The Jaguar Versus the Wolf
Chapter 13 - Tortured Music
Orbiting Satellites Book Two, Chapter 13 - The College Plan companion
I woke up to the sounds of some weird noise and bits of conversation but they were all from different voices, different dialects, male, female, babies, animals, some were just random sound effects. I wasn't sure what was going on until I walked into living room and it all made sense. Esme was flipping through the channels on the television.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you? I should have lowered the volume on this thing. I was just looking for distraction this morning while Carlisle is at work."
"No, it's fine. I should have woken by now anyway. I guess the new bed you acquired for me is just a little too comfortable. What are you watching?" I asked, more to make conversation than anything else.
"Nothing in particular," she admitted. "I was just searching to see if something caught my eye. What are your plans for today?"
"I'm not sure. I'll probably go and visit Renesmee in a little bit but I believe she said she was occupied this morning so I really have nothing to do for now."
"Well, in that case would you like to watch something with me?" she asked while handing me the remote.
I took it and began flipping through the channels just as she had done.
NO! It couldn't be. She was dead. So why was her picture on the television?
"Did you know that woman?" Esme asked me. "She's lovely. Such a tragedy that she was murdered."
"Err... No," I lied, while quickly continued to flip the channels. "I was just surprised to hear my native tongue." The news report had been in Portuguese, which apparently Esme understood.
"Oh, of course. Well we like to keep informed, so in addition to every cable channel available we also have a satellite dish that receives most of the words broadcast channels. That way we can get the news from all over the world… just in case," she cryptically added.
But it was good. It meant the story about the woman I had murdered wasn't as far reaching as I first dreaded. I'd picked her because she looked like she had money, which I was desperately in need of at the time. I hadn't realized she was the niece of a prominent politician. That meant the authorities wouldn't stop looking for her killer anytime soon. It had already been several months. If I had been more careful, picked some nobody, it would have been out of the news within a week, possibly as soon as a day or two. But now the authorities would keep looking until they found the murderer, or more likely a patsy that could blame and close the case. Corruption was high in most parts of South America, like most places. The police wouldn't care if they found the right person as long as they found someone and it's not like there's any way they could tie the murder back to me.
Being a hybrid had its advantages. Not only did I not shed any hair to leave behind, but since venom flowed through my body I also didn't perspire, and oil was not expelled through my pores, which also meant no fingerprints were left anywhere.
For the first time in my life I was thankful for Joham, and his experiments, and that I had bothered to pay attention on one of his visits when he went on and on about some knew discovery he made about Serena or Maysun.
I wanted to go back to the news report, but didn't want Esme getting suspicious. So I kept flipping channels until I came across a movie that looked interesting.
Esme and I sat in silence and watched until Carlisle returned from his job and they both excused themselves.
I continued to watch the movie until I heard some music coming from Edward and Bella's house.
Edward cherished his piano almost as much as he loved his mate. His preferred genre seemed to be a grand classical style. While Edward had taught Bello to play, she seemed to prefer her books, and Renesmee veered more to contemporary songs. I had a feeling that was what I was hearing now. I was unfamiliar with the tune, but it was simple and sweet. It sounded beautiful, mostly. There was this strange plucking sound every once in a while that broke the rhythm of the song. The only thing I could think to explain it was that she was tuning the piano as she played.
Hmmm, glancing at the clock on my wall I saw that it was after ten. I'd slept through breakfast. It was that dumb dogs fault. He'd kept me up last night. No, not him personally, but he got me thinking. It was just a passing comment, but he mentioned some foolishness about him and Renesmee going to school together this year.
Why did she need to do that? There was nothing there that would require her to go all the hours he was talking about. I had hoped that this year would be the same as the last - the Cullens (and Renesmee's stupid guard dog) would busy themselves at school during the day so I could be alone with her. Renesmee attending with them was not part of the plan. It was going to cut into a large chunk of my time with her. I needed that time. There wasn't that much left to make her my mate. She needed to do it willingly, and I didn't know how long that might take. And then who knew how long it would take to get her pregnant, never mind the fact that the gestation period of two hybrids was an unknown. While I didn't think so, the possibility needed to be taken into account that it might even take the normal human nine months.
Jennifer had made me aware that her menstrual cycle was not the typical twenty-eight day cycle. It had slowed down and spread out as she'd aged. Also taking into account that she had only bleed for anywhere from a few hours to a day at most, meant the window for conception of a female hybrid was short, very short. Timing would be everything. That or we might just need to mate 24/7 throughout her ovulation window. That idea brought a smile to my face.
Of course we would need to get there as a couple first.
Hoping that it was her, and not Edward or Bella, tuning the instrument, I grabbed my pan flute, before heading over to her house, thinking I could entice her to playing a duet with me once the piano was ready.
I found her sitting at the piano, but my assumption had been wrong. She wasn't tuning it. And not just that. I figured the dog would be nearby, but hadn't planned on her giving him a music lesson. That was the true cause of the awful sound. But it wasn't the piano he was torturing, it was a guitar.
"You should stick to howling at the moon," I said to him as I entered the room. So much for sucking up. While they both looked up at me, only Renesmee smiled. Not that I cared. "If you're so desperate for a partner, Renesmee, perhaps I could offer you my services." The dog growled, picking up on my double meaning.
"Do you play the piano? Or guitar?" she asked, which earned me another growl from the dog.
"I've played something similar, back home," I admitted, "but have my pan flute with me," I said holding it up for her to see the multiple pipes of gradually increasing length and girth. I'd made it myself. My Aunt taught me when I was around two. The first one I ever made was of sugar cane. The heat and dampness of the Rainforest ensured it didn't last long. Not even a decade. I kept remaking them for almost a century as needed, until Huilen suggested I make my next one of more stable material. This one I made almost forty years ago and was made from ivory, but I carved it to resemble bamboo. It wasn't only for ascetic reasons, the slight undulations and curves naturally present in reeds affected the instruments sound in a way I found pleasing and had been sure to replicate. I also added a few small pebbles inside, to correct for pitch, here and there.
"If you play that piece one more time, I think I'll have it down enough to accompany you." Take that dog, I silently said to him with a glare and a smirk.
"I guess we could take a short break, Jacob," Renesmee told the dog, effectively dismissing him.
He mentioned something about getting a snack, I think, but didn't really pay attention to his ramblings. He left, which is all I cared about. I was finally alone with Renesmee.
This was the first time since the disaster of last year, and didn't want to mess things up again by going too fast. For today I stuck to just playing alongside her. In truth, I didn't really have that much of a choice. My flute required the use of my mouth and hands. I couldn't talk and play at the same time.
We played seven songs together before her dog returned and the magic we were creating through our eyes died. BOSTA!
"That sounded really beautiful," Edward said, appearing behind the dog. "But I think that is enough for today. It's almost lunch time and then, Nessie I believe you and Jacob still have to register for your classes for school. The deadline is coming up, so make sure you get it done soon.
"May we continue this sometime tomorrow?" I asked her.
"I don't know, it might take awhile for Jake and I to…"
I'm sure you could spare an hour after lunch," Edward interjected.
The dog scowled, but Renesmee and I smiled, happy that we had a date planned.
"It's not a date," Edward informed me, before ushering the three of us into the kitchen.
A.N. just a short chapter today. Happy Turkey Day!
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