Chapter 8 - Something Wicked This Way Comes
I don’t own any of the characters from Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does. Ruby and Margaret come from my imagination. I make no money from this.
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“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” – W. Clement Stone
Five days after Billy’s heart attack, Ruby was still staying at Jacob’s house. Her grandmother understood her need to take care of him (she had been in love too) but Ruby still went to her every day to visit with her, once bringing her to La Push to spend the day. During the hours Jacob went to check on Billy, Ruby was with her grandmother, continuing to quietly learn how to grow and strengthen her powers. They had started before Billy’s heart attack and continued now but with less time for training.
Ruby thought about how far she had come. She was stronger than even she thought was possible. Margaret taught her to concentrate and focus while still being able to pay close attention to her surroundings. Margaret also made Ruby start an extremely strict workout regimen along with mind strengthening activities; crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, chess and learning how to play the guitar. Margaret told her she needed to be stronger in mind as well in body and those activities would help. Ruby wasn’t sure if she was getting anywhere, except for the calluses on her fingertips, until she finally noticed some improvement. Her body had less fat and more lean muscle and she was now able to remember things at the drop of a dime. No longer were thing on the tip of the tongue for her.
Her grandmother told her she was learning quickly and was more powerful and focused than before but still had a ways to go. That was just fine with Ruby. She didn’t want to be the most powerful witch in the world, she just wanted to walk away alive if she ever meet another violent vampire. It had scared her more than she was willing to admit.
Jacob knocked on the door, pulling Ruby from her thoughts, and asked if she was done getting dressed. Even though they essentially lived together now, they were both not ready to change in front of each other. They did other things but they were always clothed. They had a pretty intense make out session in the bed last night but she gently asked him to stop when she felt she had enough and he did. They spent the rest of the night holding each other and talking. They both wondered what it would be like to go further but were too nervous to push it.
Ruby quickly realized that she was once again lost in thought and knew this was not the time. They were close to running late to Emily’s baby shower and they still had to pick up Bella from, what Ruby had started referring to as The Drop Off Site. She hastily threw on a sundress but she felt it was too short to wear on its own so she paired it with blue jeans. They both ran out and jumped into the car to pick up Bella from where Edward was dropping her off at the treaty line.
When they got there Edward looked upset and Bella was looking around her as if she half expected someone to jump out and grab her.
“Hey, Eddie. Sup’ Bella,” Ruby said smiling while Jacob nodded his head a fraction of an inch.
“Ruby.” Edward’s voice was tight and Ruby knew by their auras she would soon be hearing bad news. “Sorry to make you come all this way but Bella doesn’t feel comfortable going right now.”
“Something wrong?” Ruby asked.
“Yes. Bella and I had some company last night.” He looked at Bella but she was looking around, the same look of part paranoia, part anxiety on her face. “Vampires. Newborns by the looks of them.”
Jacob looked at Edward “Where are they now?”
“Dead. Emmett and I took care of it.”
“Ok, I may be naïve here but two separate newborn attacks involving Bella can’t be a coincidence,” Ruby said. “Then again this is Forks. This kind of thing probably happens two a day, like football practice.”
“It was not a coincidence,” he told Ruby before looking at Jacob. “We believe they were sent by Victoria.”
Jacob said “What?” at the same time Ruby said “Who’s that?”
Edward, who still liked Ruby far better than Jacob (despite their recent semi-tolerance of each other), answered her first. “She was James’ mate. He was the vampire that attacked Bella and gave her the scar on her hand.”
“Oh wow,” Ruby sighed. She knew Bella had gotten bitten by a vampire and Edward killed the guy and saved her by sucking it out but she didn’t know the whole entire story. “So this Vicky chick must be super pissed and looking for a little eye for an eye deal. So, this is why Bella is attracting newborns better than catnip for kitties.”
Jacob laughed and Edward smiled at her and said, “Yes, precisely. Jasper figured out that Victoria must be changing people into newborns and sending them after Bella. He has seen it before. She wants revenge for James.”
“What happened last night?” Jacob asked.
“When I climbed through Bella’s window after I dropped her off at her door, we found her room a mess. Someone ransacked it. I called Emmett and as we checked the woods around her house we found a small group of newborns. One of them, a blond male, held a shirt that smelled like it belonged to Bella. He ran the moment he saw us and the other three attacked.”
“Why would they take her shirt?” Ruby asked but immediately knew the answer. “Her scent? Oh my Gods. Are they trying to track her?”
“Does your psychic know how many of them there are?”
“Her name is Alice or Allie in my case.” She smiled at Jacob, silently telling him to be nice.
“Originally there was twenty-eight but she just checked before and now they’re down to twenty-five.” Edward heard a bit of Ruby’s unspoken question and answered her before she asked. “Newborns tend to be violent and they fight amongst themselves.”
“Eww.” Ruby shook her head in disgust.
“When do you want to coordinate?” Jacob asked folding his arms as if daring Edward to refuse.
“Wait, what?” Bella interrupted, speaking for the first time. “What do you mean by that?”
“We’re werewolves. We exist just for this purpose.” Jacob stated as if it was obvious.
“You can’t do this. Neither of you. I don’t want anyone getting hurt or worse.” She looked between Jacob and Edward.
“Bella, honey, do not worry about us,” he glanced at Jacob, “We can take care of ourselves.” She still didn’t look like she was okay, she kept biting her lip nervously, but she kept silent.
“When do you want to coordinate?” Jacob repeated.
“When is a good time for you?”
“Anytime.”
“Anytime after Emmy’s baby shower, we shouldn’t ruin her party,” Ruby said and Bella nodded in agreement. “We are going to be late for if we don’t leave soon.”
“Ok. Tonight about two o’clock?”
Jacob nodded. “That should be okay with Sam. Where?”
“Ten miles north of Hoh Forest ranger station. Follow the smell.” Edward smirked and Jacob scrunched up his face in disgust.
“Smell?” Ruby asked tired that she was constantly lost in this conversation.
“Yeah, we smell horrid to each other.” Jacob answered.
“Then it must be a vamp–wolf thing because you both smell fine to this witch.” They all smiled and Bella gave Ruby the gift she bought for Emily as they parted ways, promising to meet later.
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Emily greeted them at the door and even though she had a month to go, she looked ready to pop and her stomach was noticeably lower. Ruby knew that meant she was close to having her baby. As discussed on the car ride to the Uley house, Ruby took Emily, Claire and Kim to the kitchen and just so the girls wouldn’t get suspicious Collin and Brady came also. Ruby knew that in the next room Jacob was filling the pack in on the newborn situation.
When the guys came back, Ruby was proud by their acting abilities, besides a change in their auras there was no visible sign of their anger and stress.
They played stupid yet funny games involving toilet paper and small jars of baby food, ate frosting rich cake and watched as Emily opened gift after gift. It was a beautiful day out and Claire wanted to go out and play, so Ruby, Emily, Kim, Leah and Seth took her to the backyard. Emily sat in a lawn chair, her hands rubbing her belly every so often as she watched Kim chase Claire through the yard and surrounding woods. Ruby sat on the back steps flanked by Seth and Leah.
“So are you going tonight?” Seth asked Ruby quietly so Emily wouldn’t hear. Sam had planned on telling her later, after her party was over.
“What?” Ruby could have sworn she smelled it, but it was so fast she couldn’t be sure. “Oh, I didn’t really think about it.” In actuality, she had thought about it non-stop since Jacob and Edward agreed on a meeting. She wanted to go and if it came down to a fight, she wanted to fight. Bella was her friend too. She was stronger now that she was training with Margaret, more focused, more powerful.
“You should go.” Leah nudged Ruby with her shoulder. “Us strong girls have to stick together.” Ruby would have been shocked that Leah actually complimented her and referred to them as equals but she didn’t respond. She was staring off into the distance, searching. She definitely smelled it that time. Sulfur and just a hint of copper.
“Guys, something is wrong. Something bad is coming.” Seth and Leah stood up and looked around, just then Claire screamed. Ruby blinked and turned to look at Kim holding Claire. Kim was walking backwards away from the tree line of the woods. Seth and Leah started to shake. Ruby knew in an instant that newborns were there and a second after she thought that, four pale and scarlet eyed vampires stepped out of the woods.
They were snarling and hissing. Their bodies vibrating and their sights set on young Claire as if the thought of drinking her five year old blood thrilled them to their bones. They seemed to be deciding if they should deal with the other women first and take their time on the girl or do it the other way around.
All of a sudden, several things happened at once. Kim tripped on a rock and fell backwards; Claire slipped out of her grasp, screamed out in pain and then went eerily silent; Seth and Leah jumped off the steps, phasing into wolves by the time they hit the ground; and the vampires lunged forward in a frenzy, their sights on Claire.
Ruby jumped up and ran to place herself in front of Emily instinctively, at the same time she made a quick swiping movement with her hands, using her power to pull Claire and Kim back across the yard towards the safety of the house before the newborns could touch them.
“Jacob. Sammy.” Ruby screamed urgently as she pushed with her hands causing the vampires to be thrown back into the woods were Leah and Seth caught up with them. Emily stood behind Ruby, her hands instinctively going to cradle her belly. Both women looked up when the back door was shoved open. Jacob and Sam exited the house no longer resembling the sweet laughing guys she knew but more like the animals that were trying to break free.
“What happened?” Sam demanded right before a growl and the loud screech of metal being ripped sounded through the woods.
“Newborns. Three. The woods. Leah and Seth.” Ruby gasped not taking the time to form sentences. She brought one hand up to her heart and she could feel it working overtime, beating so fast and hard from the sudden excitement.
“Embry, Paul, Collin, Brady, help Leah and Seth.” Ruby watched Sam give his orders from the top step and soon four massive forms were rushing to the woods.
“I moved the girls away. I think- I think they wanted to drink from Claire. Oh Gods.” She looked over to where Claire was as if she needed proof that she was okay but the girl was still. “Claire,” she screamed at the same time Quil came bounding out. He jumped over the handrail to get to Claire faster and let out a whimper when he saw her beautiful brunette locks saturated with blood. He lifted her gently, cradling her small body.
Ruby ran as fast as her feet could take her, dropping to her knees and skidding the last foot to get to her injured friend. Her hand went to the girl’s neck to get a pulse. She sighed in relief when she felt it, albeit very weakly.
“Put her down. Lay her flat.” Ruby demanded, her words rushing out and Quil, somehow knowing what she wanted to do, did as she asked. Ruby had only used her healing a few times since she got the gift from her mother but they were small wounds that her grandmother let her hone her power on; a long cut on her palm from slicing open a bagel, a paper cut from opening an envelope and a burn on her wrist when she touched the hot oven rack. Ruby did not enjoy using it neither time. She knew her mother had to be very strong to overcome the side effect. “Jacob, come stand behind me.” He was behind her in almost the blink of an eye, and Sam moved to be with Emily.
Ruby took a deep breath and wrapped one hand around Claire’s limp hand and used her other hand to gently place on the wound. Then she closed her eyes. Those who were standing near felt the change in temperature. Though the sun was shining brightly, the air was slowly getting colder and colder, until they were able to see every breath they took. The sudden coldness allowed them to see Ruby’s shallow and erratic breathing. Then suddenly her body became ridged, her harsh wheezing stopped and her eyes flew open. They felt the temperature suddenly return to normal as Ruby’s eyes rolled back and her head lolled back as she passed out, falling back onto Jacob.
Everyone was silent and frozen with shock.
Jacob shook her with no response. He tentatively reached out with his pointer and middle finger, placing them on the side of her neck. He damn near passed out with relief when he felt her pulse.
“Is she…,” Emily trailed off, not wanting to say it.
“She’s alive.” Jacob whispered. He knew she was alive, he felt her pulse and felt her breathing, but he was still worried. She looked to be sleeping but she was unresponsive.
Then there was a small groan from Claire. Quil cried out in relief as he rushed forward and checked on Claire. Besides her hair matted with blood, there was nothing wrong with her. Her wound was healed.
Jacob lifted Ruby into his arms, she was limp and her arms and head lolled back making him more nervous than he was. He carried her inside the house and placing her gingerly on the sofa. As he placed a pillow under her head, Emily came forward with a wet rag and she draped it over her friend’s forehead.
“Is she alright?” Sam asked looking over Jacob’s shoulder.
“I don’t know.” Jacob sat on the floor, his hand grasping hers as he waited for her to wake up. After a few moments, he watched as Quil walked in with Claire, followed by Kim and the rest of the pack. Emily quickly took Claire to take a bath and wash her hair. When they came back out, Claire walked to the loveseat adjacent to the sofa and sat on her knees, her body draped over the armrest as she looked down at Ruby’s sleeping face.
The first thing Ruby saw when she opened her eyes was Claire’s big beaming smile and she felt herself relax knowing the girl was alright.
“Hiya,” Claire whispered before happily shouting, “She wakeded up.”
Jacob turned quickly and smiled at her. Beyond him she saw Sam, Emily, Quil and Embry and further behind them was the rest of the pack all looking relieved. She was instantly hot with embarrassment and touched that there was a fuss made over her.
“Hey. How do you feel?” Jacob asked gently, moving a lock of hair away from her face.
“Thirsty,” she croaked. Kim, who was nearest to the kitchen, ran to the sink and got her a glass of water. As she made her way to the sofa, she saw Ruby, aided by Jacob, pushing herself up to a sitting position. Ruby thanked her for the water and Jacob helped her hold her glass.
Ruby turned to him, smiled weakily and uttered throatily, “Mother Hen.” He rolled his eyed and smirked as she drank half the glass in one sip.
“Better?”
She nodded. “How long was I out?”
“About a half hour.” He was expecting her to be upset, when she wasn’t he continued. “What happened? What was that?”
“When I use my healing, it takes a lot out of me and I usually pass out.” Then she said to herself, “I knew I was getting better,” but, of course, he heard.
“What do you mean?”
Ruby sighed before answering. “After that day – in the park – my grandma has been training me. She’s been helping me reach the full potential of my powers. It’s going slow but it must be working because I’m usually out cold anywhere from a couple of hours to half a day after I heal someone. I’m learning to heal myself, that’s why I was only out for thirty minutes.”
“Wait, why do you need to heal yourself? Does that mean that when you heal someone, that it hurts you?” Jacob was looking at her waiting for an answer.
“Yes and no,” she spoke quietly. “I take their injury away, I take their pain away and in that moment I feel what they are feeling. That’s why I pass out, because I need to heal from the sudden split second of intense pain. Sort of like when you phase. Once I know how to heal myself completely, I won’t pass out anymore. I’ll have it under control like my mom did.”
“But you’ll still have the pain. You won’t pass out but will you still feel the pain?”
“I don’t know. My grandmother said that my mom told her many years ago that it didn’t hurt her but my grandmother thinks she was lying to spare her the thought of her daughter in pain. I can’t be sure.”
Jacob looked upset for a quick second but took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Are you feeling better?” She nodded slowly. “Can you stand or do you need to be carried?” His tone was intense, like he was barely able to control his emotions.
Ruby furrowed her brow in confusion and bit her lip. Was Jacob upset with her? Why? She carefully put her feet on the floor and stood up. When she swayed and almost fell back on the sofa Jacob came forward to pick her up. “No,” she stated firmly, pushing his hand away. Her ego too wounded and confused to allow her to accept his help. “I got it. I’m fine.”
Jacob sighed. He knew he upset her, hurt her with his clipped tone, but for some reason he couldn’t control his emotions when it came to her. He walked behind her just in case she needed him. He waited while she was hugged, thanked and told to get some rest. She tried to smile at them but Jacob could see the sadness in her eyes and he hated himself for it.
They said their goodbyes and walked out the door. She was still unsteady on her feet and as she reached the stairs she got lightheaded. She brought her hands to her head as teetered on the top step. In an instant her world was turned on its side but instead of falling, she was being lifted up.
“You sure you got it? You sure you’re fine?” Jacob smirked as he shifted her into a more comfortable position in his arms. She turned away and couldn’t help but smile. His smile was like kryptonite to her; for every degree his lips turned up at the corner, her resolve became one degree weaker.
He carried her down the steps as Embry and the other wolves came out of the forest. Ruby could see a thin stream of purple smoke rising above the treetops in the distance.
“Is she ok? What happened?” Embry asked concerned.
“She’s alright. They’ll fill you in inside. You get them?”
“Yeah. We got them.”
“Good. I’ll see you tonight. We’re going home.”
They were silent the whole way over to his house. They never fought before (she felt that time with the vampires was just her being overwhelmed, it wasn’t a fight) and she feared that they may make up for it today because after he said whatever was upsetting him, she was going to tell him that she was going to the meeting.
Ruby knew he was upset but she couldn’t help be somewhat confused as to why. His aura kept jumping colors. One second it was a muddy red, then a clear bright red, then a pink, a bright yellow, a dark green. It just wouldn’t lock on to one color. He was obviously conflicted… but conflicted over what? It was driving her crazy.
They got to his house and he carried her up the short steps. Jacob managed to open the door without dropping her and took one step into his house. He placed her on her feet and kept his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
“You want to tell me what’s up with you?” Ruby asked, directing her question to his knees rather than look him in the eyes.
“What makes you think something is up?”
“Jacob, I’m a witch, remember? I can see your aura. One second you’re upset, the next worried, then proud, then other things.”
Jacob sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m going to have to get used to you knowing what I feel before even I do.” He gave her a weak smile. He sighed again and decided to be completely honest with her. “I didn’t know it hurt you.”
It took her a second to figure out what he was referring to and when she did she finally looked up at him. “Oh, that’s what this is about?”
“Yeah. I don’t want you to do it anymore.”
“What? Heal people?” She tilted her head to look at him. “Fine,” she stated calmly, “As long as you walk away from your pack and never become a wolf again.” He was shocked into silence for a split second then opened his mouth to say something. She cut him off. “Because what you’re asking of me is to give up who I am, who I am proud to be. Don’t ask that. I would never ask that of you. Ever.” She didn’t raise her voice or sound angry or even give him a dirty look, in fact her voice was calm but Jacob still winced as if she had slapped him and hung his head in shame.
He took a step closer to her, invading her personal space. She didn’t mind. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. I hate that you hurt. You scared me earlier when you passed out. The way you slumped onto me like that… for a split second I thought you were… I thought I lost…” He couldn’t say it.
“Jacob. Jacob, look at me.” She waited for him to look at her before she spoke again. “I’m sorry I scared you, I never wanted that, but to tell you the truth I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Claire was hurt, very hurt, and I had the ability to save her. I’m not the type of girl to sit back and let someone get hurt, to let someone do bad things, if I can help it. That’s not who my parents were and that’s not who they raised. I have all these powers that can help and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Help.”
“I know. I just-”
“I’m not done.” She pushed away from him and used the door behind her as support, because she was still weak on her feet. “I need to know you won’t do that again, won’t ask me to not be who I am. I’m a witch. I’m proud of it and I take it seriously. This is something I will never budge on and I can’t be with someone who can’t take me as I am.”
Jacob was left speechless. He saw her glance towards the garage and he knew she was looking at her car. He was just worried about her, he didn’t want all this to happen.
“No, no. I’m sorry. I overreacted.” He walked closer to her and hugged her. Placing his face in the curve of her neck, his lips near her throat, he whispered, “I love you for who you are. I just don’t want to lose you. Ever.”
“You won’t. You are stuck with me, for a very long time.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed him. “Let’s go.” She jerked her head towards the kitchen. “I want to eat something and get a nap before we go to that meeting tonight.” She turned to walk towards the kitchen and Jacob placed a hand on her waist to steady her.
“We?” he said as he guided her.
“Yeah. We. You have a problem with that?” She gave a smile that said I dare you to say you do.
“No. No problem. I learned my lesson.” He joked. He sat her down on a kitchen chair and began rummaging through the refrigerator for leftovers to heat up for her to eat. He found leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes and heated up two plates. He placed a plate in front of Ruby and sat down next to her to eat. Once they were finished Ruby attempted to get up to wash the dishes. “No. I got it. You rest.”
“Thanks.”
He rinsed and dried the dishes quickly. After he put them back in the cupboard he turned to see Ruby resting her head on the table.
“Hey, are you ok?”
She lifted her off the table and smiled reassuringly at him. “Yeah. Just worn out. Healing Claire took a lot out of me.” He walked over to her and picked her up again.
“You made me promise to be extra careful a while ago,” he said as he carried her to his room. “I want you to promise me the same thing.”
“I promise Jacob. I’ll be careful.”
“I know you can look out for yourself, you’re the strongest women I know, but I can still worry about you, can’t I?”
“Don’t ever stop.” He gave her a squeeze and kissed the top of her head. She didn’t think it was possible, but she fell more in love with him.
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A/N: I know 'Wakeded' is not a word. I had Claire use the non-word because she is a child and kids often speak like this until they get older enough to learn and remember that you don't add '-ed' after every word, lol.
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“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” – W. Clement Stone
Five days after Billy’s heart attack, Ruby was still staying at Jacob’s house. Her grandmother understood her need to take care of him (she had been in love too) but Ruby still went to her every day to visit with her, once bringing her to La Push to spend the day. During the hours Jacob went to check on Billy, Ruby was with her grandmother, continuing to quietly learn how to grow and strengthen her powers. They had started before Billy’s heart attack and continued now but with less time for training.
Ruby thought about how far she had come. She was stronger than even she thought was possible. Margaret taught her to concentrate and focus while still being able to pay close attention to her surroundings. Margaret also made Ruby start an extremely strict workout regimen along with mind strengthening activities; crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, chess and learning how to play the guitar. Margaret told her she needed to be stronger in mind as well in body and those activities would help. Ruby wasn’t sure if she was getting anywhere, except for the calluses on her fingertips, until she finally noticed some improvement. Her body had less fat and more lean muscle and she was now able to remember things at the drop of a dime. No longer were thing on the tip of the tongue for her.
Her grandmother told her she was learning quickly and was more powerful and focused than before but still had a ways to go. That was just fine with Ruby. She didn’t want to be the most powerful witch in the world, she just wanted to walk away alive if she ever meet another violent vampire. It had scared her more than she was willing to admit.
Jacob knocked on the door, pulling Ruby from her thoughts, and asked if she was done getting dressed. Even though they essentially lived together now, they were both not ready to change in front of each other. They did other things but they were always clothed. They had a pretty intense make out session in the bed last night but she gently asked him to stop when she felt she had enough and he did. They spent the rest of the night holding each other and talking. They both wondered what it would be like to go further but were too nervous to push it.
Ruby quickly realized that she was once again lost in thought and knew this was not the time. They were close to running late to Emily’s baby shower and they still had to pick up Bella from, what Ruby had started referring to as The Drop Off Site. She hastily threw on a sundress but she felt it was too short to wear on its own so she paired it with blue jeans. They both ran out and jumped into the car to pick up Bella from where Edward was dropping her off at the treaty line.
When they got there Edward looked upset and Bella was looking around her as if she half expected someone to jump out and grab her.
“Hey, Eddie. Sup’ Bella,” Ruby said smiling while Jacob nodded his head a fraction of an inch.
“Ruby.” Edward’s voice was tight and Ruby knew by their auras she would soon be hearing bad news. “Sorry to make you come all this way but Bella doesn’t feel comfortable going right now.”
“Something wrong?” Ruby asked.
“Yes. Bella and I had some company last night.” He looked at Bella but she was looking around, the same look of part paranoia, part anxiety on her face. “Vampires. Newborns by the looks of them.”
Jacob looked at Edward “Where are they now?”
“Dead. Emmett and I took care of it.”
“Ok, I may be naïve here but two separate newborn attacks involving Bella can’t be a coincidence,” Ruby said. “Then again this is Forks. This kind of thing probably happens two a day, like football practice.”
“It was not a coincidence,” he told Ruby before looking at Jacob. “We believe they were sent by Victoria.”
Jacob said “What?” at the same time Ruby said “Who’s that?”
Edward, who still liked Ruby far better than Jacob (despite their recent semi-tolerance of each other), answered her first. “She was James’ mate. He was the vampire that attacked Bella and gave her the scar on her hand.”
“Oh wow,” Ruby sighed. She knew Bella had gotten bitten by a vampire and Edward killed the guy and saved her by sucking it out but she didn’t know the whole entire story. “So this Vicky chick must be super pissed and looking for a little eye for an eye deal. So, this is why Bella is attracting newborns better than catnip for kitties.”
Jacob laughed and Edward smiled at her and said, “Yes, precisely. Jasper figured out that Victoria must be changing people into newborns and sending them after Bella. He has seen it before. She wants revenge for James.”
“What happened last night?” Jacob asked.
“When I climbed through Bella’s window after I dropped her off at her door, we found her room a mess. Someone ransacked it. I called Emmett and as we checked the woods around her house we found a small group of newborns. One of them, a blond male, held a shirt that smelled like it belonged to Bella. He ran the moment he saw us and the other three attacked.”
“Why would they take her shirt?” Ruby asked but immediately knew the answer. “Her scent? Oh my Gods. Are they trying to track her?”
“Does your psychic know how many of them there are?”
“Her name is Alice or Allie in my case.” She smiled at Jacob, silently telling him to be nice.
“Originally there was twenty-eight but she just checked before and now they’re down to twenty-five.” Edward heard a bit of Ruby’s unspoken question and answered her before she asked. “Newborns tend to be violent and they fight amongst themselves.”
“Eww.” Ruby shook her head in disgust.
“When do you want to coordinate?” Jacob asked folding his arms as if daring Edward to refuse.
“Wait, what?” Bella interrupted, speaking for the first time. “What do you mean by that?”
“We’re werewolves. We exist just for this purpose.” Jacob stated as if it was obvious.
“You can’t do this. Neither of you. I don’t want anyone getting hurt or worse.” She looked between Jacob and Edward.
“Bella, honey, do not worry about us,” he glanced at Jacob, “We can take care of ourselves.” She still didn’t look like she was okay, she kept biting her lip nervously, but she kept silent.
“When do you want to coordinate?” Jacob repeated.
“When is a good time for you?”
“Anytime.”
“Anytime after Emmy’s baby shower, we shouldn’t ruin her party,” Ruby said and Bella nodded in agreement. “We are going to be late for if we don’t leave soon.”
“Ok. Tonight about two o’clock?”
Jacob nodded. “That should be okay with Sam. Where?”
“Ten miles north of Hoh Forest ranger station. Follow the smell.” Edward smirked and Jacob scrunched up his face in disgust.
“Smell?” Ruby asked tired that she was constantly lost in this conversation.
“Yeah, we smell horrid to each other.” Jacob answered.
“Then it must be a vamp–wolf thing because you both smell fine to this witch.” They all smiled and Bella gave Ruby the gift she bought for Emily as they parted ways, promising to meet later.
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Emily greeted them at the door and even though she had a month to go, she looked ready to pop and her stomach was noticeably lower. Ruby knew that meant she was close to having her baby. As discussed on the car ride to the Uley house, Ruby took Emily, Claire and Kim to the kitchen and just so the girls wouldn’t get suspicious Collin and Brady came also. Ruby knew that in the next room Jacob was filling the pack in on the newborn situation.
When the guys came back, Ruby was proud by their acting abilities, besides a change in their auras there was no visible sign of their anger and stress.
They played stupid yet funny games involving toilet paper and small jars of baby food, ate frosting rich cake and watched as Emily opened gift after gift. It was a beautiful day out and Claire wanted to go out and play, so Ruby, Emily, Kim, Leah and Seth took her to the backyard. Emily sat in a lawn chair, her hands rubbing her belly every so often as she watched Kim chase Claire through the yard and surrounding woods. Ruby sat on the back steps flanked by Seth and Leah.
“So are you going tonight?” Seth asked Ruby quietly so Emily wouldn’t hear. Sam had planned on telling her later, after her party was over.
“What?” Ruby could have sworn she smelled it, but it was so fast she couldn’t be sure. “Oh, I didn’t really think about it.” In actuality, she had thought about it non-stop since Jacob and Edward agreed on a meeting. She wanted to go and if it came down to a fight, she wanted to fight. Bella was her friend too. She was stronger now that she was training with Margaret, more focused, more powerful.
“You should go.” Leah nudged Ruby with her shoulder. “Us strong girls have to stick together.” Ruby would have been shocked that Leah actually complimented her and referred to them as equals but she didn’t respond. She was staring off into the distance, searching. She definitely smelled it that time. Sulfur and just a hint of copper.
“Guys, something is wrong. Something bad is coming.” Seth and Leah stood up and looked around, just then Claire screamed. Ruby blinked and turned to look at Kim holding Claire. Kim was walking backwards away from the tree line of the woods. Seth and Leah started to shake. Ruby knew in an instant that newborns were there and a second after she thought that, four pale and scarlet eyed vampires stepped out of the woods.
They were snarling and hissing. Their bodies vibrating and their sights set on young Claire as if the thought of drinking her five year old blood thrilled them to their bones. They seemed to be deciding if they should deal with the other women first and take their time on the girl or do it the other way around.
All of a sudden, several things happened at once. Kim tripped on a rock and fell backwards; Claire slipped out of her grasp, screamed out in pain and then went eerily silent; Seth and Leah jumped off the steps, phasing into wolves by the time they hit the ground; and the vampires lunged forward in a frenzy, their sights on Claire.
Ruby jumped up and ran to place herself in front of Emily instinctively, at the same time she made a quick swiping movement with her hands, using her power to pull Claire and Kim back across the yard towards the safety of the house before the newborns could touch them.
“Jacob. Sammy.” Ruby screamed urgently as she pushed with her hands causing the vampires to be thrown back into the woods were Leah and Seth caught up with them. Emily stood behind Ruby, her hands instinctively going to cradle her belly. Both women looked up when the back door was shoved open. Jacob and Sam exited the house no longer resembling the sweet laughing guys she knew but more like the animals that were trying to break free.
“What happened?” Sam demanded right before a growl and the loud screech of metal being ripped sounded through the woods.
“Newborns. Three. The woods. Leah and Seth.” Ruby gasped not taking the time to form sentences. She brought one hand up to her heart and she could feel it working overtime, beating so fast and hard from the sudden excitement.
“Embry, Paul, Collin, Brady, help Leah and Seth.” Ruby watched Sam give his orders from the top step and soon four massive forms were rushing to the woods.
“I moved the girls away. I think- I think they wanted to drink from Claire. Oh Gods.” She looked over to where Claire was as if she needed proof that she was okay but the girl was still. “Claire,” she screamed at the same time Quil came bounding out. He jumped over the handrail to get to Claire faster and let out a whimper when he saw her beautiful brunette locks saturated with blood. He lifted her gently, cradling her small body.
Ruby ran as fast as her feet could take her, dropping to her knees and skidding the last foot to get to her injured friend. Her hand went to the girl’s neck to get a pulse. She sighed in relief when she felt it, albeit very weakly.
“Put her down. Lay her flat.” Ruby demanded, her words rushing out and Quil, somehow knowing what she wanted to do, did as she asked. Ruby had only used her healing a few times since she got the gift from her mother but they were small wounds that her grandmother let her hone her power on; a long cut on her palm from slicing open a bagel, a paper cut from opening an envelope and a burn on her wrist when she touched the hot oven rack. Ruby did not enjoy using it neither time. She knew her mother had to be very strong to overcome the side effect. “Jacob, come stand behind me.” He was behind her in almost the blink of an eye, and Sam moved to be with Emily.
Ruby took a deep breath and wrapped one hand around Claire’s limp hand and used her other hand to gently place on the wound. Then she closed her eyes. Those who were standing near felt the change in temperature. Though the sun was shining brightly, the air was slowly getting colder and colder, until they were able to see every breath they took. The sudden coldness allowed them to see Ruby’s shallow and erratic breathing. Then suddenly her body became ridged, her harsh wheezing stopped and her eyes flew open. They felt the temperature suddenly return to normal as Ruby’s eyes rolled back and her head lolled back as she passed out, falling back onto Jacob.
Everyone was silent and frozen with shock.
Jacob shook her with no response. He tentatively reached out with his pointer and middle finger, placing them on the side of her neck. He damn near passed out with relief when he felt her pulse.
“Is she…,” Emily trailed off, not wanting to say it.
“She’s alive.” Jacob whispered. He knew she was alive, he felt her pulse and felt her breathing, but he was still worried. She looked to be sleeping but she was unresponsive.
Then there was a small groan from Claire. Quil cried out in relief as he rushed forward and checked on Claire. Besides her hair matted with blood, there was nothing wrong with her. Her wound was healed.
Jacob lifted Ruby into his arms, she was limp and her arms and head lolled back making him more nervous than he was. He carried her inside the house and placing her gingerly on the sofa. As he placed a pillow under her head, Emily came forward with a wet rag and she draped it over her friend’s forehead.
“Is she alright?” Sam asked looking over Jacob’s shoulder.
“I don’t know.” Jacob sat on the floor, his hand grasping hers as he waited for her to wake up. After a few moments, he watched as Quil walked in with Claire, followed by Kim and the rest of the pack. Emily quickly took Claire to take a bath and wash her hair. When they came back out, Claire walked to the loveseat adjacent to the sofa and sat on her knees, her body draped over the armrest as she looked down at Ruby’s sleeping face.
The first thing Ruby saw when she opened her eyes was Claire’s big beaming smile and she felt herself relax knowing the girl was alright.
“Hiya,” Claire whispered before happily shouting, “She wakeded up.”
Jacob turned quickly and smiled at her. Beyond him she saw Sam, Emily, Quil and Embry and further behind them was the rest of the pack all looking relieved. She was instantly hot with embarrassment and touched that there was a fuss made over her.
“Hey. How do you feel?” Jacob asked gently, moving a lock of hair away from her face.
“Thirsty,” she croaked. Kim, who was nearest to the kitchen, ran to the sink and got her a glass of water. As she made her way to the sofa, she saw Ruby, aided by Jacob, pushing herself up to a sitting position. Ruby thanked her for the water and Jacob helped her hold her glass.
Ruby turned to him, smiled weakily and uttered throatily, “Mother Hen.” He rolled his eyed and smirked as she drank half the glass in one sip.
“Better?”
She nodded. “How long was I out?”
“About a half hour.” He was expecting her to be upset, when she wasn’t he continued. “What happened? What was that?”
“When I use my healing, it takes a lot out of me and I usually pass out.” Then she said to herself, “I knew I was getting better,” but, of course, he heard.
“What do you mean?”
Ruby sighed before answering. “After that day – in the park – my grandma has been training me. She’s been helping me reach the full potential of my powers. It’s going slow but it must be working because I’m usually out cold anywhere from a couple of hours to half a day after I heal someone. I’m learning to heal myself, that’s why I was only out for thirty minutes.”
“Wait, why do you need to heal yourself? Does that mean that when you heal someone, that it hurts you?” Jacob was looking at her waiting for an answer.
“Yes and no,” she spoke quietly. “I take their injury away, I take their pain away and in that moment I feel what they are feeling. That’s why I pass out, because I need to heal from the sudden split second of intense pain. Sort of like when you phase. Once I know how to heal myself completely, I won’t pass out anymore. I’ll have it under control like my mom did.”
“But you’ll still have the pain. You won’t pass out but will you still feel the pain?”
“I don’t know. My grandmother said that my mom told her many years ago that it didn’t hurt her but my grandmother thinks she was lying to spare her the thought of her daughter in pain. I can’t be sure.”
Jacob looked upset for a quick second but took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Are you feeling better?” She nodded slowly. “Can you stand or do you need to be carried?” His tone was intense, like he was barely able to control his emotions.
Ruby furrowed her brow in confusion and bit her lip. Was Jacob upset with her? Why? She carefully put her feet on the floor and stood up. When she swayed and almost fell back on the sofa Jacob came forward to pick her up. “No,” she stated firmly, pushing his hand away. Her ego too wounded and confused to allow her to accept his help. “I got it. I’m fine.”
Jacob sighed. He knew he upset her, hurt her with his clipped tone, but for some reason he couldn’t control his emotions when it came to her. He walked behind her just in case she needed him. He waited while she was hugged, thanked and told to get some rest. She tried to smile at them but Jacob could see the sadness in her eyes and he hated himself for it.
They said their goodbyes and walked out the door. She was still unsteady on her feet and as she reached the stairs she got lightheaded. She brought her hands to her head as teetered on the top step. In an instant her world was turned on its side but instead of falling, she was being lifted up.
“You sure you got it? You sure you’re fine?” Jacob smirked as he shifted her into a more comfortable position in his arms. She turned away and couldn’t help but smile. His smile was like kryptonite to her; for every degree his lips turned up at the corner, her resolve became one degree weaker.
He carried her down the steps as Embry and the other wolves came out of the forest. Ruby could see a thin stream of purple smoke rising above the treetops in the distance.
“Is she ok? What happened?” Embry asked concerned.
“She’s alright. They’ll fill you in inside. You get them?”
“Yeah. We got them.”
“Good. I’ll see you tonight. We’re going home.”
They were silent the whole way over to his house. They never fought before (she felt that time with the vampires was just her being overwhelmed, it wasn’t a fight) and she feared that they may make up for it today because after he said whatever was upsetting him, she was going to tell him that she was going to the meeting.
Ruby knew he was upset but she couldn’t help be somewhat confused as to why. His aura kept jumping colors. One second it was a muddy red, then a clear bright red, then a pink, a bright yellow, a dark green. It just wouldn’t lock on to one color. He was obviously conflicted… but conflicted over what? It was driving her crazy.
They got to his house and he carried her up the short steps. Jacob managed to open the door without dropping her and took one step into his house. He placed her on her feet and kept his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
“You want to tell me what’s up with you?” Ruby asked, directing her question to his knees rather than look him in the eyes.
“What makes you think something is up?”
“Jacob, I’m a witch, remember? I can see your aura. One second you’re upset, the next worried, then proud, then other things.”
Jacob sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m going to have to get used to you knowing what I feel before even I do.” He gave her a weak smile. He sighed again and decided to be completely honest with her. “I didn’t know it hurt you.”
It took her a second to figure out what he was referring to and when she did she finally looked up at him. “Oh, that’s what this is about?”
“Yeah. I don’t want you to do it anymore.”
“What? Heal people?” She tilted her head to look at him. “Fine,” she stated calmly, “As long as you walk away from your pack and never become a wolf again.” He was shocked into silence for a split second then opened his mouth to say something. She cut him off. “Because what you’re asking of me is to give up who I am, who I am proud to be. Don’t ask that. I would never ask that of you. Ever.” She didn’t raise her voice or sound angry or even give him a dirty look, in fact her voice was calm but Jacob still winced as if she had slapped him and hung his head in shame.
He took a step closer to her, invading her personal space. She didn’t mind. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. I hate that you hurt. You scared me earlier when you passed out. The way you slumped onto me like that… for a split second I thought you were… I thought I lost…” He couldn’t say it.
“Jacob. Jacob, look at me.” She waited for him to look at her before she spoke again. “I’m sorry I scared you, I never wanted that, but to tell you the truth I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Claire was hurt, very hurt, and I had the ability to save her. I’m not the type of girl to sit back and let someone get hurt, to let someone do bad things, if I can help it. That’s not who my parents were and that’s not who they raised. I have all these powers that can help and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Help.”
“I know. I just-”
“I’m not done.” She pushed away from him and used the door behind her as support, because she was still weak on her feet. “I need to know you won’t do that again, won’t ask me to not be who I am. I’m a witch. I’m proud of it and I take it seriously. This is something I will never budge on and I can’t be with someone who can’t take me as I am.”
Jacob was left speechless. He saw her glance towards the garage and he knew she was looking at her car. He was just worried about her, he didn’t want all this to happen.
“No, no. I’m sorry. I overreacted.” He walked closer to her and hugged her. Placing his face in the curve of her neck, his lips near her throat, he whispered, “I love you for who you are. I just don’t want to lose you. Ever.”
“You won’t. You are stuck with me, for a very long time.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed him. “Let’s go.” She jerked her head towards the kitchen. “I want to eat something and get a nap before we go to that meeting tonight.” She turned to walk towards the kitchen and Jacob placed a hand on her waist to steady her.
“We?” he said as he guided her.
“Yeah. We. You have a problem with that?” She gave a smile that said I dare you to say you do.
“No. No problem. I learned my lesson.” He joked. He sat her down on a kitchen chair and began rummaging through the refrigerator for leftovers to heat up for her to eat. He found leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes and heated up two plates. He placed a plate in front of Ruby and sat down next to her to eat. Once they were finished Ruby attempted to get up to wash the dishes. “No. I got it. You rest.”
“Thanks.”
He rinsed and dried the dishes quickly. After he put them back in the cupboard he turned to see Ruby resting her head on the table.
“Hey, are you ok?”
She lifted her off the table and smiled reassuringly at him. “Yeah. Just worn out. Healing Claire took a lot out of me.” He walked over to her and picked her up again.
“You made me promise to be extra careful a while ago,” he said as he carried her to his room. “I want you to promise me the same thing.”
“I promise Jacob. I’ll be careful.”
“I know you can look out for yourself, you’re the strongest women I know, but I can still worry about you, can’t I?”
“Don’t ever stop.” He gave her a squeeze and kissed the top of her head. She didn’t think it was possible, but she fell more in love with him.
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A/N: I know 'Wakeded' is not a word. I had Claire use the non-word because she is a child and kids often speak like this until they get older enough to learn and remember that you don't add '-ed' after every word, lol.
