Full Moon

Chapter 8

His silence only infuriated me more, the pity in his dark eyes inflaming me. Growling harshly I grabbed the table and launched it across the room. It slammed into a bookcase and everything toppled with a resounding crash that shook the room. Suddenly, all the anger drained away, leaving me hollow. The tears I had been fighting all along began to pour down my cheeks. Finally I began to grieve. Grieve for the family I loved, for my home and safety now utterly lost, and my false hope.

Somehow I wound up in Jacob's strong arms. The sobs shook both our bodies and I realized he too was crying. He had lost family too. Guilt for my unreasonable anger pricked me. He hadn't deserved it. When the tears finally stopped I was left panting and hiccuping against his shoulder. Jacob's hand was making a soothing path down the length of my long bronze colored hair.

Only minutes had passed since my outburst but I felt exhausted as if I had run many hundreds of miles. Jacob gathered me up, cradling me as I remember him doing only months ago when I was still a baby. He had let me have my moment but I knew he was eager to leave. He had scented a vampire. He wasn't aware who it had been but surely he could scent it all over the room. On me. Considering I was still in one piece the vampire wasn't an enemy. Or maybe he had seen her or recognized her scent. I wasn't concerned enough to ask and merely let Jacob bundle me off. This library held nothing more for me.

The hotel we bunked in now was across the entire city from the other one. It was no nicer, but the beds were comfortable. I sank into one gratefully and was asleep before Jacob could utter goodnight. He wouldn't sleep tonight, I didn't doubt that. He didn't feel we were safe enough. Not that I could blame him, sometimes it felt like danger lurked in every shadowed corner. I could see murderous red eyes everyone. But, Jacob couldn't keep going like this, he was running on fumes. He hadn't slept since the plane ride. That was days ago. Jacob was strong, but, even that had its limits.

As long as I was by his side he would be in danger. It was the thought that haunted my every waking thought, after learning of the death of my family, there was one thing I knew for certain. I brought danger to everyone I loved. If I had never been born everyone would still be alive. If I left would Jacob have a chance at a real life? One not steeped in nightmares? After my stunt with sneaking away to the library, there was no way he would let me out of his sight. It was time to get creative.

One perk to living with Vampires was that they were all generally well read, another perk was that there was no limit to the books I could read. Books were my education, I couldn't go to school, so books became my lessons, and vampires were my teachers. There was much to be learned from books, especially ones on plants and my Grandpa Carlisle's medical books. It was amazingly easy to slip a few, or eight, crushed up pills into his food. I was worried he would notice but he was even more exhausted than I originally thought. Covered in cheese, beans, and some sort of meat he gobbled it right up. Another amazing thing was how easy the pills were to get a hold of. A quick stop in a store when I complained of wanting a drink. What with all the human food I had been choking down lately, Jacob didn't question it. While he checked out, it was easy to swipe a bottle of sleeping pills. Humans could be very unperceptive. This worked in my favor.

Sitting across from him over the supper table I watched his eyes begin to drop. I hadn't been sure eight pills would be enough, I still didn't believe they were. Except, Jacob had been going on no sleep for a long while, it was just the push he needed. I had the satisfaction of watching his eyelids droop and soon the sawing sound of his snores filled the hotel room. It broke my heart to do this too him, but it was necessary. I couldn't keep putting Jacob in danger. He would thank me for it. Maybe. At least I told myself this, maybe if I repeated it over and over again it would somehow become true.

Our bag was already packed, the few articles of clothing we had picked up stuffed inside. Taking out a wad of cash I left behind a sizable chunk. Enough, I thought, to get him back home. I scrawled a quick note to let him know I loved him and not to come looking for me. I couldn't bear to keep putting him in needless danger.

I was making quick time, oddly no one seemed to care about the seemingly five year old girl running through the streets of Rio. Heart pounding I dashed around a corner and fled up the street. I had put quite the distance between myself and Jacob. With the scent of human masking everything I hoped it was enough. I couldn't leave the city yet. I wasn't done looking. Somewhere in this city had to be the answers to my questions, had to be some sort of clue. It couldn't all be for nothing. If I died without finding the truth everything would have been for naught. All the heartache and the sacrifice of my family, it would mean nothing.

Unbeknownst, perched on the rooftops stood a cloaked figure. His eyes burned a murderous red out of the shadows of his hood. Smirking with satisfaction the dark figure scented the air. The odor of many humans tickled his senses, and the every burning hunger fanned hotter. But, he wasn't there for that. Ignoring his parched throat he breathed deeper. There. Human and the faint trace of vampire. Mixed together to create a heady concoction no one else in the world had. He knew he would find her sooner or later. The time to strike would soon be upon him. He couldn't smell the filthy stench of her protector. Alone she would be easy work.