I ran. As hard and fast as my body would allow. My arms pumped at my sides, legs propelling me forward. Sweat made my shirt cling to my back, the sticky summer air was so thick it was almost hard to breathe and the whole time, the hair at the back of my neck stood on end. Something was wrong. And it made me run faster.
They couldn't catch me, that was for sure. I couldn't let them catch me or the plan would be ruined. The plan that depended solely on my part. If they found me, it was all over… everything.
So I ran.
There wasn't enough time for thinking, that took too long. Thoughts raced through my mind like rockets, each one trying to be the first to catch my attention. It was like a low buzzing in my ear, adding to the sound of my panting breath. Trees whipped past me on either side, but I couldn't think about that. I just had to run.
My feet pounded on the hard packed dirt and I wished for once that it would rain to cover all the panicked noise I was making. If I kept it up they'd find me in an instant. They could not catch me.
A sudden paranoia came over me and one glance over my shoulder was all it took. Stupid, really. I'd let my thoughts catch up to me, that's all. But even so, when I turned back around I had to skid to a stop. Because I was caught… Totally and irrevocably caught. I could just hear Paul's voice- "Busted".
She stood there, in a patch of moonlight like the woman I had dreamed of so long ago tucking me in at night, reading me stories, smiling as Dad taught me to ride a bike. I'd never known her and I never could even as she stood in front of me.
She was my enemy now. It was too late for anything I dreamed up as a kid... she was one of them and they were the reason I was running. My heart beat so heavily in my throat it was almost too hard for me to speak but I forced the words out like you'd force honey out of a jar.
"Mom"
Chapter 1:
Cara:
Mmmm… summer vacation. I had a strong feeling it would be the best summer of my life, for various reasons, the first of which being my werewolf boyfriend, aka imprint, aka fiancé, aka love of my life. School was out for two months, my dad didn't look like a walking bruise, and best of all, there were no psycho vampires running around to ruin everything. Yes, this summer was sure to be the best one yet. I even woke up smiling.
Until the smell hit me. I sat up in Jake's room and wrinkled my nose. There are times when being a werewolf with super human senses is a downside, like right now for instance. His room usually smelled just like him- like soap and earth and something that only comes from being an avid mechanic all mingled into something way too pleasant- but that morning it smelled like burnt rubber.
"Oh, no" I mumbled, threw back the sheets and bolted for the door, almost slipping on a sock left lying around. Boys. Sometimes, I think hygiene was left out of there DNA structure.
The Black house was covered in pictures, of Jake and his sisters as infants all the way up to the most recent ones taken a year ago. Pretty soon, a whole new set of pictures would be added, considering that his twin sisters would be arriving in a week. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of Jacob at age two, as adorable as ever in, frankly, a really embarrassing photo. Tripping down the steps, the smell got even stronger and I heard the first strain of curses coming from the kitchen.
I rounded the bend and there he was, Jacob Black, leaning against the counter trying to cook something and yet again not succeeding. My goal for the summer- to at least get him to boil water without burning it.
"What did I tell you?" Jake jumped and whipped around, apparently not having heard me coming over his profanities. For some reason, he looked like a kid in way over his head, his red-brown eyes wide. I walked over to him and wound my arms around his waist, leaning my head back to look at his face.
"I don't know, tell me again" He said, kissing me lightly before whipping back around, arms still wrapped around me to keep an eye on his disaster.
"I said, don't try to- what is that?" It looked like toast, it was supposed to be toast, it should have been toast. But it was definitely not toast any longer. More like a charred piece of bark than anything edible. And the source of the burnt rubber smell.
"Toast" said Jake, as if I should have known that all along. I gave him a look that clearly said he had to be crazy if he thought anyone could eat that. And live to talk about it. "What?"
"You killed it, Jake"
"No, it's fine"
"It's dead"
Ever since I had moved to La Push, Washington last winter, my life had gone from horrible to okay to crazy to almost perfect. In all sad honesty, six months was a new record for me and my dad, Chris, staying in one place. We'd live in nomad's land for the better part of me entire life, because of something I had always considered a curse… until now. Surrounded by others just like me.
"Well, who needs breakfast anyway?" He mumbled before abandoning the burnt bread to kiss me. I loved his kisses, even if it took me a good five minutes to remember how to breathe again afterward. They were sweet, and slow, and breathtaking. And so full of love I forgot about the world.
Keys jangled from the porch, the front door creaked open and the sound of Billy's wheelchair coming down the hall had us flying apart. Jake went back to his "toast" and I plopped myself down on an old chair, chin propped in my palm. Oh, yeah, we weren't just making out in his kitchen. I picked up the newspaper from two days ago as Billy Black wheeled around the corner, parka and plaid expectantly on.
"Your sister called last night, said- oh, Cara. You're here early" He looked at me, surprised but smiled after a second. Billy was Jake's father, and also happened to be one of the Pack elders. We all respected him, liked him, and learned from him. I just happened to be his son's one and only imprint, spending most of all my time with him.
"She said that? Weird…" Jake said over his shoulder and I laughed. Through the open window behind me, I could hear the steady crash of the waves on the cliffs- cliffs Jake had jumped off of, with me slung over his shoulder.
"I just stopped by, Billy. I went for a run this morning" I felt bad lying to Billy, really I did. But I was under strict orders to keep the fact that every Tuesday I spent the night at Jake's house when he was on his overnight fishing trip with Mr. Clearwater a secret. I also had to tell my own father that I was spending the night at Emily and Sam's- though Sam wasn't exactly mentioned. So far, it worked pretty well. "So far" being the operative phrase.
"Oh, well… nice morning for it" He said. I wouldn't know if it was nice out or not, considering I had just woken up, but he didn't need to know that. I smiled and nodded, hoping he wouldn't notice that I was barefoot.
The past three months had been focused around building my life back to normal… or to normal in the first place. The entire Pack, and Forks community, was trying to put the events of that winter behind us, trying to forget all about the murders-for the Forks people- and freaky vampires- for the Pack- and all the chaos everything had turned into. And it was actually working.
No more nightmares about glowing red eyes, forks in the road, running and fighting. No more voices and images in my mind. Well, there was the occasional flashback if I let my mind wonder too far but Jake's usually effective in the distraction department.
"Psst" I blinked and there he was, sitting across from me, toast stubbornly on a plate in front of him. Billy was no where in sight, his chair creaking somewhere in another part of the house, but knowing him he probably a surveillance system set up in every room.
Jake winked with a smile that would have turned my legs to Jell-O if I wasn't already sitting.
His hair was growing out from the cut he'd gotten way back when- on that day when he'd proposed. The ring was still shining on my finger, a nice little reminder whenever he's not around of just how much he loves me, and it always sent my heart racing… for one thing because I always forget to switch it to a different finger around other people and for another… well, it's sort of obvious why being engaged to Jacob Black might send my heart racing and pulse soaring.
"What's the plan for today oh, culinary master?" I asked, picking up a piece of toast just to have it crumble in my hand. Was he aware that it had to actually resemble bread after you cooked it?
"I was thinking we'd go to Emily's for lunch" Jake smiled as if that had been his plan all along. Ah, Emily.The easy way out. If you couldn't cook, she sure could and she was always cooking for seven hungry werewolves. Just in case they decided to cook for themselves in which case disaster was sure to ensue.
"And the other option would be staying here? When can we leave?"
"Oh, she's funny now?" Jake mocked surprise. He stood up and came around the table, trying not to grin and to look all menacing and tough. "Well… I don't like funny girls" My eyes widened as if he were the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen.
"You're right. You like starving ones" And he pounced, almost knocking me heels over head off the chair, just managing to catch me with one arm wrapped around my waist and one hand holding the edge of the table. I couldn't help but smile.
"Besides, I don't like girls… I just like you" I'm not sure if that was meant to be a compliment or if he was saying I wasn't a girl… he's not exactly the greatest at those spur of the moment cute phrases. Didn't matter for very long though because then he was kissing me which more than made up for his lack of wordiness, and the blood was still rushing to my head since I was practically upside down, making me even dizzier than before. At least he couldn't tell I was blushing.
My hands came up to run through his newly shaggier hair and his arm tightened around me. We wound up with me sitting in his lap on that run down old chair, completely forgetting that his father could wheel in at any moment and cause a lot of un-needed awkwardness. Or "talks". I'd experienced that first hand back when Jake was recovering from a nasty fight with a certain vampire. I shuddered just thinking about it.
"I'm suddenly not hungry" I said, gasping for air once we'd been forced to break apart or risk suffocation. Jake caught a strand of my hair and gently tucked it behind my ear, his finger lingering on my cheek.
"Not for food, anyway" He answered and with a wicked grin scooped me up in his arms and headed towards the stairs.
Finally, chapter 1- albeit a pretty uneventful chapter 1- to the sequel to A Lasting Impression. What did you think? Be honest. Anyway, reviews would be reaaaalllyyyy appreciated!! The sooner you review, the sooner I'll update. It'll get better as it goes, promise. And thanks for actually bothering to read it!