Chapter Two: Disaster.
By the end of the day, Gabriel & I had almost exhausted each other with questions. But we both knew we'd think of more questions before the next day.
As I gathered my things & packed them in my bag, Gabriel walked up to wait for me. Lockers, we'd been told, would be assigned the following day. Gabriel & I walked out to the car park & he walked over to his car.
"Drive you home?" he asked. I wanted to go with him but I'd only just met him. Besides, Emmett was meant to be picking me up.
"Raincheck? I'm getting picked up." I smiled, blushing when he nodded & smiled back. I watched as he drove away, knowing at least my family would approve of Gabriel's car! I couldn't be sure of the model but even I could see the car was a Mercedes Benz! The latest most expensive model!
I turned my head at the sound of a car horn. Emmett, Rosalie & Esme were standing beside Rosalie's convertible. I walked over & dumped my bag into the trunk. I hopped into the back seat next to Esme & sighed loudly.
"Good day?" Esme asked, in her quiet tone. I nodded & promptly fell asleep.
When we pulled up to the house, I was woken by a familiar barking laugh.
"Jake!" I yelled, not bothering to wait for the car to stop before I jumped out, tackling Jake as I did so. Causing everyone to laugh.
"Hey Ness. Missed me that much, huh?" he smiled my favourite wolfy smile.
"Nope didn't think about you all day. Been too preoccupied with trying not to get lost." Emmett laughed. Jake got to his feet, pulling me up with him. Before I could, he grabbed my bag out of the trunk. We headed inside where Alice was waiting eagerly in the den to hear how my day had gone. At the sound of our arrival Mum & Dad came out of the piano room & Jasper was coming down the stairs with a book in his hand.
"Whatcha readin, Jazz?" Jasper looked up as I spoke.
"The Importance of Being Earnest." He answered. Emmett laughed.
"Isn't that a stage show? Why bother to read a book when you could go to Broadway & watch the stage production?" everyone laughed at this.
"Typical Em. Always looking for the easy way out. Heaven forbid you should actually use that brain of yours. Don't think too hard, you might hurt yourself!" Dad joked. Emmett laughed & playfully tackled him. Esme quickly moved a vase out of their way.
"If you want to wrestle, take it outside," she warned them. "Emmett, don't even think about it. Take it outside!" If there was one person Emmett never ignored, it was Esme.
"Race you?" before Emmett could get up, Dad was out the door.
"Ness, how was school?"Alice asked, as Emmett followed Dad outside.
"It was school. Nothing particularly special happened." Alice pouted.
"Something must have happened!" I laughed & she pouted again.
"Uh yeah they had these things called lessons where you sit down for about an hour & listen to an adult teach you things. They also have this thing called lunch. You sit in this room called a cafeteria. You pick a table & sit with others & eat or talk & form friendships. It's kinda overwhelming. I don't think I can cope doing this again. Especially not five times a week. Maybe I should stay home all day & read or watch TV." Mum & Rose laughed while Alice stuck out her tongue.
"Very funny. So did you make any of these things you call friends? You gotta tell me something!" I smiled the crooked smile I'd inherited from my father.
"I don't 'gotta' tell you anything. I did meet another new student though. We spent the day getting to know each other." At this Alice perked up.
"Ooh, what's her name?" I giggled & Alice frowned, puzzled.
"His name is Gabriel. He helped me when I kinda walked into the door. We clicked when we realised we were both new. He's friendly & from Berlin. He could of easily laughed at me but he helped instead. He picked up everything & since he'd already memorised the map, walked me to every class." Mum pursed her lips at that & Jasper, Alice & Rose laughed. Then Mum glared at Jasper.
"Jazz, don't interfere! I have every reason to be wary that the first person Nessie meets on her very first day is a boy her own age that she already seems to have fallen for!" Jazz only smiled & continued to 'interfere'.
"So are you going to ban her from seeing him?" Alice asked 'innocently'. Mum rolled her eyes & shook her head.
Suddenly, mine & Jake's stomachs started rumbling, loudly. Everyone laughed as Esme walked in from the kitchen with a plate of food. Carlisle followed behind with two more. They placed them on the table &, after exchanging a smile with Jake, we dug in. When we'd finished, without pre-planning, we simultaneously burped as loud as we could & burst into laughter. Emmett & Dad came back in as we finished laughing. Dad headed for the piano room & I followed, smiling when I heard Mum's lullaby's opening notes. I sat down next to him & rested my head on his shoulder. When he finished, he reached over & cuddled me. I giggled & moved towards the keys. Esme had only taught me one song, but I knew it was one of Dad's favourites. It wasn't particularly hard but it was melodical. Dad sat quietly & listened. When I'd finished he was smiling ear to ear.
"You're getting better & better. Would you like me to teach you the Lullaby? We could make it a...uh...father-daughter thing. That is if you want." I stared at him open-mouthed.
"Can we start now?"I asked. His eyes lit up & he nodded.
Suddenly, before we could do anything, we heard a deafening bang & the whole house shook with the sound.
"What was that?"
We ran outside & saw a plume of smoke rising from La Push. Before anyone could say or do anything, Jake phased & bolted for La Push. The rest of us bolted for the garage. Splitting into two cars, Rose's convertible & Emmett's jeep respectively, we headed to La Push. When we got there, Carlisle grabbed his medical bag & ran over to see if anyone was hurt.
I saw Jake standing with Sam, Seth, Quil & Embry. Eager to know what was going on, I walked over & hugged Jake, who looked lost & almost scared.
"What happened?" I asked Sam. "Jake, are you alright?"
Jake didn't even seem to register my voice. So I tapped him on the arm, hugged him tighter but he still just stood there in a daze. Jasper placed a hand on my shoulder & I realised I was crying. Jake suddenly snapped out of it & noticed me crying. He hugged me & tried to comfort me. As Mum & Dad walked over, Sam stepped forward.
"Some young boys were playing with fireworks over near Billy's house. One went rogue & hit the gas main, which blew up the house. As of yet we don't know if anyone was inside. The elders are trying to get hold of Billy, Racheal & Paul. But nobody's been able to contact them. The fire brigade is still putting out the house so nobody's been inside yet. It might be a while." Everyone was quiet. Jake suddenly dropped to his knees & started to sob. I bent down & tried to comfort him. Alice, Mum & Rose all looked pointedly at Jasper who shook his head.
"Let him be for a moment." He said quietly.
Carlisle walked away to where the boys who had been playing with the fireworks were sitting. A policeman was nearby, watching them. But Carlisle noticed that two of the boys had minor burns to their hands. He pulled out a bag of saline & headed over to the younger of the two boys. Esme followed ready to help. Carlisle opened the saline carefully & used it to wash the burns gently. As he did so, Esme prepared the antibacterial salve & the bandages ready for Carlisle to apply. The boy tried bravely not to cry as Carlisle bandaged his hands. The older boy tried to pull away but winced in pain. Once Carlisle had bandaged the boy's hands, the policeman came over to question the boys.
As Jasper finally started to "help" Jake, Leah & Jared came running over.
"Racheal & Paul are on their way back from Port Angeles. But Racheal said that Billy was at home & Chief Swan was visiting for the day!" Leah was trying not to cry as Jared spoke. Dad leant forward & caught Mum as she lost her footing. The fire chief came over as Jared finished.
"Fire's been put out. But unfortunately we've already found the remains of Chief Swan's ID & badge. We haven't found any human remains yet but we've only just started looking." As he spoke, another fire fighter ran over. They stepped out of earshot but there was no mistaking the looks that crossed the Fire Chief's face.
As the Fire Chief walked back over, I noticed Jasper preparing himself for the worst. Dad was holding Mum close & Jake was still on the ground on his knees.
"Unfortunately, I've just been informed we've located two bodies. We'll have to get the ME to authenticate but it could be them. Until we can verify, we'll keep looking for them. I'll update you when we know more." As he walked away, Jasper fell to his knees, the tension & potential grief too much for him. Alice placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. But as she did, I noticed Mum slowly stand & rush over to what remained of the Black house. The fire fighters were taking a well earned break so the site was unoccupied. Mum rushed into what was once the lounge room. Two bodies with white sheets over them la in the centre of the room, next to what remained of the couch. Mum moved towards the bodies intending to lift the sheets. Dad moved forward to stop her. Before he could, she lifted the sheets simultaneously. Nobody was prepared for what we saw...