Nora flinched as heavy footsteps sounded from the stairs. Bella stumbled into the living room in all of her clumsy glory, falling onto the couch next to her as she fumbled to tie her shoes. Nora raised an eyebrow and sat up, placing her sketchbook on the table before giving Bella her undivided attention.
"Where's the fire, Bells?" Bella didn't answer and her face began to turn red with aggravation as she continued to struggle with her laces. Rolling her eyes, Nora lent forward and tied them for her, shushing her sister and waving her away when she began to protest. Bella secretly enjoyed her older sister caring for her like this-she used to do the same when they were kids.
"I just need to go and see Jacob, it's important." Bella mumbled, avoiding her sister's eyes as she looked at her in disbelief. Nora had made it perfectly clear how she felt about both Jacob and Edward. Bella knew she wouldn't be happy about this but after her nightmare last night she had to see if her theory was true. If Jacob was really a... werewolf then she deserved to know, he was her best friend-or at least he had been.
Nora exhaled shortly through her nose, grabbing her sketchbook and lounging back into the comfortable couch cushions, continuing where she left off like they hadn't just been talking. Bella looked at her with confusion shining in her brown eyes and Nora sighed as she felt her sister's unrelenting stare burrow into the side of her head.
"I'm not going to stop you, Bella. You're eighteen and you can do what you want. I still don't like him but dad would probably be happy to know that you're seeing Jacob, so I don't want to come across as the villain." She didn't look up from her drawing as she spoke, focused on getting all of the lines and shading right. Bella thanked her with a small smile before she walked quickly towards the door, grabbing her brown hoodie off the coat rack.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Nora called, her only answer being the slam of the door. Chuckling, she reached to grab her coffee off the table, reminiscing about how nice it was to have the house all to herself. Her dad was at work so he wouldn't be back for a while and she had no idea how long Bella's little mission was going to be. Looking down at her drawing her brows furrowed in confusion.
The silhouttes of three men decorated the page, with their faces left blank. She didn't even realize that she'd been drawing it. Her heart pulsed oddly and sent an aching pain through her body and she winced as it burned through her. Snapping the book shut she tossed it on the table-miraculously the pain faded.
'What the fuck was that?' She sat ramrod still for a moment, attempting to calm her racing heart.
This...this was a concerning new development. Something similar had only happened once before, when she was at college. A dream, it had been then. Only once. Never again, so she'd never really questioned it. She'd drawn the exact same image but, she had no idea what the hell it meant or who the hell the three men were—so she'd thrown it away and not thought about it since. She had brushed it off as some strange phenomenon but now there was this? Clearly it was more than that.
Oddly becoming tired, she decided she would think about it later. If it happened again, then there was cause for concern.
Humming in sudden exhaustion, she closed her eyes and sank into the coal coloured couch.
Her peace was ruined when her stomach growled, begging for food. Groaning, she slouched tiredly and procrastinated actually getting up. She downed her nearly cold coffee before she hauled herself up and headed to the kitchen to hunt for something to eat.
Opening the fridge she pouted disappointedly. It was mostly empty, filled with leftover takeout and the odd loose fruit and vegetable that were on their last legs.
'Okay. I guess I'm going shopping later.' She turned her nose up at the grim selection and was just about to give up, but her eyes lit up with joy as she saw something wrapped in tinfoil; she reached in and grabbed it, ripping the the foil off. She stared hungrily at the delicious chocolate fudge cake hidden inside.
It had been her 23rd birthday a couple of days ago and to be honest she hadn't even remembered, it had felt just like any other day to her. She'd gone out into town in the afternoon when her dad and Bella had kept suggesting it, treating herself to a coffee and a piece of cake before she had a slow drive back.
She didn't even suspect anything about their odd behaviour, content to just have some time to herself. When she'd gotten back the house had been dark, and she had called out for her dad and bella, screaming when the lights turned on and she was met with them yelling surprise. She'd stared in shock, looking at all of the banners and decorations, tearing up when she saw her favorite cake sitting on the living room table.
It was a small celebration, just sitting and enjoying each other's company with some crappy movies but it meant so much to her considering she spent her last birthday alone, depressed and hiding in her room from the world.
Finishing the cake quickly, boredom hit her like a truck. It was a strange thing-to go from being completely alone to constantly surrounded by people; now she could hardly stand it when she was by herself. This was when the bad thoughts normally crept up on her, she had no way of getting rid of them or stopping them most times. But she could always try. Unfortunately, today was one of the bad days.
'No! please please not today. Just distract yourself.' she thought nervously, leaving the kitchen and heading to her room. Chewing on her lip she winced as her thoughts grew louder; flashes of images passing through her mind, of a malicious grin hovering above her and a pair of black eyes staring into her own. She gasped and fell onto her bed when she reached her room, gripping her hair and squeezing her eyes shut tightly.
Bringing her knees to her chest she rocked back and forth, taking a deep breath in and holding it before letting it out slowly. She repeated this for about 10 minutes, tears collecting on her lashes. Eventually she felt herself begin to calm slowly but surely and she fell onto her side, staring out of her window to watch the world go by. Nature was always calming to her, especially the almost endless woods that surrounded forks.
Tears tracked down her face now and created a small patch on her gray pillow that she hugged to her chest. It was hard to snap herself out of these little episodes, she often felt catatonic when the memories hit her, plagued with the same horrid fear and disgust that had paralized her in the attack and all she could do, was sit and wait for it to pass.
She didn't remember falling asleep at all, but luckily for her it had been dreamless. Sitting up drowsily she checked the clock on her bedside table, disoriented from her long rest. It was 6pm, the sun that she could barely see through the dark sheet of clouds just beginning to set.
'Oh joy! Now I'll have to drive home in the dark. That's not terrifying at all.' Nora hated the dark, she wasn't sure why but it was something that had always unsettled her. Maybe it was not knowing what lurked in the shadows, she hated the unknown and the night was a mysterious enigma.
She blinked her eyes rapidly to clear them of the last remnants of sleep, getting up from her cozy and warm bed with a grouchy frown. She was never the happiest person when she first woke up, often getting teased by her dad for it. Pulling her mahogany wardrobe open she picked up her large black zip up hoodie and shrugged it on over her plum colored long sleeve top. She had debated wearing a skirt today but the cold climate wouldn't permit it so she settled on a pair of dark blue jeans.
Yanking on a random pair of converse, she grabbed her keys from her vanity and rushed to get out of the house as quickly as possible. 'If I move fast enough, maybe I can make it home before it gets dark.' It was childish-to be afraid of the dark. It was something she had tried to overcome but it always brought a chill to her when she thought about it.
She got to the store when it was still light, relief washing over her in pleasant waves. Unfortunately, by the time she'd finished her shopping it was close to 8; she was now driving along a deserted road in the pitch black, moving her eyes skittishly around her like some eldritch terror was going to jump out of the dark and swallow her whole.
She could have sworn she saw a flash of red among the trees, a stark contrast to the darkness of the night. Growing even more uneasy she sped up, ignorant of the cold blooded monster watching her, concealed in the hidden branches. She made it home just moments before her dad, her nerves forgotten when he smiled tiredly and came over to help her carry the bags in.
"Bella?" Her yell echoed through the house as they entered, dropping the bags on the floor to remove her hoody. The house was silent and dark and she received no response. Her brow creased with worry and she moved out of the way so her dad could pass her.
"She must still be with Jacob." Shrugging she followed her dad into the kitchen, grabbing him a beer when he slumped onto one of the wooden chairs. She unpacked the food, deciding a pasta bake would be easy and filling enough for everyone.
"She saw Jacob today?" He sounded surprised but pleased. He was clearly happy that Jacob was no longer ignoring Bella and she had to agree. Even if she didn't like him, Bella still needed friends and it sounded like Jake was a good one. Nodding she turned so she could talk to him.
"Yep. Went this morning to see him. I'm guessing things are going well, she would have come back by now if they weren't." He didn't respond, just nodded and his eyes began to droop. She giggled, grabbing another beer for him and slamming it on the table. He jumped and glared at her as she smiled innocently.
"Why don't you go watch some TV? When dinner's ready I'll bring it to you." He opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off, "You're exhausted, dad. I'll come in when everything's sorted. We can watch football or something, okay?" She promised, sliding his beer towards him. He got up and stopped by her, ruffling her hair.
"You're too good to me kiddo." He chuckled when she pushed his arm away and pouted at him, reclining on the couch and cracking open his beer, remembering when she would pout like that when she was a kid every time she didn't get her way.
She'd just put the dinner in the oven when she heard the front door open. She rushed toward the stairs where she could hear Bella trying to make a hasty retreat to her room.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going missy?" She crossed her arms and stared at her sister's back, amused when she froze like she was trying to be invisible and Nora thought it kind of reminded her of when someone tried avoiding the T-rex in Jurassic Park. She frowned, hoping that Bella didn't think she was as scary as that.
Bella turned to face her and Nora was unsettled for what felt like the millionth time that day by the expression on her face. She looked like she was overloaded and her brain was working overtime. Nora's suspicion at Bella's secretive behaviour grew stronger. 'What is she hiding now?'
"I was going to lay down. I'm uh, I'm just...really tired." Bella sounded dazed and confused and Nora felt concern niggling at the back of her mind.
"Well what happened? Are you and Jacob friends again? If he's hurt you or something I'll beat the shit out of—" She ranted, convinced that Bella's odd behaviour was a result of Jacob doing something.
"He didn't!" Bella interjected before her sister could get violent. "Honestly. We just had a really long talk about things, fixed up some bikes and then he dropped me off. That's it. I promise. It's just made me tired, that's all."
"Okay, well as long as you're sure. Do you want something to eat at least?" Nora conceded for Bella's benefit. She could see the subject was beginning to irritate her and she really didn't feel like fighting her. 'I'll get it out of her eventually.'
"No, I'm good. It smells great, but I'm fine, thanks Nora." They exchanged tense smiles and Bella turned and headed up the stairs, fidgeting with her hands until she was out of sight.
Nora tutted in frustration as she stormed into the living room and plonked herself down next to her dad, who threw his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug.
'Why can't she just tell me what's wrong?'
Worrying her lip between her teeth, Nora was past caring about the small droplets of blood that collected on the small cut she'd made, staring blankly at the tv.
'Stop worrying. Everything will be fine, you'll see.' Try as she might she failed to convince herself, the strong feeling of foreboding did nothing to ease her racing heart as she finally thought back to the drawing and the three faceless men, who haunted her mind for the rest of the night.