Eight

The next week or so was interesting, I spent a lot of my time down on the reservation at Emily's house. I did my school work there but I also spent a lot of my time helping Emily cook for the pack of wolves that protected the reservation. Sam of course questioned me about Peter, and whether or not he was a threat to the pack or anyone in Forks for that matter. After assuring him he wasn't a threat they ignored their presence, knowing they were looking after me. As it was the pack was stretched thin trying to protect the reservation and Forks. Victoria was a conniving, quick vampire, which seemed to keep them on their toes.

Charlie seemed pleased by my spending time down there, meanwhile Bella was getting more and more irritated with the idea that I was pending time on the reservation and therefore must be spending time with Jake – without her. While the fact of the matter was I actually WASN'T spending any time with Jake, he seemed to make that perfectly clear, making extra runs around Bella's home to 'make-sure-she's-safe'. I often spent time with Paul, and Jared. Paul, while extremely raunchy – was fun to be around. Jared was Sam's Beta and was kind. They really like me after I made a batch of peanut butter cookies. They were inhaled in a matter of seconds and seconds as well as thirds were requested.

Things were on a routine and relatively normal. I was helping Emily in the kitchen, she was about to start the eggs when I heard the familiar roar of an engine, glancing outside I frowned when I saw Bella's truck. Instead of being social I grabbed a freshly made blue berry muffin as Embry and Jared came in, Bella trailing in behind. She saw me and her eyes narrowed dangerously. Before she could open her mouth Emily spotted her.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"Bella Swan," Jared said shrugging. "Who else"

"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around," Emily murmured. "So, you're the other vampire girl."

"Yes. Are you the wolf girl?"

The trio laughed.

"I guess I am," Emily turned to Jared. "Where's Sam?"

"Bella, er, surprised Paul this morning."

"Ah, Paul," she sighed. "Do you think they'll be long? I was just about to start the eggs."

"Don't worry," Embry assured her. "If they're late, we won't let anything go to waste."

"No doubt," Emily laughed.

As I helped Emily with eggs I could feel Bella's eyes scan the room. The kitchen was an open friendly place, the cupboards were bright white with pale wooden floorboards. One the little round table, a cracked blue-and-white china pitcher was overflowing with wildflowers. The boys were completely at ease here, it was amazing to see them relaxed for once. I helped Emily with eggs, it was huge, and all being stirred up in a big yellow bowl.

Just before she was getting ready to pour the eggs into the pan Sam stepped through the door.

"Emily,"

There was so much love saturated in his voice that it felt almost intrusive to watch. That sort of devotion was amazing to see.

"Hey, hey, none of that." Jared complained. "I'm eating."

"Then shut up and eat," Sam suggested.

"Ugh," Embry complained.

Jacob and Paul came in through the door laughing. Paul punched Jacob on the shoulder, and in return Jake went in for a kidney jab. Both appeared to have all their parts. Jake's eyes scanned the room, bypassing me entirely, and lit up when he saw Bella. I looked away and picked at my muffin.

"Oh man!" Jared wailed.

Jared and Embry were looking a fading pink line on Paul's forearm. Embry was grinning from ear to ear.

"Fifteen dollars!" He said gleefully.

I tuned out the rest as Sam made the announcement to the pack, although he knew what was happening it was the first time he had announced it to the pack as a whole. Jared and Paul were excited but Bella was more concerned about making sure the boys were safe. I was too but, the boys were made of stronger stuff than Bella and I were. Emily insisted I make a plate before the boys got food, she loaded me up and scooted me to the table and announced breakfast was ready. The bantering and bickering was normal and familiar as Paul and Embry took up a seat beside me and pulled me into their silly banter. It was playful and it distracted me. But I didn't miss the broken look Bella had as she picked at her food.

Spring break in Forks had officially started, Billy had managed to convince Charlie to come to the Reservation to do March Madness there. Emily even one him over with a cake she had made. Emily was by far one of the best bakers I had ever met. I spent most of my time with Emily helping her out around the kitchen or the house doing repairs. While Sam and the boys were doing more patrols that meant other honey-do list things were going without being done. But between the two of us, we were able to get most of them done. Bella came over on occasion to help out, but she was useless as she tended to stare off into the distance.

One of the things that I did regularly for Emily was drive up to grocery store and get some groceries. With as often as the boys were over and as often as Emily cooked for everyone, food went through the house relatively quickly. It was a continuous circle of having to go shopping once or twice a week. Today was one of those days as I wondered the store with Paul. We were currently in a supermarket in Forks, they held better selection of what Emily needed, and I was to go with an escort anything I stepped foot off the reservation. I would have asked Jake if he'd like to go, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. He often spent his time patrolling or if he wasn't out, he was with Bella.

He spent nearly every free moment with her. Shaking my head of negative thoughts I looked up at the large burly wolf who looked around at various things as we grabbed a cart.

"Thank you for coming with Paul, I appreciate it." I said sincerely.

He shot me a grin.

"Thank you for helping out, it's nice to see Emily not look so exhausted all the time, she really appreciates it. We all do." He added.

"You do it for the cookies," I retorted.

He didn't even look ashamed as we went down the first aisle.

"As a fellow cookie fanatic you can't blame me,"

And almost rhythmically we went down each aisle filling the cart with the needed things off Emily's list. It was almost comically the amount of things we were getting but I knew every single thing would be used. We were almost done when I realized we had forgotten something scrawled at the bottom of the page in haste.

"Don't worry about it, I got it." Paul said scanning the list and darting off.

I was placing several bags of flour in my cart when I felt an icy tingle go down my spine. My eyes landed on the familiar bodies of Amalus and Gideon in front of me and Tidus caging me in from behind, I put the cart in front of me the shelving behind me.

"I thought it was you, back in school. Imagine our surprise when we found out it really was you." Amalus said slowly.

Slowly the enclosed me in like a predator cornering its prey. I felt my heartbeat furiously in my chest, threatening to explode. I watched all of them warily.

"Guess the tip we got was right. Good for us, not so good for you I suppose." Gideon said darkly.

"Yeah we're still a bit pissed off about what happened last time," Tidus said with a smile on his face…it didn't quite reach his eyes.

I swallowed as I darted my gaze to all of them.

"Hey!"

The boys jumped back startled as Paul approached my cart, he looked at me and the boys.

"There an issue here?"

Amalus gave a friendly smile too but his eyes promising pain.

"Not at all, just saying hello to an old friend,"

I flinched at his words. Paul narrowed his eyes.

"Get lost,"

Amalus's face fell but he gave an eerie smile to me.

"We'll see you soon Scarlett, you can count on it."

The three stalked off. I felt myself able to breathe again once they were no longer in sight. My hands were shaking so bad the cart rattled slightly.

"You okay?" He asked worriedly, placing the forgotten item in the cart.

I shook my head not trusting myself to speak.

"We got everything?"

"I think so," I whispered.

Come on lets blow this Popsicle stand. And we did, we paid for our purchase and drove back to Emily's house. I was quiet the entire way back, and I saw Paul glancing at me periodically worried. As Paul carried in the groceries I saw Bella's truck drive towards the cliffs. Frowning, also noticed the impending storm.

"What is she…"

I scampered up the trail, noticing once I reached the truck that she was no longer in it. But I found her footprints heading to the cliffs. The wind was picking up, I could feel the pressure from the oncoming storm. Rain began dribbling down from the sky, when I broke from the brush, I could see Bella right at the edge of the cliffs. She looked oddly serene, her clothes were drenched from the water.

"Bella!" I called to her.

If she heard me she made no movement of acknowledging she did. I pushed towards her, the rain was icy and the clothes stuck to my skin chilling me. I was about a fingertip away when she bunched up…

She jumped off the cliff.

My breath caught in my throat as I watched her fall, I heard her scream. Wrenching off my own sweater and electronics I dived after her. She wasn't as strong a swimmer as I was. The water was far colder than I had hoped as I plunged into the water, it was dark and the water was tossing me around like a rag doll. But year of experience swimming in the ocean came to my advantage. Wrenching myself surface side I was able to grab another gulpful of air before diving down, Bella was fighting, but she wasn't doing well. I grabbed her arms and kicked towards the surface.

The waves were angry and restless, tossing us both back and forth. I tried to keep moving to keep the pins and needles from my arms and legs, but it did little good. She suddenly stopped fighting.

Oh no you don't.

I heaved her up by her armpits and tugged her up, but she was about as useless as a sack of flour now. My chest burned with a need for air. A flicker of red in the water below be renewed some energy, I only knew one thing with red and it didn't bode well for either of us. I was nearly to the surface when I felt something wrap around my ankle in an iron grip and tug us downward.

I felt helplessness crawl into my mind…we were going to drown.

Darkness took over me as I felt water rush into my lungs.

My mind still swam raggedly as I felt sharp rhythmic beats on my back, water came from my mouth and even my nose, burning horribly, filling my senses with nothing but sea and salt. Black spots covered my vision, as more and more water poured from my mouth.

"Come on baby girl, breathe!" a voice pleaded.

With a jolt of realization I recognized the voice.

"Peter?"

As the dark spots vanished, Peter's face filled my vision. He was drenched like he had been swimming in his clothes. I immediately regretted speaking, my throat hurt like someone had shoved steel wool in my throat and scrubbed it like a glass. He chuckled in a relieved sort of way.

"Yeah it's me little one," he said.

My vision became more and more clear and I became colder and colder with each passing second.

"Do you hurt anywhere?"

"Everything is cold, t-throat h-hurts..." I quivered.

"Let's get you out of here,"

Gently he lifted me up, looking out towards the road I saw Sam there, Jacob was there too, I could see Bella in his arms.

"Is she ok?" I heard Sam.

"She's freezing," Peter replied.

"Get her to Jake's, thank you…"he said sincerely.

Peter looked surprised but nodded, he followed Jake down the road. I recognized Jake's house as we approached. We all entered Jake's house and he set Bella on the couch, Peter set me nearby. Bella looked numb and lifeless Peter looked at Jake.

"I'm going back out there see if I can find anything."

Jake nodded.

"I got them."

Peter nodded and he placed a hand on my head.

"Get them warm, I don't like the color she's turning."

The sofa was right near the radiator and so the warmth was amazing, drawing me in like moth to a flame.

"Let me get you girls some dry clothes."

Jake disappeared. I looked over at Bella, shivers wracking my body, she looked like a lifeless doll, a porcelain doll. Rage and anger curled in my belly. Jake returned.

"You had some sweats here from last time, you'll have to borrow my shirt though."

I didn't care as long as they were dry. Bella moved to the bathroom to change. Jake twirled around when he realized I wasn't going anywhere to change.

"What happened?" I asked.

I could hear sorrow in Jake's voice.

"Harry Clearwater had a heart attack,"

"What?!"

I looked at him, I had the shirt and sweats on, and the shirt was two sizes too big and fell off my shoulder. I felt my heart in my throat.

"Does dad know?" I asked.

Jake grimaced.

"He's at the hospital with my dad." He said softly.

"How – "

Jake shook his head.

"It's not looking so good, right now."

I felt tears in my eyes as he came over and pulled me into his chest. Harry was like a grandfather to me. Bella had come back into the small room and sat on the opposite end of the couch, but she seemed to have fallen asleep. I was so angry at her but right now I was just filled with worry. Eventually I curled up next to Jake as he passed out on the couch, exhaustion hitting him. He looked as tired as I felt, but I was stubborn. I didn't want to sleep. I wanted to slap Bella. More unnecessary drama, the pack should be focusing on Harry, not Bella's botched cliff diving attempt.

It was maybe thirty minutes later when Sam pushed Billy through the door. I looked at Billy's face and I crumpled. Whether it was my wail or Sam and Billy's entrance, Jake woke with a start and looked at his dad's face. With one arm he held me close as I cried and the other hand took his dad's hand.

"It's going to be hard all around," Billy said softly.

"I should get back there," Sam said brokenly.

After a moment Billy patted Jake's hand and touched a hand to my head before wheeling himself through the kitchen into his room. Jake looked after him but held me close as my sobs subsided but the tears kept coming.

"How are you two feeling? I should probably take you to a doctor," Jake said after a moment.

"Don't worry about me," Bella urged.

I shook my head in his chest. Jake pressed his lips to my hair.

"I'll go get your truck and take you home – you probably ought to be there when Charlie gets home."

Jake kissed my hair again before gently prying me off. He didn't take long getting the truck, it broke the silence quicker than anticipated. He took the driver's seat and put me in beside him, Bella took the passenger's seat, and she was strangely quiet and distant. Both angered me, but grief overwhelmed me. We soon arrived in front of the house, it was dark, and almost eerie looking. Jake opened the cab door, flooding the cab with ocean/storm smells.

"Oh!" Jacob sounded like he had been punched in the gut. "Holy shit!"

He slammed the door shut and twisted the keys in the ignition at the same moment, His hand s were shaking hard.

"What's wrong?" Bella demanded.

"Vampire," he spit out.

"How do you know?" Bella asked warily.

"Because I can smell it. Fuck!"

Jake's eyes were wild, raking the street. The tremors he made had the truck vibrating.

"Phase or get them out of here?"

He took a look at Bella's horror-stricken face.

"Right get you out."

The truck engine finally caught, and Jake had the truck peeling out of the driveway.

"STOP!" Bella cried.

We were half way down the street when Jake whipped around to look at her.

"What?!"

"It's Carlisle's car, take me back!"

Jake put his head on the steering wheel.

"Hey calm down, Jake. It's okay. No danger, see?"

I looked at her like two heads. Did she not know that Carlisle's brand of Mercedes was not particularly rare. She was staring at the car parked in the driveway, while I had a sliver of hope myself that it was someone we know, worry and panic filled me first.

"There's a vampire in your house," Jacob hissed. "And you want to go back?"

"Are you mental?"

"Of course. "

Jacob's face hardened at her answer, I felt like this was a lovers spat I shouldn't be privy to, I ducked down. I saw the betrayal in his eyes, his hands were still shaking.

"You're sure it's not a trick?" He asked in a slow heavy voice.

"It's not a trick. It's Carlisle. Take me back!"

"No,"

Bella looked like Jake had just struck her.

"Jake, it's okay – "

"Look, Bella," he said harshly. "I can't go back. Treaty or no treaty, that's my enemy in there."

"It's not like that – "

"I have to tell Sam right away. This changes things. We can't be caught on their territory."

"Jake, it's not a war!"

He didn't listen as put the truck in park and nearly jumped out of the door. His eyes lingered on me, eyes red rimmed and broken faced. I didn't hear what he said as he disappeared into the tree line. I spun on my twin.

"What the HELL did you just do?"

She wasn't listening, she had climbed out of the passenger's seat and in to the driver's. I pulled as far back away as I could from her, leaning against the steel of the door. She soon replaced the truck back where Jacob had peeled out from. She stumbled out of the truck and across the front yard, I desperately wished I had a bat or something. I pushed back the feeling of my own betrayal as Jacob had LEFT me with my psychotic twin, as I followed several feet behind her. As we stepped into the dark house, I could hear her fumble for the switch.

It was dark like before – in the water. The water – the red in the water – holy fuck! Victoria had been the one to drag us down in the water – my heart beat murderously in my chest. She had touched me – dragged me – dragged us…she was right. There.

Suddenly the light flickered on, And someone was waiting in our hall.