CHAPTER THREE – Reasons
Winter's POV
"Jake?" An unfamiliar female voice echoed through the house. For a second there was a haunting, pained look in Jake's eyes, replaced by a blank, emotionless façade, which reminded me of my half-brother, Sam Uley.
"Jake?" the girl's voice rang out again, stronger. "Are you here?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm here," he replied reluctantly. I looked at him, question in my eyes.
"Leah Clearwater," he whispered. "Biggest bitch you'll ever meet." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and went to answer the door.
I followed him down the hall into the lounge where Billy was just waking up. Jake went to get the door. Billy just looked at me.
"It's all good," I whispered to Billy. He smiled and simply said: "Good".
A tall Quileute girl walked into the room after Jake. She was tall and slender, with amazing muscle tone. Leah was pretty, beautiful even, but her perfect features were marred by a nasty smirk that was playing around the edges of her mouth.
"Hey, Billy, Mum sent me to ask if you and Jake and wanted to come over for dinner. Me and Seth are going out." She delivered all this in a sharp voice, which clearly said 'I don't want be here'.
"OK. We can give you a lift back if you don't mind waiting." Billy's tone was warm. He obviously was pleased by the invitation.
"Hey, we can drop Winter back to Sam's on the way. He lives just around the corner from Sue," Jake suggested. I think he just wanted to avoid a car trip with Leah. I looked at him, and the small grin he flashed me confirmed my suspicions.
"That'd be good," I chimed in, winking at Jake. "I can wait with Leah. You guys go get decent." Billy smiled and we both looked pointedly at Jake, who was barefoot and covered in dirt and grease. His jeans were cut off at the knee, and his black t-shirt had numerous holes and tears in it.
"Point taken!" Jake laughed and followed Billy down the hall.
Leah plopped down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. I sat down, reading blatant curiosity in her eyes.
"So why are you staying with Sam and Emily?" The way she spat Emily's name, the utter loathing which was all too clear in her voice, made me immediately dislike Leah. How anybody could possibly hate Emily was beyond me. Emily was the sweetest, kindest person I'd ever met, including my own mother. Leah was still waiting patiently for an answer.
"Uh, it's a long story," I said, desperately stalling. I didn't want to tell people why, and Sam and I had agreed to keep the real reason quiet.
"I've got time. Jake'll take ages in the shower." She smirked.
I racked my brains trying to come up with an answer that sounded legitimate. Suddenly, inspiration struck.
"Well, unfortunately my dog, Jump, was abducted by aliens and I had to go and rescue him. I made peace with the evil green Martians and they let me go. But they beamed me down in the wrong spot. But then I met some nice people called Sam and Emily, and decided to stay with them. End of story." I smiled widely, and heard a sound from down the hall, which sounded somewhat like a muffled shout of laughter. Leah sighed.
"I meant seriously." She looked slightly annoyed.
"That's private. It's between me and them."
"Hmph." She turned back towards the TV and flicked it on.
"Alright! We're ready." Jake bounced down the hall, Billy following closely behind.
"Let's go, then," said Leah impatiently. She stood up and made for the door.
"I hope we can all fit in the Rabbit," I heard Jake mutter as he shot Leah a dirty look. I laughed and followed her out the door.
That night, I lay awake, trying to force myself to sleep. Insomnia can be so… annoying. I first started having trouble sleeping after the accident; every time I closed my eyes the terrible scene from that night would play back, like a movie stuck on a loop. It got to the point where I was too afraid to close my eyes. I haven't had a good night's sleep in about a year. I closed my eyes reluctantly and buried my face in my pillows, trying desperately to block the images that threatened to flood my mind. I drifted off into an uneasy sleep, and my dreams were plagued by the memories I had tried so hard to forget.
I ran frantically from room to room, searching for something I couldn't find, praying for something I couldn't have. I heard a sound behind me and turned, not wanting my back to whatever was behind me. I saw… nothing. I was suddenly aware I was no longer in my house, rather at the end of a long hallway lined with doors. They were all locked. I began to run towards the other end, where I could see an open door. I ran for what seemed like eternity. Finally I reached the door, only to have it disappear. I stood on the edge of a cliff, far above the black water that crashed on to the rocks below. I heard a dry sob behind me. The fear of what I would find when I turned around, who it would be behind me, froze me into place. My gaze was fixed on the rocks below. The boiling mass made a strangely hypnotic sound as they rhythmically smashed into the cliff. I felt a gentle pull as I leaned out further. A voice stopped me when I was on the verge of falling.
"Winter? Sweet, what are you doing?" I turned violently.
"Ma? Is that you?" I whispered. I could only stare at her, reach out a hand. She was so beautiful, her childlike smile beaming out at me. Laughter shook her body, waking me from my trance-like state. Ma was laughing, but the sound of her laughter was off. It sounded…wrong. I gasped in horror as she seemed to melt, her edges running together. In a second, I could see clearly. She became a he, as I watched. Long arms with pale fingers stretched toward me. Shuddering, I looked up at his face. It was as I remembered it, with a gloating sneer twisting the pale face. I lifted my face even more, to look my tormentor straight in the eye. I screamed. His eyes were red, blood red, not the cold grey I remembered them to be.
I woke from my nightmare screaming. All of a sudden, I was aware of gentle arms around me, and a soothing voice humming a lullaby. For a second, a glorious painful second, I thought it was my mother.
"Hush now, Winter, you're safe here. You're safe here." Emily's sweet voice held sway, and banished the last of the nightmare images back to their dark corners. I was vaguely aware that I was sobbing; great racking sobs which shook my body. A light flicked on, and a tall frame blocked the light spilling in from the hall.
"Is she okay, Em? I didn't know this would happen." My brother's hushed voice spoke from the doorway.
"She'll be fine, I think. Just give her a minute." I could hear Emily's voice reverberating through her slender frame. I felt cool fingers under my chin as she tilted my head up.
"Are you gonna be alright, Winter?" It took me a moment to realise she was speaking to me.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine. Just gimme a second." I took a few deep breaths.
"I'm fine now. Really. It was just a nightmare," I assured them. Emily looked at me questioningly and then sighed.
"If you're sure. See you in the morning, Winter."
"Night," I responded vaguely. "Oh, Emily … thanks." She smiled and closed the door gently after her, plunging me back into darkness.
