Hello! Another chapter for you :)
Enjoy.
Chapter One
She rocked her head softly back and forth to the beat in her ears, moving her fingers to the guitar riffs, even though she didn't know two bits about playing a guitar, much less an electric one. Maybe she'd go into air-guitaring.
The music blasted from her headphones, shutting all other sound out, so of course she didn't hear her mother when she said "We're almost there honey", continueing to stare out of the window at the green scenery. Evergreens everywhere, thick forests and cloudy skies, everything very characteristic of Washington. Snow covered the ground and trees, though the roads were clear, indicating that it'd been a few days since the last time it had snowed. She sensed her mom look back at her from the front seat, rolling her eyes at her daughter when she didn't respond.
She sat in a black tank and skinny jeans with holes in the knees from overuse. She didn't mind the cold. Mind, or feel, whatever. A few houses moved past her vision of sight before they drove onto Forks itself. They would have lived on the reservation, but Forks was closer to her parents new workplace, Forks Hospital.
Disturbed's "Inside The Fire" ended. She looked at the display of her new, purple iPod Nano and flipped through the oncoming songs till it hit Killswitch Engage's "Arms of Sorrow", turning back to look out the window as the music spilled into her kranium. She'd gotten the iPod on the 13th of january, a week ago, as a means of telling her "well, we're moving to another state in week, pack your stuff, glad you like the iPod!". To tell the truth, she didn't really mind the moving, she wasn't leaving anything behind. Only a couple of shallow friends, who'd only talked to her since she had that growth-spurt four years ago, losing a lot of weight and growing four inches up in the process, which made her a 5'9" lean, mean, killing-machine.
Oh, and a crappy ex-boyfriend, who'd only talked to her for the same reasons, realizing she actually was kinda pretty. Too bad he was as superficial as her phony friends. Nope, no one important left behind.
It was a lot smaller than Anchorage, Alaska, but it would do. A big city wouldn't fit well with her nature and she was forever thankful to her parent for seeking jobs in a place like this. Her father was almost, if not as, excited as she was. He'd been born and raised on the reservation, full part Quileute. They'd both moved to Alaska when they had married 20 years ago, so her mom could be closer to her family, a small Inuit tribe in northern Alaska.
It was also a place to start anew. Maybe, things would be alright here. Her dad told her the Quileutes knew things, things about her.. gift. When the change first began, her mom's people had tried to help, but they hadn't had such an occurance in a couple of generations now and they already knew of the Quileutes, urging her to go there instead. Unfortunately, it took them a good four years to find both a new home and jobs for both parents. She'd gotten used to it by then, gotten control over it. She'd had to figure out things on her own, and she did, no matter how dangerous and fearful it had been. Her parents were terrified of her at first, but they had rather quickly gotten over the initial fear and confusion and tried to help her in anyway they could. They had both known of the legends and tales of each their native origins, so that had helped as a starting point.
She felt the car slow down so she slid the headphones under her chin, around her neck and shut off the music.
"Are we there?" she asked, pulling herself forward by the seat in front of her, looking through the drivers window.
"Yes we are. See, its the sandy one on the left" her mom pointed as her dad did a u-turn, bringing them to the curb in front of their new home. It was a two storey wooden house on a brick foundation, not counting the basement. The top floor wouldn't be as big as the lower, due to the triangular roof, but a small attachment on the side of the house would more than make up for it. A few steps led up to the front door and wide porch with a white-painted wood railing, the same railing as was used on the large balcony above the porch.
They parked a bit behind the moving-truck, which was already being emptied by bulky, potbellied men with suspenders and flannel shirts. She inspected the house from her window. It didn't look half bad. The front steps would need a little touch-up and the driveway and gravel path to the house would need to be paved, her dad would have something to do in his spare-time. The yard wasn't much to look at, she could see the top of a bare willow behind the house, the yard was all grass, well, snow right now, but come springtime her mom would have it blooming and blossoming, green and sprouting.
Her dad looked back at her from the driver's seat and grinned at her before he practically flew out of the car, her mom following close behind. She shook her head with a small smile and joined them on the sidewalk.
"Here we are darlings, Zepeda Rd., Forks", her dad drew her and her mom to him, giving them both a one armed hug.
"Geez dad, relax, it's not even furnished yet", Tala poked him in the ribs and he let her go, and kissed him wife on the cheek instead. He then went to help the movers.
"You like it?", her mom laid a hand on her shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze, "Maybe you'll finally have a place to fit in".
Talae gently rubbed her shoulder with the white-inked Quileute tribal tattoo, smiling as she circled the outline and gave her mom a reassuring hand-squeeze, "Maybe".
A kiss on the cheek was her only answer, as her mom went to help her husband with the delicate stuff. Knowing him, he'd break every lamp and vase if she didn't bud in.
Streching, Talae went to put on her headphones again, but thought the better of it and turned the iPod to full volume instead, blaring a mixed Linkin Park playlist. She grabbed a thin, red zip-up shirt from the backseat and shimmied into it, keeping up appearances for a little while longer. With her music in her pocket she made her way around the house, trying to take in everything. It was a small neighborhood, far between the houses and their back yard ebbed out into the woods.
She reached the backside of the house, sure enough a tall willow-tree stood a little off to the side and another, smaller porch, same white railing was attached to the house' backside. The snow was a good foot deep and she was actually glad she'd been smart enough to put on her Harley Davidson boots as they went up to her mid-shin, saving her jeans from the wetness and uncomfort. She looked around her, finding pretty much everything to her liking, though she was normally not hard to please. Yep, this was quite alright.
She went back around the front and got her messenger bag out of the car, before she went on inside the house itself. She quickly stepped over the front door step, sidestepping away from two movers who were carrying their comfy old, black leather sofa. It was a fairly large house. One bedroom with a connecting bathroom, master bathroom and a nice big lounge area. The attachment she'd seen from the front was a big kitchen with an island, all done in white wood and dark granite, and space enough for a long dinner-table. She jogged upstairs, down a hall, seeing the two bedrooms and two bathrooms as she went. At the end was a smaller lounging spot and a glass-door sided with big windows, leading to the balcony out front. The view was nice, overlooking the small neighborhood.
She ran back downstairs to find both her parents in the lounge, her dad helping with furniture, her mom carrying boxes.
"I call the downstairs bedroom!", she announced, staring at them both with wide eyes, daring them to deny her.
Her dad was suprisingly the first to cave, "Oh, alright. You are 17, you need some space and beside, you got to have a place to keep all your crap", he said with a smirk.
She stuck out her tongue at him and gave him a quick hug before running to her new room, dumping her bag there, only to run out to their car and start carrying boxes of her "crap" back to it.
It'd taken them a couple of hours setting up all the major furniture, the time now being 17:14. Her mom was done decorating the living-room and had moved on to the kitchen, and she could hear her dad moving about upstairs. She took a quick water-break from putting up posters, having pretty much everything else in her room in place.
"Here honey", her mom handed her a glass from the box she was currently unpacking.
"Thanks", she took the glass from her and filled it with nice, cold tapwater, and took a drink. Oh, yeah, just what she needed.
"Done with your room?"
"Yeah, almost. Just missing some wallcrap" Talae said with a smirk, before she chugged the rest of the water.
"Haha", her mom returned the smirk, "Hey, you wanna run to the store for me? I don't think the snacks your father brought at that truckstop is gonna be a very fulfilling dinner". She placed the last of the glasses in one of the top cabinets and moved on to utensils.
"Sure, where the keys at?", she placed her glass down by the sink and wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.
"I believe your father has them".
"'Aight, Imma be right back!" she exclaimed running upstairs. She stopped in the door way to her parents new bedroom and saw her dad hammering nails into the wall for pictureframes.
"Dad, I need the car keys, mom's sent me on a foodrun", she breathed, hoping he had gotten it, she hated repeating herself.
"What wrong with what we got at the truckstop?" He looked at her skeptically.
Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms she gave him the same skeptical look, "Dad, I for one cannot live of pretzels and chips, not even until tomorrow, get your head out of your butt".
Sighing he pulled the keys from his front pocket and tossed them to her. She almost didn't wait for them to land in her hand before she sped down the stairs and through the frontdoor, snapping the piece of paper and a 50 dollar bill from her mom that she held out for her on the way.
The car was empty from all her stuff, fortunately. She plugged her iPod into the car-stereo and blasted some Slipknot while opening the driversseat window. The heavy, metal tones soothed her ears and she reved the engine to life and started down the road. Five minutes later she hit what would be considered "downtown" Forks. She pulled into the parkinglot of Ron's Food Mart, earning a few odd looks before she turned off the stereo, re-plugged her headphones to the 'pod and pulled them over her ears. She stepped out of the car and almost trotted inside.
Looking over the scribbled list of groceries she decided on a basket instead of a cart. They'd go food-supplying tomorrow, this was just the bare necessities... and dinner. Steak, potatoes, a variety of veggies and fruit for later. She went for the produce section first, scooping up a solid bag of potatoes, a bag of carrots, a stick of broccoli, a net of red apples and a few pears. She had wanted strawberries, or blueberries, but what are you going to do in the middle of january.
Walking by a stand with sweets, she suspisciously looked around, as if her parents were spying on her, but being satisfied that no one looked her way, she grabbed a super size of Sour Skittles, cackling evilly on the inside. She then walked towards the raw meats, completely relying on her sense of smell. Oh, she could almost taste that sweet red meat, just melting on her tongue. She almost drooled. She turned around a corner and the white and metallic refrigerated counter came into view.
A slim, lean girl with short raven hair that lightly grazed her jaw stood by the counter. She was wearing a beige figure-fitting t-shirt, washed baggy jeans and black sneakers. Her skin was a light copper and smooth-looking. Talae pretty much sneaked around the counter so she stood opposite of the coppery girl. She sneaked a peak at her face. She had a strong jaw and full lips and fierce brown eyes. It was very clear she was of Native origin. An intricate black tribal tattoo on her shoulder quickly caught Talaes eye. Hmm, that looks familiar. She stiffled a gasp as realisation hit her, bringing it out as a wierd cough instead. The girl glanced at her briefly before returning to read the different lables of different packages of meat.
Talae pulled down her headphones and shuffled a little closer, now standing about three feet from copper-girl, and sniffed the air a few times. A subtle familiar, yet very unknown scent hit her smack in the face and she wouldn't have caught it if she hadn't been smelling for it. A sudden wave of almost childish excitement jiggled through her system and a sudden urge to wag her behind had to be suppressed.
The girl slowly lifted her gaze and gave her a rather disturbed look. In turn she sniffed the air like Talae had and her brown eyes widened considerably. Acting as if nothing had happened Talae went to stand infront of her, keeping her eyes on the raw meat. She picked up six juicy-looking red steaks, licking her lips as she put them in her basket. She cautiously looked up and caught Copper's eyes. She straightened her back and stuck out her hand, fighting all her inner insecurities and social problems, and offered the girl a smile.
"Hi, I'm new in town. Talae Littlecreek".
The girl eyed the outstretched hand for a second before firmly shaking it in greeting, "Leah Clearwater, hi".
Talae grinned at her, and a small smile tucked on the corners of Leahs mouth.
"So, uhm, I hope this isn't too forward, but do you live on the reservation?" she sheepishly scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah, with my mom and lil' brother", Leah brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
"Cool. So, you're like, Quileute right?", she hoped she wasn't being too forward, starting to fidget with the zipper on her shirt. Her eyes flicked over Leahs own basket, her conviction a little stronger as it was stuffed with red meats and poultry.
"Yes I am. Are you... from around here?" Leah had caught her looking at her wares, and eyed hers suspiciously.
"No no, just moved here from Anchorage, up in Alaska... My dad's from around here though, Will Littlecreek?", she didn't expect her to know him, the girl looked around her own age.
"Oh god, Will Littlecreek is your dad? Wow, freaky. Uhm, yeah my mom has mentioned him, we get your Christmas cards, she knows him from her schooldays" Leah was slightly confused now, but she didn't let it faze her.
"Wicked" Talae grinned at her again and Leah caught sight of her sharp, almost pertruding canines, "so, uhm, I gotta go, but it was nice meeting you Leah, I hope to see you again".
She gave her a small wave and made her way around the counter towards the check-out area. She stood in line with three people ahead of her, she leaned on her right leg and waited patiently. She felt Leah come up behind her, close enough that she could smell her. She was quite certain she knew what Leah was, but apparently it wasn't vice versa.
She heard Leah sniff her a couple of more times.
She checked out with change to spare and carried the two plastic bags towards the car. She placed them on the back seat and went to get in the drivers seat.
"Hey Talae, wait up!".
She turned and saw Leah jogging up with her own groceries in tow. Talae smiled at her.
"So, do you like live on the rez or what?" Leah asked, looking rather awkward.
"No, close though. We moved into a house on the westside of Forks, it's a 15 minute drive from La Push" she responded with another smile.
"Oh, cool... Okay, well, we're having a bonfire tonight down by the Council center, the whole tribe basically... Maybe you and your family'll want to join us? See a few familiar faces?", she tugged on a piece of hair and twirled it around her index-finger.
"That'd be awesome, thank you! I dunno about my parents, but I'll definitely be there", Talae flashed her wolfish teeth and almost jumped with glee.
Leah smiled at her, "Great! It's at nine, just wear warm clothes, I'll see you there". She waved and turned to leave.
"Oh, yeah, like I'll be needing that", she muttered under her breath, and saw Leah stop for a second before moving on.
She hurried home, dropping the groceries on the counter where her mom was now putting away pots and pans.
"Hi sweety, what's the hurry?".
Talae explained to her the encounter with Leah and the bonfire invitation, almost jumping out of her clothes with excitement.
"Oh thats great honey! If you'd unpack the rest of these boxes I'll start dinner so we can make it there on time", she indicated to a pair of taped up cardboard boxes and took out the untensils for making their dinner.
She quickly finished unpacking the rest of the kithcen, leaving it to her mom to decorate it as she went to go find her dad. She climbed the stairs and followed his scent, leading her to the glassdoor for the balcony. She stepped outside and found her dad arranging wicker furniture in the snow. He heard her open the door and she quickly explained the plans for that night.
"Thats nice hon. I wonder if any of the ol' guys still live around here.." he looked to be in deep thought for a second, "anyways, call me when its food time".
She left him out in the snow and went to put up the rest of her posters.
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