Cathy—
Sorry to leave you hanging like that. Charlie came in to say goodnight and I'm not sure I want him reading this over my shoulder. I just barely hit send and then he was in snooping.
Anyway, continuing.
"Bella, what do you know about vampires?"
Under normal circumstances I would have laughed, but something in his eyes stopped me. He was dead serious.
"Not much," I admitted cautiously. "I mean, I've read Dracula and all…"
He snorted, mood lightening a little. "Oh that piece of crap. Not a shred of truth between those pages. At least, not directly."
I was a little miffed. I had enjoyed Dracula. "Well, I suppose you know the truth of it all then? And the meaning of life as well? Don't tell me—you're really an evil fairy in disguise."
Okay, maybe not the most original line. So sue me. It got the point across.
A humorless smile twisted his lips. "One out of three. I'd say your assumption skills need a bit of work. Yeah, I know what's going on. The meaning of life…now there's the whole problem. It means less than nothing to them."
"Them?" I prompted, a bit skeptical. Well, maybe more than a bit.
"The bloodsuckers. Vampires. Parasites." He spat out, glaring. I stared back, somehow getting the feeling his spite wasn't aimed at me. "They live out there."
He gestured vaguely in the direction of the line of lights we had erected. I followed with my eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of something through the darkness. Needless to say, it was futile. Night vision is for cats, not teenage girls.
"What are you talking about?" I'm embarrassed to admit I was still lost at that point. So don't feel guilty if you are too. I was ridiculously slow to catch on.
"You would know them." Jacob turned and met my gaze head on, "The younger ones attend your school."
"Who—?" Pale skin and dark eyes suddenly flashed into my mind. An amber gaze focused on me, and I knew. It seemed to fit so perfectly. But I couldn't be sure until I saw them again, for myself, in person.
"Yes." He nodded solemnly at me, and then glanced around. "It's dark. I should take you home now." With a sudden flash of his old personality, he said, "The storybooks got one thing right at least. They do love the nighttime."
He stood, debating something, then seemed to come to a resolution. Reaching down, he handed me a bottle from the plastic shopping bag ("For emergencies only"). Right. That was a laugh. He walked me back along the beach until we reached the edge of town where I'd parked the truck. For a moment we stood there, looking at each other.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then said, "Come back whenever you want. Or you could call me if you're scared. I'm in the book."
"All right." I agreed, climbing behind the wheel and turning the key in the ignition. He stood back, remaining in full view so I would be sure not to hit him while pulling out. I had the odd feeling that he was watching me long after I should have been out of sight.
Maybe I'm getting paranoid. I mean, seriously. I believed him when he told me vampires existed. And not just that, but that they also happened to attend my high school. If that's not plain weird I don't know what is. Still, I can't shake the feeling that there's some truth to what he told me.
Oh, I am so totally losing it. Please, send me some sort of reply quickly. A sort of reassurance that I'm still sane, that this isn't all a bad dream. Talk to me. Or, rather, write to me.
Kisses,
Bella
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Cathy—
Boy do I have a lot to tell you today! But first things first—thanks for the sweet response. It was truly heartwarming. Gosh, I'm deteriorating into such a sop. But I've been having some real mood swings lately, and am a bit off balance right now. His fault. Either that or my condition's getting worse…but let's pretend not.
So then, whose fault, you ask? Hah, won't you be surprised! Read on, my friend, read on.
This morning I felt awful. Like I had a hangover or something. Of course, thinking that made me feel guilty about the alcohol hidden in my sock drawer.
Charlie was already gone by the time I stumbled down the stairs, still only half awake. Which, unfortunately, meant I was still half asleep. School was an unwelcome prospect, but I felt the need to go. To see a certain family, and try and match them up with the horror Jacob had described.
Jacob. I cheered a little at that. Maybe I would go see him after school. We would talk, and play around like last time, sans the supernatural business. It would be great, I told myself firmly, but first I had to make it through eight more hours of slow torture by boredom.
First period was just as bad as I had feared. A blond boy, whom I recognized from my lunch table the other day, came right out and asked where the heck I had been after sixth period. I shrugged and told him I hadn't felt well. He didn't buy it.
Unfortunately, neither did my new Latina friend. Her name is Jessica, and she is undoubtedly the nosiest person on earth. She persisted in irritating me with pointed questions all through Spanish and into lunch.
Finally fed up, I told her I'd gone out to meet a guy. Yes, he was hot. No, we weren't dating. No, I wasn't going to go see him again today.
All the while I was (discretely) scanning the lunchroom for the Cullens who were supposedly vampires. I finally spotted them over in the same corner as last time, only minus the huge one and the supermodel chick. The remaining three were huddled together, animatedly discussing something.
The blond boy looked perturbed. The petite girl I had met, Alice, looked excited. The bronze haired one, the real looker of the bunch, seemed downright angry. All of a sudden the three of them glanced over at me. I realized, from the contemplative looks in their eyes, that they had been talking about me.
Alice winked. That did it. I excused myself from my current companions, grabbed my tray of food and casually made my way over to their table. At least, I intended for it to look casual. The leather boots helped, I think. They make me three inches taller you know.
"Mind if I join you?" I plopped down across Alice and gave them my brightest smile. "Thanks."
You should have seen the looks on their faces. Well, all except for Alice. It seemed like nothing surprised her. If I didn't know better I would have thought she had ESP.
"I don't believe you've been introduced," Alice was smiling slightly, but her eyes kept shifting to her brothers. "My brother Jasper," here she gestured to the blond, "And my brother Edward."
"Pleased to meet you," I gave another too big smile and held out my hand to the younger one to shake.
He ignored it. "Likewise." The blond didn't speak, and was staring at me intently. In fact, if I'm being totally honest it was a bit creepy. It was ridiculously easy to believe Jacob's claim when I looked them straight in the eyes.
Then Alice, noticing his fixation, rushed him away throwing lame excuses over her shoulder at us. Then I was left with…him. And he was frowning at me.
"What?" I asked, defensively, glaring.
"You're sick." He said matter of factly. "And you've been spending time in Quileute territory."
The last comment might as well have been spoken in Greek, but the first made my blood turn to ice. It was an all too familiar feeling, one of knowing you've lost halfway through the battle. Breathing was getting harder; why did the room suddenly seem so small? There were too many people trying to take in the same air. I shoved my chair back and half ran out of the cafeteria.
It was cold outside, but I didn't care. I pressed myself up against the freezing stone wall, and inwardly berated myself for daring to hope. It was stupid to think that anyone would want a friend with my condition. Anyone but you, I suppose, but you've got your own problems. I didn't realize Edward had followed me until he spoke.
"What is it?"
"You don't know?" I asked petulantly. I felt like being childish. Why was he still bothering me anyway? "So vampires aren't all powerful, then?"
He froze, shock, confusion, anger, and relief passing over his face in quick succession. Then his face smoothed back into an indifferent mask. "So they told you."
I felt like an idiot. Jacob probably hadn't wanted me to share that piece of information. I suppose he wanted me to keep it secret. So I did the only thing I could to try and change the subject.
"Huntington's Disease."
He stared. "What?"
I sighed. "Huntington's Disease. I was diagnosed a while ago. They tell me I won't last much longer; that I'll begin to lose control of my body and mind soon. So my mum sent me here to spend some time with Charlie. She's had me for seventeen years, Charlie should at least get one."
He was looking at me strangely, and I just stared back. It was coming now, the hasty getaway. First he would tell me he was sorry, and then trip over himself trying to put distance between us. Move away from the diseased girl.
He didn't. Instead he reached out and roughly pulled me against his chest. Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he let me. It was too much. My world was spinning out of control again. Was it possible? Could he really not care that I was a goner? That I would slowly succumb to paranoia and bi-polar disorder? That I would require hospitalization and die before I turned thirty?
He seemed not to. And it was too good to be real. Him, here holding me as if we hadn't a care in the world. I broke down sobbing, and he rubbed my back gently, making soothing noises in my ear. We didn't go back to class.
I've got to run now, Cathy, so I'll finish up later when I can. I'm a total wreck. Seriously. I don't know why he cared.
Love as always,
Bella