Revenant j. hale

Chapter 29

To say that Paul was still angry would be an understatement. When I finally got home he demanded I take a shower and wash all of my clothes of leech stench before talking to him. So to be petty, I took as long as possible. 

We didn't argue like I thought we would. Instead, it was mainly him angrily pouting and huffing every chance he got. No lecture about safety brought up. As we sat in his truck on the way to the bonfire, I could see his anger slowly diminish. The tight grip on the wheel slowly loosened and one of his arms moved to drape lazily over my shoulder.

"You scared me," he mumbled. It made my heart clench at the thought of him worrying so bad over me once again. 

"I'm sorry." 

Nothing else needed to be said after that. His body emitting so much heat that we didn't need the crappy heater in the truck to be on. We drove in silence down to the beach to eat and listen to the old stories, that I now realize are more realistic than I had thought. 

It didn't take long upon arrival for an overly excited teenager to come bouncing over to us, almost running into me if Paul hadn't quickly pulled me behind him. With a low growl from Paul, the younger boy gulped and took a step back before beginning to ramble quickly about random things. 

Honestly, the only things I caught before he smiled and ran off was something about food and the legends we were gonna hear. "That was Seth, he sure does talk a lot." 

"I think he was adorable," I responded and gave Paul a light shove.

"There's someone you need to meet. He's been asking for you."

Pulling me along I passed a bunch of people. Some I remembered from the pack and others who weren't recognizable. I did see Bella who looked extremely out of place and gave me an awkward wave. It made me feel bad. She had been through a lot and I'm sure I had freaked her out enough with my weirdness, only now she's forced to deal with me due to our association with the supernatural. 

"Caylee, this is Old Quil," Paul said to me. Looking down, I saw a much older man. His eyes were heavily glossed over and he simply stared at the fire in front of him. His long hair was grey, with two small braids on either side of his face. Immediately I could feel the age and wise aura that came from his presence. 

"I would like to speak to her alone," his voice was frail and quiet, yet powerful. With a nod, Paul walked away quickly. The nerves set in fast and I almost wished Jasper was here to help calm me down. "You're the girl with the gift, yes?" 

"Yes sir," I said nervously. 

"Great things to come, child," Old Quil's eyes moved to mine. I could almost see the fire in them still. Flames moving and taking shapes as the wind tried desperately to make its way around it. "You know something, don't you?" 

Assuming he was referring to what I saw with Paul, I nodded. "You have something inside of you, my dear. I hope to see it one day." His words twisted and turned in my brain. It reminded me so much of how Gran had spoke when she told me stories. I could faintly hear the sound of Billy beginning the story of Taha Aki that I had heard quite a few times before from Gran. 

Sitting quietly next to Old Quil, I listened to the story once again. The tribes legends never ceased to amaze me - especially now that I knew the true meaning behind them. It came to a close a lot quicker than I had remembered, and Old Quil's voice rang out as soon as Billy's stopped. 

"Tonight we can hear a new story. A story that hasn't been told before. One that has been felt, and displayed in front of one of our owns eyes as the ancestors have done before us." He looked to me with eyes full of wonder, and nodded at me to begin.