heading back already
2097 Words
The ladies at the coffee shop directed me to a library. I emailed Mr. Dublin and informed him I would be doing the rest of my assignments online. Ordered a pizza and took it to the room I rented for a few nights. My phone was in my back pocket and completely dead. So I walked over to the convenience store and purchased an overpriced charger. Humans were interesting to me. "You walked here?" The man behind the counter asked,
"Yes," I answered him,
He had a very thick Jamaican accent.
"You can't do that when it's dark out. Creatures go bump in the night, ya know," he laughed so hard at his own corny joke I could see his false teeth shift. I kind of smiled and nodded and went and grabbed a soda and some snacks. He rang me up and as I went to leave he said, "Wait a minute girl, didn't your parents tell you the world is not a safe place." He nodded toward a van that was parked outside, "they pull up behind you and I got a feeling they leave when you do. They come in and buy nothing."
"How do you know they are not here to rob you?" I asked, already remembering the van passing by as I left the coffee shop. Now here at the gas station. Was my father tracking me or had Alpha sent someone?
"I can take care of myself." I grabbed my items and pushed open the door. Glancing back to see the old storekeeper shaking his head. I heard the engine start for the van. I paused and looking over I saw an older white male looking directly at me. Just to screw with the guy, I held my phone up like I was taking a picture of him and he, in response, gave me the middle finger. I walked back over to my room and paused when I noticed the zip tie on my door. Was that there before? I thought as I slid my key in and pushed open the door. I walked into my room, going right to the closet and then under the bed. Okay, the old man and the zip tie had me paranoid. No secret passages to my room. I let my phone charge as I scarfed down pizza, flipping through channels. Depression was kicking in big time as I thought about how Malaysia moaned in pleasure to Brayden's deep thrust. He had never touched me, not even once. We shared one kiss. Now that I think back, I wonder if it was all planned out. Before my 17th birthday, everyone thought I would be a powerful Luna. They said I had challenged Brayden, but then my wolf did not come and suddenly there was a change in the way people talked about us. No one expected him to choose me, but when he did, it kind of made sense. Until it didn't, people thought my wolf would be powerful, and then we would have been perfect, but it never came. I was feeling terrible for myself. Did he ever care about me? As soon as my phone was on about twenty percent, I powered it on. My phone blew up with missed calls and texts. To my dismay, not a single call from Brayden or Malaysia. All from Kye. I started to text and then thought it was too much to type, so I just called, "Kye,"
"Goddess, Jess!" Kye answered the phone, yelling in my ear.
"Kye, what's up?" I asked,
"Are you f*****g shitting me Jess, you jumped out of my car, and you didn't come home last night." Kye yelled,
"Kye, I'm never coming back there, ever!"
"Jess tell me where you are, so I can come get you." Kye, insisted,
"No Kye, did you not just hear me!"
He sighed heavily, "Jess, last night there was an accident, your parents didn't make it." He said softly.
"I don't care I'm- wait what?" Did he just say my parents didn't make it?
"Kye, what does that mean? What are you saying?" I was trembling now as I started pacing the room.
"Jess there dead." The phone slipped from my hand and dropped to the floor. And the last thing I remember was darkness. I woke up to my buzzing phone. An hour had passed, I sat up confused. Then I remembered Kye's words and reached for my phone.
Still only missed calls from Kye. Something was not right here. If what he said was true, everyone would likely know. Why hadn't Malaysia or Brayden called? Why had Luna Mia or Alpha Donald called me? I scrambled to my feet, snatching the door open. To my surprise, a dark figure stood before me. He reached for me and my instincts screamed to fight Jess. I kicked him so hard he cried "s**t!" out in pain and then came at me again. Normally, I was not a violent person, but a lot was on my plate. It was not much of a fight once I broke his leg and that was less than two minutes in. "Why are you here?" I asked calmly as I heard the van start up below us. We were on the second floor. I stepped over the guy that was now sprawled on the floor moaning, and looked over the balcony. Two more men came across the parking lot. Suddenly it clicked, these guys were trying to kidnap me, my mouth dropped, "Oh my Goddess were you trying to s*x-traffick me?" I kicked him in his nuts.
"Are there other girls in that van?" He responded to me with a whimper. It was not a big jump at all, so I tossed my legs over the balcony and jumped. As I approached the driver's side, it occurred to me, I was not bulletproof. What if this guy has a gun? I pulled my phone out and started snapping pictures. The guy behind the steering wheel went pulling off so fast you could smell burning rubber, sideswiping another car. He stopped long enough for the guys he was with to hop in the van before speeding off. I'd be sure to get the pictures to the right people. In fact, looking at my phone, I scrolled through my contacts and dialed a friend from the council that I'd made. "Vladimir,"
"Jessica, how are you dear?," Vladimir asked. He always sounded pleased to hear my voice. "Not so good. I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you. Um, I was almost kidnapped," I began,
"From where!" He sounded very concerned.
"Well, I'm in the city. I have a picture of the van. Normally I'd call the authorities myself," I laughed awkwardly like I almost often got kidnapped, "but I have more pressing matters. I was just told my parents have been in an accident." I explained,
"Jessica, that's terrible. I hope it wasn't too bad." Vladimir said to me,
"Well, their dead," I blurted out. There was silence at the other end and for a moment I at least thought of no further words. I could only feel a sharp pain in my chest.
"Jessica thats... I'm sorry dear." The old vampire sighed heavily. Vladimir had approached me one day and just stood staring, I being awkward as hell at first, pretended not to notice by looking at a portrait on the wall. "The picture does not do her beauty justice. You bare a striking resemblance to someone I used to know. Yet you are of no relation to the Chosen?" I just nodded because I assumed it was more of a statement than a question and, well, my relation to the Chosen was a dirty family secret. "You look so much like her."
"Who?" I asked,
"You have a spark in you, a light, so much like the twins."
"You say that as if you actually knew them," I commented,
"I do." Vladimir chuckled as he gave me a warm smile, and now I was intrigued.
"Really, why do you not speak in the past tense?" I asked,
"Because she is not dead dear, only sleeping." He said to me, and I tried to control my facial expression since I had been told a thousand times you could tell what I was thinking by my facial expressions.
"Sleeping," I said,
"Yes, but very much watching over the world and those she left behind." He smiled at me, "all of those she left behind."
I felt like there was some hidden meaning behind his words. He said no more, though he just walked away. Still, after that we became great friends. The vampire was easy to talk to and seemed to be knowledgeable about everything. He told me stories about the Chosen all the time and had plenty of kind words when I did not get my wolf.
"So smart you are Maddy, I mean Jess." He often slipped and called me Maddy as he watched me work in the lab. He would say I reminded him of his daughter. I asked once if I could meet her, and he said she was a mad scientist and had died by her own creation. We never spoke about it again.
"Thank you, Vladimir." I finally managed to say.
"Jess," he said softly,
"Yes Vladimir,"
"Your about to go through a very difficult time, all in the process of finding yourself. You will always land on your feet, dear. Keep your head up and stay strong."
Vladimir constantly said odd things to me, so I was used to it. Find myself. Did I appear lost? I found myself wondering as I started the long walk home.
"Okay, of course." My brain felt muddled. I wasn't even sure of what I was agreeing with either. I sent him the pictures and told him my experience, and he said he would take care of it. So I called Kye before my phone died and told him where to meet me.
********************
As soon as I got in the car, I started bombarding Kye with questions, "Neither of them have called me, do you think they are embarrassed that I know?"
"Jess, I don't think they know that you do." Kye frowned,
"You didn't say anything to them?" I asked him,
"It's not my place," he said flatly,
"My parents. What happened to them?"
"I'm not sure, Alpha Donald said he sent someone to your house last night, and it was empty." Kye said,
"Okay, but you said they were in an accident." I said to Kye,
"That is what Brayden told me. He said to find you." Kye explained,
"Brayden told you to find me because my parents were dead and he, my mate, did not call? He is not doing a very good job at pretending he cares." I know the hurt was dripping from my voice. I just felt numb and in disbelief. It didn't make sense to me. Once I got back to the pack house I was sure things would be clearer. When we pulled up to my house, I practically jumped out of his car, and went running inside, "Dad! Dad!" I called out. I went from room to room but no one responded. Passing his office, I noticed the door ajar. My dad always kept his office door closed. Pushing the door open, I noticed the room looked like someone had ransacked it.
I looked up at Kye standing in the doorway. His eyes were glazed over. I knew someone was mind linking him. "Well, where are they?"
"The morgue," he said sadly,
"But you can't go there. Alpha Donald wants to speak to you first."
"Is he on the way?" I asked,
"No, they will be by in the morning," Kye said,
Now I was frowning, "They want me to wait until the morning for answers?"
"They want to give you a chance to take it all in," Kye explained,
My head was spinning, something felt ... off. I tried pushing my way past Kye,
"Damnit Jess, I have strict orders!" Kye stood firm, blocking my way,
"Kye, move, or I will break you down," I growled,
"Jess, don't make me use Xan against you." He gave me a hard look. I was strong and fast, but only when the boys were not using their wolf's strength.
So I did the only thing I could think of. I kicked him in the nuts and made my way past Kye and headed toward the hospital morgue.
- Writer
