Chapter 7:

Jacob hovered in the bushes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Right as he leapt through the air, he heard a terrible scream. Fear completely consumed his body; it was Nessie. The deer were part of the past; all he could think about was saving Nessie.

Nessie backed away from the bike with her hands over her mouth. Tears streamed openly down her cheeks, and she began to hyper-ventilate. Through the tears she felt a familiar thirst creeping up on her.

"What is it?" Jacob demanded as he ran through the trees, pulling on a pair of worn black sweatpants in the process.

"Do something, Jacob!" she shrieked, looking at the seemingly lifeless body of a young man. He ran over and quickly checked for a pulse. There was a weak one, but just barely. Tears continued to run down Nessie's cheeks.

"We'll take him to Carlisle." It was the first thing he could think of, and hopefully it would work.

At the Cullens', the family was sitting around the main room, talking and joking around like a proper family.

"Does someone want to tell me how my nice, new granite counter top in the kitchen got a large chip taken out of the corner?" Esme pressed. The four younger Cullens all looked at each other, causing her to press her lips together in a fine line.

"Someone probably could, but you probably don't want to know," Jasper replied, earning him a high five from Emmett.

"Nice recovery!" he exclaimed. Esme opened her mouth to continue her scolding, but the scent of blood wafted through the open window, catching the attention of all six vampires. Seconds later, Jacob and Nessie burst through the front door, in his arms was the bloody figure of a young man. Carlisle was on his feet and by Jacob's side in less than a second.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Nessie found him." Nessie stood frozen in the doorway.

"Give me." Jacob handed over the limp form. "Emmett, go set up the bed in the spare room. Esme, get my bag. Jasper, Jacob needs some fresh clothes. Alice, Rosalie, take care of Nessie." In a flash, everyone leapt into action. Nessie was vaguely aware of being led over to the couch by Alice.

"Where are my parents?" she asked in a dazed voice. The second the words were out of her mouth, Rosalie had her phone out and was dialing.

"Rose is calling them, honey. They'll be right here," Alice assured before pulling the trembling young girl to her in an attempt to sooth her.

meanwhile, Bella moaned with undeniable pleasure as she felt Edward's flesh pressed against hers. A hundred years together and such a glorious feeling never got old.

"Isabella," he whispered huskily in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Right as they both reached their peak, the house phone began to ring.

"Leave it," she urged before kissing him hungrily. Edward was only too happy to comply. He latched his lips to hers without a second thought.

"Edward, Bella, its Rosalie…" The voice drifted in from the family room. The distress in her voice was obvious. "We really need you to come by, Nessie­-" Edward leapt out of bed and flew across the room to grab the nearest phone.

"Rose, what happened?" Bella climbed out of bed and joined her husband. Luckily she could hear what Rosalie was saying.

"You guys need to be here, Nessie's pretty worked up."

"What happened?" Edward repeated forcefully.

"Just come down here right now!" Rosalie snapped. Edward hung up the phone and turned around to find Bella already dressed. There was a sense of urgency in the air as he pulled on his clothes. Lucky for them this only took a few seconds.

Jacob held Nessie close and tried his very best to calm her down but to no avail. She curled into his chest, trembling and crying. They were pain-filled cries that tore him in two. He was powerless to take away her pain and to erase the images from her mind. No one should be subjected to such a terrible experience, especially during what was supposed to be a wonderfully romantic evening.

Bella was the first one through the front door. right away, she ran to Nessie and knelt down in front of her.

"What happened, sweetie?" she cooed as she gathered her up in her arms like a small child. Instead of telling her, Nessie pressed her hand to Bella's cheek and replayed the entire ordeal for her. "Oh honey," Bella soothed when she was finished. Edward entered the room from upstairs.

"Carlisle needs you, Jacob," he said calmly. Jacob's head shot up.

"Me?" Edward nodded. Jacob gave Nessie's trembling shoulder a reassuring squeeze before reluctantly leaving her and going upstairs.

Edward took Jacob's seat on the couch and did his best to wrap his arms around Nessie. She leaned back against him and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. He planted a fatherly kiss on the top of her head.

"What are they doing up there, Daddy?" she sounded like such a small, helpless child, which pulled on Bella's heart mercilessly. They all knew what was going on up there, but no one had the heart to say it. Nessie's question was answered by a blood-curdling scream coming from upstairs. The Cullens and Jacob, with the exception of Carlisle, all came down the stairs calmly as if there was no horrid noise filling every corner of the house. Nessie shuddered against Edward; she had never in her life heard such a sound.

For the next several days, Edward and Bella kept Nessie home. The trauma from the hunting trip slowly melted away, leaving her free to recover and return to her usual life. Nobody dared to mention what was going on with the rest of the family, they all knew what was happening.

While Nessie slept, Bella and Edward were curled up in bed together having a serious conversation.

"Carlisle's been thinking about moving to Denali once the transformation is complete," Edward informed her.

"Then school this year is out of the question." There was the faintest hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Maybe just for the time being. We'll either come back here or move to another town with a school. We have an eternity to go to school." She leaned up and kissed his jaw softly.

"What do we tell Renesme?"

"She already has a feeling. She's a smart girl, Bella, she knows what's going on around her."

"Yeah, our family is being warped and reshaped," Bella replied bitterly.

A/N: If anyone here is big into role playing or knows someone that is, please check out my homepage!

~Tina101