Chapter Thirteen
"This is just so confusing," I said and leaned on Daddy's shoulder on my red couch at home. He was staying with me, along with Momma, until Jake got back from his meeting with the Pack; I refused to sleep at the mansion and they wouldn't let me sleep here alone; they were getting unnecessarily worried. Again.
"I know what you mean, sweetheart," he said and continued playing with my bronze curls."I can't even rationalize this."
"Neither can I," Momma joined the conversation as she looked out of our window."It can't be the purest of coincidences that, technically, a member of the Volturi would happen to work for a werewolf, that happens to be the only one related to us, the Cullens." Daddy smiled for some reason then got serious again.
"It most definitely isn't a coincidence," he said,"Sometimes I wonder..." he mused, trailing off. Momma turned to us.
"Wonder about what?" she asked and I asked the same question mentally. He sighed.
"Sometimes I wonder if her and Frederick are connected," he said and Momma and I exchanged quick glances automatically.
"How so?" Momma asked when I didn't have the courage to. I was getting dizzy at the subject itself. Daddy glanced down at me as if thinking about something before he answered.
"I don't know," he said with his poker face on and I immediately knew he was lying but decided not to say anything. I just shut my eyes and wished everything would disappear. Something about her, from the very beginning, told me not to be comfortable around her. Something warned me, an internal feeling, maybe. But I couldn't know for sure.
Frederick, on the other hand, made me feel like I was talking to an old friend. I had only met him three or four times but I already felt like I was talking to one of the Denalis or maybe even one of my own family. I never felt like he would be a reason something wrong happened, even though he was officially connected to the Volturi.
But, again, they both came around the same time...
"I want to go sleep," I whispered and opened my eyes. Momma looked at me sympathetically while Daddy helped me up silently and they both walked with me to bed. I hopped under the covers and held Jake's pillow to my chest. Daddy and Momma kissed my forehead.
"We'll be right outside if you need anything," Daddy reassured before he left and closed the door behind him. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something else.
Maybe I'd wake up tomorrow and find out all of this were results of hallucinations due to some hormonal error or something.
Only that it wasn't.
Jacob Black
I got back home after a very unsuccessful meeting with the Pack members; no one had any ideas about how to deal with this. All we decided that there would be always at least three at the borders of La Push as we can't detect this Morgan. I just couldn't believe what we had discovered.
I even felt sick to my core that, if we were never early today and if we never realized this behavior of hers, I might have actually left Nessie there and gone to get something or someone or anything. Alone and pregnant, with her. I would have left her alone with a bloodsucker and be happy about it, too.
Just the thought sent shivers down my spine. I thanked God for not letting anything of that sort happen. I found Edward and Bella cuddling on our couch.
"Hey," I said, heading directly towards our bedroom where I knew Nessie was.
"How did it go?" Bella asked. I turned my head to them.
"Nothing new," I informed with a shrug."More patrols and so." She nodded."My main concerns are Nessie, Nessie, Nessie, and La Push, you know," I said dully before I pushed the off-white door open.
Nessie was deeply asleep, her beautiful pink lips in a grim line and her rosy cheeks had one, single trail of a tear that felt more like a knife in my heart; it hurt more than anything to see her as scared as she was from something unknown to us. Something that we didn't know its complete abilities or reasons behind its arrival. It made me feel useless, helpless.
She was hugging my pillow gently and burying half her face in it. I could hear her usually-a-little-faster heartbeat beat even faster for a second. It was fascinating how, if I concentrated well, I could hear Sarah's and Colby's little heartbeats, too. Just fascinating.
Her chocolate brown eyes snapped open suddenly, taking me aback as I was staring at her thoughtfully. She took a deep breath before she even realized I was there. I blinked twice before I could fully concentrate; I was really tired.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked as I sat down next to her. She closed her eyes for a long moment before she opened them again and shook her head.
"Nothing, nothing," she mumbled and sighed. But it didn't satisfy me, I knew she had a nightmare or something so I just stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.
"You don't have to tell me," I half-lied."Just calm down." She nodded with a smile.
"Are Momma and Daddy gone?" she asked and I concentrated before I heard nothing outside so I knew they weren't there; they would've made themselves obvious when they hear Nessie's question.
"Yeah," I answered and was about to get up when she grabbed my arm.
"Stay," she breathed and closed her eyes.
"I'm just going to change-" she cut me off.
"No, just stay as you are," she shook her head. I took off my shoes (I've been wearing those lately 'cause the last thing I wanted was some dirty carpets or having Nessie clean them regularly- she didn't allow Esme or Bella to do that for her so shoes were better than nothing) and went closer to her, taking her in my arms. She relaxed- only then I noticed how tense she was- and sighed.
I think we slept right after that because the next thing I knew, the sun was up and it was noon already. I cursed under my breath and went straight to the bathroom, took a shower, and changed into the first things I saw. Nessie had woken up by the time I finished.
"Are you going now?" she asked, sitting up. I nodded and grabbed my phone and keys before I kissed her quickly."Take care," she said before I went out.
"You too!" I yelled before I rushed into my Rabbit and started the engine, speeding to Port Angeles.
I didn't know how to deal with her after what happened yesterday. She should know by now that we knew what she was. She must have known Rosalie was a vampire, too. I know Nessie can distinguish them.
She could have not known we were werewolves but, what could that be? Coincidence? I snorted. Yeah, right.
I glanced at my BlackBerry and fond out I had two missed calls from Embry, probably wondering where I was so I ignored them and focused on the road. I got there in no time.
"Where have you been?" Embry asked, standing in front of the entrance. I frowned at his tone.
"Home," I answered," I overslept. What's going on?" I asked suspiciously.
"She didn't show up today," he informed, his hands in his pockets."She didn't show up," he repeated. I crossed my arms over my chest.
"But Alice can't see her," I said," She said she would be coming today." He snorted.
"Well, turns out she can't see her after all," he said."Now we don't know where the Hell she is!" I frowned in concentration.
So she didn't show up today- which never happened before, but, again, this is a different situation. Where could she have gone? We didn't know how to get a hold of her since her papers were fake- I wondered if Morgan was her real name.
"We can't track her," I mused."Who's on patrol now?" I asked.
"Sam, Quil and Collin," he informed.
"Close it," I said, referring to the garage,"We're going to La Push."
Renesmee Cullen
"He's not answering his phone," I said, worried."He should be at work. He's not answering his phone," I repeated.
"Calm down," Jasper said, sending a soothing wave in my direction."He might be somewhere in his wolf form," he said."Just watch the movie with us and calm down."
I sighed,"Fine," I said,"Just in his wolf form, right?" I mused,"Why would he be in his wolf form now?" I asked. Jasper, Emmett, Daddy, Momma, Alice, Rose and Esme sighed. Jasper and Daddy exchanged a meaningful look before Daddy nodded.
"Honey," he said,"He would have called if it was important." I glared at him.
"Which makes me much less worried," I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and motioned towards the TV. I sighed and decided to finally watch this movie that I bet Jasper and Emmett watched over a hundred times- and it was only released about three years ago.
"Bonjour," Frederick said as Esme let him in. Jasper had managed to get me completely calm by now.
"Bonjour, Frederick." You would think his name was a mouthful but, when pronounced in a French accent, it really isn't. He smiled at me. Everybody else just acted like him being around was a normal thing now- well, it kind of was but not to me, they always kept me somewhere else. He sat down on the chair opposite to the couch I was sitting on between Momma and Daddy. I got back to concentrating on the movie events.
"And they say vampires are merciless," I mumbled after the movie ended, earning a couple of chuckles from everyone."What was its name again?" I didn't really concentrate.
"Inglorious Basterds," Emmett replied. I nodded as if I knew all the movie names in the world and he just confirmed a minor information. A few minutes later, Frederick spoke to me.
"Would you like to walk outside a little, Renesmee?" he suggested. I looked at Daddy questioningly; he knew better when it came to intentions. He shrugged.
"Nothing farther than the backyard," he warned bluntly to which Frederick nodded understandingly."Exactly," Daddy answered an unspoken statement. I got up and went silently with him, forgetting all about what I thought of yesterday.
"You have changed so much, Renesmee," he noticed,"Than the last time you were in Italy." I shuddered at the memory.
"Thank you." It sounded more like a question. He smiled.
"What could be on your mind?" he mused,"Tu as l'air si inquiet*." I shrugged, not wanting to tell him what really was on my mind.
"Ils sont sans doute mes hormones**," I answered with a chuckle. He only smiled back.
"You can trust me," he said,"I just want to be ton ami***." I smiled at him.
"Bien sûr****," I said politely."There's nothing, really." He nodded and was about to speak again when we both heard Jacob's voice.
"Nessie!" he called and I turned to him with a huge smile on my face as my worries faded. He came and hugged me.
"Let's go home," he said."There's something we need to talk about." I frowned and nodded before turning to Frederick. He spoke before I could.
"Excuse-moi," he said before turning to the mansion again. Jake kissed me cheek.
"Ready?" he asked. I knew what he was referring to. I playfully glared at him.
"Can't you walk a little slowly?" I asked," For us, you know." He rolled his eyes.
"Sure, sure," he said and took my hand. As soon as we were out of hearing distance, he spoke.
"I didn't go to work today," he informed, looking straight ahead of us."And neither did Morgan," he said. I frowned.
"But Alice-" he cut me off with a nod.
"She can't see her future; she must be immune to everything that could track her- it's weird," he said. I could feel the blood drain from my face.
"And where is she?" I breathed, afraid we might have another 'problem' with another hybrid. Morgan after Sofia. I froze in my place and closed my eyes. I could hear my own heartbeat lose its pace. Jacob held me from my shoulder.
"Whoa, Ness," he said,"I shouldn't have-" I cut him off.
"No, no," I said," I just had a hard day that's all," I reassured. He sat me down and sat down beside me, still holding me.
"Everything would turn out just fine," he reassured, though I knew, from his tone, that he was trying to convince himself."I just wanted to ask you something."
"Yes?" I said, opening my eyes.
"Did you hear anything, while in Volterra, about her?" he asked, his eyes full of what I interpreted as hope. I shook my head, hating how I destroyed what he was hoping for.
"I only knew about her yesterday when Daddy told us what she was thinking," I said and wrapped my arms around his chest."I'm afraid," I admitted. Not for me, but for Sarah and Colby...and Jacob.
"Don't be," he said,"We won't let anything happen to you."
"What about you?" I asked,"We don't know what we're facing here, what if she's not alone?" He thought about that for a second.
"Not alone?" he mused,"Do you think there's someone else?" he asked.
"I think," I said,"What would a hybrid do alone?" I wondered. He nodded.
"But we would have tracked anyone else that doesn't share her power," he said.
"I don't know," I mumbled. "I really don't."
"Neither do I," he admitted."Can you get up now?" he asked me. I nodded, feeling physically better. He helped me up.
"Can we just forget all about it and...start over or something?" I asked,"If she doesn't show up, and the guys on patrol didn't spot anything so I suppose-" I paused, trailing off.
"I think so, too," he agreed," I think we would just be careful and that's the most we could do." I nodded as we entered the house.
"Good," I said.
We could only hope that the days wouldn't turn against us. Again.