Chapter 10: Bonfire
"I don't really know what to do anymore." Bella complains.
Real soon in the morning, I was in the middle of making breakfast. Alice and Rosalie had gone home a long time ago, and now my dear friend thought it was the right moment to talk about her sex life. Or the lack of it.
"Maybe he is gay." I calmly add.
"CASSIDY!" Bella yell, by the expression on her face she was very much offended.
"What? A boyfriend that doesn't want to fuck his girlfriend? Come on, you telling me that you never tought about that?" It certainly makes me wonder sometimes.
"He is not gay! He is just..."
"Celibate?"
"No. I mean...he was born in another time, Cassidy!" She is definitely looking exasperated now.
"So is Carlisle. And we fucked like bunnies in heat..."
She looks beyond pissed now, so I keep quiet, for fear of my life. "Argh. I don't even know why I still try to talk with you about this stuff."
"Because the only other two friends you have is your boyfriend's sister, and that would be a really awkward subject to talk to her about. And the other is your best male friend that is madly in love with you, and it would be even more awkward to talk to him about it."
"Yeah, that is exactly why." She agrees.
"So...you have tryed talking to him about it?" I ask, realising that it was also awkward for me to talk about that with her.
"And what am I suppose to say? 'I want to have sex with you, please'?'" The sarcasm dripping from her mouth is unexpected but very much pleasing. It means she is finally going back to being the normal Bella. The before-Edward Bella.
"Maybe you should leave the please from that phrase." She hits me in the arm, and i can't hold back the laughter. "Honestly though...aren't you horny?"
"CASSIDY!"
"What? Is okay if you are. You're a teenager after all."
"Forget I ever asked you anything." She huffs, and turns around to go sit by the table.
"Oh, come on. Don't be a baby. I'm joking." I snicker, as I pass the omelet from the frying pan to the two plates on the table.
"Hm."
"Bells..."
"Fine."
"Okay. So, you haven't talked about it with him. I understand..."
"Right." She murmurs, as she munch on the food on her plate.
"I do. You don't know how to bring the subject, I understand. It's hard for a girl, specially when she is as inexperienced as you..." For that comment I got an light kick in shin under the table. "To ask her boyfriend for more intimacy."
"Well, yes."
"So, what you need to do is to be honest with him. After all, Edward is not just a common teenager boy. He has lived a lot. And even if he is not experienced too, he is definitely mentally mature enough to have a serious conversation about sex."
"You think so?"
"Of course."
"Okay then. I guess you're right."
"Of course I am. And, if he still doesn't know how sex works, I can always have The Talk with him if you want to."
Her only answer was an ugly look that shut me up right away.
"No, thanks I'm fine."
"Cool." As i am finally digging into my food, she decide to turn the conversation to me.
"What about you?" She ask, faking nonchalance, but I could see the curiosity in her eyes.
"What about me?" I pretend i don't know what she is talking about and that only gets me another kick to the shin. An stronger one this time.
"Ouch. Fine. You know how my sex life is...nonexistent."
"That is such a lie." She accuses.
"What do you mean by that?" I exclaim, mouth full of omelet.
"Everybody know there is someone."
"What do mean by...Carlisle asked you to find out, didn't he?" I ask, frown beginning to form in my face.
"Well..." She at least had the decency of looking ashamed.
"I can't believe him! And you, in which side are you on?"
"Yours of course." She quickly reply. "But, Cass...he really loves you and..."
"And, nothing. He can go fuck himself for all I care!"
"That's not true. I know you still like him."
"I like many thing Bella. Soccer, my bike, chocolate...but you don't see me dating them."
"That is the most stupid argument i've ever heard." She deadpans.
"I know, okay? I ran out of ideas." I bitterly complain.
Bella sighs and pushes her plate away. "Look, i get it. You are really disappointed with him. And you have every right in the world to, but...I know you miss him. I know you want to spend some time with him. To talk to him, like you used to."
"Yes, Bella. That would be great." I hiss. "But, things just doesn't work like that, okay?"
"Don't talk to me as if I am a child that don't understand anything. I get it. You are upset. So i am. But, you can do it my way, and just forgive and forget, or you can do it your way, and be miserable because you pushed him away."
...
"Well, that is certainly a good argument, but I am not like you Bella. I gave Carlisle a chance and he disappointed me again. I'm not gonna forgive him everytime he mess things up and receive him back in my life with open arms." My word is final, but she doesn't seems to be able to let it go.
"But by pushing him away you are hurting yourself too, because you will miss him terribly..."
"I can live with that."
"Can you?" I fill my mouth with food so i don't have to answer.
Of course I can.
Or, at least, I can pretend to.
Tonight there was going to be a bonfire in La Push, and Sam asked me to be there. I was happy to find out I was not going to be the only outsider there, Bella was also invited so i didn't need to feel like the only one left out.
"Have you ever been into one of this gatherings?" Bella ask, as she drives her truck into the La Push territory.
"No. Not really. Nervous?"
"Yeah, kind of. Do you think they mind...us, being there i mean."
"I don't know. Sam said the elders invited us, so...at least we are not going to crash the party."
"I know, Jake said the same." She parks the truck in front of the Black's house, and I jump out quickly.
"Bella." Jacob comes out of the house real fast and helps Bella out of the truck, completely ignoring my existence and only looking at her. The huge smile on his face was contagious and makes me crack a smirk too.
"Hey Jake, always nice to see too." I remark sarcastically.
He blushes cutely and scratch his head embarrassed. "Hm. Sorry, Hi, Cass."
I can't hold back a snicker and that only makes blush harder if that is even possible. Bella pats him lightly in the arm and he relaxes instantly.
"Should we go?" She ask.
"Yeah. Come on, everyone is already there. I was just waiting for you." He pauses for a second to look at me and add with a shy smile. "Both of you."
"Cool."
The walk to where they were holding the bonfire was quick and with Jake talking nonstop was much more relaxing too. Only when we arrived there did I started to feel a little anxious about it. It didn't help at all that everyone was staring as if we were some kind of dangerous animal let loose in the jungle.
"Calm down. They won't bite." Paul's voice came from behind me, and it was so sudden it almost made me jump out of my skin.
I turn around quickly and face him. The famous Paul-smirk was intact in that handsome face of his, and it made me smile a little too. "Hey."
"Hi." He takes a step closer and my heart beats a little faster instantly. His smirk grows, if that's possible, and he looks at me rather tenderly. "Ready for some old quileute stories?"
"It's that what you guys normaly do?" I ask, looking around and finally realising that everyone seems to be getting ready to sit in a circle around the firepit.
"Yeah. It's tradition. You will like it. Come on." He puts his hand in the middle of my back and leads me to where Bella and Jake are talking with an younger cute looking boy.
"Hey." Paul greets them when we get closer. "Cass, this is Seth Clearwater. Seth, this is Cassidy." He introduce us amicably.
"The famous Cassidy!" Seth happily greets me.
His happiness was contagious and it made me feel less nervous. "Hi, nice to meet you."
"My pleasure." He made an act of kissing my hand, which only made the guys laugh and make fun of him. By the joyous look on his face, he was not fazed about that at all.
"Come on it is going to start." Paul says and swiftly guides me to sit in a place next to Embry and Quil.
"Hey guys." I murmur quietly and they greet me in the same manner. Bella sits with Jake a little bit to the left, and they look really cozy together. I could also see, Jared and Kim cuddling beside Sam and Emily on the other side of fire. Sam gave me a nod, and my smile grows a little wider.
The tribe chief, Jacob's dad, calls everyones attention, and finally starts the stories. He started by telling the story of Taha Aki, the first shape-shifter of the Quileute tribe. And I remembered of Bella telling me about that story once, when she was researching in those quileute books. "Chief Taha Aki had been married twice, but as he did not age due to phasing into a wolf, both his wives died. He imprinted on a young woman and they got married; she became known as the Third Wife. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that they could grow old together, and they had numerous children."
He looks straight at me when he starts to tell us the story of the Cold Man, and I am not sure how to react to it, so I just shift closer to Paul. "Many years after he had given up his spirit wolf, several young Makah women went missing, and the Makah tribe blamed the Quileute shape-shifters for the disappearances. They were uninvolved, and Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but was unable to. Not wanting a war on his hands, he sent his eldest son, Taha Wi, to find the true culprit. Taha Wi and five other wolves searched the mountains for the missing Makah girls, and came across a sickly sweet smell in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain. They followed the unfamiliar scent, and further on discovered human scent and blood. They knew that they had found the enemy who had kidnapped the Makah women. The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent half of the pack, the younger wolves, back to the Quileute village to report to Taha Aki. Taha Wi and his two brothers never returned..."
"The younger wolves could find no trace of their brothers, and Taha Aki mourned for his sons. His grief was so convincing that the Makah chief believed him, and tensions ended between the tribes."
"Two years later, two more Makah girls disappeared from their homes during the night. The Quileute wolves were called at once, and they found the same sickly stench all through the Makah village. They followed the smell, but only Yaha Uta, the oldest son of the Third Wife and the youngest member of the pack, returned, carrying with him a strange, cold, stony corpse in pieces. He and his brothers had found a creature who looked like a man but was as hard as granite, with the Makah girls: one was dead and drained of blood, the other was having her blood drank by the creature, who snapped her neck. His lips were covered in her blood, and his eyes glowed red. The wolves attacked him but he was immensely strong and fast. One of the wolves fell, the other two continued to fight. They discovered that their teeth could damage it, and started to tear chunks out of the creature. Yaha Uta's brother was being crushed by the creature when Yaha Uta managed to tear its head off and rip it to shreds."
"Yaha Uta brought the creature's remains back to the harbor, and laid them out for the tribe to inspect. The creature, which they called the Cold One and the Blood Drinker, tried to reassemble itself, so they burned the pieces and scattered them. Taha Aki kept a bag of the Cold Man's ashes which he wore around his neck."
"But what they did not know, but would soon find out, is that the Cold Man had a mate, and the Cold Woman cameback and took her vengeance out on the village."
"Driven mad with rage, she descended on the Quileute village and slaughtered the tribespeople. Yaha Uta phased into a wolf and tried to defend the tribe, but was also killed."
"Taha Aki was the only spirit warrior left, and enraged at his son's death, he phased into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf and attacked the Cold Woman..."
As he told us the story, I could picture all of it in my mind. And the thought of an angry vampire attacking the rez made me wince as I remembered James claws in my flesh, and Victoria's enraged eyes. It was the two memories that I would probably never be able to forget as long as I live.
"...His wife could see that he was losing the fight, so she grabbed a knife from one of her younger sons, all of whom were still only boys, and plunged it into her heart. The scent of her blood distracted the Cold Woman long enough for Taha Aki to tear her apart."
"The sacrifice of the Third Wife was what saved the tribe..."
"Over time our enemies disappeared, but one remains. The Cold Ones."
"We magically awake when they are near. If we sense them now, it means there is something big coming. And we must all be ready..."
"...All of us."
Notes: I got the stories of the Cold Man and the Cold Woman from the Twilight Saga Wiki.