(Disclaimer-i keep jacob black locked up in my closet in his boy shorts.)
hey there. so uh, the title for this one is lacking much. it only SORT of works for this chapter.
but whatever. i'm in no mood to care. so annyway, i wish for you to like this chapter. :) my story is
getting closer to the ending. not much....sadly. i really hope that none of you are opposed to long fanfictions.
i'm so horrible when it comes to doing things quickly. sigh. oh well.
read and review. and thank you. :)
Superhuman Talk
"Junior, just go. I'll be fine." I pushed my son hard against the back, trying to move him through the doorframe with my one arm. He spun around on me, quick and graceful, and caught my hands in his own. When he did so, I could feel it. I could feel that he was mine. It was as though with that one little touch he had ripped open his veins and shown me the blood running through them—my blood.
I blinked a pair of wide eyes.
"Bella…" He started, but then he caught himself, switching over to 'mom.' Maybe it should have bothered me, but it didn't. Actually, I was absurdly delighted by the fact that he'd called me by my first name. After all, I'd called Charlie by his first name, too. This was just another thing that I had in common with my kid. It thrilled me. "What if one of those parasites comes after you again—and I'm not here? Dad would rip me to shreds if I was that irresponsible with you."
I snorted, amused. "Isn't this just a little bit backwards? You're not responsible for me."
"Yeah, yeah, parental privileges. But look at it this way: You're slow, weak, and teensy—no offense—and you're human. I'm none of those things. I'm fast and my hearing is better, I can actually protect myself and you, and I can run you out of here if anything comes. Without tripping."
"Was it necessary to add that on there?"
He grinned. "S'pose not. But it's true, nonetheless."
I sighed. "Nothing will come. And even if something does, you'll only be in the garage. And with all your superhuman powers—the hearing, sense of smell, the incredible speed—you'll be able to run over and protect me. Right?"
"Well…" He bit his lip, debating. I could tell by looking at his eyes that what I was saying was making sense, which was good, because I needed some time alone.
"Come on, Spidey," I encouraged.
"Spidey?"
"Sorry. It's just all the superhuman talk…I guess it's getting to me."
Junior chortled, rousing my hair. "You know, I kind of like you. You're cooler than I thought you'd be. Even if you are an albino."
Glaring, I pushed his hand away. "Enough! Go outside. Jenna's waiting."
As he laughed, he bent down to crush me in a hug before he turned and went out the front door, meeting his little blonde cherub with a cheery smile that belonged to his father. I sighed happily, watching them.
Walking over to the couch, a strange beeping noise sounded from my leg, and a vibration on my hip made me jump. "Holy crow!" I gasped, pulling the phone out of my pants' pocket. "Eh, hello?" I said into the little holes on the bottom a little warily.
Nothing happened.
I panicked. Could my mother have gotten the number? She'd promised not to tell the police, not to give me away, but would she stay true to that promise? Or could this possibly be the Texan officers now, tracing a call back to Jacob's house in La Push…or even on their way here?
My breathing picked up as I looked at the screen.
And then, with a relieved sigh, I saw that it was only a text message.
From Kyle.
I want to see you, it said. I made a face, replying with the excuse of having to stay home and cook. It was lame, but I could think of nothing else, and I couldn't possibly say the truth: that I was being hunted by murderous vampires, babysat by my two-hundred-year-old son, and also that I simply didn't ever want to see him again. Especially since I was using his phone to do it.
Cooking? he texted back.
Pursing my lips, I typed back "yes."
I don't see you cooking.
The words on the screen made me gasp, my legs automatically flinging me in a circle, my eyes scanning the windows. Was it a joke? Was he trying to scare me? Certainly he couldn't see me. No, of course he couldn't. Junior would smell him if he was anywhere near.
I blinked, realizing abruptly that I was wrong. If Jacob hadn't been able to smell him in the meadow, Junior definitely wouldn't be able to smell him either. My good hand curled around the phone, pressing too many buttons at once. The phone screeched at me in response.
What are you talking about? I typed when I finally regained the ability to move.
Come outside, It said.
I blanched. Where are you? My fingers were shaking.
Come on, Bella Swan.
A cold sensation rippled down over my shoulders, shaking me. My teeth chattered with the sudden chill, my heart thumping rapidly against the cage of ribs. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't feel my legs. He shouldn't know that name. He couldn't know that name.
A white hand came out from behind me, seemingly from no particular place at all, clasping down over my mouth. The scream in my throat came out jumbled and obscured, more like a discombobulated cough than anything else. Junior wouldn't suspect a thing.
My right leg kicked back instinctively like a horse in distress, aiming wildly at my attacker. Another hand caught my ankle before I could inflict any harm, though, and I whimpered pathetically behind a pale palm as it tightened on my skin.
"I won't hurt you," A voice whispered beside my ear. Tears fell down my face and onto the flesh of my attacker. Where was Junior? Couldn't he smell it? The skin of it was cold, a vampire. What had happened? Had Junior been attacked first? Had he been killed?
"Where is Junior?" I sobbed into the hand.
"Your son?"
I cried harder, nodding.
"He's fine. Don't worry, Bella. I won't hurt any of you, I promise. I love you,"
The hand removed itself from my mouth softly, reattaching to my good upper arm. And then Kyle turned me so I was facing him. I stared at him with wild eyes, terrified and shaking, as he blinked in affection.
"You have to come with me." He said.
I shook my head, yanking myself backwards. His skin wasn't hard, I realized, and it was beginning to warm. He wasn't a vampire, probably, but what could he be? What did he want? My wriggling did nothing to help me. If anything, it just made him grip me even tighter.
"Come on, sweetie. I don't want to hurt you. But you have to come with me, Bella. You've gotta come, otherwise…well, I'll be in trouble."
"Trouble?" I breathed, my eyebrows pressing together. "With who?"
I needed to find a way away from him, to think of an excuse for him to let me go. My eyes slid inconspicuously downward, measuring the distance between his lower half and my feet. Maybe if I could swing my leg just right…I could hit him where it counts.
"Oh, come on, Bella. That wouldn't nice. Don't try that." he said suddenly, watching me, his body stretching farther away while his hand stayed in place. I bit my lip in terror. How could he have known? "I told you I'm not going to hurt you. You just have to cooperate. Really. You don't need to be afraid of me. I'd never let anything hurt you—not ever. I've never felt this way about anyone else…" His eyes went soft then, lingering on my mouth, and his face fell forward.
I turned my head as his mouth rushed closer, and he wound up kissing my ear.
Kyle sighed, his light blue eyes disapproving. "It's okay," he said. "I understand why you won't let me. But you'll see how good we are together, sweetie. You will."
And then he was dragging me toward the back door.
"No!" I started to protest, but his hand found my mouth again, his other arm crushing my battered ribs.
"You've got to be quiet now," he told me. "You're in danger. The world isn't as safe as it seems to be," When he spoke those last words, his voice was wondering. I parted my lips to ask him what he was talking about, how he knew, but the words made no sound behind his skin.
He pulled me through the trees on the side of the house opposite the garage, his arm pulled under my knees so my legs were wrapped around it, my back against his chest. At first I hadn't understood why he'd picked me up like this, but then as he started heading for a waiting car, I figured it out. I thrashed my legs as hard as I could, trying to get someone's attention, but my legs could no longer reach anything to make a racket, and my words were still inaudible.
So I bit his thumb.
"Ouch, dammit!" he gasped, dropping me from high above the ground. I hit the fallen leaves with a loud thud, my mouth, full of his blood, automatically opening to scream. When I did, the sound was so piercing and shrill that Kyle paused mid-bend and covered his ears, his face crunching up in pain. "Shut up!" he growled, reaching for me.
His blood was making me dizzy. I spit it out on the ground, making as much noise as I could in the process, crawling crazily on my knees toward the direction of the little red home. "Junior!" I shouted. "Jacob!"
But Jacob was out with the wolves, protecting the land. Would he hear me? Would anyone hear me?
Kyle's fingers found my leg and he dragged me toward him, rocks and branches scratching painfully at my stomach. I gripped the bottom of a small trunk, ripping my broken arm from its sling to use that hand, too. The ache hit me with so much force that I froze for a minute, my black and blue skin twitching in agony.
"Dammit, Bella," he grunted. "I really hope you don't die."
And then, just like that, he let go. I looked back in surprise, only to see him dashing to the waiting car as though he were being chased by a cheetah. My eyes felt frozen as I stared at him. I couldn't even blink.
Two warm hands found mine softly, and I forced my head to face the other direction so I could see. At first, all I could make out was the russet skin, the way the dirt covered the fingers thinly as though they'd been running on all fours…
"Jacob?" I croaked through the pain.
He nodded at me, ducking down to kiss at my cheek. "'S okay, Bells. Everything is fine. He can't get you anymore. Shh."
My eyebrows met in confusion, but then I realized that I was bawling. Loudly.
"I'm so sorry! I couldn't smell him…and she told me to leave her in there! I was only in the garage… oh man! I'm so sorry!" Junior was saying in a rush, his voice thick with panic and remorse.
"I'm not blaming you, Junior. I didn't smell him, either. Cut out the rambling and help me get her up." Jacob touched my broken arm sweetly, caressing it back into the sling. "You shouldn't have taken this off, Bella." he told me.
My lips were shaking. My face was wet. He kissed me.
They each grabbed me, Junior taking my legs while Jake took hold of everything else, and carried me back to the house. I was barely aware of the continuous apologizing and hushing that was going on. My head was full of questions and my breath was coming quick. I was on the verge of a panic attack.
When I was safely seated on the couch, half on Jacob's lap and half off, with Junior carrying over every possible thing I could ever want or need—tea, water, crackers, blankets, warm washcloths—I turned my face into Jacob's stomach and silently cried.
"It's okay, honey." he consoled me, simultaneously smoothing my hair and smacking Junior as he tried to put a pillow beneath my head. "Get that away from her," he snapped at him in a somehow peaceful tone.
"It's just a pillow," Junior defended, making a face.
"She doesn't need a pillow. She's got me. Go in your room."
Pouting, Junior slinked off down the little hallway, muttering something about parental privileges again.
"Bella. There's something you should know." Jacob told me hesitantly when the door in the hallway was shut. I didn't see the point in his waiting for Junior to be in his room to speak, seeing as he could hear everything anyway, but I didn't ask. Instead, I looked at him curiously, my eyelashes wet.
"What?" I mumbled, voice strange.
"Well, I need to know you're not going to pass out on me or anything first—not that I would mind much. Pretty girls draped over my lap have never really bothered me before. Well, this pretty girl, anyway." He grinned at me and I raised an eyebrow, mocking his efforts to make the situation light. I knew that whatever he had to tell me was bad—horrifying, even. He shouldn't be trying to make light of it.
"Quit dancing around the subject and tell me, Jake,"
"Dancing?" he repeated. I glared at him. "Alright, alright. Well, we've got a bit of a problem."
"Yes?" I prompted.
"A vampire problem." He paused, staring me dead in the eyes, watching my reaction. My heartbeat accelerated slightly, but other than that, I remained pretty calm. Until his next words, that is:
"The Volturi have come to town."
(author's note: singin' i loooove junior black. so put another growl in the werewolf baby! ... thats just me being stupid and making "i love rock and roll" into a junior song. bye now. :D)