Chapter 5

Loss

Momma, Daddy, Jacob and I were hunting, just the four of us. There was a chill in the air, though it was May and my "graduation" party was only two days away. We liked to be out running together. I especially liked it because it made it easier to pretend that everything was like it had always been between Jacob and me.

Jacob had always been my constant friend, my closest friend. I had never been able to have friendships with regular human children. I grew too quickly, physically and mentally. I changed so much from month to month that it was impossible for us to have the same interests for long. Plus, I was always much more aware, much more knowledgeable than my size implied. And, I grew so fast, if I had tried to keep the same group of friends for long, their mothers would have noticed and become afraid, very afraid. Jacob accepted me without question and, even though he was nearly a grown up when I was born, he loved playing the games I wanted to play, doing the things I wanted to do, even as they changed month by month.

Now, we were running through the forest, looking for a large enough herd that the loss of a few elk would not be noticeable. Jacob, running in his wolf form, and Momma and Daddy barely had to slow down for me. Though not quite as fast as them, I was much faster than any normal human. We had just caught the scent of a large herd and were turning to the Northeast to follow it when Jacob skidded to a halt. I blew past him and as I pulled up short and turned back toward him, a soul-piercing howl ripped from his upturned muzzle. I froze in shock, even my breathing interrupted. I was so engrossed in the emotion that was clearly behind his reaction that I didn't notice Daddy until I heard Momma cry, "Edward! Edward! What is it?"

Her voice was in near panic. Daddy had fallen on his knees, his body nearly limp, except for his face which was rigid with pain. She was kneeling down cupping his tortured expression between her palms. He stared with unseeing eyes for a moment then turned to Jacob as Jacob's howl trailed off into a painful keen.

"Go Jacob!" he choked out. Jacob rose on all fours, wheeled around, hesitating only slightly as his deep black eyes brushed over me, then shot away like an arrow. I was still frozen and Momma was still panicked.

"Edward! What happened? Jacob?" her voice was so high with fear, it wouldn't have registered in a normal human's ear.

"Sam. Emily." Was all he would say, staring for two full minutes, still as a statue.

Knowing nothing had happened to Jacob, I started breathing again, waiting until Daddy could tell us more.

Finally, he sat.

With eyes that looked ancient, he looked at Momma and whispered, "There was a car accident. Emily was hurt very badly. She…she didn't make it."

"No!" Momma gasped, now frozen herself in horror. A minute later, her face thawed only slightly as she looked into Daddy's eyes with a look of despair. "The baby?"

He shook his head.