It's in Our Blood

“So what was that about?” Nyx asked me.

The wind whipped by the car. Dark had fallen through the sky where only dim street lights lit the road. The cool air of autumn in Forks began to get colder. I wonder if Forks gets snow here.

“What do you mean?”

“The whole staring thing.” Expanded Nyx.

I looked out the window once again, “I don’t really know.”

Nyx turned the corner swiftly, “You think you might like him?”

“No.” My voice came out as an unsure whisper, “At least I don’t think so.”

Nyx glanced at me from the corner of her eye, “Werewolves imprint at glance.”

“I know that.”

The rest of the car ride home was silent. Even when we arrived home, we did not speak. Today was definitely hectic. I think we both need time to mull it all over.

But as we predicted, Alice called us when we got home. She questioned Nyx quite enthusiastically about many random things. After half an hour or so, Nyx began to get immensely tired. Alice seemed to realize so and asked to speak to me. So I spoke to her for a good half hour as well. Alice is a pretty talkative person; I probably spoke only 6 out of a trillion times.

Morning came by way too quickly. The sun was unnaturally bright today, a large contrast to yesterday’s looming weather. Stupid global warming, it’s going to be the death of everything.

“Kari!”

Nyx’s voice pierced through my wooden door, followed by thunderous footsteps towards my room. She flung my door open, breaking it and bounced onto my bed. I gave her a wtf look in which Nyx gave me an apologetic shrug.

“Yes?” I asked dejectedly.

“Well…” She dragged out, “The rest of our stuff came.”

My eyes bulged, “Everything?!”

She smacked her lips, “Yep.”

I rushed downstairs, knocking random boxes of things out of my way. I looked into the living room where a huge box laid. I dashed towards it, ripping open the box and bubble wrap. I threw the packaging away to who knows where. And at last, it was in front of my eyes again.

“Wow.”

My hand ran against the smooth ebony surface, finger tips barely grazing over. This was it. The grand piano my father had bought me, the one that Beethoven played. The last time I saw, nevertheless played it was back when I was a human child. I never thought I would be able to see it again.

I took a random chair as the piano bench was still in wraps. I opened the lid. The keys were still as polished and as clean as ever. I wonder if my great great nephew played it before. I know he’s taking care of Wish industries right now.

My finger gently pressed against the middle c key. An elegant ringing over came my sense. It was completely in tune. I breathed with my hands and began to play. I played the first song that came to mind, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

I’ve always loved this song for some reason. It was simple beyond compare of Beethoven’s other compositions like Pathetique. Maybe because this song has an enormous amount of emotion behind its reason for creation.

I ran my fingers loosely around the keys, gradually pressed deeper and deeper, adding a bit of pedal in it. My fingers improvised along the melody, especially in the treble clef causing the music to be more intricate and elegant. The movement began to slow down, dragging every single sound in the melody. The accompanying bass line grew soft, almost hypnotically to the evolving soprano.

The piece slowed down. The end becoming a slow broken chord, each note being slowly released out from the pedal. I exhaled and relaxed. It’s been so long since I’ve played on such an amazing piano.

Loud clapping broke my silence. I whipped my head around to the door way where Nyx stood. She smiled at me and crossed her arms, lazily leaning against the doorframe. She had yet to dress, still in her loose large dark grey hoodie and short pajamas.

“Amazing Kari.” Praised Nyx.

“Thanks.”

A loud slam shatter the placate ambiance in the room. I stood up, following Nyx to the front door. Alice bounded in excitedly, dressed in very fashionable clothing like some run way model. Her golden eyes were alight in happiness and scanned the two of us.

“That was amazing!!” Alice exclaimed, “Who played that?!”

I blinked, trying to process how she got in the house.

“How did you get in here?” asked Nyx.

“Front door was unlocked.” Alice said, “Now-”

“No it wasn’t…” Nyx replied suspiciously.

Alice waved her off, “Fine. I picked the lock. Now tell me!!! Who played that?”

“Me…” I said, slightly apprehensive.

“WOW!” Alice beamed, “You play better than Edward! WAY better!”

“Um… thanks?” I asked.

“Wait…” Nyx frowned, “You picked the lock?”

Alice ignored her, “Edward is amazing at piano. He won many different competitions when he was younger. But Kari… You are just brilliant!!”

I shifted my gaze around the room, unsure of what to say.

“You picked the lock…?” Nyx repeated.

“We need to have a competition between you and Edward. That would be so cool.”

“Uh… Sure?” I agreed hesitantly.

“GREAT!” Alice clapped her hands together, “But that’s not why I came over here for. Even though I am always invited, there is a reason why I came.”

“I still can’t believe you picked our lock.” Nyx grumbled.

Once again, Alice ignored Nyx.

“I’m not going to school today. Yes, I know, not going to school on the second day back… Bad form. BUT, in my defense, my dad was able to get off today and we’re going hiking. Our entire family.” Alice smiled at us.

“Have fun?” I offered.

“Of course we will!” Alice grinned, “And you two are coming along!”

Nyx cocked her head to the side in question, finally dropping the lock situation. “We are?”

“Yes you are.” She confirmed.

“Since when?” asked Nyx.

“Since I said so.” Retaliated Alice.

“Did you even ask your family yet?” Nyx inquired.

“Yes.” Alice replied without missing a beat.

“All of your family?” Nyx pursued.

“Well…” Alice made a face, “No. Edward doesn’t know about it… Nor Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper.”

“You didn’t actually ask did you?”

Alice sighed, “No.”

“We can’t go then. That would be disrespectful.” Said Nyx.

“But it’s the perfect opportunity to mess with Edward! You said you were!” Alice protested.

“But the rest of your family is involved. That’s the difference and exception.” Nyx argued, “It wouldn’t be right.”

Alice pouted.

“How about you ask next time?” I offered, “Then we’ll go if your family gives us consent.”

Alice sighed, “Fine. You better though.” She waved her finger threateningly.

She walked out the door, “See you later!”

And with that, Alice was gone for the rest of the day.

Nyx and I set out to school, considerably happier we did not have to deal with the Cullens all day. I wonder if Bella went with them. Nyx shot off to her music guitar class, dragging her large acoustic guitar case in hand. I went to my mythology history class thing which apparently was part of the philosophy curriculum.

First period went by quickly. This was debating generated class where students got marked based on their answer, logic and ability to manipulate the situation to their advantage in a short limited amount of time. The fun part was correcting and pointing out every made up illogical theorized point. But I have to admit, Trista’s answers were hilarious.

When I reached the Physics room for second period, Bella sat right beside Lynne, chatting. I looked at her, confused. The two seemed to notice my presence and waved me over. Chatter among the students elevated into hushed whispers. The student body seemed to be more chatty without the Cullens around.

“Hey Kari!” Lynne chirped.

Bella timidly waved, “How’s your second day of school going?”

I shrugged, “It’s alright. You didn’t go with the Cullens to hike?”

Bella shook her head, “No. I’m not very good at hiking. I rarely go with them.”

Conversation was pretty forced between us. Lynne insisted on our conversation to continue throughout the whole period. Mrs. Bramer didn’t seem to really care about us talking, as long as we didn’t disrupt the learning of the class and her. It was cool that way.

“So what are you planning to do after school?” Lynne openly asked.

“Don’t know yet.” I voiced.

“Nothing really.” Bella replied, “You?”

“I have volleyball practice.” Said Lynne, “Why don’t you guys hang out after school? Bella could show you around Forks a bit better.”

Bella beamed, “Yeah! It’ll be fun.”

I nodded unsurely.

The bell rang and the three of us headed to English. Nyx sat in the same spot as yesterday but there was a difference. As people began to file in, they all eagerly ran up to Nyx, trying to introduce themselves and congratulate her for something. That’s confusing.

Lynne tapped me on my shoulder, motioning to the empty seats in the back. Lynne and Bella sat behind Nyx in the empty row of desks, trying to avoid the group of people. The group slowly began to dissipate as Ms. Patricia came into the room.

“Hey!” Nyx greeted, shoving people out of the way to make room for me.

“What’s with the commotion?” I asked.

I sat down, taking out my binder and pencils.

“I beat Austin again. No big.” Nyx shrugged, “People are just making a big fuss about nothing really.”

I gave her a suspicious glance and rolled my eyes, “Anyways, Bella wants to hang out with us after school.”

Nyx gave me a skeptical glance, “Really? I thought Edward would’ve forced her to stop all communication with us.”

“Yeah. But Bella is very eager to hang with us for some reason.”

“Bella has a rather large group of people so protective of her, doesn’t she?” Nyx commented.

An image of Ralph, Edward and Jacob flashed through my mind; it pained me for some reason.

“What are you thinking about?” whispered Nyx.

“I… Nothing. It’s nothing.” I replied.

“The werewolf?” she murmured.

I thank god that no one could hear us right now.

“Not exactly. It’s just… I don’t really know.” I answered, “It confuses me so much. Bella herself is this huge mess and her life just makes it more confusing for me to figure out. She’s going to die, she has immortal friends, and her boyfriend is a vampire who hates us… It seems like she’s digging her own grave and for some reason I feel obliged to save
her.”

“So it’s not just me is it?” Nyx softly confirmed, “I feel obligated as well to protect Bella.”

The rest of the school day flew by after that. My mind zoned out. Nyx and I waited at school in the library after lunch for Bella to finish her last period classes. Calculus left us with a ton of homework to do. I was glad I still remembered how to do all those formulas and was so glad for the invention of calculators. If not for those things, I probably would’ve taken twice the amount of time to do it.

Nyx and I headed out to the parking lot by our Spider. Many people gawked and stared rudely at our car. It wasn’t that special to be honest. Sure it was expensive but there are better cars.

A beautiful Rabbit pulled in. My eyes bulged, mouth dropped. Alongside, I felt Nyx do the exact same. We got out of our car and ran over to the Rabbit. The rider got out. I lightly grazed my fingers over it. I could tell this was special. It was put back together with custom parts. I inspected the handiwork. It was from someone who wasn’t an expert at making automobiles but it took some damn excellent effort.

“Enjoying it?” a familiar deep voice asked.

“Yes!” I shouted, never once averting my gaze from the Rabbit, “This is amazing! You built it
yourself right?”

“Yeah.” A brief pause came, “Excuse me. I just saw someone.”

The sound of footsteps went away. Opening the hood, I inspected the engine and all the details. This was amazing.

“Kari.” Nyx voice entered my mind.

“Yeah?” I asked, moving my fingers around the wheel rims.

“Look.” She said.

I stood up, turning my head to the sound of Bella’s voice. Jacob Black was right beside her, arguing. He was the owner of this Rabbit! The two of them paced around the parking lot, furious at each other’s words.

“Bella!” Jacob shouted.

“I said NO Jacob.” Bella yelled.

The familiar Silver Volvo drove into the parking lot. Edward practically jumped out and ran to Bella. The two immortals glared fiercely at each other. The two snarled at each other. Edward pushed Bella towards the Volvo.

Nyx and I walked towards them. If something wasn’t done soon, a battle would have been ensured between Edward and Jacob. Especially because Jacob is most likely a werewolf. Bella would be caught in the midst of it all.

Edward noticed us, ignoring Jacob and glared. His hatred for us overpowered his dislike for Jacob. That was confusing. Isn’t Jacob the one who wants his girlfriend to be his? I washed all my thoughts away, trying to keep a clear mind.

“Stay away” Edward said.

Bella shot us an apologetic look from the passenger seat in the Volvo before Edward spun off and drove it away.

Jacob growled. I turned around to see his anger power him. I flinched. Why couldn’t I have been like Jasper and be able to manipulate emotions? Jacob took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He turned toward Nyx and me.

“Sorry about that.” He said.

“It’s fine.” Nyx answered for the both of us.

Jacob nodded and walked to his Rabbit. He got in and revved the engine. My eyes lingered there for a second more before I headed to the Spider with Nyx. Nyx started the engine and began to back up just as the Rabbit pulled up beside us.

Jacob motioned for me to roll down the window and I did so.

“You two want to come to La Push? Everyone is eager to see you all again.” He
invited, “Except for my dad… But he doesn’t really like anyone to be honest.”

I let this sink into my mind before nodding. I gulped, “Yeah. Sure.”

Jacob flashed a smirk, “Race ya.”

Nyx returned the smirk, “See you there.”

The Spider sped off before the Rabbit began.