AuthorsNote: Elllo friends and neighbors. Tap o' da mornin' to ya. Sorrry if ive been a little held up. I've beeen sort of obsessed with other things lately.

THE STAND

BY:STEPHEN KING

1114 pages of raw, unbridled perfection.

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Chapter13

(Renesmee)

I sifted through the channels, groaning at my luck. It was 4 in the after noon, and after a monotonously dull day at school, all I wanted was some pointless, relaxing daytime television.

I grimaced while I finally decided on an old re-run of American Idol.

Jasper came sliding down the stair railing minutes later, jumping over the couch and pulling me to his side.

"Hey kid. Watcha watching?"

His face fell when he looked to the TV.

"Ugh, Nessie." He chuckled, pushing me away from him. "Your not one of those are you?"

"One of whose?"

"Of all of the gazillions of things you could be watching, you decided to burn your brain cells watching Ryan Seacrest burn through his note cards with scripted homophobic puns? You figured it would be fun to chuckle at Simon Cowel's fake petulant arrogance? "

I chuckled. "There was nothing else on!"

"Renesmee. We have thousands of channels to choose from. We own almost every single DVD and VHS tape ever released. We have a projector in the basement, fully equipped with a stockpile of movie reels dating back to 1951. Yet, you decide to watch American Idol? I would rather you smoke the crack pipe with Paula Abdul than be stupid enough to watch her drone on and on about her one-hit wonder once upon a time."

"You're so dramatic."

"Turn it off! I can feel my IQ dropping!"

"No."

"Give me the remote."

"No."

But of course, Jasper and his powers of persuasion had me suddenly wanting to hand him the remote.

"If you're going to watch TV at all, which you shouldn't, you could at least have the decency to watch something with a little substance."

He clicked through the channels, going so fast the tiny script on the screen was a blur. He landed on an onDemand channel, an onDemand channel dedicated to documentaries.

Ugh, documentaries.

"Jasper! No! I want some easy, thoughtless entertainment. Turn on Springer or something. I would love to see the re-run of that one episode where the midget runs around the stage." I giggled as I lifted my hand to his cheek, remembering for the both of us the little midget flinging himself from on part of the set to the other on his arms. I laughed even harder while I remembered how the guards didn't even bother to catch him, probably because he was weaving in between them like a toy car.

Jasper was starring at me, wide-eyed, by time I had pulled away.

"What has mankind come to? Are we that easily distracted, that we find something that redundant…entertaining? Are we truthfully that ignorant?"

"You're crossing the line."

"Do you ever wonder if in 100,000 years, the pilgrims of a new age will come and forage our old houses, to find that there was at least one of these boxes called televisions in each home. What would they say when they find out that we would sit and stare at the box for hours upon hours a day? They would have to assume that the box was some sort of mystical, communal Holy Grail. Why else would a living, breathing human being sit and drool in front of flashing lights for that much of an extended period of time? And why did man feel that they needed to have more than one of these boxes in each house? Is that really what we want our future historians to think of us; our only legacy being a box?"

"The line is a dot to you."

Jasper smiled, obviously please with himself.

We both turned around when we heard the front door open.

Jasper and I nearly doubled over with what we saw.

Emmet came waltzing into the house, a smile on his face and a spring in his step. His gold tinted jeans rode the very outer limit of his ass, exposing most of the back of his gold and black striped boxers that he hung as low as he possibly could. Above his boxers, his baggy black and gold layered t-shirts rested below a single gold chain hanging from his neck. His jeans were haphazardly tucked behind the massive lip of his golden sneakers. Of course, his attire would have never been complete if I weren't for the way his black hat slanted on top of his head. The definite cherry on top was the single studded earring in his left ear.

"Sup Cracka." I said; a ghetto tone laced my greeting, visibly soiling it for Emmet. Jaspers chuckles rang in the background.

"You don't like it?" Emmet's head hung low as he tossed his hat onto the couch.

I replied before Jasper had the chance too.

"No! I love it! All you need is some afro-sheen; a few gold bracelets and you're fully equipped to run this bitch."

I laughed with Jasper for a few minutes before even attempting to settle myself down.

"Ugh! I just wanted a change!" Emmet growled while he walked to the sofa.

"Emmet, brother, your swag is a tad disproportionate. Try to lean with it."

It took me everything I had to try and tame the tickle that was itching the back of my throat.

"Im so sick of this! Im sick of Edward and his v-neck t-shirts; im sick of you and your damned sweater vests! I want my own thing! I wanted to be unique!"

"So you thought that raiding Baby Phat for ganstas' would be the solution?" Jasper answered.

The tickle in my throat won and my giggles burst in bubbles, up from the pits of my stomach.

"Shut up. I'm going to change."

"Great idea." I heaved through chuckles.

This was shaping up to be a pretty great day.

***

I sprinted up the steep incline of the mountain at lethal speed, the trees blurring alongside me, the dead leaves sheeting the ground flew according to my current.

I had another 3 miles of mountain to climb before I got to the cave.

I was going to visit Seth.

It had been 8 months since he had changed, and things were not looking good.

Seth refused to live at home when he came back; he refused to be around anybody. He insisted on living in the mountains, away from everybody or anything that he could hurt during his changes. I didn't even have to use both hands to count the times I have heard him speak in the last 8 months, and since he wasn't apart of our pack physically anymore, I couldn't hear his thoughts at night when he changed.

Sam and I take turns to run up here at least 4 times a week to check in on him. He won't let anybody else within a 50 foot radius. He wouldn't even see Leah. It was a big unnecessary mess, and as the year wore on, there had been no change.

Nobody knew when Seth was planning on returning to his new "fleet." He wouldn't talk about it. So every time I run up here to see him, in the back of my head I had to be prepared for his cave to be empty. We have all been holding our breath for long enough, and it was time for a change. Today, I was going to try my best to talk him out of whatever hole he has fallen into. Even though I try that every week, and I only seem to be able to dig him deeper and deeper.

It was times like these, running up this mountain, taking the same route I have taken so many times before, that I start to feel guilty for being so happy when Seth was so miserable.

Me and Ness finally being together is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She had sewn my entire life together in the past few months. Even talking about it made a subconscious smile stretch across my face, it made my eyes light up with thoughts of her perfection.

If I could bottle my happiness and make that lonely wolf drink it, there would be no stopping him. He would be bouncing off the walls.

The cave was silent when I arrived, looking hidden inside its mountain by the countless trees that blocked its entrance. I peeked inside the cavern, grimacing when I smelt the moist and rotten leaves on the floor. The stone walls were even more blanketed with ivy than the last time I had been here. I could hear the desolate drip of the moisture inside.

That sound always made my hair stand erect.

"Seth." I called, my voice echoing off the granite walls.

I heard the crackle of a fire and walked inside.

Seth sat, chin on his knees in front of his fire. He was cooking a rabbit, using two twigs as a rotisserie, the flames his only light.

I said, in my most optimistic voice: "Hey bud, how you doing?"

I didn't expect a reply, so I went on.

"That rabbit sure looks succulent, I see your culinary skills are at the top of their game, eh?"

He nodded, flipping his rabbit over the glowing coals.

I tried my hardest to continue with light conversation like I have every time I visit Seth.

But it was always hopeless.

"So, Leah met some guy. They really hit it off. I don't think he's her imprint, but she's convinced."

I chuckled, remembered the first time I met Leah's object of affection. He was a definite ass, completely and totally in love with himself.

So naturally, he and Leah got along perfectly.

"His name is Vince. But he likes to be called Terry."

No answer.

"That just doesn't seem right to me. He is kinda clumsy, and really awkward. But he treats Leah like a queen, so I guess that's what counts. She's really happy."

No answer.

"Nessie says hi. She can't wait to see you. She wanted to come with me here today, but I didn't think it would be a good idea. Considering you haven't so much as looked at me in 7 weeks."

He lifted his lifeless eyes to mine briefly under heavy lids, as if to disprove my point.

I was done with the pleasantries. I decided to dive right into doing what I came here to do.

Get. Seth. Home.

My plea wasn't very unique, but it was short, sweet, and to the point.

"Seth. Come home."

No answer.

"I hate coming up here every week to talk to your walls. Whatever is the matter, we can all work it out. We just want to help you. I know the change must be hard, but nothing is worse than this isolation Seth. You're a clam up here. You haven't done anything wrong; nobody blames you for wanting to help where your help was asked for. We understand, we understand it all, but until you have to go back, why would want to sit up here and waste time when you could be spending it with the people that are going to have to miss you even more when you have to go back to Finland?"

He let out a short, sarcastic sigh. It was enough to turn my sympathy into aggravation.

"Ugh, Seth. Im sorry about whatever you're so depressed about, and I know you can't help it. But honestly, the least you could do is talk to me."

No answer.

"Everybody has been worried sick. Your mother has been crying non-stop since she found out. Edward is a wreck with guilt. Carlisle refuses to do anything else but study to try and find a cure for your imbalance. Embry hasn't laughed in weeks. You're making everybody miserable. I can't even feel sorry for you anymore. You have to get over it. "

He pulled the rabbit off his skewer and began to pull it apart, still ignoring my presence.

I got up, too frustrated to stay.

I've tried to be compassionate; I've tried to be understanding. But there was only so much I could handle. He was affection other people with this now, and that wasn't okay.

I looked at him before I turned to leave.

"You know Seth, this was your choice. Don't you think you owe it to yourself and everybody else to at least try and make the most out of it? You wanted this."

I stormed to the exit, irritated.

A tiny, shaken voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

"You…you think I wanted this?"

I turned around, wide-eyed when I heard him speak. It had been the first time in 3 months.

"Didn't you?"

"You think I wanted to be detached from my friends, from my brothers? You think I wanted to hate myself every minute of every day for the things that the fucking moon makes me do? You think I wanted to alter my life for a group of heathens?"

His fists were clenched; he was speaking through his teeth. I could see his body begin to tremble as he went on. His whisper became an angry shout, his eyes shrunk to tiny slits as we went on.

"You think that I enjoy sitting in this fucking cave? You think I sit up here for any other reason other than to hold myself back from tearing apart the first person I see?"

He kicked a pile of wood, splintering each log. His face was scarlet, his chest was heaving.

I took a step back.

"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT THIS IS LIKE! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I GO THROUGH EVERY TIME THAT FUCKING SUN GOES DOWN, JACOB! I'M A SLAVE TO THE MOON! AND YOU THINK I LIKE IT THAT WAY!? YOU DON'T KNOW."

His voice had risen to volumes I had never thought imaginable. The rocks above us quaked.

Before I knew it, I was pinned against the wet cave wall beneath Seth's tremulous strength. My back dug into the rigid stone, and I could feel the warm trickle of blood stain my shirt.

I didn't dare challenge him. This was what he needed, some wholesome venting. I didn't care how girly that sounded.

His face was an inch from mine. His eyes were on fire. Thankfully, his voice lowered to a whisper.

"I didn't want any of this."

He slowly let me down, untangling his hands from my now torn, wrinkled shirt.

His eyes were wide while he took his original seat.

This wasn't a Seth; this wasn't a wolf.

This was a schizophrenic.

"What happened to you over there?" I replied, loosing my confidence in the stability of my own vocal cords.

The way he stared at me absolutely broke my heart. My brother, my best friend, the guy that stood by me when nobody else would, his eyes were pleading, confused, powerless.

His watering eyes scrunched together.

"I…I don't even remember, Jake. All I remember is sitting in a room with these men. Next thing I know, I wake up in the middle of some tent in the dark, bleeding from the bite marks all over me."

I was speechless. His tears were unstoppable. His voice was broken while he spoke. Yet, while he was letting out his emotions, he was still trying to contain himself.

"I…saw…things. Things I wish I never had to see." He punched the wall, permanently splintering its edges.

I walked over to his shuddering body, pressed against the wall, trying to hide his vulnerability. He shook me away when I tried to comfort him.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I couldn't. They were right. I owe them."

"You don't owe them anything."

"We both do, Jacob. The entire pack does. It was their obligation to change me, no matter how it happened. I don't blame them. I just hate the side-affects. Just because they do things differently, doesn't mean they aren't right. The whole fleet went through this."

"Fuck the fleet, I need to tell Carlisle, we aren't just going to stand by and let this happen."

He turned around. His tears stopped.

"It's already happened, Jake."

"I refuse to accept that. They don't get to do this to you. We'll fight; I can get Emmet and the pack in on it."

He chuckled, shaking his head.

What could there possibly be to laugh at?

"They would rip you guys to shreds. It wouldn't even be a competition. You haven't seen how strong we are."

"Don't even say 'we'. You aren't one of them."

"I am, and im going back."

I didn't mean to scream when I replied…but that's just how it came out.

"What! They practically date raped you, and you want to go back there! THEY CHANGED YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL, AND YOU WANT TO GO FUCKING BACK! NO! NO! NO! You have been sitting in this cave for 8 months, miserable, and you don't blame them?!"

"It's not about them anymore. It's the cause, it's my ancestors. It's practically my civic duty to help them fight. I can't stand by and watch this happen."

"You're brainwashed."

"Maybe."

"This is a cult."

"Maybe."

We stared at each other for a long time after that. God only knew how long. His face was now steady, his eyes were calm.

In that moment, there was no changing his mind.

"Come back with me."

My brain barley even registered the question it was so ridiculous.

"Im not going anywhere and neither are you."

"It's our responsibly, yours, mine, and the packs."

"No, Seth. This is your master's grudge against a Volturi that hasn't done anything to you. This is his problem, not yours."

"I need you all to come back with me. The whole pack."

Ridiculous became an understatement.

"You're out of your mind."

"Maybe."

I backed away subconsciously to the exit. Listening to him talk began to shoot chills down my spine.

I had to get out of there.

"I've got to get back to the house, Ness will be worried."

He nodded and turned back to his fire, back to his rabbit, back to his abyss. Back to his fleet.

I ran with brute speed, almost not able to move fast enough. Fear was an emotion I rarely felt, but right now, it was coursing through my veins.

So I ran. I ran until the panic was leaking out my pores.

And while I ran, I planned.

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