A World Full of Strangers
Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use.
Sorry for the long wait between updates, but I have been having trouble accessing the section of the site where I can add chapters.
Chapter 14: Bereft
"Jacob," says my Dad. "Sue is on the phone and she wants to talk to you."
"Yeah," I say, when I pick up the phone.
"Jake," she says. "I just wanted you to know that Bella, Edward, Esme, and Renesmee were just here to say goodbye to Charlie. They are driving up to Whitehorse now."
"What?" I shout. "How the hell did that happen?"
"Apparently they packed up everything overnight," she says calmly. "The others are flying up and will meet the van there."
"They're all gone? No one is left at the house?" I ask frantically.
"Jacob!" says my Dad. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"The Cullens left this morning with Renesmee," I say fuming. "Without even saying goodbye."
"Good riddance," he mutters as I glare at him.
"Sue, they can't do this," I say, as I turn back to the receiver.
"Actually, Jake, they can," she says. "Renesmee is their daughter. If they move away they have every right to take her with them."
"But I imprinted!" I reply, getting angrier by the minute. "She has to stay with me so that I can protect her. They know that!"
"Jacob, imprinting gives you no legal standing to claim custody of the child," she replies patiently. "Look, Charlie isn't exactly thrilled that they're gone, but he does understand. Things were getting too difficult for them here and they need to be settled before the school year begins. Most of their friends from school have already moved away and the Cullens have offered to fly us up for a visit anytime we want."
"Did they say anything about me?" I ask bitterly.
"They said that they have no objection to you moving up to the Yukon," she answers. "That is your choice if you wish to be near her."
"Which route are they taking?" I ask.
"They didn't exactly say," she replies "But Edward said that it was indirect. They want to give Renesmee time to adjust to the idea."
"Then why didn't they stay here longer? Why did they leave now?"
"Because they didn't want to risk any kind of altercation with the tribe over taking Renesmee with them," she explains. "They wanted to leave on good terms with us. And they were also afraid that you would say things that you might regret later. Considering how rude you are being to me now, I think that they made the right choice."
"Sue, you know I brought this issue to the Council last night," I say in frustration. "Why didn't you try to stop them?"
"Because that wasn't my place," she says sternly. "Just like it is not your place."
"Well, that's a matter of opinion," I say. "I want to meet with the Council again."
"Jacob, we need to meet as a group before we talk to you again," she says in measured tones. "Put your father back on the line. As our chief, he should make this decision."
"Sue wants to talk to you again," I say as I throw the phone at my Dad.
"Jacob, please don't do anything stupid!" he calls as I run out the door.
My anger is so great that I have to get away from the house and phase before I destroy something. The rage is good. It holds off the pain. Then I set up howls to further release the agony and to call my pack together. Within minutes, the five of us are standing around in the woods on two legs. We returned to human form because I don't want to show them everything in my mind, or see everything in theirs.
"They're gone," I say flatly.
"I know," says Seth. "I just talked to my Mom."
"Good riddance," says Embry.
"Thanks a lot, bro,'" I answer sarcastically. "Glad you got my back."
"Jacob, we all know how you feel about Renesmee," says Leah, at least trying to be sensitive. "But it's obvious that her family doesn't really understand us. And did you really think that Bella, Edward, and the others would just go away and leave her behind?"
"I expected this from Edward and Blondie," I say. "But I really didn't think that
Bella would betray me like this. If it hadn't been for my protection, Renesmee would never have been born."
"What makes you think that Bella is betraying you?" asks Embry. "Renesmee is her daughter. She almost, I mean she did, die giving birth to her. Don't you think that that might color her view on giving her up just a little bit?"
"Listen," I say. "After she knew I imprinted, yeah, she was mad. But she got over it. She even said that she was glad that I was in her daughter's life. It made us family."
"Well, yeah," says Quil. "All the Cullens welcomed us. And when Renesmee was a baby, it was easy to share her. But now that she's, uh, older, it does feel kind of weird. I mean she seems older than Claire but she's really three years younger."
"In a month she'll be full grown," I say. "I always thought that they understood that when she was full grown, that we would get married. But by now they're probably halfway to Whitehorse."
Leah rolls her eyes.
"I doubt that, how were they going?" she asks. "Are they flying?"
"Half of them were," I say. "But the other half, the half with Renesmee, said they were driving by an 'indirect route,' whatever that means."
"It probably means through Winnepeg and Saskatoon," says Embry. "Why are they driving?"
"They said to give Renesmee time to adjust to the idea," I say. "In other words, to poison her mind against me before I can catch up to them."
"Do really think that they would go that far?" asks Leah. "And besides, technically speaking they are not taking her away from you. If they wanted to, they just could have vanished, like they did eight years ago. But they told you where they were going. The way that they are looking at it, if you want to be with Renesmee, you have to go to them."
"I don't think that's what this is about," I say. "They are trying to keep us apart. But Renesmee loves me. And she knew what I was building up to. On her birthday I was going to ask her to marry me."
The other four stare at me with their mouths open. Finally Seth speaks
"You know Jake," he says uncomfortably. "It's not like I'm not on your side or anything, but Renesmee is still a kid. I mean, my Mom says that she still plays with dolls. And I don't think that she feels that way about you . . . not yet anyway."
"Well it's not like your Mom is exactly unbiased," I retort. "She just called to tell me that they came by to say goodbye to Charlie. And she sounded pretty darn happy about it."
"Yeah well on that score, I would say that Charlie wouldn't like the whole engagement thing so much either," replies Leah. "When I was over their house last week he said it was creepy the way that you were always hovering over her."
"That's just because he doesn't understand," I say.
"Yeah, but he doesn't want to understand," adds Seth. "When you phased in front of him, he told you that he didn't want to know anything else. If you tried to explain imprinting then he would probably freak out."
"Yeah, man," says Quil. "You know all the crap that I get from people who don't understand about me and Claire. But our people accept whatever the Elders tell them is okay. Charlie isn't like that and you know it. He had a hard enough time accepting the fact that Bella gave birth one month after she was married. Especially since she wasn't eight months pregnant when she got married."
"You guys aren't helping," I say, getting anxious.
"But you aren't listening," answers Leah. "It seems like the only one who doesn't get it here is you. I mean, even Quil gets it, right, Quil?"
"Kind of," he says reluctantly. "I mean, Jacob, Claire might have been a baby when I imprinted, but at least she is part-Quileute. And her Mom is Emily's sister, so it made it easier on them to let her go. But I suppose that if they hadn't let her move in with Emily and Sam, I would have had to move to the Makah res."
"So then you get what I'm talking about," I say.
"I'm with you up to a point," he replies. "I mean, I'm the only one standing here who can imagine the kind of pain that you're feeling now. It's just that it's not like you have any legal right to her. It's not like you can sue for custody or anything. Are you going to a judge to ask him to return the girl because you imprinted on her? They'll lock you up in the loony bin for sure."
"That's not what I was thinking of doing," I say ominously.
"And kidnapping across state lines is a federal crime," says Embry. "You know how fast they drive. They're probably in Montana by now. No speed limits, dude."
"You know Jake," says Seth. "I really love you, man. But I don't see what we can do without breaking the law."
"Yeah, right," I say. "Like the law even knows that she exists. She doesn't even have a birth certificate."
"I thought they had papers forged when they thought you were going to have to escape with her to get away from those Italian leeches?" asks Leah.
"They wouldn't do them any good now," I reply. "She wouldn't fit the age."
"You don't know that for sure," replies Quil. "And they must be using a passport to get her into Canada. How old did the papers say that she was?"
"I, um, never looked at them," I admit.
"Jacob," says Leah in frustration. "I'm not phasing until you figure this out, because you're going to drive me crazy. You should listen to yourself talk. You sound completely irrational."
"Yeah, man," says Embry. "I keep getting the feeling like you want us to go after her or something, but I just don't see it happening."
"Listen," I say. "Yesterday when they told me they were leaving, she was scared to death. And they wouldn't even let me be alone with her. In fact, they wouldn't even let her talk. Edward was supposedly interpreting her thoughts for her."
"What makes you think that he was lying?" asks Seth.
"He's done it before," I say.
"Not to me," replies Seth. "And don't you think that Renesmee would have said something if he was?"
"I told you," I say gritting my teeth. "He wouldn't let her talk."
"Seth, you talked to Mom," says Leah. "Did she say anything about Renesmee being scared when they said goodbye to Charlie?"
"No," says Seth. "She said that Bella and Renesmee were both sad, but that Bella was worse. They said goodbye to Charlie while Edward and Esme talked to Mom. They wanted to make sure that they left on good terms with us, the Quileutes, that is. You know, no bad blood or anything."
"Did they say anything about me?" I ask.
"They said that they didn't want you to say anything that you might regret later," says Seth. "That's why they left without saying goodbye."
"Anything else?" I ask.
"They wanted to know if you were free to come to the Yukon to join them," he says. "They were worried that the Elders might try to stop you. But she said that it would be fine with them."
"What exactly did she tell them?"
"That you were free to go anytime you wanted," he says reluctantly. "No one is ever forced to stay on the res. But Jacob, you're acting like this is all about you. It's not, it's about Renesmee and her whole family."
I am so mad that I run off to phase. The last comment I hear is Leah's.
"Oh, crap," she says. "Now I have to run all the way back to town on two legs."
But as I run off, I don't sense any of the others phasing, either. I guess that none of them want to be in my head now. I can't say that I blame them. Without thinking, I begin running east, but then I turn around. Embry was right. There is no way that I can catch them once you factor in the speed that they drive. And what would I do if I caught up to them? What would Renesmee think if I hurt any of them while I was getting her back?
So I decide to go with my next best option. There have got to be more wolves that will agree with me. I mean, Sam, Paul, and Jared have all imprinted, so they know what it's like. And I guess that I could go up to Whitehorse myself. I can't picture living there, but I bet that Renesmee will hate it, especially if I'm not there with her.
And if I convince her to come back to La Push with me, I don't see how they can stop her. After all, they're supposed to be all about free will and independence. But first I need to talk to the Council. I want to come back here on good terms with everyone. And, yeah, I was just kind of rude to Sue and my Dad. Okay, so the best thing for me to do I guess is to just go home. But I'm not giving up. I'm just thinking through my options.