"Isabella Marie Swan, we're going to talk right now." Charlie called out as soon as he heard the front door lightly bang shut. He worked on keeping calm, because all he wanted was to get to the bottom of what made his oldest daughter not come home the night before.
Sure, it was her birthday. And she was of age now. But there were still rules in his house and Bella was going to start abiding by them. He stood and walked towards the doorway leaning in it as his youngest, Sophie, sat down her leopard print book bag and a pair of pom poms on their bench in the hallway. She was taking off her shoes when Charlie broke the silence.
"Did your sister go to school today? I thought she might have left early this morning when she didn't come down for breakfast. Went upstairs and it doesn't even look like her bed was slept in last night. I know she's with Edward, her truck was still parked outside the Cullen's house when I went past it earlier just to check.. None of the other cars are there though and the house is… empty. Like they left town."
Sophie gave a surprised look and shook her head. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Bella lurking around campus at all today. And normally, Bella was right there, waiting to "mother her" or overprotect her from whatever thing Bella felt might be 'bad' or 'dangerous' for her. Or she used to be that way.
Lately, she was so wrapped up in that boyfriend of hers Edward that she barely knew anything beyond being permanently attached at the hip to the guy. Sophie didn't see the attraction to him personally, but to each their own. Suffice to say, it wasn't like her sister to just go missing and the second Sophie thought about not seeing her around Forks High, or at breakfast, it seemed strange.
But both Sophie and Charlie thought that either she'd woke up earlier and left already or she was sleeping late and she'd get up and go as soon as she realized it.
"Oh.. Oh wow. That's not good, daddy. Are you sure the house was empty and the cars were gone though?" Sophie coughed as a number of thoughts on what her sister might be doing right now filled her head, anything from the 'innocent but still wrong' with her having spent the night over at Edward's and the two having gone on a more grown up version of a date that lasted all night long, to a repeat of when she and Edward ran to Phoenix last year at the end of the year, this one came when her father told him what he'd found upon going to the Cullen's house… And she didn't like the thought one little bit. It had her worried and afraid for her older sister because people don't just pack up all their shit and vanish overnight for no reason.. Especially not creepy people like those. They made episodes of procedural crime shows about that kind of thing.. And episodes of shows like "Unsolved Mysteries", she thought to herself as she silently panicked but tried to do her best to keep calm. She could tell this was freaking out her father and god knew, he already had more than enough shit to deal with.
"I can call Angela and Jessica and see if they saw her at school today.. I mean I doubt they did, she hasn't talked to anyone but me in a long time, but.. I can try." She offered to make calls because maybe, they were both wrong and what they were both dreading wasn't happening all over again. Last time Bella had come home with a leg cast. This time, Sophie feared her sister might not be so lucky. Especially not with the attacks / deaths going on around the forest and outside town lately. Attacks / deaths that were getting closer into town with each day that passed. That thought didn't ease Sophie's mind at all.
"Please?" her father sounded worried, maybe a little desperate. Sophie was pretty sure that like her, he was thinking they were about to have a repeat of the whole Phoenix thing all over again. Only this time, Bella might not come back at all.. The Cullens things were all gone when her father checked. And Bella had left behind her truck, her only mode of transportation, her only way to get away.
Sophie stepped out onto the deck around back of the house and leaned against the wall, dialing Jessica's number. While she waited for Jessica to pick up the phone, she found her eyes sort of.. Drawn to the treeline just over the fence. The sensation of being watched intently filled her and she wound up looking over and for a few seconds, her heart felt like it was beating so hard it would explode. If she hadn't looked over, she'd never have seen the wolf lurking there, watching her with this curious expression in it's almost hyper realistic eyes as it gazed at her. She blinked and shook her head because the wolf was gone and all she saw was a blur as it retreated quickly through the woods. "That was weird." she muttered as Jessica picked up and she explained what her father told her and got told by Jessica that no, Bella hadn't been in any of her classes today.
"But wasn't she with Edward Cullen last night?"
"Yeah. That's what my father's afraid of, her history of running off with the jerk. Thank you, Jess. Call me if you see her or talk to her?"
"Sweetie, I haven't talked to your sister in weeks. She doesn't.. talk to anybody but the Cullens. A lot of us have tried but she doesn't act like she wants anything to do with any of us. She's attached at the hip to the guy, it's creepy."
"Don't I know it. Thank you, Jess. I'll be sure to go tell Daddy what you told me. He is not thrilled with her right now. I swear to God, she's supposed to be the older and more responsible one. This shit isn't like her."
"Oh, I was supposed to ask you.. Are you going to that dance next week with anybody? Mike wanted to know."
"I hadn't really thought about it? I mean this guy Peter's been dropping hints but like.. I'm so not interested in the guy.. I might just go by myself? It seems like it'd be more fun that way?" Sophie bit her lip, scowling at the phone in her hand as she paced the deck. The one thing about calling her sister's friend Jessica, and the sole reason she tried not to do it often.. Jessica seemed to like initiating gossip sessions or it honestly felt like when she did have to call, Jessica tried to dig around, get Sophie to divulge secrets or pestered her with endless questions about Florida and what it was like being Bella's younger sister.. Or who she was dating, what was going on with a certain group of kids in her own grade year.
Sophie got annoyed by the whole 'gossip girl' thing and found it off putting because she felt like Jess would have no problem using anything she might tell her against the people it might be about.
"Why though? Everyone's going to have a date."
"Not everyone, Jess. I'm going solo." Sophie gave a slightly annoyed eye roll and after a few seconds, she hung up with Jessica and immediately called Angela.. Who gave her pretty much the same answer, verbatim and then she asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Bella's on her crap again, apparently."
"Ah, I see."
"Yeah.. I swear, that jerk Cullen better be worth all this hell. I've barely met the guy since I moved back here to live with Daddy and Bells and so far, I'm not impressed. I wish I knew what it was about the douchebag that made girls lose their freaking minds! Half the girls in my grade, Angela.. Hate my sister because she happens to be dating the prick."
"And the other half probably think she's losing her mind like me and the rest of her friends in our grade do lately. I swear, it's like she's obsessed.. You never see one without the other."
"It's creepy is what it is, Angela. I'll call you back if we find out anything. If she happens to call you or show up over there, will you let me know please?"
"Definitely. Just.. Let me know."
"I will do, girl. I'll talk to you later." Sophie ended the call and laughed aloud as she exclaimed, "Whoo boy.. Bella is going to be in serious shit for this one.. If she isn't, I swear to God, my father needs his head examined." and stood, brushing off the denim mini skirt she'd been wearing, starting towards the patio doors. She'd just put her hands on the handles when she caught sight of it, again.
She froze, her eyes fixed on the wolf behind her in the reflection of the door, as she bit her lip. For some reason, she didn't feel afraid or threatened. She found herself worried, wondering if the wolf might be sick because normally, they did not come this close to a human populated area.
Or none had the entire summer that she'd been living in Forks with her father and sister.
And again, the wolf turned and took off, fleeing in the direction of the woods. "Okay, that was strange. I hope the poor thing isn't sick or something.. I wonder if I should tell Daddy?" and as soon as she thought about doing so, she decided against it.
Because there was just something about the wolf.. She got this feeling that her father might not believe what she said, what she'd just seen. Because she'd seen the enormous wolf with hyper realistic and deep chocolate eyes and she was having a hard time believing it for herself.
She'd never seen a wolf so big… Or with it's coloring, sleek and gray with a light dotting of black spots… and the light gray snout.
Shaking the whole thing out of her mind, she stepped back inside and told her father everything that Angela and Jessica both told her, adding at the end, "I didn't know it had gotten this bad, Daddy.."
"It's not your fault, princess. You're not your sister's keeper. And I'm not surprised. I knew it, the second I lifted the whole punishment, I knew she'd start doing this all over again. Are you alright, Sophie? You looked a little freaked out when you came inside.."
"It was nothing, I just.. I think my eyes were playing a trick on me?" Sophie dragged her fingers through her hair and then after a few seconds of silence she asked her father, "You don't think she's missing like those other kids are, right?"
"I don't know. But there was another attack in the woods last night, out behind the arcade, just in the trees there.. We'll give her until 8. If she's not walking back through those doors at 8 pm, we'll try to put together a search party."
"So I guess we wait." Sophie sighed and hugged her father as she shook her head. "Isn't she supposed to be the older one? I mean.. granted, nothing about all this is normal, but you'd think that given the way she's been her entire life until last year, she wouldn't do stuff like this."
"That's what worries me, princess. How'd your day go?" Charlie was heating up canned soup for the two of them as he asked the question and he smiled a little, listening to Sophie going on about her day, telling him that so far, she liked Forks High.. Granted, it was only a week into her attending, but Charlie was happy.
If she liked the school and she made friends, maybe she'd stick around. He'd missed having both the girls under one roof.
"Aside from Math being a pain in my butt, it was pretty good. Cheerleading practice ran late and when I got back here, I was going to chew Bella out because thanks to her being a no show, I had to walk three whole blocks in that rainstorm we got earlier out of the blue. How was your day, Daddy?"
"Well, there was another attack or something. Just for safety's sake, Sophie, stay out of the woods. I know that's where you kids go to party and whatnot, but don't go out there at night. This will make two or three attacks close to town within three nights. It's almost like whatever this thing is, it's moving closer to this side of town? It's strange.."
"I know. The other kids at school are saying that it's a serial killer? Which is creepy, because yeah.. this is a small town and people feel so safe that they leave the doors unlocked and stuff.. I mean Florida, that stuff happened often, just.. You wouldn't think something like that would trickle here." Sophie took a bite of her soup and she wondered to herself if that wolf she'd seen hadn't had something to do with all the attacks. She almost told her father that she'd seen it, but this.. Flash.. In her mind. And the heavy nagging sensation that if the wolf were there to do anything, it was to protect and not harm.. Those things combined and kept her silent.
"Yeah. But it's not a serial killer. Most likely an animal. One of the guys down at the station is talking about going in with a hunting party this weekend if another attack happens."
Sophie wasn't sure why she blurted it out, but she shook her head and blurted out, "Maybe you guys can bring it in without killing it?"
Somehow, she got this feeling that her father's words went in one ear and out the other. That he was worried, that he was doing what he thought best to protect her and her sister. And this, for whatever reason, had her worried for the gray / black spotted wolf she'd caught a glimpse of twice earlier.
Her eyes settled on the clock on the microwave.
It was almost 9 by now, they'd lost track of time, talking and waiting on the phone to ring and the realization had Sophie's stomach churning.. Was she going to find out her sister was the newest victim of whatever was going around attacking and killing people? God, she hoped not. She eyed the door, waiting, tapping her bare feet against the kitchen's tiled floor. She'd been doing it for the better part of two hours now, so had Charlie. And whenever headlights went by the house, they'd both jumped up quite a few times, running to the window to peer out into the street.
"Bella's still not home, Daddy.. And she hasn't called. I'm not getting a good feeling."
"Neither am I, princess.. I'm gonna go call some of the guys at the station and Billy.. Because I want to make sure she's not in the woods or something first. I swear to God, I want to grab her and shake her. She's beyond grounded when she gets back to this house. She's doubly grounded."
"I don't think you can doubly ground someone, Daddy.. But you're right. She deserves it for scaring both of us."
"You're damn right she does. I don't know what's gotten into her lately, but she's about to make some serious changes.." and with the words out of his mouth, Charlie stepped out to call some of the guys he worked with and then, he called Billy. His hope was that maybe, Bella had been by and spoken to Jacob or something.
Anything but the million things he was fearing happened that were all racing through his mind right now.
"We can all get together and search the forest, Charlie."
"We might have to, Billy. We're leaving now."
"Jake and I will meet you there.. I'll speak to some of the others, maybe that Uley kid and his friends will help out."
"All the help you can get."
The scent caught his full attention as it filtered in on the evening breeze, all heavy and sweet, making his mouth water. Vanilla. All Embry could do was stop mid – patrol and sit on his haunches and whine. This, of course, did not bode well for Paul or Jared and Sam most certainly was not amused.. But he told Embry calmly, "Follow whatever scent you're smelling so we can get back to what we're out here to do.. You have ten minutes, Call."
Embry took off at a run, tearing through bushes and bramble and the closer he got to the Forks side of the treaty line, the heavier the scent grew.. The more it bewitched him utterly, almost to the point where he was operating on a one tracked mind and the only thing on it was finding the source of that scent.
And then, he did… And nothing could have prepared him for what happened immediately after, the first time he set sights on her.. On the single most important person in the world to him now. Nothing and no one else mattered but her.
He scented her quickly and picked up on heavy feelings of panic and fear.. Worry.. Focusing, he was able to figure out that her older sister was missing.. And then, it hit him. Jacob had shown him this house once while they were out dirt biking.. And he'd said that Bella lived here. And Embry knew that Bella mentioned a younger sister in Florida a few times when he'd been hanging out with Jacob down at First Beach last year. He knew that she'd missed her little sister, that she wished Sophie would have come back with her.
…. fuck…. If it's Bella, there goes that… between Cullen and Jacob…. Embry thought it to himself as suddenly, the scent reached a fever pitch and his veins felt like liquid fire raced through, this slow burning white hot heat settled into his skin and he felt as if his skin were stretched tight, crawling a little.. Embry was jittery, his stomach twisting and turning and then, it happened..Everything around him fell away as she stepped out onto the deck of Bella's house, cell phone in her hand, worried look on her face. Embry was worried himself because the wind was chilly and his imprint stood there in a thin tee shirt and this thin and worn denim skirt, feet bare, dark blonde hair blowing in the wind. She became clearer and he sank down to sit on his haunch as the images of her, of him, of the two of them together bombarded his conscious and everything that bothered him lately, his rift with Jacob, his dealing with keeping the pack a secret from a mother who didn't understand, his worrying that he'd be a freak forever.. And the way he kept a lot of this in, preferring not to bother anyone with it. It was his problem.. Or it had been until her.
Now that was gone. All he could see was her, this dark blonde girl he currently stood staring in awe at... All he could think about was what lie ahead, what he'd seen. It felt as if someone had taken a knife and sliced through every single thing tying him, weighing him down and now as a result, he felt absolutely weightless.
"Oh, wow.. Hi." he'd phased back to human to just sort of absorb the shock of the moment and he was sitting under a large old tree, thinking and soaking it in, waiting on Sam and Paul to show up with his clothing. All he could do was keep himself out of sight and just sort of watch her.
When he picked up on the scent of death and decay not so far away, he stiffened and tensed, alert, eyes darting around all over. He'd smelled the scent before, just a few nights ago on his first official patrol of the forest with the pack. He thought they'd taken care of the leech problem then.. So why was the scent back?
Clearing throats above him had him explaining what was going on and after phasing back to his wolf form, he and Sam and Paul took off in the direction of the scent, with Embry explaining what just happened and asking questions about it as they raced through the woods to try and pin down the scent and what it belonged to.
They reached a clearing and found nothing. No sign of any of the leeches. Embry swore up a storm as he paced the forest and explained to Sam, "It wasn't far from Bella's house."
"Bella is dating one of them, remember?"
"She's not there.. at least that's what I gathered from Sophie's talking to some of Bella's friends on her phone outside." Embry was tense and honestly, given the fact that the scent kept getting closer and closer to the house itself according to Embry, Sam couldn't say he blamed him.. If something had happened to Emily like that.. And bearing that thought in mind, he made a snap decision. "You'll patrol that area, Call. And Lahote, to be safe, you'll patrol the woods near your own imprint's house. Let's get back to the cabin, I think Emily's probably worried sick about us by now, we're usually not gone this long." he gave Embry a pointed smirk and glare combination as he spoke and Embry only shrugged, still shocked at having imprinted to really do more than that.
The three shifter pack made their way back to the Uley cabin where they started to discuss at length what was going on in Forks and La Push, the attacks and the deaths, the disappearances.. The knock at the door drew them all out of their discussion and Sam made his way over, peering through the window at the top of the door. Sam opened the door to his cabin to reveal Billy Black standing on the other side. "Black.. come to talk about Jacob? Has he phased? Is he showing signs?"
"No, I'm afraid a girl over in Forks may be missing. She was last seen with those Cullens.. Sounded like something you'd be interested in.. I've just spoken to her father."
"And you want us to go out, search the woods."
"Jacob said he'd be helping you. Still doesn't mean he's ready to be a part of the pack yet, I'm afraid." Billy shook his head, sighing.
Embry listened intently. His mind kicked into overdrive and when Sam agreed to help Bella's father form a search party and volunteered them up, he realized that possibly, he'd be able to see her face to face and the thought thrilled him.. It also upset him because he remembered how he'd picked up on her worry and upset over Bella's being missing and the fear he knew she had to be feeling. He found himself wishing he could do something.
Jacob spoke up from behind his father.
"If it weren't for the fact that it's her, I would not be helping any of you. I still mean it. I intend to fight this. I don't want it to happen. I don't care what any of you think, I will not.. Give in to that side."
"You won't have much of a choice, Black." Paul smirked, a smug look in his eyes as they settled on the other male. Jacob rolled his eyes and said calmly, "Let's just do this. Alright? Let's get it done and go our own way. The sooner you all realize I don't have to give in, I don't have to be a monster, the better you'll all be."
His eyes lingered on Embry and Embry tensed. There had been a lot of strain between them lately. Embry shrugged off Jacob's parting jab and when Sam shut the door, Paul exclaimed with a laugh, "And when he does shift and become one of us, I'm gonna laugh my ass off, I swear to God. Guy's a prick."
Sophie stood close to her father, eyes darting around as she listened to the adults talking. She was still just sort of shocked that it was all happening and sort of hoping against hope that her sister would show up and everything would be fine.
There were storm clouds rolling in, starting to block out the bleak moonlight and Sophie shivered as the chill in the air picked up a little. Her father noticed and nodded to the car. "There's a jacket in there if you're cold. Why didn't you grab one before we left?"
"I was kind of in a hurry like you were."
"Everything is gonna be fine. We'll find her." Billy Black was there, flashing a reassuring grin at her, but Sophie wasn't sure if what he said could be true. Bella had gotten lucky in Phoenix, coming back with only a broken leg. And Edward had put her in that situation.
If she was gone with him.. And he was somehow behind the disappearances and deaths and attacks lately.. Sophie shook her head as if to shake away and stop the thought and Jacob spotted her then and made his way over.
"Sophie?"
Sophie's head snapped up and she gaped a few seconds before being lifted into a bear hug. Jacob was trying to reassure her and she said quietly, "We all know where she's gone and I swear to God, I am going to punch her face when she finally turns up again. She won't be out here.."
"Maybe she is."
"She's with that.. Creep. Wherever he is. Unless he hacked her to itty bitty bits. I mean you have to be thinking the same, Jake." Sophie craned her head to the side to look up at him and he shook his head, even though if the rumors were true and Cullen was what his father seemed to think, Sophie could very well be right.
Before he could do anything else to further try and reassure her, Paul was there, clearing his throat, Embry and Sam with him and Jacob glared at the other three. "I'm trying to make sure Sophie is alright."
Sophie's eyes settled on him.. The tall male standing opposite Jake. She stared a few seconds and he was staring right back. His friend introduced him because apparently, he wasn't going to talk.
"This asshole, I swear.. His name is Embry. Mine is Paul and that's Sam.. We're gonna try and help Black here look for your sister." Paul explained and then, Embry found his voice finally. He gave Jacob a pointed glare and stepped closer to Sophie in a way that instantly had Jacob raising his brows because it was so protective and somehow slightly possessive.
Before Jacob could say anything to warn Sophie about him and the others, Embry was attempting to talk to her and she just stood there.. Watching him in this sort of daze. Jacob pushed the thought out of his head because it couldn't be true.
The legends about imprinting, about his becoming a shifter eventually. He refused to believe it all and yet, there was just something about the way Sophie seemed drawn to stare at Embry and listen, nodding as she tried to keep from starting to cry, huddled into a hoodie that fit Embry perfectly, but Sophie seemed to swim in. There was something between the two of them and Jacob, even though he considered himself to be an old friend, one who happened to have a bit of a crush on her actually,couldn't help but notice that whatever was going on at the moment was so intense that it felt like it sucked all the air out of the space between Embry and the petite dark blonde currently on the verge of tears and freaking out over her sister being missing.
Jacob didn't like it. So Jacob cleared his throat.
"We should probably get in there." he gave Embry a pointed glare and Embry glared right back defiantly, stating in a calm tone, "I'll talk to you later. I wish we hadn't met this way Sophie, but it was.. Nice to meet you." before stalking off with Paul and Sam. Jacob caught up to the three and asked Embry through gritted teeth, "What the fuck was that about, huh? You know I like her. You know I've liked her since.."
"She's his imprint ya dipshit." Paul butted in and Jacob just.. Stared at Embry with slackened jaws, not sure how to take the news and still trying to make himself believe that the same fate his friend faced didn't lie ahead for him.
It wouldn't happen. He wouldn't allow it.
Embry was just about to disappear into the forest when he felt the softest of taps to his left shoulder and her scent filled his nose. Jacob tensed all over and growled a few swear words to himself and Embry turned, staring down at her. She held out his jacket and told him quietly, "You're probably going to need it more than me.. But thank you. My name is Sophie, by the way and it was nice to meet you too. Thank you guys for doing this."
"It's not a problem." … wait, did I really just say that? Without freaking out or stuttering or going all quiet? … Embry wondered to himself as he took the jacket and then eyed her in concern, asked her, "Are you sure you don't need it?"
"I'm gonna sit in my dad's patrol car for a few seconds, I just.. Kinda want to be alone. To think."
"She's going to be okay. I promise."
"We will find her, Soph." Jacob cut in, glaring at Embry as Embry gave yet another glare right back and maybe inched just the slightest bit closer to Sophie who seemed to mirror the subtle movement, Jacob noticed.
"I hope so. I could kill her for this. My dad's worried sick. So am I. But I'm also afraid that she's gone.. That she did something totally stupid and left with that… Asshole."
"Don't like Cullen, huh?" Paul mused as he gave a slight grin that had Embry glaring at him at this point and edging just a bit more close to Sophie so that there was nearly a divide. He felt like an ass, but these urges to protect her, to make it known that she was his imprint and therefore, not to be messed with by anyone, those were all overriding his usual mannerisms and the way he'd normally act.
He wanted to kick himself at the moment for it too, because he had to be freaking her out, invading her space. She seemed a little shyer.. Or maybe it was the shock and the fact that she barely knows any of us, Embry thought to himself as he cleared his throat and nodded towards where Sam stood, talking to Billy and Charlie and Harry about which areas to look in first.
"We really should get going guys. Getting darker." Embry finally managed to make himself step away and as he did, he saw those lips of hers sort of.. turn downwards into a pout. She turned and jogged back towards her father, talking to him and once Embry realized that she was out of earshot, he looked at Paul with a raised brow. "Seriously, jerk?"
"Look at you, all protective and shit, Call. C'mon. We'll make a man of you yet. Let's go get this shit over with. It's cold and I'm fuckin tired." Paul quipped as the trio made their way towards Sam, finally heading into the woods.
Authors Note: Yeah, I know. A rewrite. Of a rewrite. Of a rewrite. But I'm fucking determined to make this story happen, okay? Anyway, Sophie's undergone changes.. And she's no longer the imprint of Paul, but Embry. And Jacob has sort of always had a crush on her, so drama am I right? I mean not too much drama, but a lil bit? Anyway, this will only loosely follow the series from New Moon to it's ending? I just needed Embry to be happy and have his own imprint story.
In other news, it feels good to be back. Any trolling reviews will be deleted. Reviews/faves/follows are loved and they will see to it that I actually don't just stop writing altogether. I hope y'all enjoy this rewrite of a rewrite of a rewrite. I miiight be thinking of having either Paul or Jacob imprint on someone other than who they did in the series, btw.. Which one would you rather see this happen to?
Peace out.