~*BROKEN PROMISES*~
Chapter 4 – Out of Time
A/N: So last time I left you guys, Jacob and Bella came upon two teens covered in blood and holding a dead deer. I'm sure you could suspect who they were. It definitely is an "oh shit" moment for the Cullens.
When you say it's gonna happen now,
Well, when exactly do you mean?
See I've already waited too long
And all my hope is gone
I am Human and I need to be loved
Just like everybody else does
How Soon Is Now – The Smiths
JacobPOV
I caught Bella in my arms as she fell to the ground. Staring back were two sets of golden eyes. I had no idea what we had just walked up on, but this I had a feeling this could not end well.
I had all intentions of picking Bella up and running as far away with her as I could. But before Bella passed out she said a name, "Alice."
I turned to this supposed Alice that was busy cleaning herself off. She pulled wipes out of her pocket and this seemed odd to me.
If someone was a carnivorous fiend, then why the fuck was she carrying wet naps?
She carefully walked towards me while the guy she was with grabbed a wet nap and cleaned himself off.
"You must be Jacob. Is Bella ok?"
I looked down and saw that Bella was coming to. She looked up at me, and then she looked to her left and saw Alice. She sat up and immediately tried to flee. I grabbed her and held her behind me.
"Bella, I'm so sorry I scared you," Alice said.
"What the fuck was that? And what the hell are you doing?" Bella screamed at Alice.
For the first time I got a real good look at Alice. I noticed her skin was very pale in comparison to Bella, which seemed impossible. Her eyes were changing from dark golden to more of a light golden color. Her lips were a deep shade of red and her teeth were whiter than freshly fallen snow. She had black hair and that only accented her paleness.
Her companion looked like a carbon copy as far as looks were concerned. However, his hair was a bronze color. He was very well dressed. Hell, both of them were very well dressed.
The girl was even wearing high heels.
Heels in the woods? I've never seen anything like that in my entire life.
"Bella, please, you have to listen to me," Alice said.
"Alice, just go ahead and fucking kill her already," the boy behind her said. "We don't need eye witnesses. Way to keep a look out, sis."
My defense mechanisms were in place and I was ready to fight to the death for us.
"Edward, shut your fucking pie hole. I'm not going to kill them. I actually like Bella. She's the only girl that talks to me at school."
Alice then turned her attention back to us. She smiled at Bella.
"Sweetie, I'm not going to hurt you. I don't even like the taste of human blood anymore."
I was really about to go into freak out mode. Alice was making light of the situation. This guy was ready to have us killed, yet Bella seemed to calm down a bit.
"What do you mean you don't prefer the taste of humans anymore?"
Her companion laughed, "She's totally lying. She'd give anything to taste a human again. But we're so fucking used to these damn animals, it wouldn't be pretty."
"Would someone please tell me what the fuck is going on here?" Bella asked.
She was standing beside me now instead of behind me. Alice walked up to Bella and she seemed less threatening than when we walked up on them.
She got about two feet in front of us and stopped. She smiled and the white below her lips shined even more.
"Bella, sweetie… well I guess you could kind of figure out what we are by now."
"You're… those people that eat raw meat?"
Alice burst into laughter. She looked deep into Bella's eyes.
"No, you can't be they don't exist…"
Alice shook her head yes. Edward threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. He then put his fingers to the bridge of his nose and squeezed.
"Way to go Alice. I'll let you be the one to explain to Carlisle how you single handedly just destroyed every fucking thing we've built. Now you'll have to kill your friends and then we'll have to move… again. You know, for a fucking psychic, you suck at this."
"I suck at this. You are the one that can read minds. Where the fuck is your senses now?"
Edward glared at Alice.
Alice smiled back at her companion. "Edward… please."
Her friend, Edward, looked at Alice and anger enraged him.
"You knew they were coming didn't you? Fuck, Alice, are you trying to get us in trouble?"
"But Edward," she whined, "I never make any new friends. Bella and I are going to be close friends one day and I just want you to let me have this, please?"
"Ok I'm totally fucking confused here, and if someone doesn't explain to me what the hell is going on, I'm getting out of this forest," Bella said.
Alice smiled again, "Bella… Edward and I belong to a small coven of vampires. My father, mother Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper… we're all vampires."
"Vampires don't exist Alice. You are just trying to scare me. I swear I won't tell anyone about your diet. But can you please let Jacob and I go?"
Bella and I turned to leave, but before I knew it, Alice was up in a tree. Then she was on the ground…and then in the tree again. It seemed as though she was moving and we couldn't see it. Edward was giggling to himself.
"So Bella, believe me now?" Alice asked as she stopped mere inches from the two of us.
Then Alice reached for Bella's arm. Bella flinched but I couldn't move to protect her fast enough. Alice already had Bella in her arms while they sat on a tree limb. Before I knew it, Bella was right beside me again.
"Alice, what the hell?" I asked.
Bella bent over and started to gag. Apparently she got motion sickness.
"Oh, sorry about that Bella. I forgot that it normally makes humans sick to travel that fast."
"So you mean to tell me that you guys are pretty much the walking dead?" I said as I rubbed Bella's back.
Alice and Edward laughed. "We prefer the title, immortal, versus walking dead. That just makes us sound like zombies," Alice said.
It was all too much for me to take in. One minute I'm worried about my father, who's inches away from death himself, and the next I'm standing in front of two people who died a long time ago. I knew they could very well make Bella and me very dead, very fast.
I sat down on a tree stump to try and convince myself this was a dream. Vampires only existed on television.
Then I realized something.
"Ok, explain this to me then. It's daytime. You aren't supposed to be out in day time. Don't you guys turn to ash or some shit like that when the sunlight hits you?"
They both laughed again.
"Complete myth," Edward said.
I felt completely and utterly confused. Here before me stood two people… things… whatever, that could literally kill me in two seconds flat and no one would ever know why or how. Strangely enough, Bella had collected herself completely. We waited silently for our verdict - would we would be vamp food, or not?
"Jacob, you don't need to worry. We aren't going to turn you into Vamp food," Edward said.
"Dude, what are you doing? Reading my mind? Stop! It's almost like an invasion of privacy," I said.
"Sorry! You act like I fucking want to hear about the things you and Bella do in your room," Edward said as he cringed. "And for the record, sex on top of a stove isn't healthy. You could easily burn Bella's ass," he added.
Bella threw a glance in Edward's direction, "Stay out of my mind, cocksucker."
Edward laughed. "I think you've got the term wrong, I'm a bloodsucker - you're the cocksucker. Besides, it's not my fault that's all you think about at lunch. Maybe you should broaden your horizons. I don't know, read a book or some shit."
Bella looked like she wanted to stomp her feet and walk off. Finally Alice tried to get a hold over everyone.
"Edward, Bella and Jacob, first off, we all need to quit arguing. Edward, Jacob you two better get used to being friends."
"And second of all, Jacob, you need to get back to your dad. Edward and I need to go talk to Carlisle. He needs to know that you both know now."
"Fine," I said, "But I want more explanations later. Be prepared to answer some questions," I called back as Bella took me by the hand and dragged me with her.
Before I could say anything else, they were gone – back through the woods as though they were never here.
BellaPOV
When Alice grabbed my arm, I just knew I was dead. I was waiting for it. The silence, the pain, but none of that happened. Instead, all of a sudden, I felt woozy and almost puked on the tree stump next to me.
Edward's eyes seemed ruthless. I was so scared he would kill me and I'd never even known what was going on.
Poor Jake was trying to protect me, but he sucked in comparison to their speed. I've never seen anything like it before in my life – and I almost wish I still hadn't.
As soon as the Cullens were gone, Jake turned to me.
"Bella are you ok?" he asked.
I was actually quite shaken. My entire life, I'd been told that vampires didn't exist. They were simply fiction. Yet here, in the woods beside Jake's house, were two people that I knew were different from me. And that's exactly what they claimed to be. I'd never in my life imagined that in all the years I've been told they didn't exist, there stood two vampires. No wonder no one ever got close to them at school – and vice versa.
"I-I think I'm ok."
Jacob hugged me close to him. He didn't seem as upset as I did about what just took place. We walked back toward the house in silence and waited on some of our friends to show up for cake to celebrate my graduation.
Jacob and I kept up the silence until I couldn't take it anymore.
"Jacob Black, you have been very quiet. What are you thinking about?"
He smiled. "Bella, we just ran into two very deadly and yet very forgiving vampires in the forest. And we're not dead. Don't you think that takes a little bit of time to sink in?"
He was right. My biggest fear was now wondering what would happen if they decided we were too much of a risk because we had this information.
Slowly, friends of our family began to show up. The Clearwaters came with their kids, and then Jacob's friends - Sam, Embry, Quil and Paul. Some of my friends, like Angela and her boyfriend Ben, came over. When Jessica showed, I was quite unhappy. I didn't think I invited her - but I guess she thought she didn't need an invitation.
When she walked up the steps, I noticed he was wearing an extremely short jean skirt with a tight tank top. All of Jake's buddies almost lost their shit right there on the porch. I tried not to laugh. I knew that all of them were thinking they would love to pull that skirt up and fuck her right on the porch. Then I thought about it -I bet she had already fucked at least one of them anyway.
The night continued, and Jacob seemed extremely happy, despite the situation we were all in right now.
His dad was dying in the bedroom.
We were threatened by two deadly vampires.
And now Jessica was all up on Jacob wanting him to take a look under the hood of her car later. I knew she meant the actual car, but I'm sure she also wanted him to take a look under that skirt, too.
After the last guest left for the night Jake and I held each other. We stood at a spot in his yard where we could still see the ocean, despite the trees. I had my head pressed against his chest.
"Bella," Jacob said.
"Yes Jacob?"
"I think I've figured out my dilemma."
I took a step back.
"And what is that exactly?"
"Immortality."
As soon as he said that word I knew what he was thinking.
"Jacob Black, if you are thinking what I think you're thinking, I will have absolutely no part in this."
"Bella, think about it. No more suffering, no more illnesses… we could hold each other forever."
"Yeah Jacob, and there is this thing called a soul I'd like to hold onto."
"Fine, suit yourself, but I think it would be cool."
"Yeah if you think drinking blood is cool, then I don't know what to do with you anymore."
Jacob held me close to him again. I hoped this was just some weird fascination and he'd give up on it soon.
JacobPOV
Keep your soul in check. Humans are meant to live and die.
Now I began to wonder about my dad's nurse. I watched as she worked on my dad. She took his vitals and had no problem being in close proximity to everyone. She even looked slightly darker than the rest of the Cullens.
I honestly think I was starting to lose my fucking mind.
The more I thought about it, the more the idea appealed to me. I had a lot to think about, though. I still had Rachel and Rebecca, the two people I left on this earth that were actual family.
Then there's Bella and Charlie. Right before I left for graduation, Charlie told me that after my dad died, I could stay with them until my eighteenth birthday if I'd like. As much as I appreciated Charlie's offer, I couldn't find it in me to impose on them.
I couldn't get the image of Alice and Edward out of my mind. They were very beautiful, but very deadly creatures. They were strong, and lightning fast. Most importantly, they had something I wanted more than anything.
Their immortality.
Bella got extremely pissed with me when I brought it up last night. I was worried that if I mentioned it again, she'd have me locked away in a nut house somewhere.
I couldn't stand it, though. The longer I sat in this chair waiting for my dad to die, the more I hated even being born. We are brought into this earth only to die and never really enjoy what we have in our lives. It just didn't seem fair.
But, the Cullens were the exception to the rules of nature.
I wanted their speed, I wanted their great looks… and most importantly, I wanted their ability to live forever.
I laid my head back in the chair thinking about how I could even approach this situation and drifted off to sleep.
I was running and yet I had no idea how fast I was actually going. Everything was a complete blur to me.
I looked to my right and saw Alice was keeping up with my speed. To my left was Edward, just slightly ahead of us. He must be faster than the rest of them.
We suddenly stopped. Drinking water from out of a small stream stood a deer. It looked like a small doe and Edward and Alice's reaction time was barely a delay.
I didn't even see it happen. They pounced on the deer, ripping it to shreds with their teeth. I heard the doe cry out in pain and it was silenced quickly when Alice tore through its neck. I wanted to feel sick. I wanted to get angry with them for torturing this defenseless animal.
Instead I felt… hungry. I walked up to join them in their blood fest and as I reached down to pull a part of the deer to my lips, I looked up and saw Bella's face, horror stricken.
She pulled her hand to her lips and then ran away.
I awoke to my dad coughing and gagging. He seemed to be choking and I went into hysterics. I ran out of the room and found Bella and her dad watching TV.
"Charlie… Dad can't breathe!"
Charlie jumped up and ran straight into the bedroom. I stood in the doorway watching Charlie work on my dad. He was doing chest compressions and Bella was on the phone with the dispatcher trying to get an ambulance.
I kept running my fingers through my hair and pacing back and forth. Charlie finally said that he could hear breath sounds coming from my dad.
By the time the emergency crews arrived, my dad had returned to a normal pattern of breathing. Well, normal for what he was going through.
As one of the EMTs took my dad's vitals, I noticed someone walking through the front door. It was Dr. Cullen.
I broke out into sweats.
He smiled as he walked past me. A part of me wondered if Alice and Edward had told him about our meeting in the woods. The way he acted, it didn't seem like he knew.
"Well Jacob, seems like Charlie has it under control here. I just need to check some things and see if anything different needs to be done tonight. We may have to have him transported for more tests, is that is ok with you?"
"Sure, you do what you need to."
Dr. Cullen smiled again.
He knows. I know he knows. Then why hasn't he tried to do anything to Bella and I. Oh, too many witnesses. He'll wait until we're outside alone.
My paranoia began to take over as I watched him listen to my dad's breathing and his heart.
"Well it seems like he won't need to go in. Jacob, I may need to speak to you outside, alone."
Oh fuck. Well Bella it's been nice knowing you. I love you and don't forget that. Hey Charlie, make sure you take care of my dad's place, and hey, if I don't come back in ten minutes, make sure ya'll get the fuck out of town.
"Sure, Doc."
I followed Dr. Cullen outside and we stood near his overly gorgeous car.
"Jacob, I think it's time to prepare you. I don't think your dad has much longer. It seems like his vitals are getting weaker. I don't normally give families a timeline, but I feel I should warn you. He likely only has couple of weeks left, at best."
This wasn't exactly the conversation I thought I'd be having with him at this time.
My face flooded with emotions – first anger, then fear, and then sadness.
"Dr. Cullen, I don't know if I can handle this. I mean I hate to see him suffer like this, but when I look at him, it reminds me of how I could be like him one day, I can't do this…"
I broke down again. I cried so hard and Dr. Cullen reached over and hugged me. His arms were cold and he smelled sweet, almost like honey.
"Jacob I know it's hard to let go, but it's for the best. Your dad is now a shell of his former self. He is in another dimension right now. He may come out of it for a little bit and it will be as though nothing is wrong with him. Please, don't let this fool you. It's called a lucid state and that normally means that his time to go is not far away."
"Will it be painless for him?"
"It should be. We've got enough pain medicine in him to keep him sedated. He won't even know what is going on."
I sat back on the side of Dr. Cullen's car.
Fuck it, I had to ask. I needed answers to the thoughts that had been plaguing me. I was sure Dr. Cullen could answer my questions.
"I met your son and daughter yesterday," I bluntly said.
Dr. Cullen stuck his bag into his back seat.
"Yes I know. Alice and Edward informed me of your run in."
"I'm not going to say anything, if you are worried about that."
"No. I'm not worried about that at all. Alice says that everything will work itself out. She's pretty good about knowing these things, so I trust her judgment."
"Well then can I ask a question then?"
"Sure, what's on your mind?"
"How does one become, like you?"
Dr. Cullen opened his car door and got into the driver's seat. He started the engine of the car and rolled the window down.
"Jacob, I'm not sure why you are asking this question. I do know, or at least I have a strong feeling, that you don't want this. Trust me. You have people in there who love and care about you deeply. You've got to keep them in mind."
With those last words, he drove away.
I stood outside for a while, wishing I didn't have to walk back into that house where I would be surrounded by death. I watched as Bella came to the door.
She was the main reason for asking this of Carlisle. I wanted to protect her in every way possible.
As I stood in those woods with her when we ran into Alice and Edward, I couldn't have defended her if I tried. I was weak despite my ability to bench press half my friends. I was very fucking weak in comparison to the Cullen kids.
Bella smiled at me from the door and instantly I felt like it was the right thing to do.
I ran up to the porch and opened the screen door.
"Bella, can you do me a huge favor?"
"Sure Jake, what's up?"
"I have to run for a little bit. Can I borrow your cell phone and you call me if there is any change in Dad?"
"Yeah sure. Is everything ok?"
"I just need to pay the Doc a house call for a moment."
I kissed her on the cheek and ran out the door before she could tell me to come back.
I got in my truck and sped down the road. I pulled Dr. Cullen's card out of my wallet. He actually listed his home address on his card and I was going to find it – find it and ask for the only thing I needed.
BellaPOV
I watched as Jacob and Carlisle carried on a conversation while I stood at the screen door. Jacob broke down into tears and I knew it couldn't be good. Then Dr. Cullen hugged Jacob and I flinched when I saw that. I just knew Jacob was about to be vamp food, but thankfully, Dr. Cullen didn't eat him.
I sat around the house waiting on Jacob to come home. Billy wasn't getting any better, and the Clearwater's came back over to say their goodbyes to Billy. We all knew it would only be a matter of time.
I sat down next to Billy's bed with my head in my hands. It had been a long month and, realizing that it was June, I had to start my plans for college. I had several offers from out of state colleges, but I refused to take any. I wanted to stay around Forks until Jacob graduated.
I pulled several brochures from my purse. I mulled over the colleges that I got accepted to and wondered if I'd actually make it in college. I've always been one to work hard, but college was a completely different world.
I heard Billy laugh and it caught me off guard.
"You know Bella; if you were smart you'd go off to college. Jacob would understand."
Billy was talking directly to me.
"Billy, oh my goodness. How are you feeling?"
"Numb, but at least not in a lot of pain right now," he whispered "Where is my son anyway?"
"He's gone to run an errand. Do you need anything? Do you want me to get Charlie?"
"Sure, bring him in."
I stuck my head out the door and yelled for my dad.
Charlie came straight down the hallway.
Billy looked over at my dad.
"Hey Charlie how's it going."
My dad had tears in his eyes. I'm not sure why he was crying. This was a good thing. Billy was talking.
Oh hell Billy's awake. I need to call Jacob.
I ran to the living room and instantly called my cell phone. It went straight to voice mail, and I instantly got irritated. He probably forgot to turn it back on.
I hung the phone up frustrated, and turned towards the bedroom. I was about to go tell my dad I couldn't get a hold of Jacob when I saw my dad standing in the hallway entrance.
Tears were streaking down his face.
"Dad, what's wrong?"
"Billy's… gone."
JacobPOV
I sped as fast as the truck could go down the twist and turns that led to the Cullen house. I knew exactly what I was doing. I just had to do my best to convince them that I knew this was what I wanted.
I drove down a long winding dirt road that led to a huge house covered in glass. I could see the lights of the house glaring down into their massive yard.
I couldn't believe I was here, asking them for this. I knew I was breaking every promise I had made to the one person I had left in this world. But what choice did I have? If I wanted to make sure that she was protected, I had to be able to protect her.
My father had tried to shelter me from the harsh realities of life - but the truth was he was just a frail, breakable shell. I wanted more than that for me.
Most importantly though, for her.
And somehow, I had known that I would need to be more than human for her since the first time I held her in my arms on the cliffs.
Before I could open my truck door, Alice was beside my truck.
"Glad you finally made it Jacob, I've been expecting you."
"Oh yeah, that whole being able to see the future shit. Could you do that when you were like me?"
"Yeah, just not as good as I can now."
She led me up the steps inside the house. I walked in to the massive living room. Sitting on the sofa were Carlisle, a blonde woman I assumed was his wife, and the rest of the Cullens.
"Jacob, please, have a seat," Dr. Cullen's wife said.
I sat down in a very comfortable black leather chair.
"Alice already informed me that she saw you coming. I must say Jacob, I'm shocked to see you - despite Alice's keen eye on the future," Dr. Cullen said.
I had never seen the other kids. I assumed the blonde girl was Rosalie and the blonde guy was her brother Jasper. I'd already met Edward and Alice, so I assumed the other dark-haired one was Emmett.
"Why are you shocked I showed?"
"Well I was hoping my little speech in your yard would have given you something to think about."
"I did think about it. I'm not doing this to be selfish. I'm doing it to protect Bella."
Edward scoffed. "You think allowing my family to turn you into a monster is a great way of protecting your girl?"
"Yes, I honestly do. I couldn't have been able to fight the two of you off if I wanted to. What if, in the near future, we run into some not so nice vampires? What then?"
"Jacob, I think you've gone fucking mad if you think that this is what you want," Edward said.
I glared at him just as hard as he was glaring at me.
"Ok, enough of the pissing contest, you two," Alice interrupted. "Jacob, you do realize what you are asking? You are pretty much allowing us to kill you. There is no going back… I hope you understand."
"Of course I understand. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think this through."
"Jacob, I'm in a predicament here. I've never transformed anyone who was in perfect health. All of my family was very close to death when I allowed them to join me. You have your whole life ahead of you. I can't do this, I'm sorry," Dr. Cullen said.
I was crushed. My whole life was falling apart. I had found a solution, yet it was one I couldn't even utilize.
Alice stared off into space and the look on Edward's face was interesting to say the least. It was a cross between laughter and a cringe.
"Alice that is pretty fucked up" Edward said.
"I know, but it's the second time I've had one with him like that."
Carlisle looked at Alice and wanted to know what the big secret was.
"Alice saw a vision of Jacob dying from the same cancer his dad has. He's in his thirties, and he and Bella have a huge family."
My stomach turned into knots.
"Interesting," Carlisle said, "This could change things."
I looked across the room at seven people who very well could be a part of my eternity. Alice seemed so elated she couldn't stand herself. Edward had the same look on his face he always had and I knew my fate was about to be determined.
"So Jacob, when would you like to do this?" Carlisle asked.
Before I could answer, Alice shot me a look. If vampires could cry, she looked like she needed to. Then Edward realized what Alice was doing, and he looked sad too.
Then I felt it. Bella's pain became my own again. It hit me like a heat wave of anger and frustration.
I knew at that instant that something had happened.
I reached into my pocket and saw that I had a missed call from Bella.
I refused to dial the number to my house. I was so scared that I was right.
I finally got the balls to make the phone call when Charlie answered the phone.
"Jacob, I think you need to get home."
"He's gone isn't he," I asked.
"Yes son, he is, I'm so sorry."
I said goodbye to Charlie and glanced over at the Cullens.
"In three days, after my father's funeral."
Carlisle nodded and at that moment, my fate was sealed and there was no turning back.