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

“Jake, please. Don’t leave me again..."

“Nessie, when Seth got hurt, I thought that what happened to him could happen to you. I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt. Or worse. I wouldn’t live with myself. I wouldn’t live at all.”

“Jake, you left Seth alone to be with me. I know you, and I know you wouldn’t leave my side. But for the past few days, I’ve been wrong.”

He looked down at the ground, embarrassed. But I put my hand on his face, and he looked up.

“Jake, you can’t be afraid of what might happen, or you spend your life in fear. Or let me spend my life without you in it.”

He looked at me in his own, curious way. “I’m not scared of life. I‘m scared of what I‘ll do in life.”

“Jake, don’t leave me like that ever again. Or I will positively hurt you,” I said, punching him lightly, though there was force behind it. He smiled, and hugged me tightly.

“I will never leave you again. I promise,” he replied, flashing his special, Jacob-y smile. Daniel walked through the hallway, and poked his head in the room.

“Jake, we’re all going to Thom's place. You in?”

Jake looked at me, and smiled.

“We’re in,” he answered. He looked at me, smiling. But I was confused. As usual.

“We? As in, me too?

“Can you handle it?” I heard Chris add in. I couldn’t see him, so he was probably in the kitchen.

“Yeah, I mean…I think so.”

Jake smiled, and looked at me again. This time, it was an overlook.

“Did you bring clothes that are…not so tattered?” he joked. The shoe was on the other foot for once.

“Yes, I did, thank you very much. I’ll be right back.”

“Which means, give her like thirty minutes,” Jake said, and laughed.

“Shut up,” I called from the bathroom. I suddenly realized that, by tomorrow, I’d only have one day to get back.

“Jake, I can’t,” I said, leaving the bathroom without changing.

“Why not?” he asked, more concerned than upset.

“I told my family I’d be back in five days. This is my fourth day. I’d have to leave by tonight if I’m ever going to make it.”

“How about this. You go with us to Thom's, and we’ll go home by airplane tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I agreed. My voice was a little high, but that was only because of the excitement.

“She does eat, right?” I heard Daniel say through the walls. They must have been talking about me.

“Of course she eats!” Jacob defended.

“Well, I just wanted to know. After all, people are gonna notice a little, pale girl in a group of big, tan wolves.” More like body guards, I thought.

“You’re flattering yourself a little too much, Danny,” Chris said.

I heard a thud, and I figured Jake punched Daniel. But it couldn’t have been one of Jake’s face crushing punches. He was just playing around. I put on a dark blue tee shirt and black jeans. I added little, black gem earrings. I had to have something that sparkled. I brushed my hair out quickly, making sure to get all the twigs and things out of it. When I got outside, Jake was sitting on a borrowed motorcycle, ready to go. He was always waiting for me, which made me feel guilty sometimes. I never liked it when people had to wait for me. I didn’t feel it was really fair.

“You look…wow,” was what I think he said. It seemed like he was tripping over his tongue.

“Thanks. You look wow, too.”

He smiled, embarrassed, as I hopped on the bike. Matt was a mechanic geek too, just like Jake. So he let us borrow his bike. It was much sleeker than Jacob’s work.

“So, where is Thom's?” I asked.

“It’s really cool. It’s where a lot of us though. Just to warn you.”

“Warn?” I asked sarcastically.

“I just want you to be careful. The guys that are there…aren’t just guys…”

“Werewolf guys?” I asked.

Jake scoffed a little. “Yeah,” he admitted. "Almost forty of them actually..."

I felt my breath retreat into my mouth. It sounded like a gasp.

“I’m not leaving your side,” he assured. I sighed, feeling instantly warmer.

“I’d be offended if you did,” I smiled, and hugged him tighter as we sped down the road. After about ten minutes, I caught a smell in the air. Water.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing to a small, glowing house in the distance.

“That’s Thom's house,” Jake replied.

We pulled up just when the sun disappeared and the moon started rising. There were about thirty or forty heartbeats I could hear. I suddenly felt nervous, but Jake held my hand. Tight.

“It’s okay. They won’t bite,” he assured me. I cocked my head to the side and raised my eyebrows.

“Hey, Jacob!”

One of the guys from the house ran outside to meet us. He paused a few feet away, noticing me standing behind Jake. I was actually, kind of, scared. He slowed his tread, kind of unsure. He walked cautiously, which made me feel a bit guilty. But I had to remind myself, I’m different here.

He was much taller than Jake, but had the same muscle tone. His hair was dark brown, long and in a bun, and his skin was a lighter shade of Jacob’s. He had piercing, almost neon green eyes. But his smile made him less intimidating. More friendly.

“Renesmee, this is Thom. Thom, this is Nessie,” Jacob introduced.

“Hi Renesmee,” Thom said, smiling as best he could. “So, Jake? She’s…uh…”

“Yeah. I’m the half-vampire girl,” I answered for him.

“Sorry Renesmee, I just…”

“No, I get it. And you can just call me Nessie. Jake says my full name is too long.”

Jake smiled along with Thom. “Well, come on in guys, there’s plenty of room.” I took only two steps before Jacob reeled me back to his side.

“Nessie,” he whispered. “If you get too uncomfortable, just squeeze my hand, okay?”

“Sure Jake. Does that come with a kid‘s meal?” I asked sarcastically.

He smiled, but he turned a little serious for a second. “Nessie, I just want to be careful.”

“Jake, I’m fine. Please, just don’t worry. Promise me you won’t?” I asked.

“Nessie, let the record show, I can never promise to be calm about your safety. Ever.” His voice was stone serious.

I smiled annoyingly, but I accepted. “Fine,” I allowed.

We walked in through the house. It was dark, with strobe lights and glowing lanterns everywhere. Everyone looked kind of similar, dark hair and russet skin, like Jacob. They all looked at me as we walked. Of course, the one pale girl with chocolate eyes and an abnormal heart rhythm is obviously gonna stand out. I wondered how many were werewolves, and how many were human. The wolves had some girlfriends here and there, but the smell of wolf stink was overwhelming. I knew Leah was the only female werewolf in history, so I figured most of the girls, if not all, weren’t werewolves. I was somewhat scared, and walked slightly tilted to Jake. He chuckled.

“People are staring,” I whispered.

“No. That guy…oh, never minded,” he said. I rolled my eyes at Jake’s teasing, but he was funny. I couldn’t help but at least giggled once or twice at his humor.

We moved out to the lakeside. There was sand, which surprised me. I was expecting rocks and dirt. But there was dark, gray colored sand, like the sand back at La Push. It reminded me of home, the way the sand was so cool at night and the way the waves flowed on to the sand. There was a porch outside with lights attached to the roof, and there were about twenty or thirty people dancing to the music. We sat down right in front of the water.

“Hey guys! You coming?” they called.

Suddenly, that painfully familiar strong sting hit me. The back of my throat screamed at me, but I held back the instinctive hiss. I lurched forward, and a little crystal tear fell off my face. Jake put his hand on my back as I coughed violently. He tried to comfort me, but the pain was beyond what he could control. Or comfort.

“Jake, I’m so…I’m sorry. I haven’t hunted in a while, that’s all. I’ll be…” I had to pause and lurch out another cough. “Fine,” I finished dryly. Of course, that last cough had convicted me.

“No way. Come one, let’s go with them,” Jake encouraged He stood up, pulling my up my hands. I followed him, kind of clueless about where we were going. The thirst made me so oblivious to the obvious.

“Where are they going?”

“Well, a bunch of us were going out hunting. Wolves like raw meat just as much as regular food. Besides, it’s perfect for you. I know when you’re on empty, you can’t even see straight Nessie.”

I smiled at him. I hated the thirst. It hurt so much. The pain was always so intense. It was like nails being hammered to the inside of your throat and every time you inhaled, another nail would be added on. We ran up the beach to meet up with the guys. We sometimes turn it into a race, but it’s just for fun. I won of course.

“So, where are we going?” I asked as happily as I could.

“Down Finley Creek. There’s an elk heard on its way to Yellowstone. We could catch some now if we left tonight,” Matthew replied.

“Will we be back in time?” I asked Jake, hesitant to go.

“Definitely. Besides, we wouldn’t want you drinking someone on the plane, would we?” he replied. I laughed awkwardly. I hardly wanted to think about the plane ride. Vampire on a plane. Worse than snakes…

“Come one, let’s get going. It’s almost midnight,” Chris said. The guys ran into the woods and phased. I heard the others move ahead. Jake walked into the moonlight from the shadow concealed forest, and his padded paws squished against the sand. His ears rotated toward me, and his eyes smiled at me. He shook his fur side to side, shaking off some dirt form his coat. I stood up from where I’d sat down on rock. Focusing my eyes was getting difficult. He nudged me, and we started out, catching up to the guys in minutes.

We ran west. The cold wind snapped at my face, but thirst helped me ignore it. The wolves hunting instincts were more developed then mine, so I just followed them. We reached the edge of Finley creek. The rocks right next to the water were covered in a thin layer of ice. The elk herd stood there, drinking and eating freely. I sometimes felt guilty, destroying and killing animals for food. But it was better than killing innocent people. I wish I could hear the wolves’ thoughts, hear their strategy for the hunt. I had mine. Attack, bite, drink. I probably wouldn’t even follow a strategy since blood was all my fidgeting senses could comprehend right now. I collected myself when the wolves went into stealth mode. We all watched carefully from the bushes. I felt Jake’s warm, wet nose nudge my arm as we waited. I looked in his almond-shaped, brown eyes, as though we were speaking.