The sound of birds chirping wake Poppy from her deep slumber; The ending to each full moon is always a complete blur, but as she wakes up near the same tree and boulder she knows she must've not gone far. Sitting up she takes her time adjusting her eyes and gaining her sense of balance back. Using the boulder she gets up slowly and tries not to fall over. Her legs feel like noodles after a long night of running through the forest. Once she's standing on her own she looks down at her naked body and sees only small patches of dry blood. Recalling the small deer she had for dinner she smirks, "Looks like I need a good bath." Her ears pick up the sound of a flowing stream nearby and she immediately heads in that directions.
Poppy was never scared to walk around naked ever since her first couple months of the cycle. No matter what precautions she took, she always ended up naked. Her and Carlisle even tried leaving clothes hidden somewhere, but the animals always got to them before Poppy. In the end she just got used to the idea of being naked in the forest. After washing up she set out back to where she came and looked for the car. Hiding behind a tree she peaked to see the silver Honda parked by the forest, but it was on. 'That's strange.' She thinks to herself. Getting low she crawled her way closer to the passenger door. Like a slithering snake she gently peaked and saw Bella looking around nervously. Losing her camouflage she knocks on the window, making Bella jump. She rolls down the window and Poppy leans against door crossing her arms in the open window.
"What are you doing here?" Poppy asks. Bella smiles nervously and tried not to stare at Poppy's bare chest.
"Uhm Carlisle was getting me worried and he told me where I could wait for you." Bella says before reaching into the back to grab Poppy's clothes. "Look I just need to get away from all the worry warts at the house. I know they're worried about my safety, but a girl can only take some much. Now can you please put something on so that we can go home?!" Poppy burst into laughter as she takes the clothes from Bella and puts them on. She climbs into the car and they head back to the house.
"How did you get the car?" Poppy asks while downing her café mocha.
"I kind of stole it, with Emmett's help of course." She glances at Poppy quickly before turning back to the road. "I thought vampires didn't like human food." Poppy looks down at the coffee container and traces over the wannabe Starbucks logo.
"I thought they would've told you by now." She whispers.
"Told me about what?" Bella asks. None of the family had ever brought up the fact that Poppy was different from them. They never question her and never wanted to tell Bella. They thought it would be best for Poppy to tell her herself, just like she had with each and every single one of them.
"You know I'm different from the family right?" Poppy says running her hands through her hair in a pathetic attempt to comb it. Bella nods, but keeps her eyes on the road.
"But I don't know how you're different." Poppy takes a deep breath and looks out the window. She was kind of hoping that Edward would've spilled the beans before she had the chance to say something. It was never easy for her explain what she was to people. She was always afraid of what their reactions might be to the overwhelming information.
"Well… to put it bluntly I'm a… a hybrid." She waits, but Bella says nothing so she continues, "I'm a mixture of a vampire and a werewolf." Again nothing, but silence; Poppy leans back and pulls her sweater hood over her head. "If you're really freaked out I can stay away from you."
"No." Bella say stopping Poppy from continuing, "I'm not afraid of you. This is just not what I was expecting." Bella chuckles making Poppy look at her oddly.
"Wait I'm confused." Poppy says.
"Look I'm not afraid of you. I'm actually very curious about everything." Poppy looks at her baffled at what she's saying. Most people were curious, but they would inch away from her in fear. None of them have ever laughed after being told… except for the Cullens. "Can I ask you questions?" Bella looks at her with gleaming eyes like a child that has just found a new toy.
"Sure ask away." Poppy says laughing. As they pulled up to the house the girl pause their conversation when they see Edward pacing on the porch. "Why don't we wait till you've come clean." Bella sighs as she sees Edward's gaze shoot her down even through the entire car tint. Poppy left the love birds in the garage and headed to the kitchen for something to eat. It was important that she eat something after the change since it always took a toll on her body. With her complex system she didn't know where the actual line was with human food, but she knew that greens and organic meals didn't do any damage. She never wanted to take any chances with trying other foods so she just stuck to simple salads. As she takes the first bite Emmett storms in with his normal goofy grin.
"Hey short stuff!" He yells and goes to ruffle her hair. "How was the run?" Emmett asks.
"Fine, as always. How did the patrol go last night." he sucks his teeth in and sighs.
"We found nothing and no other nomad came by so it was pretty clear last night." As they continued the rest of the family began to stagger in. Bella and Edward were the last to come in as the subject change to the mystery killings in Seattle.
"Well something is obviously going on down there." Esme says. "There is no other explanation for it other than Victoria."
"Or the Volturi." Rosalie adds.
"But if it was Victoria then the Volturi surely would've handled it by now." Jasper says looking at Alice. She looks up at him with a small smile and shakes her head.
"I've been watching Aro's thoughts, but so far nothing concerning us has come through." She say, "Also if it was Victoria then I would've been able to see her decide everything." The family goes quiet each thinking of any possible explanation for these 'disappearances'. Ever since Victoria has been around there have been a number of disappearance in the Seattle area. They are conspicuous which makes it even more distressing to us.
"Someone must be making an army." Poppy whispers. Jasper meets her eyes and they share the same look. They've both have had their run in with the southern army's in the past. Especially Jasper and his connection with Maria, who was the most powerful women in the south back then.
"An army?" Emmett asks, "Why would someone go as far as making an army?"
"An army of what exactly?" Bella asks.
"An army of vampires it seems." Carlisle answers, "There behavior is it similar?" he asks Jasper.
"Yes… I can't think of anything else that could cause that much damage." Poppy finishes her bowl and cleans up after herself.
"What do we do?" Bella asks.
"Well work on it." Edward says. He looks to Bella with gentle eyes and caresses her cheek. The army was something that needed to be taken care of since they were the closest coven near Seattle. If the army was meant for anybody, it was meant for them. They just needed to be sure.
"Why do I have to drop you off over here? Where is Edward? Why can't Jacob come and get you?" Poppy asks as she speeds through town. This morning she was greeted by Bella and Alice at her door. One thing lead to another and now she is Bella's personal driver.
"Edward needed a really go feeding today and Jacob was too busy to answer the phone. Beside I never got to ask you my questions." Poppy sighs and places her left arm on the door, leaving one hand on the wheel.
"You could've driven yourself you know. I hate driving cars." Bella is too busy thinking of her first question to hear Poppy so she doesn't even give an answer. Instead she goes ahead with her own.
"So why can you eat food?" she asks.
"I don't know actually. One day after a full moon I was extremely hungry and didn't know what to do. Originally I thought that I was just thirsty, but blood didn't help the hunger. So Carlisle insisted that I try to eat human food… so far I can only eat salads and drink black coffee. " Bella hums in realization.
"Ok do you still shine in the sunlight?" Poppy shakes her head.
"No I don't sparkle anymore. Going in the sunlight could kill me though; even now it hurts a little." She glances at Bella and sees the worried expression on her face, "But don't worry it only works with direct sunlight. And it's just a theory honestly."
"Good. I'd feel terrible if I was killing you slowly by having you out today." They both laugh until Bella goes back to her questions, "How did you become a hybrid?" Bella notices the how Poppy tenses up at the mention of this topic. Honestly it was hard to remember just because this one accident made Poppy lose her first family and first real love. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to." Poppy breaks into a sad smirk and she sighs.
"No its ok, but it's just it's a long story and… look we're already here." She motions to the 'Wolf House' as Poppy calls it. It as a tiny orange house that looked like it was about to fall apart. Poppy had been here only once during Bella's depressing months. Technically Poppy didn't have to abide by the treaty rules since she wasn't a cold one any more. She was the only one who could freely enter Quileute territory. As Poppy parked the car she was greeted by four shirtless guys who looked not to please with her being there.
"What are you doing here?" One says to Poppy as she and Bella get out of the car. He's has more muscle than the others and has one of those faces that makes you think he's an asshole.
"Relax Paul," Bella tells them, "She isn't a cold one."
"Could've fooled me." Another one, who carries a mischievous grin, says.
"Enough." A loud and father like voice comes from the house. A tall man comes out and stands in front of the line of boys. Poppy notices they all have the same marking on their right arm which makes them all a part of the pack. "You shouldn't be here. It'll confuse everyone. " He says to Poppy.
"Look," she sighs, "I'm only here to drop her off since nobody came to get her. Where is Jacob?" Suddenly two figures come running towards them. One being Jacob and the other a cute guy that catches Poppy's attention. She tries to make her staring less obvious, but she can't help but look at his adorable face. As they get closer she can tell that he must be younger than the rest since he's a little smaller. Suddenly Poppy's legs feels as though they were made of Jell-O, her eyes changed from the normal grey to a bright silver, and her heart began to beat extremely fast. Without thinking she turns, gets in the car, and drives off. The whole ride home she grips her t-shirt where her heart is and hold tight. Once she gets home she immediately calls Carlisle at his office.
"What's the matter?" he says with a concerning voice. Poppy is gasping for air as she struggles to put together a sentence.
"Carlisle it hurts… I can't breathe." Her sense suddenly go hay wire making her eyes focus and refocus. Carlisle begins to scream into the receiver, but Poppy can't hear anything. She takes a deep breath before passing out on the kitchen floor.