Enigmatical
By wired2damoon
Chapter 24: Definite Determination And Drastically Daring
A/N: Sorry for the still slow updating, my computer crashed and my chapter got deleted and I had to re-write it all again. Which was a major pain in the wazoo.
It's also shorter than my usual because the next chapter is the big turning point, the next twisty bit in the plot and will be a very long chapter.
The end of this fic is near, haven't mapped it out exactly, but am estimating about six/seven chapters to go… sob :(
This is DEDICATED TO: my hubby is no edward for her lovely support. Hope you all enjoy! ~wired2damoon~x
-Claire's POV-
Love. Such a complicated, wonderful, scary, perplexing, little word.
And yet, even with it's pros and cons, it's one of the most well known words in the English language.
Why?
Because of the sheer hold it can have over any individual.
Even the most cynical, demanding, neurotic, freakish, depressing, galling, totally insane person in the world can be infected by it, whether it be in a romantic, platonic or family-orientated sense, it still forms within the majority of human kind.
Me included.
Believe it or not.
They say, mere seconds before you die, that your life flashes before your eyes. Now, that, is a load of crap.
Trust me.
You know what really flashes before your eyes before you die?
Every single, minuscule, rampant or reserved mistake you've ever made in your entire life.
And you know what's the main mistake that stands out in my mind as I (let's face it) practically wet myself with fear as I see the four, red-eyed, blood-thirsty vampires edge towards me in a completive yet completely daunting way?
I never told Quil that I love him.
Love. There's that little word again.
Except now, to me, not only is it complicated, wonderful, scary and perplexing, but it is also haunting.
It haunts me.
I'll never get to tell him how I feel about him…
And that's all that runs through my brain as the creatures edge ever closer to me.
I wanted to have faith. Not religious faith per se, I'm not all that interested in religion (much to my mother's chagrin), but faith in the people I love. Quil primarily, my mom, Nessie, Jake, all the other werewolves, the Cullens, even Erin (she's an amazing person and I can tell that she will make an excellent friend) but, the problem, is my lack of faith that I will get out of this, alive.
Logically, I should think that I have a pretty good chance, I mean, I'm in cahoots with other vampires and werewolves for goodness' sake, but, I guess in all the panic and drama, that logic and rationality sort of, slipped away from me.
Which would explain why my entire body is shaking.
"Oh dear, are you cold?" asked the vampire named Cassandra in her pseudo-sweet tone, as her eyes shown knowingly. She knew well I wasn't shaking from the cold.
"You seem, to exert a different type of fear when looking at us," one of the vampires I had yet to be introduced to, murmured matter-of-factly. I fought desperately not to let any emotion escape across my face, to play it detached, impassive. I just hoped no one in the vicinity happened to be a mind-reader.
"Yes, she seems to sense…something…" the other vampire I hadn't met, also male, concurred.
The guy, Lukas, then approached me, squinting at me, drawing his face up to reside mere inches from mine. Again, I was fighting to keep both the grimace from my face and avoid falling victim to another weird hypnotic trance of love of whatever the hell he was doing to me.
"Very interesting…you are a brave one Ms. Young. Very brave." he cooed, tilting his head to the side as he continued to scrutinise me.
Funny. I don't feel brave. In fact, I'm quite disgusted with my behaviour. I SHOULD be brave. Well, maybe not brave, but at least, not be so bone-chillingly numb with unadulterated terror.
Okay, maybe I'm not that scared…not yet anyway.
"So, you like her Luke?" asked one of the still unknown vampires. He was tall in stature, with dark hair, burly too, almost as much as Emmett, only not the type that you would like to give a bear hug to. No, definitely not.
Lukas tilted his head the other way and flashed me a grin, one which both sickened me and oddly made me swoon. Oh god. I'm swooning? I never swoon! There must be something up with him…because it's definitely not me!
"She has quite a high threshold for manipulation. She's by far the strongest girl I've met so far, that definitely puts her in the top three…but…there's always room for some more guests…Rachel?" Lukas turned away from me then and walked over to Rachel whom I'd momentarily, in all the fuss, forgotten was there.
"Yes Lukas?" she asked, not looking directly at him. If I were to guess I'd say that she has the same problem as me, trying desperately to look anywhere but him when her entire body is screaming to do the exact opposite.
"I'll be requiring at least five more girls, you know, to make it an even thirty…and try to branch out a little, will you?" he murmured softly, although it was clear to all that it was a distinct order.
Rachel nodded vigorously, still avoiding his gaze and instead glancing towards the taller of the two nameless vampires.
Satisfied with her response, Lukas turned back around to me and flashed another toothy grin, "count yourself lucky Claire - as of now, you're my new favourite, let's just see how long that lasts, shall we?"
I merely stared at my shows as he said this, my jaw set determinedly, trying desperately not to let his words shake me to the core like they so threatened to do. I will show no more weakness.
I will be brave.
- Nessie's POV -
I nodded vigorously, remaining silent as I heard the murmurs of the various voices echo throughout the room. I could feel Erin's eyes glued to me, her mouth more than likely hanging open as she heard the extent of the plan which I was going to carry out.
I have to say, I don't blame her for feeling a little…edgy…the way everyone is harping on about it would make anyone nervous.
"We're just being thorough Nessie," my father muttered quietly, obviously having heard my thoughts. I glanced up and saw that he was looking straight at me, concern filling his topaz gaze.
"I know Dad, I know…"
That's the problem. I know why they're all acting like this. They are all afraid that I'll get hurt. But frankly, right now, my own safety is not the top of my priorities. I just keep thinking of Claire and all those innocent human girls and I have to say, it makes me sick just thinking about how they're locked up, none of them knowing what their kidnappers really are, all except Claire that is.
I can't decide whether that's a good thing, or a bad thing, knowing exactly what they are.
How's Quil? I ask mentally, knowing that my father is still listening.
"He's determined…that's the only positive thing I can say right now," he responded lowly, only for my ears to hear, and under all the loud chatter of strategising, it's very possible that no one else heard, except for Alice of course.
Just as I was about to enquire further, Alice cut me off, with a sharp gasp.
All of a sudden, all chatter stopped and everyone turned to look at her, silence falling over the room. I bit my lip with anticipation as I looked from Alice to my dad and back again, searching for any clues in their expressions. It was the most gruelling thirty seconds but finally, as Alice took a deep breath and sagged her shoulders.
"What is it? What did you see?" Quil wasted no time in demanding, walking over to Alice and peering down at her. In other circumstances it might have been rather comical, a 6'7" burly werewolf, peering down at a 4'10" petite vampire, but this was not the time.
I saw my aunt sneak a quick glance at my dad before angling her head up to look Quil straight in the eye. "It seems that we may have something going in our favour", she smirked before turning our head to me, "I think we have our window of opportunity to get you safely in the house, Nessie."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, something was going right.
- Quil's POV -
I listened intently as Alice told us what she'd seen in her vision, and finally, finally, I felt something like hope seep into my veins. At least we were getting somewhere now. It seems that the four vampires are taking a little trip later on tonight- to hunt as they don't feed on the girls that are captured.
That means, when Rachel goes searching for five more girls and comes across Nessie, brings her back to the house and locks her up, the other vampires will have no idea that she's there until they come back and hopefully, by then, she'd already had the chance to look around and see if there was any way of escaping.
"So, basically, you're saying that I could over-power Rachel, break out of the cage, free all the girls and send dad my thoughts about exactly where we are so you can all come help?" Nessie tried to clarify, her eyes darting from Alice to her father and back again.
"Yes, that's precisely the plan. Now, according to my vision one of the vampires whose name I believe is Sian, is the one that has the power similar to Bella's. He has some sort of protective shield around the house, he can't put it around people, however, only inanimate objects…so I believe once he leaves, the barrier will be down. Which is where we will gain our window of opportunity." Alice rambled, pacing back and forth.
"So…all the them are just going to leave a house filled with kidnapped girls in the hands of one human woman? Doesn't that seem a little…odd?" Rosalie asked, and I had to agree. Vampires don't generally entrust so much responsibility in other vampires, never mind a human and especially in a- well, a human like Courtney…Rachel.
"Well, it would seem that she has struck some sort of deal with them. For some reason, I can't decipher as of yet, but, she is totally trusted, by Sian anyway and from what I can tell, he is the leader. The others, Lukas, Cassandra and Tyson are loyal to him, so whatever he says, goes…and he trusts Rachel wholeheartedly.
"They don't seem to worried about security either, the girls won't know that the vampires are gone, and have only seen Cassandra and Lukas anyway…it would seem they want to all hunt together as Sian is planning (once Lukas has chosen his mate) to relocate. So, really, time is of the essence…" Alice trailed off, standing up and clapping her hands together, determinedly.
It seemed, that urgency had really set in. A total gaggle of voices erupted upon that gesture and everything was finally pushed into place.
We have a plan.
We are going to help those girls.
We are going to get Claire back.
Those stupid bloodsuckers won't know what hit them…
- Nessie's POV -
It had been another two hours before everything had ultimately been finalised. I can say, that amongst my feelings of anxiousness, worry and a smidgen of fear at the thought of failure - and it's consequences, there are even stronger emotions of determination, strength and self-assurance.
I know I can do this.
My entire life, my parents, family, even Jake, have tried to wrap me up in cotton wool, but now, now is finally a chance to prove myself. I love Claire, and there is no way I'm letting anything happen to her, or any innocent human girls. And that's what's going to drive me to succeed.
I. Can. Do. This. I thought to myself as I stood in front of the mirror, taking a deep breath. As I nodded and squared my shoulders, preparing to turn and race downstairs, I felt a presence come into the room. Without turning, or even glancing back up into the mirror, I knew who it was.
"Hey… Jake," I mumbled, bringing my gaze up to stare into the mirror, seeing his tall stature reflected back at me as he stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets, his head lowered.
"Hey…" he almost whispered, not bringing his eyes up from the floor.
I knew that his earlier statement about letting me do this was not beginning to haunt him terribly.
I turned and walked over to him, stopping a mere foot away from where he was shifting his weight back and forward from foot to foot. This was his classic nervous pose. I frowned, my hand reaching up to cup his cheek almost involuntarily, so that I could see his handsome, dark orbs.
"Jake…look at me," I pleaded softly.
The words were no sooner out of my mouth before his gaze locked with mine and the familiar sensation of deep, loving companionship washed over us both. Really, it was something that we were accustomed to, but, at times like this, I try to cherish every moment.
"I'll be fine," I assured him quietly, my thumb tracing lightly under his right eye, "I'm a big girl now, and I can handle myself. Stupid, platinum Rachel won't know what hit her…" I smiled, trying to inject some light- heartedness into this dramatic and terrifying situation but alas, failing.
"Nessie, you don't know that! I mean, I know you're half-vampire and she's human and all that but…I mean, things can change between now and then. The vampires could come home early, before we have a chance to swoop in, or one may make a split decision and decide to stay, or they may catch your scent when Rachel is only driving you to the house or-"
"-Jake! Stop! You said it yourself, the only chance Claire and these girls have is to put one of us in the house. To get someone on the inside. Now, seen as I am the only one that's neither fully vampire nor fully human, I can slip in affectively. It's not like I'm typical, Rachel certainly won't catch on - at least not until it's too late, she'll probably just think I'm convenient.
"Once these vampires get back from hunting, yes, I won't lie, they more than likely will interrogate me or threaten me, but hopefully, by then we can have the girls out, and over-power them. I know you're worried, and I understand that, really I do, but please, just for now, for these last few minutes before I've to go, will you please just-just keep it together, have some confidence in me and give me a kiss goodbye…?"
It was only when I finished did I realize I had tears in my eyes and hurriedly blinked them back. There was no way I was going to cry - not now. I had to be strong to help Claire and those girls. They were all counting on me, my family too, and I was not going to let them down, or risk Jake completely freaking out either, that too could be a problem…
Jake sprung forward then, enveloping me in a huge hug, lifting me off my feet and crashing his lips into mine with so much passion I can honestly say that the breath was knocked right out of me. I was so shocked!
Jake had never dared to kiss me within such close vicinity to where my father could maim or murder him, this really was a first. Just when I was beginning to respond however, to my disappointment, he pulled away and pressed his forehead against mine, his dark gaze boring into me.
"I have total confidence in you, Nessie, don't ever doubt that. I know you're strong mentally, emotionally and physically and I know you can do this…I'm just worried that's all. I want you to come back to me in one piece," he mumbled, leaning forward and lightly brushing his lips against mine.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and tangled my hand in his hair, kissing him back feverishly, before jumping back down from his embrace, onto the floor.
"I love you too, and have every intention of coming back intact," I smiled, standing up on my tip-toes and pulling him down to plant a kiss to his cheek, before letting go, taking his hand and pulling him out of the room and down the stairs to where I knew everyone was waiting.
It was time to get this show on the road.
A/N: Well there you go! I know it's not the best, but it's necessary in order for the events in the next chapter to unfold.
UP NEXT!!
1. Nessie's arrival
2. Lukas makes a surprising decision
3. Claire gets into even more trouble
4. And loads more!!
ALSO IF THERE ARE ANY "BEING HUMAN" FANS OUT THERE, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY NEW FIC "HEARTLESSLY HUMANE". Thank you!Hope you liked it! ~wired2damoon~ x