A/N: Hey guys, I hope you all had a great Halloween. Here's chapter nine of We Walk the Blue Hour. More chapters coming up later! Enjoy!
Steph Meyer Owns All.
Chapter Nine: Interruption
The beat of the music called to me as the clashing sounds of mingling teenagers called back my fears.
I peaked out down the stairs like a child hiding behind her parent's legs to see that the doorway was crowded with perpetually moving bodies; Filtering in and out. I wondered solemnly if he was among them, these strangers. Of course, if he were, I'm sure I would have seen him by now.
I had really set myself up for an entrance, I thought to myself.
My steps thudded against the wood of my staircase calling attention to me even more. I sighed, rolling my eyes and decided it was useless trying to be subtle in these heels. The way I was perspiring you wouldn't think I was attired in the most gorgeous outfit I had ever worn.
As I came into the light, a girl in a slinky black dress pointed towards me. I heard gasps and whisperings as an audience of masked figures fell into a hush.
"Who is she?" they all seemed to ask.
I could not recognize anyone, but I was thankful this lack of recognition was reciprocated.
All I could do was smile as I was trapped within the penetrating stares of strange eyes. This must be how the popular, pretty girls felt every single day of their lives, and I wasn't jealous. The attention was maddening.
"Bella!"
I was, for the first time, relieved to hear the familiar voice of Jessica calling to me as I finally reached the last step.
"You look gorgeous!" she exclaimed with an edge of disbelief in her voice "My sister never looked this good."
Jessica performed an obligatory 360 around me perhaps to make sure this wasn't all an illusion.
"Thanks, Jess, I love it," I said truthfully, "Wow, you guys really changed the place."
The living room looked bigger somehow. The lumpy couch didn't occupy the middle area anymore, and with the lights dimmed low, the place gave off the perfect atmosphere for a masquerade.
Before I could thank Jessica for all the hard work she and her crew had put into the look of the party, she was gone. I looked around me, at the thriving mass that didn't pay attention to me anymore, and searched for an open space to squeeze through.
I could not fathom how many people were able to fit into my medium-sized abode. The bumming and grinding of masked faces distorted my path, and I had to start over again and again.
"Excuse me," I'd say to every concealed face, not sure whether I knew them or not. The light of the kitchen ahead was all that guided me. As the crowd began to disperse a hand latched around mine. It belonged to a tall figure in a red tuxedo with black lapels and a devil's mask. It pulled me back into the crowd.
"Please, I'm trying to get out!" I yelled through the pulsing music.
The red-suited figure could not hear a thing I had said and so I resorted to physical force and tried to yank my wrists free.
His grip was tight and unyielding. Through the tight-fit of the crowd I could see the outline of broad, muscular shoulders beneath the red suit; a clump of black hair falling loosely outside of the mask.
"Where are you taking me!?" I yelled out again.
The moving shoulders stopped in their tracks. The figure looked back at me, the mask more horrifying in the shadow the lights cast around it.
"Don't you worry, Bella," his voice was young and I could hear him smile even through the rubber mask.
He continued maneuvering me through the maze of the crowd who remained oblivious to his forcefulness except for the occasional observer who commented on my appearance.
"Hey! Can you stop?" I yelled out at random intervals, but I was ignored.
The strangest thing was that I could not recognize where I was inside my own home as the red-suited figure guided me along a labyrinthine path. It was only when I could feel a cool breeze and the smell of decaying leaves that I knew we were headed to my backyard.
"Hey man," a guy costumed in a white t-shirt, jeans, and a monkey mask called to the red suit.
"Hey, bro," My capturer said, greeting him with a handshake with his free arm.
"And what are you guys up to?" His friend said when he realized I was tugged along next to him.
The red suit laughed.
"Nah man, it's not like that. It's her."
"You mean-"
"Yeah, bro I'm gonna tell her"
"Tell me what?" I cut in.
"You can't man!" His friend called out ignoring my question completely. He was too late; we were already headed deep into the darkness.
The fear started up again as the red-suited figure pulled me farther away from the twinkling string of lights festooned around my backyard patio; the sound of music reducing to a mere whisper.
All I could hear was the trudge of our feet as it trampled on the wet grass; his voice panting lightly beneath the mask. A slight drift of breeze made me aware how little I was wearing. Goosebumps popped up along my arms as the frosty air bit into it.
I tried to yank my way out of his grasp again. He was firm yet gentle as he held my arm.
"We're almost here, Bella. Don't you worry," he said again.
"How do you know-"
"Questions later," he said, his voice absent of gruffness, "I'm here to tell you everything."
My heart skipped a little.
Was this him?
I walked a little closer to him.
We finally stopped at an old oak tree that was split in half at its core. We could see the sky perfectly from where we stood. It was a dark shade of blue as the sun began its descent.
The red-suit finally let his restraint go, and once he did the cold took over.
"Who are you?" I said boldly. I was worried he would not answer me if I wasn't anything but assertive.
He stammered about as if he did not know where to begin. Finally, he sat down on a fallen tree stump and patted the empty space beside him, signaling to me.
"I suggest you sit down, Bella," he said.
"N-No," I said through chattering teeth as the chill began to encompass my entire being, "Tell me who you are first."
"Bella, please. You're cold. I'll tell you everything, but I recommend you sit down for this one, okay?"
I obliged warily as I realized his tone merged into worry. I took the vacant spot next to him and I immediately felt warmth hug my form.
"You're probably wondering why I took you here."
"Yeah, just a little bit."
"Look, I'm not really sure how to say this with out freaking you out, but-"
He stopped as he stared into my face, at the confusion.
"Do I know you?" I asked him.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it does."
"Can't we talk about my identity a little later? There's something you really need to know now-"
"Edward?" I suddenly blurted out.
He stopped mid-sentence and began to laugh; A laugh that was raucous and filled the woods around us. It dawned on me that it could not be him. He was warm, for one, and I've never heard Edward unleash such sinister laughter without the usual guarded façade he always kept up.
"No, not quite," he said, still laughing.
I got up suddenly, annoyed for a reason I could not pinpoint.
"Listen, I'm leaving if you don't tell me who you are."
He stopped his laughter, and stared up at me. The tiny eye-socket slits on the mask were dark.
I turned around to leave.
"Hey!" he called out to me. I didn't look back, but before I could take another step his warm hand was clasped around mine. It pulled me back into the rising moonlight.
"Stop it!" I yelled out at his foreign touch.
He pulled me into him, releasing my arms roughly, and we were face-to-face. He began to lift his mask slowly, the suspense heightening as the person beneath emerged into the light.
I gasped to myself.
"Wasn't expecting that, huh?" he said; a devilish, playful grin coming across his dark complexion.
"Jacob Black?" I asked through squinted eyes. I felt suddenly embarrassed that I knew his full name; we had never spoken before in or out of school. The minute distance between us allowed me a close look at his face. Unfortunate to admit, Jessica wasn't completely wrong when she said Jacob Black was good-looking. He had straight, dark features that looked startlingly innocent. He was at least cute, I'll admit.
"In the flesh," he chuckled; his white teeth standing out drastically against his dark skin.
"What-"
"Look, Bella. I'm sorry for the hasty introduction, but there's something you need to know."
He sat me back down with him on the same tree stump.
"I came here to warn you."
"Warn me? Warn me about what?"
"Can you stop interrupting? Please? I get you're really wondering what the hell's up, but I need to tell this to you straight."
I blushed, but my irritation at him only escalated.
"Fine," I said through gritted teeth, "Go ahead."
"Thanks," he said and he began again, "I came here to tell you- warn you, really about…Edward Cullen."
Before I began to speak out he gently lifted a finger to my opening lips. A tree rustling above us.
"Shh!" he said, "I'm really not supposed to tell you anything, but- I figure you don't know what you're getting yourself into. You need to stop seeing Edward Cullen. Now, before it's too late."
I brushed his finger aside.
"What are you saying?"
"Bella," he said, "I know this is weird. We've never talked before, but I know Edward Cullen and his family. They aren't good..."
He paused, searching for an impossible word.
"People?" I said, finishing his sentence.
He looked at me, an ominous color coming into his eyes.
"Not quite the word I was looking for."
"You're losing me."
"He's using you, Bella. For something you don't even want to know about."
"How can you judge him and his family!? You're only telling me this because you have some vendetta against him!"
"Look, I know people talk about Edward and me hating each other, but that's not even the point. The thing is, he's going to try to kill you."
I laughed at his absurdity.
"Kill me?" I said, "Look, I get people think Edward's strange. A misanthrope even, but kill me? Isn't that taking things a little too far?"
"Extremely fast; catches up to you like he's never left your side. Eye color changes, leaves mysteriously for long periods of time when the clouds clear, lacks body heat, super strength, and doesn't eat human food. Any of that ring a bell?"
I furrowed my brows. He's using all of this to his advantage.
"He's working his charm on you now, Bella. All the girls fall for him, but you can't. It doesn't take an idiot to see he's got something in it for you, too. Sooner or later, he's going to try and you're not going to be able to-"
" You're wrong! Edward he- he cares about me! He's saved me, twice! Where the hell are you getting all this information from? What are your sources?"
"My family," he said, defensively.
"Well, you're family must be pretty cruel if they're teaching you to judge people they don't know a thing about!"
"Well, it just so happens my cruel family and your father are out fishing. Together."
"You're… related to Billy?"
"Yeah," he said, "he's my father. My family has been around for hundreds of years. We know what we're talking about, and if I have anything to do with it, I'm going to tell my dad to tell Charlie about those freaks."
"Freaks?"
"Yeah, freaks," he said, "murderous, blood-sucking freaks."
"Look, I need to get back to the party. I had enough of this."
I stood up to leave.
"Bella, the Cold Ones are after you! Stay away from Edward Cullen!" Jacob yelled out to me realizing, as I ran, that I was already out of reach.
When I finally saw the twinkling lights of my backyard patio, I slowed my pace; the chill of the air consumed my body once again. As much as I hated to think about it, I did not feel the same. I glanced back into the woods, into the darkness where Jacob may still be sitting, stirring in his hatred for Edward.
He had called them the Cold Ones.
I was already almost certain that Edward was not human without the help of Jacob Black. While I did not find his assertions to ring an inkling of truth, I felt guilt rise up in me: I couldn't remain in ignorance forever, I needed the truth. My head was spinning; the wind gusting furiously.
As I walked back into the party, away from Jacob's interruption I had forgotten about my dress. I stared down trying to get my bearings in order. I groaned as I examined the slightly browned areas from when the branches and trees had sullied the clear translucency of the fabric. The ribbon entwined around my arm hung loosely on my wrists.
I guess nothing could stay perfect and white forever.