Chapter Twelve

It felt surreal as I got ready for school on Monday morning, but it felt good to be back into a familiar routine. Paul's explanation had run through my head all night. It didn't seem possible for one type of monster to leave my life and another type to float into it.

I was putting my hair up into a braid when I smelt the smoke. I ran downstairs, hearing Charlie curse.

"What's going on?" I demanded. He looked at me sheepishly, stepping aside so I could see the scrambled eggs burnt to the bottom of the frying pan.

I grimaced. "You should stick to cereal. You're good at pouring it into the bowl."

I quickly scraped as much of it as I could into the bin, leaving the pan in the sink to soak. I quickly put some bread in the toaster, and rushed back upstairs to get my shoes.

I ran back downstairs, buttering the toast that popped up as I came into the kitchen.

"You'll be ok to butter your own toast?" I asked Charlie, cheekily. He scowled at me.

I sat down, biting into it, glancing at the clock.

"Are you in a rush or something?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

I shook my head. I was just eager to get back to the normal.

"I'm going to be late tonight Bells. A couple has disappeared from nearby."

I frowned, slowing down on my chewing. I swallowed. "Are you closer to finding them?" I asked, remembering him mentioning a young girl and her parents going missing not long ago.

He shook his head. "We've received a few leads that need following up today."

I bit my lip. I knew what horrors were out there, waiting and preying on humans. I felt like I should protect Charlie from it or at least warn him that there are dangerous beyond his comprehension out there. "Be careful," I said.

He nodded.

It was half an hour later that I pulled up into Forks high school. I found a space close to the school, something unusual. Smiling, I grabbed my bag and entered the building. I walked Calculus, sitting down next to Jessica.

"Hey, Jess," I greeted. She turned to me, her eyes narrowed, as though she couldn't quite believe I was talking to her.
"Hey Bella," she said carefully.

"Good weekend?"

She nodded slowly. "You?"

I hesitated. "It was different."

She shot me a weird look, looking immensely relieved when the teacher came in.

Jessica avoided me for the rest of the day. At lunch I saw her huddled at her usual table with Lauren. They both kept giving me dark looks.

"Back to their usual routine then." I heard Angela's soft voice behind me.

I turned, surprised. She smiled as she sat down opposite me.

"It didn't take them very long, which isn't surprising really."

She picked up half of her sandwich on her tray. "How are you anyway?"

"Better," I said quietly. "How are you?"

"I'm ok," she said smiling. It didn't quite reach her eyes. I glanced over to Lauren and Jessica's table. Mike was looking at me and catching my eye he gave me a wave. I smiled and nodded back. And then next to him was Ben, who was firmly looking away from me and Angela.

"Everything alright with you and Ben?" I asked nonchalantly.

She looked down at her sandwich.

"We just had a small disagreement. We've been getting ready to apply for colleges, and well one of the ones I want to apply to is very far away. We said that we would apply to ones that were fairly close together so we could see each other often... but I really want to do the course there, you know?"

I gave her a sympathetic smile. "It's got to be tough."

She nodded in agreement. I was surprised. It was time to start thinking about applying for colleges, but I had been putting it off. I didn't have a future without Edward. But now...

"Have you chosen where you want to apply?" Angela asked.

I shook my head. But I briefly entertained the idea of applying for places that were freezing cold and never sunny. Maybe if I was lucky... I shook my head. I didn't have a lot of luck. Even if I managed to get to the same place as the Cullens, Alice would probably see me coming. Still the insane urge was there...

"I suppose we don't have to send in our choices for another month."

My eyes popped. "That long?" I almost squeaked.

She glanced at me. It was the first time I saw something like concern.

"Are you ok?" She asked lowly. "I mean after the Cullens left..."

I nodded. "It... it was hard but it's not as bad anymore."

"If you ever need to talk..."

I smiled at her gratefully, but there was no way I could ever tell her anything. She would think I was crazy or something if I had to explain that the Cullens were actually vampires that didn't actual drink human blood.

We sat in a comfortable silence, broken only occasionally by Angela making a comment or asking a question. It felt nice to talk about something as normal as her relationship with Ben, and to just sit in non-supernatural company.

She grimaced when the bell rung. "Biology next."

I nodded, walking with her to the lesson. I mostly doodled while the teacher spoke to the class, scribbling stuff on the board for us to copy down. My mind wondered to yesterday. Sitting here, it seemed unreal. Paul, Jake, Sam and the others couldn't really be wolves. It just wasn't possible.

I stayed behind after lesson to say goodbye to Angela. I walked to my truck, escaping the car park. I drove quickly, wanting to get home, almost pushing my foot straight down on my brakes. Paul had run out of the few trees that lined the area. He gestured to me; his eyes panicked which made me anxious. I quickly pulled over, onto the grass as far as I could go so other vehicles could get past. Several vehicles beeped.

He wrenched the passenger door open and swung himself inside.

"Drive," he ordered.

I did as he said, pulling back out, driving quicker than before.

"What's going on?" I asked. I looked at him.

"Eyes on the road," he snapped. I looked away out at the road feeling wrong footed.

"Sam and Jared are chasing a leech."

"Here?"

I could feel his eyes on me and fought to keep mine on the road. I squirmed underneath his gaze.

"In Forks, yes."

I shuddered.

"Cold?" He asked, though we both knew it wasn't from the cold.

"Charlie," I whispered.

"Don't worry. Sam and Jared wouldn't let it get anywhere near Charlie."

His voice was softer now.

"Drive to La Push."

We drove in silence. Paul was making me nervous; I could practically see him looking through the trees watching what was happening. His frown lines were deep on his forehead. He had told me that wolves had better hearing then humans. I wondered what he could hear, if he could hear anything at all.

I passed the sign welcoming us to La Push.

"Where am I going?" I asked.

"Jacob's," he said quietly. We lapsed back into silence.

It was another ten minutes before I stopped in front of Jacob's house.

I got out, going to the door, surprised when Paul joined me.

He got to the door first and paused before knocking.

Billy answered the door. He didn't look in the least bit surprised to see us standing there.

He let us in.

Paul went directly down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"You thirsty?" He shouted.

I glanced at Billy, wondering who he was talking to, but Billy had no move to reply.

"Sure," I called out.

Billy wheeled himself into the living room. I followed him, sitting down on the lumpy couch. Seconds later Paul walked in, holding two glasses of water.

He handed one to me.

"Thanks," I muttered, taking it in my hands.

Billy cleared his throat. "What's happening?"

"Sam and Jared found the trail of one of the leeches leading into Forks. I lost them about fifteen minutes ago."

Billy nodded, looking a bit disappointed.

"I wonder why they were in Forks," I mused.

Paul shrugged. I suppose it didn't matter to him why they were anywhere. All that mattered was that they were destroyed.

"Sam traced it all the way back to the Cullen house. It seemed to have gone there first."

Billy frowned.

I could hear the ticking of a clock, and took a sip of the water to give me something to do. I swallowed. It sounded loud in the silence.

"How long do I have to stay here?" I asked quietly.

Paul looked at me. Was that disappointment I saw in his eyes?

"I should be home for when Charlie get's back," I said feeling the need to explain myself.

"I can call Charlie and tell him you're here with Jake. He won't begrudge you for taking one evening off Bella. He'll survive without you for one evening," Billy said.

I looked down feeling as if I had been ungrateful.

I wasn't. I was just tired of vampires influencing what I did in my life.

It was then that Jared stormed into the house.

"Missed," was all he said.