Chapter 28

The next morning in Jacksonville was spent packing our bags. Of course, that only took a couple of seconds, and directly after we departed the hotel. Only fifteen minutes later, we had boarded the plane. Mama was abruptly in a rush to get us home. She had decided, after the discussion last night, it would be best not to visit Grandma Renee, so as not to unnecessarily endanger her. We had enough proceeding upon us as it seems.

“We hope you enjoy your flight”, the attendant echoed over the loudspeaker.

I feared this flight may be the last place left to enjoy. When I woke up this morning, everyone besides Jacob stared at me with terror in their eyes. A part of me wanted to bring up the problem, as I knew no one would actually come out and say it; what with their expressions so clearly troubled. But then again, if they chose not to speak about it, how important did they assume it to be?

And with a glance to Uncle Emmett, my spirits were suddenly lifted. Nobody precisely seemed to understand why he would escape from any conversation unscathed, no matter what was just uncovered. But it was utterly obvious to me. Emmett feared fear itself. Only when he was intimidated did he get angry. But that rarely happened now, ever since he won an arm wrestling match against Mama a year ago, proving by default that he was once again the strongest vampire in the house.

“What’s up, Ness?’, he yelled from across the aisle.

I gave him a small smile.

“Oh, nothing new. Just some more unknown chaos to add to my life’s never ending story,” I replied casually, obviously joking.

He smiled back, but beside me I heard Daddy’s teeth grind together.

Mama leaned against him for support.

My face dropped as all previous happy thoughts became dissolved into the open air.

Jake put an arm around me, glaring at my parents.

“What’s your problem?”, he snapped.

My mother and father stared back with half-alive expressions, as if they were trying to comprehend what Jacob had just said.

His hands balled into fists, a low growl coming from deep in his throat.

“Calm down, Jake”, I whispered.

His head snapped in my direction, eyes suddenly becoming softer. Jake reached his hand out to stroke my cheek.

 Abruptly, he turned back to my parents, eyes frozen again.

“Renesmee deserves to know what the hell’s going on. This obviously involves her, and all you’re doing is making her feel depressed!”

People were starting to stare.

Aunt Alice came over to Jacob then, placing a hand on his arm.

“Don’t touch me!”, he snarled.

Alice, looking slightly alarmed, tightened her grip.

“I need to talk to you”, she said quietly, lugging him along with her to the back of the plane.

 

I watched as Alice led Jake into the bathroom stall, as discreetly as possible with Jacob towering over her.

I felt the strange urge to apologize for his behavior. But just as I was about to speak, a barely audible crash echoed from the bathroom.

“Uncle Jasper?”, I whispered suddenly .

He looked my way and nodded with instant understanding.

An ounce of relief dispersed throughout the fear that clung so tightly to my chest, yet I still caught myself wondering what was taking Jake and Alice so long.

“Renesmee.”

I turned to face my parents.

“This isn’t at all easy for us to do. We don’t like to keep things from you, Nessie. But from what Alice saw, it’s vital to sustain you from knowing”, she spoke quietly.

I placed a hand on her neck.

“How exactly did Aunt Alice see the vampire manipulating her visions?”, I asked, turning to the only one here who was able to answer me.

“Normally, when Alice has a vision, she feels a control over them. A familiar feeling that’s very hard to describe, to someone unable to experience them first-or in my case, second hand. But the visions she most recently had, there was- some sort of hold over them. Something unusual, that she never quite experienced before. It felt as though someone was forcing emotions onto her, forcing the images to frighten her, if that makes any sense.”, Daddy explained, just as Aunt Alice and Jake strode quickly back to their seats.

Evidently behind me, Jake breathed startlingly in deep, heavy pants.

Slowly, I took him in.

Jacob stared back, his dark brown eyes wide and alarmed. His eyebrows were mashed together tight, ravaging his already strange expression in a way that almost scared me.

“Jake?”, I asked.

He shook, his hands balling up into tight fists as he turned his head to the floor.

I watched helplessly as my Jacob’s eyes became blurry and wet. The moisture gathered into a drop as it slowly fell down his cheek, leaving a wet streak behind.

I reached a finger to his face and slowly wiped it away. He stiffened and cleared his throat, trying to appear fine.

I rested my head on his back, his head still down towards the floor.

“You don’t have to be brave for me”, I reassured him silently.

He didn’t answer, just continued to sulk.

I didn’t know what was coming, but clearly it wasn’t like anything that had ever happened to us before. Nobody had any hope, not even my father. Nobody except Uncle Emmett, who seemed as casual as ever. Maybe I didn’t have him figured out after all. Unless he was so used to good fortune, nothing out of the ordinary pursued to bother him. Out of the ordinary life of the vampires.

Or could he possibly think his strength would always be enough?

Suddenly, I felt Jacob sigh from beneath me. I slowly stood up as he straightened his posture.

“I do have to be brave for you. You’re my Nessie, my Renesmee. Just the thought of any…”, his voice trailed off, and he grabbed my shoulders. He leveled his head just exactly to mine, and stared into my eyes. I felt my heart pounding underneath me.

“-just the thought of anything happening to you drives me insane.”

“Something’s going to happen to me?”

Although I had already assumed this, due to the various behaviors of my family around me, still I had to ask. To put it out in the open.

For about a second, everyone froze around me.

I looked around at the humans on the plane. They sat unknowingly in their seats, some watching a movie through earmuffs, some just staring out the window in boredom.

They hadn’t heard anything of our conversation, yet the details to low for them to hear had drastically changed everything.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to you. I’ll always be there to protect you”, Jake said, almost sternly.

“Don’t worry, Nessie. We’ll get those bad guys for ya”, Emmet blurted.

Nobody else said a word. They just stared my way, concerned. For my life.