Only in the Moonlight Does This Feel Right

I awoke to heat.

Blankets were draped around me like a protective cocoon, muscular arms were wrapped around my upper torso, and I could feel warm breath slowly tickling the back of my neck.

I smiled and bit my lip in remembrance of last night.

It was amazing—much better than what people explained it to be. The fact that it was with Jacob, I guess it just made it that much better.

I sat up slowly and held the blankets close to my upper body. I yawned and then looked at my bag which contained my clean clothes and walked over to it quickly, leaving the blankets behind. I grabbed some clean clothes and walked steadily into the bathroom. As I closed the door, I saw Jacob smirking at me.

I blushed, but couldn’t help myself as I let a smile appear upon my lips. “Perv,” I mumbled and shut the door quickly after that, causing him to laugh loudly.

I locked the door and got the water running for a shower. Once it was the perfect temperature, I got in and cleaned my body from sweat and the dirty feeling that I felt on me at the moment. I lathered, rinsed, and repeated about three times, and soon got out within thirty minutes. I put my new clothes on and stepped out with a towel on my shoulders, my wet brown locks cascading down upon it neatly.

I walked out and saw Jake getting his clothes from last night. He walked up to me and then kissed me gently.

“Last night was amazing,” He whispered.

The simple way he said it sent shivers throughout my entire body. “Yea… it was,” I agreed. “I’m glad it happened.”

He grinned from ear to ear and kissed me once again. “I’ll be out in a few,” He said, and then disappeared into the bathroom to freshen up as well.

I got my things together, placing them into my bag and soon was packed up again. I shook my hair out, small droplets falling everywhere and I dried it with the towel. I threw the wet cloth into a pile of dirty linens and then began to comb my hair, getting the tangles out.

The bathroom door opened and Jacob walked out in his clothes, hair wet and body looking moist.

I smiled at him and he returned the gesture, walking over to me, wrapping his arms around my body and kissing me tenderly. I felt the familiar sense of glee overcome me as my heart raced with new motivation. I pulled away and then got my bag from the floor.

“C’mon,” I began. “Let’s go home.”

He grinned and then grabbed my small hand in his large, rough, and heated one, caressing it with his thumb gently. We checked out of the hotel and then walked towards the dock and got onto a ferry that would take us back to the mainland. Once off, I guided him to the parking structure where cars were parked and we both got into the Charger.

He sat in the driver’s seat while I sat shotgun. He twisted the key in the ignition and soon we were driving off back home.

Back to La Push…

-{}-

“Collin, Brady, get back here and give me back my phone!” I shouted and began to chase them around the living room and out the door, everyone inside the house laughing hysterically.

“Catch us first!” Brady yelled and began to run like hell around the outside of the house, catching my phone that Collin tossed.

Collin and Brady are the most annoying teenagers. Ever. Period. They were the newest additions to the pack, and were only 13 years old. The new recruits seemed to be getting younger and younger…

“Alright guys, give Jade her phone back,” Jake chuckled and they did as they were told, tossing my phone towards me.

I reached to grab it, but my hand was too late and it hit me right in the chest. “Ow!” I shouted and rubbed the now sore area, but soon retracted it when I realized it hurt to touch anywhere near my breasts.

“Jade, you okay?” Jacob asked with concern, the joking expression gone from his face.

“Yea, it just… hurt a bit, that’s all.” I said, shrugging the matter off, though the sore area refused to agree with me as it throbbed wildly. I picked up my phone from the ground and smiled at Jake. “I’m gonna take a nap, I’m really tired.” I sighed.

“Okay, dream of me,” Jacob joked and kissed my temple.

Brady and Collin made kissing sounds and puckered their lips at us.

Little snots.

“Brady, Collin, stop acting like immature brats for once in your damn lives!” I shouted and stomped up the porch.

“Damn, PMS much?” Collin taunted.

I turned to face them and flipped them off with a scowl. I headed up the stairs and into my own room. I went over to my bed, placed my phone on the nightstand and the saw the room shift to the right. I supported myself on the bed and the world spun again, making me fall onto the furniture.

“Jade what’s wrong?” Jake was by my side in an instant, pulling me into him. He put a hand onto my forehead. “You’re really warm, Jade,” He mused. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to get Emily.”

“Mhm…” I mumbled and felt him lay me down on the bed.

My eyes closed slowly as I heard his footsteps fade down the staircase. I heard more feet in synch with his as he came back up and saw Emily and him standing by the door, worried expressions with them.

She walked over and put a thermometer in my mouth and put her hand on my forehead. “My God Jade… you’re burning up…!” She said worriedly.

“How did she get this bad in minutes, Em? She was fine when she was outside.” Jacob grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed it tightly in a comforting manner.

“I don’t know, but… I’m sure part of this is due to the running around with Collin and Brady.” She said, taking the thermometer out of my mouth. “Or maybe not…” She sighed. “Jade your temperature is 102…” She looked to Jake. “I’ll go and get some medicine right now.”

Jake nodded and climbed into bed with me.

“Don’t. You’ll get sick too.” I murmured.

“Oh please, vampires can’t take me down. I don’t think a little cold is going to get the better of me.” He smiled. “Besides, I wouldn’t leave you for any reason.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Jake,” I buried my head into his chest as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I love you.”

“I love you with all I have.”

Emily came back up and gave me a few pills to take. I gulped them down with the glass of water and handed it back to Emily.

“Alright, that should make you knock out in a few minutes. Jake, out. I want her to sleep. The more she sleeps the better she’ll feel.”

“Alright, I’ll be out right now,” He grumbled, and Emily walked out with a nod. He pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head. “Get better, I don’t want you to stay in here all cooped up like this.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

He kissed me one last time and then walked out, flashing me a quick smile as he closed the door.

What could make me feel like this?

What could make me feel so crappy?

I looked at my desk and saw my Mac sitting on top of it. I stood up, grabbed it and sat back down on my bed, opening it up and turning it on. I logged onto the internet and went to Google.

What now…? I thought.

I then began to type away on the keyboard: “sore breasts, mood swings, high fever”, and pressed the return button.

I waited for a few seconds and then I was brought to a new page. The first link read “Pregnancy Symptoms. Early signs of pregnancy symptoms checklist.”

“Oh… my… God…” I whispered and covered my mouth in shock. I ran my fingers through my hair and held my face in my hands.

'Okay, Jade, no need to panic. There’s no reason to jump to conclusions. Maybe I am just sick and these are some… very unusual side effects of it. If I go through any more of these symptoms, I’ll go buy a test.'

I looked through the rest of the symptoms: missed period, “feeling” pregnant, breast tenderness, fatigue, frequent urination, nausea, dizziness or fainting, food cravings or aversions to food, sensitivity to aromas, morning sickness, heartburn or constipation, mood swings and irritability, higher body temperature, low back pain, implantation bleeding—otherwise known as spotting, and finally, bloating and weight gain.

Damn… I didn’t expect for there to be this many symptoms, but then again, pregnancy is a very big deal… obviously…

I felt my eyelids begin to droop and I yawned, the medicine starting to take it’s toll on my body. I exited out of the window, turned the device off, and placed it onto the floor beside my bed. I got under the covers and soon fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was cooler than before, but was sure I was still over the regular temperature.

I pushed the blankets off of me and stretched. I swung my legs over the edge and stood up. I looked out the window to see it was probably around the late afternoon, and the sun was setting slowly on the horizon.

I walked to my door and opened it to see Jacob standing there, his hand extended out to reach for the handle. He smiled and put his hand on my forehead.

“Well,” he sighed. “You’re definitely cooler than before, that’s good, but you’re still hot—in both ways.”

I rolled my eyes, smacked his arm away from my forehead and smiled. “You’re weird,”

“You love it,”

“Yea, otherwise I wouldn’t be with you.”

He kissed my cheek and then grabbed my hand. “C’mon, Emily just made dinner. We are having chicken and mashed potatoes, while you’re having chicken noodle soup… yum.” He smiled, sarcasm dripping from the last word along with absolute amusement in his voice.

We walked downstairs and were seated at the table; everyone was gathered round and soon began to eat Emily’s delicious food.

-{}-

I watched from the window as the guys went for their usual patrols, Jake giving me a smile before disappearing into the brush and trees.

A few minutes later, Emily walked out of the house, got into Sam’s truck, and then drove into town to get some more groceries.

I walked down the stairs and into the bathroom. I looked at my appearance and sighed. I had circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. It’s been three and a half weeks and ever since the thought of pregnancy had come across my mind, I hadn’t been getting much sleep.

I walked to the toilet and did my business, washing my hands afterwards. I walked out and then down the stairs, into the living room. I grabbed the Charger’s keys and got inside the car, turning it on instantly.

I now had six symptoms—sore breasts, fatigue, dizziness, more bathroom time, mood swings, and spotting.

I needed to take a pregnancy test.

Now.

I was about to turn into the local shopping area when I realized that Emily was there buying food.

Crap, I can’t risk running into her. I thought and then drove past the shops. I guess I’ll have to drive into Forks.

I drove into a mini mart and parked in a close parking spot. I got out, locked the car and walked inside, looking around to see if I knew anyone, thankfully I did.

However, I didn’t know that Bella Swan drove an orange pick up truck that was parked only a few spaces away.

I walked to the back of the store where they kept their more feminine products. I looked at the pregnancy tests and got the most expensive one. I didn’t want to spend a few dollars on a test that might give me a false positive or negative. I wanted something that would give me an accurate answer.

I walked up to the cashier and got in line, keeping my item out of sight from the rest of the people behind and in front of me.

“Jade?” I looked up to see Bella Swan looking at me with interest. She then looked down into my hands and saw the small box. She was bound to blab about this to someone. “Are you pregnant?” She asked in a whisper.

“I don’t know…” I muttered, talking to her put me in bad mood.

She noticed my tone of voice and looked nervous. “Listen, Jade… I’m really sorry about what happened a few weeks ago. I… I just… I don’t know what came over me. I felt so out of place. I know what I did was wrong and horrible and I promise you that I will never do it again. I love Edward and I don’t love Jacob.”

“That’s nice and all Bella, but you really put me and Jake through a lot.”

“I’m sorry, Jade…” She said sincerely, and looked like she was ready to cry. “Can we… start over?”

I eyed her up and down and looked into her eyes. Her brown eyes held emotions that were trustworthy and honest.

“Jade Young, girlfriend of Jacob Black,” I stated, sticking out my hand for her to shake.

If she was going to be mature about this… so was I.

She gave a small smile. “Bella Swan, girlfriend of Edward Cullen,” She shook my hand gently. “I’ve got to get going, but… maybe we’ll see each other again…?” She looked at me hopefully.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.”

She smiled. “Alright well, I’ll see you whenever,”

“Bye Bella,”

“Bye Jade,”

I walked up to the register, placed the item down, and paid the amount due before walking out of the store and getting into my car. I started to drive home and was there within a good twenty minutes. Thankfully, Emily wasn’t there and so I wouldn’t have to explain why I wasn’t home.

I walked inside, and raced up the stairs and into the bathroom. I got it out, followed the instructions, and soon played the waiting game. I felt hunger consume me, and I walked out of the bathroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen. I made myself a bowl of Easy Mac and then began to devour it ravenously.

“Jade can you come and help me get the groceries?” Emily called from outside.

“Coming!” I replied.

I headed outside after putting my fork and plate into the sink and began to bring in bags with Emily.

“I got the last one,” I told her as I walked back outside.

I walked towards the truck bed and got out the last bag which had eggs in their usual cardboard container.

“Been a while, huh Jade?”

“More like too soon,” I retorted as Johnny came into view.

“Oh don’t be like that Jade,” Blake added, standing next to me in a second.

“Jade!” Emily screamed and came running out. “Leave her alone!”

Blake smirked and then turned to her.

“No, Emily! Get back inside the house!” I screamed at her. “It’s too dangerous!”

“I’m not leaving you out here, Jade!”

“What a noble thing to say,” Blake said in fake admiration.

She shrieked when Johnny stood next to her. He punched her in the back of the head, her eyes rolled up and she fell to the ground unconscious.

“No! Emily!” I screamed and ran towards her, though was pulled back by Blake.

“No, no, no,” He said. “You’re coming with us… well, me.” He smirked.

A growl ripped through the air and a black wolf appeared from the brush and trees. He raced at Johnny who then smirked and ran off into the trees to escape. He stopped at Emily’s side and turned to Blake who was holding me back as I kicked, screamed and punched.

“Let me go!”

He rolled his eyes and then threw me over his shoulder, taking off into the distance. Sam was obviously having an internal conflict. It was either go after me, or stay with Emily and make sure she was fine. I honestly wanted him to stay with her because I knew that she meant the world to him. She was his priority, not me.

I was happy with his choice of staying with Emily.

Another snarl ripped through the air and a blur of golden fur burst through the trees.

“Chris!” I shouted.

He growled menacingly and Blake picked up his pace.

“You’ve got nothing on me mutt!” Blake shouted. “I’ve been alive so long I can run circles around you!” Infuriated by his taunting, Chris snapped at him, baring his teeth.

Another blur rose from the bushes and Jake was right on Blake’s tail as well. Blake was about 20 feet in front of them and so he spun around on his heel and smirked at the two approaching wolves.

That wasn’t good…

They then bumped into an invisible barrier that Blake had put up to protect him. What a cowardice move…

He set me on the ground, but kept a firm grip on my wrist, making it impossible to escape. He looked at me and his eyes were blood red. “Let’s give them a show,” He murmured.

He pushed me up against the tree and grabbed my neck firmly with his available hand. He moved my head to the side and looked at Chris and Jacob with a smirk as his fangs became visible. He looked back at me and chuckled before sinking his teeth into my neck.

There was sickening sucking sound as he began to drain me and I felt tears immediately fall and run down my cheeks. I screamed bloody murder and thrashed around in his grasp, trying to get away but was held firmly to the wood, he was pushing me against it so hard I thought I was going to have indents on my skin.

I could barely make out Chris and Jacob attacking the barrier through my blurry and teary vision.

I felt sweet relief as Blake pulled away and licked my blood off of his lips which sickened me to no extent, but a new pain arose as a burning sensation spread throughout me like a wild fire. He threw me to the ground right by Chris and Jake and I heard them whimper, growl and snarl at Blake who approached me again—the familiar look of blood lust in his eyes.

He smirked as he grabbed my wrist and dug his elongated canines into it, more blood leaving my body and more fire entering at the same time.

It was like putting lemon juice on a large cut that had already been salted.

“Stop! It burns!” I screamed and tried to push him off me unsuccessfully.

“Blake!” I looked up and saw Mathias’s familiar blond hair through my watery sight.

Blake looked up and smiled once seeing his old friend. “Mathias! Come and take a bite out of her, she’s great.” He smirked, and brought my wrist closer to him.

“No thank you,” He declined.

His eyes began to glow neon green and Blake was captured by them. His eyes stared at them hypnotically and got up from the ground backing away from me.

He blinked a few times and then glared at Mathias. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Mathias!?” He bellowed angrily.

“Living for myself,” He replied and gave me a small smile which I couldn’t return at this particular moment in time.

He then dove at Blake who tried to dodge, but was unsuccessful. Mathias pummeled him into a tree, completely knocking it over and sending it to the floor with a loud crash. The barrier seemed to disappear because Chris and Jake were by my side.

Jake was in his human form while Chris stayed as a wolf.

“Jacob, Jacob it burns…” I whispered through tears. “Please… make it stop!”

“I-I can’t… I can’t Jade,” He cried. “You’re… you’re… you’re going to turn into a vampire…”

Mathias was sent flying into a tree and Blake was now on the offensive. He went for me, but Chris tackled him and Mathias did as well.

“I don’t want to turn into a vampire, Jacob. I want to stay human… with you.” I sobbed.

“I want you to, too,” He replied and kissed my forehead.

“Jade, the necklace…” My mother’s familiar voice rung in my head like a chime, “Use the serum inside the necklace.”

-{}-

I was watching her die.

I wasn’t able to protect her.

She was going to become one of those monsters—a vampire.

The thought of Jade becoming one of those creatures sickened me.

“Jacob…” She coughed out. “Take the necklace off.”

“What…?”

“The necklace, take it off,” She looked down at the pendant we had found in her ancestor’s journal and I did as I was told.

“What do you want me to do with it?”

I was praying to God that she wasn’t going to tell me to pass it on to someone. I didn’t want her to die, and if that meant her being a vampire just to be with me… well, I think I might actually just go with that.

“Open it,” She stated hoarsely.

I looked at it and then went to the top. It must’ve been able to twist open, and I was right. It came off after fighting it for a good few seconds and I looked at her waiting for her to tell me what to do now.

“Let me drink it,”

I did as I was told and the clear liquid went down her throat. She coughed and wheezed for a few minutes. She began to scream and thrash around; my heart was pounding wildly in my chest at the scene.

“Jade…!” I yelled. “Jade what’s wrong?! Don’t leave me Jade, I love you so fucking much and I need you to stay with me!”

She stopped screaming, and was panting quickly, her chest rising and falling with every passing second.

It slowed down until her chest didn’t move at all.

Until no more air filled her lungs.

Until no more life existed in her brown orbs.

Until I could feel that emptiness inside.

Until her heart pounded no longer.

Jade Young… was dead.