chap for you on Wednesday... so hopefully I'll see you all then. xxx