Chapter 16

    Jay woke up suddenly. Her breathing was shallow and rapid. Her skin cold and beaded with sweat. She was shaking. She just couldn’t help it. The nightmare was still fresh. So vivid. ‘So fucking real!’ She thought angrily. ‘What the fuck is going on?’

    She could still feel the vampire’s energy. Crawling down her spine. Moving along her whole body. Reaching out for her throat. Chocking her. She closed her eyes just to see his again. Ice-cold blue sparks. He was looking straight down at her. Piercing her with his gaze. Holding her still, in place. And his smirk. Terrifying! Numbing! Murderous!

    ‘That’s probably because I’m coming back to Missoula soon!’ She calmed herself down. Jay remembered that day as if it was yesterday. She still hadn’t told her brothers that it was their mother’s murderer that tried to strangle them with his power. But she was aware that this time she will have to reveal the truth. They started asking questions, and because she was attacked Jay won’t be able to just tell some fake story. ‘They’ll smell the lie!’ She thought frustrated.

    But Jay also remained silent about her meeting with Isabo, as she still couldn’t decide what to do. She understood perfectly what her mother had told her. Jay was to finish something important, but it takes a lot of risk. She may, of course, ask her brothers for help, but it means that they will be in danger as well. However, if she keeps it for herself, her brothers will be safe.

    Jay wouldn’t be herself if she wasn’t for the second option. Since their mother died, she was taking care of her brothers and wanted to protect them. ‘Time will show, I guess.’ She thought and decided to wait what will come next. Nevertheless, she had a feeling, that keeping her brothers at bay will be extremely difficult.

    She got up and prepared herself for the day. For last two weeks Sean has kicked her ass so many times that she just stopped counting. Even if she woke up early in the morning and before the sun set she was completely devoid of energy, the werewolf was not satisfied with her. And she wasn’t either. ‘Something’s wrong!’ She thought while jogging through the forest.

    - You’re distracted! – Jay almost jumped up at the sound of her mother’s voice.

    - What the hell?! – She yelled.

    - Watch your mouth, young lady! – Isabo reprimanded her.

    - Don’t you think it’s a bit too late to play a perfect mother? – Jay snorted.

    - Touché! – Isabo laughed and they kept jogging.

    With the corner of her eye Jay noticed that this time her mother looked differently. The aura around her was much more realistic. Just as her clothes. Instead of a long light robe she was wearing black legging and cherry crop top. Her hair tied in a loose ponytail. ‘Like in the good old days!’ It crossed her mind. Jay could even hear her mother’s footsteps.

    - Why are you here? – Jay finally asked.

    - You perfectly know why. – Isabo answered calmly.

    - I have no bloodiest idea! – She hissed. – So could you please be so freaking kind and enlighten me what the heck is going on?! – She was already pissed off.

    - Dreams can tell you a lot. – Her mother said finally. – But you have to learn how to listen and watch.

    - Could you possibly speak a bit clearer? – Jay demanded.

    - Your last dream, for example.

    - What do you mean? – Jay stopped abruptly. – What about it? I had this dreams many times before.

    - But this time it was different, am I right? – Isabo looked her daughter in the eye.

    - Maybe. – Jay looked away. She didn’t want to admit that the last night’s nightmare scared the shit out of her.

    - Rufus got an order to find you and your brothers. – Isabo said as if it was something natural.

    - What?! – Jay’s pulse speeded up. – What are they going to do?

    - Observe. For now. – Isabo stopped for a moment. – They’ll watch your every step, so be careful.

    - And then?

    - You mean, when they’ll find out who you are and what you’re capable of? – She looked at her daughter. – Then they’ll probably kill you. – She stated laconically.

    - And you’re just stating it! Just like that!? Like if it wasn’t big deal! – Jay was shocked.

    - I know you, Jaysabel. – Isabo began to fade. – I know that you’ll do what you have to do. – She smiled. – I believe in you. And I trust you.

    With those last words she vanished. Simply disappeared. ‘Just perfect! Just fucking perfect!’ Jay swore under her breath. Her mother warned her, but if fact she still knew nothing. However, she had some useful information. Rufus an Ian were in Missoula and they were to observe them. Jay has to talk to her brothers about it. They have to know the situation and the risk.

    ‘I need to talk to them!’ She thought and jogged back home to discuss the situation with her brothers.

***

    When she got home, she had no time to rest or do anything else. Sean was already waiting for them in the field at the back of the house. It was the last day of training and for the first time Jay thought that the werewolf is the devil himself. By the end of the workout, every single muscle of her body was sore. Each nerve screamed in pain. Her lungs burned with living fire. And she had a horrible headache!

    - You look like a shit! – Mark stated.

    - Asshole! – She stuck her tongue out at him. That was all she had energy for.

    - Go, take a shower! – Sean said, very pleased with himself.

    They just nodded and moved slowly towards the house. In the kitchen they passed by Maria, who looked at them with pity. They climbed up the stairs slowly. They had no energy at all. Before she entered her bedroom, Jay turned towards her brothers.

    - When you finish, I’d like to talk to you. – She announced.

    - What happened? – Christian became alert immediately.

    - I don’t know exactly, but we need to discuss it. – She calmed him down a bit.

    - Okay. – They agreed.

    - Let’s meet in two hours in mum’s room. – Carter proposed.

    - Perfect. – Jay smiled and went to her bedroom.

    She took a long hot shower which helped her relaxed all the sore muscles. Refreshed, she took her time to lie down for some time. She was exhausted, but she didn’t realize it before she put her head on the pillow. Jay closed her eyes for a moment and just drifted away. She woke up in about half an hour later. She put on some shorts and loose T-shirt and with new energy she ran down the stairs. She still had some time for herself.

    Then she heard a knocking on the door and went to check it. She opened the door and saw Monique, the little French girl, who was saved by Michael at the end of school year.

    - Hi! – The girl smiled shyly.

    - Hi! – Jay smiled back.

    - Is Michael home? – She asked.

    - Yeah! Come in! – Jay invited her inside. – He’s upstairs, in his room. – She informed the girl.

    - Thanks! – The French smiled wider and rushed up the stairs.

    ‘She’s really nice!’ Jay thought. ‘Maybe we should protect the youngest?’ It came to her mind. At least only four of them will be in Missoula for the next school year. The rest will stay in Purple Creek, so they won’t be at risk. And because they were supposed to train more, it would be the perfect solution. ‘Rufus and Ian will have to focus on us.’

    She went to the kitchen to prepare some lemonade. She found her twin brother there. Jason smiled at her and Jay felt pleasant warmth in her heart. He listened to someone for a while, rolling his eyes and laughing.

    - Dude! – He finally cut in. – You really need to check it out! You won’t regret! – He took an apple from the bowl standing on the table and took a big bite of it. – Yeah, I’ve heard that! Listen, I got to go! – He again listened for a while. – Okay, see you then! – He hung up.

    - Was it Troy Henderson? – Jay asked.

    - How do you know? – Jess looked at her suspiciously.

    - Lucky guess. – She shrugged. – Just help me with that. – She gave him one tray and took the second one and they both went upstairs.

    - Just make it quick. – Michael said impatiently.

    - Chill out dude! – Mark poked his twin. – She’ll wait for you.

    - Back off! – Mike showed him the middle finger and Mark just laughed.

    - Just stop it! – Jay said. – Sit down. I have few things to say.

    - Shoot! – Carter said when they all helped themselves with drinks and snacks. – What is it?    

    - First of all, - Jay started slowly, - last week I went for a ride to the forest and I stopped by the lake.

    - Creepy. – Daniel stated.

    - Yeah! – She admitted. – Especially, when I met Isabo again!

    - Wait, what?! – Christian cut in. – You saw her?!

    - Yes, but just let me finish. – She asked. – She appeared suddenly, but apparently she was waiting for one of us to come there again. – Jay watched her brothers carefully. – It seemed that Isabo hoped to see Carter or Christian in the first place.

    - Why us? – Carter asked.

    - Because you’re the eldest. – She gave him a crooked smile. – Anyway, Isabo said that she had some unfinished case and wants us to close it for her. She also said that I’m to be the leader.

    - Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down! – Mark interrupted her. – Why did she choose you? It should be one of us!

    - Don’t be such a chauvinist! – Jess slapped his head. – Jay’s a great leader, we all know that. – Mark only nodded, embarrassed.

    - Thanks! – She smiled at her twin. – I saw our mother once again. – She stooped them from comments. – Last night I had one of those freaking nightmares. I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I went for a run. She joined me. Yeah, I know how it sounds, but she was really jogging with me, talking. And here’s something else I need to tell you about. – She looked at Christian who was piercing her with his dark blue eyes. – Remember our experiment in Missoula? – She finally asked.

    - You mean the one, when some fucking vamp almost chocked us to death? – Danny said. – Yeah, that’s something we won’t forget for long time.

    - Carry on. – Carter ignored his youngest brother.

    - The point is, - she swallowed hard, - I know him.

    - But how? – Jess asked. – Where did you meet him?

    - It was the vampire, who killed Isabo. – They remained silent, so Jay cleared her throat and continued. – He recognized me, my energy, and focused mainly on me. So I owe you Carter, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t know how it would have ended.

    - Always at your service! – He said gallantly.

    - Because you’ve met him and dreamt about him, I suppose there’s something more. – Christian stated.

    - Yeah. – She admitted. – It’s all connected. Isabo’s death, the vampire, my dreams, unclosed case. – She stopped to gather her thoughts. – Isabo was trying to find the murderer of hunters. Then she got on a trail of Rufus and Ian, those are the creatures that killed her. And now we’re on their track, when we’ll find them, we’ll be able to solve her last case.

    - Seems easy. – Mark noticed.

    - It may seem to be easy, but it’s not. – Jay continued. – Unfortunately for us, Rufus and his fucking dog got orders and they are to watch us. You are safe here. – She looked at Mark, Michael and Daniel. – But the rest of us will stay in Missoula where they’ll be able to follow our every step, so we need to be careful.

    - But why are they to follow us? We did nothing! – Jess exclaimed.

    - We’re Isabo’s children, and they probably suppose that we know something and they feel endangered. – Christian answered.

    - All we need to do now is to track those motherfuckers down. – Carter summed up. – Hope that then everything will come back to normal.

    - I’m sure it will. – Jay lied.

    She knew that finding Rufus and Ian would be only the beginning. They were only pawns in a game that the more powerful were leading. And their mother wanted them to play this game. ‘Should I tell them that it’s something bigger?’ She struggled with her thoughts. She watched her brothers for a while. They were talking, joking, and teasing each other. ‘They’re so happy now! How could I destroy it?’ At that moment she decided to keep the rest for herself and reveal more when it will be necessary. ‘I’ll let them enjoy the moment.’ She smiled wider when they started a fight and joined them.