The Jaguar Versus the Wolf
Chapter 27 - Fireworks
Orbiting Satellites Book Two, Chapter 27 - Reconciliation companion
Over the next few days I caught up with my Aunt, and got to know Roberto better. It didn't help our relationship.
We did all the things my Aunt and I use to do when it was just the two of us. Then on my last day, before I was scheduled to return to the Cullens, Roberto suggested we do one of the things he enjoyed. My Aunt seemed to have also become fond of them. I wasn't.
It seems he had enjoyed gambling in his human life and once Roberto became immortal that infatuation exponentially increased. Only now the stakes were much higher, the bets riskier, the dares greater, and the outcomes more deadly… for the loser anyway.
There weren't that many ways to kill a Vampire, but running through a burning building or jumping over the mouth of an active Volcano, seemed like they would work.
"Who's up for a game of Hot Potato," he'd asked, while tossing a live grenade back and forth between his hands. Since my limbs were not re-attachable, if they got blown off, I declined.
I know this life could be long and boring at times but it could also be wonderful. He'd only recently found his mate in my Aunt. I assumed he loved her and couldn't understand why he was trying to end his life.
"I'm not," he insisted, when I confronted him. "I just like keeping things interesting."
"Huilen hasn't given you enough entertainment?" I didn't want to be crude but couldn't understand him.
"Of course she does, that's why I want to share this with her. Everything's much more exciting since I met her."
"But what if something goes wrong? Do you know what it would do to her if she lost you?" Even if my Aunt hadn't told me how much she loved him, I could not only see it in the way she looked at him, but also in the way she talked about him to me. "Or you her?"
"Nahuel, you were born immortal. Huilen and I were not. When I was human I had expected to be dead decades ago. Huilen has been alive over a century longer than what is natural. We've both talked about this. If something were to happen to one of us then the other would gladly follow. Now that we've found each other we're content; we know that each day is a gift, but it doesn't have to go on forever. It shouldn't."
While I didn't agree with him I understood and didn't push it further. He, in turn, agreed to not risk his or my Aunt's life, at least not while I was with them. Instead I spent the remainder of the day informing them of everything that had been going on with Joham.
"We're going with you to the airport," my Aunt insisted when it was time for me to leave. "Maybe we should fly back with you. Roberto, how do I get on one of those air ships?"
Clearly she was overreaching. I was the one Joham seemed to be targeting and even I wasn't panicking that much. "There's no need for you to do that," I immediately tried to assure her. "I'll be fine. Alice, the short woman that came here with me, do you remember her gift?" She nodded. "She sees that I will be returning to them."
"She can see the future?" Roberto asked.
I nodded.
"But she can't see your kind," my Aunt argued, the stress going up in her voice.
"She figured out a way. Things disappear from her visions when I'm around. She saw my room at the Cullens disappearing. It means I'll return to them."
"Or your dead body will, or their daughter helps clear the room out when they learn you won't be coming back, or she just wanders in one day, or it could be a million other things."
While I talked her out of flying all the way to New Hampshire she also didn't leave my side until they practically walked me onto the plane.
As soon as we left the forest my Aunt got more than a few stares. "I wish you would have taken my advice and changed into more contemporary clothing."
"What does it matter? I made this dress myself, and love it. It was the traditional clothing of my people." Yes, it was… over 100 years ago. "So people look. We'll never see them again, and if any cause too big of an issue then we can always have an early dinner tonight." She chuckled at one person who was not only staring but pointing his phone at her.
"You're here to make sure Joham doesn't kill me, can you try to make sure you don't do anything that will force the Volturi to come after you." An airport, with hundreds of people, and thousands of cameras, was not the place to make a scene, and eating a few humans would do a lot more than make a scene.
"This is an airport. People come here to leave. Some come back, some don't. It's an ideal hunting ground."
"Roberto…" I growled. He wasn't helping.
"Alright, Nahuel," my Aunt sighed. "Would it make you happier if we promised not to eat anywhere in the airport? We'll lure them away; I saw one of those motels you seemed to favor, just over a mile from here." She seemed please with her compromise.
"Thank you." That was the best I was going to get.
"Flight 104, direct to Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, USA is now boarding at gate 3. Flight 104 to Logan Airport now boarding," a voice called out from the overhead speakers in Portuguese and then repeated the message in English.
"That's me."
"Call us on the sat-e-lite cell phone when you are safely inside the Cullen's residence."
"I will," I assured my Aunt, before boarding my flight.
When the plane touched down, and I turned my phone back on, I got a message from Alice; she and Jasper were waiting for me just outside of customs to pick me up and take me home.
Home.
Was the Cullen's residence my home? I wasn't sure. They weren't family. Renesmee, the only person on the planet suitable to be my mate, could have been, but she preferred the company of a dog over me. My Aunt was family, but she had her own mate now, and we didn't seem to have much in common anymore. There were my sisters, only one of which I regularly talked to, and by regularly I mean once every few years. Technically Joham was my father… biologically, at least. Yet here I was, running back to other Vampires, who were not my family, to keep me safe from him.
Life back with the Cullens was fine. No, make that dull. There was nothing to do but I refused to resume my previous habit of sleeping the days away. In a strange way Roberto's death defying stunts taught me that I needed to make the most of my life. I just didn't want to risk it in the process.
I had only been home for two days when Alice burst into my bedroom.
"Time to wake up, we have a lot to do today." she shrieked in my ear as she threw the covers off of my bed.
Looking at the clock I saw it was only six in the morning. Not sleeping all day was one thing, but it wasn't daytime yet. So with no intention of listening to her, I retrieved the blanket that was now on the floor and got back into bed. "I'm sleeping. Go away," I yawned.
"It's New Years Eve. We're going out. So you better get dressed if you don't want me carrying you to the fireworks display in your PJs."
Argh! I hated when she got like this. But I also knew there was no stopping her. Resigned I begrudgingly got up and started dressing in the clothes she was laying out for me.
She started jumping up and down. "Yeah! Fireworks are so much fun."
Fire-works? "What are…"
"You must have seen them. In the sky sometimes at night, for a celebration." She continued explaining, when I kept giving her a look that showed I had no idea what she was talking about. "The lights at night, big explosions of color. Boom, boom, boom." She threw open her hands, from tight balls, over and over to demonstrate what she meant.
"Um…" I was still coming up blank.
"Oh, never mind," she waved her hand. "You'll see them tonight and trust me… you'll love them."
"Tonight? So then we're not leaving right now?" Why the hell did she wake me up then?
She looked at me like I had two heads. "No, of course not. We need to get you ready first."
I looked down at my now dressed body. What else was there?
Apparently a lot. The clothes, which I hadn't realized while I was putting them on, were new. That wasn't too surprising, Alice never let me wear clothes more than once, but these didn't come from my fully stocked closet. These were a completely different style of clothes than what she previously dressed me in.
"You're stuck in a rut, and I've decided that if you aren't going to get yourself out of it, then it's going to be my job to do it. We're starting with your clothes. New clothes for a new you. Now I'm not going to cut your hair, since it won't grow back if you don't like it, but let's try something other than a braid."
"Um…" Before I could object she had pulled out the piece of leather that had been holding my hair back and was fingering it apart.
"I don't think a man bun would work with your cheek bones, but what about just leaving it down? Oh, I know, what about a ponytail?" She never even gave me a chance to reply. A second later my hair was up higher than it had ever been. "That looks good," she said, while taking it down, "but let's see what it will look like with some gel."
I was starting to come to the realization that this was going to be a long day.
I tried zoning out as much as I could over the next several hours, as I was poked and prodded, until it was time to leave. At least the drive into town wasn't long. Jasper drove and I got to spread out in the back seat while the two of them talked to each other up front.
When we got out of the car I saw Carlisle's pull up and he, Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie piled out. Even with Rosalie glaring at me the entire time I didn't care. I was hoping to turn the night around and enjoy myself. But after the next Cullen car pulled up I started thinking that wasn't going to happen. I hated seeing Renesmee and her dog together. The way he touched her… it wasn't right. She was an angel and that mutt was pawing all over her, probably giving her flees.
I really wasn't in the mood to be around them now. Especially after I found out what their Christmas gift really was. I felt so stupid. I'd actually gone to Esme for help with it yesterday. All I had was the piece of paper that was in the gift box, so was completely confused when she took out her computer and started typing. eHarmony wasn't a relaxation or music related present, like I thought; it was a dating service. I wanted to kill that stupid mutt, but in my anger smashed Esme's computer.
She looked confused, shocked, and horrified, but after I apologized and explained why I did what I did she said she understood. "Jacob should not have done that," she told me as she began picking up the broken computer pieces off the table. "Would you like me to have a word with him?"
"No need. I think I would like to handle this myself," I had replied, as I began making plans for my revenge, and cleaned up more computer pieces off the floor.
"Come on, Nahuel, you'll enjoy this. Let's find a good spot so we can see the fireworks," Edwards said, as he grabbed me by the shoulders, leading me quickly past his daughter and her dog, before I could say or do anything. While I still hadn't figured out exactly how I was going to get back at him, Edward must have known I was planning something.
We ended up setting ourselves down in the grass by the edge of the crowd, not wanting to "gather too much attention," Edward explained when I questioned why we weren't going to get closer. I still wasn't sure what we were supposed to be looking at. Alice said it was going to be a light show in the sky but it seemed like, because of where we were, our sight was going to be blocked by the tree line.
She assured me it would be fine. But then nothing happened. We sat and waited. And waited and sat. All the Cullens had a mate to pass the time with, to talk to, to listen to, to just spend the time with; but not me. An hour later the fire-works finally started. The show, as I came to understand it, consisted of music timed to the light explosions that were so high in the air that the trees didn't matter.
But for all the fun and fanfare, that Alice had proclaimed the evening festivities to be, I wasn't getting the same level of excitement she assumed I would have. It was boring. I was bored. There was nothing to do. Watching some lights twinkle in the sky was not my idea of excitement or enjoyment.
Once the show finally ended people all around us started counting for some reason, and backwards. I didn't know what was going on but out of the corner of my eye I saw the dog drag Renesmee off somewhere. Not caring what was going on around me, I decided to follow, this could be my chance. But a few seconds later I wished I'd stayed where I was. The scene I confronted was more revolting than I could have imagined. I wanted to gouge my own eyes out... or better yet, his.
Unfortunately now I could see why the filthy dog had dragged Renesmee away from everybody else - so that he could defile her where nobody would see. Disgusting mutt!
How could she let him treat her like that? Even when I had my whores, I would at least take them to a motel (most of the time). She deserved more than this. At the very least she should be worshipped in a bed; really she deserved a palace, not be mauled between a food cart and trash cans.
I wanted to go and rip her out of the beast's arms, but it look like she was enjoying herself, as repulsive as that sounded, so I left. When I returned to the Cullens the only reaction I got was an eye roll from Edward.
What is wrong with this family?
