Chapter 3 - Danger
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" offered Bella
"Bells, I'll be fine, you be with Jacob." she said, placing her hands on Bella's shoulders
"All right," she agreed, Kat had only come out with them once, but left early on account that she 'felt like a third wheel' in her own words. Bella didn't know what she did all day, or if she even left the house, but Jacob distracted her enough when she was with him so she didn't worry too much.
"I'm going down to Seattle today, so don't panic if I'm not here when you get back, and remember, I'm cooking tonight"
Kat looked out the window, it was snowing. She didn't exactly love the snow, because it mean it was too cold to rain, but she was just like the next person when she said it was fun to throw at people. Now satisfied that she was right to bring her light-grey parka with her, she pulled it on on top of her white hoodie and zipped it only half-way up. Unlike Bella, she cared about her appearance, she wouldn't even walk down the road if she didn't look presentable. She remembered to grab her bag before she left the house.
She could remember the way to Seattle even though she'd only looked at the map once and she could even copy the section of the map down perfectly if she wanted to, she had a photographic memory. She flicked through the radio, she wasn't familiar with Fork's radio stations, when she eventually found something she liked, she left it there. Then it changed to a Take That song, she rolled her eyes and turned it off again, and pulled her iPod out of her bag with one hand. It was still on Brick by Boring Brick by Paramore from the last time she'd listened to it. The road she was on became fairly empty, she supposed not many people took this route.
When her car coughed and spluttered to a stop she looked straight at the fuel gage, it wasn't like her to let her car run on less than one eighth of a tank, and she hadn't, it was only half-empty. She sighed and got out of her car, moving quickly round to the trunk, however it was like her to forget her tools. Wondering what the hell she was going to do Kat slammed the boot shut and perched herself on the bumper. She flipped her phone out of her pocket, damn, no signal, oh well, she would of had to phone Uncle Charlie at work anyway, not something she like to do. A sudden word shot through her head.
'Danger!' An oddly familiar voice hissed inside her head and she stood bolt upright, looking round. Just as she turned back to her car, she only just noticed the man stood right behind her. She stepped sharply backwards, not out of shock, it was an instant reaction to keep her distance 'Where the hell did he come from?' she wondered,
"Need any help?" he asked, his voice as smooth as velvet "You seem a bit stuck."
"No, I enjoy sitting on my car at the side of a road in a town I'm not familiar with, it's a little hobby of mine!" she snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she turned back to car. There was something about him that she couldn't stand, instantly repulsing her.
He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. She was about to make another comment, but she sighed. "Do you have a phone?" she asked reluctantly
"No" he replied softly
Kat very nearly hit him.
"I live right down there" he said, motioning over to an obscure turning
"Your point?" she asked, folding her arms
"I'm quite good with cars" he said
Kat considered it, but no one messed with anything under the hood of her car but her.
"Or tools you could use to fix it yourself, whatever." he said, practically reading her mind
She stepped back again "Fine..." she muttered, getting back in her car to take the hand-brake off.
"It's Edward by the way, Edward Cullen"
"Katalyin White" she said, rolling down the driver-side window then getting out and slamming the door shut.
"That's an unusual name," he commented, as he started to push her car from the back,
Kat pushed from the side, getting a grip on the window frame, she turned the steering wheel expertly to direct it down the obscure turning. She'd had to do that countless times when she was fixing it with Matt, that was before they'd even got the engine running.
"And you've got an old name, so what?" she snapped back at him "Besides, I didn't choose it did I? Matt did"
"Matt?"
"My dad,"
"That would make him Matt White? As in the comedian?"
"Yeah, so what?"
"He died last week." he observed
Kat froze up, but she managed to keep her feet going. No doubt the papers would of printed that by now, along with the whole truth 'Comedian Matt White and Wife die in Animal Attack: Animal yet to be captured'
"I'm sorry," he said
"For what?" asked Kat, doing everything she could to stop herself from yelling "Not exactly your fault is it?" She wanted to run now, but she couldn't, that would involve leaving her car with some random stranger. Slow, shaky breaths crept through her teeth.
"It was an animal attack wasn't it?" he asked, his curiosity annoying the hell out of her
"Yeah, the bastards told me it was a car crash, like I'd believe that! They were in fucking pieces!" she said a little too loudly
"You had to identify the bodies"
"Who else but their sixteen-year-old daughter?" she asked, laughing, she couldn't help but notice that it sounded slightly insane
Edward watched the girl work smoothly over the engine of her car, which was in surprisingly good condition for one made in the seventies. She'd been unsurprised by the size of the garage, or the quality of tools in it, she hadn't even blinked at the cars once, she didn't seem to care. He could hear her thoughts, she seemed to be going over the recipe for stir-fry noodles and wondering if she'd get home on time with this delay. Her thoughts drifted off to wondering if there was even an art store in Seattle, and cursing herself for forgetting the one thing that she could do for hours on end without noticing the time pass. A small smile crept onto her lips and she thought about someone called Bella, running over the memory of walking in on her and her boyfriend, she laughed softly, and he laughed with her. That caught her attention and she glanced at him.
'Whoa, Dracula much' she looked away again
He flinched at her thought, but she didn't notice.
Why he'd gone out to help her was a mystery to him, but she'd smelt so nice, not appealing like human's did, but it was hard to stay away. She really was interesting, the way her reaction was to get away from him and she found his voice and handsome face unnatural, well she wasn't wrong there. he could smell her perfume from where he stood, strawberries.
"Do I look interesting to you?" she asked sharply, he hadn't realized he was staring "Is there something about me that you find weird? Or amusing?"
"Weird or amusing?" he wondered "Not from where I'm standing"
She looked unimpressed and folded her arms across her chest.
Kat wasn't quite sure how to explain her encounter with Edward, weird would be a start. The way he was looking at her, she began to think he was some kind of twisted rapist or murderer of some sort. At which point he'd started laughing for no reason. She made quick work of fixing her car after that, not wanting to spend longer than necessary in the same room as him.
Now she was starting dinner, moving quicker than she usually would, it had taken longer than she thought it would to find an artist supply store in Seattle,she'd had to ask around a bit, but by the time she found it she discovered that it wasn't open on Sundays, she'd have to go back tomorrow. The meat had just started cooking in the frying pan when Bella got home.
"All right Bells?" she called "How many times you fall over?"
Bella stuck her tongue out at her.
"Ew! Put it away I don't know where its been!" she laughed, deftly catching the scarf Bella threw at her
"Shut up!" she laughed "What you making then?"
"Chicken noodle stir-fry" she said "It was originally just noodle stir-fry, but I thought, hang on! No one in this house is a veggie! I'll have to add some meat!"
Bella nodded, her auntie Jane had been a vegetarian "Need any help?" she asked, leaning on the counter next to her
"You can start dicing those vegetables if you like, and wash your hands too, I don't know where they've been either" she laughed, Bella laughed to, yet Kat couldn't help but notice she seemed slightly off, but she left it for now.
Kat hung up the phone "That was Charlie" she said "he said he's going to be working late and to start without him" She picked up the plates and turned to Bella, offering her hers. Bella was just staring at the floor blankly. "Bells?"
"Huh?" she asked, looking up
"Food." Kat replied, waving the plate under her nose
"Oh right..." she sat opposite Kat at the table and poked aimlessly at her food. She didn't know how much time had passed before Kat spoke up again
"You gonna tell me what's up?" she asked, watching her carfully
Bella shook her head "It's nothing" she assured
"Was it Jacob? Did he try to go too far? Do you want me to beat him up?" she asked, getting defensive
"No!"
"Did he hurt you?" she asked quietly
"No! It's just..." Bella sighed, she couldn't tell her, she'd promised Jacob that she wouldn't tell anyone, how could she tell anyone? She'd be sent to a metal institute. 'My boyfriend's a werewolf!' how would that sound? Even Kat would think she was going mad, Katalyin White, who believed in all things myth or legend.
Jacob ran through the forest as fast as he could, he didn't know where, he just ran.
'What's up?' asked Embry
'Did Bella not believe you?' asked Quil
'Oh she believed me, god knows she believed me! But now she's terrified of me! And now she's probably telling her cousin everything!'
'Don't worry mate, she'll come round' encouraged Quil
Embry, however, didn't seem to care about Bella 'Cousin?' he asked
'Yeah, her cousin's some down to stay for a couple of weeks'
'What's she look like?' pushed Embry
'Why the hell do you care?'
'He's been having dreams about this one girl he's never met in his life before, he's only ever seen her eyes though, they kinda look like Bella's though...'
'You're having dreams about my Bella!?' he yelled
'No, dude, they're not that kind of dream! And I was gonna say, because their eyes look so similar, I reckon they're related or something?' corrected Embry 'So show me what this cousin of Bella's looks like'
Jacob showed them the best image of Katalyin he could remember, when she walked in on him and Bella. 'Her name's Katalyin White, she's Charlie's sister's daughter, her dad's Matt White, you know, the comedian'
'Didn't he die in a car crash last week?'
'Yeah'
'Damn...'
'I know'
'I have to meet her' Insisted Embry
They could feel Quil rolling his eyes 'Dude! Get over it! It's just a coincidence. Probably your head playing tricks on you, creating your ideal girl. So now we know that Embry likes skinny girls with brown eyes and short brown hair'
'If she's supposedly my ideal girl, shouldn't I meet her?' argued Embry
Jacob laughed 'I'll see if I can invite her and Bella to the next bonfire'
'Thanks man!' Embry said, before phasing back
'Don't worry Jake, everything'll be fine' assured Quil
