Disclaimer: The world of Twilight belongs to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I just want to play with her toys. Limited dialog and text from the Twilight saga appear within the following text. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Avalanche: Co Cold It Burns

Chapter 2 - Council Meeting (Jacob's POV)

A nasty mood settled into my backbone when my best friends, Embry Call and Quil Ateara, teased me about my interest in Bella Swan and my fear of the Cullens last week. I couldn't shake the feeling that someone or something was watching me. It was like a mosquito was buzzing around my ear. Occasionally, it would get close enough for me to hear it; the threat of a stinger pushing into my skin would make me flinch. My jumpiness even set my dad on edge and he's asked me to stay home from school and help him around the house. Skipping school to hang out with my dad was a first.

My distress reached its peek around noon, when we'd rode over to the hardware store in Forks. I was such a mess that I could barely push my dad's wheelchair. He finally told me to go wait in the car while he paid for the light bulbs and duct tape we didn't need. Although my paranoia eased after we had left the store, my general discomfort increased when my dad decided he needed to swing by Old Quil Ateara's house on the way home. The old man kept patting my head and face and asking how I was doing.

"Jacob," he whispered. "It won't be long before you're ready to take your place as a leader in this community. Are you ready for the responsibility, son?"

I wanted to stick my tongue out at him.

There wasn't a lot of responsibility for someone like me on LaPush. I imagined that I would graduate from high school, go to college, and get a degree in vocational education, so I could teach auto shop or woodworking. I'd end up like my dad and Old Quil: fishing all weekend; drinking beer; and whining at gatherings, just like the one we had tonight.

The council meeting was over, but a few of the elders, waiting for things to settle down before rehashing their ancient tales, were hanging around in the back of community room. My dad was there. He caught my eye and lifted and dropped his head, almost imperceptibly; then he gave me that tight, toothless stress-filled smile that could have been a grimace of pain for all I knew. One of the elders said something and looked at Sam Uley. My dad looked, too.

Sam was still seated, but he stood and stretched slowly, staring straight ahead at the pictures from last year's paddle journey that someone had hung on a bulletin board. I had known Sam all my life. But of course, you know everyone In a community of only 700 people that defined themselves by kinships and a connection to the land.

Sam always seemed like a happy-go-lucky guy, but over the past year or so, he'd grown increasingly serious and very involved in "peace enforcement" on the rez. My dad encouraged me to hang out with Sam when he showed up at the youth center, even though he was old enough to be away at college, like my sister, Rachel.

The last time I hung out with him was the day back in March when Bella visited LaPush with her friends from Forks High School.

Our dads had been friends for most of their lives, but Bella barely remembered me. I had fixed up the old Chevy her dad bought off my father, and I liked the feeling I got from thinking that I had made Bella's transition to life in Forks easier by providing her a way to exercise her independence. I wanted to impress her, so when she suggested that we walk along the beach, I told her some of our secret stories. Stories I wasn't supposed to tell anyone outside the Tribe, especially a Hokwať - a white.

Maybe it was guilt that made me reluctant to stay and hear the old stories tonight. Technically, I had violated the legendary treaty between the Tribe and the "cold ones". Knowing that my dad and some of the elders believed that the Cullens had hurt Bella in Phoenix pricked my conscience. Or maybe I was tired of seeing my old friends, Paul and Jared, following so close behind Sam that if he stopped suddenly they might have had to pull their noses out of his ass.

At the moment, however, Paul and Jared were scarfing down cookies and soda pop and it appeared it would take more than the Pied Piper of LaPush to drag them away from the refreshments. That something more was Sue Clearwater, a council member. She shooed them away and glared openly, the way I wanted to. Paul and Jared passed us on their way to join Sam, who had spoken to the elders at the back of the room before moving closer to the main door. Together, they looked like the bouncers that worked at the bars in Port Angeles, all psyched to put the stomp on a brawl.

"Tixáli." I wondered for a second, if Sam and his goons would block the door when I tried to leave.

"Aw, come on Jacob," Embry Call said. "Don't be like that. Don't go home."

"We're not going to hear anything new," Quil Ateara chimed in. "It's not like it's a new episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"Dude, that show's not even on anymore," Embry punched Quil's arm.

"Reruns, man, reruns." Quil rubbed his bicep. "Besides Buffy's hot. Nothing cold about her."

"Stay Jake,"; Embry persisted. Embry was my closest friend and I knew he really didn't want to stay, but he was more concerned that leaving would be disrespectful to the elders than I was. "Don't be a baby."

"So what?" I figured I had to have been wearing diapers the first time I had heard the warning about the "cold ones" anyway. Imagining myself young and helpless and in diapers was almost impossible. It seemed only slightly less probable that the legends of blood-drinking creatures were true and that the new doctor and his family were the same monsters my dad and the other Quileute elders feared.

Generally, I considered the stories precautionary tales that had more to do with instilling the idea that we should protect our tribal lands from non-Indians eager to exploit our resources. Our tribal legends were passed down one generation to the next and were a source of pride; knowing the secret stories about like the one about the "cold ones" was an honor.

Still, I viewed the admonishments to steer clear of the Cullens in much the same way that I knew it was necessary to look both ways before crossing a street. That is to say, I knew that I should look both ways, even when I was standing beside a road on the rez and there wasn't a car within miles, and I guess I should hate the Cullens, just because the elders said so.

My father really, really hated the Cullens. Sometimes he'd mutter about the trouble the Cullens were causing, but I couldn't figure out what he could possibly be talking about, unless it was the fact that a lot of people were refusing to be treated at the hospital in Forks and that meant a lot of extra driving to the next closest hospital.

When my father and the other elders on LaPush found out that lumber and other home building materials were being delivered to the property owned by the Cullens, recitations of the old scary stories took on a new intensity, lifting them out of the realm of the Brothers Grimm. (The wolves were the always the bad guys in those stories, anyway.) The storytellers adopted an ominous tone and bore expressions of concern and worry. They stared at us - the tribal teens - in a way that wasn't comfortable. It was like they were waiting to catch us doing something bad. Or maybe they were waiting for us to jump, frightened by an unexpected loudly shouted word.; but no one ever yelled "Boo" and not a single listener ever jumped. Most of us respectfully held our tongues, but rolled our eyes at each other when the elders looked away, at least until Sam Uley started hanging around.

"Look, I just don't see any reason why we gotta listen to the same old stories all the time'" I groaned.

"You're just sore cause Sam and his little gang of tough guys can do no wrong," Quil said as he watched Sam and his friends help Quil's grandfather outside. "Hey, that's a first, the LaPush Gang is gonna miss story hour."

"They'll be back," I snorted. "Maybe they're sneaking out for a smoke?"

"Nope, not tonight," Embry replied. "I overheard the elders saying that Sam smelled something that wasn't 'right' over near Forks - near the hardware store."

"First, he's coming down on drug dealers on the rez, and now he's protecting Forks from evil doers," Quil laughed. "Who does he think he is? Chief Swan?"

"Get this, Jacob, I heard your dad tell Harry Clearwater that you've been acting weird all week and that he took you to the hardware store and you almost came unglued." Embry sounded scared. "Then, your dad said that Sam's looking into whatever is up in Forks."

"Yeah, well... with Sam and Paul and Jared out of action tonight, that will mean the elders will expect us to stay," Quil grumbled. "and they won't put up with any excuses."

Quil was right: we would be expected to stay and listen to the legends of werewolves and vampires. But that was okay with me, because I wanted to know what my dad was up to and I knew the answer had something to do with Sam and the elders. I also knew that sooner or later, Sam and his boys would be back.