Chapter 12: Not what dreams are made of

Regan

When I went to sleep that night, I could still hear Seth downstairs talking to his mom and Charlie. I laid in bed for almost an hour listening to him talk to them about different things. Sometimes he spoke loud enough that I could hear him, other times not. Didn't he have a life? What was he still doing here at ten o' clock on a Saturday night? Better yet, why the hell was I in bed at ten o'clock on a Saturday night? Forks was definitely making me into the epitome of lameness.

I tossed and turned a bit, getting my feet tangled up in the sheets. But as much as I tried, I couldn't seem to get comfortable. I guess I thought that going to sleep would make the days go by faster, if anything. I sighed and rolled over onto my side so that I was facing the door. I listened to Seth talk about something having to do with Leah's wedding. I guess they had decided to have it on the beach somewhere near here, so Sue was all excited about planning that. I listened to the deep baritone sound of Seth's voice as he spoke. It was funny…when he was excited, he spoke in a higher tone, but when he was calm and talking to Charlie, his voice was deeper and more relaxed. I preferred the latter. It was almost…soothing to listen to, as the smooth tones of his voice floated up the staircase and into my room.

It was so soothing that I barely had time to chide myself for liking the sound of his voice before I drifted off to sleep. I think I had been asleep for awhile when the dream began.

I kicked the sheets off, wanting to leave. Opening the window, I climbed out onto Charlie's roof and contemplated jumping. I felt scared, but I knew that I didn't want to stay there. I jumped, sailing to the ground and landing softly on my feet. The yard was dark and misty, and it was raining like usual. For some reason, I wanted to go into the woods. There was something I wanted in the woods…

The ferns and undergrowth pulled and scratched at my clothes as I wove my way through the trees. I could see a light up ahead, and I wanted to see what was up there so badly…

Suddenly, I was aware that I wasn't alone…no…something was out there. I turned my head to look, but everything was blurry and dark, and I couldn't make my eyes see like I wanted them to. Nothing was working like it should. My arms and legs felt heavy and almost drunk. Turning around, I looked behind me and to the sides, but didn't see anything that looked alarming. I was about to take another step when suddenly I saw a man in front of me.

"Who are you?" I gasped, squinting my eyes to see him. He was so far ahead that I couldn't see his face clearly. Suddenly, he was standing not twenty feet from me in the forest.

I gasped loudly, covering my mouth. He didn't move or say anything else, but I knew enough to be frightened of him. His eyes glittered red, and his skin was pale and made my own skin want to crawl.

I knew I had to get away.

My foot had just left the ground to start to run when suddenly I heard a growling noise. Oh no! The wolves! I was a goner now, even if this was a dream. I looked behind me, still struggling to make my body do what I wanted it to. It felt like I was swimming in concrete as it dried.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw the glowing yellow eyes of the wolves as they appeared from behind the trees. My body shook with fear as they all stalked into the small clearing where I stood, their eyes glittering with hate.

I glanced back at the man on the other side of me, and he lowered himself into a crouch and hissed. The wolves echoed with resounding rumbles in their throats, and my body continued to shake in terror as I realized they were all going to attack me.

I slowly closed my eyes and begged my body to wake up.

It wasn't working. I wanted to wake up so badly.

Suddenly, the wolves took off after the man on the other side of the clearing. They flew past me, and I shivered as I felt their fur brush against my sides as they ran past. When I opened my eyes, they were gone. I turned and ran back in the direction I had come, wanting nothing more than to get away from that place. My feet fought against me as I ran, sinking into the wet earth. The trees seemed to hinder me as I fought to find Charlie's yard; it was like they wanted to keep me in the forest as prisoner!

I collided with something hot and hard, falling to the wet ground. I looked up, squinting at the sudden light that had flooded my vision. It was almost too bright; it was like I was looking up into the sun.

A hand came down and pulled me up so that I was standing next to whoever it was. Blinking several times in the strange shining light, I realized that it was Seth.

"Seth?"

"Regan," he said, smiling down at me. I felt my body being encased in warmth, almost like I was suddenly in the warm Phoenix sunlight again. I smiled, relieved to see him. In fact, I almost had forgotten about the strange man and the wolves that had attacked him.

"It's okay," he said, reaching down. He scooped up my body, turning to walk in the direction of Charlie's house.

"Seth, we have to get out of the woods," I said, my voice echoing and blurring. He smiled down at me as he carried me, shaking his head.

"It's alright. It'll all be alright," he repeated, walking smoothly through the dense forest. I nodded, feeling suddenly safe.

"Seth, what were those wolves after?" I asked.

He sighed as he walked into Charlie's backyard. "Just promise me you'll stay out of the woods, Regan," he said with a smile. My eyes connected with his chocolate brown ones, and I felt my heart start to race. He set me down…

I shot up in bed, panting. "What the…" I mumbled, blinking several times. I took several deep breaths, realizing that I was safe and sound in my bedroom at Sue and Charlie's. But…my dream felt so vivid and real that my heart was still pounding. What had Seth meant? Stay out of the woods? That was weird. I knew it was just a dream, but I had never had one be so completely believable and vivid before. Why did I have a dream like that? I couldn't explain it, and I wasn't really sure that I wanted to.

That was hands down the weirdest dream I had ever had. But what did it mean?

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I awoke again that morning with a start. My breaths came out choppy again as I tried to remind myself that I was just in my bedroom at Charlie's. I sat up with a groan, feeling my back crack and snap with my usual morning stiffness. It thundered somewhere in the distance, and I looked out the window to see the usual steady stream of rain pouring down the glass window.

"Ulgh, rain again?" It felt like it was impossible to get anything accomplished when it was this rainy and disgusting out. I was very happy that it was Sunday and I didn't have to do anything important.

I stood up and stretched, glaring at the ugly sea-foam green walls of Bella's old room. How had Leah not cared enough to re-paint the hideous color? The color of the wall along with the sound of the rain pounding on the roof of the tiny house mocked me. Try to have a good day today, they said. I dare you.

Throwing on a hoodie, I went downstairs to see what Charlie and Sue were up to. I had to admit, even though the weather was dreary outside, the demeanor inside was far from it. The lights shone brightly in the homey living room, and the TV glowed from its spot above the fireplace. It smelled like Sue was baking something already, and on top of the aroma of coffee called to me. Charlie sat on the couch next to Sue, reading his paper and watching the morning news. Sue sat, hunched over the coffee table that was covered with clippings from wedding magazines. I briefly wondered if her daughter Leah cared whether or not her mother appeared to be planning her wedding or not.

"Good morning," Sue called as I slipped by, into the kitchen.

I grunted in response and rubbed my eyes. I listened to them talk as I rummaged around for a coffee mug.

"She won't care for this mess," Charlie mused, looking up over his paper. Sue made a hissing sound in the back of her throat, playfully smacking him with the magazines she was nervously rolling as she looked over her clippings.

"She'll need something to organize anyway. Leah agreed to let her do this as long as we could present it to her in a few weeks at Thanksgiving in a clear, concise way," she said, shrugging. I listened to them go back and forth about it for a few more minutes as I shuffled into the living room.

"Are we having company today?" I asked, surveying all the clippings that were scattered around the room. Sue looked up suddenly, appearing surprised at my voice.

She nodded. "Yes, um…Bella's sister-in-law is coming today to help me get some things organized before Leah sees them," Sue said. Her voice was laced with a bit of apprehension, but she tried to smile. I nodded, sipping my black coffee.

"Alice," Charlie said, giving me a pleased smile. "You'll like Alice…everybody does," he finished.

She looked at him sideways, as if she knew something he didn't. I watched as Charlie smiled again, lifting up his newspaper to continue reading.

"Alice is a…um…she's a wedding planner up in Canada where they live now. She has to go to Los Angeles for something, and she has agreed to stop by and erm…help me," Sue said, arranging a few cut outs of bouquets on her coffee table. I watched as she anxiously arranged them, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Do you not like her?" I suddenly asked. Sue froze, her eyes darting up to meet mine. She smiled tightly, shaking her head.

"No, of course not. I like Alice just fine," She said finally, giving me a nod. I watched as she went back to flipping through another issue of Modern Bride. Something was fishy here….

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After getting the ultra weird vibes from Sue about this sister-in-law of Bella's, I retreated back up to my room to attempt some yoga. It was something I hadn't done much since I had arrived in Forks, but I did it all the time at home. People in Phoenix were all about yoga, vegetarianism, being environmentally aware and 'green'. But here…I think everyone here was just busy figuring out the best way to keep dry with all of the stupid rain.

I rolled out my purple yoga mat and lit a candle to help myself relax. I peeled off my hoodie and sat in the middle of the room in my t-shirt and yoga pants, trying to breathe deeply and clear my racing head. As I stretched, I kept thinking about the dream from the night before. I didn't usually have dreams that were that vivid or detailed; I could remember almost everything about what I had seen.

It didn't sit well with me for some reason.

I tried to do my homework after that, but my desk was situated right in front of the window facing the backyard. I stared into the golden leaves, only blinking occasionally when the drops of rain would hit their leaves and make them bounce, startling me. I wasn't going to get anything done this way.

Gathering up my pen and books, I walked out into the upstairs hallway to head downstairs. But…something caught my eye. I slowed, looking at the pictures that lined the short hallway before I reached the stairs. I hadn't really taken the time to look at them before, but now I was curious. Would I find a picture of Charlie's long lost daughter?

Stop being stupid, I chided myself. Just because she's gone now and he seems sad when he talks about her doesn't mean a thing.

I did see one picture of her; she plain looking pale girl with the long hair. She smiled unsurely from the photo back at me, her brown eyes wide and trusting, her expression tentative. I would be interested to see what age did to change her.

Next, I saw picture of Sue and another man; he was older than Charlie from the looks of the photo, and bore the same beautiful toffee colored Native skin that Sue had. He had black and grey hair that hung down to his shoulders, and a familiar pair of brown eyes that squinted as he smiled. I glanced around for another photo, but only saw one. Could this be Seth's father?

Moving along, I spied a picture of two children standing in front of a house, proudly holding up a fishing line full of freshly caught fish, grinning widely. It was a boy and a girl, I guessed were maybe ten and six. The girl was tall and lanky, with long, dark brown hair, and the boy was small and skinny as well, and boasted a similar grin as the girl. Again, I spied the same happily squinting eyes that looked so familiar…

It was Seth.

I smiled to myself, feeling strangely odd to like the picture of him as a little boy. It was weird really; he had the same exact wide, toothy grin and happy eyes, just with twenty years or so added to his face.

Footsteps on the stairs startled me. Looking down, I noticed Sue walking up with a basket full of laundry in her arms.

"Checking out our family history?" she asked, smiling as she climbed the last few steps. I nodded shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ears.

"Uh, yeah, just looking," I mumbled. She tossed the laundry basket down inside the doorway to their bedroom and turned back to me.

"Oh, I have lots more where those came from. Here, come see," she said, motioning to her bedroom. I followed her in, taking in the unfamiliar yet strangely comforting smell of the tiny bedroom that she shared with Charlie. It smelled of Dove soap, Old Spice, and laundry detergent, with just a hint of something cinnamon. I sat down on the chair next to the bed as she pulled out an album of pictures, all labeled together neatly and organized in the progression of years.

She moved through them quickly, and for that I was glad. There was nothing more awful then having to 'ooh' and 'ahh' over someone else's baby pictures. However…I found myself wishing she would go slower as she got to the part where Seth was born. He was probably one of the cutest babies I'd ever seen. Is it possible that he had been born smiling? There wasn't one picture where the kid looked pissed. My mom had several pictures of me screaming or crying over the years – but Seth…Seth just looked content no matter what.

She showed me pictures of her former husband, Leah as a teen, and Seth's school pictures. It was the first time I had seen her daughter, and Leah was a lot like Sue. Both were beautiful and actually quite striking with their practically black hair, perfect tan skin, and eyes so dark they were almost black. However, both of them also had that 'cross me and I'll make you sorry' looks.

"Is Seth always happy?" I blurted out as she closed the album. I watched her pause as she slipped it back onto the shelf under her bedside lamp. She looked at me from behind the curtain of her silky black hair that had fallen in her face, blinking suddenly.

"Why do you ask?"

I paused, not wanting to look too anxious. "Just wondering. Leah always looked kind of serious. Seth…not so much."

She nodded, tucking her shiny strands of hair behind her ears. "Well…he's always been rather good-natured. He took after Harry quite a bit…"

I nodded, standing up from my perch. "He just…nothing ever seems to bother Seth. He never gets angry," I said, shrugging casually. Sue smiled tightly at me as she emptied the clean clothes into the drawers. She slammed one shut, picking her basket back up.

"He rarely gets angry. But…he's like everyone I guess. Eventually people break, even my happy boy," she said. Turning to leave the room, I swore I heard her mumble, "He has to," under her breath, but I couldn't be sure.

As I gathered up my things to do my homework, I was now more convinced than ever that I was going crazy. I practically cursed myself when I looked out the window towards the street as a random truck drove by. Part of me wished it was the ugly Bronco that I despised so much. What on earth?

Silently berating myself, I pulled out my school books and went downstairs to sit with Charlie and Sue. They looked pleased that I was making an effort to spend some time with them, and I was okay with that. I had expected to hate living here and hate Sue and Charlie. When my mom had told me that they had volunteered to let me stay with them, I had made up my mind to hate them both and stay as far away as I could. However, it was hard to hate people that tried so hard to get me to like them. Charlie understood my private side, and sitting through a meal in silence with him wasn't a horrible event. Sue tended to hover a bit more than I liked, but she was trying to so hard that I had to at least cut her a little bit of a break. Watching her excitement over her daughter's wedding made me realize that she just missed having her own daughter around. As much as I disliked the actual town of Forks, I had to admit that Charlie and Sue really weren't that bad. The least I could do was be civil to them.

I hunched over the coffee table, writing a very half-assed attempt at a short story summary for British Lit – that class was going to be the death of me. In a way, a lot of the stories I read reminded me of my dream. The strange objects and scenery all represented something, but I couldn't tell what. I wished they would just come right out and say what they meant half the time. Trying to decipher all the hidden meanings got tiring. I also wished that I knew what my weird ass dream was about, but…

As I sat and scribbled down some junk about metaphors, I caught my mind wandering to Seth. I wondered what he was up to today and why he hadn't made an appearance yet. When car tires pulled up in the driveway, I actually caught myself hoping that they were his. However, the quiet hum of the car's engine was a vast difference from the rumble of his ugly Bronco.

I heard the sound of her heels as they clacked quickly up the front porch steps, pausing at the door.

"It's open Alice," Charlie called, setting his paper down. I looked over toward the door just as a small woman breezed in, the scent of fresh rain coming inside with her.

"Hello, Alice," Sue said from the couch. Charlie jumped up from his spot beside her and rushed over to greet our guest. I was happy to stay put.

To say this woman was intimidating was an understatement. Everything about her said 'stay out of my busy little way!' From her important looking portfolio folder she carried to her matching Burberry patterned umbrella and scarf, nothing about this woman looked unorganized. On top of that, she was possibly the most immaculately dressed person I had ever laid eyes on. She wore skintight jeans and the highest heeled boots ever invented, or at least in my book…was she crazy? With all the rain and ice I had already seen, heels that high looked like a death wish. When she removed her long raincoat, I saw that she wore a simple black sweater, yet it was adorned with several long necklaces with glittering 'CC's on them. I didn't know a lot about haute couture fashion, but I knew enough to realize that this girl meant business.

She hugged Charlie hello, giving Sue a polite wave as she hung up her coat by the door. When she saw me sitting there in front of the coffee table on the floor, she froze for a second.

"Oh!" she said with a charming smile. "You must be Regan!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sue stiffen as Alice practically danced over to me, her boots clicking on the hardwood floors. Her necklaces clanged together as she sat down in front of the coffee table, opposite me. She beamed, flashing her immaculately straight white teeth.

"I'm Alice," she said. I waited for her to extend her hand, but she never did. Her pale, snowy white skin was a stark contrast to the dark clothes she wore, and for a moment I was in awe of how beautiful this girl was. Her strange yellow eyes blinked, taking me in. Something about her was strange, but…I was too in awe of how utterly gorgeous she was to even care.

"Uh, hi," I said, gripping my mechanical pencil. She grinned, glancing over at Sue. I watched as they exchanged a brief look, and I suddenly felt uneasy.

"Bella told me that her father would have a houseguest living with him. I'm so happy you're here to keep Charlie in line," she added, giving him a tiny wink. Charlie just chuckled to himself and I swore I saw his cheeks grow a little pinker at her jibe.

"Yeah, I'm keeping him in line alright," I muttered, looking back down at my homework. I could feel her curious eyes on me, and I looked up to her strange yet enchanting gaze.

"How do you like Forks?" she asked politely, clasping her hands in her lap. I shifted in front of the coffee table, shrugging.

"I like it alright," I said flatly, looking back down at my homework. Alice laughed, her high pitched giggles ringing in the tiny living room.

"Oh, it grows on you, I promise," she said. I couldn't help but crack a tiny smile…Alice's laugh was infectious.

She made more polite conversation with me as she and Sue flipped through wedding catalogs. Alice had brought lots of things with her for Sue to look at, and I finally understood why she had agreed to let Alice help. This woman knew what she was doing when it came to weddings.

"…and we'll have all the men wear this color…it will look nice with these," Alice muttered, pulling a swatch of fabric out of her folder.

"You're sure?" Sue asked skeptically. Alice nodded quickly, her eyes lighting up as she placed all the swatches together, completing the look.

"Oh yes…she'll like this a lot." Sue nodded, still looking a bit unsure.

"I'm just glad she agreed to let me help," Alice said.

Sue nodded stiffly. "She's coming around," she replied. "Any help is needed. I just go with what looks pretty."

"Just go with these colors while you're planning, and that should be fine. I mean, I can't exactly tell how they'll look on the groomsmen…but…you know how that is," she laughed merrily.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as I pretended to work on my homework. Sue sat stiffly on the couch next to Alice, and I guessed that she must make her feel a bit uncomfortable. I could see why – if it weren't' for her kind smile and constant happy laughter, this girl could possibly be a bit intimidating.

As if she knew I was thinking about her, Alice's eyes flicked up and met mine. The strange color of her irises seemed to shine, and she smiled at me. Knowing I'd been caught, I smiled awkwardly back, trying not to look rude. I liked Alice, but I had to admit…something was definitely weird.

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Well what did you think? I tried to make it clear that Regan knows something is up with Alice. Bella and the rest of the Cullens *DO* have a small part in the future of the story, however, it is rather small. I wanted to show that Regan is a lot like Bella – very observant, but not quite sure what it is that she's observing. She's also feeling a bit of a pull towards Seth. As I've said earlier, I don't really know what the feelings of the imprintee are – they don't really explain what the girl feels in the book. So I'm just trying my best to guess.

Your reviews are lovely! They're the best, and are simply the number one inspiring factor in my writing, besides the steady hum of chapter ideas that keep flying at me for this story…hehe : )

That said, this won't be a short story – The chapters are quite short, so I'm just going to stick with short chapters, frequent updates, and try to keep the pacing natural. I want to show their relationship progressing, along with Regan aging – Please remember, she won't be sixteen forever!

Please review!