She was floating again. This time though, she recognized the woods of La Push instantly. She was aimless, wandering around throughout the greenery, passing through the invisible border of La Push and Forks. She could hear laughter and what sounded like the clattering of boulders up ahead, and she found herself drawn to the sound.
Drawing closer, the first thing she noticed was a large hulking mass of a man with short dark hair, holding an elk. In horror, she watched as he brought the animal to his mouth and sank his teeth in. She could literally see the life force draining out of the poor thing, a silver mist wafting off the animal and up into the night.
There were two other men with him, though they weren't as tall and bulky as the elk murderer. One had unruly coppery hair, and the other had wavy, shoulder length honey blond hair. All of them had the same golden eyes, and pale white skin. They all had smiles on their faces, and were laughing as the large one discarded the elk under some brush.
"This isn't your bachelor party, Emmett," The wavy haired one said with a shake of his head. "You know we have to go further up into the mountains to get Edward's choice of meal."
"We better get a move on," Emmett, the hulking man, responded with a laugh. "Eddy's going to need to eat as much as he can so he's ready for his honeymoon."
All three of them laughed at that, and with speed that defied all logic, darted further into the woods. Rayna was left confused and horrified at what she had witnessed. Were they demons?
"My son has finally found his happiness."
Rayna turned to see a man with a slightly ruddy face, and messy coppery hair with the beginning streaks of silver, standing at the place where the three pale men had been. This man was certainly human, wearing clothes that looked straight out of a history book.
"Your son?" Rayna couldn't stop the question from coming out of her mouth.
The man turned to face her, and that was when she noticed he had the same silver shimmer that the elk's spirit had. He disappeared, or perhaps faded was the better way to put it. He disappeared in a shimmer of silver, the tendrils snaking their way into the night sky.
She felt herself floating again, this time back towards the borders of La Push. Unlike last time, she felt guided, focused. It didn't scare her like before. As she neared the little red house, she was engulfed in a blinding white light, and once again, everything went black.
Rayna woke up in her bed, tangled in her blankets. This time, she didn't feel sick, just creeped out by what she had witnessed, and even more confused. Those dreams.. They were so real. So real.
The time read 7:03 AM, so she decided to fix her blanket and try to get more sleep. The wedding wasn't until 5, so she didn't have to be ready until four. She could use a few more hours of sleep.
Just as she was drifting back to sleep, her door cracked open. She opened her eyes, and to her surprise, saw Jacob's head poked through the door.
"Jake!" Rayna shouted, voice clogged with sleep. She stumbled her way out of bed, and was engulfed in a hug by her brother. "You came home."
"I did." Jacob said into her hair as they hugged, letting her go after a few moments. "Sorry I left so soon after your homecoming."
"Yeah, that was kinda a dick move," Rayna batted his shoulder, sweeping her hair out of her face. "I'm just glad you came home."
"Me too." Jacob agreed, his eyes sweeping over her room. His hair was long and shaggy, nearing his shoulders. He was in need of a haircut.
"Are you going to the wedding?" Rayna questioned, stifling a yawn. She stretched her arms over her head, feeling the satisfaction of her shoulders popping.
"Yeah, any chance you could help me clean this mop up?" Jacob gestured awkwardly to his hair, his hands falling to his sides.
"I miss your long hair." Rayna said softly, very faint memories of watching her mother braid Jacob's hair in the living room crossing her mind.
"It just gets in the way," Jacob shrugged, leaning against her door frame. "Can you help me?"
"I think I can manage." Rayna nodded, motioning towards the kitchen.
They met Billy in the kitchen, who watched them with a smile on his face. Billy seemed so much more relaxed, less tense, now that Jacob was home. And from his body language, he enjoyed seeing the two of them spending bonding time together.
Rayna used the kitchen sink hose to wet her brother's hair, and used their rusty kitchen shears to cut his hair. Billy brought out his very old hair shaver, and Rayna used that to get the sides. It ended up looking more or less like the style he had before he left, and Jacob was satisfied.
"You did a much better job than I would have." Jacob complimented her, running his hands through the top of his hair.
"Thanks," Rayna laughed, cleaning off the scissors and putting them back in their place. As Jacob got up from his seat, she handed him the broom and dust pan. "In return, you can clean all your hair up."
Jacob took the broom with only minimal grumbling, causing Billy to laugh heartily. Rayna decided she would make breakfast, and once Jacob finished cleaning up, he sat at the table with Billy and they made small talk. Some of what they said didn't make sense, but she didn't question it.
Just as she was taking the last piece of bacon off the pan, there was a loud knock at the door. Jacob was the one who answered it, and suddenly the room was filled with large, warm bodies that Rayna didn't recognize.
All except one. Paul Lahote.
Rayna immediately felt panicked, because all of these strangers just walked into her home and all she was wearing was her large oversized sleep shirt, no shorts, no bra, no makeup, her hair a tangled mess shoved into a bun on the top of her head.
The men all started talking to Jacob, giving him hugs and making their way into their small home. Two of them walked over to Rayna, and she was sure her face was on fire.
"Long time no see!" Embry Call gave Rayna a big hug, shocking her at how much he had grown.
"Hawaii got too boring?" Quil Ateara gave her a hug next, a tight squeeze before flicking her bun.
The two of them were Jacob's longtime best friends, so she grew up with them. They were basically family now, and she was shocked she didn't recognize them. They seemed to have gone through the same growth spurt and muscle gain that Jacob and Seth had.
"It was just time to come back home." Rayna said with a smile, self consciously tugging her shirt down. It went to her thighs, but the room full of men was making her nervous.
"We're glad you're back," Embry said sincerely, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving a squeeze. "Any chance you would make your magic bars?"
Rayna gave him a playful shove, laughing. "I'll see what I can do."
Embry was always obsessed with Rayna's special dessert bars. He had begged and begged for her to teach him how to make them, but she refused, claiming it was her secret and her secret only. Truth was, she had found the recipe when she was thirteen and missing her mother a little extra, going through a box of Sarah's old things. It was stuck to the back of a cassette tape, and the writing was so faded she could barely make it out.
"I didn't make enough breakfast for everyone." Rayna stated awkwardly to Billy, who was listening to one of the men tell a story.
"It's fine, these boys can fend for themselves." Billy said with a genuine smile. He seemed so at ease with all the men roaming his house. Like they were all family. It made Rayna happy, that even if Billy had lost his two older daughters, and been without his youngest for two years, he had found others to help fill the whole they left.
Rayna nodded, and stealthily made her way towards her room. She didn't bother having breakfast, her appetite had not lessened, but she felt uncomfortable being half naked with all the strangers in her house. She would just get ready now, shower and put on comfy clothes until it was closer to wedding time, but she needed to shower before she did anything else.
A warm hand wrapped around her forearm, and she spun around quickly to see who was touching her.
It was Paul.
She stared at his feet, having averted her eyes before they could meet his. She didn't want to look at him. Rather, she wanted to stare at his dirty shoes like it would make him go away.
"Can we talk?" His voice was still the same. The sound of it sent so many emotions through her, she didn't know where to begin unpacking them.
"I don't know that I want to talk to you." Rayna said the words with a biting edge, finally gaining the courage to look him in the eyes.
He was even more handsome now than he had been at sixteen. Just like the other guys, he was taller, more muscular, but on him, it was different. His black tee clung to his abs, making it not very hard to imagine the body underneath. Everything about him, from his jawline to his hands, made Rayna find it hard to think,
And his eyes.. Damn, his eyes. She hasn't remembered all the flecks of brown he had hidden away in his dark orbs, framed by thick lashes. They stared at her, holding her own in a locking gaze. She felt something, as they stared at each other, like something inside her snapped and then regrew as a strong, unbreakable cord.
She looked away, averting her eyes in favor of the floor.
"If we can't talk now, can we talk later?" Paul pressed, leaning against the hallway wall. There was almost a desperate edge to his voice now, one that wasn't there before.
"I-I just," Rayna's head was spinning. She was beyond confused, and still wanted to change. All she cared about was taking a shower. "I don't know."
Paul reached out to her then, placing his large hand on her shoulder, his eyes gazing at her like he was soaking in every inch of her. "You look really good."
Butterflies erupted in Rayna's stomach. "So do you." She wouldn't lie. She told herself, back when she first left, that she wouldn't lie anymore. All lying ever did was make things harder in the long run.
She didn't take his hand off her shoulder. He kept it on there, and they both were silent as they just.. Looked at each other.
"Paul, where'd ya go?" One of the unfamiliar men bounded down the hallway, coming to a stop when he saw the two of them.
Paul turned reluctantly. "I'm right here, Jared." He snapped the words at the man, nearly growling to words out.
"You better get back to your friends, Paul," Rayna took the opportunity to make her way into the bathroom, turning the light on. "We can talk later."
Paul focused his eyes on her, his expression unreadable. "I'll hold you to that."
Rayna nodded, and shut the bathroom door. She couldn't shake off the feeling she had gotten when she looked at Paul for the first time since she had left. So far, she had been doing a good job at not thinking about him, but now she felt like it was going to be impossible to not think of him.
With the water on the hottest setting, she focused her energy into making sure she was clean, hairless, and smelled good. By the time she was done with her shower, the house was empty except for Billy, who told her Jacob would be meeting them at the wedding.
She couldn't help but wonder how the wedding was going to go with Jacob being there.
thank you so much to all the kind reviews last chapter. seeing the familiar names of people who read the first story, and are still willing to read the rewrite, make me so happy. and I'm glad its noticeable that my writing matured. I have a very good feeling about this story. I really just can't stop writing it, I love the direction I have it going even though its different from the first one I wrote with Rayna. I am still interested in doing a story where the OC is reincarnated, but I think with my last attempt I tried to do too many things with her. in the future, ill probably be trying that story line again.
sorry if the chapter seems cut off in a weird spot! I decided to cut what I had written in half, because I wanted to break it up a bit. there will be more paul soon! I know, it was a tiny interaction this chapter, but ill make up for it in the future.
let me know what yall thought about the little scene with paul :) thank you once again to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed this story. I truly truly appreciate all of yall.
until next time,
-TheFlyingGraysons