Chapter 24 — Killer
Edward
I heard his pain in my head before the screams echoed through the forest. Jacob was being tortured. I had never been Jacob's biggest fan. Between his love for Bella and now his imprinting on my daughter, I had hated him for most of the time I'd known him. And yet… perhaps it was my daughter's thoughts, her unrelenting love, diluting my own emotions. But when I felt Jacob's pain, it felt like my pain too. Jacob was in agony and all he could think of was Nessie — Renesmee. My daughter. Suddenly, the world looked different. The narrative wasn't the same anymore. I saw Jacob from a different perspective. A thoughtful teenage boy who had had the misfortune to fall in love with a girl who was in love with his enemy. A teenager who had to grow up too quickly as he watched unspeakable things happen to the girl he loved, as he had to take on the responsibility of a pack. I wasn't sure what the last 40 years had consisted of, but now he'd finally found his mate. The girl who was supposed to be his perfect match. Why should I even be surprised that it was Renesmee? Who else would it be when our narratives were so intertwined? And now, how could I imagine my life without him?
Renesmee
The screams echoing through the forest caused my knees to buckle beneath me and I fell to the soft, wet, vine-covered forest floor.
"Jacob," I said in a strangled cry.
"Come, Renesmee, we can only save him if we keep going," said Nahuel, looking terrified as the screams continued to rent the air.
My chest was heaving with the screams I'd just heard, but I ran, with help from Nahuel, towards the house of horrors that stood before me.
My family had already entered the house. I had been worried about a fight, but there seemed to be none happening. My uncles had Joham confined easily and the eight vampire-human hybrids were huddled in the corner, looking terrified, as they were encircled by the wolves.
I took this all in and then let out another strangled cry as I saw him. Jacob. My Jacob. But something was horribly, horribly wrong. I ran to him. He was pale and his forehead was on fire. It had to be over 110 degrees. He was shaking all over, flinching at my touch. His eyes had rolled back into his eyes, revealing nothing but the whites of his eyes.
"Jacob? Jacob?" I cried.
His eyes opened slowly, they were blurred, unfocused. His lips moved but no sound came out. There were burn marks on his body. To have left marks for this length of time, the burns must have been severe. Suddenly, I saw red. If I had been venomous, I would have tasted venom.
"Renesmee," said my father, but he did nothing to stop me as I stalked towards my prey. Such a worthless scrap of life, this vampire.
"My dear, I think you need to take a step back," he said in that oily persuasive voice of his. It had no affect on me. I took his head in my hands, lifting it so that I would be the last thing his eyes ever saw.
"Edward, what is she doing?" said my grandfather sharply from behind me.
I did not pay attention. There was nothing but me and Joham.
"I'm going to kill you," I said, quietly. "I'm going to rip your head off and break you into a thousand pieces."
"You will not," Joham tried to command me, but it didn't work. In one, swift motion I clawed his eyes from his sockets. He screamed, but I ripped his tongue out. Then, finally, I tore his head from his body.
The hybrids were screaming behind me. It was meaningless noise. I turned back to Jacob, my heart crumbling. I could hear his heart slowing. I moved him easily from the table, feeling physically stronger than I ever had in my whole life while emotionally I fell to pieces. I held Jacob to me, pressing my face into his hair.
"Renesmee."
My mother was at my side, her eyes burning with sorrow that surely would have been tears.
"You need to let Carlisle help Jacob now."
"I can't let him go," I said.
"Let go, Renesmee," said my grandfather, laying a gentle hand on me. "I can help him."
I looked into my grandfather's eyes and some of my medical training came back.
"Antibiotics?" I whispered.
"Yes, I brought everything. It might not be enough, but it'll be enough until we can get him back home."
I let go then, let my grandfather assess, diagnose, and treat the body I loved so much.
I was shaking all over. My mother put her arms around me.
"He's dying," I sobbed. "I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what I'll do."
I buried my face in her shoulder, unable to look at the world any longer.