Chapter 3.
The week flew by and before Alexis knew it was already Friday afternoon. She looked at herself in the mirror in her car annoyed with the bags that were under her eyes. Uncle Charlie had forgotten to mention that Bella suffered from apparent night terrors almost every night and some nights multiple ones. She shook her head and flipped the visor up and started to tap her nails on the steering wheel. She looked at her phone and saw that it was almost 4pm and Bella was still no where in sight.
Where is she? She thought to herself before getting out of the car and glancing around the deserted parking lot. She heard some muffled voices in the distance and made her way towards it. She saw Bella with her arms crossed over her talking to a long haired boy near the woods.
"Bella?" Alexis she raised a brow and watched Bella jump. The boy dropped his hand that was outstretched towards Bella and stared at her. "Hey are you ready? I've been waiting for you for like 30 minutes."
"I-uh-yeah." She stuttered. "I'll see you around Jake."
The boy gave Alexis a suspicious look before giving Bella a giant smile and pulled her in for a tight hug and disappeared back into the woods. Weird. Alexis was realizing how odd this town and the people were as the week went by.
"Who was that?" Alexis asked her cousin as they made their way back to the car.
"Jacob Black." Bella said as she opened the car door and got in. Alexis couldn't help but notice Bella seemed slightly happier after talking to him.
"Is he going to the party tonight?"
"I-I don't know." Bella stuttered before glancing down at her phone.
"You can invited him you know." Alexis glanced over at her cousin before snatching the phone out of Bella's hands. It took Bella a long moment to realize what had happened and by the time she did, Alexis had already hit send on the message to Jacob.
"Why-why did you do that!" Bella said sounding upset.
"Because it's obvious you want him to be there and you weren't going to ask him." Alexis said as it was the most obvious thing in the world. She heard Bella stuttered but no words came out. "You're welcome." It wasn't long until Alexis pulled into the drive and Bella all but ran from the car to the house.
A few hours passed and Alexis finished getting ready for the party and made her way downstairs to see if Bella was ready.
"Where are you going tonight?" Charlie said with his eyebrow raised seeing Alexis walk with a extra pep in her step.
"Oh, Bella and I are having a girls night with Jessica." Alexis shot a smile in Bella's direction, who glared back at her.
"A girls night?" Charlie glanced between the two slightly suspicious. "Good. That'll be good for the both of you."
"Yeah it will. But Bella should probably go get ready so we're not late." Alexis gave Bella a hard look before she huffed and made her way upstairs.
"Thank you for this Alexis." Charlie said genuinely to her. "It'll be good for Bella to see her friends." Alexis gave him a small smile before she excused herself and went upstairs to help Bella.
"Come on Bella, have fun for once!" Alexis yelled from Bella's closet rummaging for something for her to wear.
"I'm not going." Bella said and continued to stare out her bedroom window.
"Yes you are, even if I have to drag you out of this house." Alexis gave her a pointed look before letting out a frustrated sight. Bella's clothes were definitely not her style and were honestly-bland and old lady-like. "I'll be right back." She left Bella's room and went to her closet knowing the perfect outfit for Bella to wear.
"Perfect." She threw the clothes onto Bella's bed. "Hurry up. It's been forever since I've been to a party."
"I-I'm not wearing that." Bella said incredulously.
"Dude why not? I have more risqué clothes if that's what you'd prefer." Alexis picked the clothes up off the bed and threw them at Bella. "10 minutes and if you're not ready I'll dress you myself."
Alexis was almost in shock that almost exactly 10 minutes later Bella made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Charlie and her were making small talk.
"Wow Bells." Charlie said in shock of seeing Bella actually going out. "You look great." Bella stood there awkwardly and gave him a small smile and glanced at Alexis.
"So you ready?" She fidgeted with the sleeve of the sweater. Alexis jumped up putting on her leather jacket and fumbled with the keys in her pocket.
"Now you girls be careful." Charlie looked between them. "And try to be home at a decent time."
"Will do Charlie." Alexis said as she headed out the door with Bella slowly following behind.
"Where's the gas station?" Alexis asked Bella. "I need to get something." Bella directed her to one that was around the corner from the house.
"What do you need here?" Bella questioned when Alexis started rummaging in the glove box for one of her fake id's.
"What's your poison?" Alexis paused with her hand on the door handle when Bella just stared at her. "What do you want to drink?" She clarified but Bella didn't respond and started at her in shock.
"Alexis. My dad is the chief of police- we-we can't get alcohol."
"Correction . Your dad, not mine. Besides they won't even know who I am." Alexis said before shooting Bella a quick smile and shut the door before she could protest more.. It wasn't long before Alexis made her way back out with a case of beer and some liquor, shooting Bella a smile as she got in the car.
"You know this is illegal right?" Bella said sounding nervous.
"Oh lighten up Bella. You need to have some fun while you're young."
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"This seem like a odd spot for a party. Alexis glanced around into the darkness when they got to the spot. There was cabin that had one porch light on and a few cars but other than that it seemed abandoned. Alexis felt on high alert when she saw a shadow pass by rather quickly before something smack the passenger window making Bella jump in fear.
"Alexis! Bella! You guys made it!" Mike yelled through the window with a giant smile on his face and opened the passenger door. "I was afraid you guys were going to ditch."
"Where is everyone?" Alexis glanced around again.
"In the cabin. It's Lauren's parents cabin that they never use anymore." Mike shot them both another huge smile. "Everyone usually parks closer to the tree line."
Alexis nodded her head but still couldn't shake a feeling of someone watching them. She tried to shrug off the feeling as she followed behind Mike and Bella and made their way into the cabin.
"Bella!" A girl with dark hair and glasses up and gave Bella a big hug. Angela? Alexis wracked her brain trying to remember everyone's names. She glanced around and saw there were a ton of faces that she didn't recognize.
"They're from Beaver and Clearwater." Mike came up from behind and threw his arm around her and gave her an unopened can of beer.
"Hm.." Alexis said feeling uncomfortable. She glanced around the room and couldn't help but notice the looks that Lauren and Jessica were sending her way before whispering in their group and laughing. Alexis rolled her eyes before turning and ducking under Mike's arm to make her way towards Bella. "So where's Jake?"
"Oh um-" Bella stuttered her words and turned red in the face.
"Jake?" Angela furrowed her brow at Bella. "Oh Jacob Black?"
Bella fidgeted with the sleeve on her sweater as her red turned redder. "He should be here soon." She said in an almost whisper. Alexis shot Angela a sly smile before opening the can of beer and taking a swig.
"Here, it'll help you loosen up some." Alexis passed her beer towards Bella who held the can awkwardly.
"Come on Bella!" Eric said as he grabbed another one from a nearby cooler. "It'll be our first beer together!" He said with a huge smile on his face and tapped his beer to hers.
Some time had passed and Alexis couldn't help but think just how boring this party was. Most everyone knew each other and sat in small groups only interacting with each other so it left her as an outcast but Mike had taken it upon himself to be glued to her side. At least Bella seemed to be enjoying herself more now that Jake was there-
"Alexis-you listening?" Mike snapped his fingers in front of her face and she couldn't help but noticed the looks from Lauren and Jessica gave her again.
"Hm? Oh yeah." She looked down at her empty beer, having lost count of how many she had. "I'm going to step outside for a moment." She said as she stood up feeling warm.
"I can come with-"
"No! No, it's fine. I'm just a little hot and need something from my car." She interrupted Mike and gave him a tight smile before going outside. She let out a loud sigh when the cool air hit her face and couldn't help the small smile that was on her lips. Bella had seemed almost like a new person when Jake arrived, even though she had only known Bella for a week, it seemed to be a big improvement. She started to make her way to her car, wanting the liquor she had left in there when the all to familiar feeling overcame her; causing her to stop mid-step and looking around on high alert. She squinted towards the tree line when she saw what seems to be glowing, blood red eyes on a body that also seemed to be glowing in the darkness but vanished the second she blinked.
"Hey!" Someone called from behind her and grabbed her upper arm. Out of instinct she flung her elbow back into the stomach of whoever grabbed her, and used the momentum to flip them over on to the ground.
"Oof!" The person on the ground called out before a howling of laughter followed from somewhere behind them. Alexis looked down and saw a boy with short dark hair, that appeared to be her age but at the same time appeared to be older, clutching his stomach in pain.
"Oh my god. I'm so so sorry." She squatted down trying to help him sit up. "I-I thought I saw someone in the woods right before you grabbed me." She started ranting, having flashbacks of her previous schools where everyone feared her from incidents like this. She almost missed the look that the boy on the ground gave her, it almost seemed to be shock when she said that.
"The woods aren't safe in this area. You know with bears, wolves, and whatever else might be hungry." The boy on the ground said in pain.
"Im so sorry." She apologized again, helping him stand up. She craned her neck up and felt her jaw drop slightly when she realized just how tall he was. She was used to her brothers height but this boy had at least half a foot on them.
"I know. My stunning good looks are pretty memorizing, aren't they?" The boy joked causing his friends behind her groan in annoyance. "I'm Embry." He stuck his hand out for her to shake.
"Alexis." She shook his hand and was surprised with how hot it was.
"Those idiots," he gestured behind her, "are Jared and Quil."
"Hi." She raised her hand and gave them a slight wave, still embarrassed at her actions earlier.
"So why aren't you in there?" Quil gestured to the cabin. She couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"It's not really my style." She said quietly and shrugged. "Beside I think I only really came to make my cousin Bella get out of the house."
"Bella?" Jared questioned. "As in…Bella Swan?"
"Yep. The one and only." Alexis nodded her head and saw them all give each other a peculiar look. "What?"
"Nothing." Embry said shaking his head. "But the real question is, who owns this car." He walked past her and towards her car. "Talk about my dream car."
"Thanks." Alexis walked up to him. "My brother and I rebuild her over the summer." She watched as he walked around the car and let out a low whistle. She heard the other two shout in the distance that they were going inside but Embry ignored them.
"A '66 Fastback?"
"Close." She smiled towards him. "A '67, so even better."
"Do you mind if I-?" He gestured towards the door handle. Alexis couldn't help the smile on her face, finally someone that wanted to talk cars. She nodded her head and he opened the door before sitting in it. "Wow."
"The trunk is stuck so it won't open." She lied through her teeth when she saw he was about to open the trunk. He nodded his head and looked around the inside more.
"We probably should head back so your friends don't start worrying about you." She said slightly nervous that he would accidentally find something but her comment made him laugh. "Can you grab that bag." She gestured to the plastic bag in the back.
"Dang girl. Going hard tonight?" He joked when he looked inside the bag.
"Well, I need something to make tonight more bearable." She shrugged and went to grab the bag but he moved it out of he reach.
"It's fine I can carry it." He said as they slowly started to head back towards the cabin. Alexis stopped mid-step once again when she felt the same feeling of being watched from the woods and peered around again when she swore she saw the same red eyes as before staring back at her.
"Alexis." Embry had a strange tone in his voice when he noticed her looking into the woods again. "Let's go." He threw his arm around her shoulder leading her towards the cabin but Alexis couldn't help but notice how he kept staring at the same spot and how he seemed to be vibrating.
One thing Alexis knew for sure was that there was something living in the woods and she was determined to find out what it was.