Chapter 3

Naomi & the Monster

They were racing down the highway towards La Push when Jeff noticed a midnight blue Karmann Ghia on the side of the road with its hazard lights on.

"Hey, I think that is Michelle's car."

"Huh?"

"We have to stop."

Jeff pulled over to the side of the road and put the kickstand down on his bike. When he looked into the car he noticed that she was not inside and turned back to Naomi.

"She isn't…" before he could finish he heard a scream from inside the woods, "Oh my god I think that's Michelle."

"She sounds like she is in trouble."

They both rushed into the woods and followed her screams into a slight clearing where Michelle was squirming on the ground.

"Michelle!" Jeff shouted as he ran over to her, "Are you okay?" He noticed two round wholes in her neck that were leaking blood. "What should I do? I know I will ask my iPhone. Siri, what do I do to stop a wound from bleeding?"

"What was that?" the robotic voice asked.

"JEFF SHE IS DYING!"

"OKAY, I will WebMD it."

"JUST APPLY PRESSURE!"

"Oh, I knew that," he pulled a new handkerchief out from his pocket, wadded it up, and pressed it up against the holes, "Please don't die Michelle."

"Jeff," she breathed out, "it... it was… her."

"Who?" he asked, but it was too late, her body was cold as ice and her heart was no longer beating.

"We should go up to the highway and call nine one one," Naomi suggested, walking back up the hill.

"Right," Jeff slowly got up and follower her up the hill.

"Nine one one operator, what is your emergency?" a woman asked on the other end of the phone.

"My friend was just killed, by an animal or something."

"What is your location?"

"I am about a mile outside of Forks on the Highway to La Push."

"Okay, an ambulance is on its way. Please remain calm."

"Thank you," he hung up the phone and glanced back down into the woods.

"What do you think did that to her?" Naomi tried to break the silence.

"It looked like a bite mark and her last words were, 'It was her,' but who is her, and what kind of person bites someone in the neck that hard."

"I don't know, but maybe it was an animal and she was just confused."

The ambulance finally arrived and they lead the EMTs down the hill to where her body was.

"Well, I don't see anything kids."

"What? She was right here," Jeff panicked rushing to the spot.

"She really was, I saw her too," Naomi confirmed.

"Well, dead bodies don't just walk away."

"Then how do you explain her car being up there, empty?"

"So, you are pulling a prank."

"IT ISN'T A PRANK! SHE DIED HERE!" Jeff screamed furiously.

"Well, we can't help you without a body," one of the EMTs said as he walked up the hill again.

When they returned to the top, Michelle's car was gone.

"NOW SOMEONE STOLE HER CAR!" Jeff shouted.

"Looks like your friend got tired of hiding and went home. Now remember, filing false reports is illegal, but we will let it go with a warning this time because it was pretty clever."

"We aren't playing some prank."

"Have a good night kids," they got into the ambulance and went back toward Forks.

"I have to tell Jake about this. Let's go."

They returned to the motorcycle and continued to La Push.

"JAKE!" Jeff shouted when he parked his motorcycle alongside the house.

"What is it?" he asked when he came out of the house, "Who is this?"

"Naomi, but I have a problem. I just saw my friend die in front of me, but, when the paramedics came, her body was gone and someone stole her car."

"Are you sure you saw her and you didn't imagine it? Maybe you crashed and hit your head."

"No, Naomi saw it too."

"Yeah, I saw it happen too. She had bite marks in her neck," Naomi confirmed, "It is very nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Bite marks you say?" a young man said from behind the house. He came around the corner and was he was six feet tall with dark brown hair and eyes that were a slight copper tone.

"Jeff, Naomi, this is Sam Uley," Jacob said grudgingly.

"Strange I haven't met you yet, Jeff," Sam said.

"Maybe he didn't want to meet you," Jake argued.

"Come on Jake, am I really that bad? I mean your friend Ivan and I hang out all of the time."

"You never used to until a week ago, now it is like you have been best friends for years. He hardly talks to me now."

"You'll come around," he shook Jeff's hand and walked off into the woods.

"Sounds like you two don't get along that well," Jeff commented.

"He just really makes my blood boil. He has been taking away all of my friends for years now. He starts watching them for about a month and then they suddenly change and follow him around like a lost puppy."

"Oh, I guess that would make me angry too."

Naomi seemed to be engulfed with the conversation. Her eyes were full of thought and wonder.

"Well, would you like to meet my Uncle Billy?" Jeff asked Naomi, "He is an elder and knows a lot about the tribe."

"I would love to," Jeff led the way up to the house and held the door open, letting Naomi and Jacob enter the house.

"Billy," Jeff called down the hall, "I have a friend that would like to meet you."

Billy wheeled out of his room into the hall, "Oh, hello, I'm Billy."

"My name's Naomi."

"She is writing a report on Native American tribes and she wanted to meet you. Maybe you could inform her on some of the stories of the tribe."

"I can't share all of our secrets, but I will give her some information."

They went into the living area and took seats on the sofa where Billy told stories of how the Quileuete tribe is believed to have descended from wolves, but Naomi looked extremely uninterested. When nightfall came Billy's stories were interrupted by a phone call, which he answered and then fell silent after hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked after a minute.

"Bella is missing."

"WHAT!" Jake screamed.

"She is gone and the Cullen's have all left town."

"Did she go with them?"

"We don't think so."

"I have to go find her!" Jake shouted, storming to the door.

"It is going to be okay, Sam and his friends are already searching the woods for her."

Naomi's expression picked up slightly at this topic change.

"I CAN'T JUST DO NOTHING!" Jake roared.