Chapter 2
"Life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long," Anita Falconer sang. She tapped the steering wheel with her hands and bobbed her head to the music. Her two daughters, Zalika and Gianna, were doing much the same, and actually getting along. Normally they would be at each other's throats.
"If you're going my way, i wanna drive it all night lo-SHIT!" Zalika shouted in mid song as the car went over a bump. She was busy drawing and now a line ran across the page effectively ruining her drawing.
"Whoops," Anita said sheepishly then started giggling.
"Its ok," Zalika sighed and looked around.
"Ma?" Gianna asked.
"Yes, Nimol?" she said turning the radio down.
"First, stop calling me 'Nimol' and second, why are we driving all the way from the Nevada desert to La Push?"
"Because Billy Black called and asked if I wanted to come around."
"But, Ma, he hasn't been in contact with you since we were like, 6 or something," Zalika said, having put her sketch pad away.
"Well, still, he is a very dear friend of mine."
"And Charlie is a very dear friend of his," Zalika said in high voice. Gianna added in nasal giggles then they both mocking sighed romantically.
"I've not a clue what on Earth you little monsters are talking about," she said concentrating on the road a bit harder.
"Sure, sure, Ma."
The girls chuckled softly as their mother 'hmph'-ed and turned the radio up.
"So, what you drawing this time, Zi-Zi?" Gianna asked her sister once they reached their motel for the night. It had been a very, very long 10 hour journey and the second their mother got in the room she collapsed on the bed.
"Friends of the Fallen Angel," Zalika replied picking up a pastel blue pencil and shaded in her drawing.
"Really? Any cute guys?" Zalika rolled her eyes at her sister by the corners of her mouth twitched all the same.
"Actually, yes," she said, patting the bed next to her. She was lying on her stomach with her sketchpad and pencils where her pillow should be. Gianna laid down next to her as Zalika flipped the pages to the beginning.
"Well, the first thing that came to my mind, were these two people," she said, pointing to a king and a queen on two golden thrones.
The King was handsome, to say the least with blue eyes light blonde hair and a warm and caring smile on his face. His clothes were elaborate and he had very expensive looking jewels in his crown. His silver ring clad hand was lovingly caressing his wife's hand, who had a gold ring on her finger.
His wife had short curly caramel locks, and her clothes elaborate as well. Her eyes were a gold brown colour and her face was open and loving.
"The King and his Queen, the face a live forever, and forever in love. They are always tolerant, accepting and just. The do not judge one by looks but rather choose to dig deeper. At times they can be overly trusting. I think that's what will be their downfall," Zalika said and idly sketched shadows behind the thrones.
"Cool. What else have you drawn?"
Zalika turned the A3 page and this time there was a young looking woman on it. She had steely blue eyes, and light blonde hair that was tied half up, half down.
She was sitting inside a quaint looking living room, and she had a white tight tee-shirt on with with a blue skirt that billowed out and ended a few inches bellow her knees. She was wearing short white socks and shoes that resembled that of a school girl's.
"Hmm, looks like a 50's girl to me," Gianna remarked, "But damn, she's gorgeous."
"Oh yeah, picture-perfect," she replied, then added, "though something tells me that she can be a bitch when she wants to be. She's strong though. Stronger than people realise. A little judge mental but very smart. That's really all I can get from her."
Gianna flipped the page and started giggling at the next picture. Zalika rolled her eyes and started explaining the Fallen Angel's next friend.
"Okay, so, as you can see, this one's a cowboy."
Gianna just laughed harder.
"Do you want me to explain this one or not?" Zalika snapped, and her sister stilled to random giggles.
"Ahem, please, continue."
This was a picture of a man with dirty bonde hair that poked out from his black cowboy hat. He had blue eyes and was wearing a long brown leather trench coat and black leather pants. His boots were brown and he wore a dirty white shirt under his jacket. He was leaning against a wall, a mean looking rifle in his hand his dirty horse standing behind him. He had an arrogant smirk on his face, and was very relaxed.
"He's relaxed yet arrogant. He can tell what people are feeling, and he actually likes to help people."
"A ranger?"
"Yeah, you could say that. But this is not even the weirdest one yet."
She flipped over the page to show a fairy with spiky black hair and pointed ears. Her face was pointed towards the sky so they could only see one half of her face. She had bright green eyes and she seemed to be looking at the girls with a knowing smirk on her face. She was wearing clothes that somewhat resembled that of 'Tinkerbelle's', and her bright blue wings were still unfinished.
"You drew Tinkerbelle as one of the Fallen Angel's friends?" Gianna said through giggles.
"Well I was thinking pixie more than fairy," Zalika said rolling her eyes, "And she's just over eager, very excitable and incredibly nice. I would love to be her friend."
"Is that why you don't have any friends?" Gianna asked turning onto her back. Zalika scowled at her and proceeded to push off the bed.
"OW!" she said loud enough for their mother to hear and wake up from her deep slumber.
"Gotta call Billy," she said immediately and jumped from her bed and ran for her cell phone.
The girls were silent now as there mother dialed Billy Black's number.
The twins hadn't heard from him in almost ten years. Zalika remembered him better than Gianna, having drawn a rather bad picture of him before they left. He was tall and strong,kind and caring and really a very cool parent. He also missed his wife a lot.
"Hey, Ma, put it on speaker phone, we haven't heard Billy in ages," Zalika said as Gianna glared murderously at her. Anita nodded and turned it on speaker just as a young but slightly deep voice said, "Hello?"
Zalika was stunned into silence. The voice was rough and deep, yet sounded so young. Both Zalika and Gianna's mouth had slid open at it's husky sound.
"Is that Billy?" Gianna half mouth half whispered.
"Hello, is anybody there? I can hear you breathing," the husky rough voice said.
"Sorry, this is Anita Falconer, I'm a friend of Billy Blacks'. Er, who is this?" their mother asked. The deep male voice sounded dangerous to her.
"Oh, this is Jacob, his son, I'll get him for you," Jacob said and went to get his father.
"THAT WAS JACOB BLACK??!!" Zalika shrieked, unable to contain herself. She remembered Jacob Black very well from her child hood. He always teased her and her sister because of their strange names and he was always running after that Isabella girl like a love sick puppy dog. His antics were thoroughly pathetic and she hated him.
Both Gianna and her mother jumped about a foot in the air at Zalika's sudden outburst of horror.
"And if it was?" Gianna aksed.
"ANITA! How are you?" Billy's voice cut Zalika's probably scathing answer.
"Oh, I'm great we'll probably be there in another day or so, maybe earlier if I do an all nighter but not by much. We're going to sleep at the motel, then it's up early tomorrow morning and on the road again."
"Well, that's great. And are you bringing your kids with you?"
"You-"
"YES!" Gianna and Zalika said before their mother could say something about them that was probably untrue about them, like how they hijacked a motorbike and were driving to La Push like that. Over-eccentric mother of theirs.
"And I'm guessing that was the little trouble makers themselves, huh?"
"Heya, Billy," Gianna sai as confirmation. Zalika just waved even though Billy couldn't see her.
"Yes, that was them. Zalika waves," Anita said laughing. She then put the speaker phone off and talked animately to him for the next few hours as the girls slept peacefully.
Or rather, Gianna slept peacefully dreaming about Zalika's Fallen Angel, whilst Zalika tossed and turned dreaming about a giant russet wolf, with burning brown eyes, that showed more intelligence than any wild animal.
The wold was her protector. He looked after her and chased her bad dreams away.
The russet wolf with the brown eyes.
Her wolf.