LONG NIGHT

Ring-ring! Ring-ring! Ring-ring! The phone rang. I snored, then rolled over on my too-small bed. The action made me fall off my mattress, and I abruptly woke up. I heard Billy pick up the phone. I glanced at my clock. Who would be calling at this hour?

"Hi, Charlie. How's it going?" He mumbled, half-asleep himself.

Charlie? Did something happen to Bella? I got up and pressed my ear to my bedroom door. Whatever Charlie was saying didn't sound like good news. I heard Billy suck in his breath. He muttered something that I couldn't make out. I couldn't stand it anymore; I staggered out into the kitchen. Billy took no notice of me.

"Absolutely. I'll send out Sam."

Sam? What the hell was going on?

"Dad, what happened? Is Charlie okay? Let me come."

Billy saw right through me.

"Jake, stay home. You need your sleep. Bella's lost in the woods right now. Apparently, the Cullen boy left her there."

Damn Cullen. I was so pissed that I ignored Billy and walked right out the back door. Billy didn't try to stop me.

The air was cool outside. I wished my Volkswagen was finished. I broke into a run.

By the time I got to the Swans' house, it was already 3 in the morning. All the cars were starting to pull away. I walked through their front door, but Mrs. Stanley told me that Bella was sleeping, that she was okay. As long as she was okay, that was all that mattered to me. I felt relief.

I started walking home. A pair of headlights flashed by me, and I heard Mr. Weber.

"Hey, Jacob. Did you need a ride home?"

I was already exhausted, so I opened the passenger door of his car.

"Thanks, Mr. Weber. What exactly happened?"

Mr. Weber's face was grim.

"Well, it seems that…Bella took a walk in the woods behind the house with Edward Cullen, and she didn't come back after a while…she left a note saying where she was, but she never came back…"

I knew it. The filthy bloodsucker. I could feel my anger in my veins. But then, I felt better, knowing that the Cullens were gone. My emotions confused me.

"…and all of the Cullens left. We'll definitely miss Dr. Cullen…"

Whoa. What was that? All of them left? Even Dr. Fang? This had to make Bella unhappy.

Suddenly, Sam and his crew strolled by on the sidewalk. I became even more pissed off. What gave them the right to come here? Mr. Weber saw my expression as I glared at them.

"…Sam was the one who found Bella in the woods. They must know the forest really well…"

I kept a poker face all the way home.

I thanked Mr. Weber for the ride, then immediately fell back asleep. It felt like I'd been up forever.

After I got home from school the next day, I fooled around with Quil and Embry in the garage. We talked about Sam and his crew. Quil felt like Sam was always staring at him weird, giving him the creeps. That's exactly how I felt, too.

Life fell back into its normal rhythm—school, homework, fixing the Rabbit, school, homework, the garage. I went back to my normal routine. I still worried about Bella in the back of my mind.

However, Charlie kept calling Billy, pleading for help; apparently Bella was in a zombie-like stage. We had no idea what to do, or what it felt like. Neither Rachel nor Rebecca had ever dealt with this before. Bella wasn't sleeping, eating, reading…nothing! All she did was go to school, work her shift at Newton's' Outfitters…and that was it. She didn't even socialize with her other school friends anymore. Huh. The leech must have sucked her dry when they left. How could he hurt her so badly? How could he inflict pain on someone like Bella? What kind of monster was he? I hated Edward Cullen.

At La Push, Sam and his crew threw bonfires at night on the beach, probably celebrating the parasites' absence. I felt fury for them, too. They were celebrating what hurt Bella. It was so sick.

Charlie called even more constantly, saying that Bella didn't want to see anyone. As much as I wanted to see her again, I knew that I should give her time and space. Billy didn't forbid me from going to Forks anymore, but it felt wrong to go see Bella now, in her zombie stage. She didn't smile anymore, either, according to Charlie. I tried not to worry about her too much, knowing that when the time was right, she would be healed.

Autumn, then winter passed. The rain pelted down, along with hail the size of golf balls. Snow started to fall, too. The weather reflected on my mood exactly.