Chapter 12
2297 Words
It was one of the most difficult decisions in her life. Although, she knew very well, that she cannot indefinitely avoid conversation with her brothers, however, she felt it will not be easy. Their last conversation was rather stiff, and smiles strained. Only one has not changed. She missed them desperately. She would give everything for a quarrel with Mark or some fight with Carter. This is why she decided, she will made this difficult step today. And because she was afraid of brothers’ reaction, she has chosen Christian as first shot. Choosing Daniel would definitely be a sign of cowardice. ‘And by no means you’re a coward! Right!?’ She cheered herself on.
For now she was delaying this moment for as long as it was possible. Though it was already quite late she went to the gym where she spent almost two hours. Then she went to her room to take another shower, very hot this time, where she spent another half an hour. She also decided to dry her hair, though she usually did not take care of it. After a short consideration she went to the kitchen as well. It was almost twelve hours since she last ate, so Jay easily told herself that she needs some fuel.
She ate quite a big omelet prepared by Ms. Morgan, and then they were discussing fiercely about shawls fashionable this season. To gain more time, Jay drank one more coffee with the gardener and listened to his lecture about the care of roses. Finally, she ran out of excuses. She went to her bedroom. Because she was too nervous to lie down lazily on the bed, Jay chose wide seat by the window and dialed her brother’s number. He picked up quite quickly.
- Hello? – She heard Christian’s hoarse voice.
- Hi handsome! – She greeted him. – How are you?
- I fell like s**t! – He admitted.
- It’s two p.m.! – She remarked caustically. – Have I waked you up?
- I went to sleep two hours ago! – He growled. – So back off!
She felt not only resentful. His icy tone of voice, made her feel as if she was an intruder. Not so long time ago she would jump on him. This time she decided to resign from malice and was lenient.
- I can call you later. – She proposed. – Or better you call me back when you’ll get enough sleep. – She added a little bit of care to the tone of her voice, to ease the tense. – We’re in touch. Bye!
- Jay! Wait! – ‘Damn it!’ That’s all what he managed to think. He felt foolish. He also got scared that he offended his sister and she will not call him again for a long time. – We can talk now. I can’t sleep, anyway. And when I manage to fall asleep, I toss. – She heard tiredness and surrender in his voice.
- What’s going on, Christian? – She asked, seriously worried.
- Nothing. – He assured, a little bit too quickly.
- You don’t want to talk about it. – She said dryly. – Okay. Let’s change topic. – She suggested and took a deep breath. – I have one question. It can sound strange, but I need to know.
- Okay. Shoot.
- Have you felt something weird lately? – She asked.
- What do you mean? – Christian forgot about feeling guilty immediately.
- At night, from Friday to Saturday. How to describe it? – She was wondering. - I was dreaming that I’m scared. Actually, I was feeling someone else’s horror. And I was completely aware, that the fear is not mine. It woke me up, and in the morning news they said, that a girl was killed.
- Do you suppose that she have sent some signal to you? – He asked surprised.
- I don’t know!
- Did you know her? – He asked consciously.
- No. – She answered a little bit vexed. – I don’t know who she was. Besides what I’ve learnt later. I just want to know if you also felt something.
- No. – He said simply. – But I don’t sleep well lately. Apart from that, you’re not sure if you felt her emotions.
- I know, but I can’t treat it as a coincidence.
- Maybe it was only you, who received the signal? Or, especially you? Because you were close? Because you were more open? – He suggested.
- Because of sleep. – She added. – Or the distance from the crime scene.
- Exactly. – He agreed. – It doesn’t have to mean anything. – He added when there was silence on the phone. – Have you called the rest?
- Not yet. – She said. - I’ll try with Jess.
- We are the closest? – He asked.
- Apparently, yes. – She admitted.
- It doesn’t have to mean anything. – He repeated.
- Of course it doesn’t. – She said cheerfully, although, she still felt her stomach clenched. – Thanks for the talk, I feel calmer now.
- You’re welcome! Always at your service! – She almost could see his smile.
- Christian! – She said hesitantly. – Actually, it’s not the only reason I call you.
- You check, what’s up? – He snorted.
- I’m not forcing you to anything! – She assured straight away. – And no, I’m not checking up on you! You’ll tell me, if you want. I just want you to know, that if you would like to talk…
- Sure! – He interrupted her. This conversation was going to unpleasant topics. – Hope to hear from you soon, sis! – He said goodbye quickly, before Jay managed to add anything.
- Yeah. – She said to the deaf tone.
She hung up slightly resigned. The talk with Christian did not calm her down at all. On the contrary. His strange behavior, reserve, sadness and impatience, and finally pain and torment she could hear in his voice, gave Jay another reason to worry. What had happened in Purple Creek during her absence? What made Christian decide to go to Baltimore so quickly?
She knew that it will not leave her alone, so she decided to try again to contact Melanie Weakfield. Text messages, e-mails and Skype have not worked as far, so Jay stopped at the phone. She dialed the number without much hope and waited. The signals echoed one by one, and she finally prepared herself for leaving another pointless message on the voicemail.
- Hello! – Echoed in the handset.
- Mel? – Jay was so surprised, that she ran out of words.
- And who did you expect? – She asked sarcastically. – You’re calling to me, right?
- No. I mean, yeah. – She was confused. – I didn’t suppose you’ll pick it up.
- Why? – Jay could clearly sense venom in her voice. –Because you’ve dumped my brother without even a word of explanation?
- Mel, it’s not like that. – She tried to explain.
- Because you even weren’t able to look into my face and explain yourself? – She was mad. – Because you weren’t answering the phone, letting Bryan to look for you with abandon for a month?! Or maybe, because your f*****g brother decided to follow you?! – She was shouting.
- Wait a minute! – Jay finally broke through Mel’s tirade. – What are you talking about? – She was lost. – Where are you Mel?
- You know exactly what I’m talking about! – She scolded.
- No! – Jay lost the remnants of patience. – I don’t know anything, because everyone consistently refuses me any explanation! I can see that something is not right, but no one wants to tell me what the f**k is going on!
- Then I’ll tell you what’s going on! – Mel was still seething with anger. – Your brother dumped me!
- What?! – Jay was speechless.
- You’ve heard me well! Christian left me!
- But why? – She asked with voice changed.
- After it showed who we are, and that you left to protect Bryan, it all fell apart! – Her voice broke and Jay could hear, that Mel is crying.
- Tell me what happened. – She asked gently.
- As soon as we came back to PC, we got to know that you left. – She started, whipping. - Bryan started to look for you immediately. He even asked sheriff for help. But it all was for nothing, as if you had sank into the ground. – She said reproachfully. – I saw hope in his eyes extinguished, Jay. Every day he was more distant, and I couldn’t help him. He finally went to your grandma. – She confessed. - Isabela told him everything about our ancestry, and that our beasts were imprisoned by you.
- How did he take it? – She asked.
- The fact that we’re werewolves? This one he took quite well. – She admitted. – Just as we all did. He even dealt with the fact that our mum was lying to us for whole this time. But he couldn’t accept one thing.
- What’s that?
- That the curse, about which he had no idea about, took you from him. – She stayed silent for a moment. – He went to Ireland for few weeks. When he returned, he stayed in Missoula straight away.
- How did you cope with it?
- I hadn’t concerned much about it. I mean the fact that I’m werewolf. At least you keep our beasts under lock and key, right. – She laughed nervously. – But then Christian started to move away from me. When I asked what’s going on, he said, that if there’s just a chance, that he may release the wolf sleeping inside me, he withdraws.
- Oh, honey! – She said with compassion. ‘What a moron!’ She thought.
- When I asked, if he dumps me, he said, that he leaves to Baltimore. – She added with bitterness. – And that he doesn’t expect me to wait for him. Bastard!
- Asshole! – She added jointly and severally. – Where are you Mel?
- LA. Since two weeks. – She confessed. – I arranged the transfer of docs before Christian left Purple. I rented an apartment with a large studio, where I can paint. It’s okay, but I miss him so much. – Her voice quavered again.
- I know that it won’t comfort you, but in my opinion, you did the right thing. Change will be good for you, and it’ll help you to look at everything from a distance.
- I don’t want any f*****g distance! – She sobbed. – I love him! Don’t you get it?
- I know. – She said consolingly. – And I’m sorry, that I wasn’t there when you needed me.
- If I knew that it will end like that, I would had left with you. – Jay could hear a hint of amusement in her voice.
- It would be great. – She admitted.
- Where are you Jay? – She asked. – I know that you don’t want to say it to anyone and you even haven’t said a word to your brothers, but you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone. – She assured when Jay remained silent.
- I came to my father. – Jay decided that it’s high time to rebuild relationship with Mel.
- You’re in New York? – She exclaimed surprised. – Clever, no one will look for you there! And I’m silent as the grave. – She promised. – How are you getting along?
- Quite good, I think. – She sighed. – My father is really happy that I’m here. I guess he’s trying to build a bridge over the lost years.
- And what do you think about it? – She inquired.
- I don’t know. – She confessed. – But I’m not going to interrupt him. He really tries hard. Despite I can see, that he’s disgusted by the fact that I follow my mum, he’s not trying to push on me.
- Well, it’s good, right?
- Sure. – A longer silence felt. – Mel?
- Yeah?
- Is everything okay between us? – She asked uncertainly.
- I guess so. – Mel answered slowly.
- If you would like to talk, just call me.
- So you could not answer again? – She asked sarcastically.
- I just wanted to think about it, calmly. Keep some distance. Gain confidence, that I won’t turn back halfway.
- Would you be able to do that? – She asked surprised.
- I still would. And that scares the s**t out of me, Mel. I love him very much. But I’d rather stay far away to be sure, that he’s safe, than to have him close and constantly worrying, that something bad can happen to him, because of me. I wouldn’t survive it! – She explained.
- I know. – She said consolingly. – I love your stupid brother too!
- And everything’s clear. – Jay laughed at ease.
They spoke for one more hour, exchanging impressions from new places, talking about plans. But all of these in much more lighter atmosphere.
Glad, because she managed to conciliate both her brother and friend, Jay went downstairs, to the kitchen, to help Mrs. M. with dinner. And because she was in great mood, she poured a glass of wine for each one and she got into a loose talk about cooking and men with the housekeeper.
- Writer
