Chapter Nine
Transformation
October 2004 La Push, Washington
Authors Note: Thanks to all who have submitted reviews so far. I realise I have deviated slightly from the true story so far in that I don't believe Sam actually transformed into a wolf until "New Moon" although it is open to speculation. I just wanted to deal with it from the different points of view and this seemed the only way of doing it. I am still trying to keep the characters as SM intended and not to interfere with her wonderful books too much.
Thank you all for reading my story.
Please continue to review.
It must have been getting on for a month before Sam finally returned, or at least it was someone who looked a bit like Sam. He had cut his hair short, really short, and his body had filled out like he had been taking steroids or something. He looked like one of those body-builders I had seen attending the gym at Forks Leisure Centre. He seemed proud of his physique though; wandering around with no shirt on, even though winter was setting in and the weather was turning colder.
It wasn't just his physical appearance though, he had changed in character. He was surly and gruff. He hardly spoke to anyone, not even Leah. He was a completely different person to the Sam we had known all these years.
Initially Leah had been overjoyed at his return, as you could imagine, even if she had been a little puzzled by his drastic change in appearance, but his refusal to tell anyone where he had been, or to even apologise for putting everyone through such trauma had left her wondering what had happened to her boyfriend. He was like a stranger, and to make matters worse, he didn't really want to spend any time with her. He had rejected her affection and she wondered why he had bothered to come back.
I didn't normally have much time for Leah, but I did feel sorry for her. She was broken. She had been through so much in the last month. First there had been the initial shock of his disappearance after a stupid insignificant quarrel, then the period of grief when we all presumed him to be dead. That in itself, had been bad enough, but she had also had to deal with her father's continuous lamentations that it had something to do with the Cullens.
My father too had been totally convinced. But Harry was obsessed with it. I guess my father would have been too if he wasn't confined to a wheelchair. He had insisted that Chief Swan do a thorough search of the Cullen's land, and he had actually gone with him to ensure it was done thoroughly. This had gone on for two or three days, and when the humans had failed to find anything, Charlie had ultimately been persuaded to call in the dog squad. That hadn't turned up anything either, much to Harry's dismay.
Leah had pleaded with them to stop going on about it. It was making things worse. She just wanted to grieve quietly for her lost love. She didn't want all the tension and arguing. Whether she shared his belief that the Cullens were to blame, no-one knew, but Seth had told me that she had actually secretly gone to Chief Swan and asked him to stop indulging her father's fantasies; it wasn't helping, and it was a direct result of this that Charlie refused any further assistance.
Charlie had turned up at La Push the following evening and had asked me to run over to the Clearwater's house to fetch Harry. He wanted to speak to both my father and Harry together. I hid out in my room pretending to be doing homework but I could hear every word that was said.
"Enough is enough. I want you to put a stop to all these wild accusations, do you understand?" Charlie had ordered in his most authoritative Chief of Police voice. "We have searched every inch of their land and there is no evidence."
"That doesn't mean they aren't guilty," my father had replied.
"Listen, any more intrusion will seem like victimisation and I won't have any more of it. What is it with you and the Cullens? Why do you hate them so much?"
"They are bad news Charlie, one day you will realise. But of course, buy then it will be too late, if it isn't already too late."
"Well, I guess we are going to have to agree to differ on that one Billy, but I am here to officially warn you to leave them alone now. That goes for both of you."
After Charlie had left Harry and my father had continued discussing the matter for a short while and had decided in the end that the visit to Dr Cullen they had planned had better be shelved for the moment.
"There is no point in threatening Dr Cullen with exposure because he knows too much about our existence and could reciprocate by exposing us, or worse still, he might actually decide to take physical action and we were not equipped to deal with it," my father had told Harry.
"I just wanted to pay him a visit, that's all. I just simply want to ask him to leave. It's time I made our feelings clear."
"No Harry, leave it. I'm sure Dr Cullen is aware of our feelings. Any sort of contact with him will just make matters worse. Besides Charlie will..."
"Charlie is a fool," Harry had interrupted. "Well, it's a shame, after all these years, but I have to say, he is no longer welcome in my house."
"That's as may be Harry, and it is your choice, but I will not sanction any contact between you and Dr Cullen, not while emotions are running so high, ok?"
Harry had begrudgingly agreed and then left.
So now Leah felt responsible for this rift that had formed too, well she was mostly responsible for it, except that Charlie had apparently been at the point of refusing anyway, through his own beliefs that the Cullens were a respectable family and above all, were innocent. But Leah couldn't tell her father what she had done and Seth had been sworn to secrecy, so she was bearing this particular guilt pretty much on her own. I wished I could tell her what I knew about Charlie's own personal beliefs; what I had managed to glean from conversations I had overheard at my house. It might ease her guilt, but I couldn't without landing Seth in trouble for telling me about her involvement, and poor Seth had enough problems at the moment with an emotional wreck of a sister and a bitterly prejudiced father.
At least now that Sam had returned her father and my father had made an effort to reconcile things with Charlie. There had been an apology of sorts from the pair of them, but I imagined things would take a long while to get back to normal. Harry and my father had taken a trip to Forks to see Charlie at his house the evening of Sam's return .They had insisted on taking me along with them because they were unsure of the reception they would receive, and Charlie was quite fond of me so it was unlikely he would be rude with me there.
"Oh, er ….won't you come in?" Charlie had said when he opened the front door to us. He seemed pleased to see me at least. "Hi Jake, how you doing?"
"OK, thanks Charlie," I replied.
"This won't take long," Harry said, but he had entered the house by now and was taking off his hat. I followed him in, pushing my father's wheelchair.
"We just thought you should know that Sam has returned. We don't want you wasting any more resources looking for him. He is safe and well. He returned this morning," my father told Charlie.
Charlie didn't say anything immediately, he just raised an eyebrow and nodded and then eventually muttered "Well, that's good news."
"So anyway, we just thought you should know, and we're sorry for wasting so much of your time on this," my father added.
"Ok, well, I will let Dr Cullen know immediately. He has expressed an explicit wish that I should inform them immediately if when Sam returned."
"When he returned?" Harry asked. "Was he so sure of it then, or was that a bluff?"
Charlie chose to ignore that remark but instead he told Harry "Well, I thank you for not interfering with the Cullen's any further since our last meeting. Dr Cullen is merely concerned about Sam's disappearance and will be pleased to know he is safe. One of his kids went missing too once so he knows what it feels like. I think he was just trying to be positive, that's all."
Harry grunted and turned to my father, "Come on then Billy, let's get out of the Chief's way, He's got an errand to run."
And so we had left, Harry and my father spending the entire journey home complaining that Charlie seemed more anxious to see his precious Dr Cullen than spend any effort repairing the friendship with his old friends.
I frequently found myself longing for the care-free days of the summer months before Sam's disappearance had changed the lives of Quileute Tribe beyond recognition. The tension hung over us like a huge cloud, threatening our normally peaceful existence. For Leah in particular, there was no end to her troubles. Her cousin Emily too had deserted her. Emily had been a huge comfort to her during the grieving period, but Emily had gone back home shortly after Sam returned, presuming that life would get back to normal for Leah.
Well, to be precise, it hadn't been quite like that. I had actually been round at the Clearwater's house that night when Emily had decided to go home.
It had been a Saturday and Leah had been out for the afternoon with Sam and Emily. She had returned before them and had been upset about something but no-one had taken much notice because her emotions had been in such turmoil lately and we all knew Sam was being difficult. She had slumped down in the armchair and not said a word to anyone.
A while later Sam had returned with Emily and it was apparent something wasn't right. They hovered in the doorway appearing awkward and Emily was looking real guilty about something. Sam didn't seem to be able to take his eyes off her. He was paying no attention to anyone else in the room. Now I was just a fourteen year old kid, well almost fifteen I guess, who knew nothing about relationships, but it seemed to me like he was completely besotted with her. Leah had glared at the pair of them and then stormed off to her room, banging the door behind her.
"I think I will go home tomorrow," Emily had said hesitantly aware of the need for someone to speak.
"Have you fallen out with Leah?" Sue had asked. It was obvious to all of us that something had happened.
"Er, no, it's just that I think I have served my purpose here. Sam has returned and I think Leah and Sam should be given some space to reconcile their relationship. She doesn't need me here now."
Sam had made his excuses and left, taking one last lingering look at Emily. He had walked out with his head down and without going to say goodbye to Leah, who we could hear sobbing uncontrollably in her room.
No-one had mentioned this since, except for Seth, who was having a hard time at home at the moment and often confided in me. He and I both had a vague understanding of what must have happened. It seemed fairly obvious that Sam had fallen for Emily. Leah and Sam appeared, at least on the surface, to be trying to restore their relationship, but Sam's thoughts and affections were so obviously elsewhere. Leah knew it too, we were sure of it, but she was too messed up to deal with it.
Sam absented himself frequently, not saying where he was going, or where he had been. Sometimes he was gone for a couple of days. Leah withdrew into herself and became extremely angry and bitter. She spoke to no-one, except for the occasional jibe. Seth said she was unbearable to live with.
