Chapter 10: Suspicion and the Beasts

Ellie

I stared vacantly at the morose, grey sky. To anyone who didn't live in the north east side of North America, it may seem like an encumbrance to wake up to grey clouds everyday, to a sunless sky that cried because of the dreary reputation it was given. I suppose I felt that way when I had first moved into Washington State. However, once you got used to it, it wasn't so much that is was a bleak sky, rather it was a different sky and it was considered here an oddity to have a constant sun beaming down on you.

I shifted my eyes from they sky to the rest of the setting. It was the same First Beach in La Push that I have been incessantly visiting for almost a couple of weeks now. The same waves rolled and crashed onto the shore and the same chill of the wind made me grit my teeth. It was another day at First Beach…well actually no it wasn't considering I didn't come here today on a whim. I came here with a purpose.

A purpose to meet with a couple of troubling beasts.

I had met Seth's "normal friends" Jacob, Quil, and Embry about two days ago, one day after Sage and Seth's supposed fight. Really I should be at Christa's place right now trying to take advantage of the fact that Sage wasn't with Seth or at least try and comfort her from how Seth had hurt her, but I had to do this to keep Sage from being hurt in the future.

Anyway, I had "accidentally" spotted Seth's friends, minus his sister, on the beach that day and had introduced myself as Sage's cousin. That day had really only been us introducing each other and them questioning me on Sage's condition, but it was progress none the less.

They had told me that they hung around the beach often so I had come here everyday and hoped that I would "accidentally" see them again.

Christa hadn't said much more about the beasts after our deal. She just told me of the boundary lines and where they usually roamed. She also told me of which La Push residents were inhuman. She didn't say anything more despite my accusations towards them.

Christa claimed that this deal would only end up proving her right and that it pointless to think of them as enemies. However there was still the question of why she had made the deal with me anyway. I particularly remember her saying something specific after the deal was made; "You might actually be doing me a favor," she had said.

It still didn't make sense to what she would be getting out of this besides making herself look all knowing. Getting close to the wolves somehow must be doing her a favor somehow. I shouldn't speculate more until I got closer to the beasts.

Snap!

Speak of the devil.

My remarkable sense of hearing caught the loud snap of a branch or long stick somewhere nearby. I turned around and that's when I saw them, the beasts, the things birthed for violence and bloodshed and had broken the heart of my best friend Sage.

Their entrance wasn't the same as when I had been hiding behind a fallen dead tree while eavesdropping on their conversation; they came out of the forests, not in their true snarling beast forms, but in their human costumes.

When I first turned around, they were merely three little approaching shadows coming from east out of the forest, but now they were quickly getting closer and bigger. The three were the same beasts I had met: Jacob, Quil, and Embry. Jacob was walking casually while Quil and Embry flanked either side of him and followed him with the same precise speed as Jacob.

Soon enough they saw me and slowly recognized me. Embry, the first to recognize me, fell out of line next to Jacob and went ahead of his two friends, his two beast friends, to greet me.

"What's up, Ellie?" Embry asked. I was a little bit shocked to find out that the beast cared to remember my name.

"Oh not much," I said and put on a pseudo smile, "What about you?"

"Ah not much either," Embry, the beast, replied and gave a small chuckle.

"How long have you been here?" Embry asked as his friends caught up to him.

"Not long." I had been leaning my shoulder on a tree next to me just now and stood up properly as Quil and Jacob approached.

"Hello Ellie," Both beasts greeted simultaneously.

"Hello."

"Do you come here a lot?" Embry asked.

My phony smile got a tiny bit wider. "Yeah."

"Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I like the scenery. It's peaceful here."

"Something bothering you at home?" Quil asked bluntly and Jacob and Embry shot him wary glances.

"Nothing really," I replied vaguely. Yah nothing really I wish, I thought.

"How are Sage and Christa?" Quil asked.

Translation: How's Sage?

"Christa's fine and Sage is…somewhat fine." I bit my lip at the end of the sentence.

"Oh." Quil looked down.

"And how are you guys at home?" I asked.

Translation: How's Seth?

So maybe the only reason I was able to associate with the beasts was because of Sage's relationship with Seth and the only real thing I had talked to them about was the status of my cousin and if Seth was going to visit her soon. They wanted to know about how Sage was, because Seth was too dang selfish to find out himself, and I asked about how Seth was in return.

I didn't really care about Sage's ungrateful and beast boyfriend, but maybe finding out that Seth was recovering from his weird depression state would help Sage shed one less tear over him.

"Everything's getting better but Seth's still kind of out of it. He's really sorry," Quil replied. I gritted my teeth, well maybe I could lie to Sage.

"He wanted us to give you this to give Sage," Jacob said and pulled out of his jean capris pockets (How did the boy wear capris in this weather?) a plain white envelope that had been neatly sealed.

"There's a note for Sage in there," Jacob said. I took the envelope from Jacob as he held it out to me and stuck it in the front pocket of my magenta trench coat.

"I'll be sure to give it to her," I said. Maybe I would give it to her after I read the letter first.

"Do you always stay at First Beach?" Embry asked.

On the inside I didn't want to answer that question. I wanted to tell them all about how Sage, for the past three days, had been repeatedly calling Seth for a reason for his absence and sobbing late at night and barely getting any rest. I wanted to tell them that it was all Seth's fault, and their fault, that my best friend had turned herself into a wreck.

I wanted to, I really wanted to. But I had to focus on becoming friends with these beasts. No matter how much I hated it, it would benefit Sage, and maybe the others, if I won the deal.

"Yeah," I said again with my pseudo smile.

"There are other beaches you know," He replied. I was somewhat happy that at least maybe the beasts did want to be friends with me rather than just use me to find information on Sage.

"Maybe we'll show you one day," Embry said.

"Maybe, is there another beach where the weather is warm for a change?" I asked.

Quil snorted. "Not during this time of year."

"That's too bad. It's healthy to feel actual sunlight once in a while."

"You learn to live without it."

"Have you guys always lived here?" I asked. Three heads nodded simultaneously.

"What about you? Don't you and Sage live in South Bend?" Quil asked.

"Yah."

"Isn't that two and a half hours away from here?"

My smile faltered for a second before I pseudo-smiled again. Yes I suppose it did take that long to get from South Bend to Forks, by car at least. However Sage and me had supernatural ways of transporting between the two towns.

"We have a shorter way of commuting here and there," I simply said. Thankfully the three boys shrugged and moved on.

I decided to ask an investigative question. "Why do you guys always come out of the woods?" I asked and they looked to have been taken off guard.

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked slightly unsure

"It's just that," I started, "When I run into you guys I first see you come out of the woods."

"We go hiking on a trail on our way here," Jacob answered smoothly.

"Maybe you can show me one day," I said.

We were silent for a couple of seconds before somewhat of an awkward air filled between us. The awkwardness, however, was short because my ears suddenly picked up the sound of footsteps hitting the sand.

I turned around and noticed a young woman-who looked like one of the natives of La Push-holding the hand of a young girl about seven or eight years old, who I presumed must be her daughter or some relative. The woman and the little girl were walking towards us but I didn't think they were actually meeting us until I heard Quil shout.

"CLAIRE!" Quil shouted happily. I turned towards him and noticed a beam of happiness radiating from his face and a wide smile growing that had not been there previously. Before another second could pass, Quil was sprinting towards the woman and the little girl.

"Qwil!" The little girl screamed and let go of her mother's (?) hand to sprint towards Quil. The girl didn't have to run seven feet before Quil got to her and picked her up and spun her around several times before putting her back down.

"So…they know each other?" I asked. Jacob and Embry chuckled.

"Yah," Embry said, "Quil is sort of her…babysitter."

"Babysitter?"

"He's taken care of her since she was two; Quil always loves seeing Claire."

"Interesting," I mumbled as I watched Quil pick up and play with Claire. He seemed to be more into Claire than any father or brother could.

"Who's this?" An unfamiliar voice asked. I turned around to see who it was; I immediately regretted it. As soon as I saw her, my smile faltered and I had to force a good poker face on to keep my eyes from bulging out of their sockets.

It had been the woman who was with Claire except now I got a better view of her face and what I didn't see before. On one side of her face, she was a beautiful woman with a warm smile, flawless tan skin, and a calm expression. The other side of her face would have been just as beautiful and a perfect mirror image to other half, however the other half of the woman's face was twisted and contorted.

Half of this poor woman's face had been ruined by three asymmetrical scars that started from her forehead, down her cheek and part of her chin, touched part of her neck, and finished at her shoulder and part of her arm. The scars seemed to be old and would permanently disfigure this woman's wonderful face.

"This is Ellie," Embry introduced me to the scarred woman. Embry gave me a small push from the back and I quickly stuck out my hand in front of me.

"I'm Emily," the scarred woman said and gently shook my outstretched hand with her own.

"Its nice to meet you," I said politely.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Emily said with a smile on her partially demented face. Emily suddenly turned her head away to stare at Quil and Claire.

"Get back here!" Emily yelled as Claire chased Quil down the beach while he "ran" away from her. Emily then followed Claire as she chased Quil.

"Is Emily Claire's mom?" I asked.

"She's her aunt actually," Embry muttered.

"May I ask about the…uh…um…"

"Emily's scars?"

"Yah."

"Embry," Jacob hissed.

"What?" Embry asked confused.

"Lets not go into that with Ellie yet," Jacob muttered low so he thought I wouldn't be able to hear.

"It's fine; practically everyone knows."

"What's up?" I interrupted.

"Emily's scars…" Embry started, "She was mauled a couple years ago.

"Mauled?" I leaned forward curiously.

"By a bear."

"In these woods?"

"No, somewhere else. Bears don't really live around here."

"Oh, then what does live in the forest?"

Both Embry and Jacob furrowed their eyebrows. "What do you mean?" Jacob asked.

"Is there anything dangerous in these woods?" I elaborated; maybe it was too soon to ask these questions but to them I could be asking something harmless.

"Well no," Jacob said, "But that doesn't mean you should go wandering around in the forest."

"Like the way you do?" I retorted.

"We don't get lost like an outsider like you would." I pouted for a second before moving on.

"That's weird I thought there was."

Jacob gained an inquiring look on his face. "Do you see any weird stuff going on around Christa's house?" He asked.

I quietly inhaled in surprise; I finally got now that there was a second reason for them talking to me besides finding about Sage's wellbeing.

"No," I said a little too quickly.

"Are you sure?" Embry asked.

"Yes."

"Okay then."

And to think that the beasts actually wanted to be genuinely friends with me, of course they were still using me. Although Seth and Sage were in a relationship (?), the beasts were still onto Christa and her witchcraft. They were waiting for a slip up, and if I did they would find out about not just about Christa, but Sage and me and the rest. They were using me, but I suppose that was okay because I was using them too, and I knew that I was being used.

We paused from our conversation as we heard a small girl's squeal. I looked over to see Claire try to kick sand onto Quil as an attempt to bury him, but her small size against his huge height only got him ankle deep in a pile of sand. Emily stood close by to them, chuckling in amusement.

I found myself studying Emily's scars again. The scars pulled weirdly at the features of her face; one scar pulled down her right eye to give it a droopy sort of shape while another scar pulled down a corner of her mouth to give her a lopsided grimace and the scars in total made dull red, river-like patterns across her right cheek. The scars were truly one of the most horrific human features I had ever seen that made me pity poor Emily with true sincerity.

Bears, eh? Yeah right.

Author's Note: I think I'm subconsciously making an effort to torture at least one character per chapter. Oh well, maybe you all secretly enjoy it.

So I know the story seems a bit slow, but you'll have to bear with me cause life is extremely busy for me right now. The good thing at least is that tennis is almost over for me and that's what's most time consuming for me and then maybe some productivity will get done.

And as always, PLEASE REVIEW! It doesn't hurt to show some appreciation for what effort I put into this story.

DISCLAIMER: (Why do I put this in all caps?) I DON'T OWN TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT BELONGS TO THE WONDERFUL STEPHENIE MEYER AND I SHARE NONE OF THE PROFITS WITH HER. ALL I OWN IS THE CHARACTERS I CREATED AND YOUR REVIEWS!

-J.J.