Jacob smelled him as soon as he got into town. He was alone, none of the Cullens were with him this time. Jacob could almost feel his luck changing. It had been over fifty years. People had died, and still Jacob had waited. It seemed that his waiting had paid off.
It was night when Jacob decided to head to the Cullen house. It seemed fitting. Jacob hadn't been able to bring himself, in the decades that he had spent waiting, and planning, and tearing himself into pieces, to go to the house during the day. During the day, it would look so normal, so average. It wouldn't be the place of the nightmare that he had experienced, or of the nightmares that he was planning for Edward.
At night the glass walls let the eerie moonlight to seep into the house, into the corridors and the rooms. She wasn't there at night. But the woods crept into to the emptiness through the many windows, and it allowed Jacob to feel comfortable in the space, never staying long enough to fill the rooms with his scent. He was in his element. He'd made it his hunting ground.
Jacob crouched low as he slunk through the trees. Not far now. He would finally get what he had been waiting for. He could finally rest.
(...)
Edward hadn't really moved into the house. He's moved into a single room. The living room, where they had spent most of their time during those last few days. The rest of the house was just too big for him. Too empty. It didn't bother him that this was the room that held most of her memories. He couldn't escape her ghost anywhere else, he welcomed it here.
He had been in Forks only a few days. Sitting on the couch, the last place he had seen her truly smile, he felt the fabric dip next to him. He knew that she wasn't really, there couldn't be there, but he couldn't stop himself from looking up. The darkness of the empty room met his eyes. There had been no point to turn the power back on. He didn't need the light, didn't need any of the appliances. He just sat in the darkness.
Even with his eyes confirming that he was alone, Edward could feel the heat radiating from the place she would have been sitting. She would have curled up against him, let him bury his face into her hair and forget all of the bad in the world.
As the thoughts entered his mind, he could feel the heat move, it sculpted itself to his body. Memory, or perhaps imagination, had taken control of his sanity. It hardly mattered any more. Edward had balanced on the edge of that knife for long enough, letting his family and his daughter pull him back from the brink when he was leaning over too far. But it didn't matter here. Here it was only him, and the heat that settled close to his body, the memory of holding her close. It wasn't the burning heat of her human skin against his stone cold body. It was the shared temperature that they have experienced if Bella had of made it through to a different kind of dead.
Instinctively, Edward lowered his head towards the heat, as if he were about to bury his nose in it. Her smell immediately filled is nose. Not uncomfortable, again, not the way that it had been when she was human. But still alluring, still beautiful to him. She had spent so much time here that of course her smell wouldn't have faded from the closed up house, but there was no way that it could be this strong.
Edward didn't flinch away as he probably should have. He was happy, alone here his ghosts. He would spend the rest of his hopefully short time sitting here, with the memory of a body by his side.
He still couldn't see her, but he knew that she was there. He could almost hear her voice, a laugh, maybe words reassuring him. There were only a few final barriers to pass through before she would really be here. And Edward would truly be insane.
Edward didn't rise for days. Didn't move until the heat had faded, leaving slowly. He didn't understand. Bella had promised that they would be together, why was she leaving him? As the smell of her finally faded to the dusty mixture that coated the furniture, Edward knew that he couldn't sit sit there forever. There was something in the back of his mind that wouldn't just let him sit there and feel sorry for himself. He needed to find a way to truly end it, it was the only way that he could be with her again.
Since none of his family had followed him, Edward supposed that it was fine to assume that they still thought that he was safe. And maybe he was. Safe from the world around him, but not safe from his own mind. His subconscious was slowly working towards the right conclusion, building a plan from the few rational scraps that his broken mind could give him.
A new smell filled the rooms. Not anything that he could recognise, but not completely unfamiliar either. It smelled like the woods condensed, like rain and bark and dirt. It wasn't as strong as the first time he had smelled Bella, nothing like it really, but in a way it reminded him of that day. It was rich and earthy, and at first Edward thought that it was coming from outside. But it was to close, and Edward knew what the woods smelled like. It wasn't this, although this smell held traces of the outdoors, it was sweeter, more appealing. There was the smell of spices and something decidedly warm. Edward realised that someone was in the house. He didn't move, didn't really care that his sanctuary had been found. So many ghosts had been passing through the walls in the past few days that Edward had lost the will to care.
Edward breathed in deeply, still unable to place the smell. His addled brain, unable to focus partially because of the intoxicating effect of the smell and because of the fragmented nature of his stable mind, realised with a start that he hadn't heard any thoughts. Either this was a vampire with a shield, or perhaps the body of Bella, truly raised form the dead, dragging the scent of earth with her. It would be just like the girl, who seemed to attract anything supernatural, to return as a zombie.
Edward's eyes were closed. He felt a presence move into the room, wondered if it was friend of foe, realised again that he didn't really care. They could strike him down, he would welcome it.
And then Jacob spoke.
Edward's eyes flew open. Not in panic, he didn't care that he was at the mercy of someone who wanted so desperately to be his murderer. Edward's heart leapt at the thought of his imminent death. That's surely why Jacob was here.
It was the identity of his attacker that caused the look of shock on his face. He mentally scrambled around, wondering why he couldn't hear Jacob's thoughts. Then one came.
Edward
It was a single word, his name, echoing through his broken head. Nothing more. Edward didn't understand, he should be able to hear more than just that. Jacob hadn't changed at all in the fifty years that had passed, and Edward recognised the look on the boy's face. He was thinking, thinking hard, and Edward couldn't hear any of it. It was completely silent, except for the heavy breathing of the wolf. He had come in human form, but Edward guessed that the wolf wasn't far away.
Another jolt of shock hit Edward when he realised that the scent that he had picked up had come from Jacob, that had been why is was familiar. But even with the few notes of similarity, the smell was like a tune that his fingers almost recalled but his mind couldn't play.
He didn't recoil from the smell. A wolf shouldn't smell like this, Edward thought. This was his natural enemy, his body shouldn't be finding the smell his appealing, almost human.
Edward recalled the thought that had contained his name.
"Jacob."
Jacob straightened up from his slightly crouched position.
You kept me waiting.
(...)
Jacob had waited so long for this moment, and now Edward was standing before him. Right there. Closer than they'd been since Jacob forced himself to walk away from Bella's grave.
He didn't know what he wanted; confrontation, to give Edward a final brutal kick to his heart, or if he just wanted to straight out use the man as a punching bag. After considering for a moment, Jacob relished in greedily reminding himself that he could have both. He had Edward right where he wanted him. Finally.
Just to make his intentions clear, Jacob flashed an image to the front of his mind. One of the many visions that he had of killing the bloodsucker. Edward involuntarily winced, but then remained entirely still. Jacob was glad to see that al of his training had paid off. He had spent years training his mind to hide his thoughts from the mind reader, practised by testing the mental bond of the pack, Finally, when he had been able to hide his thoughts from his brothers, he had hoped that it would work on Edward in the same way. It seemed that his hard work had paid off.
Jacob had an advantage here. When the pack had worked with the Cullens, no one had been as close to them as he had. He had learn a lot about their strategies, the way that they hunted, killed, ambushed and tricked their prey. He knew that his mind reading and his speed were Edward's greatest assets. Everything else, Jacob had been born to overcome. His confidence in his own power didn't stop him from working hard to grow stronger. And here he was, at his strongest, with his prey in his sight.
Jacob stood straight, letting his confidence overcome the urge to crouch and shift. He didn't need to, not yet. He took a step forward. Edward didn't move.
Jacob faltered. He had expected Edward to take some kind of measure, offensive, defensive, something, by now, but the man still seemed to be in a state of shock. It was obvious that he was thrown by his inability to read Jacob's mind, but there seemed to be other things affecting him too.
Jacob needed to awaken the man. Needed him to stand up straight, so that Jacob could finally get justice for Bella. He needed Edward to do something, anything, other than just stand there and look stunned.
He pulled more images into his mind. They were pretty graphic, far beyond the mind that his young body suggested. He hoped that they would stir Edward into action.
Edward still didn't move.
Jacob could feel his skin crawling. He wanted a fight. He wanted to destroy the creature before him, but he was hesitating, and the animal in his mind didn't want to hesitate. He took another step forward, aware that if Edward decided to attack, he might not have time to shift before the vampire reached him.
Still Edward didn't move. The room was completely silent. Jacob was holding his breath. He tried to find words that could help him.
Unbidden, a memory of Bella surged into his head. Visions of her had been the only images that he had been unable to control, even with the pack. He knew that they had been glad when the mental link finally broke, it was depressing everyone to see her all the time.
The uncontrolled image had the effect of causing Edward to gasp. In was a soft sound, barely audible in the burdening silence of the room. But it was more than Jacob had been able to elicit so far.
He called forth more memories, allowing them to flow to the front of his mind and linger there. He could see Edward growing more distraught. He knew from experience that anger couldn't be far behind.
A final image came to mind, and Jacob sent it Edward's way. It wasn't really a single image, more like a collection. Every flower that Jacob had laid beside her grave, every time he had gone to see it. Every time that he had visited her, sat with her, been there for her, even in death. Edward had abandoned her, and Jacob had been the only one left. He had just picked up and left her behind.
Jacob's thoughts spiralled viciously and he could feel himself losing control of his mental shield. Struggling to regain his composure, he almost didn't catch Edward's next words.
Edward's voice was soft, and he looked as though his legs were about to fail him. He didn't meet Jacob's eyes.
"Please." Edward begged. "Please stop."
"You just left her." Jacob hissed, forgetting to use his thoughts.
"I know."
"I stayed here with her. I stayed. For fifty years."
"I know." Edward repeated. Jacob hesitated. This wasn't the way that he wanted this to be.
"You broke her, it was all your fault!" Edward's eyes snapped back to Jacob's face, and he was almost thrown off his pursuit by the anger he saw flashing there. The animal in him rejoiced. Finally.
"My fault?" Edward hissed. "You really have no idea, do you? Is that what you've been doing this whole time? Pretending that I'm the Big Bad that took your Bella away?"
They hadn't moved closer, but Jacob was aware that he was still well within the vampire's range.
"Well you are." He hissed through teeth that refused to unclench.
"If you hadn't been there, we could have saved her."
A park of Jacob's mind wanted to be taken aback, but he had spent fifty years thinking about nothing but this, so the rest of it urged him to push on.
"If I hadn't been there, there would have been nothing stopping you from lapping up her blood. Don't think that I didn't notice you using me as a diluter for her scent."
Edward stopped, teeth bared. When he spoke, his voice was low and threatening, but Jacob was entranced by him.
"If you hadn't of been there, Alice would've been able to see the danger and warn us to change her sooner."
This time Jacob was truly taken aback. In half a century, he hadn't though once of the affect that the seer could have had on the outcome. He wondered if it were true, or if it was just a way that Edward had thought up to deal with his guilt. He was too distracted to fully register that Edward had taken a step closer. The vampire's next words were hardly audible in the silence, his cold voice sending chills up Jacob's spine.
"I may have killed her, but I wasn't the only one."
Jacob could feel his nerves on edge as Edward moved closer still. Pushing the bloodsucker's words out of his mind, he calmed himself. He knew what he was doing. He had thought this all through.
He kept the shocked look on his face, knowing that he could throw Edward even further off his home territory. Edward couldn't read his mind, but he was sure as hell pretending that he knew exactly what was going on in it. Jacob was about to prove him wrong.
As Edward went to take yet another step forward, Jacob drew a shuddering breath, and launched himself towards his prey.
(...)
Edward continued to move forward, knowing that the wolf was both confused by his words and threatened by his proximity. The look on Jacob's face told him everything that he needed to know. Not once, in this whole time, had Jacob considered his own involvement in Bella's death.
The movement forward caught him off guard, but Edward instinctively slid out of the way. After he had moved, he feared that it had been the wrong corse of action to take. He was trying to welcome his own death, not fight it off. Jacob was the perfect method. Alice couldn't see him, and it would give both of them the ending that they deserved. Jacob got to kill a monster, and Edward got to stop being one.
But he soon realised that he had made the right choice. Jacob wasn't going to make this easy on him. Edward remembered the pitying look on the man's face when he had walked away from the grave. He hadn't killed Edward then because he knew that Edward wanted to die. That he didn't see any reason for living. And he wouldn't kill Edward now unless he put up a fight, pretended like he actually wanted to. Jacob came after him again. Edward could feel a warm feeling filling his chest. Finally, for the first time in so long, he could feel something getting through to him, even if it was Jacob's attempt on his life. Edward could feel that anticipation building, knew that he would be with Bella before long.
The fight was short, but every moment of it felt like an hour to Edward. He knew that he had to keep up the charade of resistance, emulating fatigue. Jacob would never believe a quick fight. He knew his enemy better than that. Falling easily into muscle memory, dancing around the wolf in human form, Edward wondered why he hadn't shifted yet. Jacob wouldn't' be able to kill Edward without changing first. Not many humans had ever been able to, and never alone. Jacob wanted to draw it out, make it last longer. Keep that ace up his sleeve, even if they both knew that it was there.
Edward swatted away Jacob's punch, impressed by how much the man had improved his fighting while he had waited. He supposed that he should have known it would end like this.
Seeing an opening, Edward fumbled around Jacob, allowing the man to hook a foot under his leg, pulling it out from under him and pushing him down to the floor. A few decorations rattled on the bookshelves, and Edward was pinned to the solid wood. He pushed up with most of his strength, trying to seem like he was really attempting to escape. He was exactly where he wanted to be, trapped, but he knew that Jacob wouldn't bring on his endgame unless Edward did something to force his hand.
Edward could feel Jacob loosing footing against the shiny floor, could feel the wolf begin to lose his grip against Edward's strength. Just when Edward readied himself to throw the man off, he felt a shudder run though Jacob's body. In seconds it wasn't the limbs of a lanky teenager trying to hood him down, but one gigantic paw resting firmly against his chest and pushing him into the hard wood.
The shift had been contained, barely causing the shelves to rattle again. It had been almost graceful, obviously practised. Edward had never thought that a wolf would have enough control to shift indoors without wrecking everything.
Edward sneered up at the muzzle above him.
Just do it. Finish it.
Above him Jacob answered his sneer with a snarl. Edward grinned. Finally.
He closed his eyes, smile growing as he welcomed the end. It was so close now. Beside him, lying on the floor, he felt the heat return, the phantom pressing itself against his side. Her smell filled his nose, overpowering the scent that Jacob had trailed in with him. The sound of her laugh filled his ears, blocking out the panting of the dog.
Any second now, and they would be together. Finally.
The heat faded in a matter of seconds. The smell and the sound lingered only slightly longer. Feeling panic rise in his chest, Edward opened his eyes. The wolf was still staring into his face, still breathing heavily.
Neither of them moved. Edward attempted to galvanise Jacob into action by wriggling out from under him, but the large paw held him fast.
The room was silent again. Outside it was deadly still, as if time had ceased to exist.
Jacob's breathing had slowed to its normal rate. The easy rhythm instilled in Edward a deeper panic.
No.
A second shudder ran through Jacob's body as he shifted back into a human.
No. Please no.
Jacob's brown, human eyes looked directly into Edwards as he forced another thought into the vampire's mind.
Edward recognised the familiar pity, laced with Jacob's severe disbelief.
Internally Edward howled in anguished understanding. Jacob wouldn't kill him. Jacob knew that Edward had never, would never stop blaming himself. He would still deny the vampire his final wish.
Edward felt as though his entire being was being dragged across hot metal as he realised that his plan had failed.
Jacob said nothing, and no other thoughts crossed his mind. Edward hadn't moved from his place on the floor.
Edward closed his eyes, felt the ghosts return, stampeding thought the empty room, they danced around his body, beating at the floor. They would never stop, Edward realised. This was to be his punishment. Forever.
Tormented by the cacophony of phantom noises in his head, Edward didn't hear Jacob unlock a door and disappear outside. It was morning before he realised that the man had gone, leaving only the distinctive new scent, a constant reminder to Edward that his final chance was gone.