Hi there! I'd like to thank you for coming to take a look at my story. I hope you like it. =) If you don't, tell me why. I would love some good critics. Seriously.
I'm new to the writing scene and want to the best I can possibly do. I'd also love to improve my writing skills if I have any to begin with.
By the way, I am looking for a Beta Reader. I contacted quite a few when I was typing the first parts of this story and sent them my documents, but none of them ever contacted me back. ='(
Either my story was that awful or they just hate me.
I'm also looking for a Twilight expert that I may consult. My memory leaves out many details I'm sure are probably important to the story. I'm sorry if I make mistakes on someone's hair color or character. I'm trying to make it as little as OOC as possible. (I read the first three all at once when Eclipse came out last year. I apologize in advance because I hardly remember anything. I never read the fourth, didn't want to destroy the ending I had in mind. And I reeeally don't want to reread them.)
Please read! Please reveiew! Please enjoy!
I DON'T OWN THE TWILIGHT SERIES IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM. IT ALL BELONGS TO STEPHENIE MEYER. BUT MY OC IS MINE AS WELL AS THE PLOT LINE. SO NO STEALIE.
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"Hi…dad,'" said Jacob quietly as he entered his home. He was filthy, his hair hung in strands around his face, and the clothing that had evidently survived his 'escape' run was tattered, desperately clinging to its owner. Billy Black looked up at his son from the kitchen table where he had previously been conversing with Sue Clearwater. He smiled softly at the young man and motioned for him to come closer.
Jacob slowly approached his father and wrapped his long arms around the seated elder. As he began to pull away, Billy held him close for a second before whispering into his son's ear.
"It's good to have you back Jake." Jacob nodded at him and retreated to his room. He did not answer his father until he was safely behind the closed door, away from concerned eyes.
"It doesn't feel good to be back, dad," he replied, before heading towards the bathroom for a much needed shower.
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It was around seven in the evening in the area surrounding the La Push reservation. The air was quiet, the forest still. In the sky overhead, dark thunderheads rolled across, their mass blocking out the horizon approaching sun. This is where they lived. This is where those creatures that were thought only to exist among the pages of horror books came alive. They were feared and revered by those who knew of their secret. They were werewolves and this was their land. Or was it? The werewolves went back hundreds of years into the past with their Quileute tales but there was another ancient besides the wolves and cold ones who roamed this land. Well, not exactly roamed. It more, like, slept.
A howl interrupted the silence. It was soon echoed by the reply of another, and another. The night filled with the chorus of wolves' voices. But we all know they're not really just wolves, right?
It had been two months since Jacob Black had received that wedding invitation. It had been one week since he had returned from his 'vacation'. The pack had decided to let him rest for awhile when he came home. They assumed he still needed a little time. It was quite obvious that he did. When he had first walked in to the door of his home, Billy could recall Jake's look of 'a kicked puppy', no pun intended.
So it was his first night out back on patrol shift. He didn't want to sulk in his room anymore but by the way the other wolves were complaining they were probably still wishing he was.
'For God's sake, Jake! If you're going to keep forcing the image of Bella with fangs in our heads why don't you at least make her naked or something?' Embry's thoughts echoed into Jacob's mind. Jake answered with a low growl and was quickly interrupted by Sam.
'Don't even start you two. Jacob, are you sure you're okay for tonight's shift?' Jacob nodded his large wolf head and remembered they could not see him.
'Yeah, I'm perfectly fine.'
'Then go patrol around the mountain border.'
Jacob nodded again and began to lope in the direction of the mountainous region of their territory. This was the exact place the wolf pack and the Cullen family vampires allied together to kill off Victoria and her minions. The same Cullen family that Bella was probably now a part of. He shivered.
As he hopped up the edges of the cliff side, he began to wonder if Sam had meant to send him here or if was coincidental. No, Sam sent him here, most likely to let himself think more. He phased to his human form to offer himself, and the others, more privacy.
He pulled on the sweat pants that had previously been wrapped around his leg and continued to scramble up the cliff in his new skin, not at all as graceful as before. As he reached for the next handhold his fingers scraped against a sharp edge, drawing blood and a curse from Jacob. His outburst in turn startled a Golden Eagle, which had been roosting on that very ledge, into the dark sky. Its retreating outline was illuminated as a bolt of lightening streaked overhead. Jake wondered briefly when it would start to rain. He glanced at the bird circling above him warily, before pulling himself up the rest of the way. White feathers covered the place, obviously not from the golden predator that had taken off. Jake silently mused if the bird had gotten a dove or something. He stooped to pick up one of the longer, stiffer, flight feathers. He twirled the feather between his fingers before he realized that his blood was dying it red. Disgusted, he immediately dropped it. He watched as it slowly floated towards the Earth, landing soundlessly upon the rocky surface.
When it brushed against the ledge, lightening suddenly struck the mountain side and the Earth shook beneath him. Jake was forced to his knees as the very mountain seemed to be cracking. Over the rumbling, he could hear the sounds of every bird screeching within a four mile radius. He could also hear the cries of wolves, normal ones, the roars of mountain lions and even some bears. But as quickly as it had begun it suddenly stopped. Jake reluctantly stood, uncovering his head from his arms. He glanced warily at the valley below him before turning around to the mountain before him. What he saw made him cringe.
A foot wide fissure had appeared in the mountain side, and narrowed to a close where the side met the ledge. He sniffed the air and curled his lip. It was a sweet scent that was being emitted from the crack, the kind like that of vampires but not quite as nauseating as the leeches' smell. If he had fur at the moment, it probably would have been raised.
Deciding not to wait for Sam and the others, if they were even going to come, he squeezed himself into the small space. Even sideways it was still pressuring. Eventually though, the crack opened up within the mountainside, to a larger cavern.
"I didn't know there was cave here…" Jacob whispered aloud. He then reminded himself, there probably wasn't until a few moments ago. He wondered if the shaking had been from the lightening…or perhaps a brief, coincidental earth quake. They weren't unheard of on the West Coast. However, he was pretty sure mountains splitting were.
As he went deeper, he realized the cavern was lit with a strange glow that seemed to be emanating from the walls. The sweet scent grew stronger as he did and he had to cover his sensitive nose with his arm. Soon enough, the cave ended in a seemingly large room. It also seemed like the glow from the walls originated from here, the scent of vampires as well.
Jacob began to walk to the other side of the cave's room, where a large shadow was cast on the wall. He couldn't tell what was causing said shadow and slowly peered into the darkness, his eyes adjusting to the limited light. What he saw wasn't anything he could have ever imagined.
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Jacob got himself out of the cavern quickly, even for a guy who could barely fit through the exit. He swiftly phased and called the pack. It seemed they had been worrying about him for quite sometime. They had felt the Earth shudder too.
'What's going on?' Embry asked as soon as the rest of the wolves had reached the ledge.
'There's…there's something weird in there. Really weird. You have to see it for yourself.'
He motioned for them to follow him into the cavern and they all phased to squeeze through the tight space. As soon as they had reached the large opening it was back to wolves again. They, too, curled their lips at the scent.
They followed Jacob warily to the last area of the cave and towards the ominous shadow he had met earlier. Once they reached it, Sam moved forward cautiously, sticking his nose first into the darkness.
It turned out that it wasn't a shadow at all. It was another part of the cave, a small enough space for one man to walk through with his shoulders grazing the walls. It was also incredibly dark, as the eerie light from the cave walls seemed reluctant to enter this area, like the wolves were. Sam bravely pushed forward and stood still while his pupils gathered every particle of light available. Even as a wolf, you could see his shocked expression.
Within the dark little alcove, a piece of the wall had been carved out in an angle with the top leaning the farthest away, a sort of an upright bed. Within the bed lay a girl clothed in a long white gown, somewhat resembling a toga. It was tattered, torn and it looked centuries old. The girl, however, did not. She appeared around the age of fifteen or sixteen. She had messy, almost white blonde hair that fell in gentle waves all the way to her waist with a few bangs sweeping across her face. Speaking of her face, it was heart shaped with high cheekbones. If her skin wasn't so pale and her hair so light, her facial structure could've passed her off as a Native American. Her lips were a bleached, peachy color. She was neither ugly nor beautiful, however, her face was not one you fell in love with at first sight. She looked ghostly and reminded more than one wolf of the deadly leeches they had battled just a few months ago. Yet somehow, she was completely different with her unremarkable features in contrast to the vampires' ethereal beauty.
However, the girl wasn't what the wolves were gaping at. It was the five inch furry ears that erupted from the top of her head that everyone was staring at. They were white and resembled the ears closely that of a wolf.
'Are those what I think they are?' asked Embry.
'Nah…they can't be…it must be some kind of trick,'' replied Quil.
'You can't possibly mean that you think those are some kind of Pull-A-Rabbit-Out-Of-A-Hat kind of thing do you?' accused Paul, snorting. About three different people told him to shut up.
Much more brave with the pack behind him, Jake shouldered his way around Sam and took a brave step toward the girl. Reaching his bloody paw up, he nudged her foot and watched in horror as the splattered blood on her ankle was just absorbed by her skin. He began to back away when he found himself frozen to the spot. He could hear distant rumbling and realized, fearfully, that it was the mountain again. The wolves yelped out and he heard several pairs of paws running away. The Earth shuddered again and Jacob felt his gaze lifted upwards to the girl. As he watched, the mountain groaning around him, her eyes shot open, revealing a blood red color. She released a screech and threw herself away from the angled wall.
At the sound of her scream, the mountain ceased its tantrum and Jacob shivered. The girl flopped to the ground ungracefully, her legs clearly not used in some time. She clawed at the cave floor and glanced up at the frozen wolf hovering over her. She reached out, grabbed a handful of fur and pulled her towards him and slowly, but surely, pierced a pair of fangs into his skin. Jacob yelped and was soon lost to a sudden black wave.
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He was floating, flying…in absolutely nothing but was a part of everything. He wondered briefly if he was in the spirit world like that of his ancestor, Taha Aki. He felt so at peace. Where was he? Suddenly, he could feel himself being pulled away from this serene heaven and back to his body.
Jacob awoke with a start and sprang to his feet, that he noted were human's. He was still in the cave that was now miraculously sealed of course. He growled and saw neither pack nor girl…that is, until he turned around.
She glanced at him with a raised brow before smirking. "I'd have to say that I like your mortal form more than your furry skin," she mused aloud, speaking with a strange accent he couldn't place. He growled in response.
"You…you're a bloodsucking leech! A vampire!" he hissed, narrowing his eyes and wrinkling his nose.
The girl cocked her head. Her crimson eyes took on a confused look.
"Vampire?" she questioned. Jacob growled again and shuddered. He was beginning to phase.
"Don't play dumb! I can smell it all over you. Blood and that stupid sweet scent!" he yelled at her. She shrank back a little. She still looked uncertain to what he was speaking of. She shook her head at him.
"I really don't know what you're talking about. What is a vampire?" she inquired. Jacob roared and stomped towards her, grabbed her neck, and lifted her off the ground.
"Just shut up leech! You fucking bit me! Who would do that besides a..," he paused in mid sentence as his eyes widened. And his hand went to his neck where he was certain her fangs had pierced him. He only felt two little bumps that itched slightly; however, there was no burning. They only irritated him as much as a mosquito bite would. His fingers hovered over the bite.
'But…she bit me…' he thought within the confines of his mind…or so he thought.
'Yes…I did but my bite is harmless unless you are a kudlak. There is no venom in my fangs.' Jacob glared at the girl, her face held a slightly amused expression. He realized that his chokehold would do nothing to her; leeches didn't breathe, and promptly threw her against the opposite wall. She grunted as she made impact, clumsily stood up, and leaned against the cave. Then she said something that Jacob thought he would never hear from a leech in a thousand years.
"I apologize, fellow krsnik. I did not mean to invade your mind when it is strictly forbidden to unless we're in our spirit forms, however, I was very confused as to what you were speaking of and I thought your mind might present me with some answers. I'm also sorry for stealing some of your blood. It has been many days since I have had any nourishment. I did not mean to anger you so.", she bowed, as if to validate her sincere apology. He cocked his head in a very dog-like manner.
"What the hell are you talking about, wench? Cruise-necks and mind reading. What kind of vampire are you?" She flashed him another quizzical look.
"I'm not a vampire. I'm a krsnik…like you…," she perked a brow. He gaped at her.
"I am no leech! And what the hell is a cruise neck? And you are too a vampire! You just admitted to stealing my blood!"
"It's krsnik! Krsnik! You are one wolf boy! And what the hell IS a cruise neck? And vampire for that matter?!"
"I am not a cruise neck!"
"KRSNIK! And yes you are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"HA!" she laughed and pointed her finger at him. "I got you!" Jake was beyond his patience capabilities and his anger quickly took control. He phased before her and she screamed as he knocked her back to the ground. Jake placed his open jaws just mere inches above the vital area of her throat. She crossed her arms over her face in defense. "You can't do that! You're not allowed to attack other krsnik! It's strictly forbidden!" She paused and peeked out from under her arm shield. "Wait… how did you wander on your own like that? Is it twilight?" She looked around at the rocky walls surrounding her, realized she didn't have a view of the outside world, and turned her face back to Jacob. "Whoa…now that I think about it, where is your body?"
While she rambled about what Jacob had no clue about, he realized that while she reeked of leeches, there was another scent below it that was her own.
It was true that she smelled like a bloodsucker but…her scent was kind of like the woods after a big thunderstorm. He could only describe it as electrified water. Jake cocked his head, backed away and returned to his human form. The whole scene happened so quickly he didn't even acknowledge all the worried thoughts that reverberated through his mind while he had been a wolf. He held up his hands in the air.
"Okay, I surrender. I am officially and utterly confused. So start explaining. Now. Before I rip you to pieces. You may not exactly be a vampire but you sure do reek of one. I can justify my killing you with that."
The girl backed away considerably. He sat himself across from her and cleared his throat. She turned back around, her eyes still clinging to the fear they had previously held. Jake didn't break the glare he had directed at her, even though she was looking at her lap. He cleared his throat again and she looked up, a blush coming to her face.
"Er. Sorry. I'm just not that well at talking about…why don't you just ask questions?" He perked a brow but obliged anyway.
"Fine. First things first. Your name, leech?"
"Why should I tell you if you're just going to keep calling me leech?"
"Would you prefer that I call you leech?"
"Iaera." He blinked at her.
"Huh?"
"That's my name. Iaera."
"That's a weird name." She scowled and her ears flattened against her head. Jake had to resist the urge to touch them. (I stole this from InuYasha, I have to admit.)
"Oh yeah? What's yours then?" she inquired.
"Jacob." She laughed but quickly shut up when he glared. She turned her gaze away. "Well, that's a weird name too." He grunted and continued his interrogation.
"Age?"
"16," she replied.
"And for how long have you been 16?" he asked, his voice getting slightly colder as he did so. She glanced back at him and murmured something that she assumed he wouldn't hear… but he was a werewolf after all.
"Since 1428?! You're not 16 at all then!" He quickly did the math in his head and couldn't help but let his jaw drop. "You're 594 years old!" It was now her turn to gape. "What?! I am not! I'm only 449 years old!" she exclaimed, as if she was an old lady trying to lessen the appearance of her wrinkles. The ones she didn't have of course. He looked at her like she was an idiot.
"Can you not do the math?" he asked, incredulously. Again, it was her turn to look at him as if he were the real fool.
"Define math. I've never heard that term before." He sighed.
"Mathematics. You know…Numbers and arithmetic. That stuff."
"Of course not. I'm a girl, stupid. I don't know any numbers," she calmly replied.
"What does that have to do with you being a girl?"
"We're don't learn numbers and reading. What is wrong with you? You should know this." Jake furrowed his brows and put a hand to his face.
'I'm even more confused than I was before,' he thought.
'You and me both.'
He looked up at her. "Would you stop doing that?!" She quickly apologized and looked away sheepishly. He groaned and rubbed his temples. He just wasn't getting this.
"Okay next question. Where were you born?"
"In Krst."
"And where the hell is this Crust?" She sighed.
"Krst," she repeated, "is my village. I don't know where it is."
"How could you not know where you live?"
"How could you possibly think I do know? I don't know numbers after all," she replied smugly, scrunching up the space between her two brows.
"Well….what was it like there? Are there any other towns nearby?"
"Well it was always cold, there were lots of trees, and mountains. And no, we were the only one around for miles." Cold, trees, mountains. He assumed that she had been in the northern hemisphere…and with her accent, probably not from this side of the globe…somewhere in the Eurasia area? Before he could begin to zero in on any areas he suspected, she continued on with her explanation. "But he took me to somewhere really warm, and sandy. It was always so hot and my skin always burned." He glanced up from his thought train.
"He? Who's he?" Iaera suddenly got a cold look in her eyes.
"His name was Miguel. May his soul be tortured by Veles for an eternity," she replied and smirked. Jacob shook his head and sighed.
"This is just too much. You need to talk to Sam. He can figure this out." He glanced around him, noting the whole 'no exit' thing. He groaned.
"You know, you sure do make a lot of negative noises," Iaera pointed out. He growled at her. "See?" He threw his hands to the air.
"Shut up!" She apologized for about the hundredth time and began to pout. 'First krsnik I meet after leaving my village and he turns out to be the unhappiest soul in the world. This isn't fun at all.'
On the other hand, Jacob felt guilty after blowing up at her. He scratched the back of his head. "You don't have to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm just really frustrated right now."
"Why are you frustrated?" she inquired.
"Because a leech stole my girl, the pack thinks I'm getting weak, my dad probably thinks I'm irresponsible, and I'm stuck in a small space with a vampire chick who doesn't smell like a vampire but bites like one, has freaky ears on her head and who likes to argue immensely." Iaera crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him.
"I highly resent that statement. Actually, I have no clue what the first part was about but the latter of it I didn't like. I don't like to argue."
"Yes you do."
"I do not!" Jacob smirked at her and waved his hand between them, indicating the small argument that had just taken place.
"Well you're a liar," she told him. Jacob placed his face in a 'huh' expression.
"The hell you talking about?"
"You said you're stuck in a small space with me. We're not stuck in here."
"And you have a way out then?" She shrugged.
"Maybe, maybe not." He smacked a palm to his forehead.
"What will it take for you to get us out of here?"
"An apology?" she replied, sticking her nose into the air.
"I'm sorry for saying you're a vampire chick who doesn't smell like a vampire but bites like one and that has freaky ears." Iaera eyed him evilly, mentally noting that she would get back at him for not mentioning the 'who likes to argue immensely' part. She shrugged again.
"Eh. Good enough." Jake smirked.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Jacob broke it, his frustration building up once again. Werewolves were so short tempered.
"Well are you going to get us out of here or not?!" She raised a brow, held up her hands, and motioned to her body. He raised a brow of his own. She sighed.
"I'm clearly still here, Jacob. You must be blind."
"What the hell are you talking about now? Of course you're still here! Where else would you be?"
"In my spirit form and you can plainly see that I am not since my body is still upright and I am speaking through it.'
"Spirit form? What the hell is that? And why do you need to be in your spirit form to- oh God. Just forget it. My brain hurts. So does that mean we have to wait for you to get us out of here?"
"Just until twilight."
"Twilight. You mean sunset? That shouldn't be long. It was on its way to the horizon when I first came up..," His statement came to a halt when he realized the wolf ears atop her head slowly rose and a white wolf head snaked out of Iaera's body. Iaera's human body promptly dropped to the side as the spirit wolf, Jacob immediately dubbed it, hovered in the air above her for a moment, before it landed on the cavern floor with a thump. Jacob realized that in the split seconds that it had taken for the wolf to morph out of Iaera's body, that the spirit had suddenly became solid.
"What the fuck was that?!" He gaped at the white wolf, stunned. It was the size of a normal wolf but it had blood red eyes, just like Iaera.
'My wandering. Why do you look so confused? You did it earlier even though yours was kind of… weird,' a voice very similar to Iaera's responded, in Jacob's mind.
"Is that you? How are you doing that anyway? Are you the wolf? Crap. I'm thinking again. Get me out of here!"
The white wolf cocked her head at him, and showed her teeth, as if grinning. She leaped up into the air and Jacob was immediately reminded of the white feather, as the wolf slowly floated down to the ground and alighted on one forepaw. The cavern began to groan as if it was under immense pressure and he watched in awe as the wall began to open again to the remainder of the cave and the exit outside. As soon as the cave stopped rumbling his pack rushed in and surrounded Jacob, Iaera's human form, and Iaera wolf version. Jake phased and was bombarded with questions as soon as the transformation was complete.
'What happened? Are you okay?'
'Her scent is on you. Did she bite you?'
'Did you knock her out or something? Why didn't you kill her?'
'Where did that wolf come from? One of her evil minions?'
'SHUT UP!' he screamed and the others complied. 'Look. I have no clue what is going on. But she isn't a leech. She's something else. Something…more weird and she keeps saying all these strange words and she's like a million years old-' he was interrupted by…you guessed it. Iaera herself.
'I have to object to that. I already told you I'm only 449.' Everyone glanced at the human form lying unconscious on the ground.
'Did she just…?' Quil began.
'Talk in our mental chat room?' Embry supplied.
'Unconscious?' Seth added.
'Um. No. It's impossible to talk unconscious,' she laughed. 'Wow. There sure a lot of wolf krsnik here, huh? I'm the only one where I come from.' The pack swiveled their gazes to the small white wolf, who looked like an action figure next to them. 'Hi there!' She flashed them her wolfy grin. Sam was the first to speak.
'Krsnik?' Iaera's grin disappeared. Her disappointment showed clearly, even on the face of a wolf.
'Why does no one know what that is? And I thought I was uneducated.' Several wolves growled including the temperamental Paul.
'Like I said…she's really…weird,' Jacob repeated.
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THANK YOU! If you're reading this it means you finished the first chapter to my first story, yaaay!
Pronunciation Key;
Krsnik= (Kris-nick)
Krst= (Krist) Like Chris with a 't'. Not Christ as in Jesus Christ.
Kudlak= (Kood-lak)
Iaera= (Eye-ay-rah)
And about the Twilight consultant thing, just send it in a review if you want to be one. Please. Please please please.
And the Beta Reader job as well. =D
Or perhaps you would just like to critique my stories and point out improvement areas. That would be just as spiffy. Show me my flaws I beg of you!
PLEASE REVIEW FOR JACOB'S SAKE. OR I WILL KILL HIM AND YOUR CHARACTER OF PREFERENCE AT THE END, I SWEAR IT.
Maybe. But if you review you don't have to worry. =D
Do it do it!
Love, Jack the Cat
