Chapter 10 - Strangers In The Woods
It had been 10 months since the twins had moved to La Push Washington. The girls started their senior year with no issues or problems. Kali had gotten good at ignoring her feelings for Jared…Her thought process of saying if he couldn't figure out his own feelings or that she liked him on his own then they really weren't meant to be together. Her friendship with Paul grew and grew…They spent a lot of their times working out together, watching movies, Kali would trade surfing secrets for Wolf pack secrets with Paul. Paul was bound to not give away their secrets, but Sam had already given the guys in the pack permission to tell the twins anything they wanted…They were allowed to treat the twins as if they were Emily.
Paul and Kali were walking through the hallway talking and laughing as always and met up with Jake and Kiara…Paul said, "So what class do you have after home room?" Kali said, "What else…History." Paul laughed and said, "You hate history…" Kali laughed and said, "Yea I know." Paul walked Kali to her class after home room and laughed at each other some more. They turned down the hallway towards Kali's next classroom…Kali stopped in her tracks when she looked ahead of her and Paul and saw Jared standing in the hallway…He had some girl pressed into the lockers playing suck face.
Paul noticed Kali wasn't walking next to him…he looked back and noticed she's stopped dead in her tracks…he looked at Kali and then followed her vision path and saw Jared kissing some girl in the hallway…He walked over and said, "Kali…" Kali finally blinked and said, "You know…I suddenly don't feel so good…Let Kiara know I went home." Paul said, "Kali…C'mon…You don't have to go." Kali looked at Paul as a few tears slid down her cheeks and she said, "I'll see you later…Please…don't forget to tell Kiara." Paul watched as she turned on her heels and walked out of the school.
Paul looked at Jared and he was standing there…Paul noticed Jared's suck face buddy had walked away, Paul walked over and said, "Yea…she left because you're a dick." Jared said, "What is it exactly that you want from me Paul?" Paul said, "For you just once to be a stand up guy…Did you ever apologize to her for the bullshit you pulled with her?" Jared said, "For what? I finally learned my lesson and decided to just leave her alone…Look, clearly she likes you more than me…You can have her." Paul said, "I can have her? What is she a pair of shoes?" Jared said, "She's clearly happy with you man." Paul said, "It's not even like that man…She's my best friend…We've learned so much from each other…She wanted you…She always did…But you kept screwing it all up…so you not being with her…That's your own fault."
Paul walked past Jared and too his next class…On the way he saw Kiara and told her what had happened and about Kali going home for the day. Kiara said, "I swear I'm gonna kill Jared." Paul said, "Yea…I second the motion." The continued through school. Once school was over Jacob, Kiara and Paul went to Kiara and Kali's house…Paul had gone to Kali's room to check on her and she wasn't there. Paul walked back into the living room and said, "Did Kali leave a letter somewhere…She's not in her room." Kiara said, "No…Did you check to see if her surf board is outside?" Paul said, "Yea…It was still in the sand at the bottom of the stairs."
Kiara said, "She's probably walking the beach or something…I imagine she's pretty much had it with Jared right now." Paul said, "Yea…Well she's not the only one." Jake stood up and said, "Hey…Man keep yourself calm…I don't want you phasing in this house." Paul breathed deeply and said, "I would never do that in here…Besides Kali's been helping me keep my temper in check." Jake laughed and said, "Wow…Who knew the resident hot head of the pack could get cooled off with a 109 body temperature." Paul chuckled and said, "Yea…Cam as a bit of a shock to me too." Kiara giggled at the guys banter back and forth.
Kali had been walking through the woods and was minding her own business trying to get the image of Jared and that girl out of her head. She'd gone home earlier and tried relaxing in a warm tub of water…but that didn't work…not even a little. So a walk it was…She'd gone up to the cemetery like always and had a small conversation with her parents just basically letting them know what was going on in her life at the moment. She'd headed into the woods to go back to the beach house and someone grabbed her by the arm…It was a couple of the guys from the local high school, they pushed her back against a tree…They weren't from the reservation…these were actually pale faces. The one guy said, "Oooo you're cute…Why don't you come hang out with me and my boys…I bet you could have a really good time with us."
Kali shook her head no and said, "No thank you…I'd rather not." She tried to walk away, but the guys grabbed her and pulled her back against the tree. The 2nd guy said, "Did she just refuse your good company?" The first guy said, "I believe she did…Is that right honey…Did you refuse our good company?" Kali said, "No I just don't feel up to anything right now…My sister is expecting me home." The 1st guy said, "Well sweetheart I think you're going to be a little late…if you can't come with us to party…Were just gonna have to have our own party right here." Kali went to grab her locket and cursed out loud she forgot to put it back on after her bath.
Kali noticed they were small talking between themselves so she figured defending herself was the only way to go. She jammed her thumb into one eyeball and her knee into one crotch…As they both grabbed what was hurt she pushed between them and took off running…Suddenly she felt an hand grab her by the throat and slammed her into a tree…The 1st guy said, "That wasn't very smart sweet heart…We were gonna take our time…Now were just gonna have to mess up that pretty face of yours and make you pay for what you've done to us."
Kali felt the sting before she saw the fist coming at her face…Her nose was bloodied and so was her lip…she could taste the iron in her blood…Then a knee went into her rib cage and last but definitely not least they slammed her head back so hard against the tree, there was actually blood on the tree trunk. She fell into a pile on the ground in the woods, she felt them kick her a couple of times…she was trying to ignore the pain…They finally left her alone…Alone with her own thoughts and fears….She couldn't move her jaw to scream or yell for help, so she knew her jaw was definitely broken. She noticed the sun had almost set and it was going to be completely dark within a matter of minutes, if not seconds…Once the woods went pitch black…Kali felt herself trying to move but it wasn't happening…Her head radiated with pain…and they had definitely busted a couple of ribs…She tried to stand up but she was in so much physical pain her body gave out on her and suddenly the darkness not only took over the woods, but it took over her as well.