Naturally

Naturally (A Jacob Black Fanfic) -12-

Even though I wasn't looking at him I couldn't hold back a glare at whatever object was near me to replace his face. I had to force my face to relax when I heard something -I assumed a chair- squeak across the kitchen floor and footsteps follow immediately. I shut my eyes and pulled the blanket higher to cover more of my face, distinctly my mouth that had hardened into a firm line.

"Mary?" Paul asked, shaking me softly. I didn't bother to groan or make any noise. I was deathly still, like any other natural reaction, in fear that Jacob was also looming over me. "Wake up please," he pleaded, rubbing my shoulder now instead of shaking my body. If I wasn't so concentrated on trying to be soundless I would shake his hand off. He sounded too caring for my liking. I wasn't used to a comforting voice, let alone Paul's comforting voice. Comforting and Paul were very bold contradictions.  "You have to wake up." Finally, after I grew tired of his touching, I stirred and moved closer to the edge of the couch to separate us further. "Please?" He poked my stomach and I couldn't keep in my aggravation any longer.

"Stop touching me!" I growled, flinging my arm from under the blanket and into the space between us. I didn't expect for our skin to touch but they did and it hurt. We hissed in sync but I got over the quick burning sensation of the slap and sat up, anxious to get myself away from him.  My feet touched my jacket and I picked it up and slid it on. After adjusting the hood I took one more glance at Paul and noticed he was alone and the kitchen behind him was empty. My mind only spent a second wondering where Jacob went until I blocked those thoughts. "Thanks for the nap," I eventually mumbled out while making my way to the door. "We'll meet up again I guess."

Paul didn't reach me fast enough to pull me back because I already slammed the door and jogged off down the familiar path. I needed to be as far from the house as possible. I moved faster when I fully realized how dark it was getting because I couldn't see any further than five feet from me.  I stopped to do a full scan and noticed the west looked much denser then the eat and concluded the eat was much flatter than the west, guessing the west was the woods and the east was the village or beach but I couldn't hear any waves or any sounds at all in fact. The night was dead silent. I felt my pocket for my phone and sighed in relief when I felt the bulge in my left pocket. I pulled it out and it dimly lit a circle around me. There was nothing. No bushes or pavement, just a lot of snow. I did a full three sixty and the light of my screen didn't extend as far as I hope and still saw nothing in sight. Either I didn't walk as fast as I thought I did and was still in middle of the path or I'm lost. I took a few extra steps for assurance but my heart stopped when flashing my phone gave me the same result it did a moment ago. I was past nervous and my legs began to shake that I really wanted to blame on the cold but didn't feel right solely blaming the winter temperature.

A snap of something caught my attention and I swerved around in the darkness to see nothing but my senses told otherwise. I relied on my hearing to catch anything else and unfortunately I did, small padding on the ground. It was slow and careful unlike my racing heart. I put on a brave face and lit my phone screen again in its direction but the light didn't extend far enough. Now I was worried. It noticed I was on to it, how would it react? Would it jump and attack me or wait until I continued walking. I didn't move and waited for it to make another move but like me it stayed still I guess.

"Come out," I challenged but my voice sounded soft. The thing made a movement and the sound echoed louder than my voice did. "Show yourself!" I said in the same pitch. There was other movement. I stepped back and took a stance, ready to duck and dash when it pounced but the pounce never came. Instead the thing waddled out into the open, into my circle of light and plopped down onto the snow only feet away. I stared wide mouthed and eyed at it.

Before me was a wolf, well a werewolf if you count its gigantic size. I took a step closer and it lifted its huge head higher. He- or she- didn't seem hungry or aggressive but it did look and sound anxious based of its loud whines and constant shifting of its back legs and snow-plowing tail and that had me nervous. "Hi," I introduced myself but I sounded too nervous to sound confident or friendly. "Do you live here?"