Chapter Two: Drenched

The remembrance of a better time, a time not tainted by the encroachment of man, littered the beach. Now, besides the memories, laid the corpses of trees, white from death and brittle from an ever changing environment. The dark gray clouds filled the horizon and blended ever so slightly with the choppy waters of the great Pacific. A storm was coming. And as Kagome sat there on the deserted beach, hollow from the time spent with a soul so like hers and the fierceness of that time being taken away from her, she took a breath and allowed her shoulders to slump forward as if she were sheltering herself from the upcoming storm. She tilted her head upwards, slightly, to gaze upon the wolf-dog – she deemed him so—as he let out a slow and semi-pitiful whine. Her fingers twitched, raw and wrinkly from the weather, and she stretched out her hand towards him.

Highway, not far from her hand, stretched his neck out towards her so that the top of his head bumped with her palm. "What have we gotten into, sweet dog?" She scratched his head lightly before leaning forward and placing her cheek on the wet fur of his back. "You're going to stay with me, right? You'll be with me forever?" Highway didn't answer, just shifted so that he could get more comfortable with her added weight. "No, you won't leave me." Still, she scratched his head lightly and, enjoying the small form of attention, leaned his head more into her hand.

"Come on, stupid dog, let's get off the beach before we're drenched." Kagome got up from her spot, Highway following her obediently. Wet sand stuck to the both of them.

-.-

Outside, the rain poured down in buckets. Inside, however, the students of Forks High School sat warm and sheltered from the brewing storm, chatting idly with their friends in the school's cafeteria. Lunchtime was always something to look forward to, at least it was for the majority of the students. The group who sat at the table closer to the fogged-up windows would say otherwise, though. In fact, the Cullen's thought the whole idea of lunch –at least the word lunch in the human perspective—unappealing just as they thought of the rest of the school a downright waste of time. But in order to keep up appearances and remain unsuspected members of society, going to school was just something they had to do. After all, if word leaked out that there was a family full of uneducated children running around, they were positive the authorities would file some sort of claim, and then where would that lead to? No, it was just better to blend in with humanity.

Alice Cullen, the smallest and perkiest of the Cullen Clan, had remained cheerful throughout the short beak the school provided. Like always. But when she stopped her almost endless chatter with those she cared for the most, the rest of the group turned to look at her quizzically. And though a quiet Alice was not necessarily a bad thing, it did give cause for concern. She stared blankly in front of her for only a few seconds, before shaking herself off from her vision. Alice looked around at the group sitting around the table.

"Alice, are you okay?" Bella's voice penetrated the air and made their tense frames stiffen even more. The last time Alice had a vision was when she had decided to go cliff diving and when, once again, Victoria had made herself known to the clan that resided on the border of the small and bleak town. Now that Victoria was still at large, though her whereabouts were unknown, no one was about to take Alice's visions lightly.

Alice smiled a bit to shake off their worries; her vision, to her, was really nothing special. "Just some girl sitting at the police station talking to Charlie."

Emmett let out a deep scoffing laugh that vibrated through Bella's being. "At least we know your dad won't have to waste his time by looking at the clock and sipping coffee all day!" Bella gave an awkward smile back at Emmett's direction as everyone else seemed to relax.

-.-

The bell dinged loudly overhead as she opened the door to the quant shop. The cashier behind the counter looked up from his magazine to give her a brief smile in greeting before he continued on reading. Highway had stayed outside, sheltered only from the portion of the roof of the store that extended past its walls. As Kagome made her way further into the store and further away from what could be the prying eyes of the clerk, her hands filtered restlessly with the strap of her backpack. When she felt that she was safe, Kagome opened up her bag and began to take the food items off their shelves and placing them in it. When the shelves around her were as bare as she was willing to risk, she made her way back to the door that would lead her back out to open freedom.

"Can I help you with anything?"

Kagome startled from sound of the cashier's voice. She turned from the door towards the clerk who eyed her with an appreciating glance. "Uh, no… I was just looking. Thanks, though."

As Kagome tried to turn back to the door, his voice stopped her again. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you new here or just passing through?"

"Just passing through. On my way to…. Well, just taking a road trip."

"I see," he responded, this time his eyes were quizzical. " Well, have a nice day, miss!"

"You too". With that, Kagome finally made her way out of the store. Highway trotted towards her, tail wagging. He knew, somehow, that there was going to be something good to eat. Kagome patted him absently on his head while making her way to the street. "I swear to fucking god, I thought that guy knew why I was there!"

"And why were you there, ma'am?"

Kagome glanced behind her so fast that she felt her head spin and her eyes go out of focus. "What the…."

And before her stood her most dreaded enemy, a cop, standing beside his patrol car with his arms folded across his chest. How the fuck did she not see him before? Looking down at Highway, she felt her lips turn up in a grimace. Stupid dog could have warned her!

"Well… shit."

-.-.-

A/N: Hey, peeps! It's been a while, huh? Recently I've been down on my luck, and so I am only now continuing on with my fanfictions. The lack of reviews in accordance with the number of actual hits and story alerts/favs this story has been getting (especially with the last chapter) is the reason why this chapter is shorter. I love writing this story so, regardless, I will update when I can, but the number of reviews will dictate how long the chapters will be.

Please, my lovely peeps, I need encouragement. I love you all!

Always,

moosegirl13