Chapter 2: A Walk on the Beach
By Friday, I had was able to recognize most of the people at school. I had walked with Mike every day between classes. When we exited our English class, I noticed fluffy bits of white falling gently from the sky. "Ew, snow." I groaned.
"You don't like snow?" Mike asked, surprised.
"It means it's too cold to rain." I wrinkled my nose. "Aren't they supposed to be unique and all that?"
Mike shook his head. Suddenly, a snowball smacked into the back of his head. We turned and saw Eric walking the wrong direction for his next class. Mike made a snowball, watching Eric walk away.
"Thanks for walking me, but I go inside when snowballs fly." I headed toward my next class as Mike let the snowball go.
By the end of class, the snow had started to melt and everyone groaned. "There goes my plan for an epic battle." Mike sighed, disappointed.
I smiled to myself as we walked to our next class. At least I won't be a target of snowball snipers. I thought.
The next morning, I woke up to see that the fog that usually pressed to the window had lifted, and then groaned. Everything was covered in snow or ice, so walking today would be a hazard.
I carefully made my way to the truck, regaining my balance by clinging to the rearview mirror. I drove carefully to school, noticing that the truck had little trouble on the icy roads.
When I got out, I saw why. Charlie had put snow chains that crisscrossed on my tires. I felt tears well up in my eyes at the show of concern.
An odd noise made me look up. A van was careening toward me, skidding on the slick pavement. It was going to hit the back of the truck, and I was in the way. I saw the Cullens standing four cars down, and the dark-haired girl was staring. I closed my eyes.
Before the crunch of metal and the shattering of glass came, I was pushed from the wrong direction, knocking me out of the way of the van's path. My head cracked against the icy pavement.
But the van kept coming, aiming to crush my legs. Before I could cry out, a pair of cold hands dragged my legs out of the way.
There was a moment of silence and I could hear the cries of disbelief nearby. An unfamiliar, musical female voice came out low near my ear. "You okay?"
I looked at my savior and realized it was the pale, dark-haired Cullen Jessica said was named Alice. "You saved my life." I whispered.
Alice looked nervous. "I had to do something." She whispered.
"How did you get over here so far?" I asked, in amazement.
"I was standing right beside you." Alice frowned, but even that looked beautiful on her perfect face.
"No, I'm sure you were over by your car." I insisted stubbornly.
Alice sighed. "You might have a concussion, you don't know what you saw." Her eyes tightened.
"I'm sure my head is fine." I snapped.
The ambulance arrived and it took two teachers to move the van far enough to get us out. I was loaded onto a stretcher with a back brace. Alice insisted she was fine and rode with me to the hospital.
Tyler was brought in and he looked a lot worse than me. "Bella, I'm sorry!" he pleaded.
"It's okay, Tyler. I'm fine." I promised him, sighing.
I was checked out and the doctors determined that I didn't have a concussion. But the nurse said I had to wait for the doctor to talk to me. I sat, trying to ignore the mumblings of Tyler from the next bed.
Finally, Alice and a young blond doctor arrived. This had to be Dr. Cullen, Alice's father, based on how much they looked alike in pallor and the dark shadows under his eyes.
"Miss Swan, how do you feel?" Dr. Cullen asked, lighting the board above my head.
"I'm fine." I sighed, hoping it was the last time I would have to say it.
Dr. Cullen examined the X-ray in silence for a moment. "Your X-ray looks good. You can go home now. If you have dizziness or having trouble with your sight, come back." He advised.
"Thank you. It was good that Alice got to me so fast." I commented casually.
Dr. Cullen paid particular attention to the chart in his and as he answered. "Yes, that was very lucky for you." He walked over to Tyler to tend to him. I was instantly suspicious. Was the doctor in on it?
I hopped off, and Dr. Cullen had to catch me.
"You okay?" Dr. Cullen looked concerned.
"It's nothing." I mumbled, turning pink.
Charlie and most of the students were waiting for me. "You okay?" Charlie asked.
"Not even a concussion." I smiled.
Charlie spoke up as he drove home. "You need to call your mom."
"You called Mom?" I asked, horrified, turning red.
Charlie smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
It took several tries to get her to calm down, telling her I was fine over and over. She wanted me to go home, but I found it easier to resist that urge than I thought it would be. "Thanks for your concern mom. I'll let you go."
"Bye, sweetheart." Renee hung up and I sighed.
Mike had arranged a beach trip for two weeks later. I pulled into the parking lot of the sporting goods store, appreciating the sunlight that was a rare occurrence.
Mike grinned when he saw me. "I told you it would be sunny."
I smiled. "Yes, you did."
"You want to ride in my SUV?" Mike asked, eyes bright. Jessica frowned.
"Sure." I nodded. We all piled into the SUV and drove to First Beach in La Push. We got out and headed down to the rocky shore where there were driftwood, bleached white by the waves.
A fire pit was already set up and Mike set to the task of starting a fire. "Watch the colors." He told me, placing a burning branch into the pile that was already burning.
"Wow, it's blue." I said, surprised.
"It's the sea salt." Mike explained, sitting down beside me. Jessica was on his other side and captured his attention.
The boys that were gathered decided to go on a hike and after the standoffish girl named Lauren refused to go, I quietly joined them.
I love the tide pools and watched them, careful to make sure I didn't fall in.
After a while, the hiking group got hungry and I followed them back to the beach. There were newcomers when we arrived, locals from the reservation, with copper-skin and black shiny hair. I noticed a young boy of about fifteen or sixteen smiling when I was introduced.
Another group let for a hike and the boy came over to introduce himself. "I'm Jacob Black, I believe your dad bought my dad's truck." He greeted.
"Oh right. I should remember you." I smiled apologetically.
"You probably remember my sisters. It's no biggie."
"Oh right." I said vaguely remembering the two girls that Billy, Jacob's father, and Charlie had pushed us together during my summers here. "Do you want to go for a walk?"
"Sure." Jacob said eagerly. We headed down the beach in silence for a few minutes and then he spoke up, "Do you like scary stories?"
"Do I? I love them!" I made my voice sound as enthused as I could.
Jacob rubbed his hands together to warm them as he began. "Have you heard the stories of the Quiluetes?"
"No, I don't think I have." I gave him an apologetic look.
"We supposedly survived the Flood by tying our canoes to the trees at the top of the mountain. And then we are supposed to be descended from wolves. It's a major infraction to kill one."
"Hm." I nodded, encouraging him with my hand to go on.
"And then we have stories of the cold ones." Jacob injected a note of foreboding into his voice.
"The cold ones?" I asked, not feigning interest now.
"Blood drinkers, or vampires as your people call them. My great-grandfather encountered four of them in his time. They claimed to not drink human blood, but animal blood. They claimed to not be dangerous to people." Jacob rolled his eyes to show how much stock he put in the story. "They were pale, beautiful creatures."
"Does it have anything to do with the Cullens?" I asked, curious.
"They are the cold ones from my great-grandfather's time." Jacob said, smirking at the shiver that ran up my spine.
"We better go back." I said, looking at the sky. Clouds had gathered over our heads.
"I hope to see you soon." Jacob said wistfully.
"Next time Charlie goes to see Billy, I'll see if I can go too." I offered.
"That would be great." Jacob grinned.
I returned to the gathering and we headed home.
I fell asleep quickly that night but woke up in the middle of the night, Jacob's story keeping me awake. It was five in the morning.
Sighing, I loaded my ancient computer and got a bowl of cereal while it wheezed to life. When I returned to it, it had loaded.
I went to the search site and shot down all the pop-up ads. I clicked on the search bar and entered one word.
Vampire.
After a dozen more pop-up ads were taken care of, I found a promising site called Vampires A-Z. I looked through the descriptions of the various vampires from around the world, but couldn't find one that matched the things I had witnessed about Cullens.
Could they be vampires? Alice was definitely not human, I decided. I decided it didn't matter. They weren't bothering me.
Having gotten my question answered, I was tired enough to sleep. I laid down and fell quickly asleep.
