Misguided Ghost

[This is how I picture eighteen year-old Bridget]
[Embry's Point of View]

“Embry!” Bri screamed again as I came rushing down the stairs. I found her shaking in the kitchen with Will pressed to her chest.
“Baby, what happened?” I asked and brushed my fingers over her cheek lightly. Will was hiccuping from crying.
She raised her trembling hand towards the open kitchen door. Her voice was shaking just as bad and it broke several times as she spoke.
“He- He took her. He took Lily.” She let out a sob.
“Who took her Bridget?” I asked and tried to get her to focus. I sniffed the room and froze.
“Chase.” She whispered just as I recognized the scent.

I was through the door and phased – no concern over my clothes – I caught his trail easily. I let out a loud howl as I bolted into the dark forest behind our house. I signaled for Collin and Brady to come because I needed all the help to kill that leech. It was my entire fault; I should have kept a closer watch, anyone could come and take the children, it wouldn’t have surprised me if those Volturies came as well.

I was quickly flanked by the two of them and they increased the speed when they read my mind and caught a whiff of the trail.
‘What are we going to do?’ Collin asked when we had followed in silence for awhile; he was leading us up north.
’Tear him to shreds.’ I said coldly and ran even faster. I almost out ran them because I was driven by my anger.

We didn’t run long before we started going in circles. Chase was playing a game with us. I stopped for a second and listened for any sounds in the thick bush. It felt like the air got knocked out of me when I heard the scared cry from my dearest Lily. It was farther south, the opposite direction Chase’s original trail had led us towards.

I didn’t manage to think one clear thought as my feet turned my body around and pushed me forwards faster than ever before. It only took five minutes before I saw Lily sitting on the wet ground crying. Her arm was bleeding and if I hadn’t already been in my wolf shape I would have phased because of the anger.

I had to focus very hard to calm myself enough to phase back. I picked Lily up carefully and pressed her against my warm chest and at the same time pressing my hand around her little thin arm to stop the bleeding. Collin and Brady stood behind me and panted heavily. I walked over to Brady and untied the sweatpants he had on his leg. I ripped a piece of the leg and tied it tightly around Lily’s arm before I pulled the remain of the pants on to cover myself.

“Patrol the area; see if you find the damn leech. I’ll join you as soon as Lily is in safety. Howl if you find anything,” I said to them and started to walk away, but Collin stopped me with scrapping his paw on the ground. I looked at the mossy ground and saw a sheet off white paper lying where Lily had sat. The words made me want to throw up.

Funny isn’t it?

I didn’t have to guess twice to know who had written it. I crumbled the paper before I ran away and tried at the same to sooth Lily’s soft sobs. It took longer running back home because I was in my human form, but I ran faster when I started to wonder if this had just been a trap and he had gone back for Bridget.

My concerns was killed when I got back to the house and found Bridget shaking in the small space under the staircase with Will cradled in her arms.
“Bri…” I whispered and knelt in front of her. “I got her; Lily’s okay.”
She stared up at me with scared eyes before she looked over Lily’s little body; she had fallen asleep in my arms because of the exhaustion. Bri’s eyes widened when she spotted the bloodstained band around the petite arm.
“Did he – Did he bite her?” She asked in a voice dripping with distress.

“No!” I said and cupped her face with my free hand. “He must have cut her, that’s all. I can’t smell any venom on her.”
Bri sighed in relief before tears ran down her face. “I’m so sorry, Em, I shouldn’t have opened the door. It’s my entire fault.”
I pulled her and Will up from the floor and wrapped my arms around them, Lily included and kissed the top of Bridget’s head. “It’s not your fault, he’s a vampire, he would have broken the door down if you hadn’t opened.”

She nodded slowly.
“Let’s get the kids in bed, I have to go back and help Collin and Brady; we didn’t find Chase.”
Bri nodded again.

We put the children to bed in silence and Bridget slumped down in the old rocking chair in the nursery when they had fallen asleep.
“I won’t be long, but are you sure you don’t want me to call someone to be with you?”
“I’m okay, just hurry up and come back,” She smiled weakly at me, but I could see the distance in her eyes – it had been gone for long time, but I recognized it the second I saw it.

She was planning something. Something she wouldn’t tell me and something I didn’t like.
“Of course,” I said and bent down so I could press my lips against hers. “I’ll be back before you even know it Bee.”

^^^

We found no trace off the bloodsucker – he was probably halfway back to South-America by now so I went back to Bridget after only two hours. She had fallen asleep in the rocking chair, snoring lightly. I checked on Will and Lily before I lifted Bridget’s light body up in my arms and carried her to our bedroom.

She opened her eyes and stared up at me as I placed her on the bed and started removing her clothes. “I love you, Embry Call,” She said and sat up so she could wrap her arms around my neck.
“I love you, always,” I responded. Just that little sentence held so much meaning for the two of us.

I kissed her wet cheeks as I removed the rest of her clothing and Bridget held herself close to my body. It scared me, the way she cried and at the same time lusted for me. But it wasn’t only lust; it was just as much a desperate need for me. I needed her as well.

I realized in that moment that I wouldn’t be able to spend an eternity with the girl I loved so dearly, I realized our time was even more limited than I feared.