Disclaimer: I love Twilight. I adore Twilight. I treasure Twilight. But no, I do not own Twilight.
A/N: Okay, here's the deal. I started thinking about this weekend, and how busy I'm going to be tomorrow, and I was like, crap, I won't be able to update my story! So I worked furiously to get another chapter done, just for you guys. I did this in a total of about forty-five minutes, so I hope it doesn't seem rushed. In any case, here it is: chapter seven. I hope you like it. I tried to make it longer so that it would hold you over till my next update, which won't be until Sunday evening at the earliest. Sorry!
I'd made my decision, and I saw no reason to delay. I knew that Jacob wouldn't be home for at least another hour. I felt pretty confident that I'd be home before he was.
Quickly, I shut off the television and scuttled the kids out to the car. Anthony, of course, was full of questions as to why.
"What are we doing, Mommy?" he asked, tugging on my pants as I fastened Lana into the car seat.
"You're going to go over to Zach's house for a bit," I explained as patiently as possible. I was becoming more and more curious with each passing second. I felt as if I would burst if I didn't have my answers soon.
"But we already played with Zachary today!" he pointed out.
"I know, but wouldn't you like to see him again?"
"Not really."
"Anthony…" I said with an exasperated sigh. I finished buckling in Lana and turned my full attention to him.
"What? I don't wanna go see Zach!" he insisted.
"Okay, but don't you want to see Emily? You like her."
"I guess, but I don't feel like it!" he whined.
"Well, I'm sorry, but Mommy has a few things she needs to do, so you're going over to Emily's."
"No!" he screamed, turning and running towards the house.
"Anthony Masen Black, you get back here right now," I shouted, my feet planted firmly on the ground. I made no effort to go after him.
My one simple sentence worked. He hated being yelled at, and he walked slowly towards the car, head hanging low. I didn't have time to feel bad; I just strapped him into the car and started to drive the short distance to Emily and Sam's house.
"I don't wanna go!" Anthony cried out from the backseat. His volume got Lana upset, so she began to wail.
I sighed and tried to maintain my focus. It was hard, though, with both kids crying and yelling and so many other things on my mind.
The drive to Emily's, which usually seemed so short, felt like it took me ages today. I finally arrived, though. I was in such a hurry to get the kids to Emily that I didn't even realize Jacob's Rabbit in the driveway until I got out.
"Bella!" he exclaimed, slamming the front door of the house shut and running out to me. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, as if we'd been apart for days instead of mere hours.
"Hey, Jake. Um, what's going on?"
Sam uncannily picked that moment to come out of the house, with Embry, Paul, Jared, and Quil not far behind. They were the other members of the pack…the werewolf pack. I knew it wasn't just by coincidence that they were all there.
"Okay, seriously, what is going on?" I repeated, pulling away from Jacob and looking at each of the other men.
It was Sam who spoke up first. "Uh, Bella, I think you should go ahead and take the kids inside. Emily's in there. We'll be in soon."
"No way. First you tell me what's going on."
"Bella!" Jacob hissed. "Please, Bella, go inside with the kids, and I'll be right there. Now." The tone of his voice was something I'd never heard before. It was desperate, like he was pleading with me.
Fear slowly overcame me as I examined his stone face. "Okay," I whispered, giving in.
I hurried back to the car and opened the back door. Anthony's screaming had stopped as soon as I'd parked. Lana, however, was still sobbing.
"What's wrong with her?" Jacob asked uneasily, his voice detached. I could tell he was just anxious for us to get inside, although I was very unsure as to why.
"Oh, Anthony was just screaming, and he set her off," I told him softly. I wasn't sure if he even heard me, but he nodded slightly, so I took that as a sign that he had.
As I closed the car door and was getting ready to take the kids inside, I noticed that all the men were staring at each other. It looked as though they were having a serious conversation, but no words were being spoken.
I remembered suddenly that one of their werewolf…perks, I suppose, was that they could read each others' minds. I became even more on edge, and darted quickly up the steps to the porch and went inside, grateful that my clumsiness hadn't shown taken over in my rush.
"Is that you, Bella?" Emily called from somewhere in the house.
"Yes," I called back tentatively.
"We're in the bedroom. Come on back."
I slowly made my way to the master bedroom with Lana in my arms. Anthony was right on my heels.
Emily was sitting on the bed, her marred face looking uncharacteristically sad. Zachary was sitting in the corner, playing quietly with a truck. Anthony was hesitant to join him, but eventually did.
"What…Emily, what's going on?"
She shook her head slowly. "I'm not sure, Bella."
Gently, I set Lana down on the carpeted floor and climbed onto the bed to sit by Emily.
"Are you okay?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…worried."
"About what?"
There was a long silence, and I knew she was trying to decide whether or not she should tell me. Obviously, though, she knew something.
"I really should let Jacob tell you."
"Fine," I said, not in the mood for arguing. Her face was so solemn that it sucked all of my usual obstinacy away.
There was another long, eerie silence. Finally, Emily stood up.
"Let's go into the kitchen, huh? I think the guys are gonna want some food, and who better to make it than us?" She grinned at me, as if the past few minutes hadn't happened. "The kids will be fine in here for a bit."
"Sure," I said warily. "Sounds good. What are we gonna make?"
She grinned again and shrugged. "We'll find something."
We got out a bunch of equipment. I was mixing batter for brownies and Emily was working on a huge dish of lasagna when the guys came inside. By the guys, I mean Sam and Jacob.
Emily abandoned her saucepan and ran over to Sam, who accepted her lovingly into his arms.
"Is everything okay?" she asked him.
"We're not sure," he muttered.
I turned off the electric beater and turned to face Jacob, my hands on my hips.
"Jacob Black, will you please tell me what is going on?" I half-asked, half-demanded, the authority in my own voice startling me.
He sighed and wrapped me in another hug before he spoke.
"Bella, there's something going on around La Push. Something strange. It's something we haven't seen happening here for…quite some time."
"What do you mean?" I noticed my voice was shaking. I had a bad feeling about what he was going to say next. "You're not saying…"
Jacob gulped, and nodded. His voice was barely a whisper as he choked out the one simple word. Though I knew it was inevitable, I still hated hearing him say it.
"Vampires."
A/N: I hope you don't hate me for leaving it like this. Haha. Once again, sorry if it seems rushed or whatever. I'll update again as soon as possible, I promise! Don't forget to review!
