Chapter 4- An unusual house guest

I decided not to scare her further and so I helped her walk at human speed. We walked all the way back up to the house. She had no shoes on and so I made her walk on the grass to protect her feet instead of the road. Was we approached the house the lights shone out over the grass outside and I could see Jacob lit up brightly as he paced up and down the living room. He saw me through the window and dashed to the door to meet us. The girl in my arms was weakening and she was almost unable to walk at all when we got to porch.

Jacob opened the door and light flooded out of my warm clean house. I almost considered striping us both off before we went in but then remembered that this was my house and I could do what I liked, we strode into the porch tar and all.

"Who the hell is this?"

Jacob said with an exasperated tone, it was as if I came home with strays all the time! This was the first one I had picked up…. This year, I don't know what he was so fidgety about.

"I found her on the beach tied up and drowned she is covered in this tar like stuff?"

I explained to him as I began to peel my wet layers off and then went to make a start on hers. She had what appeared to be a black fisherman's mack on with scrappy cotton trousers also in a dark colour. But her body all the way up to her neck was bound in these tar-covered bandages. I was utterly horrified at what I was seeing.

"We should call the police"

Jacob said suddenly going towards the phone but the girl grabbed his wrist hard to stop him and shook her head vigorously, she looked utterly petrified. Jacob gave her a very shocked look.

"Ok.. ok we wont call the police?"

He said as he carefully peeled her cold fingers off from around his wrist. I lead her though carefully to the kitchen. She was hobbling hardly able to walk at all. Almost like she was having to remember how. I sat her gently on one of the kitchen chairs and got a cloth to clean her face. I had no idea how to get this gunk off to I thought I would start with warm water. That seemed to do the job; it came off a bit like thick blood would. It was a horrid analogy to make but that's where my nursing experience came in, I had got plenty of experience with horrible substances. She sat very still looking at me while I cleaned her face and her hands. She was the most delicate creature her wrists were tiny and she had the most delicate, elegant hands I had ever seen.

"What's your name?"

Jacob suddenly said. But she looked at me with her pleading eyes again and so I spoke for her.

"She cant speak, she has had this stuff all down her throat I think she will be coughing black gunk for a few days yet."

Jacob hummed in agreement. I had stripped the girl down to her bandages and trousers and she looked like the most vulnerable thing in the world as she sat there. I went to reach for the end of the bandage at the side of her neck to start unwrapping her but she leapt away like I had stung her. Leaping away to cower on the kitchen table looking at me as if I had just tried to kill her!

"ok ok its ok don't panic I'm not going to hurt you."

I said again holding my hands up apologetically

"she's jumpy ay? What the hell happened to you?"

Jacob's comments were not helpful at all so I shushed him.

"Look those bandages are filthy? They can't stay on like that, we need to change them?"

She looked at me for a long moment clearly trying to judge my intentions but she nodded once in reply. So I offered my next question.

"Will you let me change them for you? I'm a nurse?"

She looked at me again for a long moment and then very clearly but slowly shook her head.

"Are you able to change them yourself if I provide you with the right things?"

She seemed to like this idea and her defensive stiffness relaxed a little and she nodded.

"Ok wait here I will only be a second."

I left Jacob leaning against the kitchen counters and her still on the kitchen table. I dashed out to my car and grabbed my big green box. It was a box I took round to schools to teach first aid. So there were enough bandages in there to make several mummys. I dashed back into the house and found the two of them in exactly the positions I had left them in. I put the box on the table next to her and opened it up. She leant over a little to look inside. I pulled out 10 sets of bandages, that should be enough I thought to myself. I saw her looking curiously at the box of bits and so I pulled out some more stuff. A bottle of saline solution, and some sterile cotton wool.

"Use this, and this" I held the items up to her "to clean any wounds you have got. It will sting but the sting is good it means your doing it right."

She didn't looks surprised when I told her it was going to hurt she looked resigned to it.

"Look at your hair? You need a shower really."

I turned round to look at Jacob who nodded to me. I held out my hand and beckoned her to me she was beginning to trust me and I liked that it was a nice feeling to be trusted.

I lead her though to the shower room. She was still very unsteady on her feet. I showed her how the knobs worked on the shower and where to find shampoo and soap.

"When you take your bandages off just drop them in this basket ok?"

I pointed to an empty laundry basket near the door. She nodded and so I left her to it.

I went back out into the kitchen and got a bowl of hot water to wash all the places where the sticky tar like substance had gotten. Jacob just watched me from leaning against the counter.

"Listen ness…"

I didn't stop what I was doing I just carried on as if I was giving him the silent treatment, when I knew I had already forgiven him.

"…I'm really sorry ness, earlier it all… it all came out wrong I didn't mean it like that. I want to have more children I do, I'm just not brave enough yet?"

I continued to give him the silent treatment with my back to him while a broke a tiny secret smile in the corner of my mouth, so he did want more kids! I allowed him to plead a bit more

" Ness please I'm sorry ok… please?"

Then he knelt down next to me as I was on my knees cleaning the chair where she had sat and I had to keep a straight face again to keep up the act.

"I do want more kids just not right now? Can you forgive me I acted really badly you just kinda took me by surprise that's all?"

I allowed the smile to leek through as I cleaned the chair.

"In all honesty I already have forgiven you my love. But not for the same reasons. We don't know how Jason's going to turn out. There have never been any 3rd generation part vampires before, he acts normal and seems normal but we don't know what's going to happen? Is he going to age? Or is he going to stay like he is, like us? We don't even know if he is going to join the pack yet and if he does then what kind of a creature does that make him? No you're right we have to wait and see what happens with Jason first before we go rushing into anything."

Jacob looked at me like I was the most bizarre creature on earth.

"…ok?"

He said a bit bemused. He kissed my forehead and stood up.

"So… this new addition then?"

I was confused for a second and then realised he meant the girl in she shower. I had gotten distracted by our conversation for a second.

"Oh yes… I just found her on the beach I was so sure she was dead. Do you think she is a victim of the mafia?"

Jacob warmed to my speculation

"Whatever she has done it must be pretty bad to get tarred like that? And what is she hiding under those bandages she could be cut up like a sieve for all we know.? Or tattooed from head to toe with a treasure map?"

"That tar like stuff was all in her lungs she was coughing it up for a fair minute or so, they must have made her drink it or stuffed it down her throat."

"mmmm"

Jacob replied in a worried tone and he looked over his shoulder as if she would be peeping round the corner at him.

"What are we going to do with her? If she wont let us call the police?"

This was a question I was hoping Jacob wouldn't have to ask.

"… We will have to hide her here until it is safe"

Jacob looked a bit stunned and opened his mouth to object but I beat him to it.

"There is no safer place than here, she has a nurse in the house! And a doctor on the end of a phone and a mafia proof wolfy protector, there is no safer place in the world!"

Jacob stammered and stumbled over his words trying to find an excuse.

"grrr fine but as soon as we find out who she is…. I'm…. I'm telling your mother!"

I grinned and kissed him on the cheek. I know he meant telling my mother as a threat but I knew my mother would fall in love with her just like I was. There was no danger from her.