Act II
Chapter 18 ━━ Search Party

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Bella carries her tray to an empty table but looks over at Mike, Angela, Jessica, Eric and Shelley. Bella takes a breath, then casually joins them. They take note but keep talking. 

"I'll kill Tyler if he gave me his flu." Jessica says.

"It's going around. My sister was so sick she couldn't come on our hike this weekend… so she didn't see it." Angela states.

"Ang, maybe you should keep that to yourself." Eric interrupts.

"We saw something, Eric." Angela argues.

"I believe you." Eric smiles at her.

"No, he doesn't. He's just trying to get lucky." Jessica laughs.

Suddenly and hopefully Eric beams. "Is that an option?" 

Ignoring him, Angela continues. "It was jet black and huge; on all fours, it was still taller than a person. A bear maybe."

"Or BigFoot." Jessica says.

"Or an alien." Shelley adds.

"Lucky you didn't get probed." Mike jokes.

"We saw it." Angela mutters quietly. She seems serious. And a little scared. 

"You're not the only one." Bella speaks, noticing this as well and everyone stares at her. "Dad's been getting reports at the sheriff's station. A couple hikers went missing. People are scared. Now everyone's chilled."

"I did hear some guy talking about it at the store." Mike confirms.

"Last time you clowns doubted my girlfriend." Eric complains jokingly. 

As they continue, Angela mouths 'thanks' to Bella. They share a smile and join in, Bella becoming part of the group. It's a good sign.

Soon, Jacob, the twins are currently at a forest clearing in La Push. Bella's straddling the now completed motorcycle which is aimed down a dirt road. Jacob stands next to Bella, holding the bike up. Their proximity is intimate.

Shelley is standing a few feet away from them as always. But watching them.

"You look scared." Jacob says.

"Because she is." The blonde remarks.

"I'm not." Bella lies, making the blonde roll her eyes dramatically.

Jacob runs through the instructions. "Brake?"

Bella taps it.

"Clutch?"

She squeezes the clutch, storing in her brain the name.

"Right. Gas?"

She grips the accelerator to confirm that she got it.

"You ready?" 

Bella nods in response and Jacob grins before he kick-starts the bike and slowly releases the clutch. The bike moves forward an inch and Jacob cautiously steps back. 

She moves forward another inch but suddenly turns to her side as her hand slips off the clutch, the bike bucks and falls on top of her. 

"Bella!" Shelley yells, terrified.

Jacob quickly lifts it off her. "You okay? Bruises, breaks?"

"I'm going again." Bella says and the blonde's jaw drops, hitting on the ground. Is she serious? "I'm not sure that's a good…"

Bella quickly rises and hops back on. 

"This is madness." Shelley crosses her arms over her chest.

"Guess we're going again." Jacob says siding with her. The blonde is sure that if she rolls her eyes again, they will drop out of its socks. "Now what are you going to do with the clutch?"

"Release it. Slowly." Bella replies. Jacob nods and kick-starts the bike again where she releases the clutch and moves forward once again. Slowly at first and then increasing the speed a little. She seems to enjoy it for a moment before she yells at Jacob. "I don't… how do I turn!?"

"Bank it! Bank - hit the brake!" Jacob races toward her and the blonde follows him. 

Bella reaches the turn, doesn't bank, goes straight… and flies right into a wall of trees. As she lies on the ground dazed, Jacob and Shelley hurry up. 

"You okay?" The blonde asks her sister who nods.

"What, are you training for the X-games?" Jacob jokes.

Bella looks around and then back at Jacob. "I want to go again."

"Forget it. I'm revoking your motorcycle privileges." Shelley scolds her sister.

"Shell's right. Man, look at your head." Jacob agrees with the blood and indeed, blood drips down the brunette twin's forehead. 

"You're bleeding. Dad will kill us. Let's get you back for ice or something." Shelley says, trying to move forward to get her up. But Jacob moves before her and pulls off his shirt to mop it up. 

Bella shrinks away. "God, I'm sorry."

"You're apologising for bleeding?" Jacob chuckles.

"It doesn't… bother you?"

"It's just blood, Bella." He bends over her, carefully tending her head. 

Shelley finds herself looking at him. His dark eyes, his bare chest and smooth skin. Her teenage hormones are kneeling in front of his bewitching beauty. He's just so beautiful.

"What are you staring at?"

She lands on the reality from her little fantasy to find Jacob glancing at… Bella. Of course.

"Just, you're actually… good looking." 

Jacob looks surprised and then smiles. "How hard did you hit your head?"

Realising, Bella speaks. "Oh, I… yeah." 

He offers her a hand, helps the brunette twin up and she holds onto it, alarmed. 

"Jake, you're hot."

"Upgraded from good looking?" He jokes.

"No, temperature hot." Bella feels his forehead. "You're burning up."

"I feel fine." He takes her hand from his forehead and holds it and the elder twin tries to pull it away. "What? I can't hold your hand?"

"It just… means something else to you than it does to me."

"One, that's my problem. But two… we have fun, you think I'm hot-" 

"Good looking." Bella cuts him off. "Right, Shells?"

"Hmm…" Shelley trails off, feeling not wanted in the place anymore. "Look, I promised Quil to hang out with him today. So… I have to go. Save me dinner, Bella."

Before they tell anything, she jogs away from their eyesight and hides behind a tree, bursting into tears.

After a few minutes, she notices Jacob running away, leaving Bella. Wiping her tears, she decides to follow him, finally getting the confidence to confess her undying love for him.

"Jake!" 

He stops and turns around to face her. "I thought you went to hang out with Quil." 

"Nah, I forgot my… water bottle…?" She lies, mentally slapping herself for not coming up with a good lie. He closes his eyes, takes a breath as a wave of something sweeps over him. "You okay?" 

"Yeah. It's-I just feel… weird."

"Maybe you have a fever. Probably that flu everyone has." Shelley says, concerned.

"It doesn't… feel like flu. I don't know what it is." He scratches the back of his neck.

"Jake… I have to say something to you. Do you have a minute?"

"Sure." 

"Okay." She takes a huge breath and releases it before spilling out her words. "Jake, I like you."

He chuckles. "You're my best friend. So… I like you too, I guess."

"It's not that." She shakes her head slowly, taking his burning hands into hers. He definitely has caught the flu. "I love you. I'm in love-"

"No. No." He quickly shakes away her hands, taking a step back. "I'm sorry, Shells. You know that we can't be together."

"Why can't we?" She asks, taking a step towards him. "What is wrong with me?"

"You're not Bella." His answer pierces her heart deeply. But she ignores it.

"I will change. I will try to look like her. I will dye my hair, I will wear brown lenses. I will change according to what you want me to." She rambles, hopefully. "Please, Jake."

"Why don't you understand? You can't pretend to be her and change my mind. I choose her because I LOVE her and you're just an obstacle to me!" He shouts at her but immediately regrets it. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm just trying to explain to you that we're not meant to be together." 

Shelley has a feeling that he'll come back to me again someday. She doesn't know how and when or where, but her mind says that he will.

"Right, Jacob. Have fun when she breaks your heart after she goes after Edward when he returns. Don't come to me crying and blaming." Tears stroll down her eyes. But she stayed cold. "And you know what? I hate you." She steps back this time, nodding. Mostly anger, heartbreak and humiliation taking place. "Don't ever stand in my sight again!" 

With that, she turns around and bolts away taking the fastest steps. Jacob doesn't even try to stop her. He just stares at her with a shocked face.

Crying her eyes out, she enters the woods, hurrying down the path she feels, then runs and keeps running, going deeper into the woods. It gets darker and darker until it's deep into the night. Her sharp desperate breaths are motivating her not to stop as her brain reminds her of the reason why Jacob rejected her for her sister. For Bella.

Suddenly, she trips and falls to the damp forest floor. She looks up, the trees spinning around her like they're laughing at her. She remains on the ground and curls into a ball. Darkness shrouding and devastation paralysing her. 

Hours pass swiftly and all Shelley's feelings are numb. She begins to hear the faint sound of her name being called in the distance. A search party. She tries to shout back. But she's too wrecked to respond. 

Rain begins to pour but she doesn't register it as she lays there, dazed. She begins to hear an animal shuffling. It gets closer. It sounds large. Scary. 

She lifts her head, looks for but sees something else instead. A dark shape, huge, black nearing. Its eyes reflect light for a split second, they're inhuman, savage. 

Shelley manages to drag herself to a cluster of trees, terrified and squeezed between them, breathing hard. She closes her eyes, trying to disappear… but then she opens her eyes to find herself floating several feet above the ground. 

Trees pass by. She's being carried. Next thing she sees is a very worried looking Charlie, Bella and a few people from the town gathering. But she doesn't find Jacob out of them.

"It's Sam Uley. He found her." She hears Billy's voice.

Charlie bolts to his daughter, he's never moved faster in his life. He wraps his arms around her, lifting her from Sam's arms. "Thank you, Sam. Thank God."

Charlie carries her to the house, cradling her. Bella jogs alongside Charlie, peering at her with worry as she manages to notice her bloodshot eyes as well. "What were you thinking, Baby? Why were you out there?" Charlie asks carrying her up the stairs to the house.

"He doesn't love me." Shelley mutters as he carries her inside her bedroom.

Charlie lays her down and wraps her in blankets. "Who?" 

Without responding, Shelley curls in a foetal position in the middle of the bed. Then at its foot, under the blankets. 

"I'll stay here tonight." Bella volunteers and Charlie nods before leaving.

Bella sits on the bed, stroking her sister's hair, muttering sweet things to her, trying to comfort her with her kindness.

As Bella leaves to change into her pyjamas, Shelley grabs her phone with her weak, shaky hands and dial Esdras's number.  It rings twice before his voice floods through her phone. 

"Hello?" 

"Can-can you come back? I need you." She sobs which comes out as whispers.

"Shelley? Are you crying? I'll be there-" His voice panics before she hangs up her phone and places it beside her on the bed. She closes her eyes, giving up and tiredness begins to engulf her and submerged in blackness.