PROMISE - S. CLEARWATER

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄: 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄

𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘓𝘖𝘚𝘛, 𝘉𝘌𝘊𝘈𝘜𝘚𝘌 𝘐 𝘈𝘔 𝘛𝘖𝘖
𝘋𝘐𝘙𝘌𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘚 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕 𝘕𝘖𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘋𝘈𝘙𝘒
𝘞𝘏𝘌𝘕 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘋𝘖𝘕'𝘛 𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞 𝘞𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘋.

- 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄, 𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐄

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

I wake up to cold air and unfamiliar sounds.

There's a mix of people talking, something frying, a fire crackling, and laughter. It's an odd combination in comparison to what I've been hearing for the last few weeks. Other than the fire.

My eyes open slowly. The room I'm in is dark, thankfully. A slight bit of light peeks from behind a set of thick curtains. They're beautifully stitched. The design is gorgeous. As are a lot of the decorations here. Even the quilt that's been draped across my lower half has pretty patterns on it.

I scan my surroundings warily. Where exactly this wonderfully decorated place is, I couldn't say. All I can remember is Bree telling me that she'd come back for me once they were done fighting. Maybe she's the one who brought me here? But she'd be by my side then, as she has been for the last few weeks.

The door opens slowly. I duck back under the covers and close my eyes, feigning sleep. A man and a woman both step in, closing the door quietly behind them. My heart pounds in my chest like a racehorse. It's a wonder they can't hear it.

    "Her heart's going nuts. I'll bet she's awake and just scared," the man whispers. Oh, Jesus Christ. It's that loud? "I'll go. It would probably be nicer if it was girl-to-girl."

    "Okay," the woman whispers back. There's the quiet sound of a kiss, the door opening, and then he's gone. I open my eyes cautiously. "Are you awake?"

    "Yeah," I whisper, my voice hoarse. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Emily. You're at my fiance's house. We live on the La Push reserve in Washington. We're right near Forks. Does any of this ring a bell?"

"Yes. Yes, yeah, I know this stuff. Are you a Cullen?"

"No, hon. The Cullens are a little while down the road. Do you know them?"

"We were supposed to come and fight them. Riley said," I gulp, remembering how morbid his voice had sounded, "Riley said we were supposed to kill all of them. For Victoria. They were in love. But he said I wasn't good enough to be a vampire. He made Bree keep me around to feed on, but she knew that would half turn me, so she pretended she was using me like a blood bank and just kept me around. She said she was gonna come get me once they won. Do you know Bree? Has she been to see me?"

"I don't know a Bree, I'm so sorry. All the vampires in Victoria's army were killed the day of the battle. There were no survivors. If your friend was one of the ones fighting the Cullens, she's gone now. But we've taken care of you. Sam found you just outside of the reserve and brought you in."

    I sit up slowly, waiting for the stars dancing across my vision to calm down before speaking again. "They killed her? The Cullens? But she wasn't doing anything bad!"

"When a big group like you guys comes to attack a coven of, what, like seven? Eight? They tend to want to kill them. I believe you in that Bree didn't mean to be on the wrong side, and it's unfortunate that she was, but the good thing is that Sam found you."

I tuck my knees to my chest. "Who are you guys if you aren't the Cullens? How did you know about the fight?"

    Someone else comes into the room. Another man. I scramble back on the bed and curl up further, putting my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sudden light. Emily quietly scolds him as she stands and shoos him out of the room. There's an oddly familial feeling between the two of them, like a mother and son. I can't see her face in the dark, but she gives off the vibe of being too young to be a mom. Though she's clearly very caring.

    "Was that Sam?" I ask as she comes back over to me. She chuckles quietly and opens the curtains just a crack.

    "That was Seth, the nosy bugger. He could hear you talking from downstairs and wanted to see you for real."

    "Oh my God. You guys are the werewolves, aren't you? Riley said you were going to rip us into little pieces and roast them until you could eat us straight off the bone-"

    "Slow down," she puts a hand on my knee. "We're not going to eat anyone. And I'm not a werewolf, but the boys are. And Leah."

    "Are they going to eat me?"

    "No. In fact, they're all filling up on as many muffins as you can fit in a person downstairs right now. Sam wouldn't let them eat people even if they wanted to. Which they don't. Just everything edible they can find nearby."

    "But not humans?"

    "No, hon. Not humans."

    I let out a sigh of relief and release my legs from my tight hold. "How long have I been out for?"

"Only a day. The battle was yesterday. Thanks to Doctor Cullen, we were able to get you enough nutrients to keep you stable until you wanted to wake up. I'm glad it didn't take too long. Would've been a shame to have to wait weeks to meet you."

    "Where did your Sam find me? Was I passed out or something?"

    "He found you in the forest, like I said earlier. One of the stragglers of Victoria's army was about to feed on you, so Sam grabbed you up and brought you here. Doctor Cullen was already here treating Jacob, so it was great timing that he found you when he did."

    "Yeah. I guess it was."

    "Do you care if I open the blinds? I want you to be able to see because I'm gonna get you water and food."

    "Sure."

    She reaches over me and pulls them the rest of the way open. She stands once she's done, turning away and heading to the door. "I'll send one of the boys up to bring you food. Let him know if you need anything else, alright?"

    "Okay. Thank you."

    She chuckles quietly. "My pleasure. See you later."

And with that, I'm alone again. I can hear a scuffle downstairs as the boys in question fight over who should get to bring me food. You'd think I was the only girl on the reservation, the way they were acting. I hear Emily shush them and say someone's name quietly.

    "Seth," she says. "You go. Here's a glass and some aspirin for the headache she's bound to have. Come back down, don't linger. I don't want her feeling uncomfortable."

The others grumble and groan, which makes me laugh a little. They all quiet at the sound, so I hold my breath as if I can suck the giggle back in. They eventually continue their conversations, letting me release the gasp. I breathe deeply. It's as if being asleep was being dead instead. Everything feels new and weird to do. I hum to make sure I can still do it, then stick out my tongue as if I was expecting it to be magically gone. There's laughter from the doorway.

    I jump back onto the corner of the bed and curl into a ball again. The boy in the doorway jumps back as well, surprised at my sudden movement. I can hear the water in the glass jostling as he nearly drops it. "Woah, there. You're a fast one."

    I say and do nothing, keeping my tight frame as he comes and holds out his hands. There's an aspirin in his left and a glass of water in his right. I stay still. He sits on the edge of the bed gently, trying very hard not to drop or spill anything on either of us. "It's okay. You can take them. I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."

"You better not. Emily will be mad."

    He lets out a surprised chuckle and relaxes his arms a bit. "You're right. And I'm on strict orders to get you to take these and then leave, so you should just take them and spare me the ass-whooping Emily will give me if she thinks I'm lingering in the slightest."

    I smile and take the aspirin from his hand, finally letting myself look up at him. He's a very well-built guy - I only notice this because of his lack of clothing - with nicely formed muscles across his stomach and chest. His adam's apple bobs as I look further up. His jaw is nice too. Nice lips, great cheekbones, and his eyes.

    It feels like an eternity before I reach them. But it's worth it when I do. Because time stops before me, and all I can see is him.