So I wanted to try something different, this is just a redo of chapter nine but its mainly thanks to xIsntItFunnyx
Let me know what you guys think!
Adam and I were still outside during lunch break, him sitting up against a tree with my head laying on his thigh. Adam was my comfort from the problems I did not have the stomach to deal with – first Jacob, then my sister and now the school.
How could one simple encounter with Jacob Black start to unravel the foundation of my world? My sister meant everything to me and while we may not always be on the same page, we always had each other's back. Now, because she was obsessed with Jacob and had no way to process that his interest was elsewhere, she was sowing discord into not just our home life with Mom, but into our life at school. I wasn't deaf to the gossip that other people were spewing out at my expense and I wasn't blind to the horrified and disgusted looks other people were sending my way. It was like I was in the Twilight zone with no set path out.
What could I have done differently?
Never met Jacob Black.
What can I do?
Avoid.
The steady flow of Adam's voice from above me lulled me into a sense of security as he recounted his impressive slam dunk in gym class. This was familiar and 'familiar' I could handle. "It wasn't too hard – I mea-"
"Alice," Jake's voice cut through Adam's story like a knife, threatening to deflate my little bubble. My stomach dropped, the dullness Adam had provided me was now just falling away in waves. I felt my hand twitch to the sound of Jake's voice, like my body wanted to reach out while my head was straining in the other direction...Possibly to punch him.
I did not have it in me to respond, not when everything that I was avoiding started with him.
Adam answered instead with a wave, "Hey, Jacob." He sounded kinda deflated and sprinkled the grass he'd pulled up all over my face. It gave me something else to focus on other than Jacob.
"I need to talk to you, Alice," Jake continued, sounding more annoyed at my lack of response. Demands were starting to leak into his voice; he was restraining himself and I was a little irritated he'd even try that voice thing with me. The command was somewhat compelling and I rebelled. I was still uneasy about whatever was going on between Jake and me. I wanted to put that fire out as soon as possible, to avoid it from spreading more damage than it already had...which was quite a bit.
Adam's leg laid totally still underneath me, throwing my unease to the back burner and stirring up my defiance. I could either ignore him until he threw his version of a temper tantrum or, respond. I glanced up at Jake's rather large figure and decided the latter of the two was easier right now.
"What?" I sat up and tilted my head up toward Jake, taking in the way his broad shoulders were pulled back taught and his arms crossed over his chest, the muscles bunching up in controlled frustration.
His legs were spread wide – a commanding stance, ready to face an obstacle head-on. The very air around Jake had "Alpha" written all over it and I fought not to lean toward him like a moth to a flame. He just raised an eye brow as I met his eyes and felt the smallest of blushes drift across me. He'd caught me checking him out. Damn it, Alice. YOU'RE JUST ENCOURAGING HIM.
"What would you possibly need to talk to me about?" I huffed, and waited.
"Well…" Jake shifted in front of the sun, almost subconsciously, to give my eyes a break and let me see him properly. My brain-cells were having a great time of drumming up situations where he somehow cared for me past his craziness.
I raised a brow and waited, making hand-gestures for him to continue. He gave a pointed look at Adam before looking back to me. I glanced back to see Adam getting a little annoyed but he stayed silent, a third party to another one of Jake's and I's spats. I clenched my jaw, glaring at Jake for trying to make my friend not feel welcome. Adam was my rock these day and I wasn't about to deal with his guy's attitude without him.
"You can go ahead and say whatever you need to in front of Adam."
Jake sighed, uncrossing his arms. He cracked his neck as he relented to my stipulations but obviously did not back down from his original purpose...Guess I need to work on giving him a harder time then.
"What's with you and Nina?" His voice shot through me, wrapping around the tightly-wrapped ball of stress and anger I held inside.
"Nothing?" I played nonchalant, hoping he would back off the subject. "We've agreed to disagree on some fronts and have left it at that. It's a sister thing."
"I call bullshit." I adverted my eyes from his penetrating stare, to the side of him. "Why is everyone saying that you beat her up with a chair?" That accusatory tone got my attention.
"I didn't! Jesus! I just kicked her chair so that she wouldn't stab me with a fork – the ground hit her head, not me!" I snapped, momentarily flustered that Jake's opinion of me meant enough for me to lose my cool. I didn't understand it. Or was it just that this was the second time I'd heard that...today...within an hour.
"Alright, alright," Jake conceded, raising his hands in fair game. His eyes softened but his determination did not. "Can't work out what differences, then?"
"Just – differences, okay?" I bit out, miffed that Jake was able to get ground on me when I was trying to avoid him.
"I gotta go." I announced and stood up abruptly.
"Alice." Jake sounded annoyed again, annoyed that I'd just get up and leave. I just shrugged as I dusted off my pants/ass. This wasn't working.
"See you later, Adam!" I called over my shoulder as I all but ran back inside the school.
I hoped Adam would forgive me for leaving him with Jacob Black.
The sun beat down on me in between passing clouds and tree branches. A light breeze brushed my hair over my shoulders. I pulled myself through the windy, cluttered path as I jumped over a large, protruding root and continued walking further and further into the forest, away from the school I had just left partway through class.
I couldn't get Jake's face out of my mind. As upset as I was about the fight with my sister and the domino-effect it was having on my life, it was my business and I kept my business private. Jake needed to mind his own damn business. He wanted to get my side of the story and twist what I was going through...probably.
He seemed sincere.
Why did he seem so sincere?
Well thats just it, Alice. He seemed sincere.
It unnerved me how easily I relented to him; his questions, his demands, they rolled something out of me that was compliant, doughy, submissive. This sensation wasn't something I could brush off anymore, it was growing. Jake affected me. I didn't like it. I'm prickly, stubborn, and I don't do what people just tell me to do. This isn't okay.
I was not in control anymore and I resented him for it.
I was scared...or was I just annoyed?
My foot caught on a dirt shelf, sending me tumbling forward and breaking through the treeline into a clearing. Good job, me. I brushed myself and stood up, taking in my surroundings.
Somehow, I had spaced out enough to go on auto-pilot and my feet took me on a path I'd taken a possibly only a few times before. This was the place I come to, to get away from things that don't make sense. I could breathe here. This was my familiar place.
Walking out into the meadow and stretching my fingers wide by my sides, I took comfort in the way the grass itched my ankles and my feet pushed through the flowers and dead leaves. All the worry I had building up inside me these past few weeks melted away like hot butter. A small smile played on my lips. Jake, nor Nina, nor anyone else could find me here...outside of that one guy. What was his name? Emmet-
A twig snapped to my side and I snapped my head up, frantically focusing in on a figure that broke through the clearing. Holy shit.
It was small, a woman. A very small woman, worryingly so. White blonde hair fell like silk down her front to her hips. Little pink lips were open in a small 'o'. Rich, golden eyes pierced through me, her gaze as startled as my own. She seemed just as off-put by me as I was by her.
She was stunning. I was mesmerized. Yet, this woman who suddenly appeared looked ready to run either at me or away from me. Her posture was leaning forward, tense, rigid… and nose sniffing the air? Who does that?
As stunning and beautiful as this mysterious woman was, there was something animalistic about the way she faced me. Something odd. This isn't very normal, right? No...this isn't. Jake's words of warning to be wary of people in the woods ran through the front of my head at rapid fire. Shit.
My instincts went haywire, telling me both to run and to stay as still as a statue. My muscles locked up in response to the surge of adrenaline this woman drew out of me with her presence alone.
I felt exposed but confused.
The woman's voice broke through the meadow, a short but soft play on a piano's keys seemed to take away the urgency and confusion she spoke with. "You- You shouldn't be here?" I swayed at the sound, vaguely noting she had a southern drawl. An inkling in the back of my head warred with the spell I fell under at the sound of her voice.
Wake up.
Run! Or stay? Maybe stay.
The woman lifted her arm up in surprise to point at me. My eyes split into saucers when the sunlight passed through the clouds and hit her arm, sparking bright, blinding, prisms of light. Her diamond skin shook my terror free from the spell I fell under and I was left unbalanced, in a stupor.
"What the fuck?" I thought aloud and hastily took a step backwards, and then another, and another-
The woman suddenly turned to the side in a near blur, yelling at someone or something, "Jasper, no! JAZZ!". Why did I have to find the single, sparkling and crazy woman that loved Jazz music?
A figure appeared out of no where, standing in front of the woman. My voice halted, lodging painfully in my throat as I went cross-eyed trying to make sense of the figure – a man – that was suddenly 20 feet in front of me.
Honey blonde hair curled around his ears in a boyish way. Jaw clenched in barely-held fury. Lithe muscles bunched up, holding promise of delivering lightening-fast, merciless pain. Liquid amber eyes glared, pinning me in my spot. This man, in all his tightly-wound rage, was just as stunning as the woman he stood in front of. How do they do that? Why can't I do that?
Instincts that had been warring with me when it came to the woman were now screaming at me with the arrival of the man.
Pain.
Death.
I was suddenly angry, confused and terrified. Waves of anger smashed into my chest like it'd come from somewhere else.
My breathing grew shorter, quicker, desperate. Subconsciously, my shoulders hunched and my head tilted to the side as I attempted to figure out what exactly was going on here. My body curled into itself. An invisible hand was clenching around my throat. I gulped for more air.
The lethal man took a step forward, closing and squeezing his fists in anger. "Why are you here?!"
They say when faced with unexpected dangerous situations, natural deer-in-the-headlights, adrenaline-surging reactions cause inappropriate behaviour.
"Because it's a free country. Why are you here?" Apparently 'they' are right. My terror rose incrementally.
I could see his muscles tensing even more, straining against his shirt to my brilliant response. I wanted to break our stare. I wanted to cry. I wanted to run away from these people and back into the forest for cover. I wanted to be back home where no danger could follow me. I wanted my life to be back to normal.
I couldn't break our stare, so I glared out of sheer brainlessness.
I shrank inside myself as his grew even stronger. Why you do this, Alice? Why?
"This isn't your territory, mutt." He was fury, danger and lethal precision wrapped in one.
Another instinct rose up in challenge to his degradation. Maybe pride, maybe stubbornness –
Maybe just plain stupidity.
I squared my shoulders, rose my chin, and hardened our gaze. "What did you just call-"
BAM!
A freight train ran into my ribs, knocking me off my feet and a sledgehammer swung down on my shoulder, slamming me straight onto my back. Ice-cold steel locked my wrist to the forest floor. My back bowed against something solid, lungs on fire as I gasped for air like a fish out of water. I saw stars.
"Holy mother of god." I gasped for air as I shifted uncomfortably and minute thoughts filtered through my head. Not normal, not safe. Very confused.
"What? Newbies don't heal as fast?" A voice somewhere close sneered at me, its breath brushing over my ear.
I fought to get air in my lungs. I think I might actually die here.
"Trying tear my wife apart before wasn't good enough?" The sneering turned to growling and I felt it against the nape of my neck. Terrific.
I was starting to black out from lack of oxygen.
"You had to come back for more?" The growling grew quieter and even more dangerous. I felt lips – and something sharp that made me want to cry even more– prodding my neck. Someone else's hair brushed against my face.
One breath! I gasped loudly, trying to suck in another breath for all my worth...which was not much apparently. The solid...person-thing above me would not budge to let me move for more air.
"Mutts like you never were cut out for the wild."
Three breaths!
Six breaths!
I greedily drank in oxygen, adrenaline overshadowing my pain as my mind sluggishly processed what the voice against my neck was saying. "What m-mutts?" My vision was coming back. Maybe I won't die here?
"Wife?" Tree branches loomed overhead.
How did I end up beneath the trees when I was just in the middle of the meadow? This is weird right?
"How old are you again?" Honey coloured hair blew lazily over my face and I looked down to see the man pinning me to the forest floor. The lips left my neck as the man lifted his face level above mine. Hostile amber eyes met mine, leaving no boundary uncrossed in their search for…. Something.
"What the hell?" the man above me muttered to himself and shifted. I sucked in another breath, he smelled like after shave, and leather.
"Jazz… that's what I was trying to tell you." The woman spoke up from behind him, sounding alarmingly patient for the situation.
How did she hear him? I barely heard him right above me.
"She smells like them," he said slowly, seeming just as thrown-off as I was. "We both know a girl turned a few days ago." He sounded like he was defending himself.
The woman's patience snapped. "She doesn't know anything! Look at her!"
The man pinning me to the ground looked back at me, open hostility gone and in its place an unyielding command of the situation. "What's your name, girl?"
With a second's notice as I processed what he was asking, I shakily breathed out, "Al-Alice Evers."
"Are you a shape-shifter or not?"
"What?" I looked searchingly up into his face, desperate to know how to answer – anything to lessen my chances of more pain. No clues came up in the pools of liquid amber and I quietly resigned myself with incredulousness. "What could I possibly shift into?"
A shot of denial surged from the recesses of my memories of Jake in the woods with his little confession and bloomed righteously into indignation. I glared incredulously at the man holding me down and spat, "Talk to Jake," I huffed in another deep breath of oxygen, "you're not going to convince me any better than he did about all those stupid stories."
The beautiful, dangerous man froze.
"Cat, we need to leave. Now." He was gone in a blink of the eye, near the woman again. From the protective stance he held around her and the caring gestures he was making to cajole her into leaving, I can only assume that this woman, Cat, was his wife.
I watched as the woman debated Jasper's demand for a moment before finally nodding. Another blink and they were gone, nothing left to say they were here in the first place other than leaves rustling on the ground.
I sat up slowly, shocked that while I felt sore as anything, nothing felt broken.
What.
The.
Fuck.
Twigs snapped and leaves rustled further inside the forest. I snapped my head around, screaming.
Did they come back?
I almost cried when Jake came running through the trees. His large, oversized form was strangely nimble among the forest. A tight, sheepish smile found its way to his lips. "Sorry, sorry, I forgot how skittish you are."
I'm sure my eyes were huge, like I was on some serious drugs, huge. I felt like I had to be for this to make sense. People don't just sparkle, right? Appear out of thin air? Feel like death? That's not normal.
"Alice? Are you hurt?" He paused, his eyes scanned my figure on the ground and seemed to almost melt towards me. He was heartbreakingly careful in walking closer to me. Crouching down softly beside me, he placed a hand on my cheek and angled my face toward him more.
"You're really warm." I noted.
"Ali? Come here." He frowned as I continued to process for a minute, everyone was moving much faster than I thought people should. Correction, faster than people could.
No, it's more that I just didn't understand how that mysterious blonde man moved that fast. Jake stayed silent, jaw clenched, as he gathered me in his arms; far more tender than I would have ever guessed. My arms moved to grip his neck, not just out of a need to feel like I wouldn't fall to my death at this height, but because-
He was familiar.