The sun shone down from above, piercing through the gaps in the canopy of trees, and throwing golden rays of light on my marble skin.
After last night, I had waited until the gradually brightening sky managed to flood out the light of the stars. I had watched as the sun had slowly risen over the trees, burning off the morning fog, and returning the colour to the purple hued forest.
The usual layer of overcast had still not been restored since last night's storm. Only a few lone clouds floated lazily in the late morning sky. Jacob was still fast asleep and snoring.
I sat in the maple tree, examining the patches of my illuminated skin with portions of both anguish, fascination, and now, hope. The smooth diamond-bright facets threw tiny eight coloured rainbows in all directions. I watched the effect disappear as a large cloud slowly blocked out the sun.
I picked up the faint sounds of a lone wolf running far out in the forest. Becoming more alert, I listened as it headed towards the meadow. Although my common sense told me that if Victoria had been spotted, the wolves would howl, I still couldn't help but feel tense, expecting some form of bad news.
The wolf stopped just out of view, where it paused to phase and change into clothes. Embry wove though the last of the trees and into the meadow. He spotted me in the tree, and gave a small wave.
"Hi, Bella."
"Hey, Embry. Any news?"
"Yeah. But I want to wake up Jacob first. How was the storm?"
"Long." I answered truthfully.
"You didn't sleep in a tree, did you?" He laughed, but examined my perch in the maple a little more closely.
I laughed without much humour. "No, I can't sleep. Literally."
He raised an eyebrow, surprised. Oh, how I wish I could have slept. Last night had felt like a week, with nothing but the stormy darkness pressing uncomfortably in on me.
I jumped lightly out of the tree, both of us automatically wrinkling our noses against the other's stench. We both listened as Jacob continued to snore away. Embry suddenly grinned wickedly.
"Oooh, I know the perfect way to wake him."
He strode over to the tent, and unzipped it, throwing the flap wide open. He snatched the pack of supplies lying just inside the shelter. He beckoned me over silently. Puzzled, I went along.
"Okay, now just stand right in front of the opening." He whispered conspiratorially, grinning. He unzipped the backpack, and grabbed one of the spare shirts. Holding it out by the corners, he started to fan.
I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter as Embry blew my scent into the little tent. I squatted down on the balls of my feet to get a better view into the opening.
Although the tent was fair-sized, Jacob was stretched out diagonally due to his height. His face looked peaceful as he slept, snoring loudly with his mouth hanging open. I felt a little bad for interrupting his rest.
After a few strong wafts of air were fanned into the tent, his face unconsciously twisted, nose scrunching up against my smell. His snoring was interrupted as he snorted airily a few times, trying to clear the scent out of his nose. I heard Embry's snickering as he continued to blow my smell into the tent.
Embry's low laugh drew Jacob out of his sleep, and I watched him groan and unconsciously move his hand to cover his nose. Suddenly, he froze for a second before inhaling deeply.
He jerked himself up violently, eyes popping open in alarm, mouth gaping and expression disoriented as he struggled to shake off his sleep.
The look on his face was too priceless, and both Embry and I broke out into loud laughter – his was husky and deep while mine sounded like a chorus of bells.
"'Morning, sleeping beauty." Embry mocked.
Jacob blinked several times as he realised he wasn't being jumped by Victoria. He snapped his hanging mouth shut, and immediately flopped back to the floor of the tent, where he threw his arms over his face, looking sour. He grumbled unintelligibly under his breath, while I backed away from the tent entrance, not wanting to stink it up too much for him.
"Jake, you should know that I caught a trace of the red-haired leech during a patrol this morning." Embry informed, switching into a more humourless tone. Jacob lowered the arms from his face, eyeing Embry with a now similarly serious expression.
"She passed through hours ago, sometime late at night. But I thought you'd be interested on where the trail led." Embry explained. Jacob raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"It, uh, led to the… other's old crypt." He flashed a quick wary glance at me, probably hoping to avoid the bad reaction that their name had caused yesterday. I had frozen in surprise, wondering why, of all places, she had gone there. Just imagining the deserted white house that she would have seen made the edges of the hole in my chest lash with pain.
"She must have been really quick about it." Embry continued, "Probably thought we wouldn't expect her to show up again so soon. She made a beeline straight there. The scent circled around the place only a couple times before she did a one-eighty, and got the hell out of there."
"Probably making sure they were still gone." Jacob concluded in a low voice.
The realisation that Jacob was most likely right sent another radiating wave of pain through my empty chest. Was it possible that Victoria was confirming that it really was Laurent who had changed me after failing to kill me? Had she thought it was possible that they had returned, and changed me?
"I hope she isn't thinking of giving up on revenge. As long as she comes back again, we have a pretty good shot at finally killing her."
My opinion was in conflict. On one hand, I desperately hoped for the opposite of Embry. I hoped that Victoria had given up revenge. But on the other hand, I knew that even if she left, she would still be murdering people somewhere in the world.
Jacob had already crawled out of the tent, and was now stretching out his sleep-stiff body with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I was wondering, Bella, why'd your bloodsucker kill that James, anyway?" he asked suddenly.
"James was trying to kill me – it was like a game for him. He lost. Do you remember last spring when I was in the hospital down in Phoenix?"
I was sure that he probably remembered better than I did. Even after spending most of last night trying to commit my human life to my new memory, it was still exceedingly faded.
Jacob sucked in a breath. "He got that close?"
"He got very, very close." I said, absentmindedly rubbing my hand where the scar from James' bite had once been. The mark had completely vanished during my transformation.
Jacob looked horrified. Embry frowned, appearing deep in thought.
"Do you know anything else about the bloodsuckers that could help us?" Embry asked.
I thought about that for a moment. The question felt like something you would ask of a spy, or maybe a mole was the correct terminology now. But I supposed it might help them to catch Victoria.
"Vampires," I emphasised, not appreciating their persistent slurs, "Can sometimes have extra abilities. Like, special talents that only they can do."
"Do you think the redhead can do anything special?" Embry inquired, eager for information.
"Um, I'm not sure. At least, no one ever mentioned it."
"Well then, what other types of abilities could one of them have? Do you think you can do something extra?" Embry asked. I saw Jacob's expression turn to surprise at this idea.
I felt deeply surprised too. I hadn't really thought about it. I mean, it's not like I've had any magic visions, or felt any other weird sixth sense yet. I probably didn't. I felt fairly disappointed. I'm probably just a normal – I mentally laughed at the descriptive – vampire.
"I… I don't think so." I said honestly. "I don't feel any special abilities. Um, James, for example, had a type of sixth sense used for tracking people."
"Did any of the Cullens have… extra talents?" He continued to ask. My chest already ached with pain, hearing their name only managed to further tear at the wounds. It's not like the werewolves really needed to know what the Cullens could specifically do. Annoyed, I answered a little sharply.
"Yeah. Jasper could control the emotions of the people around him. Not in a bad way, just to calm someone down, that kind of thing. And then Alice could see things that were going to happen. The future, you know, but not absolutely. The things she saw would change when someone changed the path they were on…" My brusque tone quickly disappeared as I remembered them.
"And," I continued, my voice barely a whisper now, "...and Edward," my voice broke as I allowed the name to burn up my throat, "he, could read minds. I think it's kind of like how you guys hear each other as wolves."
"Really?"
"Embry." Jacob warned in a quiet, but stern voice.
"Ah. I… am sorry Bella. I was just curious. I'll try not to bring them up specifically again. Um, anything else about general… vampires?" He said, trying to be a little more thoughtful.
"Well, you guys already know about a vampire's strength, speed, hard skin. My senses are now incredibly strong too. Um, vampires get thirsty as well. It got quite painful for me, like my throat was burning. If a vampire bites you, it's a kind of venom on their teeth that causes the transformation." I listed off all the basics I knew.
"Thankfully werewolves can't get changed. We know from passed down knowledge that if one of us were to get bit, it would simply poison us." Jacob informed me gladly, making it sound like death by poison would be preferable to becoming a vampire. I wondered how much it bothered him for me to be one of them now. I continued wracking my brain for any other facts.
"I bet you guys don't know this; I can now go indefinitely without breathing." I boasted feebly.
"What? No way!" Embry spluttered, surprised. Jacob's eyebrows rose quickly in disbelief.
"Breathing?" Jacob simply said, shocked.
"Totally unnecessary." I gave a weak smile.
"One last thing that's… interesting." I continued. "Jacob, you were wondering about sunlight?"
Jacob simply nodded. The sun was still shining; it was now only the direct shade of the forest that kept my skin from sparkling like diamonds.
"I think I heard about this." Embry announced, "Doesn't your skin glow or something?"
"Something like that, it looks a lot more… dramatic than it sounds."
Both boys followed my gaze towards the sunlit meadow. I tried to push the overwhelming reversed déjà vu from my mind. But it was impossible to forget. He was impossible to forget. Feeling that uncomfortable pricking at my eyes, I not-so-subtlety folded my arms over my painfully throbbing torso. Jacob appraised my new position, sadness and concern in his eyes.
Slowly, hesitantly, I paced towards the boundary between light and shadow. I paused momentarily when I reached the edge of the deep shade. I turned my head slightly, not bothering with full eye contact, to give a small sad smile to the two behind me. I closed my eyes as I took the few short steps to fully immerse myself in the glowing sunlight.
Feeling the dull warmth of the sun spread over my skin, I turned carefully, slowly opening my eyes to see their reactions.
Jacob and Embry stood frozen in the dense shade of the forest, staring straight at me. Thousands of tiny chinks of light reflected off of my white skin, casting miniscule rainbows in every direction. The flecks of light danced as I finished turning my body.
Embry clearly looked unpleasantly taken aback, but there was also amazement in his expression as he stared at my sparkling skin.
I heard Jacob grind his teeth together, his jaw knotted with an unfathomable expression on his face. Anger? Disgust? Agony? It was hard to tell. I suddenly grasped that me being a vampire must pain him far more than he let on. My brain added up all the little things, such as the almost non-existent physical contact, the easy agreement to let me go to the Denali clan, his plan to return to La Push, his frequent slurs. Suddenly, I understood why he seemed more bitter and distant than usual. He must be fighting his prejudice towards what I've become just enough to help me. He must have really hated vampires in the short time between becoming a werewolf, and before I was changed.
The more I watched his face, the more apparent this became. He worked his expression into one of sarcastic humour, trying to mask his momentary slip. He raised an eyebrow, and pulled the corner of his mouth up into a smirk, but his dark eyes were still hard and inscrutable.
"Um… wow?" Embry breathed, unsure what to think about my iridescent skin. I could see the initial amazement already turn into apprehension.
I bit my lip, but simultaneously regretted it somewhat. My new teeth were sharper against my granite skin than my human teeth had been against my soft human lips.
Jacob raised his hand in front of his face, pretending to shield his eyes from the glare.
"Freaky Bella." He commented. As he was lowering his hand, his expression again slipped. Just a second of anguish, so brief I would have missed it as a human.
I was somewhat glad that their reaction was more negative than anything. The location really was too much of a horrible coincidence for me to bear. I took a couple steps back towards them to conceal myself in the shade once again. The shifting sparkles of light quickly faded and disappeared as I entered the cover of the forest.
The next few minutes passed fairly quietly, with a certain amount of uncomfortable tension in the atmosphere. Jacob decided to try to start the campfire again, so he could cook the last of the packaged hotdogs for breakfast. Unable to find much wood that hadn't been soaked during the night, getting even a small fire going was a lost cause.
"I guess that means I'll have to find you a camp stove now." Embry joked while Jacob snacked on cold hotdogs.
"Don't even get me started. If you're going to offer to haul supplies out, I could probably name a dozen things…" Jacob paused while he finished the last bite of his third hotdog, "I guess I might as well get comfy if we're going to be out here for a while."
I felt the brief, but strong, surge of guilt. The two boys were sitting a few feet out in the sun drenched meadow, taking advantage of the warmth before the usual overcast could return. I sat in the shade. Jacob had eyed me briefly when I had chosen my spot, but he didn't bring it up. He understood what I couldn't say aloud.
A warm breeze – or maybe just warm to me – blew gently through the woods. It really was a pleasant day, so I allowed myself to lean up against the tree behind me and attempted to relax. The wind washed the werewolf stink away, and I gladly inhaled the clean air deeply.
Maybe I'd just had the smell of wolf in my nose too long, but the fresh air smelled oddly sweet. Very sweet. Desirable.
My throat tickled.
Instinctively, I focused on this new scent, not understanding. I pulled a strong gush of air through my nose, trying to smell the faint perfume better.
Sweet. Warm. Delicious.
My throat burned dryly. My mind paused all rational thought while I continued inhaling this mouthwatering fragrance. I felt my muscles automatically tighten and bunch, readying me to locate the source. I wanted to – no, I needed to find the source. There wasn't any other choice.
"Bella?" Someone called, wary. I was vaguely surprised to find myself standing without even realising I had moved. My thoughts felt in a haze; Jacob's voice seemed oddly distant.
Without really seeing, my eyes met his confused gaze. Whatever he saw on my face had his own expression quickly turning to concern.
"What the heck is it, Bella?"
What the heck is it? I considered his question for a fraction of a second. It was a scent. A scent more desirable than anything I could have imagined. A scent that both set my throat to aching and burning, and also promised to quench it. A scent whose source I thought I should know, but the haze in my mind offered no space to connect the two. The only thought in my mind was currently in the scent's fiery grip, urging me to track it.
I didn't wait around to give an answer. I hurtled deep into the forest, racing after the compelling fragrance. I was only dimly aware of the two I left in the meadow, that I was now rapidly distancing myself from.
"Bella!" Someone yelled, alarmed.
"Crap! Jake, don't you smell that?" The other voice exclaimed, horrified.
There was the sound of shredding fabric, then, the sounds of twin sets of paws, quickly building a frantic pace.
The scent ruled completely. I was single-minded as I traced it, aware of the quickly overwhelming thirst. It became so painful now that it confused all my other thoughts and began to remind me of the burn of venom in my veins.
There was only one thing that had any chance of penetrating my focus now, an instinct more powerful, more basic than the need to quench the fire – it was the instinct to protect myself from danger. Self-preservation.
I was suddenly alert to the fact that the sprinting creatures far behind were following me. The pull of the irresistible scent warred with the impulse to turn and defend my hunt. A bubble of sound built in my chest, my lips pulled back of their own accord to expose my teeth in warning. My feet slowed, the need to protect my back struggling against the desire to quench my thirst.
My pursuers could not match my speed, but they would quickly catch up when I stopped to quench the burning thirst. With this knowledge, defence won. I spun, and the rising sound ripped its way up my throat and out.
The feral snarl, coming from my own mouth, tore deep into the forest. A crimson haze started to drift over my vision when I heard one of the pursuers respond with a heavy growl that echoed back through the trees.
"Bella! Stop this right now! They will kill you if you don't!" Edward's voice unsettled me, and it cleared my head for a second—the thirst-driven haze receded, though the thirst burned on.
The wind continued sending the intoxicating aroma across my face, once again making my thoughts disoriented and confused. I struggled against the scent's fiery grip – a scent so delicious it could only be human.
The wolves quickly hurried closer. Their stench preceded their arrival, and mercifully diminished the power of fragrance. I realized that I had been about to attack them. With a hard jerk, I straightened out of my defensive crouch. I held my breath as I refocused, fearing the power of the fragrance still swirling around me.
I caught sight of the two wolves, muzzles wrinkled back over dagger-like teeth, quickly covering the distance between us. Before they could attack, I spoke, knowing that if their senses really were as strong as a vampire's that they would hear.
"I have to get away from here," I spit through my teeth, using the breath I had.
The two wolves visibly faltered as they took in the returned reason and horror on my face. They skidded to a halt, wary. I didn't have time to further reassure the two. I knew the ability to think clearly would last only as long as I could stop myself from thinking of –
I burst into a flat-out sprint, concentrating solely on the uncomfortable feeling of sensory deprivation that seemed to be my body's only response to the lack of air.
Once again, I was aware of being followed, but I was sane this time. I fought the instinct to breathe – to use the flavours in the air to be sure it was Embry and Jacob. I didn't slow down enough to let them keep up. My one goal was to run far enough away that the scent behind me would be completely lost. Impossible to find, even if I changed my mind...
Far behind me, I heard the two wolves cry out. Odd strangled yelps and barks. Like they were pleading for my attention. I slowed, confused.
On the very edge of my heightened senses, I heard it. A truly terrible growl. Low, and rumbling like prolonged thunder.
The distant noise came from ahead of me.
My instincts ignored my determination to hold my breath, and I hastily tested the forest air. Well defined scent trails of wolves. The distant smell of the ocean.
In my haste to flee the desirable human smell, I hadn't taken into account my direction.
I had been running due west. My vampiric mind had no problem calculating the distance.
I had entered La Push.