Tidal Moon (Renesmee & Jacob)

Chapter 9: What's Wrong?

 I woke up suddenly to the sound of my phone buzzing so erratically against the wooden nightstand that it sounded as if it were about to fall off. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and sat up, grabbing the phone and answering without bothering to check who was calling.

"Renesmee, you need to come home." Dad's voice caused me to wake up more, a sense of urgency rushed through my body. What could possibly be going on for him to ask this of me?

"Dad, what's wrong?" I asked. 

"Just come home. Listen to me closely and leave. Don't worry about your things, just get your keys, get in the car, and come home." His voice was low and I could tell he was trying to be extra quiet. 

"Dad, you need to give me more details than that! I'm not just going to-" He cut me off before I had the opportunity to finish.

"Renesmee, do not say anything about leaving out loud. He could be listening. Your mother and I will meet you halfway. You just need to listen to me now." He was begging and I could hear that he was scared which was very surreal for me because in all of my years of life, the only time I've ever seen him scared was when we were face to face with the Volturi. 

"Okay. Christmas sounds good, but what are the plans?" I hope he understood that I was asking for more details. He said someone may be listening so I was trying to make the conversation as mundane as I possibly could. But, who could be listening? This whole conversation is making my head hurt. 

"You've met someone by the name of River. Alice had a vision last night. Ness, he works for the Volturi. He is a rising member in their ranks, he is also Jane's mate. Jane is there now as well, but we don't see her stepping in. She is going to leave it to River. He plans to capture you and bring you back to Volterra so that he can secure a more concrete place among the others." His voice came out low again, straining to be as quiet as possible. I knew he was doing this so that no one on my end could overhear in case they might be listening. 

 Suddenly it was like every odd and out of place memory of River fell into their dark places. The fact that he just so happened to be at the club that night, the way Candace and Ty disappeared without saying anything, the intoxication I felt within his presence, and the way my subconscious always screamed at me that something was not right. 

 I almost gasped as I realized the reality that River had probably killed Candace and Ty. I could hope that they were okay, but deep down I knew they weren't. How could I have been so stupid this entire time? He was trying to get close to me. He knew the layout of Candace's house. The multiple nights I woke up feeling like I was being watched. God, I'm so stupid. Suddenly I spoke without thinking of the consequences. 

"Oh my god, dad. I think he killed Candace and Ty." I said, pain radiating through my voice. I knew I shouldn't have said it out loud, but my heart felt like it had been broken and shattered. Someone died because of me, because they were close to me. How will I ever be able to forgive myself or look in the mirror knowing that I caused that? 

"Renesmee. Be careful of what you say right now. In Alice's visions she's seen him watching you." His voice was strained. I went to speak but an eerie scratching noise came from the window. I felt a lump in my throat and fear overtook me as I glanced over. 

 Nothing was there. I must be imagining things... I kept the phone pressed to my ear as I stood up and walked to the nightstand, quietly grabbing my keys. I slipped on my shoes and stalked through the house quietly. When I opened the front door I was relieved to see that no one was waiting outside of it ready to attack. I sped towards the car but stopped in my tracks when I heard a low laugh come from beside one of the fruit trees. 

 I kept the phone against my ear as I turned to face whoever had laughed. River was sitting against a tree with an evil smirk on his face. His eyes were glowing red indicating he'd just eaten, which also meant that if it came to a fight that he was much stronger than I was at the moment. 

"Renesmee, is he there?" Dad asked, his voice deep and dangerous. 

"Yes." I choked out, forcing myself to loosen my grip on the phone so that I didn't crush it. 

 A sudden blow to my abdomen caused me to fly backwards. I felt my body slam against a heavy oak tree and I gasped for air. Being half-human can suck at times, I definitely hate that I can't recover as fast as my family can from physical attacks. I dug my fingers into the dirt and tried to force myself up. I glanced up and River was now holding my phone to his ear. 

"I have to give credit where it's due. Your attempt to save your daughter was honorable, but I am always one step ahead. She will get what she should've gotten years ago, if I were you I'd go ahead and start grieving. There's nothing you can do to save her now." He smirked into the phone and hung up. 

 I coughed and tried to rise up to my feet, but fell against the hard ground again. Hopelessness flowed through my body. I'm going to die. I really am going to die. I'd never even thought about that. Of course I expected the world to end one day, but I didn't expect someone to kill me. Especially not someone I trusted. How could I be so stupid as to believe all of the lies he told me? I will never see my family again. I will never see Jacob again. I will never get to tell Jacob how much I love him and how sorry I am for leaving. If given a second chance I would never leave the safety and comfort of his arms. I had to believe that heaven was real, even for someone like me. My heaven would be in Jacob's arms. That is something to look forward to about dying. 

 The leaves around me crunched as River walked closer and closer until he was standing above me. 

"You know, you could view this as me doing you a favor." He taunted, squatting down to look down upon me. 

"A favor?" I coughed, how could this possibly be him doing me a favor? He must truly be crazy. 

"Well don't you see, love? What you are is not natural. You are an abomination, you always have been. And then your little wolf imprinted on you making you even more of a disgusting freak than you already were." He taunted, standing up and kicking me in the ribs. I groaned in pain and wrapped my arms around my knees in a fruitless attempt to try to hold myself together. He knew everything. How long had he been watching me? I had never told him about Jacob. 

"Don't talk about Jacob like that." I said through wheezes. My lungs burned and I felt like I was already dying, but I knew for that I'd have to be ripped apart and burned. So for now, I was just being tortured. 

"If you were normal this wouldn't hurt you so badly." He teased, kicking my lower spine making me gasp in pain. "But, you're just a monstrosity. Something that never should've existed in the first place." His words hurt me more than I'd ever care to admit. I cried softly as pain coursed through my body. 

"Goodnight, Renesmee." He growled before delivering another blow directly to the back of my head. After that, everything went black.