Chapter 4 - Unexpected
March 2006
I startled to an upright position. Sitting in a tangled mess of sheets and blankets on my small single mattress bed that I haven't slept in for years.
I tried to think back to how I ended up here. I don't ever remember coming back home.
FLASHBACK….
Sitting on the beach of dad's birthday party after coming to La Push just stopping by the house to put my suitcase away and change for the party. When I got to First Beach, me and Rachel were catching up as all long lost friends do. I remember rubbing at my aching headache.
"Lee? You okay?" Rach asked me, but her as well as everything else were blurs and muted and sounded like recordings of themselves that have been altered and tempered with.
I started to burn. The weird sensation of the flame through my core. I heated up so much, I think I fainted a few times. Losing consciousness for probably a few seconds at a time. Everything focusing in and out like it does in the movies, when someone is about to faint. I realise, in the worst moment ever, that that actually happens.
I see Rachel's little brother, Jacob, although, he's not little anymore. According to the Seth Updates of La Push rumours, Jacob Black and many other teenage boys around the rez have been in Sam's Gang of steroid users. Not that I actually believed them until I saw the guys. They're huge! No ordinary human could possible grow that much in the two years that I've been gone.
Sam appears out of nowhere. I try to push him away, but the pain hurt so much. I couldn't possible fight him off.
"Get off me!" I scream as loud as I possibly could at him. Letting some of the pain out like I'd release my anger.
Sam, - totally fake hurt look and all - backs away from me. Talking to someone I can't see and the world too muted to hear any possible conversation.
Again, to my total relief, Rach comes up, falling slightly in the sand of First Beach, kneels next to me. I hold my hand to the left temple of my head, where it hurts the most.
"Hey, Lee, babe. Can you hear me?" Rach asks me in her always soothing voice. I take a breath and steady myself and nod toward her, signaling to continue. "Jake's gonna take you home, okay? He'll carry you," all I could do is nod. Better my best friend's brother than Sam.
I'm pretty sure that I lost consciousness for, I'm not sure, maybe a few minutes or ten? Twenty? Half an hour? Okay, I don't know how long I was out that time but when I came back, I was being carried by big, warm, strong arms. I peeked a little look. I could tell through my blurry vision that Jake was still carrying me. I doesn't take that long to walk back to the house. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes. I made my ears focus on the conversation surrounding me.
"...he wanted to come see if she was alright. And I mean, seriously, for someone that broke her heart, he was...and then Emily came over and she was all, like, 'is she okay'," the voice I then recongise as Rachel, was dripping with venom as she spoke and was mocking a high pitched voice, which I assume was supposed to be Emily. Rach's voice continued to babble loyal fully in her harsh, meanie whisper to, I assume, to Jacob. "...But, what I don't get is, why dump her? If he really is concerned about her? Why bother to….when he's got another girl to swoon all over?" My hearing was zoning in out of the conversation. Missing bits and pieces.
"Rach," said a deep warning voice. "Maybe there's more to the story."
"I sure hope not," Rach replied dangerously. "He did this to my best friend. And nobody EVER crosses my best friend without having to deal with me," the venom was seriously strong. I couldn't hold it in. I chuckled. A little one, but heard none the less.
"Leah?" asked Seth. Strange I hadn't noticed him there.
"Seth?" my whisper was probably not even heard.
"Hey, you okay? You gave us quite a scare," he says, he released a breath that he was probably holding without even realising it.
I really tried to smile at him. It most likely looked like a nerve twitching from being poked at. "Sorry. I'm okay now. I...just need some rest."
"That's okay, Lee. Rest all you like. We're right here." I tried smiling again, my eyes still mostly closed.
Then I lost consciousness again.
-0o0-
I felt the familiar curves and bumps of the old couch, and without opening my eyes, I listened for any conversations nearby, or any signs that somebody could be near me. If I strained my hearing too much, my head cramped in pain, so I refrained from straining it too much. I heard murmurs. The indistinctive voices coming from somewhere behind me, possibly the dining table or the kitchen sitting on the bar stools.
"You alright, kid?" asked a male voice gently.
"Yeah, yeah. Totally fine. Maybe I just got the same bug as Leah."
"Wanna rest?"
"Nah, I'm fine. Want somethin' to eat?" says the younger voice.
"Whatda ya got?"
"Um…I don't know. Soft drink? I think we got some cold sausages we could heat up?"
"Yeah, okay. Will it make much noise? We don't wanna wake her up."
The younger one paused. "Maybe we could move her to her room? She usually doesn't hear much if the door's shut."
"Nah, don't wanna risk waking her moving her," the older one pointed out. The younger one was thinking again.
"I don't know," he said, obviously giving up on their argument. He sighed. "I just hope she's okay. I mean, she mentioned having a slight headache through the week, but, I didn't really think on it."
"She's gunna be okay, Seth. Don't worry about it."
"And the fact that Sam and Emily came without an invitation, in fact, we went to the trouble to tell them not to come," he sighed. "I really do hate making other people sad and feel unloved, but, I don't know. I feel like I owe it to Leah, I just—I just really wanted her home, Jake. Why can't Emily see that? Why can't she just want us to be as happy as we can? She and Sam have broken Leah's heart more than she could handle. But, look at her. She has her own apartment in Oregon. She's the top of her medical class; she's gotten a great job as a nurse while she's studying to be a doctor. I mean, how could a girl that has been broken beyond repair do all that amazing achievements all on her own?"
Listening to whom I now understood to be Seth, I spoke up. "Because us women are flexible. When our wings are broken, we find a broomstick."
"Good, now we can have sausages and soft drink. You up for it, Lee?" asked Jake. Seth just laughed, unbelievable at his big friend who, was like, a whole metre taller than Seth.
"Always thinking of your stomach," Seth shook his head, disappointed. Even I laughed a little at that one.
-0o0-
THE PRESENT….
I laid back down on my bed, my favourite fluffy pillow underneath my head and as I looked up, I saw my dream catcher hanging on the lock of my open window. I realised with a start, that even without my blanket and the cold summer breeze that come in through the two open windows, I wasn't even in the slightest cold. Not even Goosebumps pricked my skin. I found that rather odd. My headache seemed to lighten a bit, not much, but enough to be able to get up.
I slowly crawled my way out of bed and down the stairs of the old yellow wood house. I could hear the waves at First Beach; I could hear all my friends getting breakfast ready, their conversations, I even heard their every breath. And as I made my way down the staircase, I could even hear heartbeats if I tuned m hearing there. I could smell the crispy bacon and the crackling oil, the sweat covering the warm bodies that hadn't had their morning shower yet. The sudden laughter hurt my ears. It was so loud! Clutching my again aching, pounding head. I kept walking down the stairs. Never had I ever thought that it would take me this long to make to the bottom of the shortest staircase in the history of staircases.
The first person to notice my presence was Jacob. He was the loud laugher. Hmm.
Seth wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Where's Seth?"
"Morning, Leah," says dad, he's wearing his fishing gear, must be going out fishing with Charlie today.
"Morning, Lee. Feeling better? Seth is still asleep," mum came over to hug me. "Missed you, Lee."
"I missed you, too, mama," I pulled her in a bear hug. "How can anyone still be asleep with all this noise?" Everyone laughed at that, making a strain in my left temple deepen again. Searing pain passed through me. Enough to make me faint, again.
-0o0-
The first thing I registered – besides the fact that I had a wet cloth on my forehead and I was back in bed – was the shouting. "Get out of here! I said get out!" I heard Seth's strain in his voice as he chased away uninvited guests.
"Please, Seth, you're my cousins! I really want to be here for you all," I sat up straight. Emily. Emily Young. I never thought that I'd see you again.
"She doesn't want to see either of you! Ever again!" Seth shouted in reply. Ignoring the searing pain, I ran to the top of the stairs where I could see a little. I saw Seth at the door, shouting at Emily and Sam. My heart pounding and searing with even more pain, I swear I'm not gunna faint this time. Oh no. I don't want to miss this. My dad was standing in the shadow behind Seth, slightly shaking his head disapprovingly at the couple.
I bounded down the stairs, all four of them noticing my arrival. "Get out!" I shouted, ignoring my pain that was intensifying. I stood in the living room, maybe five metres from the door.
Sam tried to come closer to me, but was pushed back by Seth. "Please, Leah. I know I hurt you, but I just wanted to see if you were okay." I laughed at that, I was becoming someone else with him around.
"Yeah, right. And besides, even if you did mean it, I wouldn't let you," I sneered ungratefully. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth slightly smile.
"I do mean it, Lee-lee, I wanna know if you're okay."
"Argh! Well, don't 'wanna', don't 'gotta', don't ever even look at me again! And stop calling me that horrific nickname!" I growled. Wait...growled?
"Leah, calm down. Theres no reason for you to be acting like this. And I thought you liked that nickname," Sam protested with his little pout and sad puppy eyes that I once swooned over, I now laughed at.
"I have every reason to be acting like this. And as for the nickname, maybe I did like it when I was still blind and lame following you around like you were some kind of God!" My growls were becoming even more ...inhumane. That's the only way I could hope of describing it.
Sam continued saying something, but I wasn't listening, I was becoming very aware of how my insides were boiling up. They were on fire. And when I looked up at Sam and Emily, Sam put his toe over the threshold and I just ...exploded.
Something underneath me snapped and broke. I looked down to see what was broken, but all I found were paws. Fluffy grey white furry paws. I moved away from them, but, they just followed me. I tried to go backwards, but I tripped over myself, landing with a crash on something else. Or the same thing that I broke before?
I looked around, Seth was crazy and I tried to ask him what was wrong and all that come out was a ...bark. I looked at myself. I was furry. And I had a tail! I had turned into...something. A large dog? A cat? I thought with terror. No, not a cat! I hate cats! Or a - a wolf. What the hell is happening to me?
'I'm not sure,' answered a voice in my head. Wait, my head? 'Yes, Leah. Your head.'
'Well, sort of. It's the Pack's head. Since we all share it,' says another. What the hell?
I felt a shimmer. 'Who is it?' the new voice asked.
'Leah,' answered the first voice.
'Leah? Are you sure? She's a girl!' I snarled at the voice. How dare a voice in my head be sexist to me. 'Goodie. We even got her in a good mood. Yay,' the voice said, very sarcastically.
"Leah!" Seth shouted. I looked around for Seth, he needed me. Moving this big head felt funny and unnatural. I howled, I couldn't possibly find him by calling his name.
'Leah, please refrain from disturbing the neighbors,' says the first voice again.
I tried answering it. 'Why do you care if I disturb the neighbors? I need to find my brother.'
I took off, tripping a few times as a child does when they first learn to walk. I rounded back towards the house in my new form, I peered in. Seth was crying. "Dad? Daddy please be okay," he kept crying. I whined at the sound.
Something was wrong with daddy. I haven't called him that since forever.
I saw mum enter the lounge room where Seth and dad were. She took Seth in her arms as she did when we were children. She hushed him and calmed him down.
I howled at their pain. Seth looked up and saw me, my eyes filled with tears. With my advanced hearing I heard the sounds of sirens with their urgency.
Daddy was hurt. But he was going to be okay. He had to be.
I felt a shimmer and the voices talked amongst themselves, but I didn't mind by them. I had bigger things going on right now.
I was still in the shadows of the tree line. Enough to be hidden but if one looked, as Seth did, I would be seen.
Seth, I assume, heard the sirens as they appeared to be louder, closer.
With fear and foresight, dread and sadness, he started shaking.
A/N: Hey guys! 5 reviews? That's amazing! Thanks so much :D Really glad that you enjoy reading :) Sorry, internet issues all day then when it was working...battery dead! So I quickly sent it to a friend to update but, silly me, I forgot an Author's Note (although, you might even read them ;))
Anyway, review, favourite, follow, enjoy!
