New Rise - Book 4

Sympathy for Paul

As I sat before Jacob it was made clear that he still loved me. We were mistaken about him loving my mother again which in a way was a relief since it was weird to me in a way. Now that it was out in the open There was just once thing left. I didn't truly love him like he wanted to. But could I tell him after everything he has gone through? Could I break his heart?

"Ness what it is, what did you want to tell me?"

I frowned. No I definitely couldn't tell him at least not yet. Now I just needed a cover story.

"You aren't a werewolf anymore." I spat out quickly to cover my butt.

He looked at me as if I was crazy before he began laughing. "Yeah, I know but it's alright."

"What?" How could he say this is alright. His power was taken from him because he was bitten and injected with vampire venom.

"I don't have to worry about hurting you from an accidental phase. It was fun while it lasted but you are my life now Renesmee." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead before he stood up. "Don't worry about me Ness, I'll be fine. Get some rest." he winked at me and then headed downstairs. In another minute my bedroom door closed.

So it didn't matter to him that he wasn't a wolf anymore. In fact he welcomed it because he didn't have to worry about hurting me.

I turned over in my bed and yawned before I closed my eyes. It wasn't long before I fell asleep. In what seemed like a short time I was awaken by Jake. He had my breakfast which was eggs, hash browns and bacon. I ate it in silence and then drank my glass of orange juice that he brought and exchanged for my empty plate.

"Now its time for you to do your school work." My father said as he entered my room. "Once you have finished your work for the day you can come out of your room for an hour under one condition."

I sighed. "What condition daddy?"

"Your mother and I agreed to tell you everything. Just recently we have picked up an unknown scent on the property. It's definitely a vampire and we are unsure what they are after."

"Did Alice see anything?"

"Yeah, the face of a female. I am unsure why but she looks familiar."

"Have you met her before?"

My father scratched the back of his neck. "I might have but if it was just a glance that could explain why I can't recall the memory." He stared off for a moment like he was trying hard to remember. "It is important that you obey what I ask of you for your own safety."

I nodded my head. "Of course father. I'll stay inside."

He pressed his lips to my forehead. As he leaned away he seemed to shiver. "You and your mother are the most important things to me. I almost lost your mother a numerous amount of times and I almost lost you as well. If I ever lost your Renesmee." he stopped mid sentence and the look on his face seemed pained.

I pressed my hand to his face, not to show him my thoughts but for comfort. "Daddy you will never have to worry about losing me. I love you."

My fathers pained face lightened and a smile soon formed.

"Time for you to do your school." My father murmured. He kissed me once more and then left the room.

By 1oclock I had finally finished my work. 3 essays, the first section to my autobiography for my English class, a simple write on music theory and harmony, and an extra credit assignment on human genetics. The three units of my math were the last for me to finish.

Once that was safely stowed away and my work area was cleaned I headed downstairs to find some company. The first place I thought to look was the right side of the house which turned out to be a ghost town with no sign of life in sight. My next idea was the dining room where my wolf family usually habited.

Before I opened the door I could smell the wolf scent, pine and wet dirt. It was one of my favorite smells cause it reminded me of Forks. Forks was where I was born.

"Hey Jake?" I called as I entered the room.

The smile that had momentarily formed on my face quickly disappeared as I saw that it wasn't Jake that was in the room but Paul. Why was Paul here?"

Upon further inspection of the scene that laid out before me I saw that his body seemed to be tense and unnaturally rigid. There seemed to be the scent of tears in the air though his face was dry. His eyes were trained on what seemed to be a picture that he held in his trembling hands.

"Paul?" I called out to him.

He glanced up at me and his expression hardened as I saw his jaw clench. As quickly as it happened he looked away.

What was wrong with him? I knew Paul was a hothead and didn't exactly like me but he was never this cold towards me.

As I turned to leave the room I flinched as I heard the chair scrap angrily against the floor. Paul brushed past me and out the door before I could turn around. Before he could leave down the hall Jake was at my side.

"Hey Ness." He grinned before closing pushing me back into the room gently and then closing the door. "How's your day?"

I shrugged before I turned my attention back to the spot where Paul had been. Why was he here, why was he acting so odd and what was he looking at?

There on the table was the picture, face down. I walked over and picked it up. There looking back at me was a picture of a teenaged girl with bronze skin, brown eyes, and long dark brown hair. Her expression was familiar to me as it looked bitter sweet.

"Who is this?" I turned the picture around so Jake could see it.

Jake walked slowly over to my side and took the picture into his hand before he quickly set it face down back onto the table.

"Long story." He murmured.

So Jake wasn't going to talk easily.

"Why is Paul here?"

Jake sat down and pulled an apple from a bowl that sat in the center of the table and took a bite from it. "The pack normally looses their patience with Paul around this time of the year." He said between a mouth full of apple.

"Why?"

He nodded his head towards the picture. "They were always close growing up, or so I heard. She was younger then him by just a few minutes but mentally she was just a kid. Paul, his father and his sister came back to the reservation when he was six after his parents got divorced. The reason behind it was because of Sili's.... problems. Paul looked after her until she turned 16. That's when she disappeared. That's the year Paul turned."

"Sili, what happened to her?"

"She just went missing with no trace. The only evidence that it could have been foul play was the vampire scent that Sam found near the last place Sili was known to be. The vampire scent was found right on top of Sili's. Paul turned shortly after. His hatred for vampires fueled directly from his sisters disappearance."

"Did they find her?"

Jake shook his head and then glanced at his apple before tossing it across the room into the trash bin that sat in the corner.

"But the vampire that took her was killed a few years back by your dad. Sam recognized the scent to belong to a vampire named Victoria."

So Paul was having a bad day because it was the eve of his sisters disappearance. I could only imagine if that was me and I had a sister that disappeared. I would be crushed. For the first time I felt sympathy for Paul and who he had become.