La Push was nice. Eli found some kids that he played with on a visit a few days ago. I spent most of the day down on the beach, too tired to care, or to do anything. I sat on a log, staring vacantly into the ocean.
Eventually I heard crunching of shoes underneath the gravelly sand. I looked up, and Emily Uley, Sam's wife, was walking up to me.
"May I join you?" She asked, keeping her voice light.
"Be my guest." I said, and she sat next to me on the log.
"So, Jake told me you found out the truth." She said.
"Mom lost her mind and blurted it all out. At least, I thought Mom lost her mind." I said, turning over a smooth oval rock in my hands.
She nodded, "It's difficult, learning you don't live in the world you think you do."
"You seem fine with it." I said, a slight edge to my voice.
She shrugged, played with the wooden bracelet on her hand, "I've lived with this knowledge a long time. You've only just found out."
"Am I going to turn into a werewolf?" I asked.
"I doubt it. They're mostly male." She said.
"Mostly?" I caught.
"Leah's the only female we know of." She said.
"Leah Clearwater?" I asked, shocked.
"Yeah." She said.
"What triggers one to become a werewolf?" I asked.
She hesitated, "When there's a vampire around, the werewolf gene is activated. The Cullens inadvertently caused the change when they moved here. They eventually moved away, but it was too late. Changes occurred up to 2 years after they had already left."
I nodded, "So… Eli could be a werewolf?"
She shrugged, "Possibly. There's no way to who know has the gene until it's triggered."
I put my head between my knees. Eli, a werewolf? I couldn't stand the thought.
"If he does have the gene, it'll still be a few years before it would be activated." Emily said.
I took comfort in that, although I'd prefer Eli never change.
"There are vampires here now… does that mean that other werewolves will be triggered?" I asked.
"Possibly." She said.
I picked up a shell, and played with it between my fingers.
"Do you know why the vampire's after my family?" I ask.
She hesitated and then said bitterly, "I cannot say for sure, but your mother got close to The Cullens… they're peaceful, for vampires at least, but they have a lot of enemies."
Emily was always such a gentle person. I couldn't imagine her hating anyone, for any reason, ever. I looked at her though, and her gentle smile was back on her face. At least the side of her face that hadn't been mauled was smiling. Then a thought struck me.
"If you forgive my impertinence," I started, "Your face… it wasn't a bear that did it, was it?"
She nodded and said softly, "Sam. I know he didn't mean to hurt me. He regrets it everyday. I don't think he'll ever truly forgive himself, even though I forgave him a long time ago."
"I'm sorry." I mumbled.
Emily invited me back to her place for lunch. I wasn't sure if I was expected anywhere, and Eli was probably at Papa Billy's, or eating at the house of whoever he was hanging with. So I went back to Emily's place, and she made us sandwiches. Sam joined us.
Under the best of circumstances, Sam always unnerved me. I never fully understood why. He was tall and muscular. He had a piercing gaze that seemed to peer into your soul. He's been a tribe elder since he was 17, the youngest elder in our tribe's history. And since I found out he was the Alpha… well, I couldn't overlook that.
"Hell-hello." I stumbled over my greetings when he walked through the door.
I would've said I was expected at Billy's if I knew he was going to join us. Thinking about it, though, I should have expected as much. Sam spent as much time as he could with his wife. It pained him to be away from her.
"Hey." He said casually, and joined me at the table.
Emily placed his sandwiches in front of him, and sat with us.
"How's your day going?" Emily asked.
Sam eyed me, almost suspiciously. I took a bite of my sandwich, looking straight at Emily's direction, too much of a coward to look Sam in the eye. I then crammed in another bite, even though I still had sandwich in my mouth.
"No vampires yet." He replied.
I almost choked on my sandwich. I tried to prepare myself for these kind of conversations, but it was too much to process. Emily got up to pour me a glass of water and handed it to me. I took a sip.
"I'm sorry." I said.
"It's just another day at the office." Sam said.
"But I caused the vampire to come here. It's my fault." I said.
"It's not your fault." He said.
I got the feeling he was talking about my mom. I wanted to defend her, but I couldn't bring myself to. I didn't know the full details, and vampires didn't seem to be popular on the rez. So I settled on taking another bite of my sandwich, taking slower bites so I wouldn't choke again. Emily and I finished lunch at about the same time. Sam still had four sandwiches on his plate.
"Come help me in the garden, won't you?" Emily asked me.
"Yeah, okay." I said, grateful for the excuse to leave Sam's watchful glare when he wasn't marveling over Emily.
I helped Emily carry a bucket full of gardening tools outside.
"Sam sure does love you." I commented.
"It's called impr-" She started, but I had to cut her off.
"Please, spare me the details. I've had enough craziness." I said.
"Alright." She said courteously, and we got started on her flower beds on the windowsills.
Somehow between her flowers, her vegetable garden, and the fruit bushes, we ate up most of the afternoon gardening. I was so tired and covered with minor scrapes afterwards. After we finished, Sam gave me a lift back to Billy's, which was a quiet trip. I thanked him, and went into the house without turning back. Eli was sitting with Papa Billy in the living room, and Billy was regaling him with stories. Mom was laying on the couch, white as a sheet.
"Hello." I greeted as I walked through the door.
"Hey Han, I haven't seen you all day." Billy said.
"I'm sorry Pappy. I was with Emily." I said, sitting at Mom's feet.
"Emily's a good woman." He said, approvingly, and then went back to his story to Eli.
It was past 4:30, so I got up to make dinner. Billy had an endless supply of fish, so fish was on the menu. I fried it up on the pan with spices. I had to prod Mom to get her to eat, which scared Eli. Billy tried to keep him distracted with stories, but it didn't really help. Dad joined us to eat.
After dinner, we went back to Charlie's place. I went straight to the shower, getting the dirt from under my fingernails and out of my scrapes. Afterward, I got into pajamas, and went to bed. I had a long day, and a lot to think about.
This soon became routine. My family spent a lot of time at La Push. Billy invited Charlie up as often as he could, and had other men from the rez do it too. It wasn't difficult. Anyone could bribe Charlie on the rez with the promise of fishing, or a televised sports game.
We only spent nights at Charlie's. I stared out the window, wondering who was on guard duty that night. I could have probably asked Dad, but I felt like knowing the specifics would only exacerbate my guilt. He promised me nobody was cold, and protection was in their nature, and everyone practically volunteered for guard duty. Sam didn't have to throw his weight around as Alpha. But none of this alleviated my guilt.
I heard a loud thump. My first thought went to the red-eyed vampire, and I was afraid. Did he get through the defences? Did he kill the werewolf out there? I got out of bed as slowly as I could, to not wake Eli. I tiptoed over to the window, and looked out.
I almost screamed. Thomas Price was scaled on the wall, holding onto the windowsill. He was so beautiful in the moonlight. His hair was so dark, in contrast with his pale skin. His skin almost had a faint glow to it that gave him a mystical presence. He almost seemed like a shadow that could disappear in an instant.
I awkwardly shimmied up the window, but it resisted and only opened an inch.
"I'll do it." He whispered, and got it up in a fluid motion with one hand.
"What are you doing here?!" I whispered.
"Checking in to make sure you're okay." He said.
"So you come scale my wall in the middle of the night?" I ask.
"I can't get near you during the day. You're always surrounded by at least one wolf, and then you're on the reservation all day." He said.
"What about now?" I asked, "There should be a wolf guarding the house right now."
"There's a young werewolf right now, and he fell asleep, I'm afraid. Don't worry. I'm covering his shift." He said.
I heard rustling. I turned around. Eli was restless, but still asleep. I turned back around to face Mr. Price.
"Well as you can see, I'm fine." I said, "And why did you leave Anchorage? What about your job?"
"Jobs don't really matter much when you're immortal." He said.
"I can't believe you have a job anyway. What do you need money for?" I said.
"Having an apartment is nice." He said.
"You could break into one, couldn't you?" I asked.
"This way, I have one of my own." He said.
"And teachers get paid shit. Couldn't you have found a better-paying job?" I asked.
"Are you criticizing my career decisions?" He asked, "I'm broadening the minds of human youth."
"Maybe." I said, "If I was immortal, I sure wouldn't waste it in a high school."
"You got me there. But teaching hasn't been my only profession." He grinned, "I don't have to work. I choose to. It keeps life interesting. And don't mind me saying, but we don't have much time."
"Fine, what?" I asked.
"I have information about the vampire I'd like to pass onto the pack." He said.
"You couldn't have knocked on the door tomorrow morning, like a normal person?" I asked.
"The pack doesn't trust me." He said.
"The pack won't trust you by doing it like this either." I said.
He sighed, "Please, Hannah, stop being difficult. Just listen to what I have to say, okay?"
"Okay." I said, resigned.
"Hannah?" A small voice came from behind me.
I looked. Eli was laying in bed. I looked back at the windowsill. Thomas Price was gone.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Who were you talking to?" He asked, rubbing his eye.
"Nobody. Just sleep talking." I said.
"I had a bad dream." He said.
"Just close your eyes, darling. Don't think about it." I said and walked back to the bed.
I crawled back into bed, wrapped my arms around him, closed my eyes, and pretended to go back to sleep.
