AN: I hope everyone has a great new year! as usual I don't own twilight.
Bella scrambled across the floor, kicking up mud and leaves as she screamed and sobbed for Lisa to wake up. On her knees, she roughly yanked Lisa into her arms; her sisters body bowed and flopped as she was jolted, and her pretty green eyes stared with no direction up at Bella. There was accusation in them, and betrayal.
Bella sobbed, pressing her face into the curve between Lisa's neck and shoulder. Her tears soaked her sisters light skin. She spoke, but it was to Kate, and not Lisa, "she'll wake up! She will. It's only silver than can kill them right? She'll wake up, Kate, won't she?"
Bella pulled her face away from Lisa, curling her arms over the girl's body to try and provide her some coverage. When she woke up, she wasn't going to be happy that Bella had let her lay sprawled in the dirt, and naked to boot. Bella looked at Kate, trying to formulate an explanation for the sheriff.
She somehow had to convince Kate that she wasn't crazy, and that Lisa was a werewolf, and that she was a werewolf, and that Lisa would wake up any moment because she could only die from silver. Kate stumbled out of the doorway, hastily shoving her gun into the waist band of her pajama trousers.
When Kate got to Bella's side, she fell to her knees in the dirt. Her face was a mix of emotions, and Bella's stomach tightened in fear. "Bella," she whispered gently, not looking at Bella but at the bullet embedded in Lisa's head. "That bullet… was silver. All my bullets are silver."
Bella didn't process the information; couldn't even begin to decipher how she felt inside. A part of her: a dreadful, disgusting part of her, was so relieved that Lisa was gone. It felt like justice, penance even, for the awful things Lisa had done, and for the people who had been killed at her hands, including Bella's own family.
But other parts of her: the more human and compassionate part of her, hurt so deeply for the loss of her sister. Now she had no one; she was completely alone. An orphan with no family, no friends, and no life. A monster and something inhuman; animalistic. Grief was tearing her apart inside and beating at her heart, trying so very hard to destroy it.
"Bella," Kate whispered.
Her hands came down to touch Bella who pulled away from her sharply, her sobs cutting off so abruptly that she startled herself. "Don't touch me," she hissed. "You killed her!"
"And no one can know!" Kate hissed back.
Bella looked up at her in surprise, still cradling Lisa's limp body in her arms. "W-what are you talking about?"
"I thought I was shooting a wolf, Bella, and instead it turned out to be your sister! And don't think I don't know what she is! This is going to raise too many questions! For me, and you!"
Bella blinked with no emotion, having gone entirely numb. "You want to… cover it up?" Bella whispered.
Kate looked guilty but she nodded. "We should bury her."
Bella woke with a start from her dream, or rather: her memory of Sunday night, and immediately began to cry. Her and Kate had buried Lisa in the woods while Bella cried, and in-between sobs had explained to Kate what Lisa had done, and what she was planning to do, and therefore the reason why she was helping Kate cover up the shooting, and the body.
Kate kept explaining how sorry she was, and had even begun to cry at one point. She had said that she'd never killed anyone before, not even in her line of work, and Bella had known from that moment, that horrible, sad moment, that what had taken place that night would haunt not only Bella forever, but Kate too. It was something they shared; their horrible, twisted secret.
Ten days had passed since the incident, and for nine of them: Bella hadn't spoken a word. It was now Wednesday; the only reason Bella knew the day and date was from the amount of breakfast, lunch and dinners Kate had brought to her, and that she hadn't eaten. The rest of the Denali's thought she was sick, and she didn't confirm nor deny the statement.
Instead she had lay in bed, denied food and the endless amount of drinks brought to her by Kate, and stared aimlessly at the wall as Kate sat on the end of the bed and talked to her about mindless things that the rest of the Denali's had been up to. It was strange that none of the them had heard the gun shot, or Bella's screams, but somehow they hadn't, and Bella was grateful.
It was awful that she had burdened Kate with her life and the lies, not to mentioned her sisters dead body, but it would have been even worse if all of the Denali's were forced to keep the secret too. Although Bella was silent, she was internally scheming. There was no doubt that Kate would want her to leave the Denali's soon.
Bella didn't know how she would manage it, but she was the sheriff, and she was sure Kate would be able to pull strings. She wondered where she would go, and what she would do with her life now that she was a monster. The thought of the upcoming full moon did nothing to quell Bella's numbness.
She was too numb to be terrified during her waking hours, but she gasped herself awake from nightmares every night only just managing to repress screams. She kept wondering what Kate thought of her now that she knew what Bella was, and what she was capable of turning into. She was also driving herself mad wondering why Kate believed her so easily.
The thought of Kate seemed to make the woman appear. Bella's door clicked open and she barely lifted her head from where it was turned down on the pillow. She didn't move much, and hadn't for days, unless it was to shower or use the toilet. But last night Kate had piled blankets on top of her due to the frosty bite in the weather and so she was buried into materials.
"How are you feeling?" Kate whispered.
Bella didn't know why Kate bothered with questions, or talking for that matter, when it was pretty obvious that Bella wasn't going to open her mouth and talk back. Not to mention that even if she was talking, she wouldn't know how to answer that question. How did she feel, truthfully? There were too many emotions to pause and examine them.
She was confused first of all; this was with a multitude of things: Kate, her own feelings, Kate's motives, her silver bullets and her willingness to believe Bella. Of course she had witnessed Lisa turn from a wolf into a human, but many people would have passed that off as a trick of the mind, rather than face the truth. Bella wished she could.
Next she was hurting. Hurting so deeply. For her sister, for herself, for the families of those that Lisa had killed, and for the people that had died at Lisa's hands themselves. For the pain and fear they must have suffered to see a large wolf descend on them. Most of all she hurt for Kate, and the secret she would forever have to keep, just to keep Bella safe.
To top it all off: Bella was angry. Angry that this was her life, angry that Kate had killed her sister, angry that her sister wasn't who she believed her to be and angry for being angry at Kate when Kate had most likely saved countless people that would have died at Lisa's hands. She was angry that Lisa had turned her into a monster, and angry that she was alone.
Other emotions intermingled with these ones: loneliness, fear, and uncertainty, and coating it all: a numbing haze that overtook her, and protected her, just a short hour after waking to stop her from combusting at all the emotions fighting for dominance over each other. Kate seemed to realize that she wasn't going to speak again, and entered the room.
She held a large mug of hot chocolate in-between her palms that was steaming. She didn't place it on the nightstand as she usually did, so Bella figured that she had given up trying to get her to eat or drink. Instead she sat in her usual seat at the end of bed, barely on the mattress at all and stared at Bella while Bella stared at the wall.
"Bella, we have to talk soon… you have to talk soon."
Bella shrugged, saying with the gesture, 'about what?' which Kate seemed to interpret and answered, "about everything. I need to know… that you understand what Lisa was, and what she did, and why it's okay to feel confused in your grief."
Bella scoffed, and it was the first sound to leave her mouth in a long time. Her bottom lip cracked from the sudden movement of her jaw and blood began to pool along her lip, providing the chapped skin much needed moisture. Kate didn't understand anything. Bella knew perfectly well what Lisa was, and what she had done. She had been the one to tell Kate everything.
Bella surprised herself by saying, "I know exactly what she was, and what she did, and what I am." Her voice was hoarse and unused, almost embarrassing as it broke and quivered.
Kate looped into silence once more before she carefully whispered, "it's a good job we cleaned the shack, because it was investigated for evidence. Since… you know… all the bodies were there."
Bella swallowed dryly, her mind going back to the morning after Lisa's death.
Nine days ago:
Kate told Bella to wait in the living room while she collected a few things and whispered softly for her to try and act normal. Bella nodded tightly, her insides quivering and her head pulsating. She hadn't slept for even a minute since last night as her and Kate had only got back from burying… she stumbled over the thought. From burying Lisa, in the early hours of the morning.
Lucky for her, only Tanya seemed to be awake and so it wasn't as daunting trying to pretend that she was fine. Tanya and a black haired man were at the front door and they were kissing lazily before the man seemed to realize the time and insisted that he had to leave. Bella watched curiously from her positon, wondering who he was.
Not two seconds later Tanya closed the front door and entered the living room, humming happily and setting Bella's nerves on edge. She was sweating at the mere thought of trying to look normal and pretend that her world hadn't gone to shit just last night, and that she hadn't just buried her sister; the last person in the world she loved, in the ground an hour ago.
Tanya of course didn't know any of this and was smiling brightly as she picked up a bookmarked, hard back book from the coffee table and collapsed into her favorite armchair. She looked up after a few minutes, her eyebrows furrowed at Bella's more than likely tense expression and rigid posture.
"That's just George," she said, starting a conversation. "We've been dating for a few years now." She grinned rather dreamily. "You look better, Bella."
Bella was just thinking that she must be a really good actress if Tanya thought she looked better when she felt so much worse when shouting sounded from the kitchen. It seemed to be a heated discussion between Carmen and Irina. The shouting continued down the hall from the kitchen, announcing the two women's arrival before they physically arrived.
"Listen young lady: you may be old enough to do what you want, but I absolutely forbid you from bringing home a different man every night! This is my home too; I'm your mother, your sisters and step father live here, not to mention young Bella now, and it's simply disrespectful."
Watching, and feeling slightly awkward, Bella cast her eyes to a spot on the wall, praying that Kate would turn up soon. Irina seemed to grow redder and redder at Carmen's words and Bella just wanted to disappear into her chair. She really wasn't in the mood for such petty arguments and just wanted to shower away the dirt from under her nails. The dirt from her sisters grave.
"Well mother… I can't help it, can I!? Besides, I thought you liked the men I brought home? They always make you laugh and smile, don't they? Hey Bella," Irina added on the end of her reply to her mother before she sat down on the sofa beside Tanya.
Carmen simply smiled at Bella before she continued her debate with her eldest daughter, "Irina, just because the men you bring home are charismatic, does not make it okay to be bringing different one's home every night."
Irina huffed. "Kate's done it with women, and then you don't seem to be bothered."
From the corner of her eye, Bella saw not only Irina, but Carmen and Tanya look to her, as if suddenly realizing that Bella didn't know about Kate's sexual preferences. No one had told her directly, and of course they didn't know that she had snooped on Kate's laptop, but Bella was very aware that Kate liked women. Women with large, round breasts. Not women like her.
Rubbing her temples, Carmen picked up the conversation again, "regardless of gender, Irina, it's disrespectful, and I don't like it." When Irina held her silence she finished off with, "I won't bother you again. You're old enough to make your own choices, but please try and cool it on the guys. I worry."
Just when Bella felt like she was going to crack at what felt like a stupid topic to her in that moment, Kate arrived in the doorway, now dressed in jeans and a coat. "Me and Bella are going out for a while," she announced.
They were silent as they travelled to the shack. Kate's face crumpled and turned green at the sight of the dead bodies, some with missing bones and muscles. "Bella, she was bad, wasn't she? She was going to kill you, wasn't she?" Kate had whispered desperately.
Even though Bella had already explained these things, it seemed to be imperative to Kate that she knew for absolute certain that she hadn't killed a young and innocent girl. That despite murdering someone, and covering it up too, that the person she had killed had been evil, and dangerous to society, and that in the end: Kate had saved lives.
When they had cleaned up any and all evidence, and stowed it away to be destroyed later, Kate had called in the bodies. "This is Sheriff Kate Denali and I need someone here right away: I've just come across at least nine dead bodies besides the old woods." There was a pause, and then: "yes, that's correct. The area seems to be secure… yes… okay, goodbye."
Kate took a deep, shaky breath as she hung up her phone and then she continued the earlier plan decided by the two of them over Lisa's grave. "Now you go back to the house and tell them the story: we heard a noise, we investigated, found the bodies, I called it in and now I'm tied up at work."
Bella nodded, already aware of this part and turned to leave before she suddenly turned back. "What about Lisa? Will they ever find out, or figure it out? Link it to me, and my case?"
Kate shook her head softly, her features sympathetic. "The kills are too animistic for a human. This won't be investigated in connection to you but most likely with the other bodies that were found. Now go."
Present:
Bella came back into herself, remembering how she had stumbled into the house and told the Denali's the story. The equal mixtures of worry and pity in their gazes, how Kate had come home late in the night, tired and wet from the rain, and had informed them all that she wouldn't have any time off over the weekend, and that the events had made Bella ill again.
Kate moved on the bed, startling Bella from her thoughts. "I'll leave you alone then," she whispered, and then left the room.
Leave her alone she had, as that had been on Wednesday and the days had dwindled on to Saturday the 12th just one day before Bella's nineteenth birthday. Kate had visited her every night after work, but she hadn't spoken a word and instead had sat in the small rocking chair near the window and stared out of it, down to the very spot where she had shot Lisa in the head.
With it being about nine o'clock, and knowing that Kate was home from work, Bella was waiting with something akin to anticipation for Kate's arrival in her room. Today had been a moving day: she had showered, washed, changed and brushed both her teeth and hair. Now she lay in bed, staring at the T.V but not watching it.
She finally heard the expected click of the bedroom door and looked at Kate who seemed to be fresh out of the shower herself and was sporting a beautiful fishtail plait that Bella had never seen her wear. Kate smiled softly and Bella forced her numb mouth to turn up at the corners too and smile back.
Kate seemed surprised at this, but she didn't comment as she took her usual positon at the end of the bed. "I have something I want to share with you," she whispered after a moments silence.
Bella stared at her curiously, picking up the T.V remote and turning the volume down slightly, but not too far in case it was about Lisa, and someone overheard them. Kate squinted a little, like she was still deliberating before she took a deep breath and settled more onto the mattress, surprising Bella as she took her feet and put them into her lap.
"Know that when I tell you this, it's still with a slight skepticism… I didn't truly believe it myself until I witnessed Li- well… you know."
Bella nodded, because she did know, and she didn't want to cry at the sound of her sister's name. Kate continued, smiling shyly. "It's a closely guarded family secret, and I'm not even sure if I'm aloud to tell you, but I trust you."
She looked to Bella to see that she understood and Bella nodded encouragingly, finding it hard to hold Kate's eyes and instead stared at her fishtail plait. "Our family originate from vampires."
Bella's eyes bugged out of her head and she was glad Kate began talking fast to fill the silence that she didn't know how to fill herself. "What I mean is: my mom's parents; my grandparents, were vampires."
Kate noticed Bella eyeing her braid and she tugged on it, her eyes scanning Bella's own wet hair. "Would you like me to do you one, while I tell you the story?"
Bella nodded, simply because she was starving for human contact, and she didn't know where to look while Kate spoke. Kate motioned for her to come closer and they arranged themselves so that Bella was on the floor between Kates legs and Kate was above her. Her long fingers pulled through Bella's brunette hair and began to tug and weave gently.
"According to the story," she continued, "my grandmother was a human when she met my grandfather, and by some miracle: they convinced my mother, who was born half vampire. My mom didn't have any vampire abilities, or need to drink… blood. The only difference about her was… is, her slow aging. For every year of her life, physically, five years go by for a human."
Bella puzzled this over and wondered if she was a sceptic like Kate. It wasn't the vampire part she was skeptical about, of course. How could she be? But a human, bearing a vampire baby? When that vampire should be frozen in time, and unable to breed a woman? Not to mention: Carmen, being a half vampire?
Kate continued with the story, seemingly unaware of Bella's internal debate as she continued to style her hair into its braid. "She possessed this gift from birth, and apparently we do too. There's no vampire tendencies in us of course, and I always thought we just aged well, but now I'm beginning to reconsider. This story is also the origin of our eye color."
Kate took a moment to pull Bella's hair tight on the side before she spoke again. "Mom wasn't with our Father very long. When Irina was born, and myself, so close together, he tried to see past our eyes as he believed they were signs of the devil. He prayed that Tanya would be different, and would take after him: blonde hair, and blue eyes. But Tanya of course had our eyes too, and when he found out the story of Mom… he left."
Bella couldn't see her, but she imagined that Kate had a sadness in her eyes that only spoke of abandonment. She quickly did the end of Bella's plait and finished with an, "all done."
Bella stood up and then sat on the bed facing Kate, wondering for a moment where she had gotten a bobble from before asking, "why are you telling me this?"
"Because supernatural does exist in this world Bella. I know you know this, but I thought… if you knew that you were living with fellow supernatural beings, even if we are only slightly, I think…" she stuttered. "Well, I told you because I thought you wouldn't feel so alone, and lost."
Bella didn't know what to say and so she looked back at the T.V and Kate seemed to copy her. Minutes passed in silence while they watched mindless programs before Bella realized that Kate had fallen asleep, curled up in what must have been an uncomfortable position. She wanted to tell Kate to go to bed, so that we would be comfortable.
But another part of her welcomed Kate's strong and silent presence so she shared her blankets and a pillow, working them around and under Kate gently so as not to wake her. Bella went back to the top of the bed and curved around Kate's form and before long fell into a dark and most surprisingly: dreamless sleep.
When she woke, she was alone in bed and found the pillow and blankets she had donated to Kate the night before was wrapped around her and under her own head. The clock told her it was four in the afternoon, which meant that most of her birthday had passed already. As she climbed out of bed she sarcastically whispered, "happy birthday to me."
As she dressed and descended the stairs she briefly wondered if anyone would remember if it was her birthday. She knew that Tanya knew her birthday, but she had most likely forgotten and Kate hadn't mentioned anything about it. They probably had no plans for her; not that she wanted to celebrate it anyway.
Bella entered the living room hesitantly, worried that someone would remember and force her to celebrate. Kate was sprawled on the sofa watching T.V when she entered, but no one else seemed to be home. "Have I been asleep all this time?" She asked by way of announcing her arrival.
Kate looked up from what seemed to be a rather comfy and lazy positon. Bella found herself wanting to curl up in Kate's little nest too and revel in the warmth and safety that Kate provided. "Oh, Bella," she said, seemingly surprised. "Yeah; how was your sleep?"
"Warm," she answered, because it had been with Kate's soft body in the bed too.
She was actually quite warm now she realized and there was a light sheen of sweat covering her body despite the cold day and her thin clothing. "Mine too," Kate answered with red cheeks.
Bella nodded, scratching her arms and feeling awkward. Sharing the same bed last night hadn't seemed too weird in the moment, but now it was pretty obvious that there was some sort of tension between her and Kate now, and a silent rule not to mention it to each other, or aloud for that matter, and especially not in front of the others.
"I'm a bit hot; I think I might actually be getting sick," Bella said softly, trying to push past the awkwardness. "Do you mind if I go for a walk? Get some fresh air?"
Kate puzzled over this while looking at Bella for a moment before nodding. "Just don't… don't go missing, okay?"
Bella scowled, thinking that Kate was hinting at the time she had disappeared from her shopping trip with Tanya and had landed herself into a terrible situation. Kate seemed to realize and was beginning to apologize, stumbling over her words, but Bella had always stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind her, with no coat on either.
Bella let her feet guide her because she wasn't really sure of a destination and her skin was so hot that she was just enjoying the breeze on it. When she did look around she didn't recognize the part of the woods she was in, which should have panicked her because she was probably lost, but she couldn't find it in her to care.
She walked aimlessly for a long time and was startled to find the sky going dark as she looked up. She began to try and make sense of her location, and a way in which to get back from it, when she heard shouting up ahead. Bella walked on silent feet, or as much as she could manage in crisp leaves, to where the shouting was located.
Peering around the thick trunk of a tree, she caught site of people: three men and… her heart stopped, her breathing quickened and her pulse raced. A large black wolf. Bella threw her hand over her mouth, pressing her fingers tight over her lips to stop the gasp trying to worm its way out. Bella had only seen Lisa in her wolf form, but this wolf was bigger than Lisa's.
The wolf seemed to be staring down the three people and growling viciously. Its muzzle was pulled back, revealing sharp white teeth and strings of spit. Just as Bella began to wonder what was going on, another wolf the same size and color bounded out of nowhere and jumped through the air. By the time it was on its paws again, it had taken one person between its jaws.
Bella's eyes widened in horror as the wolf bit the person in two and left the two pieces of what used to be a whole man on the floor. The two wolves were gearing up for another attack when several more wolves broke into their small circle and chased them off. The black wolves vanished and then the other wolves returned, and shifted into humans.
Bella tried to calm her racing heart, trying to understand what was going on, but she could only stare as a woman came crashing into the circle, screaming and crying as she fell to the floor and stared at the two pieces of the now dead man. Two more men pulled her away, trying to protect her and, Bella's gut twisted at the woman's howl of grief.
"What's this then? A spy in the bushes?" A voice whispered in Bella's ear.
She spun around in panic and of course: she tripped on her own feet, allowing the man to grab ahold of her arm and drag her to the circle she had just been spying on, and the people that were now aware of her presence. The man holding her discarded her onto the floor without care and let her fall in a crumpled heap.
"Markus," a female chastised him.
Markus grunted at the woman's displeasure of Bella's rough handling, but didn't say anything otherwise. She picked herself up off of the ground and dusted herself off. She looked up when she was done, coming face to face with a pale woman with white hair and a scar that ran just below her left eye.
Despite her scar, Bella found her cheeks burning with jealousy at the woman as she was quite beautiful. The woman smiled, looking Bella up and down. "Well? What's your name?" She asked as she circled Bella, still wearing a smile.
"Isa- er," Bella paused, not wanting to use her full name. She hated it for reasons she didn't want to examine. "Bella," she finished and then rolled her eyes, because that was her name: Isa-Bella.
"Well, Bella… can you imagine our surprise, when we get attacked, and then a wolf just happens to be sneaking around in our bushes?"
Bella's head snapped up in surprise to stare at the woman. "You know? You know what I am?"
"You're surprised," the woman observed, cocking her head. "And you're new," she summarized, almost grimacing. "Your first transformation will be tonight, won't it? Under the new moon. Oh, it's going to hurt," she said bluntly.
Bella heart rate kicked up. Tonight? She had already done her research, and the full moon wasn't until September 28th which wasn't for another fifteen days. She thought she had time to adjust, to prepare herself for the pain, but now she had none left! Why was it tonight? Why under the new moon, and not the full one?
The woman seemed to notice her nervousness, and probably thought it was due to mention of, 'it's going to hurt,' which it partially was. She chuckled suddenly, startling Bella and motioned for Bella to follow her. "It's okay, Bella. We'll help you. After all: we're in a pack war, and I could use all the wolves available. Follow me."
AN: So yeah the next chapter is where the action really starts. Thanks for everyone's support! Big thank you to my beta LeighJ11 she has a massive influence over this story so yeah she rocks!