Clan of Redemption (32 page)

“
Logan, I would say that sounded
almost like you're jealous,” I turned to look him in the
face.

Before he could respond, my
Grandfather turned to all of us.

“
I heard about your friend,
Jayden, and I am very sorry. Please try not to worry about her.
Hurting people is not part of who we are. She will more than liking
be used as a bargaining tool,” Grandfather said.

“
Bargaining tool for what, what do
they want?” I asked.

And who are "they" I
wondered.

“
You, more than likely,” he said
as if it was common knowledge.

“
Wait a minute, what do you mean
they want me. I’m not for sale like a piece of furniture,” I said
with anger starting to build up in my voice.

“
Jayden, why don’t you rest up?
The council is meeting at 8pm tonight and you will need to be
present. Xavier please, spend some time with your sons while Jayden
catches up on her reading. I will see you at 8pm.” Grandfather said
as he walked over and kissed me on my forehead. That was
nice.

We all walked outside and I
finally felt like I was able to breath, I wasn’t sure if it was the
air or the sense of losing control of my life, but I knew that I
didn’t want to go back into that house anytime soon.

“
It’s a little after 12, so we
have several hours to waste. I think that I will take Jayden to
find whatever it is that she needs to read and you both can catch
up. It’s been a long time for you,” Blake said as he put an arm
around me.

“
I’m not leaving Jayden, Blake, so
stop trying to get rid of me,” Logan said as he took a step closer
to Blake.

“
Ok, let’s just take it easy.
Logan, I think that Jayden can take care of herself, but I would
like to talk to you about some things so, Blake if you could go
with Jayden, let’s meet back the Sand Dunes restaurant around 6pm
for some dinner,” Xavier said.

I could tell that Logan was not
happy about leaving me, he had been with me his whole life,
watching out for me.

“
Logan, I’ll be ok. My rib isn’t
hurting as much I can barely feel it. Go with your Dad, I’ll see
you soon,” I said as I smiled at him.

Logan and his Dad walked off
towards the beach and Blake and I waited for our car. I wonder what
they are going to talk about. A guy standing past the stairs had
walked off towards where all the cars were parked and came back
with mine. Blake tried to take the keys away from the guy after he
got out of the car.

“
Oh, no..I’m driving Blake,” I
said as I held out my hand for the keys.

“
You still aren’t feeling great,
just let me drive for awhile,” he said as he walked around the car
and opened the passenger door.

“
Fine, but be nice to my car. No
driving crazy,” I sighed as I realized that it hurt to sit down on
the seat. Maybe it is a good idea that Blake is driving.

“
I will, just relax,” Blake said
as he shut my door and got into the driver’s seat.

“
Where are we going, anyway?” I
asked.

“
Well, I thought I would leave
that up to you,” he said.

“
I really don’t like ignoring the
fact that Sully is out there and needs my help, I can’t do anything
about it,” I said realizing that I couldn't control what I couldn't
control and that I hoped everything was going to work out, for
everybody.

“
Well I don’t think that whoever
has her wants to hurt her, plus if I think they have their hands
full with her,” Blake said as he left the driveway of my
Grandmothers.

“
I’m feeling a little tired, let’s
go back to the cabin and maybe I could take a nap.” I hated to feel
so weak. I’ve almost never been sick in my life, and I’ve never
really hurt myself, so these last few days have taken every bit of
energy that I have.

I gave directions to Blake on how
to get to the cabin.

“
So, Sully and I were wondering
something?” I said, not really wanting to pry. With Logan, I felt
comfortable asking anything I wanted, but with Blake, he didn’t
seem to offer up anything so I was more hesitant in
asking.

“
Sully and yourself, huh,” he
asked with a smile. He has the best smile.

“
Well,
we
were wondering why
you chose to stay at Catherine’s last night, it just seemed weird,”
I said looking away from him towards the scenery.

“
Well now that you know about what
we are, are you still curious?” Blake asked.

“
So, you know my Grandmother
then…because it seemed to me that you didn’t know her when we first
came to the house,” I said trying to put this all together. I was
beginning to feel like I couldn't trust anybody.

“
I had never met her if that’s
what you’re asking, she knows who I am and I know about her, but I
had never met her before yesterday,” he said with
confidence.

“
I lived with my mother, she
taught me about who we were. I never had any reason to come here
before now,” he said matter of fact.

“
So why did you lie to me when I
first met you, why couldn’t you have just been honest with me?” I
said, as I got angry.

“
I would have told you, but the
council said it would be best to wait,” Blake said.

“
It seems like everyone including
my own Mother has been lying to me my whole life. I got use to
being normal, and now I have to choose between the two worlds. And
what right does this "Council" have to make decisions about my
life. It’s just not fair," I said as I started to cry all of what
had been happening, hitting me full force so much that the first
cry was a chocked sob, climbing out of my chest with pain
attached.

Blake pulled the car over even
though there wasn’t a shoulder, the car was tilted slightly to the
right but not much. He unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the
car, he opened up my door and squatted down next to me.

“
Jayden, I know that this has all
been overwhelming, but try to imagine what kind life this is going
to be for you. You have a new large family, and you still have so
much to explore and see. I will be here for you, whatever you
need,” he said as he hugged me while I cried. As I cried I thought
about how immature saying life wasn't fair was, cause really I
already knew that when I lost my Mom at such a young age. I knew
all too well that life was not fair.

I’m not sure how long I sobbed, but
all I could think about was how alone I felt and how much I had to
think about, which wasn’t getting done because of all the stuff
looming. I pulled my head off of Blake shoulder and saw how soaked
his shirt was.

“
Oh Blake, I am so sorry…your
shirt, it’s all wet,” I said as I tried to wipe it off. How
embarrassing.

“
It’s just a shirt Jayden, I have
others. Do you feel a little better?” he asked me.

“
Yes, actually I feel better,
thank you. You must think that I’m a huge baby,” I said as I wiped
my face with some tissue that I found in my glove box.

“
No, I think that you have a lot
on your plate right now and can completely understand how you might
be feeling. Let’s get to this cabin and get you cleaned up,” he
said as he shut my door and started driving again.

How could he be so awesome, and
Luke too. Why did these two young men really, want to make my life
easier?

Blake was being so nice to me and
understanding, but why, he doesn’t even know me…what’s in it for
him? Everyone around me seems to be interested in themselves. I
hate feeling this way, with everyone seeming to be protecting me;
at the same time keeping me in the dark. Why?

Thornton was waiting for us as
soon as we pulled up. Out of everyone Thornton seemed to be the
only one without something vested in what’s going on. He came out
and helped me out of the car even though I could hardly feel the
pain anymore, but I like the help anyway.

“
Sydney stopped by on her way home
and told me what happened. Jayden can I get you some tea?” he asked
as he helped me sit down on the couch.

“
Tea would be great.” I
said.

“
I have lemon, blackberry,
chamomile, earl gray….,” he started to add.

“
Earl gray would be great, with
just a hint of cream and sugar. Thank you so much Thornton,” I said
as I lifted my shirt to look at the bandage.

“
I would leave that on for awhile,
you don’t want to mess with those herbs until they have had a
chance to finish their job,” Blake said as he walked in the house
with an arm full of firewood.

He knelt down in front of the fire
place which was on my left and started stacking the wood in the
fireplace.

“
They stink really bad, it’s like
I have seaweed on my skin,” I said as I put my shirt back
down.

“
Well stinky is better than a
broken rib…or is it?” He looked at me with that cocky
smile.

“
Yes stinky is better, hey maybe I
could rub some of this on your face and you tell me if it smells
good or not. Maybe I’m not getting the real smell with it under my
shirt.” I tried to hold back the smile.

I started to get up and like
lightning flashed before my eyes, Blake was sitting next to me with
both of my hands locked behind my back.

“
No, I think that stuff needs to
stay right where it’s at, little girl,” he said as he
chuckled.

“
Little girl, what you’re a few
years older than me, and you’re calling me little,” I said as I
tried to wiggle out of his grip.

“
Little is referring to your size,
if you’re smaller than me, than you’re little,” he said while he
held both my hands with just one of his hands.

“
So how come you’re stronger than
me, if I’m this big deal then shouldn’t I be able to just break
free of your grasp?” I asked.

“
I don’t think that you are
technically stronger than me, maybe more powerful, but not
stronger. I am still a boy and you’re a girl. Right?” he
said.

“
Humm, well I’m not sure. What do
you think?” I said as I watched him watching me.

“
I would say that you’re a girl,”
he said as he let go of my hands.

It seemed like I made him a little
uncomfortable, he got up and went to check on the fire. Thornton
walked in with a tray filled with tea cups and scrumptious looking
treats.

“
Wow Thornton, what are all
those?” I asked as I pointed to the array of things from filled
crunch bars, to some sort of chocolate bars.

“
Oh, these. Well here are my
raspberry filled oatmeal delights. It’s healthier than the rest and
it’s my favorite especially when I get really ripe berries. These
here are my triple chocolate bars with a coconut frosting. The
coconut gives you a little variety from the chocolate, and last but
not least, this one here is a lemon bar, it’s not my favorite but I
wasn’t sure what you liked.” He set them on an end table next to
the couch.

“
You really like to cook, don’t
you?” I said as I picked up my tea, put it in my lap and swiftly
grabbed one of each of the treats.

“
I never use to, but when you
can’t go out in public you tend to get bored and I love to watch
the cooking channels,” he said as he sat down in an antique looking
rocker chair across from me.

“
Thornton, I forgot to introduce
you to Blake. My manners went right out the door,” I said as I was
stuffing my face, I haven’t had pastries that tasted this good in a
long time, maybe forever.

“
It nice to meet you Thornton,”
Blake said as he walked over and shook Thornton hand.

“
And you as well, I brought you
out some tea,” he said as he gestured for Blake to take a
cup.

“
Yes, I would love some, thank
you,” Blake said as he took his tea and sat next to me.

“
No pastries?” I said to him with
surprise.

“
I wouldn’t want to take away from
what you might want to eat,” he said which took me by surprise.
Being friends with Sully was a free for all, if you didn't dig in,
you might not get any.

“
Hey now,” I said as I tried to
elbow him, but he wasn’t close enough.

“
Jayden, I was cleaning your room
up and your bag had fallen over. I found these journals laying out.
I’m very sorry, I wasn’t trying to pry, but I was curious what
language they’re in?” he asked me as he handed them to
me.

“
I forgot about these, I found
them in my attic when I went through some of my Mother’s things.
I’m not sure what language there in.” I opened the first
one.

“
May I ?” Blake asked with his
hand out.

“
Sure, if you can translate them
for me that would be great. I thought maybe they might be helpful."
I leaned over to watch him look through them.

“
Sorry Jayden, I can't read it,
but I think it's Gaelic,” he said as he flipped through the
pages.

“
That’s really weird,” I said as I
took the journal back.