Jacob's POV
He took off his shirt. I was going to punch him.
"Pixie." He said. Nessie looked at him with a look that said you really expect me to believe that? I wanted to burst out laughing. But being as I was hiding in the bushes, I obviously didn't want to reveal my location.
She was about to open her mouth to say something, but he burst out laughing instead. "Okay. Thank God you didn't believe that."
"How do you always-" She started, but was cut off.
"I'll explain that in a sec. First of all, I'd like to clear that I am not a pixie, because that would be extremely gay. Which is obviously not the case since, sorry for being forward, I've been hitting on you lately. So yes, pixie is out of the case." He smirked. Again, I was going to punch him.
Nessie turned bright red, looked away and muttered, "Who- I mean what are you then?"
He looked down, almost as if he was ashamed to say it. I heard him whisper something along the lines of "If I were really an angel, I wouldn't have to do this." Then he looked up at her, cleared his throat and said, "Would you believe it if I said I was a fallen angel?"
Nessie didn't speak, but she did inhale deeply and take a step back.
"Whoa, I'd be freaked if I were a human and heard you were a vamp. Ha, oh well." He said, the smirk still painting his face.
"Half vampire." She whispered. His mouth dropped open.
"That's impossible, though." He said, his eyes disbelieving.
"In my defence, your story isn't that believable either." She said, but her eyes were still on the ground.
"But how?" he said. "Both... Oh! I get it now! I thought it always looked awkward between you, Edward and Isabel- I mean Bella. And you look like both of them... but it's still impossible! Vampires can't... um... reproduce. And even if they could, you wouldn't be a half vamp, and you'd have yellow eyes. By the way, your eyes are really pretty," I was going to punch him. "And, wouldn't you still be a... baby?"
Nessie sighed. "My mother was human when she gave birth to me," I wanted to laugh, seeing how difficult it was to talk about that without making it look like she was disgusted. "And then to save her, my dad had to turn her into a vampire."
"Wow."
"Yeah. Now it's your turn to explain." She said, trying to get off topic.
"Okay, but you're in for a bumpy ride." He said. "I'm dead. I died when I was 17. That was around 70 years ago. Apparently, we became this," he said, gesturing to his back, "because we died a horrible death. I don't remember mine well. What I do remember was that I was in Poland when World War II started, and I couldn't get out. I was supposed to return to Italy in a few months time, but they wouldn't let me leave. I don't really remember how, but I had a Jewish friend. I think his name was Shaul. Anyway, we would sit in the place I rented and listen to the radio every day. When we heard that the Nazis were trying to create a pure Aryan race, both of us panicked. Then they started blaming the Jews. His mother was sent away somewhere. Shaul came to stay with me. We heard that they sent them away to places that were closed off from the public. I knew they were no good. All the families of the people who were sent there stopped getting letters back. Anyway, I knew they would stop at nothing to get them all rounded up. I refused to let that happen. When the Nazis started rounding our neighbourhood, I helped hide Shaul. He kept telling me not to, because I would get in trouble too, but I didn't care. What I didn't remember was they wanted a pure Aryan race, not just a race without Jews. So they started keeping an eye on me, being as I didn't have blue eyes or blonde hair. Finally, they decided to search my house, cause they thought something was up. You can guess what happened next. Shaul and I..." He stopped and there was a look of pain in his eyes that could only ever be understood by him alone. I almost felt sorry for him. He continued, "Shaul and I were sent somewhere, which we now know was an extermination camp. They sent him to a room. I know now it was a gas chamber. The last thing I heard him say before the door closed was 'Mother!' And he died with his Mother in the same room. I died alone. I don't quite remember how, but I was used for an experiment. That's why I have this scar, I think." He showed Renesmee A huge scar sprawled about his chest.
I heard an intake of breath from her, but instead of stepping back like I expected her to, she stepped forward. He was the one who stepped backward.
"Don't trust me." He said. She shook her head.
"How did you..." she said, gesturing toward him. "How does it work?"
He sighed. "Well, although I still look 17, I'm not immortal. And I don't look like I did before. My eyes and hair changed. So did my blood. I just woke up one day. I thought I was still at the camp. Then I realized that the whole place was different. I didn't know where- or who- I was. They gave me a new name. Zeffan. Everyone just called me Zeff. When I figured out my old name, I just stuck to the new one. It was Angelo. How ironic is that?" He laughed.
She looked at him expectantly, knowing he was getting off topic.
"Anyway. I found out the first time that I cut myself that my blood changed. It was black. I freaked out and asked one of the elders about it. They said it was normal. It was ink. They said it was the reason I had the tattoos on my back and face. They also said that these are the symbols that bind us here. Without them, we die. But it's not like we ca just go to a tattoo parlor and take them off. We have to go through something called the chilling. As if we weren't cold enough." He whispered the last part. "About the whole immortal thing. Yeah, we can live forever. But not on our own. We need... help. Are you sure you want to know the rest?"
She nodded. I shook my head. Like it mattered. He was going to say it anyway.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." He whispered darkly. For once, I agreed with him. I wished she would agree too, and just leave. Just be safe.
"Then what am I getting myself into? Seeming as I'm already into it, I should know." It was semi-sarcastic, but I could hear the curiosity in her voice.
"Humans. Our life isn't our life. After we're made into this, we still get to keep the rest of our life, but as our years end, we need a new one. We're still the same person, but... we take other people's lives. We're killers. Monsters." Haven't I heard that one before? "So if we... sacrifice someone about 17 years old, they have about 70 years left to live. Which means we get those 70 years. Without them, we die. I'd rather die, but things are getting... complicated. I've already Chosen."
"Chosen?" Renesmee asked. She tried to sound confident, but I could hear the shakiness in her voice.
"Yeah. You know about that Imprinting thing with the werewolves, right?" he asked. I froze. I hoped to hell he didn't know. And if he did, I hoped to hell he wouldn't tell. I would do that. I could manage. I think.
She nodded.
"Yeah, well it works something like that. Only we choose our... target. The only rules are, at the time of choosing, you can only choose someone for the sake of survival. Not for revenge, not for pity, and not for self-gain. So we kill to survive." Something screamed at me from the inside. This was bad, but I didn't know what to do. Or what was happening.
She didn't seem to understand. In fact, she almost looked sorry for him.
"How..." she began, unable to find words to suit the question.
He laughed. Again, I was going to punch him. Could he not keep whatever irony he felt went along with the comment in his head for once?
"The Kiss of Death, if you will. It kind of sounds like we ripped off Disney, doesn't it? Yeah, well this time, Sleeping Beauty isn't waking up." He said. I started piecing everything together. If he was given a new life, he had around 70 years left to live. He died 70 years ago. It started to rain heavily. "Amanda." He said.
My eyes shot open. So did Nessie's. Her mouth opened and closed, as if she wanted to say something. He continued instead. "You noticed my friend hasn't been here as long as she hasn't been here. He was nearing the end of his years, too." Too. "All we can remember was that we'd seen him hanging around her a lot. One night, even for Forks, it started to rain badly. All I can remember thinking was, 'Shit.' So now he's gone... and so is she. Everyone still thinks she's missing. Does anyone ever come back? Rarely." I felt cold for the first time in a long time. Freezing. So most people, particularly teens that have gone missing around here didn't get lost...
"Don't test me." I heard her snap. It almost sounded like a snarl. My mouth gaped open in shock. So did his.
"I don't want to believe it, either. It's just the way things are. And they call us angels. If I was an angel, I wouldn't have to do this." He took a few steps toward Nessie and sighed.
'She doesn't realize what this all means!' I screamed at myself. 'What the hell are you waiting for? Save her!' But I couldn't feel my legs.
I then saw realization hit her face. He took the last few steps left between them and wrapped his arms around her. I saw the fear in her eyes. And she saw mine. Still frozen, I realized that I had walked into the open sometime during my internal rants.
It all happened fast then. Zeff followed her gaze and saw me. With a quick glare in my direction, he jerked her chin so she would face him again. He closed the small distance between their lips. She tried pushing away, but that only made him aggressive and territorial.
"Get your damn hands off of her!" I snarled and a voice that barely sounded like mine. It felt as if someone else had taken over. He became more aggressive.
She shoved once more, shuddered, and went almost completely still in his arms. Their lips broke apart. She struggled to keep her eyes open.
"J-Jacob," Nessie managed to choke out. She coughed, and her eyes faltered. The only motion coming from her now was her breathing.
"You'd better believe it." I whispered to her. I don't think she heard me.
I turned back to Zeff. "Let her go. Now."
"I think you're the one who should let her go. It's too late." I charged at him, but a sudden wind blocked me. "I said it was too late." I couldn't understand what was happening.
The tattooed wings on his back started to glow a weird red. Then they began to lift. They peeled off his back and solidified. At the same time, I heard multiple coughs come from Renesmee. They sounded almost as if she was choking- as if she couldn't breathe. Her right hand grabbed onto her left shoulder. I began to tremble.
She was not going to die. Not in a million years. Literally.
