Chapter 11: If you die, I die
I worried my lip; Edward had taken to reading Seth's mind because Seth was connected to the Pack's minds. Everything so far had been going well; our side was winning at least. Bella and I were clinging on to each other, much like when we were little kids and it was storming outside. I never needed my sister as much as I did right now. She was currently holding me together. I was grateful for our reconciliation. I had one hand wrapped around Bella's shoulders and the other nervously raking through Seth's fur. Suddenly Edward stood up and faced the mountains. Bella and I froze Seth's fur that was flat against my palm now stood on edge. He went to crouch down in front of me protectively and I pushed Bella closer to my side. Something had changed. Edwards voice broke through the tense silence, "Hello Victoria…Riley." Edward gracefully maneuvered around so he was still blocking Victoria's view from us. On the outside he looked completely calm; you could never tell that his entire life was at risk. I was detachedly impressed; he had a very good poker face. Victoria's wild red hair caught my sight as her and Edward circled around each other. Edward turned towards Riley, trying to reason with him. "She doesn't really love you, her real mate, James, died. She's only using you to avenger her lover."
I watched the whole affair from a third person point of view. I could see myself clutch my sister and my adopted little brother. I could see Edward trying to persuade Riley while Victoria lured him back to her. Nothing made sense, I was a dancer. I went to a boarding school and the craziest thing I'd ever done before this was sneak out for fast food before a recital with Ashley. The closest I'd been to my sister was through a phone screen before moving to Washington. Now I was face to face with a vampire who might very well kill me. My adopted little brother was a werewolf and my sister was engaged to a vampire. My life was a D rated horror movie. My eyes were wide, my mouth was incredibly dry and I had to blink because my vision was getting blurry. I shakily brought my hand to my cheek to find that I was crying.
"Oh no, no I don't want to kill Bella, I want her sister. I want Bella to suffer like I did, the one thing more painful to her than losing you….is losing her." My eyes snapped up to meet red orbs. Victoria's voice was childlike, high pitch. It reminded me of many different types of ballet recital choreography. She would have been a beautiful dancer. I thought dizzily. I could see her stalking towards me. Edward tackled her and Seth went to go take care of Riley. It was whirl of growls and screams. It was streaks of white and tan. They were moving too fast for our human eyes to process. I heard Seth yelp as he hit the side of a rock and lay still. I let go of my sister, desperately hoping Seth was in one piece. He couldn't die. He was my family now too. He couldn't die. I heard Bella screaming at me to come back. I slid into the snow on my knees in front of Seth, he whimpered and one of his eyes bore into mine. He winked. All I could do was sigh in relief, relief that was short lived as I felt cold hands wrap around my throat. Seth growled.
"I've got you now…." A tantalizing voice sang in my ear. I could see Bella's fear stricken face as she looked at me. Victoria was facing Edward and my sister, her hands crushing my wind pipe. I could feel the cold radiating off her hard granite body. I was so cold, my tears were freezing on my face and my fingers were blue. I tried to claw at her hands, my body going into survival mode. It was useless of course; her supernatural strength was no match to my human will to live. Edward tried to cautiously make his way towards me but every step he took closer, her hands got tighter around my throat. I was shaking from fear and closed my eyes tight. I tried to picture Jacob's face, how he looked after he kissed me. If I was going to die, his face would be one of the last I wanted to see. I thought of my dad and mom and Phil. I thought of the pack and how they became an extension of my family. I thought of my sister and Edward. I thought of my new found friendship with Angela. I loved everyone I'd met in Forks so much. Now everything would be over. I was jostled forward, but I was too oxygen deprived to realize much else. I felt my body slip away from me. I tried to open my eyes, my view distorted from snow; I realized I was lying on the ground. Seth was ripping Riley apart and Edward was already burning Victoria. I could smell the fire and the last thing I saw before I passed out was purple smoke.
"Is she okay? Is she going to be okay?" Everything was out of focus when I opened my eyes. I was leaned against something hot, I was sweating. I tried to move but my throat was on fire, it was like white hot pain.
"Her larynx was crushed, our kind is very strong. When Victoria had her hands wrapped around Abby-Lynn's throat it caused acute traumatic injury. Laryngeal Fractures are tricky to treat and don't follow any set pattern. There's no promise of what state her voice will be in when she wakes, or if she will even have one." I recognized Carlisle's voice. My head was pounding and my limbs felt very stiff. I tried to take inventory of my body, all my limbs seemed to my intact and I could wiggle my toes and fingers. Taking that as a good sign I turned to see what I was lying against. I saw Jacob, a much more mangled version. He was lying next to me; he was sweating and gritting his teeth. His right side was wrapped up and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. I went to touch his cheek lightly and his eyes that were pinched closed popped open in shock. "Abby? Baby, are you okay?" I nodded and tried to speak, I opened my mouth but nothing would come out. The act of trying to speak was very painful. I furrowed my eyebrows and Jacob took my hand off his check and pressed it into his chest. I looked around, we were in his bedroom. Several people were in the doorway talking, I caught my sister's eye and she ran to my side. "Oh my God, Abby I'm so glad you're okay." I wanted to scream, pitch a fit and throw things. I wanted to shake her and tell her that she almost got me killed again. Waking up disorientated was becoming a regular occurrence, I didn't like it. I rubbed my eyes and turned in Jacob's arms so I was facing my sister and his arms incased me effortlessly. He hugged me back to him and breathed me in. I cuddled closer, glad we were both okay. Though I had no clue what happened to Jacob. I cocked my head to my sister, hoping she would get the idea that I was completely lost. She seemed to take the hint and spoke in a rush, "After Seth pounced on Victoria you fell to the ground unconscious. Then Edward and Seth got rid of her and Riley. The Volturi came to see all of us after the battle was over. Everything was okay though…" She hurried to add when she saw my eyes widen in alarm. The Volturi was the last thing we needed. What we needed was a vacation. "But then we found out that a newborn had taken Jake and crushed half of his side. Leah thought she could take one on her own and Jake had to go and save her." I knew Leah probably felt awful, though she'd put on a brave face and act haughty. I knew she had to be feeling extremely guilty right now and I hoped that I'd get the chance to see her. Bella stopped talking when Carlisle came into the room. "Hello Abby, it's nice to see you awake. Can you sit up for me?" I tried to move but Jacob's arms circled around me tighter and he growled, refusing to let me go. I squeezed his hands to show him I was okay and he gradually let me sit up on the bed next to him. "Good, now can you speak?" I nodded and opened my mouth. Trying, once again, to make something come out. A weird rusty squeak/gurgle came out and I shut my mouth quickly seeing as the sound made my throat burn. Carlisle ran his fingers down the column of my throat, trying to check for damage. He sighed and crouched down to be eye level with me, "I think my biggest concern is Aphonia. I'm worried that the amount of damage to your larynx caused you to lose the ability to speak. It's very rare, but it does happen. It would not surprise me given it was a vampire would crushed your wind pipe." I looked around and saw everyone's eyes filled with worry. Emily bustled her way in with a hot cup of tea. I took it from her, glad for the heat that seeped into my fingers. I racked my brain for anything that would help me explain how I was feeling. Everyone was looking at me expectantly. I pursed my lips and tried to think back to the last three years. I had opted out of Spanish class and took ASL instead. I had spent freshman, sophomore, and junior year learning sign language. Despite my teacher saying it would never help me in the real world. Think again Ms. Perry. I hesitantly brought both my hands to the middle of my stomach, palms in, and took them. The sign for scared, because that's what I was. I was terrified. Nobody seemed to understand what I was trying to accomplish. I carefully spelled 'S' 'E' 'T' 'H'. All I was getting were blank looks. I'd been teaching Seth sign language for his foreign language credit in school. He was my best bet if I wanted anyone to understand me. I saw him pass the door and I quickly chucked a pillow at his head and frantically waved him down. Inside I was panicking but I was going to try to act as normal as possible. My sister was already hysterical and she wasn't even hurt. I couldn't afford to fall apart.
I quickly signed; I need you to tell everyone that I'm okay. He relayed my message with ease. Jacob huffed from behind me, "You understand her?" Seth crossed his arms, "You'd be surprised with the things the pack knows about her that you don't."
Oh, right. Jacob and I were not together. He was in love with my sister. Jacob bit out, "I do know her. Back the fuck off Seth." He turned my head gently so he could look me in the eye, "I want to be with you." I looked down at our hands that had intertwined without me noticing. I ripped my hand from his and signed quickly. "She said that she thinks you want to be with her for as long as it takes for you to say it." Seth then added his own commentary, "I think what she's trying to get at, is that you say you want her now because you both just almost died. But what happens later when everything's back to normal? Will you still want her?" Suddenly I wish I was currently deaf instead of mute because I did not want to hear the answer to that question.
All I heard was silence.
