Hells Angel

Avery was running. This time not to relieve stress, but for her life. Something was following her, toying with her, mocking her. The laughter was floating through the trees, maniacal and high-pitched. Leaves were crunching on the ground behind her and she could hear the heavy footsteps, taunting her. She tripped over a rock but an hand grabbed her before she could fall. She turned around, meeting blood red eyes and a horrible smile, and—

“What are you doing, Frank?”

Frank turned around upon hearing his master's voice, arms dropping to his side. He looked down, feeling like a child caught stealing a cookie after his mother said no, and buried his hands in the pocket of his coat. “Nothing, my lady.”

The woman smiled, light flickering in her green eyes. She pushed a strand of red hair out of her face, crossing her arms. “Nothing, Frank? Were you toying with the mortals mind again?”

Frank faltered, a smile slipping through. “I'm only doing what was asked, my lady.”

“The vampire did not ask us to toy with her mind. Only to possess her so that she could attack the mortal and keep up her story that she's the victim,” the woman said, walking slowly over to Frank, her leather heels clicking against the stone floor. Frank fell to his knees instantly, instinctively, and she ran her fingers over his shoulder blades, along his back. “What was she dreaming?”

“The attack. She was reliving it,” he told her.

She smiled. “Good work, Frank.”

He looked up at her, daring to meet her eyes. “Really?”

She nodded.

“Thank you, my lady.”

+

“I don't understand any of this, Sam,” Jacob said, leaning against the counter in his kitchen.

“I can't explain it, Jacob. None of us have any idea what's going on,” Sam told him.

“She's my imprint. I should have known the second something was wrong and I should have been there! I didn't even know. I didn't even know she was in danger,” he explained, looking over at his friend. “Why didn't I know?”

“Something is going on and none of us know what it is,” Sam said.

“If something was blocking our path, that's more than what Vampires can do, Sam. It's bigger than that. None of the Cullens would do that, there have been no signs of others,” he said, shaking his head.

Sam nodded, slowly. “It's bigger than that.”

“It's bigger than us.”

“Yeah.”

“But what is it? And why? Everything was going perfect. We were at peace with the Cullens,” Jacob said.

“Things started going sour after Avery showed up.”

Jacob's head snapped up and he stared at Sam. “What are you implying?”

Sam sighed. “Nothing. I'm not blaming her for any of it. It's just a coincidence. I think it has something to do with her but I don't think it's her fault.”

“Of course you don't,” Jacob said, sarcastic.

“Now is not the time to fight, Jacob,” Sam told him. “The last thing we need is distrust between the pack.”

“I know.” Jacob nodded. “But with Avery lying on that couch, not remembering anything, I'm scared. I haven't been scared in years, not since Nessie.”

Sam walked over to his friend, patting him on the shoulder. “All we can do is try to piece everything together and find out what happened.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you're right. We need to regroup and—“ Jacob stopped when he heard Avery's scream. He ran into the living room without a second thought, falling to his knees in front of the couch.

Avery was sitting up straight, eyes damp, her breathing heavy. She reached for Jacob's hand, clenching his fingers. “I saw it. I saw it happen again. Red eyes, dark hair. It was a woman. In my dream it was a woman. But it didn't feel like a dream,” she told him.

“A dream?” he asked.

“I was reliving it. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't,” she whispered, shaking her head. “No. No, no, no.”

“No?”

“No, no, no, no, no,” she said, tears falling down her cheeks. “It can't be. No. That's not right.”

“What's not right, Avery?”

She looked up at him, still crying, and she shook her head.

“Who was it in your dream?” he asked gently, not wanting to push her as he had earlier.

She shook her head. “It was Bella.”

“Bella? You're certain?” Jacob asked. Part of him didn't believe her—or, well, didn't want to. But the other knew, without doubt, that Avery wasn't lying to him.

She nodded, falling against his chest and sobbing. “Every time I close my eyes, I see those eyes, Jacob,” she gasped out, between sobs.

He ran his hands over her back, looking up at Sam as she cried. Sam shook his head and removed himself from the room, leaving the two of them alone.

“I'm so sorry, Jacob,” she told him, whispering. “I know this hurts you and I know you don't want to believe she could do this but that's what I saw.”

“Don't,” Jacob said softly. “Don't you dare apologize for this. This isn't your fault.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist, practically crawling onto his lip. “I just keep seeing it.”

He sighed, burying his hands in her hair, holding her tightly. “I wish I could make it all go away.”

+

“Where were you, Bella?”

Bella rolled her eyes, turning around to face Edward. He was leaning in the doorway of the hotel bathroom, arms crossed. “I was out, Edward.”

“Out with Jacob?”

“No,” she said, running a hand through her hair.

“You ate.”

She sighed. “Yes. I was hungry. I needed to.”

Edward shook his head. “You swore.”

“I promised. There's a difference,” she told him. “Your little vegetarian diet is a good thing and all, but sometimes I slip. Sometimes human blood is just that much better.”

“Who was it?”

She smiled to herself. “No one you know. Don't worry.”

+

It was a couple hours later when Jacob finally removed himself from Avery's embrace, slowly as not to disturb her. She curled up against the pillow at his loss as he covered her with a blanket, kissing her forehead. He sat back and watched her for a minute. Her cheeks were stained with tears, eyes puffy—her breathing was still uneven.

“Jacob.”

He looked up to see Sam in the doorway, who nodded towards the back door. “One minute,” Jacob said, hesitant, and he leaned down to kiss Avery's forehead again. He walked slowly out of the back door, the rest of the pack sitting on the porch. He sat down to complete the circle, dropping his head into his hands.

“Sam filled us in,” Embry said. “Bella did this?”

“Apparently,” Jacob said quietly. It was still hard for him to comprehend.

“Why?” Embry asked. “That's what I don't understand. Avery never did anything to her.”

“I know.” Jacob nodded.

“I thought we were at peace,” Quil said. “We've both been abiding by the Treaty until now. What's changed?”

“I know what changed,” Jacob whispered.

Sam sighed. “It wasn't your fault, Jacob.”

“But Bella still blames me for it,” he said.

“You didn't do anything wrong. Things happen. It was unfortunate. It's been years—I doubt she's still holding on to all of it,” Sam told him.

“Holding onto what? Are we talking about what I think we're talking about?” Quil asked.

Jacob nodded.

“That's asinine! She forgave you! She said that explicitly, in front of all of us! What a lying bitch!” Quil exclaimed.

“It is my fault,” Jacob said.

“No. No, it's not,” Sam repeated.

“It is. It's my fault Nessie's dead. And this is Bella's payback.”