Disclaimer: Guy Andrew's Idea + Stephenie Meyer's concepts, location, characters etc. + a little revamping by me = Living in Meyer + Return to Meyer
A/N: Like I said, I'm on a roll at the moment and have quite a bit of spare time so the chapters should be coming quite quickly for a while. Hope I'm not overloading you but I'm really into this fic at the moment. As always, I'm apologetic for grammar and if you're a Jake lover, you'll probably enjoy this chap. Don't worry team Edward, he'll be back soon.
Return to Meyer
6. Synapses
Ignoring the tiredness I could feel radiating from every inch of my body, I said goodnight to Charlie and began making my way up the stairs. I headed into the bathroom and poised in front of the mirror. Until now, I'd almost forgotten about my assortment of wounds left over from my short time with Victoria. I twisted my neck uncomfortably, feeling the scratches stretch painfully. It seemed as though Carlisle's pain medication was finally wearing off. That stuff sure was strong. Gazing at my face, I began to wonder why nobody had commented on it during dinner or my conversation with Mike and Jessica. Maybe they hadn't wanted to upset me or it had made them feel uncomfortable. Jake on the other hand, he I had no clue why he hadn't suddenly hit me with questions. Maybe he hadn't wanted to look suspiciously weird asking such morbid questions only a vampire or someone who kills them would want details on.
Suddenly, the bravado I'd been putting on most of the day fell away. My eyes narrowed, the dark tired circles becoming more prominent than before and my shoulders falling a few centimeters.
How could this be? How was this all real? As the questions began to pile up inside my brain, driving me crazier with every second, my thoughts were interrupted by a muffled noise. From what I could tell, it had come from down the hall. The only plausible explanation: My room.
Oh god, has Victoria come back to finish the job? I wondered in a panic. Or was it something worse? Who knew in this town? If it was Victoria, I didn't want her to hurt Charlie. That meant I would have to leave willingly and quietly. Even still, she might hurt him just to get revenge for what had happened last time we'd met. There was only one way to find out.
Leaving the bathroom, I padded slowly down the hall, pausing with my hand clasped on the doorknob. If Edward had known what I was doing, he would have lost it. Willingly putting myself at risk, it was crazy. Slowly I turned the knob and flung open the door. I blinked. The room was empty. It was just as I'd left it. Exhaling in relief, I took a step forward when out of nowhere the door shut behind me. I spun around and found myself face to face, for the second time that night, with Jacob.
"What in the…?" I almost yelled. He reached out rapidly, covering my mouth with his hand. His fingertips burned slightly as they touched my skin, my body adjusting to the temperature.
"Keep it down," He told me in a medium tone, "You'll bring Charlie in here," Oh right.
Lowering the volume, I voiced my previous question. "What in the world are you doing here?" He plunked himself down on the bed, his eyebrows furrowing. Clearly something was bothering him. While part of me was thinking back to a particular scene from New Moon. No matter how different things always seemed, somehow certain things always appeared to revert back to the original plot line. Jacob paying a visit to Bella's room at night after he becomes a werewolf, check.
"Jake?" I prodded, sitting down beside him. He looked up from his hands, eyeing me carefully.
"We never finished our earlier conversation." He told me.
I rolled my eyes. Great, here we go. "Yes, we did. I told you, compulsive talking. Ignore it." I reminded him.
He shook his head, persistent. "Nope, you're not getting out of this one, Ashley. I heard what you said. It wasn't just waffle. You had a point."
I stood up, "No, no point. Just wanted to catch up and you were a little warm. No big deal. Done, finished, finite." I scrambled over my words, backtracking. Stupid, stupid, stupid girl. You couldn't have just let it go? No…..you have to be all involved and I know your future. That's Alice's job, not yours you dumb lunatic.
Breaking through my drabble, Jacob said four words that shut me up instantly. "You know don't you." He said quietly. I looked down at him, watching the emotions flitter across his face. For a few moments there was complete silence. The only audible noise was that of the wildlife outside and the stifled snores of Charlie from down the hall. It was eerie and uncomfortable to the extreme.
Seeing no other way to respond to his claim, I said the only thing I could say. "Yes,"
He looked into my face in a flash of movement, shock registering on his face. It appeared that although he had had his suspicions about the extent of my knowledge, he hadn't really believed it to be true until I had confirmed it. He blinked, surprised. "How?" he asked.
I resumed my seat beside him, trying to find the best way to answer this question without verging into nutcase territory again. I'd been there with Edward once, and once was enough. Besides, I didn't even have any proof this time round. The last time I'd checked, all my Stephenie Meyer books were sitting happily on my shelf back home. Untouched for the last few months but still…..
"I can't tell you that," I replied.
"Why?"
I paused, "Because you wouldn't believe me even if I told you, as cliché as that sounds." I smiled.
He fidgeted awkwardly. "How much do you know?"
Hmmm…interesting question. "A lot, maybe even more about it than you do."
"How is that possible?" he asked, confused.
One side of my smile twitched upwards. "Can't tell you that either. It just is."
He looked away again, as though about to ask a vital question. One that he didn't want to see my answer when I gave it in case it was the one he didn't want. "And does it matter to you? What I am?"
I reached out, touching his face and forcing him to look at me. I gave him a reassuring smile before shaking my head. "Of course not, you're still you. I'll admit werewolves have a bit of a temper but normally I do too. So now we'll be even." He too froze for a moment at the use of the word werewolves. It was the first time we'd used the direct term in our conversation and it appeared that he found it a little bit on the surreal side. Then he grinned, happiness showing through in every inch of his face. "What? Did you really think I was going to kick you out on your butt? That I have some sort of allergy to overly large dogs?" The sarcasm came easily.
"I didn't know what to think. It's just that Sam forbid me from coming to discuss it with you." He looked a little more uncomfortable about this piece of information. I could see why.
"But you came anyway." I stated.
He nodded, "I had to know what you knew, but what I'd be able to say without being held back by Sam's orders, I didn't know. You made it pretty easy for me though." Again the cocky grin.
"Yeah? Make sure you tell me what Sam says when he finds out that you disobeyed him. Should make for some interesting entertainment and I could use a good laugh." I told him. He rolled his eyes at me, getting to his feet and standing in front of me.
"This is so…great." He exclaimed. "The last few weeks, they've been a little hard." His smile weakened at the memory. "But when I heard Billy say your name tonight, you have no idea how happy that made me. When you left before, you didn't even say goodbye." His face had completely fallen now.
How to work this? It wasn't like it had been my choice. There had been a sadistic vampire after me, a car accident in Bella's truck and then somehow we'd all ended up in my world. What was I supposed to do? Say, "Oh, excuse me Mr. James. I just need to go down to La Push and say goodbye to my friend Jacob who, by the way, in the near future will become a werewolf." Nah uh, I don't think so.
"I wanted to, things just got so crazy. But don't worry, next time I take off at a moment's notice, I'll make sure I stop by and say bye." I promised.
"Sounds good to me," he joked. All of sudden his face became serious again but this wasn't solemn serious this was business serious. He knelt down in front of me and even on his knees, was about the same height as me sitting on the bed. He reached up, his fingers lightly touching the bruise on my head before moving down to my neck where my neck wounds had been bandaged again after my shower. "Now that we're being open with each other," he began, moving away his hand. "What happened to your face and neck?"
I turned away from him, feeling disfigured and ashamed. "Vampire," I said softly.
An abrupt burst of rage crossed his face at the word. "I knew it." He said as a sneer appeared on his face. "It was him wasn't it? Or one of those other leeches he lives with?" He assumed, hate ringing in every word. I looked up, my eyes wide.
"No, no! It wasn't Edward or any of the Cullens. It was another vampire." I explained rapidly throwing the blame where it was deserved. How could he think that Edward would ever do this to me? Never, never, never.
"Then who?" he asked urgently, his voice still tainted with fury.
Begrudgingly, I felt the memories from the other day coming to the surface. Bright red hair, scraping nails, every muscle screaming in pain in unison. "Her name is Victoria, she's kind of got it in for me, well…Edward actually. Last year, her mate James came after me…"
He cut me off, a relisation setting in. "That's why you left so fast."
I nodded, "Edward and his family tried to protect me but James got to me when they were…incapacitated." It seemed like the best way to describe Edward and Alice's dehydrated, starving, energy depleted human state. It chilled me to think of Edward the way he had been, stuck in a hospital bed with IVs protruding from his veins. So weak and helpless. "Edward managed to get there in time to make a long story short, he killed James. Now Victoria wants revenge, mate for mate apparently. She's the reason I'm back here actually, she found me back home and dragged me here." Things seemed so much clearer explaining them like this to Jacob. He sat quietly, listening but I could see the anger and need for action building with every word.
"The Cullens saved me but she disappeared and I haven't seen her since." I finished.
"When was this?" he asked quietly.
Could it have only been yesterday? Looking at the clock, I backtracked. Well, two days ago now. It felt longer probably because of the cross between worlds. I was still unaware of the difference in times between them. I did know that they were separated by a couple of months, as for time, no idea.
"Two days ago." He looked at me long and hard, he rose from his crouch, determination filling his eyes. I too stood up, watching him intently. "Jacob?"
He snapped back to reality. "The last day or so, our pack's been tracking a vampire through the forest. She just appeared out of nowhere, viscious from what we can tell. Red head." He described.
"That's Victoria." I confirmed.
He nodded. "There's also been other vampire activity in the area. We don't know who's behind it just yet but we will soon."
I thought back to the newspaper from yesterday morning. "You think that's who's killing those hikers?" I froze, a synapse firing. Oh god, how could I be so stupid? I'd only read these books how many times? Bouncing on the soles of my feet, I looked up at him excitedly. "Jake! I know who the vampire is. I've met him. His name is Laurent. He was travelling with James at that point in time but if memory serves me right, he'll be staying with a vampire clan in Alaska now. They're vegetarians like the Cullens," I ignored Jacob's scoff at the word vegetarians, "but Laurent finds their diet difficult so he comes down here to feed."
"They killings haven't been very close to town but they have been nearby. Alaska sounds perfectly possible, although I wouldn't put anything past these bloodsuckers." He frowned.
Again, another idea. "He probably hasn't been coming as close to town as he would have because the Cullens are still in Forks. With them here, it's still their territory. He wouldn't want to piss off a clan of seven vampires, especially ones with gifts like the Cullens." I said rapidly, thinking aloud.
Jacob picked up on the major term, "Gifts?" He questioned, an eyebrow raised.
Oh crap. No, not going there. "Damn it, I can't believe I didn't think of this before. It should have clicked the moment I saw that article yesterday. Obviously Edward missed it too. Then again, he doesn't know them like I do."
"Them?" Jacob echoed again, picking up every odd word he couldn't understand. And I wasn't about to tell him that when I said them, I meant the Twilight series novels. Things were confusing enough as it is without bringing them into it.
Seeing that he wasn't going to get any more useful information, let alone anything that made sense, from me, he walked towards the window. "Look, I've gotta go bring this up to Sam. He'll want to know."
"Yeah, I'll see you soon." Seeing me standing alone, he quickly rushed over again, sweeping me up into a crushing hug.
"Thanks Ash, you've been a big help." He said into my hair. He freed me, smiling down at me from his abnormal height. "We haven't known each other very long but for some reason I feel so close to you. For some reason, I sometimes feel like you know me better than a lot of people around here. How is that?" he asked part rhetorically, the other in actual curiosity.
"I'll tell you someday," I said with a smile. At this he headed back to the window and lifting the latch, swung out onto the nearby tree. I looked away, ready to busy myself with getting ready for bed when he called me back.
"Hey, Ash?" I looked out into the branches, cool air rushing through the window and filling the room. "Sorry bout the lamp." At this he loped through the leaves, a soft thud sounding from below as he hit the ground. At this, I turned to Bella's desk and then to the ground near it, beside the open window. Lying on the floor, looking a little mangled was a desk lamp.
Reaching for Alice's choice of pajamas, I chuckled loudly.
A/N: There you go, honesty is the best policy. Now they're all best buddies and Jacob can go all wolfy to find Laurent. Haha….we'll see. Anyway, review, review, review. I love reviews. They make me happy and then I write faster and of better quality. Hmmm…not so sure about the later but the former, for sure! Plus, I always love hearing your predictions or ideas for future chapters. And just so you know, I have a poll going on my profile where you can help me out in deciding the character's destination for this fic. Let me know. : )
Next Time on Return to Meyer: With crazy stuff going on in all corners, Ashley's beginning to wonder about the state of her sanity. What if everything she thinks is real is just a figment of her imagination? What if she's become the world's number one Twilight fan?
The one that creates their own world to support their delusion?
Next Time…