Re-Imprint

Three days earlier

“Jake! Come over and help!”

I glanced up from where I was sitting on the porch, and rolled my eyes.

“Bells, why even bother? You can lift all of those boxes with one hand.”

Her whole body froze, her arms lifted in the air, ready to take a box off the moving truck. I knew she was trying to decide whether or not to be angry. When her arms snapped back to her side in one swift motion, I knew she had gone with being angry. She stalked over to me, her dark hair flying in the wind. She looked like an avenging angel, ready to bring hell down on the world.

It was in moments like this I remembered what she was.

“Why should you even bother? I will tell you why.” Bella’s face came dangerously close to mine, her piercingly cold, sweet breath burning my nostrils. “Because if the neighbors see me carry six large boxes at once with no struggle, they might become a little suspicious. So you will help carry in boxes, and you will smile while you do it. Understood?”

She walked back over to the truck, not even bothering to hear my answer. A small sigh slipped from my lips, before I pushed off from the steps and stood up. I jugged over to almost empty moving truck and Bella pushed a box into my arms.

“Now go take that in and hurry back.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I mumbled.

Her honey colored eyes flashed in anger, but she just went back to taking out boxes. I knew that I shouldn’t provoke her, but lately I just couldn’t help it. The move from Forks to Seattle had left me uneasy. Although the La Push pack and Cullen family had all decided it was a good idea, a part of me just didn’t like it.

I understood why it had to be done. The people of Forks were asking questions, “What happened to Bella and Edward?” they were all asking. And a few hikers had seen Nessie and me hunting in the woods. It was inevitable, I knew that. I had tried to voice my opinions, but everyone had brushed them to the side. All of us, Bella, Edward, Nessie, myself, had packed up all things and left. Now that we had finally started to move into our new sunny, yellow house, I felt like throwing up the contents of my stomach.

I caught Edward staring at me once in a while, trying to unravel the thoughts in my head. I had become very good at censoring what I was thinking around him, but sometimes it slipped and I started to feel sick. They were worrying, Nessie especially. I couldn’t explain what was wrong, because I didn’t understand it myself.

The new house smelled faintly of sawdust and paint when I walked in. I dropped the box in the living room and went back outside to get more. The October air was cold and crisp, though I barely noticed it. Seattle weather was good for our purposes. It stayed rather cold and rainy normally, but the occasional moments of sun were good for Nessie. She was less noticeable in the sunlight and liked to play outside. She was happy, and her good nature spread to all of us, until I couldn’t help but smile when she did.

I felt a small pang of sadness when I thought of her. Edward was bringing her with the last truck of her things. I wondered how she was, if she was safe and happy. It was irrational and I hated how I worried about her all the time. It had to be the worst downside of imprinting.

“Jake! What is taking you so long?!”

Or maybe Bella was the worst part of it. The older she became in her new life, the whinier and demanding she became. Or maybe she had always been like this and I had never noticed. It all of a sudden became too much. I felt a prick of anger and hold down on changing, stopping my form from wavering out of control. Bella was just staring at me, her hands place defiantly on her hips, her left foot tapping.

I spun on my heel and ran down the street.

“What?! Jake, come back!”

She didn’t follow me, and for that I was grateful.