Ch.6, Scary Stories

Jacob's Point Of View

"Hey Jake, you out here?"

I paid no attention to the yells in the distance; I was far too frustrated to acknowledge anyone or anything right now. I had done all I could on my car, but I could do nothing else until I got my hands on a master cylinder. I groaned and plopped myself down in the passenger seat of my project. There was no way I could afford a master cylinder! I was going to have to put off building my car until I raised the money. I groaned again in frustration.

"Jake, buddy, c'mon!"

I sighed, Quil could be very persistent. I heard the approaching footsteps before Quil's head poked through the door.

"There you are! Knew you were hiding in here."

I looked at my friend, trying to tell him I was in no mood to do whatever crazy event he was planning. I looked over his shoulder as Embry squeezed his way in behind Quil. Embry took one look at my face and knew something was frustrating me. Unlike Quil, Embry is much more observant.

"What's wrong, Jake?" he asked, studying my face. His eyes quickly darted to the car I had so diligently worked on, "is something wrong with the car?"

Quil's eyes flashed with worry, both of my friends were just as obsessive of this piece of metal as I was. Usually whenever something was wrong with me, it was because of the car.

"No, nothing's wrong." I said slowly, emphasizing the word 'wrong'. I lowered my voice, "I can't work on it anymore, I don't have the parts and I can't afford them."

Quil snorted, "that's what has you all worked up? Dude; forget about that, the kids up from Forks are at the beach having a bonfire party!" he was getting more animated with every word. "I want to go, man! City girls! C'mon!"

Now it was my turn to snort, of course Quil was thinking about the girls that would be there.

"Seriously, man, you spend way too much time cramped up in here, don't worry about the parts, we'll sort it out." Embry was just as eager as Quil to go this bonfire. Due to the weather, not a lot of parties have been going on at the local beach and a social event was way overdue. "What parts do you need?"

"A master cylinder. I've done everything around it that I can, but there's nothing else to be done." I hung my head, like I was admitting a weakness.

Both my friends let out a low whistle. "A master cylinder eh? Tough luck Jake, those are like, a hundred bucks." Quil said, staring at the hood of my Volkswagen. "Oh well, worry about it later, let's go, we're already late cause we wanted you to come to!"

"Yeah, Jake, put it in the back of your mind and let's go have some fun!" Embry said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I threw him a sarcastic smile, "Yeah, sure, I'll get right on that."

"That's not our Jacob."

I sighed, "Fine, I'll try to be a good sport."

Quil pumped his fist in the air and let out what sounded like a battle cry, while Embry punched my shoulder. "Well come on, if you want me to go to this party we'd better get going." I said while standing up. "Are you sure it isn't going to rain?"

"Well if it is, we can always have a wet t-shirt party," Quil said, wagging his eyebrows. Embry smacked him over the head, I laughed at my friends as we made our way out of the forest where my garage was hidden. We talked a little more about what we could do to get the part I needed until we got to the highway. I could see the smoke of a bonfire further down on the beach, and as we got closer, I could see the black hair of the kids off the reservation, and the pale skin of the kids from Forks. It was a small group, but a party nonetheless. I noticed Sam Uley and his new follower Jared sitting on one of the logs. I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"What?"Embry asked. Quil looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded towards Sam and both my friends turned to look. Embry made a noise of disgust and Quil mirrored my eye roll.

"I highly doubt anyone from Forks is going to start a riot." Quil snorted.

"Oh well, you guys dragged me along to this thing, I'm not about to let 'the protectors' ruin my fun," I said, glaring at Sam. All three of us were annoyed to no end by Sam Uley. He was like a hall monitor gone bad.

"Yeah, c'mon, let's go get a seat."

We sat down on some stones by the fire and returned greetings as they came. More and more kids started to trickle in. When the food came around, all three of us grabbed our share before it was gone. Shortly after the lunch was being passed out, a group came out of forest, from the path that takes you up to the tide pools. A kid in the front started introducing everyone as they entered the circle. I forgot each name as it was spoken; the last two girls slowly wandered their way in. Both were pretty, but the one on the left, something about her was familiar, I disregarded the feeling. When you lived in a small town, everyone looked familiar.

"Bella Swan."

I looked up again as a name I knew was called. The girl who I'd thought I knew looked up. I was struck by her brown eyes, the eyes of Charlie Swan, my dad's old friend. Bella looked right at me like she could feel my gaze. Then looked down, sitting with her friends. So this was Charlie's daughter. I remembered her pictures at Charlie's place, and thinking how beautiful she was while looking at them. Charlie had bought our old truck as a homecoming gift for Bella.

Poor girl, that truck was awful.

"Oh, Jacob, you're blushing, is this a case of love at first sight?" Quil snickered in my ear. I brought my hand back and slapped him with the back of my hand. Sam, of all people, stood up and started calling out the names of all the kids off the reservation. When he got to my name, Bella looked up at me, her brown eyes boring into mine, and then looked away. She didn't try to keep up with her friend's conversations; instead she stared into the fire, looking like she was deep in thought.

I sat with Embry and Quil, joking and talking throughout lunch, all the while stealing glances at Bella. When the clouds started roll in, people started to break away from the group, a couple of them going up to the local store, Embry going with them, and another group was going back to the tide pools. Quil had his eye on one of the girls up from Forks who was going up to the tiny pools, so he decided to go too. I rolled my eyes at my friend as he got up to leave. Within five minutes, it was only Sam, Jared; a girl whose name I thought was Lauren, some guy, Bella, and I surrounding the fire. I had no intention of sitting here with Sam, so I walked over to Bella's log to take the place by her side.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"

"Bella," she corrected me with a sigh.

I held out my hand, "I'm Jacob Black, You bought my dad's truck." I said with a smile.

"Oh," she sighed again, a hint of relief colouring her tone. "You're Billy's son. I probably should remember you,"

Ah, that's right; Bella had known my older sisters. "No, I'm the youngest of the family – you would remember my older sisters."

"Rachel and Rebecca!" she recalled the familiar names of my sisters, "are they here?" she asked, looking out at the beach.

"No," I shook my head, "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington State, and Rebecca married a Samoan surfer – she lives in Hawaii now."

"Married. Wow." She looked stunned at the thought of my sister getting married, I'd forgotten that Bella was only a little under a year younger than my sisters.

"So how do you like the truck?" I asked to try and change the subject.

"I love it. It runs great."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief, how could anyone love that monstrosity of a truck? "Yeah but it's really slow," I laughed, well at least she liked it. "I was so relieved when Charlie bought it, my dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there." Not that I could work on my car...

"It's not that slow," she objected.

Obviously she hadn't tested the truck's limits. "Have you tried to go over sixty?"

"No,"

"Good. Don't." I flashed her a grin, and was delighted when she smiled back.

"It does great in a collision," she offered. I laughed, that truck was so stubborn to stay on this earth.

"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," I agreed with another laugh.

"So you build cars?"

She'd picked up on that, she was quick. "When I have free time and parts." I doubted she would know, but I asked anyway, "You wouldn't know where I could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" I added jokingly, hopefully she couldn't hear the curiosity in my voice.

"Sorry," she laughed, "I haven't seen any, but I'll keep my eyes open for you." Her tone suggested that she didn't have the slightest clue of what I was talking about. I smiled at Bella, I really liked her, and she was easy to be with.

"You know Bella, Jacob?" the Lauren girl asked in a very rude tone, why does she care? She doesn't even know me.

"We've sort of known each other since I was born," I laughed for Bella's benefit and smiled at her.

"How nice." she had a very nasally sounding voice, all together, very unpleasant to listen to.

"Bella, I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?" she stared at Bella watching her face. Bella's eyes narrowed in the slightest.

"You Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" Sam asked, much to my irritation, and apparently Lauren's as well.

Lauren turned half way towards him. "Yes, do you know them?"

"The Cullens don't come here."

Sam's tone closed the subject; he believed all the stupid stories about the Cullens, as did the entire council. Bella kept staring at Sam, deep in thought. Jared nodded in agreement and I rolled my eyes. I needed to distract Bella.

"So is Forks driving you insane yet?"

She blinked a couple times, and then grimaced, "oh, I'd say that's an understatement." I grinned at her. She looked back up at me through her long black lashes, "Do you want to walk down the beach with me?"

She looked so beautiful when she did that, I couldn't say no, even I wanted to. "Yeah, sure."

We walked down the beach; Bella was looking around in wonder at the area surrounding her. I had seen it all before, but that doesn't mean it still wasn't beautiful.

"So you're what, sixteen?" she asked looking up at me.

I looked away, flattered, "I just turned fifteen."

"Really?" She honestly looked surprised, "I would have thought you were older."

"I'm tall for my age." I explained, again, flattered.

"Do you come up to Forks much?"

The way she asked implied that she was hoping for a yes. Who was I kidding? She probably had a boyfriend. But the way she acting made me wonder.

"Not too much, but when I get my car finished I can go up as much as I want – after I get my licence." I didn't want to remind her of my youth, but she still seemed pleased.

"Who was that other boy Lauren was talking to? He seemed a little old to be hanging out with us."

So she noticed it too. Join the club. "That's Sam – he's nineteen."

"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" she asked in what sounded like an innocent tone, but I could hear the raging curiosity in her voice.

"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." I bit my lip and looked out towards James Island. I half hoped that Bella would drop the subject, for fear that my dad would be mad at me if I told her the follow up story.

"Why not?"

I looked back at her, still biting my lip. "Oops, I'm not supposed to say anything about that."

"Oh I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious."

Even in just the little time I'd known her I could tell that she was stubborn. What the hell, I didn't believe in the superstitions, so what difference does it make it Bella knows? I raised one eyebrow.

"Do you like scary stories?" I tried to make my voice chilling.

"I love them." She replied, a coy smile on her face.

I walked over to the nearest driftwood tree and sat down on the roots. Bella followed and sat down on the trunk. The way we were sitting reminded me of story time; I stared down at the rocks, trying to make the story as good as possible. I looked up, "do you know any of our old stories about where we came – the Quileutes, I mean?"

"Not really," she admitted.

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the flood – supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive, like Noah and the ark." I smiled at her to show how little of this I actually believed. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves – and that wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them.

"Then there are the stories about the cold ones," I lowered my voice to add a dramatic effect.

"The cold ones?"

"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them ff out land." The treaty that I was now supposedly breaking. I rolled my eyes at the irony of that.

"Your great-grandfather?" Bella encouraged, she seemed extremely interested.

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf – well not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves." I was struck again by how stupid this all sounded, although Bella didn't seem to think it was stupid.

"Werewolves have enemies?"

I raised my eyebrows, surly she had seen Van Helsing, or any other vampire, werewolf, film, they were always at each other's throats.

"Only one."

She stared at, waiting for me to finish my ridiculous story. "So you see, the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way their other kind did – they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our land," – I leaned in closer – "we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." I winked at Bella.

"If they weren't dangerous, then why ...?" she struggled to understand the story.

"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones. Even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." I work a large amount of menace into my speech.

"What do you mean 'civilized'?"

I smiled, "They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead."

Her voice was casual on the surface, but there was something burning under her calm façade, "So how does it fit in with the Cullens? Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"

"No," I paused dramatically, "they are the same ones."

Bella looked terrified. I smiled at her and continued, "There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest of them are the same. In my great-grandfathers time they already knew of the leader, Carlisle. He had been here and gone before your people had even arrived." I tried to fight a smile, she look honestly scared.

"And what are they? What are the cold ones?"

I smiled evilly, "blood drinkers, your people call them vampires?" I made my voice as scary as possible.

Bella looked away, staring at the ocean. My eyes trailed down to her arm, little bumps were rising, and she must be scared. "You have goose bumps." I laughed.

"You're a good storyteller."

"Pretty crazy stuff though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."

She continued to stare out into the ocean, I began to worry. "Don't worry, I won't give you away."

I looked down and laughed, "I guess I just violated the treaty."

"I'll take it to the grave," she promised, then shivered.

I was suddenly worried about how open of a relationship she had with Charlie, would she tell him?

"Seriously, though, don't say anything to Charlie. He was pretty mad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital since Dr. Cullen started working there."

"I won't, of course not."

She was saying I could trust her, my chest warmed. I laughed to lighten the mood. "So do you think we're just a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" I couldn't fully hide my worry; she still hadn't looked away from the ocean.

She turned and smiled a forced smile, "no, I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. I still have goosebumps, see?" she held up her arm as evidence.

"Cool," I smiled.

We both looked up to see two people walking towards us.

"There you are, Bella," the blond guy called out in relief. My eyes narrowed as I took in the jealous tone of his voice, was this Bella's boyfriend?

"Is that your boyfriend?" I whispered.

"No, Defiantly not." She whispered back. Then she turned her body slightly away from the delusional blond and winked at me, I smiled back. As they got closer I decided to tease the joker.

"So when I get my license...," I began, I watched out of the corner of my eye as the guy's eyes narrowed.

"You should come see me up in Forks. We could hang out sometime." She responded. The two people had reached us now. The man was staring at me defensively; he needed to get a life.

"Where have you been?" he asked, tearing his gaze from me and looking at Bella.

"Jacob was telling me some local stories, it was really interesting," Bella turned, giving me a warm smile, I grinned back.

"Well," the guy started, reassessing the situation, "we're packing up, - it looks like it's going to rain soon."

We all looked up, I had to give it to him, he was right, and the clouds had turned grey and thick.

"Okay," Bella jumped up, she must not like the rain, and "I'm coming."

"It was nice to see you again," I taunted.

"It really was, next time Charlie comes down to see Billy, I'll come too," she promised.

I smiled largely at the thought of seeing her again, "that would be cool,"

"And thanks," she said earnestly, the panicked looked hadn't entirely left her eyes. She lifted up her hood and walked away with the two others. I watched her retreating figure as I thought about the Cullens. Poor family, being the object of an entire tribe's legends. Ridiculous, I thought, a family of vampires? Yeah right. That's as ridiculous as the werewolf legend. Like I'm supposed to believe that I descended from a werewolf, and even now, the man-wolves lived among us. I snorted and turned toward the forest, where I saw Sam and Jared sneaking away into the trees.

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