Chapter 3

I can't believe that I messed up so bad. I have to get out of this place. I truly do not care if I can never swim again. I'll do anything to get away from these freaks. Because I know they're not human. They can't be.

I pretended to be asleep when I heard footsteps. The door opened.

"Emmet, no. You saw her reaction last time. What will she think of us?" A voice questioned.

"I'm going to help her get over her fear." Was the innocent reply. I suddenly realized what was about to happen.

I jumped out of the bed just in time. I hid behind the door so no drops touched me.

Emmet stood with the empty bucket in his hand, staring at me. I panted and glared at him, ignoring his size and scary eyes. He suddenly let out a loud laugh.

"Should have known! Alice, how didn't you see that coming?" He questioned.

Alice frowned.

"I don't know." She mumbled. I furiously stormed away from them, and out the front door.

It was a fresh day, and, luckily, it wasn't raining. In fact, there was actually quite a bit of sun.

I walked over to the edge of the forest and took out my phone. I walked inside the forest for a few minutes, just in case. I finally dialed Cleo's number.

"Oh, Rikki! It's nice to hear that you're okay!" Cleo exclaimed.

"I am most definitely not okay! I transformed! They dumped a bucket of water onto me! I swear only Americans can come up with that! I had to hide in a closet! And I swear they are not human, Cleo! No one is that strong or that beautiful! I have to get out of here now! Just two days here, and I already transformed! I can't survive a month!" I shrieked.

I heard something move and froze.

"Cleo, I think someone just heard all that. I'll call you back later." Before she could protest, I snapped my phone shut.

I finally made out what was in front of me. I screamed.

It was a wolf bigger than a horse. Its fur was rusty brown. It slowly approached.

I grabbed a dry branch from a tree and snapped it off. I held it toward the beast.

"Stay away from me! I am not joking here!" I warned with a think voice.

I don't know if it was my nerves acting up, but that bark sounded like a laugh…

The wolf bravely continued forward. I staggered back. It finally stopped. It suddenly growled and turned away from me, facing another wolf.

This wolf had dark silver fur. It's eyes were on me.

Why? I was a mermaid, and I accept it, but attracting giant wolves was something completely different.

Luckily, there were now facing each other. Maybe I could just slip away…

But the second I took a step both heads snapped in my direction. They started to circle around me.

I had the hope that wolves didn't know what phones were. I took mine out, and I faintly remembered the number of the freaks' house, after seeing it by one of the phones.

I dialed the number carefully and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?" It was Bella's little girl, Nessie. I had no idea how I knew it was her, I had never heard her voice before.

"Oh… Hi, Nessie. Can you pass the phone to you're mom?" I requested.

"Okay, Rikki." In less than a second, Bella's voice took over.

"Rikki? Where are you? What's wrong?" She asked like a concerned mother. Wait, she was a concerned mother…

"Uh, Bella? I went for a walk in the forest and two giant wolves are surrounding me. Please help me." I whimpered.

"Oh. Don't worry. There are a bunch of wolves in the forest like that. They won't hurt you. Don't worry about it, but… wait. Which two? Tell me the color of their fur." She ordered. I took a shaky breath and cringed as the wolves came closer still.

"Uh… One has dark silver fur. The other has rusty brown fur." I said.

"Oh… um, okay. Those two don't get along very well. But Ja- I mean the brown one will keep control. Just slowly try to walk away." She suggested. I tried, but I only got growled at.

"They won't let me leave! Help me!" I begged.

"I-I can't. Fine! I'll send Nessie." With that, there was just static.

I tried to hide my panic, but it was impossible. She was sending a seven-year-old to defend me?

The dark silver wolf jumped forward, toward me. I shrieked. It came close enough so that if I extended my arm, I would touch it. The brown one growled. It snapped at the other one. It snapped back. They suddenly started to fight, and I was in the middle of it.

After a few minutes of ducking the growling wolves, Nessie came into sight. Her skin looked shiny.

She crossed her arms and walked up to the brown wolf. It stopped fighting and whimpered. She touched its nose. It whimpered again. With a huff, it growled at the other wolf one more time before sprinting into the trees.

She now turned to look at the other wolf. I jumped when I noticed it was right next to me, its fur brushing against my arm. But when I was about to move away, it looked straight into my eyes, and I felt like I couldn't move. I was trapped in those eyes.

"Paul! Shoo!" Nessie scolded. The wolf, Paul, whimpered in protest, but obeyed the girl. Soon, I was alone with her.

"Thank you, Nessie." I gasped. She smiled at me.

"You just have to know them." She shrugged. We walked back to the house.

Bella met me at the door. "Oh, it's good to see you're okay. I wonder why those two wouldn't let you go…" she trailed off. Because at that moment, Edward came and kissed her. He said something so quiet; I didn't hear what it was. Bella's eyes widened.

"Oh… U, Rikki? I'm sorry if this seems rude, but how long will you be staying here?" She asked.

"A month. Then I can be on my way." I said shortly. She nodded, looking troubled.

"Hey." I jumped and turned around.

Jacob and another boy from his little group were walking up to us. This boy's eyes were focused on me. Jacob was rolling his eyes irritably.

"Oh, hello, Jacob and Paul." Bella said, her mouth slightly twisted with disapproval. Paul? Like the wolf?

"Hey, Rikki, right? It's great to meet you." He said. What was that in his voice?

"Yeah. I got to go." I twisted on my heel and hurriedly went back into the house.

The next day, I was pleased that I didn't have to wake up to freezing water. I was not pleased to find Paul waiting in the living room. He saw me and rushed up with a glass of water.

"Hi, Rikki! Want some water?" In his eagerness, he knocked into me and spilled all the water on me.

"Not again!" I groaned and sprinted to my room, locking the door and closing the curtains. I transformed and missed the bed by inches. Darn.

I head loud knocking on the door.

"Rikki? Rikki? Are you okay? I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Paul called though the door.

I dried myself quickly, but still did not open the door. I was mad. I crossed my arms and let him suffer.

After a while, the apologizes stopped. I sighed in relief. Something hit my window. I looked to see what. It was a piece of wrinkled paper. I opened it.

It was a letter of apology. Seriously? There was something wrong with that guy. At the bottom, he asked if I forgave him. I took a pen and scribbled the word no onto the paper and threw it back out my window.

A few minutes later, my door was thrown open. Huh. I thought it had the lock…

Bella was standing there with her hands o her hips.

"Rikki, stop torturing Paul and forgive him." She commanded. I crossed my arms.

"No. I'm mad." I refused. She glared at me and my confidence crumbled.

"F-fine." I mumbled. She winked. "Paul! She agreed to talk!" She called. He rushed up and started to beg for forgiveness. I shuddered at the memory of Bell's glare.

"Paul, I forgive you. Just never do it again. I hate water." I said. He nodded and actual tears came to his eyes. I took a step away. Huh?

But he quickly regained himself. He grinned and gave me a one-armed hug. I felt tiny compared to him.

"Awesome, Rikki." He gulped and shifted nervously. "Hey… want to go out tomorrow? We could go to the beach, go for a walk…" he trailed off.

Behind him, Bella glared at me again.

I nodded.

"Sure! Tomorrow morning it is! Pick me up at nine." With that he finally left and I breathed.