SM owns.
Thanks Mommakat!
TPOV
"Thanks for staying with me tonight. I had a really good time," Bella said as I helped her get her bags from the trunk of my silver Mercedes. After shopping around, I'd driven her back to the cabin she was staying at. It was a little after 2:00am and if Phil and Kate weren't done by now, tough luck. I could tell that Bella was tired and I knew that sleep was vitally important to humans.
"No problem, honey. I had a good time too. If you ever want to hang out just give me a call. I know a lot of great places around here," I told her. She smiled and nodded her head.
We'd exchanged numbers earlier in the evening and I found myself actually wanting to see her again before she left for Arizona. I'd been confused as to why Kate had called me to keep watch over some random human at first but I'd done it without question. After seeing Bella for myself, I understood Kate's request and fulfilled it happily.
As Bella walked up to the door, I watched her to make sure she got in alright but also took in my surroundings. I could hear Phil breathing slow and evenly inside. He was sleeping. I exhaled in relief that Bella would not have to endure wild moaning as she tried to rest tonight. I could also hear breathing from somewhere behind the house. A quick sniff at the air revealed the source.
"Kate?" I called in tones lower than Bella or any other human could hear.
"Yea, it's me. After Bella's in the house drive until you're out of sight and then wait for me. I'll ride home with you," my sister responded, also in low tones that only our ears could hear.
Bella stepped inside the cabin and turned back, giving me a wave and a smile before closing and locking the door behind her. I listened to her move around a while longer. When I heard a shower being turned on, I got in my car and did as Kate told me to. I stopped the car about a half a mile away and barely had to wait a second before Kate slid into the passenger seat.
Her eyes were alight and her smile giddy. Her typical "I was just fucked good" look. I snorted and shook my head at her. I thought about asking her how her night was but I already knew so I opted against it.
"Thanks for watching Bella for me. I just didn't feel right leaving her all alone," Kate said as I sped off toward home.
"I didn't mind. I have to admit I was confused at first but when I saw her in that bookstore...," I trailed off as I recalled how she looked sitting in the corner pouring over that book. I felt my still heart clench with emotion stronger than I'd ever felt for a human before.
"I know!" Kate exclaimed. We've been together so long that we rarely needed to actually complete a thought for the other to understand. "She's different and her blood! The scent rivals that only of my singer so many years ago. She barely said a word all night but I was so focused on her."
I nodded my head. "Exactly but it's so much more than that though," I said. "She's so sad, Kate. When I found her, she was in a bookstore fighting back tears. I could see that she was alone but I could also feel her loneliness. She's hurting," I murmured more to myself than to Kate who was listening and nodding beside me.
"At dinner she was quiet and shy. She kept tensing up though when I asked certain questions. Phil is her step-dad and I have no idea where her mother is," Kate told me.
I pulled up outside our house and cut the engine, wondering why they would travel without Bella's mother. I'd been around humans enough to know that was not normal.
Kate and I got out to together and made our way inside. We could hear music wafting from the living room where Irina lounged stretched out on her back on the couch. We were never big fans of television but always of music. It played almost constantly in our house. I smiled at tonight's selection. The Bird and the Bee, a cute little indie band that we'd recently discovered.
"Did you have fun babysitting?" Irina asked as she propped herself up on her elbows smirking at me.
"I did, actually," I said taking a seat on the floor facing the couch as Kate went upstairs to go shower. I quickly filled Irina in about Bella as Kate added in details about dinner. Though she was on the second floor and in the shower we could all still hear each other clearly.
Irina crossed her arms petulantly like the child she often behaved as. "I want to meet her!" she whined. I rolled my eyes in response.
"Then you should have come with me!" I retorted remembering how she had completely ignored me when I'd asked her to after getting Kate's call.
"Well how was supposed to know that babysitting the girl would be such a moving experience!" she huffed.
"Don't fret, my dear," Kate said as she reentered the living room and took a seat in an armchair. "Phil invited all three of us out to dinner tomorrow night. You'll meet her then and maybe we can find out about her mother."
"Really?" I asked more excited than I should have been. Irina quirked a brow at me but I just stuck my tongue out at her.
"Okay enough about Bella," Irina said before turning to Kate. "Tell me about Phil," she purred. Kate giggled girlishly and slumped back into her seat with a dreamy smile on her face.
"He seemed to be human but with stamina like that, I'm not so sure," she gushed. Irina squealed with delight ready for all the juicy details. I half listened as Kate regaled us but my mind was still mostly on Bella. Kate's story stretched on way past dawn as she rated Phil's performance and compared him to other men she'd been with. She had definitely enjoyed her time with him.
After Kate's story, we decided to go hunt. Irina hadn't fed in two weeks and Kate and I just went along for the sport. We left the cabin full speed into the forest behind our house. We started off all running together for about forty-five minutes but as the scent of a wolf caught our noses Kate and I fell back allowing Irina the first kill since she was the one that really needed to feed.
The wolf was gnawing on the bone of his own kill and was too preoccupied to notice us. Irina had crouched and pounced on him and he met his end with no knowledge of how it came. As Irina sank her teeth into it's neck I realized that the wolf was alone.
"How odd," I murmured.
Wolves rarely roamed alone. I sniffed at the air to see if his pack was not too far away and hoping they could be my meal. As I breathed in the air I was not only met by the scent of other wolves but also the smell of human blood. Kate caught the scent just as I did. Our eyes met and her eyes mirrored the terror that I felt, as a blood curdling scream sliced through the air.
"Oh my God!" I turned on my heel and took off in the direction of the sound with Kate right behind me.
BPOV
"What are you chicken" Phil goaded as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"No but I am smart!" I shot back. "Look at how dark it is in there. We won't be able to see anything anyway!"
Phil and I had gotten an early start. We'd had breakfast at another restaurant and then decided to go hiking on one of the easier trails. Much to my very sick satisfaction Phil woke up tired after his night with Kate but still wanted to get out in the air. We'd decided to choose one of the easier trails since Phil was a little worn out. As we started the hike though it turned out to be a little too easy.
Both Phil and I got bored with it quickly and decided to venture off the trail and into the surrounding wilderness. We'd brought along supplies in our back packs including compasses so we didn't worry about getting lost. About five miles away from the trail we stumbled across a cave that Phil wanted to explore.
It was pitch black inside and just gave me the creeps. My gut told me that going inside was a bad idea and I told Phil as much. He however had no qualms about it. After his attempts at begging had failed, he'd turned to teasing me to go in with him.
"That's why we have these handy little things called flashlights, sweetie pie," he replied with a goofy smile, waving his own in front of me.
"Phil if you want to go in there and live out some horrible bear attack scene from Animal Planet then be my guest but I...," my words were cut short as a deer came racing out of the cave straight into Phil. He screamed in pain as the deer's antlers cut into his face. He fell back in the snow as a pack of about five wolves came flying out after the deer.
I stood frozen with too many emotions to do anything. Shock had stunned me initially as I saw the deer. Horror gripped me as I instantly saw how the antlers mangled Phil's face and his agonized yell pierced through me. Fear consumed me as I realized that only one of the wolves kept after the deer. The other four stayed behind after setting their eyes on bigger prey.
I stood in utter disbelief and panic as I watched two wolves attack Phil. The sight of their teeth tearing into his flesh and the sound of his screams paralyzed me. I wanted to look away, help him, and scream all at the same time but my brain had shut down. I didn't even notice the other two remaining wolves until they were on me. Something sharp slashed into my side as something else tore into my shoulder. The pain jogged my brain and a scream ripped out of my throat.
TPOV
The scene before me was one of the most gruesome I'd ever witnessed but I took it in and assessed swiftly. Phil was gone. His body was completely mangled and ravaged. Bella on the other hand could be helped. We would have to move faster than we ever had but letting her die was not an option.
Kate lunged at the two wolves currently biting into her torso. The wolves let out a strangled yelp as she used her gift to electrocute them. I rushed to Bella pushing the scent of her sweet, sweet blood to the back of my mind. I scooped her into my arms and dashed through the trees trying to get her to a hospital.
Behind me I could here Irina reaching Kate and the other wolves. As I ran I assessed Bella's injuries. She was in worse shape than I'd originally thought and she'd lost so much blood. She was already growing cold in my arms.
I wasn't moving fast enough.
"Tanya she's not going to make it! She's hurt too badly!" Kate yelled from somewhere behind me. I knew that she was right but I just had to try. Bella groaned in my arms and her big brown eyes locked with mine as tears trailed down her cheeks. An unexpected sob burst out of me, at the sight. Her eyes held some sort of silent plea that shook me to my core. What did she want?
Her weak hand clutched my shirt with what had to be all the strength she had left. "Please," she begged, her breath labored and her voice low.
I had no idea what she really wanted but that one word stopped me dead in my tracks and with no thought process at all I cradled her to my chest and sank my teeth into her neck.