Bella finally finds who she was looking for and a new family gets a nasty wake-up call.

If I owned Twilight... nope, I just can't think about it anymore.

Chapter 9- Wolf Stalker (Finding Leah)

Sunday came bright and early. I had to drag Charlie out of bed in my excitement and he grumbled loudly as he loafed around the house, getting his stuff ready. I helped him load the cruiser with all his fishing gear and hopped in the front seat.

"Are you ready for this, Kiddo?"

I knew he wasn't just talking about the long ride or the fishing. I nodded.

"As I'll ever be." I assured him. "Thanks, Dad."

"Sure thing, kiddo. Let's go catch us a few big ones."

"Charlie knew the human side of things. He knew that Leah and Jason were the people I was closest to. He knew that Renee wasn't as good of a mother as she claimed to be, now that he'd met me and seen how I am. I wish I didn't have to hurt him so much. Sometimes I wish we could be normal. I'd probably tell Dr. Cullen later.

Billy and Jacob were there to greet us when we got to their house. Jacob was loading everything in the back and Billy sat beside the truck. He grinned when he caught sight of us and started to wheel himself over. Jacob put the last of his load in and closed the trunk before jogging over and pushing his father the rest of the way. I felt bad for Billy sometimes. He couldn't use his legs the way he wanted to.

"You ready to go catch us a few big ones?"

"Sure, old man. I'll whip your tail in no time." Charlie grinned.

"You remember Bella?"

"Of course, I remember the kid." He scoffed lightly. "I'm not that kinda old. How've you been, kiddo? Phoenix too hot for you?"

I nodded. That was a pretty good way to explain things.

"You threw a fit the last time we took ya'll fishing, so I'm guessing you're here for something else. Shoot, kid."

"I… Do you know where I could find Leah Clearwater?" I blurted out.

"Her father's one of the elders. What do you want with her?"

"She's… a friend of mine from Phoenix and I heard she was around here and I was hoping that maybe… I could talk to her." I mumbled the last few words. This was not how I saw this going.

"I'll drive you there myself." Billy assured me. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, kid, so keep your head up."

"Yes sir." I muttered. I grabbed the giant door and used it to haul myself up into the truck, only closing it when I had buckled myself in.

"Not a fan of riding in cars, huh?" Jacob guessed. I nodded.

"I didn't even want to get my license." I admitted.

The ride was filled with slow ambling along, since the truck was almost as old as mine, and Charlie catching Billy up on what's been going on.

"This is the place." Billy announced.

"Do you want me to come with you?" My father asked. I shook my head.

"I'll be okay. Go have some fun. Don't get pulled in by the fish either, Dad."

"Will do, Bells. I'll see you later. Stay with Leah, okay?"

"I will. I… I love you." I muttered.

"Love you too, Bells. Have fun with your friend."

I knocked on the door and braced myself. I had no idea what would happen. Would she still want me? Was she okay? Did she live with anyone else? Did she forget about Jason? Did she hate me?

"Who are you?" The boy peeked through the little hole in the door that let you see outside. I call it the Lookout hole.

"Bella Swan." I choked out. "I'm looking for Leah Clearwater?"

"Come on in." He offered. I stepped inside and he closed the door.

"I'm her brother, Seth. I'll get her for you."

He raced out of the room and I just stood there. This was a nice house they had. Cozy. It had that feeling of hominess about it, like I could curl up by a fire and sleep my life away…

"Bella?" I turned toward the door Seth had gone through to find that he had returned with a man and a woman that I would guess were his parents.

Leah stared in shock, a million thoughts were probably running through her head, like I read about when people can't believe stuff.

"Hi, Mom." I mumbled. She rolled her eyes and crossed the room in a few strides. She felt warm when she wrapped her arms around me. It was good to see her again.

"I thought you were staying in Phoenix. What are you doing here?"

"Renee said she couldn't take me anymore." I muttered, burying my head in her chest. I didn't like talking about Renee. Renee could go die in a hole.

"What?!" Leah hissed, arms tensing around me. Wow. She was mad.

"I have Charlie now. He's my dad, remember?"

"Yes, I remember Charlie. I felt bad for him." She snorted. "Renee didn't deserve him. Not one bit."

"I think he still liked her before I got here. He's mad at her now."

"What did she do?"

"She didn't let me take the stuff you and Jason got for me-."

"You're telling me that she didn't let you take anything? Not even your clothes?!" Leah snapped. I nodded.

"Dad got Andrew to send them over. Its okay, Mom, I swear!"

"No, Bella. That's not okay. That is definitely not okay."

"But I have them now and I live with Charlie and Renee doesn't like Forks so she's not coming around anytime soon. Why can't it be okay?"

"What kind of mother walks out on their own kid?" She growled more to herself than to anyone else. I played along.

"Renee couldn't be a mother if she tried. That's what I have you for."

Leah sighed into my hair and nodded her thanks.

"How long have you been in Forks?"

"A few weeks." I admitted. "There was a lot of stuff that happened."

"Like what?"

"Well, first Dad got mad because Renee didn't let me bring my stuff so he had Andrew ship it to us. Then we met my brain doctor, he says he's a psycho and he's helping me get past all the bad stuff that happened so I don't hurt anymore."

"You have a psychologist?"

"Renee got me one in Phoenix but he quit after I didn't tell him anything. I don't think he was a good psycho."

"Psychologist, baby. Psychos aren't good people."

"Okay. Psycho-ologis. He said I could call him by his first name if it helped but it's hard to say. His nametag says he's Dr. Cullen though. He's pretty cool."

"You know the Cullens?!" The older man demanded.

"Yes, sir. They're really nice. I haven't met their mom yet but Dr. Cullen got me a journal. I had a nightmare and when I saw him I told him about it. I also told him about you, Mom, and a little bit about Jason. Just that he was a friend and he needed a doctor like him."

"Do you realize who the Cullens are?" The man asked.

"Harry, that's enough. You'll scare her away." The woman advised firmly.

"Its okay, Mrs. Clearwater. I know what they are. I can't say the word right yet but they're the really distant cousins of Dracula, only they eat animals instead of humans. They're really cool, Mr. Clearwater, and I think you might like them if you didn't just think of what they were every time you saw them. If that were the case then I wouldn't be friends with Jason because he's a guy. I don't really like guys all that much right now. They do stupid things."

"Hey," Seth objected.

"I don't know you yet. It's just showing that you can't judge people by what they can't control."

"Wise words for one so young," The woman mused.

"She knows what I can do, Dad." Leah informed the man.

"Then she must know that vampires are dangerous. One move and they could snap your neck," He snorted. "You humans don't know what you're getting into, being so oblivious."

"I'm not stupid!" I hissed. "Don't act like I am just because I'm younger than you either! Just because you were taught that all vampires are bad doesn't mean they are. I think that's a form of racism, actually. How would you like it if someone saw Seth turn into a giant wolf and decided that he was dangerous to people and tried to kill him?"

"Seth protects people. Vampires kill people! How do you not understand that?!"

"I do. It's just that this group doesn't. If you want to hunt down vampires, try looking outside your own territory because the Cullens aren't doing anything."

"What are you, an activist?"

"No sir, I don't know what that is, but I know that you're wrong this time. I'm not asking you to give up your way of life, because if they had red eyes then you'd be right. The fact is that they don't and alienating them isn't helping anyone."

"How was your visit?" Charlie asked when he, Jacob and Billy got back from fishing.

"I don't think Mr. Harry likes me all that much. He thinks I'm stupid or something."

"What makes you say that?" Billy wondered.

"He just disagreed with whatever I said. I know you guys have a certain way of life and your own beliefs but sometimes people should take a step back and think before they go around accusing everyone of doing something wrong. Mr. Black, he's never even met them! He'd just being taught what your whole tribe is being taught but they're different and that's why nothing has happened yet. Why doesn't anyone see that?!"

"Sometimes it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks, Bella. If I didn't meet them myself I would have to agree with him."

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