"Carter, I don't want to stay here," I begged as we stood in the cave. "I don't want to be here alone with these witches." I looked around at these strange faces all judging me silently as I argued with the most well-known and feared vampire in the forest.

"I know that I do baby. Trust me, my heart is breaking right now watching you cry, but I can't risk you being out there. My allies tell me that Leon is extremely weak thanks to Jake, and I have to take this opportunity, or I'm afraid he will defeat us with Jake gone now. He did this for a reason, and I have to do this in honor of him. I have to avenge my friend," he cupped my face in his big hands. "Baby, the last thing I want to do right now is leave you, but I must finish what Jake started. That boy just slaughtered my brother to protect you. Leon is barely alive right now."

"Why did he have to die, Carter? Why did he.."

"Because that vampire adored you and he knew that this was his destiny. This was his path all along and he fought to the death to protect you." Carter cut me off before I could finish my question. "That is what a family does. We protect each other. If he had not fought Leon last night, he would certainly have done it in the future and he would have died protecting you. That is why I trusted him with my life and yours," he kissed my cheek. "I'm sorry you are feeling such pain." he closed his eyes. "If I had gotten there sooner."

"You could have died as well. If you had stayed there, Carter, you would be dead right now, and I don't think I could handle that." Tears filled my eyes again as I looked up at his handsome face. "I couldn't take any more pain that would have killed me. If you had died as well ..."

"Baby, it's ok," he pulled me towards his chest. "I'm here," he kissed my head softly. "I will always be here for you." His voice was quiet and soft. "I hate seeing you cry."

"Please, don't leave me here. I don't want to be here with strangers. I want to be with you," I cried. "I just want to go home with..." I started sobbing again at the thought of going home without Jake. "Jake..." I cried, holding Carter tighter.

Carter didn't say anything. He just sat there and let me cry on his shoulder. I was broken, and he knew nothing he could say right now was going to fix it.

"I love you," he kept whispering to me. "I will always love you," he kept telling me like he was trying to remind me. "I'm so sorry." I don't know how long I sat on that floor with him. I don't know how many times he told me he loved me. I don't know when my sadness suddenly turned to anger, but I do know at this moment in time, Leon has to pay for what he took from me.

"You promise me you will make Leon pay," I said, sitting up suddenly. "Promise me. You will make him feel my pain for taking Jake from me. You promise me you will bring me Leon's head," I said, almost shaking.

"I will make him pay for every single one of the tears you shed and for taking our friend. I will make him beg for his life before I take it from him. I will make him pay for threatening you, and I will bring you his head. I promise you." Carter said, running his hands through my hair. "I will make the land run red with his blood tonight."

I smiled at him. "I want to see him die, Carter."

He started to say something but stopped.

"I want to be the last thing that animal sees before he dies. I want to tell him something."

"Baby, I don't think..."

"Carter, if I were a vampire right now, this wouldn't be an issue. I'm still me inside this body, and I want to see him dead," I said through my teeth. "Please."

He placed his lips on mine softly. "As you wish sunshine," he whispered on my lips. "For you, I will do anything."

"Thank you," I kissed him again. "Thank you."

He pulled me close to him. "As much as this pains me, I have to go."

"No, not yet," I threw my arms around his neck. "I'm not ready yet."

"I'm not either baby," he said softly into my neck. "I will never be ready to leave you, but I must."

"How am I supposed to stay here without you? Without...him?"

He looked up at me on his lap. "I have organized for someone to stay with you, but I don't know how you are going to react to this"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I have someone who very much wants to see if you are ok, but it may come as a shock to you. I trust him with my life. Don't get me wrong."

"Carter, what are you talking about? It's not Vinnie, is it?"

He made a face and pressed his lips together. "Hell no, I wouldn't trust that traitor to look after my shoe, let alone you. No, absolutely not."

"Then, who?

"Well, it's ...."

"Hey Ebony, I heard what happened to, well me. I'm so sorry. I thought I could stay with you and talk. If that's ok, of course?" I turned my whole body slowly to the voice I had been longing to hear since I saw him attack Leon last night in the forest. Tears rolled down my cheek as I stared into the big blue eyes of Jake. He was not my Jake, but he was most certainly Jake.

"Oh my goodness," I cried out, covering my mouth in complete shock, disbelief, and happiness. "Jake?" I stood up slowly, not taking my eyes off him.

"I know you must be really upset right now, but I want to help. My future self seemed like a complete douche, but he cared about you. He told me if anything ever happened to him, then I needed to be there for you because it will be, and I quote 'the most devastating thing to ever happen in the history of the world' or some shit like that. He said you would change my life forever, and I would never have anyone more special than you." he ran his hand through his blonde hair nervously. "I don't know why, but I feel like I need to be here right now. I felt the moment I was killed, and I felt something else too. I felt this longing to be near you and look after you. I have these strange pictures in my head that just don't make sense and they are all of you and me." He looked confused as he scratched his head. "I have so many questions for you. Like, did I make a life-size statue of your naked body using mash potato and sprinkles?" he raised his eyebrow sharply.

I just nodded my head slightly remembering the night we were locked up in the mansion waiting for news about Carter and bored senseless.

"Huh, and boss man didn't kill me? That doesn't make sense." He looked away even more confused than he was before.

"Bossman didn't know about that," Carter grumbled behind me.

"That makes more sense." Jake nodded satisfied with that answer. "So, I take it all these other pictures in my head are true as well?" Jake tried to give me a smile. "Ebony, are you ok with this?" His smile dropped as I did not react to him. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. The only thing I could do is cry and stare into the eyes of my dead best friend as I covered my mouth in complete disbelief.

"Do you want a hug or something? I think I remember how to do those." Jake said, nervously.

"No," I snapped at him.

"Oh, ok. Sorry. I'll just go." Jake looked down to the ground and started to walk away. "Sorry boss man," he said walking past Carter and towards the entrance of the cave.

My heart felt like it literally stopped in my chest as I watched Jake walk away. "Wait," I called to him.

Jake turned around slowly and looked back at me.

"I know you are not my Jake." I saw his face drop at my words. "But, I would like the chance to know who you are. You were everything to me, and I would give anything to have you back." I wiped my tears. "I prayed for you to come home with me and I had all but given up on that happening but here you are, good as new." I smiled remembering my lost friend. "Look at you."

"I'm still me, Ebony. I'm still the same vampire you knew I'm just the younger more handsome version." He said winking at me just like he always did. "Why would you want the old version when you could have all of this?" Jake did a twirl and posed as he smiled. "I'm still me."

I closed my eyes and smiled as I let all of this sink in. "Can I hug you right now?" I opened my eyes to see him smiling straight back at me.

"I think I can manage that," Jake shrugged. He held out his arms, and without hesitation, I ran into them and crashed against his broad chest, just like I did before. The tears rolled down my cheeks as I held him close to me. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his cheek on my head.

"It's ok. I'm pretty shocked about all this too. It's not every day you learn you're dead, again," he said with a slight laugh. "Apparently, I'm invincible. I challenge anyone to try and kill me." He boasted.

I smiled against his chest and took in big breaths trying to calm my racing heart.

"Sorry, that was probably too soon for death jokes. My bad."

"No, that was Jake. That was my Jake, he had no filter." I smiled slightly looking up at him.

"Huh. You're shorter than I remember," Jake laughed looking down at me with a smirk.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes at him.

"Never," he replied with a chuckle.

"Good," I held him a little closer. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, this is the most action I've gotten in weeks," he chuckled. "Although if anyone else asked we totally did it and you loved every minute of it."

"I missed you," I laughed, hitting his chest.

———

A/N

Awww! 💝