Blast from the Past
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-Thanks once again for the lovely reviews. The awesome feed back really keeps me motivated. This is a shout out to: kuntrygal, dollfacetwi-mom03, TeamJacobYeah, Dottyanne, TommyH, brankel1, Jeniesethebeast, afqtie324, Delsan13, sassgrl, JacobB'sImprintee, notashamedtobe, VivaLaVida97, BeckieT108, Shalette, alixandria, scifiromance, FallenGrace101, ae81, cmwillis, Melody-Rose-20 and viola1701e.
Part Twenty Five-A Secret
Bella parked the chevalier outside Leah and Sam's small house. He had built it with his own two hands, refusing all offers of help. He wanted to give Leah something that was theirs alone. He needed to wipe all traces of his past association with Emily out of his life. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen. Leah wasn't much of a cook. The outside walls were painted a reddish brown colour. A small verandah wrapped around the house where a swing seat was situated. Leah was sitting there cradling a sobbing Jaymie on her lap.
"Jaymie cry?" J said anxiously from the back seat.
"Yes," Bella quickly got out of the car and unstrapped J from his seat.
Leah glanced over in their direction and Bella was shocked at her distraught expression. "What's wrong?" She called out to her.
"She's been like this for the last hour. She was having a quick nap and then suddenly woke up screaming. I haven't been able to get her to speak." Leah clutched her daughter close in her arms and rubbed soothing circles on her back. "Sam has gone to fetch Amy."
"I'm so sorry, Lee." Bella apologised, forgetting all about her current predicament.
While the two women were talking J had climbed up onto the swing seat. He reached over and pulled Jaymie's long silky hair away from her face and began to whisper in her ear. The little girls sobs lessened and she pulled away from her mother to look at him.
"I don' know," she said to him directly.
J just nodded. Jaymie slipped off Leah's lap and J gave her a clumsy hug. Bella and Leah stared at them in wonder. After a few moments of silence Bella knelt down so she was on her son's level. He was now sitting next to Jaymie, holding her hand, while she dried her tears with the hem of her shirt.
"J how did you do that?" She asked him softly.
"Do what?" J frowned in confusion.
"Get Jaymie to stop crying." Leah interjected. "What did you whisper to her?"
J and Jaymie looked at each other. He began to fidget in his seat. "You can tell us J," Bella told him gently.
J looked sideways at Jaymie again and shook his head. "Secret," he said quickly.
Leah was getting impatient. She wanted answers, seeing her little girl crying her heart out had shaken her up badly. "No secrets, now just tell us the truth." She snapped.
"No," J said stubbornly. He crossed his arms and glared up at Leah. Jaymie hid behind him, avoiding her mothers eyes.
Bella shot Leah an irritated glance. "You need to calm down. Interrogating them will not get you answers they will clam up." She admonished her.
"Well your sweet talking isn't working either," Leah shot back at her.
Bella sighed tiredly. J looked back at her with eyes the exact same shade as her own. He had a determined expression on his face and for a brief moment he reminded her of Jacob. Even though he wasn't Jake's natural born son the similarities in their personalities continued to surprise her. Jaymie touched his hand and he stared right in her eyes. They stayed this way for a few seconds and the thought crossed Bella's mind that they seemed to be communicating with each other silently, almost as if they could read each other's minds.
Leah too was studying their interactions closely and she exchanged a quick glance with Bella. Something unusual was going on with the two of them, it was obvious. Ever since they had met they had become close straight away. Bella recalled the night of the bonfire when they had been building sandcastles. They had often just stared at each other and smiled, speaking without words.
"Oh my god J, you and Jaymie can hear each other's thoughts. She knows what happened in Fork's today doesn't she?" Bella said aloud.
"What are you talking about?" Leah demanded.
J and Jaymie looked guilty and shifted closer together, obviously worried that they were in trouble. Bella tried to keep her voice more composed when she spoke. "I'm sorry sweetie, you're not in trouble. That's the secret though J, you can hear each other even when you are apart can't you?"
"Is this true, Jaymie?" Leah asked her daughter.
Both of the children slowly nodded. J's mouth turned down and he flung himself into Bella's arms. "Sorry momma," he began to cry.
Jaymie's lower lip trembled and Leah picked her daughter up and squeezed her tightly. "Sorry mommy," she finally spoke. "I scared."
Leah and Bella felt tears run down their own cheeks as they comforted their distraught children.
XXXXXX
Amy came out of Jaymie's room after having a long talk with both of the children. They were both curled up on Jaymie's bed fast asleep; exhausted after crying flood's of tears. She was immediately accosted by their frantic parents. Bella had called Jacob at work and he had left straight away, ignoring a frustrated Jim Dowling's demands to know what the hell was going on. He had driven like a mad man to reach Bella and J as quickly as possible. He could feel Bella's anxiety communicate itself to him and as soon as he arrived at Sam and Leah's house he swept both her and J up in his arms in a comforting hug.
"Will you let an old woman sit down," Amy had protested testily. She smacked Jacob on the leg accidentally with her cane as she sat down on one of the hardwood chairs.
He winced but ignored the pain as he and the others waited for her assessment. "Sit down all of you," Amy barked at them. "I'm getting a stiff neck looking up at you all."
Silently the four of them pulled out some chairs and clustered around her. "What do you think?" Jacob was the first to question her.
Amy rubbed at her blind eye. It had been bothering her a lot lately. The ache in her bones had been increasing and some innate instinct warned her that she was not long for this world. She had sensed her power of seeing weakening and she had begun to worry that she would die before passing her extensive knowledge onto the next generation. She knew that Jaymie was her successor, but she had hoped to wait a few more years before beginning to teach the little girl how to control her power. But time was running out and Amy sadly had to admit that poor Jaymie was going to have to start her lessons earlier. Without proper guidance, trying to control the power of seeing could be horrifying. She shuddered as she remembered her own experiences as a young child, she had no guidance at all and it had damaged her irrevocably. She didn't want that for Jaymie.
The boy was a complete mystery to her. He was not Quileute but seemed to have an empathy with Jaymie that she had never come across before. They had an unusual connection. After speaking to them she had managed to get them to admit just what they could do. J had admitted that he could talk to Jaymie in his head whenever he wanted. If they concentrated really hard they could actually see each other as if they were in the same place. Jaymie had been less forthcoming, she had hidden behind J a lot, seeming scared to open up about anything. Amy had been struck by her beauty and she worried about both of their future's. She gazed at their anxious parents and wished she was anywhere but here. It was going to be a long night.
XXXXXX
"I can't take this," Sam paced the room, his worry making his anger flare up. As each day passed he was finding it harder to control the wolf.
"I have warned you to remain focused Samuel Uley," Amy told him irritably. "The time is close when you will be able to handle the transition, phasing in the middle of your own living room is not the place."
Sam shot her dark look but he refrained from insulting her back. Leah gave him a worried glance and he sighed, sitting back down by her side. "Why did this have to happen to our daughter? She is too young and innocent to handle any of this." He muttered.
Bella and Jacob were huddled together on the small sofa, still trying to take in what Amy had revealed to them. Bella had guessed some of it, but was shocked to hear the extent of her son and Jaymie's connection. There was still the matter of the letter that Amanda had passed to her from Edward. She had refrained from telling the others at first as Jaymie and J's plight seemed much more important, but she knew she couldn't keep it hidden from the other's any longer.
"There's more," she finally admitted tiredly.
"More?" Jacob asked her in confusion.
Bella looked at him guiltily. "Yes, there was a reason Jaymie was so upset today. She must have been feeling J's anxieties about what happened in Forks today."
She flinched as all eyes turned in her direction and she shrank into Jacob's side as she slowly revealed what had happened between her and Amanda.
XXXXXX
Jacob had gone out to her car and grabbed hold of the letter, bringing it back inside. He ripped the fancy envelope open and shook out the letter. It fell like a lead weight onto the table. Bella made a move as if to grab it but he shook his head fiercely and she sat back on the sofa, biting her bottom lip in agitation as she watched him scan the contents.
After a tense few seconds Jacob screwed the letter in his fist and threw it angrily at the wall. "Son of a bitch," he cursed.
"Well man what did it say?" Sam demanded impatiently.
"He wants to see you," he looked straight at Bella as he spoke. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Why? I haven't had anything to do with him since I left." She cried out.
"He says that there are matters of great import that he needs to discuss with you," he sneered as he quoted Edward's phrases directly. "One of them being your association with me and the pack. He believes you are placing you and your son in jeopardy. The little pixie bitch has sensed danger, apparently and he wants to take you to a place of safety."
Tears sprang out of Bella's eyes as she could see the anger shining in Jacob's eyes. She dropped her head in her hands to hide her hurt from him. His anger dissipated as he saw her shoulder's shaking with her silent sobs. He was by her side in an instant, cradling her in his arms. She curled up into his side and let him comfort her. While this was going on, Leah went to retrieve the letter. She read through it quickly before passing it on to Sam and Amy.
"What should we do?" She asked.
"You arrange the meeting of course," Amy stated bluntly.
Jacob glared at her as he tightened his hold on Bella. "No fucking way is corpse boy getting anywhere near her."
Amy just glared back at him. "Don't be a fool, that's not what I was implying. Arrange the meeting and you confront him. I will go with you. I want to see the little future seeing cold one for myself. There is something not right about her so called visions. They are inaccurate to the extreme."
Jacob calmed down when he listened to more of Amy's plan. The urge to confront Cullen and rip him to pieces flared through his veins and he saw Sam's eyes showing exactly the same. As if Amy sensed his thoughts she banged her cane on the wooden floor bringing their attention back to her.
"I know what you're thinking Jacob Black. But we cannot be impulsive. We need to draw out information from them. The cold ones are sneaky and we need to keep our heads. Remember the treaty is still in place. Unless they cross our borders we cannot harm them. They have done nothing directly to invoke retaliation." She warned him.
"He has been playing mind games with Bella and scaring her. I think that is enough grounds to rip him to shreds," Jacob growled.
Bella pulled away and gazed up at him sorrowfully. "Jake, please, listen to Amy. Edward can read minds remember. You have to keep a cool head. I don't want things to escalate. I don't want any of you to get hurt."
"I can deal with Cullen," He said dismissively.
Bella sighed. "I'm not saying you can't, but you have only just started phasing again. Sam has yet to try again. Who knows what Edward and Alice will try to pull. Please be rational about this." She begged him.
"You should listen to her," Amy interjected. Leah nodded her agreement too.
Jacob and Sam exchanged a glance before turning back to Amy. "Cullen steps one toe out of line and I destroy him." Jacob muttered.
"I wouldn't expect any less," Amy's thin lips pulled up into a grim smile. " Remember that you have families to protect, you are no longer hot headed teenagers protecting the reservation. There is much more at stake now."
This sobering thought brought Jacob and Sam up short. The old woman was right. Simultaneously they pulled Bella and Leah into the protective circle of their arms. Amy nodded in satisfaction.
"Now who gets the pleasure of escorting me home?" She asked.
Sam reluctantly peeled himself away from Leah and helped Amy out of the house.
A/N-Thanks for reading!