California Girl

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Chapter Song David Bowie

14. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

Thanks to all readers! Thanks to followers, favoriters, reviewers, anonymous reviewers and silent readers! It means so much to me that you like this enough to still be reading Chapter 14! :D Thanks! :D

Scary monsters, super creeps,
Keep me running, running scared,
Run, run, run...

Carmen POV

He was such a pushover. Especially for me.

We sat in silence in his truck, but as we got further into Forks, he seemed to get angrier. When we got out of the truck, he still opened the door for me, but he slammed it shut, and didn't make eye contact with me as we walked to the front door, where I knocked, before hearing someone say to "come in, Embry!"

I went straight to the living room, where everyone stood looking pretty depressed. Hell, Nessie was crying.

"Why is everyone so sad?" I asked, loudly, making my presence known. Scarlett left her conversation with Carlisle and came to me.

"What are you doing here?" She sounded flustered, like she was stressed, and mayb. Had even been crying, too.

"She thought she'd come and see Carlisle again!" Embry declared from behind me, not only embarrassing me, but also scaring the crap out me! He was so light on his feet for such a big guy.

"Shut up, Embry!" I felt the embarrassment rise to my cheeks, so I looked down.

Carmen Bird does not blush...

(Unless around Embry, but whatever).

"Go home, Carmen... please." Nessie told me, her eyes drying up. I scoffed.

"What? Why? Am I that bad?" I laughed, trying to hide my hurt.

I was desperate for these people's friendship, but they seemed to have something against telling me about themselves- like they were afraid if they said too much, the world would end.

"W-We can go to Forks... I'm just leaving anyway-" Scarlett said, making me grin like the loser I'm slowly, but surely, becoming.

"Awesome! There's that cheap cafe we can go too... though it's pretty crowded-"

"That's perfect!" I furrowed my brow slightly, but ignored the feeling of suspicion when Scar smiled.

"Embry can drive us, can't you, Emb!" I turned to Embry, who seemed thirty percent happier now, than before.

"Yeah... and then I have to run... uh... shifts to do for Sam and everything..." He laughed. I thought I heard something in it that wasn't all that truthful, buit ignored it agagrabbed laughed too.

"That guy is such a slave driver! Come on Scar!" Grabbing Scarlett's tiny pale hand, I began to pull her towards the door. The less time spent in the creepyily perfect house, the better, if you ask me.

"We have to wait for Leah-"

"Leah? Why Leah?" I turned to Embry, but he just shrugged. Turning back to Scarlett and Nessie, who were in a warm embrace that had me jealous, I was about to interrupt when the strangest thing happened.

Edward, out of nowhere, said, "I'll tell them." And then Scarlett was crying again.

I was about to ask about Leah, when Jacob came in, going straight for Chucky, grabbing her hand.

"Leah's gonna meet you at the cafe... she has... work... to do..."

Again, I was confused and suspicious, but I ignored the curious questions in my head (for example, how the hell did Jacob know we were talking about Leah?) and looped my arm with Scarlett's.

"Let's go! Come on! Come on!"

I was sitting in Embry's truck, between him and Scarlett. Scarlett seemed to be in her own world, but Embry was really worrying me. He was holding the steering wheel so hard I thought it was gonna break off.

"You seem tense, Emb." I ran my hand down his arm, and he relaxed immediately. I couldn't stop myself from smirking at how much I affected him.

"I'm just... worried... about... uh... Quil... you know... um... no... uh... love... interests... hmm..." Was he lying?

"He's worried that Quil's gay and that he's coming on to him." Scarlett said, and I stopped to think for a minute.

"Well... he does have that... quality."

Damn, I thought that would kill. Embry chuckled and mumbled about 'remembering that for later', but Scarlett remained still, kind of out-of-it.

"We're here."

"Thanks, Embry, for everything." Scarlett and Embry had a moment, and I felt myself feel jealous, especially when he spoke.

"It's okay, Scarlett... you're one of my best friends." He grinned at her as she got out. I shuffled down the seat to get out too, but Embry grabbed me.

"What?"

"I love you, Carmen."

Wait.

What?

"Come on, Carmen, we gotta go!" Scarlett grabbed my arm and pulled my out of his truck,

What?

Embry couldn't... love me. We were friends. Friends.

I didn't love him.

Right?

I mean, I couldn't...

I knew he was hot, and he was my best friend... but I didn't love him... right?

I was in love with Mr Wolf.

And you can't be in love with two people.

You can't split your heart in two.

You just... can't.

So I couldn't love them both.

So I had to choose.

But how could I choose between your hot best friend and your mysterious wolf?

"...You okay?"

"E-Embry can't l-love me!"

"Sure he can, you're a catch."

"No! I d-don't... I can't love him! I love someone else!"

"Is that the Vince-guy in San Diego? Just dump him-"

Who the hell is-?

Oh...

"No, someone completely different."

"Hey guys." Leah stood at our table, making me jump slightly. I hadn't even heard her come in.

"Hi." Scarlett said, quietly.

"What's going on?" She sat down and picked up a menu.

How the hell does she eat so much and still have that body?

Bitch.

"Embry's in love with Carmen. Carmen loves some stranger."

"Oh?"

I mean, how can I choose? I don't even know what Mr Wolf looks like as a guy! I've never heard him speak to me! I'd never-

"I have to see him." Before I could stop myself, I was standing up, ready to leave.

"Embry?" Leah asked, looking at me. I shook my head as Scarlett stood up.

"Mr Wolf." I took off, ignoring the looks I got on my way out.

I was running up the street towards the woods, ignoring Leah and Scarlett's yells. I swear I saw Embry's car by the woods. Maybe it was a sign.

"Carmen!" I stopped, turning around and looking at them, standing right by the trees. "Where the hell are you going?!"

"We should move." Leah moved to stand closest to the woods, and kind of looked like she was listening to something.

"I'm going to find my wolf." I told them, half-hoping to sound crazy enough for them to think they should just ditch me.

"You know."

My jaw fell slightly.

"You know?" I asked Scarlett, who, by now, had turned her head to the woods, like Leah.

"Move." Leah muttered before running straight into the trees.

"Where the hell is she-?" Scarlett cut me off, grabbing my arm.

"C-Come on, Carmen... away from the-"

Two white-ass guys jumped out. The one with blonde spiky hair grabbed Scarlett's arm.

"Aro's been wondering where you went off to."

"Hey! Get off of her, you freak!" I grabbed Scarlett, but couldn't pull her away. The huge black-haired one grabbed me with a freezing cold hand. I tried to pull away, but he was as strong as Embry.

"Where'd the new guard go?" The one holding Scarlett asked the one holding me.

"That wolf must've gotten him! I don't know where it came from!"

"Wolf?" I looked at them both, but they ignored me.

"What do we do with her?"

"Take her to Aro, I think. If he doesn't want her, we at least get a snack." He grinned.

A... snack?

The freaky rapists were carrying us through the woods, ridiculously quickly. I tried fighting them, but nothing was working. I had no idea where we were going, but I was shocked to find that Scarlett made no effort to stop them.

We arrived at a clearing in the woods, filled with people standing in two halves. Half were really, really pale people- I'm talking Cullen-pale- who stood in a kind of formation, the other half were-

The Cullens?

"Felix, Demetri!" A guy from the half we were being pulled too grinned. I looked back to the Cullens to see them all standing, looking shocked, wolves surrounding them.

"My wolf." I whispered to myself, seeing him standing at the front of the them, beside a sand-colored wolf.

"We found them right by the forest. They must've been waiting for us." The one holding me informed him.

"Felix, bring Scarlett to me, of course!" The creepy leader guy said, motioning to us. "I've been expecting you, of course..." He turned to look at me. "Well, who might you be?"

"Whoever you want me to be." I smirked, but the way his red eyes widened made a shiver run down my spine. I twirled my hair with my hand and mumbled my response. "Carmen."

"How old are you?"

"Um, sixteen... seventeen in November." I looked at the ground, only glancing up a couple of times. "Are they those colored contacts? I wanted blue ones but the good ones cost, like, twenty dollars and my parents wouldn't give me the cash."

"Well, well, a human that they didn't tell. How peculiar." One of the pale freaks said.

Tell me what?

"Two beautiful, beautiful girls... such a shame you're not older, especially if you know our secrets..." He grinned, and I felt cold again, and it wasn't just because of the ice cold hand on my arm.

"Please, let her be one of us." A kid stepped up, his red eyes looked sad as he begged the other one. The sandy colored wolf growled, making me jump.

"Scarlett, if you were to be turned, would you join us, or the Cullens?"

Join the Cullens? What are they talking about?

"It's clear where her loyalties lie, Aro. We must-"

All of the wolves started growling, and I shrunk slightly.

"Please allow for a wolf to speak... he has something important to say." Edward Cullen said, stepping forward. I shook my head at how weird this way, but if I'm honest, this is exactly what I'd expect from the pale freaks.

"A wolf?" One blonde haired man said, his face full of disgust.

"Yes." Edward took another step towards us. "Please."

The leader nodded slowly, and Edward and the sandy colored wolf walked forward together. Edward took the hand of the leader, and I resisted the urge to laugh at how creepy this was.

"A mate?" The leader asked as his eyes glazed over. "How peculiar..."

Mate?

"She couldn't tell... neither of them could... it's against our nature." Nessie said, walking closer, Bella following right behind her, Emmett following them.

This is so weird.

"Our nature? Renesmee?"

"I-I'm a mate."

This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

"What?" I asked anyone who was listening, but no one responded.

"We cannot allow mates of these... things!" The blonde one demanded.

"Alice?" The leader turned to her.

"I told you. I can't see the wolves."

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

"I'm so confused." I groaned, and ended up receiving an elbow to the side from Scarlett.

"Shut up." I merely scoffed in response.

The pale rapists moved backwards, leaving us in the middle of the two groups.

"What's going on?!" I yelled in Scarlett's face once we were alone..

"Shut up!" She whispered.

"Why are you whispering? Those freaks are all the way over there. They can't hear us." I rolled my eyes at her.

"You'd be surprised."

What's that supposed to mean?

"Can we leave yet? What about Leah? I mean, she's lost in the woods and-"

"Leah's fine." Scarlett said, totally self-assured. Freak.

I turned my head to see where she was looking, and saw a slim silver wolf walk over to the sandy wolf and my wolf.

My wolf.

"How much do you know?" I asked, nodding my head towards them.

"How much do you know?"

"I asked first."

"I knew first."

"How do you know that I didn't know first?"

"Because I knew before you got here."

"How do you know that I didn't know before I got here?"

"Did you?"

"No."

"Exactly."

"So... what do you know?"

"That depends on what you know-"

Well, what does that mean?!

"We have discussed the future of the humans!" The leader announced. We turned to look at the group of pale-ass freaks. The sandy wolf moved to stand beside Scarlett and I gasped slightly, looking at how close they were.

"And?"

"Well... you must understand, our decision is difficult... two prime sixteen year olds-"

"Scarlett isn't even sixteen yet." Nessie said, crying. "Her birthday's not for three months!"

"Sixteen is too young to... do what you want to do." Rosalie said, looking at Scarlett as if she was her daughter, or something.

"Aro, sixteen years old is far too young to-" Carlisle started to back up Rose, but the leader cut him off, stepping forward.

"You've done your research, Carlisle. We intend to complete a series of experiments. The sixteen year olds are merely part of that."

Experiments? What the f-?!

"It's too young!" Bella yelled, looking at Nessie. The leader sighed and shook his head.

"If you must know, the sixteen year olds will be placed on a diet and lifestyle of our choosing until they are eighteen, when they shall complete the experiment."

"Diet? Lifestyle?" Bella shook her head. "You can't just... take them!"

"Of course we can." The blonde guy smiled a creepy smile. "We can do as we please."

"And so, we'll either take them for our experiment, or dispose of the problem."

Dispose?!

"What the hell is going on?!" I yelled, cringing at how pathetic I sounded, but I was scared as hell.

A guy grabbed me, causing Mr Wolf to run towards me. I couldn't comprehend what else was going on around me, only being able to focus on how much I loved him.

I always loved him. From the minute I saw him.

But I felt that way about Embry...

I loved them both...

So much-

I was only brought back to reality by Scarlett screaming.

I snapped my head towards her as she fell to the ground, but no one was touching her. Only a little girl (who looked scarier than the others combined, if I'm honest), who was just staring at her. The sandy wolf sprinted towards her and I heard myself screech when it ripped her arms off.

"What are you doing?!" I screamed, clamping my hands over my mouth as tears streamed down my eyes. The rest of the wolves and the pale people started fighting too, then the Cullens joined in. I stood, frozen, as the people I counted as 'kinda friends' started fighting with the others.

This was too weird.

I screamed when my wolf appeared out of nowhere and moved to beside me. He was fighting with one of the pale freaks, and looked like he was struggling. I couldn't move, I was so scared. The silver wolf ran over and helped Mr Wolf, tearing the man apart. I felt tears run down my face, and my wolf turned back to me and walked closer. I felt my legs move backwards, but I wasn't really aware I was doing it.

The silver wolf ran to where Scarlett was lying, unconscious, surrounded by the wolves and pale people. They ripped apart more people, piling them up like it was totally normal, before Edward walked over and threw a lighter into the pile, then walked away again. I couldn't help myself and I screamed again.

I looked back at Scarlett. The boy and the sandy wolf were standing over Scarlett, looking ready to fight.

"Leave her alone!" I ran at them, ignoring the barks from my wolf. "You freaks!"

The boy watched me for a second, before looking back to Scarlett. The wolf jumped over Scarlett and onto the poor boy, trying to bite his head. I ran to Scarlett, who's eyes flickered open a few times.

"Scarlett, Scarlett, stand up, come on, we have to move, come on!" I grabbed her arm and tugged on her. She looked at me, but squinted slightly.

"I...I-"

"Scarlett, move!" I pulled on her arm again, but let go when ice cold arms wrapped around me and pulled me away.

His ice cold hand grabbed my neck and held me tight. He lifted me off of the ground. I tried to pry his hands away, but he was too strong. I couldn't breathe anymore. I felt my eyes start to close as the lack of oxygen made me start to fall unconscious. He dropped me and I took deep breaths, trying to get some air into my lungs. I looked up to see Mr Wolf fighting off the man who had attacked me, two other wolves helping.

I heard Scarlett scream, and saw the sandy wolf bite the boy's neck, then throw him away, before his body started to change, similarly to when Mr Wolf changed. I pushed myself off of the ground and took a step towards them as he dropped to the ground and picked her up.

"Edward!" He yelled, turning his face to the side. I stopped for a split second as I took in who it was.

Seth.

The constantly sweet and happy little guy was a wolf.

A wolf who was best friends with my wolf.

I walked closer, as did the wolves and the Cullens.

"What do we do?" Seth asked, holding Scarlett to him.

"I-I don't know." Edward shook his head, sitting across from him.

"Save her!" Nessie cried.

"You will not add another member to your coven, Carlisle." The leader of the pale people said, suddenly beside us.

Coven?

"We didn't intend to. The venom is spreading. We need to make a decision." Carlisle sighed.

Venom?

"A decision?" Seth asked, right before Scarlett screamed.

"Save her like you saved me." Bella said.

What?

"Please, Daddy. Please." Nessie wept into Bella's shoulder.

"Seth?" Edward looked at him, and the two had a private conversation, before Edward nodded, lifting up Scarlett's arm and examining it. It was then I noticed a set of bite marks on her arm.

I took a step back, not wanting to be around these freaks.

What the hell was going on?

I stopped, a little while away, looking back at my wolf, who looked up at me with sad eyes. Familiar eyes.

I knew those eyes.

I counted the wolves, one by one.

Thirteen.

How many friends did Seth have?

Eleven. Including him, that's twelve.

Twelve warm, strong, fast men who are often half-naked, or wearing little clothing. His sister was the same.

That's thirteen.

Thirteen wolves, thirteen friends.

My wolf was one of those wolves, one of those friends.

And I knew exactly which one he was.

Embry.

I don't know how you'll feel about this, but I hope you like it! Let me know in a review what you think of this chapter! Thanks for reading! :D