Chapter 12
"So let me get this straight. A vampire tried to kill you?"
I nodded. Emma was sitting across me at lunch trying to comprehend my story. She sucked in her breath. "Then what happened?"
"Well, he cut my skin and fractured my arm," I said gesturing to my left arm.
Emma winced. "Ouch. A vampire fracturing your arm. Now, that must be painful."
"Then," I said continuing. "Just before I thought he was about to kill me, a massive wolf comes out of nowhere and the vampire runs off. And the weirdest thing is the wolf totally ignored me and ran after the vampire."
Emma puckered up her face and stared at me puzzled. "What? A wolf? Wouldn't the vampire be stronger than the wolf?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought. But it just ran off. Strange, huh?"
Emma nodded slowly. "Very Strange."
We talked about other things for the rest of lunch and I sighed as the bell echoed in the cafeteria, signalling lunch was over. Drained teenagers started making their way out and eventually Emma and I got up and walked over to our lockers. We went our separate ways and I went into English taking a seat in front of Jacob. I hadn't seen him all day so I was pleasantly happy when I saw him.
"Hey, Jacob," I said turning around in my seat so I could face him.
"Nessie, it's good to see you." Jacob looked slightly concerned and his brow was furrowed in the middle.
"Jacob, are you okay?" I asked warily. He studied my face for a moment before smiling feebly.
"Yeah, fine." His eyes scrolled down to my arm and he looked at me surprised. "Nessie, what happened to your arm?"
"I –" I paused rethinking what I was just about to say. I could not possibly tell him that I was about to be killed by a vampire. One of the most important rules about being a vampire is that no one could know about our existence.I quickly made up something on the spot not trying to delay my answer any further.
"I, uh, tripped down the stairs and fractured my arm."
Jacob chuckled. "Ah, typical."
I glared at him. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Before Jacob could answer, Mrs Hastings walked in and the buzzing in the room slowly faded. I gave a look to Jacob signalling our conversation wasn't over and turned back in my seat.
During English, we watched Wuthering Heights which were one of the few movies I loved. Wuthering Heights is something more dangerous than romance and for me it's the perfect love story. We got half way through the film when the bell rang and everyone sat up eager to go home. I walked to my locker with Jacob who was yawning and stretching.
"Don't tell me you slept through it," I said disappointedly.
Jake nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry, but I was struggling to stay awake."
I shook my head in disbelief. "Wuthering Heights is a classic. I don'tunderstand how you could not enjoy it."
"When we watch it again, let me know so I can skip class." I glowered at him and didn't appreciate his sarcasm. I walked away to my locker, but he matched my pace in a few strides.
"Nessie, wait!"
I hastily entered my combination and threw in a few books and slung my bag over my shoulder. I walked faster but again he caught up to me.
"Ness, there's something I wanted to ask you." I stopped in my tracks against my better judgement and faced a pleading Jacob. I couldn't help but smirk at the puppy face he was wearing.
"What's so funny?" Jake asked self consciously.
I rolled my eyes. "The only reason I'm still standing here is because your ridiculous puppy face."
"So..." He looked around and then looked back at me. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"
"Hmm... Not just yet."
Jake groaned and I gave him an evil grin.
Just then I remembered that I came to school with Emma and she was probably waiting for me. "I have to go. Em's waiting for me."
"No!" I looked at Jacob sceptically who blushed under his russet skin. "I mean, let me make it up to you. I'll take you home."
"I, uh..." I wasn't entirely sure what to say. A part of me was screaming yes and the other part was telling me to say no and get the hell out of here.
"Um, okay." As soon as I said it I immediately regretted it and was internally yelling at myself. Just relax, it's just a ride. No big deal.
Jake smiled at me, surprised and I smiled back as we walked over to his car. I called Emma to let her know Jake was talking me home and she gave me a pep talk before I had to hang up on her. We left the school grounds and when Jake took the opposite turn to the route to my house, I knew we were going on a detour.
"Jake, where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see. It's just for an hour or so. I promise we won't be long." It was hard to argue with Jacob, so reluctantly I let him kidnap me to a mysterious place. We arrived shortly to a park I used to go when I was a kid. I hadn't been here in so long and was glad when he parked at the kerb of the street.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" I announced.
"Hey, I guess I am."
We walked over the bridge to a large lake and sat on the freshly mowed green grass. The weather was warm and the sky was a fresh blue.
"Jake," I finally asked when we were sitting with our legs stretched on the grass. "Why did you bring me here?"
I watched him hesitate for a moment and I puckered up the nerve to look into his amazing warm eyes. It was like everything inside me melted. I had to remind myself not to do that again.
"I thought you might need to relax a bit. You've been pretty stressed out with school work so I figured you needed a break."
I sighed. Jake was right. I did need a break. Not just from school, but from everything else that had been happening; the vampire who almost killed me and the endless fights with my parents (even though we did finally work out our conflicts). It felt good to completely zone out and not have to worry about a single thing. If only life was as simple as that.
I lay down on my back and watched the few clouds in the sky move very slowly. I closed my eyes trying to ignore the sound of bugs chirping from the canopy of trees and the cars passing down the street. I concentrated on the steady rhythm of my breathing with each breath I took. Gradually I started to relax until all my worries started to slip away. Jacob's face lingered beneath my eyelids and I opened my eyes realising Jacob's deadly eyes were fixed on my face. I sat up feeling slightly self conscious and looked at Jake, who was skipping pebbles in the lake. He picked one up and threw it a good twenty yards.
It skipped perfectly in the lake.
I rolled my eyes. Was there anything he wasn't good at?
I picked a pebble up from his collection and threw it towards the lake. It didn't exactly skip, but plopped down instead.
"Not bad for a girl like you," Jake commented.
"Excuse me? You're taking to the girl who stopped a fight between two guys," I challenged.
Jake looked at me surprised. "Really? Are you sure they weren't guys like, hm, lets see...Ben and...his other geeky friend?"
I laughed intimately. "Very funny. I'm talking about guys like Chris and Liam. Tough guys, you know?"
I watched Jacob's face turn serious and he faced my questionably. "For real?"
I nodded.
"Ness, you shouldn't have gotten involved. You could have easily gotten hurt." Wait, now he was concerned for me? Okay, maybe I shouldn't have said anything. The only reason I got involved was that I was stronger than them and if I hadn't done anything, one of them would have gotten hurt badly. As much as I wanted to tell him the real reason, I knew I couldn't.
"Hey, look on the bright side. I stopped someone from getting hurt."
Jake nodded and lightened up. "That's true. I do give you credit for that."
"Thank-you, thank-you." I did a little bow and Jake laughed.
We both lay down on the ground enjoying the warmth and the soft blanket of grass. This was much too perfect. I wouldn't have it any other way.
"You know," I started, slightly hesitant to what I was about to say. I felt Jake's eyes flicker towards me. "I've always thought there's something different about you. I – I just can't figure it out."
"Different?" Jake repeated. "How?"
I struggled to find the right words to tell him. "You're...unlike any guy I've met." I blushed and chuckled nervously. Okay, I was sounding way too corny.
"I'm sorry. Forget I said anything." The last thing I wanted was for Jacob to think I was just another cliché girl. I wasn't. He'd probably had a thousand girlfriends before and I wanted to stand out to him. I think I just ruined any chance.
Jacob sat up and I avoided eye contact with him. He stood up and took my hand to help me up. We walked down the lake to the bridge we came on and he stopped at the centre. He rested his arms on the rail focusing his gaze on the horizon.
"Nessie," Jake whispered after a long period of silence. He faced his entire body towards me and looked at me seriously. "There's something I have to tell you."
I studied his face but couldn't read anything. I gulped and waited for him to continue. He took a step closer to me until he was directly in front of me. I could smell the lingering odour of freshness on his shirt and a woodsy smell. His dark brown eyes poured into my eyes and I lowered my gaze afraid to make eye contact with him. He lifted my chin up delicately with his index finger and I had no choice but to look at him. He brushed my hair away from my face and stroked his warm hand across my cheek. My cheek burned and prickled and he placed his hand on my cheek and brushed it slowly with his thumb.
A spark jolted through me and a sense of déjà vu filled my mind. Just then, my knees became weak and felt they were going to give away. I became light headed and my head spun. Memories filled my mind when I was a baby and images I don't recall came to view.
Jacob, Mum, Dad...My knees eventually gave away and I collapsed under Jacob's arms. I couldn't see him but I knew he was there, faintly calling my name out. I tried to restore my mind but failed. There was no hope now. Unconsciousness washed over me and I drowned into a pool of darkness.
