I do not own Twilight

Merry Christmas!!

XX

Chapter Five

Despite Edward's lack of presence, I was optimistic about the beach trip. Any sort of natural environment was like home to me. As pre-arranged I met up with Mike and the guys at Mike's parent's store, and I jumped in Mike's big suburban with Jess, Angela and Tyler, while a few others shared rides in other cars.

'Bella, why don't you sit up front?' Mike positively squealed.

'Thanks Mike, but I think everyone is leaving' I replied candidly.

He looked disappointed; Jess looked annoyed as Mike drove off after the others.

We listened to generic rock and pop songs whilst Mike made painfully obvious passes at me. The ride wasn't long thank goodness.

We all unpacked the car, and made a base camp for all our stuff. The weather was beautiful; it was warmer down here than in forks.

'Hey Bella, I heard from Mike that you are friends with Edward Cullen, why didn't you invite him?' Jess asked, obviously fishing for information.

My whole body tensed at his name, I hid my chagrin at Mike's obvious infatuation.

'I did actually, but he was busy I guess.' I replied lightly.

'What I wouldn't give to see him in Speedos!' Jess said gigging.

I smiled.

'Hey Bella!' Angela called from the sea 'You going swimming?' she was already changed into a bathing suit. 'Sure am!' I smiled back, I was hoping to get a quick 5 minutes to myself in the sea- the giant expanse of ocean was my play ground, filled with undiscovered species and beautiful creatures that I want to meet.

I quickly changed into my own bathing suit, and followed Angela into the sea.

'Bloody Hell! It's freezing!!' Angela cried

'Yeah...totally freezing...' truth is, I don't feel the cold so much as humans do. People quickly grabbed their friends and joined us, once the sun came out.

I swum out farther than anyone else- no one really noticed- I especially made sure Mike was occupied. I dived under the water and watched as the water fizzled and blurred when my legs changed into a long tail, small gills formed on my neck and my eyes changed into that of a fishes. My hazy human vision was suddenly transformed and the deep blue changed into a sharp intricate artwork of undersea life.

My tail was similar to a dolphin's, but I enjoy making it a bit scalier – to make me look like a mermaid, I guess it's the little girl in me.

I propelled myself further out and down, and danced around the shoals of fishes that flocked to see the giant fish girl.

It was heaven. My long hair billowed out like delicate seaweed, as I drew huge circles in the water with my tail and my outstretched arms. I dared not venture out further, but I promised myself I would spend the whole day out here just me one weekend.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been down there, but I decided it was time to resurface. I swam back to the shore, before letting my head bob to the surface, changing back into my human form.

'Bella! Oh thank god!' I heard as soon as my head cleared the water.

'We thought you'd drowned we've been calling you for nearly 20 minutes! Are you alright?' Tyler said, waist deep in the sea.

'Oh...oh yeah I'm ok...' I felt a bit guilty about making them all worry, but when you need the open space, how could I resist?

'I just went over there by those rocks, I guess I didn't hear you,' I explained to him, 'I'm sorry for making you worry.'

I ended up explaining this to everyone.

Once the gang had calmed down, and mostly forgiven me we sat down to eat around a fire. I got the impression that a girl called Lauren didn't like me. Everyone ate and talked happily, and someone had thought to bring a CD player.

'Hey Tyler, ask those Quileute kids if they want a game of soccer' Mike said pointing to a gang of Kids not far off from us.

Some of the boys eventually went off to have a game, whilst some of the Quileute kids sat with us.

'Hey Jacob' I said happily.

'Hey, Bella- these your friends?' he said gesturing to the others in the circle around the fire.

'Yeah, Jacob this is Angela, Jessica, Lauren, Eric and Ben' I said pointing each person out.

They all said hello in turn as Jacob settled himself next to me, 'Hey guys, this is Quill and Embry' he said pointing out the two guys he was with.

'So you guys decided to show Bella the sights' Jacob added jovially.

Jess laughed, and possibly spying some gossip, she said 'Yes, it's a shame that Edward didn't come when you invited him Bella'.

'I only invited him to be polite' I said quickly, not really wanting to get into a conversation about it.

'Edward Cullen?' Jacob asked suddenly serious.

Jacob's friend Embry suddenly cut in, 'The Cullens don't come here'. His face was solemn.

The subject was dropped, but it sparked my curiosity. What did he mean? I want to know as much as I can about the Cullens especially if I have to defend my classmates from a gang of vampires. I had been homeschooled for the first sixteen years of my life, in those years I learned the necessary to get by at high school, but I was also taught all about the supernatural world. My Uncle Aaron taught me how to fight a Vampire; he was the last shape shifter in our family, before I came along. I was very close to him; he would want me to find out all I could. Knowledge is power, and I needed more on the Cullens.

So, dutifully, I asked Jacob to take a walk with me, it started to darken so we put our coats on.

'So Jacob, what did you friend mean by 'the Cullens don't come here'?' I asked casually.

'Oh you caught that huh?'

'Heh...yeah'

'Well...' he started, 'it's just some old stupid legend, the tribes really superstitious' his tone implied that he didn't want to talk anymore about it. I pretended I didn't notice.

'Can you tell me why?' I tried to smile alluringly.

'Hmm...I'm not really supposed to...' he said doubtfully.

'I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious' I said innocently. I hope I wasn't laying it on to thick.

Jacob shook out his long shaggy hair.

'Ok, well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to sate back to the Flood-supposedly, the ancient Quileute's tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark' he laughed a little dubiously. 'Another legend claims we are descended from wolves- and that Wolves are our brothers still, it's against tribal law to kill them

Then there are stories about the cold ones' his voice dropped, to add some mysticism to the story.

'The stories of the cold ones are as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty to keep them off our land.' The scepticism in his voice became more pronounced.

'Your great- grandfather?' I prompted.

'He was like a Tribal leader, like my father, Billy, you see the Cold ones are the natural enemy of the wolf-or the shape shifter-'

Every cell in my body went rigid

'Shape shifter?' I asked trying to sound incredulous.

'Yeah- our ancestors could change into wolves apparently, but anyway, the werewolves you could call them have only one natural enemy, the cold ones. The group of cold ones that my great grandfather exiled off our land weren't like the others, they hunted only animals, they claimed that they were 'civilised' but there was always a threat for humans who were around them.'

'Right right, so what the Cullens are like the Cold Ones your grand- father met?'

'No...' Jacob said darkly

'They are the same ones...' my intrigue wasn't faked, and he looked happy at the effect he was having on me.

'You would call them Vampires, blood drinkers of the innocent!' he shouted loudly, and proceeded to tickle me.

I was momentarily distracted, as Jacob attacked me. Laughing and huffing, we gave up and sat on the still warm sand.

'So do you think we are a bunch of superstitious natives or what?' he laughed.

I joined in his laughter 'I think they are very interesting legends' I said, the double meaning lost on Jacob.

The gang were packing up to leave when Jacob and I returned. Jacob and I hugged, and promised to meet up soon.

The ride home was uneventful, and I was pretty tired out. We all got out and said our goodbyes at Mike's store, I was glad to have some time to myself finally.

The cold ones. Blood drinkers. Still a threat the humans around them.

Is that what the school was? Some sort of sick play ground where they went to pick their meal?

I felt trepidation at this thought. Edward would never do that...he's different...

Right?

I had to find out.

And so that was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.