I woke up to the smell of coffee and opened my eyes to find my dreams come true. Charlie was standing in front of me with a steaming mug of the glorious liquid.
"Good morning" Charlie said and gave me a bright smile. "Want some coffee?"
I mumbled thank you and reached groggily for the mug. Charlie grinned and stepped back, out of my reach. "Then get it yourself."
He pushed open the blinds and let the evil rays of sunlight pierce my room.
"Dad…" I groaned.
"Bella it's nearly 3 o'clock. Get up" Without another word he walked cheerfully out of my sun-lit room. I considered covering my head with the pillow and going back to sleep but decided to be the big girl I was and got up. This didn't stop me from cursing Charlie, silently and in my morning-fog head.
A shower and a couple cups of coffee later I was almost healed. My eyes had adjusted to the light and the fog in my head cleared by the caffeine.
"I haven't seen Edward for a while" Charlie said, attempting casualness.
"Hmph." I muttered in return. I was in no mood to answer questions about my love life that morning.
"Is everything ok?" he dropped his paper which I took as a warning for 'serious talk'.
Before he put me in a place in which I had to lie, I said "We broke up, Dad"
His eyes went worried and I knew that he was remembering the last time me and Edward broke up.
"Don't worry Dad." I said quickly. "It's ok. It wasn't working for me anymore and we're just friends. Ok?"
"Ok. But you know you can tell me anything right? Even boy stuff" He shuddered at the words as I stifled a chuckle. Talking 'boy stuff' wasn't something I wanted to do at all, much less with Charlie.
"I'm fine Dad, but thanks anyway."
"So what are you going to do today?" He resumed reading his paper.
"I don't know; maybe see Jess and the guys."
"Oh yeah, weren't you supposed to sleep over at her place last night?"
"Yeah… but she got kind of sick and I figured we'd both be better off if I came back here."
"Ok" Charlie said distractedly. My lies were starting to pile up on each other like dirty dishes no one wanted to clear up.
"Oh did you get a dress for graduation?" Charlie asked joining the world of the living once again. Graduation was a big deal for him, something he and Renée shared in common. Me, not so much.
"No I didn't find anything I liked" I got up to put my dishes away.
"Oh well you haven't got much time left graduation is only a couple days away."
"I know Dad. Don't worry"
"Hmm." He resumed reading his paper.
"I'm going to go now" I said to the back of his preoccupied head.
"Ok. Well, I'm going to be with Billy and the guys today so I'll be home a little late."
"Ok bye!" I said and escaped.
I drove down to the beach and parked as close to it as I could. I took my shoes off and let my toes enjoy the warm sand. I lifted my face to the sun and let myself enjoy the warmth. I looked back down at my feet and decided it was no time to sunbathe; I had to come up with a plan.
I walked further down the beach close to the cliff and sat as close to the water as the waves would allow.
How was I going solve the Volturi problem, I asked myself as I sat down on the sand and pondered. Surely there was someway to get them to leave me alone and all the other vampires scrambling for my juicy blood? I lied down onto the sand, crossing my hands behind my head. I stared at the blue sky and the few wisps of fluffy clouds floating in it.
"One thing is as sure as fuck, I can't fight them on my own" I said out loud.
"Finally we agree on something." A voice came from behind me. I recognised it instantly.
"Fuck off Blondie, two is a crowd." I said without looking up.
"Ah, but you are such pleasing company Miss Manners."
This time I did look up. His beautiful face floated over mine. He looked even better in the sunlight.
"Do you not understand English? Go away" I spat and lied back down. He sat down next to me on the sand and I forced myself to keep my eyes on the sky.
"Look, you said it yourself; you can't do this on your own."
"I have people…"
"Oh?" He sounded unconvinced. "Who?"
I turned to him briefly. "Two very territorial non-humans. Buzz off."
"Hmm. The werewolf and vampire, I believe."
I sat up in surprise. "How the hell did you know that?"
"I know a lot about you Isabella Swan" Kerrigan said with a smile and lied down in the same way as I had earlier. I tried very hard to fight the temptation to rip his face off.
"How long have you been following me? Assuming the club wasn't the first time you saw me."
"Since February. On and off." He said without looking up. I stared hard at his golden face and the gentle freckles that were sprinkled on his sharp nose. As if sensing the stare he opened one eye. "Don't get the wrong idea, it was after the Volturi stint that you had that we decided that you must be of some importance to the world's supernatural stage."
"You know, I really don't like you" I said and turned back to the sea, glittering under the sun.
"Yeah well, things change and I'm prepared to wait." He said lazily taking off the jacket he was wearing. He was dressed like a normal teenager; a brown leather jacket, a band t-shirt I didn't recognise and a pair of jeans, yet he was beyond normal. There was something in his ocean blue eyes that told me there was more to him.
"So what's your story?" I asked.
"Story?" He didn't look up.
"Yeah. Your deal? What is it?"
"I'm just a regular guy looking for some adventure." He said with a smirk.
"And I'm the tooth fairy. Spill. Who are you really?"
There was a pause in which I assumed he considered telling me. After a moment he opened his eyes and looked right at me.
"I am a sort of anomaly." He said seriously.
"This comes as no surprise, hon."
"Yeah well I'm the love child of a vampire and a werewolf."
"You what?" I stared surprised. All the sarcasm comments I had prepared disappeared from my mind.
"You heard me." He lied back down. I could tell he was completely serious.
"How…how… is that even possible?"
"Apparently so."
"But…wait…what?!" I exclaimed. "I thought vampires were unable to procreate? On account of them being certifiably D-E-A-D"
"Yeah I get you, babe but here I am with the scars to prove it." The cryptic tone of his voice was starting to piss me off.
"Ok you got me interested. Now can you cut the whole Magical Mystery Tour and get to the point?"
"My mom was a vampire, changed by her not so good boyfriend in the 17th century. She was one of the first vampires to deny they're thirst and live amongst humans in peace." There was pride in his voice.
"But my dad didn't know this. He considered every vampire just the same; a hazard to society. My dad was a werewolf but first and foremost he was a vampire slayer. His family had been murdered by vamps when he was a kid so he had some personal vendetta. You know how they say everyone has one person that is meant for them and they're meant to love them forever?" I nodded dumbly.
"Well that was what it was like for my parents. My dad set out to kill her but the moment they looked into each others eyes, BAM they were in love. At least that's how my dad told the story. And that's how I came into the world."
"But how is that possible?" I asked dumfounded.
"No body knows, but apparently it's happened before. And the odd thing is that werewolves and vampires are like…like night and day. But something about the fact that they were both non-human – at least not completely – seemed to nullify the fact that one of them was dead." He laughed bitterly.
"Unfortunately, nine months later my mother died at birth. Another mystery, vampires don't just die. But she did."
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"It's ok. Its hard to miss someone you never knew but my Dad always made sure I knew where I came from. He brought me up and protected me; he made me what I am today."
"He was killed a couple years ago doing just that. The Volturi finally found him, us, and he died protecting me. The Volturi are not big on Halflings. And since then I vowed that I would stop them from hurting anyone else."
I was silence as I considered the remarkable story I had just heard.
"So do you drink blood?" I asked quietly.
"Nope. And I can't turn into a wolf either. I mostly rock at the superhuman strength thing. And I'm completely mortal." He grinned and looked at me. The sadness had disappeared from his face and was replaced with humour. "So do you like me more now?"
I laughed despite myself. "No. But you seem less annoying."
He laughed at this and got up.
"It's hot. Want to take a dip?" He asked, already taking off his t-shirt, revealing his equally stunning body. I turned away quickly, feeling my face flush with embarrassment.
"In there? It's freezing!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah? So?" He had kicked off his shoes and was unbuttoning his jeans. "Come on, don't be a wimp."
Before I could say anything in my defence he ran into the water, diving into the deep blue like a dolphin. I stared open-mouthed as his head bobbed up over the waves.
"Come on!" He shouted and began a lazy backstroke. I considered for a minute and began taking off my clothes. In nothing but my top and panties I ran into the freezing water and dove in. Underwater, I felt myself go stiff with the shock of cold against my skin. I forced myself to keep moving and dove forward. Coming up for air I found Kerrigan swimming languidly around me.
"Nice, eh?"
"Only if you're a polar bear." I gasped. "It's freezing" I kicked with my feet to keep afloat.
"So what now? Can I join your vampire fighting team?" He asked, swimming closer to me so that I could feel the warmth emanating from him.
"I don't have a team. And no."
He grinned toothily.
"Let me show you something." He grabbed my arms and pulled me onto his back. "Hold on" He said and before I knew it we were speeding through the water as fast as a motorboat. My arms and legs twisted around him instinctively as we cut the water at terrifying speed. We reached a rock about a mile away from the beach and he stopped letting me grab onto it.
"Don't ever do that to me again" I gasped. He just grinned and shrugged. With his wet hair plastered to his head he looked like a seal.
"You need to get back too you know…"
I shook my head and tried not to smile. I found that his was so disarming that I could do nothing else.
"Okay. Fine." I said wrapping myself around him once again. "I'll freeze out here otherwise." We sped back to the beach, water parting as if a knife was cutting through it. Once we had reached shallow enough water, Kerrigan stopped and I climbed off him. We walked to the beach laughing, exhilarated.
"That was fun." I said shoving him gently.
He shoved me back and smiled. "Let me know when you want to do it again." He winked.
We sat back down on the sand and stared at the sea in silence.
"Anyone tell you that you have the most expressive face in history. You're like an open book" He said breaking our silence. I shivered quietly and shook my head, flicking droplet of sea onto the sand.
"Well you do. Its crazy but I can see why the supernatural are attracted to you."
"Yeah?" I turned to face his blue gaze.
"Yeah. It's something about the way you're so enigmatically beautiful. And not in the all-American cheerleader way either; you're beautiful in a way that is totally not normal."
I sat silently stunned for a moment.
"Blondie," I said quietly. "You're not flirting with me are you?"
His eyes didn't move from mine. "Is that a problem for you?"
Neither of us said anything as we stared at each other. Scared that he could hear my heart thudding against my chest I got up and began putting my clothes on.
"I really have to stop doing this" I muttered to myself.
"Doing what?" He asked curiously, his gaze never lifting from me. I could feel it burning my skin.
"Getting involved with guys that only fuck with my head."
"I assure you" He said, his voice full of laughter "It's not your head I want to be fucking"
My head whipped around in surprise. My eyes narrowed with anger.
"And there'll be none of that either."
"Of what" He asked mock innocently and got up to put his own clothes on
"You know what. So just stop it."
He shrugged.
"Thanks for the swim, Blondie. I'll see you later" I began walking down the beach.
"Hey wait!" He called after me. "Where are you going? We haven't talked about the obvious."
"Which would be?" I didn't turn away. I was afraid that if I looked at him long enough my body would betray my mind. And I didn't need more of those kinds of problems.
"The fact that the day after tomorrow, you'll be facing a fucking war of good and evil in your back yard." He said angrily.
I turned around angrily.
"What the hell do you want me to do? Because I don't see what I can do!"
He stopped a foot away from me. Heat radiated off him.
"I think you should hide."
"Hide?" I echoed.
"Yeah as in keep yourself safe from the spray of shit hitting the fan."
"Nice. But no thanks." I resumed walking to my car. "I'm not big on running away."
"Bella, you're a tiny little human girl going up against the strongest vampires in history. What makes you think you'll survive this if you stay?"
Without thinking I whipped around, spinning my leg low so that I hit the back of his knees. He fell onto the sand with "oomph" and I put my foot onto his neck, pressing lightly on his trachea.
"Little girl you say?"
"Point taken" He choked. I released my foot and began striding to the car. I opened the door angrily and got in. I wondered absently why my car seemed to be my only safe haven from the world. It wasn't as if it was very safe. I kept waiting for it to break down.
"Sooner or later you're going to realise you need me" Kerrigan called out his blue eyes blazing, an exact mirror of the sparkling sea behind me.
"We'll see about that." I said more to me than him as I started the car and drove off, watching him through the rear-view mirror standing on the beach.
I drove to La Push for the second confrontation in 24 hours. I was getting very good at this. I got out of the car and jogged to the Black house. I rapped on the door and stood on the porch, my body shivering slightly from my wet clothes.
"Who is it?" I heard Billy call out from behind the door.
"It's me. Bella" I said and watched Billy open the door with a smile.
"Bella. Good to see you. Come in."
I shook my head. "I only came to see Jake quickly."
"Oh," He said, disappointment flitting through his face. "He's not here. I think he's at the meadow with the boys.
He didn't need to tell me which boys. I said my thanks and headed back into my car.
The members of the pack weren't exactly great friends of mine but they knew what I was and so had to protect me, whether they liked me or not. I drove as close to the meadow as I could and began to traipse through the forest. The forest held memories of me and Edward that when I succumbed to them seemed to punch me in the stomach. How quickly things seemed to change.
I finally reached the clearing and found a number of men fighting each other. I realised immediately that they were training. Some had turned into wolves; others were in human form practising a martial art form I didn't recognise. And over the past few months I had come to learn quite a few.
"Hello boys!" I called out. "Got room for one more?" I walked closer to them as they all stopped to stare. Jake having successfully pinned Sam onto the ground looked up at me, his face expressionless.
Sam pushed Jake's foot off his chest and got up, grinning.
"Swan. Nice to see you again." He said cheerfully.
"What are you doing here?" Jake asked in an opposite tone.
"Came to see you, maybe I'll get some practise out of you as an added bonus."
Jake raised his eyebrow. "I don't want you to get hurt, babe."
"Don't call me babe. And you won't hurt me" I said shrugging off his chauvinism. I had gotten used to it.
Jake merely lifted his shoulders as if to say I warned you.
Sam slapped his shoulder and laughed. "Ok. This I want to see."
Getting cocky I grinned. "Want to put some money on this?"
Jake equally arrogant retorted "50 bucks says I have you on the ground, saying "uncle"."
"I'll see your 50 bucks and raise you a burger for my efforts"
Jake shrugged and smiled overconfidently.
We faced off, the rest of the pack gathering around us. I could see they were placing bets on who would win too. I guess the odds weren't in my favour. But I knew Jake; I knew the moves he'd use. He didn't know I had been practising with Kingston Levine, the most dangerous man to all vampires.
I'd found Kingston during the months Edward was away. I had decided it was time to learn how to protect myself. Seeing as I had little connections to the supernatural world. I winged it by looking him up in a phone book. He took me in happily, enjoying the challenge.
I learned quickly and became somewhat of a prodigy under his wing. I remembered all the days I had spent, bruises covering my body, working hard to become stronger, faster, harder. I was fighting to become less defenceless and more powerful.
I gazed at Jakes smug smile as Sam called "Choose your weapons"
I picked up a bamboo shinai and Jake picked two similar sticks that were a little shorter. We faced off in the middle of the field. I settled into my stance, placing my left foot in front and holding the stick diagonally so that is was pointing to the ground near my right foot.
"Begin." I heard Sam say, his voice drifting through my concentration. I analysed Jake's stance to find weaknesses before circling him carefully like a wolf.
Jake's eyes never moved from mine as we circled each other. He flipped the sticks in his hand artfully before attacking. I lifted my shinai in defence holding it in both hands. The strike was so hard it reverberated through to my arms. I was pushed back a little.
I glared at him while he just smiled and inclined his head. I dropped the stick and attacked aiming at his solar plexus, a blow that he parried efficiently. I continued to attack, my stick moving quickly while he defended with his own. We moved around the field using our make-shift swords as weapons against each other.
I made a half-turn and hit him square in the ribs. He staggered slightly and looked at me with surprise. He reacted quickly by using his two "swords" to knock mine to the ground.
Shit. I thought to myself as he kicked my weapon away. This was going to be harder than I thought. He came at me like a tornado, attacking me with effortless power and grace. I kept backing up, blocking and defending. Using my arms as shield and bending away with my waist.
At one point I saw his right arm come at me in a curve aiming at my stomach. I pirouetted neatly so that I was at his side. Before he could react, I placed a sharp jab to his stomach. Unfortunately, he was faster and was able to turn before so that I barely brushed his ribs with my elbow. I swooped down to duck a blow and neatly pulled one of the sticks neatly out of his left handed grasp
We fought, the wooden sticks making a loud cracking sound as they hit each other. With another turn kick I knocked the stick out of his hand. Jake looked up at me with surprise.
"I'll be fair" I said with a smile and threw my stick down as well. I could hear distant hoots of laughter from the pack as Jakes eyes smouldered with anger. A ferocious grin crept up on his and before I knew it I was defending his blows.
He was strong pushing me back with each blow. But I was faster. I dodged narrowly missing a punch aimed at my face. I could hear the swoosh of air as his right fist whizzed passed by my ear. Stepped back with my right foot and lifted my left for a high kicked that hit him square on his chest. He fell back a couple feet but got up again in a blink of an eye. Was this never going to end, I thought to myself as I leapt over a low kick aiming to trip me. Using the momentum from my leap, I twisted in the air and kicked him in the face.
I landed and saw him sprawled on the grass. I ran to him and punched him swiftly in the solar plexus. He then grabbed me and flipped me neatly over him onto the ground. The air left my body and I struggled to get up. I could hear him coming, for me so I pushed up with my hands, my back arching off the ground to land on my feet. He kicked, I dodged, and I parried until he hooked his foot and slammed me onto the ground. Just as he was about to administer the death blow, rolled and grabbed the stick lying on the ground and with a double-handed grip, pushed it against his neck. He choked as pushed up with my foot, efficiently flipping our positions. I pressed the end of the stick against his throat like one would do with a real sword.
"Do I hear uncle?" I asked breathlessly, my chest heaving from the effort. There was a hoot of laughter from the pack as Jake glared at me. Then with surprising swiftness he rolled in a similar way I had and grabbed the other stick that I had dropped earlier. We both rolled off the ground and attacked. In simultaneous moves my stick pointed at his heart while his was at my throat. We stood there, immobile, breathing heavily.
"Stop. Stop!" I heard Sam shout a smile breaking over his face. "You both win." He looked at Jakes bleeding lip, turned to me and took in my ripped jeans and dirt covered face.
"Just stop trying to kill each other please." He laughed.
Jake stared at me for another long moment before he dropped the stick from my neck and backed away from me.
"I guess we're equal." I said smiling.
"Maybe I was taking it easy with you" Jake replied, lifting his eyebrow.
"Right. Ok. Whatever lets you sleep at night" Jake just smiled and nodded to Sam. Sam carefully backed away.
"I assume you came here to talk to me about something?" Jake asked as we walked further away from the pack.
"Yeah, it's about this war."
Jake merely shook his head wearily.
"You're not involved, Bella. I won't let you get hurt."
"Excuse me but this is the same Bella that was kicking your butt 2 minutes ago!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, but I'm not a blood-thirsty vampire with superhuman strength."
"No you're a Bambi-eating werewolf. What's your point?"
I could see the corners of his mouth lift in with the slightest hint of a smile, but his expression remained grim.
"You do realise that I can't have you distracting me there. I can't be worrying about whether you're ok or not on a bloody battlefield."
"Battlefield?" I repeated. "Aren't you taking this a little too far?"
"No Bella, I'm not taking this too far." He shouted.
"You do realise if they get you, the whole freaking world is in trouble, not just you. If the rumours hold up, we're talking about invincible vampires set on destroying the human race, not to mention removing werewolves off the face of the planet!"
"The Volturi aren't doing this for kicks, Bella. They want the power that you can give them. And worse, they might want a prodigy. I can't imagine what kind of vampire you'd become in their hands." He shuddered and shook his head.
"So yeah, it's a fucking battlefield."
I stood silent staring up at him.
"I don't think they'd bother changing me. After all, I'm much more valuable to them as a human."
"Either way, I won't let it happen." His dark brown eyes stared deep into mine for a moment before he smiled playfully.
"You were pretty good out there. Where'd you learn those moves?"
"Too many Bruce Lee movies and a really really good teacher." I smiled.
"Well you almost had me babe, I must admit."
We began walking back to the rest of the guys.
"So do you have a plan?" I asked Jake.
"Not so much a plan, more like a hope. The packs from the north are coming down later and we're going to go over everything when they get here."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't realise all you guys kept in contact. I kind of thought it was one of those club things."
Jake gave me an odd look. "You are so weird Bells. Yeah we keep connected, we are brothers you know."
"Surely there are some girls too?" I asked.
"Yeah of course" He shrugged. "Don't know many strong ones though"
"Do you know Spike?"
"Spike?" Jake turned to look at me surprised. "You know Spike Morgan?"
"I think so…short black hair, green eyes, and a dirty mouth?"
Jake laughed heartily. "Yeah Spike. He's a great guy. Came by a while after I'd changed, he's a great guy. Strong as hell."
"Also very annoying." I replied darkly. Jake just smiled. "You know the girl? Kiki?"
"Sure. She's a strong too. Doesn't like to go into wolf form much, likes to handle her katana."
"She's a werewolf too?" I was surprised. She didn't look like a werewolf. But then again, I wasn't the best judge of what's what.
"Yup. One of the best there is. She's faster than a bullet"
I found a twinge of jealousy in my stomach. This was not a feeling I wanted to have. I tried not to scowl.
"That's all it is though. I admire her agility and form" Jake said carefully, lifting my chin so that I looked into his eyes.
"You know, I heard you the other night." He said quietly his gaze never leaving mine.
I said nothing, my heart beating like a drum in my chest.
"Did you mean it?"
"Yes," I whispered softly. "I meant it."
"Then why are you still seeing him? I can smell him on you."
I just shook my head, not knowing what to say.
"You know I can't get over this new look" He said changing the subject, his fingers threading through the short wisps of dark hair.
"Yeah its taking me some time to get used to, too."
"I liked you with long hair" He said softly burying his face into my hair. "You looked like a girl."
I pulled back slightly. "And what do I look like now? A man?"
Jake chuckled. "No. Just harsher somehow. Less innocent."
"Well, when there is a war starting up over your blood it's hard to stay blue-eyed."
"True. But I liked you that way."
"Get over it."
He chuckled as we resumed walking.
"Is it really that bad?" I asked quietly, letting the fear inside me out.
"I really don't know, Bells" He kicked a stone. "But it's not good. If we're lucky we can talk ourselves out of anything bloody. If not…" He let the word hang in the air forebodingly.
"Why do you have to get involved?"
"Because our tribe has protected the people of this area for centuries. Because it is our duty to do so. The other werewolves from the other tribes have their own reasons, but I'm thinking you're just a really good excuse to kill some blood suckers and rid the world of their filth."
I was quiet the rest of the walk. Jake kept glancing my way to gauge my emotions but I kept my head down and said nothing. He was too perceptive for me to truly hide what I was feeling but I knew he wouldn't push it.
As we reached the others Sam hurried Jake over.
"They're here." He said. His dark eyes said a lot more than his words did. It seemed that Sam, even though he was the leader, valued Jake's opinion more than was necessary. Perhaps because he was a Black.
"Ok. We'll head out now." Jake answered and turned back to me,
"You should go. Even though they come here on the pretence of caring about your well-being, I think it'd be best if you go. For your own safety.
"Ok." I had to talk to Kerrigan anyway. There was a lot more to this than I knew.
Before I could say another word Jake kissed me. Above the sound of blood rushing through my head I heard the guys make catcalls. Giving them a good show I wrapped my arms around Jake and pushed against him. His lips curved against mine as he gave me one last searing kiss before he pushed back.
I turned and began walking back to the truck. Before I reached the edge of the forest Jake came up behind me and whispered "I love you too" into my ear. I turned around in a flash but he was already jogging back to the pack. I shivered slightly as the words passed through me. Yup, I was getting too good at complicated.