To any of my readers that are still around… I know it's been forever and a day (or three). My life got busy (life tends to do that… go figure!) Anyway, to those that have been with this story from the beginning, thanks for sticking out the inordinately long wait, newcomers—welcome to Home isn't a Place, and I can sincerely say that I will never again go that long on an unfinished story without an update. Enjoy the newest chapter!
wwsadd
The Art of Lying
I had never really enjoyed school, and I only put up with the charade now because it was where Bella, Edward and Alice were nearly every day between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. I was rethinking that decision, however, when there was a soft but persistent knock on the door of my sorry looking little motel room.
Mentally checking that I had at least one blade concealed somewhere on my person, I rolled off my bed and took the three steps to the door. Pulling it open warily, I sighed when I realized it was just Bella—I thought that since we had talked earlier she wouldn't have needed to drop by—unannounced. Hunters hate surprises, after all.
"B…Come on in…Everything cool?" I asked, moving aside so she could come in out of the rain. She shook her wet hair out of her face and kicked her shoes off before falling into the dingy armchair in the corner of the small room.
"I guess so. Are you busy right now?" She wondered, eyeing the books open across the massively-uncomfortable bed.
I shook my head vehemently and slammed both of the books closed. "Math and Science. Just two of the many reasons I hate high school." I drawled, folding my legs up underneath me and shoving the books off the side of the bed and onto the floor for good measure.
Bella giggled. "It isn't that bad." She retorted. I glared.
"Maybe not… for someone whose future isn't decided already. I'm a hunter, I've been a hunter for as long as I can remember—practically—and I will be a hunter until the day that it gets me killed." I stated, not trying to be dramatic, just merely laying out the facts.
"That's depressing Evie, you could… I don't know, stop being a hunter someday and do something different… like be an author of really realistic horror stories. Or teach folklore… or anything." She said, picking up Uncle Dan's journal from the rickety desktop and flipping aimlessly through the pages.
I studied her face as she glanced through the notes he'd made on vampires—on werewolves—on all the creatures and monsters and demons that he'd killed or incapacitated. "You know B… you could do anything you wanted to do too. You're a lot less stuck in this life than I am. This lifestyle, the responsibilities and dangers that come with it… it's in my blood… I was born and raised to be this. You're right though. I could fake my death, maybe jump off a cliff or something and let the hunting world believe I'd died. I could go to college, or to San Francisco where my parents met and find a place to live a life about music and art instead of demons and death.
"But if I can do that… Imagine what you could do. You think that the Cullens and the wolves won't let you go if you want to leave? They all know that being human in their world isn't easy—isn't safe. And they want you to be safe, that's what all the fuss is about, remember?" I pointed out.
Her face was red, and her hands had stilled, Uncle Daniel's journal still open on her lap. I waited for what I had said to sink in. She had heard it—from Edward and probably from that Jacob character too. But I wanted to believe that hearing it from me held a different weight. I was human too, after all.
After a few moments that felt like an hour, she glanced up at me. "I'll quit it if you do." She said slyly, calling my bluff before I'd even realized that I'd been bluffing. For a moment I couldn't even formulate a reply.
With a frustrated laugh I let my head fall back against the wall. "Damn girl, you're kind of a tough cookie, aren't you?" I asked. She giggled.
"Well I do run with vampires." She retorted. I snickered.
"Now that I'd like to see." I said jokingly. "So…was there something we failed to cover earlier on our little joyride, or did you just come over here to prove your mental instability to someone just as unbalanced?" I asked.
She turned the journal around so I could see the page on werewolves that she had been staring at for the better part of ten minutes. "Okay, first of all, whatever this is—the La Push wolves are not the same thing."
"No kidding. That's because they aren't actually werewolves. That is a werewolf." I said, pointing to the picture sketched on the page. "Your furry friends are shape-shifters. Not inherently evil. Which is kind of a relief. Because damn if we don't have enough problems without…Something like that running around the woods." I continued.
Bella smiled and flipped through some more pages. "So they aren't bad." She said simply, not as though the information surprised her, rather she sounded pleased that she had solid evidence of what she had already known.
"Not as far as I can tell. Don't hold your breath for a sudden change of heart from either side of this asinine little territory-war between them and the vamps though. Until you can get them to believe that Victoria's a big enough threat to require that they all work together, Edward and Jacob are going to—quite literally—be at each other's throats." I said.
"Oh, I have to do that do I? While you do what exactly? Practice long division?" She asked mockingly.
"They're both in love with you sweetie. That makes it your problem." I teased her back. Her eyes widened as the joke my words were supposed to be did not fully mask the truth in what I was really saying.
I hoped she wasn't going to start crying—I wasn't good with tears. "Jake isn't in love with me." She finally said, though I knew she could tell she wasn't all that convincing.
I sighed. Denial, big time. "B, it was pretty obvious today in the parking-lot. Mike and Tyler and Ben were taking bets on who was going to win the fist fight they were about to get into. Telling yourself it isn't true isn't going to help anyone around here. If you love Edward—and don't love Jacob—then you need to get that out in the open once and for all. If you aren't sure what the hell is going on in this mess of a situation, then you need to take the time to figure it out. Soon."
Surprisingly, she didn't argue with me. "I know. It wasn't supposed to get this messed up…I just…I need to talk to Jacob before this gets even more out of hand. He was…the only reason I was even able to function when the Cullens left. I can't turn my back on him. It wouldn't be fair. After everything that happened this weekend though… I don't know if I'll get the chance to even get to La Push. The Cullens are just…I know they want me to be safe, but me being in the middle of this fight doesn't really feel safe." She said, her words a little jumbled but her thoughts quite easy to follow.
I considered all the options before presenting the best one. "Okay, you and I are going to Port Angeles tomorrow after school." I told her.
"What, uh why…?" She asked, obviously confused.
"Don't worry about it, alright? I've got it covered. And if my plan backfires, we'll move on to Plan B." I added with a grin. She gave me a wary glance.
"Plan B?"
"I detain your sparkly friends while you visit the petting zoo." I explained with snicker. She rolled her eyes.
"Are all hunters equipped with this special brand of humor, or is that just you?" She asked, setting Uncle Daniel's journal back down on the desk.
I laughed for real this time. "Oh you just wait. Some day I'll introduce you to the real crazies." I promised, walking her to the door and shooting her a sympathetic look as she glared out at the rain coming down in sheets.
"Oh, I can't wait." She quipped back, stepping out into the night with a wave. I waited until she'd made it into the truck and started the engine before closing the door and locking it tightly. I knew the next day was going to be long, tense, and possibly life-threatening.
But I also knew it was something that had to happen. These vampires and werewolves seriously needed to get over their aversion to each other before something far more big and bad got dragged into the picture.
John Winchester plagued my thoughts and my dreams that night.
The next day at school, I tried to act as normal as I could. I hadn't told Bella the real plan, because I knew Alice was 'watching' her every move and it would be incredibly inconvenient for a vision—or lack thereof—to put a wrench in our afternoon plans. I just hoped she wasn't watching my decisions quite as closely.
"So, Bella and I are going to go to Port Angeles after school for a few hours, there are some things I need and I thought maybe it'd be good for both of us to get out of Forks for a bit." I said to Alice on the way to art class.
She didn't seem suspicious. "That actually sounds like a good idea. I don't see Victoria, but that doesn't really mean she isn't around. And we were kind of hoping to get some hunting in soon…Edward hasn't gone in far too long."
I tried not to let my sigh of relief tip her off. "Great. Two birds, one stone." I muttered, sliding into my seat, as she fell gracefully into hers.
"I never understood that analogy." She said with a light laugh.
I thought about it for a minute. "You know what, now that you mention it, I don't really get it either." I replied with a laugh of my own.
I knew we were in the clear as Bella climbed in my truck and waved happily to Edward, who seemed no more anxious than Alice had about our afternoon plans. I felt a swell of pride that they trusted me so much… and also a small pinch of guilt in my stomach, for so thoroughly betraying that trust. But I had to listen my instincts… most of the time they weren't wrong, and I just knew that the wolves weren't going to hurt Bella.
As I drove down the highway, Bella turned to me seriously. "Okay Evie, where are we really going?"
I laughed. "I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count." I replied, taking the obscure turnoff that I was fairly certain led onto the Quileute reservation.
Bella's eyes lit up as she took in our surroundings. "Have I told you how absolutely brilliant you are?" She asked excitedly, causing me to laugh.
"Not exactly, but don't worry, I know I'm a genius." I retorted. "Now, where exactly am I going?" I asked, having no idea what to do now that we were actually here.
She directed me through various stops and turns, until we arrived at a quaint little house with flowers in the front garden and painted shudders. "This is where the werewolves live? I'm liking the irony." I said quietly. She snorted.
"Come on, I'll introduce you." She said, opening the passenger side door and jumping down. I tensed.
"Are you sure you don't want me to just go and come back and get you in a few hours…?" I asked.
She gave me a dirty look. "Uh, no. This was your idea… and I'm sure they all want to talk to you." She said, seeming completely puzzled by my hesitation. "Wait… don't tell me you're afraid of them." She said, sounding thunderstruck.
I shrugged. "Not afraid… just… wary." I defended. She laughed, seeing right through my weak excuse.
"Get your butt out here Evie. You are a hunter. Own it. And anyway, they don't bite." She said with a smirk.
I flipped my middle finger up at her none-too-discreetly and threw my door open with a slight growl. I followed her to the front door of the house that looked like it could be featured in Better Homes and Garden and held my breath as she reached out and knocked firmly on the door.
Moments later a very pretty young Native American woman with some impressive scars down one side of her face opened the screen door wide and smiled happily. "Bella Swan! What a surprise! It's been a while… we've missed you around here. How have you been?" I stepped to the side as the woman pulled Bella into a one-armed hug.
"Hi Emily. I've been alright. This is my friend Evie. Evie, this is Emily, the werewolf girl." I offered my hand, and returned the warm smile that was turned my way.
"It's nice to meet you; you must be the girl from the forest last weekend, right? The boys have not stopped talking about you." She said, opening the door and ushering us in. I wasn't sure what to say to that so I just nodded and tried not to laugh at the look Bella was giving me.
I let Bella and Emily lead me into the warm little house. I didn't know what I was expecting, but this was not it. It was like Washington had completely fallen off any discernible map. Monsters lived like humans and the humans that knew about it played right along. I wasn't sure how it was even possible.
We seemed to be following the sound of voices, and they got louder as we made it into a bright little kitchen. Conversation ceased as the five very large, half clothed boys noticed they were no longer the only ones in the small space.
The silence didn't last long however, as a couple of the boys started snickering and another jumped to his feet. "Hey guys, its Bella, back from the dead." He laughed, as another boy made a 'wooooo'ing sound like kids sometimes do on Halloween when they think they are imitating ghosts.
Bella grinned. I could tell the moment we walked in that she relaxed. Like all of the tension she carried around all the time just melted away. She knew she was safe here—sure—but she also knew she didn't have to be anything but herself, and I could tell how much she was appreciating that right now.
"Hey Quil, joining the party late, I see. Why don't you drop dead and then try coming back. It's not as easy as it looks." She joked back. The boy who had spoken gave her a teasingly wounded look.
"Ouch Bella, I'm hurt. Not." He grinned. It was then that my presence seemed to be realized by everyone at once. "You." The boy said, seeming as though he couldn't quite believe it.
After the playful banter and the laughter that had so fully permeated the whole of this little house, I couldn't help but feel comfortable too. "Me." I deadpanned. Bella smirked.
"Evie, this is Quil, Embry, Jared, Paul, and Sam." She said, pointing out each out as she said their names. "Everyone, this is Evie Halloway, I don't think you were properly introduced last weekend, what with Victoria being her typical charming self. Anyway, Evie's just moved here from Colorado. She's a… uh… an…" She seemed at a loss for words. I laughed. When it came right down to it, telling the supernatural beings of the world that there's a hunter in their midst is never the easiest thing to do.
"I'm a vampire hunter. So I guess that's something we all have in common, huh?" I said lightly, hoping that my emphasis on vampire would keep all hell from breaking loose.
They all looked shell-shocked for a moment before four of them began roaring in laughter. The walls were literally shaking from the amount of noise they were making. The seemingly most mature of them had risen quickly to his feet and made his way—gracefully no less—to where we were standing. He raised a hand sharply toward his pack and they quieted quickly.
Holding the other hand out toward me it took a minute for me to understand what it was he was doing. Placing my laughably small hand in his gigantic one, I shook it once before letting go. "I am Sam Uley. And you are welcome here any time." He said, and there wasn't a single teasing line on his face.
I nodded once, and was about to reply, when one of the other boys—I had already lost track of which one was which—spoke up. "Sam, you can not be serious. Look at her. There's no way she hunts vampires."
"Paul, can it." The man in front of me—obviously in charge—growled. "Excuse him, he's lacking in some ways that really do matter."
Shrugging, I offered a laugh and a wink to the still-furious boy at the table. "It's cool. Any time he wants to challenge my skills I'm up for it." I told him. He smirked at that.
"Any time, any place." He said, stretching his huge arms out in front of him, his giant biceps flexing impressively. I rolled my eyes and snickered. Show off.
"So… are you here to take out the Cullens? Because that idiot treaty doesn't let us anywhere near them, so that would be fantastic." The one that had spoken first—Quil—said, a smile still on his face. Bella made an angry noise and a rude hand gesture at him. He rolled his eyes.
I sighed exaggeratedly. "Sadly, no. I don't kill good vampires. Sorry, but you'll have to figure that mess out all by yourself." I said, giving Bella a pointed look. Turning back to the pack of wolf-boys, I continued. "I can, however, help you with the other vampire. The one I would have had the other night if you all hadn't started fighting over that damn line." I remarked, ignoring the matching disbelieving looks on their faces.
Sam shook his head. "We will not let them onto our land. It is non-negotiable. End of story." He said shortly. Emily shifted from behind us and into the kitchen, where she started to fiddle around with something on the stove. Bella moved to help her.
That left Sam and I standing in the middle of the kitchen while the four boys still seated at the table watched our discussion with focus I would not have believed them capable of moments before. "I understand your concern. I was raised to salt n' burn then ask questions later—but we all have to be able to work together if we want to get this crazy vendetta-obsessed chick. Otherwise she's just going to play you all for everything you're worth and innocent people are going to get caught in the crossfire. I know you don't want that." I replied.
"I cannot let them near the tribe. It is out of the question. What would you have me do, trust those bloodsuckers just because they claim to be different?" He asked, a challenge in his words but a glimmer of hope in his voice. I could tell he wanted this dealt with as quickly as the Cullens—more irony. It was going to kill me soon, I could feel it.
"No." I said, and I could hear Bella's sharp intake of breath. The boys at the table seemed confused, Sam looked dubious. "I would have you work with me. I have as natural an aversion to vampires as you do, trust me. We can be friends Sam, you and I. Allies even. I have an understanding with the Cullens, and you do not have to trust them. But work with me, trust me. I won't lead your pack or your people into danger." I said, surprising myself at the sincerity in my words. I was seriously going soft. Soon I was going to start treating all monsters like people.
Sam seemed to deliberate for a moment. He eyed me critically, his dark gaze holding mine for minutes that dragged on and on. Finally he sighed. "Alright. Evie Halloway, let's give this a go."
I let out the breath I had been holding. Things were about to get really interesting. I didn't know quite how right I was about that until half a minute later when another voice sounded from behind us.
"Does someone want to tell me what's going on here?" I turned so fast I nearly tripped. Before I knew it Bella had skipped past me and thrown her arms around the boy in the doorway. "Hey Jake, can we talk? Somewhere… else?" She asked, taking a very small step back.
"Sure. Let's go." He said, taking her hand and leading her away, but not before giving me the deadliest glare I had ever seen. My feet felt frozen to the floor, my knees as though they were going to give out, and my stomach dropped. Since I had moved in with Uncle Dan years before I had never truly been afraid—of anything—until that very moment.