Twilight Midnight Sun - Book 2

Chapter 13

I stood, frozen in time, in the kitchen clutching the last words from my mother, father and Jake in hands. It didn't make sense but at the same time it was perfectly clear to me that this was it. Alice must have seen that the family was going to die but wanted to make sure that I had a chance. But a chance at what, a miserable excuse for a life? A cold drop landed on my hand and I looked down to see a remnant from a tear drop. Reaching my hand up I brought it across my eyes only to find that it came in contact with tears. I was crying.

"This all makes sense now." Ethan said as he took a seat on the counter.

I sniffled and then looked up at him.

"What makes sense?" I asked him.

He was silent for a few seconds and I knew from his expression that he was trying to decide whether or not he wanted to dissect his mental clarity to me. Then he spoke.

"When I first arrived at the house, there in the dining room, I brushed up against Alice and caught wind of a vision she was having." He paused and I nodded my head for him to continue. "I saw piles of bodies everywhere. The faces were many... every face I saw at the house I saw dead, except you, Gracie, Rhiannon and myself."

So he knew this. He had saw this through Alice. That's how they knew I'd be okay because my face wasn't in the vision. But then if Alice had seen it she had to have been alive to see it herself.

"Alice." I whispered out loud. "Were my mother and fathers faces in the vision?" I asked desperately.

Ethan closed his eyes as if he was trying to think. After a few seconds they opened. His expression didn't seem to be that of relief but of sheer disappointment. He nodded his head. I took several steps, closing the distance between us and grabbed his hand roughly.

"Think hard. Were they there?"

He gently pulled his hand from my grip.

"Yes." He said.

My look was fierce.

"But you could be mistaken. Maybe you imagined it because of what was said in the letter. They could still be alive. Your memory of the vision could be wrong."

Ethan's expression changed to one that you would see on a human who had just been insulted.

"My memory of the vision is pristine and untainted. I saw their faces just as I confided before to you." He explained.

"But-"

"Vampires have perfect memories, so perfect that we retain memories from decades to centuries ago, memories that have been permanently burned into our mind. Even those that we want to forget." He tapped his temple, but instead of a smile etched across his lips there was a frown. "I'm sorry Nessie but your parents are dead."

I brought my hand down angrily across his right cheek but he didn't even flinch.

"Don't SAY that." I screamed. "Don't you dare say that to me, my parents aren't dead. They aren't dead." I said as tears streamed freely down my face. Even though my hand was aching from the assault I did on him I didn't care. "It's me the Volturi want. I can save them by just giving myself up." Turning on my heel I strode from the room.

As I left the house I could hear both Rhiannon and Ethan on my tail. Before they could touch me I turned around quickly and faced them.

"I am not a child anymore so you can't force my hand." I said through clenched teeth as Ethan grabbed my wrists to hold me in place. I didn't even bother struggling because I knew it was futile. "Look at me. Take a long hard look. I'm not the little girl my parents told you to protect with your life three days ago, I'm an adult." I dropped my gaze from Ethan's golden eyes to his hands which were secured around my wrists in an unbreakable grip. "Let me go. Now."

After a few seconds I thought that my grand-speech was useless and I was going to be stuck here. Then he released my wrists and took a large step back.

"Go." He murmured.

I didn't have to be told twice. Turning my back on them I headed to the water only to be stopped. I had no way to get home. That's it. My only chance at possibly saving my family was ripped right out from underneath me because I was a half-mortal. I could easily swim all the way there if it wasn't for my need to rest, eat and breathe.

"Why are you still here?" Ethan asked me.

I slumped forward, my back slouching so my face was pointed towards the ground.

"I can't do it. I have no way there."

"If I live through this your parents will be so angry with me." Ethan muttered as he moved to stand before me. I looked up at his outstretched hand before I took it. Then I was pulled to my feet. "I can take you. It's a long journey but I'm a vampire I don't need to sleep."

"What are you proposing?"

"It is about a straight 40 hour journey - 8000 miles total I can safely guess. 7000 of them are nautical so you may get a bit wet along the way. You can handle it though, my sister did and she is human. I mean, if you are up for the journey." He finished.

"If you can get me to my family I will let you take me."

Ethan turned to look at Rhiannon.

"My sister wants to try her hand at life. Make sure she gets safely to where she wants to go that's all I ask." Then he lifted me effortlessly into his arms. And then we were off.

I watched the water underneath us as we traveled across it. His feet seemed to barely graze the water with each step. It was more flying then anything and was beyond fascinating. We were moving so fast my hybrid eyes had a hard time adjusting.

Night had begun to fall as we seemed to be passing the small peninsula between Mexico and South America. For a moment I thought we might run the land but that thought was pushed behind me as we continued across the Pacific Ocean. Now I fully understood why he said most of the miles were nautical. We were taking the ocean route.

As we came up past Mexico and into the oceans belonging to the America's a gust began blowing around us. Then came the rain when we got up near the northern parts of California. Soon enough the temperature dropped significantly when we began making our way through the north near Oregon. I was almost home.

"How long until we get there?" I shouted as loud as possible against the winds.

"We are just about to be in Washington waters so 2 maybe 3 hours." Ethan responded.

"How long have we been traveling?" I asked him.

"37." Was all he said.

37 hours. I should be sleeping by now. This was the first time I had stayed awake for more than 12 hours at a time. Then again I was walking into the clutches of the Volturi to save my family I wouldn't be surprised if I never slept again.

Too soon our journey over the water ended and we were on land. Alaskan land. We were close and my body knew it. My senses grew stronger as they anticipated the situation it was going into. Then we stopped and Ethan set me to my feet.

"I know where we are at." I said as I took a step forward into the woods and sniffed the air.

We were in the forests that kept my families home hidden from human dwellers. Only the feeling was different. It felt more sinister as if evil was lurking around every corner waiting to grab at the unfortunate.

"Come on." I whispered as I started running in the direction that I knew led to my home.

I pushed myself as hard as I could go. I didn't know how long it took me but after what felt like forever I burst into the clearing that was my home. I stopped. Not because I wanted to but because I was in shock. My home was in ruins.

The house was gone, it lay in a crumpled heap on the foundation it was build on. A large fissure ran right through the middle as if an earthquake had happened. Trees here and there lay in splinters. Debris accompanied it. Here and there were smoking piles that I knew contained limbs of the broken vampires that had lost their fight. Who the victims were I didn't know and wasn't sure I wanted to know.

Off near the lake the fight continued as several vampires and wolves continued the dance of death. One wrong move, one wrong step and they were dead.

Then I saw him. The russet fur was a calling card. That was my Jake. Smiling widely with tears of happiness streaming down my cheeks I ran forward, forgetting about the danger around me.

"JAKE!" I shouted as I entered the hot zone.

The wolf froze and turned its large snout in my direction. Then a vampire dressed in black cloaks got its arms around him and there was a whimper before Jake slumped to the ground. A high pitched scream rang out from deep inside me as my knees buckled under me. It took so much strength for me to rise again but I did. I ran the length to him and dropped to my knees before taking his hand into mine.

"Renesmee what are you doing here?" He gasped weakly.

"I couldn't let you all die for me." I cried.

"Your mother and father, if they saw you right now-" He began before I cut him off.

"Are my parents still alive?

Jake nodded his head. A small but definite smile found its way onto my face. Somehow Jake found the strength to lift his hand to my cheek. Slowly his thumb brushed across my lips sending a chill through my body. His dark brown eyes held firmly to mine before another yelp that belonged to a wolf was heard.

"You need to get out of here." He whispered. I shook my head. "Go." That was the last word he spoke.

Then what little life was in him faded away and his hand fell to the ground with a thud. Jake was gone. My Jacob was gone. After a few seconds of mourning I knew what I had to do. I needed to make sure my parents were alive and then I had to put a stop to this all. I needed to give myself up.