AN: Sorry about the long wait! I've been so stressed lately. I came home from Italy to discover that my cousin had appendicitis attack and I went straight from the airport in Jutland to the hospital on Funen. I've been watching him and I didn't have time to update till now.
So hoped you guys enjoyed your Summer. Mine was a mix. Next Summer I want to go to Vietnam again :D – Yes I'm Vietnamese and Danish is my first language, making English some sort my third language. So that's why you might find loads of errors in my fics.
Okay here's the fic stuff.
Thanks for the reviews! I love reading your reviews and comments and they really encourage me to continue writing this silly fic. Special shoutouts for MourningRaven, AnEverFixedMark, and mno44 for your lovely words of encouragement!
While you wait for the next chapter, do read my other fic called A Blind Love in A Minor!
Chapter 4
Laura sat on the ground, next to me. She was, like me, a fan of meaningful silence. We just sat there and looked at the sky. I lied down, back flat on the ground. She eyed my actions and she laid her head on my stomach. I smiled at her antics. She was carefree and her facial features relaxed into an angelic smile. We both sighed simultaneously and listened to the heart of the forest. Birds chirped lively and all was well. Or at least so it seemed. I had lost track of time since I got here. However, the question was more like whatever or wherever here was.
"Bells, I want to show you this beautiful place. It's filled with flowers and I'll take you there tomorrow. It's best right before the sun sets" Laura said as she moved a bit away from me and propped herself onto her elbows. She cocked her head, waiting for my response. I could really use a quiet place like she had described. I nodded smilingly and complying. She got up to her feet and jumped around happily. I got up as well and she took my hand and led me back to the camp. Before I knew it, it was twilight.
A bonfire had been created in the middle of the camp. Ephraim caught my attention and patted the spot next to him on the ground, around the fire. Laura forced me with her and she situated herself between Ephraim and me. She looked at me with an expectant look. More inhabitants of the reservation joined our small circle and it soon expanded to a larger. I couldn't deny the fact that Ephraim was quite handsome and the light from the glowing embers gave him another shade of mystery. He looked quite young, but bruised by too early adulthood. Maybe just like me. He was like twenty? Give or take a few years. He caught me looking at him and sent me a smile. I nodded, smilingly back at him. However, his facial expression turned solemn as he rose to his feet, drawing all attention there.
"Dearest brothers… Sisters and beloved children of the Moon" he opened his speech and regarded everybody who was present around the bonfire. Equally and evenly, like a true leader should do. Call me a feminist, but I believe that men and women should have equal rights. Laura leaned against my shoulder and played with a strand of my hair. She was too young to understand when something was serious.
"Something unfamiliar has invaded our lands, wanting to claim our territory. However, they are not regular people. They are not like us at all" he said and we all held our breaths. Well, I didn't. I looked at Laura and she had a frightened expression painted on her face. I slid my arm around her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze.
"They are creatures born of the supernatural thoughts. They feast on human beings and they are here" he sighed. Mothers were busy shushing their children, who were afraid. I finally saw Laura's mother. She was quite beautiful with her long jet-black hair trailing down her back. The moment she laid her eyes on Ephraim, her eyes turned stone hard. I eyed her carefully, she seemed focused on something while clutching Laura to herself. The atmosphere in the camp, especially around the bonfire, had changed drastically.
"Brothers, we must stand together against this threat. As a chief of the Quileutes, I will set some rules for safety measures. You will follow the rules, no exceptions" he said and sent us all stern looks. This was so wrong, I had never seen Edward posing as a threat to anybody at all. Only to Mike, but that was another story.
I looked back at Lily and Laura and I caught Lily staring at me. However, her gaze softened as our eyes met. She sent me a sincere smile and I couldn't help but to smile back. She leaned in toward my side.
"Thanks for watching her" she said and gave me an appreciative smile. I nodded, I had grown quite attached to her even though we'd only spent one day together.
"You are not allowed to leave the camp site after the sun has set. Children will have to be accompanied by at least one adult if they want to leave the camp. Men will hunt in groups and La Push beach is off limits. Is that clear?" he asked after having summed up all his rules. We all nodded compliantly, he left no room for arguments in this case.
"I and others will guard the camp after sunset. We are to make sure that nobody enters or leave the camp. There will be consequences if you don't follow the rules" he said and sat down next to me. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. I initially patted his back, but then turned to stroking his long hair, which was pulled up into a ponytail.
"You are doing the right thing" I said to him. He was still a young, but wise leader. He sighed again and lifted his face from his hands, sending me a tired smile.
"My people are bound to be free… Not to be constricted to one area, like animals" he growled, spitting out the last word as if it was the purest essence venom. His tired and solemn face had changed into a hateful expression. It was quite frightening how one can change in mere seconds.
"They… are the animals. They should be locked up instead of roaming freely, terrorizing innocent people" he said with a look of determination in his auburn eyes. He reminded me so much of Jacob. Their movements were almost identical, the way their faces scrunched up in concentration and the way they smiled. My mind instantly drifted to a faint memory. It was before I discovered the truth about Edward and the Cullens.
It was probably my first week in Forks, Washington. My mom had reluctantly sent me to Forks, but I assured her of my well-being so she could be with Phil, her new husband. My mom remarried after having met and gone out with Phil. She had jumped directly into a marriage with Charlie, my father, after finishing high school. Then she had me and that completely changed her life. I couldn't help but to feel like an… accident. Growing up, I could tell that she was unhappy and feeling incomplete. Forks were too small a town for her liking and she waltzed out of Charlie's life, bringing me with her. I initially visited him every summer, but as I got older, the visit became less frequent.
But there I was; I was a junior starting in March, the middle of the semester. Me, the Arizona girl, who was used to the heat, the sun and dry sand under my bare feet, moved to the rainiest and wettest place in the continental U.S.
Boy, I felt like I was under a spotlight constantly. Everybody looked at me and they talked about me. I soon grew used to it though. But this one memory suddenly became clearer and the remnants of the before-fog rapidly forced its way to the front of my mind, loud as a rock band.
I was hanging out with Mike, Jessica, Eric, Taylor and Angela on La Push beach. Then Jacob and two of his friends dropped by, and him and I went for a walk along the shores of La Push. It was actually not far from where I sat now. He mentioned something about… Werewolves? Somehow they got involved in these legends, alongside the vampires. This was the treaty… and my future would depend on the outcomes of this almost-war. I felt like I needed to know more about the legends.
"Ephraim… If you don't mind, could you please enlighten me about your legends and culture? This is all new to me" I asked and rested my chin on the palm of my hand with a look of interest and attention on my face. His frown ceased and he stared longingly into the fire.
"Of course I wouldn't mind sharing our legends" he said as his face lit up in enthusiasm.
"Yeah, tell us Eppie!" Laura squealed in excitement. I almost burst into laughter at the nickname. He sent a look of pure embarrassment Laura's way and she giggled even more. I tried so desperately to hold in my fits of giggles, but to no avail and I tossed myself into the heap of leaves behind the tribe. I was not one to give public laughing seizures, so this was my first.
"Bella, are you okay?" Laura asked worriedly.
"Yes, yes, I'm okay" I muttered as I finally calmed down. "I just saw a spider" I said, feigning fright.
"Don't worry, I get that all the time" she said and sent me a sympathetic look. "I don't like spiders myself".
Ephraim cleared his throat and as he opened his story-telling, the atmosphere around the bonfire changed again.
"We, the Quileutes, have always been a small people, but yet steady flourishing. I expect it to be big and great people by the millennium" he said.
"Ooh, ooh, let's talk about Taha Aki!" Laura suggested, jumping in her mother's lap.
"I will get to that dear Laura-"
"What about the magic in our blood?" Laura interrupted again, seeming almost too eager to be in her own skin, of which I couldn't help but to giggle at.
"Patience, my dear, patience" Ephraim muttered.
"But there is so much to tell!" another boy exclaimed, equally as excited.
"Lucas, would you like to talk about Kaheleha?" Ephraim suggested, laying his hand on his Lucas' small head and then softly patted it affectionately.
Lucas cleared his throat, looked into the fire and began his storytelling.
"Kaheleha was a great spirit warrior and our first great Spirit Chief in our history. According to our legends, he possessed some sort of magic, am I right?" Lucas silently directed his last question to Ephraim, who nodded and smiled encouragingly.
"Kaheleha was also a hero who defended our lands, with the magic he possessed" he continued but was interrupted by Laura's yawn.
"Maybe we should continue this another time" Lucas suggested and got up to leave the fire sight. Laura also got up, yet her mother remained by the fire. I decided that I was not ready to go to bed yet. Sleeping without Edward as my pillow was much more difficult than I expected it to be, much to my dismay.
When I looked at Lucas, he also seemed much more mature for his age. He was around eleven or twelve, yet the way he told the story made me think that he had been alive for decades. Just like Edward.
"You just go back to our tent" Laura's mother insisted, but Laura remained on her spot, looking down at her feet. She let out a silent sniff.
"What's wrong, honey?" she asked and held her chin with two fingers.
"It's dark now and I'm scared. There are monsters out there" she whispered. Her last remark stung in my heart. I've only heard one person comparing vampires to monsters and that was him. Edward Cullen, the vampire… and the monster, yet I didn't see him as a monster.
"I'll go with you" Lucas said and went over to her and extended his hand toward her. She looked up timidly and took his hand with a blush. There was an uncanny resemblance between Laura and I, and between Lucas and Edward. I felt a tug in my heart. How I missed him.
I caught her mother smiling slightly to herself and Ephraim looked awed by this young couple, as they walked away hand in hand, chatting and giggling.
"How are you feeling, Bella?" Ephraim's voice broke the silence. I glanced at him with tired eyes, trying to mask my sorrow.
"I'm tired" I said, simply and honest.
"That's understandable" he answered, and added "do you need me to escort you to your tent?".
Normally I would have said no, as I was not a person who liked to be dependent on others. But I missed Edward so much, tears were threatening to break free and I would probably go insane if I was alone, all by myself. I nodded.
On the way to my tent, we did not touch nor utter a word. It was a nice silence, not the awkward kind. We crossed the camp sight and heard snores from various tents. Well I hoped that I had stopped talking in my sleep, I thought embarrassed.
I reached my tent and opened it. I waited there for a moment and turned around. He hadn't left yet.
"Would you like to join me?" I asked. What Bella?! Are you crazy? What about Edward? If I wanted to get at least some decent sleep, I'd need some company.
"I mean not… that way, but… I have trouble sleeping" I said in earnest.
He seemed to consider my question for while before he complied.
"Sure" he said.
He slept next to me, and nothing else happened that night.
I guess what I needed was some company. The knowledge of having someone I could trust next to me. But he wasn't Edward.
AN:
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Love Anne!
