Chapter Two

Jared

"Jared!" I groaned and rolled over, not ready to get out of bed yet. I heard my brother, Embry, banging on my door, so I grabbed something of the floor, I think it was a shoe, and threw it at the door.

"Leave me alone!" I was tired from staying up late working on my homework.

"Get your ass up, or we're going to be late for school!" He yelled as he was walking down the hall. I chuckled at my younger brother; he hated going to school, but he was always worried about being late.

I rolled myself out of bed, grabbed my clothes, and then walked down the hall to take a shower. Once I was done, I got dressed, gathered my school books and got into my truck. I sat there waiting for my brother,ivlaughing because he was in such a hurry for me to wake up.

I couldn't complain about my life though. I had the best group of friends anyone could ask for. I had my best friend and cousin, Sam Uley, who was a senior, my little brother, Embry, Quil Ateara, and Jacob Black that were sophomores and Seth Clearwater who's a freshman. Seth's sister, Leah, was a junior like me, and she's dating Sam.

We all knew they would be together forever. Sam and Leah started dating Sam's freshman year. They were perfect together, soul mates. Embry is dating a girl named Steph, Quil is dating a new girl daily, I swear. Seth was someone who was looking for the one, so he wasn't dating.

I, Jared Call, could really care less about girls. I would date here and there, but nothing serious. I didn't believe in the one or soul mates.

"Took your ass long enough," I told Embry when he finally decided to join me in the truck. I drove the short distance to school, joking with Embry the whole way. Once we pulled in and I saw our friends in a group. I quickly parked before we both jumped out of the truck.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked, walking up to them. I gave Leah a kiss on her cheek, just like I do every time I see her.

"Nothing much, just talking about doing a bonfire tonight." Leah squealed. We all enjoyed having bonfires, and just hanging out.

"Awesome! Let's do it!" Embry yelled out. We all laughed at him and started walking into school.

School seemed to drag on. I had homeroom with Leah, which we used the time to talk about tonight. Once homeroom was over, I went to English. Embry shared this class with me, he always was a smartass. I walked to my seat, smacking Embry in the head.

"Hey!" He yelled.

"You know you enjoy me pickin' on you, little brother." I chuckled out.

"So, you ready to have some fun tonight?"

"Yeah, Leah head that some people from Forks might be coming down."

Embry didn't have time to answer me back before the teacher came in. I sat silently through that class, wishing I was anywhere but here. The bell couldn't ring soon enough, but when it finally did, I was up out of my seat and out the door, once again smacking my little brother in the head joking around.

Walking to math, I saw Sam and Leah making out by his locker and could only shake my head. One day I'll have that. Shaking my head to clear those thoughts, I walked into math. Another subjected I hated. This was the one class I didn't share with my friends.

Once that was over I worked my way to science. I wasn't all that bad at science. While the teacher talked, I was working on the homework we would have this weekend. We were having a bonfire so that was all I wanted to do. The bell finally rang, so I started working my way towards the lunch room. I grabbed a couple slices of pizza and a bottle of water before making my way to the table.

"Hey guys," I mumbled around the pizza in my mouth.

"Jared, really?" Leah asked.

"Yea, I'm hungry." All the guys started laughing. Leah gave us one hell of a glare which was saying, keep laughing, and I'll kill ya causing all of us to stop.

"Damn Sam, you must be whipped." Quil told him. I couldn't help the snort that worked its way out. That was pretty funny, because it was the truth.

"Quil, if you knew what was good for you, you would shut the fuck up." She said in a deadly whisper. I looked at Quil, and started laughing. He looked like he just peed his fucking pants!

"You should see your face Quil!" Sam bellowed out. I heard Leah snort, causing a whole new round of laughter.

"So…..You guys ready for tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah, Steph is coming down, bringing some of her friends with her." Embry spoke with happiness on his face. I knew he liked her, just didn't know he liked her that much.

"New booty!" Quil yelled.

We all finished eating then went to our classes. I wouldn't see the whole group again until gym. I walked into history and groaned inwardly. I had this class with Kim, a girl who was 'madly in love' with me. I walked past her,hoping and praying that she didn't see me, I guess luck wasn't on my side.

"Jared, how are you?" She purred.

"Fine, thank you." I didn't like her, but I was a gentleman, so I wasn't going to be rude.

"Are you going tonight?" I couldn't help it when I rolled my eyes.

"Uh, I'm not real sure yet." I tried once again blowing her off.

"Of course you are, everyone is going tonight." I inwardly laughed. If she knew I was going, why in the hell did she ask? Before I could answer her, the teacher walked in. Maybe I was having good luck today. . .

The rest of the day became a blur and before I knew it, I was walking up Sam's steps to his house. Since Sam lived by himself, we always came over here. He had a nice little cottage looking house. It was a three-bedroom, two bath, and really woodsy like. It just fit Sam and his personality.

"Hey Sam, what's up?" I called out when I opened the door. I heard noises in the kitchen, and followed the sound. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw Leah instead of Sam. "Oh, hey Leah, what's up?"

"Just making food for tonight, Sam's laying down, he's not feeling to good."

"Do you need any help?" I asked. She told me what to do, and I started doing it all. I enjoyed hanging out with Leah. She was pretty cool, and fun to hang out with. She could take shit, but dish it right back. Hell she has to be able to do that, I mean she hangs out with six guys.

When the food was done, everyone started to show up. I couldn't wait to eat. We had made BBQ chicken, rice, fresh rolls, corn, and salad. Of course by the time we got done eating, there would be nothing left.

"Jared, will you go wake up Sam?" Leah spoke softly to me.

"Yeah, sure, no problem," I said over my shoulder, and started walking down the hall.

I made a quick stop at the bathroom, and then walked farther down the hall towards Sam's room. I knocked a couple times, but didn't hear anything so I tried again. I heard a small groan and slowly opened the door."Sam?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." He groaned again.

"Sam, you alright?"

"I'm really not sure. My body is sore all over. I think I over did it on lifting weights today." He softly chuckled. I could tell he was in pain just by watching him walk.

"Yeah, maybe, Leah said it's time to eat." He nodded and started to walk down the hall with me. I could almost feel his pain just watching him walk.

We finally made it to the table, and we all ate. It was awesome, Leah is a great cook! Once we were done eating, we all cleaned up minus Sam and Leah. Leah because she cooked most of the meal, and Sam because well, we just felt sorry for the poor guy.

Walking down to First Beach, I couldn't help the peace that swept over me. The beach has always been my calming place, the one place I could go and just let everything melt away.

Of course, the peaceful feeling came to a screeching fucking halt as soon as I saw Kim. I groaned, not even trying to hide the fact I didn't want to be around her.

"Looks like Jared's stalker is here." Jacob laughed.

"Shut up man. Just wait until some girl thinks you're hot shit." I laughed.

"Well if that's the case, then why does she like you?" It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about.

"Boy. I'm gonna whoop your ass. I am hot; she can't seem to stay away from me." I yelled and started running after him. It was a fun chase until he fell and we started wrestling around.

"Guys! There's no reason to fight!" I heard a high pitched female's voice. I groaned and rolled over so I was lying on my back.Why me?

"Um, we're not fighting." Jacob laughed out.

"Oh, okay. Well Jared, you want to go for a walk on the beach?" She purred out.

"I well um… I….. have to um… help Sam." I stuttered out. I saw Jacob and Embry trying to hold in their laughs. I quickly stood up, wiped the sand off my ass, and walked over to Sam and Leah.

"I see she still hasn't backed off?" Leah laughed.

"Yeah, she just can't figure out I don't want her." I groaned.

The group started to gather around the fire, and we started in on our legends. I often wondered if our Elders were drinking when they told these stories. I mean really? According to the legends, we're descendents of wolves. Werewolves, shape shifters, whatever the hell you want to call them, seems kind of bogus to me.

Once the bonfire was done, we all headed home. I was exhausted and ready for bed. I was stripping out of my clothes on my way to my bed. As soon as I was just in my boxers, I flopped back onto my bed.

I was having an awesome dream about this blonde haired girl that had just moved here, and we were about to hook up, until someone started banging on my door.

"What!" I yelled, really frustrated because now I had the famous morning wood.

"It's Sam! He's running a high fever but won't go to the doctor. Jared, please help me." I could hear the stress and tears in Leah's voice. And there went the morning wood, thank you Leah!

"Let me get dressed, I'll be right out!" I said loud enough she could hear me through the door. I quickly jumped out of bed, throwing on my jeans from last night, a t-shirt, socks and hopped towards the door putting my shoes on.

Opening the door, there stood a very stressed and sad looking Leah. I pulled her into a hug, and as soon as my arms were around her, she broke down. We stood there for a couple of minutes before she pulled herself together.

"I'm sorry Jared." She whispered. I nodded, and we went down the stairs and outside. When we got outside, I looked around. All I saw was my truck around us.

"Uh, Leah, how did you get here?" I asked.

"I ran." She stated simply.

"From Sam's?"she nodded. "Leah, that's clear on the other side of the res."

She simply nodded again before jumping into my truck. I'm pretty sure I broke the speeding laws on my way to Sam's house. In fact, I know damn well that I did.

Pulling up to Sam's house, I didn't even have the truck in park before Leah was jumping out. If it was any other time, I would have yelled at her for it. Throwing the truck in park and twisting the key, I jumped out and ran after Leah, catching up to her easily.

I ran through the door and came to a stop, while Leah ran down the hall to Sam's room. Something wasn't right, it was way too quiet. The living room was a mess, like someone broke in and tore the place up looking for something. The kitchen table was broke, as well as the coffee table in the living room. I heard Leah yell from Sam's room, and went running. Walking into Sam's room was much like walking into the living room, a complete mess.

"Jared, where is he?" Leah screamed out.

"I don't know, but I promise, we'll find him." As soon as I said that, I saw Leah start to sway on her feet. I crossed the room in four strides, just enough time to catch her before she passed out. I lowered us to the floor, and once there, dug my cell phone out of my pocket. I listened to the phone ring four times before someone answered.

"Clearwater Residence," Seth answered in his cheerful voice.

"Seth, I need to talk to Harry. It's an emergency!"

"Ok, hang on…. DAD!" Damn that boy has some lungs!

"Hello?" Harry answered in his gruff voice.

"Harry, its Jared, I need help. I'm at Sam's and he's disappeared. Leah fainted from the stress. I don't know what to do!"

"Calm down, I'll be right there." I didn't have time to respond before I heard a click; I looked at my screen just to see call ended.

Ten minutes later, I heard voices followed by people entering the house.

"Holly hell, what happened in here?" If this was a different time, I would have laughed because Seth never cussed.

"Seth." Harry warned. I heard a soft sorry, followed by a deep chuckle.

"Jared?"

"In here!" I yelled out. I looked up to see Harry and Seth Clearwater, Billy Black, and Old Quil Ateara.

"What happened?" Old Quil asked.

"Sam wasn't feeling good last night. Said his body was sore, he thought he went overboard on lifting weights. Then I woke up this morning to Leah banging on my door saying that Sam was running a high temp and wouldn't go to the doctor. We came back and his house was trashed, and Sam is no were to be seen." I explained. I watched as Harry, Billy, and Old Quil look at each other, and I swear I saw recognition.

"We will watch for him. Maybe he just needed time alone. He will be fine and come back when he is ready." The old fuckers know what's going on, and they have no intention on telling anyone.

It was three months ago today that anyone had seen Sam. Leah was lost without her boyfriend; I was always in my own world without my best friend there. Everyone on the reservation had heard what happened, but there was nothing we could do. Sam was eighteen, and with the elders saying he'd come back when he wanted to, we were screwed.

School seemed to drag on even more. I didn't even care anymore. I went, but never paid attention. I would turn in homework assignments, but would never do extra credit to get my grades up. I guess in a way, Leah and I just gave up on almost everything.

Today was another one of those days that just drug on. The only good thing that came out of all of this; Kim was finally leaving me alone. She lost interest after I went off on her one day. I know I should have felt bad that I disrespected a woman, but I mean really? My best friend and cousin up and disappears, and she's more worried about me asking her out? If you ask me, she had it coming long before it finally came.

I tried to stay away from the tribe elders. They knew something, and it was just pissing me off that they weren't doing anything to help out. They didn't seem to care that Sam had gone missing. Harry didn't care that his daughter was heartbroken and still cried every day.

My friends and I never really hung out anymore. Sure we'd still sit together at lunch and talk, but that was it. There was no more bonfires, or going to parties. Embry, Jake, and Quil went off on their own, Seth was trying to help Leah, and then there was me.

Before all this happened, I wasn't really a fan of drinking. Of course I would drink once in a while, but not on a daily basis, maybe like once every two months or so. When Sam first disappeared, I tried dealing with the fact that I may never see him again. That lead to drinking here and there, and the longer he was gone, the more I drank.

I was sitting in my room, blocking out the world, enjoying a beer when I heard a knock on my door. At first I was confused onto who would be knocking. Everyone knew to pretty much leave me alone.

"Who the hell is it?" I screamed out.

"Jared, it's me open the door please?" I heard excitement in Leah's voice. This got my curiosity going. I stood from my bed, swaying a little bit before gaining my balance and walking to my door. I opened it to see an excited looking Leah. This just pissed me off.

"What the fuck Leah?"

"Jared, I saw him! I saw Sam! He was leaving Billy Black's house. Jared, he's home!" She said jumping in place. I was getting really dizzy from watching her. I took a small step forward, swaying while doing so, and gently put my hands on her shoulders, trying to make her stop.

"Leah, Sam's not back. He's not coming back. We need to let him go." I spoke softly and slowly so the words would sink in. I swear as soon as they did, her eyes turned red, and I was actually scared of this five foot six inch girl in front of me. I went to open my mouth, but before I could say anything, I heard a loud smack followed by the sting in my cheek. Did she just slap me? That fucking bitch!

"Leah, it's time for you to go… NOW!" I yelled. I couldn't believe she just did that! I took a step back and slammed my bedroom door in her face.

I wobbled my way back to my bed, throwing myself down on it. My right hand came up to my cheek where I could still feel the sting from her slap. I felt bad for saying what I did to her, but it was time. It's been three months, and Sam wasn't coming back.

I'm pretty sure I drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I knew, Seth came storming into my room.

"How dare you say that to Leah?"

"Because Seth, it's time. Sam isn't coming home." I mumbled, already bored.

"He is home Jared. My dad saw him today." I sat up in bed to quick and felt my whole world spin way to fast.

"Do what?"I asked dumbly.

"Yeah he's home, but he's not Sam. I mean he is, but he's way different." He mumbled towards my floor.

"Let's go then!" I yelled, swinging my legs over my bed and standing up. Seth followed me down the stairs and outside where I saw my truck.

"Seth, I think its best we walk." He agreed, and we started the quiet walk towards Sam's house. I was starting to sober up half way there, when I saw Leah come running towards us.

"Lele, what's wrong?" Seth asked, rushing up towards her.

"It's over. Sam and I are over." She never stopped in her running, and continued in the direction of her house; Seth following behind her. I was pissed. I started a slow jog, and came to a stop outside Sam's house. Well, here goes nothing. I knocked on the door and heard a loud 'come in'.

Opening the door, I could tell that someone had cleaned up his house.

I walked farther into the house, but came to a dead stop when I saw Sam.

Seth was right, he wasn't the same. Before me was a full grown man; someone who looked to be in his mid-twenties, very muscular, and shirtless, his face was filled out, he looked full of authority, and he almost looked scary. This man standing before me was not my cousin or best friend. This fact just seemed to piss me off even more.

"What the fuck Sam!" I yelled.

"Spit it out, and then get out of my house." He ordered, pissing me off even further.

"You fucking disappear for three months, and that's all you have to say? We have been worried about you! Leah cried every day over your ass, and as soon as you come home, you fucking dump her? You ignore all of us for three months. No calls, no letters, and no fucking sign of whether you were even fucking alive! You're not the same person you used to be!" By the time I was done, I was shaking. I was shaking so hard, I couldn't stop.

Sam looked at me with sadness in his eyes before he ordered "Jared, back yard. Now!"

Walking towards his back door, I felt like dying. My body felt like there was a fire on the inside of me that I couldn't put out. All of my bone felt like they were slowly breaking while my muscles felt like people had a hold of my hands and legs, all pulling in different directions. The pain was starting to become too much, and I was grasping at anything that would make it go away.

"I never missed you guys. It was for the best. I can't talk to, or hang out with you guys anymore." Sam said. Was he trying to piss me off even more? Couldn't he see that I was in pain?

"I'm your fucking family! Your best friend. Fuck you!" I screamed out from the pain before everything went black.