We've been driving for several minutes with us uncomfortably scrunched together in the front seat of Bella's red truck. Jake sits on the passenger side and Bella is driving, leaving me stuck in the middle. This wasn't what I expected when I said yes to being invited to go motorbike riding. The word just blurted out of my mouth without my control, even though I'd rather spend my time with Jake. But now here we are, driving along a cliff side heading to a deserted road to try out the bikes Jake finished the previous night.
"If I told you I couldn't fix these bikes, what would you have said?" Jake asks.
He leans forward, looking around me at Bella. I am sure he'd rather be the one sitting between the two of us but Bella urged me into the car before Jake had the chance.
"Are you doubting your mad skills?" She half smiles.
"No," he grins. "I mean, they'll run fine. It's just, ah, maybe if I was smart I would have dragged out the rebuild a bit."
"If you told me you couldn't fix these bikes," she shrugs before continuing. "That's really too bad but we're going to have to find something else to do."
I try not to roll my eyes but instead my eyes dart between the two. Jake lets out a short snicker, liking her answer.
"Is that Sam Uley?" She points off in the direction of a cliff to the left. There are four shirtless boys pushing and pulling each other near the edge. My heart skips a beat as I watch. I know I jumped off a cliff; was it as high as the one the boys are jumping from?
A vacuuming sound takes over my hearing. I am no longer in the truck but in the forest, running. I run so fast that the world around me blurs green and browns. I try to look around but my head doesn't move, and my legs don't stop when I try to pause. Something screams behind me, so loud my ears pop twice. I glance behind me and when I do, the world below my feet disappears and I am falling off a cliff. I hit the water hard, so hard I can feel the pain run through my entire body.
The world around me changes the longer I submerge under water, it changes and twists back to me being in the red truck. My hand shoots out and grabs Jake's forearm tightly. My eyes wide. I can still feel the pain.
I feel Jake's hand wrap around mine, I glance up at him to see confusion on his face. I mouth 'flashback' to him. Bella swerves off to the side of the road, forcing me against Jake. The smell of oil and mint reaches my nose, it clouds my senses. Everywhere that touches Jake, electrifies and my heart feels like it might burst out of my chest. We stare into eachothers eyes, his turning soft.
"Oh my god! Did you see that?" Bella exclaims.
Jake tears his line of sight away from mine and looks at something to my left. I follow his vision to the cliff where there are now just three boys watching from above the cliff to the water below. Bella climbs out of the truck just as another driver passes by. She runs to the other side of the road, a railing separates her from a deep plummet.
Jake chuckles at her excitement. He gently pats my hand and I release my grip around his forearm. He climbs out of the truck and walks around the front to the railing on the other side of the street. "They're not really fighting Bella, they're cliff diving. Scary as hell, but a total rush."
One of the three boys runs off the edge and leaps, flailing as he falls into the water with a powerful splash.
Scooting onto the driver's side of the truck, I climb out and make my way to the two of them.
"Rush?" Bella asks.
"Yeah, most of us jump from a lower height, we leave the showing off to Sam and his disciples."
"You got some kind of beef with him or something?" Bella asks. She turns on her heels and heads back to the front of the truck. Jake and I follow.
"I don't know. They just think they run this place. Embry used to call them hall monitors on steroids. Now look at him," Jake says, gesturing a hand towards the cliff.
We look back to the cliff where another boy, who I assume is Embry, leaps off the cliff next. He looks bulky with muscle as well as the rest of the boys.
"That's Embry?"
"Yeah," Jake glances over to me and then back to Bella.
"What happened to him?" Bella asks while shoving her hands into her jacket pockets.
"He missed some school, all of a sudden he started following Sam around like a little puppy. Same thing happened to Paul and Jared. Sam keeps giving me this look, like he's waiting for me or something. Kind of starting to freak me out," JAke shudders.
"Well, you should just avoid him," she shakes her head.
"I try."
The last man, who is the tallest and most muscled out of the four, runs towards the edge and leaps in a more elegant fashion, diving into the water perfectly.
From where I am sitting - on top of the front of Bella's truck - I can see the area clearly. To my left there is an open area with a vast amount of land with a lake between us and the mountains. The forest encroaches us on the right hand side and up ahead is a muddy road.
The two motorbikes are standing on the ground. The black one, which Jake picked, stands next to me. And the silver one is a few feet away where Jake and Bella are.
"Okay," Bella says. She climbs on the motorbike and reaches forward for the handles.
"You look scared," Jake acknowledges.
"I'm not," she eyes Jake with a serious expression. It is the most emotion I have seen on her face yet. He smiles and looks down at the handles.
"Alright," he puts his hands on hers and drifts her hands where everything is at that he explains. "Brake," he pats her right hand. "Clutch," he pats her left hand. "And gas."
Without another word, she turns on the bike and it roars to life, louder than I expected. My heart beats in my ears from the very power of the machine and I am not even driving it.
"Ready?" Jake asks, slowly releasing her hands while moving off to the side. "Now slowly release the clutch."
She releases it quickly and she and the bike jerk forward before stopping a half a foot away. She looks shocked and so does Jake.
"Are you alright?" He asks.
"I want to go again."
She releases the clutch, but this time, slowly. She drives down the road at a steady pace, but soon she goes faster. When her speed kicks in she swivels a little near the bend of the road.
"Hit the brake!" Jake shouts.
But she doesn't. The bike takes a turn and she goes flying off, rolling head first into a rock at the bend of the road.
Jake leaps onto the black bike and rides off down to help her. I climb off the truck and watch from a distance, unsure if I should follow and help or not. He reaches her in seconds, turning the bike to make it land safely when he leaps off. He rushes to her, his hands frantic as he searches for wounds. From where I can see, she only has a head injury to her right temple. A little blood trickles down her cheeks. They converse, but I can't hear what they are saying. Jake takes off his black shirt and pats her temple with it.
I should be concerned - worried. But I am not. I don't feel the slightest bit bothered by her injury and have no idea why. But watching the way Jake reacts to her being hurt pains me a little. Something in me falls to the pit of my stomach and I feel heavy.
After a long day of running to Bella's and then to the hospital, Jake drives us back in Bella's car to his house. A short hit later, Bella heads home much to the dismay of Jake. We're left alone again. Billy is watching some sports game with his friend Charlie.
I am heating up the last piece of pizza from the day before when Jake enters the kitchen. He leans against the countertop nearby with his arms crossed and his expression is serious. I wouldn't take him seriously if he still had his shirt off but he puts on a shirt after we got back to his place.
"So, what did you see?"
I almost forgot that I had another memory flash with all that happened afterwards. I follow his actions by leaning against the counter and crossing my arms. "I was running through the woods and then fell off the cliff unintentionally."
"Sounds like you were running from something."
"Yeah, there was a scream in the background too." I know there are big predators in this forest like: panthers, bears, and wolves, but I can't imagine them making the sound that I heard.
"I wonder from what," he mutters. He brings his pointer and thumb to his chin and rubs it while a curious expression takes over his visage.
We are both left stumped. Later, we head to the shed where Jake repairs minor damages done by the way they landed the bikes when they got off. But when night falls, we go to bed early. Jake doesn't sneak in the bedroom like he did the night before and it has me wondering if it's because of Bella. A part of me thinks it's because I grabbed his arm in the truck. Maybe it intimidated him or frightened him or made him feel disgusted. I'm not sure, but either answer doesn't make me feel good. I roll towards the window and look out into the forest. The shadows play games with my mind, making me think that there are large animals walking through the thicket of trees. I close my eyes and try to fall asleep.
I am running through the forest, tree branches and leaves falling around me. I look up to see something clawing at the canopy of the trees. It screams and I buckle down for a split second. I look back in front of me to see a room approaching fast. One wall is missing so I can see inside it. I reach the room and the wall closes behind me.
The woman I saw before is lying on the ground, her eyes open and grayed and her mouth parted. Her arms are sprawled out on her sides and her broken leg is still out of shape.
Out from the shadows behind her comes a tall hairless creature. Gray in color, with small slanted red eyes, no nose, and a large mouth full of needle-like teeth. Its limbs are abnormally long, and it even has a pair of bat-like wings on its back.
"I'll get you too," it says in a croaky voice. It points one of its long fingers at me. "You'll die too, just like your mother and father."
I awake from someone shaking me. Tearing my eyes open, blurry from tears, I just barely see Jake over me. Sweat drips down my forehead and cheeks, and I rub the back of my hands against my eyes to wipe away the tears. When I can see clearly, I notice Jake's eyes are wide and full of worry, both hands are on my shoulders grasping me tightly. I must have made noises in my sleep. I hope I didn't wake Billy.
"You were screaming," he hesitantly lets me go but rolls over to sit at my side.
I sit up, running my finger through my hair that is damp from sweat. I'll have to take a shower in the morning.
"A bad dream, I think," I can't be sure. Was it a memory? Or was it a dream? It felt real but the creature I saw isn't one that exists on this Earth.
"You think? You were screaming like you were being murdered. Luckily dad isn't here otherwise he might've sent you to the hospital. What were you dreaming about?"
I explain in detail my dream - hesitant to bring up the creature and what it had said but after seeing Jake's watchful eyes, I decide to tell him about it anyhow.
"It seems like an intense nightmare," Jake frowns, but I can see something in his eyes, like he's thinking about if it means something. It's better than him doubting me. We sit in silence for a few minutes. My eyes glaring at the floor in front of me and a light slowly rises behind me. It's morning.
"Oh, by the way, Bella invited me out to a movie tonight with a few of her friends. Do you want to come? Might get your mind off the nightmare."
"A-are you sure? This might be your chance with her," I say, not realizing at first, until I feel the heavy pout of my bottom lip.
He doesn't seem to notice the disdain in my voice and shrugs. "Not if there are other people coming along. I could use some support. Besides, I am not feeling well - you being there might help if something goes wrong."
I can't say no to him. I don't know why. The way he's slouched forward, hands in his lap and head turned down, he looks defeated. I gently place a hand on his back and automatically feel a tingling running through my fingers. He sighs and runs his fingers through his long black hair.
"I think I am confused," he says.
"Confused about what?"
"My feelings. Something inside me feels like it's tugging me away from her and…." he pauses, glances at me through his lashes. "Pushing me to something else."
My heart leaps in my chest and I can feel the blood pooling in my cheeks. He said 'something else.' Not someone else. I try not to let my feelings get to me and take a deep breath.
I am not sure how to respond. "Okay, I'll go. I just need a shower and get my clothes from the dryer," I blurt out.
"You got time. We're not going until it's dark out," he says with a lopsided smile.