Chapter Three
Shaylee's POV
"Oh my God. Oh my God. OH MY GOD!" I was still freaking out, like, ten minutes later, but I'd stopped running because I'd realized I have no idea where I am, and continuing to run around like a chicken with its head cut off isn't helping anyone – least of all me.
"Okay, okay." I said to myself, shaking my hands out and jumping up and down, trying to calm myself down. But every time I thought about what I'd just witnessed, I was back to stage one of the freak out process.
"Okay. Calm down and assess the situation." I told myself as I started to pace. "Then come up with a plan."
Taking a deep breath, I reviewed:
I'd spent my morning at a stupid dress fitting, argued with half the members of my family, then left the house without telling anyone and went skateboarding. Then I fell, started bleeding, took a walk in the woods, and witnessed a guy turn into a wolf and start doing battle with some chick. Now I'm lost, in the same woods that I knew at least one dangerous wolf-man was in.
Okay. Situation = assessed. Outlook = not good.
Assuming that this wasn't all just some super realistic figment of my imagination – which I was still holding out a little hope for – what do I do about it?
I have absolutely no idea.
Just then, a branch cracked just behind me. I froze, and then slowly turned around – dread pooling in the pit of my stomach.
It was one of those guys, the ones I'd run into earlier. Mr. Rude's friend.
"Uh…hi." He said awkwardly and walked closer. Now we were the normal length apart for a conversation, but I couldn't seem to remember how to speak, so I just stared at him with all my senses on high alert.
Was this guy a wolf-man two?
It made sense. All those howls I'd heard earlier when wolves are supposed to be nocturnal. And all the guys I'd run into on the path earlier had looked alike – like brothers. It was only logical that they would all share the same kind freaky wolf mutation thingy when they look that much alike. And it also explains the whole 'walking around in the woods half naked' thing. They hadn't been headed out to some kind of kinky, homosexual orgy. They'd just been planning on transforming into gigantic furballs.
And, let's be honest, you don't get muscles that perfect through conventional methods. Much less a whole group of guys, in the same place at the same time being that buff.
"I'm Jake. Jacob Black." He – Jake – continued, probably trying to fill the tense silence that had fallen while I'd been working all of that out.
I guess he was trying to be friendly, but I wasn't going to help him out. I'd already seen one of his kind attack someone today.
So I just started at him, trying not to give away how scared I am.
"So…you live around here?" He asked casually – too casually…Was he stalling, or trying to pump me for information? I couldn't be sure. Either way, I made up my mind not to cooperate. So I just glared harder.
I did break my silence though, deciding that I needed some answers and this guy – Jake - might be my only way to get them.
"You're like…Mr. Ru…that other guy, right?" I asked. I'd almost slipped up and called him Mr. Rude, but luckily I caught myself. Jake probably wouldn't have known who I was talking about, and insulting someone that turns into an enormous animal in their spare time probably isn't the best idea.
"Who? Paul? Um…yeah. Yeah I am." He said, rubbing the back of his closely cropped hair and grimacing. Clearly he wasn't going to be very forthcoming with his information.
"And…do all your friends turn into wolves?" I asked. I'm pretty sure I'd worked that out for myself, but I wanted confirmation.
He gave me a little half smile, but didn't deny it. I took that as a yes.
"Really big freaking wolves. That…what? Attack random hikers in the woods and eat them?" I asked, my tone turning accusing when I thought about that girl from earlier with the weird eyes, and how Mr. Rude – Paul I think Jake had said his name was – had been snapping those big jaws of his at her. And about all those people that had gone missing a couple of years ago, and how the authorities had blamed the disappearances on some kind of animal.
Could I be standing only feet from one of those very animals? Could I be next?!
Each thought was more hysterical than the last, and I could feel my panic level shoot through the roof.
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God." I mumbled to myself again. I'm alone in the woods with a bunch of murderers!
"No no! That's not it! You've got it all wrong! Let me explain." Jake started speaking really fast, but then he stopped and groaned. "Oh, Paul should really be here for this. This should be his job." He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You know what," I said, deciding I'd had enough. I held up my hand and backed away as Jake moved closer towards me. "That's okay. I don't need to know. I don't WANNA know! So I'll just mind my own business then, and get out of your hair…"I said, my voice coming out strangled and high pitched.
Jacob was shaking his head back and forth really fast, and his eyes got really wide.
Is he about to panic? Or go all psycho wolf-guy on me? Oh man this can't be good.
"I'll just take off then!" I continued, and jerked a thumb over my shoulder to mime leaving. But when I actually went to go, Jake stopped me.
"NO!" He shouted. I was suddenly made aware of how physically intimidating this Jake guy actually is. He's way bigger than me. Way. "I can't let you do that." He continued in a normaler tone, but I'd already turned away, ready to 'take off.'
I knew the chances of outrunning for him were slim – especially in light of recent wolfy knowledge bombs, but I had to try. I took off running as fast as I could.
I only managed a step or two before his big hand wrapped around my wrist and jerked me to a stop.
"Ugh! Let me go!" I yelled, trying as hard as I could to tug my arm free. I didn't really make much headway. I'm pretty sure all I managed to do was bruise my own wrist. Man this guy is strong!
"Sorry about this." He grimaced as he started walking in the opposite direction from where I'd been headed (not that I was headed in any particular direction…mostly just away from them. So…now I was headed towards them…I guess). "You'll understand later." He continued, still holding my wrist captive. He dragged me along behind him.
"I don't WANT to understand later!" I yelled, jerking on my arm one last time before giving up on ever escaping his trap. "I just want to go home and NOT get eaten!"
To my displeasure, Jake didn't look even remotely abashed. He actually had the audacity to throw back his head and laugh! HE LAUGHED! At my fear! UGH!
I glared as hard as I could at him until he finally stopped.
"We're not going to eat you." He said, tacking a few more chuckles onto the end of his sentence. He couldn't seem to hold them back.
"A likely story." I mumbled before something he'd said clicked. "Wait…we?" I asked, planting my feet and bringing us to a standstill. Did he mean he was headed to meet up with the rest of those wolf-guys? And…I was expected to come to? What?
Jacob stopped and turned around to look me in the eye.
"Yeah. We. I'm taking you to the rest of the pack. You met some of them earlier…remember?" He asked.
"Yes I remember." I snapped. "But I don't think that qualifies as having 'met them.'"
He rolled his eyes before pulling on my arm again.
I numbly conceded to being half dragged behind him – not that I had much of a choice.
"Well, if you're not gonna eat me, then you really don't need me around, do ya?" I asked, trying to worm my way out of this whole situation. What I would give to be back in that stuffy fitting room from this morning, dying of boredom while my mom and older sister fussed over the fit of our dresses. And I actually mean that!
All I knew for sure was that I did NOT want to be surrounded by a bunch of people that could kill me with one hand tied behind their backs. Especially since I wasn't even remotely convinced that they didn't intend to have me for diner. But Jake didn't bother to respond. He just snorted and kept pulling me along.
"HEY!" Jake called, looking off to the left. I followed his gaze and saw two guys walking through the forest. I hadn't noticed them because they were quite a few yards away, and there were a lot of trees between us. But if I looked really hard, I could pick them out. Jakes eyesight must be better than mine.
They stopped walking and Jake changed our direction a little bit so we were headed towards them. They looked a lot like Jake – tall, dark, and buff. And they weren't wearing a lot of clothes, so I figured it was safe to assume that they're wolves two.
"This is Collin and Brady." Jake told me once we got closer. "And guys, this is…" here he trailed off, looking expectantly at me. He'd just now realized that he didn't know my name. He probably wanted me to tell them, but since I'd wanted to go home and he hadn't let me, I didn't feel the need to tell him. "Um…someone." He continued once he'd realized this.
"Paul's...?" Collin started to ask something.
"YEAH!" Brady said hurriedly, cutting him off. Then he and Jake both shot Collin a glare.
These guys are weird, so I shot them a look that said that.
"I think we need a visit to the Cullen's." Jake said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys that he tossed to Collin. "Go get my truck. We'll meet you by the bridge on Sessom Drive."
Collin took off running so fast, that he was out of sight in only a second. I blinked in surprise, but continued walking along between my remaining two captors.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, proud that my voice came out strong and even sounding, and that there were no traces of fear in it.
"To the Cullen's." Jake grunted. "We need to have a little chat with Alice. Then we'll have to decide what to do about you, and Edward or Jasper would probably be some help there..."
The Cullens? That weird pale family that has no friends outside of each other? Why would we be going there? What makes them so special? They give me the heebie-jeebies. Edward and I have hardly ever said three words to each other, and I don't think Jasper and I have ever even been in the same room! Why would either of them know what to do about me?
What to do about me…wait! I'd found out about their secret – which I obviously wasn't supposed to have done. Surely they wouldn't shut me up…permanently. You know…as in…*gulp* kill me?
I mean, I'd only met these wolf-men a few minutes ago, and the Cullens were odd and all, but they seem nice enough. Well…maybe not 'nice' per say, but certainly not murderers…
Then again, I did just watch that Paul guy attack that girl earlier…
And if they were taking me to the Cullens, then they were obviously involved in all of this…And now that I thought about it, I kind of had always gotten a creepy vibe from them. And their not having any friends was kind of a red flag…
Could every step I'm taking, sandwiched between two colossal dudes, be leading me closer to my death? As my heart rate shot through the roof, I decided not to stick around to find out.
Without giving any kind of warning, I pivoted quickly on my feet and took off as fast as I could away from them – hoping they wouldn't go all wolfy on me then and there.
"What the –"I heard Brady exclaim from behind me biting back an expletive.
I heard a few booming steps following right behind me for a couple of seconds, and then a massive, muscly arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against a chest, lifting my feet off the ground.
"Yeah. She's a flight risk." Jake said, giving a little chuckle somewhere up above my head.
'Darn right I am!' I thought venomously. I'm not just gonna let you march me right to my death. I'm not going down without a fight!
I kicked and flailed about wildly, trying to escape, but it was pointless. Jake was too strong.
To my dismay Jake never put me down. He carried me like a ragdoll, with my feet dangling, until we'd reached the edge of the forest and came to a street. He acted like I weighed nothing! And when he finally did set me down, he kept a hand wrapped firmly around my upper arm. I guess he'd got tired of chasing me down.
My chances of escaping this whole mess are looking dimmer and dimmer.
So anyways, once we'd reached the street, we stopped. We just stood there, doing nothing. It didn't make any sense…
"Um…what are we doing?" I finally asked.
"Waiting." Jake answered. "It would take too long to walk you all the way to the Cullen's, so we're driving.
I looked around – no car. Were these people delusional?
"I sent Collin for my truck, remember?" Jake asked after catching the look I shot him.
"Oh. Yeah." I mumbled, feeling stupid. These people are making me paranoid.
I looked around a bit more, trying to get my bearings. On the other side of the street was Sessom Park. My siblings and I used to come play here all the time. We were actually only a few yards away from where I'd fallen off my skateboard.
'Could that really have been earlier today?' I asked myself. It seemed so long ago – so much has happened since then. I'd been so carefree – and now I'm waiting for a ride to my doom. Times change.
For a moment there, I thought about trying to make another run for it.
I knew the area this time, and my house was only about a mile away. Surely I'd be safe there…but no. Jake still has a firm grip on my arm. There's no way I'd be able to get away with it. Still, I promised myself that I'd keep an eye out for other opportunities.
We were only waiting a few minutes before this crappy little truck with a red stripe going down the side stopped by the curb in front of us. Looking through the window, I recognized that Collin guy in the driver's seat.
Jacob opened the passenger side door, picked me up, and shoved me into the middle seat before climbing in after me – he didn't even wait to see if I would get in willingly, or ask me. He just skipped straight to the man handling part. RUDE.
I'm pretty much the farthest thing ever from a vehicle expert, so I have no idea what kind of truck it was, but it was the type that only has one row of seats. So, only three people can fit in it comfortably – well, that is if two of those people weren't ridiculously huge and the completely innocent third person was uncomfortably sandwiched between their giant shoulders. It was a tight squeeze in the cab with just Collin, Jake, and I in there, so Brady just jumped up in the bed of the truck and rode that way.
[ Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. ]