I don't own any of the rights to the Twilight saga, only to the characters of my own creation.
Unable to respond I simply sat on the tree limb with my mouth hanging open.
My brain had been desperately trying to process so much since I had woken; memory loss, kidnapping, the fact I could be in some sort of alternate world, strange monstrous urges, crazy underground bases and now teenage tearaways that could do impossible things. This just seemed like one more thing to put into the crazy pile for this place.
Looking back, I couldn't decide the reason for me simply accepting what I had seen and what I'd been told since I woke up. Perhaps it was because my mind felt so lost I just needed to cling on to the first pieces of information I was given, despite how ludicrous they may sound. Or perhaps it was because I was able to know in my heart when I see something that's real. Or maybe, just maybe I accepted all the fucked up, crazy shit because I was expecting to wake up any minute.
Anyway, I decided that if I was going to accept everything that had been thrust upon me up until that point then I might as well accept what Maya was showing me.
Maya was looking up at me with an expectant look in her eyes. Perhaps she thought I was about to burst into spontaneous applause. She thought wrong.
With a matter of fact tone Maya told me "I can control plants."
Suddenly a few of Mina's comments fell into context and I realised why the woman harboured a bitter edge, jealousy .
"That's….amazing" Was about all I could manage for a response.
Maya's expression seemed to change a little, she looked almost embarrassed. "The other guys can do pretty amazing stuff too." Then, after a short pause her expression melted into childlike fear. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you with my major freakiness. That was stupid of me after all you've had to deal with today."
"It's fine, really. In fact it's incredibly cool to know that apparently I'm not the only freak in the building." I finished the sentence with a grin playing at one side of my mouth.
She smiled sheepishly "Well that's a relief, I thought I was about to see a Vanessa shaped hole in the wall over there." She inclined her head towards the door.
Maya spent the next hour showing me the different species of fauna in the cavernous room that housed her garden. I listened to her tell me about carnivorous flowers that could attract their prey by emitting a smell not unlike raw meat.
The chance to escape from my own swirling thoughts was welcome and I was grateful to her for unwittingly (or perhaps even wittingly) providing the distraction.
My lesson was brought to an end when Maya declared she was starving. At her words I was suddenly reminded of my own hunger-thirst and the burning in my throat was joined by my stomach gurgling angrily. Once again Maya's culinary appeal flared and once again I crushed it with an iron will before suggesting we venture out to find some food.
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Back in the mess hall, I sat opposite Maya as she delicately picked at a plate full cold cuts of unappetizing meat. She had tried several times to offer me some and each time I had politely refused.
When I asked where Torrin was she had told me simply that everyone wanted to get an early night in preparation for tomorrow.
"What's happening tomorrow?"
"You're gonna join our Test and Train."
My eyebrows shot about three inches up my forehead. The words test and train sounded equally as bad as each other and I was suddenly accosted by images of being strapped into a metal chair while a wicked looking contraption forced my eyes open and a TV screen played unending images of horror before me.
Maya giggled gently "Don't worry, essentially you'll be playing games with us. It's dodgeball at 8am. I want you on my team" she winked.
I let out the breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding and silently kicked myself for jumping to such crazy conclusions.
When Maya decided she'd had enough of the cold meat she asked me if I needed help finding my room. It was another offer I politely refused and I exited the mess after we wished each other a good night.
I found my room again with ease, delighting in the fact that although my long term memory had taken somewhat of a beating, my short term memory was literally photographic.
After a shower and a change into the closest thing I could find to nightwear I crawled into my generic bed with it's generic white sheets and lumpy pillows and cried.
I let out the sorrow I had been afraid to display in the company of my new friends, mourning the loss of my memories and wrapping my arms around myself in a vain attempt to close the gaping wound that was my heart.
It felt as though whatever life I had left behind was a word on the tip of my tongue, an answer I couldn't quite remember but I knew it was in there, behind some door in my mind that had been locked securely.
There was something behind the door, something so important it made me ache to remember it. I cried harder, mentally hammering my fists against the door and was rewarded by the faintest whisper of a bell chime voice. It hummed a melody that was so utterly beautiful, so familiar and yet so strange.
The melody brought blessed sleep to me and I was lost in a world of dreams again.......................
I stood in the shower letting the warm rose scented water flow down through my hair and over my body. Esme had had it custom built for me, just like the rest of my room.
I turned the water temperature right down so it felt like fresh rain on my skin.
Of course it didn't feel cold to me.
My cell phone began ringing in the next room, I could hear it buzzing along my dresser. I never bothered with a ring tone, finding them obnoxious and, even when set to their quietest, too loud.
I shut off the water, grabbed one of the massive, fluffy towels from the rack and wrapped it around my dripping form as I darted towards my phone.
I caught it halfway through it's second ring and didn't even have a chance to say hello before a familiar smiling voice was asking what the hell had taken me so long to answer.
"For your information I was in the shower. I know it might be an alien concept for you but some people actually wash on a daily basis." I actually heard him sniff his pits and had to stifle a giggle.
"Are you trying to say I have odour issues?" He asked incredulously, although I could hear in his voice that he was grinning ear to ear.
"Maybe" I replied whilst thinking the complete opposite. Jacob's scent was fantastic, it was like the forest after the rain – clean and piney with a subtle undercurrent of musk. The rest of my family seemed to think he smelled unbearably like an unwashed dog. I thought that sometimes if I inhaled really deeply I would get the metallic notes of his blood pumping under the smooth coppery surface of his skin.
I realised I could hear the steady thump of his heartbeat down the phone, it drowned out all other sound, filling my ears with a soothing rhythm and filling my mind with visions of my head resting against his bare chest.
It all burst like a bubble when Jakes voice penetrated my daydream "Hellooooo?! You still there?"
I snapped back to reality and fired off a Nessie comeback "Sorry, I was just trying to find out whether I could actually smell you down the phone if I concentrated hard enough."
He made what was supposed to be some sort of indignant choking sound "That's it. I'll be there in five minutes to kick your ass." There was a series of little beeps telling me he'd hung up the phone.
I tossed my cell onto the bed and shot into my closet.
3 minutes later I was in the kitchen tapping my fingernails on the granite countertop. Esme ghosted into the room behind me and ran pale fingers through my damp curls.
"I wish you wouldn't do that little one" Her gentle voice intoned as she lifted my hand to reveal four half moon shaped divots.
"Crap. Sorry Grandma" I said with a grimace, shoving my busy hands into my pockets.
She smiled at me with a sparkle in her amber eyes "If you need to busy your hands I suggest you make some food. I assume you're awaiting Jacob's arrival?"
I nodded dumbly and within half a second Esme had laid out everything I needed to make brownies along the counter. She winked at me and pressed a button on the oven as she flowed back out of the room.
I stood there like a moron for another ten seconds before I got my ass into gear.
When Jake burst through the door I was melting butter and chocolate in a large glass bowl. He made a dive for me but I dodged his hulking form effortlessly, sending him face first into the fridge.
He whirled around rubbing his forehead and pouting "Stupid vampire senses."
"Tell me about it, I could smell you a mile away" I retorted breezily whilst my stomach did somersaults.
I cursed myself silently for constantly feeling like a complete ass whenever I had been around Jake recently. It was like I was constantly battling to try to convince myself that I was not crushing on my best friend and I was losing.
Man I hated to lose.
Jake seemed to notice what I was doing and abruptly gave up the charade of being hurt, his gaze was suddenly very alert as he sniffed the air "You're making brownies!"
I rolled my eyes theatrically before dipping a finger into the chocolate. I turned around, intending to smear it down his nose but he caught my hand in an iron grip and shoved my finger into his mouth instead.
It was the most sensual thing I had ever felt. He gently sucked and used his tongue to take the sweet liquid from my finger. I gasped as I felt electricity surge through my veins and a strange heat that had begun to build from my centre outwards.
He pulled my finger from his mouth and smacked his lips before looking straight into my eyes.
It was right then that everything changed.
His eyes widened and raked over me as though he was seeing me for the first time.
His mouth popped open to form a perfect O and I heard all the air whoosh out of his lungs.
We both just stood there, facing each other and not moving. Electric energy seemed to crackle back and forth between us and my mind was utterly blank except for a vivid vision of him moving towards me and placing his lips on mine.
Apparently I must have projected the thought because that's exactly what he did.
He closed the crackling space between us in a single stride. My heartbeat was hammering in my ears and I could feel my pulse in my fingertips.
I don't know what I had been expecting but what he did was so much better.
He reached out a trembling hand and tilted my face up towards his. I could feel his sweet breath on my skin and it made my mouth water.
Oxygen caught in my throat and I held my body perfectly still as his lips drew closer to my own. And then, ever so softly, our mouths brushed together.
Time stopped for me right there. Someone could have lit my hair on fire and I wouldn't have noticed. All I could hear was our hearts hammering in unison. All I could see were bright spots behind my eyes. I was trying to get my head around the euphoric sensation that was our kiss when he kicked it up a notch.
His lips pressed against my own more urgently. Gently he opened my mouth with his own and slipped his tongue in making everything else melt away and leaving me only with the kiss.
He tasted of something pure, clean and utterly delicious with a hint of the chocolate he had sucked from my finger. His tongue caressed my own, his right hand cupped the back of my head and his left traced tingling patterns over the small of my back.
I felt as though I was on fire, I couldn't breathe, it was absolutely exquisite
After what could have been several hours, but was most probably a couple of minutes we broke apart, flushed and panting we both looked at one another, unsure of what to say.
Unfortunately our silence was broken by neither of us. Emmett strolled into the room and stopped dead before gasping "Holy Crap! I won. I can't believe I actually won."
His voice was full of awe. Jake and I looked at him, eyebrows raised.
Alice was there less than a second later, she looked back and forth between us, utter disbelief on her face.
"Is someone going to tell me what the hell this is about?" Jake asked.
Emmett had broken into a victory dance accompanied by various 'uh huh's and 'oh yeah's as well as the occasional "booyah!" He also did a very good robot before breaking into a headspin on the floor, flipping back upright, doing the 'running man' and finishing the whole thing off with a perfect moonwalk.
We all watched, transfixed by a vampire built like a linebacker in his victory dance glory.
Alice spoke when he started his second rendition of his routine, her voice seemed to contain something I had never heard from her. "Me and Emmett made a bet on how long it would take you two to get together and it appears that Emmett made a lucky guess."
I realised her voice contained rage with a hint of shame. She spoke through gritted teeth.
Jacob seemed to be regarding the situation with amusement. I, on the other hand felt my cheeks flame before I exploded at Emmett. "I told you that in confidence you jerk!!"
Emmett stopped dancing. Alice turned slowly towards him, her gaze contained deadly force. "You. Knew?"
Emmett gulped and I watched his adams apple bob up and down. I followed the movement and the urge to smash my fist into his throat bubbled up inside me. "Ummmm well, Nessie may have told me she was having certain thoughts about a certain someone."
"Yeah, in confidence. NOT so you could use the information to make bets about my love life!!" I was shrieking at the top of my lungs and Emmett recoiled as I edged towards him.
"Jeez, cut me a break half pint. I didn't tell anyone what you'd told me I just used the information to gain a tactical advantage over the most annoying know-it-all in existence…..apart from Edward of course."
Jacob snickered.
"Oh come on" Alice interrupted him "You cheated and you know it. The bet is off. You're disqualified." She said the last with unashamed satisfaction.
Emmett protested and bickering ensued but it all just became background noise as I felt a large warm hand run over my vertebrae. I suddenly decided that I didn't care about the bet or Emmett or anyone else for that matter as my mind raced over the kiss we had just shared. Tiny shivers ran over my body as I turned to look into the beautiful brown eyes of my destiny, of the man who had been everything I needed as I was growing up and would be everything I needed forevermore.
He grinned at me, it was goofy and dazed, as though he could hardly believe his luck. Silly wolf I thought It's me who's the lucky one.
We escaped out of the back door just as Alice launched herself at Emmett, I heard furniture being destroyed as we ran to the woods.
I heard Esme scolding as I laughed and shot ahead of Jacob.
I heard Emmett howling "Get her off, get her off, somebody pleeeeeeease get her off me!!" as I turned and whispered "Catch me if you can" in a voice thick with desire.
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