The Banshee -Paul Lahote-

Chapter 23

Mavis sat on the couch in her living room, a content smile on her face as she stared at the TV. It had only been a day since the attack of the newborns, but that wasn't what she was thinking about. She was thinking about Paul. The thought of him made her smile. "Hey," Alice leaped over the back of the couch. "What are you doing?"

She glanced at her mother, "just enjoying a show without any distractions. What are you doing?"

"Well," Alice sat beside her. "I wanted to watch a movie with you."

She smiled at her, "really?"

"Yeah, I love-" she glanced at what was playing. "Are you watching Dateline?"

"Maybe." Alice let out an airy laugh, "I like this show."

"I know you do." Mavis relaxed on the couch, pulling the blanket closer. "I heard Jacob's going to be okay."

"Yeah, Carlisle fixed his bones. He heals pretty quickly because of the accelerated healing." Mavis didn't know when she would see Jacob next. Bella and Edward were engaged, which came as a shock to her when she learned. Jacob didn't take to the news well and needed time to process everything.

"Yeah, I know," Alice played with the tips of her hair.

Mavis could feel her intense stare on the side of her face, "oh my gosh. Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm not staring," she corrected. "I'm admiring your beauty."

She huffed, "you say that when you're about to question me. What did I do now?"

Alice smiled, knowing she had been caught. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Mavis rubbed the side of her head, "no-"

"Really," the woman tapped her chin. It was clear she already knew whatever it was that Mavis needed to tell her.

The young girl sighed, "I already talked to Carlisle. He said he wouldn't say anything about it. I knew I shouldn't have believed him."

That confused Alice, "what are you talking about? What did you tell Carlisle?"

"About hearing Jacob's bones breaking a few ago," the words came out slowly. "What were you talking about?"

"I was talking about Paul," Alice was concerned. "You heard bones breaking?"

Mavis didn't know how the conversation had spiraled as quickly as it did. "I have for a few weeks. I thought it was firewood. Wait," she waved her hand. "How did you know about Paul? Are you spying on me?"

Alice turned towards her, wrapping her mind around what she had learned. "Let's go back to Jacob. You heard his bones breaking before it happened?" Mavis nodded in response. It was unclear why she heard it—Banshee's predicted death, not major injuries. "Are you okay?"

"Why would I not be okay," Mavis questioned. "I didn't get hurt."

"The fireplace," she realized. "You heard the fireplace, but it wasn't on."

"Yeah, I remember. I was there." Alice knew there were two possibilities. The first was that Jacob's bones provided the answer. The other was the newborn burn piles. Mavis could have been predicting either one. It was still unclear, but they needed to figure it out. "It's over now. I really don't want to think about it anymore, okay? I just want to be normal for a while."

Alice opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. She didn't want to force Mavis to relive the experience if she did not want to. "Yeah, of course. I'll leave Carlisle to research answers on his own."