This is an imprint story with a few new characters thrown in. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews are welcome.
Chapter 1: The Devil at My Door
I sat in the front seat of my mom's champagne colored Camry, tapping my foot repeatedly on the dashboard. My little sister Lily sat in her old hand-me-down car seat and sang the Dora theme song off key, while my mom was lightly mumbling to herself, tapping her fingers persistently. I looked at her slowly and noticed that she seemed confused.
"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked, tugging on a strand of my bobbed cut dark brown hair.
"Nothing sweetie I just- I just can't find our house" She said, turning to me and giving me a quick smile. She looked back to the road and pursed her lips.
"I'll help. What's the house number?" I asked.
"It's uh-" My mom looked down to the white paper she clutched in her copper colored fingers then read the address aloud. "2541 Lunden Way"
I nodded and tried to look out of the foggy windows. It was currently raining; something i knew was going to happen a lot. I used to live here on the reservation, when I was 8, back when my dad was alive. I was a weird kid. I would climb trees and hold full on conversations with dogs knowing they couldn't answer back, enjoying the nature around me, always wanting to venture.
After a while of reminiscing about my old like, my mom pulled the car to a stop, I stared up at the small house we were parked in front of. "What are we doing here?" I asked then looked in the back to see Lily asleep. Her little head had fallen to the side making her dark brown hair fall to the side.
"We're home" My mother answered happily. I looked at the tiny home with disdain.
"It's small" I assessed. My mom only looked at me then back to the house. She offered a small smile.
"It's comfy" She corrected. It was a gray, two floor house with an old looking wrap around porch. The front door was an eyesore red with two windows on either side. On the top floor there was a large bay window that was covered from the inside. It wasn't what I call 'attractive'.
"It's ugly" I whispered then smiled. "We can fix that though" I added.
"There's the spirit" She said then patted my thigh and left the car. I got out of the car and took a step closer to the house.
"This isn't our old house though" I commented then turned to see my mom picking up boxes from the trunk.
"No it's not. It's all we can afford now" She said then walked passed me to the house. The subject was dropped after that. It was still a touchy topic for everyone except Lily whose only problem was that she had to eat her vegetables.
I unbuckled Lily from her unneeded car seat and woke her up. Technically we should've gotten rid of it last year, but she was too attached to it. "Lily," I cooed to my sleeping sister. "Wake up" I said. She whined and twisted in the seat. "Come on, kid" I demanded and she opened her eyes. Lily sat up and wiped at her eyes.
"Are we there yet?" She asked. I nodded and she hopped out of the car then ran to the house, her energy already replenished. I went to the trunk and grabbed a box labeled Lily's clothes then walked it to the house. When I stepped inside, the smell of stale air slapped me in the face. It was horrible. Two walls were on either side of me creating a hall that led to a living room. The room was fairly large. On the left side was the kitchen. It was a normal size with black tiled floor. My mom walked from the back hall with a smile.
"You're going to love your room" She said then went back out to the car. I carried the box back to the hall next to the living room. The first door on the left was open and showed what was obviously my mother's room. It was huge and had a box that stated her name: Sophia Torrez. The room on the right was Lily's room. It was smaller and the walls were already painted pink. It was faded but pink none the less. I dropped the box next to her door. She only looked away from the window with a smile then looked back out.
"Go help mom with the boxes" I instructed. She only pouted before running outside to help. I walked forward and opened the door next to Lily's room. It was a normal sized bathroom with yellow walls. I went on to the last room. I opened the door and new it was my room. It was obvious because there were only three of us and there were three doors I saw before. One of the being a bathroom. There was a large window in the back that showed the backyard that led to the woods.
"This is awesome" I shouted then began to spin in circles.
"What would be awesome would be if I got some help" My mother yelled in response. I abandoned the room and went back outside to help with boxes. "Told you, you'd love your room" My mom taunted as she placed two boxes in my awaiting arms. I nodded then turned to go back to the house. I carried them back to my room and put them on the floor when something outside caught my eye. It was far but it was huge even from this distance. I stared at it with confusion till it went back to the forest.
"Charlie!" My mother shouted. I went back out and helped pack away the rest of the stuff.
That night, as we sat in a small circle in the living room, my mother went around the circle asking what we thought of the house. "I like it a lot" Lily said as she focused on getting her noodles on the chopsticks. "My room is pretty" she added. My mom looked to me for my add-in.
"Well…it's nice. My room is awesome. I'm just wondering what's upstairs" I said honestly.
"We'll get to that later" She said. I nodded and looked down to my food.
"I don't want to see them here" I said quietly. My mom looked up mid-chew, Lily paid us no attention.
"Oh man!" Lily whined as she dropped some of her vegetable to the carpet on accident. "Sorry mommy" She apologized.
"It's okay, Lily. This place needs proof of life" My mom commented. Lily smiled then got up. "I'm going to my room. Is the little mermaid in there?" She asked both of us.
"Yes" I answered. She scurried back to her room. I picked up both our plates and my mother picked up hers then we went to the kitchen to clean up. I cleaned off the plates and handed them to my mom to wash them off. "You know I don't want to go to the school here, right?" I asked as I handed her a plate.
"I know" She answered casually. When the plates were cleaned I climbed up on the counter.
"I have to though, don't I?" I questioned. She nodded and began to wash the dirty plates. I sighed dramatically. "You know, I bet they still live here" I said. She only shrugged. "Mom please, don't make me go there. I beg of you" I whined to my mother who only ignored me. When I began playing with her hair, she turned to me with sadness in her eyes.
"Do you think I want you to go to school with those boys? After every day you came home crying and asking us to move? Charlie, you must take me as a mother who doesn't care about your feelings but guess what. You're wrong. If I could I'd let you go to Forks High but I can't because no bus comes back here and I don't have the income of two people to get you there and back. I'm sorry but if you think this is hard on only you, you're dead wrong" She ranted. Everything she'd been holding in spilled out in front of me and it was my fault. I provoked it. I got down from the counter and hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry, mommy" I whispered.
"No. I'm sorry. I should've thought about what this move would do to you guys. It's my fault" She mumbled then went back to washing the dishes. "It's just that I couldn't afford that house with your dad gone and we had nowhere else to go. We didn't have close family there and I refused to let you stay in that place with those…friends of yours. You have no idea, your grandmother called me," I hoped back up on the counter and let her tell me all that she'd been holding in. "And asked me if we would move down to Texas with her and Aunt Rosalinda. I told her 'Ma, you can't expect me to move in with you and that woman' You know how they never really approved of your father. Oh we fought and fought on that phone for hours till I just hung up. Haven't talked to her since. So here we are, La Push ,Washington. Here we have your dad's family; we have your dad and mine's friends. Granted we have to find them but they're hidden here and there. This is nice talking to you like this, I missed it" My mom said as she turned to me with a smile.
"I missed it too, mom" I said. She went on talking for a while.
"I couldn't buy the old house for two reasons. One: someone already lived there. Two: too many memories. Anyways, I'm glad we have this house. We can start brand new" She added after she finished with the dishes and turned off the water. "And look, I won't let them do anything to you. Since they're old enough, if they bother you, I have legal right to handle it" She said with a smile then then kissed my cheek. We left the kitchen, my mom to Lily's room, me to mine. When I got there, I collapsed on my mattress that had yet to have its frame and turned on the television.
After a few minutes of watching Jeopardy, my mom came to my room and sat on the mattress. "If you don't like it here, we can see if you transfer to Forks High, okay?" My mom asked. I reached over and hugged her.
"I'll try to make the best out of it" I said as I pulled back
"Wonderful. Get some sleep" she said then patted my head and left. That night I dreamt I was back to being 6 years old and chased through the woods.
"Get back here!" He would yell. I ran faster and faster as they threw rocks at my feet and legs. They stung my skin and made me cry. Tears blinded me. "She's slowing down!" Another one would yell and the rocks would come faster, sharper and more precise. "It's not a she! It's a boy! Look at the hair!" He would yell. He was always the ring leader. He'd tell them to chase after me; He'd shove me in the sand at the beach; He even cut my hair shorter than it was once. It was always Him.
"Leave me alone!" I wanted to shout. I couldn't seeing as how my mouth was too busy letting out animalistic sobs.
"Come here, sweetie" A familiar voice yelled. I looked up and saw my dad with his arms wide open. I ran faster and faster but he kept going farther away and continued to shout the same thing. Something knocked me down and sent me spiraling from my dream.
"Charlie, wake up" Lily said as she bounced on my mattress. I sat up as fast as I could and help onto her. "Are you okay?" She asked then nuzzled into my neck. I didn't answer. She pulled from my neck and began patting my head and running her fingers through my hair. "It's okay, Charlie. It's okay. It was only a dream" She comforted. I smiled at her.
"Thanks, Lil. I'm gonna go shower, okay? Kiss" I said and pointed to my cheek. She kissed it then left my room for some place unknown. I got up, stretched a bit, grabbed clothing from a box next to the door, got a towel then went to the bathroom. After letting the water wipe away the sweat and fear from my dream, I redressed and headed for the kitchen.
My mother stood in her PJs shaking her butt to a song that poured from the speakers of the CD player. "You are a dancing queen! Young and sweet only nah nah nah!" She shouted and danced with the spatula in her hand. I gave her a clap and she turned around quickly. "Charlie, you scared the crap out of me" She said and placed a hand over her chest.
"Your dance moves scared me. For a dance teacher, you suck" I insulted light heartedly. She rolled her eyes and busted out some salsa moves.
"Do these suck?" She questioned then spun around and struck a pose. I nodded then stood up and danced alongside her.
"You need to use moves from this decade, mom. Like this one" I said then dropped to the floor.
"Sweetheart, I basically invented that move" She said then mimicked me. We went on that way for two minutes until the doorbell rang. "Get it for me will you?" She asked I did as I was told and danced my way to the door. When I got there I opened the door and stopped mid-shake.
"No" I said. The tall muscular man at my door was a much more mature version of the monster from my dream. "No!" I repeated then closed the door in It's face. I ran to my room as fast as I could. Lily ran to me and hugged me again.
"What's wrong?" she asked sadly.
"The Devil's at our door" I said. She stood up and started running around the house shouting 'The Devil's gonna get us'. She eventually stopped. I crawled to my door and peeked around the side to see what made her stop. She was on my mother's hip as she reopened the door.
"No" I whispered to her. She wouldn't hear it. The door opened all the way to reveal the creature.
"My name is Jacob Black, Welcome to the neighborhood" He said.
Now is when my personal Hell began.
