Hope you like Kim`s trip to Esther`s. Happy reading.

Kim didn`t cry on the way home from Sam and Emily`s. She didn`t cry when she went to bed either. She thought that she had lost the ability to cry anymore over Jared. Her imprint, her soulmate, he had turned into a complete stranger. He was a different person. Or was he the same person. Maybe he became a different person for Kim. Maybe the way he was acting now was the true Jared. Thinking and worrying and thinking was giving her an insufferable migrane. She felt like she was dying the way her body ached. No amount of painkillers did the trick. Her mother had brought her up a lavender tea. She sat on the edge of Kim`s bed and cupped her face.

"Any better sweetie pie?"

"No, worse I think, well, I don`t know." Kim mumbled from under her pillow.

"I was thinking, today I`ll take you up to Esther`s. She will have something to make you feel better, and you can talk to her about all this craziness."

"Do you really think she would know what`s going on?" Kim asked. She needed to be out of the emotional limbo she was in at the moment. Heaven or hell. Which one was better? She`d gladly choose hell to get an answer.

"I have a feeling that she will. When I was younger, people used to say that she was a witch, that she could communicate with spirits and show you all sorts. Of course I just didn`t believe that stuff, like I didn`t believe the old legends about the wolves and the cold ones."

"You`re right mom. I`m just afraid she`ll tell me something I don`t want to hear."

"That`s life for you. Now, go have a shower, get dressed, and we`ll go." With the greatest effort Kim got up and did as her mom asked. The hot water did little to ease the migrane and a lot to remind her of Jared`s constantly hot body. Jared. Off fighting vampires. With Danny. Those thoughts made her head almost explode. She got out of the shower dripping wet and vomited into the sink. She lay shivering on the cold tiled floor until her mom shouted at her to open the door. She crawled to the door and let her in.

"Jesus Kimimela!" Her mom wrapped her in a towel and pulled her onto her lap like she was a little girl.

"I think I feel a little better mom." Which was true. The pain eased up a little.

"Are you sure? Do you want me to take you to a doctor?"

"No, don`t worry, maybe Esther will give me something as you said." Kim got off her moms lap and went to her room to get dressed.

Her mom drove her to Esther`s in silence. It began to rain. Not heavily, just the misty type that she was so used to. Esther, it turned out, lived in the woods, in a tiny little wooden house. It reminded Kim of something from the Blair Witch Project. She got the creeps from just looking at it.

"Do I have to speak to her in Quileute?"

"Yes, it would be best." Her mom said switching off the engine. "It will better if you went in on your own. I`ll wait here for you." Kim nodded and got out of the car. The place had a strange pull for her. All of her fear had evaporated. She knew there wasn`t anything to be scared of. She knocked at the door. She felt better being near which was strange.

"Hah ch chee-eh" Kim said knocking on the door, it was opened by a wizened old woman with a brown face as wrinkled as a walnut.

"Kimimela uh- YAH-so-CHID"

"Emm good, and you?" Kim asked in a rather high voice. Continuing in Quileute.

"You`re a bad liar Kimimela." The old woman cackled and led her into the house by her hand.

"I`ve been waiting for you to come. You`ve come looking for answers. Some I can give you and others I can`t." Somewhere in Kim`s mind she knew she should be creeped out but she felt wonderfully at ease.

"I`m so confused." Kim blurted out. Esther gave her a sympathetic smile and sat her down on the floor on a blanket, a cheerful fire was blazing in the hearth. The cracking and spitting of it warmed Kim.

"I know how you are feeling. You are also heartsick and feel as if you have been rejected by the one true love in your life." Esther`s current like black eyes held Kim`s own.

"I am." Kim said quietly.

"What question do you want answering Kimimela? A Difficult one or an easy one?"

"They are all difficult for me."

"We`ll see. Ask."

"Does Jared love me?" Kim asked the one that she needed to know the most.

"Of course he does stupid girl. He always has." Esther rolled her eyes at Kim.

"Then why is he acting strange? What is Whitney to him? Why is he.."

"Shh Shh Shh!" Esther cut her off clearly annoyed. "One question at a time. Why is he acting strange. This other woman, Whitney, another shapeshifter, her and Jared are two magical beings, she is what would have been if you had never been here."

"What? He would have imprinted on her if I wasn`t around?"

"No, there is only one imprint. That`s you. She would have been a mate to him so to speak."

"That`s why they are attracted to each other." Kim felt numb.

"Yes. She has found him and wants to claim him."

"She`s succeeding. Tell me how to stop her." Kim clutched at Esther`s knarled hands.

"Calm down. You can`t stop her. Jared will have to do that. Everybody has free will."

"So I have to give him that chance? To decide whether he wants me or her?" Kim felt tears escape and cascade down her cheeks.

"If you truly love some one you will set that person free."

"I`m not keeping him prisoner."

"Love makes us all slaves. You are a slave to Jared as he is a slave to you."

"I don`t want him to be my slave. I just want him to love me freely."

"I know you do. That`s what sets you apart. That`s why you are feeling the way you are. The pain is you giving him the choice. You just didn`t know it."

"I don`t think I can stay here and see him with her."

"Who said you have to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Kimimela, the message is clear and simple. The Great Spirit wants to talk to you but are you willing to listen?"

"I am." Kim said without hesitation.

"Remember Kimimela, it is your responsibility to carry out the quest the Great Spirit sets you. It not only applies to you and Jared, but for everyone involved, for the Quileutes, for La Push."

"I understand." Kim whispered.

"Look into the fire Kimimela." Esther commanded. Kim did what she was told. She felt an overwhelming feeling to close her eyes. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion but she kept her focus on the flames. The flames that seemed to want to lull her into a peaceful sleep.

"Do what they tell you Kimimela." Esther`s voice was distant. The flames told her to close her eyes.

When she did she found herself in a on top of a mountain looking over a lush jungle. The air was thin and the smells were different to the ones she knew. She looked around. There was ruins of a great complex that once was. Looking down she could see many terraced slabs and the green jutting peaks of a huge mountain range. A beautiful butterfly caught her attention, it`s wings shone multicolored in the light. She knew she must follow it. It lead her down and away from the site and deep into the jungle. Time didn`t exist here. She was where she needed to be. The butterfly led her to a clearing and to a large black panther. It looked at her with its golden eyes and started to fade away as the butterfly flew onto Kim`s outstretched finger...Kimi...Kimi..

"Kimi!" Her mom snapped her out of the weirdest experience of her life. She felt sick at the sudden change of realities.

"Wha..yeah..? Kim asked uncertainly.

"You have been gone for over two hours." Her mom sounded freaked.

"I have?" Wow!

"You were in some sort of trance when I came in. What was going on?"

"Mary you shouldn`t have interrupted her." Esther abashed her mother.

"I know what I have to do." Kim said. Both women looked at her.

"What did the Great Spirit tell you?" Esther asked.

"Great Spirit? We are Catholic!" Kim`s mom sounded worried.

"I`m going to Peru."

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