Purple Sky by A. Teller (unputdownable books .TXT) 📕

"Promise me you won't have discussions with my family under my nose?" I asked firmly.

“Deal. But now you have to promise me something.”

“Depends on what it is,” I replied, smiling at my quick thinking.

“Okay, well, you have to promise me that you’ll be sleeping at my house for Christmas.”

“Deal,” I said, without contemplation. We made our promises, and we shook on it. I always spent Christmas with my family, so this would be a change. I needed change. And since it was December now, Christmas would come soon enough.

 5 days before Christmas…

“Nessie, where’s the pink sparkly ornaments?” Rose called from the living room. She was decorating the tree, and she had to add pink.

It was a week before Christmas, the happiest week of our “lives.” Our family was never more together then at Christmas time. We always felt more human at Christmas time. It was Rosalie’s favorite time of year.

“There in the closet Rose. Next to the tinsel,” I called from the kitchen. Rose was getting all of our decorations out, her second favorite thing to do. Of course, she and Alice always had to fight over the decorations, but during this time, no one stayed angry at anyone. It was amazing. Emmett brought the tree into the house. It was huge, as always. We always picked our own tree from the woods every year. As Rose hung decorations, me and my mother made a ton of cookies for the wolves. They were the only ones that ate them, after all. Obviously, I couldn’t leave the wooden spoon unattended, so that was my job. While I licked the dough covered spoon, Emmett locked the tree in place and Rose began decorating. Rosalie’s favorite thing to do, above all else, was baking and cooking. That’s probably the only reason she tolerates the wolves presence at Christmas. She said cooking and baking made her feel motherly. Happy.

“Ooh! Ooh! Let me do the tinsel for the tree! Please?” Alice begged Rose. Rosalie smiled warmly (which was a nice change) at her childish voice, and nodded. She squealed and grabbed the tinsel with her lightning speed, covering the tree it the strips of shiny plastic. Rose began placing every ornament ever so delicately on the tree. My father played on his piano at Christmas time. He said the time of year was his “inspirational atmosphere.” Musicians…

Esme, Alice and Rose continued covering the tree in everything they could. Me and my mother finished our sixth batch of a dozen cookies. Carlisle spent a lot of time at the hospital, attending to the holiday injuries. I wondered what could happen at a hospital during Christmas, besides expectant mothers giving birth.

“I smell cookies!” I heard Seth yell from outside. Jake, Seth and Nate came inside. Seth and Nate dove right in, biting the still soft cookies that had not yet cooled. Their eyes suddenly widened, and they rushed to the sink. The cookies were still really hot. Jake came to give me a hug, but I couldn’t help but laugh and Seth and Nate’s foolishness.

“Of course. We make cookies, you come running,” I said to Jake. He rolled his eyes.

“I got you something,” he said, holding out a little charm. It looked like a bracelet charm. It was an ornament shape, with the little metal top that connected with one of the links that attach to a chain. It was a jewel, sparkling and clear. It reminded me of a vampire’s skin.

“I love it,” I said quietly, almost speechless.

“It’s to commemorate your first Christmas with us,” he said, smiling.

I was boiling over in happiness, but Rose was unfortunately listening. She almost dropped the ornament she was holding. But with vampire agility, she placed the ornament back in the box and rushed to the kitchen where we stood. She eyed Jake with flames.

“What do you mean, with us?” she asked promptly. Jake and I looked at each other. Dammit, I’m sure we both thought at the same time.

“I made a promise to Jake. And that promise involved me, spending the night on Christmas Eve, and…uh…his house,” I cringed at the last part, speaking the last words through my teeth. I scratched my head uncomfortably.

Rosalie hissed in anger. Emmett was at her side in a flash, keeping her civil.

“But…you always spend Christmas with us Ness,” Emmett said. I couldn’t tell…was he trying to make me feel guilty, or was he really disappointed?

“I know. But I made a promise, and I think some change would be good. Besides, I’ll come home on Christmas day. I promise.”

Rose huffed and walked away. Emmett shrugged, telling me not to worry. But that’s what he always said. Jake put his hand on my shoulder as my father walked in. My muscles tightened as he turned to face me. Jake’s arm suddenly thickened with pressure.

“Why are you going to his house?” Edward asked calmly.

“I thought it was would be a nice change. You know, something different. Besides, I promised.”

He looked down, upset. But he looked up and smiled. “Just come home safe, okay?”

I ran over and hugged him tightly. “I will dad,” I whispered.

Jake had grabbed a cookie from the kitchen, after they’d cooled. Unfortunately, Seth couldn’t wait. But it was still funny. I laughed, and then coughed violently. Jake asked if I was okay, and I replied with yes. My dad smirked, knowing I was lying. But a quick angry glance kept him quiet.

For the past few days, I’d been coughed violently, and having a sore throat. I figured it was a simple cold, or allergies, since my human side could still be susceptible to illnesses. I was probably right anyway. It would pass…right?

We finished decorating the tree and the house. All around the roof and the porch, lights dazzled the place. I loved the lit house, and just looking at it made my heart go aflutter. Everyone was wearing regular, any day clothes, even though it was snowing. So I felt kind of dumb, me being the only one needing three jackets. I suddenly felt a cold blow to the back of my head. It went numb, and then turned to water in my hair. A snowball!

“Seth!” I screamed. He laughed at my red face, burning with a mix of embarrassment and anger. The snow melted off my hair, but I couldn’t let that go. My cheeks still filled with blood, burning against my skin.

“Aw, come on! Can’t take the heat!”

“No, can’t take the cold!” I yelled, throwing a snowball at him. It hit him right in the gut, but he was unscathed. The snowball turned to water, almost immediately evaporating. I through it like a baseball player, only 100 times more powerful. And yet, he simply smirked at my feeble attempt. Stupid werewolf perks…

Jake threw another snowball right at Seth. But Seth was quick this time, dodging the ball of hard fluff and sending it flying past him. We all froze as the snowball smashed into Edward’s face. He wiped the frozen slush off his face, and a smile grew across his face. He sent a snowball right into Jake’s face, and soon, everyone joined in. Snowballs flew everywhere at lightning speeds. The slush only melted on the werewolves’ faces, which I loved, since I hated wet. Our skin was too cold to make the ice melt. My core was warm, but my outer shell, my skin, was cold. As I got older, I became more vampire-like, what with my eyes changing to honey and my skin turning to ice. If I came in contact with warmth, I’d become warm on the outside too. But not for very long. The cold was always biting at me.

When we were finally done, Alice was quick to redecorate, since our glass-shattering snowballs had ruined many of our outdoor lights. Of course, her lecture of safety and respect for décor slipped away from us. I lay down on the couch, exhausted. Jake sat down next to me, tired as well. But something was off. Not right. He asked if I felt okay, but I shook my head. He sat up, assessing what I looked like. I suddenly lurched up, about to run to the bathroom. I felt as though little ice shards were stabbing my feet, legs, and stomach. But as I did, I plummeted to the ground. I couldn’t move my feet, and Jake was by my side in a matter of milliseconds. Air had retreated, and I gasped loudly.

“Nessie! Nessie, what’s wrong?” he demanded to know. I kicked off my boots to reveal blue, almost black, frozen feet beneath my socks. I shook in fear of my own feet. Alice shrieked, whether it be in disgust or fear for me.

“I…I can’t feel my feet!” I cried. And I couldn’t. I tried to move my toes. Nothing. I tried to stand, but I stumbled back down, as though the floor was made of ice. Would I lose my feet? What even brought this on? I tried to jump up again, but I fell backwards. Jake caught my head before it could slam onto the black, hardwood floor.

My sight was fading as Jasper and Emmett came to Jake’s side. Emmett carried me upstairs, and Carlisle brought the needles. I hate needles…

Carlisle began poking me with all kinds of syringes, filled with clear fluids and blue fluids and whatever else! I flinched at every poke, but Jake held my hand tight. It was the only part of my body that was warm. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and sudden exhaustion overcame me. I suddenly saw black, but my eyes were still cold. Still open. But I couldn’t see. I realized my eyes were probably rolling. The darkness covered, and I fell asleep, feeling Jake’s fiery hand try to shake me awake.

2 days before Christmas…

I shook uncomfortably. My head spun, even when my eyes were still closed tight. Once I finally willed them, my eyes flickered up to Jake, asleep, but still holding my hand. My fingers were sweating, burning even. But I didn’t pull away. Instead, I reached and grabbed my phone from the table next to me, and saw the two tubes attached to my arm. I tried to pull them out, but Jake grabbed my wrist before I could get a good grip on the neck of the plastic tube. A beeping sound was in the background, though I ignored it.

“Don’t