The Movement of the Earth

Chapter 2: Order

this is a cold war / you better know what you're fighting for
Janelle Monáe, "Cold war"

I gaped in shock as the hulking figure of Sam Uley emerged from the darkness.

He was shirtless and in ragged cutoff shorts, as he'd been at Jacob's house. He nodded serenely at me, one hand resting on the hood of my truck. "Hello, Bella," he said, totally calm.

"I- how- why-?" I sputtered inelegantly, the soggy grass squishing between my bare toes. "What are you doing here?"

"I'd like to talk to you." He spoke as though he had every right to be standing in front of my home in the middle of the night.

Until now, I'd always thought 'seeing red' was just an expression - but it actually felt as though a real crimson haze had descended over my vision, blocking my view of the man that was ruining my best friend's life. "Don't touch my truck," I ground out from between clenched teeth, my anger finding focus in the strangest place.

Sam didn't even acknowledge my words. "I'm sorry to have to do things this way, but Jacob's... stubbornness hasn't left me with many options."

"Get. Your. Hand. Off. My. Truck."

"I don't like leaving the others," he continued, "even for a few hours, but really, the only other one who could have come to do this is Jared. That's a bad idea for a lot of reasons." Sam frowned slightly as he spoke, and he absently drummed his fingers along the red metal of the hood.

Something in me reached a breaking point. I took two steps forward, pulled my arm back and then let it snap foward, punching Sam in the mouth with as much power as I could force out of my body.

There was a crunching sound.

"Ow! Ow!" I hissed, trying desperately to keep quiet. I yanked my hand back to my chest and sharp pain shot up my arm. Something was fractured, I could feel it. "Damn it!"

For a moment, it looked like a ripple ran through Sam's body - but it was gone as fast as it came. And there wasn't even the tiniest mark on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked, looking concerned and more than a little surprised. He reached for my wrist and I jerked backwards.

"Don't touch me," I said, glowering. "Get out of here, or I'll scream."

Sam glanced in the direction of the darkened house. "I'd rather you didn't," he said.

"And I'd rather you stay the hell away from Jacob," I shot back, rubbing my wrist as it started to swell. "Now leave, or I'll wake up my father and he'll shoot you. And when you're dead I'll kick your body."

Sam blinked at me for a moment, then did the most annoying thing he could possibly do - he chuckled. "Emily is really going to like you," he said, smiling indulgently, like I was a furious kitten who thought she was a tiger.

I was so mad I could hardly see straight, and the stabbing pains in my hand weren't helping. "Who is Emily? No, wait, I don't care. What are you doing lurking on my lawn in the middle of the night?"

"I wasn't lurking, I was waiting," he corrected. "Like I said, I need to talk to you. I only got here a few minutes ago. I didn't expect that you all went to bed so early."

"It's almost one in the morning."

"That's early for me," Sam said with another smile. "I was going to leave, but then I heard you moving around inside and figured I'd wait for you to come out. Where were you going?"

I rubbed my wrist and glared. "So you want to talk," I snapped, dodging his question. I certainly wasn't going to tell him that I was about to drive to the Blacks' for Rescue Mission Part Two. "Are you going to explain to me what the hell is going on?"