2. Silence is Golden
"Nessie! Nessie!" My dad's familiar voice brought me back to reality. Crap, I forgot about where my mind was at the moment. I quickly got up from the ground and wiped off the leaves and dirt that had now stuck to my jeans. My dad's footsteps were loud as they stomped into the leaves behind me. "Nessie, why are you out here? And alone?"
Quickly changing my mind to lie about what I was just doing and what I just saw, I turned towards my father and began answering his question. "Sorry Dad, it's just that I was walking back from my meditation session with Alice when I got completely turned around. I must have tripped on that, uh," my eyes frantically scanned the ground trying to find a stick or something that I could have tripped on, "that leaf right there!" I raced to the leaf and picked it up, like I was showing him the final clue in a murder mystery. "Silly, right? I was on my way home. Promise!" By the way my father's face looked, I knew my lie wasn't working. Okay, Plan B. I dropped the leaf and walked up to father, wrapping my arms around him to give him the largest hug. Then, like I've done numerous times before, I smiled my biggest and brightest smile I could. He soon smiled back. Success!
"I believe you Nessie," he ruffled my curly, bronze hair, "But don't wander into these woods without one of us knowing, please? It could be dangerous."
"Okay, I will."
"Now, why don't we walk back to the house? Grandma Esme made fettucini alfredo. Your favorite." My father held out his pale hand and I held on with my own. His skin was slightly cooler than mine.
"Yeah and I bet she cooked enough to feed an army. You know, it's just me eating it!"
"Well, there may also be another guest tonight."
I think I might have jumped to what my father had said. Jumped in a good way, I mean. Whenever we had a guest over, it was always the same person.
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"Grandpa Charlie!" I squealed like a little girl as I ran towards my grandfather who was sitting on the couch in the living room. Before he could even get up, I crashed into him, giving the tightest hug I could.
"Nes, sweetheart, you're squishing me."
"Opps, sorry," I laughed while letting go. Having Grandpa Charlie over always meant so much to me. Though, he wasn't really my grandfather by blood. He just helped in "raising" my mom when she came here to Forks, Washington. Almost like an adoptive parent. You know, she actually went to school with actual humans to make it look like she was a normal teenage girl. When really she was an immortal vampire. Dun dun dun! Hah! But the coolest thing was while she was in school, she met my father. Who also happened to be a vampire going to school to look like a normal teenage boy. It always baffles me that they met that way. But it's also a romantic story and I always thank my grandpa Charlie for helping with my mom because if he wouldn't have taken her in, I wouldn't be here.
"It's okay." He got up from the couch and motioned me towards the dining room where a huge bowl of fettucini was sitting. The aroma was mouthwatering. Almost too mouthwatering when I noticed drool going escaping my mouth. "So, Nessie, tell me. How is it almost being seven years old?" I sat down in my chair and he sat beside me. The rest of the family quickly followed and sat at their normal spots. Though, they wouldn't be eating tonight. They were just there to listen to the latest chatter.
I giggled at my grandpa's question, "I don't know. I guess it feels...uh...cool?"
"You know, Charlie, Nessie is going to be having a pretty big party and we would love it if you would like to come," my grandmother, Esme, asked as she shoveled some pasta onto his plate.
"Yes, Dad, you must come. It's going to be a big event. We're having a DJ and a dance floor," my mother chimed in while she looked over in my direction and smiled. I smiled faintly back. I'm really grateful for what my parents do for me, don't get me wrong. But I felt as if this party was more of a funeral, rather than a celebration of my birthday. It marked the day I stop aging. The day where I will be immortal, just like my family. Something that I thought was a fantastic idea...when I was three. Though, now, I'm almost sixteen--erm, seven--and I think the complete opposite. Living forever? Where's the fun in that?
"I think it will be a whole lot of fun, don't you Nessie?" My dad's eyes looked coldly towards me. Shoot! I forgot to shield my mind and think happy thoughts. Sometimes I wish my dad's ability had an on and off switch.
"Ye-yeah! It's going to be great. And I can't wait for everyone to be here," I focused on my pasta below me and began to swirl it with my fork. Suddenly, I didn't feel hungry anymore.
Once dinner was over, Grandma Esme decided to show Charlie and the rest of the family my decorations for the party upstairs. This was my perfect time to go back to the cottage and actually let my mind wander slightly. Sometimes when my father's mind was focused on something else, he didn't exactly hear other thoughts. As soon as the last pair of feet left the last step leading to the upstairs, I bolted out the back door towards the cottage. Once inside my room, I plopped onto my bed and just sat in the silence. Ahh, silence. A rare sound in my life. When you have a family that never sleeps, you're bound to have noise 24/7.
"Nessie?" Two cool hands were on my arms and my eyes quickly shot open. A golden pair was staring back.
"Al-Alice?" My hands groggily wiped my eyes and I sat up on my elbows.
She giggled, "You fell asleep, silly head."
"Well that's what I tend to do when I'm tired." The word "tired" hit Alice like she just figured out the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.
"Oh sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just wondering, since everyone else is out hunting and I have babysitting duty, if you would like to go take a walk with me?" At that second I wanted to just fall back in bed, but Alice was great at getting her way, just like me. So, without protest, I got out of bed and headed out into the cool night. Besides my mother and father, Alice was the closest to me in the house. I think it's because she's the closest to my mother which means she's always over at the cottage. She practically is my sister. I could tell her anything. Well, I thought I could anyway.
"Alice?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever seen wolves in the forest?" Alice slowed her pace.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I saw one today. And it was absolutely huge! I mean it had to be as big as a horse or something." Alice completely stopped.
"Nessie, did this wolf get near you?"
"Well, yeah. But it was really sweet. It didn't try to hurt me or anything, it just licked my face." I laughed, remembering the trail of slobber it left behind.
Alice reached out and grabbed my hand. She had a serious look in her eyes, like the look she gets before hunting. "Nessie, promise me you wont go near that wolf again. Okay?"
"But-"
"No buts. Just don't go near it. And if it gets near you, get away as quickly as you can." I nodded, though I mentally lied in my head. I mean, this creature intrigued me somehow. There was no thing like it. And I definitely never saw a documentary about oddly large wolves on Animal Planet.
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The next day, my mom thought it would be a great idea if we put together my guest list for my birthday party. She thought it would be the perfect way to get some mother/daughter bonding in. I could think of 100 other ways to do so without it involving my funeral--I mean birthday party.
"So I've got all of the Denalis and Dad. The Romanians are coming in. Lets see, umm, Mary, Peter, Charlotte, Zafrina, Amun, and Kebi. Who else do I have left, Nes?" My mind had zoned off and I couldn't even tell you the names my mother listed. "Nessie, sweetie, are you there?" I saw my mother's hand flash in front of my face, taking me out of my trance.
"Oh, ye-yeah. Umm," I took the address book my mother had given me to tell her names of all of her friends and read down the list, "Did you get Ben and Tia from Egypt?"
"Oh yeah! I need to write those down. Who else?"
"I think that's it, Mom."
"Alright. Well, I need to go make the invitations. Do you need to finish any homework? Kate's going to be here soon." Shoot! I forgot about my essay.
"Yeah, just a small essay I need to type." She nodded and kissed my forehead before leaving my room. It didn't take long to realize I still had my mother's address book in my hand.
"Ugh, better get this to her before she makes it back to the house," I spoke out loud as I got up from the ground. As I did, I heard a light noise. Like a piece of paper hitting the ground. I looked down and saw just that. It must have fallen out of the book. Of course, curiosity got the best of me and I opened it up. On it was an address and phone number next to a name that didn't look familiar to me at all. Jacob Black.
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