"Crawling" – Linkin Park

Crawling in my skin / These wounds they will not heal / Fear is how I fall / Confusing what is real


"So why'd you say 'no'?" Kim asked me as we sat on her couch. Right after leaving Paul's house, I figured that I had no place to go. My parents would not welcome me after the spectacle me and Paul had caused…plus Liam's now afraid of me. I couldn't go to Sam's because he and I don't really get along, and Paul goes there all the time. Therefore, I settled on Kim and Jared's house.

I sighed, resting my head on the wall behind the sofa. "Because," I groaned, "I can't go on in a relationship knowing it's there all because of some werewolf voodoo."

Kim bit her bottom lip, deep in thought. "You know, I was nervous about it too when Jared proposed."

I rolled my eyes. Kim gets nervous when the doorbell rings! When she opened the door, I could see her frame slightly shaking with apprehension. However, once her eyes settled on me, she grimaced. Apparently, when Jared thought she was pregnant, he went out immediately and bought all these baby supplies. When he surprised Kim with them, she of course said she had no idea what was going on. Jared supposedly got all depressed and stored the baby stuff in the basement.

Kim continued on with her story. "I was speechless, but once I looked into his eyes, I knew that Jared would be the perfect husband for me."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You know, I love how when I have a problem, you start talking about Jared. I don't give a shit about Jared!"

I heard loud footsteps rushing down the stairs, and soon enough, there was Jared. He glared at me, looking pissed beyond belief.

"First," he growled, "you lie to everyone, making me think I was going to be a father. Then you break my pack mate's heart. And now, you dare to raise your voice at my mate?"

The logical part of me screamed to hang my head and apologize. "Yes," I smirked, "and I'll do it again." I turned to Kim, who was beet red with embarrassment. "Kim, you're ugly!"

I felt my feet leave the floor. I looked back and saw that Jared had picked me up by the back of my t-shirt and was now carrying me towards the door.

"I think it's time you left," he snarled.

I scoffed. "You're honestly going to throw a pregnant woman out your house!"

Jared swung the front door open and set me outside on the porch. He turned to face me and mocked my previous smirk. "Yes." Then he slammed the door.

I grit my teeth and stomped down the driveway. Well if I couldn't go to Kim's or Sam's, then I guess I'll try Seth. I knew he was a pushover. And the facts that he hadn't imprinted yet and Leah was out of town for the week were bonuses. Leah was nice and all…not wait, she's not.

Seth's house wasn't too far from Kim and Jared's. Maybe only about one block, therefore I reached it in a matter of minutes. I knocked on the door and Seth sleepily answered.

"Huh?" he said.

"Scoot aside Seth," I ordered. "I'm cold and pregnant."

That sobered him up. "Oh, o-okay," he stuttered, moving to the side to let me in. He closed the door behind me and walked over to the thermostat to turn the heat up. "Where's Paul?"

I shrugged. "Probably at his house where I dumped his ass."

Seth was taken aback and started to tremble. "So wait, you dumped him, and then decided to come to my house?"

I cocked my eyebrow.

"You do know that Paul is very possessive over you right? You have any idea how he's going to react when he finds out you're here?" Seth ran over to the door and locked it, even looked out the peephole.

"What, are you scared?" I taunted, sitting on his couch, seeing he was watching MTV. "Besides Seth, I thought we were friends. Remember when I gave you my hotdog at the bonfire?"

Seth grimaced. "Paul licked it and you washed it off in the ocean!"

That was pretty funny. "It was an initiation!" I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air. What, is La Push the Complaining Capital of the World? "So what? Are you saying you don't like me?"

Seth looked flustered. I knew he was too nice of a person to say he didn't like someone. Perfect. " No, it's just that-"

"What? Are you going to put a single, pregnant teenager out into the cold? Are you that heartless Seth?"I asked, holding my breath to make my face look red.

"No! You can stay! Just, don't tell Paul, please!" Seth said, holding his hands up in surrender.

I fought to hide my smirk. I knew that Seth would be easy to play. I folded my arms behind my head and relaxed. "Could you get me a soda?" I asked.

Seth scoffed, plopping down on the couch beside me. "I ain't your mate Danni," he chuckled.

PPOV

My head throbbed every time my heart beat. Shit, what the fuck happened?

I felt myself laying naked on a cool surface. My chest was freezing on what seemed to be steel. Slowly opening my eyes, glad to realize that the lights were dim wherever I was, I discovered that I was in some sort of metal cage.

"The fuck?" I roared. I phased on the spot, snarling and clawing at the metal bars. However, both me and my wolf were shocked to see that no damage was inflicted to the cage. What the fuck is going on?

"Ah, you're finally awake!" I heard a fake cheery voice call from the other side of the dark room. I stopped my thrashed and saw a bloodsucker walk into my peripheral sight. It was the same leech whose mate we killed a while ago. I bared my teeth at it and snarled.

Instead the leech just smirked back at me.

"You know Paul," he said, walking up to the cage that I was trapped in. It was really small, both my head and my hide were pressed against the sides. I phased back into a human to gain a little more space. "It took a while to figure it out, but apparently even wolves can't break through titanium. Now of course it cost a fortune purchasing enough to mold this cage, but luckily once that Edward-guy learned you phased and almost attacked his mate, well, let's just say he was more than happy to supply me with the money."

I continued to snarl at him. "What the fuck do you want?"

The leech's face turned demonic, his eyes going dark. "Your fucking pack of mutts killed my mate," he growled.

"Then why am I the only one in a fucking cage?" I yelled out, grabbing onto the bars. I tried to pull them apart, but looked pathetic as my arms began to shake with all the pressure I was exerting, eventually falling limp to my sides.

The leech laughed at my futile attempts to escape. "It's no use puppy," he cried in hysterics. "This is such a better plan than just killing you!"

"What the fuck are you talking about leech?"

"I was just gonna kill you for killing Charlotte, but then I heard your mate, what was her name? You know who I'm talking about, the one with the trucker-mouth?"

"Her name's Danni!" I roared, shaking with anger that he would dare bring my mate into this. Even if Danni didn't want to be with me, I'll still protect her with my life, even if I'm only defending her honor.

The leech rolled his crimson eyes. "Whatever, I saw her break your heart. Therefore, I decided to come up with a plan. Just let me ask you something pup, do you want her back?"

"Of course!" I shouted. I love her so much that my chest hurts whenever she's not around. My arms even ache without her wrapped up in them.

"Then I'll make you a deal: if you behave like a good dog and do as I say, then I'll make it my life's mission to ensure that you'll hold your mate in your arms."

My wolf was silent in thought. Our instincts told us to ignore the leech's words and figure out a way to leave this cage; however, the prospect of having Danni back made my heart beat faster.

"I hate you Paul. And I don't want to be your fucking mate."

Danni had said that to me. She wasn't happy waking up in my arms. She wasn't happy sharing a home with me. She wasn't even happy carrying my baby. My wolf surprisingly said nothing, thinking over the consequences of just taking Danni without her consent. Would she hate us even more than she does now?

She is ours…but she doesn't want to be ours. We love her, but she doesn't love us. He thought it over and over. We wanted Danni to be happy and live the life that she wants. We'd feel horrible is she only stayed with us out of respect for the whole mate-thing.

But we need her.

I WANT her, Paul. I suppressed my wolf.

"Danni broke up with me leech. I wasn't enough, so I won't let you force her to be with me against her will. It's not right," I growled. My wolf was howling inside me to take back my words. He beat my insides struggling to set himself free, to be in charge.

NO! he screeched. I want my Danni! I WANT MY FUCKING DANNI NOW!

I fought to maintain control, clenching my teeth and even taking slow, deep breaths. My arms strained with the attempt. The leech saw my struggle and his smirk grew even wider.

"Calm down pup," he laughed.

I'm not a fucking puppy! My wolf snarled.

I tightened my jaw and glared at him.

"Are you fine with Danni staying with the Clearwater boy?"

My eyes widened and I was taken aback for a second, which was all my wolf needed. He shoved me to the back of my mind and I felt him take over my limbs and thoughts. Danni flooded my mind, all plans to get her back, with or without her consent.

"How the fuck are you sure of that?" he growled, my voice sounding deeper and more guttural.

"I followed her for a brief while. You were still out. Let's see, Danni went to Jared, but he threw her out, so she went to Seth who just pulled her inside. He seemed a little eager I'd say. Are you sure he hasn't imprinted on her, I mean that look he gave Danni certainly had to be love."

I shoved my arm in between two bars, grabbing a hold of the leech's shirt. Yanking him closer to me, I snarled and bared my teeth. "Get me my mate NOW!"

The leech kept his smirk plastered to his face. "Only if you obey."

"And if I don't?" I growled, pissed I was taking orders from a bloodsucker.

The leech shoved my arm away. "Then I'll rape Danni and gut her, feeding you her entrails and your fetus-child."

I grinded my teeth, scrapping the enamel off. "What do you want me to do?" I growled under my breath.

The leech laughed and reached into his pocket, fishing for something. "Y'know, my wife Charlotte, all she wanted in life was to be a mother. Unfortunately she was changed before she could conceive, thus ruining her chances forever. I loved her and worshipped the ground she walked on, so I was desperate to get a child for her.

"Another snag was that making child vampires is forbidden among our kind. So I swore to my Charlotte that I'd think of something. I was desperate you see. The love of my life was depressed all because of what she was and because I wasn't able to give her a baby. Have you ever felt that Paul? Has Danni ever wanted something so much, but you were unable to give it to her?"

Space. I nodded.

"Then you know how much it destroys you inside. Your mate looks at you expectantly, but you can't deliver, making you a failure. I tried over and over to think up a way to give my charlotte a baby. There were times when I thought that I'd just kidnap one, but she said that she wouldn't be able to deal with the guilt."

The leech looked so pained at not being able to give his mate a baby. His eyes were hard and he kept biting his lip.

"Therefore, I told my Charlotte I could get her a puppy to start out with. Just a little puppy that she could take of and pamper, just like a child. She was overwhelmed. She finally looked at me like I was able to provide for her again. So we went out to go find some stray dog that she could adopt and take care of, when we accidentally crossed the boundary line into your territory. When you killed my Charlotte!"

What did this have to do with me and Danni? So I killed his mate before he could get her a puppy. Deal with it.

The leech laughed again, finally pulling something out of his pocket. He put his arms inside the cage to fasten it around my neck. When it was on, he stood back and couldn't contain his laughter.

What the fuck? I took the thing off and looked at it. It was a collar. A fucking dog collar! It had the little spikes all around it and attached was a tag that had "Paul" engraved on it.

"You motherfucker!" I screamed.

The leech snarled at me. "Watch your tone with me Pup! Put your collar back on and be a good boy or else you know what will happen to Danni!"

I growled, but put the collar back on and immediately felt all self-respect leave me.

"Good boy Paul. Now, as promised, I'll get your Danni for you. But first," the leech trailed off when he walked back into the shadows. He came back holding two bowls.

No this fucker isn't!

He walked up to the cage and then I noticed that at the bottom there was a small opening where the bowls would barely be able to fit. He slid them in and sure enough, there was a bowl of water and a bowl of dry dog food.

I growled, but my stomach growled louder. Fuck! Why did I always have to be hungry?

I picked up one of the dog food bits between my thumb and index finger, analyzing it to be sure I really wanted to eat it.

"What are you doing?" the leech asked.

"I'm hungry, and obviously you gave me this to eat," I said in a controlled voice.

"Yeah," the leech smiled, "but puppies don't eat with their hands. Now if you want Danni back, then you're going to have to behave and be a good puppy."

"You're kidding right?"

The leech looked at me expectantly.

I growled and dropped the dog food piece back into the bowl. This is for Danni, I told myself. I lowered my face to the bowl and ate the food out of it like that. It tasted awful! The food was too dry, absorbing all the spit in my mouth. I moved to the water bowl and put my hands on it.

The fucking leech cleared his throat.

My hands began to shake and I fought hard not to phase. I leaned back down to the bowl and lapped the water up with my tongue, turning red with embarrassment at what I was doing.

The leech began laughing hysterically. "Good boy Pup!" he cheered. He walked back into the shadows where I heard a door open. "I'm off to get your mate now as I promised." He left and I heard the door close after him.

My breath was hard and jagged and I fought tremendously not to phase. This would get my Danni back. Even if I had to act like a damn fool just to be with my mate, it doesn't matter to me. Besides, once I'm out of this cage to be with my Danni, I'll fucking murder that stupid leech. Then I'll have my mate and I'll leave with her.

Just wait, soon it'll be just me and my Danni.