The house was empty. Jacob, for all the illusion of family that he had gathered around him, was still left alone at the end of the day. Billy's house was empty, but at least it was cleaner. People had actually started to visit, to live in the old shack. Jacob had tried to clean up himself, before his pack started to form, but he had gotten as far as the garage and rediscovered the car. It had been left alone for fifty years, never being started, let alone driven. Meaning it needed a lot more work. The detailed and attention consuming work had taken up all of his time before the pack.
It had only been Jack's arrival that had given Jacob the motivation to clean-up. The boy hadn't helped, of course, but just his presence had been enough to galvanise Jacob. The idea of dependence, and reliance, and simple company, had begun to draw Jacob out of himself.
He walked through the house, realising that it no longer felt as empty and lonely. And it no longer felt right to sit on the floor to eat, or to leave the rubbish wherever it fell. Sure, he was still eating alone. Sure he didn't really need to impress anyone. But when he had finished heating up his food, he headed towards the table anyway.
He pushed the grey slop around his plate with the fork, worrying that it would probably poison him, had been poisoning him, and that the wolf healing was the only way he was still alive.
He heard Sam Senior coming slowly up the drive before he knocked on the door, but he didn't get up. He was comfortable at the table. He'd had a tiring day, and although he knew that it was rude and irresponsible, he was wondering if he could get away with pretending not to be home. He and the seventy year old had gotten along well enough when Jacob had come back, and he was one of the only ones who knew about Jacob's real identity, but they weren't really friends. Sam had lead the council during Jacob's absence. He'd done an extremely good job, and Jacob hadn't wanted to de-throne him, but he had no choice, it was the way of their community. Even though to most of them, he was Alec Black, not Jacob, he was still the head of the Black bloodline.
The knock came, so Jacob pushed his chair out and got up. He unlocked the door without a word, and let Sam inside. Even at his age Sam held himself like a leader. He stood tall in the room crowded with low sitting furniture. The rooms were still furbished with all of Billy's old stuff, made lower than normal for access from the wheel chair.
Jacob went back to the table, and after a moments silence Sam joined him. The man looked down at Jacob's meal, still practically untouched, as he sat down.
"Emily's got this great casserole recipe. She taught me how to make it. It's so easy, even you could probably do it."
Jacob let out a sound that was a cross between a growl and a sigh, but pushed the plate away for him. It really wasn't appetising. Neither spoke, though Jacob was really starting to wonder why Sam had come all the way out here just to sit by him and say nothing.
"Why are you here Sam?"
Sam sighed. It was never going to be comfortable between them.
"We were all thinking about your pack. I'm sure you've realised that they're progressing at a surprising rate."
Jacob nodded, not minding that the council did most of their 'thinking' without him.
"We have a theory as to why. Thought you might like to know."
Jacob looked up, interested. He still hadn't been able to figure out what was going on with the pack. He was seriously just considering chalking it up to luck.
"We think that it's you."
"Me?...how?"
Sam took a deep breath before staring.
"It could be a mix of things. First we considered what was different this time round, and the only thing we could come up with was you. Firstly there is the fact that you've been a wolf for so long, wolfed out for much longer than anyone who's ever been alpha before. You're ease with that, the way that the wolf's nature has melded with your own more than anyone in our history; that could be passed on to a younger generation unconsciously, like through a universal but unrecognised mental link. Then there is your contact with the cold ones. No one in our history has ever had as much contact as you. Your knowledge is more than what used to exist in our stories. We think that it was a mix of these things that caused the change. You're presence as the alpha has created a more stable generation of wolves."
Jacob considered. Perhaps Sam and the council was right. There didn't seem to be any other viable reason for the change.
Sam waited for Jacob to speak. Jacob didn't know what to say. So they sat in silence. Sam leaned into the table, kicking the chair back from the table.
"I heard you'd finished fixing up the old car. I would love to see it, if you had the time. I never did get to ride in it." Jacob obliged him by rising also, leading him out to the garage. Sam followed him out of the house and whistled when Jacob hitched open the door.
"That's one nice car. Pity I'm too old, or I would have had that ride now. Emily would kill me though." Sam continued talking, still effusing about the car. Jacob was growing tired of the charade. Obviously Sam hadn't said all that he wanted to say.
"Why are you here, Sam? It's clearly not to talk about my car."
Sam sighed.
"They're strange, Jake. You don't know what to do with them. Neither do we. Just don't mess them up."
"Don't mess up your front line of defence, you mean."
Sam laughed, noise dying quickly in the small garage.
"Come on Jake, you know just as well as I do that there's no need for defence. Not where he's concerned."
Sam's simple statement left Jacob in do doubt as to who he was speaking, and without his will, his thoughts turned back to Edward. Jacob had been trying to avoid thinking about the man, but he shuddered to remember just how often the vampire was on his mind in the last few months. Almost as much as when Jacob had been pursuing him.
He knew that he was going to have to go visit the blood sucker eventually. But he had been putting it off. It was in that section of his mind that he had roped off and refused to think about. He had tried to keep his thoughts completely objective when they did come, but he wasn't going to be able to deny it all forever. Especially when the boys got into his head.
An idea struck him. It would be like killing two birds with one metaphorical stone. More importantly, it would give him an excuse to go back to the Cullen place. So that he would still be able to look at himself in the mirror and recognise the person he saw there.
He wasn't against change, it was just that he'd gotten so used to the man looking back at him, and some changes were just too big.
He needed to train his mind even more. He'd trained it to hide everything but a selected thought, now he needed to train it to reveal everything but a single thought. He hoped that it would be a simple thing, to just reverse what he had taught himself to do, but he had no one to practice on.
He could use Edward to that effect, avoid the frying pan by jumping into the fire. While he was around the vampire, he convince him to leave. Before the pack got strong enough to go after him if he broke the rules.
Sam took his silence as agreement, a habit left over from his alpha days. He nodded at Jacob before walking out of the garage. A few minutes later, Jacob heard a car door slam and a motor start. Jacob didn't leave the garage to see Sam out.
(...)
Jacob picked his way slowly through the trees. He was giving himself a chance to back out of the idea. It seemed good on paper, but the more Jacob thought about it, the less he wanted to see Edward. He hadn't been exaggerating the fire\frying pan thing. The only reason he was actually considering it as a plan, was because he was sure he would only need to have minimal contact with Edward. Minimal danger with the hope of maximum return.
Jacob approached the house silently. There was no movement in the house, not that Jacob could see, but he could smell Edward. Without the rest of the vampires around, Jacob was surprised to find that he didn't mind the smell. It wasn't as horrible as it had been when it had come from all of them. Diluted, bearable.
Jacob slowed even more as he walked up the few stairs to the front door. He wondered if he should knock, but then decided against it. Instead he sent out a thought, knowing that Edward would be able to hear it.
Oi, Blood-Boy.
There was still no movement within the house, and even with his enhanced senses, Jacob couldn't hear anything. He pushed at the door. He had come in this way when he had 'visited' Edward that night, but was surprised to find that it was still slightly ajar. He pushed inside, trying to find where the smell was strongest.
Jacob's nose lead him to the same room where he and Edward had had their confrontation. The smell rose, returning to unbearable as Jacob entered the room. The body was lying on the floor, having moved barely an inch from where Jacob had last seen it. Jacob put his hand over his nose, realising why the smell was so strong. Edward hadn't left this room in two months, hadn't moved from the floor. He had literally just frozen, a living statue. His eyes were closed, and the look on his face betrayed intense agony.
Jacob wondered if a vampire could die like this. He hadn't moved his body, hadn't eaten, in over six months. Perhaps Edward had actually killed himself through neglect. He had thought that Alice would be keeping a closer eye on him that to allow this to happen.
Jacob moved to crouch next to the body, not feeling anything. He reached out and placed his hand on Edward's chest, scrambling to put distance between it and himself when the body moved under his hand. It had only been a small movement, but Jacob knew that Edward was alive. He crawled back over to him. The vampire was very weak, unable to fully open his eyes. As he tried, Jacob could see the shining black orbs under the lids of his eyes. Edward needed blood, badly. Jacob didn't know how he had made it this long, but Edward was fading fast. It seemed that these last moments of consciousness would be his last.
Edward wanted to die. Wanted it so badly that he was starving himself. These last few months within the arms of humanity had left Jacob feeling a little more charitable. He could end it all for Edward, spare him the intense suffering that the vampire was intent on bringing upon himself.
But Bella had loved this man, the man lying before him now. Jacob owed it to her, after all the time he had spent ignoring what she would have wanted, to help him.
Jacob shifted closer to Edward so that he could lift the man. Edward was heavy, but Jacob was competent. Reaching his arms around the body, he lifted Edward on to his feet. Without assistance Edward's knees crumbled beneath his legs. Edward was breathing heavily with the exertion of the small activity, and leaned on Jacob. Jacob shuffled them out of the room. He had to get Edward some blood. He pushed out of the back door. It had been his exit the last time he had been in the house, and it, like the front door, was still open. In the fresh air, Edward hissed. Jacob realised that even the change of environment was almost too much for the man who was clinging instinctively to his shoulder.
Jacob continued to move them forward, into the trees. Edward dragged his feet a little, unable to lift them above the ground. Before they reached the tree line, Edward turned his head into Jacob's side, almost resting his head upon Jacob's shoulder. Jacob recoiled, thought that maybe the vampire was trying weakly to attack him. He nearly dropped Edward, but then realised that the man's mouth was forming silent words. He leaned in closer to hear them.
In a voice as soft as a sigh and cracked from lack of use, Jacob could just make out words.
"Please… stop… just let me…"
Jacob hoisted Edward further up his arm, adjusting to a firmer grip. He shook his head, resolutely not meeting Edward's eyes as the vampire looked at him. He couldn't speak from the exertion of holding the man up and pulling him along. Jacob supposed that it was due to Edward's weak condition, but it felt like hauling a marble block.
Jacob just kept pulling, barely looking up as he made his way through the trees. He was never going to find Edward's prey if they continued to make so much noise, but Jacob had to make sure that they were well away from the road or any walking tracks. He didn't know what would happen if Edward regained his strength in the middle of a feed, in the middle of a populated or well frequented area.
Jacob tried to keep his mind off what he was doing, but the idea of finding and killing some innocent creature was turning his stomach.
Edward stumbled over a tree branch, threatening to drag them both down onto the leaf litter, but Jacob held him steady. They were almost far enough now.
Edward wasn't strong enough to truly fight him off, but Jacob was slightly impressed to feel that Edward had tensed his shoulders in something that felt like defiance. Jacob hoped that he knew enough about vampires to know what he was doing.
Jacob stopped, breathing heavily into the quiet of the wood. He gently lowered Edward into the soil, propping him up against a fallen tree trunk. He knew that nothing, no predator, would go anywhere near the vampire, no matter how weak he looked, so Jacob deemed it safe to leave the vampire there while the wolf went to hunt.
Shifting silently, he ran through the thick mess of trees, testing the air for any sign of life.
While his strides fell into a natural pattern, and his instincts kicked in, Jacob allowed himself to think briefly and shallowly about the situation. Edward's condition meant that he would need a lot more than just a few words to leave town. Wearily, Jacob accepted the full implications of the job he had signed up for.
(...)
Edward only twitched when Jacob dropped the dead animals in front of him. Jacob sighed and bent down, considering what he should do next. Edward was dying quickly, and the fact that the man was stubborn wasn't helping.
Jacob remembered someone saying that animal blood wasn't really very appetising, he had taken their word for it, but that it was better to have a carnivore's blood, if available. Jacob had lucked out, bringing back a mountain lion as well as a buck and a couple of rabbits. It had been easier carrying the animals than it had Edward. He was okay with that part, at least he thought he was okay. Until he'd realised that he might have to force-feed the fading vampire.
Jacob busied himself with arranging Edward, posing his stiff and weak limbs, into a posture that looked slightly more comfortable for consuming.
Jacob hesitated, still not sure exactly what he should do. The repressed vampire in Edward was Jacob's best weapon.
Jacob bent down again and nicked the vein at the base of the buck's neck, jumping out of the way as blood started flowing freely. He nudged the animal closer towards Edward, whose movements grew stronger as the coppery smell filled the air. Edward's eyes began to open, and when he spotted the scarlet liquid, he looked up at Jacob in shock and panic. Edward tried to shut his eyes again, tried to scramble away, but he was too weak and Jacob could see that the blood was having the desired effect. Even though his legs were pushing against the leaves, trying to find purchase against the silk undergrowth, Edward's eyes were again opening, his gaze falling upon the animal in front of him.
Edward, even with the means for his survival so close, was still trying to fight the urge to save himself. Jacob knew that it was a wasted effort. Edward's movements were growing more and more crazed, less contained and extremely ineffective. Almost of their own accord, his hands were reaching towards the buck, and Jacob watched as his lips pulled back to display prominent, sharpened teeth.
Jacob took a few steps back as Edward, seemingly compiling the very last of his strength, surged forward and sunk his teeth into the bleeding buck before him.
Jacob could only watch in awed fascination, even as all of the fight want out of Edward's shoulders and he sunk into the attack. Blood poured freely onto Edward's shirt and pants, but the vampire didn't notice.
It was a terrifying sight, reminding Jacob of just how much a wolf pack was needed to protect the people of his community. He instinctively took another step back, glad that his scent was unpalatable to the perfect killing machine before him.
When a small branch snapped under his foot, however, Jacob was seriously reconsidering his confidence. Edward's black eyes flicked up towards him with inhuman grace. There was nothing human in the snarl that clouded Edward's features, and Jacob was worried that Edward would see him as an enemy, rather than the ally he was attempting to be.
Staring into those soulless eyes reminded Jacob of making eye contact with a bear. You would never know if it was about to strike until it was too late, but it was too dangerous and terrifying to look away.
Edward considered Jacob, staring into his eyes. Jacob thought that maybe Edward was trying, even in this instinctual daze, to read Jacob's mind, so he let a thought through his barrier. Edward growled slightly, but slowly lowered his eyes until they fell upon the mountain lion. The edge having been taken away and the threat to his life no longer relevant, Edward seemed to view the meat eater as a better meal, and made short work of draining it dry. He seemed to notice the rabbits as an afterthought, and although his lips curled up in disgust, he drained them too.
Then he returned his gaze back to Jacob. Edward's eyes were still black pits of absolute darkness, but Jacob thought that he saw a spark of the human Edward in them. As he stared back at the predator, he noticed a light ring of gold, barely visible, encompassing the vampire's cornea.
Edward's face was covered in blood. It wasn't like Jacob had expected, not only the section between the man's mouth and his chin was dyed red, but all of his face. It was smudged over his eyebrows. Tangled and matted in his hair. It was covering his clothes too, staining his light blue shirt a soaking, shocking, violent red.
Edward's eyes moved from Jacob's face, and Jacob was suddenly very aware that he himself was naked. He had not had a second set of clothes to change into when he had shifted, and he'd been too caught up in everything that he hadn't noticed.
As Edward's eyes returned to his face, features almost resembling a smirk, Jacob lifted his eyebrow and chanted his hip to the side, pretending that his own vulnerability didn't scare him. Edward didn't say anything, just rearranged his shirt, peeling it from his body where the wet fabric clung to his cold skin, turned and walked back in the direction of his house.
Remembering his purpose in visiting the Cullen residence, and a little worried that Edward would stray once again down the path of self-destruction, Jacob followed.