The Life of Jezebel Firetongue

11

A/N***Finally, the new chapter is up! Dedicated to EpicJoy because of her lovely comments, her epic writing (which gave me joy aha kdone), and oh yeah, she made the incredible new cover. Enjoy :)

Awkward didn’t even cover the way Jake and I felt after my latest antics. We spoke little, continually looking away from each other. It was like we could catch the plague from a glance. We alternated driving duty each day, ate meals three times a day, and went to sleep each night without saying more than four words to each other. Count them. I know I did.

Now it was a week later and Jake and I were low on food. I sighed and glanced at him sleeping in the passenger seat, as he usually did. We would have to go hunting again tonight, and that would not be easy if we weren’t back on friendly terms.

Focusing back on the road, I thought about this regret and guilt I’d been feeling for the past three days. It was unlike me to care about somebody like this. After all, I still needed to get rid of him. Right?

As I rolled past a sign for the town we were about to enter, I thought about these weird emotions I had felt so far around Jake. Starting from the beginning, I reminisced on how I had felt relief when he had woken up after I knocked him unconscious. If I was acting like myself, I would have killed him when I realized he wasn’t dead. But when he was awake…when he proved he wasn’t going to leave me for any reason…all I could feel was relief. Then, the way he trusted me so whole-heartedly, even though I had done nothing to deserve his trust…it just boggled me. Even his cuddling up to me in the morning…had I been a normal girl, able to let other people touch me without panicking, I might have enjoyed it. In fact, part of me missed sleeping near him, and even wanted to be held by him.

That’s silly Jez, I reprimanded myself. Wanting anything from him was dangerous. In fact, I didn’t even want to think about the word want when it came to Jake. He was becoming an anchor to life already. I didn’t need to want him in any way, not while the plan was at work.

Thinking about the plan…I glanced at Jake again and reached over to the radio, letting the music play softly as I looked for a station in this new town. When would I tell Jake what I was planning? I would have to, considering he didn’t seem to be leaving any time soon. We were getting close to my destination, only a couple more days to go, and I’d have to explain some of it to him. But how could I explain anything to him in a way that would make sense without showing him my wings? Showing him my wings was definitely not an option. The boy would be scared out of his mind. Jake could leave me, run away to the police, tell them my story and I’d wind up as a new freak show for society or some person to experiment on…

No, I was definitely not showing him.

My mind was so consumed by these thoughts; I didn’t notice where I was until the houses started getting familiar. The eerie familiarity of the neighborhood made me snap out of my thought process. Where have I seen this before?

Then I saw the moving truck, next to the familiar house. I stopped the car and stared at it, frozen with shock.

 The house was made of windows and metal, clean as a whistle as per usual. The yard was green and trimmed to perfection, and the wrought iron fence was rust-free. It was a rather big house, as modernly beautiful as I remembered it.

As I stared out at it, I noticed the familiar faces of the family that was moving out. The twins were talking to each other quietly, glancing around as they spoke. Their slim shoulders were hunched, the girls looking lost, as usual. The one with the paint splattered birthmark on her ear had her curly auburn hair tumbling messily over her shoulders, framing her pale face and bright blue eyes. Liz, I remembered. Then the one with the four pointed star birthmark had her curly hair straightened and slicked back into a ponytail, while playing with a box in her hands. Jane. I watched her sadly as she opened the box and took out a cigarette, playing with it tentatively. She was always the one who acted like the strong one, the older one, even though Liz was the one who was older by a few minutes. Jane may have acted strong, but she was weak, and easily broken.

As I watched her hold it up to her mouth, hand shaking, I heard Liz’s voice through the window shield.

“No, Jane, stop it. I know things are tough, but you need to stop. Smoking is not going to solve our problems.” Jane didn’t take the cigarette out. Instead, she reached into her pocket, leaving the box in there and pulling out a lighter. Liz’s agitation increased. “Please, Jane, no!”

I yanked the wheel of the car and parallel parked so fast that I woke Jake up. “Jez, what are you-” I jumped out of the car, leaving my door open, and ignoring Jake’s calls. Just as Jane flicked the lighter, starting the flame, I stormed across the grass and pulled the cigarette out of her mouth, crushing it underfoot.

“Hey, what are you-” As I yanked the rest of the cigarettes out of her pocket and crushed them too, her eyes widened in shock and realization. “It’s you.”

“How could you even think this could be the answer to your problems?” I hissed.

“Where the hell have you been, Jezebel?” Jane snarled. “After that guy kidnapped you, we thought you were dead. Gone for good!”

“Oh, like you cared!” I growled back. “At any rate, what about you? What on Earth would make you do this? If you cared about your family you wouldn’t be doing something so reckless and stupid!”

“Since when have you cared so much? You come waltzing into our house, disturbing my family, just to lie about who you are and who your family is? After everything else that’s happened to us? You know what happened after that? My dad filed a report, and he got called crazy! Nobody believed us! To top it off, he lost his job because he was trying to look after you, even though you’re an ungrateful piece of shit!”

“You have no idea what I’ve been through,” I replied menacingly.

“Then why don’t you tell us what terrible thing you went through to make you do this to us?”

I saw her grip on the lighter slipping, and I pulled it out of her hand and shut it off before she burned herself. “You wouldn’t understand,” I replied.

Jane stared at me in shock. “Give me back my lighter.”

I shook my head, pocketing it. “No. You’re way too unstable to get this back.”

She lunged at me and caught me by surprise. I fell on my back, nearly crushing my wings. Jane reached for the lighter and I flipped, pushing her onto her back. She growled and punched me in the stomach, knocking out my breath. Then, as I tumbled backwards, she lunged again, arms swinging right for my face…

…To be held back by Liz’s arm. “Stop it, Jane,” she whispered.

I smiled. Finally, Liz was standing up for herself.

“You think this is funny, bitch?” Jane hollered.

“Jane, stop it!” Liz yelled.

“Stop it this instant, Jane.”

I shuddered and turned around at the familiar voice, and saw him. The man who had once taken me in, and given me a chance at normality. His brown hair had more gray in it, and he had a beard growing on his tanned face. The blue eyes that used to sparkle and twinkle with hope were dulled now, like flat, gray metal. His clothes were a bit more rumpled than usual, and he seemed even older than before. Despite all of these changes, I would have recognized him anywhere.

Jack.

“Jezebel…it’s good to see you again.”

I nodded and looked at the ground between us. “Good to see you, too.” I looked back at Jane and Liz, and I walked to Liz, who held onto Jane as tight as she could, although she was no longer squirming. “Take care of Jane,” I murmured, pushing the lighter into her pocket. Then I returned to my car, unable to face the man I knew from so long ago. He had taken me into his house, taken care of me, and now he was being punished for something that was my fault.

As I sat down in the car and closed the door, Jake watched me curiously. “Who were they?”

I sighed and started the car up again, the memory of the familiar house coming back. “My old roommates,” I replied.