Sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I was out of town with no internet at all!

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I crossed the line into the reservation and called my dad. It didn't take long to find the house not far from the beach. I vaguely remember playing with Jacob's sister, Rebecca, in the yard when we were younger. I parked my car next to my dad's truck and cut the engine. The front door opened and a lanky boy who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. He had tan skin and long black hair that was pulled back into a rubber band. He's facial features was slightly boyish. He was grinning wildly and waving at me. Jacob Black. I smiled at him and waved as I got out of the car.

"Hi Bella!" He yelled.

"Hey Jake." I smiled at him as he pulled me into a tight hug. "You've grown since I last saw you."

He chuckled and looked at me up and down. "You too, Bells. Big time." I don't think I was supposed to hear the last part of that. "Come on, let's go inside."

I nodded and followed him into the small house. There were a lot of people I did not recognize, who looked to be older than Jacob and I. There were a couple of teenagers here and there.

"Bella." I recognized Billy's voice instantly and turned to find him in a wheelchair right behind me. I smiled and bent down to hug him.

"Hey, Billy. It's been a long time."

"I'm glad you could come." He said quietly.

"So am I."

"Hey, Bella." Charlie said coming up behind me. "Find it okay?"

"Yep." I nodded.

Jacob led me to the kitchen to get some food. I sat down with him and two teenage guys, Embry and Quil. They were his two best friends, who were the same age as him, two year younger than me. They both flirted shamelessly with me receiving glares from Jacob. I had a good time though. After about fifteen minutes, I wondered back to my father, who was talking to a group of older guys, as Jacob scolded his friends for being so blunt and hormone-crazed.

"Hey, Bells. I didn't get a chance to ask before Jacob took you away…" His voice was full with implication. "How was the Cullen's house?"

The entire group around us fell silent. I was less than oblivious to the worried sideways glances being passed from person to person. I ignored it deciding that maybe Jacob could give me a little insight in the blatant tensions between the Cullen family and the people on the reservation.

"Good." I smiled. "We went to Port Angeles today and hung out around there. I got some new clothes and stuff. They're good people." I heard one of the men who was sitting next to Billy scoff under his breath. But when I moved my eyes to meet his, he looked away.

"That's good." Charlie nodded.

"You hang out with the Cullens?" Billy asked.

"Billy don't start." Charlie groaned. "The doctor and his family are good people."

"Yeah right." The same guy scoffed again.

"Hush, Sam." Billy mumbled. Tension hung in the air for a long time until I stood.

"I'm going to go see what Jacob's doing." I noticed Charlie raise an eyebrow, and I glared at him before leaving the room. Jacob was in the kitchen getting his third serving of food.

"What's going in there?" Jacob asked as I got something to drink. "You could cut the tension with a butter knife."

"My dad brought up the Cullens."

"Ugh, not again." I quirked an eyebrow. "That's been our fathers' friendship downfall for the last two years. Charlie really likes the Cullens. My dad doesn't. They got in a fight over it and didn't speak for six months because of it."

"Why doesn't your dad like them?" I asked.

"Old superstitions and stuff." He said as he led me outside onto the back porch.

"You don't believe in them?"

"Nah, bunch of nonsense if you ask me, but people like my dad and Sam live for it." He rolled his eyes.

"What does the superstitions have to do the Cullens?" Maybe I'd get my answer tonight.

"I'm not supposed to tell." He sighed before getting an excited glint in his eye. "Except you practically family."

"I won't tell." I assured him.

"Okay. Well, there are lots of legends her on the reservation, like that we descended from wolves and that the wolves our brothers still."

"Wolves?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Like werewolves, I guess. But, there are also legends of the cold ones." His voice was laced with a tone that I assume he was trying to scare me with. I nodded for him to go on. "The stories of the cold ones date back as old as the wolf ones. There are some more recent."

"What are the legends?" I tried to keep my voice even and uninterested.

"Supposedly, my own great-grandfather knew of these cold ones and created a treaty to keep them off out lands."

"Why would your great-grandfather do that?"

"He was a tribal leader." He said simply.

"But I mean why keep them off the land?"

"They are the only natural enemy of the wolves. The wolves are 'protectors' while the cold ones are dangerous to everything they protect. During my great-grandfather's time a pack came down to protect the reservation because cold ones were in the area. That pack is gone now."

"Why are they dangerous?"

"Supposedly they are different from the rest of their kind. They hunt differently making them less dangerous. But it's in their nature to be dangerous, so my great-grandfather didn't take any chances. So the treaty was born. They stayed off our land, and my great-grandfather didn't expose them to humans."

"I don't get it." I sighed. "So they are but aren't dangerous?"

"It's dangerous for humans to be around them even though they are civilized. They could slip up and get too hungry."

"Hungry? What do you mean their civilized?"

"They claim to not hunt humans and hunt animals instead."

Hunt humans? What the hell is this boy getting at? "So where do the Cullens come in? Are they like the cold ones your grandfather met?"

"No." He paused. "They're the same ones with a few additions: a male and a female. The rest are the same, from what my father said. Carlisle being the leader." He seemed pleased by my expression thinking that he had told the scary story well.

"What are the cold ones?"

"Blood drinkers. Vampires. Leeches. Whatever you want to call them."

He noticed my stunned expression, but it hardly registered when he started laughing wildly. I hastily tried to fit the pieces of the puzzles together, but it was too soon. I didn't know enough about them to really make any judgments. Before I was able to mull over the thought any longer, Jacob spoke. "Don't worry, Bells. Like I said, crazy legends." I laughed despite my own convoluted thoughts. "I probably sound crazy, which is probably why it's supposed to be a secret."

"Well, you're secret is safe with me."

"Good, because I think that violates the treaty." He still laughed. Obviously there wasn't a doubt in his mind that the entire story with false. Maybe it was. Maybe I'm just crazy enough to possibly buy into a story that was obviously so farfetched.

"I'll take it to my grave." I smiled at him.

"Bella, time to go." Charlie called.

"This was fun, Bells. Come back and visit soon?"

"Definitely." I smiled and hugged him before going back into the house. "It was great seeing you Billy, and nice to meet the rest of you." They all said goodbyes as my father and I left in separate cars. My mind was going crazy with possibilities, crazy possibilities. Vampires, I mean seriously? But at the same time the theory hardly seemed to be too crazy. They weren't normal, and they were hiding something. But vampires existed in movies not real life. They were gray-skinned, ugly, fanged creatures who lurked in the shadows stalking their prey. They weren't gorgeous, amazing, nice people. I mean little Alice stalking after prey and drinking their blood? I couldn't see it. I sighed and shook the thought from my head. I wouldn't think about it now. For now, I'd enjoy my time with the Cullen family before they wise up and realized it wasn't worth their time to hang out with plain, old, clumsy Bella.