CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"What the hell was that earlier?" Jay questions as Bella walks over to her and Tyler. They're standing in the doorway because he can't get inside the Swan residence without an invitation.

"Yeah, I have a few questions of my own." The older girl says as she looks at Tyler.

"Well, how about we start at the beginning of today? You tell me what the hell tried to kill us, who the Cullens are, and then I'll tell you about him."

Bella takes a deep breath as she looks back at her best friend. "Laurent is a vampire." She tells her, and Jay and Tyler exchange a confused look.

"But his eyes..." He shakes his head, and she shrugs.

"That is what confuses you guys?" She questions, and they both return their attention to her.

"We're no strangers to vampires, but we've never seen any with eyes like that before." Jay tells her. "Is there more than one kind?"

"There has to be." Tyler says, and Jay looks back at him. "Stefan and Damon never said anything about anything like this before, and my eyes were never like that."

"You're a vampire?" Bella asks, obviously surprised.

"Who are the Cullens?" Jay asks as she looks back at her. "And Victoria?"

"Uh... Edward's my ex-boyfriend, and the Cullen's are his family." She says. "Victoria's mate tried to kill me last year, so Edward's brothers killed him. Now, she wants revenge, I guess."

"Huh... Tyler's a hybrid." The younger girl says. "Half-vampire, half-werewolf. Did your boyfriend's family have eyes like Laurent?"

"No, their eyes were more of a golden color because they fed on animals instead of humans. I didn't even know that werewolves were real." She says, and Tyler nods. "Is that what those wolves in the woods were?"

"Not like any werewolf I ever saw." Jay tells her.

"Wolves?" Tyler looks at Jay with raised eyebrows.

"They chased off the...vampire, I guess. They were huge." She says. "I was trying to convince myself that I'd imagined them."

"So that's not what he looks like when he turns?" Bella asks as she motions to Tyler, and Jay shakes her head.

"No, he looks like a regular wolf." She tells her. "Definitely not like a six-foot-tall Godzilla wolf."

"Godz— And you neglected to mention them before, why?" Tyler questions.

"Because I was confused, and half convinced that I was insane. Shut up, Tyler." She puts her hand on his face and pushes him away from her.

The next morning, Jay's sitting at the dining table at her house trying to figure out how to program the new phone that Tyler just bought her. She's not the best with technology, and it's a bit of a hassle, which is highly amusing for Kim and Henry. Eventually the older girl goes into their bedroom to work on her stuff for her classes, and Henry goes on his run.

There's a knock on the door, and Jay gets up to go and answer it. "Come with me." Bella quickly pulls her out of the house and starts for her truck.

"Where are we going?" The younger girl questions, barely managing to shut the door behind her.

"Jacob's."

"Uh-huh. Why?" She questions as Bella makes her get into the passenger seat of the rusted, orange truck.

"Because I want answers. Don't you?"

Jay looks at her friend as she then climbs into the driver's seat. "I just found out that there are two different kinds of vampires in the world. I think I'm good on answers for a few days." She says, but Bella doesn't respond as she starts down the road to go to Jake's house.

They get to the little, red house, and the older girl wastes no time in getting out of the truck and rushing up to the door. She knocks, and the front door opens to reveal Jake's dad in his wheelchair. "Girls."

"I need to see him." Bella tells him.

"He's not in." Billy says.

"Okay. I'm sorry." She starts past him. "I really need to see him."

"I'm sorry." Jay says, and Billy looks up at her. "She's been kinda stressed lately, and she's in a mood today. Pushy." She tells him. "I'm really sorry that we just barged in here like this."

They then hear noises coming from the empty field by the house, and Jay looks over to find four shirtless boys making their way over, out of the woods. Bella, having seen them out the window in Jake's bedroom, starts back toward the front of the house to head back outside.

"Bella—" Jay quickly gets in her way to cut her off. "Bella, stop for a second."

"No." She shoves past her, and Jay glances at Billy before going after her friend.

"You need to slow down and think!" She yells as she gets in front of her and shoves her back a step. "What the hell are you gonna do? You don't know anything."

"Exactly! We came here to get answers."

"No, you came here for answers. I'm still half in pajamas because I was dragged out of my house by a moron!" She argues.

"Move." Bella shoves past her, and she groans as she turns around.

"Oh, for the love of..."

"What did you do?" Bella questions as she walks up in front of Sam. "What did you do? Okay, what did you do? What did you do to him?" She demands as she shoves on the oldest's chest.

"Watch it." Paul says as he takes a step toward her.

"Easy." Sam orders as he puts his arm out to block the younger boy's advance.

"He didn't want this!" Bella snaps as she glances between them.

"Bella, come on. Stop it." Jay says as she grabs her arm and pulls her back a step.

"What did we do? What did he do?" Paul questions. "What'd he tell you?"

"Shut up, Paul."

"Both of you, calm down." Sam says as he makes Paul back up a step.

"Nothing. He tells me because he's scared of you." Bella says, and Paul and Jared both laugh.

"Really?" Jay questions as she looks at Jared.

"What? That's funny." He shrugs. "He's not afraid of—" They both return their attention to Bella and Paul when she punches him across the face. "Too late now."

"Bella, get back." Sam orders as the girls both look back at Paul. His body starts to shake and tremble as the older boy tells Jay to move her friend away from them.

Jay's standing in front of Bella as she backs up, forcing Bella to move with her. They watch as the trembles ripple through Paul's entire body, and then he changes. The boy that they've both hung out with so many times disappears and is replaced by the dark gray wolf that sat with Jay in the woods yesterday as she waited for Tyler to wake up.

"Bella!" Jake runs out of his house as Bella pulls Jay backward.

The older girl turns around and runs, but Jay stays in her place as she looks at the huge, snarling wolf that's standing in front of her. His brown eyes — the ones that she recognized last night — are staring past her, as the boy within the wolf is far too angry to register just who's standing there in front of him.

Embry moves around Sam and wraps his arm around Jay's waist, pulling her away from the huge, gray wolf as Jacob jumps over Bella, who fell to the ground at his feet. Mid-air, Jake phases the same as his friend had, and he lands on all fours. The large, russet wolf snarls and growls, now standing only a few feet away from the dark gray one.

Bella and Jay watch as the two wolves lunge at each other, and one sinks his teeth into the other as they fight. The wolves roll before briefly separating, but it's only a moment before they're at each other's throats again. And then they disappear into trees.

"Hey!" Sam gets Jared's attention. "Take Jay and Bella back to Emily's place." He tells him before turning to head into the woods after the two angry wolves.

"Guess the wolf's out of the bag." Embry says as he looks down at Jay. "Are you okay?"

The little brunette pauses for a moment and then looks up at him. "Would you believe me if I said yes?" She asks.

"I saw you shoot a vampire yesterday. I don't think anything about you will ever surprise me again." He says, and she actually manages a small chuckle.

Jared gets Bella up off of the ground, and then the four of them head to the truck. Jared stops in the house briefly to talk to Billy, but then he's climbing into the truck bed with Jay. He chuckles when he sees her fidgeting with her new phone.

"You just saw two of your friends turn into massive wolves, and that's what you're worried about?" He asks, and she looks at him.

"That vampire broke my other one, and I haven't heard from Elena in days. She's supposed to be getting back into the states soon, if she hasn't already. I have no idea what's going on, and Tyler disappeared right after he dropped me off back at home this morning." She tells him. "And I can't figure this stupid thing out." She says, and he holds his hand out toward her.

Jay places the phone in the palm of his hand, and he works on getting it set up while Embry drives to Sam's fiancée's house. "There you go." He tosses it back to her as the truck pulls up outside of a house.

"Thanks." The little brunette says, and then he helps her out of the truck.

"Hey, I think we should go back and see if Jacob's alright." Bella calls out the passenger side window as the boys make their way up the patio steps.

"I hope Paul sinks his teeth in him. Serves him right." Jared says.

"No way. Jacob's a natural." Embry argues. "You see him phase on the fly? I got five says Paul doesn't touch him."

Bella looks at Jay, and the younger girl shakes her head. "I have no idea. This isn't really my area of expertise." She tells her.

"Come on in, guys!" He calls, regaining the girls' attention. "We won't bite."

"Speak for yourself." Jared teases, and Jay looks up at him.

"Watch it, Cameron. I live with your girlfriend, and I will laugh my ass off when she kicks your ass after I tell her about that comment." The little brunette says, and he chuckles as he looks at her.

"Oh, hey." Embry gets the girls' attention when they walk up the patio steps. "About Emily, Sam's fiancée — don't stare. It bugs Sam."

"Why would we stare?" Bella questions, obviously confused, but he walks inside without answering, so she then turns to Jay.

"Why do you keep looking at me? I keep telling you, I don't know anything." The younger girl says and then starts for the back door.