Bella
I walked home in the rain, feeling unnerved by the conversation I'd just had with Evie. Even though she was the only one who knew the reason why I had moved to Forks, I didn't remember actually telling her that my mom was in rehab. Plus, I knew for a fact that I had never mentioned Phil's name to her. I had tried to play it cool so that she wouldn't notice that I knew something was off. I hoped that it had worked. I was once again in the position of knowing that I held clues to dangerous information about Evie Cullen.
I contemplated numerous explanations as I walked. My first thought was that she had overheard me talking about my mom or Phil, but I quickly dismissed that notion. I hadn't discussed my personal life with anyone other than my dad. I thought back to the comment she had made about monitoring me. This had to be a part of it. But monitoring me how? I pictured phone bugs and email hacks but shook my head. Somehow I knew that Evie would not need to resort to such human tactics. I was almost home when the realization hit me: she must be able to read minds. That would explain everything; how she had seemed to know exactly how I was feeling that first day we spoke, how she knew I hadn't spilled her secret since the crash, and how she knew about my current family situation. Would that be so unreasonable for someone who also was stronger and could move faster than humanly possible?
Then I stopped dead. If she could read my mind, that meant she knew everything. I felt a cold sweat break out on my palms and I had difficulty catching my breath. This was a disaster!
That night at dinner I was quiet, more so than usual. Charlie actually had to try to make conversation. I told him about the trip to La Push beach tomorrow, and he became enthusiastic. Not only does he value outdoor activities, but I think he was glad to hear that I had plans with my new friends outside of school. Then he jumped the gun and called up his best friend Billy Black to tell him that we were going to the reservation tomorrow, and asked him to have his son Jacob meet us there. I was mortified. It reminded me too well of the play-dates Charlie had set me up on when I used to come up here every summer as a kid. They were always awkward.
I awoke the next morning to actual sunlight streaming through the window. My dark mood lifted considerably, and I opened the window and let the rays warm my face. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all. Charlie drove me to Newton's Olympic Outfitters on his way to work. Mike was already there, being that it was his parents' store. I also spotted Jessica with him, and Angela and Ben. They all looked up excitedly when I joined them.
"You made it!" Mike exclaimed.
"Yeah, I said I was in. Thank god the sun's out!" I was grinning, elated to be outside in the sunshine. Even though it was barely 60 degrees out, it felt like summer after weeks of clouds and rain.
"We're just waiting for Tyler, Eric and Lauren." Jessica told me. Not even the prospect of Tyler flirting with me could dampen my spirits today. Once everyone had arrived we all piled into Mike's Suburban. I called shotgun and hauled myself up into the front seat, where I would be sure to absorb as much sunlight as possible. I rolled the window down and took it all in.
As we drove west on the 110, I started to recognize the drive I had made many times with my dad as a child. After 15 miles of emerald forest, the trees ended abruptly and there was the ocean in front of us. It was gray and misty, fading into the sky almost imperceptibly. We parked and jumped out, ready to explore. The rocky beach was littered with huge pieces of driftwood. We made our way to a fire-pit that looked well-used. Eric and Ben started breaking off branches from some of the driftwood trees to use as firewood.
"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Tyler asked me as I took a seat on one of the larger driftwoods.
"No," I answered, curious. He took a match and set it to the dried wood he had placed in the firepit. The wood caught, and as the flames licked upward I could see tones of blue mixed in with the orange fire.
"It's the salt," he told me as I watched the flames, entranced. I was really beginning to enjoy myself. All of my fears and theories seemed silly now in the presence of sunlight and waves and laughter.
A little while later a group of native kids came over and joined us. I knew one of them must be Jacob Black, Billy's son, but I couldn't remember what he looked like. The level of revelry increased with the newcomers, and I kept off to the side, uncomfortable as always around people I don't know. Jessica saw me and came to join me on my driftwood bench.
"So where's your new best friend?" She asked me.
"Who?" I responded, confused.
"Evie Cullen. After yesterday at lunch I figured you two were bff's." I just stared at her. "She's never sat with anyone besides her family before. What did you two talk about?"
Now I understood. She was fishing for gossip. No one had ever broken into the Cullen circle before me. "Oh, we just talked about that Macbeth paper that's due." I lied lamely.
Jessica frowned, obviously disappointed by my answer. "Well, didn't you invite her and her family to come today? Her brothers are gorgeous!"
"Um, what about Mike?" I reminded her.
"Oh it's not like I'd ever do anything behind Mike's back! But there's no harm in looking, right?" She giggled conspiratorily. I just nodded. "So are they coming today?" She pressed.
"Well I did ask," I finally relented, "But Evie said they were going camping this weekend."
"Too bad. We would have been the talk of the school if the Cullens started hanging with us!" Jessica made it sound they were a prize or something. Then I noticed one of the native kids, the tallest boy, watching us.
"Are you talking about Dr. Cullen's family?" He asked seriously.
"Yeah, why? Do you know them?" Jessica turned to him.
"The Cullens don't come here." He answered shortly, making it clear the subject was not up for discussion. Jessica pouted, then turned back to me.
"Well Bella, see if you can convince them to come next time, ok?"
"Sure," I agreed, but found it almost impossible to picture Evie here among my school friends. Yes, we attended the same school, but Evie felt like she was a world apart. Then once again I noticed one of the native boys watching us, this time the youngest of the group. He walked over to me, smiling, and took Jessica's seat on the driftwood after she walked back over to Mike.
"Did I hear your name is Bella?" He asked. His smile was warm and friendly. "I'm Jacob, my dad told me to look out for you today."
"Oh yeah, you're Billy's son right? I'm sorry I didn't recognize you before." I told him, warming to his smile.
"No worries, it's been forever. You would remember my sisters though, Rachel and Rebecca."
"Oh, that's right," I cleared my throat nervously. "Um, how are they doing?" I remembered Rebecca very well.
"Rachel got married and is going to Washington State, and Rebecca moved to Hawaii."
"Wow, married?" I was shocked. The twins were only a couple of years older than me.
"Yeah," Jacob shrugged, "It's kinda weird now with just me and my dad. But Rebecca comes home for holidays and stuff. Hey that reminds me," he grinned and his voice got quiet. "She told me about you, about how you kissed her the summer before freshman year. Want me to let her know you're back in town?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me and my heart dropped into my stomach. How could she do that?! Why would she have told anyone? I couldn't get enough air into my lungs and I was making a weird gasping sound. The sky around me spun and I held onto the driftwood to keep myself upright, closing my eyes tightly.
Then I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and found myself looking into Jacob's earnest face, full of concern.
"Hey, are you alright?" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak yet. "Look, I didn't mean to freak you out. I haven't told anyone or anything. If it makes any difference, I'm cool with whoever my sister decides to date. No judgement here." He held up his hands, and his face was so worried I had to let him off the hook.
"For the record, I'm not dating your sister." I told him.
"Oh yeah? Someone else then?" His playful grin was back, and I couldn't help but smile in return.
"No, no! No one here knows about me. No one anywhere knows about me. Well, except for you apparently." And possibly Evie...
"That sounds lonely." He sympathized.
I suddenly realized how true that was. I'd always held myself at arm's length away from everyone, afraid to let them see me. What was I so afraid of? I decided then and there to give Jacob Black a chance.
"Let's get out of here," I told him. "Can we get to the tide pools from here?" I'd always loved the tide pools, but I'd never find my way there alone.
"Sure, let's go!" Jacob seemed up for anything, and his enthusiasm was contagious. I told the group I'd be back in a bit. Lauren sniggered at us as we walked away together, and Tyler looked up in dismay. They must think we're going somewhere to be alone. I didn't bother to correct them. I knew I should feel bad for not letting Tyler down directly, but I never knew how to handle these types of situations. Maybe if he thought I was with Jacob he'd back off.
We trudged through the foliage until we re-emerged at another section of the beach. It was low-tide, and we were able to jump and climb over the rocks to see the shallow pools that never fully drained when the tide went out. Jacob and I exclaimed over the colorful sea life within them, pointing out our favorites. I already felt comfortable around him, like he was my long-lost brother. I was amazed at how different it felt, being around someone who knew my secret. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt giddy and lightheaded, and I couldn't stop grinning and laughing. Jacob didn't seem to mind my goofiness, he laughed right along with me as I jumped from rock to rock.
Finally I sat on a ledge overlooking the largest pool to catch my breath. Jacob sat down next to me. "So why did your friend ask you if you had invited the Cullens?" He asked me.
I sucked in my breath, my exuberant mood darkening. "No reason." I lied. I guess it was back to secrecy again. "Why did your friend say the Cullens don't come here?" I countered, trying to divert the conversation away from myself.
"Um, I'm not really supposed to talk about that." His dark brown eyes filled with consternation.
"Oh come on! You know my secret, now it's my turn." I punched him lightly on the shoulder and his grin returned.
"Okay fine. But you have to swear not to tell a soul."
I put a hand over my heart. "Scouts' honor." I answered.
"Alright, where do I start…I guess you need to know some of the Quileute history first. That's my tribe. They say that we are descended from wolves, and that wolves are our brethren- it's against tribal law to kill them." I listened raptly, wondering how the Quileute history could possibly have anything to do with the Cullen family. "It's said that to this day we share a blood-tie with the wolves, and that selected members of the tribe can even turn into wolves when we are threatened." He paused to let this sink in. Apparently he didn't realize how open I was to the idea that people around here might be a little...different. He noted my lack of reaction and continued. "And then there are the stories about the Cold Ones."
My breath caught, remembering the icy cold hands of Dr Cullen. "The Cold Ones?" My voice shook.
"My great-grandfather was a tribal elder the last time the Cold Ones showed up. See, they are the natural enemies of the wolves. The tribe called a war council to hunt them down, but my great-grandfather stopped them. He said that these Cold Ones were different somehow, that they didn't hunt people. So he made a treaty with them, that if they agreed to stay off our lands and never harm a human being while they lived here, the tribe would leave them alone and not expose them to the pale-faces." He winked at me. I wondered then if he even believed any of what he was telling me.
"But what are they? What are the Cold Ones?" I had to ask, though I feared the answer.
"Blood-drinkers." He told me, grinning at the incredulity of it. "Your people would call them vampires."
My blood went cold. I hoped Jacob would take my silence as disbelief rather than shock, because at that moment I had forgotten how to speak.
When I regained my composure I asked my final burning question. "And the Cullens are descended from these Cold Ones?"
"No," Jacob told me, still getting a kick out of scaring me with his tale. "They are the same ones."
I was glad I hadn't eaten any breakfast this morning, because my stomach started heaving as the truth of Jacob's words hit me. I knew deep down that what he was saying was completely true, even though he didn't believe it himself. All along I'd been thinking of Evie as a sort of anti-hero: dark and potentially dangerous but ultimately someone who would do the right thing and save people's lives. She had told me she was a villain, but monster would have been a more apt description. I had seen enough horror flicks to know how this story played out. The vampire would lure the unsuspecting victim into complacency, then as soon as they turned their back they would be drained of blood and dead before they even realized what was happening. The unsuspecting victim being me in this scenario. I laid down on the rocks and put my cheek against the wet surface, waiting for the nausea to pass.
"Bella?" Jacob poked me in the shoulder and I swatted at his hand blindly. "Oh come on, you know it's just a bunch of superstitious hooey."
"Hooey?" I asked, chuckling in spite of myself. "Tell me another hooey story." I asked him. I needed to get my mind off of vampires as soon as possible.
"Okay," He sounded happy to oblige. "Did you know there is a legend about the Swan family?"
My eyes flew open in surprise. "No I didn't."
He grinned, elated to have information about me that I didn't know. "Well the Swan clan and the Quileute tribe go way back. In fact, your ancestors were from a tribe north of here in Canada."
"Really?" I asked, intrigued.
"Oh yeah. Where do you think you got your dark hair and eyes?" He winked at me again. "But the Swans broke from their tribe and moved down here, and we accepted them as brothers." So I was right: Jacob really was my long-lost brother! "The Swans were special." He continued. "Legend has it that they were supposed to create a bridge between our world and the spirit world, so that the men could speak with their wolf-spirits any time they wanted to."
"So what happened?" I was hanging on his every word, all thoughts of vampires momentarily driven from my mind.
"No one knows. Some time around when the Cullens were last here, the Swans moved off the reservation and into town. Though we keep in close contact with them."
"Does Charlie know about all of this?"
"No way! And you better not say anything, my dad will kill me. I basically just broke the treaty."
"My word is my bond."
We sat for a while in companionable silence watching the sea. There was so much information in my brain I felt it would burst. As we sat, the clouds started rolling in as if to complement my dark mood. I shivered, and Jacob suggested we should head back.
We rejoined the group around the fire pit, ignoring the looks they were giving us. Someone had thought to bring sandwiches and I bolted one down, suddenly realizing how starving I was.
"We're packing up," Mike told me, "looks like it's about to rain."
"Guess the sun was too good to be true," I complained, then turned to say goodbye to Jacob. "You'll come down to Forks soon?"
"Sure, sure." He clapped me lightly on the shoulder in farewell. "And next time Charlie comes to visit Billy you'll come too?"
"You know it," I smiled at him. Tyler was watching us with obvious disappointment. I helped them pack up the chairs and remaining food. We finished loading just as the first fat drops began to fall. I climbed into the backseat next to Angela, leaned my head back against the seat with eyes closed and tried very hard not to think.
Evie
I was lurking in the darkness of the forest near her house when the girl returned from the beach. I watched as she climbed out of the backseat of the Suburban and waved good-bye to her friends. She threw her hood over her head to ward off the downpour and hurried to the front door. I watched until she disappeared inside. Emmett was right: I was going crazy.
It had only been twenty-four hours since I had sat with her in the parking lot at school, but to me it felt like an eternity had passed. I don't know when it happened, but this girl had become the focus of my entire existence. It was more than just making sure she trusted me enough to not tell my secret. It was more even than the desire to learn what she was thinking or why I couldn't hear her thoughts. I wanted to know her, to figure out not only what she was thinking but why she thought the way she did.
I had thought the past day would have been a welcome break from the constant worry about this human, but I was wrong. I found that being away from her only made me more anxious. What was she doing? What was she saying, and to whom was she saying it? I wanted more than anything to be the one to crack her defenses and discover the core of her personality. I cursed her school friends- not for the first time- for choosing to take her to First Beach on La Push reservation: the one place I would not be able to monitor her. Being confined indoors by the wretched sunlight hadn't helped either. As soon as the clouds had returned I'd run from the house, sprinting at top speed through the forest until I reached her house.
Now that I had seen her arrive safely home, I had nothing left to do but go home myself. I felt amplified, like my veins were full of electricity rather than blood. I needed a way to discharge this restless energy. I ran home as fast as I could, but the few short minutes it took me to get there did little to ease my agitation.
I arrived to a quiet house. My family members were engaged in their various pastimes. I could hear Rosalie banging around under her car engine, and Esme upstairs pouring over her latest blueprints. Jasper and Emmett were in the middle of a fierce game of chess that had been going on for eight days. I wasn't allowed to play, of course. They claimed I cheated. Alice sat in front of her multi-screen computer, designing her next fashion project. Occasionally she would turn around in her chair and mouth Emmett's next moves to Jasper behind Emmett's back. They didn't let her play, either.
I suddenly remembered the girl mentioning yesterday that she loved Beethoven. For the first time in a shamefully long while I sat down in front of my perfectly restored original Steinway & Sons grand piano. I easily picked out my personal favorite of Beethoven's, Moonlight Sonata, from memory.
Oh, Evalyn is playing again! Esme's mental tone was ecstatic. I heard her light footsteps reach the top of the stairs, where she sat down and leaned against the bannister to listen. As the final tones of the Sonata were fading, another melody suddenly entered my mind. I started playing it as it came to me, adding a harmonizing line and letting the central melody weave through it. What a lovely tune. Esme sighed in contentment. I let the melody lead in a new direction, following it with a bass line. The song was compelling, but incomplete. It seemed to echo my frustration.
"Keep playing," Alice had come to join me on the bench, and she hummed my melody two octaves higher until I began to accompany her. I added her line to the harmony, modifying it a bit and building up to a crescendo. The song finally came to a close on a solemn note that resonated long after I'd lifted my fingers off the keys.
"Thanks," I told her. Playing had been the perfect release for my pent-up emotions, but I still felt restless. "Hey Emmett!" I called across the room.
"Yeah Ev?" He called back without looking up from his game.
"Wanna go wrestle some bears?"
"Heck yeah!" He bounded out of his chair, almost upsetting their game board in his exuberance.
"Stop!" Alice shouted, and we all froze. Her eyes were glazed over: she was having one of her visions. "Visitors coming," she said, her voice monotone. "Three vampires, from the north. They arrive in a thunderstorm." We all stared at her, not moving or breathing. "I'm not sure yet, but it looks like they skirt around town and continue south." We let out a collective sigh of relief. None of us liked having to deal with our own kind. For some reason, many of them were threatened by our abnormal lifestyle. We'd had many confrontations over the years.
Alice's eyes cleared, and she looked right at me. Through her thoughts, I saw the vision she had just seen. There were two versions: each outcome was dependent upon a decision that had yet to be made. In the first version, the trio stayed on the outskirts of town. They caught our scent at every entrance point into the greater Forks area and decided not to broach our territory. In the second vision, they caught another scent along with ours and it drew them in. Then the vision went black.
I stared at Alice, confused.
"I can't see what happens next." She explained, her voice tight with worry. "That can only mean one thing: They're going after Bella."