petrichor [rosalie hale]

xiii. calls

"Isn't that... Sam Uley?"

Jacob pulled the car over as Bella looked across to one of the nearby cliffs, both of the teenagers hoping out of the truck as they squinted a little to get a better look at the four shirtless men standing at the edge.

"And his cult," Jacob replied, the bitterness seeping through his voice as he noticed his twin sister leaning against Paul, laughing as Sam and Embry wrestled Jared into the air and towards the edge of the cliff. She continued to laugh as Paul rolled his eyes at the trio's antics, allowing Kiara to lean against him for the warmth he provided.

"Oh my God! Stop them!" Bella exclaimed as the boys threw Jared off the side of the cliff, laughing out loud before Paul dived in after him. Kiara threw her head back and laughed with the others, Embry looking over at her and grinning in delight to see how well she was adjusting to being around them and knowing the truth.

"They're not really fighting, Bella. They're cliff diving," Jacob laughed, Bella's panic taking his mind off his sister for a second.

"What, on purpose?"

"Scary as hell, but a total rush. Most of us jump from lower down. Don't get any ideas, we'll leave the showing off to Sam and his disciples," Jacob continued as he noticed her face suddenly turn curious as he explained it to her. The bitterness had seeped back into his tone as he looked out across at them, noticing that Kiara had seeminly spotted that he was standing there with Bella.

"You don't like them?" Bella questioned, but she could already tell from the vibe his words had created that he didn't.

"They think they run this place. Acting all bad ass, calling themselves "protectors.""

"What are they protecting?"

"The tribe, the land, their right to be jerks. Embry used to call them hall monitors on steroids; now look at him. Kiara too."

"That's Embry? I didn't recognize him. What happened to him?" Bella asked, shock seeping through her tone as Embry turned and jumped off the cliff after Paul and Jared. Her eyes trailed over to Kiara standing beside Sam, laughing at something the older man was saying to her.                               

"He missed some school - then, out of nowhere, he's following Sam around. Same thing happened with Paul and Jared. They weren't even friends, now Sam owns them. Kiara hated Sam and the next thing I know she's spending more time at his than she does at our own house," Jacob admitted before noticing that Sam had turned to stare across at them too. "Sam keeps giving me this look, like he's waiting for me or something; it's kinda freaking me out."

"Waiting for what?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I don't want any part of it."

______

"I did see something in the woods," Angela told them all the next day at lunch, having sworn that she must have seen whatever had attacked Kiara when she was out a hike that weekend. Of course, Kiara was very aware that her and Angela were NOT thinking about the same creature, but it wasn't like she could just admit that.

"Baby, I believe you," Eric told her but was quickly counteracted by Jessica.

"No he doesn't; he's just trying to get lucky," she replied, causing Kiara to snigger a little as Mike continued to scribble on her cast. He had been the only one left to sign it out of their usual group and had finally decided that today was no better day than any other to leave his mark.

"It was jet black and HUGE! On all fours it was like still taller than a person," Angela continued, making Kiara shift a little uncomfortably in her seat. "A bear maybe?"