Chapter 11
A groan left my lips as I awoke to a pounding in my head and dull pain in my back.
"Billie Jean is not my luvaa" A hoarse voice sung off key with laughter. I lifted my body into a sitting position on the sad excuse of a bed, that I had been put to rest on, and glanced around at my surroundings. My jaw went slack at the sight of the three barred walls that surrounded me. "She's just a hoe, while I was da one." My head slowly turned to the direction the terrible noise came from, only to find a drunk guy on the other side of the bars, to my right. He was leaning against the metal bars for support and laughed to himself. My lip lifted into a sneer as I turned away from him.
"Billie? Billie!" I growled at the mans persistent outburst.
"Shut up" I seethed in response, my voice dripping with venom. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a drunken idiot. He went quiet for a moment, as I presumed my words slowly seeped into his mind and then processed.
"You are a feisty one," He commented with a disturbing smile, "I like that." I cringed and turned away from him, my eyes resting on the concrete wall opposite my holding cell. The guy barked out a drunken laugh, which led to a string of coughs. I scrunched my nose up with disgust and assessed his appearance. He wore a cheap-looking trench coat and dirty, torn jeans. His facial appearance didn't do him any favours either, perhaps it was the lack of care to hygiene and alcohol consumption that contributed to the waste of life in his eyes.
"Billie Jean is ma luvaa, she is a hoe, that I like to--" I sped to the bars and grasped his shirt, pulling his body into the bars. The sound of his head hitting the metal bars echoed into the cells and made me smirk.
"WEST!" A sharp deep voice yelled. My head snapped in the direction it came from and my eyes set on a Forks police officer that stood beside Sam and Paul. Great. "Let him go." Sam didn't seem impressed and Paul looked worried. I wondered just how much trouble Paul got into for keeping my secret from his pack brothers.
"Billie Jean is feisty" The guy mumbled in a sing-song voice.
"Let go of him, West" The police officer repeated with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest uninterested in the petty disagreement.
"Fine" I muttered and pushed him back, watching as he stumbled back and fell onto his butt with a thud.
"Ow, Billie" The man cried, spreading himself out onto the floor miserably.
"Open Cell 21!" The officer yelled. My cell doors creaked open with effort.
"What did I do to get arrested?" I asked, stepping out cautiously and approached the officer.
"You stole from a local supermarket," The officer informed me. "Shoplifting was the first charge and then you ran from the police before you collapsed."
"Oh."
"Sorry for any trouble, officer. I'll take her home now" Sam said, strangely calm for the situation. But as soon as I looked him in the eyes I could see how angry he was and knew I was going to get a lecture and a half when we were alone. Throughout the exchange, Paul remained silent.
"Not a problem, Sam, keep an eye on her though. I don't want to see you back here" The officer directed that comment at me and his hand lifted to shake Sam's hand. Sam nodded in agreement. We left the building and stepped into the cold air, making me shiver from the abrupt change in temperature. Paul stepped closer to me and went to reach out to offer me some of his warmth, but I sped up and slid into Sam's truck.
The trip from Forks Police station to Emily's home was silent. I could tell Paul had wanted to say a hundred things over the course of the trip, but every time he opened his mouth to say something, he closed it again. Sam, on the other hand, knew there was only one thing he was going to say to me and waited until he turned the ignition off to say it.
"Think of yourself as on probation now and when you walk into that house, you stand five feet from Emily at all times. You betrayed our trust and inflicted pain on my pack, my family and that won't forgive you instantly for that, just so you are aware" Sam informed me sternly. My head dropped with shame.
"Yeah, okay" I nodded and waited for one of them to get out of the truck so that I could get inside and clean up. It didn't surprise me when Emily looked over at me with disappointment in her eyes, before turning back to the pot on the stove. I wasn't expecting a hug and kiss on my return, particularly because of all the pain I had caused, but her reaction had hurt me nonetheless.
I raced up to the bathroom and jumped into the shower, simply to get under the warm water that I knew would relax my tense muscles. My back appreciated the soothing water from the terrible bed that I was forced to sleep on over night. After cleaning myself up, I walked into my room, with only a towel around my body and almost bumped into Paul.
"Paul?" He turned to me and swallowed.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly, lifting his warm hand to my arm comfortingly.
"I'm fine" I shrugged in response and stepped around him.
"Sam might send you back to Australia, you know?" Paul informed me. I turned to him not expecting to see such sadness and worry in his eyes. It was a similar look Dustin had given me when I told him my mother had arranged for me to spend some time across the globe with family friends. I paused before nodding.
"That was the original plan" I mumbled, rummaging through my drawers for undergarments and comfortable clothes. He rubbed the nape of his neck with a frown.
"Is it still the goal? To do something so bad that you'd be sent back to Australia" Paul wondered and I didn't answer his question straightaway. My eyes closed and I was glad my back was to him so he couldn't see the shame and embarrassment in my eyes.
"It was just something to entertain myself with," I begun and then mentally wanted to slap myself. I sounded like such a terrible person who couldn't give a care in the world for those who took me in and made me feel welcome in a place that was completely foreign to me. "But, I regret going about it the way I did. I should never have threatened to hurt Emily or Kim just to continue playing the game and I should never have attacked you guys to hold onto my pride and my stupid secret." I turned to him, showing him the remorse in my eyes and felt them welling with tears.
"Can you tell that to Sam?" Paul asked, desperately and stepping closer to me. "I don't want him to send you back!" I sighed and rubbed my arms. This is not what was supposed to happen. The plan went sideways quickly and then fell apart all at once. Now, I had to pick up the pieces and clean up the mess I made.
"Sam can decide on his own." With that response, Paul nodded with defeat and left me to get changed.
I woke up to my alarm for school the next morning and got ready slowly. My actions were dragged out and sluggish. School was the last place I wanted to be. Sam sat at the head of the table when I went downstairs and turned to me with hard eyes. He reached forward and pushed the chair beside him out a little bit before ordering me to take a seat. With his back straight and his eyes alert, ready to act if needed, he informed me that he was contemplating sending me back to Australia for my actions, but in the meantime I was expected to attend school. The entire time Emily shuffled around the kitchen with a gloomy expression, not at all chiming in her opinion or comments like the other mornings. I nodded in understanding and was driven to school by Paul. I thought the whispering was bad when I first got here, now it just got worse.
"She apparently got arrested" one whispered to her friend as I passed their group.
"Probably got messed up on drugs like the rest of Sam's cult" another assumed. I felt my jaw tighten in anger, hearing all the accusations and not being able to defend myself.
"Kira, ignore them" Paul advised in a low voice and then turned the corner to head to his locker. Taking his advice, I wordlessly approached my locker and opened it, stepping back when a paper fell out. I frowned and bent down to pick it.
Kira,
Let's talk? Forest, by the car park. 3rd Period.
-Paul
I rolled my eyes. He had plenty of opportunities to talk to me and now he wanted to be mysterious about it all. This didn't make sense. Perhaps, talking in the forest rather than a crowded place offered him the safety net of shifting in case he lost his tempterp. My brow lifted as I read the note and pulled out my phone from my pocket. I pressed Paul's contact name and brought the phone to my ear.
"Kira? What's wrong?" His worried voice asked through the phone. She frowned. Why did he sound so worried?
"Nothing, what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked, blocking my other ear to hear him over the loud conversations around me.
"What do you mean?" He asked slowly, with obvious confusion. I frown down at the note.
"What are you doing period three?" I questioned him.
"Uh...I have English. Why?" He asked, genuine confusion in his tone.
"Never mind. We should catch up at lunch, yeah?" I asked. He paused.
"Of course, see you then." They hung up and her eyes narrowed at the note. Fool me once; shame on you, fool me twice; shame on me. I didn't like to be shamed and played with. My money is on Hilary and if she thanks she can fool me twice...she has another thing coming.
When that time came I looked out the hallways to see if it was busy, however I was only met with the occasional teen walking by every so often. When the coast was clear I sped through the halls and exited the building, jogging into the forest behind the track field. Running into a sprint I circled around to the forest that would be out by the car park and slowed down, keeping my eyes out for Hilary and her stupid bat and brainless minions.
Suddenly I shiver rushed through me body, it was as though a cold gust of wind had passed through me. I looked behind me, and was met with a fist that felt like titanium, sending me into a slumber. So much for my not being shamed twice, Kira.
...
My eyes opened to the calming sound of waves crashing onto the shore line. I sat up on the black towel and frowned in confusion at the sight around me. Why had they taken me to First Beach? This place was difficult to conceal anyone with it's open space. I attempted to stand up, but my legs felt like they hadn't been used in days, weeks even, and buckled beneath me the moment I threw my body weight onto them. I expected a hard landing against the ground and shut my eyes, but instead I was enveloped into a warm embrace.
"Whoa, careful there" A familiar voice muttered, gently placing me back on the towel. My eyes opened and met the beautiful eyes of Paul Lahote and in a rush of emotions, my arms wrapped around his neck tightly. "Can't breathe!" He laughed.
"Sorry" I mumbled sheepishly, pulling away from him. This was not what I was expecting.
"Don't be sorry. Is everything alright?" He asked, sitting down beside me with his brows furrowed in confusion.
"No! I think Hilary kidnapped me and...did you find me and bring me here?" I wondered, eyes looking around for the culprit.
"Hilary? As in Hilary...from my senior year?" He asked, confused heavy in his tone.
"Uh...yeah. She really does not like me" I mumbled with a roll of my eyes and looked around me, still confused.
"From what I know, she is dead" He told me. My head snapped to his with surprise, nearly giving me whiplash, and my frown deepened.
"Dead?" I exclaimed. She hadn't heard anyone in the halls say anything about the star student being killed. Who had it been then? Whose face had she seen for a moment before blacking out?
"Yes, dead," Paul repeated slowly. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"This makes no sense, Paul" I mumbled, before suddenly feeling a strange shift around me.
...
I woke up to an odd sensation on my neck and craned my head to see Hilary's face. However, she looked different. Her skin was pale and flawless, not a single blemish in sight. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders softly, appearing full of life and springy. Hilary's eyes answered all my questions when I set my sights on them. Her lips curved into smirk as she pulled back.
"You just smell precious" She grinned, pushing my hair over my shoulder.
"There was no way to make that sound sane" I grumbled and pulled at my arms, only to notice they had been tied to the chair behind my back. I leant forward as much as I could and tugged at my legs, but they too appeared to be tied to the leg chairs with a serious amount of rope.
"I've found hunting for my food to be so much more entertaining than going to the supermarket, wouldn't you agree, baby?" Hilary declared, and stretched out her hand. My eyes glanced over at the jock, whose name was Rick, and had been one of the minions that held me while Hilary hit me with that baseball bat last time. I, too, sent him a sneer. He wrapped his hand in hers and nodded silently. Simply agreeing to her. He didn't seem as...passionate as Hilary did, in fact he looked rather sad. Hilary didn't seem to notice her partner in crime's lack of enthusiasm and grinned with pride.
"You really should support the agriculture industry," I mumbled pulling at the ropes around my legs, attempting to assess how tight they were before glancing down to see if I could determine what kind of knot was used. "They work pretty hard."
"You aren't as afraid as the last one was...why is that?" Hilary seemed confused. I snapped my head up to meet her bewildered glance. She had already killed someone?
"I know what you are, Hilary. I know the reason why your eyes are a vivid shade of red. Perhaps the last person was fortunate enough to not know that this life exists. Besides, you really should be careful about your hunting hobby here in La Push" I warned her with a grin. She didn't seem to appreciate that I had the upper hand--well, sort of, I was still tied to a chair. But she realised that we were on the same page, but little did she know I was a couple of pages ahead. It seemed like she had no clue about the pack.
"How do you know? You aren't one!" Hilary cried out.
"Thank god" I mumbled, not missing the look of agreement that crossed Rick's dead eyes. Hilary huffed with defiance.
"You have no idea how great this feels! A bullet won't stop me, a truck couldn't kill me and most of all, as your skin ages and turns wrinkly...mine will forever remain flawless. Who wouldn't want that?" She questioned.
"Me," I replied honestly. "It's not natural to live forever. Everyone you were born with will die and you will have no one. This world is only so big, the first century or two may be fun and exhilarating, but then what happens when you've done it all? Then, you have to worry about keeping the secret. You'll have to move every fifty odd years to make sure no one notices that you aren't ageing beyond eighteen. You will always be on the run disguised as an adventure. That sounds like torture to me." Hilary's mask broke and the look of distaste on her face seemed to contrast the undeniable beauty of her perfected features.
"Oh, shut up!" Hilary exclaimed exasperated. She threw her arms up and paced before me.
"It's the truth" I responded. She turned to me.
"I haven't quite learnt to control myself yet, but Rick, on the other hand, seems to be a master at it..." Hilary grinned, stepping closer to my tied up body. "Rick, baby, you hungry?" Rick wordlessly stepped behind me and ran his cold skin over the crook of my neck. I shivered, attempting to wriggle out of his grasp.
"This might hurt, I'm sorry" He mumbled so quietly, I almost missed it. However, I did not miss the pain the coursed through my veins when he teeth messily bit into my neck.