Chapter 20
The wind shook the tent again and I shook with it.
The temperature was dropping. I could feel it through the down bag, and through my jacket. I was fully dressed, my hiking books still laced up tightly into place, but it didn't make any difference. How could it be so cold? Scratch that. How could it still be getting colder? It had to bottom out sometime, didn't it?"
I looked at my watching, telling me that it was only two in the morning.
I had been worried that the trail I had laid would be lost, but Seth promised before he phased that it would be plain to the coming monsters.
Out in the snow, Seth whined unhappily.
"G-g-g-get out of h-h-h-ere" I ordered for the thousandth time this night, but he simply ignored me. He's body was equipped for this kind of weather, but he should still leave.
Suddenly I heard the sound of the zipper around the tent door pulling swiftly down.
Seth slid through the smallest opening he could manage, while the arctic air flowed in around him, and a few flecks of snow falling to the floor of the tent and I shivered so violently you would have thought that i was about to phase into a big assed wolf.
"I should have thought of this before" he was muttering to himself, and carried on muttering about how Paul was going to kill him once he found out.
I tried to ask what he meant, but all that came out of my mouth was "W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w" as the shivering made me stutter uncontrollably.
"Easy" Seth whispered.
"S-S-S-S-Seth, you'll f-f-freez-z-z-ze!" I tried to complain once I saw that he was only wearing sweats.
"Not me" he replied cheerfully. Only Seth would be cheerful at a time like this. It just was fair. "I run at a toasty one-oh-eight point nine these days."
He crawled to my side and started unzipping my sleeping bag.
When I realized what he was doing, as he crammed his body into the nonexistent space, forcing the zipper up behind himself, I started to object.
And then I couldn't object- I didn't want to anymore. He was so warm. His arms constricted protectively around me, holding me snugly against his bare chest. The heat was irresistible, like air after being underwater for too long. He cringed when I pressed my icy fingers eagerly against his skin.
"Jeez, you're freezing, Bella" he complained.
"S-s-s-s-sorry S-S-Sethy" I stuttered.
"Trey to relax" he suggested as another shiver rippled through me violently. "You'll be warm in a minute. Man, I bet Paul would kill to have this job."
"T-t-tell me ab-about it" I tried to laugh through my teeth. "He's g-g-gonna k-k-kill you for this, you know."
"Not unless you stick up for me." He sounded hopeful.
The shuddering slowed, and became bearable.
"There" Seth said, obviously please. "Now Paul can't rip my head off. Feeling better?
I was finally able to speak clearly. "Yes."
It was already warm and snug inside the sleeping bag. Seth's body heat seemed to radiate from every side- maybe because there was so much of him. I kicked my boots off, and pushed my toes against his legs. He jumped slightly, and then leaned his head down to press his hot cheek against my numb ear.
I noticed that Seth's skin had a woodsy, mucky scent- it fit the setting, here in the middle of the forest. It was nice, but not as nice as Paul's scent. Paul's scent was like my drug that I couldn't get enough of, which was slightly embarrassing.
The storm howled like an animal attacking the tent, but it didn't worry me now. Seth was out of the cold, and so was I. I guess you could say I worried about Seth too much, that I would put an overprotective mother to shame, but he's like a little brother to me and I won't let anyone hurt him.
As the silence lengthened, my eyelids drooped and shut and my breathing grew slower, more even.
"That's right, honey, got to sleep" Seth whispered softly.
I sighed, content, already half-unconscious.
It was quiet then, inside at least. Outside, the wind shrieked insanely like a banshee through the trees. The shimmying of the tent of the tent made it hard to sleep. The poles would suddenly jerk and quiver, pulling back from the edge of unconsciousness each time I was close to slipping under.
My mind wandered as I waited for sleep to find me, back to the legends of all things.
I still wish that they had remembered the Third Wife's name at least. She deserved that much at least.
She wasn't a mythical creature, no such magical power inside her other than being part witch- though that wouldn't have saved her and everyone else from the mysterious vampire women- except courage. The courage to drive the knife into her heart to save the man she loved the most, her sons who she adored and her people. I wish I could be like her, more than anything.
Sure, I had a little power in my blood, but I didn't inherit her courage. I was a coward. I good for nothing coward...
When I woke up in the morning, it was very bright- even inside the tent, the sunlight hurt my eyes. And I was sweating. Seth was snoring lightly in my ear, his arms still wrapped around me.
I pulled my head away from his feverishly warm chest and felt the sting of the cold morning n my clammy cheek. Seth sight in his sleep; his arms tightened unconsciously. Aww, he was still protective of me even in his sleep.
I squirmed, unable to loosen his hold, struggling to lift my head enough to see...
I tried to get to the sipper, but I couldn't free my arms. I strained, fighting against Seth's inert strength. Seth muttered, still fast asleep, his arms constricting again.
"I'm going to get heat stroke" I muttered to no one in particular and said "If you don't wake up now, Seth, I will have to snog your face off!"
"Ew!" Seth exclaimed, jerking awake and removing his arms from around me quicker than I thought possible. "Bella, that's a shitty idea! You're like my sister!"
"I know" I said "but I had to wake you up somehow."
I rolled over, my back hitting the icy floor of the tent. I yelped and flinched away from the cold and jerking back into Seth, snuggling into his warmth.
He laughed. "Back so soon, Bells?"
"Too bloody cold" I grumbled.
Seth laughed again, louder this time and rolled to his knees, grabbing the door's zipper before exiting the tent.
I listened for the sound of his retreating footsteps, but it was perfectly still. No more wind. I could hear morning birdsongs far away on the mountain, and nothing else. Seth moving in silence; just like the rest of my family.
I huddled in my coats, and leaned against one of the poles, thinking hard about nothing in particular, anything to keep my mind of the upcoming fight.
My hands twisted restlessly in my lap unconsciously as my thoughts came to the fight when I had no other thoughts to chase them away. Seth had convinced me one bit yesterday. I still felt horrid.
I was selfish, I was hurtful. I tortured the ones I loved by dumping this on them.
I was like Cathy, like Wuthering Heights, only my options were so much better than hers, neither one evil, neither one weak. And here I sat just thinking and never doing anything productive to mike things right. Just like Cathy.
I could feel that my hair was wild, twisted into clumps like Medusa's snakes. I know! Bella Swan is starting to care what she looked like. The girls were rubbing off on me. I yanked through it with my fingers, and then gave up quickly. I was fighting a battle that was lost even before it began.
I grabbed the canteen hanging beside then tent door and shook it. It sloshed wetly, so I unscrewed the lid and took a swig to rinse my mouth with the ice water. There was food somewhere nearby, but I didn't feel hungry enough to look for it. I started pacing across the bright little space once I'd gotten tired of just sitting there, feeling Seth's worried eyes on me the whole time. Because I couldn't look at him, in my head he became the boy again, rather than the gigantic wolf.
Seth whined at that moment, and got to his feet.
"What is it?" I asked him stupidly.
He pawed at the ground nervously.
"Is it the others, Seth?" I demanded as a cold trickle of fear began to ooze down my spine. "In the clearing?"
He nodded. The fight had begun, and all I could do was sit here.
AN: Sorry it's late. After holidays, life is always hectic around here.
Thank you to:
Love100008, HydeHijacktGacjt, Sypatrickbaby, AIXA00, Edger2deadly, MydearSammeh, Northerngurl1993, CullenxVamp, Texus-twins8290, lightbeforethedawn, Mari91, twilets, GracefulWolvesInTheNight, LadySphire, MoonWolfRinner, Tsunamicurl, Obsessed-with-reading, Blcohl, , Mizzcatherine113 for putting my story on your story alert
Thank you to:
Eamurray022480, Akira-love95613, LuvinTwlight143, Afflictionseclippedbyglory, Obsessed-with-readying, Love10008, BlackFireNeko, Ism31red, Edger2deadly, MydearSammeh, Northerngurl1993, Demongirl20, CullenxVamp, Colorguardgirl187, Texas-twins8290, Twilets, GracefulWolvesInTheNight, Jessgold44 for putting my story on your favourite story list
And for all of you who have reviewed:
AliceCarlisleFan: Thanks. That really means a lot to me.
Brittyangel: Thank you :)
Ggghhhaaarrr67: I trying to stick to the books as much as possible
BlackFireNeko: I can't wait to write more: D
Edger2deadly: I glad you liked it: D I'm always scared that someone's gonna turn around and say that it's really bad and they hate it :(
MydearSammeh: LOL
Jacob black rulez: thanks
CullenxVamp: I'll try to update as fast as to me.
GracefulWolvesInTheNight: Thanks so much for the positive review.
MigratignCoconuts06: DDDDDDDDDDD
Twimore: Don't worry about it. Well, I really think that all of them are good. I recommend you go into the search box and type in 'Bella' then pare up 'Bella and Paul'. That way you'll get the best result. But I could recommend 'Red moon' though I can't remember who wrote it. Sorry :(
Tigger5600: Yeah. That seemed like a really important part in the plan so I decided to keep it.
DamnULulu: Yeah, sorry about the wait. Bo holiday days are always a bugger.
Baby mama in training: What do you mean by 'in the book Seth has like a little bromance issue with Jake'?
Yay me! It's my b-day today so you guys are lucky I was able to update today
Love you all
~Poison Ivey