"Nessie," I heard, the echo playing off the tall tree trunks in the forest, murmuring in my ears, carried on the shoulders of a light breeze.
A smile crept over my lips, my eyes still closed.
I knew he was very far away, so far away his husky voice shouldn't be audible to me, to anyone, but it was, as if he were standing right here next to me, seeking me out, it being our new and improved version of hide-and-seek.
Which was the upside to being half-vampire, half-human, I always got to win.
"Nessie." The voice chimed, much more closely and more insistent as if eager, which he probably was, knowing him. My eyes snapped open, my body moving before my brain had progressed its actions, my speed blurring to the naked eye as I weaved through the forest as silent as, well, a vampire.
I sprang over bushes and scurried up one of my favorite trees, the one my father had told me he'd taken my mother up before Turning her into another 'blood sucker,' as Jake used to call us. My mom still found it insulting whereas Uncle Emmet just cracked a smile when mentioned.
I grabbed onto the highest branch, swinging my legs up, dangling, the ground at least a one hundred-foot drop.
A moment of complete silence followed as I looked around, waiting in an anticipation that has still refused to fade, bringing with it a sense of anxiety and protectiveness.
Then, finally, the brush nearby rustled and he emerged, his skin the perfect setting to the forest-dark tan and woody.
His deep dark irises skidded up to me as he crossed his arms and continued to stare. "No fair," he called, after ridding his hair of twigs and leafy mulch. "You know that tree hates me."
"It doesn't hate you," I said, "It just provides me with the advantage since you're huge."
Most people would find a comment like that insulting, but it wasn't a lie. Jacob was massive; a towering young adult who looked anything but the twenty three year old he'd become, his arms wrapped in muscle, his hair cropped short and black, his tattoo imbedded in his skin gleaming bright and proud on his shoulder.
frayed cut-off jeans and shirtless.
I'd have to remember not to mention that part to mom.
"Come down here!" he called back up, trying to suppress the tinge of mock annoyance in his voice- and failing.
I contemplated on that for a moment, marveling at the serenity of the forest, its mass visible from here, just a sea of green points. "Hmm, I don't think so," I finally replied, crossing my legs up onto a branch as if it were a couch instead of the only thing preventing me from dropping a hundred feet and colliding with the ground. "Gotta catch me first."
His groan was even audible from here. "No, last time I checked, the game implies me having to find you, hence hide-and-seek. And besides, Edward would be pretty pissed if I broke his tree. He's quite fond of that tree."
I sighed, watching intently as the overhead of dark clouds cascaded and enveloped the blue, threatening its fit of tears. I rolled my eyes, in plain sight. "Now, if the circumstances were anything normal, I'd tell you to blame it On Uncle Emmet or Seth but the mind-reading would be a pretty dead giveaway," I mumbled,returning my gaze down at his massive, but small from here, figure.
He threw his hands up in agitation, turning around in a full circle before glancing back up to my nestled body. "Please, Nessie, come down."
I ground my teeth. Oh no. He was doing that whiny thing he tended to do when wanting something, the manipulating technique, the technique Seth had improved after 'inadvertently' using it on the girl he'd imprinted on, Maia. Probably the effects of being a werewolf amplified over the years.
I stood up, the wood bouncing ever so slightly beneath my toes, the wind more aggressive from here due to the higher altitude. I stayed put for a few moments, revelling in the small joy of my affective ways to conquer Jacob. There were so few in which I could win fairly at his games.
Then, with a sigh, I let go of the branch-
and dropped.
The world blurred past me, a wash of green and ground before landing on another branch, my left foot hovering over the deadened and trampled pine needles, just inches from the forest floor.
"You know I hate it when you do that."
"Which is precisely why I did it," I said, feigning annoyance then looking at him before walking up to his huge body, comforted by the feel of his skin as I pressed the palm of my hand to his cheek.
Immediately his eyes grew wide as I placed different images inside his mind, consisting of random things such as Aunt Alice singing to herself, Aunt Rosalie glaring at her husband, Uncle Jasper trying to disguise a laugh after mom retold the story of beating Uncle Emmet at arm wrestling, him denying with loud protests, explaining how he'd LET her win.
No matter how many times I did this, Jacob never seemed to get tired of it.
And, finally, the one of me so young, so small when the Volturi came, my mother placing me onto Jake's back, ready to ride me to safety and away from my family, doing it all for me.
"Thank you," he whispered, looking down at me with his deep, dark eyes.
I smiled. "You're welcome."