-Bella-
Two months later.
Jacob still hasn't found anything from Edward and Victoria. He spends most of his days searching for something, some kind of sign as to where they might be. I think that the unknown scares him worse than anything else. Most of the nights he sneaks in through the window and we stay up talking until one of us falls asleep. I started a job at the Police Station, I work at the reception desk. Charlie pulled some strings when I told him that I wanted to start saving up money for college. I don't know where I want to go, what I want to do, or even if I am going to go. I figured that would ease Charlie's brain for the time being knowing that I am at least saving. He had some kind of savings set up but I told him that I would feel bad if I didn't contribute at least something, and well, here I am. I pull out the cellphone that Jacob got me, checking my messages.
What are you doing later?
I smile down at my phone and type a quick response as I finish closing up for the day.
About to head home, then pack for our trip. Are you still going?
Jacob and I finally booked the flight for Arizona. My mom has been bugging me nonstop about meeting Jacob even though she's known him since we were little. I guess that now that he is a man that changes things. Considering we're dating. I flush at the thought of calling him, my boyfriend. We haven't talked about things but we both know that we aren't seeing anybody else, so I guess that makes us exclusive. I wait for a reply, walking to my truck. It's raining as I climb in, starting my wipers, I lock my door, and just before I put my car in drive my phone buzzes.
Leaving without saying hi?
I turn, looking through my window trying to make out a figure in the rain. I jump as I hear a tapping noise on my passenger window. I hit the unlock button and wait for him to climb in. "Jesus, Jake. You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing out here in the rain?"
"Well, funny story." He turns the heat up and points the vents towards me as he shakes off the rain from his hair. "I actually came to pick you up on the bike, but" He holds his hands up, motioning to the rain. "Kinda rained on my parade." He smiles at his own joke.
"Really?" I smile at him and rub my hands in front of the heater. "So, I was worth the trip out here?"
He frowns at me. "You're always worth the trip, Bella." I shrug and stare out the window. "Hey." He grabs my hips and pulls me closer to him, tilting my jaw up as he kisses me softly. "I will always make time for you, I'm sorry if you feel like I haven't been doing it lately." I kiss him again, nestling my head against the underside of his jaw. I pull back for a moment and stare at him nervously. "What?" He asks, giving me a weird look. I look back at my hands and shake my head.
"Nothing." He looks at me for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I slide back over to the driver's seat and slip one of Jake's jackets on over my damp hoodie.
"Hold on." He slides out of the truck and after a moment I hear a thud in the back of the truck. Jacob slides back into the passenger seat. "Okay, we're good now."
"Didn't want to forget your bike?" I raise my eyebrows at him, laughing. I start to drive and as we head back to Charlie's my mind wanders about where Jacob stands, what he thinks that we are. It's been two months and even though Charlie saw us holding hands and mortifying lipstick on Jake's face, he hasn't asked any questions. I think he's happy that it's not Edward anymore. It doesn't hurt to say his name anymore, although the thought of him is still in my head sometimes. Wondering where he is, and how he turned out this way. Part of me blames myself, if I hadn't met him then maybe he wouldn't be the way that he is now.
"What are you thinking about?" Jacob's eyes watch me, reaching out to wrangle a stray piece of hair behind my ear.
I shake my head. "Nothing, just wondering what to pack." We pull into the drive and I get out of the truck, Jacob following behind me. I walk through the door to Charlie and Billy sitting on the couch watching baseball, beers in hand. "Hey Dad, hey Billy." I wave and head upstairs leaving Jake to the awkwardness. I throw together my bags, setting them next to the door. I hear a faint knock on the door before Jake enters.
"Slight change of plans," Jake says, grabbing my bags and disappearing before I get a chance to ask him what he's doing. I stand in my room for a moment, confused before I go to head down the stairs. I slam right into Jacob.
"What's going on?" Jake's hands slide around my hips, steadying me so that I don't fall down the stairs.
"We're leaving early, I have a surprise for you." He kisses me softly and turns back down the stairs. I hear him and Charlie faintly talking downstairs. I head back into my room and change into a pair of jeans and a light green T-shirt. I slide Jacob's leather jacket over my shoulders and head downstairs. I go towards the door.
"Bella?" Charlie catches me before I can slip out. "Have fun, and Happy Birthday." I stop for a moment, before remembering that my birthday is in two days.
"Thanks, Dad." He pulls me into a hug and releases me, resuming his spot on the couch. He casts a look towards Billy, a slight smile on his face. I shake my head at their strangeness and head back outside. Jacob is on his bike, my bags tied securely on the back. "We're leaving on your bike?" I turn and cast a glance back towards the house. "Are you trying to get Charlie to kill you?" I look back at him incredulously. He smiles and hands me a helmet, patting the seat behind him. Get on Bella, and hold on tight. I cautiously put on the helmet, Jacob adjusting the straps below my chin. I climb onto the back, wrapping my arms around him. Edward would've never let me do something like this. Ever. I laugh nervously into Jacob's back, holding on tightly. "Okay, I'm ready." Jake pats my hands and then takes off. The wind rushes against my face, the trees passing by in a blur. I smell Jacob's scent, the smell of the forest and the rain. The ground is still slightly wet and as we fly over it, little trickles splash up onto my ankles. I smile into his back, pulling my arms from around him, I spread them out, holding on tighter with my legs. I feel the wind tug at me as I close my eyes, feeling like I'm flying. I stay there, arms spread out, eyes closed forgetting about everything except the feeling of being weightless.
-Edward-
I drop the girl I just drained onto the floor, wiping my lips as I look up at Victoria. She eyes me as she wipes her red lips. We made a plan. disappear for a while, throw them off our scent and try to come up with a few more people to ally with, we decided that creating them would be easier. We had a small army of six currently. Just enough to distract the wolves so that we can get to Bella. She wants to kill her, I want to turn her. That small piece wasn't disclosed. I decided that once the time came I would just kill Victoria, while Bella is in transition. Or, let Jacob kill her so that I can kill him. I flex my jaw, thinking about everything that they're probably doing. I wonder what all they have done and my head turns. No, Bella wouldn't do that. I shake my head and listen to Victoria's thoughts. She still doubts me slightly, and I wonder what I will need to do to convince her that I'm over Bella. Her assumptions are right of course, but that doesn't mean that I want her catching onto that part of my plan. I stride over to her, watching her curious expression. I wipe the blood from her lips, pressing my thumb into my mouth to savor the taste. Her eyes widen in surprise.
I suppose that since I'm going to hell, sinning again isn't that bad. I found the person that I want to spend forever with and this is just a small price to pay for the cost of getting her for eternity. I grab Victoria by the hair and pull her towards me. I kiss her aggressively, and she returns the favor. Her eyes are wild as she pushes me into the wall. She rips my shirt off, shredding it to pieces around us. She begins to bite at my neck, across my chest. I push her against the floor, shredding her dress to expose her breasts in the bright pink lingerie underneath. I nip at her nipple, tugging and sucking. She lets out a low moan, arching her head back against the floor. I strip myself of my jeans and plunge deep inside of her. I imagine she's Bella, closing my eyes as I plunge deeper and deeper, faster and faster. I can feel her building against me, digging her fingernails into my back. I growl and can feel my release building. I smile as we both finish, knowing that part of my plan just fell into place.
-Jacob-
I slow down, feeling her arms leave from around me. I look in the rearview mirror, watching her close her eyes and spread her arms wide. I reach down and hold onto her leg. She looks so carefree, her hair flying in the wind, whipping around her face. Arms spread wide as we fly across the road. I smile, this is what she needs. Her eyes open to meet mine in the mirror and she smiles, wrapping her arms back around my chest. We ride to my house, and I shut the engine off waiting for her to climb off. I get off and grab the bags, throwing them into my car, I hold the passenger door open for her and wait for her to climb in. She eyes me suspiciously. I walk around to the driver's side and slip in. "We're headed to Port Angeles early. I got us a hotel room so that we can spend the night there before we head out. Figured that would be easier than waking up early and driving all the way there. Besides, I wanted to spend some time with you." I glance over at her as she smiles.
"Listen, I know something's bothering you. You want to talk about it, or are you just going to keep telling me nothing?"
"Have you guys found anything new?"
I keep my eyes on the road as she avoids my question. "We found an abandoned house almost two towns over, we figured that it would be smart to expand our search." I pause and take a deep breath. "There was blood everywhere, Bella. Bodies laying on the floor. We could smell them all over. We were past our lands so we can't follow them, but for now, we knew where they had been hiding out for a little bit." I shake my head and turn to look at her. She looks paler than usual, as though she's going to be sick. "Bella?" I pull over as she reaches for the handle. I climb out of the car and rush over to her side, just as she throws up. I pull her hair back, keeping it out of her face. She finishes and leans back against the car.
"I'm sorry." She keeps her head down, looking at the ground. I rifle through my bag and hand her a bottle of water. "Thanks."
I watch her take a swig and mentally kick myself. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that." I run my fingers through my hair.
"No, I'm glad that you did. I just-I think all the stress is finally catching up to me, and the not knowing. The fact that he's been camping out..and killing people." Her eyebrows scrunched together, she turns her head to look at me. "You said 'them'."
"I think that Edward and Victoria are traveling together. It took me a little bit to piece together that they disappeared around the same time and the only time we pick up on one of their scents, the other one is there too." I look towards the road. "It just doesn't make sense to me." I open her door and start driving again. She looks out the window, silent all the way to Port Angeles. I pull into the hotel, suddenly nervous. I get out and open her door, grabbing the bags. I stop. "Uh, Bella. You'll have to check us in." I turn around and laugh. "I booked it in your name, you know. You being 18 and all." I laugh.
"I was wondering how they let a 17-year-old book a hotel room." I hold a hand over my heart and feign being offended. She laughs at me and reaches for her wallet. I slip my hand into my pocket and hand her my card. She raises her eyebrows.
"How do you get the money that you do anyway?" She eyes my card skeptically. "You spend most of your time wolfing out."
"I help out a lot around the reservation. And Billy has a savings account set aside for me that Mom started. But, mostly I stop by and help a lot of the women or older folks with things. It doesn't pay much, but I prefer to help my people out. Most of them know what we are, and a lot of the boys take turns helping them out and we get a couple of dollars here and there. I also sometimes help out at the lumber yard." I throw a sideways glance her way as we walk towards the hotel. "But, yeah most of the time I'm-how did you put it-wolfing out." I laugh at her analogy.
We check-in and head up to our room. "Ladies first." I hold open the door for her. I follow her inside and nod my head in approval over the room. Grey classy tile at the entrance with a soft white carpet against the pale blue walls. I set the bags onto the bed and sweep Bella up into my arms, kissing her nose. "What do you think? I know it's not the best, but figured it would be nice having a night to ourselves where I'm not having to hide from Charlie."
She smiles and nuzzles her head into my chest. "It's perfect, Jake." She steps back. "I'm going to go shower, I'll be out in a bit." She steps on her tip-toes and gives me a quick peck before disappearing into the bathroom. I walk over to the bed and grab her bag, holding it out to her as I hear her come back out. I smile and she takes it and goes back in. Kicking my shoes off I fall onto the bed. I stare at the wall as I listen to the water running in the other room. I sit up, as memories of her changing in front of me surface. I run my hands over my face, and try to get the images of Bella naked from my mind.