Oh the war is the common cry,
Pick up your swords and fly
The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know
Led Zeppelin - The Battle of Evermore
April 10, 2005
"Oh, thank God-" Bella started, but she fell quiet as Jasper pressed a finger to his lips. One shake of his head was enough to silence her, and she peered around him to see the creature shake itself off. It seemed dazed, almost, and its entire body trembled violently. Jasper crouched low, his hands were steady and braced. Bella slid into the same position, trying to emulate him but failing. Jasper spent an entire century refining his capacity for violence, and a threatening power seemed to naturally emanate from him. Bella wasn't sure if the creature had the capacity to understand that, or could just see it was outnumbered. But whatever it was, the creature recognised it was out of its depth and took off as quickly as it had appeared.
"It was faster than me," Bella whispered, her voice shaking.
"I didn't even know they still existed," Jasper said. He was still staring off in the distance, though the creature's pounding steps had long since faded.
"What was it?" she asked.
"I think that was a werewolf."
Gnashing teeth and a menacing snarl flashed in her memory. Yes, the creature was decidedly wolf-like, but not like any she had ever seen before. Bella had hunted wolves and while their blood was slightly more satisfying than a deer's, they were as easy to take down as any other prey.
"Why didn't you tell me you were fighting werewolves?" Jasper asked, finally turning to her. "I would have run from Seattle instead of renting a car."
"I didn't know," she said softly. "It came out of nowhere. It just… came out of nowhere."
"Just now?"
Bella nodded. "I need to get my dad's car before anyone sees it."
"I'll come with you."
"I thought you said you rented a car?" Bella asked.
"I left it at the high school. Least conspicuous place to leave a car around here," Jasper explained. "Let's get out of here in case that thing has friends."
Jasper grabbed her hand and towed her behind him. Bella still felt stunned by the whole encounter, almost paralyzed by it. Jasper's warm hand in hers and his stable, calm presence was the only thing forcing her to move her feet. The cruiser was waiting right where she left it, still idling with the keys in the ignition. The moment both doors closed Bella was hitting the gas and speeding back towards Forks.
Never had the sound of human heart beats and the sight of streetlights looked so comforting. Jasper had never been very comfortable around humans, but even he seemed to relax once they drove through the town.
It was still early. It felt like a lifetime passed, but it was really only a few minutes that had changed everything. Bella still felt the wolf's hot teeth on her ankle, the sharpness of its claw had shredded her sweater to pieces. She excused herself upstairs when they got to her house and changed into a new one. The tattered remnants were ruined, and she threw them into her garbage can and covered it with some scratch paper.
She bounded back down the stairs to Jasper. He was standing frozen in the foyer, his coat soaking wet and hair darkened from the rain. His expression seemed stiff, but he released a wave of calm that settled Bella's worry like a mug of herbal tea.
"I'd say let's go for a run, but who knows what's out there," he joked. Bella's head turned to look out the window at the dark of the early evening. As always, she stared in the direction of Edward, where his home lay a few miles across town and into the woods. And suddenly, even Jasper's gift couldn't control her anxiety. Panic surged forth, and her feet carried her towards him without any direction.
"Bella," Jasper called, gripping her wrist to hold her in place. "What the hell is going on? Where are you going?"
"Edward," she gasped. "Oh God, Edward! He knows, and they know, and he told me Sam told him so they know something!"
Jasper stared at her, baffled. He could feel her concern, see the wildness in her eyes, but he had no sense of it. And Jasper did not like not feeling in control of a situation, especially after he'd had to fly across continents and chase an extinct monster through the woods.
"I think we need to talk first," Jasper said.
Bella sank to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees. Words poured out of her, some of it nonsensical, but he could feel what she meant. Jasper crouched beside her, one hand on her knee as he listened intently to the much younger vampire who stumbled upon a situation he hadn't even realised could be possible. He didn't interrupt her, the time for questions was later.
Charlie was accosted by his two best friends before he could leave. He couldn't make sense of it, they were both almost hysterical in their overlapping tales of cold ones and violence and their begging him not to go back to Forks. Charlie reacted as they should've expected- he was upset that they would treat his daughter so cruelly, especially after everything she'd been through. Charlie stormed out to Billy's truck, yelling out for Jacob to come drive him so he could get off this damn reservation. Jacob followed obediently, even as his father pleaded for them not to go, and they watched the car carefully pull out of the driveway. The second the car was out of sight, a shadowy figure emerged from the woods, clutching his arm as it hung uselessly out of its socket. Harry jogged as quickly as he could to help Sam into the house, both of the elders listening with horrified expressions at the revelation that Bella wasn't alone.
Once Sam was settled and had a beer in hand, Harry ushered his family home and Billy shakily picked up the phone and called a familiar phone number.
"Hello?" Bella answered softly. She had just finished explaining to Jasper what Edward had told her about Sam. That he knew about vampires, and knew enough to try to warn Edward away. She almost let the phone ring through but worried it was Charlie calling, so she left her story on pause and picked up.
"Bella," Billy said.
"Oh," she sighed. She knew Sam knew something, but that obviously included Billy and Harry as well. The secret was so closely guarded she didn't know how, but it had to have something to do with the wolf. "Charlie's not home yet."
"What are you going to do to him?" Billy asked, his voice shaking. Bella's brows furrowed and she looked up at Jasper, who could clearly hear the conversation. But he seemed just as confused.
"I don't know what you mean," she said.
"Your kind is dangerous."
"My kind?" Bella asked.
"A cold one. A vampire."
Bella froze, her face affixed in an expression of horror as she stared at Jasper. He looked just as stunned, his gold eyes darkened like a storm as every instinct in his body told him to attack whatever threatened him and Bella.
The low rumble of Billy's engine ambled into hearing distance, and snapped Bella out of her surprise.
"Charlie's almost here. Could we speak in person?"
"I would never put my people in such danger."
"I've never hurt anyone, Billy. Not once. And I never will. Please let me explain," she begged. She felt sure that if he could just hear her out, she could change his mind. And she was desperate to know what was going on at the reservation that a secret guarded by the most ancient of her kind was apparently common knowledge, that a monster from myths roamed its borders.
The other line was quiet. She could hear him rustling with something, leaving the phone on the counter and whispering words in another room. She didn't breathe, couldn't move, even as the truck pulled into the driveway and Jacob bade Charlie a good night. Jasper knew, too, that he needed to leave before the door opened, but he found he couldn't either.
"We will meet you at Bogachiel," Billy said shortly, and then the line went dead.
Jasper nodded then disappeared out the kitchen window. Bella darted up the stairs and threw herself in bed, covering herself with the duvet and evening her breath in a show of sleep. She waited for Charlie to kick off his shoes at the front door and drop his wallet and keys in the bowl. He cracked open a beer but only took a sip out of it before he set it down and went upstairs to check in on Bella. He saw her as just a lump under the covers, but she seemed peaceful enough. He couldn't imagine the stress it put on her, and it was his fault for pressuring her to go to La Push in the first place. He just never imagined his friends capable of treating his daughter like that, or even of believing some tribal legends and blaming Bella of all people for that.
It was ridiculous.
Charlie quietly closed the door and returned to his beer and television, where he angrily flicked through channels without landing on anything in particular. Bella waited for him to calm down, which wasn't long once Jasper neared and sent out waves of his soothing gift. Once his eyes closed and the empty can fell from his hands, Bella jumped from her window to join Jasper.
They ran wordlessly. It went without saying that Jasper would be coming with her. But they stuck to the roads instead of cutting through the woods and flitted across the trees to avoid being seen when crossing the streets. Bella followed his lead, and it had never failed her before. They waited together at the park entrance where the pavement ended and turned to a gravel trail, and it wasn't long before a truck pulled in.
Harry was driving and he helped Billy get out of the cab and into his wheelchair. Another man was in the backseat, a man with lines carved so deeply into his russet skin he looked like he belonged to the trees. The three men stood beside the truck, making no move to come any further.
They could smell it before they heard it. Rank, like a wet dog gone stale. Golden eyes peered through the woods, the familiar snarl turned up in a growl at the sight of Bella and Jasper.
The silence was broken by Jasper politely introducing himself, holding up a hand in a kind of wave to both parties as they simply stared at him.
"You said you've never hurt anyone," Billy said suddenly.
"Never," Bella promised emphatically. "You all seem to know an awful lot."
"What we want to know is what you intend to do in Forks."
Bella recoiled at the implication. "I intend on graduating from high school, spending time with Charlie and… and just live my life."
"You have no life," the other man said. His voice was deep but strong, powerful. She didn't recognise him, but saw how the others deferred to him. Even the wolf seemed to bow his head when the man spoke.
"I do," Bella argued, taking a step forward. Jasper touched her elbow in warning, and she took a deep breath that smelled only of dog. "I do," she repeated calmly. "I do have a life. I've been given a second chance at it, and I won't let anyone ever take it away from me again."
"You are dangerous," the old man said.
"That may be true, but I can't imagine a giant wolf running around La Push isn't as well."
"Sam would never hurt anyone," Billy said, but even Harry looked doubtful. Jasper sensed something deeper occurring, but Bella was only focused on the name used for the wolf. Sam? Sam? Like the boy Edward warned her about, the tall one with the dangerous eyes who stared at her on the beach. The one who revealed her secret to Edward and put him in unfathomable danger.
"I've never hurt anyone. Not from the moment I was changed. Not even when I could have."
"She hasn't," Jasper added. His presence seemed to swell, and all eyes turned to him. Bella saw then what he must have been, before she knew him. His chin was raised, shoulders squared. He was commanding. No one could dare not to listen to him. "I met Bella as a new vampire, we call them newborns. I don't know how much you folks know about our kind, but newborns are violent and impulsive, bloodthirsty creatures. Bella was about as sane as anyone I've ever met, and totally in control. I've never seen anyone like her."
Bella looked up at Jasper, smiling softly. But he was still staring at the men who insisted on keeping their distance.
"We hunt animals," Bella offered. "Not humans. It's why our eyes are this colour. Vampires who hunt humans, their eyes are red to reflect their diet. That's how you know."
They were silent. The wolf withdrew into the woods, but the men stayed still. Then, another human form emerged from where the wolf had been. Sam, shirtless and wearing only a tattered pair of shorts. His skin seemed to glow in the moonlight, his sharp muscles rippled dangerously.
"You are not to enter Quileute lands," he said. His voice was low but clear, and Bella nodded in agreement. "You are never to harm a human. If you do, you will violate the agreement we are making here tonight, and I will hunt you down and bring justice to the world."
"I can abide by that," Bella said. "As long as you all never tell anyone about what I am, what we are. Not even Charlie."
Billy seemed to object, but Sam nodded. "We agree."
