Realistic Dreams, Chapter Eleven, part one
Paring: Jake/Bella (Twilight)
Rating: M
Chapter Eleven: Freeze, Thaw, and Boil
Another huge one, here's part one:
Bella POV
I found myself being shaken awake by a warm hand. My joints creaked from the cold as I sat up slow. Even Jake's plentiful ambient heat wasn't enough to keep me completely warm. I blinked a few times and looked up to so Jake standing above me.
"Come on Bella."
"Jake…?" I said, blinking out of tiredness.
"That's it Bells, come on. You've got to get up.
Still disoriented, I said the first thing I had wanted to say since I went to sleep. "Jake I'm sorry."
He spoke in unusually hushed tones. "It's fine Bella"
"No, really, I-"
"Bella, it's really ok, we don't have time for this. Come on, you've got to get up." His hands reached out and hoisted me up onto my feet. He cradled my face in his hands, gently kissing my bottom lip, still trying to get me coherent. "Come on Bella honey, we've got problems, you have to get up right now."
"Pr..problems? What problems? What happened?"
"We heard a howl near the tent, and we need to check it out." I looked over as Edward handed me my shoes.
"Is everyone ok?"
Jake pulled away from me, heading towards the opening of the tent, undoing his pants as we went. "We don't know yet. I'm going to go find out. Edward, get her ready so we can move. Just leave everything here, we'll come back for it." Edward nodded, helping me with my coat.
I tugged my shoes on as Jake left the tent. "Do you think everyone's ok?"
"I hope so. That howl did not sound good."
I was half way through the laces of the other shoe when I was jolted fully awake by a loud bark followed by a howl from right outside. I looked over to see Edward tense.
"Oh God, Bella get your shoe on now, we're leaving."
"Edward? What's he saying?"
Edward rushed back to me and pushed my hands away, doing up my shoe faster than I ever could before helping me up again. "On my back. Now! He's thinking too many things for me to get straight, but whoever sent that warning meant that Victoria's headed this way and the thing's not far behind."
I felt the blood drain from my face. "It didn't work. The plan didn't work."
"Bella, now!"
I shook my head, regaining my senses, and climbed on Edward, who rushed out the opening of the tent so fast I wasn't sure if he unzipped it or not. It was pitch black outside. I looked up through a hole in the trees to see that the sky itself was a deep dark navy, the colour the sky got when the sun was just about to peak over the horizon, but with the tree cover we wouldn't be getting any of that light for hours. We ran through the trees in a frantic pattern, Edward taking direction from Jacob, who was a little to our left. I had no idea which way we were going, and that frightened me.
"What's going on?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"Seth Clearwater," Edward answered. "He's the one who sent the warning. He had managed to find her scent veering off from the main battle and when he figured out where she was going…." He trailed off into nothingness as he continued to run.
"Where are we going?"
"We... we don't know. It's still not safe where the others are yet, so we're heading deeper into the forest now. He's hoping we'll be able to lose them till morning."
"And Seth?"
"He's following us, we can't stop and wait for him to catch up."
I gripped Edward tighter. We zigzagged through the trees, jumping down a small cliff at one point, running up a stream at another. I shivered as the water splashed up at me, holding on for dear life. Jake's movements were erratic, always staying slightly ahead of us, making wide sweeps to check the areas we were heading into. Half the times it felt like he was circling us.
It was a few minutes before Edward spotted him again. He lurched left in his effort to follow him, and I got pulled along. I was beginning to get light headed from the speed when Edward's suddenly stopped.
"Edward?! What's wrong?" I watched Jake plow head in front of us.
"Something's wrong…"
"Something?"
"I can't smell him even though he's right ahead me. Something is very wrong… something is- JACOB! LOOK OUT!"
My vision blurred again as I went from a complete stop to Edward's full speed again as he ran after Jake. "What is it?!" I shouted through the thundering wind ripping past my ears.
"He's running right at it!"
"JAKE!" I screamed and he finally turned around to look up at the trees for me. Our eyes connected only for a moment before fire came out of the trees and bowled him over. I heard a feral scream and realised it wasn't fire. It was Victoria. They struggled, a knot of fire red and deep russet until Jake was finally able to pull away from her, howling. She hissed back at him, red eyes flashing.
"Edward! Help him!"
"He can manage for now. Seth will come. I've got to get you out of here. There could be more, I couldn't even smell her. My senses… they start to fade as I go this way."
"You're not going anywhere."
Edward and I whirled around to see where the voice came from. Hanging onto a tree across from us was a man. More a boy really. He was my age or younger, that's for sure, despite his tall, bulky build, pale and shining against the sparse moonlight that broke through the trees. His blond hair only added to the sheen that radiated off him and I might have admired it if not for the fierce eyes, a red more vivid than I have ever seen, staring back at us, flicking nervously between Edward and me. My stomach sunk to my knees and went ice cold.
"Get out of my way." Edward said, his jaw straining with the tenseness of every word.
The boy laughed. "I don't think so."
"You don't have to do this. She doesn't own you."
"Who says I don't want to do this?"
"You wouldn't have a few days ago. Think about yourself. Remember. You're not this animal. She doesn't own you, it doesn't own you. Now let me by."
The boy swallowed, Edward's words sparking something in him, causing the flicking between us with his eyes to quicken. "You can't intimidate me that easily."
"I'm not trying to, you stupid fool. Now get out of my way! I don't want to hurt you, but I will!" Edward's voice was raising and getting dangerously tight and I gripped onto his shoulders harder.
"Y-you won't get by me… I'm the best of the bunch, she said so h-herself." The boy's eyes were fixed on Edward, unable to look at me anymore, and I no longer tell if it was Edward's words or the desire to eat me that was making him nervous.
"You may be the best of the bunch newborn, but you aren't going to beat me. Now stand down."
He laughed, his voice shrill from his excitement. "I've already beaten you." He pointed at me. "I stole her stuff. Got into her room without any of you stopping me. Y-you aren't going to be able to stop me now either."
Edward growled at him and the boy suddenly looked frightened again, his self-pep talk not working.
Just then a voice came from behind me that stole the last bit of warmth from me. "Riley! Stop yapping and get the girl!" Victoria's command seemed to do the trick, as the boy - Riley - gritted his teeth and prepared to leap at us. I could feel Edward tensing beneath me and realised he planned to meet him mid-air rather than have him smash into us. I gripped on to his shoulders and braced myself as they both leapt into the air, growling.
What happened next was a blur. Before Riley and Edward connected a streak of sand yellow shot up at us from below, pouncing on Riley and knocking Edward back. My mind registered that the streak was Seth, finally come to help us, milliseconds before it realised that I was no long holding anything.
And I was falling.
My hands gripped for purchase at snapping twigs. The air rushed from my body in something that couldn't quite be considered a scream as I looked up at the nearly full lit sky.
Twilight, I thought before pain exploded in my left side and everything went dark again.
Jacob POV
I'm here!
I glanced away from the leech bitch for a second to see Seth pinning the vamp from the tree. I chuckled in congratulations until I heard the shriek and thud from beside him.
What was that?
Oh shit… I heard him gulp in his mind and attempt to try and stop the thought from coming through, but I heard it loud and clear. Bella.
Seth you fucking son of a bitch, WHAT DID YOU DO?
"Not now Jacob." Edward hissed at me, already at her side. "She's breathing. She's fine. If you stop focusing now she might not be that way in a few minutes."
Damn if the fucker didn't have a point. Still, we're keeping us between them and her.
"I couldn't agree more."
You two focus on the runt, I've got the bitch for now.
"Are you sure about that?"
Do I fucking look unsure?
Guys! A little help here!
I looked back to see the blonde leech throw Seth of him and charge back up into the trees.
"Your argument is very persuasive Seth," said Edward as he leapt after him.
I turned back just in time for Victoria to slam into my side. "So the doggies want to play, do they?"
Yeah, we wanna play bitch. I twisted around and managed to grab her arm before we landed. Let's see if you like how we play. Even though she couldn't hear me, I think she got the mental 'fuck you' I was sending as I flipped her over me and into a tree. The damn thing cracked as she hit it, falling behind her. I had to smirk as I watched Eddie and that blonde kid fly through the air, as I had somehow managed to hit the exact tree they were currently scratching each other in.
Stop smiling you ass, that tree almost hit Bella.
Well, fuck. Just go help him Seth.
I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh.
I could beat myself up about that later. In the meantime, I had other things to worry about. Namely the cold dead bitch that had gotten back up and had launched herself at my back.
Fucking whore! She was tough, I'll give her that, and angry to boot. I hissed as best I could in the form I was in as her nails dug into both my sides and dragged me down to my left. I shook twice trying to get her off before rolling with her still on me. Finding a nice rock to pound her into I slammed my back into the ground until she let go. That was gonna hurt in a few hours.
Seth, Edward, just kill that thing and get over here and help me!
He's strong Jake! I mean really damn strong!
"Seth! Your left!"
I looked back to see Seth leap out of the way just in time as the boy struck the ground where he used to be, leaving an indent in the dirt. That split second was all Victoria needed to get up again and my lack of attention was rewarded with a vicious punch to the ear. My head snapped back and I saw red.
Alright fucker, you got my attention. I'm mad now.
I leapt back to get a moment so my vision could stop blurring and felt a growl deep in my throat. The red headed bitch has the gall to sneer at me as we faced off.
"What's the matter boy? Losing your nerve?" I bit a growl back as she laughed. "You're too concerned with that pathetic. Little. Human to concentrate on what you need to do. Sad, really."
Bitch I would fucking eat you if I didn't know if how disgusting that was.
Hopefully I would be a little less distracted when Seth and Vamp-Boy Wonder put down the problem they were currently dealing with. Victoria wasn't going to let up anytime soon. She had finished talking and made a pass to get around me again. I shot towards her as fast as I could, my muzzle connecting with her stomach and sending her flying back again. She screeched and got up again. As much as I wanted to say I could handle her myself, she was proving to be more of a challenge than any of the newborns and with nothing distracting her, she had me at a disadvantage.
From behind me I heard the struggle continue, a body, hopefully that blonde thing's, hitting off a tree and thudding to the ground, but the growling and snarling didn't stop. I could only hope that they killed that thing soon.
Bella POV
Wake up.
My eyelids fluttered at the sound of Jake's voice, but I didn't want to move just yet. My left leg was… cramped maybe? Did I sleep on it funny?
Wake up.
And it was cold. Why was it cold? Why on earth would I sleep in the cold?
Wake up! Bella, you have to wake up right now!
My eyes shot open as I realised that the voice was coming from inside my head instead of outside of it. Never having been my alarm clock before, I thought I had better listen to the Jacob-conscience no matter how much my leg hurt.
I quickly took in my surroundings to realise I was flat on my back in a pile of underbrush, next to a downed tree that I was sure was not there before, despite not quite remember how I got here. The nearby scuffle brought me back to the present and I realised my leg hurt not because I had slept on it, but because I had landed on it.
I seemed to be safe behind the enormous log for the moment, so I hesitantly moved my ankle in a full circle. I hissed as pain shot up my leg, but I was able to do it. Right, not broken, maybe sprained. Now to see if I could put weight on it. Gripping onto the tree for leverage, I hoisted myself up. I cried out, softly as I could manage, as I put my leg down, but I stayed up. First one's always the worst, I told myself. I took a few steps using the tree as balance I found I only hobbled slightly, even if it still hurt. "Well at least there's that," I said quietly.
Finally I looked past the tree to see what was going on. The first thing I saw was Edward leaping down towards something several yards from where I was. It was sheer luck that I had landed far enough from the fight so as to not get myself killed. I caught sight of Seth getting a hold of that other vampire's arm. Riley, his name was Riley.
That was right. We were running from the campsite when we stopped by the blonde - Riley - and Victoria. I couldn't see her yet, but as I watched Seth yanked on his arm and tried to pull him down, while Edward landed on his back, trying to grip around his neck. That's two, where was Jake?
Keeping the tree between myself and them, and using it to lean on, I made my way towards the stump of the tree, still in the ground with a great splintering break in the trunk. That confirmed my feeling that the tree hadn't been here before. Reaching it I looked around to see if I could get a better view of where Jake was.
I searched frantically around me, finally spotting him a good distance from Edward and Seth. I was only able to look at him for a moment before he was bowled over by Victoria, trying to head in my direction. Looking back to Seth and Edward, they were still busy, so moved around the trunk and towards Jake.
Bella, don't be stupid.
"Jake needs me."
Bella, I'm trying to keep her from getting to you, why would I want you to get closer?
"You're only in my head, what would you know?"
Apparently a lot more than you, since I'm trying to keep us from dying!
"He needs me."
What the hell are we going to do?
"Something."
The voice in my head sighed as I stopped behind a tree, resting my bad leg. Now that I was certain that I had to do something, what was something? I certainly couldn't fight her off with him.
Peering around it, I watched Jake lunge at Victoria this time, landing on her and attempting to bite at her face before he was thrown off again. I limped to the other side of the tree to see if Seth or Edward were coming yet. Nothing.
"Dammit. Think Bella, think." He needs something… something. My head throbbed nothing forming but the beginnings of a headache. I needed to think, and fast, before I got too cold and sore to do anything. I couldn't fight her, not even from a distance, so the most I can do…
"A distraction," I murmured, looking back to see Jake get tossed into a tree, the trunk cracking, but not falling, that tree more solid that the dying one that had landed next to me.
Ok. A distraction. But what? I couldn't exactly throw a stick at her from here, and it's a miracle she hasn't noticed me yet. What the hell would work?
I rubbed my temples, searching for something told to me in the last few days that would work. Most of the advice from Ve was useless, because she'd simply charge Victoria and rip her head off. Dad would have shot into the air, but I didn't have the benefit of a gun. So what weapons did I have?
Thinking back to what I knew of vampires, little beyond blood would distract them… wait a minute.
Bella, no.
"Well if it worked for the Third Wife."
Yeah, it worked real good, except for the part where she died.
"Pessimism is not an option right now." I looked around for something that would cut, but, providing I did survive, using a broken branch as a knife wasn't going to be easy to repair. In desperation I searched my pockets, until I found my keys inside my coat. Inspecting the largest one, it was jagged, but it would have to do. Mentally reminding myself to invest in a Swiss Army knife after this, I gripped it hard in my right hand, bringing it down to the palm of my left, taking in a deep breath to steady myself.
Before I could make the cut, fog started to billow out around me
"What in the-"
If I thought I was cold before, I would have called myself a liar now. The fog seemed to sink into my skin, stripping every degree of detectable heat from my body until I felt like a husk of flesh wrapped over solid ice. The pending headache was replaced with a slight throbbing, as if I was dizzy or maybe drunk, and the fog completely enclosed me, shortening my range of vision to around three feet in front of me. But I thought I could make out the barest of shapes ahead of me, so I hobbled for it.
Coming closer it was a person. Thinking better than to call out, I tried to make my hobbling slightly more quiet, since I remember Jacob telling us that the fog had something to do with that spider monster. But as I got closer the person turned into Jacob's shoulders, lunging out of the way of... something. I couldn't make that out yet, and I didn't know if I wanted to get closer to see if it was Victoria.
As it happened, I didn't have to get closer, as the thing barrelled past him before turning to strike him again.
Edward.
Eyes blood red and mouth snarling it was Edward, ripping at him from behind. This time he connected, his hand going straight through Jake's chest and I watched in horror as he toppled.
"JACOB!" I ran towards him but it was too late, you could already tell as the ground went ruddy with blood around him. It pooled out from his stomach as he coughed out my name before falling silent, talking on an unnatural paleness that Jake should never be. I sank to my knees, beside him, looking up at Edward. "Why? Edward, why? Why would you ever..."
I couldn't finish it. Couldn't say the words kill, murder or death. Couldn't even touch Jake's body for fear of the cold being there instead of the warm I was so accustomed to. I shut my eyes tightly and opened them again, hoping that I wouldn't be staring at the body of the boy... man I had come to love anymore, and praying that I would be seeing Edward, who I had still loved up until this point, standing over him as his assailant. I looked up at him for answers and he didn't even seem to notice me, still looking down on Jacob's body with pure hatred, and red sunk into the edges of my vision.
"WHY?" I screamed, my horror turning to anger. "Why would you do this to me?!" I felt my face get hot and wet from fresh tears, the only source of heat I had left. I found myself getting up, ignoring the pain in my foot to run at Edward.
"WHY?" I howled as my fist flew to connect with his face.
Or it would have, if it didn't go right through him.
My momentum sent me reeling past him, landing on my face when I lost the fight to keep my balance. Hissing with pain I rolled over to see that I hadn't imagined it and Edward was still standing where he was before. I pushed at the ground with my hands and slowly got myself up again, finding my ankle to be only slightly tenderer. Limping over I reached a hand towards Edward - and again it went right through him. He remained where he was, growling down at Jacob, not noticing my hand go right through his shoulder. I stared at him incredulously for a moment before returning to Jake. He lay there, as still and as... dead as he was moments before. My right hand twitched as I sucked in a breath, reading myself for what I was about to do next. I reached down to touch him, preparing to wince at his clammy cold skin.
And watched as my hand went right through him until it touched the ground.
"It's fake," I murmured, almost laughing with the hysterical feeling that rushed through me. "It's a fake, Jake's not dead.... Jake's not dead!" I looked around to see the fog starting to dissipate, and the images of Jake and Edward disappear.
It's not over yet Bella.
What?
Where's there's smoke, there's fire.
Perfect time to be cryptic. I looked around, trying to regain my surroundings to find myself not far from the felled tree, but on the wrong side of it. I pulled myself towards it, trying to stand again, my body not liking the constant moving.
No Bella, not that way!
As hard as it was to ignore a voice inside your own head I did, crawling my way to the tree again, stopping only feet from it. A clicking sound, somewhere between the button on a stop watch and that ubiquitous beetle clacking from movies came from over the log, but the noise was so foreign that I couldn't tell how far away it is. I placed a hand on it to help myself up, and as I did something punctured the wood beside it.
I came face to face with the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. No vampire, werewolf, or fog induced hallucination could compare to this. Its mottled skin stretched over its features in a sunken, sucked back as if it were dead. Skin-glove fingers flapped beside its gleaming pointed limbs, which looked like they had ripped out from its wrists, causing infection and blisters around the ensuing wound, and a viscous black liquid poured down its limbs from the opening of the skin, causing the black metallic spikes to gleam. The smell was over whelming, like old blood and dirty metal and I would have retched if I had time to. Sneering down at me, it lunged again. I screamed and pushed back from the log, crawling backwards away from it as fast as I could manage, one of its metal looking points stabbing into the ground where I had just been.
It stopped a moment, smelling the air. "Finally... prey." Its voice was entirely alien, both low pitched but with a quality like metal grating against metal to it, and it echoed as though there was a pipe in his throat. It was almost like his (for from his lack of breasts I thought it was a he, even though his lower anatomy was entirely smooth) entire insides were made from metal. His lips twisted into a smile that was too big for his face and somewhere in the back of my head the trigger to my motor functions went off and I pulled myself away from it as its spike came down inches from my face.
I rolled, the breath rushing out of me, so I could crawl frontwards again, trying desperately to get up, rolling to my side when I saw one of his arms flash to my right, scrambling for footing. Finally managing to get up I ran for it, not caring if my ankle hurt or Victoria was ahead of me, or which way I was going really. I couldn't tell you why but I could feel where it was, if it was trying to head me off from the right or the left, when it got close and when it was keeping back, trying to predict which way I was going. I zigzagged as best I could with a bad leg, dodging behind trees, trying to head into thicker looking to forest to see if I could lose it, not knowing how much it relied on its eyes compared to its sense of smell.
As I got thicker into the forest I seemed to lose him. This was as good a time as any to check out my scent theory so I looked around to find large log stuck into the ground half way, and found a spot where I could fit into it. Trying not to think about how many bugs must have been in there I crawled in and settled back, so it couldn't see me.
Now all I could do is wait.
I felt my heart pounding in my chest as silence went on and on and I wondered if it had went back to find the others. Before I could crawl back out again, I finally heard a rustle. It was the thing, I was sure of it, four wet rustles like a stick being jammed into the earth and every so often a wheeze like air going through a pipe. Finally it spoke.
"Hiding? You are better than this, prey. Come out and face me."
I held my breath as I heard the voice come from just outside the log.
"You are just prolonging the inevitable..."
I swallowed, trying desperately to stop shaking.
"I know you're there!"
As the thing shouted I squeaked, and clapped a hand over my mouth, and then I realised that I had discounted sound. I had been quiet but had it heard me? I shut my eyes hoping that it didn't, but opened them again, realising that shutting them wouldn't help me. Outside had gone quiet but I refused to give up. I waited listening for a sound.
Suddenly its face appeared in the far end of the opening of the log. I screamed and began scrambling. One of its limbs darted towards me and I threw myself out the hole in the side of the log. The limb came down, scratching down my left arm and causing me to bit my lip in pain as the cut felt like it was searing. I got out just as the thing began lifting the log up with a horrible wail. I took off running again, looking back in time to see it rip the log apart and start running after me again. I didn't know which way I came from or which way to go, but anything was better than there.
My heart sunk to my knees and I spat out a curse as I saw the log from earlier ahead of me, signalling that I somehow had ran in a circle, but headed for it anyways, hoping I could run around the trunk to by myself some time. Time to do what though?
I barely noticed the bang that sounded behind me as I rounded the trunk, but I heard the thing screech and hoped one of the Pack or the Cullens had found me. I didn't have time to look and see who it was because something grabbed my arm and yanked me down behind the other side of the log. My vision spun as I went down and the first thing that I saw was a shot of red hair.
Victoria. The name screamed through my head and I began kicking with my good foot, desperate to get away. Another scream left my throat as I struggled, to little avail, the hands holding me too strong.
"Little sister, stop this at once!"
I turned, finally able to see her face and when I saw blue eyes instead of red I gasped with relief.
"Ve!"
"Yes yes, it's me, but there's no time for that. Here."
She was backed against the tree, peaking over once to see what was going on before popping back down again. I put my back to the tree as she did and she tossed something in my direction, long and shiny amongst the leaves on the ground, black on metal. I picked it up to find out some sort of gun.
"Ve? What?" I found myself panting, not able to finish my thought.
"That," she said grinning, with a gleam in her eye, "is a Stainless Ithaca 37 Defense." I gave her a blank look and she shook her head slightly. "It's a pump action shotgun." She held another one in here hand.
"Why on earth are you giving me a gun?! And why the hell do you need one?!"
She flicked it head in the direction of the log. "For that thing. Look."
She turned to peer over the log and I followed suit. On the other side of it the... thing was twitching and screeching on the ground clutching at its head.
I looked at her incredulously. "Bullets stop that thing?"
She rolled her eyes at me and motioned for me to get back behind the log. "Not bullets little sister, shot. We're firing shot at it."
"We aren't doing anything. I can't use a gun"
"That's why I picked up a pump action, it's suitable for novices. Your shoulder will hurt something fierce tomorrow, but it's better than the alternative, no?"
I rubbed my temple. "Let's pretend for a second I agree to this. Why am I shooting it?"
"You've seen what it can do, yes?"
"Create those... images, yes. What is that thing anyways?"
"It doesn't really have a name. We always called them Dream Reavers. They see into your dreams and pick out the worse parts." Her eyes widened as she spoke the last part.
"Lovely."
"But I meant the spikes. You've seen those?"
"All too close."
She nodded. "It's a very dangerous creature, comprised of a sort of... organic metal skeleton. Quite lethal. This Victoria was stupid for allying with it. She couldn't predict what it was going to do, especially after their... agreement was up."
"What... what does it do?"
She gave me a creepy sort of smile. "It feeds on fear. Any fear will do, but fear with otherworldly resonance to it is preferable. So it tends to hunt supernatural beings or those who practice supernatural arts. Once fear permeates its intended target's being, it eats them."
My head may be throbbing, but something wasn't adding up. "Then why did it call me prey?"
Her smile got bigger. "Good question. I'm afraid we don't have time for that right now though. Now, its skeleton makes it impervious to most damage, so I can't destroy it."
I was gobsmacked. "You can't kill it, but a gun will?"
She looked at me as though I suddenly gained a third eye. "No. A gun won't hurt it. But the sound will. You saw how it was on the ground, it has very sensitive hearing. We can't kill it, but we can incapacitate it. I know someone who can kill it though, so we're going to herd it to the tree line where I have Rennie waiting in a field. He was kind enough to come back with me from Seattle, and the only person I know strong enough to restrain it until he can get it back to Tobias."
"And Tobias can kill it?"
She grinned again. "He surely can. I think you would like Tobias, but that meeting will have to wait. Now," she put my hands in position on the gun, and brought it up so the butt of the gun was set against my shoulder. "Use your shoulder to steady it. Take your time, aim isn't important, firing it near its head is. You don't have to hit it, you just have to herd it. Do you know what pump action means?"
"Not really."
She placed my left hand on the bottom of the gun, on a sort of ridged sliding piece, and curled my other hand around the trigger. "You squeeze the trigger, and then pump the grip. That releases the empty shell out the bottom and reloads the mechanism. Each shot is squeeze, then pump. And that's squeeze, not pull. You'll hurt yourself even worse if you try to pull It's an 8-shot, so you get eight fires before you have to reload." She took to from me and pulled back the grip, turning it so I could see where the shells went it. She slid out a shell as she explained the next part. "You reload it this way, coloured end in first, and keep going until you've put in eight, and then pump the grip to load it." She reloaded the gun and handed it back to me. "You're firing shot, which means it's going to spread, so again, don't worry about missing, just keep the butt tucked in your shoulder, aim by looking down the barrel and try to get it close. Try not to hit me though."
I gulped and felt myself pale. She put a hand on my shoulder.
"If you're really nervous, just fire into the air. We want noise, not accuracy. Here." She put a bag over my shoulders. "There's your extra shells. Remember, eight at a time. Sorry, I didn't bring ear protection." She loaded and cocked her own shot gun. "Ready?"
"What about Jacob, Seth and Edward? They were just here? What about Victoria?"
Ve pointed out in front of us. I strained my neck to see past a tree, but there was Seth, plus Sam and Paul tearing apart what used to be Riley, and just beyond that Jake and Edward were tearing off after Victoria. "They appear to be doing quite well. Now, ready?"
I nodded, not quite believing myself.
"On the count of three, you're going to stand up, point the gun at the creature, and fire. One... two... three!"
I got up with only a slight fumble for once, and looked over the log to see the thing was just starting to come to its senses. Ve had got him good, little bits of metal were imbedded in the left side of its body. Settled the butt into my shoulder like she had shown me and took a deep breath as I squeezed the trigger.
That turned out to be an immense mistake.
The gun exploded to life, deafening me for a second as the recoil sent the gun firing back into my shoulder, knocking the wind out of me. I was barely able to keep a hold of it. My aim had veered off to one side with the force, and I stumbled back, trying to gain back my balance. One thing was sure, I was really bad at firing a shotgun.
But Ve had managed to aim true and the thing went sprawling, running away from us towards the direction Ve was talking about. She helped me over the log before leaping over it herself, and motioned to me to hurry. "We can't lose it, it'll go off to hide somewhere."
I followed after her as best I could, slowed by my leg. She ran off to the left, shooting at it again to keep it on course I followed closely, raising the gun again when the thing appeared back in front of me and squeezing off another round. Pain flared in my shoulder, the sound thudding in my brain again, and most of my shot imbedded itself in a tree but it seemed to have some effect as the thing started to scurry straight again. We continued on and I managed to fire off one more shot, still hissing in pain and mostly missing, before it got angry and lunged back at Ve.
"Run!" she yelled and I listened, hobbling off a ways and hiding behind a tree with a thick base. I heard Ve's gun go off twice more before it became eerily silent again.
My eyes slid back and forth almost involuntarily, looking over my surroundings for where he could be coming from. I listened as best I could and could hear rustling, but couldn't tell how near or far it was and or who it was. The only other sound was my heartbeat in my ears and my breathing as I tried desperately to stop panting.
Suddenly that feeling, in the pit of my stomach, happened again, telling me he was nearby and after me again. I mentally fought with what to do.
"Left or right," I whispered to myself, trying to figure out which way to go so it didn't run around the tree and grab me. "Left or right?!" I bit my lip hard "Fuck it, right." I pulled the gun level to my shoulder again and swung around.
I was greeted with its snarling face coming towards me and yelped, but by some miracle managed to keep hold of the gun, looking down the barrel and aiming at it once again.
The gun slammed into my shoulder and went too high this time, slamming the back of my hand into my eye socket and causing me to fall backwards. I looked up through the pain to see that I had still caused it to reel back, covering it's ears from the noise, giving Ve enough time to run around and shoot it near point blank in the side of the head. The thing screeched and fell sideways, looking almost pitiful now as it desperately tried to crawl away from us. Ve didn't let up, following right after it and firing right at its head every few feet or so, directing it towards the tree line. I followed behind her and she handed me her gun when it was empty, motioning for me. "Reload this one."
I decided it best to stand still while fumbling with the shotgun shells, eventually getting 8 in and hobbling after Ve, who was moving at a slow pace due to having to move that creature along.
Several shots later we had finally made it to the tree line, and I winced as it shrieked and twisted in pain, pulling itself past the treeline. Ve whistled beside me and a felt something thudding along in front of us. My jaw dropped as I looked up.
It was a bear. A mammoth bear. If Jake was the size of a car, this was literally the size of Jake's garage, lumbering towards us from behind a great swell of greenery in the middle of the field. Its fur was a shaggy black, turning brown around its muzzle and its gait made the ground shake.
"That's Rennie?
She grinned at me. "That's Rennie. Jean Francois Renault, Great Bear himself." She looked down and fired one more shot at the Dream Reaver, kicking it towards Rennie. The bear got up on its hind legs and roared at us, causing the thing to spasm.
"Rennie, stop showing off and get this thing to Tobias, before it starts getting mean again."
The bear - Rennie - made a mournful sort of moan before picking the thing up in his jaws and barrelling across the field with it.
"I really don't envy him tasting that."
"Neither do I. Would you mind carrying my clothes little sister? You look like you could do with not having to walk back."
I nodded in thanks, as no idea in the world currently sounded as good as not having to walk.
Jacob POV
I shook my head, growling at the scene before me. One minute I was scrambling trying to keep a hold on Victoria, the next I was surrounded by fucking fog, only to find...
This. Which isn't real. Isn't fucking real. Can't happen, no way, I refuse to fucking believe this shit. This must be what the guys were screaming about, and thus is not real, goddammit!
I turned when I heard some when approach me from the left. Edward. I growled but managed to keep my composure. He looked almost paler than normal, and was doing that annoying brow pinch thing he always did. He looked at me in a state of disbelief.
"I just watched you kill Bella."
Giving what I guess you could call an annoyed whine, I pointed with my head over my shoulder to the scene in front of me. There was Edward's doppelganger, currently ripping out Bella's innards and stuffing them into his face.
Real-Edward looked like he was going to retch. "Is that how you see me?"
I snorted at him. How was I killing Bella?
He looked at me a moment before saying "Fair enough. In my defense, I didn't think it was actually-"
Me either, retard.
"Right. So how do we stop this?"
I don't fucking know. You're the hundred year old vampire.
"You were trained by a thousand year werewolf." Patronising idiot. He looked at me as if he had heard that, which I knew he did, but didn't really care anyways.
I shook my head, trying to get some of the condensed fog off. She didn't exactly cover fog induced hallucinations.
"Neither did Carlisle." We found ourselves staring at the stupid, and might I add very NOT REAL scene in front of us before Edward's demeanour finally cracked. "Oh for the love of... I am tired of watching this!" He walked forward, trying to grab the shoulder of... well, himself, to throw him off the fake Bella, but his hand went right through. As he was righting himself, the fog began to clear and fake Edward disappeared. "Oh... I guess that's how."
Yeah.
"Well... I'm sorry about... you know, seeing you and-"
Don't mention it. I guess I'm sorry about... that thing.
"Right. Let's not dwell on... that thing.... Wait, how did you know it wasn't real?"
I walked around impatiently in a circle before answering. I just knew you wouldn't actually do that. It's something out of my nightmares, it's not how you are.
He nodded. "I see. I... I know you wouldn't hurt Bella either." I gave him a funny look and he coughed before continuing. "We have to find Seth. We had just managed to pin Victoria's help down before this all started."
I don't even know where we are right now, and I'm more worried about finding Bella. Can you hear anything?
He looked around for a moment, shaking his head, before the background noise that was my brothers in my head finally answered.
Jake!
Paul?
"What are they saying?" Edward asked me impatiently.
Give me a second. What is it Paul.
We saw the fog and came running. The little girl thing's with us too. We caught Victoria and the blonde trying to head around, we think to cut Bella off. Seth finally caught up with us and whatsherface... Alice is building a fire. Get over here quick.
Where's Bella?
Ve's got her. She warned us of what the thing was going to do and told us to head this way. We got to the leeches just before they could corner Bella with that spider thing.
Ve's back?
"Ve's back?"
Yeah, Ve's back. Haul ass.
I nodded and turned back to Edward. Paul and Sam found them. This way.
"What about Bella?"
Ve's got her. Come on, they've got them cornered, and your sister's already started the fire.
We followed Paul's directions and ended up near the tree I had knocked over. Sam, Paul and Seth trying to keep the two vampires at bay and I could see a fire nearby with Alice throwing as much dead wood as she could into it, struggling to keep it alight since the wood wasn't very dry. Victoria seemed mad as ever, but the blonde looked injured, one of his arms hanging at a funny angle. As soon as she saw us, she took off into the woods, allowing the guys to close in on the blonde.
"I'll head her off. You go that way!"
I nodded and took off, thankful that her hair stuck out like a sore thumb, until I heard two loud bangs come from behind me. Looking back I saw Ve helping Bella over a log towards that... dead thing.
Sam? Why the fuck did Ve give Bella a gun?
Nevermind that right now, go get Victoria!
I kept running after the streak of red hair, unable to see where Edward wanted me to lead her, I kept going straight for her. She was desperate now, barely missing trees and logs, not taunting like before when it was just me. I kept after her and soon after, in a strange reversal of what happened earlier, Edward leapt down from the trees, knocking Victoria off her feet and rolling past her. As he righted himself he looked back at me.
"Now Jake!"
I jumped into the air, landing straight on top of her. She howled up at me, looking defeated and if I could have smirked right then, I would have.
Say goodnight bitch.
Her answer was to yell again before I lunged down for her neck. She managed in a desperate pull to get away from me, leaving her left shoulder and arm in my mouth, but didn't manage to get far before Edward caught up with her and with a vicious jerk twisted her head off.
I howled in victory and helped Edward drag the still wriggling pieces to Alice's fire.