Half-Light

Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Legends
“Wow.”
I tore my gaze away from Sam, who was sniffing around the forest in his wolf form, to look at Leah. We were sitting on the forest floor side by side while Sam explored his new self. So far it was going really well.
“Wow.”
Okay, Leah was in shock. She had been watching Sam with me and all that was coming out of her mouth was ‘wow’.
“Leah, are you sure you’re alright?”
She turned towards me, her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open a bit. “I can’t believe all those stupid legends were true! I can’t believe Sam is a shape-shifter! Oh my god, I can’t believe my dad never said anything!
“Okay, maybe he did, I mean they talk about our legends so much, but everyone just thinks they’re stories! But, they never said that the legends were true!”
I put my hand on her arm to stop her, she was just babbling on and on. It was kinda funny. Weird. “Lee, there are some things we need to talk about. We need to get Sam to shift back.”
She shot up almost immediately and ran up to Sam. She had spent the first twenty minutes after the transformation just touching him, maybe to prove to herself that it was real, I didn’t know.
Sam rubbed himself against her as I neared them. “Can you shift back on your own Sam?”
His giant head tilted to the side and I had to suppress my aww! For a giant beast he was incredibly cute. Like a puppy.
“It should be easy, just try to concentrate on your human body, instinct should take over. You can do it.”
Sam shut his eyes and a moment later he was standing on two legs and naked in front of us. I spun around and shut my eyes simultaneously. “Oh, I forgot, you shredded your clothes!”
Without a second thought I conjured pants that would fit Sam and handed them to Leah.
After Sam was dressed I turned back to find them watching me with amazement.
“Isabella! How did you do that? It was like you pulled those pants out of thin air! Oh my god! Are you a witch or something?”
I didn’t know what to say, partly because I didn’t really know what I was and because I wasn’t going to show them my abilities. Not yet, anyway. I shook my head and pulled Leah to start walking back to Sam’s house.
“We can talk about that too. Let’s just go inside first.”
When we were finally comfortably sitting on a rugged couch I had no idea where to begin. How was I going to even bring up imprinting?
I decided instead to start with myself. “I might be a witch. Honestly, I have no idea what I am, all I know is that I can conjure anything that I can think of and I can move things with my mind.”
Leah was awestruck, but it was Sam who spoke first. “You were the one who made me shift; I mean you made it happen when you spoke, right?”
I nodded, “Yeah, I had no idea if it would work, but I had to do something, because if I didn’t you would have been agonizing for weeks and then when you eventually shifted you would have spent two weeks in the forest freaking out and then when you finally managed to shift back you’d just stay here thinking you were crazy or something!”
Sam and Leah shared a look and then they both just exploded. How do I know this? Am I from the future? Am I an alien? The questions just got crazier and so off point.
“Guys, I don’t know what I am,” or who, “I know I’m not an alien. I also don’t really know how I got here, but, let’s talk about that later, okay?”
They just nodded; Leah scooted closer to me and held my hand. It was really weird and kinda nice. This was what friendship felt like, and I loved it.
“I do know a lot of things about you all. I know your legends and your history and I know some stuff about your future as well.” I squeezed Leah’s hand, “It’s not all good, most of it is actually really bad. That’s why I wanted to change it; I wanted to make it better for all of you, but especially for you Lee.”
I had no idea what I was doing or if what I was doing would work out for the best, all I could do was hope. I watched as they took in everything I said. Leah was the first one to speak.
“What do you mean, Isabella?”
She was unsure and I could see a bit of worry in her eyes. “Do you know what imprinting is?”
They both shook their heads and I swear I felt like crying. “Its how a wolf finds their soul mate. Unfortunately the shifter can’t control who they imprint on and it is forever. Once they see that person their whole world only revolves around them.”
It was quiet for a minute or so. Leah turned to Sam, her eyes already wet with unshed tears. “Did you imprint on me?” she sounded so hopeful, but I knew she had understood the meaning behind my words.
Sam looked over towards me and I simply shook my head. I was really proud of how calm he was. The wolves were always so easily angered in the books.
“Lee, I’m so sorry. This was what pissed me off the most about the Twil…about your future. It’s just so unfair.”
I held Leah’s hand in mine, we were both crying. “Sam doesn’t imprint on you. He,” I glanced over at him, he was close to tears as well, but he was completely focused on Leah, “he imprints on Emily.”
Leah sobbed, “What!?” she got up and paced in front of us muttering curses at Sam and at Emily.
Before Sam could even say anything, a car stopped next to the Clearwater’s truck, my Dad’s car. Dad and Sue got out and made their way inside the house.
Sue Clearwater, seeing her daughter in distress, immediately went over towards her. Dad came up to me with a huge grin and held out his cell phone. “Hey Bells, your friend called asking for you.”
Confused I took the cell and held it to my ear. “Hey, Isabel, how are you doing? Are you alright?” I instantly recognized Alice’s voice on the other end.
“Alice? Hi, I’m good. I mean I’m doing great. How are you?” I smiled as I turned away from Sam and my Dad’s watchful eye.
“I’m also great; I was just calling to uhm, oh to ask if you’d like to go shopping with me tomorrow?”
Something told me that was not the real reason, but I filed it away for later. “Oh, sorry Alice, I’m at La Push this weekend, fishing with my Dad and his friends, maybe we could go next weekend.”
Alice made a weird little sound on the other end and when she spoke there was worry in her voice. “Okay, Isabel, just make sure you stay safe, I’ll see you at school on Monday, okay?”
I promised to see her then and we hanged up. I walked over and gave Dad back his cell. “I’m happy you’re making friends at school, Bells. And the Cullen’s are really nice kids.”
I nodded and followed my Dad outside. “Can I stay with Leah tonight, Dad?”
He just smiled and nodded, “Sure thing, Bells. I’ll be with Billy and Harry, we’ll be fishing. We’ll leave tomorrow at noon, so we can be home for a fish lunch.”
I nodded and hugged him. A few seconds later Leah and her Mom came outside. I saw Sam standing by the window, looking angrier than I’d like.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t come home with you, Leah?”
Leah nodded and came to stand next to me. “Don’t worry, Mom, I have Isabella to keep me company. Go and have fun with Dad.”
Reluctantly Sue got in next to my Dad and we stood there watching them leave. Once they were gone, she grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the truck. “Let’s get out of here, before I murder Sam.”
This was how it started for her, her anger towards Sam for just leaving her with no explanation and then shacking up with her cousin. I had to stop it, she had to accept it, and I would help her accept it.
I knew what could possibly take her mind off of it; give her something to look forward to. So I stopped her. “We can’t change fate, Lee, but you can embrace yours. Let’s just go inside and talk about it, okay?”
She looked reluctant, but still followed me inside. Sam was brooding near the window, but I didn’t bother with him just yet. “You are going to be the first ever female shape-shifter.”
Her eyes widened and she cracked a tiny smile. “But all of the warriors in the legends were male? I’m really going to be a wolf?”
I nodded and she let out a loud laugh. “Does that mean I get an imprint too?”
I sat down again and conjured three cups of coffee. “Yes, I’m sure you do. I don’t know who he is, but he is out there. My knowledge of the future is very limited, since it isn’t one of my gifts.”
I motioned for them to sit down. Lee took a seat next to me, grabbing one of the mugs. Sam remained standing, but stood in front of me. “You’re friends with the Cullen’s.”
I glanced towards Leah and nodded my head. “Yes, I am.”
“So, if the legends are all true, that means that they are the ‘Cold Ones’ right? They’re our enemies. It’s probably their fault this even happened to me!” Sam started shaking, a sure sign the wolf was about to burst through.
I needed to nip this in the bud. “No, Sam. You’re wrong.” I stood up to my full height, it wasn’t that tall, Sam was still a lot bigger than me, but I stood my ground, just like when I had faced off with his wolf. “The Cullen’s might be vampires, but they are not your enemies.
“You need to remember that you have a treaty with them that is built on mutual trust. They aren’t like others of their kind, they are kind hearted and they care about human life.”
Sam growled, “We change when enemies are near, right, so,”
I stopped him before he could say anything else. “Yes, you’re right. You do change when enemies are near. But why are you only changing now? It’s been a year since the Cullen’s moved here, if they were the enemy, wouldn’t you have changed once they arrived?”
I let that sink in as I sat back down next to Leah, who was listening silently.
“The Cullen’s don’t kill humans. But there are three other vampires in the area right now who do feed on humans. They’re probably the reason for your change.”
Sam finally sat down, calm and a bit shocked. “These other vampires, where are they?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know specifically, but I’m sure that when they meet up with the Cullen’s, they will be dealt with. This is their territory and other vampires aren’t allowed to trespass. Just trust me; the Cullen’s are not your enemies.”
I knew that Sam had heard what I said about the Cullen’s, but I could see in his eyes that he didn’t really trust them at all. That could be a problem, but one that would be dealt with if it ever came to light.
Something in the back of my mind assured me that Sam would not go against me. I felt pretty arrogant at the notion, but I knew that the confrontation between me and Sam in his wolf form had shown my dominance over him and he was reluctant to go against me, because his wolf instincts wouldn’t allow it.
The next hour we talked about things that would happen in the future, I listed the boys who would turn next and pointed out that Jacob was the true Alpha of the pack. Sam listened silently, taking everything in; he still didn’t seem pleased. Especially after I told him to call the Cullen’s, to let them know that the shifters were back.
Before the night ended, and Leah and I left, I conjured two brown leather arm bands for the two of them. I made sure they would not shred during the transformation from human to wolf. Their real purpose though, was to keep Edward out of their minds. I had explained his mind reading ability to them.
Sam didn’t take it so well, but I assured him my power would counter the telekinetic vampire. I left out Alice’s psychic ability and Jasper’s empathy. I needed Alice to be able to get used to the wolves, since at the end of the last book, she could see Jacob’s future.
I also wanted Jasper to sense Sam, especially when Sam wouldn’t easily trust the golden eyed vampires. Knowing that his power could affect them gave me a sense of comfort and I knew that they would be safe.