𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐

"𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱! "

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╰┈˚ · °   THE CLAW WAS THE MOST POPULAR CORNER STORE AROUND THE RESERVATION. Not that there are a lot to begin with in La Push since it was so small. But The Claw was unusually famous with customers even coming from Forks for the baked goods made by the owner with passed down recipes.

After leaving Leah at her own home, and before heading towards his own job, Sam left me just in front of the corner store. I had been lucky to get a job there. The owner, Malia Hall, always had a bright smile on her face and a kind word to share, and I could say that having my shift with Jared Cameron wasn't the worst. He was a guy who wouldn't stop joking and talking even for a second. Taking things seriously was not something that he could probably do, but nevertheless, he was a good company to have during the most boring hours.

"Hello" I said as I entered the store. The monotonous tone of my voice was something that at this point, after already having worked for a year at the store, didn't catch Malia by surprise. The woman, around fifty-years old, with long black hair and dark eyes, greeted me with a smile that I tried, and somewhat didn't fail to mirror it.

"Hello, sweetheart" She said kindly, her voice taking a soft and melodic timber. "How are you doing today?"

"Good, thank you." I answered as always, the small smile becoming more genuine.

"Glad to hear it." Malia said, walking from behind the counter. "I leave you to it, I have some commission to make. I'm sure Jared will be here soon."

"Alright." I nodded my head in her direction as I passed her to go to the back room, and not soon after that, the bell chimed telling me that she had gone out.

I quickly hanged my bag and jacket to one of the hooks before going back outside as I tied my apron above my clothes to stand behind the counter and not leave the shop unattended.

"Hello, little Uley." Jared hollered with a laugh as he jogged inside fifteen minutes after his shift was supposed to begin. "Sorry that I was a bit late. Took me forever to walk here, I literally had to run. And I fell down twice. My poor knees are probably all bleeding and all that gross shit." He said with the most dramatic huff ever, his features covered in fake hurt.

I snorted knowing that he probably just stood outside school longer then he should've had. It wasn't something new. "I'm not Malia, Jared. I don't care if you are late."

"But you will cover me, right?" He asked. His eyes widening in a way that resembled the one of a puppy.

"No one has been here yet, so yes, I'll cover you. Now go." I rolled my eyes in fake annoyance. Malia knew of Jared's lack of punctuality, he didn't need me to cover for him since she already knew.

Jared smiled widely and brightly, opting to jump above the counter and not pass from the swinging door. "Thanks girl. You are the best." He kissed my cheek before I could stop him, running in the back with a string of curses from me that followed him. I knew him enough to know that it was something that I could expect from him, but Jared was the personification of the word unpredictable. His every move was the consequence of un impulse. He was spontaneous like that. It was something that I liked, he was a good person and for sure he could make me smile more then everyone ever did.

When the shift ended after three hours the sun had already started to go down basking the sky in hues of oranges and pinks. The walk back to my home usually only takes me ten minutes, but this time, with the fatigue of the first day of school and the busy shift that I just had, I took my time. Enjoying the woods surrounding roads and pathways, and the beautiful scene of the sunset.

La Push was literally in the middle of the woods. Houses were built with them surrounding it and with only dirt roads to access them. There weren't neighborhoods, only sparsely located houses. Only the center of La Push, where our school and the main shops and businesses were located, resemble more a little town with asphalt roads.

I soon founded myself outside my home, my body tired from the long day, only desiring something to eat and a blank page of my sketchbook. The one story house was designed to look like a farmhouse like most of the houses in our Reservation. It had white painted wooden boards and gray gabled roof for the main building and shed roofing for the backyard and porch part. On the side, there was a stone brick chimney that soon enough was going to be for sure utilized.

When I entered through the front door, the unmistakable smell of homemade food was what welcomed me inside.

"You are cooking?" I asked as soon as I noticed Sam in the kitchen.

I was kind of confused as I saw my brother behind the stove with a pot full of boiling water and ready to lower the pasta in it. It wasn't that he never cooked, actually he probably cocked the majority of the time whenever we had homemade food. The thing was, we actually barely did that. We would just eat some delivery from the local diner or eat whatever was in the fridge as leftovers. Like a day old pizza, raw carrots, mac and cheese, hell, even milk and cereals. Definitely not pasta. "Is that actual pasta?"

"Yes, Beatrice. It's pasta" He said with a huff that bordered very much on the annoyance while stirring the sauce on the stove. "It will take another ten minutes or so to be ready."

"And you are cooking? Why?" I didn't expect him to send me a glare from over his shoulder at the simple question.

"Do you want to eat or not?!" He snapped.

"Jesus, calm down." I said with a confused frown trying not to anger myself and answer with more rage than him. If there was one thing that we both avoided doing as much as possible to each other, it was yelling and snapping with rage. It just succeeded in bringing up unwanted memories. "I was just wondering why you were cooking. It's not like it's a normal thing for us to do." Sam never yelled. He was the calm one between us, but the look of pure rage on his face matched too well with the one of the one and only Joshua Uley. I couldn't help but take a step back, even involuntary.

"Yeah, yeah." A tired look mixed with confusion passed across his face. Before it was completely overrunned by guilt. "I'm so sorry, Tris. I didn't mean to yell at you." A pleading look formed on his face.

"It's okay. " I said with a tight-lipped smile as I gulped down the mix of emotion clogging my throat. But concern quickly took the place of any fear that I could have felt at the crestfallen expression on my brother's face. "Are you sure you are okay?" I asked

Sam was a very mature guy for his age. He always took care of me and mom since our dad left us, doing his best to always be there for me even if he too, was just a kid. He was overprotective, too much sometimes. We would fight, tease and be annoying to each other, but never yell. Never.

"Yes, don't worry." He said quickly, his eyes not meeting mine.

I walked behind him looking at the food that he was preparing. It smelled very good but what made me wide my eyes was the warmth that he emanated.

"Sam!" I said worriedly. I all but shoved my palm on his forehead checking his temperature that seemed to be at the same one of the boiling water currently on the stove. "Oh my god, you are burning up!"

He swatted my hand away from him "I said I'm fine!" He snapped once again. He was almost trembling.

I instinctively took a couple of steps back, eye widening even more. I didn't like this. Not at all.

"Fuck! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Tris. I didn't mean to yell at you again" He said, huffing out a tired sigh, tears gathering in his waterline. "I'm sorry."

"Alright, why don't you go and sit down or maybe lay down on the couch. I will finish here." I said cautiously, still kind of dreading his rage as my heartbeat continued to increase in my ribcage, not seeming to want to return to its normal frequency.

"Yes, thank you." He said while nodding his head as he too took a couple of steps back. Eyes on the ground, not leaving the wooden floorboards "I'm sorry." He reaped once again in a barely hearable whisper before disappearing into the living room.

As soon as he was out of sight, only then I returned to my normal breathing pattern and heartbeat. I leaned on the kitchen counter, closing my eyes as the dread slowly fell away, just in time for the timer to ring signaling that the pasta was done cooking.

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╰┈˚ · °  Dreaming about fire was not something so uncommon for me. Dreaming about it for an entire week, night after night, on the other hand, not so much. While in the morning, when I was wide awake, I felt myself being pulled more and more towards any source of fire. The flame of my Zippo, the one of the candles that were always lit in my room... Hours would pass and my eyes would never shift once from the bright flame. And adding to it, Sam had never been more angry. He had a fight with Leah recently, he would come home and snap at the littlest thing... His temperature rose as each day passed. When I tried to help him, to give him medication or plead with him to see a doctor or go directly to the hospital, he just snapped, saying that everything was fine, but he wasn't. And I was too distracted by the warmth of fire to do much about it most of the time, and honestly, I didn't want to be near him when he was that angry.

Another day had started, sophomore year was not going as I expected it to go. The lessons we started to blur together, the only thing that would even interest me was the bright flame emanated from my zippo that I stared at as the lesson continued. And then, nothing. The lighter was no more in my hands.

"Miss. Uley, I tried to ignore how you found it more enticing staring at your lighter than listening to my lesson far too many times. I'm confiscating it. You can come and take it back after today's lessons." The teacher sighed an angered breath. His eyes glaring into mine.

"What!" I shouted "it's not my fault that I rather look at a lighter than hearing your lesson, sir. You might have not noticed but it's pretty boring."

"Miss. Uley, have it your way. Your mother can come and take your property back. It's not only distracting you from the lesson but it could be a dangerous weapon."

Fuck you!— that is what I wanted to say. My chair scraped loudly on the pavement of the room as I abruptly rose from it. My glare was harsh and scorching as the heart of the fire itself. I could feel my breathing starting to quickened when the familiar nickname started to be whispered around the classroom with snickers and barely concealed laughs following it.

"The arsonist is back" Someone said

"Might want to watch where your lighters are, guys."

"Maybe they should close the chemistry lab before she actually succeeds in making this school blow up with us inside."

The whispers, well not so much whispers since they were said loud enough for everyone to hear, never touched me before. And for sure as hell, it didn't now. But maybe that was what I wanted to believe. But I was angry, so angry that I swear I could feel steam come from my body. I took a calming breath, collected my things and rushed out of the room with both my middle fingers aimed at the class.

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╰┈˚ · °  Lunch came quickly, the story of what had happened in English lesson arrived in every corner of the school such as the rumors of the fight that my brother had apparently been in. I sat at my table, as usually free of any people. My sketchbook open and pencils scattered all around. The cafeteria food was shit as always. I snacked on the packet of crackers while I continued to draw, when suddenly, I heard someone sitting in front of me. The chair screeched on the floor as it was being pulled, and soon, someone was sitting on it. Paul Lahote.

"Can I help you?" I asked boredly, not bothering to acknowledge him with more than with my voice.

"Mmh no but, maybe I can help you, little arsonist." Paul said with a wide smirk on his face.

Little Arsonist. How I hated when he would call me that. That was actually almost his only way to call me.

The nickname fell easily from his lips as any other words would. I don't know if I hated him more or the name that he had given me.

"I don't give a shit. Say what you what or get the fuck away from my table."

I saw the tick in his jaw from the corner of my eyes. Paul Lahote was not one for calmness. His anger issues were a common talk between the students of La Push High.

"I have your Zippo." He said with annoyance

That made me stop drawing. Last time that I saw it was locked in the teacher's drawer, but I knew that he, with his not caring about rules and shits, would easily be able to take it from there. It's only why I dignify him with a brief direct eye contact before starting once again to draw.

"And what do you want for it?"

"I give you your lighter and you tell me what is so special about it. Easy." He said while shrugging his shoulders. His eyes held curiosity, enough for it to overrun the continuous emotion of rage that usually stayed almost always put.

I titled my head "Show me it." I said.

Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Paul took out from his pocket a silver metal Zippo. To everyone it might seem the same, to me it was just one similar. Same model and everything but it wasn't mine. It was too new and lacked the small carving of J.U. underneath it. I quickly gathered my things, the sketchbook and pencil again in my bag, before I glanced at the male who looked confusedly up at me.

"That is not mine. But I'll tell you something," I slipped the Zippo back to him. I always looked nothing other than bored to anyone else. But I could acknowledge between myself that I was amused by his attempt, even if I wasn't showing it. At least he tried. "It's definitely more interesting than you, that is for sure."

Anger flashed before his eyes as I turned around and without looking back once, I walked out of the cafeteria.

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╰┈˚ · °  Skipping class was not something that I rarely did. To be honest, skipping school was one of the things that I did the most. The sun was high above my head as I walked barefoot down the La Push beach, in my opinion, one of the best places here in our rez. I could feel the sand under my feet as I wandered down the shoreline, and the cold water rushed to my calves before the tie would push it back. It was a beautiful morning, but as a weekday, the beach was clear of any person. Well, almost everyone.

A girl sat on the sand, the water surrounding her. The tie would bring more water making it go from covering her from a couple of inches to more and more, before retreating. She seemed serene, like nothing would hurt her or even touch her with the water surrounding her. But it was almost the end of September, the water should've been too cold to just relax like that, but it didn't seem like the chilled water had any effects on her. I always ran at a higher temperature, never knew why, more so in the last week apparently, so the temperature of the water didn't bother me either. But for sure, the girl in shorts and tank top, almost all wet from the salt water, should not be feeling very warm at that moment.

"Are you okay?" I said hesitantly as I reached the girl. Her soft features were so serene that I didn't want to disturb her. It didn't seem like I did since she never acknowledged my existence "Excuse me? Girl!" Still nothing. I considered leaving her be but before I could stop myself, I lightly shook her shoulder. "Damn, are you okay?"

Her eyes widened as she saw me standing next to her with a raised eyebrow "I-I'm okay. Thank you for checking on me." She stuttered slightly, ending the phrase with a warm shy smile that softened her features even more.

So polite– I thought

"Are you sure?" I asked, earning a single nod from the girl "Alright then, I'm sorry that I've disturbed you."

"It's okay." She laughed lightly. The sound was soft as the waves of the sea on a calm warm morning. The girl stood up and introduced herself, her shy smile never faltering even for a second "I'm Layla, Layla Thompson."

Shaking her hand I introduced myself too. "Beatrice Uley." It was unusual for people to not know each other in La Push. Almost all of us lived here for generations, so for me to not even recognize this girl was kind of strange.

"I know."

"Ah" I said with a small scoff "The Arsonist. Got it." I grimaced, rolling my eyes at the stupid nickname that seemed to follow me everywhere.

"Yeah, how can someone be so mean to give anyone a nickname like that? Do their parents not educate them enough to know that some things can affect other people? Words can be sharp as a knife." Layla widened her eyes as she caught what she was saying and immediately, she starting to stutter once again and speaking quicker then her brain could catch "I-i mean, it's no-not like I think- I mean it's-s"

A loud laugh escaped my lips, taking me completely off guard. It had been a while since I had let out a laugh so carefree. "It's okay, Layla. I don't care. It's just a stupid nickname but... thank you. And you are right, words can be sharp as knives sometimes." She smiled widely at my response, her smile was very contagious making one appear on my face too. "So... what were you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

Her smile faltered, turning into a sheepshy one as a red hue spreaded on her tan cheeks "Shouldn't you be there too?"

"Touchè. I ditched the last hours. But I'm sure you will catch on to what happened tomorrow if you go back to school." I grinned. Apparently the Uley siblings were the subject of this week's gossip round. Between me and my brother for sure we were making ourselves known."So what are you doing here?"

"You will think that I'm crazy." She said hesitantly in tone barely above a whisper while not making eye contact as she glanced back to the open ocean ahead of us.

"Try me. I'm pretty sure everyone thinks I'm crazy so it's not like I can judge." I challenged with a smirk lightly pushing her shoulder with mine

"I love water. Rivers, lakes, pools, sea, rain... I love even taking a bath." She said with a small laugh. The smile that had vanished returned to its previous glory as her eyes fogged at the thoughts of the element. I kinda related to that look. "It's weird I know but— I always feel... I don't know"

"At home." I whispered, my mind flashing to the fire, the hot flames with reds, yellows and oranges hues. How it called to me, the pull. How it made me crave the heat.

"Yeah" Layla's eyes were wide with wonder "How- do you feel it too?"

"With fire." I said with a gentle smile. For the first time in my life I was opening myself, even if a little, with someone who was not my brother. It was a bit weird. "It's strange, I know. I guess the name Arsonist kinda fits." I added with a derisive scoff

"Just because you like fire it doesn't mean that you like to burn things down." She said it like it was the most simple thing ever.

Silence stretched between us before she broke it. Biting her lips from what I could think was anxiety before asking her question. "Do you ever find yourself just staring at it? And just feeling calm, like nothing could ever hurt you."

I was caught off guard by that because the answer was one that I had thought about a lot of times .

"Yes. I do." I admitted

I don't know how it happened, but hours passed by as we spoke between comfortable stretches of silence. and soon, the sun was gone from the sky as we said our goodbyes to each other. When I walked back home, my brother was pacing back and forth in the living room. He was shaking, his whole body was trembling, jaw clenched so hard that I thought he was going to break his molars.

"Sam?" I said carefully. In the last few weeks It seemed like I had to do everything cautiously because of his anger.

His eyes snapped towards mine. Rage like I never saw before was clear in his eyes, that for a second, he wasn't my brother anymore, but Joshua.

"Where the fuck have you being?!" He shouted, taking a threatening step forward.

"Calm down. I lost track of time. I was at the beach talking with a girl" I explained as calmly as I could not noticing my body temperature rising with each second that passed. My hands were twitching, tingling.

"And you couldn't have just picked up the phone to answer it. Or even sending a message!?"

"What is wrong with you!" I yelled back, losing the last ounce of patience that I had left. "Why are you acting like this! I sent you a message telling you that I skipped the rest of the day and I wasn't going to need a ride home!"

"I sended you dozens of messages Beatrice! Couldn't you answer one"

"My phone was off! Now can you calm the fuck down!"

"What should I think if my sister disappeared after she had been harassed in the cafeteria?!"

"Harassed? What the fuck are you even talking about?!" I shouted "You need to calm the fuck down because you are acting just like him!"

He stopped in his tracks, frozen by my words. Our breaths were both racing, we were panting. Both our temperatures skyrocketing.

"Do you really think that?!" He said, his body trembling more than ever.

"Sam?" I said concerned as he started to pace back and forth. There was something wrong with him and I didn't know what to do.

He took a step back before rushing away and out of the back door from the kitchen. I ran after him, calling his name. We were in the forest just behind the house when I caught up with him.

"I don't- I don't know what is happening, Tris. I'm sorry. I didn't- Please, just don't come near me."

I fell on my knees as the first bone cracked in his leg. His shout of pain not even registering in my mind as pain like I never felt before brusted in my gut. Scream after scream of pain, both of ours mixed together. And then... it slowly stopped. But as I looked forward, in the place of my brother was a huge black wolf.

"Sammy?" I said in a trembling whisper. The huge black wolf started to panic, his eyes never leaving mine.

The pain then started again. Agony stretched until it reached my heart, my head. I could barely understand what was going on. Fire flickered in my hand, it was so hot. The heat scorched me as the fire enveloped my body. I was on fire, I felt my skin sizzling and burning— and then, with another pained scream, fire bursted out of me. A circle of pure hot fire. It stretched all around me leaving nothing unburned but me and my brother, who was a huge black wolf. The last thing that I remembered, was the whining of distress of the wolf as darkness closed up on me.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

And Sam shifted for the first time. And Beatrice, who knows what happened to her. Lmaoo. You will find out soon, don't worry.

Little interaction with Paul in this chapter, I hope you liked it. As I said before, he will not be a main character in this story until act 2.

I will admit that writing this story was a bit more difficult than any other of my fanfictions. I had no book or TV show episodes that I could follow. But I loved this story and I hope you will too. It took me at least two months to write this first Act.

Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter, I'll see you on Tuesday!

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾