? DISCONTINUED ? Between the Perennial Blooms || Paul Lahote

Eight | Violet

"Bells," she whispered fearfully as her unsteady hands struggled to buckle in her seatbelt after said Swan had all but unceremoniously thrown her into the passenger seat. "W-Where are we g-going?"

The truck slammed into gear, tearing out on the road as the eldest Swan sister all but raced to their destination. For a long moment the cab was only filled with the sounds of the two girl's heavy breathing until, finally, Bella turned her head to meet Bailey's gaze. "We're going to see Jake," she said, lips set into a hard line. "Because if I'm going to lose someone else," a steely determination entered her brown eyes, "then I want to know why first."

---

Time seemed to move by impossibly fast. Whether that was because Bailey had never before been awake during the Twilight hours or simply because Bella was driving at an unlawful speed, the young girl wasn't sure. However, the moment Bella parked her truck in a clearing the younger Swan had never seen before, she became absolutely certain that come the moment they made to leave, it would not be without consequence. The events forthcoming would change them; there was no mistaking that.

What remained unknown however, was whether that change would come in the form of something good or something horribly, terribly bad.

As if likened to an omen of foreboding soon to reign down, beams of moonlight seemed to illuminate the clearing in an eery yellow glow. A cacophony of chirping cicadas and croaking frogs sounded to fill the silence, the noise feeling amplified as Bailey stood shivering next to Bella in front of the now parked pickup truck. Gooseflesh prickled her arms and legs, the cool night breeze tickling the hairs on the back of her neck as the unkempt locks of her golden curls swayed wildly about her messy braid that threatened to break loose of its binding at any moment. The socks covering her feet proved all but useless as the dew clinging to the soft grass soaked through the thick wool almost completely, thus pervading in enhancing the shivers that racked Bailey's petite frame. Her arms encircled her abdomen tightly, seeking comfort and warmth that Bailey felt too wary of Bella to attempt to ease around her older sister's side instead. Quietly, she stood there; wondering. Watching. Waiting.

Until it happened.

A rustling sounded from the trees in the same moment Bella had begun to walk forward. Spooked, she froze, staring intently ahead as a figure emerged from the shadows of the brush. Bailey, unaware of just what was happening, gasped when her eyes met those of Jacob's -the warmth in them yet again not present, but still alight with a hard glint that she remained unaware what to make of. However, just as quickly as they had locked gazes, they broke contact when four other figures followed out behind him.

Sam Uley, Embry, and two other boys whom Bailey had never met before -though knew to be named Paul and Jared- stepped into the clearing to stand behind Jacob. Their movements appeared almost synchronized, fluid in a way Bailey had never seen before either, and were yet again half-clothed in just simple pairs of shorts. For a moment they appeared simply a regular group of young men; then, upon notice of Bella standing before them with her hand outstretched in Jacob's direction, their faces morphed into simultaneous expressions of fury. Bailey flinched at the action, taking a small step back as if the poisonous glares were directed her way instead, and proved unable to help the heaving breaths that escaped her lungs. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, as if in mere seconds it would sink to the ground below as realization hit her. This was the change she had been waiting for.

And unlike before, she knew with an upmost certainty that it would prove far from something good.

"What the hell have you done?!"

"I didn't tell her," Jacob defended himself, eyes hardened as they trained on Paul when he suddenly rounded on him in a whirlwind of unbridled anger. "You'd know if I did."