AN: So sorry for the delay, I was stuck in a writer's block and I couldn't figure out how to continue. I hope is worth it XD. And thank's for all the reviews! it encourages me to keep writing :)

CHAPTER FOUR – A TEAR FOR A STRANGER

The next morning Alice Cullen cornered me before I could even enter the building for my first class.

"I heard you were going to Seattle the day of the spring dance, and I was wondering if you wanted a ride."

She was alone this time, Jasper nowhere to be seen.

"We can go shopping, and I have a very good car we can use, I'll even pay the gas, so don't worry about it," she added when I didn't answer straight away.

I pursed my lips, thinking about it. "It will be only the two of us, right?"

"If I manage to convince Rosalie she'll come too, but otherwise it's going to be just you and me," Alice nodded.

"Sure, I don't see why not," I smiled seeing her grin. "I have to ask my dad, though, but I doubt he has a problem with it. I'll let you know tonight, so we can make our arrangements."

"Perfect!" She was beaming now, and I wasn't surprised by the looks she attracted. She was indeed quite beautiful.

"See you, then," I bid her goodbye and quickly entered the building and finally the classroom. English had already started.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Swan," Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone.

"Sorry, sir, it won't happen again," I swore and hurried to my seat.

It wasn't till class ended that I realized Mike wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to me. I had successfully chased them away. But he and Eric both met me at the door as usual, so I figured I wasn't totally unforgiven. Mike seemed to become more himself as we walked, gaining enthusiasm as he talked about the weather report for this weekend. The rain was supposed to take a minor break, and so maybe his beach trip would be possible.

At lunch Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans — Lauren and Angela had asked the other boys and they were all going together — and I pretended to pay attention, but the Cullen's stares made it hard.

"Will you stop it already?" I whispered, covering my mouth with a hand, so no other than Alice's family could hear me. "All this staring is starting to get in my nerves, and I'm debating whether setting you all in fire or throw you to the wolves."

For some reason that seemed the right words to say, and I didn't dwell much on it, already used to my strange gift. The Cullen looked away, to my great relief.

I sighed and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Mike asked, startled.

"Today is my last checkup, I have to go to the hospital, so I'm skipping the last two classes, I'll see you all tomorrow," I explained and grabbed my bag.

"Are you coming this weekend? To the beach?"

I nodded, smiling. That plan sounded good. "Sure, I said I was in."

"We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten."

"I'll be there," I promised and quickly made my retreat.

On Friday nor Edward nor Emmett were at school, and someone mentioned that they were hiking. The rest of the Cullen stopped with the staring, thank God, but still acted a little weird. Alice was making plans for our going out to Seattle, since I had called her last night after asking Charlie and told her yes. Rosalie was going with us too; apparently she wanted to buy new clothes, though I doubted she needed them — since I'd came to Forks I had never seen her wear the same clothes twice. Rich people.

When I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica and Mike, I looked at the Cullen table, out of habit, and saw Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper talking, heads close together. That was an improvement, at least they weren't looking at me.

At my usual table, everyone was full of our plans for the next day. Mike was animated again, putting a great deal of trust in the local weatherman who promised sun tomorrow. It was warmer today — almost sixty.

I intercepted a few unfriendly glances from Lauren during lunch, which I didn't understand until we were all walking out of the room together. I was right behind her, just a foot from her slick, silver blond hair, and she was evidently unaware of that.

"…don't know why Bella" — she sneered my name — "doesn't just sit with the Cullen from now on."

She obviously was really envious because of my apparent closeness with the rich family, and she couldn't stand that I had achieved something she hungered for and couldn't have. I snorted and shrugged, walking pass her.

On Saturday I meant to sleep in, but an unusual brightness woke me. I opened my eyes to see a clear yellow light streaming through my window. I hurried to the window to check, and sure enough, there was the sun. It was in the wrong place in the sky, too low, and it didn't seem to be as close as it should be, but it was definitely the sun. Clouds ringed the horizon, but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. So the beach plan was going to be a success.

The Newtons' Olympic Outfitters store was just north of town. I'd seen the store, but I'd never stopped there — not having much need for any supplies required for being outdoors over an extended period of time. In the parking lot I recognized Mike's Suburban and a Sentra I've seen Tyler's parents drive. As I pulled up next to their vehicles, I could see the group standing around in front of the Suburban. Eric was there, along with two other boys I had class with; I was fairly sure their names were Ben and Conner. Jessica was there, flanked by Angela and Lauren. Three other girls stood with them. As I got out of my truck Lauren shook out her corn silk hair and eyed me scornfully.

So it was going to be one of those days.

Mike was happy to see me.

"You came!" he called, delighted. "And I said it would be sunny today, didn't I?"

"I told you I was coming," I reminded him.

"We're just waiting for Lee and Samantha… unless you invited someone," Mike added.

"Nope," I shook my head. Who would I invite? The only ones I hanged out with were here and inviting Alice to La Push didn't seem like a good idea, for some reason.

Mike grinned.

"Will you ride in my car? It's that or Lee's mom's minivan."

"Sure," I shrugged.

He smiled blissfully. It was so easy to make Mike happy.

"You can have shotgun," he promised. I hid my chagrin. It wasn't as simple to make Mike and Jessica happy at the same time. I could see Jessica glowering at us now. Jesus, Mike apparently hadn't taken my warning to heart, and still wanted to date me.

The numbers worked out in my favor, though. Lee brought two extra people, and suddenly every seat was necessary. I managed to wedge Jessica in between Mike and me in the front seat of the Suburban. Mike could have been more graceful about it, but at least she seemed appeased.

It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quillayute River snaking beneath it twice. I was glad I had the window seat. We'd rolled the windows down — the Suburban was a bit claustrophobic with nine people in it — and I breathed the fresh air blissfully.

Bella had been to the beaches around La Push many times during her Forks summers with Charlie and her diaries had some pictures, so the mile-long crescent of First Beach was sort of familiar to me. It was breathtaking. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs. The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves.

There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.

Coming here was totally worth it.

We picked our way down to the beach, Mike leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that had obviously been used for parties like ours before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and the boy I thought was named Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.

"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" Mike asked me. I was sitting on one of the bone-colored benches; the other girls clustered, gossiping excitedly, on either side of me. Mike kneeled by the fire, lighting one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter.

"I don't think so, no," I said as he placed the blazing twig carefully against the teepee. Bella had, probably, but me myself had never so the experience was totally new.

"You'll like this then — watch the colors." He lit another small branch and laid it alongside the first. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.

"It's blue," I said in surprise.

"The salt does it. Pretty, isn't it?" He lit one more piece, placed it where the fire hadn't yet caught, and then came to sit by me. Thankfully, Jess was on his other side. She turned to him and claimed his attention. I watched the strange blue and green flames crackle toward the sky. It was amazing, I had never seen anything like that.

I looked up to the cliffs — they were a black knife edge against the clear sky — and grinned madly when an idea occurred me. Seeing that everyone was chatting and not paying me any attention, I turned to Angela, the best of the girls here, and quietly told her I was going to hike a bit alone. She looked worried that I was going by myself, but I assured her that I had done it before on my vacations and she let me go easily.

With the little voice in my head pointing out directions I nimbly made my way to the lane that passed closest to the cliffs and hunted for the little path that would take me out to the ledge. The path wound in a thin single line toward the brink with no options. When I reached the place where the dirt path fanned out into the stone precipice I had to crouch for a moment, because the height made me feel dizzy.

The ocean sounded very far away, somehow farther than before, when I was on the path in the trees.

"C'mon, just jump, careful with the left side, it has rocks."

"You better be right, or this is the last time I'm taking you words to consideration," I warned the voice in my head and tied the light dress on my waist. Under it I had a full body swimming suit that I had bought before coming to Forks.

I stepped out to the edge, keeping my eyes on the empty space in front of me. My toes felt ahead blindly, caressing the edge of the rock when they encountered it.

"Jump as far as you can, is better."

"Ok."

I backed off until my shoulders touched the branches of the trees that were behind me and took a big breath.

"NOW!"

I practically flew, my feet barely touching the soil and before I knew it, I was in the edge and falling down, arms straight out prepared to make a dive.

I screamed as I dropped through the open air like a meteor, but it was a scream of exhilaration and not fear. The wind resisted, trying vainly to fight the unconquerable gravity, pushing against me and tossing my hair and dress in a mess.

I sliced through the surface of the water. It was icy, colder than I'd expected, and yet the chill only added to the high.

It was easy to swim back to the surface and back to the beach with my gift's help. It took me longer than I had thought, though, and soon enough I was tired, my arms and legs numb by the cold. I still had quite a few meters until I reached the shore, so I floated on my back, waiting the weaves to take me back on their own.

"You are nuts," Tyler said when I dragged my tired body out of the water. Even then I was grinning madly, the exhilarating feeling still running in my veins. "We almost had a heart attack when we saw you fall from the highest cliff."

"It was awesome," I laughed, throwing an arm over his shoulders. Any other time I would have avoided physical touch with him, since he was after me, but today I was feeling particularly happy, and besides, I wanted to piss Lauren off — her attitude towards me was horrible so I didn't care much for her.

When we reached the fire, the group I'd left behind had multiplied. As we got closer, I could see the shining, straight black hair and copper skin of the newcomers, teenagers from the reservation come to socialize.

The food was already being passed around, and Tyler hurried to pass me a share while Eric introduced me as I entered the driftwood circle. As Eric said my name, I noticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at me in interest. I sat down next to Angela huddled in a towel, with a sandwich and a soda.

"So, have you done cliff-diving before, Snowy?" one of the new guys asked me. He was at least 6 feet tall and very muscular. He had the traditional brown eyes, black hair and facial features of a Native American. I would have given him at least 20 years old, but his cocky smirk made me rethink it.

"Nop."

In my past life I had done cliff diving when I was fourteen, with some of my friends, but Bella had never mentioned it in her diaries, and besides, she was too chicken to have done it.

"So, you just jumped?" The man/kid stared at me incredulous. "You have guts, Snowy."

"You're not very creative with your nicknames, are you?"

"She got you there, Paul," one of the Reservation's guys barked out a laugh. He too was huge, even more than the one who had been talking to me.

"You shouldn't go cliff-diving alone, it could be very dangerous."

This one seemed more mature, and older than the other two. He had a leader vibe, like as if he'd had to grow too fast and assume responsibilities before he was ready.

"Okay," I said, neither agreeing nor negating anything. "So, I've heard your tribe has some legends, is that true?"

Paul and the other guy looked at each other with smirks in their faces. The leader-guy sent them a stern glare and they stopped fooling around in an instant. Interesting.

"We have quite a few, yes."

I bit my sandwich and hunched forward, staring at the Quileutes. "So? Can you tell me one?"

"I guess one wouldn't hurt," the leader-guy rubbed his chin pensively. "Anything in particular you want to hear?"

"Mhm…" I titled my head to the side, considering the little voice in my head. "I like scary stories, why not one of those?"

"Oh, I'll show you scary," smirked Paul, sharp white teeth glimmering in the blue fire. For a second the image of a huge grey wolf flashed through my mind, but as quick as it came it went away, leaving me dazed.

"Paul," leader-guy chastised him, a frown marring his dark features. He then turned to me. "We can tell you one, if you are really interested."

"Thank you," I beamed and munched my sandwich happily.

"Well…" he cleared his throat, feeling a little uncomfortable for all the attention. "It is said that we are descendent from the wolves, and the warriors could turn into them when they had to defend the tribe. When Taha Aki, the last Spirit Chief, was an old man, trouble began in the north, with the Makahs. Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they blamed it on the neighboring wolves, who they feared and mistrusted. The wolf-men could still read each other's thoughts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew that none of their numbers was to blame. Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands. He was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began.

«Taha Wi led the five other wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makahs. They came across something they had never encountered before — a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain."

I was no longer paying attention to my sandwich. In my head every word was being replayed like an old CD, scenes I was sure I had never witnessed flashing through my mind.

"They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it," leader-guy continued. My pulse jumped as his words came faster.

"They found faint traces of human scent, and human blood, along the trail. They were sure this was the enemy they were searching for.

"The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent half the pack, the younger ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki.

"Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return."

"The younger brothers searched for their elders, but found only silence. Taha Aki mourned for his sons. He wished to avenge his sons' death, but he was old. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told him everything that had happened. The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions ended between the tribes.

"A year later, two Makah maidens disappeared from their homes on the same night. The Makahs called on the Quileute wolves at once, who found the same sweet stink all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again.

"Only one came back. He was Yaha Uta, the oldest son of Taka Aki's third wife, and the youngest in the pack. He brought something with him that had never been seen in all the days of the Quileutes — a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces. All who were of Taha Aki's blood, even those who had never been wolves, could smell the piercing smell of the dead creature. This was the enemy of the Makahs.

"Yaha Uta described what had happened: he and his brothers had found the creature, who looked like a man but was hard as a granite rock, with the two Makah daughters. One girl was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground. The other was in the creature's arms, his mouth at her throat. She may have been alive when they came upon the hideous scene, but the creature quickly snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body to the ground when they approached. His white lips were covered in her blood, and his eyes glowed red.

"Yaha Uta described the fierce strength and speed of the creature. One of his brothers quickly became a victim when he underestimated that strength. The creature ripped him apart like a doll. Yaha Uta and his other brother were more wary. They worked together, coming at the creature from the sides, outmaneuvering it. They had to reach the very limits of their wolf strength and speed, something that had never been tested before. The creature was hard as stone and cold as ice. They found that only their teeth could damage it. They began to rip small pieces of the creature apart while it fought them.

"But the creature learned quickly, and soon was matching their maneuvers. It got its hands on Yaha Uta's brother. Yaha Uta found an opening on the creature's throat, and he lunged. His teeth tore the head off the creature, but the hands continued to mangle his brother.

"Yaha Uta ripped the creature into unrecognizable chunks, tearing pieces apart in a desperate attempt to save his brother. He was too late, but, in the end, the creature was destroyed.

"Or so they thought. Yaha Uta laid the reeking remains out to be examined by the elders. One severed hand lay beside a piece of the creature's granite arm. The two pieces touched when the elders poked them with sticks, and the hand reached out towards the arm piece, trying to reassemble itself.

"Horrified, the elders set fire to the remains. A great cloud of choking, vile smoke polluted the air. When there was nothing but ashes, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide — some in the ocean, some in the forest, some in the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again."

"They called it The Cold One, the Blood Drinker, and lived in fear that it was not alone. They only had one wolf protector left, young Yaha Uta.

"They did not have long to wait. The creature had a mate, another blood drinker, who came to the Quileutes seeking revenge.

"The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her.

"She asked something in a high, piercing voice, in a language no one had ever heard. The people were dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer her. There was none of Taha Aki's blood among the witnesses but one small boy. He clung to his mother and screamed that the smell was hurting his nose. One of the elders, on his way to council, heard the boy and realized what had come among them. He yelled for the people to run. She killed him first.

"There were twenty witnesses to the Cold Woman's approach. Two survived, only because she grew distracted by the blood, and paused to sate her thirst. They ran to Taha Aki, who sat in counsel with the other elders, his sons, and his third wife.

"Yaha Uta transformed into his spirit wolf as soon as he heard the news. He went to destroy the blood drinker alone. Taha Aki, his third wife, his sons, and his elders followed behind him.

"At first they could not find the creature, only the evidence of her attack. Bodies lay broken, a few drained of blood, strewn across the road where she'd appeared. Then they heard the screams and hurried to the harbor.

"A handful of the Quileutes had run to the ships for refuge. She swam after them like a shark and broke the bow of their boat with her incredible strength. When the ship sank, she caught those trying to swim away and broke them, too.

"She saw the great wolf on the shore, and she forgot the fleeing swimmers. She swam so fast she was a blur and came, dripping and glorious, to stand before Yaha Uta. She pointed at him with one white finger and asked another incomprehensible question. Yaha Uta waited.

"It was a close fight. She was not the warrior her mate had been. But Yaha Uta was alone — there was no one to distract her fury from him.

"When Yaha Uta lost, Taha Aki screamed in defiance. He limped forward and shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf. The wolf was old, but this was Taha Aki the Spirit Man, and his rage made him strong. The fight began again.

"Taha Aki's third wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win. She'd heard every word the witnesses to the slaughter had told the council. She'd heard the story of Yaha Uta's first victory, and knew that his brother's diversion had saved him.

"The third wife grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood beside her. They were all young sons, not yet men, and she knew they would die when their father failed.

"The third wife ran toward the Cold Woman with the dagger raised high. The Cold Woman smiled, barely distracted from her fight with the old wolf. She had no fear of the weak human woman or the knife that would not even scratch her skin, and she was about to deliver the death blow to Taha Aki.

"And then the third wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker's feet and plunged the knife into her own heart.

"Blood spurted through the third wife's fingers and splashed against the Cold Woman. The blood drinker could not resist the lure of the fresh blood leaving the third wife's body. Instinctively, she turned to the dying woman, for one second entirely consumed by thirst.

"Taha Aki's teeth closed around her neck.

"That was not the end of the fight, but Taha Aki was not alone now. Watching their mother die, two young sons felt such rage that they sprang forth as their spirit wolves, though they were not yet men. With their father, they finished the creature.

"Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe. He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the third wife, growling whenever anyone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned."

Leader-guy fell in silence, giving his story-time an end.

"Hey, are you crying?"

I brought a hand to my face and surprised I felt it wet. The story, the images in my head and the emotions leader-guy's voice held had created a turmoil inside me, and I had been crying without noticing.

"Uh… yeah…it just happened, sorry," I blushed and dried my tears on my towel. It was pretty embarrassing, crying for a stranger whom I wasn't even sure it had ever existed.

"Bella!" Mike was packing up his stuff and held my sweater for me to take. "We're packing up — it looks like it's going to rain soon."

We all looked up at the glowering sky. It certainly did look like rain.

"Okay." I jumped up. "I'm coming."

The Reservation guys stood up too and stayed awkwardly on the side while we gathered our things.

"It was nice to meet you all," I grinned when I had all my stuff on my backpack. "I didn't get your names, though."

"I'm Sam," leader-guy introduced himself and then nodded in the direction of the other guy that wasn't Paul. "He's Jared."

"I'm Paul, Snowy, though you know that already."

"I'm Jacob," a younger boy, the one who had stared curiously at me when I had first sat, said, his voice cracking a little in the end, signs that his voice was already changing. He looked no more than fifteen. "Your dad bought my dad's truck."

"Oh, you're Billy's son then?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "You played with my older sisters, Rachel and Rebecca when you came to visit."

Bella didn't have much of that in her diaries, those names had only been mentioned once, and it was so brief that I had almost forgotten about them until Jacob brought it back.

"Sorry, I can't remember a thing about that."

"So it's true then? The accident gave you amnesia?" Jared asked, looking surprised. "I thought it was just town gossip."

"Nah, I don't think the town can be that creative," I laughed. "Yes, my mind was wiped off after the accident. I didn't even remember my parents, so… less I would remember a childhood playmate."

"Wow, that sucks," an even younger boy gasped out. "I'm Seth, by the way."

"Bella, we're going!" Mike shouted out from his Suburban and I noticed I was the only one still with the Reservation boys.

"Coming!" I called back and smiled apologetically at them. "I gotta go, see you other time, yeah? It was nice meeting you all."

They said their goodbyes and soon enough I was in the back seat of Mike's Suburban, being driven off La Push. It had been an interesting evening, more than I had expected. I closed my eyes, resting my forehead in the car's window. Sam's deep voice echoed in my head, the words full of feelings I couldn't bear going on and on like little pieces of an old film, filling me with anguish and despair.

That was the first nigh in this second life that I had nightmares. Dreams filled with huge wolves, sharp teeth and claws and rivers of blood and red eyes.