"How long will you be here in Port Angeles?"
"One week," Sharon confessed with a calculating look to Renee and then to Charlie and back again.
Charlie took note of the expression on her face as he pondered the answer she had just given. Renee paid no attention to Sharon's demeanor, but she was visibly alarmed by her report. Her response to this was sudden and insistent.
"One week, oh no, you have to stay here."
Sharon sneaked a look to the children out the corner of her eyes before turning her attention to Renee with her reply.
"I don't think I'm ready for that yet," Sharon responded delicately.
Renee noted the look Sharon had given to the kids and acted on it a second after she spoke.
"Phillip, show Brian and Julia your room," Renee instructed with a smile.
Phillip promptly jumped up from his seat. Sharon gave her children permission to follow with a soft, "go ahead." They, too, quickly got up onto their feet. The three juveniles then hurried out of the room and up the stairs towards Phillip's room.
"One week?" Renee queried with surprise. "Think of the expense. We have plenty of room here and we would love to have you here."
Charlie continued to eye his guest suspiciously. There were still more questions he wanted to hear answers to. Her evasive looks kept him forever on his guard.
"I know that I was a little rash and that I made some unfounded …unsupported accusations in the past," Sharon explained cautiously. "And that is in the past now," she asserted softly. "But I'm not ready to let all of it go," she finished with a nervous looks to Renee, then Charlie and back again.
"But a whole week, Sharon, it doesn't make sense for you to be here all that time and not spend it here," Renee quickly countered.
"Phillip has a birthday coming up," Sharon responded with a hint of defiance. "I just plan to be here for that and then we'll be going home."
Renee noted the definitive tone in her voice and elected not to push the matter any further. Charlie was not so inclined.
"You say that you're not ready to let it go, what does that mean?"
"Charlie!" Renee quickly admonished. She then turned her attention back to Sharon. "We're happy that you want to try and make this work and that you're in Li'l Phil's life," she partially pleaded with a gentle smile. "And we'll do this however you would like to do it."
Sharon returned her smile and gave Renee a polite, "thank you."
The two families went on to have a pleasant, albeit a quiet, dinner together. The visit lasted for nearly four hours and they separated from each other in the manner that they came together. Charlie, Renee and Phillip watched the taxi drive off from the sidewalk in front of their home.
"You don't believe that woman?" Charlie questioned Renee as Phillip raced back into the house.
"You know, Charlie," Renee began testily. "I think being a cop has made you incurably cynical."
"There's something she's not telling us," Charlie calmly asserted.
"Don't blow this for me, Charlie." Renee insisted. "Don't blow this for Phillip," she spoke again just before turning away for the house.
Charlie continued to stare off into the direction that the taxi drove away in as he pondered Sharon Dwyer-Cunningham. Shortly a thought came to mind and he spoke it aloud.
"I'm not the one who's going to blow it."
12- Family, Friends & Confidants
Nessie had completed her junior year of college and was spending her summer break in Clallam County, once again. Her desire to travel and do things away from Washington State was suppressed by the knowledge that the family was dealing with a threat that required their presence on the peninsula. Normally this would have been a minor inconvenience for her. The Quileute and their shape-shifting guardians were, in the past, an immense source of amusement for her. Their refusal to associate with any Cullen produced a large hole in her summertime play. On top of the diversion they provided, this loss also gave her reason to be depressed. The knowledge that she was hurting Jacob, and the whole shape-shifter pack, brought her near to tears a dozen times over. She searched her mind repeatedly for a way to undo the anguish the shape-shifters were experiencing that did not involve making a commitment to Jacob, but each time the answer was not there to be found. Finally, to ease her melancholy, Nessie sought out her friends from high school.
Nessie indulged in their company repeatedly and often. Several of her high school friends were attending universities as well. They were equally eager to assemble and converse about their new experiences. Traveling to Port Angeles or as far away as Seattle to shop and take in shows was near to a daily event for them. Most of these excursions were prompted and pushed for by Nessie. She zealously encouraged her friends to attend activities with her. After a couple of weeks of this, several of them became concerned about her well-being. Her enthusiastic embrace of their society was far outside of the norm for Nessie. Despite her cheerful display, Nessie's depression bled through her performance and all of her friends took notice of it. On one occasion, Edie made a point of taking her aside and inquiring about her state of mind.
"What's wrong, Nessie? What happened?" Edie questioned softly.
"What do you mean," Nessie responded with feigned ignorance to the topic of conversation.
Edie ignored the deflection and pressed again.
"I know you, Nessie. There's something bothering you and you're running from it. That's not like you."
"I'm not running from anything," Nessie reacted with a twinge of defiance.
"So, you want to tell me about it?" Edie entreated in a gentle and pleasing manner.
"No, not really, I'm sorry," Nessie answered in an apologetic tone.
Edie accepted this reply and said no more about it.
Despite her denial, Nessie would have liked to have talked to Edie about her troubles. Edie was a favorite confidant of hers when it came to normal subjects. When it came to boys at school, clothing or local social events, Edie was her first choice of persons to talk with. Their affection for each other was near to that of sisters. This was a bond that was formed out of five years of acquaintance. Excluding Edie from the supernatural side of her life was always an unpleasant feeling for Nessie. She knew Edie trusted her with all aspects of her life that she was not too embarrassed to share. Those parts that were too embarrassing, she often acquired through an innocent touch of her hand, or a brush from her arm. Edie, more than any other person that she knew, made her feel that her entire life among non-super-naturals was a lie. The guilt that came with this endeared her childhood friend to her all the more.
For casual matters, involving vampires and shape-shifters, Nessie often discussed these with Leah Clearwater. There was no guilt here. There were no boundaries, with regards to subject matter, that had to be adhered to. She and Leah had a bond that was forged out of necessity. As the only female shape-shifter, Leah often felt isolated. Until Nessie, there was no one of her sex that she perceived as a peer. Leah had no affinity for what she was and would have gladly given it away to be a normal human. Conversing about this aspect of her life with a non-supernatural was an embarrassment for her. Nessie provided her with a vocal outlet for her feelings and she reciprocated, in turn. However, Nessie dared not speak to Leah about anything she did not want communicated into the collective thoughts of the wolf pack. She saw this as an annoying limitation in their relationship. Nessie dearly wished that she could converse with Leah about Jacob. For this matter she was usually left with Renee as her only recourse.
Nessie had no complaints regarding her talks with Renee other than the feeling that she was never conversing with a peer. There was always the hint of a lecture in the tone of Renee's speech. She always had the faintest of feelings that her grandmother was taking Jacob's side in any discussion about the two of them. Whenever she challenged her on it, Renee would report that she was simply playing the role of the devil's advocate, or something to that effect. Nessie could never quite figure out what Renee's position
was with regards to her and Jacob. The only thing that she knew for sure was that Renee was not completely supportive of hers. Nessie would endure her critical questions agreeably and continue to unburden her thoughts onto Renee. Later, Nessie would go off and analyze her grandmother's disturbing queries. She often left Renee more confused than she was at the start. In Nessie's mind, the only benefit that came from confiding in Renee was the fact that she was always there to listen.
Surprisingly for Nessie, the person who came closest to being the ideal confidant was her mother. While the close attachment between most mother-daughter combos tended to deteriorate over time. The connection between Bella and Nessie grew stronger with the passage of it. They were known to be seen at times, giggling like a couple of school girls. This did not mean that Nessie did not enjoy a close relationship with her other female vampire relations. It was just that their perspective often had a tendency towards being out of date with the times. This was a failing that Bella did not have. Their positions on music, fashion, social etiquette and relationships were very much in sync. To strangers they looked like sisters. It was for these reasons, and one other, that Nessie sought out her mother, more than anyone else, for heart to heart conversations regarding all things supernatural.
Bella was the opposite of Renee in her stance regarding Nessie and Jacob. Where Renee was non-committal to either side of the debate, Bella was staunchly committal to whichever side her daughter took. Despite their seemingly sister-like association, Bella was fiercely protective of her daughter. This tenacity stemmed from some feelings of guilt about Nessie's very being. Bella knew that she had brought a daughter into a world that had no place for her. Protecting Nessie and enveloping her into the family as tightly as she could was a preoccupation for Bella. Sharing Nessie's confidence and supporting her decisions was Bella's way of trying to mend the disparity that came about with the accident of her birth. From Nessie's perspective, her mother was the truest friend she could ask for.
The final endorsement for Nessie's and Bella's confidential exchanges was the fact that, whatever was said between them stayed between them. Edward was blocked from Bella's thoughts until she chose to let him in and Nessie could block him from her thoughts when she chose to keep him out. Blocking Edward's mind reading ability was an accidental discovery for Nessie. Edward casually disclosed, seven years earlier, that her thoughts had a tendency to disappear in his mind when she became frightened or angry. These disappearances were always short lived and Edward thought nothing of mentioning this in the manner of an interesting observation. Nessie, on the other hand, was quite thrilled by this information and quickly developed this ability so that she could call on it at will. This new event shortly solidified the pack of secrecy between mother and daughter, much to the annoyance of Edward. The convenience of this situation was so great that Bella felt free to confide her private thoughts to Nessie, in turn. This shared aptitude quickly became the twine that bound their unusual mother/daughter relationship.
Unfortunately for Nessie, Bella was seldom around for these heart to heart exchanges. The practice of the Cullen vampires to rotate their visits meant that she could only count on Bella being around two to three months out of each year. Nessie had grown to cope with her absence over the years. Her time away from the peninsula reinforced this acceptance of their separations. However, the family's present predicament provided Nessie with unparalleled access to her mother and she exploited this on several occasions. She found Bella, as usual, supportive of her own decisions and unquestioning with regards to her thinking. However, despite Bella's cheerleader-like endorsement, Nessie continued to be despondent over her new relationship with the Quileute and the pain she was causing Jacob. The distractions of friends appeared to be the only option left for the relief of her melancholy. In this she devoted all her efforts up until the moment her friends began to evade her depression. When she could no longer count on her friends to buoy her spirits, Nessie elected to turn back to the solace that carried the greatest weight outside of the distractions of friends.
"Have you learned anything knew about this Ghost Walker?" Nessie queried in a casual manner.
She and Bella were lounging together in the cottage living-room. This was a popular local for their mother/daughter talks. The cottage, unlike the house, was not conducive to hosting the whole family all at once and the distance from the primary residence assured privacy. All of the Cullens used this location, in ones and twos, to separate themselves from the others.
"No, nothing," Bella reported with a soft hint of dismay. "Carlisle and Jasper have queries working through the community but this guy is looking more and more like a ghost."
Nessie had no response to this. Her interest was not fixed on the subject that she introduced. This was a fact that Bella was well aware of. She knew that her daughter was only interested in the feudal activities of vampires when they were an immediate threat to her or someone she cared for. The social activities in her immediate vicinity were a near constant preoccupation for her, now more than ever. After concluding her response, Bella waited patiently for her daughter to steer the conversation where she would.
More than a minute of silence passed between them as they sat opposite one another. Nessie sat with her legs crossed in a sofa chair and her eyes cast down towards the floor, for the most part. Bella sat in a similar fashion on the sofa across from her. A sofa pillow rested in her lap with her hands laced together on top of it. She watched as her daughter seemingly searched the floor for something that she could not find.
"I keep wondering if I shouldn't just give myself to Jacob," Nessie pondered aloud. "It's not like I don't love him."
Hearing this set off an alarm in Bella's head. She could not bear to think that her daughter was settling on a life she did not want simply to please someone else, even Jacob.
"If Jacob truly loves you, then he should be willing to sacrifice his happiness for yours." Bella asserted with a fixed stare.
"But, it's not like I don't have the time to spare," Nessie countered with an expression of confusion. "No one knows how long I'm going to live."
"Is that what you want?" Bella quickly retorted. "If spending the next fifty or one-hundred years with Jacob is what you want then you should do it. But it should be what you want to do."
"That's just it," Nessie sighed as she tossed her head back against the chair. "I'm not sure what I want."
Bella was convinced that Nessie was not in-love with Jacob, at least not in the manner necessary to base a life time commitment on. She used her own experience to arrive at this conclusion. Her own feelings towards Edward were never in doubt. She knew what she wanted and she never wavered from this. Because of this surety, Bella desperately wanted to prevent Nessie from making the wrong decision.
"Don't let external situations pressure you into making a decision that's wrong for you," Bella insisted in a finite tone. "This is your life to do with as you want and if Jacob or the rest of those wolves can't deal with it then it's there problem. Nessie, don't let them railroad you into doing something that you don't want to do."
Nessie took a moment to ruminate as she continued to lean back in her chair. After another dozen seconds of thought she started to ponder aloud again.
"I always thought of love as an adventure, but with Jacob I feel as if I would be giving away my chance for adventure."
Bella felt no need to add anymore to what she had already said. Her read on her daughter was that her thoughts were already working against making a commitment to Jacob. She decided that the best thing she could do at that time was listen to her ponderings. After a short pause, Nessie continued to vocalize her thoughts.
"This would be so much simpler if he wasn't so madly in-love with me," Nessie expelled in a long sigh.
Bella continued to hold her silence as her daughter sorted out her thoughts.
"He's out there right now," Nessie asserted with a quick questioning look to Bella. "You do know that?"
"Yes,"
Bella answered with a slight nod of her head in the affirmative.
"He's been lurking around the woods outside of the house, day and night, ever since I came back from Berkeley."
"We think he's protecting you," Bella reported softly.
"From this Ghost Walker guy," Nessie questioned with a mild degree of astonishment.
The question was rhetorical and Bella gave no thought to answering it. The family briefed Nessie on the Ghost Walker's exploits on the peninsula while she was away at school. The Cullens, minus Nessie, believed that Jacob's new heightened attentiveness was due to this event. Nessie perceived it as just another example of his undying devotion.
"That's just what I mean," Nessie spouted with even greater astonishment. "How do I hurt someone who loves me like that?"
"How can someone who loves you like that ask you to do anything that will hurt you?" Bella gently questioned back.
13- Compatriots Rising
Damn those Olympic Vampires, Ambrose fumed in his thoughts. Six months had passed since his last venture onto the Olympic Peninsula and he was still fretting over his failure to get his hands on Bella Cullen. His anger only grew worse with time. He could not stop himself from ruminating endlessly about the events that transpired while he was there. Despite the fact that he did not see a Cullen during the entire ordeal, he could not stop himself from blaming them for the whole debacle. He knew that they and the shape-shifters were connected in some way. Friendship, a defensive alliance, master and pet, the specifics of this did not matter. He was convinced that this connection is what caused the incursion to go so wrong. The Cullens were at fault for this failure and this belief made him all the more determined to end Bella Cullen's existence. The Olympic Coven had to know that he could not be denied.
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