Souless

Chapter 5

Everything hurt. Bella wiped away the sweat dripping down her face as she made her last lap of the morning. Her nose flared as her mouth formed vapored o's in the crisp air. Each pound of her feet against the pavement reminded her she was alive.  The ache in her lungs and the throbbing of her pale legs made her more grounded than ever. It reminded her that she was alive or rather that she was human.  Besides the harsh smell of pine cones and cold air took her mind to the women haunting her dreams. Hands twisted into a fist and her teeth gritted together as she tried to make sense of her misfortune. She had never bothered anyone, she helped her neglectful mother, and she followed the laws. So why was she being tormented in her dreams? Why was she so emotionally detached? And why did she want those women more than anything when they were so murderous? 

Her forest eyes squinted under the pressure of the sun as she halted in front of her house. Turning around her eyes searched the forest that surrounded her neighborhood. Her heart pounded with want for a glance of snow-white hair, black eyes, or even caramel skin. Nothing greeted her but the chirping of birds and the whistle of the wind as it danced away the leaves of trees. Bella pinched the bridge of her nose before scoffing humorlessly. 

"I'm going insane. How could I possibly think that three vampiric women are just going to leap from my dreams into reality? At this point, I think therapy is an option that needs to be looked at. Ha! Fucking vampires! Knowing my luck it would be a disaster waiting to happen. Anyway, I guess it's time to get ready for the devil's spawn, Forks High School."

Yet, even as the door swings closed behind Bella the words "you will be ours love" ring throughout her head. It sings to her like a puzzle piece waiting to be solved. Unbeknownst to her it holds the key to a new world. One she should have been a part of from the beginning. 

***

Bella wanted to kill someone. High school in Forks went just about as expected; it was annoying. The moment her black Jeep rolled into the parking lot she was a topic of discussion. However, it was not until she left the office with her schedule that the world's greatest irritants swarmed her. One named Eric immediately crammed into her space demanding a story about her. His shaggy hair twisted with every closer step and his excitement was apparent although edging on creepy. The twisting of her eyebrows and the downturn of her lips expressed her displeasure before she replied. 

"I don't know about you but where I am from you don't come up to someone you don't know asking about their personal life.", Bella's piercing green eyes seemed to shoot through the poor boy's soul with every word. 

Stumbling back the shaggy-haired boy apologized before making himself scarce. Maybe he would just do as Angela suggested and do a story on the mystery meat in the cafeteria. Bella sighed as she watched the boy waddle away with his tail tucked between his legs. She did not mean to scare him but his approach was wrong if no less weird. However, this interaction was only the beginning of the headache that was to come. She had to dodge the intrusive questions of Jessica, a pretty girl with dark brown wavy hair and dark eyes, who despite her good looks had a tendency for gossip and jealousy that undermined her appearance. By the end of pre-calculus, Bella wanted to bang her head into the wall. 

Unfortunately, Jessica's invitation to sit with herself and her friends was something that the green-eyed girl could not escape. As predicted, the lunch was a disaster. The boy from earlier, Eric, turned out to be a close friend of the talkative girl which made sense. Next, was a cute and small girl named Angela. She immediately was endearing to Bella because she spoke little but cared a lot. Unlike her counterparts, she only asked Bella some basics and welcomed her to Forks even going as far as to stop the others from scaring her off. 

Bella's good luck ended there as the rest of the friends were overbearing. Lauren, who is the best friend of Jessica (yeah go figure), was a dirty blond with sharp light blue eyes. However, the moment that her eyes landed on the forest eyes of the newcomer they swirled with a mixture of lust and dislike. Dislike because Bella's unwanted popularity threatened Lauren's carefully crafted reign and lust as it was obvious she was a closeted lesbian. As for the two boys Mike and Tyler, there was nothing to be desired in their personalities at all. Mike and Tyler were your average jocks who thought throwing a football down a field meant they ruled the world. They used their varsity jackets like weapons to make those around them bow and heed. However, beyond that they were tasteless, immature, and horny dogs looking for their next meal instead of a future.