So here comes the boring stuff before the story which people, including me, barely ever read. But you might want to. You see, I was thinking, if vampires and shape-shifters were real in Twilight, then what else was. So I'm going to kind of make up my own stuff. So if you're not into that sort of thing you might not want to read this. And that's absolutely fine. But to anyone who does read this, I hope you enjoy it.
It was another wet, grey morning. The young man groaned as he stretched his arms to the sky. He'd been running for too long. He looked up. The clouds loomed heavy and ominous; it would rain soon. He trudged across the mud to a small house in the middle of the clearing. It was early morning; the sun had only just risen behind the clouds. The day had a sleepy feel to it, as did all days in La Push. Nothing exciting ever happened in the tiny village. Apart from the obvious; turning into a giant wolf had spiced things up for a while. The young man pulled open the door – doors were never locked in La Push. There was no point. No one just passed through the village. Everyone knew everyone. What was the point in locking your doors when you knew nothing was going to happen?
He walked into the little house. It was warm, uncomfortably so for the young man. Walking into the living room he noticed an even younger man, a boy really, lying face first on the sofa. His snores were loud enough to wake the other inhabitants of the little house. As the young man walked into the kitchen he saw another man sitting at the table, his gaze fixed on the woman standing by the oven. The young man scowled, pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. The woman looked over, a smile stretching the scars on her face.
"Hungry?" She smiled wider. "Stupid question – you're always hungry." She chuckled as she walked to the fridge. The larger man at the table smiled softly as she laughed. The young man grimaced.
"Wipe that frown off your face Paul; you can't be angry all the time." The woman walked over with a plate of food and cutlery, setting it down in front of the young man, Paul. He mumbled his thanks and dug in.
The scent of food had obviously woken the sleeping boy as he stumbled through with a huge yawn, looking more asleep than awake.
"Any more of that, Em?" He stumbled to a chair, slumped in it and looked up at the woman mournfully. "I'm so hungry people in the next state must be able to hear my stomach." The woman chuckled, turning to make him breakfast.
"Seth, stop exaggerating. And don't take food from Paul. I won't have another one of you phasing in my house." The woman, Em, spun round at Paul's growl. The older man stood up.
"Seth, enough. Paul, calm down before I throw you out. Get control over yourself." He glared at the two younger men, Paul and Seth. Seth lowered his head. Paul glared at his plate. A slightly awkward silence ensued.
"I'm baking today. Any requests?" The woman, Em, tried to make conversation.
"You're baking? Why? Make anything Emily, it's all great. But muffins, blueberry muffins. They're delicious." The young boy, Seth, grinned dreamily as he thought about blueberry muffins. Paul snorted.
"Sure Seth, blueberry muffins for you." Emily bent down to retrieve a mixing bowl from a cupboard. "But what should I make for the new neighbours?"
"New folk, round here?" Seth looked confused. "Why haven't I heard about this?"
"I only found out yesterday from Billy. Apparently he knows the guy. Ex-army or something, I think. He has a niece coming down with him. They're British. They wanted to keep everything quiet about the move." Emily looked thoughtful. "I think I'll make chocolate. Everyone likes chocolate, right?"
New people. Paul perked his ears up – this was interesting.
"Why would they move down here?" Seth took the words right out of Paul's mind.
"I don't know, Billy didn't say. Sam, any ideas?" Emily looked over her shoulder quizzically at the older man.
"Nope." The older man, Sam, got up and moved towards Emily. "I've got to go, Jared's seeing Kim today and I promised I'd take part of his shift so he could get ready. I'll see you later; don't take those over without me." He kissed her softly, gently, once on her mouth, then on each of her three scars. She smiled.
"Why, do think they'll bite?" She asked.
"Then take one of the boys." He answered. Then he left, but not before shooting Paul a meaningful look. A look that said, go with her. Paul heaved a sigh as the door shut and Emily started mixing, Seth falling asleep with his head lolling on the table. Just what he wanted. Another day of imprint watching.
xXx
The car slowed down as it turned off the main road onto a smaller, narrower one. It was slightly bumpy, slightly overgrown, and the sleek, grey vehicle looked out of place. The driver was a man in his late 30s, with short brown hair and blue eyes. Intelligent eyes. He drove carefully, avoiding the bumps and potholes along the way. His companion, a young girl with auburn hair, was looking out of the window.
"Looks like I'll have to get a new car. This sticks out like a sore thumb." The man said, regretfully. "Pity, I liked this one."
"Get a truck. That's what everyone else seems to have round here; keep this in the garage."
"Trucks don't drive as nice."
"Some do. Plus, we don't want to stick out more than we already do." It was true; they'd already had some strange looks from people when they stopped for directions at the store. Whispers had followed them out of the shop.
The man nodded thoughtfully. The car was silent for a couple of minutes.
"You don't mind coming here, do you?" He asked the girl with a furrowed brow. "You seem quiet."
They passed a small, rundown house with flower boxes outside the widow and a chair on the front porch. Someone was looking out the window; they withdraw as soon as the girl saw.
"It's nice here, peaceful. And you're my guardian. I couldn't have stayed, even if I wanted to." She looked out the front window for a moment, and then turned to the man, adding, almost as if it were an afterthought: "And I didn't really want to anyway."
"Well, that's good." They drove for a few more minutes, the man wincing as he didn't manage to avoid a particularly deep pothole. "Check the address would you?"
She looked down at the piece of paper on her lap, next to a map.
"Should be the next house we come across – 42 I think. Or is that a Z?" She tilted her head, trying to discern a number from the scribbles on the sheet. "This is why I do the writing – people can actually read what I write." She grinned at the man as he made to grab the sheet from her.
"You're lucky I'm driving, kid, or I'd smack you one for insulting me."
"Only if you could catch me first." She answered back cheekily.
"Might get a chance to try that out sooner than you think – this it?" The car pulled into a drive which led up to an old, slightly ramshackle looking house. The door was green, along with just about everything else in La Push.
"I think so." The girl said. They stared at the building for a moment in silence. Then the man said:
"No time like the present." He turned off the car and opened his door.
"At least it's two stories." The girl muttered, as she got out. The man, already outside, was stretching in the damp air.
"I cannot wait 'til you learn to drive. Nothing more boring than sitting in a car driving on motorways for hours on end." He paused for a moment. "Especially if you have bad company." The girl shook her head as she walked behind him.
"Had to think about that one didn't you?"
"Don't be smart kiddo, it doesn't suit you. Now, which blasted key is it...?" The man searched through the multitude of keys on the key-ring in his hand, shaking his head every so often. The girl leant back against the wall by the door, surveying their surroundings. Trees surrounded the building on three sides: left, right and the back. The road was to the front of the house; if you listened hard you could hear the sea.
"Found it. Wasn't that hard really." The girl gave her companion a disbelieving look as he held the door open for her, muttering her thanks on the way in. The house had a slightly stale, musty smell to it, which had resulted from it being closed up for a long time. The decor was simple. Light coloured walls, wooden floorboards.
"Nothing a few open windows and a bit of paint can't fix." The man said cheerfully. "I was expecting worse, weren't you?" The girl looked around slowly. It seemed that the hallway ran straight down to the kitchen at the end. There were a couple of doors leading off from it; one opening into a living room, one into a toilet, one into a study. Stairs branched off to one side of the hall, leading up to where the girl knew four bedrooms, a bathroom and another small office waited. They walked into the kitchen. It was fairly large, with a table in the middle and units around two sides of the room. A door led to the garden, another to a utility room, with a washing machine and a tumble dryer in it. The girl smiled.
"I like it. It's...homely." The man looked surprised, but pleasantly so.
"I'll get the things in. You'd better open some windows, get rid of that smell." He headed outside and the girl headed over to a window above the sink, undoing the latch and pushing it open as far as it would go. She did the same with the other windows in the kitchen, and then moved to the utility room, where there was a small, narrow window which she had to stand on a stool to reach. She'd gotten to the office when she heard voices from outside. She wandered out of the door and down the steps to the drive, where her companion was standing with a young women and a couple of young men. He turned round, saw her and smiled.
"I was about to call you. This is Emily," he said, indicating the young woman. She had three jagged scars that ran down her face, but was striking nevertheless. She had dark hair, falling past her shoulders and a carefree smile that reached her eyes.
"Hi, I'm Emily." She blushed, and then added, "Although I guess you'd gathered that. I...I mean, we just wanted to welcome you to La Push. It's not often that we get newcomers here." She shifted her weight slightly and the girl noticed she was carrying a container.
"I made you brownies. I did make chocolate muffins but these idiots ate them all before I could bring them over." Emily sent a fond smile to the men who stood slightly behind her. The girl surveyed them. They weren't as old as she had originally thought, in fact; one was more of a boy than a man. They were both tall, with coppery skin and short, dark hair. The younger one seemed to be bouncing with energy; he grinned at her when she caught his eye. Emily opened her mouth to introduce them. "This is..."
"Seth, and this grumpy git over here is Paul." His voice was deeper than it should be; from his manner she guessed he was no more than 16. Her companion chuckled.
"I'm Darren and she's Arianna." The girl sent a wave to the three strangers. "And thanks Emily; I've got a weak spot for chocolate." He grinned at her and she beamed back at him.
"That's fine – I bake loads for the boys, anytime you want anything just give me a call." She looked at the bags Darren held in one hand, then at the boys behind her. "Would you like a hand with your stuff – these two are just useless muscle." Arianna thought she heard the older one growl, but when she glanced at him he was glaring at the floor, showing no sign of having made a sound.
"That'd be good thanks. There are just a couple of bags in the boot and that's about it." Seth immediately turned to the car, whistling in admiration.
"Nice car...it'll get ruined round here though." He looked back at Darren over his shoulder. "You'd be better off with a truck." He grinned and pulled the ill-tempered man along with him. Arianna shot a look at Darren which said, I told you so. He huffed, and, hoisting a couple of bags over his shoulder, invited Emily inside. Arianna followed them in.
"Sorry about the mess, we've just arrived." He dumped the bags on the floor and looked sheepish. "I can't even offer you a drink, unless you like brandy?" She laughed.
"I think I'll pass thanks. We were only dropping by to say hi, and to see if you needed any help. But I think we'll get going – I reckon you have a lot to do." She chuckled. "I'll just wait for the boys to bring your things up and..." She turned as the men she'd called Seth and Paul walked through the door, carrying a bag each.
"Is that all you brought?" Seth asked, coming to a stop by Arianna.
"What can I say, we pack light." Darren grinned. "Just dump the bags over here boys, we'll sort them out later." Arianna moved out of the way of Seth, but in doing so backed into another figure.
"Sorry..." She started to say.
"Watch it." The man said harshly, as he dumped the bag and turned to glare at her. She looked at him and his eyes widened. His face paled, and then he swore and ran out of the building. All in the space of 15 seconds. Arianna turned round, looking confused.
"I didn't bump into him that hard." She said.
"It's okay." Emily said, smiling. "Paul just gets a little angry about things. He has a short temper. We'd better go after him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. It was nice meeting you both. And if you need anything, I live just down the road. The house with the flower boxes outside the windows. There's a chair on the porch." She smiled again, handed the brownies to Darren and left. Seth grinned at them.
"I reckon I'll be seeing you again soon." Then he left too.
Darren looked at Arianna. She looked back at him.
"Strange bunch of people, these village folk. Never know what they're going to do next." He said. She laughed at him, then went over and opened the container. She looked at Darren.
"Fancy a brownie?"
So I hope that was okay. I know that there wasn't much detail about my OCs and it might all be a little confusing for the first chapter of two, but I didn't just want to spend the first chapter describing everyone in detail. The OCs are the only things that belong to me - it goes without saying really.
PS :)
