"What the hell is a venti blonde macchiato?" I frowned at the menu board above the counter. Anita, by my side, shrugged and gave a bored expression.
"A foreign language?" She guessed.
Jenna giggled and handed the sever the notes in her hand. "Trust me, Jacob, you'll enjoy it. It's all I used to drink when…" She paused, noting the human sever handling her change, "When I wasn't on my diet." She finished. I had to remember she was still a Newborn, only turned less than ten years ago. She, and Oscar, had such control for Newborn's, it was impressive.
I rolled my eyes, "Hot chocolate too, please," I added and the sever nodded, then left to make the drinks. "Ness's favourite," I told them. Jenna nodded as if she understood. I peered across the coffee shop, through the great glass windows at the others waiting just beyond. I, being the only one that needed rest and food, meant little breaks like this. If the others were alone, they'd be home by now. I tried to keep up, to go as long as I could without needing to stop, but Tanya often reminded me, "If you're weak, you can't fight, that puts us and Nessie at risk." Brutal, but true.
People were dotted around the place, chatting and drinking from coffee with funny designs poured onto the top of them, and tapping away at expensive-looking computers and scribbling in notebooks and laughing – and I sighed.
"Do you miss it?" Anita asked. She wasn't one for conversation. She'd spoken maybe twice in the two and week and a half we'd been on the Search, so there must've been something really off about my face for her to ask.
"I miss Nessie," I answered automatically. We'd told Nessie we'd be gone only a week and here we were, almost two weeks gone. The plan had been to head back but with Jade's help locating other recruits, we'd decided it best to take the extra few days. But being out and about made me sad for Nessie. "When we first returned to the states, we spent a lot of time in coffee shops like this. She liked being around people." I did also miss the simple, human life I'd once had. Not that I spent very much of that in places like this.
Rosalie, the only one in our group who hadn't been waiting beyond the window, returned from across the street with a shopping bag in her hand. I already knew what she'd bought. Things for Nessie. We'd phoned her a dozen times on this trip, and she'd kept us up to date on the training at the Sanctuary, how she spent most nights curled up by Esme's side until she slept. Esme's told us, privately, Ness missed us more than she dared to let on.
I was thankful to be returning home. It wouldn't be much longer.
"Here you go, pal." Said the server and I took the coffee from him.
It was just as I went to turn that everything changed. A flash of light and pressure, pushing down hard against my head. It hit so suddenly my grip on the cup tightened and scolding coffee exploded across my hand.
"Jacob!" Cried Jenna, and then Rosalie was there. I could hear rushed voices, the panic of the servers as they scrambled to find something to attend to my hand, which was already healing. I tried to open my eyes, to speak, to indicate to the others that something – something…was happening. Pain.
Grass. I could see long, thick grass rippling like waves in the wind, inches from my eyes –
"We need to get him out of here," I heard Sebastian's deep voice demand. Hands hauled me away, towards the doors, each step weighing a tonne. I heard Jade assuring the server I was fine, she was a paramedic, first-aid trained, she would attend to my injury in her car. The words came and went, as did the images that took over everything in my sight.
A scolding campfire in the centre of a frosty wasteland, indigenous people huddled around it, laughing, eating, smiling, –
"Jacob, Jacob, what's happening?" Rosalie's tone was more panicked than I'd have ever guessed, her freezing hand clutching my wrist as she helped guide me away from the public eye. A honk of a car and swear from an annoyed driver – Jenna's flippant response – the familiar, shadowed cover of the forest.
The images changed then. New, brighter images, familiar images.
The huff of heavy, hot breath. A fang-filled muzzle. Grey and white paws thudding against snow, against the earth and then pavement. A skyline in the distance, familiar buildings…–
I inhaled sharply as the images stopped and settled, as the newfound bond solidified in place. The world around me was suddenly much sharper and I found myself seated against the trunk of a tree, cautious hands reaching out to steady me, surrounded by our entire group, expressions mangled in worry and concern. "He's alive." I gasped, the words coming out instinctively.
"Who?" Emmett demanded.
I inhaled then blew out his name. "Brady. Brady Fuller. He's alive…and he's in Connecticut."
~Asher's Note~
Hello! I apologise for not posting in a little while, it's been a very busy month! Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
There were no reviews to respond to in the previous chapter!
Stay Safe,
~Asher~