Catie ended up going back to Phoenix, that night, taking her bike with her. Embry seemed hurt, but the two love birds exchanged numbers and promised to call each other everyday. Sam insisted on driving me home, but I politely declined every time. I told him that I wanted to ride Storm home, which made him ask even more.
"I can take you home!" Sam persisted.
"Sam." I growled. "Thank you but no thank you. I told you, I want to ride storm home…"
"But..."
"No." I said holding my hand up to stop him. "I know you don't like storm, but it's been part of my life for a long time now. I will be fine, I promise not too go to fast. But im riding it, whether you like it or not Sam." I declared.
He sighed and was about to say something till Emily stepped in. "Sam, let the poor girl ride her own bike. She is 19 ya know." She said passing me with a wink. I chuckled and mouthed 'thanks' before turning my attention back to Sam.
Sam kissed me on the forehead. "Fine." He mumbled. "But call me when you get home ok? Or you know what; I will be in your room when you get home." He decided.
I rolled my eyes but smiled sweetly at him. "Ok. See you then!" I patted his arm and gave him a quick peck on the mouth.
I waved everyone goodbye and ran to my bike. I kicked the kickstand up and started up the engine. Ahh, how I love that sound. I thought.
"Helmet!" Sam yelled over the noise. I looked up and rolled my eyes. "Im going! Im going!" I yelled back.
I put on my helmet, sat on the seat, revved the engine, and backed out of the driveway heading home.
When I got home the kitchen lights were on. I walked into the house and saw Charlie in the kitchen sipping on a beer.
"Hey dad!" I said enthusiastically.
"Bells!" he said getting up from the chair to give me a hug. "Happy Birthday honey. Im sorry I wasn't at the party; I couldn't leave this big case going on at work."
A pang of hurt went through me but I sucked it up.
"Its ok dad, no biggy." I said. "So what were you doing?" I asked him, looking at where he was sitting for some kind of hint.
"Oh, I was just thinking." He said. "This big case…it's just stressful" he rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Why don't you go to bed? I can finish cleaning up the kitchen and then head to bed myself."
"Bells, it's your birthday, you shouldn't have to do that…" he said.
I waved him off. "My birthday is pretty much over. Plus, you look tired Ch-Dad. I can handle it, its no big deal."
I looked at him. "Go to bed Dad." I said. "I got it."
He looked at me and then nodded. "Thanks Bells." He said as he was heading up the stairs.
"No prob dad."
After I finished cleaning up the kitchen I went upstairs to get ready for bed. Sam was already there, leaning up against the headboard.
"Hey." I said gathering my stuff to get ready for bed.
"Be right back." I said with my stuff in my hands.
After I got ready for bed I headed back into my room to snuggle with Sam. He wrapped his arms around me as I snuggled into his chest.
"Night." I mumbled.
"Night Bella." He whispered.
I woke up screaming.
"Bella!" I could hear Sam whisper loudly. I gasped and put a hand to my heart. Sam took my head in his hands and looked at me. "Bella." He whispered. I wiped the sweat and hair off my forehead and looked at Sam.
"S-Sorry. Bad dream." I said still trying to get my breathing under control. He brushed the rest of the hair off my sweaty face and kissed my forehead.
"Wanna tell me about it?" he asked. I shook my head.
"No. thanks though." I said. I plopped my head back down onto the pillow and took in some more deep breaths. Something was coming. I know it. I can feel it. Sam scooped me up in his arms and snuggled in with me. I replayed the dream over and over in my head. It was haunting me. Sam noticed that I wasn't falling back asleep so he starting rubbing my hair. My eyes started to flutter shut and my nightmare started to float away.
The next morning when I woke up, I knew my nightmare had more of a meaning than just a reason to scare me. I sat up in bed and took a deep breath. Everything felt off. My body felt tense, and on red alert but I couldn't put my finger on it. I quietly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. I splashed my face with cold water. When I looked up I saw James in the mirror. I gasped and quickly turned around. There was nothing there. I put a hand to my forehead and ran a hand though my hair.
"Bella?" Sam asked groggy.
"Sam." I breathed.
"You ok?" he asked a little more alert now.
"Yea, im sorry if I woke you. I just thought I saw something."
He nodded in understandment. "Did you wanna talk about what happened last night?" he asked walking in the doorway of the bathroom. I bit my lip and shook my head 'no.' I turned back to the mirror and put my hands on the sink. I closed my eyes. Images of my dream flashed through my head. I shook my head. "This cant be happening." I mumbled.
"Bella?" Sam asked coming closer. I opened my eyes, looked at myself in the mirror. I was pale and a little sweaty again. I took a breath.
"Bells?" He asked again, putting a hand on my shoulder. I jumped a little.
"Yea, im ok. Sorry." I said. I brushed pass by him and went into my room to get a change of clothes.
"Bella." He growled. I winced- just picturing the look on his face. I kept my eyes on the clothes of my closet not daring to look at him.
"What's going on?" he asked. I looked through all of my clothes in my closet, not finding one thing to wear. So I bit my lip and grabbed some clothes out of my dresser drawer. I looked at my clothes I gathered, to him and then to the door. He got the hint but shook his head. "Nope. Im not leaving. Not until you tell me what's going on." He said.
I sighed and shrugged. I started to shimmy out of my pants. As I was taking off my pants, I could see he wasn't moving towards the door, so once the pants dropped to my ankles I straightened up, put hand on my hip and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He gave me a quick look over and cleared his throat. I could see him blush a little before he turned around. I took off my pajama shirt, put a bra on, and put a new t-shirt on. I put some pants on and cleared my throat. "ok." I said.
Sam turned around and looked at me. "So you gunna tell me what went on last night?"
"Ughh, Sam, cant you just drop this? It was no big deal. I had a nightmare. So what?" I brushed past him again and started to walk downstairs to go to the kitchen. Sam grabbed my wrist as my foot touched the last step.
"So what?! You woke up screaming bloody murder and gasping for breath. And this morning. This morning I find you in the bathroom looking scared to death mumbling 'this cant be happening' and your telling me So what?!" he asked with a hard expression on his face.
Crap he heard that. I thought. I bit my lip and looked down at his hand on my wrist.
"You wouldn't understand." I whispered quietly.
Sam let go of my wrist quickly. It was like my skin burned him. I looked up to see his face. The expression that he displayed was heartbreaking. "Sam, I-I didn't mean…"
He shook his head and walked past me.
I walked into the kitchen after him and found him looking in the fridge. "Sam…"
He cut me off sharply. "Don't Bella." The fridge shut with a loud bang.
I felt a pain in my heart and jumped a little at the sound.
"I have a bad feeling." I blurted out.
He turned and looked at me. "A bad feeling. That's what this is about?"
I shook my head and sat down at the table. "See my point?" I showed him. He nodded. "Alright, im sorry. What's this 'feeling' about?" he asked with air quotes. His face was full of doubt and sarcasm.
I shook my head disgusted. "Are you actually going to listen or just give me some more shit with your lovely sarcastic comments?" I asked cruelly.
He looked taken back.
"Im sorry. Im tired, and this is why I don't tell you guys! You don't take this seriously. You don't understand how bad this can be, how bad it can get!" I said with exhaustion.
"Alright. Im sorry. What's going on?" he asked seriously.
"I have this feeling, like something is going to happen."
He looked at me trying to understand.
"My body feels tense, like im on red alert. I can't seem to relax, my powers are putting me on edge, like something bad is going to happen and I have to be ready." I explained getting antsy.
"Hmm..." Before he could say anything else, Sam's cell phone rang. He looked at me before taking it out of his pocket.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Yo! Dude! Where are you? You're supposed to be here to take the last morning shift." Jake said.
"Shit, Jake…im at Bella's…and we are talking. It's kind of important and…"
"Go." I said, interrupting Sam.
"Hold on Jake." He put a hand over the mouthpiece and looked at me.
"Bella, you wanted to tell me what's going on, so im going to listen. Im your boyfriend, I want to be with you, I want to help you out. You need me right now. So I am going to stay here. I can tell Jake to have one of the other guys take a shift for me."
"You haven't taken a shift in over 2 weeks Sam!" Jake shouted.
I gave him an 'I told you so' look.
"Shut up Jake." Sam growled. I could hear Jake abruptly shut up.
"Sam, just go. It's fine. We can talk later or something. I think im going to go out for a run anyways." I told him.
"Bella…" He started.
"It's fine Sam. Go, the pack needs you." I told him with reassurance. He still looked at me doubtful.
"Sorry Jake! Sam is on his way!" I yelled leaning over the table to Sam's cell phone.
"It's ok Bells!" He yelled back. We chuckled a little. "See you soon Sam." Jake said and then hung up the phone.
Sam shut his phone and looked at me. "Bells are you sure? If your feeling guilty that someone else in the pack would have to cover me, don't. I know they wouldn't mind."
"Sam, its fine. Seriously, now go before Jake comes over here to kick your ass." I said.
"What are you going to do?" he asked getting up off the chair to the door.
"Im going to go for a run." I said happily.
He looked at me funny. "What? I haven't taken a run in a while, plus I think it will help me clear my head." I said.
"Alright, well I will be back in a few hours. It's only a 1 hour shift but I have to stop by Jakes. Be careful ok?" he asked me.
I nodded. "Ok, tell Jake I said hi!" He nodded.
I gave him a quick peck on the lips and then shut the door.
I quickly ran upstairs to change into some running clothes and then grabbed my shoes. I made sure to grab my cell phone before I ran out the door. I ran for about an hour and a half. The running helped me clear my head, I mean, the feeling of uneasiness was there, but wasn't as bad. It was almost like the weight on my shoulders lifted a little. My cell phone was ringing so I took out my earphones and flipped open my phone.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Hey Bells! Where are you? We called the house but no one picked up." Embry said
"Oh, sorry Embry. Im out running. Didn't Sam tell you?"
"Yea, but he thought you would be home by now."
"Oh. Sorry. Wait. Where is Sam?"
"In the shower."
"And you are at his house because…?"
"We were thinking of having a little get together. So everyone is at Sam's. You coming?" Embry asked.
"Oh, well im not home yet, I will be in about 10 minutes. So I will shower and head over. So give me about an hour?" I asked.
"Sure sure. See you then! Oh and Bella?" Embry asked
"Yea Embry?"
"Are you ok?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well Sam was playing the images of last night and…umm…this morning, and we are all concerned."
I sighed. The weight that had been lifted off my shoulders came back. "Yea, im better. Running helped. Look, im gunna finish up so I can try and meet you guys before the food disappears. See you soon!" I said and then hung up.
I ran for another mile, taking the long way back to my house. Once I got inside I put my iPod and phone on the counter and went upstairs to take a shower.
After the shower I got dressed, but had to sit down on my bed. The panicky feeling was coming back, making me want to be sick. What was my body telling me?
I took a breath and sucked it up. I went downstairs, grabbed my stuff and headed for Storm to bring to Sam's.
I pulled up to his driveway to see Embry and Jake cooking some food on the grill.
"Hey Bells!" Jake said. He had an apron on that said 'kiss the cook' I smiled.
"Hey Jake." I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. I gave Embry a hug and said hello before entering the backyard.
The rest of the pack saw me and waved.
"Where's Sam?" I asked Emily.
"Oh, he's inside I think." Emily said putting some snacks on the table. I nodded and told her thanks.
"Sam?" I called from the kitchen.
"Hey." He said walking down the stairs.
"How ya feeling? Did the run help?" he asked giving me a hug.
I hesitated with my answer. "Yea, kinda."
He looked at me with an arched eyebrow. "Still freaked out?"
I let out a breath. "Yea."
He nodded. "Well let's get your mind off, shall we?" he asked while guiding me to the driveway.
"How's the cooking coming guys?" Sam asked.
"Well, Jake is having some trouble keeping the flame on the grill lit. I think he put the whole bottle of propellant in." Embry said.
We all snickered and laughed while Jake growled.
"Here, let me help" I said. I put my hand over the grill and made the fire rise. The guys watched in awe. The fire was tall enough to cook hot dogs and hamburgers pretty fast.
"Sweet." Jake said.
"Thanks Bells." Embry said.
I nodded. Sam just gave me a smile, not saying anything. I stood in Sam's arms, watching Jake and Embry cook. They were talking, but I wasn't really paying attention. After the food was done, we all took it to eat in the backyard. I made sure the humans went before the pack because they were all super hungry, which meant mass destruction of food. Within minutes all of the food Sam, Jake, and Emily made was gone. After a while, we just sat there laughing and talking. Emily put on the radio and Leah and I sang our lungs out. We laughed at our bad voices. "Wow, you guys have good voices." Paul said. Leah and I looked at each other and bursted out laughing. It was like he read our mind, but trying to make it a compliment. "Thanks." Leah said. We kept singing song after song, and got up and danced. Soon after, everyone got up to dang and sing. We all laughed at each other.
All of the sudden, my super hearing kicked in, and I could hear cracking in the woods. My body tensed and I quickly stopped dancing. Jake saw me and nudged Sam. Sam immediately walked over to me, looking at my worried face. He must have known something was wrong because he put himself in a stance to protect me. I tried to concentrate on the footsteps I heard.
"Bella?" he asked nervous.
"Do you hear that?" I asked.
"Hear what?" Embry said. I shushed him.
"In the woods." I whispered to Sam. He listened closely and nodded. "Jake, Paul, and Jared. Go check it out." He said quietly.
"Wait!" I whispered loudly. The noise stopped. All I could hear was silence. Suddenly a knife came flying towards me. I used my powers to push Sam out of the way and stop the knife. It stopped right in front of my face, just in time. Everyone looked shocked and scared. I couldn't hear anything.
"Bella! Behind you!" Leah shouted. I quickly turned around and there stood a man. He threw me into Sam's house before I could do anything. I collided with the wood of Sam's house, and groaned. I slowly got up.
I could see Jake protecting Bella and everyone else backing off. The guys were holding Sam, knowing this was a person coming for me. Guilt washed over me. I felt a hand come in contact with my neck.
My feet were off the ground and I was dangling in this mans hand. I tried to pry his hand away but he wouldn't budge. My body was protesting, starting to shut down because of the lack of oxygen.
"Bella!" I could hear Sam.
I looked at him and his eyes were torn with helplessness. I thought of way to get out of his grip. Duh! I thought. I quickly teleported out of the mans grip, towards the pack. I gasped for breath, holding my hand to where the man had my neck. He turned around and growled.
"Who are you?" I shouted. He smirked. I looked him over. A soldier of James. I quickly teleported behind him and grabbed his head.
"Don't even think of teleporting, because you and I both know, I will go with you." I sneered.
"What do you want?" I asked
"Fuck off." He said before elbowing me in the stomach. I loosened my grip and he teleported by the pack. We fought without using our powers. We kicked, punched, and everything else in between.
Surprisingly, he used his powers on me when I least expected it and through me into Sam's house again. I could hear the wood snap and break into pieces. I didn't get up for a few seconds. I could hear growling. I quickly looked up. Jake was in wolf form. No! I whispered. The man looked at me.
"Oh, Wait till James hears this." He smirked. I threw an energy ball at him and Jake jumped on him.
Jake and the man wrestled. I didn't want to use my powers incase Jake was to get hurt.
"Call him off Sam!" I yelled panicking.
"Jake, Stop!" He yelled.
Jake jumped off the man and backed down. The man quickly threw a massive electricity ball at him.
"NOOO!" I yelled. Jake flew backwards and whimpered bleeding. I could see Leah tending to him. I growled. I started to levitate. It wasn't one of my normal powers, but I embraced it. My anger was seething, and the mans face showed a hint of worry. I smirked and came down with a flip kick. He went face down on the grass. I sat on top of him. "What is your name?" I said slowly with my voice full of anger. I could hear the pack panicking about Jake. My heart was racing for him.
"Digit." He grunted. Once he said that, I could feel my mind absorb a bunch of information. His name was Digit. He was rank 21 out of 30. He was well respected and liked with James. He was good at martial arts but not with powers. It clicked. The more he was to tell me things, the more I would figure out about him
"Good we are getting somewhere." I smiled. It suddenly wiped off my face as I heard the pack call Jakes name, asking him to wake up.
I could hear Leah crying and Seth's heartbeat going a mile a minute. The man noticed my distraction and kicked me to the ground.
"oof." I said getting the wind knocked out of me
"Bella!" Embry and Sam yelled.
I snarled loudly and charged at the man. We fought, but this time I was on red alert I dodged most of his punches and kicks. He ended up falling to the ground, barely being able to get up. I stood there taking deep breaths, waiting for him to get up.
He didn't get up, so I went to check him, but he pulled a knife on me and stabbed me into the stomach. I yelled. Sam and Embry and some of the other guys were about to race over to me but I put up a shield.
"Aww, come on. I could have some fun with these dogs." Digit sneered.
He got up and shoved me to the ground. The knife was in deep. I could feel the blood slowly leave my body.
Digit stood up and kicked the knife in deeper. I screamed out in pain. I could hear Jake mumble my name and then nothing. "Jake!" I could hear Leah scream. She was pounding on his chest. "I can't get a pulse on him!" Quil yelled.
Sam looked torn where to go, so I nodded towards Jake. I looked up towards Digit.
"Well as much as I would like to continue, James wants you alive. Maybe you should reconsider his offer." He said mostly to himself. He shook himself out of his little dream and faced me.
"Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go tell James about your new found pets you have been hiding." He said happily.
I growled and he snickered.
"Tah tah for now!" he waved his hand and vanished. I groaned and turned towards my side to look at Jake. He was in his human form, looking pale as ever. Some of the pack came rushing towards me after they noticed the shield was gone.
"Bella!" Sam said coming towards me.
"Sam." I said groaning. My hands were by the knife in my stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. "Oh God." He said looking at all the blood pouring out of me.
"Emily!" he called over.
She came rushing over. "Bella!" She screeched.
I let out a small sob and pulled out the knife. Sam and Emily looked like goldfish-Wide eyes and gaping mouths. Emily quickly put a hand over the wound as I cried out in pain. Sam tried to comfort me. I could still hear Leah crying and yelling 'no, this cant be happening!' and 'heal damn it!'
"Sam…I need…to get up." I stuttered
"Bella…" he started. I cut him off.
"I need to save…Jake…please…" I said. Tears cascaded down my cheeks. He looked at me and scooped me up in his arms. He then sat me down next to Jakes body. Jake wasn't moving. His chest wasn't moving up and down to show he was breathing, and he didn't feel warm. He was just limp and pale. I crawled closer to his body, right to where Leah was over his chest crying.
I touched her arm, and she looked at me, broken hearted. I silently told her to move away, and surprisingly she did. I put my hand that wasn't covering my wound over Jakes chest and closed my eyes. The familiar bright green light surrounded my hand and I placed it on Jakes chest. After a few seconds, Jake gasped.
I removed my hand, almost going limp, and Leah came back towards Jake. She called his name but he didn't respond. "He needs to rest." I said slowly. She looked at me and nodded. I closed my eyes. "Bella?!" Sam said shaking me.
"What?" I said tiredly.
"Come on Baby, you need to heal yourself. Your going to bleed to death." He said.
I nodded off a little. "Bella!" Seth shouted.
"What?" I said groggy
"You need to do that thingy with the light and your hand…What you just did to Jake. Do it to yourself. Come on Jake needs you." He said.
I used the hand on my wound and conjured the green light. Within minutes the wound had healed, but left a scar. After that, the darkness took over me, and the last thing I heard was Sam calling my name.