His reaction to my question was immediate. Jacob sat back on his heels and looked away from me. I chewed my lip—was my question really that difficult to answer?
"Jake," I complained, "you promised." I pouted trying to lighten the mood that was suddenly tense.
Jacob smiled and looked back at me. "I guess I really should tell you . . ."
"Yes. Yes, you should."
His smirk was back and his eyes twinkled mischievously.
"How bad do you want to know?" His deep voice was husky.
My breathing hitched. "Badly."
"How bad?" Jacob leaned his face down to mine so that our mouths almost touched.
I rolled my eyes and sighed in exaggeration. "I've already answered that question."
"Then I won't tell you who the Volturi are," he said leaning away from me, as smug look on his face.
I narrowed my eyes. "That's not fair," my voice was whiny much to my chagrin.
Jacob's smirk grew more pronounced as he said in a superior voice, "Well, life's not fair."
So he didn't want to tell me? Well. Well, then. I wiggled out from underneath him and off the couch. I walked over to where my jacket and purse were located and started to pick them up.
Jacob watched all of this silently—the smirk dropped from his face as I approached the door.
"Where are you going?" he demanded getting to his feet.
I turned and gave him the best glare I could muster before I replied icily.
"I'm going home."
My arm was snatched as I reached for the door. I whipped around and faced Jacob.
"No your not," he said his eyes dangerously dark.
That got me riled up. I was not a thing to be commanded. I was not a dog. I would not listen to what he said. Yanking my arm away I stared up into his eyes—my blue eyes meeting his black ones.
"I'm going home," I hissed.
Jacob started as though I'd slapped him. Using his momentary stillness I swept out of his house and into the cold October air.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
I sat on my bed not really looking at anything, I was just glaring. Jacob made me so angry sometimes. So angry. Infuriated really.
Why couldn't he just tell me?
I bet the Volturi was something between him and Bella. So Jake and Bella had had a thing like, a year ago. Even if it was something between them, surely he could tell me. Me. HIS IMPRINT.
I picked up the nearest object to me, a book and threw it across my room with a growl.
Getting up from my bed I walked over to my stereo and put in a CD that always helps me when I'm angry.
The loud beats and clashing sound helped me feel better. Twisting the knob I turned the music up even louder until I swear I could feel the vibrations. I sat down on my bed again.
Leaning back I glared up at the ceiling. I knew it was petty, running out of Jacob just because we had a disagreement, but I was a girl—petty is what we do.
My phone rang and without looking at the caller ID I flipped it open.
"What?" I demanded.
"Allie?" Jacob's worried voice filled my ear, "look I'm sorry about before—it's just that when Bella came and told me—"
I cut him off. "THEN GO BACK TO BELLA!" I screamed into the phone and hung up on him.
How dare he call me and want to talk about her. HOW DARE HE. My eyes narrowed dangerously and my math text book went flying across the room next.
Damn him. Damn Bella.
Fine then. If he was so infatuated with Bella, she could have him.
My phone rang again. It was Jacob.
I ignored its ringing.
A few hours later I came down stairs and plopped myself at the kitchen table, glowering at the bright kitchen.
Mrs. Costa was stirring something on the stove and humming to herself as she prepared dinner for us. My mood darkened.
Mrs. Costa turned and set a bowl of spaghetti in front of me and then one in front of her seat before turning off the stove and pouring herself a glass of wine. I eyed the cabinet where she put the bottle back. I might have to sneak myself a little.
She eyed me across the table, noting how I picked and pushed my food around. Finally she sighed loudly.
"Want to talk about it?" She asked concern apparent in her voice.
I stared down at my untouched spaghetti. "Not really."
"Okay then," she said as though commenting on the weather and went back to eating her dinner.
"Fine," I said still glaring at my food, "its Jacob. He's still in love with that stupid whore."
"Oh?" Mrs. Costa said as though I had politely commented on her food. "How do you know he's still in love with this . . . stupid whore?"
I slammed my fist into the table. "Because. He won't tell me what she meant."
Mrs. Costa was silent, waiting for me to explain.
"She came by," I explained rolling my eyes, "and said something to him. I asked him what she meant and he refused to answer me. Clearly, he would rather be in a relationship with her than me."
"That's not true," a voice behind me said.
I glared down at my food; my hands found my bowl and gripped the edges tightly in anger.
"Liar," I said to Jacob.
"It's not a lie," he pleaded with me, "I just—"
Mrs. Costa sniffed and very politely made an excuse to leave the room. Jerk. She was going to leave me here with Jacob. Dangit.
"Just what?!" I screeched at him. I refused to turn around to look at him.
He sighed. "I love you Allie," he said softly.
I snapped. How could he say that? How could he stand there and lie to me like that?
Whipping around I chucked my bowl of spaghetti at him. Even though he could've dodged it he let the bowl hit him square in the chest, its contents spilling out all over him. I stood back from my chair; my body was shaking in fury.
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" I screamed in frustration, tears running down my face, "YOU LOVE HER NOT ME!"
Jacob made to touch me. His arms reached out to grab me into a hug.
My slap echoed in the kitchen.
"Don't. Touch. Me."
The hurt in Jacob's eyes was almost too much to bear. But my own hurt—my own selfishness over took my concern for him. The tears were flowing freely now. I could hear them splashing onto the floor in the silence.
"Don't. Lie. To. Me," I sobbed, "I've been lied to too many times. I don't want your pity—or your lies."
Jacob reached out again but quickly pulled his arm back. "Allie," he said softly, his tone was the one he reserved for me—and I realized—when he talked about her. It all seemed so meaningless. I thought that we had something. I thought he cared.
Lies. All lies. He only cared about Bella.
I shook my head and closed my eyes. "Don't."
He tried again, "Allie—"
"NO!" I yelled at him.
I opened my eyes and saw the pain, the helplessness in his own black eyes. The confusion.
Shaking my head I disowned each of these thoughts. It was all a clever ploy. The hurt and confusion, it was just an act. I had been deluding myself into thinking that someone like him could love someone like me.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and turned and walked away.
Upon hearing the front door slam I slid to the ground. My eyes swollen from my tears burned.
Slowly I stood back up. I needed to get away from all this. I needed to run away. I walked out the back door into the woods without a glance back at the house. The woods dark and cold seemed comforting.
Daylight was gone when I finally came to my senses.
Here I was, running away again. I was always running—trying to escape things. Why couldn't I just grow a pair and stand and face things? So Jacob didn't love me.
That didn't mean my world was going to end. I could live without him.
Even as I thought these words, just the mere thought, caused my heart to wrench with pain. I wanted to run again. I wanted to run from these words that caused me pain.
So I ran. I picked up my pace and began jogging through the foggy woods.
Mist covered the ground and a slight drizzle trickled down through the canopy above me, but still I kept running using the strange eerie green moonlight that sometimes shown through the leaves as my light.
How long I ran, I can't say. All I know is that I finally came out into a field of tall grasses devoid of trees. The moon winked in and out of the cloudy covering and the mist that rolled across the meadow obscured my vision.
Shadows danced in the fog.
I shuddered thinking what that thick barrier could hide. The wall of mist brought me back to reality. I could be seriously injured out here.
Werewolves were a reality. Vampires were a reality.
What had I been thinking? Vampires. There were vampires here.
I turned to face back to the woods. I looked at the towering arbors and gulped at the shadows that lurked in the forest.
Surely it was safer to remain here in the open.
Facing the meadow I waded through the tall grass that ended at my hip. I started when I heard it.
It was a high pitched sound—almost a giggle.
I froze like a Neanderthal in the ice age. A giggle?
The wind swept through the meadow and the fog swirled around me, blowing my hair around my face. I dared not move to brush it from my face.
After several moments I didn't hear the noise again. Perhaps it was my imagination. I wanted to move but I knew this was exactly how people in horror movies died. They thought it was safe and then BAM they were dead.
Slowly, so slowly I sank to the ground using the tall grass as a cover. My hands frantically searched the ground for a weapon—a stick, a stone, anything.
A few feet in front of me I spied something large and round. I crept softly on my hands and knees towards the object.
Just as I neared it the moon was obscured by a dark cloud, extinguishing my light. The thing was just a silhouette.
My hands touched it, it was cold, but it wasn't hard like a stone would be. Also, it was covered with some sticky liquid. As I pulled one of my hands back to examine it, a shaft of moonlight broke through illuminating my hands.
The liquid was red and strangely familiar. Before my brain could process what was happening my eyes flicked back over to the strange rock.
Empty eyes stared unseeingly at the sky, the mouth open in a grimace, blood smeared across the face—the corpse's throat had been gashed open.
I opened my mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream leaping back and crawling away from the body as fast as I could stumble away. I was only a few feet away when I heard it.
A giggle. A very close by giggle.
...
I know everyone's going to think Allie's being unreasonable. And it's true, she is. She's being melodramatic and overreacting, which is just in her character. Sorry if that bothers you. I'm excited for this next chapter, how about you?
Oh. And so I was wondering, how many of you are from a country other than the U.S. that are reading this? Give me a shout out okay? I think it's really awesome that people half-way (or all the way) across the globe are reading my story! Like woah! Lol. Oh and as always, feel free to review! I enjoy them. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :D