Russet Noon Chapter 5: The Talisman

My heart was bursting with excitement and anticipation.  I couldn’t wait to embark on a quest for the talisman, as I knew it would ultimately lead me to Nessie.  For the first time in several days, I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I’d found the Achilles’ tendon of the hybrid.

Once I held that talisman in my possession, the hybrid would be forced to tell me where I could find Nessie.

Only one possibility kept haunting me now.  The possibility that time might be running out.  And, if I didn’t hurry, it would be too late.  I refused to believe what the hybrid had said about my Nessie.  That she’d summoned the hybrid out of her own free will, so that she might change her into a full vampire.

Just the mere thought of this happening made every hair on my body stand on end.  It hung around my neck like an albatross, weighing me down with horrible visions of Nessie drinking human blood, her eyes crimson red, and her lips dripping wet with the evidence of her crime.

Sam and the rest of the pack would never tolerate it.  If Nessie were to change into a full-fledged bloodsucker with an appetite for human blood, the ancient treaty between the Cullens and the Quileutes would be finished.

Especially now, with Edward’s fate so uncertain, the Cullens would be forced to extend their stay.  And if Nessie killed any humans in treaty lands, a war would be inevitable then.  I’d find myself in the middle of it.  Forced to choose sides.  Torn between defending the girl I loved and fulfilling my duty to protect my people.

Clearly, failure wasn’t an option for me.  The price for that would be too great, and I wasn’t willing to pay it.  That talisman had to be mine even if it meant going to the end of the world to find it.

I just had to make sure I did it all in time to stop Nessie from making the worst mistake of her existence.  I had to steal the talisman from the hybrid before she could change Nessie into a full vampire, and there was only one way to do it.

Grabbing a hold of Old Quil’s arm, I tried to help him up from the stoop, but he chuckled, shaking his head and waving his hand in a gesture of refusal.

“Let go, son,” he snickered benevolently, taking his time to get up on his own.  “I might be the most ancient among us, but I can still take care of myself.  Go on inside.”  He paused briefly as he steadied himself and looked around.  “The dawn is approaching.”

I didn’t like the way he’d lowered his voice as he spoke those last words.  They carried a distinct tone of apprehension that I sensed immediately.  I could tell by the way his eyes were watching the trees that there really was something out there, stalking us.  It wasn’t just me being paranoid.

“What is it, Old Quil?” I asked just to double-check.

Instead of answering my question, he let out a high-pitched whistle that I knew all too well.  Our wolf ancestors had taught it to us so we could communicate with the pack anytime we were in human form and couldn’t communicate telepathically.  Each of us could hear it from miles away, no matter how scattered we may be.  Our people used it only in times of trouble, and it was meant for gathering the pack.

“I’ll go get Sam,” I said, reaching for the doorknob.

Just then, the front door opened, and Bella came out with Sam following close behind her.  He was still wearing the blindfold, but seemed to have no trouble moving around, which meant he could see perfectly fine.

As the two of them stepped out to the porch, I took a peek inside the living room and noticed Dr. Cullen had taken Sam’s place in the circle.  Then, right before Sam closed the door again, I caught a glimpse of everyone’s faces inside.  They’d all heard Old Quil’s whistle alarm and were visibly upset by it, especially Seth and Leah.

I could tell they were dying to come outside, but, unless someone took their place in the circle, they were going to have to remain there to protect Alice.  The front door slammed shut, but I could still hear the commotion inside.  Their voices talked all together, and I could barely make out who was saying what, so my defense mechanisms kicked in, and I had to tune them out.

“Jake, we need to talk right now,” Bella demanded as her eyes darted towards the wolves already starting to gather round the house.

I hesitated.  “But, Bells, there’s something out there.  We have to go patrol the area.”

“Can this wait?” Sam asked, unable to hide his impatience.

“No, it can’t,” she snapped, then took my hand and pulled me close to whisper in my ear, “Did you forget about Edward?”

Sam had the same super-sensitive hearing as I did, so I knew he’d heard what Bella told me.  Still, he ignored it all the same and asked, “Jake, you coming or what?”

I shot Bella a quick glance, and the anguish in her face really got to me.  There was no way I could say no to her.  For an instant there, I realized just how deeply connected she and I were.  Literally, I found myself feeling her pain.  And yet, at the same time, I hated having to ditch the pack.  So I simply stood there, weighing my options for a second.

Then, as I was finally ready to say something, Old Quil beat me to it.  “I’m sure you boys can handle yourselves just fine without Jacob,” he told Sam.

That’s all it took as far as Sam was concerned.  Old Quil represented everything Sam strived to become someday.  Ever since I could remember, Old Quil had been Sam’s mentor, role model, idol.  You name it.  Sam had put him on a pedestal from the day he’d found out that all the legends about our wolf ancestors were actually true stories.

“No problem,” Sam muttered with a twinge of bitterness.  “We’ll take care of it.”  Avoiding our eyes, he bowed his head at Old Quil to excuse himself and then went to join the pack with the tail between his legs.

That was that at least for now.  I knew I’d hear about it later, especially knowing Paul had it in for me, too.  They were going to gang up on me eventually, but I couldn’t afford to worry about that at this point.  I figured I’d deal with it when the time came.

Bella squeezed Old Quil’s hand, forcing the saddest smile I’d ever seen in a long time.  “Thanks, Old Quil.  You’re very kind.”

Grinning with satisfaction, Old Quil replied, “We’re all in this together, child.”  Then, he went back into the house and left me alone with Bella on the porch.

“Here,” Bella said as she handed me the keys to the car she and Edward had rented in Port Angeles.

I gawked as soon as I saw the label on the keychain.  “Bentley GTC, huh?”  Exotic sports cars were my weakness, especially convertibles.  I could just picture myself driving over 200 miles an hour, outracing cops left and right, and going to the end of the world to find Nessie.

If only Bella had given me a chance to enjoy it for a bit longer than a second, though.  What she told me next almost made me puke all over the keys.  “We need to go find a fresh human corpse, Jake.”

I examined—more like scrutinized—her face, waiting for the punch line of what I could only hope was her idea of a joke.  But the punch line never came.

Bella was dead serious.  “We need fresh human blood for the transfusion.”

I scratched my head.  “But wait, why does it have to be human blood?  Can’t we just go find him a mountain lion somewhere?  A bear maybe?”

“Carlisle says it has to be human blood.”  She moved closer to me and deliberately inhaled my scent.  “Fresh human blood, Jake.”

I hadn’t realized just how thirsty she was for it herself.  While before, it was only a suspicion I had, now I knew for sure that this was the reason she hadn’t been hunting.  Animal blood just didn’t cut it for her.  Her vampire body demanded the real deal, and it seemed to me that her self-control was wearing thin.

“Okay,” I sighed with resignation.  “Human blood it is.”  I had to give into her even though I was in a mad rush to go find the talisman.  After all, what good would it do me to find Nessie if I was going to bring her home to a dead father?

“Good,” Bella began, and before I could so much as blink, she went on to brief me on the details of her plan.  “Rose will lead us to the place.  You just have to drop us off there, and we’ll call you when we’re ready to load the body into the trunk—”

“Whoa, whoa, wait, hold it, Bells, back up for a second.”

“We have no time to waste!  We have to go now!”  Her voice trembled.

“Where exactly is this place, anyway?” I had to ask.

Her body language betrayed her before she could even make an attempt to explain.  And, from the look in her eyes, I could tell she knew I wasn’t going to like her answer.  “That shouldn’t matter to you, Jake.  All I’m asking is that you take us there.  Rose already made arrangements, and they’re waiting for us.  We have to hurry.”

“Listen, I know you think I’m dumb and all, but I’m not that dumb, Bells.  I know what you guys are up to.”

She rolled her eyes like I was the stupidest person she knew.  “Oh, really?  And what is that?”

“You’re going to a black market dealer.  Very convenient, I know.  You pay them an outrageous price, and they do the dirty work for you.  That way you don’t have to kill anyone per se, but you’re still purchasing a freshly murdered victim.”

She scoffed at me.  “You’ve had a long night, Jake.  Go get some rest.  I’ll ask Emmett to drive us instead.”

“No!” I declared firmly, stomping my foot hard on the wooden floor.  “There has to be a better way that doesn’t involve killing humans.  Directly or indirectly, it is still murder, Bella!”

One single look at her face was enough to show me that my words had gone in one ear and come out the other.  Nothing I could say or do was going to get through to her.  I knew it just as well as she did, and yet here we were again, pointlessly arguing in circles and getting nowhere.

She held out her hand and demanded, “Give me back the keys.”

“I can’t let you do this, Bells, I’m sorry.” Not that I was going soft or anything, but somehow what I’d just said had come off as a sheepish plea.  “You’re my best friend,” I added, practically begging to avoid a confrontation that already seemed inevitable.

My refusal pissed her off so badly, though, that she started fuming like a furnace.  “Give them back, I said!” she insisted, her jaw clenched in a threatening gesture.

The idea of her even trying to intimidate me cracked me up inside, but I still managed to keep a straight face, as I knew that laughing would only push her over the edge.  My face stern, I shook my head no and hid the keys behind my back.  “Over my dead body.”

But Bella was in full attack mode by then, so she pulled her lips back over her teeth and snarled as she lunged at me.  I hadn’t seen her this angry since the day she’d tried to rip out my throat for nicknaming Renesmee after the Loch Ness monster.

“Hey, whoa, you’re gonna ruin your pretty dress,” I warned jokingly.

But she didn’t seem to care.  Before I knew it, she had fly-tackled me down the front steps, and we were both rolling on the ground, wrestling over the keys.  I knew she’d never hurt me, no matter how ferociously she tried to act.  So, as she pinned me down, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and suddenly burst out laughing.

Let’s just say she didn’t take this kindly.  Not in the very least.  Next thing I knew, I was seeing stars.  She’d slapped me hard across the face and would’ve punched me, too, if I hadn’t distracted her by flinging the keys far out into the bushes.

“Jake, you’re such an idiot!” she protested.

I took advantage of the second it took her to follow the keys with her eyes and pushed her off me.  Then, as I stood up, I felt a sharp sting in my arm.  I glanced down at the spot where the sting was coming from and realized what had caused it.  I’d just cut myself, and now my arm was bleeding.

I knew it would only take me a few minutes to heal, but, just to be sure, I quickly hid the wound away, hoping Bella might be too distracted to pick up on the scent of my blood.

No such luck.  As ravenous as she was right now, this was a scent she wouldn’t miss for the world.  Forgetting all about the keys, she turned towards me, her eyes boring into mine.  She gasped softly, almost longingly, and I took a step back, unable to peal my eyes off of hers.

“Stay back, Bella,” I cautioned her, all the muscles in my body tensing up.

“My venom can’t hurt you.  Not if I don’t bite, right?”  The raw yearning in her voice was impossible to ignore.

“I wouldn’t know that.”  My pulse quickened, making me feel way too vulnerable for comfort.  By now, I was breathing hard and feeling incredibly drawn to her.  Where the hell were all these sensations coming from?  My knees weak, I almost didn’t want to talk anymore, I was so ashamed.

“You know I’d never hurt you.”  The tone of confidence in her voice made it all too clear.  She was well aware of the effect her thirst was having on me, and it was only making things worse for both of us.

An enormous wave of guilt washed over me all of a sudden.  “Don’t come any closer,” I said halfheartedly.  Only this time I didn’t move.  One thing was what my words said, and a very different thing was what my body showed.  I felt an urgent impulse to make a break for it, just run without stopping or looking back and put as much distance between us as I could.

Instead, I stood there and watched her advance slowly in my direction.  It was pointless trying to hide it anymore.  How my chest rose and fell faster with every step she took towards me.  How I had to swallow hard, because my mouth was watering with anticipation.  It shocked me to realize that I wanted this to happen just as badly as she did.  Something inside me just wanted to reach out and grab her, to hold her and press her tightly up against me.

“Just relax, okay?” she whispered, her voice raspy with bloodlust.

“Bella.”  A moan caught in my throat as I muttered her name.

She pressed her ivory finger gently against my lips and said, “Shhhh.”

My heart beat a million miles a minute as she took my wounded arm in her hands.  Suddenly, all these flashbacks came rushing into my mind, collapsing the fortress I’d built around me over the years.

The night we’d spent in the tent, her body freezing and wrapped around the feverish heat of mine.  My face flushed red hot just remembering the fantasies I’d had about her that night.  I thought of the kiss she’d given me years ago, when she was still human, and we were alone up in the mountains.  How she’d told me that she loved me and meant every word of it.

She loved me still.  I knew that for sure, only it was a different kind of love now.

Or was it?

Had I been fooling myself all this time, thinking that imprinting on Nessie had erased everything I felt for Bella?

Time seemed to slow down as she lifted my bleeding arm towards her mouth.  Her lips hadn’t even touched my skin yet, and already I was feeling dizzy, intoxicated with the savage hunger I saw radiating from her eyes.  I wished I could lie down next to her like we’d done that night in the tent.

I thought about taking her home to my room for some privacy.  My house was just walking distance from Leah’s, so we could’ve gotten there in no time.  But in my desperate attempt to hold on to that moment, I ended up ruining it.

I should have acted faster.  I should have just grabbed her hand and taken her somewhere else; somewhere we could be alone and undisturbed.  But I guess some things are simply not meant to happen regardless of what you do.

Just as Bella’s lips parted over my wound, the door swung open, and Blondie swept out of the house, her lower lip quivering with rage.

“Oops, sorry!” she exclaimed sarcastically.  “Am I interrupting something?”

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

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CHAPTER 4 – INDEX OF CHAPTERS – CHAPTER 5 (Pt 2)

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