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Chapter 109

Assistance


Edward


I sat in the garage on Saturday with Jake - we worked on the bike while my angel ironed in the house.

The obligatory house cleaning we had already settled, but ironing I was never allowed to take from her, even if I would have been finished with it in a few minutes.

My eyes were golden again after doing some hunting Friday night.

Bella had been offended by this, but I didn't want to scare Sonya, David, and the children with the red eyes. Before Bella got her period, I would definitely have to hunt properly again. Just to be on the safe side. I didn't know if the pleasure of Jules' blood would somehow set me back. But until then, two or three days would pass. A few days in which I could ambush my angel completely without hesitation. Just as she had constantly accrued me on Thursday. The day after Marcus and Jules were attacked. If Esmé hadn't come over, we probably would have stayed in bed all day.

But now I involuntarily tightened my hand, accidentally destroying one of the tools we needed for the motorcycle.

"Dad?" asked Jake, irritated.

Something like that didn't usually happen to me.

"Leah is crying again," I explained.

Jake dropped down on the little old stool and ran his hands through his hair erratically.

We were both working unfocused and more preoccupied with our thoughts, rather than making any progress on his Harley today.

We just couldn't think of anything to comfort or cheer Leah up with.

"Is it my imagination or is it worse than it was with Ben?" he asked contritely.

He also felt sorry, and it tugged on his mind. He hadn't been running with Leah since Thursday. He missed his sister. She locked herself in her room and forbade everyone from entering. It was as if Leah was avoiding not only the wolf, but the whole world. She had hardly eaten anything since yesterday and had hardly slept last night. Seeing my princess like this hurt me.

"It is," I confirmed. I would love to know what was going through Marcus' head. Why wasn't he coming forward. Not even to say he didn't want to see Leah again. I had not assessed Marcus in this way. He had wanted to think about the situation, which altogether frightened him, but perhaps he had simply not yet come to a conclusive conclusion.

But now I got an idea to do something and took my cell phone out of my pocket.

"Hey, Eddie," Becky said cheerfully on the other side.

Jake chuckled.

I rumbled.

She had copied that from Emma.

"Do you remember that we talked at great length about the pronunciation of my name?" I asked seriously.

"Yes. You growled at me!"

"And what exactly was incomprehensible about that?"

"That's not why you called me!" stated Becky evasively.

"Couldn't you pick a girlfriend who could master my name?" I asked Jake as Becky chuckled.

"No!" he returned, growling at me now.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the phone call with Becky.

I asked if she had time, since I knew that the group didn't have an appointment until the evening. She answered in the affirmative and I said I would pick her up right away.

"What are you up to?" asked Jake with curiously raised eyebrows.

"I don't think Marcus has so little decency, not to at least voice a negative decision and explain it. In that respect, I think he hasn't made it yet. Maybe we can help him make the right decision."

"YOU want to get Marcus back?" asked Jake in amazement. "I thought you'd be glad to be rid of him."

"How could I be happy about that if Leah is devastated by it?" I said seriously. "Besides, I like Marcus quite a bit," I added, still almost whispering, but truthfully.

"Say that again. But louder, please!" Jake grinned at me.

I pushed him through the garage door without a word.

It was the truth. I had made a real effort to gather only Marcus' negative qualities. But except for the fact that he drove Leah - in a nice way - out of her mind, I had hardly found anything. Only the always fleetingly emerging memory scraps and these I could not properly classify temporally. I could blame him for leaving without a word on Thursday, but based on what had happened the night before, that was quite excusable. His thoughts were sometimes not G-rated, but Jake was far worse in this respect. Almost from the beginning! Besides, Leah's own ideas were very similar. In this respect, I could not condemn him for something she did in the same way. I simply had to give up. Marcus was kind, polite, honest, intelligent, ambitious. I could go on with the list, but the crucial point for me was that his feelings for my princess were absolutely sincere.

In the house, I took my angel in my arms, but I said nothing about our plan.

She could use my plan with the hope of cheering Leah up with it. But if Marcus didn't return, it would take Leah even more.


When we arrived at Becky's, she was sitting on the steps in front of the house with a girlfriend, already waiting for me.

Her family had apparently flown out. She had already brought her backpack for tonight with us.

Jake picked her up from the stairs and exchanged a few more trivial words with the friend - she was not part of the twins' circle of friends - while I remained seated in the car.

It was beautiful to watch Jake and Becky. How in love they were. How happy. All the time. Never had the two of them really argued. They teased and annoyed each other, but always in a very loving way. They were made for each other, like two parts of a whole. I would give a lot to see Leah just as happy.

Becky jumped in the car and gave me a hello-kiss on the cheek with the words, "Hello, Eddie."

I smiled - despite the name!


Once we arrived in Portland - we were standing on the opposite side of the street - we still stayed seated in the car while I eavesdropped on a conversation and played it back simultaneously for Jake and Becky.

It was probably a bad timing for a visit.

"Bite me!" Marcus just now yelled at his father.

"You do what I tell you!" the father shouted back.

"Forget it! I'm not moving in with you and your new girlfriend in Westbrook!"

"I don't want to go there either!" Jules announced loudly.

"Young lady. I am not even discussing this with you," the father approached the intimidated girl with a sternly raised index finger.

"I hate you!" she screamed and immediately was slapped by her begetter.

Father!" emerged Maggie from the top of the stairs, scolding, as Jules ran across the hall and out through the front door.

She cried bitterly.

Jake jumped out of the car and ran after her.

"Don't you dare hit Jules again ...!" threatened Marcus just then.

The father grinned maliciously, lashed out, and Marcus received a slap that made him stagger.

It must have really hurt. Marcus owed his physique not only to his many sports, but also to his genes. Father and son were the same height, equally muscular and of equivalent physical strength, although there was a good forty years difference in age between them.

"And now!" the father asked with a sneer.

He was the master of the house! He displayed not a hint of concern. Marcus had never dared to defend himself against his father and so he considered himself in the superior position.

The answer, however, came in the form of a hook to the chin from Marcus that really knocked him back. The man landed on the stairs with a clang in his head, clutching his jaw and looking startled at his son.

"Pack your things and get out!" riled Marcus, pulling him up from the steps by his collar and dragging him over the stairs into the parents' bedroom.

He furiously supervised as his father packed up all sorts of things and then disappeared.

We saw him rumble indignantly through the front door and drive away in his car.

Marcus, meanwhile, lowered himself to the floor in the doorframe of the bedroom.

"How's Ma?" he asked Maggie.

"Asleep. Luckily," she replied. "Ethan's already on the way. I'm taking Ma and Jules with me to Saco. Who knows if father will be back again!" she explained, and Marcus nodded, somewhat reassured.

According to her thoughts, she only drove a two-seater. The small orange Mini directly in front of the front door, as I recognized in the further.

"What about you?" she then asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know," was all Marcus said, trotting off to his room and throwing the door into the lock behind him.

Maggie began packing up some things for her mother while Marcus flopped backwards on his bed.

He hid his face in his hands and thought about how it could have come to this.

It had never happened in his family in a significantly affectionate way, but it had not been so spiteful or extraordinarily violent either. It was the first time that his father had raised his hand against Jules. He himself had not only received numerous slaps, but that mostly had an educational background. When he had made quite a mess ... and he seemed had very often. Only a few weeks ago, all sorts of things had changed. His father yelled almost exclusively when he was at home. He just seemed to bully all of them. No one could do anything right in his eyes. That was one reason why Marcus had used the few days off school to visit his aunt in Saco with Jules. So that his parents were undisturbed. So that they would not hear the constant quarreling. So that they might even reconcile on their own.

But the week before last, Wednesday, the bombshell had burst. The parents had driven all the way to Saco to tell their children. His father had met another woman and demanded the divorce. It had been the evening when he had promised Leah to call the first time. That's why he had made her wait so long. Until some peace had returned to his aunt's house. And this 'idyllic family' was also the reason why he didn't want Leah to come to Portland. He didn't want her to see how it was going on with him at home at the moment. Because until now, his father had also lived in this house, even if he only came home late at night to exercise his obvious rights as head of the family.

Marcus sat up, picked up his cell phone from the nightstand, and tapped through the menu. Until he found a picture of Leah. He looked at it for a long time and he relaxed. He tapped through more pictures he had taken over the past two weekends and began to smile slightly.

The doorbell made him cringe for a moment.

Becky and I had just rung.

Marcus opened the front door and looked confused.

We were pretty much the last people he expected to see.

And Becky was just Becky. Since she knew from me what had happened in the last few minutes, she went straight to him and took him in her arms.

He was surprised, but could not escape her arms.

It did a lot of good at the moment.

"What are you doing here?" he then gently pushed Becky away from him.

"Helping you with the thinking," was all I said.

He smiled slightly and nodded as he opened the door all the way for us. Then something occurred to him in a panic when he heard his older sister upstairs.

Where was Jules?

"Jake is with her," I said immediately.

"We saw Jules run through the door crying and he went right after her," Becky explained calmly.

Marcus looked at us in confusion.

He hadn't said anything about Jules.

"Leah forgot to tell you a little detail about me," I winked conspiratorially.

He nodded ... hesitantly.

We went to his room after Maggie greeted us, but she went back to her mother.

A typical boy's room. It had decorative similarities with that of Jake. A 'Portland Sea Dogs' sports pennant hung on the wall, right next to one of his own former basketball jerseys. Small trophies and other memorabilia on the shelf. A few books worth reading. Also, the same disorder prevailed in places. A chaotic desk, some clothes piled up over a chair, shoes lying in the middle of the room.

I explained the small detail of mind reading.

"You can WHAT?" asked Marcus, stunned.

He had turned a little pale.

And like Becky once, he now thought about what I had probably already heard because of my gift. He came however briskly of itself on the fact that I would hear it then at the latest now. But he did not believe me. So, I repeated what I had already listened to.

That convinced him.

"Doesn't it give you a headache?" he asked, now that he believed my words.

I smiled.

He had one. Because it just made him realize what kind of thoughts, I had picked up from him about Leah. That he didn't just think Leah was nice, smart, or pretty. No. He thought Leah was breathtakingly hot!

Then his head snapped up and he looked directly at me.

We both realized something at the same time, while his thoughts raced.

To him that I had already seen it through my ability. To me the context of the flickering images that I saw again and again. His past! And he actually thought about it himself in the imperfect tense. In the past tense. Over three years that he had revolted. That he fought against the system. Against all the rules. Against his father! It was long gone, but his own father did not believe that this time was behind him. Then how could his girlfriend's father assume otherwise when he learned about it. Whenever a bit of luck happened to him, something happened that he didn't think he deserved because of his past and his father's harsh spiteful words, those images had briefly surfaced. He knew it because he was still fighting his father's words. It didn't matter how casual a nice gesture, or a kind word was, his begetter's displeasure made him doubt everything. When he got Leah's phone number. When he saw this beautiful girl at the top of the stairs who was his girlfriend. When I praised him for his plans for the future. When Leah returned his feelings. When I invited him to breakfast anew ... The list of small gestures was considerable, and I had not been able to assign a context to the many different images. Until now. But was I only here to tell him my opinion? To forbid him contact with Leah? To keep bad company away from my princess? But would we then want to help him think and even come here for that? A phone call would have done the trick!

His face was drolly confused.

"I hardly think there is any father in this world who would not be bothered by such thoughts! Especially the part about his daughter! ..." I began to say matter-of-factly, gruffly, with Marcus looking at me startled and becoming even a touch paler.

I enjoyed the sight for a moment, but Becky punched me against the arm.

It was probably enough.

"... Yet here I am!" I ended meekly.

"What's going through Jake's mind then?" Becky turned tensely with the swivel chair in my direction.

That gave Marcus a mental breather, which was exactly Becky's intention.

However, I refused to testify. Smiling.

I wouldn't betray my son after all.

"How is your mother?" I asked, trying to bring the subject back to the real point.

"So-so. After my father declared he would take us and his word is something of a law here, she had a nervous breakdown."

I nodded.

I had already seen her through Maggie's eyes and followed her steady heartbeat.

"And how is your fist?" I asked further.

It was still damaged from his attack on a vampire and was now trembling slightly after he had given his father a not to be despised hook to the chin.

He only now noticed his fingers, pumped something with his hand and appeased that it would be all right.

"Do you have ice in the house?" I inquired.

He nodded and went to get it, but I was already on my way to the kitchen we had passed. I found ice cubes, put them in a freezer bag and put another towel around it.

Marcus breathed a sigh of relief when his hand stuck between the ice.

His cell phone rang.

Jules let him know, seemingly after Jake's persistent request, that the two of them were sitting in the ice cream parlor. She continued to explain, now that she had gotten to know Jake a bit, that she wasn't surprised that he had lost Wednesday's game.

Marcus smiled, offended, but also reassured.

"Why haven't you contacted Leah yet?" asked Becky straightforwardly after a brief moment.

Caught off guard, Marcus lifted his head.

"I don't know ..." he began to say.

Becky looked toward him expectantly.

"How is she?" he questioned, chagrined.

"Lousy!" said Becky directly, at which Marcus narrowed his eyes concerned.

I put a hand on the shoulder of Becky, who was sitting on a chair in front of me. As a sign that she should not be so rough.

Because accusations were already accumulating in Marcus' head.

She understood me.

"She withdraws and won't let anyone get close to her. Not even Jake is getting through to her ... She waits," Becky now said more mildly.

"I'm sorry," was all Marcus said, and it was the truth.

I eavesdropped on his thoughts.

His concerns had changed. The world around him no longer interested him. Whether it was an unreal 'Matrix', or a dangerous reality no longer played the most important role for him.

But he couldn't really put it into words in his head, so I tried to do it.

"I know what's going on inside you, Marcus. You don't hate her or are afraid of what she is and what she can't change. You respect and understand the task Leah and Jake have. But you're not sure if you wouldn't be a burden at Leah's side and get in the way of her accomplishing that task. You blame yourself for the twins getting hurt on Wednesday. Because they had to help the two of you. Weak people compared to the two of them," I explained.

Marcus looked at me in surprise, but nodded.

"Yes. She said she was in the woods last Saturday, too. She came back from that with a little scratch. But on Wednesday I was there ... What if she gets hurt again because of me? Because I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time? If I distract her from her duty? When people die because she wants to take care of me?" he confirmed hesitantly.

"That's why I brought Becky with me. She knows every secret we have. Even the ones that Leah might have forgotten to mention. So, no one else can give you a better idea of what it means to be in love with a Spirit Warrior!"

He swallowed and considered what Leah might have left out.

"Basically, Leah mentioned everything important. There are only a few little things missing that aren't really important," I responded to his thoughts. Basically, Leah had only scratched the entire surface of our lives, but she didn't have time to go into depth. To explain something in more detail.

"Like what?" he asked.

"My exact age," I smirked. "Your mother is waking up," I noted.

He asked how I knew that.

"I hear it. Her breathing is getting restless," I explained.

He excused himself and went to her.

Maggie and Marcus brought her something to drink, explained what she had missed, and that Maggie would take her to Saco. As well as Jules. She asked about her nestling and was reassured and surprised by Marcus' statement that Jules went out for ice cream with Jake. Of course, Marcus had already told her about the twins, and she had thus already heard the name Jake, but the fact that he was apparently here overstrained her.

"Edward?" Becky addressed me and put herself in front of me.

Wow ... She knew my full name after all.

Curious, I raised one eyebrow.

That could only mean that she wanted something from me. I already heard her thoughts.

"Will you leave me alone with Marcus?" she asked endearingly.

"You want me to leave my son's girlfriend alone with another handsome young man?" I hooked up, played suspiciously.

She smiled at me and hugged me.

"I think he'll be more willing to talk if you're not there," she explained, which I absolutely did not question.

The fact that I was Leah's father had not been forgotten by Marcus. It intimidated him and did not let him speak freely.

I gave Becky a kiss on the forehead and said goodbye to Marcus, Maggie, and their mother.

Health-wise, she was doing well so far.

She was worried, but did not show it to her children. She was afraid of her consort. The fact that he demanded a separation or even a divorce did not hit her particularly. After the children had grown up and become more independent, they had grown apart. She had long assumed that he had someone else. But the demand that he would take the children with him caught her off guard and he certainly wouldn't drop it.


I walked down the street that Jules had run along. At the end of the street was a café where I found Jake and Jules. Laughing loudly and in a good mood.

I introduced myself to Jules as Jake's friend. Today in the function of his chauffeur.

She had not seen me on Wednesday.

Jake made a cute face when I said Becky was alone with Marcus.

"Do you really think you could ever lose Becky?", I questioned quietly.

He considered. He really considered it.

I shook my head with a grin. I sat down with it for a moment.

Jules was a bright girl and had been easily distracted by Jake. They were discussing some embarrassing stories from Marcus' past.

I accompanied the two back to the house again.

Actually, I had wanted to disappear, but I had noticed Jules' hand.

So, I sat with Marcus, Jules, and Jake in the small kitchen while I cleaned the stitched wound and bandaged it anew.

The other ladies sat in the parents' bedroom together.

Marcus told me that his father had not believed a word he said and had torn off her bandage. His mother had immediately put a new one on her, but she was not medically trained, which was obvious at first glance from the poorly fitting and too loose bandage.

Jules thanked me nicely and immediately ran to her room to pack up her things. Ethan should be there very soon.

"Thank you so much!" said Marcus as well.

In his mind, he pondered how old I might be and whether that would include a medical degree. He was thinking about Wednesday night. When I had not only looked at Jake's and Leah's injuries with concern, but had also taken care of his hands. At the same time, he remembered our common breakfast. The moment I realized from the term sports science the possibility that this could include a medical degree.

His eyes widened a little.

"What did you just notice?" asked Jake, who hadn't missed that surprised look.

Marcus just shook his head in an appeasing manner.

He meant that his head would certainly play a trick on him.

"Marcus is very attentive!" I said confirmingly and was already putting the first-aid kit back together. "But you don't need to thank me, Marcus. It goes without saying! ... If Jules stays with your sister for the time being, I would let Carlisle know. He will certainly want to take another look at the healing progress himself," I explained.

So, I said goodbye again and kind extended my hand to Marcus. Of course, I knew what Becky was planning to talk to him about in detail and also heard in Jake's mind what he was already concocting.

Basically, they wanted to tell him how their own love was in everyday life. That the wolf in itself did not bother. It was omnipresent, if only by the temperature of the two of them or by Jake and Leah running through the woods together every day as wolves, but it didn't rule Jake's life.

How Marcus would react to this, however, I was not able to say.

It was possible that I would never see him again. However, that meant that I had to stand by my princess and try to restore her joy of life. No idea how I could do that. Even together with Bella, I had not yet thought of anything in this regard.

With Jake, I was still standing in the hallway outside the front door. I gave him my car keys.

The keys to the BMW.

Jake's eyes got big and disbelieving, so I had to grin a little.

"Drive carefully!" I said seriously though. If he wrapped himself with the car around a tree, I would have a serious problem with Bella! The fact that Jake could get out unharmed and very likely save Becky from harm through his supernatural reaction and strength didn't change that. My angel would still give me hell!

"I won't scratch the paint!" retorted Jake.

"I don't care about the car at all!" I followed up meaningfully.

"I know. Thanks, Dad!" he said, giving me a quick hug.


It was still early, so I took a short detour into town.

I got the children their beloved licorice candy canes. At a jeweler's, I picked up my mother's ring, which I had dropped off to be cleaned. For Bella, I bought a music CD that she had told me about the other day. She would rage over that little thing! I also made a stop at a bookstore. Bella's favorite author regarding historical novels had a new work out. I pondered.

A book together with a CD? All that was missing were flowers and she would kick me out! I would risk it. In addition, I had also taken a book - with fancy recipes for breakfast and brunch.

I had a cab take me to the outskirts of town, walked a few more streets until I finally reached the forest and was able to run fast.

When I found Bella at home, I got nervous. She was standing right behind the front door and immediately fell around my neck.

She looked exhausted, which couldn't possibly be from ironing. Her eyes were swollen. She had been crying.

"Bella!" I kissed her gently on her hair. "My angel, what happened?" I asked, returning her embrace.

"Leah is gone!"

"How? Gone? " I inquired.

My cold heart contracted.


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