Today's Quote: You can't always control who walks into your life... but you can control which window you throw them out of. ;)
I was calmer, but still a mess when I got home. If Bella noticed my hands were still shaking, she was kind enough not to comment. Dad's cruiser was in the driveway — I hadn't realized how late it was. The sky was already dusky.
"Bella? Morgana?" Dad asked when Bella slammed the front door behind us and hastily turned the locks. She shoved the keys into her jeans pocket.
"Yeah, it's us." My voice was unsteady.
"Where have you been?" he thundered, appearing through the kitchen doorway with an ominous expression. It was probably the first time I had seen him truly mad at me. Even with me running off for James, he had only been angrily concerned. I hesitated.
"We were hiking," Bella admitted before I could say anything. His eyes were tight.
"What happened to going to Jessica's?"
"I didn't feel like Calculus today."
"And she's a bitch," I muttered. Bella jabbed me in the stomach with her pointy elbow. "What? She is!"
"Not the time," she hissed.
Dad folded his arms across his chest. "I thought I asked you girls to stay out of the forest."
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I won't do it again."
I shuddered at Bella's words. I most certainly was done with creepy meadows connected to vampires. Dad seemed to really look at me for the first time. I remembered that I had spent some time on the forest floor today crying; I must be a mess.
"What happened?" Dad demanded.
"We saw the bear." I tried to say it calmly, but my voice was high and shaky. "It's not a bear, though—it's some kind of wolf. And there are five of them. A big black one, and gray, and reddish-brown… they were so big..."
Dad's eyes grew round with horror. He strode quickly to me and grabbed both of our arms, pulling us close so he could search our faces.
"Are you okay?"
Our heads bobbed in a weak nod.
Dad led us over to the couch. "Tell me what happened," he ordered, sitting.
"They didn't pay any attention to me. But after they were gone, I ran away and I fell down a lot," Bella explained.
"They were… humongous. Like monsters," I said, my voice high again. I wasn't sure if it was the wolves or Laurant that scared me most; I could at least talk to a vampire. He let go of my shoulders and wrapped his arms around me. For a long moment, he didn't say anything.
"Wolves," he murmured. "The rangers said the tracks were wrong for a bear—but wolves just don't get that big… How many did you say you saw?"
"Five."
Dad shook his head, frowning with anxiety, He finally spoke in a tone that allowed no argument. "No more hiking."
"No problem," I promised fervently. Dad called the station to report what I'd seen. He'd gotten up to grab his cellphone, but when he'd made a move to talk privately in the other room, I dragged him back onto the couch, curling into his side.
We fudged a little bit about where exactly we'd seen the wolves—claiming we'd been on the trail that led to the north. I didn't want Dad to know how deep I'd gone into the forest against his wishes, and, more importantly, I didn't want anyone wandering near where I had killed Laurant. The thought of it made me feel sick.
"Are you hungry?" he asked me when he hung up the phone. He held a hand to my forehead. "You feel clammy, are you okay Ana?"
I pressed my head into his shoulder. "I'm fine."
"She's not," Bella interjected. "He - one of the wolves, I mean -, got scarily close to her. It gave her a big fright."
"Oh, baby," Dad said. He pushed my hair off my face. "You're okay, Ana, they can't get you now."
Right. I was in no danger because I wasn't in the forest. Oh, and, you know, I had killed Laurant. That happened too.
"I know," I said. My words sounded false even to me. "I'll be fine."
Dad's forehead creased. "How about I call pizza for dinner, and we just stay here and watch a movie." And I'll keep an eye on you.
"That sounds great, Dad."
"Bells, you too. I know you're into horror at the moment, but maybe you can choose something light-hearted for tonight."
Bella nodded, and headed over to the bookshelf filled with DVDs, her fingers running down the spines of the cases. Dad tucked me under his arm. I was nearly suffocating in the position I was in, but I pressed closer to him, wanting the comfort only a father could provide.
"Hey," Dad said, his voice suddenly suspicious again. "Didn't you say Jacob was gone for the day?"
"That's what Billy said," Bella told him. He studied her expression for a minute, and seemed satisfied with what he saw there.
"Huh."
"Why?"
"Well, it's just that when I went to pick up Harry, I saw Jacob out in front of the store down there with some of his friends. I waved hi, but he… well, I guess I don't know if he saw me. I think maybe he was arguing with his friends. He looked strange like he was upset about something. And… different. It's like you can watch that kid growing! He gets bigger every time I see him."
"Billy said Jake and his friends were going up to Port Angeles to see some movies. They were probably just waiting for someone to meet them."
"Oh…" Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Dad switched to food." Bells, what do you want on your pizza?"
"Um… Something with vegetables, please."
Dad made a disgusted noise. "How are you my daughter?" He shook his head. "Whatever. Vegetarian for the disgrace to this family, and what for Morgana? Don't let me down, kid."
"Extra-cheesy cheese pizza."
"Ugh! What is wrong with you children? Who has brainwashed you in such a way?"
I giggled. "Let me guess, Meat Lovers, with extra meats, hold the sauce, the cheese, and the base too?"
He poked me in my side. "Maybe I will get that. But because you tease me so, you don't get any garlic bread."
"Dad! This is the worst form of betrayal!"
Sleeping is easy. Painless. Calming. Getting to sleep while being haunted by images of the vampire I killed two days ago is a lot harder. Every time I closed my eyes, I could hear Laurent's screams as though they were real, encompassing all my senses until the only thing I knew was his pain. And then my eyes would flash open, and the screams were gone, except I could feel the ash settling on my skin, and I could see his face twist and melt, and all I wanted to do was scratch and scratch until the feeling left me.
I wanted Carlisle.
He picked up in ton the first ring, and I could almost hear his chastising expression as he spoke. "It's two in the morning. You need to sleep, sweetheart."
In the dark of my room, it was all too easy to pretend that he was sitting next to me, not halfway across the country.
"I can't," I whispered brokenly.
"Is it the nightmares again?"
I laughed bitterly. "God, I wish. I haven't even gotten to sleep yet."
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there, baby."
"Not your fault."
"I know, but... Are you sure you don't want me to fly back. I could be in Forks in just a few hours."
How my whole being longed for Carlilse to return. But it wasn't smart. If someone saw him, rumours would spark and he would find himself the centre of Forks gossip for a month. And if Bella saw him... well she might just break to a point where even Jacob couldn't bring her back.
"I love you, and I want you here so badly, but I'm safe. It's not worth the risk." It broke my heart to deny his arrival, but I had survived without him for the last few months, I would be able to continue as long as we kept calling. And I douted I could take the pain of seeing him again only to have him ripped away. "Can you just, like, talk to me for a bit? I just need to hear your voice for a while."
"Okay, baby," he said. His tone was soft - most likely on purpose, trying to lull me to sleep if he could. "You'll never believe what Emmett and Jasper got up to today. Alice and Rosalie went clothes shopping, so of course, the boys had to sit through an hour-long fashion show. They were not impressed, and Rosalie goaded them into betting that they could do a better show themselves."
"Oh no."
"Indeed. Now, obviously, neither of them were going to model, so they caught a moose, brought it back home, and dressed it up."
"I'm sorry, they what?"
"I could hardly believe it myself. I'll send you some photos."
I heard my laptop ping, so I crawled out from under the bedsheet covers and padded over to my desk. I opened an email with several attachments and promptly found myself crying with laughter. Carlisle hadn't lied; a poor moose had been dressed up as a Victorian styled lady, a clown, Batman, and in a sexy two-piece swimsuit.
"Oh my god! That's adorable. I hope they won."
"They did. Rosalie was not impressed, but aside from her and Alice, the vote was unanimous."
"I bet. What else?"
"Did I ever tell you the time I got into a speed-round painting contest with Esme?" At my silence, he continued. "Well, we had thirty seconds exactly to paint a landscape from memory, while simultaneously being pelted with tomatoes by the children…"
At some point in the night, I finally lost the battle against my tiredness and Carlisle's soothing voice, and had drifted to a nightmare-less sleep. I wasn't okay, - far from it -, but I had Carlisle on my side, so I knew I would be. I just had to take it one step at a time.
Ghostwriter71 - The wolves are gonna be awesome to write - I'm so excited for Morgana to be introduced to them. Totally unrelated, you should probably be very afraid for Morgana...
Brookie Twiling - Yeah... I kinda forgot about William too lol. I kinda want to remove him, but I think I'll just leave him for ease and to avoid confusion. He'll just be a very background character.
lolistarkiller - Charlie is definitely about to get a bigger role in HIB - you won't have to wait too long. And thank you. I don't so much get writer's block as I just tend to run out of time in the day to update, and HIB slips to the back of my mind. But don't worry. I won't give up HIB, it may just take me a bit to get it done.
magicbustrip - Your wish is my command. ;)
ksyushangel - Umm, thanks?
DxGRAYxMAN - I know! I was like FINALLY Bella! You've realised how awesome Morgana is!
Guest - Haha
nizem8 - Burn who? Laurent? Morgana just did that.
Luscious'Golden'Locks - Kinda brought him back? Give it maybe 5 or so chapters, and Carlisle will be totally back and making like a million appearances.
jhaenox - Yup - always gonna be more coming. Might take me a bit to write, but I won't ever abandon HIB. There's heaps moe action and drama to come!