The next two weeks went by slowly. There wasn't much to do when there was no schoolwork to keep me preoccupied. The teachers took what they thought was pity on me and had decided to not give me homework. I almost wished they hadn't, because by the end of my second week on the couch, and the multiple visits to the hospital, I was bored out of my mind. The mind numbing questions that the doctors repeated again and again, despite my sincere answers, definitely didn't help. I had done crosswords, Sudoku, puzzles and won the tons of videogames I'd borrowed from my next door neighbour and good friend, Seth Clearwater.
Seth was a sweet boy, a year younger than me and Sara, and I had my suspicions that she fancied him a bit. Maybe she even fancied him more than a bit, I hoped; they would make a nice couple.
I got so caught up in my daydream of mini Saras, and the chaos that they would bring to the world, that I didn't notice that the real Sara was standing in front of me waving her arms like the half-crazed idiot she was. I snapped out of it when she slapped the back of my head, her first choice of her vast range of violent abilities.
"Geez, snap out of it already! What can be so nice that you completely ignore your lifelong best friend, who loves you regardless of how your hair looks?" I chose to ignore that question; my answer would only make her hit me again. I rubbed my head. "What did I do to have the honour of seeing you here, my lady?" Sara raised an eyebrow. "This being alone all day is getting to you. How long before you start to hobble around town, beating people with your cane and screaming things like 'lawk a mussy' to them?" I shook my head and grinned. What on earth was school teaching them these days? I wanted in. "And you're saying I'm insane? Where did this 'lawk a mussy' come from, punk?" Sara winked at me and darted around the corner into the kitchen, only to return with a bag of crisps. "Sure, help yourself." I mumbled. "I'm way ahead of you hun." She whispered dramatically. Sticking my tongue out at her I reached for the crisps, and turned on the television. Static danced across the screen. "Dammit!" Sara yelled. "I wanted to watch The Simpsons rerun." I couldn't help myself and laughed out loud, dropping the crisps to the floor. That earned me my second hard hit to the head that day.
Sara and I had just finished picking up the stray crisps when suddenly Jake and Quil barged in, looking ready to do some damage. I had never seen any of them look so scared and livid at the same time. Sara was the first to recover from the shock. "Chill guys. What the heck is wrong with you? Wait, don't tell me." She held up a hand and pretended to concentrate. "Jake's car exploded?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. For some unknown reason she had taken a disliking to Jake's car, the Rabbit. However, her guess was far from its mark.
"It's Embry." Jake growled through clenched teeth. I looked first at Jake then at Quil. It wasn't until I saw the terrified look that hid deep in his eyes that I started to freak out. "What's happened?" I yelled, attempting to stand up. Jake stopped me and looked me dead in the eye. "Sam. Sam is what's happened. Embry has joined Sam's little gang of so called 'protectors.'" He said the word as if it were a bad thing. His words swirled around my mind but made absolutely no sense. What was bad about that? Why were he and Quil throwing such a hissy fit about it? Sam was a good guy, I should know. I'd known him all my life; he was like a brother to me. Jake straightened up, his eyes closed. When he opened them he looked sad and several years older. "You know what this means," he choked out. Quil put a reassuring hand on Jake's shoulder. Whatever Jake planned on saying next was tearing him apart inside. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. His next words came out in no more than a whisper, but everyone heard them as if they'd been screamed into our ears. "It means that Embry is no longer our friend."
Everything was quiet save for my heart. It raced fast and beat hard enough that everyone in the room would be able to hear it. My breathing came in short busts. I looked up at Sara and she met my anxious gaze. Her eyes were an odd combination of grief and disbelief. They were the exact mirror of mine. I stood up, my fury helping in blocking any unnecessary pain. How dare Jake say anything like that, and about Embry of all people? The shock made me unsteady but my intent was clear when I swung my fist at Jake's face. My uncertainty made it an easy thing for him to duck, and he steered me back to the sofa. "What the hell do you mean 'Embry is no longer our friend?'" I croaked. "Of course he's our friend. He always will be!" I tried my best not to believe, but Quil and Jake's reaction had given the already sown seed of doubt nourishment to grow and fester itself. It explained a lot of things; Sam's pointed stares and Embry's weird behaviour. According to Sara, Embry had grown distant, and according to Quil, Embry had skipped school the entire week. He and Sara had spotted him down at First Beach on their way home. When they had tried to go over to him he had just turned and walked away. Quil swore he had seen Sam and his 'disciples', as the boys had taken to calling them, standing at the edge of the forest.
Jake shook me, snapping me out my sombre thoughts. "Listen, Phoebe. It all makes sense; it fits the pattern. The exact same thing happened with Paul and Jared." From the corner of my eye I could see Sara sit down on the floor. Her face was utterly blank. Jake continued. "One day they were perfectly normal than they skipped a week or two at school, and the next they were following Sam like lost puppies." I frowned. Sam didn't do things like that; stealing friends from people. He was nice. My rational side fought with my never-believe-anything-bad-about-people side. The proof was stacked tall. Everything Jake said was true, but it couldn't rule out that Embry had been our best friend since the beginning.
After the initial shock had died down and the faint throbbing had settled, I looked up but avoided everyone's curious glances. I always was the sensitive one. I cleared my throat. "Let's go find some protectors and get some answers."
We spent the rest of the weekend looking for Embry but to no avail. It was as if he had disappeared from the face of earth. Was he avoiding us? Embry's mum was beside herself with worry but none of the elders seemed to really bother. No one seemed to worry apart from us. After spending 5 hours of scrambling around the forest, and finding nothing but the nature that surrounded us, my painkiller's affect was waning so we went back to Jake's place. His dad, Billy, found us all on lying on the floor asleep and awoke us to a big surprise. With him were the exact people we had been looking for. Jake and Quil were at their feet in an instant. I used my own sweet time because my leg was being mean.
Billy was in the front flanked by Embry and Sam on his right and to the left by Jared, and someone who I assumed was Paul. I looked Embry straight in the eye and to my relief he didn't look away. I gaped. In the two weeks I'd been gone he had grown up seven years. He had grown even taller and his muscles were clearly visible without a shirt on. What freaked me out the most was how much he looked like Sam. The same hairstyle, choice of scarce clothing and in the way he carried himself. The only thing that resembled the boy I knew was his facial features, but they too had altered. He looked so different I wanted to cry. What was happening?
I felt everybody's eyes on me. I was swaying unsteadily. Without thinking Embry lunged forward to steady me, but Quil and Jake were already at my sides, helping me sit down on the floor. I looked up at Embry again and saw he was visibly shaking. His entire frame was rocking and jerking. Sam shared a pointed look with Billy before he guided Embry out of the house. My last glance of Embry was a pair of big brown eyes filled with unfathomable sadness.