Hey there! Blondie, here.
So I've decided to go about this in an orderly manner (finally!). I kept getting bits and pieces of the story in my head so I decided to actually write out a timeline of how I wanted this to go. I've created a serious of stories (some short and other very long) per each imprinted couple, both inside and outside the books. But I figured, the best way to tell a story is to start at the beginning. So here it is... here is Love was Fast, the story of Sam and Emily. Hope you enjoy it!
P.S. I've waited to post this until I've gotten a couple chapters ahead of myself. That way I should be posting more regularly (if we are lucky, every or every other Thursday).
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my words.
1. Burning Red
The rage clouded my thoughts, fueled my temper, and hazed my vision. I couldn't control it anymore. It needed out but I didn't know where.
I was uncomfortably hot. The heat was everywhere, making me feel like someone shoved the sun itself inside my chest. To escape the burning red rage, I ran.
The wind cooled my skin, which had felt like it was scalding. My shirt felt tight so I ripped it away from my body letting the pieces flap in the wind, not once breaking stride.
I had to keep running. Just keep running, I told myself. It felt better that way, getting the wind to cool me and the exercise to calm my uncontrollable temper. I stumbled on and fell to my knees. I moved to wipe the sweat from my eyes but my body changed. I had no control over it anymore.
My sight was better; I could see every fine detail of the leaves hundreds of feet above me. My hearing was refined; I could hear a hummingbird's wings flutter and a deer step on a twig a mile away. My nose burned with the overwhelming nature of smells that I had never smelt before. All of my senses were overwhelmed so in this new body, I ran.
I had no idea where I was going or where I was but I knew that I had to keep running and I did just that until I ran by a river, its pristine water giving me a mirror like image of my new body. Except, it wasn't a body at all. I was no longer human. Instead of my human body in the reflection, there stood a wolf the size of a bear with a coat as dark as coal. Terrified, I took off again- this time being diligent to avoid any reflective surfaces.
By the time my fear and anger had dissipated, I figured I must be somewhere in Canada. However, a new fear gripped me. How do I get back? Not back to Forks, but back to being human?
It was getting dark and my energy had dissipated alongside my rage and fear. I used my newly, overdeveloped senses to find a field where I could bed down until morning. I curled up and tried my best to get some sleep. However, I found my mind would not stop. A million and one questions ran through my head. Most prominently: what do I tell Leah?
As I tossed and turned all night, I thought of possible answers to each question.
How did this happen? Next.
Why did this happen? Next.
How do I change back? Next.
How do I get back to Forks? I guess I could run back, avoid the hassle of border patrol.
What do I do when I get back to Forks? Keep it to myself. Anyone else will think I am crazy.
What do I tell Leah? Nothing. I'll tell her I was feeling overwhelmed and just needed to escape for a bit but nothing has changed.
How do I prevent this from happening again? My temper, my uncontrollable rage, seemed to have caused this. Nothing else was out of the norm. So that question was easy to answer: remain calm. However, I quickly learned that despite being the easiest question to answer, my fuse was shorter than normal. Everything pissed me off: the fact that I was stuck like this, that I didn't have a clue, that Leah was probably searching frantically for me, and that I was unable to do anything in this form.
Eventually, one night of many nights of sleepless rest, it clicked. My rage triggered this. My rage probably kept me in this form.
The next morning at dawn, I sat and tried to think calming thoughts. I tried to recall all those times that Leah had started and stopped yoga during our relationship. I channeled that calm and breathing style as I sat on my haunches. I kept my eyes closed and tried to block out all the distracting noises.
I opened my eyes and found the same as before: my heightened senses remained and my extreme body temperature was still well above normal. I moved to rub a paw over my face, a move that I often did as a human when frustrated. Instead of the silky fur I had grown accustomed to, I was shocked when I felt the roughness of my calloused hands.
Excitedly, I looked down only to see my human body. Ecstatic, I yelled and jumped in triumph. I did notice that I was naked so that answered another of my questions: clothes do not remain when shifting.
Knowing I would have to return to wolf form to return to Forks, I was unperturbed by my nakedness. Now that I had cracked the key, I was only too happy to return home to Leah.
I thought of my father in order to pump rage into my body so I would shift back into wolf form. As soon as I was wolf again, I took off at a dead sprint towards home (somehow knowing exactly where it was).
I arrived, shifted back to human form, and agilely climbed up to my bedroom window where I was able to grab a fresh set of clothes. My new super senses picked up on someone downstairs. Quickly, I went back out the same way I came in then walked around front. I entered the unlocked door to find Leah pacing in my kitchen, a nervous wreck.
"Sam!" She cried overjoyed.
"Leah." I smiled and opened my arms as she launched herself into them. I wrapped my arms tightly around her, breathing in her scent.
"Where were you?" She asked, pulling away just enough so I could see and smell tears.
"I went out of town for a little bit," I lied, "I needed to go for a some time. Get some perspective."
"About what?" Leah asked, curiously as she studied my face.
"My father. I've been looking for him and it finally dawned on me that I was looking for someone who didn't want me. I needed some space to deal with that realization." I lied, knowing she wouldn't believe a small offhand lie. It needed to be in-depth, elaborate.
"Sam, you could have told me about that." Leah sighed, buying it hook, line, and sinker. A feeling of regret and remorse sunk into my stomach and made a nice little home there. I could tell it was going to be there for a while.
"I know. I'm sorry. I wasn't myself." I responded ashamed but not for the reason she thought, for once telling the truth.
"Sam, I'm always here for you- no matter what." Leah said, gently.
"I know." I nodded, taking her hand to kiss it gently.
"I've got to go but I'll be back later." Leah said, glancing at her watch quickly, "You'd better be here when I get back."
I smiled softly at her thinly veiled threat.
"I'm just going to run to the store real quick and then I'll be here all afternoon." I said, spreading my arms out.
"Sounds good. I love you." Leah said, kissing me gently.
"I love you too." I said, kissing her back.
I followed her out and kept true to my word, making a trip to the store. Apparently, I was going to need new clothes- Leah kept half of my supply and if I phased again, I didn't want to be depleting my stock.
As I searched the aisles for anything else that I could need, clothes in the basket, I brushed by Old Quil.
"Sam!" Old Quil said in a gravelly voice, "Good to see you back."
He reached out to take my hand so I offered my own. Upon contact with my warmer then usual skin, Old Quil's eyes widened and I thought he was going to have a heart attack.
"Old Quil?" I asked quickly, supporting him easily. Quickly, discovering the inhuman strength that accompanied all my newly heightened senses.
"Sam, what happened to make you disappear?" Old Quil whispered.
"I-" I went to start on the lie but Old Quil cut me off.
"Don't lie."
"I turned into a wolf." I whispered, after double-checking our surroundings.
"We must meet with the Elders. I must gather all the Elders. We must go now." Quil said, yanking me out of the store, all of our items forgotten and discarded.
"Elders? Why? Do you know something about this?" I interrogated.
"It would do you well not to forget your history so easily." Old Quil replied cryptically as I helped him into my car.
"Where to?" I asked, climbing in.
"Billy's. Harry can come to us." Old Quil instructed and I quickly obeyed.
"Billy! Billy! It's happened!" Old Quil said, getting out of the car as soon as I had it in park.
"Quil?" Billy called in confusion, rolling himself onto the front porch as Quil stumble-ran towards the front of the house like a mad man.
"Sam?" Billy asked, once he could see me. His confusion, evident on his face, only increased.
"Call Harry!" Quil raved, still sounding quite mental like instead of calling Harry, we should be calling a mental facility.
I managed to catch up to him and assist with his trip up the ramp Jacob had built for his father.
Still bewildered, Billy rolled back inside and called Harry, insisting that he came down right now.
"Quil, tell me what's going on." Billy commanded but Old Quil's energy was drained and he gasped for air.
I went into the kitchen and grabbed him a cup of water. Billy's attention was turned to me when I returned with the water.
"You, talk." Billy demanded.
"We were in the store. He shook my hand and then asked me where I had gone. He demanded that I not lie to him so when I told him the truth, he freaked out and said we had to talk to the Elders." I explained, vaguely mostly because that was all I had understood.
"What was the truth?" Billy asked, relentless, as he rolled forward to touch my burning skin.
"I turned into a wolf." I breathed.
"Are you being serious?" Billy gasped, studying my face with unbelieving eyes.
"Yes. Why? Do you believe me?" I asked frantically. Now I had two crazy old men on my hands.
"Of course, we do!" Billy rebuked.
"Why?" I asked as Harry's car roared down the driveway.
"Sam, think of our legends! Those aren't just some things that we old folks make up to entertain ourselves, they are founded in truth!" Billy said just as Harry burst through the door.
"What is going on?" Harry demanded as Old Quil kept babbling about it finally happening.
"Sam, here, has been touched with a gift from the spirits." Billy said, turning Harry's attention to me.
"You! You put my daughter through Hell for two weeks!" Harry exclaimed, enraged.
"Harry! Listen!" Billy commanded, "Sam phased. The spirits gifted him!"
"What?" Harry asked dumbfounded, boring holes in my head.
Add another one to the list of crazy, old men in this house, I thought to myself.
Harry rushed forward to touch me, only to find my abnormally high temperature as the others already had.
"Sweet Spirits." Harry murmured, sitting down.
"Would someone like to fully explain to me what is going on?" I asked, slightly aggravated.
"Sit down, Sam. There's a lot we need to discuss." Billy motioned. Harry was already sitting and Old Quil was too excited to stop smiling or sit, it was actually a little creepy.
That's how all those questions that had been running through my head for the past two weeks were answered: Billy, Harry, and Old Quil. They became my pillars, my Google for every question I had, and my support. They warned me about everything- imprinting, vampires, and phasing. I learned everything I needed to that night and some things that would keep me up for nights to come while Leah, a person I now knew I wasn't guaranteed a future with, cuddled into my side.