Jacqueline || BWWM

Chapter Twenty Nine

September 15th, 2017

Finn dropped me off soon after our slow stroll around the block. He was about to kiss me on the cheek when Jace opened the front door and pulled me inside. The boys, Robert included, then proceeded to have a 'nice' shouting contest through the door while Beatrice rushed me to the kitchen. I got to sit on a stool by the island and warm up meanwhile she made me hot cocoa. We talked for a while about my date? while I drank the warm liquid. I went to bed a while later-after a quick hug from Beatrice-with the biggest smile on my face. I was more content in that moment that I'd ever been since the night my parents died. For those few minutes and the ones that passed as I lay on my bed waiting for sleep to come, I felt normal. I felt loved-or at least more than tolerated-and it was the best feeling in the world.

Tuesday through Thursday I went through the week with the smile that covered my lips the night before. No huge drama arose, so it was quite peaceful. Anaya and I made progress on what we are now officially calling 'Project T.R.U.T.H.'. We don't actually have an acronym for it. Anaya just thought it would be cooler if we made it sound like we did. Within just three days of researching whenever we could, we had so much information we couldn't keep track of it. I ended up buying a huge white canvas as a means of organization. Now whenever Anaya or I learn something new, I type or write- it down and pin it to the canvas.

Wednesday night I got sick of having the board on the ground that I asked Jace to hammer nails into my blue walls and hang the huge frame above my bed. He ended up asking a hundred too many questions about what the pins meant before even doing a thing. I desperately needed his help, and the only way he'd give it to me as if I explained everything to him. Jace promised not to tell anyone about my canvas after I explained in vivid detail what I was working on. True to his word he didn't. The loud noise of the hammer did. Now all the McCains know about my plan.

Jaylin was openly skeptical about it, time and time again claiming that my family died in a fire caused by nature. She even showed me some articles and a few videos proving her point. Robert swam in a similar lake to his daughter, though he doesn't say so in as many words. He just smiled, lightly rubbed my shoulders and shrugged when I ask what he thought. Beatrice and Jace were the exact opposite. They-by that I mean mostly Beatrice-now spend almost as much time as I do searching for anything that could be helpful. 

Even Though Jaylin isn't on board with my plan to uncover what happened to my parents, she and I are good. I don't goof around with her as I do with Jace, and I'm not always at ease when it's just her and I, but it's clear she doesn't hate me anymore. Tuesday night she even invited me into her room to watch a show. Even though we spent most of the show talking about my date with Finn, I enjoyed getting to know Jaylin a bit more.

Jace and I are chill too. He gives me a ride to school every day that I wake up on time. After school he's got baseball practice, Jaylin's got dance, and Robert and Beatrice work. This leaves me the option of walking the two miles home unless Finn drives me, which he does with no problem at all.
Every day I look forward to our short ten minutes in the car-turns out Finn and I got no classes together, much to both of our annoyances.

Friday is the day my good week comes to a stop. I wake up at five twenty-three in a cold sweat. Flickering images of my nightmare blur my wet vision as I try not to scream. With no other choice left and my heart thundering at an inhuman speed, I stuff my face into one of the huge white pillows on my bed and try to calm down. Like the flash of light that appears when a camera takes a photo, the nightmare that never leaves blinds my closed eyes lids.

The room is darker than all the rest they'd been in. It's huge walls stretch up to thirty feet high before touching the wooden roof. No furniture of any kind is scattered around the large room. Weirdly, the only things in the entire room are old looking weapons. They are latched to huge chunks of wood, solid silver chains making sure nothing moves. Chills eat away at Lin's body the longer her eyes spend glaring around the large room.