I am not Stephenie Meyer. I just ain't. I would be rich with a bunch of books out. But I'm a broke biology major who hasn't studied for O-Chem in 2 weeks. All rights to these characters go to the MVP, Stephenie Meyer. (: Enjoy

Chapter 25: Vampire Girl

The beams of light danced through the windows of my room as the sun grew higher into the sky. The beams traced over my bed, and towards my face, forcing my eyes to open. The clock said 8:30 am. I wiped my face, sweat was dripping down it, and the cool air coming from the fan wasn't cooling me down. I looked over, at the bronze man lying on the other side of the bed. He was lying face down, his face smashed into the pillow, his mouth opens with drool pouring out of his mouth. His arms holding onto the smashed pillow, coddling it. The muscles in his back flowed with the direction that his arms were in, every ridge, every ripple of each muscle flowed together.

I slowly pushed the blanket off of me and climbed out of the bed to not disturb the beautiful bronze man who was in deep sleep. I went over, slowly opening the door, holding it tight to make sure the hinges didn't squeak with it. I went to the bathroom and turned on the water. I didn't need to wash my hair, considering I had already washed it last night, but I was drenched in sweat, and I needed to clean myself off. I got in the shower and let the cold water dripple over my shoulders and my chest. I scrubbed myself down with some body wash and sat there in thoughts about the rest of the day.

Charlie is out with Sue and Billie fishing at the river on their little boat, so he will be gone for the rest of the day. So, my plans most likely would consist of hanging out with Jacob today, if he'd want to keep me company. Depends on if he has pack duties today or what not. That was something I would have to get used to. I wouldn't say I'm the clingiest type, but I do enjoy spending a lot of time with my favorite person. That's how it was with Edward, anyhow. I always was with him, especially when I fell asleep at night. But Jacob isn't Edward, and every relationship is different. Is this a relationship? He did refer to me as 'his women.' Not that I didn't like it, but I never fully committed my thoughts to the idea of being with him. I guess in a way I did commit to him when I kissed him, and when I invited him to spend the night, but what about forever?

I hopped out of the shower and unwrapped the towel from my hair and wrapped it around me and cautiously went back to my room to not disturb him. I wonder if this is what it was like with Edward, tip toeing around me when I was asleep. Not sure Edward tip-toed, he was just the most graceful being out there, but same in the sense. I got dressed and headed downstairs to eat some cereal. Jake was most likely going to be hungry, so I cooked him 3 omelets. Will have to replace the eggs so Charlie doesn't notice how many eggs I used just this morning. After I fixed those, I sat down at the table to finish eating the rest of the cereal I had left in the bowl.

I pulled over the left-over newspaper that Charlie must have finished reading this morning on the counter. I opened it up, just reading a few news articles, and then remembering that tomorrow I needed to sign up for volunteer activities at the Forks Daily News to get some hours in for my school application. I heard Jacob's loud footsteps heading down the staircase coming into the kitchen.

"Hey, Bells," He stretched widely as soon as he finally stood on the kitchen tiles, "Anything interesting you want to share?"

I looked up at him, frightened, in panic mode. What did I say last night during that dream that he could've heard? He had to have been asleep, too right? Jake's always been a heavy sleeper, no way he would've woken up during that. I set the newspaper down, stuttering over my words, "Huh, what?" He then looked at me confused and walked over to sit down, then grabbing the newspaper.

"In the paper, anything interesting?" He flicked the paper over in a quick motion, "Nah, of course not. Nothing ever written in this paper is interesting." He looked over noticing the giant pile of omelets left out on the plate next to the stove, "Oh shit, thanks, Bells," and got up, kissing me on the cheek and grabbing the plate; proceeding to scarf them down.

I drew out a heavy sigh of relief and leaned back in my chair. What did the dream even mean? Why did Edward kill Jacob, and why did my mind even go to Edward slaughtering Jacob? I didn't want to think about this anymore. I sat up and took the newspaper, throwing it into the trash and grabbing both of our plates when he was done eating, and put them into the dishwasher.

"So, what do you wanna do today?" I leaned forward supporting my weight on the table looking at him with a big grin.

We headed down to the reservation and met up with the rest of the pack at Emily's. Of course, she had a giant breakfast for them ready, with stacked pancakes and thick waffles all over the table. Not surprisingly, Jacob ended up eating more there to fill up this weird appetite that comes with the legends. Emily greeted me and so did the others. Leah didn't look at me much, but I'm sure losing your dad makes you feel distant. Seth on the other hand was excited to see me, his young goofy boy self with so much energy was ecstatic to hang out with the 'vampire girl', is what they still called me. Jacob would nudge them and push them around if they kept using that phrase towards me. I didn't mind it, I thought it was kind of funny, and gave me my own place in their pack.

"You better shut up you guys, I mean it" Jake locked his jaw smashing his fork into another waffle, everyone just joked around some more about it.

"Yo, yo, Jake where's Malia?" Embry punched him in the arm, teasing him some more. I stood there not knowing how to respond, or how Jake would respond to that.

"I don't know, she hasn't called." Jake muttered under his breath. What did the muttering mean? Was he annoyed that she hadn't called?

"Oooo, tough burn, Jacob. Tough burn." Embry and Quil said at the same time, and then proceeded shoving each other over who jinxed it and who owed each other a soda.

"Well, I like to say, Bella. You're going to be the girl who ran with vampires, until you're the girl who runs with the wolves," She smiled tilting her head back to kiss Sam who was directly behind her. Leah began to mutter under her breath and her body began to vibrate. She didn't seem under control in the situation, and Sam immediately grabbed Emily pulling her behind the kitchen counter away from the table, and all at once, I was lifted into Jacob's arms and shoved into the living room corridor.

I heard Paul and Jared outside ripping their clothes into shreds, forcing Leah onto the ground who was snarling and snapping at them until there was a giant thudding of paws running back into the tree line. What happened there? What caused Leah to become triggered? I grabbed Jacob's shoulder as it looked like he was about to leave the living room to head outside and stopped him.

"What happened? Did I miss something?" I asked him, pulling him back to me, "is she mad that I'm around? I could leave, I'm sorry. I don't mean to intrude, I promise."

"What?" Jacob's eyebrow raised, giving me a confused expression but a small smirk at the corner of his mouth, "No, Bella of course not. Everyone's happy you're here. Just other complications when it comes to the wolf thing." Complications, there's more than just turning into a wolf and having to follow every alpha command order?

"What kinds of complications? Does she not like me? Is that a wolf thing?" I kept asking him and questioning him to keep him from going outside.

"I'll have to explain it another time, it's a touchy topic for some…" His voice trailed off, as if he was thinking about something else. His face looked frustrated, but I couldn't pinpoint where the frustration was coming from, "I think everything's fine right now though, we can head back into the kitchen."

Emily was grabbing some broken plates off the ground. Must've been a commotion while I was being whisked away into the corridor, and with Leah being pulled out of the kitchen and out the door. Emily sighed, and looked a little guilty herself. Sam helped her with the smaller broken pieces and kissed her once the mess was cleaned up. I stood there with my arms crossed, not knowing what I could do to help, or if anything I ask could be any kind of trigger warning.

"Well, like I was saying, Bella," she peeked outside the glass door again and proceeded with her sentence, "you just gotta run with the wolves, and then maybe they'll stop teasing you." She smiled at me, chuckling a bit. I really didn't mind the teasing, actually. I thought it was funny, but I'd do anything to impress them, or get on their best sides as possible.

"That's great, how do I do that?" I asked her, but the question was aimed towards Jacob as well as the others. Running with the vampires really meant me holding onto Edward while he soared through the woods, and I had to hold my breath then to keep myself from passing out. How would one even 'run with the wolves?' Embry, Quil, Seth, Emily and Sam all looked at Jacob and started laughing in synchronization. I didn't understand, but I feel like I have a pretty good idea.

The rest of the pack, excluding Leah, all went into the woods. We went near a hiking trail that goes for miles north of the reservation. We stopped by a few trees that opened a clear path narrowing down the hiking trail. The air was still crisp, so I felt a few chills going down my arms. Jacob walked up next to me wrapping his arms around me, warming me up. A last long chill radiated up my spine, as my blood began to heat up, and so I rested my face against him till he let me go.

"So, you want to know how to run with the wolves? Well, stand back," Jacob said to me. I walked a few paces back closer to where Emily and Sam were standing. Sam then walked away as well from Emily and both nudged us closer behind a tree that both would block us from them. They both began undressing, and the snarling of their jaws and ripping of their bodies morphed into their wolf form. The sight of it was still incredible, as if I was seeing it for the first time. Two large wolves, one russet, and the other black towering over large brambles in the forest, about my height, as well.

"Oh, she's getting ready for an experience of the century," Jared nudged Paul in excitement. Oh no, if this is what I'm thinking it is... Emily walked over to Sam's wolf form and patted his back. He crouched to the ground letting her climb onto his back. She leaned forward holding the scruff of his fur behind his neck, and he stood back up. She was towering over everyone, so high up into the air on top of this giant beast.

"C'mon, Vampire girl. Jump on" She said, laughing as the others joined. What do I do? Do I even participate in something like this? How did my life even turn out like this? One day kissing vampires and riding on their backs, and another day climbing onto the back of a werewolf? This was crazy stuff. This was the stuff you read about in books or watch in those horribly edited movies or tv shows. You don't do this in the regular world.

"I-I don't think I should... This is a bad idea; I can't do this." Jacob walked over towards me, nodding his head. He then stuck his tongue out and rolled over onto his back, with his paws slouched against his rib cage. I reached my hand out and started rubbing his belly, and the other guys started moaning, as if they were disturbed by the interaction. I don't know what their problem was, Jake seemed to be enjoying it. His eyes were closing, until Sam barked at him, and Jacob perked back up onto his feet. He then bowed his head at me, signally me to get on top of him.

I nudged my way closer to him, running my fingers along his back. He crouched down the way Sam did, and I stood there for a moment contemplating this decision. I then climbed myself onto his back, leaning forward, grabbing the scruff on the back of his neck as Emily did. I learned forward whispering into his ear.

"Don't let me fall… please," He then shook his head back and forth, rolling his eyes at me letting out a loud coughing sound that must've been him laughing at me. He shifted his weight back up onto his four legs. It was as high as I imagined it to feel, maybe more. I kept myself leaned up against his neck holding on with as tight of a grip as I could.

"Watch out, vampire girl. Jacob's the fastest out of us, besides Leah," Embry joked at me.

"Yeah, wouldn't want him running you into a tree from making googly eyes at you," Quil said, laughing with the others, other than Sam and Emily, laughing as, well. Jake turned towards him barking at him, and kicked Quil to the ground, then turned back around facing North towards the long hiking trail.

"No need to worry, Bella. Jake's fast, but he has good reflexes." Emily said to me, with that warm smile of hers, that faintly pulled up less on the side of her face that was scared. She then rubbed Sam's neck. I smiled back at her nodding. What was I getting myself into? I would be foolish to do this, but Emily is doing it. I can't back out now. This was peer pressure, pure peer pressure.

"Alright, you guys. This race will be clean, and easy. On your mark-" Jared and Paul flagging us down.

"Wait, race? Wait a sec-"

"Get set..."

"No wait, I don't-" I grabbed tightly onto Jacob's fur, leaning forward again, closing my eyes.

"GO!" Jared and Paul jumped out of the way, and Jacob and Sam both launched forward. I heard a loud high screaming pitch bouncing around the forest, and through the trees. I looked over at Emily who had her eyes closed, and her face lifted to the sky. Her beautiful hair soared through the wind. She wasn't the one screaming. Oh, it was me. I halted my screaming and bared my face into Jacobs scruff where my head was. So much rapid movement, so much wind blowing through my hair, and the crisp hair was freezing my back cold. My hands were warm though, since they were wrapped in his fur.

The pace kept going, and I no longer could see Emily or Sam next to us or behind us. Jake was fast, really fast. He completely outran them till he was no longer in their sights. I looked up, directly at the path Jake was taking. The trees soared past us, just like they had when I held onto Edward, and Jake never skipped a beat, it was constant, rough, but constant down the trail. And then Jake ended up taking a hard-left turn, shifting his body position while running the turn as much to make my body not fly off. I held on even tighter, baring my face into his fur, until we stopped. I let go of my tight grip and looked back up. We were in an open field with some flowers and weeds covering the ground. The flowers weren't fully grown yet, only a few were. I looked around, sitting up on his back now. I could see a broken tree against the tree line, and that's when I knew where we were.

My face dropped in a panic. The last time I was here, I was being hunted down by Laurent. I wouldn't say hunted, because I ran into him, but it was where I thought I was going to die until Jacob and his friends saved me. Jacob started to shake his body as a signal for me to climb off him. I hopped off landing my feet onto the blooming weeds. I walked forward, and felt warmth emitting from behind me. I turned around seeing Jacob had turned back into his human form and was getting dressed again. After he was finished getting changed, he walked over to where I was slowly pacing myself around the field.

"You remember this? It's the place you first saw me as a wolf. I mean, you didn't know. But it was." He started arming his elbow up to scratch the back of his neck when I remained silent.

I didn't know what to say, because that wasn't what this field meant to me. This field meant something more, something more romantic, something filled with fairy tales. I walked around some more, pacing myself towards the broken tree. When I got towards it, it was rotting. The broken areas were hollowing out, and weeds were sprouting through them, along with mushrooms filling the darker shaded areas. I ran my hand across it remembering the moment that Edward ripped the tree out of the ground and launched it across the field to make me afraid of him. It didn't work obviously, it just made me more 'dazzled' by him in a way I couldn't explain. This field was the first area where I saw him wearing a short sleeved beige shirt, he said we were matching, and his skin glistened like diamonds in the sun rays. It was also the place where I apparently 'dazzled him' by apparently coercing him when I touched him. Down a different trail would be the area that we had parked, and he decided to kiss me for the first time in my truck. This field was also the place where Edward propped me back onto the ground after my first 'vampire run.' This field had a lot of memories, but the memories weren't directed to Jacob.

A tear ran down my cheek as I kept looking around the field. I looked directly at the spot where Edward and I lay down in the field of weeds and flowers under the sun rays shining on his beautiful diamond like skin. It was one of my favorite moments of being with him. The pain was there again, in my chest. I tried my best to conceal it, for Jake's sake

"Bella? Bella are you okay?" He wrapped his arm around me holding me, "I'm so sorry. I should've thought better about it. Especially since you ran into one of those blood suckers here." Laurent. He was talking about Laurent. I could care less about that moment. I wasn't scared to die. None of that scared me, but it scares me to be here, it scares me to feel the pain of the memories from this place.

"Yeah, could we leave?" I asked him; turning towards him. He looked down and wiped the tear rolling down my cheek.

"Do you want to 'ride' the werewolf?" His eyebrows raised and he gave me a smirk. It did make me laugh a little bit, enough to push him out of the way.

"Shut up, Jake," we both laughed at his comment and turned away back to where we came. In the corner of my eye on the far side of the field, I saw a shimmer of light. I turned my head to look at it, but the shimmer was gone.

"You know? Yeah, change back. I don't feel like walking to be honest." I looked over at him giving a shy smile.

"Whatever you say," He returned the smile, but he was full of excitement.

I took a few paces back while he was changing out of his clothes again, and then with low growl and ripping of his body was shaped back into his wolf form. I waited for him to kneel and I climbed back on. I turned my head back around at where the shimmer in the far corner of the field was located. Jacob grumbled a bit looking at me waiting for me to shift myself forward so he could stand back up and take off. I followed his lead and leaned forward grabbing the tuft of fur on the back of his neck. As he stood back up, taking off, I turned my head again, staring at that spot in the field. I was surprised Jacob didn't notice, but I suppose it was too far away, or too brief for him to recognize the scent. But I knew what it was, I knew who it was.