A/N: Such a relief to have that first chapter out of the way! Please, R&R! Reviews make my day, even if they're not praise. So go!
Everything here was so clear. It was unlike anything I'd ever witnessed in these fleeting sixteen years. Every branch was defined, each leaf so sharp that I believed them to have razor edges; I nearly dove out of the way when one came fluttering down from the top of one of the huge oaks surrounding me in this unreal, yet frighteningly lucid forest. Sunlight poured through the holes where the branches of the trees were unconnected to those of another. Rays of light darted through and filled the space all around me with warm, golden light. A mockingbird was singing idly somewhere out of my sight, and a few moments later it turned into a duet, with another answering the first's call even farther off into the trees.
I closed my eyes and offered myself up the the servere tranquility and beauty here, my head tilted towards the light so that it could brush my face with its warm fingers.
"Allie."
My eyes flew open. I had supposed myself alone here in these disturbingly perfect woods, but the voice—excessively foreign and unknown to me, though beautiful in every sense—made me realize that I had been very wrong. Although I was sure the visitor hadn't made their self visible in those earlier moments, I could see him just as clearly as now as I had seen everything else at first.
The stranger made no advance toward me, nor a retreat. He stood perfectly still, dark eyes piercing into mine with such force I felt as if I should have stumbled backwards. The silence drug on for what seemed like ages, each of staring expressionlessly at the other.
And then I couldn't help myself. I took a step toward him, pausing for a moment to gauge his reaction. He seemed unphased, and his eyes remained locked on my face as if ordered to be there. So I trecked forward very carefully, one step at a time, so slow that my muscles began to ache, all the while watching him watch me.
Eventually, I was less than a foot away from him, this perfect, flawless man that somehow knew my name. He was looking down at me now; he stood at least a foot over me, and I knew that he could easily break me with only one of his perfectly muscled arms. But, more than that, I knew that he wouldn't. He was here to protect me, from the dangers I had failed to fathom in this disturbingly perfect forest. He would never let me fall.
As I had this unforseen epiphany, the man reached out for my hand, taking it in his oversized one. His skin was hot, open flame hot, but the temperature seemed perfect against my skin. He placed my small hand on his cheek, cream against russett, and smiled blissfully. He mouthed something to me, something that was at first insigificant to me because of the unknown language. But the longer I stared into his eyes, I relaized I understood his foreign words.
Que Quowle.
Stay with me forever.
I jolted upright with a gasp, my hand automatically flying to my throat; this was an ancient habit of mine, dating back to the first time I could actually feel surprised. I looked around the room wildly, baffled by my surroundings. It took me a long minute to realize that I was actually in my room, in my house, and still in Forks. But I was completely perplexed; the forest had seemed so unbelieveably real to me, more real even than my room felt to me now.
And that man.
He had seemed so real that he should be standing right next to me now, asking why I looked so troubled after just waking up. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on his face, bringing him back with my memory. But I found that it was impossible; his features were hidden behind murky glass, as if my selfconcious thought it better if I had no memory of him at all.
I laughed at myself when I realized that I was disappointed. I really needed to get out of the house.
I made my way downstairs, after I had grudgingly removed myself from my wonderfully warm bed, showered, and changed. No one was home, as the usual during the week. Both of my parents worked Monday thru Friday, leaving me with the place to myself almost every day during summer vacation. But this was nothing new to me; ever since I was eleven, I was permitted to stay home alone while my parents went off to work. And now it was just a lonely, lackluster feeling that crept up on me now.
The time on the stove read 3:45, which meant I had about three hours until I had to find my way down to First Beach. I had only been there once, when I had taken Claire to play with one of her little friends one sunny day last week. It was pretty enough; dark sand and darker waves, with enormous rocks scattered along the shore. It just couldn't compare to the sugar-white beaches back home.
I meandered around the house for the rest of the afternoon, trying to keep myself busy and my nerves from creeping up on me and hindering me unable to make myself go tonight. I washed some laundry that desperately needed to be done, put away dishes and even unpacked some boxes that I hadn't gotten around to since we had moved here. Time moved annoyingly slow, as if just to aggravate me, but eventually, I wandered upstairs to raid my closet for something to make myself look somewhat presentable.
After a good twenty minutes of looking, and the realization that I really needed to go shopping, I decided on a casual white sundress. I had been iffy at first, since it was strapless and the material was kind of thin, but the weather report said the rain was supposed to clear up tonight, so I thought I would be fine. I let my hair down-it was getting longer than I normally had it, hanging several inches below my shoulders-and tried to tame the unruly waves as well as I could. I stood in front of my full-length mirror when I was finished, and sighed. This was as good as it was going to get.
Ten minutes later, I was on my way to First Beach. I had to drive through La Push to get there, and I knew from my one-time experience that I was almost there once the houses got smaller and farther apart. Soon, I turned down the gravel road and pulled into the makeshift parking lot that stood only a few yards from the shore.
I couldn't make myself get out of the car. My hand hesitated right above the door handle until I chaged my mind and let it drop back into my lap. It was dark now, and I could just see the blue and green flames of the driftwood fire licking at the night sky. I saw bodies moving around it, not as many as I had expected, but the faces were blurred by the distance. I took a deep breath and layed my head on the steering wheel. I can do this, I thought to myself. I've done this a million times before. Just smile and be friendly, and it should all be fine. Its going to be fine.
There was a sharp knock on my window, making my head shoot up, and my hand go to my throat. Quil had his face pressed up against the glass, smiling goofily at the fact that he had startled me. I relaxed a little then, and finally found it within myself to get out of the car.
"What were you doing?" Quil asked me as I shut the door behind myself.
"Trying not to scream and run away." I answered honestly, but with a small laugh to try and lighten my mood.
"Well its a good thing you didn't, because its time to come down to the beach. You're already late." he elbowed me, letting me know he was only kidding.
"Fashionably." I corrected him. He rolled his eyes before grabbing hold on my arm, a death grip to make sure I didn't try to escape, and pulled me out of the parking lot and into the hard sand.
Its all going to be fine, I chanted to myself as we neared the small group. Its all going to be fine.
Emily spotted us first. She ran up excitedly, hugging both of us and kissing me on the cheek. Sam was right behind her, a small smile on his stern face. I had known him just long enough to know that ths was probably the best we would get out of him.
"You look beautiful, Allie!" Emily exclaimed, running her fingers through the bottom of my hair. "I'm glad you decided to come. For a while there, we thought you weren't going to show up."
"I found her hiding in her car, but I dragged her down." Quil piped up, obviously proud of himself. I shot him a look; I was going to elbow him in the side instead, but I decided that it wasn't worth the bruise I would surely get.
"At least she made it to the parking lot." Emily joked, still smiling. She was such a carefree, happy woman. Beautiful, even with the long scars marring the side of her face. You would never know that she had been through a traumatic experience, which was still a mystery to me. She didn't speak of it often.
"I do what I can," I answered with a small smile.
"Come on, Allie. I want to introduce you to everyone." Emily grabbed my hand, grinning in anticipation, and pulled me away from Sam and Quil.
We made our rounds quickly. Emily seemed determined to introduce me to everyone there, so I only had time to politely greet the people we spoke to before she pulled me away to speak to the next few people.
I met the Clearwaters; Sue, who was very intimidating to say the least, her daughter, Leah, who was just as equally scary and shard the same sharp facial features as her mother. The youngest boy, Seth, had been somewhere off in the crowd, but jogged over once he saw me and Emily standing there. He seemed to have gotten all the social genes in the family, and was extremely sweet and honestly pleased to talk to me. I would have to come back to him if I found myself an outcast.
Next were the Blacks, Billy, Jacob and Rachel. Billy was a great presence, even in his wheelchair, and I felt as if I was speaking to someone very important. Rachel, his daughter, was a few years older than I was, but greeted me with a smile on her small face. I didn't get to speak to Jacob, Billy's youngest, but Emily pointed him out across the way. He was talking to Quil, and two other Quileute boys that I didn't recognize.
We said our temporary goodbyes to them, and Emily pulled me off in the other direction while she searched for someone else for me to meet. While she scanned the crowd, my attention was diverted by Quil's distinctive voice yelling over the rest of the party.
"About time, man!" he called toward the parking lot. Through the dark, I could just see a tall figure moving down the hill and toward the bonfire.
"Nice to see you too, Quil!" the figure called back, his voice deep and smooth and oddly familar. I strained to see through the cloak of darkness, to see if I recognized this boy's face. I knew the voice, that was for certain. It had rang out so clearly that I was sure I would have heard it even if I wasn't trying to listen to it.
Emily pulled me away before the boy had come into my line of vision. I threw a fleeting glance over my shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse, but we had moved to the other side of the bonfire, and the towering flames were blocking my view.
"Kim, Jared!" Emily greeted a young couple sitting on one of the precariously placed logs around the fire. The looked up at her and smiled, and then waved us over.
"Allie," Emily began, "this is Kim Cornweller and Jared Cameron. Kim, Jared, this is Allie Moore. She just moved here a few months ago from Georgia." Emily smiled happily, though she had used the exact same introduction to at least nine others.
I smiled at the two politely, trying not to make it too obvious that I was scanning the thin crowd for a familiar face.
"Do you mind if I leave you here for a second, Allie? I have to use the little girl's room." Emily asked. Immediately, I told her yes, though I was a little nervous about her leaving, though only for a second. Emily was my security blanket. She smiled and patted my arm, and then turned and darted up the beach.
"I don't mean to intrude," I began automatically. There was something about the way Kim and Jared looked at each other that made me feel like I was interrupting a very special moment. It almost made me uneasy, though it was a beautiful thing. A young couple in love was always inspiring to me.
"Oh no," Kim laughed easily and used the free hand that wasn't holding Jared's to pat the seat next to her. "You're not I promise."
I smiled back at her and sat where she had indicated, feeling just a little bit awkward.
"So Georgia, huh?" Jared leaned around Kim to address me, kissing her cheek as he moved. She beamed at his touch.
I nodded. "But no, I didn't drive a tractor, wear overalls, and sit on my front porch with a gun all day." I said jokingly.
"Well there goes all my questions." Jared joked back. Kim and I laughed. I had the feeling she would laugh at just about anything he said.
He looked past me, staring at something behind my head for a split second. His expression changed, becoming puzzled. A moment later, he seemed to have figured out whatever it was that had confused him, and a big grin spread across his face.
"What?" Kim asked him quietly, obviously wanting to be in on the secret. Instead of answering her, he looked to me.
"Have you met Embry yet?" he asked me simply. I furrowed my brows at him, and then turned around to see what had made him act so strangely.
A pair of painfully familiar black eyes met mine from across the fire. They were wide, stunned and full of so many emotions that I was afraid to know what they were seeing. But then I realized that were seeing me. Only me.
I looked away quickly, my cheeks flaring red. I could feel the same stare burning into my back-no, not a burning. A glowing, a sensation that should have been calming, but intead just scared me half to death. I took a deep breath and turned back around. We locked eyes again, and this time I gasped audibly.
Dark eyes piercing into mine with such force I felt as if I should have stumbled backwards...this perfect, flawless man that somehow knew my name...he was here to protect me, from the dangers I had failed to fathom. He would never let me fall...
It was him. The man from my dream.