Back to the Start
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Joyless Ride
Bella beat Charlie home-he was running later than she realized. They were supposed to be heading over to the Blacks to have dinner with Jacob and Billy. She assumed Charlie had been caught up at work, although he usually rang and let her know if he was going to be delayed.
To soothe her grumbling stomach, Bella swallowed a granola bar in three bites, washing it down with milk straight from the carton. She was eager to get to La Push. Charlie could follow on later. Hopefully the rain would hold off until she reached Jacob's house.
As she stepped outside, she was stunned to see that fog had rolled in. The air was so dense with it, she could hardly see three foot in front of her. Aggravated by this sudden change in the weather, Bella pulled her hood up to shield her face from the ice-cold mist, and ran over to the truck. She couldn't wait to get the heat going so she could warm up her frigid skin.
It was such a thick fog that she was a few feet down the driveway before she realized there was another car in it: a silver car. Her heart sank immediately to her toes. She didn't see where he came from, but suddenly he was there, in front of her.
"Go away." Bella said through gritted teeth, remembering the last time he had ambushed her when the weather was bad. The thick fog made it easier for him to hide, enabling him to creep up on her unawares. "You've been warned constantly to leave me alone."
Edward sighed impatiently. "And I warned you I would be extra vigilant and overprotective for the next few weeks."
Bella glared at him. "Oh, yes, Alice's vision about the unexpected visitors." She sneered. "I have all the protection I need, thank you very much. I'm headed to La Push. So, if you don't mind getting out of my way?" She pushed past him to get to her truck.
Edward's ice-cold fingers wrapped around her upper arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Its not advisable to go to La Push right now." His voice was guarded as was his expression.
"Not this again!" Bella raged, trying to yank her arm out of his tight hold. "Jacob isn't dangerous. He is always fully in control of himself. Unlike you!"
Edward's face was unreadable as he looked down at her. He tugged her closer, his strange amber eyes boring into hers. "The wolf boy is too preoccupied right now to protect you." He revealed succinctly. "My family and I have been discreetly monitoring his activities from a distance, just to be on the safe side. It seems another has joined his pack."
Bella's brain stuttered for a moment, every part of her going on pause, allowing her thoughts to catch up. Had she heard him right? Someone else had phased? Embry immediately came to mind as she recalled all the changes she had noticed in him recently. The poor boy must be in total shock. She was glad that Jacob was with him to ease his transition, but his absence didn't help her current predicament. She shook her head to clear it, there was something about the intensity of Edward's gaze that made her head feel fuzzy.
"So, you're stalking Jacob as well as me now?" She accused in a low voice. "You've been warned repeatedly to stay away."
Edward smirked. "Hadn't you noticed? I'm breaking all the rules now."
The way he said it an almost boastful tone, sent shivers down Bella's spine, which had nothing to do with the cold weather. She tried to yank her arm away from him again, but he refused to let go.
"We're going for a drive." He said calmly, bundling her toward his car.
"No!" Bella yelled. "Let me go! I'll scream!"
Edward shrugged as if it didn't matter. "There's no one around to hear you, Bella." He said, sighing again when she continued to resist. "I'm only doing this to protect you. One day you will thank me."
Edward drove aimlessly through the fog enshrouded streets, always too fast. Bella was locked in the passenger seat, with no chance of escape. It had been so easy for him to get her into the car against her will, strap the seatbelt around her, then get in himself before she had a chance to even reach the door handle.
Bella gripped the sides of her seat when Edward accelerated too fast down a quiet street. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the road, he was too busy staring at her instead, trying to gauge her reaction.
"Slow down!" Bella shouted.
"What's wrong?" He was startled. But the car didn't decelerate.
"You're going a hundred miles an hour!" Bella was still shouting. She shot a panicky glance out of the window, but the fog was still too thick for her to see much. The road was only visible in the long patch of bluish brightness from the headlights. The forest along both sides of the road was like a black wall – as hard as a wall of steel if they veered off the road at that speed.
"Relax, Bella." Edward rolled his eyes, still not slowing.
"Are you trying to kill us?" Bella demanded.
"We're not going to crash."
Bella tried to modulate her voice to hide her growing panic. "Why are you in such a hurry then? Where are you taking me?"
"I always drive like this." Edward turned to smile at her crookedly. "Which you would know if you just allowed yourself to relax enough to enjoy a proper conversation with me."
"Keep your eyes on the road!"
"I've never been in an accident, Bella – I've never even gotten a parking ticket." He grinned and tapped his forehead. "Built in radar detector."
"Very funny." Bella fumed. "Charlie's a cop, remember? I was raised to abide by traffic laws. Besides, if you turn us into a Volvo sized pretzel around a tree trunk, you can just probably walk away."
"Probably." Edward agreed, with a short hard laugh. "But you can't."
Bella's eyes widened, her fear ramping up at the obvious excitement in his voice. He was enjoying the thrill of danger; he was enjoying making her part of it. Was he doing this deliberately so –
She didn't get to finish that thought. A large gray wolf-his fur flecked with black spots- stumbled out of the forest and stepped onto the road, directly in front of the speeding Volvo.
Edward was still focused on Bella's face, so even when she screamed a warning, his delayed reaction cost them dear. He spun the wheel, swerving hard to the right, missing the gigantic wolf by inches.
One moment the road was there, open, and safe, the next Bella's ears were filled with loud noises, her nose and throat choked by acrid smells, followed by blinding pain. Then she knew no more.
After ordering a hysterical Tiffany to go and sit back in the cruiser to wait for him, Charlie sped off after Embry into the forest. The weak light streaked through the boughs of the trees in both brilliant and shadowy beams. In the summertime the foliage was usually a riot of white gold, illuminating the greens into virescent riots; yet the gift of those warm days had passed for the season. Now the forest was shrouded in mist, the fog cast those same beams of light into sepia tones, making it hard for Charlie to see far in any direction.
The further he walked, the harder it became to fight his way through the dense foliage. Charlie had no idea in which direction Embry was headed. The path at his feet faded as it led further into the darkness of the forest, yet he followed it anyway for Embry's sake. Somewhere in there the boy was suffering, and so Charlie let his feet follow the narrow strip of naked earth among the giants of root and leaf. He touched the rough bark of the trees with his hands as he passed, feeling his way through the green murk. He let them guide him forward, for this was their world as they stretched toward the light, they never see yet sense, and he must do the same... open up his other senses... to sound, to aroma and listen so very carefully to every instinct.
Charlie halted when he spotted the first scrap of cloth. He bent down, examining it with curious eyes. He picked it up, running his fingers lightly over the rough material. It was a patch of dark gray denim; the exact shade of the jeans Embry had been wearing.
Standing up again, Charlie walked forward a few steps, pushing aside the thick foliage that covered the ground, until he came across more scraps of cloth. He picked up another piece, holding it up in front of him to examine it closely. It dangled in limp strips from his hand. It was another piece of the same gray denim.
Worry surged through Charlie as he tried to account for what he was finding. None of this made any sense. He carried on a little further, finally stumbling across one of Embry's white sneakers.
"Fuck." He swore under his breath. "What the hell is going on here?"
Scattered around the abandoned sneaker were various other pieces of fabric. Charlie started collecting them all from the dirt. He wadded them into a ball, making them easier to carry. He strode carefully through the undergrowth, listening and looking around him intently with every step, and that's when he came across the first pawprint.
Charlie gasped, bending down again to peer at it closely. He had never seen anything like it in his life. The pawprint was deeply pressed in the mud, with four symmetrical toes and evident claws, and a single lobe on the front of the foot pad, it was similar to wolf print. But no normal wolf had paws the size of dinner plates.
Alarmed, Charlie noticed other signs of disturbance. The thick foliage seemed to have been raked from the ground, sharp claw marks raked at the soil, scouring the clods of wet earth into dank heaps, as whatever animal made the tracks ran through the brush. On some brambles he caught sight of some gray fur, clearly torn from the beast's hide as it ran. Further on he found more of the same large paw prints.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Charlie cussed some more, losing his cool completely.
Had Embry run straight into the path of this humongous beast? Cold sweat broke out on his skin, making him nauseous. That would account for the stripped clothing. God, he hoped not. The only solace was there was no sign of blood. He had to be wrong. He hoped he was wrong.
"EMBRY!" Charlie yelled loudly, giving up on silence. "CALL OUT IF YOU'RE HERE!"
As his voice died away into the dank mist and fog, Charlie was met with silence. His breathing sounded loud in his ears as he strained to hear. Even the animal sounds were muted, as if they were listening too.
"EMBRY!" He called again, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice travel further. "CALL OUT IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!"
Charlie's hands immediately dropped to his sides as he heard the sound of snapping wood. He jerked his head around, cursing the dense fog that plagued his vision. To his right he heard a faint snuffling sound, followed by a low whine, then it all went quiet again.
Charlie felt his chest expand as he tried to draw in more air. He could feel every muscle in his body straining and the thoughts in his head turn from fear to a dizzy confusion as he heard the strange sound of grating metal in the distance, followed by a loud bang that reverberated through the trees. Something gray and fleeting passed by the edges of his vision, but when he turned there was nothing but the same murky green pressing down on him on all sides.
A/N-thanks for reading!