What Hurts the Most

"Damn it!" I wound up screaming at the top of my lungs when I had woken up that morning.

It was so loud that Seth came running into the room with an extremely worried expression on his face. He was breathing heavily and was only wearing a pair of Jake's sweatpants.

"VAMPIRES?!" he yelled, and then transformed into a wolf, ripping Jake's pants to shreds. He began pouncing around the room violently, eventually landing at my side, and scanned the room for any possible danger.

I didn't want to laugh, because I was mad, but Seth's reaction was much too engaging. He turned around and stared at me curiously; he was even cuter in his wolf-form.

"No vampires, Seth," I told him after a couple of giggles. "But Jake's gone; he avoided my fricken detection. Jacob Black, I know you can hear me! You're being an ass!"

Seth rolled his eyes and then transformed back...naked. I turned around and dove into my pillow, hoping to avoid a sight I was NOT willing to see.

"Pants, Seth, pants..."

"Oh, ah, geez, sorry Nat!" I heard him apologize quickly, and then run out the door.

I shook my head against the pillow, allowing the friction to build up onto my forehead, and sighed. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I thought about Jake abandoning me. He had left me, again, when I needed him the most. It wasn't that I didn't trust Seth; it was that I'd rather have Jake here, where we could be alone. Ever since we got here, I've been stuck inside Jake's house, finding ways to entertain myself with what I had. I suppose having Seth here kind of made things interesting, but I couldn't do things with Seth that I would do with Jake. It just wasn't the same, and I wanted him back.

"Nathalie?" I heard Seth mutter sheepishly.

"Are you decent?" I asked, and heard him respond with a despondent 'yes.'

I peeked my head out from my shield and prepared to hide again, but saw that he had told the truth. He was standing in the doorframe, a new pair of pants on, with his hands behind his back and was looking at the floor with a mix of guilt and shame.

"Come here, Seth," I told him, sitting up and making room for him.

He took the seat, sitting at the very edge of the bed and avoiding my eyes. I knew exactly what he was thinking; 'Jake's going to kill me.' I opened my mouth to say, 'the secret's safe with me,' only to close it and remember that, when they were in wolf form, they can read each other's minds. Crap.

"I'll defend you as best as I can, but I can't make any promises," I told him, putting my hand on his shoulder, and shaking my head.

Suddenly, I felt his shoulder tense under my
hand. He had a far-away look in his eyes; the same exact look that Jake had during both the Winter Formal and the Valentine's Day Dance. That's when I knew he was here, or at least one of them was. They must've slipped passed the wolves, but how?

"Nathalie," he said quickly, turning to face me with his face looking alarmed. "Stay here."

He began walking towards the door, when I grabbed his arm.

"Is it...him?"

He didn't answer; all I felt was an explosion of fur in my hand, and Seth's arm replaced by a paw. The wolf looked at me gravely.

"Is Jake near?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head, his sandy fur swaying, and then disappeared down the hallway. All I could do was go back to Jake's bed and sit and wait. Wait to die, wait to get captured, or worse. Sliding onto the divan, I curled my legs up into my chest and bit my lip. 'He's not here.' I thought to myself hopelessly. 'He's off, far away, fighting some of Tristan's pawns, as I wait here. But I can't just sit here and do nothing! I've got to find a way to help!'

I searched the room for some sort of weapon, when I heard two loud growls coming from outside; one human, and one wolf. There was a loud struggle, and then silence. Panic suddenly hit me, and I brushed my hair back out of my eyes, not knowing what to do.

There was a loud crack from the front of the house, and then a slam to go with it. I assumed someone had kicked the door in. And then I heard footsteps, coming in this direction. I quickly glanced around the room once again, and saw the one window in the bedroom. I dove for it and pulled it open, just as I heard the footsteps stop. Not wanting to wait and find out if it was Tristan, I jumped out the window, thankful that it was only a one story house.

The forest was covered with leaves and twigs and plants, shaded by large trees of different sorts. It would've been peaceful; if not for the fact that there was a monster chasing me. I took a shaky step forward, and then heard a twig snap from behind. Jumping around to face the source, I stumbled backwards over a tree's exposed root. Tristan was leaning casually against Jake's house, a smug grin plastered to his face. My goodness he was handsome, but he was no Jacob. He was a monster; hunting down what he wanted when he wanted, and having the unfair advantage of impossible inhumane strength.

I sat on the cold ground; the only thing moving on me was my chest as I breathed. In a second, he was kneeling down on the ground in front of me, his golden eyes facing my hazel. He smelled sweet; like cookies or candy or a cupcake. I preferred Jake’s musky smell to his.

“It’s time to go,” he said softly, holding out his hand.

I shifted my eyes down to it, but that was all I did. I wasn’t going anywhere with him.

“Fine. Have it your way,” he grumbled, the corners of his mouth turning up into a brief smirk.

He picked me up by my waste and threw me onto his back, and began running through the forest at an amazing speed. Not wanting to fall off, I held on to his neck for dear life. After a few minutes of this, he stopped. I looked around his golden hair to see a sandy colored wolf in a challenging position.

“Seth!” I yelled out, relieved he was not hurt.

He didn’t acknowledge me, but simply snarled ferociously at the vampire. He slowly slid me off his back, and I began to run towards Seth, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into his arms. He was cold; a trail of goose bumps trailed down my body. Another snarl escaped from the wolf’s lips. Tristan let go of me and dove at Seth, leaving me to stand and watch the brawl. It was horrifying; the two scratched and punched and kicked at each other, but it was like two unstoppable forces attacking each other. I knew what I had to do; the same thing that I did back at Gram Woods. I searched the ground for another sharp rock, but from behind, I heard a slam and a crack. Seth was lying on the remains of a broken tree, motionless.

“Seth?” I called out, vaguely aware that there would be no answer, and feared squeezed my heart. “Oh, God no, Seth!”

Tristan came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder.

“Stupid mongrel,” he mumbled. “You smell of them; it makes me want to vomit. But over time, that will change.”

Once again, he hoisted me onto his back and charged away from the ghastly scene. I didn’t take my eyes of Seth until the last moment when he disappeared. The tears had already started trickle down my cheeks. Not Seth. Not him.

The monster eventually stopped at a cave buried deep into the woods. He set me down, but I didn’t move. I was paralyzed. He grabbed my wrist roughly and hauled me into the opening. The cave was empty, except for a simple rock covered with various needles and unknown chemicals. I didn’t care; Seth was dead. What happened to me didn’t matter. And then I remembered Jake. Only for Jake I would live. As soon as he had his back turned, I raced to the opening and out into the forest, but my feeble attempt at freedom was episodic. He had me in his cold arms and back into the cave in a heartbeat.

“Why even bother?” he asked, shaking his head. “I will always find you; even if you are with that mutt. Speaking of the dog, where is he? I know that was not him. Your dog has orange fur. That one had yellow. Did he finally abandon you?”

I looked up at him viciously and yelled, “He would never abandon me. He’s off trying to find you, leech.”

He came right up to my face and pulled my head back by my hair. “Such sharp words from a pathetic human. Did the mongrels teach you that?”

I was silent, but my eyes did enough talking. Suddenly, there was a sharp, painful pinch at my shoulder. I cried out in pain and looked down. Tristan had shoved one of the needles into my arm, and I gradually felt my body go numb. I collapsed into the vampires arms, but I could still see and hear what was going on. Tristan just stared down at me, almost painfully, and set me down onto the cold stone ground. He went over to the rock and began arranging the chemicals and moving them around. He eventually turned back to me, holding up another needle. He also shoved this one into my arm, and drew blood. It was incredibly painful, but I could not scream or move my body in anyway. It was extremely frustrating.

What the heck did this stupid vampire need with my blood, anyway? Shouldn’t he just be biting my neck and then drinking my blood? Maybe he was thirsty, but wanted to keep me human. But why?

Tristan became tense and turned around, a small smile on his face.

“It’s about time, wolf,” I heard him say in a soft, velvety voice.

His greeting was responded with a very familiar growl.