Chapter 4 - The Last Human In Forks
A/N: Twilight and all its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer (I'm just playing with them). The OC is all mine.
I used a line that I thought was cute from a movie I liked. I don’t do that often (or ever) but I thought it fit.
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“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton you may as well make it dance” – George Bernard Show
They were spending everyday together. During the week she would wake up early drive to his house, move to the passenger seat and wait for him to drive her to school. Then she would kiss him and bound off to class leaving him with her car, because she knew his wasn’t fixed yet. The best part of her weekday was when she got out of class and saw him. He would always be leaning against her car, arms and legs crossed, his eyes searching for her and the moment they locked on her, he would smile and her knees would buckle and a delicious shiver would go up her spine.
During the weekend they only left each other to go home and sleep.
It was now a week and a half later, and Ruby was going to be meeting up with Jacob to celebrate the fact that school was out for summer and that they both managed to pass. After that, Jacob was finally going to be introducing her to the rest of his friends on the reservation.
She wanted to make a good impression because she knew they were more like family than friends so she spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what to wear. She settled on a sundress with an empire waist that came to mid-thigh, the top was a solid burgundy and the skirt part was white with a bold burgundy floral pattern. She paired it with her deep red Chuck Taylor All-Stars (she never felt comfortable in heels, only sneakers, flip-flops and work boots).She usually left her long hair loose but it was breezy out so she wrapped a red ribbon around it towards the end.
The bell rang and she smiled, knowing it was Jacob, even though she told him she would pick him up. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs a moment later, and judging by their slowness, she could tell it was her grandmother.
“Moon Star?” Margaret called out as she knocked.
“Come in.”
“Jacob’s here darling.” Ruby nodded before grabbing her keys and walking towards the door but her grandmother blocked her. “You know you must be honest with him. When are you going to tell him?”
Ruby sighed, she knew she had to tell him but she was worried about his reaction. “Tomorrow. I kind of want to enjoy today and meet his family before I drop the bomb.” Margaret nodded before stepping out of Ruby’s way.
Downstairs, Jacob was nervous. He had finally decided that he was going to tell her what he was today, tell her about the werewolves and about the imprinting. His hands were moist with sweat and he was actually pacing in Ruby’s living room as he waited for her, but all that was forgotten when he saw her come down the stairs.
He loved that every time he laid eyes on her his heart started to pound and he felt a little lightheaded, in a good way. She looked beautiful, as always, he thought. He loved that she kept her own style no matter what, like pairing a cute dress with sneakers.
She went straight towards him and gave him a hug as he kissed her cheek. They still haven’t done more than hold hands, hug and kiss on the cheek and even though they both wanted at least a little more, both were afraid to push it.
“So what are we doing today?” Ruby asked as they headed out the door to her car.
“I thought we could pick up some food and then I wanted to show you something. After that we’ll go to Sam’s house, ok?” he said as he got to the driver’s side.
“Sure, sure,” she said, picking up on his habit, as she tossed the keys over the car to Jacob’s waiting hand.
He drove them to the diner in town and ordered two hamburgers for himself, a turkey sandwich for her and a couple orders of fries to go. They talked a little while they waited for their food and soon were walking back to the car, food in hand.
“Where are we going?” Ruby asked.
“Don’t worry. We’re almost there.” After a few minutes he pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car. Ruby looked at him like he was nuts as she got out of the car because there was nothing in sight except the woods.
“Umm, is this where you kill me?” she joked.
He smirked and rolled his eyes, “Just follow me.” He took the food from her and disappeared into the forest. She stood still for a moment before shrugging and following him.
They walked for about ten minutes, past thick bushes and trees that looked to be as old as the earth itself. She caught sight of a few animals but they were always startled away before she got a good look, though she thought she saw a few rabbits and a deer. Finally they came to a clearing and she caught her breath. It was beautiful. They were in a small field of bright red daisies.
“Wow,” Ruby whispered.
“I stumbled across it one day. I know you love all things red and I couldn’t wait to show it to you.” He was unsure, waiting to see if she would love it. He had wanted to show her this since he found it patrolling the other day.
“Thank you so much for showing me this. It’s amazing how they just grow here and not anywhere else. I love it, it’s beautiful and eccentric.” She was looking at the flowers so she didn’t see the pleased look on his face at her approval.
“Just like you.” She looked up at him and blushed.
“Thanks.” She tilted her head and smiled at him, “That’s actually the best compliment I ever got.” She always thought of herself as eccentric and the fact that he saw her the way she did made her love him more.
They sat down and started to eat, occasionally talking. When they finished Jacob put all of their trash into a bag and Ruby laid back, her hair cascading over the blood red flowers.
“You look so beautiful.” Jacob was lying next to her, propped up on one elbow as he looked down at her.
“Thanks.” Ruby felt her cheeks get warm. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
Jacob brought a hand up to touch her face. He couldn’t believe he had found such an amazing woman. She didn’t seem to care if her dress got dirty or get squeamish at the thought of being on soil, where god knows what could be crawling. No, she seemed perfectly at ease – in her element.
She looked so tempting, lying amongst the flowers, smiling up at him that he couldn’t resist placing a hand on her hip, leaning down and kissing her once gently lips. Pulling back he reached out an arm and ripped one of the daises at the stem and brought it to her face. He gently traced her lips with it before kissing her softly once more, then placed the flower in her hair behind her ear. They locked eyes with each other and they were both taken aback by the intensity of their gaze. He didn’t want to ruin the moment but he knew he had to tell her his secret. He wanted to be able to deserve all of the love in her stare and in order for that to happen he needed to be honest with her.
“Ruby, I need to tell you something. Something big. Huge.” She looked at him with concern and more than a little bit of trepidation. Before he could say anything, they heard a noise behind them. They turned to see Bella and Edward come out into the clearing.
“Bella!” Ruby shouted and ran to her, embracing her in a hug, too shocked at seeing her friend to remember the serious conversation with Jacob. “Hey Eddie,” she said once she let Bella go.
“Must you call me that?” He tried to be stern but the small smile he was trying to hide gave him away.
“Of course.” Ruby smiled at him. Though she knew something was off about him, he was still a nice person.
“What are you doing here?” Bella and Ruby said at the same time, causing them to laugh.
“We were just… running.” Bella answered first, though it sounded more of a question. Ruby knew she was lying, Bella was a notoriously bad liar, but she didn’t push it. It was obviously private. They could have been looking for a place to get intimate for all Ruby knew.
“Oh. I was just having an early dinner with Jacob.” At the sound of his name, Bella saw him for the first time. She frowned, not understanding what Ruby was doing with Jacob. “Umm, yeah, we’re dating. I was going to tell you but I haven’t seen you in school since we finished Trig.”
“I wanted to call to say thanks,” Jacob said to Bella as he stood next to Ruby, his hand going around her waist, to give her a little squeeze. “It was because of you that we met.”
Bella looked confused for a moment, she didn’t remember introducing them, but then she understood. “That’s right. I gave her the note to give to you.” For the smallest moment – a split second really – Bella felt a surge of something, but it had come and gone so suddenly that she couldn’t identify it… though Ruby did. Bella was jealous.
Bella and Ruby made some small talk, aware of, but not paying much attention to the two boys purposely not paying attention to the other. Jacob still hated that Bella wanted to become a leech but now that he met Ruby, he took an ‘It’s her life’ approach to it. Edward was actually impressed the mongrel was able to get someone like Ruby.
Ruby reminded him of Bella a little. Both had some secrecy going on with their minds. While Bella was impossible to read, Ruby was just difficult. Hearing her thoughts was like trying to listen to the radio that was between stations. He caught bits and pieces, not everything, but enough to know she was a good person. Sometimes her mind was open, other times as quiet as Bella’s.
In the middle of talking to Bella, Ruby smelt it: sulfur with a hint of copper. She stopped breathing and she felt like ice was creeping down her spine as her mind screamed ‘trouble’. Edward heard her thought clearly and jerked his head up to look at her. She looked panicked and he wondered why.
“Umm… guys, how about we… um, go somewhere else. Anywhere else.” She was talking fast and darting glances over her shoulders.
“What’s wrong?” Jacob asked, worried.
“Nothing,” she said quickly, too quickly. “Nothing, umm, can we just go? Now?” She was now fidgeting with her hands.
“Sure, Sure. Come on,” he said as he started to lead her back to the car. She didn’t notice the questioning glance Bella and Edward shot at Jacob or his answering shrug.
All of a sudden, Jacob and Edward turned, having smelt them and heard their thoughts, at the same time. Vampires. Two of them and by the looks of it, they were newborns. Bella screamed and backed up. Edward charged them both, knowing from Jacob’s thoughts that the werewolf didn’t want Ruby seeing him change. Edward didn’t want Ruby to find out her boyfriend was a werewolf this way; and his like for Ruby was greater than his dislike for Jacob. Plus, he knew what it was like to want to protect your girl. Jacob took the time to run just far enough into the forest were he wouldn’t be seen and quickly stripped.
Ruby watched as Edward ran at the two… actually she didn’t know what they were. They looked like feral humans but with blood red eyes and she knew they were dangerous. She heard Bella whimper behind her when Jacob ran into the forest and though Ruby knew deep in her gut he wasn’t leaving them she didn’t exactly know what he was up to.
Then there was what sounded like a clap of thunder and Ruby realized it was from Edward colliding with the two beings. A second after Jacob disappeared, Ruby saw something big out of the corner of her eye and she turned slowly to see the biggest wolf she ever saw. She didn’t get scared because she knew it was here to help.
In that instant, she remembered how her grandpa used to call her Little Ruby Red, a combination of her name, her love of all things red and the Brothers Grimm story he read to her every night. Here she was now, Little Ruby Red and the big bad wolf. The irony of it made her let out a small chuckle.
At the sound of her laugh, the wolf twisted its head in her direction and all time stood still. She couldn’t breathe. The wolf’s eyes, though black, held the same easygoing, reckless expression as Jacob’s and he was tilting his head the same way Jacob did when he couldn’t understand her but thought she was cute anyway.
“Jacob?” she asked in surprise. The wolf’s eyes widen in shock momentarily, before he turned away abruptly and ran to help Edward. “We have some major talking to do later,” Ruby yelled after the wolf. She turned to Bella, who didn’t look too surprised by this. “Did you know about this?” Bella closed her eyes and nodded. “What are those things? And don’t lie to me, I know you know.”
Bella swallowed hard before answering “They’re Vampires. Newly turned. Which means they’re very strong and very thirsty.”
Ruby took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
Ok, so my boyfriend turns into a wolf and he’s fighting a vampire. Don’t freak out. You have a pretty big secret also. So don’t freak out.
Ruby felt Bella jump behind her at what sounded like a loud metal screech. Ruby narrowed her eyes in the direction of the sound, trying to make out what was going on but only saw dark shadows moving around under the canopy of the trees. She didn’t see a third vampire come from her right, about twenty feet away but she did hear Bella gasp and scream “NO”.
Ruby turned at the warning and held her hand out in front of her in a defensive position. The male vampire that was charging at her suddenly stopped ten feet from her, as if it hit a brick wall and Ruby was pushed back by an invisible force until her back hit the tree behind her, causing her to grimace in pain. The newborn was not moving forward or backward but it was looking down at its chest in puzzlement. He swiped at his chest franticly with both arms trying in vain to more whatever force was keeping him in place.
Ruby lifted her arms, straining though she held nothing in them, and the vampire was lifted in the air by an invisible force.
Bella stared in shock. Vampires cannot fly. They can jump and they can climb but they cannot fly. She knew that. But here was a vampire floating in midair. She glanced at Ruby and at her hands held in the air and back at the vampire and it clicked.
Ruby was making it happen. Ruby was somehow lifting it into the air. That would certainly account for the strained look on her face and the sweat that was starting to form on her brow. It would explain why the vampire looked surprised and was now snarling in anger and fear at being held in the air.
“Are… are you doing that?” Bella asked.
“Yes,” Ruby hissed through clenched teeth. “What should I do?” her voice rising in panic.
“Kill it,” Bella pleaded.
“What?” Ruby asked in disbelief.
“Kill it. Please.”
“I don’t think I can. What if I-”
“If you do anything other than kill it, it will just attack again. You have to rip his limbs off,” Bella said with disgust.
“Are you serious?” Ruby was taken aback.
“I wish I was lying.”
“Great,” Ruby muttered. “You don’t have to watch.” Ruby realized Bella didn’t want to witness it if she didn’t have to; Ruby herself didn’t want to do it.
Bella nodded and whispered “Thanks” before turning her back to Ruby. Ruby took a deep breath and jerked her hands in opposite directions until her arms were outstretched. Bella heard the unmistakable sound of metal being torn and knew Ruby was doing what needed to be done.
Ruby watched feeling slightly ill as she tore his limbs off, each time accompanied by that retched screech, when she was done she relaxed her fingers and the limbs and body came slowly back down to the ground. That’s when she noticed them. Edward and Jacob were staring at her in shock, which was completely understandably seeing as she just decapitated a vampire with her mind.
“You were right,” Jacob said once he regained himself. “We really do need to talk.”
“You first,” Ruby panted as she sat on an overturned tree, suddenly feeling exhausted as if she ran a marathon.
“Okay,” Jacob said stretching out the word. He walked over to her and kneeled in front of her. “I’m… I am a werewolf.” Ruby didn’t scream in horror or look at him in disgust; she merely nodded her head as if in acceptance. “So are Embry and Quil. You haven’t met the others yet, they’ll be here soon because I told them to come and protect you two,” he gestured to the two females. “But I guess you can take care of yourself,” he whispered lost in thought. Edward cleared his throat loudly as Ruby was waiting for him to continue and Jacob was pulled from his thoughts. “Yeah, anyway, the others are werewolves also. We’re a pack.”
“You told them to come? When?” Ruby asked, as a weird image of a werewolf talking on a cell phone passed through her mind. Edward stifled a chuckle but she noticed it anyway.
“Well, when we’re in wolf form we can speak to each other through thoughts.”
“Oh. I see. Okay, I guess it’s my turn.” She ran her hands through her loose hair, wondering when she lost her ribbon. “I’m a witch.” The only reaction Jacob made to show he heard her was to furrow his brow in confusion. “What? You can accept that werewolves and vampires,” she jerked her head at Edward, who looked at her with wide eyes, “exist, but not Witches?”
Jacob opened his mouth to say something but Edward beat him to it. “You know?” She nodded. “How long?”
“I always knew you were different, that something was up with you but I didn’t figure it out until just now. They,” she pointed to the mass of combined limbs of the three vampires, “have some of the same characteristics as you do. Pale skin, strange eyes, a cold that radiates off you. You’re a vampire.” She stared at him for a moment before tilting her head. “Why was their eyes red but your eyes are gold?”
“They feed on humans, I do not. I, along with my family, feed on the blood of animals.”
“Oh. So if I started bleeding right now, you’re not going to go all Hannibal Lecter on me, are you?”
Edward laughed and if he’d been human he would have had tears of mirth in his eyes. “No, I am not. It’s tempting.” Jacob growled loudly causing Bella to jump and Ruby to look at him but Edward ignored him. “But nothing I can’t resist. I’ve been through worse,” he said as he glanced at Bella.
Ruby sighed in relief. “Good to know.” And you can read minds too, she thought clearly.
“How did you know that?” he said, causing Jacob and Bella to lose track of the conversation for a minute.
Ruby actually smiled, though it was somehow sad, at that one. “Easy. You are the only one who laughs, or tries not to laugh I should say, whenever I have a funny thought; and I have tons. I knew you could read minds for weeks.” She suddenly had a look of concern on her face. “Umm. Should those things be moving?” She pointed to what was left of the vampires. They all turned their attentions to it, to see fingers moving and elbows being bent though they were not attached to a body.
Jacob and Edward jumped up and started to throw pieces of wood on the pile.
“Matches?” Edward asked to no one in particular. When everyone responded in the negative, he began to search the ground.
“What are you looking for?” He didn’t seem to hear Ruby. “Eddie!” she said firmly. She repeated herself when he looked at her. “What are you looking for?”
“For two rocks.”
“Why?” Bella asked.
“I am going to try to hit them together to get a spark.”
It took Ruby a moment but she figured out why there was wood on the bodies and why he needed a spark. “We need to set them on fire.”
It wasn’t a question but Edward answered anyway. “Yes and quickly.”
“I can do it.” Ruby spoke so low Edward and Jacob barely heard her.
“What?” Jacob asked.
“I can do that. You don’t need matches or rocks.” She walked over to the pile and snapped her fingers. They didn’t see it at first because her hand was cupped but when she opened it up, they saw it. A small flame was sitting in her palm. “Moving things with my mind ain’t the only thing I can do.” Then the flame jumped out of her hand and onto the pile where it grew until it was consuming the bodies, releasing a thick purple cloud of smoke.
The act of setting body parts on fire, albeit vampire body parts but body parts none the less, was just too much for Ruby to process. “So,” Ruby said turning towards Jacob “you’re a werewolf,” she turned to look at Edward. “and you’re a vampire and I’m a witch, what are you?” She turned to Bella. “A ghost?” She gave a humorless laugh. “A zombie? No, you’re too pretty for that. How about a mermaid, huh? You grow fins every time you go for a swim?”
“No,” Bella answered gently, feeling the stress of the evening was finally getting to her friend. Though Bella knew of vampires and werewolves and everything else that Ruby had just found out, Bella had found out slowly, over months. Poor Ruby, though a supernatural being herself, had everything thrust on her in a matter of minutes. She clearly must be experiencing the onslaught of shock. “Just a regular, normal human.”
“What are you?” Ruby inquired, semi-seriously, “The last one in Forks?”
Bella laughed. “It feels like that sometimes.” She squeezed her friends shoulder and went over to check on Edward as Jacob walked over to Ruby slowly.
“How are you doing?” he asked as he sat next to her.
“Oh, just swell. Killed a vampire and feeling all sorts of female empowerment. Just call me Buffy. Just found out werewolves and vampires are real, kind of waiting for the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny to show up. Make it a party,” she deadpanned which caused Jacob to smile.
Bella saw him smile and paused what she was doing. She thought she knew all of Jacob’s smiles; his impish grin, his satisfied smirk, his smug smile but this one she had never seen before, it had never been directed at her before, this one was new. She would have remembered that one, of that she was certain. It was genuine. It was all consuming. It was a smile of a man in love. A man who found something worth living for.
“Oh, Jacob,” she gasped as she looked from Jacob to Ruby and back again, “You’ve imprinted on her.” Jacob looked horrified for a split second, long enough for her to know that she inserted her foot into her mouth
“What does that mean? Imprinted?” Ruby asked over her shoulder to Bella, who just shook her head in regret. “What does that mean?” she said rounding on Jacob.
“It’s a werewolf thing.” He spoke slowly. “It’s what they call it when one of us finds our soul mates.” Ruby’s jaw dropped and she seemed unable to speak. She brought her hand up to her face and rubbed her temple, she felt a stress headache coming. “It’s like love at first sight but much more powerful, more powerful than anything in this world.” She looked at him staring into his eyes but broke off when she saw six werewolves break into the clearing. They looked regal and beautiful standing near the line of trees, where a big black one stood in front of the rest, obviously the leader. She briefly wondered if she could tell which were Quil and Embry. She was sure she found them; a grey, black spotted wolf had Embry’s sweet smile and a chocolate wolf had his tail wagging back and forth and just looked like he was restraining himself from jumping up and running around playfully.
“Your family is here.” There was no emotion in her voice. She felt numb. “You should go to them.”
“No. Forget them. What are you thinking about all this?” He waited a moment but she said nothing, she looked confused and exhausted. “Please. What are you thinking?” Again nothing. Desperate, Jacob turned to Edward and silently asked him what she was thinking.
Edward would normally never do Jacob a favor but the poor kid looked frantic and he himself was wondering if Ruby was ok. He tried to get a clear thought but she was back to being very difficult to read. Edward shook his head and whispered so only Jacob could hear, “I can’t”.
“Jacob, go to them.” Ruby spoke softly. “You need to talk to them and I need to clear my head. Tell them, I’m sorry we couldn’t meet today, I really wanted to.” She gave him a sad smile as she stood up. “I’m going to drive back. Can you go home with them?” Jacob looked like she had slapped him.
“NO. I’m not – I want to stay with you. Edward could deal with the pack, tell them everything.” He was pleading with her and she felt sick that she was hurting him. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Jacob, please, I need a moment for myself. I need to be by myself and get my head right. Not forever, just… I need to get everything straight.” She took a step back, not wanting to leave but the day was just too much, too fast. She felt the tears coming. She couldn’t do that here, she wouldn’t cry in public; she needed some solitude. Jacob followed her, but Bella step forwarded stopping him.
“Jake, think about it. How did you feel when you found out you were a werewolf? Or when you found out vampires are real? You freaked out, I remember. She just had a lot dumped on her just now. She needs to absorb everything and maybe she could do that best in private, alone.”
“But-,” he began as he saw Ruby walked away. Sam stepped forward having changed back into human form after hearing Jacob’s situation.
“She needs time, Jacob. Nothing more.” Jacob nodded his head and slumped back onto the overturned tree in defeat. He barely heard what Edward was telling Sam about what happened. He caught the words ‘Ruby’ a few times, along with ‘witch’ and ‘powers’ but he paid no mind. He was wondering what was going on in Ruby’s head and praying she didn’t hate him.
I used a line that I thought was cute from a movie I liked. I don’t do that often (or ever) but I thought it fit.
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“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton you may as well make it dance” – George Bernard Show
They were spending everyday together. During the week she would wake up early drive to his house, move to the passenger seat and wait for him to drive her to school. Then she would kiss him and bound off to class leaving him with her car, because she knew his wasn’t fixed yet. The best part of her weekday was when she got out of class and saw him. He would always be leaning against her car, arms and legs crossed, his eyes searching for her and the moment they locked on her, he would smile and her knees would buckle and a delicious shiver would go up her spine.
During the weekend they only left each other to go home and sleep.
It was now a week and a half later, and Ruby was going to be meeting up with Jacob to celebrate the fact that school was out for summer and that they both managed to pass. After that, Jacob was finally going to be introducing her to the rest of his friends on the reservation.
She wanted to make a good impression because she knew they were more like family than friends so she spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what to wear. She settled on a sundress with an empire waist that came to mid-thigh, the top was a solid burgundy and the skirt part was white with a bold burgundy floral pattern. She paired it with her deep red Chuck Taylor All-Stars (she never felt comfortable in heels, only sneakers, flip-flops and work boots).She usually left her long hair loose but it was breezy out so she wrapped a red ribbon around it towards the end.
The bell rang and she smiled, knowing it was Jacob, even though she told him she would pick him up. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs a moment later, and judging by their slowness, she could tell it was her grandmother.
“Moon Star?” Margaret called out as she knocked.
“Come in.”
“Jacob’s here darling.” Ruby nodded before grabbing her keys and walking towards the door but her grandmother blocked her. “You know you must be honest with him. When are you going to tell him?”
Ruby sighed, she knew she had to tell him but she was worried about his reaction. “Tomorrow. I kind of want to enjoy today and meet his family before I drop the bomb.” Margaret nodded before stepping out of Ruby’s way.
Downstairs, Jacob was nervous. He had finally decided that he was going to tell her what he was today, tell her about the werewolves and about the imprinting. His hands were moist with sweat and he was actually pacing in Ruby’s living room as he waited for her, but all that was forgotten when he saw her come down the stairs.
He loved that every time he laid eyes on her his heart started to pound and he felt a little lightheaded, in a good way. She looked beautiful, as always, he thought. He loved that she kept her own style no matter what, like pairing a cute dress with sneakers.
She went straight towards him and gave him a hug as he kissed her cheek. They still haven’t done more than hold hands, hug and kiss on the cheek and even though they both wanted at least a little more, both were afraid to push it.
“So what are we doing today?” Ruby asked as they headed out the door to her car.
“I thought we could pick up some food and then I wanted to show you something. After that we’ll go to Sam’s house, ok?” he said as he got to the driver’s side.
“Sure, sure,” she said, picking up on his habit, as she tossed the keys over the car to Jacob’s waiting hand.
He drove them to the diner in town and ordered two hamburgers for himself, a turkey sandwich for her and a couple orders of fries to go. They talked a little while they waited for their food and soon were walking back to the car, food in hand.
“Where are we going?” Ruby asked.
“Don’t worry. We’re almost there.” After a few minutes he pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car. Ruby looked at him like he was nuts as she got out of the car because there was nothing in sight except the woods.
“Umm, is this where you kill me?” she joked.
He smirked and rolled his eyes, “Just follow me.” He took the food from her and disappeared into the forest. She stood still for a moment before shrugging and following him.
They walked for about ten minutes, past thick bushes and trees that looked to be as old as the earth itself. She caught sight of a few animals but they were always startled away before she got a good look, though she thought she saw a few rabbits and a deer. Finally they came to a clearing and she caught her breath. It was beautiful. They were in a small field of bright red daisies.
“Wow,” Ruby whispered.
“I stumbled across it one day. I know you love all things red and I couldn’t wait to show it to you.” He was unsure, waiting to see if she would love it. He had wanted to show her this since he found it patrolling the other day.
“Thank you so much for showing me this. It’s amazing how they just grow here and not anywhere else. I love it, it’s beautiful and eccentric.” She was looking at the flowers so she didn’t see the pleased look on his face at her approval.
“Just like you.” She looked up at him and blushed.
“Thanks.” She tilted her head and smiled at him, “That’s actually the best compliment I ever got.” She always thought of herself as eccentric and the fact that he saw her the way she did made her love him more.
They sat down and started to eat, occasionally talking. When they finished Jacob put all of their trash into a bag and Ruby laid back, her hair cascading over the blood red flowers.
“You look so beautiful.” Jacob was lying next to her, propped up on one elbow as he looked down at her.
“Thanks.” Ruby felt her cheeks get warm. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
Jacob brought a hand up to touch her face. He couldn’t believe he had found such an amazing woman. She didn’t seem to care if her dress got dirty or get squeamish at the thought of being on soil, where god knows what could be crawling. No, she seemed perfectly at ease – in her element.
She looked so tempting, lying amongst the flowers, smiling up at him that he couldn’t resist placing a hand on her hip, leaning down and kissing her once gently lips. Pulling back he reached out an arm and ripped one of the daises at the stem and brought it to her face. He gently traced her lips with it before kissing her softly once more, then placed the flower in her hair behind her ear. They locked eyes with each other and they were both taken aback by the intensity of their gaze. He didn’t want to ruin the moment but he knew he had to tell her his secret. He wanted to be able to deserve all of the love in her stare and in order for that to happen he needed to be honest with her.
“Ruby, I need to tell you something. Something big. Huge.” She looked at him with concern and more than a little bit of trepidation. Before he could say anything, they heard a noise behind them. They turned to see Bella and Edward come out into the clearing.
“Bella!” Ruby shouted and ran to her, embracing her in a hug, too shocked at seeing her friend to remember the serious conversation with Jacob. “Hey Eddie,” she said once she let Bella go.
“Must you call me that?” He tried to be stern but the small smile he was trying to hide gave him away.
“Of course.” Ruby smiled at him. Though she knew something was off about him, he was still a nice person.
“What are you doing here?” Bella and Ruby said at the same time, causing them to laugh.
“We were just… running.” Bella answered first, though it sounded more of a question. Ruby knew she was lying, Bella was a notoriously bad liar, but she didn’t push it. It was obviously private. They could have been looking for a place to get intimate for all Ruby knew.
“Oh. I was just having an early dinner with Jacob.” At the sound of his name, Bella saw him for the first time. She frowned, not understanding what Ruby was doing with Jacob. “Umm, yeah, we’re dating. I was going to tell you but I haven’t seen you in school since we finished Trig.”
“I wanted to call to say thanks,” Jacob said to Bella as he stood next to Ruby, his hand going around her waist, to give her a little squeeze. “It was because of you that we met.”
Bella looked confused for a moment, she didn’t remember introducing them, but then she understood. “That’s right. I gave her the note to give to you.” For the smallest moment – a split second really – Bella felt a surge of something, but it had come and gone so suddenly that she couldn’t identify it… though Ruby did. Bella was jealous.
Bella and Ruby made some small talk, aware of, but not paying much attention to the two boys purposely not paying attention to the other. Jacob still hated that Bella wanted to become a leech but now that he met Ruby, he took an ‘It’s her life’ approach to it. Edward was actually impressed the mongrel was able to get someone like Ruby.
Ruby reminded him of Bella a little. Both had some secrecy going on with their minds. While Bella was impossible to read, Ruby was just difficult. Hearing her thoughts was like trying to listen to the radio that was between stations. He caught bits and pieces, not everything, but enough to know she was a good person. Sometimes her mind was open, other times as quiet as Bella’s.
In the middle of talking to Bella, Ruby smelt it: sulfur with a hint of copper. She stopped breathing and she felt like ice was creeping down her spine as her mind screamed ‘trouble’. Edward heard her thought clearly and jerked his head up to look at her. She looked panicked and he wondered why.
“Umm… guys, how about we… um, go somewhere else. Anywhere else.” She was talking fast and darting glances over her shoulders.
“What’s wrong?” Jacob asked, worried.
“Nothing,” she said quickly, too quickly. “Nothing, umm, can we just go? Now?” She was now fidgeting with her hands.
“Sure, Sure. Come on,” he said as he started to lead her back to the car. She didn’t notice the questioning glance Bella and Edward shot at Jacob or his answering shrug.
All of a sudden, Jacob and Edward turned, having smelt them and heard their thoughts, at the same time. Vampires. Two of them and by the looks of it, they were newborns. Bella screamed and backed up. Edward charged them both, knowing from Jacob’s thoughts that the werewolf didn’t want Ruby seeing him change. Edward didn’t want Ruby to find out her boyfriend was a werewolf this way; and his like for Ruby was greater than his dislike for Jacob. Plus, he knew what it was like to want to protect your girl. Jacob took the time to run just far enough into the forest were he wouldn’t be seen and quickly stripped.
Ruby watched as Edward ran at the two… actually she didn’t know what they were. They looked like feral humans but with blood red eyes and she knew they were dangerous. She heard Bella whimper behind her when Jacob ran into the forest and though Ruby knew deep in her gut he wasn’t leaving them she didn’t exactly know what he was up to.
Then there was what sounded like a clap of thunder and Ruby realized it was from Edward colliding with the two beings. A second after Jacob disappeared, Ruby saw something big out of the corner of her eye and she turned slowly to see the biggest wolf she ever saw. She didn’t get scared because she knew it was here to help.
In that instant, she remembered how her grandpa used to call her Little Ruby Red, a combination of her name, her love of all things red and the Brothers Grimm story he read to her every night. Here she was now, Little Ruby Red and the big bad wolf. The irony of it made her let out a small chuckle.
At the sound of her laugh, the wolf twisted its head in her direction and all time stood still. She couldn’t breathe. The wolf’s eyes, though black, held the same easygoing, reckless expression as Jacob’s and he was tilting his head the same way Jacob did when he couldn’t understand her but thought she was cute anyway.
“Jacob?” she asked in surprise. The wolf’s eyes widen in shock momentarily, before he turned away abruptly and ran to help Edward. “We have some major talking to do later,” Ruby yelled after the wolf. She turned to Bella, who didn’t look too surprised by this. “Did you know about this?” Bella closed her eyes and nodded. “What are those things? And don’t lie to me, I know you know.”
Bella swallowed hard before answering “They’re Vampires. Newly turned. Which means they’re very strong and very thirsty.”
Ruby took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
Ok, so my boyfriend turns into a wolf and he’s fighting a vampire. Don’t freak out. You have a pretty big secret also. So don’t freak out.
Ruby felt Bella jump behind her at what sounded like a loud metal screech. Ruby narrowed her eyes in the direction of the sound, trying to make out what was going on but only saw dark shadows moving around under the canopy of the trees. She didn’t see a third vampire come from her right, about twenty feet away but she did hear Bella gasp and scream “NO”.
Ruby turned at the warning and held her hand out in front of her in a defensive position. The male vampire that was charging at her suddenly stopped ten feet from her, as if it hit a brick wall and Ruby was pushed back by an invisible force until her back hit the tree behind her, causing her to grimace in pain. The newborn was not moving forward or backward but it was looking down at its chest in puzzlement. He swiped at his chest franticly with both arms trying in vain to more whatever force was keeping him in place.
Ruby lifted her arms, straining though she held nothing in them, and the vampire was lifted in the air by an invisible force.
Bella stared in shock. Vampires cannot fly. They can jump and they can climb but they cannot fly. She knew that. But here was a vampire floating in midair. She glanced at Ruby and at her hands held in the air and back at the vampire and it clicked.
Ruby was making it happen. Ruby was somehow lifting it into the air. That would certainly account for the strained look on her face and the sweat that was starting to form on her brow. It would explain why the vampire looked surprised and was now snarling in anger and fear at being held in the air.
“Are… are you doing that?” Bella asked.
“Yes,” Ruby hissed through clenched teeth. “What should I do?” her voice rising in panic.
“Kill it,” Bella pleaded.
“What?” Ruby asked in disbelief.
“Kill it. Please.”
“I don’t think I can. What if I-”
“If you do anything other than kill it, it will just attack again. You have to rip his limbs off,” Bella said with disgust.
“Are you serious?” Ruby was taken aback.
“I wish I was lying.”
“Great,” Ruby muttered. “You don’t have to watch.” Ruby realized Bella didn’t want to witness it if she didn’t have to; Ruby herself didn’t want to do it.
Bella nodded and whispered “Thanks” before turning her back to Ruby. Ruby took a deep breath and jerked her hands in opposite directions until her arms were outstretched. Bella heard the unmistakable sound of metal being torn and knew Ruby was doing what needed to be done.
Ruby watched feeling slightly ill as she tore his limbs off, each time accompanied by that retched screech, when she was done she relaxed her fingers and the limbs and body came slowly back down to the ground. That’s when she noticed them. Edward and Jacob were staring at her in shock, which was completely understandably seeing as she just decapitated a vampire with her mind.
“You were right,” Jacob said once he regained himself. “We really do need to talk.”
“You first,” Ruby panted as she sat on an overturned tree, suddenly feeling exhausted as if she ran a marathon.
“Okay,” Jacob said stretching out the word. He walked over to her and kneeled in front of her. “I’m… I am a werewolf.” Ruby didn’t scream in horror or look at him in disgust; she merely nodded her head as if in acceptance. “So are Embry and Quil. You haven’t met the others yet, they’ll be here soon because I told them to come and protect you two,” he gestured to the two females. “But I guess you can take care of yourself,” he whispered lost in thought. Edward cleared his throat loudly as Ruby was waiting for him to continue and Jacob was pulled from his thoughts. “Yeah, anyway, the others are werewolves also. We’re a pack.”
“You told them to come? When?” Ruby asked, as a weird image of a werewolf talking on a cell phone passed through her mind. Edward stifled a chuckle but she noticed it anyway.
“Well, when we’re in wolf form we can speak to each other through thoughts.”
“Oh. I see. Okay, I guess it’s my turn.” She ran her hands through her loose hair, wondering when she lost her ribbon. “I’m a witch.” The only reaction Jacob made to show he heard her was to furrow his brow in confusion. “What? You can accept that werewolves and vampires,” she jerked her head at Edward, who looked at her with wide eyes, “exist, but not Witches?”
Jacob opened his mouth to say something but Edward beat him to it. “You know?” She nodded. “How long?”
“I always knew you were different, that something was up with you but I didn’t figure it out until just now. They,” she pointed to the mass of combined limbs of the three vampires, “have some of the same characteristics as you do. Pale skin, strange eyes, a cold that radiates off you. You’re a vampire.” She stared at him for a moment before tilting her head. “Why was their eyes red but your eyes are gold?”
“They feed on humans, I do not. I, along with my family, feed on the blood of animals.”
“Oh. So if I started bleeding right now, you’re not going to go all Hannibal Lecter on me, are you?”
Edward laughed and if he’d been human he would have had tears of mirth in his eyes. “No, I am not. It’s tempting.” Jacob growled loudly causing Bella to jump and Ruby to look at him but Edward ignored him. “But nothing I can’t resist. I’ve been through worse,” he said as he glanced at Bella.
Ruby sighed in relief. “Good to know.” And you can read minds too, she thought clearly.
“How did you know that?” he said, causing Jacob and Bella to lose track of the conversation for a minute.
Ruby actually smiled, though it was somehow sad, at that one. “Easy. You are the only one who laughs, or tries not to laugh I should say, whenever I have a funny thought; and I have tons. I knew you could read minds for weeks.” She suddenly had a look of concern on her face. “Umm. Should those things be moving?” She pointed to what was left of the vampires. They all turned their attentions to it, to see fingers moving and elbows being bent though they were not attached to a body.
Jacob and Edward jumped up and started to throw pieces of wood on the pile.
“Matches?” Edward asked to no one in particular. When everyone responded in the negative, he began to search the ground.
“What are you looking for?” He didn’t seem to hear Ruby. “Eddie!” she said firmly. She repeated herself when he looked at her. “What are you looking for?”
“For two rocks.”
“Why?” Bella asked.
“I am going to try to hit them together to get a spark.”
It took Ruby a moment but she figured out why there was wood on the bodies and why he needed a spark. “We need to set them on fire.”
It wasn’t a question but Edward answered anyway. “Yes and quickly.”
“I can do it.” Ruby spoke so low Edward and Jacob barely heard her.
“What?” Jacob asked.
“I can do that. You don’t need matches or rocks.” She walked over to the pile and snapped her fingers. They didn’t see it at first because her hand was cupped but when she opened it up, they saw it. A small flame was sitting in her palm. “Moving things with my mind ain’t the only thing I can do.” Then the flame jumped out of her hand and onto the pile where it grew until it was consuming the bodies, releasing a thick purple cloud of smoke.
The act of setting body parts on fire, albeit vampire body parts but body parts none the less, was just too much for Ruby to process. “So,” Ruby said turning towards Jacob “you’re a werewolf,” she turned to look at Edward. “and you’re a vampire and I’m a witch, what are you?” She turned to Bella. “A ghost?” She gave a humorless laugh. “A zombie? No, you’re too pretty for that. How about a mermaid, huh? You grow fins every time you go for a swim?”
“No,” Bella answered gently, feeling the stress of the evening was finally getting to her friend. Though Bella knew of vampires and werewolves and everything else that Ruby had just found out, Bella had found out slowly, over months. Poor Ruby, though a supernatural being herself, had everything thrust on her in a matter of minutes. She clearly must be experiencing the onslaught of shock. “Just a regular, normal human.”
“What are you?” Ruby inquired, semi-seriously, “The last one in Forks?”
Bella laughed. “It feels like that sometimes.” She squeezed her friends shoulder and went over to check on Edward as Jacob walked over to Ruby slowly.
“How are you doing?” he asked as he sat next to her.
“Oh, just swell. Killed a vampire and feeling all sorts of female empowerment. Just call me Buffy. Just found out werewolves and vampires are real, kind of waiting for the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny to show up. Make it a party,” she deadpanned which caused Jacob to smile.
Bella saw him smile and paused what she was doing. She thought she knew all of Jacob’s smiles; his impish grin, his satisfied smirk, his smug smile but this one she had never seen before, it had never been directed at her before, this one was new. She would have remembered that one, of that she was certain. It was genuine. It was all consuming. It was a smile of a man in love. A man who found something worth living for.
“Oh, Jacob,” she gasped as she looked from Jacob to Ruby and back again, “You’ve imprinted on her.” Jacob looked horrified for a split second, long enough for her to know that she inserted her foot into her mouth
“What does that mean? Imprinted?” Ruby asked over her shoulder to Bella, who just shook her head in regret. “What does that mean?” she said rounding on Jacob.
“It’s a werewolf thing.” He spoke slowly. “It’s what they call it when one of us finds our soul mates.” Ruby’s jaw dropped and she seemed unable to speak. She brought her hand up to her face and rubbed her temple, she felt a stress headache coming. “It’s like love at first sight but much more powerful, more powerful than anything in this world.” She looked at him staring into his eyes but broke off when she saw six werewolves break into the clearing. They looked regal and beautiful standing near the line of trees, where a big black one stood in front of the rest, obviously the leader. She briefly wondered if she could tell which were Quil and Embry. She was sure she found them; a grey, black spotted wolf had Embry’s sweet smile and a chocolate wolf had his tail wagging back and forth and just looked like he was restraining himself from jumping up and running around playfully.
“Your family is here.” There was no emotion in her voice. She felt numb. “You should go to them.”
“No. Forget them. What are you thinking about all this?” He waited a moment but she said nothing, she looked confused and exhausted. “Please. What are you thinking?” Again nothing. Desperate, Jacob turned to Edward and silently asked him what she was thinking.
Edward would normally never do Jacob a favor but the poor kid looked frantic and he himself was wondering if Ruby was ok. He tried to get a clear thought but she was back to being very difficult to read. Edward shook his head and whispered so only Jacob could hear, “I can’t”.
“Jacob, go to them.” Ruby spoke softly. “You need to talk to them and I need to clear my head. Tell them, I’m sorry we couldn’t meet today, I really wanted to.” She gave him a sad smile as she stood up. “I’m going to drive back. Can you go home with them?” Jacob looked like she had slapped him.
“NO. I’m not – I want to stay with you. Edward could deal with the pack, tell them everything.” He was pleading with her and she felt sick that she was hurting him. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Jacob, please, I need a moment for myself. I need to be by myself and get my head right. Not forever, just… I need to get everything straight.” She took a step back, not wanting to leave but the day was just too much, too fast. She felt the tears coming. She couldn’t do that here, she wouldn’t cry in public; she needed some solitude. Jacob followed her, but Bella step forwarded stopping him.
“Jake, think about it. How did you feel when you found out you were a werewolf? Or when you found out vampires are real? You freaked out, I remember. She just had a lot dumped on her just now. She needs to absorb everything and maybe she could do that best in private, alone.”
“But-,” he began as he saw Ruby walked away. Sam stepped forward having changed back into human form after hearing Jacob’s situation.
“She needs time, Jacob. Nothing more.” Jacob nodded his head and slumped back onto the overturned tree in defeat. He barely heard what Edward was telling Sam about what happened. He caught the words ‘Ruby’ a few times, along with ‘witch’ and ‘powers’ but he paid no mind. He was wondering what was going on in Ruby’s head and praying she didn’t hate him.
