Chapter 1 Bella's POV
I drifted over to the snack table, wanting some water. Somebody I didn't recognize put a fresh bowl of punch on the table.
I was at a party, thrown by someone I didn't know. Jessica had asked Angela to come, and Angela had begged me to come so she wouldn't be alone. I had agreed. With Jake sick, I'd had nothing better to do.
Now, here I was, trying to fit in at a place I didn't belong. I searched the crowd for Angela. I didn't see her. I grabbed a glass of punch, and started toward the crowd to find her. I took a sip out of the punch, but she came barreling out of the crowd and knocked the rest out of my hand.
"Hey!" I said. "What was that for?"
"Please tell me you didn't drink any of it!" she begged.
"Umm, yea, I did, why?" I asked. Angela groaned.
"I heard that somebody spiked the punch with alcohol!" she said. I gasped.
"Crap!" I said. "Can I stay at your place for the night? I probably be okay because I only had a bite, but just in case."
Angela pulled her phone from her pocket. I did the same.
"Sure," she said. I texted Charlie.
Staying at Angela's tonight.
His reply was swift.
Sure. Have a great time!
"Who the hell puts alcohol in punch?" I asked.
"People who can't mix drinks," she said, laughing. We drifted to the kitchen, which was a complete mess. Three boys surrounded another, cheering as the one in the middle finished drinking a bottle of hot sauce.
Suddenly, I was hit with a terrible migraine. I clutched the counter for support. I messaged my forehead with my other hand.
"Are you okay?" Ange asked.
"It's nothing. Just a migraine. I think I'm having an allergic reaction to something in the punch. Do you know what it was spiked with?" I asked.
"I think it was gin, but I'm not sure," she replied. I groaned. "What?"
"I'm allergic to juniper berries," I said. "It's not serious, but I get migraines whenever I have something with them. I wonder if whoever is throwing this party has any Advil."
"Let's check," she said. We navigated through the crowd towards the bathroom. When we got there, I was hit with another migraine. I put my hand on the wall to steady myself. Angela searched the medicine cabinet. I massage my temple with my other hand.
"Oh! I found some!" Angela said. Thank god, I thought. I held out my hand and she dropped a pill into it. I popped it into my mouth and swallowed. After a few minutes, the migraine turned into a dull thud. Angela's phone buzzed. She checked it.
"Oh, my god, Bella! It's 12:30! If you're going to stay at my place, than we have to go!" she said.
"Wow. It's 12:30?" I asked, following her through the house.
"Yeah, I can't believe it either," she said as we went out the door.
"I'll follow you in my truck," I said. We separated to go to our different vehicles. When I finally got to my truck, I realized that I had forgotten my jacket because I was preoccupied by the damned punch.
Angela had gotten to the party earlier, so she had gotten a better parking spot than me, who'd called Jake before I left. She had probably already left.
While I was walking, I texted Ange to let her know that I had forgotten my jacket and was going back to the party to get it.
As I passed Tyler's Sentra, I noticed three boys saran wrapping the doors shut and had to hold back my laughter. I sent a picture to Angela.
I walked through the house, wary of the accidentally drunk party goers. I felt bad for the people who had drank the punch. I didn't know much about alcohol, but I knew that gin was strong stuff.
I searched everywhere for my jacket. It had my wallet and my truck keys in a pocket on it. I checked the living room, the kitchen, and even the bedrooms, which had some sights I did not need to see. Note to self: NEVER go into the bedrooms at a party with spiked punch.
I walked out through the back door. During the party, I had only been outside for a few minutes, but where else would my jacket be as I had already checked the obvious places?
Porch lights lit up the part of the yard closest to the house. A fence surrounded the area. There was a pool in the center, although I don't know who would want one as it rains 99.9% of the year here. The pool lights were on, further illuminating the yard. I was checking the chairs and the chaise lounges to see if I had somehow drapped my jacket over them when I heard the snarling on the other side of the fence.
It was quiet, like it was far away, but somehow, I knew that not to be true. I opened the fence gate, jacket forgotten, and left the yard.
Outside the fence, woods surrounded me. The light of the full moon helped me pick my way towards the snarls. As I started forward, a voice surprised me.
"Bella, go back to the party," my love's velvet voice said. He had appeared in front of me, off to the left. Seriously? How lucky was I? I had found a way to induce my hallucinations! And I was only walking in the woods! Hmm, the snarling must've been a really bad thing if I was seeing my over protective Edward…
But screw it! I thought. Edward had always been overprotective, and the more time I spent in danger, the more time I got with him. What I didn't know was that ignoring Edward would become my biggest regret...
"No," I told my angel. I continued toward the snarling.
"But what about your jacket, darling?" he asked desperately.
"Screw my jacket. I have others," I said. As I grew closer to the snarling, I realized that it wasn't far away, but it was just quiet, like I thought.
Abruptly, the ground came rushing forward, and I barely had time push my hands out before I collided with the forest floor. My ability to trip on air never ceased to amaze me.
"Bella, love, please," he tried again as I was getting up. "Go back to the party, to Angela, to anything other than this." Huh. The snarling must've been bad. But this hallucination had lasted longer than any other one. I continued on, wiping my bloody palms on my jeans.
Suddenly, the snarling grew louder, and I heard a crash- like a tree falling. I began to feel small tendrils of fear take root. But I ignored Edward's pleas for me to go back- back to the party, back to my friends, back to my life. I was surprised when he had said the last one, but I figured he was just being dramatic.
Finally, I burst through the trees and into a small clearing. In some corner of my mind, I registered a fallen tree at the opposite end. But I was too focused on what I saw in the middle to really notice it.
There was a man and a woman on the ground, each wrestling for dominance. What struck me was how pale the man was, as pale as the Cullens. The woman was dark skinned, hispanic looking. The man was wearing a black leather biker jacket, and the woman had a one shouldered blue and white striped top on. Both wore jeans, although the woman's were ripped and bloody, even though I didn't see wounds on either of them. The woman had a pixie cut, her black hair reminding me of Alice, though Alice's hair was spikier. The man's hair was also black, but it was pulled back into a man bun.
Suddenly, the woman's form blurred, and in her place was a wolf. I stared, astonished. Then I looked up to the full moon. Oh my god, I thought. The wolf's form blurred and in it's place was the woman. The fight continued that way, with the woman changing forms when necessary.
"Run," Edward hissed. This time, I was about to obey him when the wind changed direction, putting me upwind of the two people instead of downwind. The man was on top of the woman, pinning her arms down, when he looked up. His blood red eyes met my deep brown ones.
I was alone. With my sweet blood. In the forest. Next to a vampire. And my palms were scraped.
I screamed.