Chapter 24

Carlisle got Masen back to his house and called for Leah as he got close. She whipped open the door, alarmed at the sound of his voice and immediately put her hands over her face as she saw Masen.

"Masen!" she screamed, about to come down off the step but Carlisle used his head to motion to her that he was bringing him inside.

"Mom..." Cassandra's voice called, as she emerged into the kitchen where they stood. Edward and Bella entered through the open door a second later, and Bella took it upon herself to take Cassandra back out of the room. Her eyes were glued to Masen and her immediate reaction was to cry.

"Hey," Bella picked her up and cuddled her to her chest, carrying her out of the room.

Carlisle carried his son down the hall to one of the bedrooms and placed him lightly on the bed with Leah just behind him and Edward just behind her. Masen hadn't opened his eyes since they'd arrived at the house, though began to hack up more blood onto the top of the bedspread.

Edward's eyes began to beam with horror at the sight, one which he had never seen from a vampire. "What's wrong, Carlisle?"

"Call William," his father instructed, without turning to face him, "Get William here. If Masen uses his gift on William, he'll be able to use it back."

"Okay," Edward said, calling Rosalie's phone first.

"What should I do?" Leah asked, "Masen... Masen can you hear me? Masen?"

Carlisle put a hand gently on Leah's face and tried to guide her back out of her hysteria, "Are there any blankets in the house we could wrap him in?" His eyes and hers both focused on Masen's chattering teeth.

"That's not normal," she said, crying, "Vampires can't feel cold."

"If you have some blankets," Carlisle said calmly, "We can keep him more comfortable."

Leah sniffed in and tried to wipe her eyes, though her vision began to blur from the tears. "Okay," she choked out, "Okay. I'll get some."

She disappeared from the room and Carlisle focused back on Masen, "Can you hear me son?"

"Mmmm..." His answer came out in the form of a painful moan, though he nodded his head to signify he was comprehending his father.

"William's on his way," Edward told them. He stared at Carlisle for a second, "With Emmett and Esme."

He nodded and returned his attention to the bed.

"Rosalie and Alice are staying back with Caleb and Nicole," Edward added loudly. He continued to stare at Masen, suddenly thinking his chances of living were diminishing by the second. Blood covered the top bed a little more each time he coughed, causing him to release choking sounds as he did.

Leah re-entered the room with her arms filled with blankets and put one over the top of him. "Oh my God," she said with a sob, noticing all of the blood on the bed, and her husband's shivering body.

"Thank you, Leah," Carlisle said to her as the two of the worked at wrapping him tightly with the blankets.

"It's not making him warmer," she said.

"Give it a minute," he told her, trying to sound reassuring.

Edward could tell that his father's on the surface confidence were only skin deep, but Leah seemed to have regained her control slightly from his calming antics. She sat herself on the side of the bed by his face and began to stroke his cheek and hair gently.

"Masen..." she said quietly through a shaky voice, "Can you hear me?"

He removed a hand from beneath the covers where it sat under his chin and squeezed her knee. Leah let more tears fall and placed her hand over his. His coughing had become less persistent at the moment, though every so often he would let out a loud one, sending what seemed like more blood each time.

"Is he almost here?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"He should be," Edward said, glancing at a clock on the nightstand.

They waited anxiously over the next ten minutes before William burst into the house.

Carlisle squatted down to try meeting his son's eye level, "Masen, do you think you still have the strength to use your gift on William? Could you try so he can try reversing it on you?"

Masen's eyes flicked open and Leah wiped his mouth with the bottom of her shirt. He gave the slightest nod, letting his head run gently over the blanket beneath him.

"William," Edward said, guiding him into the room with the rest of them. He immediately darted through the open doorway and looked suddenly heartbroken and awe stricken at the sight of Masen on the bed.

"Oh my God," he whispered, "Mase.. bud.. " His eyes lifted to meet Leah's first, then Carlisle's.

William reached his hand out and Masen removed his free hand from Leah's knee and grabbed lightly onto William's wrist. The two of them sat there together for a moment with William looking as if he were concentrating extra hard.

"Is he doing it?" Leah asked, "Is he using his power?"

William kept his eyes shut for a second before opening them, "Maybe I have to be hurt for him to use it. There's nothing wrong with me, so how can he use it?" His voice came out in pants, but his mind seemed to be working with reason.

"Are you using your gift?" Carlisle asked his son.

"Want me to... punch you?" Edward asked.

William looked at him for a minute before it registered and he nodded. Leah and Carlisle looked on as Edward cocked back and hit William as hard as he could, causing him to wince and grip the place on his arm where he hurt him.

Masen's hand hung limply around William's wrist, almost looking as if it were just placed there on top.

"Masen," William said, looking down, feeling his fingers begin to slide lifelessly away from his arm. He looked up at the rest of them and Masen's hand dropped completely from his arm, landing so it dangled off the side of the bed.

"His thoughts are fading," Edward said. His eyes looked around the room and he took in a few back to back deep breaths.

Carlisle hunched down over his son and began talking close to his ears, "Masen. Masen!"

There was no response and Leah began to shout his name over and over, taking his head in her hands.

William shook his head and took Masen's hand in his own, knowing that it was doing nothing but hoping by some miracle their gifts would be able to create some kind of spark, or magic that would suddenly spring him back to life.

"William, help him," Leah cried.

"I can't," he said through emerging tears of his own, "He has to use it on me. I can't. It's... it's not going to work. I'm trying."

"Thoughts, Edward..." Carlisle said, struggling now to keep the composure of the room, "What are his thoughts?"

"He, um.. he's thinking that everyone sounds far away," Edward told him, "But he's still thinking." He suddenly turned his head over his shoulder upon sensing Emmett and Esme close by.

Carlisle had his hand on his son's face and shouted his name once more drawing no response. He looked at Edward with hollow eyes of complete hopelessness, "I don't know what to do. Edward... I can't help him. I... I can't save him."

Edward didn't know what to say. He looked at him with the same hopeless expression and then both of them heard Esme's voice.

Carlisle turned and looked at his son's lifeless body on the bed, then to his blood soaked clothes and hands. Leah's sobs were gut shattering and William's pure sadness matched Edward's. Carlisle wanted to protect his wife from the scene they were all apart of and so he ran out of the house to meet her before she could.