Hey look everyone! I a new update that was not a month apart from the last one! If you ask me that is worth celebrating. I having gotten myself a new computer but I started using the computer I started writing fanfiction on from the very beginning. You all probably do not care that much though. It does not have Microsoft Word, but I read through this like three times. Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter.
I was dolling myself up for my lunch with Jake and his mom. Honestly I was nervous. I wasn't sure of Jake's relationship with his mom but if it was what I feared it was if she didn't like me Jake and I would not last too long. I was putting on those purple gemmed ear rings I like so much when I saw Slen appear in my doorway.
"Hi." I told him. He nodded solemnly. I titled my head he hadn't been all that chatty here recently.
"So what's the news?" I asked.
"Nothing, but I see you're going out again." Slen replied. I smiled at him.
"Yeah, Jake invited me to his family get together up in the mountains and he wanted me to meet his mom before he brought me to be trapped up there for two weeks with people that may not like me." I informed him. Slen nodded again.
"Two weeks seems kind of long doesn't it?" He replied.
"A little, but he has a big family that's spread out throughout the states and there's a lot of catching up to do." I told him. Slen had been acting strange since I had started dating Jake. I had the sickening feeling that Slen felt he still had some sort of claim to me… I really hoped not. It made me nervous. At one point I worried about it so bad that I nearly got sick. My battle for this was over. I had let go and moved on. Slen was still my friend. If he was upset about what made me happy? I'm sorry, but I think I'd choose Jake over him. Not that I was ungrateful for Slen. I loved him with all my heart he was the only confirmed family I had left. But if he was territorial when it came to me, after he let me go… I'd be heartbroken but I would have to ask him to leave.
The doorbell rang and I hissed, I quickly put on some of my solid perfume that smelled like heaven and I went to the doorway. I had to stop, Slen was blocking my way.
"Hey, buddy. Can you let me out?" I asked trying to make my question sound like a joke. He stared at me with eyes I couldn't see for a moment or two then stepped aside and I grabbed the most feminine purse I owned and ran to the door sending Slen a smile and a wave. I composed myself for a moment and opened the door. Jake grinned at me and I returned it.
"Hey pixie." He told me.
"What's up, Giraffe?" I replied casually and stepped out into the hall and locked my apartment door.
"Where did you say we were going for lunch?" I asked.
"A hibachi place in town." Jake said. I nodded and we started down the stairs.
"So how big is your family exactly?" I asked. Jake chuckled.
"This is the maternal side of my family and my mother has two brothers and two sisters. My uncles have four kids each. One of my aunts has one daughter and my other aunt has a son. I'm not sure how many people are coming to the cabin though." Jake told me. I was nearly overwhelmed. Sometimes I wondered what it would have been like if Mom and Kenai had lived… If Dad and Mom would have had more children. Probably not. I barely remembered Mom saying Kenai would be her last baby. I shuddered at just how far that extended to…
"Hey, you alright?" Jake asked softly. I nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I told him. He hummed and unlocked my door for me. I opened in and got it. Mom and Kenai's death did not really bother me often. It got to me really bad one time when I was thirteen. Dad was trying to date again and I didn't like his current girlfriend. She reminded me too much of Mom I think and I broke down in tears one night at supper. Dad broke up with her the next day. As I had grown older I had come to feel more and more guilty about that because he was really very happy with that woman. On his death bed he told me that I needed to forgive myself for it because he never once blamed me. I never really understood why he died. One day he was healthy and the next he just wasn't. Like he just woke up dying.
"Echo, are you sure you're up to this? I'm not kidding; my mom won't mind if we cancel last minute. You can rest if you need to." Jake said. I looked at him and shook my head.
"No, no, I'm fine. Just thinking about something I should probably leave alone for the time being." I told him, I looked at him with my best puppy dog eyes.
"Distract me." I requested. Jake smiled and turned down the radio and started to tell me the story of fixing up Belle. I listened intently, refusing to let my mind wander. The hibachi place rolled up on the side of the highway and Jake pulled in.
"Is there anything I need to do to not make your mom hate me?" I asked Jake as I leapt out of the truck.
"Nope. Mom is actually really laid back. My father is the worrier in the family. If you're thinking you will have to leap through hoops just to get her to like you, you have the wrong notion. My family isn't like that." Jake said. I nodded, feeling relieved.
"Is she already here or should we wait outside?" I asked, walking around the front of the truck to his side. Jake put his keys in his pocket and scanned the tiny parking lot.
"She's already here. See the Cadillac?" He said, pointing out a sleek black car in front of the building. I guess I should have figured out that his family was loaded. They had an apparently huge cabin in the mountains and Jake was living comfortably on a generously given trust fund.
"So your parents didn't push you to be like a lawyer or doctor or anything?" I asked as we approached the glass front of the restaurant.
"No, we kind of come from old money. Dad made a 'small' fortune when he decided to invest in a few companies that took off like crazy." He said.
"Oh? Same here." I replied. It was true. My father had been crazy good with money.
"Wait, he's a worrier, but he wasn't afraid to invest?" I asked. Jake pulled open the door and laughed.
"Mom made him do it." Jake answered. I giggled and entered, he came in behind me. I was still kind of afraid that he was a Momma's boy… There was a woman with blonde hair and familiar gray eyes that looked at us as we entered. A large, kind smile spread across her face as Jake steered me over to her. She stood upon our arrival and unexpectedly enveloped me in a hug. She was in her sixties, I could tell but she had aged with grace. Her hair had a few streaks of pure white in her blonde and her eyes had gentle crows feet at the edges. Laugh lines faintly outlined her mouth.
"You must be Echo." She said with a maternal tone honeying her voice. I smiled kindly at her and nodded.
"Jake just would not stop talking about you. He moved into that apartment building and his first night he called and went on about you for at least ten minutes." She said, sitting down. I looked at Jake with a mischievous glint in my eyes and his were fixed on the dark finished wood table his mother sat at.
"Ten minutes huh?" I asked, ignoring the fact that I had fallen head over heels for him the moment I saw him. He gave me a look and I laughed.
"Alright let's not embarrass the poor baby too much." I said. His mother laughed.
"Well I'm Abrianna. There's a reason Jake didn't think your name was strange." She said with a friendly wink. I couldn't help but smile around this woman.
"Abrianna huh? What a lovely name. I like it." I told her. She grinned. A grin Jake inherited along with those eyes and hair. She liked compliments the same way Jake did but did anything but fish for them.
"Jake hasn't told me much about you. Are you not that open or has he been holding back?" Abrianna asked. I shrugged.
"There isn't much to talk about. I'm from Pennsylvania, love history. I like books, used to work at the library. I think about writing from time to time. I'm a great cook." I gave her a wink, she seemed pleased with that.
"You certainly are charming." She said. I smiled bashfully.
"Thank you." I sent Jake a look and he seemed to be giving thanks to the gods. I giggled. His head was hung low and he had a comical smile on his lips.
"What else is there about you?" She asked, seeming keen to know more about me.
"Oh… I came to Haven Junction through unexpected circumstances… I would rather actually not get into that. It's nothing bad I promise. I don't have any really close relatives. I think I have a distant relative that lives in California… I'm not sure if he knows I exist." I told her. Perhaps too much. I didn't really have a lot of surface information about me.
"Why not?" Abrianna asked.
"Oh, well. I think he's like fourth cousin to my mother. We weren't close to that side of the family." I said.
"No, why no close family? You don't have to hold back. I understand." She told me. I still wasn't sure if I should lay it on her.
"Oh, my mom died when I was little, my dad died when I was sixteen." I answered. She frowned.
"Your father's loss wasn't that long ago then, hmm?" She asked gently.
"Four years in May. But hey, stuff happens." I told her. She nodded. The waitress finally came and took our drink orders.
"There's something strange about you…" Abrianna said as the waitress walked away.
"Mom." Jake commented, finally getting in on the conversation.
"No, it's fine. It's nothing poor Echo can help. She was born with it." Abrianna said, her eyes taking a glassy look as her eyes rested on me. A chill went down my spine and my thoughts immediately fled to Slender. I swallowed. Abrianna smiled and her ruby red lips closed, she was older but somehow she pulled it off.
"Jake go ask if they serve Japanese tea for me, darling." She told her son. He stood immediately.
"I probably should have told you about this." Jake informed me quietly upon passing me. Jake approached the counter and Abrianna's hand grasped mine with urgency.
"You were born with a curse hanging over your head, child. Right now, he's fine. If you don't break it off with whatever you have in your life, Jake's life and even yours will be put in danger. I'm not trying to scare you off. I like you with my son. You two are a very good match. But if you care for your life, please… cut it off." She told me. I gaped at her with a shocked expression.
"What; who?" I asked.
"The Operator." She said. I didn't know what she meant. I didn't…
"Humans aren't allowed to know my real name but you can call me-"
"Tall Man, you called him Tall Man as a child." Abrianna broke into my thoughts.
"But Slen? He's fine with Jake and I!" I whispered, Jake was making his way back over to the table. Abrianna whipped out a pen and scribbled a number down on the back of my hand.
"Call me when you get home, but if he is there don't. I will be giving you information he has been trying to hide from you." Abrianna told me. I was overwhelmed. Jake arrived at the table and gave Abrianna the menu.
"They said it may take a while, but you can order something off this." He told her. Abrianna took the menu and scanned over it as though our conversation hadn't just happened. Had I been right all along? Was Slen still territorial over me. I sighed and nearly closed my eyes. Was my best friend going insane?
"I think I'd like the Jasmine tea, what do you think, Echo?" She asked. I looked at her.
"Y-yeah, that seems fine." I told her. How did Abrianna even know about Slen? And evidently Jake knew she was going to practically attack me with this information and yet he left me to her anyways… I sent him a gaze. He met me with apologetic grey eyes. I had a feeling that she was going to tell me this whether he had left or not. I found myself grateful that she sent him away so that he didn't come to learn that I had a mythological creature hanging over my shoulders. I'd call her when I got home. She obviously had more to tell me. Afterwards the conversation between the three of us mainly consisted of Jake and Abrianna talking about his art work and his recent success. I hardly had the energy to even eat my sushi.
"Look I know she's weird. She's a psychic medium and I can't apologize enough for that." Jake told me as I got into the car.
"Your mother isn't the problem, someone else is I think." I informed him.
"Who?" Jake asked.
"An old friend… But Abrianna is fine. She's nice. She just wanted to warn me about something." I said. Jake was quiet for a moment as he pulled out of the parking lot.
"If you need me you know I'll be right there." Jake replied softly. My blood chilled at the thought of Slen killing Jake just to get to me.
"This isn't something I really want you involved in. It's not that I don't trust you. I don't trust him." I told him. With that I had the shattering realization that what I had just said was true. I wanted to cry. I didn't trust Slen. He saved my life twice and I couldn't bring myself to trusting him anymore.
I kissed Jake and went inside my apartment and looked at the number on my hand. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and dialed the number, hoping Slen wouldn't appear when I was on the phone with Abrianna.
"Hello Echo." She said, the phone almost immediately being answered.
"What else did you want to tell me about Slen?" I asked regrettably.
"He's fine with you and Jake for the moment… well… not really. He's holding back but sooner or later whatever is keeping him from hurting you two isn't going to matter anymore. He's your childhood friend. I understand that it may be hard to leave him behind. But… if you want you and Jake to be safe, then please, do it. If you choose to let him stay in your life. I will have to regrettably ask you to leave my son alone." Abrianna said. I knew the last sentence was hard for her to say. I huffed.
"Are you sure he can't control himself?" I asked.
"Sooner or later every damn breaks."
"What will he do if I ask him to leave me alone?" I replied.
"If it isn't too late then he will uphold your request." Abrianna answered.
"What if it's too late?" I asked.
"Then I pray for your soul."