Chapter 03: Vanished

I heard the screams as I sped towards Leah's house with the hermit in tow. It was heart wrenching and downright torturous to hear a girl scream like that. The wolf inside me threatened to awaken at any second. It was reacting to the adrenaline rush.

I could hear Leah's words echoing inside my head, "There will be no phasing tonight . . . no phasing . . . no phasing."

Taking deep breaths, I tried to get my mind to shut up even though I didn't think I was going to be strong enough to fight it, especially if it came down to protecting Renesmee.


But it was Alice who was screaming. My ultra-sensitive hearing was capable of detecting even the subtlest of differences between familiar voices, so I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was Alice. She sounded like she was writhing in pain. My tolerance for pain and discomfort was extremely high, and yet the sound of those screams made all the hairs on my skin stand on end. I didn't even want to imagine the agony she must be going through.

I could hear Bella's voice inside Sue's house. "My shield is not working," she was telling Leah just as the hermit and I made it to the front door.

Right behind me were Edward and Seth, while the others had stayed at the beach, trying to figure out how to help Jasper. The first thing I saw when we walked in was Alice squirming violently on the living room floor. Kneeling down beside her, Bella and Leah held her down, a look of sheer panic on their faces.

Then I noticed Blondie standing in a corner, her gaze lost in the distance. She was frozen solid and didn't react at all to anything going on around her.

Taking off his blindfold, the hermit quickly covered his face with his hood and then handed the blindfold to Leah. "Put it on her," he instructed.

The moment Leah blindfolded Alice, the screaming stopped, and everything suddenly made sense to me.

"Where's Nessie?" I asked, looking around, the wolf howling within me.

Bella surged up from the floor and desperately searched everyone's face for an answer.

We all looked at each other, puzzled as hell.

Nessie was nowhere to be found.

Rosalie remained in her zombie trance, reacting to nothing.

"Rose!" Edward yelled in her face, but she didn't move. "Rose, talk to me!" he insisted, this time shaking her to make her snap out of it.

Nothing.

"Everything happened so fast," said Leah.

"Where's Nessie, Bella?" I asked her. "Did you see her when you got here?"

Her eyes bouncing back and forth between mine and Leah's, Bella shook her head no. Tears welled up in her eyes as her maternal instinct kicked into full gear. "Can you hear her?" she asked Edward, her voice shaking with urgency.

Lowering his head in defeat, Edward shrugged his shoulders. "No," he murmured.

"We were all so focused on helping Alice," said Leah.

Just then, a wave of guilt swept over me without warning, and I started thinking to myself, This is all my fault, I should've warned them about the hybrid! I could've prevented this—

"What hybrid?" Edward screamed and came at me, fuming like a raging bull.

My super werewolf speed was a pretty good match for his vampire speed, even in my human form, but I was so damn worried about Renesmee that I didn't react fast enough to dodge him.

Before I knew it, he punched me square on the jaw, and the impact of his fury sent me flying backwards into a wall.

I was putting so much effort into keeping the wolf at bay, that I could barely hear Bella yelling in the background, "Edward, stop it!"

Right as I got up, I saw his marble fist heading towards my face again, but this time I knew what to expect, so I leapt up in a flash and moved aside just in time.

He missed me by less than an inch, and his rock hard fist went crashing through the wall instead. Growling like a wild beast, he pulled his arm out of the hole he had just made on the wall.

He was getting ready to tackle me when in walked Carlisle followed by his boys, Emmett and Jasper.

"Edward!" Carlisle called out.

I could already feel myself phasing. Only a miracle would be able to stop me at this point. My self-control could only go so far, and, if Edward attacked me again, I'd have to fight back.

The miracle I needed so badly came from Carlisle. Somehow, the kind doctor's compassion had a strange power over me. It lulled me down and made me feel calm. Hadn't it been for him, the wolf in me could have easily ripped out the throats of all three of his boys at once.

But Carlisle cornered Edward much faster than I could have anticipated, knowing full well that his son would never disobey him. "Get a hold of yourself, Edward," he scolded in a gentle, yet firm voice.

Meanwhile, Emmett and Jasper formed a barrier in front of me, their faces silently showing that I'd have to get past them first if I wanted to go anywhere near Edward.

"Jake, are you okay?" Bella asked when she saw me plucking off the pieces of wall that still hung from my clothes.

"It's my fault," I admitted, still breathing hard. "I deserved it."

"There's no reason to blame yourself, Jake. We're all under attack here," Leah declared as she helped Alice up.

By now, Billy, Old Quil, Chief Swan and Sam had come in along with Esme and Sue.

Emily had remained standing in the doorway, shyly looking in. As far as I knew, this was probably the first time she ever set foot on the Clearwaters' property since she had started dating Sam.

Reading the expression of shock on everyone's faces, Esme headed straight for the couch were Leah had just sat with Alice. "What's going on?" she asked, her eyes quickly surveying the living room. "Where's Nessie?"

"She just . . . vanished," explained Leah with obvious hesitation.

Raising my voice defensively, I asked her, "What do you mean she vanished?"

Bella placed her ice-cold hand on my arm and talked to me in a reassuring tone. "I told you she's done this before." She sighed with resignation, then added, "Several times."

Bella's comment must have shaken Blondie out of her stupor, because she cut right in like someone had just stuck a needle in her perfect Barbie face. "She wasn't sleepwalking this time, Bella—"

"You were supposed to be watching her," Edward interjected, coming to Bella's defense.

Suddenly furious, Blondie snapped back at Edward. "Something happened to us, you moron! Didn't you hear Alice screaming?"

"Rose, please let me handle this," Carlisle told her as he began examining Alice.

"What about you, Leah?" I asked. "This whole thing was your idea." I tried hard not to sound incriminating but somehow I couldn't avoid it.

Naturally, Leah's defenses went up. "You were just blaming yourself a minute ago. What is your problem, Jake?"

"The attack on Alice was a decoy," Sam pointed out as he took a step toward me.

He waited for someone to contradict him, but everyone went silent instead. No one seemed to object to his theory. I myself had to admit that he was the only one making sense right now.

Without hesitation, Chief Swan took out his cell phone and announced, "I'm calling the station, we need to send out a search party right away. She can't be far."

But, just as he started dialing, Bella darted toward him and made him hang up. "Wait, dad. I don't think that's a good idea."

Shocked, Chief Swan stared at Bella like she'd just lost her mind. "Why?"

Then, Carlisle interfered, "Charlie, we really appreciate your offer, we really do, but I agree with Bella. There's no need to involve the police."

"Trust me, dad, it's better if we do the search ourselves. We can split up into groups and—"

"Bella!" Chief Swan interrupted. "What is wrong with you? Your daughter's missing, for crying out loud. We need K-9 units and a helicopter at the very least."

I didn't want to say anything, but I knew why the Cullens were so dead set on leaving the police out of this. They couldn't risk being exposed, especially with the suspicions they had about Nessie. If she really was out there hunting for human victims, it would be disastrous if the cops caught her in the act.

All of a sudden, I remembered the time when I had phased in front of Chief Swan only to show him just how deep the rabbit hole goes. He'd been so thrown off by this you're-not-in-Kansas-anymore realization, that he didn't want to ask any more questions.

I knew just what I had to do to get the Cullens out of this pickle, so I pulled the chief aside and whispered in his ear, "Believe me, Chief, this is one of those situations you don't want to dig into."

That's pretty much all it took to stop the argument, at least on his end, but he got visibly frustrated by the whole ordeal. "Alright then," he said, letting out a sigh of resignation. "No need to explain anything else. I'm going back to the station just in case there's any reports about this."

Bella winked at me. It was her silent way of thanking me. She gave her dad a hug and walked him out, accompanied by her soon-to-be step mom, Sue.

The moment he saw them leave, Edward came up to me, a somber look on his face. "You know something you're not telling us, Jacob. What is it?"

I wasn't interested in hiding anything from them, so I told them all about the strange dreams Sam and I had been having about the hybrid, the talisman, and the psychic attack I'd suffered the night before.

Having heard my explanation, Alice finally spoke. "It's the same thing that happened to me. She used my own visions against me. It's like I lost control of my mind, and all these visions flooded my mind all at once. Not even Bella's shield could protect me against it." She was still wearing the blindfold, probably afraid that the madness would come back if she removed it.

"I've seen that talisman," Blondie announced.

Taken aback, I asked her, "So you've been having the same dream, too?"

She shook her head no. "Nessie projected the image to me several times. It's exactly the same talisman you're describing."

I lowered my head, wondering if Nessie's connection to me might be harming her. I didn't care if Edward heard my thoughts. All I wanted was Nessie's happiness, even if it meant having to sacrifice my own life to save hers.

Then something seemed to dawn on Carlisle. "That explains a lot. Maybe that's the reason she's been sleepwalking in the first place. She must be under the influence of the hybrid."

"The dark side can be very seductive," the hermit replied, his face hiding under the dark shadow of his hood. "It sounds to me like she's being lured."

"We have to find her now," I urged them, "there's no time to lose."

"But someone needs to stay here and watch Alice," protested Leah.

"We'll stay with her," Old Quil offered as he and Carlisle helped my dad out of his wheelchair so he could sit closer to Alice.

The hermit then added, "I'll stay with them also. I don't want to slow you guys down."

Edward glowered at Blondie, obviously in response to something she was thinking. "No, Rose. You're better off staying behind."

"I'm perfectly fine," she retorted through gritted teeth. "You need me anyway. If Nessie decides to show anyone what's been happening to her, it'll definitely be me. I'm her confidant."

Just as she said that, I noticed Bella had been standing by the doorway, God only knows for how long. And judging by the look in her pitch-black eyes, I knew how deeply Blondie's words had cut her. I literally had to bite my tongue to keep myself from cussing Blondie out.

Rushing past me, Edward came over to stand by Bella's side. Probably, he was hoping she hadn't heard what the little byotch had said, but the despair on Bella's face was impossible to ignore.

"We're going to find her, love. Don't you worry, okay?"

As he embraced Bella, Edward turned to Carlisle. "If you let Rose come, I don't want her in our group." Edward was barely done talking when it happened.

Emily, who had been standing outside on the porch, suddenly started screaming, calling Sam's name. "Sam! Sam!"

Sam bolted to the front door in an instant. Less than a second later, Seth and I were at the door to help him out if he needed us.

When I looked at Emily, she was in a state of panic like I'd never seen her before. She was hysterical, trying to talk between sobs, but she couldn't even speak. The only thing she could do was point forward repeatedly to an overgrowth of bushes near the back of the house.

Sam scooped her up in his arms and carried her inside. What an irony that this had to happen here at the Clearwaters' house.

But in an emergency situation, no one has time to think of ironies, so both Carlisle and Leah responded on instinct and went to attend to Emily. They checked her for any wounds or signs of physical injuries, but she appeared fine.

Then Sam interrupted them. "She's not hurt. She saw something outside."

Hearing Sam's voice seemed to calm Emily down, so she found the strength to tell us what she'd seen outside. "It was a huge black dog with fiery glowing red eyes. It came out of the shadows behind the bushes, growling and drooling, like it was about to attack me."

As soon as she described the beast she'd seen outside, the hermit gasped in horror. "How close did it get?" he asked Emily.

Still shaking, Emily explained how the dog seemed to have a strange charming power in its eyes, similar to a snake. She said she froze in place when she saw the fiery red eyes glowing through the brush. She then told us how she tried to move but, for a split second, she felt like she had lost control of her body.

"It was feeding off your fear," the hermit spoke from inside the dark shadows that his hooded habit cast upon his face, concealing his hideous scars. The confident tone in his voice showed us all that he knew just what the animal was.

"A watchdog," added Carlisle, also sounding like he knew what was going on.

By now, I was sure that something was trying to keep us all trapped inside the house so we couldn't go look for Nessie. It'd been the perfect setup, and we'd all fallen for it. No one had to tell me what that beast out there was. The knowledge of it just dawned on me instinctively.

Edward turned to look at me. He had heard what I was thinking yet again.

"A hellhound," we both said at the same time.

"What's a hellhound?" Emily asked, her eyes still wet from the tears.

"Hellhounds aren't real," Jasper broke in. "They're just a myth."

"Oh but they are," the hermit contradicted. "They act as a gateway between the world of the dead and the world of the living."

I'd hardly taken a step outside when Sam grabbed me firmly by my forearm and told me, "Jake, wait!"

"Sam, you need to be with Emily right now," I replied, freeing my arm from his grasp.

"Dammit, Jacob, you're putting us all in danger!" He sounded really pissed off this time.

But he wasn't going to intimidate me.

I was going to stand my ground. "No one's asking you to come with me."

"Who says I'm coming? I'm talking about you taking Seth. If that animal attacks, you will both phase for sure."

"You wouldn't say that if Emily was out there alone," I protested. "You would go save her no matter what."

"We can do this safely, without giving the hybrid what she wants—"

"There's no time for strategies!" I reminded him.

"Don't you get it? If what Emily saw is really a hellhound, it'll tear you apart before you can find Nessie."

"What would you do if Emily was missing?" I challenged him.

"I would deal with the evil spirit directly, not with its animal form."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"The same as our warrior ancestors—"

Without letting him finish, I scoffed and sharply turned my back on him. Then, I walked away, mumbling under my breath, "Nice try, Sam."

Then, as I saw that Seth was about to come outside with me, I said, "Seth, you stay with Sam."

"But, Jake—" he was about to insist, but I didn't let him.

I looked him straight in the eye and told him, "Don't even think about it."

He must have seen my determination in the way I looked at him, because he simply took a few steps back and lowered his head.

I hated to disappoint him, as he was the one pack brother whose loyalty to me had never faltered, but I didn't want to take anyone down with me. If the dog attacked, I'd deal with it by myself.

I should have known better. Right as I approached the bushes where Emily had seen the dog, I clearly heard several people running behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw that it was Emmett, Jasper and Edward.

Just what I needed, I thought, rolling my eyes.

"We're coming with you," said Edward.

And I thought I'd gotten rid of the main problem by getting Seth to stay home. Now I was stuck with the Cullens.

"We should split up into pairs to cover more ground," Jasper suggested.

Nodding in agreement with Jasper, Edward said, "Emmett, you go with Jacob. If there's a confrontation, you'll take over. We can't risk letting him phase."

"I can take care of myself, Edward," I argued.

"Let's not take unnecessary risks." I swear Edward was starting to sound like Sam.

But at this point I didn't have the time or energy to be proud. I wasn't going to waste any more time arguing, plus it's not like they were going to listen to me, anyway.

Just when we were about to go separate ways, I heard a sudden noise coming from the trees directly above us. "Wait!" I alerted them.

Judging by the baffled look on their faces, I was pretty sure no one else had heard the noise but me. None of the Cullens were capable of detecting the subtle sounds my ears could pick up on.

I signaled for everyone to be quiet and listened even closer. Nothing.

Of course it had to be Emmett who broke the silence. "It's probably just a squirrel, dog," he laughed.

"Wolf. Not dog. Wolf," I repeated, trying to look fierce, then turned around to leave.

I hadn't walked five feet when I heard the noise again, this time closer. And then I saw it. Before I could warn them, a dark figure leapt down from the treetops and landed right next to the Cullens. I took off like a bat from hell to see what it was, but by the time I got there, the beast was already at Edward's throat.