Intoxicating - Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Day 22
The four walls were closing in on me quick. I’d only been here 4 days and I was already losing my mind. I was allowed to hang out in the garage with Jacob; once someone other than myself, had made sure there was no sign of vampires or my father lurking in the area.
I’d kept myself busy with cleaning the first few days. Very busy. Billy was neat, but it was next to impossible for him to scrub things like the kitchen and bathroom floors. But I gave him props for how immaculate he kept everything above the waist in the kitchen and bathroom.
Jacob’s room on the other hand was another story. I don’t think his sheets had been washed - ever. I scrubbed and washed in there from top to bottom. There were clothes under his bed he didn’t know existed, that I don’t think he’d worn since junior high school.
What he lacked in cleaning skills, he made up for in planning and organizational preparedness though. I found 3 more boxes of condoms in his dresser drawer. Which was good, since we’d gone through the first box in no time.
But now I was bored. At this rate, I was going to have to send Jake out to buy me some new books. He obviously had a knack for it.
Quil and Embry had come by earlier and they had all gone out to the garage to hang out. They’d invited me as well, but I thought I’d give the two of them some alone time with Jake. I hated to be that kind of girlfriend - the kind that was always around and clung to her boyfriend. I could entertain myself.
Two hours later they were still out there and by then I was ready for some company. Billy was watching ESPN in the other room and I didn’t want to ask him if it was safe to go out. I peeked out the window and it looked all clear to me. If there were vampires, the boys would have smelled them and I’m sure there would be 3 giant wolves in the Black’s front yard.
My father’s car was nowhere to be seen and I didn’t think he was lurking in the bushes - he wasn’t a peeper.
So I opened the front door, then closed it quietly behind me before I sprinted as fast as I could to the garage. I stumbled over some gopher or snake holes in the wild grass, but I stayed on my two feet. Once I was safely hidden from the road, I crept around to the garage entrance.
I could hear Quil on some kind of tirade, ranting to Jake and Embry. All I heard was his last statement. “I hate you, Black!”
Jacob and Embry were laughing and it sounded like someone threw something. Then Quil started in again. “I’m never getting laid. Seriously. Claire isn’t even 3 yet. I’ve got, what - fifteen more years of spanking it in the shower?”
“Dude, too much information. Seriously.” I could see the top of Embry’s head, as he shook it quickly back and forth in disgust.
“Oh come on, man. It’s not that bad. You love Claire.”
“Yeah, I do. And I’d wait forever for her. But with my luck, she’ll lead me on till she’s 30, and then fall in love with someone else.”
Aside from Embry laughing, there was silence for a minute. “Yeah, keep laughing, Call. You aint ever getting laid either.”
“Speak for yourself, Quil,” Embry retorted. “I’m getting laid. … someday.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I’m sorry. You will.” Quil apologized. “You’ll probably imprint on some nice, older white dude and be a bottom.”
I peeked around the door in time to see Jacob spit his soda across the room.
“Hey, fuck you, Quil! The point of imprinting is supposed to be about procreation - carrying on the strongest wolf genes, or whatever. So I can’t imprint on a dude. Don’t even joke about shit like that!”
“Bella!” Jake saw me standing in the doorway and stood up, before giving Embry and Quil a look to can it. “Nothing left to clean, honey?” he teased. “I can get you a broom and some Windex and you can start out here.”
“No way! I’m cleaned out. Besides, if I cleaned out here, it might lose some of its charm.”
Quil handed me a soda and I sat down, cracking open the top.
“Hey Bella, I meant to ask you - that Raoul dude - he comes back again, right? I mean he left to go fight in some revolution and Lavinia just keeps whining about how much she misses him, but I’m not gonna keep reading if he’s not coming back. They’re gonna do more, stuff, right?”
“You’re such a girl,” Embry muttered under his breath.
I smiled. “Keep reading, Quil. He’s gonna come back for one night.”
“When you’re done with that,” Embry told him, “I think Leah’s got an old copy of Little Women you can borrow. Or Sisters of the Traveling Pants if that’s more your style.”
“Shut up, Embry. Just cos you don’t know how to read.”
“Actually, I think it’s great you’re reading these girly romance books, Quil. Cos in about, oh… 20 years, you’ll finally be ready for Claire.”
Quil jumped up so fast, I spilled a little of my soda. Embry’s wolf reflexes were quick and he was already halfway out the garage door when Quil took off after him. We could hear them laughing and scuffling and throwing insults back and forth to each other outside.
“You having fun?” I grinned.
“I guess,” Jacob shrugged.
“Are you glad we’re back?”
“No, not really,” he told me seriously, pulling me close. “I’d much rather be fishing with you out on our lake. Or skinny-dipping, or whatever.” He kissed my nose. “I didn’t want to come home, Bella. I felt it was the right thing to do. There’s a difference.”
“What about you?” He asked me. “Are you glad we’re back? Are you happy to be here? Or would you rather be home in Forks with Charlie?” He looked down at the ground. “Or do you wish you were at the Cullens, waiting for Edward to make you a vampire?”
His words felt like a slap.
He raised his head and held my gaze. “You can tell me the truth. I can take it.”
“Jacob,” I breathed. I was surprised at the question, sad at the reality of the impossibility, and hurt that he still wasn’t convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was him that I wanted to be with.
“Wanna think on that?” he asked me quietly.
I pushed him back, away from me. “I don’t need to think on that. I know where I want to be. I know exactly where I want to be. Maybe not right this second, cos you kinda just ticked me off. But a few seconds ago, I was with you all the way on the lake stuff - with you. Jerk.”
“I’m sorry,” he held on tight to my wrists as I tried to pull away in a huff. “I just… I can’t believe you’re really here with me. That all this stuff is happening. I mean, just 3 weeks ago, you were still madly In love with Edward, begging to be changed.” He gripped my arms tightly. “I’m sorry if there’s still just a little residual jealousy underneath. I’ll get over it.”
I bit my lip, putting myself in Jake’s place. I really had put him through the ringer. “It’s alright.”
He bent down and cautiously brought his lips to mine.
“Geez, we’re gone for 2 minutes and they’re at it already,” Embry rolled his eyes at Quil.
Jacob turned and went for him full-board, knocking him to the ground and the two of them wrestled on the floor, laughing.
It felt just like old times.
~~``intoxicating``~~
Day 25
I heard my father’s voice that day.
Jacob and I were huddled in his closet when Charlie came in to get Billy. They were going to the Clearwater’s for dinner, at Sue’s insistence.
I choked back tears. He sounded so… old. Weak. Like all the vibrancy in his being had been drained out of him. It hurt me to hear him like that.
I’d been dreaming of my dad the last few nights. He was looking for me, wandering through the house in Forks. Every time he would get close, I would duck into another closet, hide under another bed. Always just one step away from him. But he would search all night through my dreams till I woke in the morning.
I saw his face so clearly in the dreams, like I could just reach out and touch him. But to hear his voice now, while still awake brought the memories of why I was here crashing down on me.
Edward in my room, waking me up and ushering me to safety.
“I love you Isabella Swan. Now and forever. Don’t ever forget that.”
When I closed my eyelids in the darkened closet, I could see Jacob’s jeans, and me removing the newspaper article from his back pocket. Then breaking down and losing touch with reality for two whole days.
I heard the front door close as Charlie and Billy headed for the car.
“I want to see him,” I told Jacob, reaching for the knob on the closet door.
“No!” Jacob grabbed my arm. “Bella, it would do more harm than good if he saw you. It would kill him. No.”
He was right.
We stood in the dark until we heard the roar of Charlie’s car fade up the drive.
“You okay?” he asked me.
“It feels cruel, Jacob. It just feels cruel, letting him think I’m dead.”
“It would be more cruel to tell him the truth. Then not only would he still be worried and angry, he’d be in danger as well. His ignorance in all this is what has kept him alive.”
I was going to get it tattooed somewhere on my body:
Jacob is Right.
Jacob was always right. Sometimes that really bugged me. But usually, I was happy for his insight. Was he just a really wise person or did it have something to do with the wolf gene?
“Come on. We can actually go for a walk or something. We know where your father is going to be for a while. And Sue said she’d call when he and my dad left her house, so we could tuck you safely away again before they get back.”
“Great. So we can both hide out in the closet some more. At least he thinks you’re having a great time swimming and learning to surf in Hawaii.”
“Yeah,” he snorted. “Too bad I wasn’t.”
I shot him a dirty look.
“I meant both of us. Too bad we’re not both sunbathing on a beach in Waikiki.”
“Well, we’ll always have First Beach. Come on, let’s go.”
We walked down the beach, me with my jacket wrapped tight around me, my hands in my pockets. The weather had cooled off. Jacob put his arm around me and for a while I could pretend that things were just the way they used to be.
When we got back to the house, Quil and Paul were there. Embry was on patrol, pulling a double shift. We ended up out in the garage; Jacob buffing the Rabbit, shining it up while Paul and Quil bantered back and forth.
“So Sam said that your dad told him the authorities verified that there were more bodies found in the rubble from the fire,” Paul said to Jacob.
Jacob gave him a hard look and nodded toward me imperceptibly. “I don’t think we need to be talking about this now, Lahote.”
Oh, sorry,” Paul tossed my way, before continuing with the conversation anyway. “But the point is, I guess someone in the Cullen house had a few “accidents” over the past few years while they were living there.”
Oh. I hadn’t heard this new bit of information. Jacob made sure I was protected from anything pertaining to the Cullens and the fire. I bet it was Jasper. He hadn’t been vegetarian as long as the other members of the family. He’d almost eaten me on my birthday. Yeah, I’d bet money it was Jasper.
“Who knew that vampire’s bones remain intact underneath that stony-ass exterior? Of course, if they do any kind of forensic testing, they’ll be confused as hell when those bones come back as over a century old. But apparently, they did recover all the Cullen’s bodies, plus some extras.” He curled his lip. “Well, parts of them anyway.”
“Lahote?” Jacob said sharply. “What the hell did I just say to you?”
“Geez, Jake. Sorry.”
“My father knows this?” I asked Jacob.
He nodded. “He’s the one that told my dad.”
“So… let me guess? My dad thinks one of these bodies found, is mine.”
Jacob nodded solemnly. “He wants to have a memorial for you,” he said softly.
I took a deep shaky breath. All three of them were looking at me worriedly, like I was going to burst into tears any second. For some reason, I felt calm.
“My father told Charlie to wait till all the tests were done. It could turn out not to be you. I don’t know how much information they can get from bones -“
Quil interrupted him. “Oh, I think they can find all kinds of things. I watch CSI. They can tell the age of the body it came from, if it’s male or female, how long ago they died -“
“Yeah, yeah, shut up Quil. Once the bones have been tested, they’ll know it wasn’t Bella. Those bones could be there from a hundred years ago, when the Cullens were here the first time. Fucking leeches. Vegetarians, my ass!”
“Paul! For the last goddamn time, shut the hell up. I’m not telling you again!”
Paul gave Jacob a dirty look, but he kept his mouth shut.
“Hey,” Quil said, breaking the awkward silence. “I’ve got a date tonight.”
No one said anything for a minute.
“Great Quil. You going to see the new Disney flick?” Paul asked him, rolling his eyes.
“No man, I’m going on a date. A real date.”
“Dude, you’re sick. She’s just a little girl, she’s not even 3 yet, is she?”
“Not with Claire, you ass-hat. With a girl, a… woman.”
“What?!” Paul and Jacob exclaimed at the same time.
“You’ve got a date with a woman?” Paul side-eyed Jacob as he asked Quil the question.
“Yeah.”
“She from the rez?”
“No man, she’s a white chick. You believe it?”
Paul and Jacob were both dumbfounded. After a silent pause, Quil went on.
“Yeah, and she’s… she’s just… there aren’t words. She’s beautiful and funny and sexy as hell.”
“That’s great, Quil,” Jake said cautiously. “Where did you meet her?”
“It was the weirdest thing. I was coming home from patrols last night, and she was right there, taking a walk In the middle of the night. She couldn’t sleep, she said she gets insomnia. I mean, what are the odds?”
“Yeah,” Jake said skeptically. “What are the odds?” He and Paul kept looking at each other over the top of Quil’s head. Something wasn’t right.
“What about Claire, man? I mean, you’ve been so committed to her since the uh, since the imprint?”
“I’m still waiting for Claire. But I can’t let this opportunity pass me by. I mean, this girl, she liked me right away too. It was like, instant for both of us.”
“What’s her name?”
“Her name?” He chuckled, embarrassed. “I don’t know. I forgot to ask.”
“When’s your date?” Jacob asked him.
“Tonight. She’s meeting me after my patrol by my house. Like I said, she has terrible insomnia, so we’re gonna hang out.” He frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not even supposed to be telling you this. I mean, she asked me not to say anything to anyone, she swore me to secrecy… she’s kinda got a boyfriend, and she doesn’t want it to get back to him.”
I hadn’t said a word, I just watched the conversation like a tennis match, going back and forth. Watching Jake and Paul’s expressions and worried glances back and forth. Something was up.
“Hmmmm,” were Jake’s final words of the discussion. I had a feeling Jacob and Paul would be silent observers of Quil’s “date”. Even I didn’t like the sound of this.
~~``intoxicating``~~
“I’m gonna be back late tonight.”
I’d made us lasagna, Jacob’s favorite for dinner. He took his shirt off and laid it over the back of the kitchen chair, as he got ready to leave for patrol.
“I know. You’re gonna follow Quil.”
“Yeah. Something just aint right. All Quil has been able to think about since he imprinted on Claire over 6 months ago is her. And now out of the blue, he has a date? And this girl just happened to be wandering around the woods by his house cos she’s got insomnia?” He shook his head.
“Why do I have a really bad feeling about this, Jacob?” My stomach knotted up.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be telling Sam. Quil will probably be pissed at me, but so what?”
I looked down at the floor as tears filled my eyes.
“Don’t worry. We have a plan. If anything happens, we have a strategy worked out.”
“For the Volturi?” I whispered.
“Yeah.”
“But I just keep thinking,” I hesitated. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him that I had doubts that they could win any kind of fight with the Volturi.
“You keep thinking what?” He prodded me.
“Well, if Alec is there… you’ll all be incapacitated and he’ll paralyze you all in place.”
“That’s why we’ve been breaking up into 3 different teams during patrols. And this is why we’re all patrolling at night. The first leech we’ll be going after is the young one, Alec. Even if he incapacitates one team, there will be still be at least 5 or 6 of us to take his ass down. The other bloodsuckers don’t pose as much of a threat as him. Aro can put his filthy hands on me all he wants and read every damn thought I’ve ever had while I chomp his filthy head off. Same with Marcus and the others.”
“Be careful of the girl. Jane can inflict terrible pain.”
“But she can only take on one person at a time. She’s toast.” He looked at me, “She didn’t do anything to you in Italy, did she?”
I smiled smugly. “She can’t. Like Edward’s powers, I’m immune to hers as well.”
“Wow. That’s weird.”
“I know,” I acknowledged, losing a little of my cockiness. “I’m weird.”
“So don’t worry, okay? It may turn out some strange girl with sleep deprivation which has robbed her of all good judgment, really does find Quil attractive and wants to go out with him.”
We both looked at each other, shaking our heads and speaking at the same time.
“Nah.”
~~``intoxicating``~~