The Beacon -Paul Lahote 2-

Chapter 30

I recommend listening to Exile by Taylor Swift for this chapter!

Everything was different now. The world was forever changed because of Mavis Hale. There was no going back, not even when she desperately wanted to.

Leah sat on the front porch beside Mavis. She was helping hold the blanket over her shoulders. Her body was trembling from the cold. Having walked from Paul's house to Emily's in the rain. "Here." Paul kneeled in front of her. He was holding a mug of tea.

"Paul, I don't want anything to drink." Mavis had tears in her eyes. She had revealed to the others they were all going to die. The only person who seemed to be handling it was Paul. He didn't care that he was going to die. He cared if Mavis was okay or not.

"Then hold it. It's warm." Mavis didn't want to argue. She took the mug from him. He raised his hand and wiped the tears under her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Is she okay? You should be asking if we're okay." Everyone looked at Jared as he spoke. "She just told us we are going to die." It wasn't easy for any of them to hear, but they couldn't do anything about it.

"Yeah, I was there."

"Then why are you helping her?"

"She's still my girlfriend." There was an odd calmness in his voice. It seemed obvious to him.

Jared was angry. "How are you even calm right now? Your girlfriend is going to kill us all." There was a silence over the group. None of them defended Jared, but none argued against him either. "We should have never let her near us."

"Jared," Quil warned him. He placed a hand on his chest to stop him from doing something he might regret.

Jared shoved his hand off of him. "No!" He couldn't believe nobody was on his side. "You heard her! She is going to kill us all!"

He angrily approached her, but Paul was quick on his feet. In a flash, he was in Jared's face. "Take one more step, and I'll kill you."

"Yeah?" Jared wasn't backing down. "I'm dead anyway, right, Mavis?" Mavis stared at him. Every word he spoke was like knives on her skin. He was right. He should be scared of her. Mavis was the problem. "You or her. It doesn't matter. I'm dead anyway." There was a hint of sadness in his voice. Jared didn't want to die. None of them did. But the scream of a Banshee meant certain death. There was nothing any of them could do. "It's your fault, right? You kill us? Isn't that what you saw?" Mavis didn't say anything. "I wonder what would happen if you weren't in the picture anymore." Would they be safe if she was gone?

Paul punched Jared in the face. The others run to break up the fight. "Paul," Sam yelled at him.

Seth yanked Jared back. "She's going to kill us, man. Why can't you see that?!"

"You know the rules." Sam pointed at Jared. They couldn't touch Mavis because she was Paul's Imprint.

"She's going to kill us-"

"It doesn't matter!" It was Seth who came to her defense. "We don't break the rules." There are laws for a reason.

Paul was still furious that Jared would suggest killing Mavis. "I'll kill you, Cameron."

"Yeah," he threw his arms out. "You two really deserve each other then." Paul lunged at Jared again. Sam struggled to gain control. Seth, Embry, and Quil aided as well. Mavis watched them as they fought. They were fighting because of her.

There was something that Jared said that resonated with her. If she was the problem, then all she had to do was leave. Mavis couldn't hurt anyone if she wasn't around anymore. It was a simple solution to a complicated problem.

The group managed to stop the fight, but Paul refused to let go of Jared's shirt. He was gripping it by the collar. "I swear to god, if you touch her, I'll rip your throat out with my teeth." Paul pushed Jared backward. He stumbled a few feet but managed to catch himself.

"She's gonna kill us all, man. Why can't you see that?" Jared wished Paul could understand that. His love for her didn't matter if she destroyed him in the end.

Paul glared at Jared, but he didn't go after him again. There was a bigger problem, Mavis. He needed to get her away from everyone before they got inside her head. "Come on." He grabbed her hand and yanked her off the steps.

It was rough, but he didn't mean to be. Sometimes when Paul was angry, he forgot how strong he was. The rest of the group watched silently as Paul escorted her away from them and towards his car.

A silence followed. Mavis was still coming to terms with everything. She had been down this road before. She knew there was no escaping a prediction. People were going to die, and it was going to be her fault.

Mavis never asked for any of this. She thought after the conflict with the Volturi, everything would be normal. It was for a while. She had a few months of complete normal. But that was long gone now. Every time things became normal, she would mess them up. Time after time, she was the cause. Mavis knew she would always be the cause. Being a Banshee no longer affected just her. The people around her, the people she loved, were paying the price. Mavis knew the best thing she could do for them was leave.

Staying was selfish. It didn't matter what she wanted, not anymore. Mavis couldn't stay knowing that the people she loved might die because of her. She glanced at Paul, who was gripping the steering wheel tightly as he drove through the dark. It was unclear where they were going, but it didn't matter. She had made up her mind. She had to leave.

Paul glanced at her, a complex expression on his face. He was scared. That much was obvious. Mavis hated that she was the cause of his fear. Paul deserved better than that. He deserved to find love with someone who wouldn't bring him fear but joy.

She continued to stare at him, memorizing the details of his face for what felt like the last time. Paul had no idea what she was thinking.

Paul grabbed her hand to comfort her. It was almost comical. He was going to die because of her, yet he still tried to comfort her. His eyes stayed on her for a moment, but he eventually had to look back at the road.

Mavis didn't look away when he did. She couldn't. Tears streamed down her face. Come tomorrow, she would leave and try and save the lives of the people she loved most. Mavis was going to change the ending to their story, even if it meant ending hers.

"It's going to be okay," he tried to comfort her. But Mavis knew nothing would ever be okay again.