sorry for the long wait. Have so much work going on and the muse to write had left me for a while but it is back now. Will finish this very very soon! And then the next installment would be up. Seems like Sonia has taken on a life of her own. I know this is getting way to long and I am dragging it out too much but bear in mind I am not a professional writer and I don´t have the ability to wrap things up in an uncomplicated manner. But thank you all for sticking with this and with me. I love writing and any helpful suggestions that you have are always welcome. I really do listen to you. Because you are all amazing for actually reading this. I think you all know where this is heading but I have a couple of surprises up my sleeve (unless you guess them first).

Mom was a nervous wreak during the whole drive out to the Spokane rez. She was just sitting, bolt upright in the driving seat, twitching nervously. I had butterflies in my stomach as well as the constant feeling that I needed to pee.

"You´re okay with this mom?" I asked her for the millionth time.

"I am. You need answers Sonia."

"What do you think it will be like?"

"I have no idea honey. Weird probably. No use lying about that you know."

"I know."

"And you´re sure Jacob is not following us."

"I am. He promised me." I prayed that he wasn´t. I didn´t think he was but then Jacob would say one thing then do another.

"That´s good then." She nodded her head and we lapsed into another long silence.

I mentally went over all the questions Kim said I needed to ask and the most important ones that needed answering. I wouldn´t settle for anymore riddles or hints or suggestions of things that could be true or untrue. It was past that now. What was happening was out of Mr. McBride´s control and he seriously needed to let me know everything that he knew so we could beat that motherfucker of a malevolent spirit that was hiding out somewhere in La Push in some cave. The clock was ticking. I could feel it. I was running out of time.

The drive was so long. It was the type of drive that gave you way too much time to think. There were no distractions. Nothing that could keep your mind from wandering. I thought over everything. In three weeks I will be eighteen. In a couple of months I would be graduating from high school. Next September I should be starting college. My applications had already been sent and I was less than skeptical that I would be getting accepted anywhere good. And if Jacob couldn´t leave La Push then how could I? My Mom never mentioned it so it meant that she had grown to accept my fate.

Last September Jacob had imprinted on me. Just about eight months ago. And we weren´t even in a relationship for most of that time. But it felt like forever. Like normal time didn´t play a role in any of this. And there had for sure been more bad times than good. But the good times were great. It gave me the biggest reason to fight. Being with him has given me the purest form of happiness that I had ever felt. The thought of something messing with him made me want to hurt and kill.

Jacob always got a lot of shit despite the fact that he was a good guy. He needed someone to stand up for him and that was me. Utlapa wants to take Jacob away from me for whatever reason but I will never let that happen. That was the most important thing right now. That and keeping La Push safe of course. Since it had the whole Hellmouth thing going on.

When we got to the Spokane rez a lot of old memories resurfaced. The last time I had been here was when I was around fourteen. Mom used to bring me to visit my Granddad at Christmas and Easter, and sometimes during the summer. But Nana had always been against these visits. She hated my dad´s family with a vengeance. I had never really understood that. But Nana had always been a force of nature and mom and I always went along with what she wanted. I think she and Granddad had some huge argument and then the visits stopped. Although we sent each other cards at birthdays and Christmas and had the occasional phone call.

"Oh God! I feel like I´m going to shit myself." I groaned as Granddads house came into view.

"I wish I had some wise words of advice Sonia but I don´t so just buck up and let´s get this over with." She parked the car and we got out. I saw the curtains twitch from the corner of my eye and it hit me that I would be coming face to face with my dad in a matter of seconds.

The front door opened and there stood my Granddad. His brown face was wizened and his hair streaked with grey but he was still powerfully built. A veteran of the Vietnam war. Mom said he was never a man to take shit of anyone. But there he stood. A smile on his face. Happy to see his Granddaughter.

"Well hello." He chuckled as he pulled me into a hug which I returned stiffly.

"Hi Granddad." I said with a dry mouth, nervously trying not to look over his shoulder into the house.

"Hello Grace." He said less warmly to my mom. They shook hands and I nervously twisted a bit of tissue paper around my fingers in my coat pocket.

"Come inside. They have been waiting. I think Robert might wear out my linoleum with all his pacing." I made a strange noise, like a strangled squeak, as I followed him inside with my mom behind me.

A very tall man, with long hair, stood up from the sofa. I found myself staring at the floor wishing I had Jacob here with me for some type of emotional protection. Mr. McBride was there too. I could sense his presence behind me. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and knew it was my mom giving me the strength that I needed. I finally looked up.

"Hi." I said awkwardly. I cringed and looked away again.

"Hi Sonia. Hello Grace." The strangers voice said.

"Robbie….you look well." Mom ventured. There was a slight hint of humor and affection in her voice. He snorted out a laugh.

"You haven´t aged a day." He told her.

"Yes well," Mr. McBride´s growl cut in. "We haven´t got time for the joyous reunion that you were all looking for unfortunately. Sonia is running out of time. She has to be told all the facts." His tone was completely unapologetic and I was happy he cut short the awkwardness. He was right. There was no time for this.

"He´s right." I cast my dad a quick look and turned to face Mc. Bride. He looked somehow younger. More alert and straighter. "I need to know everything. And I won´t settle for more riddles or "it´s fate" bullshit either!"

"Sonia! Watch your God damn language!" Mom scolded me. Granddad laughed and sat down.

"She definitely is a Gleeson I can tell you that!"

"She is a lot more than a Gleeson." Dad said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I thought we were finished with the cryptic language?" I pouted.

"True." agreed. He stared me straight in the eye. "You know the legend of the first wife Sonia?"

"Of course I do. She sacrificed herself for the tribe."

"Part of the story. Do you know the whole story though? Or what the consequences were of her actions?" I didn´t answer. "I´ll take that as a no then."

"Was she your mother?" I blurted out. "I mean, you said before that you were a son of Taha Aki´s and.."

"That was a lie Sonia. I was not a son of Taha Aki. I was his friend. He wasn´t the only one to phase first. There were three of us. Three best friends so to speak. The story that the Quileute children have been told is a lie. A lie created to protect you. Or for others to protect themselves."

"So who was the other?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Utlapa was the other. He and Taha Aki were the most powerful men, the most powerful spirit warriors. They could do things that no other spirit warrior could do before. They experimented. They pushed the limits of their powers to do amazing things." The faraway look in his eyes made it seem like he had been transported back in time for a moment.

"But something went wrong one day." He continued. "Taha Aki wanted to experiment inhabiting the bodies of animals. He chose the wolf as it was the most sacred animal to our tribe."

"Then Utlapa stole his body right?" I asked, continuing the story the only way I knew. McBride shook his head.

"Utlapa wanted to know the secret of possessing the animal but Taha Aki wouldn´t share it. They fought. They were both fatally injured and they both left their bodies before they died and their spirits would be sent to the other world. Difference was that Taha Aki could jump into the wolf and share it´s body. Utlapa could not."

"So didn´t you try and look for them? I mean, you could disembody yourself and asked what happened."

"Taha Aki came back before we even knew what had really happened. He had changed. And his change was passed onto us. All the spirit warriors had taken an oath to follow Taha Aki anywhere because he was our chief. With his first phase we were unable to leave our bodies. We could only transform into the wolf. He had told us that he and Utlapa had fought over a woman. But his lie was discovered through the mind link. It seemed that Utlapa was lost to us. Unable to take physical form and unable to pass onto the other world. We sensed him though. We could all feel him. Sometimes his voice came like a whisper on the wind, others, a cold hand touching you. As time went on he became bolder, angrier. He blew out fires, made the sea so violent that we were unable to fish. Then he began to attack. First scratches, then pushes, then the fatalities. We had to do something. The only woman left that could leave her body was the wife of Taha Aki, River Woman, but she was forbidden to do so because she would have discovered his terrible secret. But she did so anyway with her sisters to stand watch over her body. There she talked with him and discovered the depth of his anger and rage. He begged her to find him a body that he could inhabit. A man half dying for example. But she refused. To do so would condemn the other person´s soul to an eternity of restless wandering. In a fury he attacked River Woman but she made it back to the safety of her body just in time. When Taha Aki discovered this, he banished River Woman from the tribe before anyone else could find out about secret and what really happened to Utlapa lest his family called for revenge."

"Hold up! I thought that Taha Aki was our hero! You are making him sound all evil. Utlapa is the one that we need to fight now!"

"Our tribe needed Taha Aki more at that time Sonia. We were being attacked and raided constantly. Our land had always been coveted because of its magic. He was our strongest warrior and deep down he was a good man. I am not excusing his actions Sonia. Not one bit. But when it comes to survival, we are all capable of bad things in the name of good. It is never black and white."

"Okay so…Utlapa could inhabit a body if the conditions are right?"

"Correct."

"What are the conditions?"

"The person must first possess the power to free their spirit, or disembody themselves, like you said, to make it fit for him to take it over. Second, the person must do so willingly."

"And Bernie and Ollie are safe from him?" I asked fearfully.

"Who?" He asked, a bit perplexed. I then went ice cold.

"Bernie and Ollie. You know. You told them….things…."

"Bernie and Ollie are the two kids that came up to see me the a couple days back." My dad told him. "Said they knew that I was back in town and Sonia was a bit freaked out but wanted to contact me. They said that they wanted to see what I was like."

"But you told them everything right? Because they can leave their bodies and…."

"What are you talking about Sonia?" Mom asked, scared.

"They know about everything! Because you told them!" I looked at the shocked tableau of faces that made up my mom, dad, McBride and my Granddad. "Didn´t you?"

"I told nobody nothing of the sort Sonia." McBride said slowly. "It seems that this has gotten even more dangerous."

"What did they tell you or what did you tell them? This is important." Granddad came over to me and knelt in front of me.

"They knew everything. I didn´t need to tell them anything! I…" There was a loud crash from the kitchen which made me and mom scream.

"What the fuck?" Dad yelled as the three men headed to the kitchen with me and mom following, clutching each other for safety. My heart was pounding. Blood filled my ears and I felt like I couldn´t hear anything except my own heart beating.

The china cabinet had fallen flat onto the floor. Glass and porcelain littered its surroundings. McBride and my dad were trembling. The first sign of a phase in the making.

"They are with him." I whispered to the room at large. "They were working with him from the beginning. They know everything."

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