Hey, I'm back. I know it's been a while and I apologize for taking this long to update.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters; Stephanie Meyer does.

Here is the long awaited Chapter 7

:)


Chapter Seven: Close Call

BPOV

I rolled over to my side and opened my eyes to find myself in a vaguely familiar but unexpected place. I sat up and looked at my surroundings, noticing then that I was in Jacob's bedroom, in Jacob's bed, covered by Jacob's blanket. I blushed furiously before jumping up and out of the room.

I noticed that the house was too quiet. Usually, one or two of Jacob's pack members would be laying around with either the TV blaring, or yelling above each other in an effort to get their point across. Now, however, it was almost completely silent, given the noises I could hear from outside. I heard a dripping noise coming from the kitchen that was amplified but the unusual quiet.

A piece of paper, which was stuck to the fridge, with my name written on it, caught my attention. I shuffled over, still feeling a bit tired. I opened my eyes, and noticed then that it was a note, written in hardly legible handwriting.

Hey Bella! (strike through)

'Sup Bella! (strike through)

Bella,

If you're reading this, then you've probably woken up, and I'm not there. I'm running my patrol around La Push and I'll be back around six o'clock.

In case you're hungry, help yourself to some of the leftovers in the fridge. Apart from that, I don't have much else to offer except a bag of Doritos in the cupboard on the left above the microwave, and a bottle of root beer that I've hidden under my bed (I was hiding it from Paul).

Don't miss me too much,

Jacob (-strike through) Jake

I stuffed the note into the back pocket of my jeans. I was hungry since I hadn't eaten since… well, I don't remember when. I searched for the Doritos before scavenging for the root beer under Jake's bed, which was harder than expected (Jacob must really have wanted to keep Paul's hands off of it). After a while though, I found it at the far corner under the bed. I grabbed it and shimmied out from under the bed, bringing along a couple of dust bunnies. I brushed myself off and went to the kitchen.

I sat at the small table and looked around the room as I ate. I saw another note on the stuck on the fridge, and although it was addressed to Jacob, curiosity got the best of me. It was from Billy, telling Jacob where he was and also a request to wash the dishes, though it was not acted upon. I figured that since I was already here, I might as well do something to help.

It didn't take too long, and I was done in half an hour, drying and all. I walked back to the table and grabbed the Doritos and root beer and made my way to the living room, switching on the TV and settling on The Food Network.

In an empty house, it wouldn't be hard to imagine that I got bored quickly, and I considered taking my bike for a spin. I had left it with Jacob the last time I had escaped from my babysitters. I looked at the clock and decided against the idea since it was almost time for Charlie and Billy to be getting back, and the risk of Charlie noticing me on the bike was too large.

Instead, I made my way outside and decided to take a walk in the forest behind Jacob's house.

I struggled to get through the first couple of bushes and trees, but after that, it was pretty easy. I planned to just go in a large circle so that I'd end up at Jake's place again. I was a bit preoccupied as I walked, so I didn't hear or see anything until a huge dark form jumped on top of me, growling and shaking.

I screamed so loud that I'd bet all of La Push and beyond could hear. I was so terrified that I didn't realize that the growling form above me was now laughing instead of actually growling. It wasn't a voice I recognized, so the laughter did not calm me down.

"Bella," It called.

I didn't acknowledge the voice, rather just kept screaming my head off, tears now flowing down my face. A large hand was clamped over my mouth, but I didn't stop screaming, even though it sounded muffled. All I could think was 'I'm gonna die' 'I'm gonna die.' I didn't know who to think it was, all I knew was that I wished I'd never thought to come into the forest. For one, Edward had warned me more that once never to go into the forest alone. I'd thought that he was overreacting when he talked about that forest being too dangerous to venture around. I was a bit ashamed to admit that one of the reasons why I kept going into the forest was that I'd wanted to prove him wrong. Until today, nothing had ever happened, and I'd grown more and more confident about going into the forest. This time was going to throw all that confidence out the window for sure, that is, if I survive.

"For goodness' sake Bella, shut up!" I heard from above me, Seth's face coming into view. Violent joy and relief washed through me and more tears escaped my eyes as I screwed them shut. He helped me onto my feet and captured me in a warn hug (literally) and shushed me while he stroked my hair and apologized repeatedly.

After a while, I calmed down enough to be able to take normal breaths. He let go of me and captured my face in his big hands.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again and I just nodded, too upset to speak. "I thought it would be funny, I didn't mean to freak you out like that."

"S'okay," I mumbled without meeting his eyes. He gave me a weak smile and leaned down to brush of the dirt on my jeans. "You don't have to--."

"Hey. It's my fault, I'll fix it," he said without looking up. I sighed and brushed off the front of my shirt.

When I was relatively clean, Seth gave me a speculative eye. "So what are you doing in the forest anyway?" I asked him.

He arched an eyebrow. "You're asking a wolf what he's doing in the forest?" he asked with a chuckle. "I believe it's me who's supposed to ask that. So, what are you doing in the forest?" he looked at me expectantly.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, I was about to make my way back to Jake's but instead, I was pummelled into the ground by a moronic dog!" He looked a bit hurt by my words, and even though I felt a bit guilty, it was still true.

"I said I was sorry," he half mumbled, half whined. I shook my head and turned round, figuring that it would take less time to just go back the way I came than go around since I had been walking in a more or less straight line. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Back to Jake's place," I answered without turning around. I felt the heat next to me, rather than heard his footsteps and he caught up and started walking next to me.

After about a minute, we both heard a loud, long wolf's howl coming from the west. I saw Seth tensing in my peripheral vision so I guess it was urgent. "C'mon Bella," he said, his joking tone gone as he scooped me up and started running fast but gracefully, careful not to jostle me too much.

We had reached our destination in no more than a minute (I guess I hadn't gone far into the woods in the first place) and Seth dropped me off on the porch before running in the direction the howl had come from.

I proceeded into the house after I had cleared some of the disorientation caused by Seth's speed. Of course, I had gone at faster speeds before, what with Edward mistaking me for his backpack whenever he took me to his, or as he preferred our, meadow. But with Seth, it was different because unlike with Edward, the ride was a bit bumpy and my head bobbed up and down a lot, so I would be more surprised if I wasn't disoriented.

"Oh, hey Bella," I heard. I looked over to the couch and saw Charlie watching a ball game with his hands behind his head, and Billy a few feet away from him with a similar posture.

"Hey dad; hey Billy," I replied.

"So what brings you here?" Billy asked without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Jake sort of dropped me off, I guess. I'm not really sure, I was asleep." They both nodded their heads, though I didn't know if that was meant for me or the game. Probably the latter, but I accepted it anyway.

I stood there awkwardly while neither of them paid attention to me before I decided to just got outside and try that walk again, just keeping clear of the woods this time in case something actually dangerous came around.

I kept walking, and walking humming to myself to make the minutes seem shorter. An odd yet familiar noise coming from up ahead made me look up, and what I saw was definitely more than I was ready for.


APOV

We hadn't been running for long at all, but Edward is fast and had covered a lot of ground. We had been following his scent for a while now and it was getting worryingly close to the borderline. I didn't have to be Jasper to sense everyone's anxiety.

"Damn, that boy is fast," I heard Emmett mutter, voicing my earlier thought.

Edward's scent was becoming stronger the closer to the line we got, and it was clear that he was slowing down his run. In response, we all went impossibly faster to give us a better chance of catching up to him.

I could see him a few miles ahead of us now, and my hopes lifted, only to drop again when I saw a large black wolf not that far ahead of him. The wolf howled so loudly, that I'd doubt anyone who couldn't hear it. Not long after that, the wolf was joined by a smaller grey wolf, and then a russet coloured one that was slightly smaller than the first one but by far larger than the grey one.

By the time we got to where Edward had stopped, just a few feet short of the borderline, the black wolf had been joined by seven others, including the first two.

"Edward!" Esme sighed with obvious relief and she ran to hug her son. He hugged her back half heartedly, his eyes on the black wolf.

"Where is she?!" he demanded, and the wolf growled in response. "You're lying, what did you do to her?!" he shouted, breaking free from Esme's embrace to step forward and crouch dangerously close to the boarder.

One of the wolves must have made the same assessment, because all of them, besides the black one were now growling at Edward their eyes flickering from the line to where he was crouching. To anyone else, their growls would have been enough to make you back away as fast as possible, but Edward didn't even flinch. Whether that was bravery or stupidity, I really didn't know.

Edward, back off a bit, I thought to him. But he paid me no mind.

"I'll ask you again dog, where is Bella?" he asked the wolf, speaking through his teeth. The wolf simply growled back, but was cut off by a sand coloured wolf that stepped forward and sat right in front of Edward like he didn't have a care in the world. The wolf and Edward stared at each other, and I could only guess that it was telling him something. I heard Edward growl at something the wolf had 'said'.

"Edward?" we all heard from a bit of a ways away. We all looked in the direction of the familiar voice.

Bella stood there with her hands in her pockets, her eyes as wide as saucers and her eyebrows scrunched up.

"Bella," Edward said, relieved and was about to run to her, but the wolf in front of him stepped in his way, stopping him from crossing the line. Edward growled at whatever he heard in the wolf's head.

Bella snapped out her shock and started walking toward us carefully, as if not sure how to approach the situation in front of her.

"Bella, are you alright?!" Edward asked her with half-crazed eyes.

"Um… I'm fine, why?" she looked so confused that it would have been funny if not for the current situation.

"Just… please…" Edward trailed off holding his arms out as if waiting for her to run into them. Bella blushed when she saw all of us staring at her and she kept her eyes on her feet and she shuffled them forward.

After what seemed like an eternity she made it across the line and into Edward's arms. Although I couldn't see her face, I could tell she was blushing even more. Emmett coughed, more amused than annoyed and Edward shot a glare at him. The wolves were just standing there looking awkward and impatient.

Carlisle stepped forward and apologized to the large wolf for the misunderstanding, before he turned and nudged Edward away from the wolves. Edward didn't bother with an apology, rather just picked Bella up and ran farther away from the line. I rolled my eyes and followed suit, followed by Jasper, and then everyone else.

I was impatient to ask Edward what the hell he had been thinking when he almost given Esme a heart attack, no easy to do when your heart doesn't beat.

By the time we got home, Edward already had Bella in the living room, and Bella was asking Edward about what was going on when she showed up. By the looks of it, he hadn't said anything yet, since Bella had still been firing questions faster than he could answer them. Eventually, he clamped his hand over her mouth to quiet her, and she just went for glaring daggers at him.

"Alright, you're all here, so I guess I'd best start explaining," Edward said once we were all seated.


Sorry if that chapter wasn't up to my usual standards, I'm sort of in a bit of a rush, so I hope you understand.

Any reviews or comments are welcome, and thank you to all of my readers.

Wendy55

:)