Hurricane ► Jasper Hale [1]

[17]

"I'LL BE RIGHT back, Al. I'm just going into the little Chinese restaurant across the street to pick up dinner."

Allison followed her mother's finger to see that she was pointing at a homey little place situated a few yards down from their parked car.

"You want beef and broccoli, right?"

"Yeah, thanks." Melissa simply smiled and leaned over the console to plant a kiss on her daughter's cheek.

The woman stepped out of the car, locking it behind her. Allison sighed, turning the radio up as she stretched her long legs out in the limited leg room the car offered. The brunette hummed along to the song playing and allowed her eyes to roam around the pedestrians surrounding the area.

Allison had spent the day with her mother in Port Angeles, as she felt she needed a small break from all the Protector training. Her mother agreed, saying that Allison had been training hard enough that she deserved a reward. Little did Allison know, her mother's form of a 'reward' was walking around town all day in heeled boots.

The brunette felt a smile crawl onto her lips as she saw a mother blowing raspberries onto her baby's stomach in the park. Allison placed her forehead against the car window, adjusting the rest of her body so that she was comfortable. She flickered her eyes left, and saw two children, a girl and a boy, chasing each other as they laughed. Allison laughed quietly, watching the girl stumble slightly, before picking herself up again and running after the boy again. Allison supposed that maybe the boy was the girl's older brother.

"Yeah, that's what I said! But no, did anyone listen to me? No."

Allison winced harshly, slamming her hands over her ears quickly as the voice invaded her ears. The voice was feminine, and high-pitched. Her ear drums throbbed, almost like when she cut on music and the volume was all the way up.

"You never listen to me!"

The Protector cried out, leaning down to place her head on her knees. Allison moved her arms so that they completely sheltered her head. She didn't understand what was happening.  Every sound seemed to be magnified greatly; she could hear the wind blowing harshly against the trees outside and the loud sound caused her great pain. She could hear tires driving over the gravel street, the sound like hell in her ears. Though, most of all, she could hear the girl's voice as though she was right beside her.

"Oh yeah? Give me one example!"

Allison moved upward, sitting upright so that she could look around. The girl hesitantly removed one hand from her ear and quickly turned the radio off. She figured that the voice was coming from a commentator on the radio, and so she relaxed slightly when the radio was turned off. Allison was puzzled, and pained, to find that she could still head the wind outside with perfect clarity.

"You're so full of it."

Allison cried out again, pushing her palms harshly into her ears. Her eyes darted quickly around, looking for the source of the voice. What the hell? Allison thought, I cut off the radio.

"Okay, whatever. I gotta go."

Her breathing increased, her lungs struggling as panic set in. Allison's eyes found purchase on the source of the voice, a young woman leaning against a street light several yards from Allison's car. Allison watched as her lips formed the words perfectly. The Protector's heart beat rapidly in her chest as she realized that she shouldn't be able to see this woman's lips from so far away, let alone hear what she was saying.