An Innocent Soul
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you for the kind reviews, Nikki.
"I have dreamt in my life, dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they have gone through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind. And this is one, I'm going to tell it-but take care not to smile at any part of it…"
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights.
Part Five-Stake Out
Bella was ecstatic when she found the camera with the long zoom lens. Charlie had a whole heap of stuff that he had bought and then left neglected in the cupboard upstairs. It wasn't the newest camera, it was a good few years old but it would be sufficient for what Bella needed, and what she needed was evidence, physical proof that Jacob Black was up to something, and she intended to photograph him in the act. For the past couple of days she had put on an amazing act, she began to wonder if she had an aptitude for it, or perhaps Jacob just lapped up the attention she was raining on him. She simpered, she fluttered her eyelashes whenever they spoke, she pretended to be interested in sports when he and their father's droned on about sports for hours. She cooked him amazing meals; she smiled and laughed at his jokes, no matter how lame they were. By the third day she had him eating out of the palm of her hand. Not once did she admit to herself that she was actually enjoying his company. She convinced herself that it was for a higher purpose.
Of a night, because of the old men's snoring, Bella was kept awake so had no trouble listening out for any sign of movement downstairs. Jacob himself seemed to have an aptitude for sneaking about silently; it was only the sound of the front door clicking that signalled that he had left the house. Bella would hide out at the top of the stairs as she listened intently for him. He seemed to be a creature of habit as he would usually head out around eleven at night when he thought everyone was fast asleep. Once she knew he had gone she hurried down the stairs, carefully opened the front door, camera at the ready to take a snap, but he would inevitably be gone. How could he move so fast? It was incredibly frustrating. It was only on the third night that she happened to glance out of her bedroom window which overlooked the back garden, and saw by the light of the moon, Jacob running across the grass toward the trees which surrounded the back of the house. With her zoom lens she was able to get a good view of him as he glanced around cagily before heading between the trees. Bella took several snaps of him doing so. She was very pleased at the results. She denied internally staring at his amazing abs and pretended to focus on the fact that she was slowly gathering evidence.
On the fourth night she decided she needed to see more. She needed to get outside, hide within the trees and try to follow him and find out what he was doing in the forest. It meant that she had to sneak out of the house before he did, but finding an excuse to leave was becoming a problem. She pondered what to do for a long while, and after a lot of thought she made up a fake friend, pretending she was going out to the movies with them and wouldn't be back until late. What she hadn't counted on was Charlie's interrogation about who this so called friend was. Bella was so used to Renee's lack of interest in her social life that it startled her that Charlie wanted to know when she was leaving, what time she would be back, what film she was seeing and so on. Bella became so tongue tied that she made herself sound utterly unconvincing. Dammit now she was back to square one as she became so caught up in her lies that she pretended the friend had cancelled on her. Now what?
In the end she decided to just stake out the area. She would let him leave then afterward she would hide within the trees and catch him out on the way back. With this plan in mind Bella made sure to take a nap during daylight hours when the two snoring monsters were awake themselves so she would be refreshed and ready for action later on.
Jacob had no idea what was going through Bella's head. He'd had a brief moment of worry the first night he had snuck out of the house to go on patrol that she had spotted him coming back inside the house. He had breathed in her sweet scent as soon as he came inside. She was hiding out in the kitchen; he could hear her breathing and moving around as she headed back up the stairs. He had waited with bated breath, anxious about how he was going to explain his actions, but thankfully she didn't bring the subject up. Perhaps she hadn't realised he had come in from outside? After a while he gradually relaxed and began to lap up the attention she suddenly flooded him with. Bella seemed to have gotten over their initial awkwardness and forgiven him for flashing her that one time. He had been much more careful and discreet when using the bathroom as they all began to fall into a routine. In fact Jacob was in heaven. Bella appeared to love everything he said or did. She was always smiling at him, she laughed heartily at his jokes, even the awful ones. She made him the most amazing meals and gave him the biggest portions, which was promptly noted by Charlie and Billy, although they kept their teasing away from Bella's ears. It was all going great. He was still working on the house in La Push every day, trying to repair the damage he had caused, and the day was drawing nearer when it would be safe to move back in. Jacob found he didn't want to, he was loving his time at the Swan house and he knew Billy was too. His father told him to relax and slow down on the repairs; he didn't want his son to wear himself out after all.
The only downside were the night patrols, he was stuck with them for another month at least. He was glad that he hadn't managed to disturb anyone so far. Charlie and Billy made enough noise to wake the dead, and it seemed that Bella had finally managed to learn to sleep through the noise the old men made. So by the end of the week he felt relaxed enough to go about his nightly business without the fear of discovery. He had no idea about Bella's plan to follow him out that very night and stake out the forest.
Jacob left the Swan house around his usual time of eleven to meet up with Embry, who he was patrolling with for the week. Embry would wait for him at a pre-arranged spot a little further into the forest. They would chat for a little while before heading out on their patrols. Everyone was enjoying Jacob's nightly updates on the progression of his relationship with his childhood crush. He found that the wolves who were not even on patrol tuned in during the night so they could get their fix of what mishaps had occurred. The whole pack had been entertained by the shower incident and his bumbling attempts to impress Bella. Unfortunately for Jacob he had trouble keeping his thoughts about Bella hidden, so his brothers knew everything, much to his chagrin. He was teased by Paul and Quil mercilessly. The others were less intrusive but they still laughed behind his back about burning down the kitchen.
As soon as she heard the door click Bella was on the alert. She had her camera primed and ready. She was already dressed in a thick jacket and hat to ward off the cold. She had put her hiking boots on and packed a bag full of essentials, like a torch and some water if she got thirsty. She snuck out of the house easily and headed for the spot between the trees where Jacob always entered the forest. Of course he was already long gone but this didn't deter Bella, she kept her eyes trained on the long grass, following the deep indents of his feet in the mud. Why didn't he wear shoes? Just another part of the puzzle she didn't understand. Like why was he always dressed only in shorts? The whole thing was just so bizarre she couldn't understand it. She followed his tracks for a good ten minutes, using her torch to light the way, than all of a sudden they petered out. How odd? The ground was still muddy so his feet should have still made an impression in the dirt. She flashed her torch around, trying to see if she was missing something but all she found was some really big animal tracks, made by gods knows what. She was a little alarmed at the dinner plate sized paw prints but consoled herself they couldn't be real. No animal in the United States was that large. They must have been made naturally somehow by the weather.
Bella sighed when she couldn't find anymore signs of where Jacob had headed and decided to stay where she was. He had to come back this way eventually, then she would snap a picture of him and demand some answers. She had no idea she was being watched as she settled down with her back against a tree.
An hour passed and Bella soon fell into a doze. It was quite boring sitting in the dark with only a torch for light. Time seemed endless and with a whole week of not really getting much rest because of Charlie and Billy, she found herself nodding off. She didn't hear the snap of twigs as the intruder who had been watching her began to make their approach. Her chin rested on her chest, her long lashes casting shadows on her cheeks as she slept. A pair of black boots appeared in front of her before the intruder hunkered down and studied her carefully. "Bella, Bella, you never learn." An amused smile crossed the intruders face before he carefully lifted a sleeping Bella in his hard arms and transported her back to the house.
Jacob was on red alert. He had smelt it. A cold one had been nearby, and not only that but it's foul stench was mixed with Bella's sweet scent. How could that be? Jacob had no idea why Bella's scent was in the forest not too far from her house. He had come back from a long patrol only to have his enemy's foul odour smack him in the face. He was enraged. He followed the scent all the way back to the Swan house, his heart racing madly in his chest. His head was filled with Bella, Bella, Bella….he was afraid of what he might find, what he would see. If she was harmed, if she was…he couldn't allow himself to think the worst, he had to hope he was going to make it in time to save her, his Bella. He would tear the cold one to pieces. He would rip its cold, hard limbs apart for laying one hand on his precious Bella. Oh god, how had this happened under his very nose? He hadn't detected the demon when he had left. Jacob was an emotional wreck by the time he reached the house. The cold one had used the tree outside Bella's bedroom window to gain access. Jacob transformed into his human form and quickly climbed the tree. He was primed and ready to defend himself against the demon, even if he had to phase in her room, he would do it, to protect her he would do anything.
The window was open, he forced his way inside the dark room and accidently tripped over the rocking chair she had placed under the window. Damn thing! It crashed onto its side, making an alarming noise. He jumped easily to his feet as the room was suddenly flooded with light. He squinted as he stared over at a confused looking Bella, who oddly, was dressed in a thick jacket and boots and clutching a camera in her hand. She finally turned to look his way, her beautiful brown eyes opening wide when she saw him standing at the end of her bed.
"What's happening?" She demanded when she regained her composure.
"I have no idea." Jacob replied as he took in a relieved breath, realising that the cold one had gone and Bella was pissed but unharmed. Now how was he going to explain himself?
A/N-thanks for reading! How should Jake explain why he is in her room? Would love to hear your ideas, and I will use the best one!Nikki