Chapter 5

I jolted awake to the sound of loud rain and a strange thump, shivering with cold and wondering how on earth it could be so loud. My window should be firmly shut, the small heater beside my bed should have held off the cold, and yet everything in my room felt inexplicably damp. Though it was fitting, the cold feeling in my stomach had settled in over a week ago and not moved an inch, or perhaps slightly to feel damper.

I didn't know internal organs could feel perceptibly damp.

My bedroom shouldn't feel like this at all.

The hair on the back of my neck seemed to stand on end as the feeling of something being not quite right settled into my stomach.

I grabbed my phone to check the time and ground my teeth in anger as I saw it wasn't even six in the morning. On a Saturday. When I didn't even have plans until ten.

I collapsed back on my pillow with force, as if hitting the pillow might be enough to jolt me back into a deep sleep. As if this jolt would cancel out the strange slam that woke me. It was almost like my door, or my window had suddenly slammed shut. Though Charlie's snores in the room next door served as the voice of reason, telling me there couldn't have been a loud noise.

It must have been a dream.

But the prickling skin on the back of my neck seemed to want me to think of other reasons for this noise.

I tossed and turned, pulled my thick comforter up, and just about begged for sleep though the combination of oppressive cold and heaviness in my stomach felt all-encompassing and refused me the relief of sleep. Eventually I gave up and decided to head downstairs for a hot coffee. If I couldn't sleep, I may as well caffeinate, and hopefully the warm drink would thaw my frozen body.

As I stood, I noticed in my sleep I had knocked the sweater that had been on the foot of my bed onto the floor beside my window. It wasn't unusual. But what drew my attention in was the amount of water present around my windowsill and on the floor. The window was shut firmly and yet the rain had worked its way in. The sweater was lying in the large puddle and completely soaked through!

Curious, I began to feel around the window frame to determine where the leak might be, and yet there was nothing. No sign of water seeping in through the seals or any cracks. Certainly no missing glass or obvious breaks, though the lock was unlatched even though I couldn't remember the last time I might have opened it. The inside of the glass was strangely dry, though the windowsill was soaked as if rain had been coming through an opened window all night.

I was sure I hadn't opened my window at all since I arrived other than to check it wasn't painted shut. I was sure the window had rarely been opened at all since I last spent a summer here. If the window had been open, could it have been because someone was in my room?

Thankfully, my room seemed to be in its usual state of semi-cluttered mess so if someone had opened my window, the question was why? And how?

I continued to mull over the possibility of someone climbing the tree in my yard, silently opening my window, then somehow jumping the gap, and then what? Watching me sleep from the rocking chair in the corner? What on earth would possess someone to do so? Who would do that?

I found some old towels in the linen press and began to clean up, trying to think what on earth someone would achieve from this. The only person in this whole town who seemed to be so interested in me and seemed to keep popping up in my life at strange times, was Edward Cullen.

Edward Cullen, the strange, cold handed man, with apparent superstrength.

But absolutely he wasn't that level of insane right? Sneaking into someone's home, someone's bedroom. And the Chief of Police's house to make it even more insane.

No, he was strange, but he wasn't insane. Right?

When the mess was finally clean and I knew for sure I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, I instead took a hot shower, poured myself a coffee, and then took my ancient but still portable laptop into the lounge to reply to one of the latest emails from my mother. She was getting impatient with my lack of a reply and an impatient Renee was a Renee who would keep contacting me several times a day until I responded.

She was needy, though she had been needy since the day she was born and being on the other side of the country was helping immensely to put some much-needed distance between us. She had Phil now to make sure she would survive; she didn't need me like she used to. So instead, I was there to listen as she gushed about the cities she was visiting, hear all about the new hobbies she would inevitably drop, and cheer her on from a distance. So, I carefully crafted my response while curled up on the armchair in the bay window while watching the rain run down the glass, and waved a quick goodbye to Charlie as he ran out the house, apparently late to meet with Harry for a fishing trip.

A second coffee, with a little bit more of the fancy creamer I treated myself to, and more rain passed. Time ran slower here it seemed. Especially when you were waiting for it to pass.

With Renee attended to, and Charlie gone, it was silent and slightly eerie in the house. I tried to fill in as much time as possible by throwing the soaked towels in the wash, I blow dried my hair straight, and I even ironed the button up I was thinking of wearing. It almost looked like I was trying to impress someone and not just getting ready to hang in the garage all day with the boys. In the end I still topped my ironed button up with the grey sweater that usually lived on my rocking chair, it was my second favourite after the cream coloured one that spent the night in a puddle.

Finally, I admitted defeat, and left the house for the drive up to La Push. Perhaps I would stop at the little gas station down the road from Uncle Billy's and get us some snacks for the day. The boys would certainly go through them with how much they seemed to be growing lately. Perhaps that would help them forgive me for my early arrival that would almost certainly pull one of them out of bed.

And it would spare me another ten minutes. Perhaps I would even fill my tank.

Then I'd only be a half an hour early. And that was more reasonable. Right?

Or would that mean Jake would definitely be asleep when I got to his house? Perhaps I would have another coffee with Uncle Billy. Or just go and wake Jacob up. Would that be strange, to go into his room and wake him? We used to have sleepovers all the time, but I couldn't remember the last time I had stepped into his room. That became off limits sometime around puberty.

The thoughts continued to swirl around my mind aimlessly as I drove. Sticking to the speed limit as usual, but thankfully for once not too worried about ice. And the rain slowed to more of a drizzle as I got closer to the coast.

It was less bitterly cold in La Push when I stopped for gas and snacks. The perpetual sea breeze lacked the sharp bite of the wind in Forks and kept everything more pleasant. And it had the benefit of smelling of the ocean and rain together. It smelled like my childhood. A salty petrichor that soothed my soul.

As I finished filling the truck's tank, another old truck pulled into the other side, heading the opposite way to me. It was around the same age as my truck, but black and a little more beaten up. And somehow it held three of the largest men I had ever seen.

One seemed entirely disinterested in anything outside of his small phone screen, sitting in the passenger seat with his head hung low and furiously texting, one knee up by his face as he had a bare foot resting on the dash. I couldn't say not a care in the world though with the scowl that seemed permanently etched into his face, and one hand occasionally brushing though his shaggy, short hair. His sharp cheekbones and long slightly curved nose added to the severe look. As I watched he once again ran his fingers through his hair, pushing the chin length mess off of his face and temporarily tucked behind his ear.

Another large man sat at the driver's seat and seemed less angry than the scowling man, yet like he was constantly scanning for something. He seemed to be the largest and oldest, and despite the cool air his broad chest was completely bare, and I could see a large tattoo covering his upper arm and shoulder nearest to me. The black lines swirling and tangling with each other, abstract shapes around the face of a wolf.

The final man had been lounging in the bed of the truck and lifted himself out with a grace unlike almost anything I had ever seen before. His long limbs were thick with muscles that rippled under his skin and his hair was the longest out of the three of them, tied into a messy bun at the nape of his neck. He seemed the youngest, more carefree in how he held himself, and almost playful or puppylike in how he moved. Like his limbs were a little too big for his body and he wasn't quite sure how to move them, but like there was something incredibly fun going on.

Still, there was something strange about his movements, strong and deliberate yet entirely flowing and effortless. His movements reminded me of the Cullen's. And yet so different. More human. Like an athlete or a dancer and less like something pretending to be human.

I shook myself out of the strange trance I had watching these three men and ran into the little store to select snacks. The selection was small, but a few bags of chips would keep the boys entertained. And some twizzlers for myself too. But I would need to hide them if I intended them to remain unscathed.

The sudden sound of a heavy object hitting the floor and bouncing twice caught me off guard and I span from the candy display to the noise. My heart beating out of my chest and every hair on my body standing on end.

And there stood the tall man with the messy long hair, at the end of the store beside the coke display and with a large bottle lying by his bare feet.

At first, I thought he had just dropped the soda, but then I saw the way he was standing, his feet apart and knees slightly bent and with his arms slightly outstretched. Like he was about to leap into action and tackle someone. And staring right at me with deep brown eyes that were almost black, and his lips pulled up over his teeth in a nearly canine snarl. And I realised there was definitely something non-human about this boy.

Almost something canine if I had to guess.

I quickly looked around to see if there was anyone else in the store, but he was still staring directly at me, and we were alone other than the bored looking young girl behind the counter who was too busy looking at her phone to notice us.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he took a deep breath and his posture seemed to settle slightly. He looked less like he was about to jump out of his skin. My skin was prickling all over and I felt as if I had been thrown into a bucket of ice water, once again chilled to the bone.

Before I could even think to ask 'what the fuck' was going on, one of the other men from the truck walked in. The older one with the tattoos.

He snapped something in Quileute to the other man who instantly relaxed back into a regular posture, but he remained somewhat on edge for a moment, scanning the shop before finally resting his eyes on me. One of his eyebrows raised up in curiosity.

The impossibly tall man walked towards me, covering the space in an impossibly small number of steps before stopping. He wasn't so close to me I was uncomfortable and yet I still had to look up quite significantly to make eye contact with him. But standing this close to him I felt a hint of recognition, Jacob had pointed these men out to me at his birthday. This one was Sam. A distant cousin of Jacob's, I thought.

"Hey," He said in a deep, slightly rough voice, "You're Bella Swan, right?"

"Yeah," I responded with a nod. "And you're Sam?" I asked, crossing my arms defensively across my chest and slightly chewing my bottom lip.

He nodded in response, confirming his name. "Sorry about my brother there, his manners aren't great, and we haven't quite housetrained him yet." He said with a slight chuckle that seemed a little forced, and a side eye to the other man. He at least seemed a little embarrassed by his aggressive behaviour and was now standing with his arms crossed and his head down somewhat submissively.

"It's okay, I'm getting used to weird things happening around here." I said without thinking. Connecting the dots that something about this strange man's behaviour was setting off almost the same signals in my body as Edward.

Sam just gave me an odd look for a moment, and then asked my plans for the day.

"I'm just heading to the Black's place, hanging out with the boys." I replied.

"Oh, I was just on my way to see Billy, I have some council business to discuss with him, would you mind giving me a lift so the boys can go back to work?"

And because of who I am as a person and my inability to say no, I ended up driving this massive man, who had to be about six and a half feet tall down the road to Billy's. He didn't really say anything further, but neither did I. We just rode the three minutes in absolute silence with his nose just slightly wrinkled and breathing through his mouth like there was an unpleasant smell in the car and with his hands clenched, resting on top of his thick thighs.

It was eerily similar to how Edward reacted to me the first day in biology and the realisation had me gripping the steering wheel for dear life. Though this was definitely missing the air of immediate danger, I didn't fear for my life this time. But I fought off the urge to sniff my hair and check if I smelled bad. I knew I smelled like my strawberry shampoo and the laundry detergent. He was the weird one, not me. It was about halfway down the road that I remembered the truck had been heading in the opposite direction, like it had come from Billy's and was heading back out of the res. My eyebrows pinched together and rose as if trying to escape into my hairline. Something had changed Sam's plans, and I had the deeply unsettling feeling that the something had been me.

At our destination, as soon as we were out of the truck and back into the sea breeze, everything about Sam relaxed. His hands were no longer clenched, his shoulders dropped and the crease between his eyebrows relaxed. He looked younger and more relaxed. More human.

I tried not to stare at this strange man, and instead focus on not falling on my way up the gravelly yard to Uncle Billy's little red house, but of course in the muddy conditions I wasn't able to completely keep my footing. Not on the uneven terrain. Luckily Sam seemed to have unnaturally fast reflexes and caught my elbow as I began to tumble. And of course, my face was glowing bright red as he held me by the arm like a small child while I regained my footing.

If there was a time, I wished for the ground to open up and swallow me, it would be now.

And once I was firmly on solid ground and off the mud that had caused me to slip, I nearly ran to the door and pounded, willing for Jacob to come and save me from this mess.

It was Billy who answered the door, not Jacob, and for a split second I saw a look of deep confusion in his eyes at the sight of Sam standing behind me, not the look of recognition I would have expected for someone who was waiting for a visitor. That and the fact Billy was still in his old, red bathrobe left me convinced that Sam had asked for a ride to Billy's to check I was telling the truth about coming here or to otherwise keep an eye on me. And that left me feeling deeply disturbed.

"Bella!" Uncle Billy said with his signature grin, "Jacob was trying to call you a minute ago, but I told him you would already be on your way." He chuckled. "He's out in the garage working on the car if you want to head on in?"

I quickly greeted him in response and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before saying a hurried goodbye to Sam and retreating to the safety and familiarity of the garage.

There was something happening, and somehow it involved me.

I desperately tried to push it out of my mind while I strode over to the garage, though I was so focused on suppressing the uncomfortable thoughts I completely forgot to watch for errant tree roots.

And once again, I ended up flat on the floor, though thankfully this shaded area of the yard remained mostly dry from the shelter of the trees.

"Oh, for fuck sake!" I yelled as I lay in the ground, my jeans and the arms of my light grey sweater now caked in slightly damp dirt.

"Isabella!" Billy chided from where he must have still sat at the front door speaking with Sam.

"Sorry Uncle Billy." I called back, trying to sound innocent. "I tripped." I added as an afterthought.

Before I could even pull my hands under me to lift myself I heard a deep chuckle from behind me, and the loud chortling that could only be Jacob in front of me, in the direction of the garage.

Jacob quickly swept in to help me to my feet and help brush the dirt from my arms before pulling me into a hug.

"You alright there?" He asked between his laughing.

"Oh yeah, just the usual." I replied.

Before Jacob could answer back with a biting jibe as usual, I saw his face darken and a scowl carve itself into his brows.

I was still being held tightly to his chest and felt his entire body stiffen, but all I could do as crane my neck to try and see his face.

"Jacob." I called, realising he was staring at something behind me. "Jacob, what's wrong?" I asked.

Finally, he pulled himself out of the strange trance and replied.

"Nothing, just don't like seeing this weirdo at my house." He said with a deep scowl set into his face.

I realised Sam was the one who had laughed behind me, but as I turned, he was already walking away with a flippant "Whatever, Jacob."

We stood there for a moment longer, still in Jacob's hug, as Sam left. Jacob's body still hadn't relaxed at all, it was like he was a coiled string. He took a deep, calming breath, but instead of relaxing, he just looked down at me with an odd look, his nose slightly wrinkled.

"Did you get a new perfume, or something?" He asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"No, do I smell bad?" I asked, suddenly more paranoid.

"Of course not! There's just something different, something super sweet." He responded.

I finally pulled myself from Jacob's hug and decided to move onto a different topic.

"You really don't like Sam, do you?" I asked as I moved into the garage, keen to place as much space as possible between me and the strange giant.

"It's not that I don't like him, I guess he's an okay person. There's just something odd about him and his gang." Jacob huffed. "It's like they think they own the place." He flopped down onto the sagging old couch beside where I had perched on the arm. "And the whole lot of them look at me weird like they think I'm about ready to run off and join them."

"Wait, are they a gang or something? Is everything okay?"

"Nah, they're fine. Call themselves a stupid name that means close enough to 'the protectors' or whatever. They're basically hall monitors on steroids." He laughed. "I don't think they're doing anything too shady, apparently they even chased of a couple of dealers who were hanging around the school, but I don't like their attitude."

"Well, they don't seem all that bad, but the young one was super weird at the gas station today."

With little prompting form Jacob, I launched straight into telling him all about the interaction with the youngest of the gang members with the beautiful long hair and then the strange car ride with Sam.

"That's so fucking bizarre, Bella. Do you really think Sam was trying to see if you were telling the truth about coming here?"

I nodded, my eyebrows raised to emphasise my point.

"But everyone here knows you, everyone knows Charlie, you aren't exactly some stranger coming to cause trouble, you practically spent all of your summers here on the beach."

"I know!" I responded before pausing. Did I want to bring up the weird feeling in my stomach? The sinking pit feeling? The same one I got every time I thought about Edward?

"There's more to it, isn't there?" He prodded, turning his body to sprawl across the couch, his extraordinarily long limbs splayed out around him.

"It's hard to explain." I said after a pause, looking around the quiet garage. "Hey, where are Quil and Embry?"

"Nah-ah, you don't get out of it that easy." He said with a smirk.

"Oh, I absolutely do, you lured me out here on a freezing cold day to sit in your garage with the boys only to not provide the days entertainment? Nope, you first."

Jacob grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck before taking a deep breath and finally answering.

"Well, they were here this morning but then Embry and Quil were bickering and then it got a little more heated, Embry stalked off, Quil and I started bickering, and then Billy sent Quil home to cool off. Wanted me to ring you and ask you to reschedule too."

"Do I need to leave?" I asked.

"Nah, I told the old man you would already be on your way and I wouldn't catch you." He answered, though flopped his head back. "Though I definitely need to do some homework later to get back into the good books."

"Alright, well I can definitely help with that, but what were they fighting over?"

He was very quick to say it was nothing important.

"Ah, so it was about a girl?" I guessed.

His silence answered everything I needed to know.

"Well, she must be pretty great if she got the three of you fighting."

"You have no idea Bells." He said with a chuckle and a smirk. "But, back to you, what's the rest of the story?"

"How about we go for a walk down the beach and that way when you inevitably laugh at me and tell me I'm being ridiculous, I don't have to remember the conversation every time I come into your garage?"

He quickly jumped to his feet, long limbs going everywhere and definitely looking like a puppy learning to run.

"Are we walking, or should we race to the beach on foot like when we were kids?" He asked as we emerged from the tree lined driveway, thankfully unscathed.

"Race against you and those pogo sticks you call legs?" I laughed. "I wouldn't stand a chance."

"Nah, you're better than you give yourself credit for, I always remember you being quick on solid, flat ground."

"Not sure what dream land you're living in Jake, I was always covered in grazes and bruises after our races." I laughed as I came up beside where he has stopped to wait for me.

"Oh, come on, so was I; we were kids of course we fell over." His loud chuckles almost seemed to echo.

As I approached where Jacob stood, hands on hips and facing away from me, I could almost hear the smirk on his face though his chuckles, I decided it was time to play dirty.

I quickly and firmly kicked the back of one of his knees, causing his legs to buckle and his knees hit the ground as he shouted.

Knowing I had bought myself a precious few seconds, I started sprinting down the slightly sloping road towards the beach. A road I had run thousands of times in my life, with Jacob, with Quil, with the twins and any of the other kids I spent my summer with. I knew where every dip and twist in the poorly paved road, and it was once place I actually felt comfortable running.

I could hear Jacob was gaining on me as I approached the one corner, the one that would leave me just yards from the parking lot and therefore the beach. He had gotten significantly faster as he had grown, and he was gaining, but if I could just push myself the last few steps, I'd have all of the bragging rights.

Just one more step and then the sharp turn.

But my foot never touched the ground where it should have, instead I felt Jacob's arms wrap around my waist and lift me up as he continued running to the beach.

"Put me down, Shrek!" I yelled, arms thumping against his arms wrapped around my ribs.

Jacob just bellowed with laughter as he ran to the grassy strip that had always served as the finish line for our races.

"I win!" He yelled, jumping up and down with me still firmly held above the ground.

I couldn't help but laugh along with him, his joy infectious.

Finally, he placed me back on the ground, and bent over still chuckling and catching his breath.

"Cheater!" I childishly poked my tongue at home and crossed my arms.

Jacob had finally caught his breath and threw an arm over my shoulders, leading me towards the stony beach on our familiar walking route.

"Ah, but you love me anyway." He smirked.

"Hmm, that's debatable." I elbowed him lightly in his ribs, laughing with him now as we made our way towards a large driftwood tree up on the beach.

"So, tell me what else is going on that had you so wound up?" He finally asked as he dropped his arm, and I took the hint to climb up and sit leaning against one of the large, petrified tree roots.

"Please don't laugh." I started, taking a deep breath. "I think someone might be stalking me, and I don't think he is human."