This is another lengthy chapter, but I hope that it's worth it. We are really jumping into some fairly heavy material here, so please be prepared for that. Please review this chapter, because not only do they keep me writing, but they help my vision come to light. Thank you all for reading! Enjoy.

All credit goes to the mastermind author of the Twilight novels.

There were lots of benefits to being half human. This was not one of them.

One thing I had learned about the pack was that when they drank they burned off their alcohol so quickly that no one ever got visibly impaired. Instead, I grew up with the notion that everyone took the liquor the same way: fast and easy. It didn't take long after attending my first college party to realize that humans –the normal kind- by and large, reacted poorly to drinking. And college was full of regular, drinking, humans.

Ariana had turned getting me out to a party into a personal mission. Not only was she going to get me to step out, I was also going to look the best and be the most fun. By her description, the only way to get me out of my "rut" was to be the life of the event. "Car, this is about to be great. Carolee, Amber and Tippy are all about this scene. They promised that they'll show you a good time tonight."

Ariana worked part time at a bookstore in town and had made plenty of connections in the time she had been there. Three of her co-workers were townies (grew up in Seattle) and only one of which actually attended UDubb. "Ariana, I really don't know if this is going to be as much fun as you think it is. Honestly, I'm just not in a place where I should be celebrating, you know?" The question was falling on deaf ears. There was no way she could understand the bond that me and Jake shared. Or any way she could identify with the pain of your soul mate telling you that they wanted nothing to do with you. When she got an idea in her head, she ran with it, and tonight I was going to be the project.

We stood on the porch of the girls' rental home. The porch light was flickering on and off and I had to vocally project in order for her to hear me. "What did I tell you? This will be FINE. Have I ever steered you wrong?" Ariana smiled down at me, with her infectious enthusiasm. She hadn't pointed me in the wrong direction in the time we'd known each other.

"Hey babies!" Tippy opened the door and waved us inside. She looked kind of cute- in a lost puppy sort of way. Her unruly brown hair was barely restrained by a headband and she had on heels that were a tad bit too high for her. She looked like she was about to topple over. "I'm so glad you came, Carlie! Ariana said you were coming out with us, but I didn't believe her! You never come out with us!"

That was true. I didn't party. It just wasn't my scene. After going to one frat house at the beginning of the year, I'd decided that I probably wouldn't be going back any time soon. There were too many people cramped entirely too close together for my taste. I had stayed for about an hour before accepting the fact that maybe, I was just wired differently than all those who seemed to enjoy it. And no matter how much I wanted to pretend- I was never going to be just like everyone else.

Tonight though, I had a lot of forgetting to do.

"Thanks, Tippy. I uh, yeah, I'm really looking forward to it." I smiled and glanced over at Ariana, who was already heading to the kitchen. The house was small and had obviously seen its share of better days, so when Tippy pointed me towards the rest of the girls, it didn't take anything for me to find it.

Their small card table that doubled as a kitchen table was lined with five shot glasses. Carolee, Ariana and Amber all set up in front of them, ready to go. Amber waved me and Tippy over, obviously ready to continue her drinking. "Hurry, ladies! The party at Cooper's is probably packed already with more people than people, you know?!" Amber attempted to rationalize. I could tell she was already slipping into her drunken oblivion.

"Bottoms up, girls!" Carolee shouted. Before I bothered to respond, everyone was draining their glasses and looking at me to take my first drink of the night. "Come on, Carlie. This is the good stuff- not that cheapo crap you all usually have." Both Carolee and Tippy were "seniors" at a local community college, and already 21. I sensed that splurging on quality alcohol was a pretty big deal around here.

Amber, a sophomore, and only other student at Washington was obviously the most sober of the bunch.

I quickly downed the shot, recoiling afterwards from the bitter taste. It was awful, but the effects were immediate. I already felt a little bit lighter, a little freer. We took a few more before deciding to hit the road. This ritual, the party before the party, was something they called "pre-gaming". Ariana said it was just to loosen you up a little; otherwise, you're too self-conscious to dance.

Sounded reasonable enough to me.

Their friend Cooper didn't live too far away. We walked a few blocks and we were there, getting invited into the house. It was a little after midnight and the place was more or less packed. The living room was filled with people dancing and making out and the kitchen was littered with bottles of alcohol and red solo cups. There were even guys doing body shots off of a girl who I recognized from my Human Anatomy class on the kitchen table. She was taking the lessons a little too seriously.

I couldn't remember how many shots I had taken at the girls' house. 3? 4? Maybe 5? So when they guy offered me a drink in the kitchen, I didn't bother to refuse it. What could one more drink hurt? "So baby, you must not come around here often. I don't think I've ever seen you before." I took a sip of the grainy beer and smiled.

"No, I'm just here with a couple of friends." I took another gulp of my drink and looked over the guy's appearance. While my vision was getting a little hazy, I could tell that he was no Jacob. He was maybe 5'10", 160 lbs. soaking wet, and his outfit was slightly wrinkled. But he was tiny and smiling, and looked harmless enough.

"So you wanna dance, sweetheart? I mean, since your friends dragged you all the way out here and everything. We might as well show you a good time." I nodded and set my cup on the counter.

"Maybe I should write my name on my cup, you know? So nobody steals it." I was almost yelling over the sound of the music. We had pushed our way into the living room, where the real party was going on.

"Oh yeah, that's a good idea. I'll take care of it for you, just sit tight for a second." He smiled at me again and rushed back into the kitchen. The feeling of the bass was encouraging me to move. My body started swaying a bit, and before I knew it, I was shaking everything- even attempting some of the moves I'd seen in a Beyonce video recently. I felt a pair of hands on my hips, as the guy I'd been talking to came up behind me. He wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me flush against him. He was so close to me that I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck. "You're a good dancer, baby."

I didn't like the sound of him calling me baby. There's only one person who had ever said it in the way this guy intended, and I wanted to keep it that way. "It's pretty hot in here. I think I want to get out of this room." I stepped away, heading to the only other area of the house that I'd been. I found my drink sitting exactly where I left it and quickly downed the rest, anxious to get the icky feeling of the guy off of me.

"You look a little flushed, sweetheart. You want me to show you another room?" His hand was back on my back, but I was getting too tired to fight it. I nodded and he guided me through the house, headed for a room where I hoped the ceiling wouldn't be spinning and the air wasn't so thick. He walked me down a set of stairs and finally the beat of the music was distant. As he pushed open a wooden door, I noticed a group of guys I didn't recognize gathered in a bunch of chairs. Everything was cloudy, like someone had been smoking, but I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was sit down and close my eyes.

"Hey fellas, looks like we got one."

And those were the last words I heard before I blacked out.

It took me less time than it ever had to get to Seattle by foot- or paw. The entire journey was agonizing. Not so much because of the exertion it took to move as fast as I was, but because of the threat of danger. I could feel with every pounding step, the pull of Nessie's wavering safety. I was running on instinct. I had no idea where she was except for the tie of her soul to mine- which probably accounted for more of a guide than MapQuest.

When I sensed her located nearing, I phased behind a line of trees behind someone's house. I was grateful for the good fortune of a laundry line being hung nearby, and a male resident who was close to my size. Well, he had basketball shorts that fit. The shirts were obviously not designed for someone of my stature.

I could feel the pounding of loud music being played in the distance and ran towards it urgently. Something told me that was where my Ness was. That was where she needed to be saved from. I pushed open the front door and knew immediately that this was not the type of place she would have normally been at. The walls were chipped and stained, and the carpet (wherever there was carpet, I guess) was caked with years of dirt. I barely got through the first room before some blond girl with shiny teeth latched onto me.

"Oh my GOD. You're that guy from the pictures. You're the one Carlie is always going on and on about!" The girl hiccupped and ran her hands down my abdomen. "Wowwwwww. No wonder she loves you so much!" She giggled and slapped my chest. It took me a second to gather my bearings, but two things I knew for sure. #1, she was drunk. #2, she knew Renesmee or Carlie, for that matter.

"Where is she?" I held her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Where is Carlie?"

"I don't really know." She frowned and pointed a sloppy finger in my direction. "But you shouldn't get to see her anyway. She's been a mess thanks to you!" Her inconsistent inflection and drunken stupor were beginning to frustrate me, and I didn't have patience for her behavior. I turned on the alpha tone before responding.

"I don't have time for this. Tell me where she is RIGHT. NOW" That was all it took. She weakly pointed in the direction of a downward leading staircase, before shrinking away quickly. I pushed my way through the crowd and ran down the stairs. I immediately kicked through the shoddy lock on the only wooden door in the basement.

The haze of the marijuana smoke obstructed my vision slightly, but it wasn't hard to know what was going on.

At least five guys scattered when they saw me looming, as a growl ripped through my chest and throughout the house. I didn't care who heard me, I didn't care what happened. I had never been filled with such rage before in my life. Because as the assholes scattered, I saw my precious Renesmee on the floor, and a guy struggling to pull his pants up quickly standing over her. I lunged towards him, just barely missing his body. I was determined to rip him limb from limb right then. My instincts were working quicker than my mind was. I knew what he was about to do, and he deserved to die for it at my hands.

He sprinted towards the door, hastening up the steps quickly. Just as he reached the top, I heard the sirens outside, and the sound of police erupting through the front door of the house. I could see the outlines of everyone running, barely able to move quick enough. And against my better judgement, I turned back, forgetting the disgusting waste of a man that was before me. I had to get Ness out of there, before the law got a hold of her. I had no idea what had brought her to the comatose state she was in, but I rushed to her and cradled her in my arms. Our quickest plan of escape was through the window.

I maneuvered us through it and ran into the night- determined to save my love, now whichever way I could.

That was a rough one for me. Let me know what you thought: favorite, follow, reviews always welcome (: