Disclaimer: Not Stephanie Meyer. Duh.

A/N: A thousand apologies for making you wait five years for this. School happened. Also, I'd completely forgotten where I'd saved the remaining chapters. The good news is that I will upload the rest of them so I don't make you wait any longer.

Please bare in mind that I have not reviewed this chapter in about six years. And reading some of it now... well lets just say I think my writing style has changed significantly. Please be kind to my sixteen year old self's writing!

I hope you are all well.


14. Truth

I was in the forest again, running at lightening speed away from something. I didn't know what it was, except that it was coming after me. I felt like one of those men in the video games Jake brought home one day; just thrown into a situation and the goal was to run away from what was after you. I could just hear footsteps warning me of the danger following me, tracking me, wanting my blood...

A howl in the distant brought me to a halt. It was familiar, comforting and cautious. A red-brown wolf jumped from behind one of the trees and stopped in front of me. I kneeled down to run my fingers through his fur and be comforted by his presence, but hi yelp warned me to carry on running. But at that precise moment two other wolves, a sandy brown one and a grey one, came running to us from the direction that I'd been running to. Leah and Seth both took their places next to Jake, growling at whatever was behind me... at the danger.

More wolves came, jumping out from behind the bushes. They stood their ground behind Leah and Seth; ready to take on the thing that was trying to harm me. My heart skipped a beat as I turned around slowly and nervously, to see what was so bad that I was running a way from it; so bad that the entire pack was there – ready to attack.

There, a few meters away from us, walked Nahuel and the other vampire, looking at me with a sense of loathing and anger; their fists clenched into fists as they got closer to me. They wanted me dead.

Jacob jumped in front of me, baring his teeth and growling at the two. Leah and Seth backed him up as the others surrounded me – protecting me.

It was only when they got close enough that Nahuel and the vampire realized the true size of the wolves and the fact that they were outnumbered. They started to back away, step by step when they bumped into something…someone.

The Cullens, all of them, eyed Nahuel and his friend with such a ferocious expression, I had to look away. They looked too animal-like, as if they were ready to hunt, to kill…

"Get them," hissed Mum.

As the white granite and fur jumped at the focal point, my surroundings changed. The forest had been cold but now I felt hot, almost sweating. Then I realized why.

I was on fire because Jacob was everywhere, his fingers trailing on every part of my skin he could touch. His lips were on my neck, nipping at the sensitive spots, determined once again to leave his mark of affection there. I gently teased his face away from my neck to look at him, to look into his deep set, dark, mysterious eyes.

Fire burned within them, passionate and alive.

"I love you," he whispered, and pressed his lips against mine.

His butterfly kisses trailed my up along my jaw line, to my ear.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered. A shiver of pleasure ran down my spine.

"She is so beautiful…"

My head hurt and my eyes wouldn't open. Where was I? Last thing I remembered was being hit on the head with something really hard, which was probably why my head hurt.

There were two people wherever I was. I could hear their hushed voices, the same two who kidnapped me; Nahuel and that other vampire.

"Yes… she is unique I suppose," the vampire replied, "But she is also a threat to us. We cannot have someone who knows what's going on running around. Say this got to the Volturi?"

I noticed that the vampire's voice dripped with a South African accent.

"So… what are we going to do?" asked Nahuel anxiously.

"With her?" replied the South African vampire. "Well, it's her choice I suppose. She should wake up soon. It's been a few hours."

"What's my choice?" I asked in a groggy voice, my eyes still refusing to open.

"Ah she is awake," the vampire said delightfully. "Well, bafwethu, it's very simple. Either you shut up and join our coven… or we kill you."

"What do you mean?" My eyes opened and I sat up a bit, my body a bit stiff from being unconscious for a while. I looked around, trying to figure out where we were. It looked like a motel room; I was on the bed and Nahuel and the South African vampire were standing at the door, their eyes locked on me.

"Well, you already know quite a bit," he said "About us hunting HIV infected people and that is the crux of my beautiful plan. If anyone, especially the Volturi, know about that; then I'm screwed. So, you have one of two choices. Either you join us and live our way of life, or we kill you. It's nothing personal, but you were in the wrong place at the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe next time you shouldn't eavesdrop. Oh wait; there may not be a next time! "

"But why?" I asked, "Why kill these people who are fighting for their lives? Why don't you rather feed off normal people or, better yet, off animals?"

"That's too much information," said Nahuel from his corner, his voice slightly cold.

"Yes, but seeing that either of the choices that she is given won't allow her to tell anyone," he replied to Nahuel, "I think she ought to know. Especially since she is probably going with option one. We don't want this beauty to go to waste, now do we?"

"I could easily escape, you know?" I asked rather cheekily, "When you two leave to hunt, I could break through any lock and escape. How could you possibly think you could keep me locked up in here?"

"You didn't think I didn't have that sorted out, did you?" the vampire grinned, "There are more of us; the others are back at our hide-out, so to speak. We are working on a schedule. When we get thirsty, someone else will come and keep an eye on you. Now, would you like to know my plan, or must I make you choose now?"

"Go on," I choked, noting the frustrated gleam in his eyes. A frustrated vampire was not one to mess with.

"Well," he continued proudly, "First off, let me introduce myself. I am Mangaliso Dlamini, a well-known vampire amongst the vampire, uh, community in South Africa. But most people call me Mangi. So, you want to know why drink HIV infected blood rather than normal blood? Well, it's all quite simple once you understand my plan."

"What plan?"

"Mangaliso..." hissed Nahuel.

"Be quiet, Nahuel," Mangi dismissed as he walked towards me and sat on the bed. "My plan… to overthrow the Volturi."

I laughed. Hysterically. Did this vampire seriously think he could overthrow the? Aro? Caius? Jane?! Maybe the HIV blood was having some sort of loony effect on him.

"Oh, you may think its funny now," he said in an annoyed tone, "But haven't heard the full story. You see, this all has to do with my diet. Vampires, as beings, are already strong and have super speed. We feed on human blood to satisfy our thirst. But HIV infected blood, as I discovered one day, was something else."

He paused, letting everything sink into my brain before he carried on.

"Infected blood in a human's body would make them weaker. But mixed with our venom, it makes us stronger, faster and makes our special abilities more powerful. We could beat any vampire feeding off healthy human blood… or even animal blood."

He sniggered as he looked at me before he carried on.

"There are certain side effects though. We cannot sparkle in the sun as normal vampires or half-breeds, like you, do. This makes it easier for us to walk amongst humans without being exposed as compared to other vampires."

"But how would this help with your plans to overthrow the Volturi?" I asked, still not seeing the point.

"You see, this blood makes us stronger than normal vampires. With a coven of my own, all feeding of this blood, we could easily rid the world of the Volturi and I shall be the greatest, most powerful vampire in the world."

He stopped talking and looked at me with curious eyes.

"Well," he said after an awkward silence, "What do you think, intombi-yami?"

"Your plan? It seems… interesting I guess. But –"

"But what?"

This question had been bugging me for a while – why did the HIV infected blood have such an effect on me? Why did I go into bloodlust?

"Why do hybrids go into a bloodlust frenzy, where as full vampires don't, when they are exposed to the blood?"

"Ah yes," he smiled. "That would bring me to our friend Nahuel over here. He had been exposed to the blood as well. And that is how he got hooked. The blood is addictive once drunk by a vampire and that is the only blood that'll ever satisfy them. But to you, the half-breed, its very scent can send you into bloodlust. It has to do with the way you were made; your chromosomes. That's all I know at the moment, but I'm doing a bit of research on that. That's why I need to get as many half-breeds as possible – which brings us to your choices.

"You can join me, Renesmee. Join us and become one of the most powerful half-breeds in the world. Everything that you could ever want; good food and blood, a mate, a place to stay…

"Or you could choose to die. I would have no other choice if you don't agree to option one because you already know a lot. It will be a slow and painful death. I'm not sure how to go about killing a half-breed; so it may take a few different methods before we find the right one. It's your choice."

Nahuel walked towards me. "Option one would be the best. He is right; you are beautiful and a good person and such beauty should not go to waste. Choose option one and I could take you places, show you things – life will never be the same."

His eyes also burned with passion, almost as bright as Jacob's had. But he wasn't Jake and he would never be Jake. Never.

In an attempt to buy some time, I asked, "Can I think about this for a while? Please?"

The puppy-dog eyes turned on themselves.

"Sure. I'll give you a couple of hours. We'll give you food and privacy – but don't think about escaping. We are HIV filled vampires – we could get straight to option two."

Mangaliso's eyes were menacing, matching his tone of voice. He stood up, gave me a nod and walked to the door.

"Nahuel will be outside the door. I'm going to get you and Nahuel some human food. Speak to him if you need anything."

He left the room, leaving me alone with Nahuel. Where was Jake when you needed him?

Nahuel laid his hand against my cheek, stroking my skin with his thumb.

"Make the right choice, Nessie," he whispered. "I never met another half-breed female other than my sisters. Imagine what we could do."

He leaned in and hesitated just a bit before pressing his lips against my forehead. There was no fire in his touch, no sparks, and no shivers of pleasure. He was not Jacob.

Nahuel walked away, never taking his eyes off mine and left the room before closing the door.

Life?

Or Death?

I never saw myself contemplating two important aspects of life like these two. I guess I'd taken life too easy and everything that I'd been blessed with for granted. Now, being faced with this decision, I know that life was never easy – not for humans, werewolves, vampires or even hybrids.

'Life or Death' here could simply be put as 'Good or Bad'.

Choosing life would be bad. I'd be forced to live with this monster and kill innocent humans. I'd be the reason for more dead bodies being found in those sugarcane fields. And having to be with these creatures, I'd never be able to see my family or Jacob again.

With choosing death, I'd save a lot of human lives which would have been lost thanks to my bloodlust – but still I wouldn't be with my family or Jake.

Either way, it all led to never being with the ones I loved again.

I'd rather be dead.

"I'd rather be dead!" my voice echoed my thoughts out aloud and I banged my fists on the bed. "I'd rather be dead than stay with your lot!"

Tears streamed down my face as I lay down on the bed, still banging my fists with frustration, one sob after the other, thinking of every person in my life that I'd be leaving behind.

The death would be painful, I know, but I thought about those people that would be spared…

I must've drifted off to sleep, because all I saw was darkness and hushed voices spoke around me. Three voices this time.

"Ekse uncle. Watkyn?"

An unknown voice.

"She said she'd rather die, Mangi." said Nahuel, "She screamed that she'd rather die than join us."

"Well, that's not good at all," sighed Mangi, "I was hoping to see what she could offer us. Imagine the possibilities with that blood in her system."

"I know."

Nahuel sounded disappointed.

"One thing I must say, bra. This stekkie is hot," the unknown voice spoke again.

"But luckily for us, I thought one step ahead; incase something like this should happen," Mangi spoke as though he hadn't heard the unknown voice.

They didn't realize that I was awake, so I kept my eyes closed, eavesdropping once again. Something I'd been warned against.

"I spiked the drink I got for her," he grinned evilly, lifting up the bottle. "With infected blood. When she has her meal, the blood will go into her system and once she's had it, she'll be hooked and won't be able to control that level of bloodlust. Just a little experiment."

"Yoh, excellent pan, lanie."

"Wait," argued Nahuel, "Maybe we should wait and see if she changes her mind when she awakens. Don't give that to her just –"

"NO!" I screamed, jumping out the bed, surprising everyone. I saw the third vampire in the room. He was also beautiful (as vampires are) but he was fairer than the other two. "I won't have it! I'd rather die than join your coven."

"Okay aunty, calm down," said the other vampire, walking towards me. "This blood is good. Reminds me of the way bunny chow is to a human, Mangi over here didn't bring you one? You have to try it, seeing that you can still chow…"

"You won't drink it?" smirked Mangi, once again ignoring the Indian vampire. "Fine, we'll make you drink it. You two, hold her down."

Before I could move, Nahuel's and the other vampire's hands were around my wrists like shackles, holding me down I couldn't even move my head. Mangi's one hand held my head in place and my mouth open as the other poured the liquid down my throat.

It burned my throat as it slid down, gagging me.

When all the liquid was in my system, the three monsters let go of me and waited for my reaction.

I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, and I closed my eyes as they started to burn like my throat. My whole body felt as though it had caught on fire; not the pleasurable, Jacob kind of fire. No, it was the painful one, searing across my skin and through my veins.

Then suddenly the burning stopped and I felt as though all the energy from my body had been sucked out.

I just remembered their shocked faces as I slipped once more into unconsciousness.