Chapter 45Sleepover
For the first time in a while, she didn't feel like she had to be anywhere else.
The wind picking up outside and the mix between the low rumbling thunder and the action movie's sudan explosions weren't enough to keep Bella from drifting off to sleep, her head falling back against the couch.
Jacob's voice was quiet but amused. "Okay, sleepyhead," he murmured, lifting her effortlessly. "Let's get you ready for bed."
He placed her down on his bed and handed her one of his shirts. Bella reached for it automatically, but the soft fabric against her fingers triggered something.
A memory. At the Cullens' house. She had just woken from a nap, still wrapped in the soft fabric of her borrowed pajamas. Edward had mentioned Charlie would be there soon to pick her up.
"Oh, alright. I'll just get changed." She moved to grab the clothes she had worn earlier, only they were gone.
"Hey, have you seen my…"
She turned, and realized she was alone. The bed was neatly made. On top, her folded jeans sat waiting. And a brand-new shirt. But not the one she had worn. Her stomach tightened. Bella scanned the room, searching. Jacob's shirt was gone.
A loud rumble of thunder rolled in the distance, shaking the thin walls of the house.
Leah tossed a pair of sweat shorts onto Bella's head. Bella grabbed them, eyeing them in confusion. "Where did you get women's shorts?"
"There mine." Leah smirked. "We stash clothes at each other's houses. It's a wolf thing. And yes I like you enough at this moment to share my dwindling amount of clothes with you. That might change in the morning."
Jacob turned, heading toward the bathroom. "Alright, you two change in here. I'll leave new toothbrushes out."
"Okay," Leah replied, already tugging her shirt over her head just as the bedroom door clicked shut behind Jacob.
Bella, used to changing in front of Alice and in the school locker room, thought nothing of it, until she heard Leah mutter, "Damn, you've got a lot of scars."
Bella froze. The air in the room shifted, a heaviness settling over her. She suddenly felt exposed. Leah's words weren't cruel, there was no mockery, no pity. Just blunt observation. And that was what unsettled her most. She forced a small hollow laugh. "Yeah, I'm kind of a magnet for disaster."
Leah didn't look convinced. Her sharp gaze flickered over Bella's arms, taking in the silvery lines that marred her skin, faint, but there. Reminders.
"No kidding," Leah muttered. She didn't ask. Didn't demand an explanation. But Bella could feel her piecing things together anyway.
Being part of her vampires world had its down side at least while she was still human it did.
A gust of wind sent rain pelting against the window, the sound filling the thick silence between them. Bella quickly yanked the too large shirt over her head, as if covering the scars could erase the weight of Leah noticing them. "I'm just really clumsy," she added, forcing her voice to stay light.
Leah huffed but let it go. "Whatever you say, Swan." But there was something suspicious in her expression.
Bella let out a slow breath, her chest tight. The scars had been there long enough that she rarely thought about them. Alice had seen them. But she pretended they didn't exist., like if she ignored them hard enough, they'd disappear. Jacob hadn't seen most of them. Just the bite on her hand; the only one he'd ever commented on.
Leah didn't ignore the scars. She didn't ask questions. She didn't offer sympathy. She just saw her. And Bella wasn't sure why, but that was almost worse.
They settled in for the night. Leah and Bella sharing the bed, Jacob stretched out on a blanket on the floor. Another gust of wind made the window creak slightly. The storm only seemed to grow worse. Rain pounded the roof, and the occasional flash of lightning illuminated the room. Bella let her eyes fall closed. Then, suddenly, she was shoved out of the bed. She barely had time to yelp before landing directly on top of Jacob, the warmth of his body jolting her fully awake.
"Leah!" Bella hissed, mortification burning through her.
Leah, completely unbothered, stretched across the entire bed like a satisfied cat. "There's no room in this tiny-ass bed for both of us."
A gust of wind made the window rattle violently. Bella glared. "You're smaller than Jacob! We fit fine."
Leah smirked. "Yeah, that's because you two sleep wrapped up in each other like ivy vines tangled around a tree."
Bella froze, face burning. Jacob just snorted. "Huh. Guess that makes me the tree." A roll of thunder shook the house, vibrating through the floor beneath them. He patted the space beside him. "Come on, Bells. You can fight with her in the morning."
She hesitated. This is a mistake, she thought again. Outside, wind howled through the trees, rain hammering against the roof in relentless waves. But Jacob was warm. Steady. And she was exhausted. she let herself settle beside him.
In the dark, his voice was quiet thoughtful. "We always fit just right."
Bella swallowed thickly, listening to the storm rage outside. She curled in closer and whispered, "Goodnight, Jake."
The wind howled around her as the storm intensified, sending shivers down her spine. But Bella wasn't outside. She was standing in front of Riley's mother. The woman's face was etched with grief, every line carved deep with sorrow. Her hollow eyes reflected a broken soul, their emptiness pressing down on Bella like a suffocating fog.
The silence stretched thick and heavy, broken only by the distant sound of wind whistling through unseen trees, the eerie groan of something shifting in the dark. Then, Riley's mother's face twisted like something inside her had cracked. A shudder ran through her, a tremor that seemed to ripple beneath her skin. Then, she began to change.
Flesh warped and stretched too far, as though something beneath it was pushing, pulling, trying to break free. Her features twisted into something wrong, shifting and distorting, unable to hold it's shape. Like her body was fighting itself. Yet, through it all, her eyes never changed. Still hollow. Still haunted. Still staring straight through her.
They locked onto Bella's, unblinking, as if they could pierce her soul. The expression was one of such profound loss, Bella felt herself sinking deeper, caught in its pull. They saw through her. A shiver crawled down Bella's spine. She wanted to move, to step back, but her body wouldn't listen. And then, her face twisted again. Bella's stomach dropped. It was no longer Riley's mother. It was her. Her own reflection stared back at her, yet… not her. Her eyes were void of light. Her skin pale, lifeless. A shell of herself. A ghost.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating the horror for only a second before darkness swallowed it whole.
The storm grew louder, the wind screaming through the trees. Rain lashed against the ground, the pounding of it like footsteps rushing toward her. A pressure built in her chest, crushing, suffocating.
She couldn't breathe.
The reflection held her captive. Thunder cracked overhead, a sound so sharp it felt like it split her skull. Bella gasped, a sharp breath ripping from her throat as she bolted upright, heart hammering against her ribs.
The storm was real. Wind battered against the windows, rattling them in their frames. Rain poured relentlessly, drumming against the roof in a frantic, uneven rhythm. The room was dark, except for the occasional flicker of lightning that cast jagged shadows along the walls.
Jacob was right there with her. His voice was low, rough with sleep but laced with concern. "You okay?"
Bella pressed a hand to her chest, trying to slow her frantic breathing. "Yeah. I've just been having this recurring nightmare."
Jacob frowned, shifting onto his side, his warmth a grounding contrast to the storm raging outside. "You wanna talk about it?"
She shook her head quickly, her pulse still racing. "No."
A long pause stretched between them. Then Jacob exhaled softly, draping an arm over her shoulders, pulling her back down beside him. "Okay."
The thunder rumbled on, distant now, like the storm was retreating. She didn't say anything. Didn't feel the need to.
But this time, when she closed her eyes, the nightmare didn't return. Instead, a strange stillness settled over her, as if Jacob's presence had pulled her away from the darkness. The rain still pounded outside, the wind still howled, but inside this room, wrapped in his warmth, she let herself breathe. And for the first time in a long time, the storm didn't feel so overwhelming.