Twilight Moon (1)

Chapter 1 - LaPush

I clenched my hands into fists, Kids like me?

"Your Uncle Tristan is a wonderful man, I've met him before, he's not a stranger to parenting, he had a son before. Your cousin." I didn't reply, just let out a single nod. "You'll be taken care of splendidly." He sat back, contented with his little speech, thankfully, there were only a couple of minutes left in the car ride. The driver stopped in front of a modest two-storey bungalow with a little pebble path leading up to the door, there was a terrace in front, with a couple of chairs and a coffee table. A car was parked next to the house under a little roof.

"Wait in here, Neveah," Mr Welder shut the door behind him and walked smartly up the steps pressing the bell for two long seconds. I looked at my reflection in the car window and combed through my hair quickly using my fingers, my eyes looked red and tired, so I rinsed them a little with a couple of drops from my water bottle. The front door opened and I saw Mr Welder greet someone and shake hands, they both talked for a bit, their voices soft murmurs through the car window. Mr Welder suddenly turned around and beckoned me over, I got out cautiously immediately enveloped in cold air, it cleared my head a bit better and I walked up the path cautiously.

"Neveah, this is your Uncle Tristan." Mr Welder introduced me, Tristan was a tall smiley man with caramel-coloured skin just like Sarah. He had dark curly hair and a set of dimples, he held out his hand for me to shake.

"It's so great to finally meet my niece, Neveah?"

"Yes that's right, I'm sure you'll take great care of her," He patted me on the shoulder. "Right, goodbye Neveah, I'll come to check up on you soon." he walked down the path and left me standing alone with my stranger uncle.

"Come on inside, Neveah," He gestured so that I should follow him. Tristan's house was small simple and cosy, to the left was a door which led to the kitchen and to the right, an open living room with a fireplace and an unwrapped Christmas tree. Down a little further was a staircase, above the kitchen which he went up, I followed him upstairs, there were three more doors.

"That's my bedroom," he pointed to the door furthest down the hall, "that's the bathroom," he pointed to the door next to his room, "and that's your room." He opened the last door. The walls were painted a deep turquoise colour, there was a super single bed with a white bed frame, a matching bedside table, desk and chair set and one wooden cupboard. There was a wide windowsill bench with a collection of second-hand pillows overlooking Tristan's front yard and the edge of the forest.

"It was Matthew's room before. My son, but he won't mind you using it." Tristan nodded at the walls "Sue and some of the other mother's helped me get the decorations, to pretty it up a bit. The pillows and drapes..." He lapsed into silence waiting for me to say something. We stood there awkwardly before he turned to leave.

"I'll let you get settled then," Tristan placed my suitcase on the floor and left the room swiftly. It was nice to be alone, it had been the first time in weeks since I had been left alone. I picked up my luggage, opening it up to unpack, there wasn't much, just some clothes and a picture frame of Sarah and me on the beach, painful memories that I had tried to forget about suddenly overflowed and I had to sit down, I hugged the picture frame to my chest and sobbed, rocking myself back and forth.

I remembered that day so clearly, the day when everything came shattering down, it was a Wednesday night, I was in the car, waiting for Sarah to come back from her jobs, she never told me what they were, but I wasn't daft, I knew what she did. I'd smelled all the alcohol on her dresses, I'd seen her come home with strange old men, I'd seen all the Levonorgestrel packets in the bin, I'd hear her vomit late at night in the bathroom, I'd heard her cry. 

I knew, but I kept my mouth shut, because pretending was so much more easier than facing the truth.

It was getting late, super late and super cold, and so I fell asleep, in the corner of the car seat, huddling under Sarah's sweater trying to stay as warm as possible. The cold was unbearable, but I stayed huddled underneath, even so, I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew, the car window was smashed open. Loud sirens blared into the car and I shivered.

"Sarah?" I asked teeth chattering, I was hauled out by strong hairy arms, arms that were not Sarah's. I was placed onto a hard surface where strange unfamiliar hand reached out to feel my pulse, my forehead, my neck. I was scared, I struggled to get out and fell to the hard concrete ground.

Flashing red and blue lights, men and women voices speaking urgently over each other, the hands grabbed me under my arms again, scooping me up, but I wasn't having it. I wriggled loose and ran.

"Sarah!" I yelled, running away from the noise, hands reached towards me, trying to grab me but missing me by inches. "Sarah! Help!" And then I saw her, wearing her skimpy black dress, her brown ringlets loose around her caramel shoulders and framing her face, she was crying and her mascara ran under her eyelids.

"Sarah!" she turned to face me and I ran straight into her outstretched arms. She rocked me back and forth, and for a moment. We were safe, I was safe in her arms, she whispered sweet nothings into my hair, while I inhaled her rose perfume.

"You're freezing," she murmured, she untied her red sweater from her waist and draped it over my shoulders before pulling me back into a hug. But she wasn't fast enough, the hard hairy hands found me again and pulled me away from my mother.

"No!" I screamed, fighting back, I tried to run, but this person picked me up, my hurling fists doing nothing to hurt them. "Sarah! Mama!"

"That's my baby! Don't take her!" I heard her yell "Neveah! I love you! I love you!"

"I love you!" I yelled back, I was back on the hard surface, they wrapped me in a big blanket and a hot water bottle slid in. I was strapped down, so I felt for all the world like a giant cocoon.

"Sarah..." I sobbed the whole drive. When the ambulance people tried to soothe me, I would yell at them and try my best to shake myself out of the blanket. I couldn't believe that within one night, I had lost everything I ever knew and ever loved.

They tracked Tristan down using my baby photos, I was discharged from the hospital the next day and I had to stay in a girls' home for three days before everything was arranged for me to go and live with Tristan. The home was alright, but it was so full and noisy, you could never get a quiet moment alone, I was relieved when I was told to go and pack my bags, and that I would be staying with my uncle.

So here I was four days later in LaPush with my uncle whom I never met, Sarah had grown up here too, which most likely meant that I had family here too, a side of the family that Sarah never liked to talk about. When I finally regained myself, I went into my bathroom, it was white, and cream, pretty and fresh. I splashed water onto my face and seeing how grubby and bedraggled I looked, decided to take a shower. The warm water felt good on my skin, it helped me regain myself and wake me up better. I rinsed off the remaining soap suds and stepped out of the shower, towelling myself dry with one of the big, fluffy, soft towels hanging on a metal rack. I changed into a clean set of clothes just as Tristan called my name for lunch.

He had ordered in Chinese takeout,I picked at my noodles trying to un-clump them from each other while Tristan tried to make conversation with me.

"You're sixteen now, right? Sophomore year, am I correct?"

I nodded. Tristan had realised that if he asked questions that required multiple choice answers or long explanations, I wouldn't answer, maybe murmur a bit but not give a proper answer. But yes and no questions worked well. He watched me pick at my noodles, then sighing, he picked up both of our boxes and tossed them into the bin. With nothing to do, I stared at the wood tabletop.

"Neveah, look at me," said Tristan, he cupped his hand around my chin tilted my face so that I should look at him. I looked directly into his chocolate brown eyes. "I want you to know that you aren't the only one upset about this. Your mother is my sister, she's my first best friend, I hope that this situation gets better, but wouldn't Sarah want you to be happy while she's away?"

I hated to admit it, but what Uncle Tristan said made sense. Sarah wouldn't want me to be distressed over her while she was locked away in a rehabilitation centre.

Tristan dropped his hand from my face and got up to start washing the forks and cups.

"So there's a party down at La Push beach tonight. We could go, it'd be a nice way to introduce you to the neighbourhood, what do you say?" He asked without turning to face me.

"Yes," I replied softly, but I knew that he had heard me.