Vengeance

Chapter Twenty Nine

Chapter 29

Demolition

I thrust my back into the wall, causing it to crumble, and hissed violently.  My entire body screamed that there was danger, suggesting I was surrounded by enemies, which made my senses go into overload. As my nails clawed at the wall, the wood peeling off with each swipe, Esme tried to calm me down.  She continuously reassured me that she was a friend—that I could trust her—but I simply screeched in her direction as the howling continued outside.

Get out…run…flee…danger…enemy…

The stream of paranoia was relentless.  I could feel a small bit of rationality budding through the frantic haze, but it was too difficult to grasp it. All I could do was sit back and feel my body react to the yowling from outside.

I started to wonder which exit I should take—if I should simply jump through the window, or try the back door—when something crashed downstairs.  A shot of electricity flowed through my spine, and I immediately rushed to the other side of the room.  From below, I could hear massive paws scrambling across the wood floor and random noises of destruction as the giant creature knocked into the furniture.

Esme, Liam, and Siobhan, who had handed Emily off to Maggie, formed a wall in front of the red-headed vampire and me. I glanced over at my daughter, who seemed relatively calm despite all the craziness around her, and smiled.  I had to protect her.  As a human, I wasn’t strong enough to keep Carlisle and Edward from taking her; as a vampire, I was unstoppable.

The door to the bedroom sprung off its hinges and fell to the floor in a mess of broken lumber.  We all tensed as a feathery-gray wolf stalked through the threshold, its eyes fixated on me.  I recognized the beast as Leah, the only female wolf in the pack, and felt my gaze darken.  Leah had always despised me because of my choices regarding Jacob, so it was safe to assume that she had come for me.

I was about to step forward, to offer myself to the beast, when Emily, silent for so long, let out a high-pitched squeal that startled everyone in the room.  Leah’s gaze immediately cut to the side, where Emily was still in Maggie’s arms, and her jaws opened.  A vicious snarl came from the wolf’s mouth, and she lurched in my daughter’s direction.

My body reacted automatically, thrusting itself in between the tiny baby and the monstrous animal, and I did absolutely nothing to stop it.  My open hand collided with Leah’s cheek, my nails slashed at her mercilessly, until her fur was coated in blood.  She yelped and pulled away, obviously startled by the attack, and growled at me.

I arched my back in the vampire defensive position, and stalked forward, ready to give my life to protect Emily.  Mustering up the most threatening hiss possible, I lurched forward and ensnared the wolf around the neck, planning on squeezing the life out of her.  Before my fingers could tighten their grip, the wolf leapt up and backwards with a bone rattling growl, and sent me crashing through the wall.  Drywall crumbled to dust as the wall collapsed around me, and covered my body with a white dust. Despite the disorienting feeling of being thrown through a wall, I found my footing immediately and was ready when Leah dashed after me.

I quickly ran down the hallway, wanting to put as much distance between Emily and Leah as possible, and made it to the stairwell before I felt the wolf breathing down my neck.  She lurched forward, her paws finding purchase on my shoulder blades, pushing me down the stairs, and toppled after me.  I was surrounded by wood chips, fur, and claws as I submitted to gravity.

We came to a crash landing on the second floor, and I was on my feet instantly.  Leah took a little longer to get up, and I seized this opportunity to hurry down to the first floor.  Her growling and barking grew angrier as she scrambled down after me.  This little game of cat and mouse was probably starting to frustrate her.