Howl
Chapter One – Charlie's Kid
"Artemis Joanna Keen, you better let go of your cousin's hair right now!" Winston Keen's deep voice bounces off the walls of the small one-story home.
The teenager in question has her fingers wrapped around her cousin Jacob Black's thick black waist length hair. He has a hand pressed against his scalp while his other hand is reaching blindly behind in an attempt to hit her. The pair had only been left for a few minutes and were already causing trouble.
"But, Dad, his hair needs to be braided," she whines as she tugs at it again.
Jake's hand makes contact with her thigh. His fingers pinch together over the fabric of the leggings she wore today and gets enough skin. "Let me go you b—"
"Jacob!" Jake's father Billy, who's diabetes requires him to use a wheelchair, wheels himself into the room.
Artemis releases her grip on his hair. Teeth grinding together at the pain. Her hand falls onto her thigh where she tries to rub the pain away. Jake is smiling smugly at her while she glares back at him. "Jacob Black, you little shi—"
"You end that sentence the way I think you're going to and you lose your phone privileges," Winston cuts in. His threat is hollow. He has not been able to punish his children since they lost their mother years ago.
"It's all right, Winston," Billy says as he adjusts his wheelchair into his usual area of the living room. In his hand he is holding the TV remote. The men have plans to watch a new baseball documentary about a retired player. "Jake needs a female touch, have you seen how unruly his hair is?"
Jake gapes at his father in disbelief. "You never said anything to me before!" he shouts a moment later.
"When is the last time you brushed your hair, Jake?" His father asks.
Artemis presses her lips together to fight off a smile – it barely works. Her uncle's not wrong. Jake's hair is a greasy mess that is in desperate need of a good combing and trim. Growing up without their mothers and a mostly absent Winston meant the pair were raised by Jake's older sisters Rachel and Rebecca. The twins could only handle so much before they both flew out of the reservations without so much as a look back. The lack of feminine touch is painfully obvious with the state of their home.
"Can I please braid your hair?" Artemis reaches for it once again.
Jake jumps to his feet, his hands flailing out in front of him as he attempts to fend her off. "No! definitely not! Don't touch my hair!"
The sound of a spluttering engine cuts off any further conversation. The awful noise is approaching the house and from the look on Jake's face, it is someone he knows. Without so much as a word, Jake is out the front door just as the engine cuts. Artemis knows it can't be Jake's friends Embry and Quil, they don't own cars of their own. It could be a girlfriend but surely someone would have told her that. A look over at her uncle piques her curiosity. He seems to recognize the sound and mostly likely the person behind it.
The front door had been left open in Jake's haste to exit. She walks over and peaks around the door frame to see her uncle's old orange pickup truck parked in the driveway. The same truck that drove too damn slow and made far too much noise. Its new driver is a girl much shorter than Jake. From where she is standing Artemis can see that she is far too pale with long brown hair, wearing clothes that look a size too big on her.
As if feeling someone is watching her, the girl turns her head to look in her direction. She spots Artemis, who is now standing in the doorframe, staring at them. The girl turns back to Jake as the pair exchange a few words. Jake gestures towards his cousin and its not hard to tell what they are talking about.
The pair turn and Jake leads the girl towards the house. He's beaming from ear to ear like he's seeing the sun for the first time in days. Artemis can't remember him being this excited before, not even when he got the PlayStation 2 for his birthday. She could feel a bitter taste in her mouth. Two years of phone calls and email exchanges between various people on the reservation only to find out Jake has a girlfriend this way.
When the pair finally is close enough to Artemis, she can finally get a better look at the girl. She's not pale, she's a ghostly white. Her brown hair is brushed but lacks volume and attention. Her eyes are sunken in with dark circles underneath as if she hasn't slept in days.
"Arty, this is Bella Swan, you remember her from back in the day, right?" Jake asks.
Artemis frowns when she catches the look. Bella is not staring at her but at the scars that run down the left side of Artemis' face from her hairline to her collarbone. The three jagged scars, pink in hue, are a permanent reminder of her near-death experience only months ago. Bella's curious eyes are taking them in with sympathy – an emotion Artemis cannot stomach anymore.
She clears her throat snapping Bella's attention away from the scars and onto her instead. A sheepish look crosses her face as she didn't mean to stare. "I don't remember you, but I think I know your dad. Charlie, right?" Bella nods. "Chief and my dad are good friends, they go fishing…" she trails off as she realizes that the conversation has no real substance behind it. Bella doesn't know her, nor does she know Bella.
Jake sighs and gently pushes his cousin back into the house with Bella following behind them. "Dad, look who dropped by!" he cheers, "Bella!"
Artemis snorts, "I'm sure he can see that. Your dad is crippled not blind," she mutters.
Billy smiles, not in the way Jake is, but it's the same smile he had given her when she arrived at the airport in Seattle. He had been happy to see her alive. A sinking feeling filles her stomach as she looks over towards Charlie's daughter. She realizes that there is something more behind her appearance.
"Good to see you, Bella," he says before his smile drops. "Is something wrong with Charlie?"
"No, no, Charlie is okay. I came to see Jake, I didn't mean to intrude," Bella responds.
"No, it's all right. I doubt you remember me, but I'm a friend of your old man. Winston Keen," Artemis' father introduces himself to her. Though he does stand out of respect, he does not extend his hand.
Bella nods, "So I hear."
"Can you stay for dinner? Winston's making chicken," Billy asks eagerly.
"Whoa, since when did Winston agree to make dinner?" Winston asks his brother-in-law before turning back to Bella. "But yeah, please stay for dinner. We can even invite Charlie up. I haven't seen the guy in a long time."
Bella laughs, its to hide her discomfort. "It's not like you guys won't see me or Charlie again. I promise to be back again soon – so much so that you'll get sick of me, Billy."
"Ha! Uncle Billy would prefer you being here. He'd actually have someone to talk to that doesn't have the IQ of a goldfish, right, Jake?" Artemis jabs him in the ribs with her elbow.
Jake rolls his eyes, wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her tight into his side. "Not like you're any smarter."
"I wasn't the one who believed Santa was real even at the age of thirteen."
"You little shi—ouch!" Jake yelps as he feels a pinch to his side. "You bitch!" he shouts pushing her away from himself.
Artemis gapes at him then turns to face her dad. "Dad! Did you hear his foul mouth?!"
Ignoring her complaints, Jake turns to his friend, "So, Bella, what do you wanna do?"
"Whatever it was you guys were doing before I interrupted?"
While his cousin is distracted by her father, Jake takes this opportunity to get Bella out of the house and as far away from Artemis as he could. "I was heading out to work on my car, but we can something else?"
Bella shakes her head. "No, that's perfect. I'd love to see your car."
"Okay," Jake hesitates as he sees Artemis is watching them now. Her eyes narrow and she looks upset with him. Two whole years apart and on her first full day back he's already ditching her for a girl. Jake knows he should feel guilty, but he doesn't. "It's out back, in the garage."
Bella waves goodbye to everyone in the room and starts to leave. "See you later, It was nice meeting you."
"Nice to meet you too, Bella," Artemis smiles wide. Her tone is sweet, and Jake knows she's about to say something to embarrass him. "Don't do anything stupid you too. Make sure you're being safe," she winks.
Bella's face turns a shade of pink that brings life to her features. Jake coughs awkwardly and ushers Bella out of the house. Winston smacks an open palm against his daughter's shoulder blade. She jerks forward at the force but maintains her smile of satisfaction at the results she received.
"Are you tryin' to keep your cousin single forever?" he asks.
Billy laughs, "he does that all on his own."
Artemis rolls her eyes, reaches for the remote then flips the channel to MTV. It doesn't go over well with the men in the house. They kick her out of the living room and flip the channel back to the one Billy had turned to earlier. She decides she might as well make herself useful and get started on dinner.
It doesn't take long into prep to get interrupted. Jake's two best friends since infancy, Embry Call and Quil Ateara, walk into the Black house without knocking. In the sixteen years Quil has known Jake he had only ever knocked on the door once. Joy, Quil's mother, had been horrified to find out her son "has no manners" and lectured him about the importance of knocking and waiting for an invitation inside. The lesson from her talk had gone in one ear and out the other. He didn't knock the next day.
Their appearance came as no surprise to either Billy or Winston. They had expected the boys. The men point them in the direction of the kitchen where Artemis is stood over the stove cooking. Her back is turned to the teens as she hums a melody to herself. She's making fried chicken, her father's favorite food. She holds a chicken cutlet, dips it into a coat of flour, then dips through the egg wash, and then a generous slathering of seasoned breadcrumbs before dropping it beside the remaining pile of coated chicken.
Embry's hand reaches past Artemis, towards a piece of corn bread. Before his fingers can graze the freshly made bread a wooden spoon whacks the back of his hand. He cries out in pain looking in fear at his friend as she glares at him.
"I missed you," he squeaks out scared of her now that she's holding a weapon.
She rolls her eyes before leaning over to plan a kiss onto his cheek. "I missed you, too."
Quil lets out a whine from her other side. He's not one for being ignored, especially if female attention is involved. "Hey! I missed you, too!"
She turns and gives him a kiss as well. As she pulls away from him, she takes note of the changes in their appearance. When she left the reservation, the pair were two scrawny thirteen and fourteen-year-olds with chubby cheeks and baby faces. She was surprised by Jake's growth spurt and it was no different with the two boys in front of her. The three boys stood over six feet tall while Artemis, already short at five foot three, felt even more dwarfed by their new height.
Their features have sharpened, and both appear to have gained some muscles. Unlike Jake, the pair had kept their hair short, and it remained so. Quil's curls still gave him his boyish charm while Embry's shaggy hair need to be constantly pushed out of his eyes.
"Jake said you got pretty beat up but holy shit, Arty," Quil says as he takes note of the scars. They're still fresh, their pink hue a noticeable contrast to her naturally tanned skin. There was no hiding them.
Embry punches his best friend's shoulder, "you look beautiful," he compliments her.
Laughing gleefully, she pulls him down for a warm embrace. It's been a while since someone outside her family had called her beautiful. She had once been the girl everyone talked about. Natural tan skin with dark brown hair and brown eyes with her small nose and her athletic body had been what brought in the compliments. They had been what she signified as her beauty until the accident happened.
"This is why you're my favorite."
"I am deeply offended by that comment," Quil says, "I thought you don't pick favorites."
She scoffs as she pulls away. "Embry made an effort to call me every day. When did you call? Oh, that's right! To wish me a belated birthday three months after my birthday."
Quil looks over at his best friend who is trying to avoid eye contact. He knows what Quil's thinking. There will be teasing for days about this new bit of information Artemis let out. The boys had already thought Embry had some crush on Jake's cousin, this would only serve to fan those flames again.
"Where's Jake?" he asks.
"He's out back in the garage. Let me get my dad to finish cookin' and we'll go."
The trio walk into the living room where the older men are talking passionately. The TV is on a commercial break, some advertisement for a brand-new lawn mower. She taps her father's shoulder grabbing his attention. "I got some chicken waitni' for the fryer and the potatoes are almost done for the mash."
"And where ya goin'?" he asks as he turns in his seat. His blue eyes squint as they sweep over the three teenagers.
"Out back to see Jake, Sir," Quil answers.
Billy smiles, "Can't go a moment without each other?" he teases them.
"Naw, Billy, that's the love of my life," Quil says with a grin.
The group make their way out of the house, around the corner, and down the path to the garage. It's out of the way and not an easy access for someone like Billy. Artemis wonders why Billy and her dad had chosen to build the thing there and not closer to the house.
"Jacob?!" Quil shouts for his friend.
Artemis rolls her eyes, "you don't believe me?"
He shrugs, "I don't know. You could be bringing us out here to murder us. Harvest our organs and feed our bodies to the res dogs."
"I don't think Artemis has the strength to take the both of us," Embry comments looking her over.
"Yeah, that's true, but you never know. She could be loaded. We didn't frisk her for any weapons."
"Jake!" Embry shouts playfully as they quicken their pace. "Are you here?"
"Yeah!" Jake shouts back.
"I told you he is!"
Quil shrugs, "you never know. You've been gone a long time, Arty."
"Two years, Quil!" she shouts holding two of her fingers up. "Two years doesn't turn someone into a killer."
"Tell that to Ted Bundy!"
"Do I look like Ted fuckin' Bundy!"
"No," Quil responds in seriousness. "You could pass as the joker. Wanna know how I got these scars vibes coming off of you right now."
Artemis pushes the garage door open. She slides through the gap, her arms raised in exhaustion. "Jacob, take your friends back. I don't want them."
"Hey guys," her cousin greets them in a somber tone. He's not pleased to see them as they're intruding on his alone time with Bella. They were for sure going to scare her off before he could really reconnect with her.
"Hey, Jake," the boys greet back. Both turn their focus on Bella, someone neither of them had seen around here before. When their stares got them a smile, Quil chose to pounce. "Hi there," it's meant to sound smooth, but to the cousins it sounds like he's trying too hard.
"Quil, Embry – this is my friend Bella."
"Charlie's kid, right?" Quil holds his hand out towards her.
"that's right," Bella confirms taking his hand in hers.
He flexes his bicep to show off but there wasn't anything there to be impressed by.
"Nice to meet you, Quil," Bella says as they release their hands.
Embry steps forward, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His nervousness makes Artemis coo about it to Jake who laughs. Another thing to add to that fire from earlier – Artemis' vocal thoughts about his "adorableness". "Hey Bella, I'm Embry, Embry Call – you probably already figured that out, though."
"Nice to meet you, too."
"So, what are you guys doing?" Quil asks, not once has his eyes moved from Bella. He means no harm. He really doesn't, but Quil doesn't get attention from girls – like ever. The staring has clearly started to make Bella uncomfortable so, Artemis slides up beside her friend and pinches his side. Quil yelps and shoves her away, "you bitch!"
Jake clears his throat, "Bella and I are going to fix up these bikes," he answers Quil's question.
The mention of bikes triggers the inner mechanic of the teenage boy. The two girls are left standing by the car as they talk about the two bikes Bella brought. The Volkswagen Rabbit has come a long way since the first photos Jake spent her last year. Most of the parts have been replaced and the restoration is nearly complete.
"You understand anything they're saying?" Bella asks.
Artemis shakes her head, "Naw, I'd learn Latin quicker than I'd know what whatever it was Embry just said."
Bella smiles.
"I'm surprised Charlie let you buy a bike. He was always on my brother Jesse's case for ridin—Oh!" She notices the look of panic that crosses Bella's face. "Charlie doesn't know, does he?"
"Yeah, could you please not tell him?" she asks.
"That's badass, Bella. Your secret is safe with me," Artemis promises. "Lord knows how many times I've broken the rules. Gotten myself into heaps of trouble with my old man far too many times. Makes us all a better person when we rebel, or something like that, I don't know, saw it in a movie once I think."
Bella smiles, "Thanks."
"It's no big deal. Like I said, your ol' man got on my brother's case about riding his dirt bike all the time. That's not a way to live. Charlie seems to forget he was a teenager once too. Most dads do for some reason. It's like becoming the dad sucks the teenage years out of their memories."
"Is your brother the one who crashed into a tree?"
Artemis laughs, "Of course – of course he tells you that story. Naw, that was my best friend. He got distracted and crashed – broke his arm only, thank God. Charlie and my dad had a field day lecturing us about the importance of bike safety."
Bella nods, "your dad and Charlie grew up together?"
"Naw, my dad's from out East. They met through Uncle Billy. Bonded over being the only white guys in a group of Natives."
"That's nice. What does your dad do?"
"He's a doc at Forks Hospital. Well, he was, I don't know if they're going to give him his job back. He did leave pretty quick."
Bella thinks about Carlisle. With the Cullens no longer in Forks the hospital must be in need of a doctor. For selfish reasons she doesn't want to tell Artemis about this. There's an inkling of hope that if the position doesn't get filled than Carlisle might return.
The lack of response from Bella leads Artemis to think that Bella's only asking to seem polite. It's a gesture that doesn't sit well with her. She would much rather have a conversation with someone willing to get to know each other and bond than someone who is just asking to keep conversation going. What's the point of talking to someone who doesn't care to hear what you have to say?
Their conversation dies out as they watch the boys.
After a few minutes of the boys shouting over one another about a specific part, Artemis notices the time. "Dinner should be ready soon."
Bella takes this as her cue to go. She slides out from inside the Rabbit and gives an audible sigh that grabs Jake's attention. He gives Bella an apologetic look, "We're boring you, aren't we?"
"Yes!" Artemis whines throwing her head back in exasperation.
"Naw," Bella replies, "I just have to go cook dinner for Charlie."
It's a valid excuse, but Charlie wouldn't mind a late dinner if it meant he could have it with his best friends. "You sure you don't wanna stay and have Charlie come by?" Artemis extends the invitation from earlier again.
"No, no it's all right," Bella declines.
"Oh… well, I'll finish taking these apart tonight and figure out what more we'll need to get started rebuilding them. When do you want to work on them again?" Jake asks.
"Could I come back tomorrow?" Bella asks.
Embry and Quil nudge each other. They smile at their best friend, proud that a is actively seeking to hang out with one of them. Artemis finds this both comical and pathetic.
"That would be great!" Jake isn't able to hide his excitement.
"If you make a list, we can go shop for parts," Bella suggests.
Jake's face falls, "I'm not sure I should let you pay for everything."
At this Artemis coughs. She knows Jake is strapped for cash. He's been working odd shifts at the local shop to help his dad out since Billy no longer is able to work. The Rabbit project is mostly funded by Winston's holiday and birthday cash gifts. It wouldn't have made it as far as it did if it was only funded on Jake's paycheck.
"Jake, if I took these to a mechanic, how much would he charge me?" Bella asks.
At this Jake smiles. She's got him. "Okay, you're getting a deal," he admits.
"Not to mention the riding lessons," Bella adds without thinking about their audience.
Without missing a beat Quil leans over to whisper something into Embry's ear. It's not hard to assume it is something suggestive when Embry snickers. Jake smacks the back of his friend's head and tells both to get out.
Bella cuts in, "No, really, I have to go."
She's already walking towards the exit. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jacob."
When she's out of sight Jake's two friends let out loud and obnoxious Woos. He lunges for them taking them both down with ease. Once all three are on the ground their fists start flying. They're wrestling and hitting each other, but Jake's got the upper hand as he always has been the biggest of the three.
"If either of you so much as sets one toe on my land tomorrow I will cut your balls off," Jake warns them as he holds Embry in a headlock.
"Harsh much, Buddy?" Embry taps on Jake's forearm for release.
"How am I supposed to have kids?" Quil asks grabbing onto the crotch of his jeans.
Jake releases Embry from his hold and gets to his feet. "Who would want to have your kids?"
Still sprawled out on the ground and holding onto his crotch, Quil lulls his head to the side to look up at Artemis. She's standing with her arms crossed, scowl etched on her face. "You wanna make some cute kids?" he asks.
She brings a finger to her mouth and pretends to gag.
Embry howls with laughter.
Quil isn't happy about that and reaches over to punch his friend's thigh. "Shut up. At least I can talk to women. What was that earlier? Embry – Embry Call, but you already knew that."
"Guys! I'm serious!" Jake shouts. "I need you to promise me you won't come over tomorrow."
"I promise not to ruin your date," Quil says.
"I got shit to do with my mom anyway," Embry shrugs. "She's got me running errands with her in Port Angeles."
Jake looks over at his cousin. He's waiting on her to promise the same thing.
She raises her eyebrows.
"Artemis."
"Jacob. I'm staying at your place until mine is set up, remember? Or did your brain turn to mush at the sight of Bella Swan?"
"Go on a date with me tomorrow?" Quil suggests.
She laughs, "No."
Thanks for reading!
A Paul Lahote slow burn Fan Fic.
Follows the Twilight Saga plot with scenes taken from both the books and movies with Original Characters written in.
You can imagine the OCs however you wish, but these are the actors/models/celebrities who most closely physically resemble how I picture my OCs.
Artemis Keen - Kawennahere Devery Jacobs
Winston Keen - Pierce Brosnan
Jesse Black - Blair Redford
Noah Uley - Martin Sensmeier
Claire Young - Amber Midthunder
Tessa Holliday - Shannon Baker
