I stared at the two in front of me for a moment, confused. "J-Jake?" I whispered, bewildered by his cold response to me. "What... what happened?"
He continued to glare at me, as though I had just insulted him. I jumped to my feet fluidly, taking a couple of seconds to marvel at the motion. I wasn't clumsy anymore. I smiled, before looking back at Jake, and the girl, Jess. She had leaned back, away from me a little and he was holding her tighter against his chest. They were afraid of me. I put my hand to my cheek, slowly and carefully. It was the same one Victoria had slapped raw, but all I felt was smooth, hard skin. There used to be a spot there, too. I could feel my eyes widening in shock. I was actually a vampire. I didn't know if I wanted this now, without the Cullens –it surprised me the name still hurt- but I had wanted it for so long, I couldn't be too picky.
I could hear a noise coming from them, other than their heartbeats and breathing, there was a rumbling sound. Jake was growling at me. I didn't think it through – I couldn't help myself. I leapt forward at vampire speed, crouching beside Jake. "Please! Tell me what happened?!" I basically begged. I heard a snarl just as I spoke, and they were far away, at a tree opposite me, still staring at me. Jess was behind Jacob, but she peered curiously under his arm. I stayed where I was, on my knees. I'd become a monster to them, they didn't want to be near me. "I'm so sorry, Jacob." I whispered, looking down in shame and sadness. I would cause him so much trouble, no doubt I already had.
"We should help her, Jacob." Jess said with confused eyes. I didn't know whether she knew what she was saying or not. She was a human; wanting to comfort a new, wild vampire. She was human. Surely, so young I would have went for her by now, or at least wanted to? I could smell her blood from here, but I had no wish to go and drain it.
"Shush, Jessica. Creatures like her don't need help, they need a blood bank." He scowled.
"But... she didn't do anything wrong. She was attacked." Jess... Jessica said. It felt almost like cogs clicked in my head. Jessica Stanley. She went to my school, once one of my best friends, imprint of Jacob.
"Didn't do anything wrong?!" Jake snarled, making absolutely sure I could hear. "She tricked us into letting her die, Jess. We nearly lost her. Can you imagine the consequences?"
"My life means nothing, Jake! And you know it." I said.
"So you wanted to die?!" He shouted, shaking violently.
"I didn't want to die; I wanted to stop her from getting to you!" I screamed, hands balling up into fists. My reaction shocked me, making me stop and stare into space. I had no idea how long I sat there, just stuck in time.
I could hear murmurs, they were talking. "Please, let me go Jake!" There was a sharp cracking noise.
"JESS!" Jacob yelled in shock and alarm. My head snapped up to look at them. Jessica was walking toward me, slowly and hesitantly. Jacob was watching after her, frozen with fear, an arm reached out for her. I realised then, Jessica had slapped him. It wouldn't have hurt, but it would have been an indication to her anger. She knelt down a couple of metres away from me. I stared at her, frightened of something I might do. Though there was no burning throat, which was confusing, wasn't that one of the vampire problems?
"Oh, Bella," She whispered, tears in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to hug me, but she couldn't; I would probably kill her. What was I going to do? Charlie, Renee, school? I had decided to die a few days ago, but since I'd been given another chance, was that really what I wanted, especially since I had no other choice? I had been so stupid; no wonder the Cullens left me. How could I not get over them? Even now?! I did something then I had never imagined possible. Tears streamed out of my eyes, encouraged even more by the shock of them. I dabbed my eyes with my fingers, pulling back to look at them. They were tears, for sure. They glistened the same way, smelt like salty water, even tasted salty. Jessica was looking up at me, as confused I was. "Bella?! I thought you couldn't cry?"
"So did I," I said, still wiping away tears, then examining them carefully. Jacob growled from behind Jessica.
"Oh, shut up Jake," She scowled, rolling her eyes at him. She turned back to me, smiling, but still incredibly bewildered. "What does this mean? Are you not really a vampire?" She frowned, looking at me.
I patted my legs, arms, and reached up to my cheek. I didn't really need to check, it was certain. "Yes. Definitely. But... I don't feel much like one. As far as I know, being a newborn means I wouldn't be able to restrain myself from... hurting you. Or even Jake. But I can't feel any need to hurt you. You smell like humans and blood, but that's it."
Jake snarled, "I don't believe her, don't you believe it, Jess. All vampires are leeches." He was nervous, but still shaking angrily. It was only a matter of time before he snapped, and would be flying toward me as a lumbering wolf.
"Actually, Jake, I'm not lying. You can test it personally, if you're too scared for Jessica." I snapped.
"Bella..." Jess said, a pained look on her face. She trusted me, but not enough to test it. I wondered where all the friendship had come from, especially with the mood she was in with me a few days ago. No matter what she said, Jacob was stomping over to me, trying to look angry, but only managing to look afraid and sad. I stood up as Jessica watched with wide eyes. Jacob stunk. He was close to me now, just out of arm's reach. I couldn't take it; he was the only person I could hug, possibly ever. The weird tears were still falling from my face as I lunged toward him. He looked nothing but alarmed, but I only wrapped my arms around him, crying into his shoulder. Hesitantly, he put his arms around me, too.
"Thank you, Jake. Thank you so much," I sobbed.
"Oh, Bells, I could never hate you, no matter what you've become. It was the pack's fault anyway. We argued for ages over whether it was a trick, or a trap. Me, Quil and Embry came for you on our own, to find that leech on you. We were too late."
"No, you still saved me. Kinda." I smiled sadly.
I felt him tighten his hold on me. I looked up at him, worried. He was shaking again, "Don't you ever try anything like that again, you hear?!" He growled.
"Okay, but I suppose I can't now. I'm stuck in life forever." Alone. I added in my head. He let go of me, smiling at Jess as she walked over to his side.
"So what's the deal with the human things? Like crying and no bloodlust?" He asked the question we'd all been wondering.
"A talent; power, maybe? Like the Cullens have emotion control, foresight... and mind-reading."
Jessica gasped, eyes widening in horror, "Which one can read minds?" She blushed, and I knew exactly why.
"Edward," I said without emotion as my chest flared with the burning pain. She blushed an even darker red. I laughed hollowly, not truly finding it funny.
"Sorry, Bella." She mumbled. Jake just stared at us, confused by the exchange. There was a long silence. I sat back down again. Jake had something on his mind, I could tell; he kept looking at me, then chickening out and looking away.
"Spit it out, Jake." I sighed.
He was very uncomfortable, whatever he had to say. "Bella, d-do you need to... hunt?" I thought about it for half a second. I couldn't see what all the fuss was about, blood, water, whatever. Neither of them sounded appealing, no matter if I could smell Jessica's blood from here. In fact, the idea slightly repelled me, the same reaction I had to blood when I was human, except I wasn't passing out.
"No." I smiled, absolutely certain of this.
His eyes narrowed, but he let it drop. "Then I guess we can go home." He smiled too. I froze.
"Charlie? First of all, what did you tell him? About me not being around?"
"Oh, I covered this." Jessica smiled. "Though I didn't know why at the time... Basically, you got sick of the same surroundings of your house, and you came to mines for a few days, since my parents are apparently out of town. He bought it straight away," She giggled.
This didn't really soothe my worry, "I still can't go back; he'll notice differences about me."
"Actually, Bella, if I didn't know what happened, I wouldn't be able to tell much difference." Jessica grinned. "See?" She pulled out a mirror and threw it lightly at me. I caught it with ease. Flicking it open, I looked into the reflective surface. My skin was definitely paler and clearer, even a little shimmering. My features were perfected, but not changed much. My eyes, which I feared would hold the most differences were maroon, only slightly redder than the colour they once were. It was noticeable, but like Jessica said, it was mostly because I was looking for differences.
"Could I see Charlie?" I wondered aloud. Neither of them answered, it was a question only I could answer. I could try, I suppose. I stood up. "Shall we try?" I asked them, not quite knowing what would happen if it went wrong. I looked around, "Where are we? Where Victoria got me?"
Jake nodded. "Didn't you hear us 'getting rid' of her?" I frowned, not sure if I had or not. "Let's go, then. Are you sure you can, Bella? After all, you've only tested it on me..."
"Shall I hug Jessica and see?" I asked, it wasn't a threat, I was as worried as him. He shook his head, forehead crinkled in concern. I sighed, and reached out for her arm gently. She flinched, but I ignored her, bringing her wrist up to my face. She froze entirely, in fear or shock. It actually smelt not bad, but not in a way I was tantalized by it, just like walking in on the smell of a relatively nice meal. I nearly laughed, but then I had an idea. I pulled it back from my face a little, focusing my eyes on it and trying to look hypnotized by the pulse, just under her skin. I heard Jake flinch. I fought against a smile as I inhaled deeply, before opening my mouth, revealing sharp teeth coated with an ammonium-chloride type substance I knew would be venom. Though she was frozen, unable to move, Jess gasped in fright. Something between a yell and a snarl escaped from Jacob and he tensed to spring at me. I closed my mouth immediately, and gently hit his face with the back of Jessica's hand with a chuckle. The look on his face made me laugh harder; the wild terror was still on his face, along with irritation and understanding.
On the other hand, Jess may have needed therapy. "That wasn't funny," Jacob snarled at me, tending to Jess.
"It was, and you know it." I giggled, before calming down. "Jess, you know I was kidding, right?" I said softly. She just nodded, colour returning to her face. "Hmm... That was fun..." I giggled again.
Jake just scowled at me. "Shall we go meet Charlie then?" He said after a moment. Jess and I nodded, and we began walking our way out of the forest. I hoped Charlie wouldn't notice anything different. What if he did? What would he think? What would the Cullens think? Now that I could be around forever, and they wouldn't need to pretend for me, probably annoyance. There were a lot less excuses for them leaving me now. I wouldn't bother them, no matter if my now cold, dead heart could only cry out for him.
AN: I don't know if I like this chapter... or the next one :/
Tell me what you think? Thankyouu x
Rachee (:
