Disclaimer: I don't own Eclipse; all the original characters (so about everyone but April) belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Chapter 11
I am super glad that I am so, well with out the pun, hot. There was snow and the wind was terrible. I got inside the tent to see Bella shivering in a bundle of clothes and blankets.
"Well, that won't do any good, after all, you're producing no body heat. You must be freezing Bella," I said, removing my unneeded jacket. It would be warm enough for her. I held it out to her and she grabbed it somewhat quickly. She wrapped it around herself, slowly warming her.
"That won't last long for her, and if I was sick, I don't want her getting what I had," I told Edward, who was relieved that Bella was getting warmed up. He nodded his head, thinking about options beside the obvious.
"Edward, it would be best, after all, he is warmer than me by a few degrees," I stated, knowing what he was thinking. Jacob outside was smiling, as if he already knew that he won.
"Wa- wa- what a a are yyyou talkkking about?" Bella stuttered out while shivering.
"Jacob's going to sleep with you, clothed for the most part, and keep you warm," I said. Embry was keeping him distracted by setting up our tent. Carlisle wanted me to get a good night sleep before the fight, since I was our big advantage. He also wanted me to be fully well again before the fight.
"Wa-wa- why? I'mm fffine, rreally," Bella stammered firmly. I took her hand. It was freezing cold, colder than normal at least.
"Bella, I can't stay here, I could get you sick and we really don't need that right now. Jacob will be good, because otherwise, he has to deal with me." Bella thought it over a minute before nodding her head slowly.
"Bells, you ready to sleep?" Jacob asked as he walked in the tent. Edward growled low enough that only Jacob and I heard him.
"You two, be good," I said as I left.
"Tent's up," Embry pointed out as I got out of Bella's tent.
"Great, I could use a little more sleep, believe it or not. I could sleep forever," I said before walking in to find one bed. No big deal, we've slept together before, nothing big. I laid down and Embry snuggled up beside me. He wrapped his large arms around me, pulling my face to his chest. I could hear his heart beat. It was steady and calm. My eyes drooped and I fell asleep.
When I woke, all I could hear was a wolf howl. Embry wasn't beside me. I rushed out of the tent to see Bella and Edward.
"I have to talk to him," Bella said before trying to run off.
"Wait with April and Seth, I'll get him," He said before leaving.
Bella was in hysterics. She needed to calm down.
"Hey, what's going on?" I asked her. Bella just shook her head. I heard it though.
Why this way? God, I love him, I really do. Bella shook. I hugged her. She was thinking about Jacob. She never told him about the engagement. He overheard it just now and howled. Embry left to see what was wrong. I could see how torn he was in Seth's head. It was like Jacob's heart was being chopped in half with a dull ax. It pained Embry, and the other wolves.
"Seth, tell Jacob to come back, now," I said. Bella shook her head.
"Edward went to get him. God I'm so stupid," she cried again. I shook my head.
"No, you just love him, but not as much as you love Edward," I never had that feeling, but I knew what it was like.
"I'm going to the front. Seth, take care of her," I ran. I needed to be by Embry. He mattered most to me right now. The Cullens were all lined up. I stood beside the wolves on a hidden ledge. Embry snorted, letting me know where he was. I ran to grip his fur. He had a little snow on him, making his fur cold. I heard snaps of the twigs from below. Our fight was about to begin.
I heard screams and yelps. I heard the familiar shatter of the vampires skin shattering. I was ecstatic to be back where I belong, killing vampires. The wolves jumped off the ledge and I ran to leap too, but I stopped.
He set us up, I knew it. He lied. I don't want to die. It was a young girl. I stopped, right on the edge of the ledge. They were all so young. I shook my head, remembering that they were vampires, and not like the Cullens. I jumped off and punched the closest enemy to me. The girl flipped over backwards and landed on her feet. I twisted my body to avoid her arms trying to grab me. I came behind her and smacked her head. It rolled off her shoulders. I moved on. I grabbed the biggest guy there and ripped him away from the group. I could see the lust for my blood in his crimson eyes. I dodged his attempts to grab me and hit his spinal cord. His body broke in half and I moved on. I saw a young girl hiding behind a tree. Her long brown hair had twigs and leaves in it. I rushed over to kill her too, but I heard something, the same voice that I did on the ledge.
"Please," She said. I stopped. The fight around me seemed as if it weren't there. She wasn't wild, she didn't attack me, she simply stood there, crouching in the tree as if she were trying to hide from the fight. I should have just killed her. I raised a hand to grab her and she curled her body to form a ball shape. I lowered my hand. She really didn't want to fight. I couldn't just let the others kill her.
"What's your name?" I asked. I sounded like something I thought I'd never be, a mother.
"Bree, Bree Tanner," She stammered. I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to me. She squirmed in my arms, but I had to get her somewhere safe, where the Cullens wouldn't find her.
"Promise not to hurt me?" I asked, my voice suddenly hard and cold. She stopped squirming and nodded her head furiously. I lifted her and tried to get out of there as fast as possible. Carlisle saw me and blocked my way.
"She surrendered Carlisle," I said, hoping that he would take it. He looked at her. Her eyes were tightly closed, like if she opened them she would be killed.
"I'll take her somewhere safe, concentrate on the fight April." I nodded my head. I handed her over to Carlisle. I ran back to the fight. I was so stricken by her. I felt a cold hand on my neck. I screamed.
"You. Destroyed. My. Army," a male voice said before he bit me. I felt lightheaded. He stopped though.
"Raoul, you suck," Bree said before tearing of the vampire's head. I felt weak, and sick. I looked around to see only Bree, the Cullens and the pack. Jasper looked wild and pissed. Bree backed away from me and I felt my neck.
It was there, a dark red, blood. I held my had there to apply pressure. Esme looked me sympathetically. Carlisle was by my side, patching my neck with bandages. He poked my vein with a needle and squished a bag.
"And I thought that I would need this stuff for Bella," He mumbled while slightly chuckling. My neck was healed, but I was still dizzy, even after one or two bags of blood.
"April? Are you okay?" Carlisle asked. I nodded my head. After a moment, the dizziness went away.
"Yeah, but where's…" I wondered aloud. The pack, except for Embry, was still in wolf form. Leah was standing the furthest from me, by a bush. I saw a vampire hiding.
"Leah, look out!" I yelled. She looked around and growled. She went after him. Jacob butted her out of the way.
"No! Jacob!" I screamed as I tried to stand up. The vampire got his arms around Jacob. He squeezed and I'll I could hear was a sickening crunch of bones and a loud howl. I ran over to him and held his head in my arms. Embry yelled and rushed to my side. I was shaking trying to use my gifts to subdue the pain. Jacob winced when Sam lifted him up. Carlisle was talking to him, trying to get him to phase back to a human to let him help. I stood there, helpless. Okay, yes I don't especially like Jacob, but he's Embry's best friend. I could feel the pain from Embry. It was unbearable and saddening.
I held his hand, kissed his cheek and left with the Cullen's to meet the Volturi.
"I'll come over later with Bella," I promised him. He nodded his head, trying not to cry. I ran to the fire where Edward was sitting with Bella, and Bree was as far away from her as possible. She was digging her nails into the wood. I sat down beside her, maybe distracting her with my scent. She stopped digging and wailed. It was high, like a baby screeching in hunger. I heard a small, tiny, timid voice in my head. Make it stop! I held my ears. She stopped and went back to digging into the log. She was breathing heavy and her eyes were wild and crazy. I rested my hand on her shoulder. She looked at me, and my stomach lurched. Her eyes were like solid blood. I had a hard time not throwing up. She had a puzzled look. I placed my hand on her cheek, revealing my hint.
Try not breathing so heavily, or not playing at all. She smiled and nodded. Her hyperactive breathing calmed to a slow, steady pace. She barley took in any oxygen at all, just enough to talk.
"Thank you, um, uh," She tried to remember my name, because she had heard it before.
"My name is April, April DeLoine." She nodded and softly replied, "April," like she needed to repeat it to remember it, which I knew was not the case. I peeped into Alice's head to see when the Volturi would arrive. It would be in a few seconds. I whispered to Bree.
"Make sure you stay close to me." She nodded her head and clutched my arm tightly. My bone snapped and she let go. By the time my arm healed, the Volturi were making there entrance through the fog. Bree grabbed my arm again, only this time gentler. There was only four, three men and one woman. Everyone tensed. I felt like Bree needed protection, so I wrapped my shield around her. They were cloaked in gray cloaks that made their red eyes stick out. I shivered, so did Bella. I stared at them. They were somehow, graceful. I swallowed hard and breathed deep, trying to see if Bella' scent was masked by mine. Sadly, not. I then thought about myself.
"Edward, do I smell?" I asked. He sniffed and shook his head. I relaxed, I didn't want to reveal the wolves to them.
They stood before us. The woman stood in front.
Jane, Alex, Demetri, and Felix. Edward thought, looking at each one of them. Jane cleared her through.
"Well, it seems you have survived. How," she asked. I tensed. Carlisle wouldn't condone revealing the vampires.
"We were prepared, and we had a little help for someone," Edward said calmly while protecting Bella. He wasn't thinking of the wolves, but instead me!
"Yes, we have found a rare treasure, April DeLoine," Carlisle motioned me forward. I walked slow to give myself time to expand my shield. I stood in front of them. Alex looked me over, his eyes stopping for a second or two longer on my breasts and butt.
"That is incredibly uncomfortable and creepy," I stated. He stared at my face with his dark, crimson eyes.
"You are not a vampire, are you," Demetri asked. I shook my head, but I knew that I would refuse to reveal anything other than that.
"So what are you?" Alex asked. I shrugged, playing stupid.
"Maybe we should end you," Felix pondered. Jane raised her right hand.
"No, she could be valuable. Aro would never allow it. Although, how she was able to help you is a mystery," Jane stared at me deeply, as if to figure me out.
"Jane, she can't feel anything your doing to her," Edward said. She released her gaze. She instead looked around. She focused on Bree. I shifted to hide her.
"You! Back there, what is your name?" Jane shouted. Bree panicked and I started in inch towards her. Alex whispered to Felix and Demetri. Demetri sniffed the air. He nodded. Alex and Felix smiled. Edward's eyes grew wide. Everyone looked puzzled. Jane then directed everyone's attention on Bree.
"You created a newborn for this war," she stated. I started to speak, but Edward cut me off.
"She surrendered, we gave her a second chance."
"We do not give second chances, you should know Edward."
"She did nothing wrong," I spoke up. The group stared at me. Jane was suddenly in front of me.
"Did she not now, how can you know?" She asked. I swallowed hard again.
"I read her mind," I said. Jane pondered that a moment before replying.
"You must meet Aro, he would love have a discovery like you."
"I'm sorry, but I'm staying here, if this Aro wants to meet me, he can come here," I said. The Cullen's looked incredible uncomfortable. I just realized that Bella was there. Maybe I could distract them from her.
"Fine, dispose of the newborn, I want to leave," Jane said. I moved Bree behind me just as Felix started towards us.
"No, she didn't break any of your laws," I said. Felix and Jane stopped moving. Jane turned.
"What did you say?" She said. I didn't realize it, but I was in a crouch.
"She was hidden, never revealed her identity, always hunted the junkies, obeyed all your laws," I said. Jane paused before saying.
"Let us leave brothers, as we are not needed." The turned to leave, but Jane stopped.
"Keep in mind that we do not offer second chances, and Aro will be very interested to hear that Bella is still human," She said.
"The date is arranged, by the time Aro sees me, I will be a vampire," Bella answered. Jane stared at Bella as intensely as she did me. Bella didn't flinch, but started chewing on her bottom lip.
"Jane…" Edward looked ready to kill Jane. She smiled, "No harm done Edward, just making sure."
"Perhaps you should leave, before anything else happens," Carlisle said.
"Of course, we wouldn't want to be here for the little one," Demetri said. Felix and Alex laughed. Jane smiled and they exited. I tried to think about what he meant by "little one". Edward seemed baffled too.
"But the tests said negative," He mumbled. I thought about what he was talking about. The blood tests. My blood tests. The ones that said that I wasn't pregnant. The ones that may have been taken too early.
"Carlisle, when we're done with Jacob, we have to do more testing on me," I whispered. Carlisle nodded and I grabbed Bella to take her to see Jacob.
"April, do you think…" she questioned. I sighed.
"I don't know." I ran faster. We got there before Carlisle. Embry was shaking outside the door. I could hear Jacob's labored breathing. I put Bella down and walked over to Embry.
"Sam said that we have to wait for Carlisle. He's been in pain for quite a while now," He choked out. I embraced him, hoping to help him while Jacob was in pain. They may heal as fast as me, but their bones don't automatically set like mine.
"Hey, he's going to be okay, Carlisle will help him," I wasn't sure how, but I knew he was going to. In fact, he was there shortly after I started comforting Embry. He sighed.
"April, I may need you," He said. I nodded and went in with him. Jacob was lying on the bed, bones sticking out and healed cuts. He was completely broken. I swallowed a cry.
"Okay, April, we have to rebreak and set the bones. Can you numb his senses?" Carlisle asked. I nodded, though I had never tried it really. I concentrated on Jacobs eyes. Why were they similar to Embry's? Never mind, okay, so I focused. They became glossy, like a dolls eyes. I held him hand, to see if he would squeeze. He didn't, proving to me that I could do it. I nodded to Carlisle, who started breaking bones. I tried to focus on his eyes and not on the crunch and snap of the bones. Jacob suddenly screamed out. I had broken my focus. Carlisle stopped, waiting for me to focus again. When his eyes were glossy again, I nodded. After a few more bones, Jacob screamed again. It continued like this until Carlisle was done and hooked him up to a morphine drip.
"April, you did very well. You were also very brave to stand up to Jane and let Bree live," He said before leaving.
"Where is she?" I asked. I had no idea why I cared about her, we were even. But there was something inside me that held on.
"After we explained the rules, she ran off. Edward said she went to meet someone important. She would explain the rules to him, but she will be alright April," Carlisle said, then pointed to Jacob. "Just like him, they will both heal. Bree lost her partner because of this, before the fight too." He walked out. I stood there, watching Jacob sleep, wondering why I cared for her, what it would be like to lose Embry, what I would do, and a million other things. He slightly turned, like Embry did, and blew a puff of air out, like Embry. I thought about all the things that Embry and Jacob had in common, but I guess I really didn't think anything of it.
"Hey, do you think I could talk to Jake alone?" Bella asked. I looked to see her leaning slightly on the door way. I shrugged my shoulders, since Jacob was asleep.
"Let her through April," Jacob said. His voice was filled with pain that Bella wouldn't understand. He was lonely, and in love with her. But no matter how hard he tried, she would always choose Edward, because they are soul mates. She would never know how hard he tried though, how many tears were shed over her or how miserable she would be.
"Sure, I'd better tell Embry what happened." I left quickly. I knew what was coming, and I really didn't want to see it.
"How is he? We heard him, well," Embry broke down crying. I sat beside him on the porch. They all wore forlorn looks, but Embry was the only one crying. He and Jacob were very close. It pained me when Jacob screamed. It must have torn Embry apart.
"Hey, I dulled his senses for most of it. I'll bet he'll feel more pain from talking to Bella," I mumbled. Embry sniffled a little before saying, "Let's go." We left and went back to the Cullen's house. I sat down in a chair beside Carlisle and rolled up my sleeve. He looked at my arm before remembering about what I said.
"Let's move to the kitchen, my equipment is there," Carlisle said.
"Equipment?" Embry asked.
"I think that maybe something is wrong with me," I answered while Carlisle stuck the needle in me. I felt a cool sensation as he drew blood. He put it into a machine that started beeping within seconds. I bit my lip, waiting for the results. Carlisle sighed.
"Once again, nothing. April, you may be trying to test too early or your not pregnant. Your body may be just changing, there is nothing wrong with that, now go to bed. Both of you, you both had a rough day," Carlisle said before swishing us off to bed. Embry held my hand until we reached the bed room. He went inside and I followed him, nervous about something that wasn't there.
"April, do you honestly think you're pregnant? We had sex once and it was safe sex. What put the idea in your head?" he sat on the bed. I sighed and started rummaging through my clothes, looking at all the things that would be warm and comfortable after my shower.
"Demetri did. When he said that he didn't want to be here to see the little one. It may just be because of my stupid body, or it may be that I am pregnant and we're missing something here," I said as I pulled out different pj's. I grabbed a towel and walked to the bathroom. Embry sighed and pulled out a drawer and grabbed something before slamming it shut. I turned around to make sure it wasn't broken. He stood behind me with a towel and a smile. I smiled back and looked over his shoulder at my dresser. No flaws were present.
"Okay, I guess you could use a shower too," I said. He nodded. Good. He should know.
A/N: Sorry this chapter is really long! I started writing and had to keep going. Lolz (lots of loves) to all! Lillian (aka Lilly for short).