Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, just my characters.
Jacob Black
I was too distracted to work today.
After we left the pawnshop from couch shopping, I had my shift at work. It was mine, Mike's and Embry's shift today but I wasn't in it. I wasn't present. I could have been absent today and I'm sure nobody would notice.
I have been having vivid visions lately. Not visions of the future like Pixie Princess. No. Visions of the past. But instead of a vision it was memory. It felt like a memory. My memory.
Who was the woman in my memory?
Cassia.
Who was this Cassia? And what business did she have in my head? Why was she messing with it?
I'm trying to remember if I've ever met a Cassia before.
The woman was for sure supernatural. Maybe she was a leech.
Did I ever meet a leech named Cassia? I know we stumbled upon rogue vampires from time to time after The Volturi but we always destroyed them instantly. There was also the time we destroyed the Newborn Army almost ten years ago. I may not have known the vampires by name but I would've surely remembered the face of the parasite I ripped from limb to limb.
Dammit. This was frustrating and I hate to be frustrate by something I had no knowledge of.
The Cullens would know a vampire I must have met before because we often destroyed vampires together. And Alice would surely see if a potential vampire came to town? Although to be fair, she hasn't been able to see visions clearly whenever she is around Nessie and the wolves. Which was great because I didn't want her knowing my business or future businesses before they happen. No thank you.
It's like Eddy plummeting through your head every second you see him. I try to control thoughts I wouldn't want him to hear like whenever I picture his daughter naked or have a memory of Nessie and I's sexual escapades. Like the one we had yesterday night. Oh…Nessie really surprised me when she did that thing with her mouth…
Dammit! Focus Jake!
Maybe Edward would help me?
Ugh. I'll have to get off work early to meet up with him before Nessie returned from her visit to Felicity. I didn't want her to be around because I knew no.1. I would automatically have improper thoughts from last night that would surely get me killed by a hotheaded Edward and no.2. I didn't want to worry her about any danger without obtaining the full information myself.
But I do believe these visions that feel like a memory need to be addressed.
And I also wanted to use the opportunity to ask Edward and Bella an important question in regards to my relationship with Nessie.
Please don't screw it up by thinking about Nessie in lingerie! Please, Jake! You only have one thing to do!
"Hey, guys. I'm taking off early. I'll meet you guys later for dinner." I told Embry and Mike, shrugged my jacket on.
"Um, okay! Hey – W-wait!" Embry called after me.
I turned.
"Where are you going?" Embry asked. "You've been off the whole day. What's up?"
"Uh…" I paused, looking over Embry's shoulder to see Mike and Dave minding their own business. "I'm actually going to the Cullens to talk to Edward."
He frowned. "Okay. About what?"
I sighed. "It's totally weird but…"
He waited patiently.
"I've been having these visions lately." I whispered.
"You're having visions of the future like Shorty Vamp?" He asked with a laugh.
I shook my head. "Its visions of the past but it feels less like a vision and more like a memory. My memory."
"A memory you don't remember having?"
"Told you it was weird." I said to him. "I think it has something to do with the night I was taken by those leeches. I think someone's trying to send me a message. I don't know what but I know it's supernatural. And I think Edward might know or at least help."
He nodded, quickly understanding having got the full backstory. He grabbed a cloth hanging from the table and began wiping the grease off his fingers.
"So you're having memories of the leeches?" He asked.
I shrugged. "At least one of them."
"Do you think the Cullens might know who these leeches might be?"
I nodded. "Maybe Edward or the Doc."
Maybe if Edward reads my mind, he'd probably recognize the female leech that has been popping into my head lately. If Edward didn't know anything about it, maybe Dr. Fang or Jazz knew of vampires they might have met in the past who might have it out for them or something.
"Does Nessie know about it?" He asked me.
I shook my head. "I need to tell the Cullens first before I tell Nessie. She's coming over to my apartment later. Please keep her occupied while I'm gone."
"I'll try my best. Who am I kidding? It should be easy. That girl loves to be around me." He kidded.
I rolled my eyes.
"What do I tell her?"
He couldn't exactly lie to her. I didn't want him to. I was going to tell her what I was doing with her father soon. I just had to be sure this was something to be alarmed about first.
"Just say I'm gonna be held back a little by an errand and just distract her for a while." I said.
He nodded. "All right. But if she starts asking questions, I'm telling." He said like the complete wuss he is.
I rolled my eyes. "I won't be long anyway." I told him before walking away.
I reached my car and began driving the Cullens –taking a quick detour to take a shower and throw on some fresh clothes at my apartment, I wouldn't want to make poor Barbie vomit with not only my wolf smell but car grease to contend with.
I made it to the main Cullen house thirty minutes later.
I parked my car in the open parking space. It seemed so quiet. It didn't smell as sickening as it usually does. Most of them must not be home.
Ever since our move here almost two years ago, the Cullens kept themselves busy doing stuff instead of being stuck in the house for hours on end.
Carlisle was definitely at the hospital working his shifts as Chief of Surgery.
The Mama of the house, Esme, enjoyed interior designing. She has formed a rapport with some of the neighbors and often helped with designing kitchens, living spaces and so on.
Alice opened up a boutique last year in Glennoak. I think she's going to make it a franchise because she opened the same boutique back in Port Angeles, Washington and it thrived. As long as it kept her busy and out of my face, then it was good. Not that I had any problem with Pixie Princess, it was just that her hyperactive nature tended to be annoying sometimes on a bad day.
Jasper opened up a dojo downtown about eight months ago. The dojo gave small kids the ability to train combat skills in martial arts (such as judo, karate, Thai-Chi, and jiu-jitsu) when they got off school, as well as on Saturdays, when sun set during the day. I bet those kids found him intimidating to say the least. He told me about his time in the military. He recalled how he learned a fighting technique called CQC (Close-Quarters Combat). Over the past eight years, I learned a few moves from him too.
Edward was a practicing psychologist. Figures. He was probably the best shrink in the world.
But he often did his work from home, often doing his appointments over Skype or his patients visited his office right across his own house once or twice a week. He played the part well, he dyed his bronze hair a darker tone and added a few grey hairs to give him a mature look. He also wore more 'in his prime' clothes to make him appear middle-aged. Sure it could work on any nutjob he meets but he barely looks like he is in his late twenties with the makeover.
Bella taught English online to keep her occupied while Edward was busy. She also worked on some bikes. I was glad she didn't lose interest in bike building but I was bummed I wasn't helping her out. The girl may be a heightened immortal but she was still…Bella.
Emmett got a job as a football recruiter for the local college football team. He and Rosalie were going to enroll into UC, Berkley for our time here but then the Lizzie situation happened and plans changed. Goldilocks was happy being a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) with Carter and gave him some school work to pass time.
That kid was smart, I tell you. He knew the Pythagoras Theorem long before he could use the number blocks. He had the Binomial Theorem already locked down at 10-months-old when I barely know what the Binomial Theorem is at 25. But he played his smarts really cool though, he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. He often tried to imitate Emmett and his carefree behavior.
The reason most of the Cullens all had jobs like regular folk instead of enrolling in high school with Nessie was because they weren't even planning to live here long anyway. Carlisle got transferred to Oakland Woods General Hospital from Seattle, where he worked for ten years, to act as interim Chief of Surgery when the former chief died. His contract was only for three years. I don't think the Cullens enjoyed the idea of repeating high school again for another round. I don't think I could even repeat it a second time.
It's not like they needed the jobs. The Cullens were more loaded than fifteen hundred bazookas and pistols.
But in order to keep up the 'human façade' they had to play the game.
I walked through the massive double doors of the Cullen mansion and closed it behind me. I could hear Goldilocks voice coming from the library. She sounded like she was teaching Baby Ken some history on the Industrial Revolution.
I could hear Esme humming some classical tune from the living area and I heard the piano playing upstairs.
Ahh.
The man I was looking for must be home. Be it playing the same darn tune he's been playing for the past eight years.
Doesn't he have anything new in his compendium of songs that doesn't sound so depressing? He's killing the vibes of everyone in the house.
"Bella loves it, Jacob." He replied in a whisper, knowing I'd hear with my badass hearing.
Ugh! Oh right. It was Bella's lullaby. Stupid. Who writes a lullaby for a grown ass woman who can't even sleep anymore?
"You're in my head uninvited again, Eddy!" I called out loud.
Then he ended the song and began playing a new song.
This time it was my Nessie's lullaby that he composed for her when she was still young.
Ah. That's more like it.
I heard him sigh.
I walked into the living room to see Esme dusting off the shelves and realigning some of the books in their proper places whilst simultaneously whipping up something in the kitchen.
What was she cooking? Who was she cooking for?
It couldn't have been for me or Nessie because Nessie and I were gonna have takeout tonight in my apartment.
"Esme." I greeted.
"Good evening, Jacob. I didn't expect you to be here today. Nessie's out."
"No – No. I'm not looking for Nessie. I'm actually here to talk to Edward." I told her.
She nodded. "Oh."
I smiled. "Where is everybody? Thought it was a Saturday?"
"Emmett and Jasper are playing some football on the college grounds. Alice just stopped by to see how the boutique is going. She hired a new employee who she's showing the ropes. Rosalie's in the library giving Carter helping him with his weekend homework. Bella and Edward are upstairs with Seth." She told me.
Oh. That explains why Edward was playing Bella's lullaby and why Eddie sounded pretty chirpy today. He was with his mate and best…mate.
"I guess that explains all the cooking?" I laughed.
She smiled. "Edward invited Seth for dinner to talk and catch up. You know those two and their friendship."
I nodded. Oh yeah. I found it weird at the beginning but now I've learned to just roll with it. Seth always had a strange affection for the Cullens, particularly Edward. He had some hero-worship for him. He admired his level of control and intellect and I think Edward loved getting inside Seth's head.
I bet that mind of his is full of sunshine and rainbows with unicorns and marshmallows. Who wouldn't wanna spend a day in Seth's head?
"You're welcome to join if you and Nessie don't have plans anymore? I could add more chicken. I'm making enchiladas."
"Chicken enchiladas. Ooh, Es now you're putting me in a predicament. Now you're talking." I remarked. She smiled and rolled her eyes. "No, I think Nessie and I are good for tonight. I'll give Embry a heads up though. Maybe he'd wanna join?"
"Oh, yes. Please do." She begged. I smiled.
God. She's so moral. She reminded me so much of my mom it was honestly scary.
"And maybe you can extend the invitation to Mike. He is Leah's new male friend, right?" She asked sweetly.
I rolled my eyes. Seth must've told her about him. What a blabber mouth that kid is. Well, it's his head that will get chopped off when Leah finds out he's been spreading the news all over vampire town.
I shrugged. "Not sure she'd call him that just yet. I don't think they're steady but, I'll definitely let him know."
She smiled back, showcasing her ridiculous vampire dimples. How the hell do vampires have dimples? is what I've been asking myself these past ten years.
"Oh! Before I forget." She told me before running out of the room and appearing with a neatly, decorated wrapped box in her grasp.
"I'm not sure if I will see you in the week but, your birthday is coming up and I thought I would give you something. It's from Carlisle and I." She said to me, handing the box to me.
"Uh, Gee…Thanks, Es. Um…You didn't have to, you know." I told her.
I had totally forgot my birthday was coming up. I haven't celebrated in a while so it has usually become just a normal day to me. Nessie usually was the one to remind me about it a day before and often got mad at me that I wasn't as enthusiastic as she was about my birthday.
Nessie and I usually just watched a movie on my birthday. I don't think that was gonna change this year.
"Don't be ridiculous. You've become a fourth son to me, don't forget that. You, Embry and Seth have been too gracious to our family over the years. The least we could do is pay you back in some shape or form."
"Um…does the deposit for my apartment and getting me a car mean nothing?" I joked.
She giggled. "Those were just the things you needed. It was less of a gift and more of a duty on us as your surrogate parents while you're away from Billy."
I almost cringed. Almost. I wouldn't let her see it though.
Sure. Esme was great. I liked her the most outside of my Bella, Edward and of course my Nessie. In fact, I actually looked up to her a lot. She's been really great to me and the wolves. She even managed to soften Leah's chip on her shoulder a bit.
Carlisle and Esme were big on gestures. I mean they've had centuries to build up their net worth that splurging on cars and mansions meant nothing. It only just added to their income. So I wasn't surprised that they brushed off all the things they've done for me.
I found it hard to accept such huge gifts. Not just from them but from anyone really. I didn't grow up with much but I liked to think of myself as a hard worker. I'd work for what I have.
But if I'm going to be with a Cullen, I might as well get used to this sort of life, right?
"It's nothing big. It's just something you can use in your apartment, I'm sure Embry and Seth will enjoy it as well."
"Oh. Didn't I tell you? Embry moved." I told her.
"What?" She gasped as if I reported her the worst news of her life.
"Not really. He just moved across the hall from me. He's crash-padding with Mike," I told her.
I didn't know she liked Embry so much. Embry was my best friend but I always thought he was kind of a tool. Maybe she liked his charming nature. Who knows?
She nodded. "Okay."
"Anyway, thanks again for this. Really. Thanks." I said to her, placing my hand on her cold shoulder.
On any other vampire, I would have hissed but not Esme. It felt normal to touch her. The Cullens all felt normal to me. Abnormally normal.
She smiled back before carrying on with her cleaning and cooking. I placed the box on the counter near the door. I'd take it when I left.
Rosalie came into the room with Carter in her arms whilst he played on his portable gaming console. He looked like any normal kid at that moment. Not a hybrid aging like a weed.
"Ugh. I knew I smelled rabies." She snarled and gagged, scrunched nose and all. "Shouldn't you be somewhere digging a hole? Don't you have a job?"
"Yes, I do, Cindy. But you don't clearly. You're just an old housewife," I smirked.
"An old housewife who can snap your head off –"
"Language!" I exclaimed, gesturing to her adoptive son in her arms.
She rolled her eyes. "You're so inconsequential!"
I smiled and turned to the light auburn-flaxen haired boy with dark amber-blue eyes. His eye color was always strange and beautiful to see. You couldn't explain it. No human or vampire eyes looked like his. It was almost like sunset on ocean waters. The kid was gonna be a heartbreaker.
"Hey, buddy!" I greeted him, ruffling his hair.
He groaned but didn't move from his eyes from his game.
"What are you playing there?"
"Minecraft," He whispered.
"Oh. Love that game."
He smiled and then looked up at me.
"Is Nessie here?" He asked, with hopeful eyes.
"Sorry, bud – It's just me." I told him.
Disappointment flooded his face.
"Okay." He replied before continuing with his game.
"Bye, Barbie Princess!" I said, flicking Rosalie's hair as she walked away.
"I'm gonna kill you one of these days, Jacob Black. I swear!" She warned as I climbed up the stairs.
"I'd love to see you try, Goldilocks. Don't forget to look in the mirror on your way. Your real age is starting to show," I laughed.
I watched her lob her shoe my way.
"You will rue the day you ever lived, Jacob Black!" She shouted.
I laughed as I ducked and ran up the rest of the flight of stairs and into the music room where Edward, Bella and Seth were congregated, talking and laughing.
"Hey, Jake!" Seth beamed as he saw me.
Bella turned around and smiled just as enthusiastically. Good to know our relationship didn't change much over the years. I wasn't pining after her and she wasn't tossing me around with her vampire. It was a win-win. And now we could be best friends like we were always meant to be.
"Jake!" She crooned as she pulled me into a hug. "You smell good, for once." She said, sniffing my hair and running a hand through my wet hair.
"Nessie bought me a new shampoo." I told her.
"Of course she did." She laughed, patting my hard chest with her cold hand before walking back to her seat next to her stepbrother.
"Didn't think you got off work early today, Jake." Seth mentioned.
"Yeah, I cut the day short. Wanted to talk to Eddy and Bella."
Edward must've known what I was here for by reading my mind because he suddenly stopped playing the piano. This didn't go unnoticed by Bella who turned to her husband then back at me.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Well, that's what I'm trying to find out." I began. "You guys haven't pissed off any vampires in the past I don't know, eight some years have you?"
Bella turned to Edward whose attention was still on the piano but wasn't playing it. He was completely still. He didn't move a muscle. He looked to be listening to both the conversation and my head though.
Figures.
"No – No. You would know the vampires we encountered, Jacob. Why?" Bella asked.
Seth was frowning too.
"Do you remember when I went missing on Halloween and you found me in a sewer?" I asked.
Edward now shot up abruptly from his piano seat to turn his attention to me. He now had his hands lodged into his pockets and his eyebrows were creased together in inquisitiveness.
"Yes." He replied.
"Well…um, when you found me, I had no recollection or memory of what happened to me? Who took me? Why did they take me? What I was doing in a stinky ole sewer?" I muttered rhetorically.
"Lately, it seems like I've been having flashbacks of that night. Or I at least think they're flashbacks."
Edward looked in thought.
"What do you see?" Bella asked.
"A bloodsucker – I mean leech – Ugh, I see a vampire! Okay!" I rolled my eyes as I saw all the disapproving looks from Bella and Seth.
"I don't know this vampire from a bar of soap. But I keep seeing her face. She goes by the name of Cassia? I was hoping that rings a bell?" I asked, looking to Edward.
He shook his head. "Cassia? I don't think I've ever met a woman named Cassia."
"Has Carlisle met a vampire named Cassia before?" Bella asked.
"Not that I know of." He told me. "Maybe the Volturi knows of her though…but why would you only now have memories about her? What do you see about her in your memories?" He asked.
I tried to recall the last time I saw an image of her. It was today. I had a flashback of being trapped in a dungeon-like vicinity. The leech just appeared out of nowhere to utter the words:
"The name's Cassia," She laughed vindictively. "And I'm your worst nightmare,"
And then suddenly a new memory flooded my brain.
"Looks like the puppy's awake." A raspy, sinister voice chuckled.
I tried to move but the feelings of shackles locked onto me stopped me. I lifted my head to see both my hands and forearms securely locked and tied by manacles as well as my legs, my body facing vertically against a cold fence.
I moved my eyes around to scan the area through my distorted vision. It looked like an underground lair of some sort.
I gasped. I automatically fell back, Bella helping me up with her supernatural strength.
"You okay?" She asked me.
"Whoa!" I remarked. "Creepy."
Edward furrowed his brows.
"I'm fine. Just got lightheaded for a minute." I replied, but looking up at Edward through my lashes.
I hoped he caught the memory.
He nodded in reply to my thought.
"Did you eat something?" Bella asked.
I shook my head. "I probably should eat something. Maybe later."
"Okay. So these memories you've been having. When did they start festering and appearing?" Edward asked.
"Is that why you were weird at the pawnshop today?" Seth asked me.
I nodded my head.
"They've been coming in and out of my dreams for the past month but I always forget about them because well…I'm sleeping. But today was the day I've had a vivid flashback about it." I told them.
"I have a theory." Edward suddenly said. We all turned. "If this is indeed a real vampire, she knows who you are, who we are and might have a way to alter memories. It's probably why you've lost all memory about your experience. Or she could be working with someone who can compel a person to do something. Like forget their last name,"
Bella gasped. "Someone like Charles?!"
Oh right. Charles. The vampire/angel who knocked up a human girl and spawned an offspring who is under the Cullens care and he's on a hunt to claim what is his. Of course. It was a plausible theory to conclude.
"It's just a theory," He said, slightly shooting down my own confirmation. "There are many other gifted vampires out there."
"So this vampire knows about us?" Bella asked.
"And yet we don't know her." Seth commented.
"She can't be working alone." Edward said.
"She's not." I stated. "You guys said you smelt three lingering vampire scents when you found me that night, right?"
"We smelt scents. Not sure if it were vampires or not. There were too many of scents around at that time. We had the human hunters there as well." Edward stated.
I bit my bottom lip as I thought.
There was definitely at least two other vampires that night. I think…
"No. She was definitely not alone. She had two other male leeches with her. I thought I was seeing double but I think they might've been twin vampires." I told him as I suddenly remembered from my dreams.
"Twin vampires? Like Jane and Alec?" Seth probed.
I nodded.
"Identical twin vampires. I've never seen that before." Edward remarked with a laugh.
"She must be sending us a message then? If you remember so much and she didn't kill you…" Bella said.
"She wanted you to live to let us know about her." Edward nodded.
All of a sudden I felt violated. I felt icky. And then I felt enraged, feeling the bloodlust raging in my body.
I wanted to kill.
"Okay! Let's get everybody together." I suggested.
"Wait!" Edward shot me down.
Ugh! What now?
"There's a vampire out there threatening to kill." I said to him as if he had lost his mind.
"This is a game to her. She wanted you to wait this long to figure it out and tell us. She could be watching our moves as we speak. We can't act rash now." He stated.
"If this is a game to her then we need to figure out her play." Seth remarked.
"It's like Victoria all over again." Bella remarked.
Right.
Victoria…
The vampire who followed Bella in her human years and built an entire army of vampires to destroy the Cullens and avenge her mate.
"Are you sure you didn't piss any vampire off lately?" I questioned repeatedly.
Edward looked at me. "Yes."
I sighed.
"It's different though. We don't know this vampire. We don't know what ability she has. We don't know who she knows. We can't go in this blind. I think we should gather everybody together. I'll give Carlisle a call when he's out of surgery." Edward told me.
He checked his wristwatch.
"Jasper and Emmett should be back any minute. I need to get ahold of Alice as well. Where's Nessie?"
Bella replied this one. "She just gave me a text letting me know she's at Felicity's."
Edward nodded.
"She's going to the apartment. Embry will be there. We're having dinner tonight." I told him.
He sighed.
"I have one question." Seth pointed out.
We all turned to give him attention.
"Shouldn't Alice know about this? It's what she does. Shouldn't she have seen the decisions Cassia would make before they happened? Wouldn't she have seen her coming?" Seth asked.
"Fair point. But lately, she hasn't been able to see much when she's around you, Embry and Jacob. Also throw Nessie and Carter into the mix, her visions would be more subjective to her own inner circle."
"Not someone she hasn't met before," I added.
He nodded. "That's right."
I sighed.
I was feeling a little vampire fatigue lately. I was due to kill at least some vampires.
Maybe this could be fun?
Edward got ahold of Carlisle and began filling him in. He off the phone with Carlisle after fifteen minutes later.
"We need to wait for Emmett and Jasper to get here. When Carlisle gets back we're going to check the vicinity, the last place we found you. Jacob, I'm gonna need you and the wolves to set up a patrol time from now on. Could you do that?"
"Of course."
He nodded and then sighed, falling to his seat as silence crept on us. We were all deep in our own thoughts.
"Okay." Seth sighed. "I'm gonna help Esme with the cooking."
No one noticed his absence. We were too absorbed in our thoughts to notice but his absence now opened a window for me to ask a question I've been longing to ask Bella and Edward but just never found the time.
"What is it, Jacob?"
I have horrible timing.
I knew I should've started with this first.
"Um…I hope this isn't a bad time to ask you guys." I brought up.
I could feel my stomach churning and my head oozing some moisture.
I was nervous. Dammit. I never get nervous easily.
"Jake. You're sweating, bullets. What's up?" Bella chuckled.
I'm trying to tell you! I thought.
Edward probably already knew where I was going with this. I could see it in his still, cold face.
"Well…um…" Speak, Jake! Dammit. "You know Nessie and I have been together for almost a year right?"
Bella smiled. "She won't stop talking about your upcoming anniversary. In a week right?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Um…You know that during this whole year Nessie and I have been committed to each other, right?"
"Of course we do. You've been nothing but gracious to Nessie. It's good to see you two happy. It's good to finally see you happy, Jake."
Dammit, Bella! Let me finish speaking before you start gushing over me. It's making me even more nervous!
"Let him speak, Bella honey." Edward told his wife. His tone was calm but I could hear the crotchetiness in it.
Bella frowned.
Wow. She was totally oblivious to where this was heading.
Well, Bella wasn't always the most observant person. Especially when it came to things like this. So I'll give her a pass.
"I've been committed to Nessie since the day she was born. I know how important she is to you. She's your only daughter, your only child. I know these past almost nine years have been rough because you've had to watch her grow so fast into a woman in a blink of an eye. I get it. But…um she is a woman now, you know. And I'm a man." And I was rambling again.
Edward looked impatient. He knew very well what I wanted to say but I was taking forever. I would be just as irritated.
Ugh.
"Look, I love Renesmee with every fiber in my being. I will never stop loving and protecting that girl. She's my everything. She is everything. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to protect, love, support this precious creature you gladly gave to me."
"I wouldn't say gladly." Edward said.
Bella shushed him.
I chuckled. "…And you know I will never hurt her. She'll forever be in good hands with me. I will spend forever proving to her that I am worthy to love her. I will spend my lifetime proving her worth to me. I will be her number one man –"
Edward cleared his throat.
"Her second number one man, then!" I corrected. "I want us to start a life together. I mean, I think I'm ready to take the next step with her. I'm ready to show that I'm going to spend my entire existence with your daughter. And I know Edward kinda skipped this part..." I joked.
Bella laughed, staring back at her husband whilst playing with her wedding ring.
Edward groaned.
Okay. You shouldn't have said that, Jake.
"…But I thought out of respect for you as Nessie's parents, I'd ask both you if…" I gulped. "You would give me the permission to propose to Nessie when the time is right?"
I finally said it. My speech went on for longer than I hoped. But I'm glad I finally uttered the words.
They felt more real to me.
I've been thinking about this moment for a while, mostly to myself and never aloud. Never to the wolves. But I think they've had an inkling this was where my head was at since the day Nessie and I got together.
I bet even Edward knew this day would someday come.
"Wow." Bella finally said something after a long, excruciating moment of silence. "Um…Thanks for asking us. It means a lot to someone I'm sure." She teased.
I smirked, eying Edward who was staring at the ground.
"I just have one question, Jake." She began. I nodded. "Would you finally admit you've claimed my daughter?"
I laughed. "She's still your daughter, Bella. She'll just have a different title now."
"Mhmm. Mrs. Black. Wife to Jacob Black. Oh my." She commented with an eye roll.
"Don't get jelly on me now. You could've had me back in 2006." I teased.
She stuck her tongue out at me and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
I smiled.
"Can't believe I'm gonna be your mother-in-law." She laughed at the thought, shuddering.
I widened my eyes. "So it's a yes?"
"Jake. Did my opinion really ever matter the moment you imprinted on Nessie?" She laughed.
"Yes! Bella, it didn't change anything. You're still a mother and I view your opinion of me highly even though we've known each other longer than Nessie knew either of us."
She sighed. "She could've done worse. I'm glad it's you."
"Gee, thanks." I laughed, clutching my chest.
"Seriously, Jake." She pressed. "I couldn't think of anyone better to have as a son-in-law."
"Okay, Bella! I get it." I laughed.
Now she was just teasing herself.
But I sort of believed she enjoyed it.
All this time, Edward was silent. His answer was the one I was banking on the least. Bella was a closed deal but Edward would be a tough nut to crack I thought.
"Are you sure you're ready, Jake? I mean really ready?" He asked me.
"I'm sure, Edward." I told him. "We'll figure out the minutiae of it all when we come to it. Living arrangements, school, work and all that jazz."
"Good. Good. But that's not what I'm talking about." He told me. "Remember our conversation three months ago?"
Oh I do. Vividly.
"Then you know why I'm concerned."
"Look, Edward. I understand you want Nessie to experience being a teenager, being a young adult and to explore the world. But do you really think I was ever going to not be in her picture? I will follow her everywhere she chooses to go. A marriage won't hinder her from exploring. She'll be in college next year. We don't have to get married immediately after she finishes high school like you and Bella." I pointed out, hoping he'd realize his slight hypocrisy.
He sighed.
He did.
"But honestly speaking, how would you really feel if Nessie and I lived together in New York out of wedlock?" I asked.
Although, I don't understand why he was expecting so much from us. It's not like we're new to these things. We've already done things out of wedlock. A lot of things. A lot.
Oops. Don't think about it, Jake. You're trying to gain his approval here!
He tried to ignore my thoughts.
Whew!
"Fair point." He mentioned. "I just don't want my daughter thinking this is something she has to do. She has a very independent mind even despite your hold on her. She wants to explore the world. But she might view marriage as an end to that. She might view that kind of life as mundane. The humdrum life of popping out wolf puppies."
Harsh. My sister is one of those women who pops out wolf puppies.
I don't think I was ready for that life either. Not now anyway. Kids could wait. We had forever to think about kids. I bet Edward was really aching to be a grandfather soon but I think Nessie and I wanted to have time to ourselves for a while. What's waiting a couple years, decades, when you have forever with your mate?
"I don't even want that for her. I don't want that for myself, Edward. Not yet anyway. Like I said, I will follow Nessie wherever she chooses to go. When it comes time to think about our prospective family life in the distant future –if that time ever comes – then we'll come to the decision together."
"And it's like you said as well, Edward. She has an independent mind. She knows what she wants." Bella added.
I'll make a point to thank her later.
"I'm not opposed to you marrying my daughter in the future, Jake. In fact, I welcome the idea, honestly. No matter how much it hurts me to say or think it." He said.
Ugh. Now I feel bad.
"But can't you hold off for three more years? Maybe even two?" He asked.
I smiled. "Eddy. I get it. She's your little girl. But she's not a little girl to me anymore."
He sighed. "Just think about it. Giving it some time. At least for the wedding part of it."
I frowned. Wait. Does that mean…?
"I hope I won't regret it. But yes, you have my permission to marry my daughter, Jake." He said with a small smile.
I grinned. Well great. Thanks Papa Ed.
He groaned at my nickname.
"I know you're gonna protect her and I know how much you love her. I wouldn't have approved if I wasn't certain of these two things." He told me as he stood.
I stood up involuntarily as well.
He stretched out his cold, marble-like, hard hand out to me. I gripped it tightly and gave it a shook without hesitation.
We have come a long way.
"Thank you,"
"But all of that needs to be put on hold for a bit. We need to focus on the more important, pressing issue at hand."
I sighed. "Cassia." I spat.
Then suddenly, Emmett and Jasper's scents entered the atmospheres as they waltzed in through the doors.
"Whew! What a workout!" Emmett exclaimed.
"Da – Emmy!" Carter stumbled on his words as I heard his little feet charge in Emmett's direction.
"Hey, little man. How you doin'?" He greeted. "Where's momma hiding?"
"Helping Granny Es and Seth cook. I think she's spitting in the food." Carter replied.
"CJ!" Rosalie warned him off.
I guess the kid ratted her out.
Thank god I wasn't eating at Café De Cullen tonight.
"Mmm. Smells disgusting, Esme!" He called.
I heard Esme's kitchen knife slice hard onto the board and Emmett laughed as we heard his feet stomp on the ceramic staircase. He made an appearance and came into view.
"What up guys?" Emmett asked.
Jasper followed behind him. "Why's everyone so worried?" He demanded as he felt our emotions.
Edward meandered over to Bella to take her hand and then he turned to his brothers.
"We might have a problem."
Renesmee Cullen
After Felicity said goodbye to me and slammed the door in my face, I stood there, stunned.
What just happened?
That was so weird.
The entire exchange was awfully strange.
Why had Felicity's grandmother been staring at me like I was a parasite? She's always given me suspicious looks every time I came over to visit but I put that down to the fact that she was just a grandmother looking out for her granddaughter.
But this time it felt different. It felt as if she knew something about me that made her so angry.
Something not good.
And to make matters worse, Felicity acted as if she didn't know me anymore. As if she didn't want to know me.
I walked away from the house, my mouth agape and still in shock, and made my way to my Toyota Camry.
I hopped in, sat in the driver's seat for a minute just to collect my thoughts.
What did Felicity know? She looked like something had been revealed to her that she didn't want to believe and the moment she saw me, it looked like she saw a ghost. What did she know? What did her grandmother have to do with it?
I had so many questions in my head.
But I don't think I would have answers.
I needed to call Alex.
I pulled my phone out and dialed Alex's number.
"Hello," She greeted.
"Alex! I just left Felicity's place. I think she knows!" I said to her, frantically chomping at my nails.
"What? Are you serious? H-how? Why? How?"
"I don't know!" I exclaimed. "It was so strange. She just slammed the door in front of me a minute ago. It was like she saw a totally different person when she saw me. It was like I saw a different person. Her eyes were dead, Alex!"
"Do you really think she knows about you?"
"I don't know. I mean, I don't think she knows the complete story but…I think she has an idea what I could be."
"A vampire." She replied. "Okay. So what do we do?"
"I wanna talk to my parents about it first, see what they think I should do. But I think we should probably give Felicity the space she wants before we explain ourselves." I told her. "Oh my god. She shouldn't know! She shouldn't be in this world. She's the last person I would want finding out."
"Okay. Don't panic! It's okay! Maybe she doesn't know. She didn't tell you she knows, did she? Maybe she's just not up to talking today."
"No – She looked at me as if I was Cruella De Vil." I told her.
I felt tears brimming from my eyes as I began panting, tapping my rapidly bouncing foot lightly with my hand.
This wasn't supposed to happen. She couldn't have known.
I mean…She shouldn't have! She had to have forgotten about the night she was attacked by Charles.
She had to have known that Hunter was killed by some mountain lion in the woods the night of the prom. Not a vampire.
She had to have known I was her normal human friend. Not a hybrid.
I was panicking. It was bad enough my other best friend Alex was a vampire hunter who was still essentially human. Now I have my other best friend finding out about the supernatural too? This is not what I signed up for.
I thought of all the possibilities. What if the Volturi found out about the vampire hunters? What if the Volturi found out humans knew about our secret? It would all just be one big mess.
But maybe she doesn't know, Nessie? Like Alex said, maybe she's just going through a rough time that she doesn't want to talk or see me.
What if this is just a whole misunderstanding and I'm jumping to conclusions. That's another possibility.
"I feel nauseous." I stated, feeling a lump forming in my throat.
"Ugh. I'm with Justin right now but…we should meet up and talk about this. Where can we meet?" She asked.
"I'm heading over to Jacob's for dinner. I'm just going to grab some Chinese food for us." I told her.
"Okay. Just message me when you get home."
I nodded. "Okay."
"Everything will be okay, Nessie." She tried to assure me.
I didn't reply.
I dropped the call and my phone into the little cup holder and banged my head against the steering wheel.
I wasn't going to jump to conclusions. Maybe she needs to be left alone to deal with her emotions alone. I should at least give her the space she needs. Yeah. That's what I will do. Give her space.
I started the car and began driving.
After grabbing Chinese food for Jacob and me (and for Mike and Embry because I was sure they didn't have food prepared for themselves in their new apartment) I made my way over to Jacob's and Seth's.
I entered the apartment, hearing the roaring sound of Embry demolishing his PS4 gaming console as he played some soccer game. Probably FIFA.
"Hey, Nessie." He greeted, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I smell Chinese food." He hummed as he sniffed the air.
I smiled.
"Where's Jacob?" I asked him.
He paused his game to stare into the distance. "Uh…He's stuck at work. Gonna do an errand after. Should be home soon." He replied quickly.
I frowned. "Okay." I replied, cocking an eyebrow at how oblique he sounded.
But I let it go sooner than I questioned him.
"Em, I need your advice." I sighed as I sat on the couch right next to him.
He stared back at me and then back at the screen as he continued playing.
"I'm listening." He replied.
"Well…Jake's birthday is coming up. And I'm thinking of doing something for him but he makes it difficult because he's not too big on celebrations. Was he ever like this?"
He shrugged. "I guess. Growing up we didn't have much but we mostly just hung around La Push or First Beach, played some ball, had a bonfire, threw stuff on the grill and just chilled. Nothing major."
"So you've never thrown him a rave of a birthday party?"
"No – No. But hey, remember his 21st birthday party?"
I smiled. I collaborated with the wolves to throw Jacob an awesome surprise 21st birthday party at my house. The day started off with all of us pretending to not acknowledge his birthday, as if we didn't care. He hardly noticed, until I was the one pretending not to remember his birthday (since I had never forgotten his birth in my 5 years of existence at that time) and he got hurt by that. It hurt me obviously but it was all part of the plan.
We were going to surprise him with a game he enjoyed growing up. It was called Assassins whereby most of us dressed up in FBI costumes whilst we searched for the assassins roaming the streets. It was fun and then we'd go back to my house to have a little food to each and then I surprised him with organizing his favorite band to come perform a mini-concert on the beach. Alice helped me decorate the entire beach with ferry lights we used for Christmas the year before and glow-in-the-dark neon lights stuck at every corner to make it more lively and fun. Emmett used his huge nerf gun to turn it into a foam party. The whole rez was there and even some passersby from Forks popped in.
Later on when the moon was at its apex, we would burn the floating lanterns and let them fly up in the sky. It was the day I developed my first crush on Jacob. I was a silly 13 year old at the time who thought Jacob was the most beautiful creature ever. I guess I still was silly because that thought hadn't changed. Only this time I had him for myself.
"He seemed to love that." He told me.
"Yeah but…I've already done the whole surprise birthday party thing before. He'll figure it out."
He shrugged. "Look, Jake is as unpredictable as he is naïve to these sort of things sometimes so…I really can't help you there." He laughed.
I pouted.
"But he would appreciate just being with you, Nessie. More than anything." He added.
"I know. That's not the answer I was looking for." I sighed.
"What answer are you expecting?" He chuckled.
"You're no help!" I groaned.
Then a series of knocks against the door reached my ears.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
I got up to answer it.
"Hi!" Alex greeted me with a smile.
"Hey," I said, reaching in to give her a hug. "Didn't expect to see you here?"
"When I got your call I just had to come over. You sounded frantic. How are you feeling?" She asked.
I sighed. "I'm good. I just think…you're right. We should probably just give her the space she wants. When she wants to talk, we'll be here. No point in worrying about something that we don't know has happened."
"Precisely," She told me.
I stepped aside to let her in.
"Hey, Embry!"
"Hey, babe!" He waved.
"I thought you'd be in your room doing god knows what with some skank." Alex teased.
I smiled and turned to Embry.
"Mike's on the phone with Leah. They've been talking for over an hour. I had to get out of there." He muttered gruffly.
"Things must be heating up with those two." I mentioned as I walked into their small kitchen to grab some plates. "Alex, could you help?"
"Sure," She replied.
"Yeah. Leah doesn't want to admit it but you can hear it in her voice. She likes the guy a lot." Embry told me.
Alex pulled out the food parcels from the plastics.
"I don't see it. Leah and Mike."
"I think they're cute!" I exclaimed to her.
"No, don't get me wrong. They probably are. But…isn't he a little too young for her?" She asked.
"Well you're five years younger than Seth," I said with a cocked eyebrow.
"And you're sixteen years younger than your wolf." Embry laughed and gagged.
I hissed.
Alex laughed. "No – I don't mean age wise. I just thought Leah was too mature for his age and Mike's…not."
"Actually, Mike's the most mature out of all us, believe it or not. He and Jake are on some 'woke' wavelength." Embry told us.
"I mean I've only ever met Leah once or twice so what would I know." Alex said.
"She's hard to crack. I've been trying to befriend her for years." I told her as I dished out the Chow Mein onto the plate.
"She really likes you, Alex, though." Embry said.
"Really?" I asked the same time Alex did.
Embry nodded. "Shocker!"
I scoffed. Huh. Who would have thought? Leah Clearwater liking someone.
"It's partially 'coz I'm not a bloodsucking vampire to her, right?" Alex laughed.
I shrugged. Maybe that was it.
"Anyway," I changed the subject. "I was just asking Embry advice –to which he was horrible at giving." I commented.
He clicked his tongue and pointed his finger at me and winked before continuing his game.
I shook my head. "I want to do something for Jake's birthday this week and…I'm blanked out. I can't think of anything I haven't done for him."
Alex thought. "You're asking the wrong person. I don't know Jake that well, I haven't known him long enough and I suck at romantics. But I do know this, you and Jake love each other like magnet and metal. One can't function without each other. You guys just fit together. I would think it would be super easy to find something to do for his birthday. You're probably going to be rolling around in the sheets with him later in the night anyway."
I felt my cheeks burn up.
"Fine. Fine." I sighed. "But I just want him to have a good time."
"Of course he'll have a good time. You'll be in his bed with him showing him a good time!" Embry teased.
Alex cheered and laughed, running over to give Embry a fist bump.
"Nice one." She chuckled.
I hissed and rolled my eyes.
"Stay out of my sex life, you two!" I warned.
The chuckled like immature twelve year olds.
"Ooh! I have an idea. When's his birthday?" Alex asked.
"Wednesday."
She thought. "Hmm. Maybe you could prepare him a nice dinner that night. Since you get off school earlier than he does work, you'll have ample time to prepare his favorite dinner. I'll even help you set things up. I'll keep Seth far away from the apartment for the night. Then Saturday we can all celebrate together. Maybe go bowling?"
I widened my eyes.
I remembered the last time I bowled on a double date. Epically bad idea. We found ourselves in a crime scene straight out of CSI.
"Um…"
"Ice-skating then," She suggested.
I thought. "That's not such a bad idea. He'd love that." I laughed.
He hated the ice more than anything.
"Just think about it."
I sighed and nodded my head.
"Thanks for giving me the idea about making him a dinner. That's a good idea. I haven't done anything like that for him before." I told her.
"Isn't he supposed to be here by now?"
"What time did he say he'll be back, Embry?" I asked.
Embry was silent for a while. "Uh…"
… …
Jacob Black
The Cullens and I were now back in the same place they found me months ago, trying to retrace my steps and hopefully catch a scent that lingered. I was also trying to remember my time here. Maybe if I was at the scene of the crime then more memories and more information would come up.
I was in my human form whilst Seth was in his wolf form. I wasn't particularly comfortable being out here in the dark in the middle of nowhere without some form of defense. Being in my human form made me queasy. But I had at least five vampires backing me and keeping guard.
We had a shield in Bella and mind-reader in Edward in case things went haywire.
Carlisle came back from surgery and we gave him fine points on what was happening. He, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, Bella, Seth and I set out to retrace my experience with these rogue vampires.
"Anything out here familiar?" Carlisle asked me.
I shook my head. "Nothing concrete. It's all just coming in bits and pieces."
"How could you not remember your experience with these vampires?" Jasper probed, not understanding.
"I don't know, okay! I just can't remember." I snapped.
Jasper frowned.
"Sorry. I'm just as frustrated as you all must be."
I suddenly heard Seth growl under his breath and stop in his tracks. This maneuver triggered a halt from Edward as well.
"Wait!" He waved to us as he glanced around the vicinity.
"Edward?" Bella asked.
Edward kept quiet as he looked around our surroundings. Seth stood his ground and crouched, ready to pounce at anything while he sniffed. His acute smell must've caught something.
"Do you smell that?" Edward asked.
I sniffed the air with my less strong yet somewhat powerful non-wolf senses and a strange scent lingered under my nose. It wasn't a scent of a vampire though. But it was most definitely not human.
The scent was closer to my own than anything else.
"Could it be Embry?" Bella asked incredulously.
Edward turned to me and Seth.
We both shook our heads. "It's not Embry."
"I feel something." Jasper muttered incuriously. "Rage? Unrestraint anger." He added.
And then we suddenly heard the ruffling of leaves coming from the distance. It sounded as if the predator was slowly creeping toward us. Slowly. Slowly. Slowly. Threateningly. Ominously. Menacingly.
"Guys!" Emmett uttered out, pointing at something.
We all darted our heads and followed the direction of his hand to see a dark figure approaching us from a couple hundred yards into the gloomy, dark forest. The shadow was dark and vast. Its enormous stature made it look beastly. Unpleasant and unwelcoming.
Then a bloodcurdling rumbled echoed from its direction and only intensified as it got closer.
And closer.
And closer.
And closer.
"Oh my god!" Edward whispered.
"I don't believe it." Carlisle stated as he slowly took a step back.
The shadowy, beast-like figure was emerging from the deeply entrenched forest. Its eyes were glow sticks of yellow-red. A bright yellow-red. Almost like a burning ball of gas. A hair raising color. It was animalistic. I could tell. But when it fully emerged out of the undergrowth, you could see it for what it really was. Nothing you could ever imagine. It was humongous. Huge. It looked like a behemoth monster. Colossal!
The beast was not on all fours, but on all twos. As if it appeared to be a human but nothing about it was human. Its forelegs were massive, they could even act as arms because its hands had opposable thumbs. Its hind legs, the legs it was standing on, was rippled with muscles and that muscle traveled all the way to its head.
The way it was standing with such animalistic yet a tint of human posture made it seem ape-like. Its body had been engulfed in chalk dark grey fur that had black edges to it, all the way to its front rear mouth that was stretched in the same aerodynamic way as me in my wolf form but it was still different. It had razor sharp teeth, almost sabre-tooth. Only they weren't teeth, but canines that stretched far and wide, dripping with dribble that was the size of raindrops.
I clasped my fists together and prepared to phase when I felt Edward's hand on my shoulder.
"Don't do it." He warned, frantically. "He's feral. He doesn't have any collection of what's happening. If we do anything to tempt him, he'll protect himself and go rampant."
"You know what this thing is thinking?"
"It's a Children of the Moon wolf." He told me and then he turned to Carlisle. "I haven't seen one before."
Carlisle was enchanted as well as terrified.
"I haven't seen one up close either. Only from a distance." He stated. "But he seems so in control. He clearly is experienced."
Crap.
Crap.
Crap.
His eyes were on me.
Its eyes were on me.
"He looks like he's going to eat me." I grunted through my gritted teeth. "I need to phase now."
"No!" Edward half-whispered, half-shouted. "He knows we're vampires. You stopped him from attacking all of us. Same thing with Seth. He can sense your alpha aura. But he too is an alpha."
"Okay! So I can fight him right? He wants a fight right?"
"No, Jacob! He wants to kill us all."
Then he licked the slobbery substances around his teeth with his long tongue and slowly began crouching, rumbling a growl.
Seth prepared his pounce as he grumbled.
I hissed at him.
He fell quiet.
"Okay. So what the hell do we do? We can't run. We can't attack. So what do we do, Edward?" I asked.
Emmett commented. "I say we take him. I've tackled bears bigger than him. He's no threat."
"Where have you seen bears bigger than him?" Bella demanded in shock.
Emmett rolled his eyes. "It's just one of 'em."
He spoke too soon.
A similar looking beast appeared behind him, this time a smaller version. He was chalk white in fur. Similar stature and just as ferocious. His eyes were a deep-set blue though, almost like violet.
"This must be his compatriot!" Carlisle said. "His right-hand man. I've never seen a pack of Children of the Moon wolves before. Last wolf pack I heard of was in the 1700s in France. They called the wolf, La Bête. Caius destroyed the leader and his wolves before they could multiply."
Doc was fascinated by this and I was ready to crap my pants and fight.
"Bella, can you use your shield?" Jasper asked her.
"It's already up." Bella replied.
"What the hell do we do?"
Then with one looming and ferocious howl and roar from the leader, with his beta following soon after, they got down and prepared to attack.
That's it.
I took that as a cue to phase and I immediately phased on the spot and snarled at them, holding the ground at my paws. As the wolves charged for us, a sudden gunfire sound halted all of us in our tracks.
I watched as a thick bullet flew up from the heavens between the trees plunged its way through the leading wolf's neck whilst another gunshot fired and a bullet plunged its way through his beta and they both collapse on the spot.
I furrowed my wolf brows.
What the hell was that? Seth called out in his head.
We all watched as the wolves suddenly, yet slowly began shifting from their beastly-wolf state to their human ones. Their naked bodies now curled up as they lay unconscious with bullets lodged onto their shoulders.
"What the hell just happened?" Emmett demanded.
Then all of a sudden, a man dropped to the ground from the trees with three other men following him behind him.
He emerged and came into view.
He tossed his bow over his back and held it in place but kept his firearm weapon tightly in his grasp. He was dressed in dark uniform. Dark leather hoodie jacket with dark pants. He was above average height for a male human. 5`11 if I made a wild guess. He had blue eyes, a scruffy beard and short brown locks that sat gelled back. He had an olive skin tone with various human imperfections on it. He was definitely human.
He looked familiar. He was definitely familiar to the Cullens because they weren't alarmed by him.
"What was that you used to shoot them?" Edward demanded.
"Wolfsbane," He told us in a deep voice, slightly accented. "And some other substances to turn off the shift."
"Are they dead?" Bella asked.
"No." The man said.
"Please don't kill them!" Carlisle pleaded.
The man frowned. "Didn't they just try to kill you?"
"They don't have their human minds when they're in their wolf form." Carlisle told him.
Carlisle made his way over to examine their bodies. He bent down, titling the alpha's face to see it.
"It's Ray Parker." He confirmed.
"Of course it is." The man scoffed.
The man with the hood and bow turned over to the beta curled up beside him. He didn't look older than a child. He was probably a teenager.
The man bent down to look at the kid's face. His eyes bulged when he saw the face.
"Oh my god," He said to himself.
"You know him?" Jasper asked.
The man turned away to look at the ground.
"He's my nephew." He finally replied.
"Your nephew…?" Bella probed and turned to Edward.
"It's Justin." Edward confirmed. "Justin Mazzola."
Nessie's friend. Of course. He was a werewolf.
The man nodded. "My brother's going to lose it if he finds out his son is one of them."
His brother? Wait. Was this Alex's uncle? Seth began thinking aloud. Crap! They can't find out what I am. Ugh! I thought I'd meet her family under better circumstances. Not when I'm in my wolf form. Dammit!
Calm down, kid! I shouted.
Then he looked at Seth and me. Both of us in our defensive wolf stances. He raised his hand to presumably retrieve his bow and arrow.
"Wait! Hold on. They're with us." Edward told him. "They're different from the Children of the Moon wolves."
"I can see that." He said, looking back at Edward's glowing us. "You need to get out of here."
"We need to get them back. They'll wake soon." Carlisle said.
"Wolfsbane doesn't kill them?" Emmett asked.
"It's a lethal substance. The right low amount of dosage can leave them unconscious." The man stated.
"We can take them back to my place." Carlisle stated.
"Okay. Quick. My brother, Alessandro will be here soon." The man told us. "If he sees you all here with his son, it could taint the truce."
Carlisle nodded. "We'll keep your nephew safe, Anthony."
Anthony nodded his head, trusting Carlisle's words implicitly. He then turned to Justin's body and ran his hand over his nephew's head before standing up and walking away from the scene with his henchmen.
Carlisle turned to Edward, Jasper and Emmett who sped up to him. Emmett carried the bigger guy whilst Edward and Jasper carried the kid and we all ran back to the main house.
Are they seriously going take these rabid wolves back to their home? Seth asked.
They allowed us in their home. I told.
But that's different. He replied.
… …
We brought Ray and Justin back to the main house and set them in Carlisle's examining room he used for Lizzie when she was pregnant with Carter.
The wolves were knocked out completely for the night it seemed.
One of the guys must have thrown on some underwear on them and wrapped their bodies in blankets.
Alice finally received a vision while we were gone. A vision about a vampire making their way over here to pay us a visit.
But she had no idea what the vampire looked like. Something was blinding her.
So based on what she saw, it confirmed that Cassia was onto us. The leech in my dream was definitely real.
"What does she even want with us?" Rosalie asked as she returned after putting Carter to bed.
"Better question is who she wants if she's out here wolfnapping people." Emmett said, turning to me.
I sighed.
"But what would she want with Jacob? I mean, I'm sorry to sound morbid but if she wanted Jake then she would've killed him when she had the chance." Bella stated.
"Still doesn't explain why my visions have been altered. I should've seen her a lot sooner." Alice stated in frustration.
"Or maybe she knows about your abilities? She obviously knows about us from someone who knows us. Maybe she knows Alice's ability to foresee the future would be a challenge and she has someone blocking her decisions?"
"Maybe," Jasper said, by his wife's side.
"Could it be another creature?" Seth probed.
Carlisle shrugged. "It could be. I mean, if tonight is anything to come by. There could be other creatures out there."
Then suddenly, I heard the door open and close and the scent of my Nessie lingered in the air.
She made an appearance into the room full of vampires and wolves congregating the small sitting area in Carlisle's examining room.
"What is going on here?" She probed as she looked between all of us.
Dammit. Embry was supposed to keep her occupied.
Her eyes landed onto me and her frown deepened.
I moved away from her gaze.
Embry then burst through the door, panting heavily with Alex behind him.
"Nessie, you're one fast driver." He panted, trying to catch his breath.
She ignored him.
"What's going on?" Nessie repeated.
She noticed Ray and Justin perched on the hospital beds and gasped.
"What are they doing here?"
Edward sighed. "It's a long story."
"But what we really need to focus on is who this Cassia person is." Esme stated, saddened.
"Cassia? W-who? What are you guys talking about?" Nessie asked, taking a seat on the open couch where I was sitting on top of the arm.
"Hi," Alex greeted everybody awkwardly and found herself a seat next to Seth who brought her into his arms.
"Cassia is the vampire who captures Jacob on the night of Halloween," Jasper confirmed.
Nessie turned to me with confused eyes.
"We're trying to figure out what she wants. Who she knows, who told her about us and why she's here." Bella added.
Nessie didn't move her eyes from me once. I smiled slightly as I turned to her. I took her hand in mine and gripped it. She then rested her freehand onto my bearded cheek and projected her thoughts into mine.
What's wrong? Are you okay? She asked me.
"Yeah," I replied with a smile. "Just frustrated."
I'm getting scared, now, Jake. She sent to me.
Her face was hysterical with worry and dread.
I immediately took her protectively under my arm and held her close to me. I kissed the top of her delicate bronze head lightly and left my lips on there for a long time.
"Cassia?"
We all spun our heads to the bed where the wolves lay to see Ray Parker coming to and subsequently sitting up from the bed whilst the other wolf lay still and unconscious.
"Did you say Cassia?" He demanded, frantic.
"What? Do you know her?" Edward asked.
He stared at us. Panic stricken on his face.
"She's back." He murmured nonchalantly. I think it was to himself. "She's actually back."
"What do you know?" Bella quizzed.
His eyes of horror darted towards her.
"She's conniving. She's evil. She's deceptive." He itemized. "She's something to be very afraid of." He uttered out, dropping the ball.
A/N: Please review! I'll update soon.