AFTER only one week with them, Bella had a feeling that her cousins didn't particularly like her.
They were nice to her - except for maybe Imani - but there was something about the way they acted with her that made feel like maybe she had given them a bad impression and they were trying to get over it.
At first she thought that maybe she was imagining things and letting her anxiety create something out of nothing but it became more obvious the more she hung out with them.
Mina was as playful as she was on the first day - she enjoyed making crude jokes whenever the opportunity arose and she ate so much that Bella was quite surprised she wasn't the size of a whale. On the first night they had stayed, Bella had offered to help her unpack and found that three out of her five bags were filled with snacks. But as playful as she was - she still tread lightly around Bella. Sometimes, she'd be halfway through a joke but would abruptly stop, as if she couldn't say. She'd done it numerous times and each time, Camilla would jump in and expertly change the subject; the first few times Bella wouldn't even notice when she did it.
Camilla was similar in that sense too - friendly but clearly not interested in making her a lifelong friend. She had expressed her feelings to Renee when she had called and her mother had suggested she ask Camilla to teach her Spanish. She didn't want to but she figured that maybe they'd grow closer if they did - Camilla of course agreed and they spent time learning it but still; there was something off with the way Camilla remained somewhat distant.
She had limited interactions with Imani who wasn't her biggest fan. She wasn't sure what she did to be on the beautiful girl's bad side but she was just glad that she wasn't that hostile. Sure, she didn't really talk to Bella but Bella didn't have to suffer from glares or rude remarks (like she half expected). Imani was quiet and polite which was better than nothing.
Even Delilah, who she liked the most so far, seemed to have the same reservations. They had similar tastes in books and the younger girl was sweet in a way that made Bella wish they had met before Edward. Before any of that. Still, despite Delilah's fondness of her, she too felt distant. Sometimes, she looked at Bella with pity (which she was used to) but there was something more to it.
Their actions didn't feel genuine. Like they were holding back. Like they couldn't … trust her.
Bella, on the other hand, found that she surprisingly liked their company. The gaping hole in her chest was still there and burnt at the thought of anything relating the Cullens and it wasn't like how it was with Jake - who was her sun and sometimes made her forget.
She still remembered.
But with them there now, she felt comforted. She had things to do with them around, menial things but it kept her somewhat distracted nonetheless. She discussed books with Delilah, cooked for Mina and learnt Spanish with Camilla.
She wondered what it'd be like when they left - she wondered if that was what it'd be to break her. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by Mina's arrival.
"Hey B," Mina greeted her with a punch to the shoulder (something that took getting used to) and a nickname that Bella didn't particularly like. "What's for dinner?"
Like always, Mina was hungry.
"Pasta," Bella answered as she got up to raid her pantry. "Unless you're craving something else?"
"Nope, I'm good with whatever you make." She shot Bella a toothy smile before she planted herself onto the bench; her legs swung back and forth and Bella was reminded of an overgrown child.
"Where are your sisters?" She asked her as she picked out some more ingredients from the fridge and placed them on the bench.
"Checking out the town," Mina reminded her - they had told her before they left.
"Oh right," she pretended to remember them telling her and moved around the kitchen at a sluggish pace. "You didn't want to go?"
"The boys here aren't as cute as I thought they'd be," Mina replied with a sigh. "You don't know any cute guys, do you?"
"No, sorry," Bella replied dryly, laughing to herself as she thought about how the boys at her school would probably start foaming at the mouth if they ever saw Mina. Or Imani for that matter.
"I heard the guys from the Rez are hot," Mina went on, not noticing the way Bella froze at the mention of the reservation. "Know anyone from there?"
"Umm… he - we're not - he -" she stumbled on her words and Mia immediately caught on to the fact that she didn't want to talk about it.
"Okay so, no guys from the Rez, got it," Mina backtracked with a playful smile which Bella tried to return. The two remained quiet for a while longer but as usual, Mina couldn't stand the silence and spoke up.
"Hey B, do you ever wear different colours?" Mina leant back on her palms and surveyed Bella's plain clothes with a frown. "Ya know, you'd look great in green or blue!"
At her words, Bella looked back at Mina and just for a moment, her face morphed into Alice's and she felt sick. Her eyes watered and she blinked rapidly to get rid of the image that appeared before her eyes.
"B?" Mina jumped off the bench and moved towards her with a concerned look. She snapped her fingers in front of her face and Bella blinked rapidly, regaining consciousness. Out of surprise, the jar in her hand slipped through her fingers and she instinctively flinched, preparing herself for the inevitable smash.
But it didn't come.
She looked down and saw that, with a surprising about of grace, Mina had caught it before I dropped.
"That was… fast," Bella breathed out in surprise.
"I'm on the baseball team back home," she replied with a shrug and carefully placed the jar back on the bench.
Bella felt like that statement wasn't all that relevant to her observation but she didn't get to delve and deeper because at the moment, the front door opened.
"We're back," Camilla called out and only a few moments later, they were in the kitchen as well. "Hey B, hey Mina."
Bella smiled back at them with a small wave.
"Spy any hot boys while you were out?" Mina retook her seat on the bench and leant her back against the wall.
"Nope." Camilla sounded more disappointed than Bella would've guessed.
"Not even a red head? They're my favourite," Mina played with the ends of her hair.
"I think Delilah did but we didn't get a close look," Imani shrugged and shared a brief look with Camilla. Bella had the strangest feeling that they weren't really talking about hot guys but she pushed that thought away. The sisters continued to make conversation but Bella turned around, deciding to let them talk amongst themselves.
She felt like no matter what, she couldn't be a part of their friendship - their sisterhood - their world.
xxx
After an intense game of rock, paper, scissors, it was Delilah who had been saddled with the (unfortunate) job of creating an outline of the woods. They hadn't realized how big the forest was and being unfamiliar with it wouldn't help them if they needed to find Victoria or James.
Imani was sympathetic enough to offer to help Delilah make a mental map so the two of them set off to explore the forest. It was larger than they had expected and the terrain wasn't
Just to be polite, Delilah had asked Bella if she wanted to come but she had made a face and made up some excuse. Knowing that it was probably not something she wanted to talk about, Delilah didn't probe and merely shrugged. She knew that Imani wouldn't have come if Bella had.
Imani wasn't cruel but she wasn't at all as nice as she could be when it come to Bella.
"You know… Bella's nice," Delilah finally spoke up and peeked at her sister out of the corner of her eye and saw that her expression didn't change. "You should be nicer to her."
"Why?" Imani snorted, barely concealing the way she rolled her eyes.
"Because she's going through a tough time and - " Delilah considered aloud - she couldn't help but feel pity for the girl.
"Listen Dee, we're here to do one thing and one thing only," she sighed as she ducked under a particularly low hanging branch. "Bella is nice, sure. But we're not here to play nurse and help heal her broken heart. Even if we did help her somehow, it's not like we could stay with her. And she can't come with us when we leave."
"I'm not saying that we do anything crazy," she maintained with a shrug. "I'm just saying that if you were a little warmer, it'd be better for her."
"She needs a serious wake up call - it's getting ridiculous. I thought they were exaggerating but she's… she's like a zombie."
"Bella's…" Delilah struggled to find the right word.
"She's a mess," Imani's reply was swift and mean but Delilah couldn't help but agree.
When Bella was with them, she was somewhat appeased (barely) and would resemble an actual human being but sometimes the girls would catch her just staring out the window. She barely ate and she barely slept. And when she did sleep, she'd suffer from terrible dreams that had her screaming throughout the night.
But before Delilah could add in any more requests for her to be kinder - Imani stopped and sighed.
"C'mon, let's split up," she suggested as she craned her neck to see how much more land they had to cover.
Delilah paused mid-step as well.
"I'll go down here, you go up there, towards the Reservation," Imani eyed the trees on her right with a sigh. "If we stay together, we won't get through here until tonight."
"I'll follow up to the river," she jerked her chin forward and Imani nodded before she spun on her heel and ran off to the opposite side. As she ran past, Delilah felt her hair fly up from the gust of wind that was left behind and she couldn't help but roll her eyes - Imani was the fastest and didn't let anyone forget it.
A few hours after they had separated, Delilah came across a huge paw print in the ground near the edge of the river. She stopped and instantly crouched down and inspected it closely - it was the largest paw print she'd ever seen. Much too big to be anything that could be found in the woods. It looked almost similar to one of the Children of the Moon but it was different.
She abandoned her original path and instead followed the prints. It went on for about a mile but then just stopped suddenly. She studied the last one closely and looked around but there was nothing.
Delilah was so intrigued by the disappearing prints, she didn't catch the scent as quickly as she should've. The moment she did, she felt her stomach tie into knots - the smell wasn't all that familiar to her.
She strained her ears and heard that there were two of them. They smelt like children of the moon but more … human and more earthy in a way.
It didn't have a threatening scent and she felt nothing that would indicate danger but it was a new smell. And she wasn't used to not knowing something - it was unsettling.
She knew that she should've run - she could've easily outrun them by now. She still had enough distance between them but her mind was telling her to stay put. Camilla had specially ordered them to try not to be seen while they were trekking; they didn't want to draw any attention.
But Camilla should've known better than to let Delilah be the one to explore the forests. Her curiosity nearly always won out and despite the small nagging voice in the back of her mind (that sounded suspiciously like Imani) telling her to move, she remained rooted in her spot.
She told herself she'd just get a gauge of them - see if they were dangerous - then she'd leave. They were only twenty feet behind her when they finally purposely made their presence known to her
"Hey!" A deep voice rumbled, finally calling out to her. "Are you alright?"
She turned around, fully prepared to offer a small apology but she found her words stuck in her throat as soon as she caught sight of the two men standing before her. They seemed to tower over her and she was by no means a short girl (although she was the shortest of her sisters) and out of all the things she was expecting to see, two attractive shirtless men wasn't on her list.
"Oh… hello," her voice was unnaturally scratchy and she felt herself untuck her hair from behind her ear so she could hide her blush behind her hair. She suddenly felt very insecure and wished that Imani was still with her - out of all the sisters, she had the least amount (which is to say, none at all) of experience with the opposite sex. They moved closer towards her and she felt uneasy at their proximity.
"Are you lost?" The bigger one took a step towards her and in doing so, his scent wafted towards her, snapping out of her surprised daze. "How did you get this far?"
His scent was stronger than the leaner one and she immediately picked up that whatever they were - this one smelt like the stronger one.
"I haven't seen you around before, are from the Rez as well?" The taller one spoke again as he eyed her featured with curiosity.
"No, I'm visiting my cousin in Forks," she regained her composure and took a step backwards. "My sister and I wanted to check out the woods."
"It's not safe out here, there are lots of animals out here," the leaner one finally spoke up and as he shifted in his spot, she caught sight of a tribal tattoo on his arm. She recognized the symbol as Quileute and her confusion deepened.
"No need to be scared," the taller one mistook her bemusement as fear and tried to give her a reassuring look. She clamped her teeth down on her lower lip to stop herself from chortling - she wasn't scared. Not at all.
They should've been afraid of her.
While they smelt like children of the moon - they weren't. They smelt weaker. And that gave her confidence.
"I'm jumpy around strangers," she replied easily as she told herself that she only wanted to spend a few more moments with them. She was beyond curious as her mind whirred with a million different thoughts as she tried to figure out what they were. She wondered if they even know what they were.
"I'm Jacob Black and this is Embry Call," the bigger one grinned down at her. "Now we're not strangers."
"Okay," she dragged the word out and dragged her eyes down their frames. Their size was intimidating but she doubted that their skin was marble-like, like vampires - it looked supple and soft, like normal human flesh. It'd be easy for her to pierce their skin with one of her daggers.
By time she realised she was probably blatantly ogling them, it was too late; when she looked up they were both looking at her with similar smirks adorning their faces.
"Do you want us to walk you back?" Embry raised a questioning eyebrow and offered her a crooked smile.
"No," she rejected his offer immediately and her eyes flickered up to his mouth - again, her perplexity doubled when she saw that his teeth were normal with no fangs in sight. "I'm fine to get back on my own."
She could almost feel the heat radiating off their bodies and she felt her eyebrows pinch in confusion - she had never come across a creature that ran so hot. She tilted her head a little and listened out for perhaps an irregular heartbeat but the two heartbeats she heard from them only added to her growing confusion. They were completely normal.
"Embry can take you back to Forks - do you know which way your sister went?" Jacob offered his friend up without so much of glance in his direction.
"I can go back by myself," she repeated although this time, a bit more sterner. As much as she wanted to stay and try to learn more about their mysterious scent, she knew that it was better if she returned.
"It's easy to get lost," Jacob shook his head and tried to give her an easy going grin but it didn't fool her for a second. He wanted her to leave the woods and her discovery made her narrow her eyes - why did he want her gone?
"I have a great memory," she bit back. "I got here myself and I can get back by myself too."
"Seriously, it'd be better if you let Embry take you back," he pressed on, looking a little anxious now. "There have been… uh, bear sightings lately."
"You two don't seem too worried," she shot back quickly, looking pointedly at their clothes. Or lack thereof.
"We're big boys," Embry shot her an cocky smirk and she felt like he was teasing her somehow. She didn't have much of a temper in comparison to her sisters but still the action made her jaw clench. "I'll walk you back."
"Yeah, I'll find your sister," Jacob said it with a finality as if she had actually agreed and it annoyed her slightly. Perhaps it was in their nature to be pushy.
"No, I said it's fine," she shook her head again and stepped backwards but his hand shot out to take hold of her wrist when she did. The moment his hand touched her skin, she instinctively twisted out of his grip and pushed his chest back. Her sudden movement took him by surprise, as did her strength, and he stumbled backward, making him crash into Embry.
"Sorry," she quickly apologized and felt a wave of nervousness when she saw the bewildered expressions on their face. She mentally cursing at herself for moving so quickly.
"I… How did you do that?" Jacob's entire face was morphed into an expression of pure shock.
"Do what? I just pushed you," she let out an awkward laugh and tried not to let her nervousness show.
"Yes but… you shouldn't have been able to make actually stumble," he straightened up and rubbed his chest where she had hit. "And it actually kinda hurt."
"I'm stronger than I look," she mumbled back as she quickly diverted her eyes, trying to think of an excuse to leave.
"Yeah, so are we," Embry's countered coolly, his puzzled expression was gone now and replaced with suspicion. She saw him subtly sniff in her direction, and she instinctively stilled. She knew he wouldn't pick up a scent from her - she smelt like a human but still, she felt tense as Embry stared her down.
"What did you say your name was?" Jacob's voice was tinted with apprehension as he gave her a firm stare.
"It's Delilah Brant," she shared cautiously. She knew she probably should've given a fake name but she figured that she probably wouldn't run into these men again.
"And where are you from?" Embry questioned, arms folding themselves across his chest.
"I told you, I'm staying with my cousin in Forks," she ran a hand through her hair and shifted her weight uncomfortably.
"Yes, but where are you from?" His jaw was clenched now as he looked her up and down.
"Up north," she answered vaguely and glanced over his shoulder, realising that it was time she left. They were asking too many questions now.
"Delilah!" A new voice joined them and all three of them turned to see Imani standing there, with a wary expression. "What … are you doing?"
Relief flooded through Delilah when she saw her older sister standing there, arms crossed against chest and eyes flashing dangerously. Imani stomped over towards the shorter girl and inserted herself in between her and Jacob, like a barrier.
"Who are you?" She spoke to Jacob as if he wasn't several inches taller than her and she met his eyes with a harsh glare.
Both Jacob and Embry reacted to her sister the way most men did. Neither one was able to take their eyes off of her, staring at her as if she hadn't spoken at all. Embry was quicker to snap out of the trance first and his eyes snapped over to his friend who was still clearly dazzled. He nudged his friend and gazed back at Imani who was waiting for his response.
"Embry Call," he replied with a cough. "And this is Jacob Black. We were just wondering if Delilah needed some help getting back home."
"She doesn't," Imani snapped back. For the first time, Delilah was actual thankful for the fact that Imani was always so hostile around strangers.
"Are you her… cousin?" Jacob asked unsurely, clearly taken aback by their different looks.
"Sister," Imani corrected stiffly. Delilah knew she was also surprised by their scents. But Delilah also knew that Imani probably didn't care - their objective was clear and Imani never allowed anything to get in the way of getting a job done.
"You're staying in Forks, right?" Embry asked, his head angled to the side as he addressed Delilah again. "Who's your cousin? Maybe we know them? Or -"
"Are you two cops?" Imani cut off his questions with a scoff.
"No," Jacob answered, with a comical shake of his head, as if that idea alone was insane. His action made Delilah wonder how old he really was.
"Are there rules against coming out here?" She raised her eyebrow and mirrored Embry by folding her arms across her own chest.
"No," again, Jacob answered.
"Did Delilah ask for your help or something?"
"Well, no but -" Jacob looked flustered by Imani's rapid questions and blinked a few times in surprise.
"Are you rangers?" She didn't seem to care about the discomfort Jacob was obviously feeling and continued.
"I wouldn't say rangers but -"
"Well then, I'm not really sure what has you thinking that you can ask her all these questions and expect answers," Imani shot back. "We're leaving now. Don't follow us or we'll call the cops - real cops."
Of course Imani was bluffing but they didn't know that. Embry and Jacob shared looks but didn't stop her when she pulled Delilah away from them and back towards the way they had come.
It wasn't until they had returned to the house that they felt it was safe to speak.
"You smelt them, right?" Delilah turned to her sister with a worried face. "Should we tell Camilla?"
"Dee, it doesn't matter," Imani's reply was more or less exactly what Delilah thought it'd be. "Unless they're children of the moon or they're vampires, it doesn't matter to us."
With that, she walked into the house while Delilah trailed behind her, still deep in her thoughts. The smell of food attracted them to the kitchen where Mina was sitting at the table, stuffing her face while Bella watched from the bench.
"How was your walk?" Mina called out to them in between a mouthful of pizza. "See anything interesting?"
"Not really," Imani gave Delilah a pointed look as she accepted the bottle of water that Mina offered her.
"Hey Bella," Delilah ignored Imani's look and focused on the girl at the bench.
"Yeah?"
"Um, I saw that you have a Quileute book about the legends and stuff," she could feel Imani's eyes burning into the side of her head but she kept going. "It looked pretty cool, can I borrow it?"
"Oh… sure," Bella looked a little taken aback but agreed anyways.
xxx
Two nights later, Bella stepped into their world for the first time.
It was nearing midnight but Mina was wide awake, watching Bella who was screaming murder in her sleep.
"I'm waking her up," Mina grumbled as she watched Bella writhe in her bed. "I'm surprised she hasn't woken up the entire fucking neighbourhood."
"Leave her," Camilla called from the bedroom door. She had been awoken by Bella's shouts as well and had assumed the worst.
Bella's screaming seemed to grow louder and Mina's sensitive ears rang at the frequency of her yells.
"How the fuck am I supposed to sleep when she's screaming the fucking house down?" Mina seethed, her fatigue was causing her temper to flare as she contemplated picking Bella up and tossing her out the window.
"She looks like she's crying, maybe we should wake her up," Delilah joined Camilla at the door and looked at Bella in concern. There were tear tracks on her pale skin and it was a sad sight to behold.
"Do you really want her to wake up and see us all here?" Imani had also decided to join them, surprisingly looking slightly worried as well. Camilla agreed with her sentiment - if they woke Bella up, she'd only be embarrassed.
"But she looks like she's in pain," Delilah frowned and stepped into the room so she could stand beside Mina.
"She always looks like she's in pain," Mina snorted and rolled her eyes - not as sympathetic as her younger sister.
"You're such an asshole sometimes," Delilah scoffed and pushed Mina's shoulder who retaliated with a shove of her own.
"I'm the asshole? Imani's the one who makes it clear what she thinks about Bella," Mina pointed an accusing finger at the tallest girl who hadn't moved from her spot at the doorway.
"Hey, at least I'm upfront about being an asshole," Imani defended herself with a glare. "I'm mean to her to her face and behind her back."
"I'm only being a bitch because she's messing with my sleep. You know that I usually really like B," Mina pouted angrily, feeling as if her sisters were ganging up on her. "None of you have to share a room with her and I've got the best hearing out of all of us!"
"Yeah and you've got the biggest mouth," Imani sniggered and managed to duck just in time when Mina threw a pillow at her.
"And you're the slowest runner," Delilah added for good measure. It was usually Mina and Imani who would tease her so it was fun to be on the other side for once.
"I am not the slowest runner," Mina scowled, feeling herself getting riled up. "Delilah you've only ever beaten me in a race once! And I'm stronger than the both of you put together."
In the midst of their bickering, none of the three girls had realised that Camilla had moved towards the bed where Bella was whimpering out her ex-boyfriends name.
"Bella, wake up," Camilla shook her by the shoulder roughly, putting an end to her sisters' petty arguments as they watched on in slight confusion. Camilla shook her cousin again until she stirred.
"Bella!"
"What… oh was I … I'm…" Bella woke up with a start and thrashed around for a moment before she calmed down when she saw who it was. She looked around her room and saw all four girls staring at her and like Imani had predicted, she flushed in embarrassment as soon as she realised why they were there.
"... Did I wake you?" She rubbed her eye slowly and pulled herself up so she was sitting against the headboard.
Camilla didn't answer but instead gripped her wrist tightly with a strange expression on her face.
"Camilla?" Bella's eyes were scrunched up in confusion. "... What's going on?"
The girl in question twisted her wrist lightly to show her the scar that marred her skin and gave her an intense look.
"Bella, who the hell bit you?"
a/n: next chapter we'll find out more about the girls and their origins. And ugh writing scenes w/Bella and the girls is so hard bc she's so broken but hopefully it'll get better and they'll get closer.
