A/N:. It's been a while since I've updated and I apologize greatly, I promise to try and update as much as I can. Again thank you for all your reviews and encourgaments.
My Sunlight Chapter 7: Ten Speed
I do not own the Twilight series, all credit goes to the great Stephenie Meyer.
I can feel it in the way your blood and heart beats, your body's caught in a race I've already won, or is it in the way your body moves? I'd like to tell you, but I think that you already know, the words I dragged out from your mouth speak, so listen up well, listen up well, In her vision, I have given company -"Ten Speed" –Coheed and Cambria.
Bella had never given much thought to how she would die; she had to admit that deep down in her subconscious she had some flawed idea that she was invincible, the 'it could never happen to me' syndrome as her dad would describe it. Now clutching for dear life onto worn leather and rusted metal, the thought seemed to fly from the back of her mind and slam right into the front of her skull, each tree seemed to have their branches open wide, as if welcoming them into impact. She closed her eyes, her arms moving around the waist of her "death pilot" as he swerved expertly around twists and turns, narrowly avoiding trees and branches without even flinching.
The past two weeks had gone by like a blur; the incident with Alice firm in her mind all throughout. She attended school the following day prepared for a very awkward confrontation but found the reason for her sleepless night was absent. It was on the third day Bella realized she was being avoided; any normal person would have been relieved by that; given the situation, but not Bella. Yes, she had said she wanted to be left alone; but Alice seemed to push it to the nth degree, to take it as far as not showing up at school was insulting. Alice simply had the choice of not being around but Bella was the one stuck with the aftermath of it all, all the questions, each one more unanswerable than the next.
The internet didn't offer any solace for her over active imagination. Obviously Alice was impervious to pain and was, to some extent, invulnerable, but put that in a Google search and you get all sorts of things, she was sure Alice had nothing to do with the Chupacabra incidents in the foothills of Puerto Rico so that could easily be ruled out.
On the fifth day Jacob came, no doubt at her father's request. He had watched her come home every day and lock herself in her room, only coming down for dinner or the occasional glass of water. One forced conversation and uncomfortable silence later she would retreat back upstairs, so there was no doubt Jacob was recruited to help her out of her "funk." The first day he arrived Bella was deep into her history channel marathon, apparently documentaries on the end of the world and how bridges were made were the only things that could make her feel slightly better. She wasn't expecting what she found when she answered the door, long gone was the short, baby fat stricken kids that she remembered, he was far from it. Jake towered over her, his head almost touching the top of the door frame, his hair was now cut short, and dark circles lined underneath his eyes making him look much older than he was.
"I heard you could use some company" He had said.
"Wow, you've grown…" Bella's neck strained, awed by Jacobs's height.
"Yeah, I kind of went through a killer puberty"
"I can tell and whatever you've heard, I'm fine. I don't need a suicide watch." Bella warned.
"Well actually, I heard you might be a lot of things. You shouldn't let your dad watch those 20/20 specials; it puts some wild ideas in his head."
Of course; her dad probably thought she was upstairs cooking meth or plotting her next armed robbery. The first days were spent watching TV or discovering more of La Push and its beaches. It was obvious Jacob was also fishing for information, no doubt a part of his mission from her dad; she never divulged of course and he never pushed. He seemed sincere in wanting to spend time with her and after a while she actually started to enjoy the company, it was the following week he confessed his passion for motorcycles.
So here she found herself, reciting every prayer she ever learned under her breath as the wheels of the motorcycle squealed under pavement and the remnants of afternoon rain, her body and mind flying in forward motion as wind bruised her cheeks and chilled her hands. She had to admit she was sort of enjoying it, as terrifying as it was. But the feeling left as soon as it had came when they jerked to a stop; the smell of burnt rubber and gravel awakening her senses as she felt Jacobs's chest rise and fall with jagged breaths.
"Why did we stop?" She looked up to see him glaring straight ahead, his foot digging into the road as his stare intensified.
"I...didn't realize…" He continued to mumble under his breath as his eyes darted back and forth, scanning the road ahead. She pulled and pushed on his shoulders.
"Jake! Snap out of it."
Bella flew forward against his back as he slammed on the gas and gripped the brake down at the same time, the bike squealed and howled as they spun around and sped back down the road. If she thought they were going too fast coming up; Bella would swear now they had passed the speed of light. The distance that was once measured in minutes seemed to pass by in seconds, before she knew it they were back at La push; the familiar scent of salt and sand washing away the residue of mountain rain and oak left by the forest. Her breath came ragged as Jake slammed down the kick stand and moved off the bike in one fluid motion heading straight down the beach, leaving her out of breath and disoriented. Bella got off the bike with hardly anywhere near as much grace as Jake, the back of her leg becoming a casualty from her lack of coordination. She finally caught up to him, half limping.
"Okay …please tell me what the hell was that?!" She grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop and face her.
"I'm sorry Bella; I shouldn't have taken you that far. I just…sometimes I forget, I get lost when I ride." He mumbled, kicking the shells at his feet and averting her eyes.
"What are talking about? You nearly gave me whiplash. Actually scratch that, I probably already have it. What happened to 'We're going to take it easy, no fancy stuff.' You were like the fast and the furious back there." She growled. Admittedly; she did find it pretty cool but a warning would have been nice.
"I'm sorry okay? I forgot I shouldn't be going that far; it's not safe. I didn't mean to scare you." He then smiled and chuckled a little. "Well I kind of meant to a little… but I lost track of where I was."
"So…we weren't allowed? I didn't' see any signs, how could you know?"
"Believe me Bella, I know okay" He sighed and stared off into the distance then back at her, his eyes narrowing. "You promise not to think I'm crazy?"
"That depends. I can't promise if I will or won't" She shrugged nonchalantly while inside her mind and body were screaming from andreniline.
"The Cullen's live past that road, so as far as I'm concerned we didn't need to go any further." Jake wringed his hands together as he spoke obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. "The Cullen's…they aren't safe Bella, I know this sounds ridiculous but you've got to trust me on this. It's best to keep your distance."
"Why?" Bella leaned in closer as he avoided her eyes, his expression slightly pained. She pulled on his arm making him face her. "I won't think you're crazy Jake, please…tell me." Everyone in the town seemed to be weary of the Cullen's; High school was a different story, if something was considered different or strange it was always fears and ridiculed, of course they would be ostracized. But Jake had no stake in that, he didn't go to school with her, this had to be something different.
"The Quileute have many legends; these stories are passed down from generation to generation. Some go as far back as Noah's ark; some maybe further. This particular legend tells of the cold ones."
Bella's stomach twisted at his words, his tone turned ominous as he fixated his eyes on the beach, rolling a pebble between his fingers.
"It's said my great-grandfather ran into a group…well...more of a pack, of these…things. It was well known through-out the tribe of their vicious ways, of what they did…what they ate; but they were different."
"What do you mean what they ate? What do you mean different?" Bella's tone was slightly pleading as the frustration of the past two weeks bubbled its way to the surface. What could he mean? What did this story have to do with the Cullen's? More importantly what did it have to do with Alice?
"I'm getting to that, just listen. They were different because they didn't hunt like how others of their kind did, so they were of no threat to the tribe. My great-grandfather, being the tribe elder, made a truce with them. They would stay off our lands and we wouldn't expose them. In laments terms, you stay away from me, we stay away from you, and all will be fine." He threw the pebble with a flick of his wrist and watched as it sailed across the water; the faint sound of a splash in the distance filled their uncomfortable silence.
"So…what are you saying? These…things your great-grandfather ran into, what were they?" Bella's eyes now followed Jacobs. He shook his head and chuckled slightly.
"Blood drinkers Bella..." He now looked straight at her as if trying to prove how serious he was when saying this. "Vampires."
She slowly nodded, taking it all in. Weighing the evidence in her head as her mind screamed to think logically. But what was logic anymore? After what she had seen it could be as farfetched as this story seemed.
"So, these…cold ones; the Cullen's are like the ones your great-grandfather met?" Bella asked.
"Bella, I'm saying they are the ones he met, the Cullen's are the cold ones; the original ones from the legend. Sure they've added some new members and they've stayed true to their promise but they're threat remains the same."
"Wait I thought you said they weren't a threat."
His lips turned into a crooked smile. "Not to the tribe, we Quileute have defenses against their kind, passed down from generation to generation, just like these stories. It's not us they're a threat to." His smile faded then as he looked away from her.
"They still have urges just like the rest of their kind. It's just like a diet Bella, you always slip up at least once."
Bella's mind raced, she couldn't make the pieces fit. It was all too much to take in; her reality was spinning out of control. She stood then, abruptly walking back up the path to where the bike and her car rested, Jacob chased close after her.
"I um…I have to go back home." She said, avoiding his eyes as she shoved her hands in her pockets, searching for her keys. She had to leave, had to see her, she needed answers. Jacobs hurt was evident in his face as looked down at his feet.
"I knew you'd think I was crazy…"
Her façade softened just a bit to comfort him.
"It's not you Jake, I just realized its getting kind of late and after that whole ordeal I need to rest. I don't think you're crazy…in fact I sort of believe you." She turned swiftly away from him and made her way to the truck, practically leaping into the cab and starting the engine.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer? There's a storm coming." He said through her window, giving her what she would assume was his best puppy dog eyes.
"I'm sorry Jake, next time I'll stay longer I promise. I just need to get some rest." She shot him an apologetic look and revved her engine. She was about to slam on the gas when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
"Bella promise me you'll think about what I said, it may just be a story to you but just promise me for the sake of my own worries."
"I promise Jake. I'll be careful."
He let her go then and her foot pressed down hard on the gas. The truck creaked and moaned as she went over the rough beach terrain, finally reaching the main road. Left was home, a safe haven. She could rest her thoughts and maybe realize this was all just a ridiculous chain of events, it would all be explained and come clear if she could just get home, get into her bed and shut her eyes. Right led to reason of all her anxiety, all her sleepless nights. Alice was supposedly just up that road, so relatively close, her questions could be answered. Her hands turned the wheel from left to right as if stuck in a tug of war between her instincts and her whirling mind. One screamed run, leave it alone. The other allured with the promise of solutions and the presence of Alice. It was a day of firsts for Bella, her first ride on a motorcycle, her first Quileute legend, and the first time she ever went against her better judgment and followed an urge instead of her logic. She let out a deep breath and turned the wheel right as her foot slammed down on the gas.
