Thanks so much for the reviews, guys, you're inspiring! I'm so close to a hundred reviews, and I'm excited to see who will be that reviewer!
This chapter is a continuation of the last one. I know it was a cliffy!
Enjoy!
~SashaFierce12.0
Chapter 39
Leah's P.o.V.
The vampire grinned at me and put his finger to his lips. It was the same one that I had seen when Jake and I were going to Seattle the other day. He was good-looking, no doubt about that. But really pale. Even in the darkness, I could see how his blonde hair was snaked into a ponytail. I was trying so hard to phase, but for some reason I couldn't.
"Shhh...You might wake the kiddies," he whispered. My eyes were as big as saucers. Edward had said he'd take a run around the area to make sure that there was no one...What had happened? I was snapped out of my thoughts when the vampire pulled me off of the bed with one swift move and pinned me against the wall.
"My Juliet..." he breathed. His breath smelled like a too-sweet martini. "I am Romeo. Your Romeo. I've come back for you...Have you missed me?"
"Why would I, Leech?" I snapped, the spit on his face. He smirked and wiped the part of his eye where my saliva had landed.
"But, Juliet! I've been waiting for this moment...For us to be together! I've been watching you...That moment when we first crossed paths...I smelled your gorgeous, enticing scent. I wanted to touch you..." he moved closer to me and I squeezed my eyes shut, swallowing hard. He grazed his face against mine, making goose bumps rise up on my skin. "...Run my hands through your silky black hair..." he took his fingers and mussed up my bob. "...Get a taste of that lusciously warm skin..." He leaned into my face and breathed more martini breath into my nose, then he leaned down and licked my neck all the way up to my cheek. More goose bumps.
My face felt tingly and numb, and I couldn't move. I couldn't even spit into his face again. He took that moment to press his cold lips onto mine. I tried to fight back; sure my face was numb, but the rest of my body could move. When he forced his tongue into my mouth, my fighting ceased. My whole body went numb and my arms fell limply at my sides. My legs started to shake, and then they started to give out on me.
Romeo's tongue tasted like a too-sweet jelly of some kind, and I could feel it spreading through my body...It was like...
Like a poison!
I started to fall, and Romeo pulled away. He caught me as I fell to the floor. All of my muscles felt like someone had ran over them with a giant truck, and now they were all broken. It hurt so bad, and I could feel my veins throbbing against my skin. Romeo came closer and brushed my hair out of my face. He leaned forward again with his eyes closed, and I braced myself. But then he cocked his head and turned. Syanne stood at the door, shaking.
"Guh-g-get away from her," Syanne stuttered. She tended to do that when she was mad, sad, or scared. She definitely wasn't sad. But I didn't know which of the other emotions she was feeling. It was a tie. "Now." Romeo pulled me up and held me bridal style in his arms. He walked towards Syanne and nudged her out of the way, heading downstairs. I heard Syanne's rushed footsteps, and then Romeo fell. My body rolled over towards the piano and stopped. I tried to move again, but it was a lost cause. Romeo stood up and looked at me, pointing to Syanne.
"Juliet! My Juliet! She is a problem, a nuisance! She is trying to keep us from being together. I have to rid of her before she causes any more trouble," he said to me. "This is for you, my Juliet!" I watched in horror as he walked towards Syanne and blew into her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and froze.
Oh, please...Please don't hurt her!
"Now you're going to feel the agonizing pain that my brothers felt when you killed them," Romeo was saying.
No, please, God! Don't let him do this!
Romeo amputated Syanne's left arm with one swift pull. The young wolf stood there, her eyes wide. She made a weird choking, clucking sound from her throat and opened her mouth to speak. The only thing that came out was a small gurgling. She fell backwards onto her butt and stared straight ahead, breathing hard.
Romeo turned to me and held up Syanne's severed arm.
"A trophy, for my sun. My Juliet." I kept my eyes on my little adoptive sister. Her blood pooled onto the floor, and there was a lot of it. She looked pale, but kept staring ahead anyway. Her eyes started to droop, and she leaned backwards.
"No! Sy!" I yelled, my mouth able to move now. That's when the door banged open some of the Pack rushed in.
"Syanne!" Embry yelled, and ran towards his imprint. The rest of the Pack phased and snarled and snapped at Romeo, who dropped the arm. He started backing away, but somehow the Cullens and Mom had appeared behind him. Sam took that moment to lunge forward. He tore off Romeo's arms.
"I shall die today, my Juliet," Romeo said. Sam tore off one of his legs. "...But I want you to know that I shall see you again." Sam tore off his other leg and then Jacob, Seth, and Paul took up the rest of his body parts, running outside. Before long, I could smell the faint scent of smoke and burning vampire.
I still couldn't move, and I laid there. Helpless, as Syanne bled to death on the floor.
"Sy, Sy, Sy," Embry kept repeating, and I could hear that he was crying. "Stay with me, okay? Carlisle's gonna' take care of you. He will, he will. Sing your ABCs for me." She didn't sing or say anything. The part of her arm that was still left was wrapped up now, a string tied tightly around it to stop the bleeding. "C'mon, Sy!" Carlisle picked her up and ran out the door, Embry followed behind them.
"Leah!" Rosalie ran towards me and pulled me up. My knees collapsed under me.
"I couldn't do anything! It was like he had me under a spell, or something. It was terrible; I couldn't move any part of my body...And I still can't!" Tears sprang to my eyes. "Syanne's gonna' be okay, isn't she?"
"...Carlisle will take care of her. And he'll get her all better, I know he will." I glanced at the large pool of blood on the hardwood floor, and instantly felt sick. I glanced at Rosalie and she carried me to the sink. There I puked up everything that was in my stomach, quite noisily, too. It seemed like I was there forever, and my stomach ached when I was done. I had feeling in my legs again, but when I took two steps, I was down. Rosalie caught me and carried me to the couch.
"I feel like shit," I muttered. The words sounded foreign to my ears, as if I was hearing another language. "I could've...I should've done something!"
"But it was like you said; you were under a spell. He paralyzed you," Alice said sympathetically. "We're here because Sue called us."
"When Seth started howling, I knew something was wrong. I had to call them," Mom added. "When I caught up with the others, they told me that they had found Edward slumped on the ground in the forest. He had explained everything to them, and then they ran here. We came in through the back so we could corner him in." That's when Jayah started crying. I quickly sat up.
"My baby!" Alice ran upstairs and returned seconds later with Jayah and Kyle in her arms. Of course, Kyle was sleeping. But Jayah was bawling her little eyes out. She handed her to me, and I rocked my daughter in my arms. "It's okay...Shhh...Waves roll low, and the waves roll high..." Jayah started to calm down, and sniffled. "It's okay, Jewel." Jacob rushed in from the still open door and cradled me in his arms. He kissed my head, then he kissed Jayah's.
"I should've never left you," he whispered. His voice shook.
"I'm okay now."
"But still..."
"Leah! You're okay!" Seth came in and hugged me.
"Quit giving me so much attention, boys. Sy's the one that needs as much care as we can give her," I said, swatting Jacob and Seth away. "...But you guys did come just in time. Any longer, and..." I couldn't finish.
"We know. We were running our rounds, and then saw Edward. He was on the ground, and he wasn't moving. But then he told us about some vampire that had blew into his face, or something. About how he couldn't move after that. It didn't take long for us to realize that we had to get back here," Jacob told me, kissing my head again.
"Yeah. So I howled and Sam, Paul, and Embry phased and we started running back here. You wouldn't believe how scared I was," Seth added. "Mom and the Cullens came a little while later. Emmett carried Edward home."
"Edward's okay, right?" I asked.
"Yeah. He'll be fine," Seth replied. I handed him Jayah. He kissed her cheek and started carrying her back upstairs. Kyle was now awake, and was crawling around my feet. He looked up at me as if to say, where's my mommy? I sighed and brushed his hair back with my hand. He pulled himself up onto the couch as Jacob stood up. Kyle watched him, then let go of the couch. He took two steps then fell. He scrunched up his face and his bottom lip began to quiver.
"Aww...It's okay, Baby Boy," Alice cooed, scooping him up. "At least you tried."
I stood up on wobbly legs, and started to fall, just like Kyle. Alice, Rosalie, and Jacob were by my side in a split second, catching me. "Uhh...Thanks, guys."
"No problem. Get some rest, okay?" Alice told me as Jacob picked me up. He started carrying me upstairs. "We'll make sure that Kyle gets back to bed." I nodded and leaned into Jacob's shoulder. We passed Jayah's room, and I caught a glimpse of Seth singing her to sleep in the rocking chair. We passed Syanne and Kyle's room, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Then when we got to our room, I could still smell the too-sweet martini. Jacob set me down carefully set me down in the bed and brushed my hair back.
"I'm gonna' go scope out the perimeter; see if there's any more possible threats. I want you all to be safe, and I wouldn't be able to sleep if you weren't." I grabbed on to his arm.
"Don't leave me. Please?" Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked into his chocolaty brown orbs. He sat down next to me and pulled me close.
"Okay. I'll stay here until you get to sleep, but then I'm really gonna' take that run. I just want my two girls to be safe."
"I know..." I leaned into his chest and listened to his steady heart beat. It was like a lullaby, and it made me feel really tired. I yawned. "Jake?"
"Mhm?"
"Tomorrow, I wanna' visit Sy."
"Okay. Whatever you want." It was silent for a few more moments and I closed my heavy lids.
"Jake?"
"Mhm?"
"...Remind me to tell Edward..." I started to fall asleep.
"Yeah..."
I didn't answer because I was already asleep.
00000000000000000000000
I watched Syanne's chest rise and fall. Embry held Sy's right hand tightly and he was staring at her sleeping face with a pained look. I quickly wiped away a tear, and Jacob rubbed my shoulders. Embry suddenly let go of his imprint's hand just as it reached up and touched the bandages around her shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked around, then landed on Embry.
I latched myself on to Syanne, crying softly.
"You were asleep for such a long time...I was so worried, Sy!"
"It wasn't that long, Leah. Quit worrying her!" he turned back towards Syanne. "You were only asleep for, like...three days..." he muttered that part, realizing that I was right. Syanne's face didn't change. "You went into shock when Carlisle brought you in here, then fell unconscious," Embry replied.
"But it's over now. That Leech is dead, and we can relax," Jacob said, rubbing her hair. Syanne nodded and looked down at what was left of her arm. Her shoulder was still there, and a part of her bone extended out about four inches off of it. Bottom line: it wasn't that much.
She took in a deep, shaky breath.
"Oh, Syanne, Kyle misses you so much! We all do!" I said, trying to get her mind off of her arm. Carlisle walked in at that moment.
"How's my favorite patient?" he asked with a grin. Syanne didn't say anything. "Well, I stitched you all up, and bandaged it afterwards. The stitches should be able to come out...Soon. You're wolf abilities are kicking in, and you're healing really fast. But I want you to take it easy. No phasing until I say so, okay?" Syanne nodded. "It's great to have you back, Honey. You know, everyone's downstairs? They've been over every day since I brought you here." The young she-wolf gave him a grim smile.
"Yeah, they really can't wait to see you," Alice said, walking in with a bundle of clothes in her hands. "Are you ready for a couple of visitors?" Syanne sat up and removed the blanket then got to her feet. She walked effortlessly towards Alice and took the clothes from her with a smile, then walked towards the room's bathroom. She closed and locked the door behind her. Shortly later, I heard her soft sniffles. Embry stood up, but Jake and I pushed him back down.
We sat quietly for a few moments, and then the door clicked.
"Sorry, Em. She locked the door for a reason. She just wants to be alone, y'know?" Jacob asked. "I speak from experience." He glanced at me as he said this. Embry nodded stiffly and continued staring at the door of the bathroom.
When he heard the door click, Embry stood up and Syanne walked out. She looked totally like, well, new. When she was in the bed with just the oversized t-shirt, she had looked so pale and sick. Now...Well...She was still a little pale, but she had some color in her cheeks. The blue turtleneck that Alice had given her fit her perfectly; and I tried not to stare at the empty arm hole on her left side. She also had on jeans; and those couldn't have been easy to put on. She only had one arm, after all.
"Sy, you don't have to go downstairs," Jacob said. Syanne placed her arm behind her back and pursed her lips. She shuffled her feet back and forth, and we waited for her to voice her opinion. I looked at Carlisle and noticed he was frowning slightly. He looked at Alice, and she led Syanne to sit on the bed. Carlisle kneeled down in front of her.
"Do you want to go downstairs?" Carlisle asked. His voice was loud, but not too loud. And it was clear, too. He waited a few moments for Syanne's answer, but it never came. "...Are you going to answer me?" Syanne looked down. "Can you try?"
"...Cuh...Cuh..." she leaned forwards with every syllable, trying to make words on her tongue. She gave up, and wiped her eyes.
"Don't cry; it's okay. We're getting somewhere, though. What are you trying to say?" Carlisle cocked his head patiently. Syanne shook her head and wiped her eyes again. Carlisle stood up. "She's probably still in shock. It's not like I haven't seen this before, which I have." I wrapped my arms around my body and glanced at Sy.
"It's not every day someone gets their arm amputated by a vampire," Jacob said. I shot him a look, and he gave me his own sheepish one. Embry sat next to his imprint and pulled her into his side.
"Do you still want to go downstairs?" he whispered into her ear. "We don't have to if you don't want to..." Syanne looked up at him and nodded, wiping her eyes. Embry smiled and kissed her temple. He helped her up and we all started going downstairs. Jacob and I went down first, and I picked up Jayah and Kyle. Syanne gripped Embry's hand as they walked slowly down the stairs. Kyle started bouncing in my left arm when he saw his mom and I giggled.
"Someone's excited," I joked, kissing the little boy's forehead. Seeing her friend so excited got Jayah riled up, too. She bounced joyfully in my other arm and kicked her legs around, letting out little screams.
Syanne smiled and stopped when she got to the bottom of the stairs. She looked around at everyone and her face broke into an all out grin. She ran to Sam first, and jumped into his arms. He swung her around, then set her back on her feet. She only had a second to get her bearings before the rest of the guys attacked her. She laughed and playfully punched them as if they were playing around like they do when they're in their wolf forms.
"Guys, really?" Rosalie asked with a smirk. They all stopped and laughed, patting Syanne's back and ruffling up her hair. Again, she didn't have that long to readjust before Jazmyn and the other imprints got to her. Kim kissed the top of her head repeatedly and the others just hugged her tightly. Finally, after forever, they were done.
"You're, like, the talk of the school now," Athena said, taking Syanne's hand in hers. "Everyone thinks that it was some freak bear attack, or something. But...We let them think that. And your locker is so full of cards and roses, we had to store the rest someplace else!" Syanne grinned.
"Ruh...Ruh...R-really?" she managed to say. I sighed, happy that she finally found her voice.
"Yeah! You're like La Push High's celebrity!" Jazmyn added. "...Even though we kinda all were before...You're even bigger now!" Syanne blushed and looked at me. She cocked her head and grinned at Kyle, just as he cocked his head. "Aww...Mommy-Son moment!" Syanne took Kyle from me and bounced him around in her arm. He poked the missing one, and his mother giggled.
"Family! It's so great to be together again!" Rachael announced. "And when Becks gets here tomorrow, we'll be practically complete!" She looked down at her enormous stomach. "Kind of..." Paul kissed her cheek.
Syanne turned her head up and sniffed the air, her stomach growling. Embry laughed.
"Hungry, Sy?" he asked.
"Your problem is solved! We've made three different types of pizza, spaghetti, salad, and chowder," Alice said, skipping into the room. She had a plate filled with food in her hands. Syanne's eyes got wide and her stomach growled louder, making the room boom with laughter.
"So...Is she the only one that's gonna' get food? 'Cause frankly, I'm quite famished," Malachi said. Athena whacked him.
"Sy hasn't eaten in three days! Let the poor girl get some food!" she yelled. "Besides, we already ate."
"I'm still hungry," Malachi whined.
"Baby," Athena shot back.
"I...Pro-Probably won't ah-eat all of it ah-ah-anyway," Syanne said with an eye roll. She had set Kyle on the floor and was currently staring at the plate of food in her hand. She carried it to the dining room table and then started to eat. She ate a bite of her pizza, a forkful of pasta, and then a sip of soup and some salad. "Full. Ah-all yours, Mal."
"Yes..." said wolf started walking towards it but Athena pulled him back.
"No..." she said in the same way.
"That's really all you're gonna' eat?" Darren asked.
"Yah...Yeah..." Syanne nodded slowly.
"She's like me. Eat only a couple of bites and we're already full," Kim shrugged her shoulders.
"That is so weird," Jacob noted. I hit him. "...In a good way." Syanne laughed and walked back into the living room with all of us. She played with Kyle and Jayah, listened to Elvis with Claire, and floated around between everyone else. It was great to see her smiling and laughing again.
I'd never forgive myself for what happened. Sure, the Leech had 'poisoned' me, but if I just would've told Jacob that first time...
Bottom line: it's my fault.
I watched as Syanne used her one arm to tickle Kyle, and then Jayah. The two laughed, giggled, and screamed happily. Then Embry got to her, and Syanne fell backwards, giggling as well. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander to her missing arm. There was gonna' be so much she wouldn't be able to do now.
Because of me.
Because of me and my selfish ways. Why didn't I tell Jacob when I'd first seen the crazy look on the Bloodsucker's face? Why?
If I had, Syanne would still have both of her arms.
I didn't realize that I was crying until I felt something fall off the edge of my nose. I sucked in a breath and quickly wiped it away. Thank goodness for waterproof makeup. Suddenly I felt an arm slide across my shoulders and pull me close. I didn't have to look up to know that it was Jake. I could smell the familiar scent of pine and Axe soap. For some reason, I was addicted to that smell. It was him. It was my Jakey.
"You're crying," he said simply.
"No I'm not," I lied. I failed. Miserably. Jacob took my chin in his and turned it towards him. I looked down.
"You're not looking at me," he said. So I did. I pursed my lips and he took my hand and led me outside to the back porch, closing the door behind him. He pulled me into his chest. I let all of my tears out after that. I didn't stop until I was too tired to cry anymore.
"I'm sorry," I choked out, wiping at my cheeks. "Ugh, I feel so stupid for letting you see me cry."
"You don't need to," Jacob said softly, and hugged me tighter.
"I know," I groaned. "It's just...I always do, though." I sniffed and Jacob rubbed my hair.
"What's on your mind?"
I was silent.
"...Sy?"
I nodded.
"You think it's your fault."
I shook my head.
"I know it's my fault.
"But you know it's not."
I pulled away and turned, crossing my arms.
"No, I know it is."
Jacob didn't speak.
"When we were going to Seattle...I...I saw him."
"What?"
"The vampire! I saw the vampire in the other car and I didn't tell you. You asked me what was on my mind and I didn't tell you. If I would've told you, you guys could've tracked him down and killed him. But I didn't. I was thinking about..." I laughed bitterly. "...About what I great time we were gonna' have. And I didn't want to ruin it or worry you. But if I would've just told you...She'd still have both of her arms. She wouldn't have been the one asleep for three days. I'm so stupid sometimes!"
"Yeah. You kinda are," Jacob said. I stayed turned away from him.
"Go ahead and yell at me. Call me a stupid, ignorant, selfish, bitch. I can take it." Jacob stayed quiet, and I turned around, furious that he wasn't saying anything yet. New tears sprang to my eyes, but they were out of anger, not sadness and regret this time. I turned around. "Go ahead!" He shook his head.
"I can't...And I'm not."
"You had no problem doing it before."
Silence.
Ooh...I don't think that I should've brought that up...
"I was stupid back then. We both were. But, Leah...I...I just...I'm not going to call you any of those things, no matter how hard you beg me to. What's done is, well, done. There's no turning back now. And if Syanne doesn't like only having one arm, she sure doesn't show it. Did you see her in there?"
"Yes. That's what made me sad in the first place. All of the things that she's gonna' have to do differently..."
"Then don't think about it! You heard what Carlisle said yesterday: 'The things that she'll need to learn how to do again aren't many, and very little things at that.'" He did his best impression of the doctor, smirking at the end. I almost laughed.
Almost.
Jacob moved closer to me and wrapped me in his arms again.
"How are we going to do this, Jake?" I asked quietly.
"...Do what?"
"Y'know...Help Sy and stuff."
"Remember when Jayah was born?"
"I'll never forget it," I replied with a short, humorless laugh. He kissed the top of my head and let it linger for a couple of moments before letting out a breath.
"We'll take it day by day."
There it is! Syanne's arm is gone! :( But review and I'll update soon!
~SashaFierce12.0