Chapter 24

"Aunt Cor! Is it okay if I use your car again?"

"Of course, sweetie," Aunt Corinne replied as I entered the kitchen. She tossed her keys in my direction. "Another day of not working might do me some good."

"Sorry," I said. "Jacob hasn't given me my car yet."

"He's still out camping with the guys?"

"Uh, yeah," I replied, trying to keep up with Jacob's excuse for being gone and taking my car. "He said he'd call me when he got the chance-"

"Oh, stop worrying. If they're out camping, he's probably out where cell phones don't get any service. Come to think of it, I don't think any of them have cell phones do they?"

I shrugged. "I just hope he gets back today or something." It was already Thursday, four days since Jacob and his pack left to look for Brett. A few days before, I found out from Seth that the rest of the pack returned, but Jacob was still away.

"I'm sure he'll be back eventually," Aunt Corinne said, giving me a smile. "Besides, he's probably not that far off."

After finishing my breakfast, I headed out to school. The whole school day, my friends kept asking if I was okay. I didn't blame them I was distracted the whole time. I had been phoning Jacob's house as well as Emily's house in between classes. Billy and Rachel still hadn't heard from Jacob and like Aunt Corinne, Billy told me not to worry.

Once the last bell rang, I collected the books I needed for that day's homework and headed to my temporary car.

"Jacob still has your car?" Jennifer asked, arriving at her car that was parked beside me.

"Yup."

"So you two are that serious now?" she teased. "Letting one another borrow each other's vehicles? You should make him a copy of your keys."

"Thanks," I replied. "I'll keep that in mind."

I drove out of the parking lot and instead of heading home, I started for the Cullens, hoping to corner Seth there. Out of Jacob's pack, he was probably th easiest to get information from. Ever since the other three came back without Jacob, they had been avoiding me; I knew they were keeping something from me.

Once I got onto the dirt road that led to the Cullens', I sent a mental message out to Edward telling him not to let Seth leave before I could question him. I came to a stop and got out of Aunt Cor's car. Before I could run up the steps, Rosalie opened the door.

"Edward said you were arriving," she told me, opening the door wider. "And before you ask or say anything, you just missed Seth."

I groaned.

"Jade," Esme said, appearing beside Rosalie. "Why don't you come in? I just made some cookies, hopefully Seth didn't devour them all."

Not wanting to be rude, I entered their house and followed Esme into the kitchen. The smell of fresh baked cookies was heavenly. She offered me a plate and I quickly grabbed a cookie.

"Let me get you a glass of milk." Esme took all but three seconds to grab a glass from a cabinet and pour milk inside before handing it to me.

"Thank you."

"So, what brings you here?" Esme asked.

"I was hoping to catch Seth," I told her, covering my mouth. "Jacob's still not back and Embry, Quil, Leah, and Seth have been avoiding me for some reason. Same with Sam and his pack. They won't tell me what they know about Jacob or Brett."

Esme and Rosalie shared a look. I saw Esme shake her head while Rosalie nodded.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," Esme said. "I'm sure Jacob is doing just fine."

"Yeah, I'm more than certain he's closer than you think."

"Rosalie," Esme warned.

"That's what my Aunt Cor told me."

"See, Esme? I'm not the only one who thinks it."

I looked at them both suspiciously.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again, Jade, but I think Carlisle is calling me."

I waited until Esme was gone before turning to Rosalie.

"What-"

"Sorry, Jade, but Emmett and I have a date to go hunting and I need to get ready."

She ushered me up from my chair, out of the kitchen, and to the front door.

"Well, if by chance you and Emmett bump into Jacob-"

"I'm sure you'll have a better chance of bumping into that mutt than we do."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Like I said, Jade, he's closer than you think." Her eyes looked behind me and I turned, sweeping the surrounding greenery with my eyes.

"Wait, are you saying Jacob's close by?"

"It's like I could practically smell him," she replied, with a sly smile.

I looked behind me again. It seemed like Rosalie was trying to hint that Jacob was here, close enough that she could smell his scent.

"Thanks for stopping by, Jade," Rosalie said, giving a small wave before closing the door. I made my way to the car, thinking about Rosalie's comments. I sat in my car trying to make sense of everything Rosalie said. 'He's closer than you think…It's like I could practically smell him.' My head whipped around, for some reason thinking that Jacob was hiding in the backseat of my car. I used my rear view mirror as well as my side mirrors to look around my car.

Apparently, a couple of light hints was all Rosalie was going to give me. She knew something, possibly the same thing that Jacob's pack knew, only she was the only one willing to let me in on it. A thought dawned on me: Jacob was here. Jacob was back. Since when? And why was everyone making it a big secret? I put my car into reverse and drove my car around towards the main road. Once there, I stopped. The road was clear to go, but I was debating on what to do. I could go over to La Push and see the guys and Leah. I could demand them to give me answers and even spring the fact that I knew Jacob was back. Or…I could just go home and let it go. If Jacob was back, then he must have a good reason why he's been hiding out. A part of me, a huge part of me, wanted to speed down to La Push. After all, it's what I do right? Meddle into everyone's business and cause unnecessary drama, just like I did at the Gates and with the whole McAllister thing, and now the Brett thing.

I went against my gut and decided to turn over a new leaf and just head home. I've been saying how I want to be a normal, teenager again right? Then a normal teenager would most like be at home right now, doing homework and preparing for the big history test they had the next day.

Turning the wheel to the left, I got on the main road and headed home.

"Hey you," Aunt Corinne said, coming down the stairs as I walked inside. "I was just about to start dinner. Any requests?"

"Uh, no, not really," I answered. "I don't really have much of an appetite right now."

"Jade," I heard her sigh. "Jacob is fine, okay?"

"Has Billy told you anything? Has he heard from Jacob?"

She shook her head.

"I'll just be upstairs."

"Well, just come down when you get hungry." She left her position on the stairs and headed to the kitchen.

I started up the stairs and stopped after a few steps and descended back down.

"Aunt Cor," I called, entering the kitchen.

"Hmm?"

"What did you mean earlier this morning when you said Jacob was probably not far off?"

She shrugged. "Just that. There are a lot of good spots for camping around here, you know."

I studied her for a good minute. Could she be in on it too? Did she know that Jacob was back? After all, she was Aunt Corinne, the only person I knew who was close enough to be called a psychic or something.

"You know that Seth and them came back a few days ago."

Aunt Cor stopped and turned to look at me. "Really?"

"Yeah, Jacob is the only one who's still not back."

"Well, Jacob's been known to, uh, take absence every once in a while."

I nodded.

"So, how about chicken parmigian for dinner?"

"No thanks. I'm still not that hungry."

I settled onto my bed with my history book. After twenty minutes of staring at the same page, I gave up. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. Not while I was too busy worrying about Jacob. I knew worrying was pointless, especially since no one else seemed to be concerned. They all believed that Jacob was fine, and to be honest, I did too. If Jacob was hurt or anything, I would know because of the imprint bond that we shared. The only thing I felt was the feeling of missing him. I hadn't seen in him days and it was bringing me down.

My mind suddenly took a sharp turn in another direction, and Brett was suddenly on my mind. Did Jacob find him? Did he hear about Lukas? Is he back at the Gates? The possibility that Jacob did find him and sent him back entered my mind. That opened up to the thought that Jacob might have tailed Brett to make sure he was going back to Louisiana. That thought totally conflicted with what Rosalie hinted to me earlier. Jacob was close. Did I believe that? I did earlier, but now? Enough was enough. Who was I kidding? I couldn't just sit by and do nothing. If I wanted answers, I had to go looking for them. I fumbled in my bag for my cell phone. When I came up empty, I began to check my pockets. Nope. I headed down stairs. The front door creaked like it usually did whenever it was opened.

"Jade? Where are you going?"

"I left my cell phone in your car!"

I walked down the pathway, rubbing my arms to keep warm from the cold night's air. I opened the driver's seat and began to look all over for my cell phone. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found the blasted thing under the passenger's seat. I quickly dialed Rosalie's number. Her voicemail prompted me to leave a message which I declined. I took that as a sign telling me to leave it alone. As I made my way back towards the house, I couldn't help but glance over at the woods.

"Leave it alone, Jade," I told myself. Apparently, I'm too stubborn to even listen to myself. I headed towards the woods.

The forest was dark and I barely could see anything in front of me. My mind told me to turn around and go home, but my gut told me to keep going. Guess which I decided to listen to? I continued deeper into the forest, using only the moonlight that streamed through the trees as my source of light. Leaves crunched under my feet. A bush rustled a few yards away, and my ears perked when I heard a low growl. My heart dropped to my stomach. I readied my phone in case I needed to quickly call for help.

"What are you doing here?"

I screamed and spun around, dropping my phone in the process.

"Did you forget how dangerous the woods are?" he cried, walking closer to me. "What were you thinking coming out here by yourself, especially at night?!"

"I don't know," I said, still waiting for my heart rate to go down.

"You don't know?" Jacob asked, clearly angry. "Damn it, Jade, don't you ever stop to think before doing something?"

"Wait, you're mad at me?" I asked. I finally got over my little scare and was able respond properly. "I should be mad at you, Jacob!" He looked taken back by what I said. "What are you doing here? I was under the impression that you were still 'handling business' as Leah put it."

Jacob looked away from my accusing eyes. The sudden look of guilt that crossed his face didn't escape me.

"Where were you?" He didn't answer. "You were here weren't you?" I didn't wait for him to answer. The expression on his face said it all: I was right. "I knew it."

"Only because of that dumb blonde-"

"You were here the whole time?" I asked, cutting him off. How I found out about his whereabout was not the point. "Why?"

Jacob went back to being silent and answerless.

"You were gone for five days, Jacob! You told me you'd check in but you never did!"

"Jade-"

"No!" I cried. "You had your chance to talk but you wouldn't so now it's my turn." He nodded and took a deep breath, no doubt bracing himself for whatever I had to say. "Your pack came back a few days ago without you and they had no explanation for your absence. They didn't even tell me if you guys found Brett-"

"We did-"

"Not finished!" I cried, holding up my hand. Jacob gently grabbed my hand and pulled me close. I wasn't expecting the kiss that he planted on my lips. I tried to resist, but finally having him home and in front of me made me give in…for only a little bit. I eventually pulled back and proceeded to smack him on his arm.

"What was that for?" Jacob asked, the smack clearly not affecting him.

"For kissing me!"

"You don't like me kissing you?" he asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Not when I'm mad at you!" I said, turning on my heel and walking towards the direction of the house.

"You're still mad?" I whirled around and Jacob quickly stopped, to avoid walking into me.

"Of course I'm still mad!" I told him. "First of all, do you have any idea how worried I was? Five days of hearing absolutely nothing from you. I was worried sick!"

"I know-"

"But you still didn't care enough to show up and let me know you were back."

"I'm sorry, okay? But after we found Brett, I just had to make sure that he-"

"That's what this is about? Brett?" I cried. "You were watching me to make sure that I wouldn't sneak away with him?"

"No, not exactly, but can you blame me for thinking that?" Jacob asked. I shook my head in disbelief. "Jade, I was kidding."

"Go home, Jacob. As much as I missed you and worried about you, I really don't feel like seeing or talking to you right now."

I felt a small stab in my heart as the words left my mouth. Jacob looked like he felt the same thing.

"You don't mean that," he said in a soft voice.

As my answer, I turned and walked away. By the time I reached the house, a familiar howl cut through the night air. I ignored the pain in my chest and went inside. When I got to my room, the first thing I did was cross to the window. I locked it, pulled the blinds down and drew the curtains closed.

Deep down, I was happy and glad that I saw Jacob face to face. It reassured me that he was alive and well. Still, I couldn't help but feel angry and betrayed, like I told to Jacob. What I didn't tell him was that I also felt hurt. It was clear that wanting to find Brett to see what else he knew about Conor hurt Jacob, but I never expected for him to not trust me anymore because of it. I knew a part of my anger was misplaced. I should have some anger directed towards myself. After all, I was stupid to not consider Jacob's feelings. I was always too caught up with things in my life.

More howls cut through the air, each one sounding more pained than the last. I went to my nightstand and grabbed my iPod to drown out the howls.

Short chapter! But I wanted to give you readers something! Things are about to get intense! I don't have a preview to offer you for Chapter 25, but I promise you the next upcoming chapters will be awesome! More werewolves, more vampires, and more...Brett?! Dun, dun, dun!