AN: Thanks to everyone who has read this far. I'm rather happy with this chapter. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 3
The week passed quickly. For months after the break up I had used academia as a distraction to the pain, it had resulted in me being ahead of the class in many subjects. Now I was feeling more human. I focused on the friends around me; Angela, Ben and Eric. Eric had changed a lot, it was a relief that he no longer tried to ask me out. He'd come out of the closet during spring break and his other friends; Mike, Jess and Lauren had pushed him aside soon after they'd wrestled all the gossip they could from him. He had been okay with the separation, the old group had split and we accepted each other. School no longer felt like a lonely painful reminder, I had my friends to distract me.
Friday afternoon brought out the cheer and relief of students and staff alike, the weekend was finally here. Tonight was the bonfire on the Res, I was really looking forward to it. Dad was home when I arrived from school, he'd knocked off early to marinate steaks. I got started on salad "Bells, no need to make too much, you know how menfolk are about rabbit food" I giggled "I also know how menfolk need a balanced diet" I chastised lightly.
I changed into yoga pants, a t-shirt and a hoodie and we set off. Jake and his friends were hauling firewood to the bonfire site while several huge guys found branches and cut them to size. I called out "Hey Jake! Wait up! If you load my truck up I can drive to the bonfire site." The three boys sagged in relief and ran up, thanking me profusely. It only took another hour to complete the setup. The air chilled and the sun sank below the horizon as the flames licked up the wood. It was hypnotic, I zoned out as people barbequed and vast amounts of food were ingested.
Billy cleared his throat. "Tonight we welcome a newcomer into our tribe. Like her father before her, she will learn the stories of our past." Billy handed something to Charlie, he walked over to me and clipped it around my wrist. It was a metal chain with a tiny carving of a wolf. The detail stunned me and around me people shouted "Welcome, Sister Bella." I felt a tear slide down my cheek and went over to Billy to give him my thanks. Charlie rolled up his sleeve and showed me his bracelet with carved wolf.
Billy introduced Old Quil who began with the story telling. His voice was quiet, almost singing along to the crackling of the fire. Images swam before my eyes of Taha-aki and her tribe. I glanced at Charlie who sat stoic, he was as entranced by the story as I was. I wondered what he thought of the cold ones and how many times he'd heard the stories.
The final story was announced. My face paled and they spoke about the treaty with the cold ones with Golden eyes. My breathing deepened and I fought back nausea. Instead of finishing the story where I expected; Old Quil continued. "Many decades later our newest adoptive brother, Charlie, received a letter. As a protector of his people he had been encountering mysterious deaths. Our people brought him into the tribe and warned him about the cold ones. Our homes were endangered by this new threat. With his baby daughter and wife at home he asked for help from his kind. Agents arrived and began to evacuate the town, they knew the secret predator, but not how to destroy it. Charlie spoke with our elders and showed us the note, there was the scent of vampire attached to it. Our people asked the wolf spirit to rise anew in the tribe. Charlie's wife and daughter left, evacuating with the rest of the town, but Charlie remained to stand with us against the enemy.
"The elders of the tribe passed around the scent of the cold one to all the young men, there was one who recoiled. Our son, Billy Black, phased into this generation's first wolf spirit. The men behind the wolf, Charlie stood next to him, gun in hand. With a blur of white the cold one approached, his eyes stained with the blood of his prey as he eyed those who stood against him. Charlie fired, emptying his entire clip into the vampire. Small cracks appeared where the bullets hit, but they healed immediately. Our wolf sprang forward, faster than our eyes could see. His jaws latched onto the head of the cold one. He ripped it's head off, then it's arms. The wolf ran to our fire, the pit of which we sit around tonight, and grabbed a blazing log. He knew the stories and the way to destroy the beast. He ran, crashing into the creature. It was then the creature kicked, snapping the wolf's spine, but the log held true its course igniting the cold one, turning it to ash.
Our first wolf would never again be able to phase, but with the recent appearance of the Golden Eyed cold ones our tribe's young men have started the process again." I sat shocked; Charlie knew the whole time. There are werewolves. Dad tried to fight a vampire. Billy was a wolf, he was paralyzed by a vampire, not a car crash. Mom left with me to escape a vampire. Dad stayed in Forks to protect the people. Too much information. Billy called for a break and people returned to eating and talking, but this time it was subdued. I turned to Dad, he squirmed under my gaze. "Does mom know about vampires too?" He shook his head "only me, people were evacuated officially under the guise of a natural disaster. Many returned, but your mom had been happier out of Forks, to be honest I figured you'd be safer away from the supernatural. I couldn't leave Forks, Bells, I knew of the real dangers here and I couldn't force someone else to liaise with the supernatural world, they wouldn't take it seriously until it was too late. I'm lucky, I practically grew up on the Res, I'd heard a lot of the stories, but nothing about the cold ones until the murders started."
Billy came up to us when there was a lull in the conversation. "Bella, don't be angry at your dad for not telling you."
" I'm not mad. I'm kind of sad because this knowledge is very dangerous for humans to know. There are laws against any human knowing. I'm also kind of relieved; I don't have to keep all these secrets. Thank you, Billy. For everything." The three of us silenced, thinking of the shared knowledge between us.
Billy broke the silence. "Bella, when I asked you to give us more information on the cold ones did you really want to?"
"Yes. If I can help you prevent the loss of life …and sanity… from the supernatural it'll set my mind at ease. Knowing this stuff is a burden, especially when there's nothing personally I can do to help."
"Very well, when we return from break we have matters to discuss with you. Thank you."
Billy moved back to Old Quil passing on my consent. Charlie and I talked sparingly, he understood I had to mentally prepare myself for my own story. "Dad, who was it who sent you the letter with the vampire scent?"
"I don't actually know their names, but they swore to help me protect the town. I became a bit of a vampire liaison because of the information they gave me. They just referred to themselves as my fairy god parents." He caught the look of shock on my face, I explained "their names are Peter and Charlotte. I got an email from them a few days ago. Billy helped me respond to them and alerted the tribe to possible trouble."
"Huh. Cryptic bastards, aren't they?" He smiled. "I guess you're the new vampire liaison." I wonder if that was what they meant by our fates being entwined? My thoughts were cut off once again by Billy. "Our new sister has consented to tell us what she knows. We must share our knowledge to protect our human charges. Sam Uley will begin." Sam stood up "we have encountered the scent of two unknown cold ones. We nearly caught one of them this afternoon, but his partner helped him escape. The weaker one, a dark skinned male with dreadlocks was nearly caught entering the high school. We tore off an arm before the red headed female helped him get away." I gasped, Sam paused and gestured to me. I stood shakily and my voice caught a few times "what colour were the eyes of the man?"
"Red." He was supposed to be vegetarian now. Fuck. "The male's name is Laurent, the female is Victoria."
"Are they part of the Golden Eyes coven?"
"No. There used to be three of them. I encountered them shortly after I moved here." Charlie and the others straightened their backs, Dad paled as he looked at me. I couldn't meet his eyes as I continued. "I was in a clearing with the Cullens, it was a stormy day and they were playing baseball. The nomads, red eyed vampires, were heading away from Forks when they heard the game and wanted to join in. The leader, James, caught my scent. He hunted me. Edward, Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme tried to trick them by using my clothes, my scent, to trap him and kill him. I had to cause an argument with Dad and leave Forks with Alice and Jasper-"
"That's why you ran!" Charlie interrupted. "Peter and Charlotte sent me a letter the following day telling me not to take what you said to heart, that you were protecting me and you'd be home soon." I nodded, ashamed that I'd hurt him, but glad to be able to explain what really happened.
"Alice and Jasper drove me to Phoenix to hide me. We stayed in a hotel room until we heard the trap hadn't worked. Alice saw that James was headed my way. The other Cullens were en route to help us take him down together. I received a call in that hotel room, it was mom's phone number. I heard her voice panicking, then James spoke. He told me to meet him in the ballet studio or he'd kill mom. I found a way to get there. He'd tricked me, he played with me for hours, taunting me and throwing me around the room like a rag doll. He bit me." I took a few deep breaths. Billy looked at me with hard steel eyes, his anger not pointed at me, but at what had happened to me.
"The Cullens arrived. They killed James and Edward sucked the venom out of the bite mark, preventing me from changing." I held up my wrist, there were growls around the bonfire and Charlie stood up "don't growl at my daughter. She was the one attacked." His face turned red with anger and he eyed each of the tall men until they bowed their head in submission. Sam spoke "I'm glad she wasn't changed, thinking of what could have happened angers us. She is a member of this tribe now and the leech's attack on her calls for justice."
"James is dead, he was torn apart and burned. Laurent is supposed to be with another coven of Golden Eyed vampires, learning to drink animal blood only. I guess he lied. Victoria must be trying to get revenge for James's death. How long have you caught her scent in this area?"
"The last three months. She keeps dodging us."
"She must know the Cullens aren't here…" my stomach churned as my mind caught on to why she'd be here. I choked out "I think she's after me…James was killed because he hunted me. She might use me for revenge against the Cullens." I sat down, my legs giving way. Black spots swarmed my vision and I gulped in air. Sam grabbed a paper bread bag from the food table and held it to my face while Charlie gripped me to keep me steady.
Jake came to me with a bottle of water and soon I was able to calm down. Charlie's face was ashen, the rest of the faces were grim, but determined. I pushed the thought of Victoria and Laurent out of my mind. They needed information on vampires. Gifts. They were rare, right? Maybe they didn't know about them. I cleared my throat, but remained seated as I started to talk emotionlessly about what I knew of gifts. "Some vampires have special powers. In the Cullen coven three had gifts. Edward could read minds, Alice could see the future and Jasper could feel and manipulate emotions." Charlie blanched, but nodded to himself before explaining "one of the letters from Peter and Charlotte arrived shortly before you started school here, Bells. He told me to monitor my thoughts at all times because they weren't safe. He said my mind was safer than others, but to always play it safe and think of mundane things. It was difficult, but I'm glad he warned me. " I sighed in relief, Edward didn't know about Dad's knowledge of the supernatural.
"It could be possible Victoria has a gift for evasion." I continued, "gifts are very rare, but there are those out there with a lot of power. Any power you can imagine, I'd bet there's a strong likelihood of a vampire having it. I don't know how many vampires are in existence, but as they have a ruling monarchy I'd wager there are a lot spread out over the world. There are three kings who rule over their kind; Aro, Marcus and Caius. Carlisle lived with them during the 1700s. From what they told me the kings are ruthless. They have a whole guard of gifted vampires and they kill humans who have knowledge of their world as well as the vampires who exposed the secret. Needless to say, the Cullens weren't happy when I found out what they were. If the Kings, the Volturi, learn of my knowledge my life is forfeit, there is also a law against interfering with mated vampires. If you kill a vampire who is mated, you must kill their mate."
"Do you know what powers the guard have?" Sam asked. I thought hard, trying to remember everything I could. "I don't remember much and I wasn't told much because Edward thought little of my ability to handle the supernatural. From what I remember Aro can read every thought you've ever had with the touch of a finger. There is a vampire that can cause pain with a single look in your direction, another vampire can cut off all your senses, another who can who can track you over continents, Marcus can read the bonds between people, there is a vampire who can manipulate bonds of loyalty which is why the coven can stay together. Vampires are territorial, the majority are nomads who travel alone. Vampire covens have two or three vampires at most. The Cullens believed their lifestyle helped them maintain some of their humanity" a few of the wolves scoffed "there are two golden eyed covens as far as I know. The Cullens have seven people, the coven in Alaska have five. While the Cullens move around a lot to be more involved in human society the Alaskans stay in a very remote part and seldom interact with humans."
"Where are these Kings?" Dad asked. "Volterra, Italy." I shivered as the picture in Carlisle's study swam through my mind. "Can humans have gifts?" Asked a very young boy. I smiled "the Cullens believe I have a gift." A few of the younger ones whooped, while the older ones leaned closer. "I don't know how true it is, it's not something I try to do, but Edward could never read my mind. Apparently I was blocking him, but Alice and Jasper's powers worked on me. Jasper could calm me down if I was agitated and Alice could see my future." I turned to dad "I may have been able to get this 'power' from you. Edward said your mind was unclear, like there was a bit of static" Charlie smirked, clearly amused. Billy chuckled to himself, anything that irritated a Cullen was great in his book.
The night wore on; Billy, Charlie, Sam and I discussed strategy. I held my wrist out for Sam to sniff, it was a weird experience, but Sam said he could smell the faint scent of venom. It stung his nose a little, but wasn't as potent as 'vampire stink.' Charlie and I arranged to move onto the Res for a month, we needed constant protection. One of the wolves, Paul, was assigned Charlie duty. He would become a volunteer at the police station to keep Charlie protected. We would hold off doing laundry and wear clothes for a week long period at a time to have as much of our scent put on our clothes. We would start leaving our heavily worn clothes in parts of the forest. The wolves would patrol, but leave big enough gaps to let a vampire through to the clothing. I would transfer to the high school on the Res for the time being. I was happy with this plan. Billy suggested contacting Peter and Charlotte and letting them know about Victoria and Laurent. Peter's 'gift' could come in handy.
The younger kids and their parents had started leaving, it was now midnight. Jake stayed behind because of Billy's role, he was looking a bit upset. I excused myself from the strategy meeting and went to talk to him. "You ok, Jake?" He shook his head and looked ashamed. "I didn't think it was real. I'm scared, Bella." He sounded so young, I took his hand, it burned. "Whoa, Jake, you're sitting too close to the fire, you're burning hot." Billy caught what I said and rolled over, he touched Jake's forehead and called to Sam. Sam touched his neck and nodded. Billy spoke up "Jake, you're going to be part of the pack." Jakes head shot up, he slowly turned green and started shaking. Billy hushed him "it's okay. You're going to be okay. You have the full support of the tribe." Jake's shaking calmed, but he whispered "it hurts. Everything's hurting." Sam lifted him up, I followed him into the woods, glancing at Billy for permission.
Just inside the trees the boys stopped. Jake sat on the ground, I sat a few feet away, not knowing what to expect. Sam ran further into the forest. We waited silently. A familiar sniffing sound came nearer, deep in the dark I could see the glint of eyes reflecting the moon light. Jake was still pale and his shaking started up again. Sam's large, black, wolfish head poked through the undergrowth. He moved slowly, we could see his furry belly was close to the ground. The size of Sam's wolf astonished me, even slinking forward slowly so as not to frighten us he was still towering over me. He nudged his head to the side, asking me to give him more room. I nodded and shuffled away, partially hiding behind a tree. Jake was shaking harder now, grunting in pain. Sweat was running down him, his t-shirt already clinging to his body from the sweat. Sam's wolf turned back and ran into the undergrowth again. He returned shortly after in human form, pulling on his jeans.
"Bella, you should leave now." He said softly. I nodded and headed back to the light of the fire. My fear had all but disappeared after seeing Sam. I could hear Jake's grunts getting louder and more animalistic. I felt bad for him, he was just a kid. I sat down next to dad and Billy. Dad turned to me "they're big, aren't they?" I nodded, breathlessly agreeing "fucking huge!" Billy smirk turned into a smile of pride "our boys can handle leeches, you'll be back to normal in no time Bells. Welcome to the tribe."
"Thanks, I can't tell you what an honour it is to be included." Tears welled in my eyes, my mind was processing so much information; information they had trusted me with. "Bells, you've really helped us out. There was so much missing information. Just know we're here for you." I hugged him and Dad started gathering our things. "We should head home, Bells. We've got a lot of packing to do." He turned to Billy "whose on patrol tonight?"
"Paul and Embry will patrol around your house and the rest will patrol the Res. Sam will be staying with Jake during the transformation."
"How long does it take?"
"A few hours. It definitely helps being able to warn the kids when they start the change, I was unprepared for mine and it was terrifying." I nodded, feeling bad for Jake and Billy.
We drove home in silence and turned in for the night. I slept deeply, it seemed like the wolves chased away the nightmares.
AN; The next chapter will be up in a couple of days :)