Chapter 4: Gone To The Past

A dream surfaced in her mind, and she saw the face of a guy so familiar to her that she had forgotten him. Jacob Black. Had she really forgotten him? Yes, she had. When Alice told him to set him free, she ultimately forgot about him though he had been her best friend. She woke up in a daze, and saw that it was morning already. She had read the novel the whole night and realized that she had slept for an hour. Edward was still not by her side, as he was still downstairs, still listening to the piano. She got back the book and flipped to the profile of the author. The author didn't put his real name, not even his initials were printed. He was too smart an author, that is. In his movies, Johan Lake just used that screen name and never revealed his real identity.

The Cullens left Akihabara and went to Hokkaido, but Bella and Alice remained. They said they need to investigate something, and the others didn't even dare ask or pry. And so, Bella told Alice her dream.

"Could it be that something is related to Jacob Black?" Alice speculated.

"I don't know. Why don't we fly back to America and visit him in La Push?" Bella suggested.

Alice agreed. She and Bella got ready and flew back to America.

A lot had changed since their last visit to La Push many centuries ago. The log where Jake and Bella used to sit on near the beach was gone, and in its place stood a tree house. Bella could only imagine her best friend running around in his wolf form, doing his patrol. They went over the tree house and found a young lad mending his net. The lad seemed so familiar, Bella thought, although the young lad looked like the older version of a child from her past. They went over to the young lad and asked.

"Good morning, may we ask?" Bella asked the young lad.

"Yes, what is it?" the young man answered politely.

"By any chance, are you familiar with a certain resident here with the name of Jacob Black?" Bella asked.

The lad looked at them curiously, agape. He clapped his hands and smiled as if he had seen an old friend.

"Bella Swan? Alice Cullen?" The young man said excitedly. "It's me, Seth. Seth Clearwater!"

Seth had grown taller and bigger and the two vampires were so happy to see him. But Seth's face fell.

"Well, you were looking for Jacob? But he's…"

"What Seth?" Alice asked.

"Jacob Black died two hundred years ago," Seth informed them.

Bella felt large hail chips knocking her down. Her best friend died? But how could it be? He was a werewolf who never aged!

"He gave up his ability to transform and lived on. He grew up, grew old and died," Seth said.

"Uh, do you happen to know his descendants?" Alice asked.

"He was a bachelor all his life," Seth said. "He never married."

Tears fell from Bella's eyes for the first time in centuries. She didn't know why her best friend left without saying anything, not even giving her the time to say goodbye. They never had any closure at all. She knew that her best friend was upset to know that she and Edward were going on a honeymoon, but during her difficult pregnancy, he was there for her. She even felt sad and sorry for him, for he died alone and childless.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Alice asked. She knew how Bella and Jacob had always been close.

"Hey, Seth!" a guy called out.

The other guy looked tall and horrible to behold. He went running over to Seth and asked why the net wasn't still in place when he noticed the visitors.

"You've got visitors, eh?" the man said before cringing. "Ew, what's that smell?"

"Sam, remember Alice and Bella?" Seth beamed.

No wonder, it was Sam Uley. Of course, he remembered them. He apologized, stating that he hadn't smelled vampires for centuries. He noticed Bella crying and asked what was wrong. Even before Bella could speak, he noticed the novel in her hand.

"You're a fan of that book?" Sam asked.

Embarrassed, Bella replied. "No, Alice lent it to me."

Sam smiled a bit. "Hmm, a lot of people happened to like 'Night Child', I guess."

"That I do!" Alice squealed. She really loved the book.

Sam looked away from them and looked at the sea. He stared for it a bit as if in meditation. Alice and Bella looked at each other in confusion before looking back at Sam. Then, Sam looked back at them.

"You know, for centuries, many tourists came here to visit old pal Jacob's house," Sam said.

"Huh?" the vampires echoed.

"You see, Jacob studied hard and became a famous author, film writer, and director," Seth shared. "And people came here to see the humble abode-turned-museum of our old friend."

"And Jacob Black wrote that book," Sam said as he pointed his finger at the book in Bella's hand.

"No way!" Alice exclaimed in disbelief. "You mean to say…"

"Johan Lake is Jacob Black," Sam replied sternly. "He never revealed his identity in his books, only his location. If you go over to his house, you can see that it says there, 'Johan Lake's house', and only a very few sources revealed his true identity. Perhaps only school records and his resumes reveal such truths."

"How…how did you know all these things?" Bella asked in disbelief.

"We're pack brothers, remember?" Sam said. "Of course, he updated us with his life, just as we updated him with ours."

Bella looked hard at the sea where she and Jacob often hang out in the past. The place suddenly became memorable. He had been there for her when Edward left her, as if Jacob had always been a scapegoat. Then, wiping her tears, she smiled a bit and asked how the other members of the pack were doing. Seth didn't reply but instead, shed a tear.

"Oh, I didn't mean to pry, I am sorry Seth," Bella said.

"You know, Leah also gave up her ability to transform a year after Jacob did and she lived on and died," Sam said. There was a bit of sadness in his tone when he said that. He never had the chance to atone for all the sins he did for the broken promises he was supposed to fulfill to her. Of course, it wasn't his fault that he imprinted on Emily; it was simply involuntary. Leah went away after that and came back only once in a while. She, too, never imprinted, and never got married. Leah had become a fashion editor and later on the president of the fashion magazine where she had worked all her life. Leah died two years after she retired from the fashion industry. These two people, who didn't find luck in love, excelled in work.

Sam invited the vampires over to his house where they can rest a bit and refresh themselves. That night, before retiring, Bella went over the book and find any evidence that might mean that Jacob indeed wrote the novel. Although she found none, she read the book again. It hit her, that the protagonist's name had been a corruption of her name. Llalla, Bella. Perfect. She closed the book and looked at the photos in Sam's guest room. There were a lot of his pictures with Emily, and some of Jacob's pictures. In one of his pictures, the twenty-eight Jacob Black received an award for the best script in an international competition. It said, "Johan Lake received first international award." It was a real photo, not a newspaper clipping, and someone close to him might have taken the picture and kept it for portfolio purposes only. She had never seen any of his photos in public, and all of his photos here, she saw them for the first time. No wonder she never got any news of his whereabouts. He had been hiding in another persona. She saw how handsome her best friend had become over the years. She saw more pictures of him until the last picture when he very, very, very old. She also saw his original paintings in the house, and how beautifully preserved they were! In all of the paintings, she saw that familiar girl again.

Sam came inside the room and looked at Bella looking wistfully at the paintings.

"More of his original paintings are in his house," Sam said. "Those in the museums are not the originals. If you want, I can accompany you to his house tomorrow."

Why of course! The paintings here looked the same as the paintings they saw in Japan.

-tsuzuku-