Chapter 292

Chapter 28 – Chelsea POV I handed Tera two bottles of water, five more slices of pizza and a bottle of iced tea, Julia sitting at the table with Ava watching me. When I finished, walking over with my own plate and another for Ava, I sat, “Just like Norine,” I smiled small, not sure how I felt about that, “I don’t know but I think wherever she is, you know if there’s an afterlife or something, she’s probably so relieved and happy that you all found each other. Probably a little sad at the same time too,” she said words low at the end. Why would she be sad?  My face reflected my question, “Well… Oakley took on too much responsibility, listening to her death and having it recorded,” she shook her head appalled. I agreed there. To hear the death of a parent, especially one you loved at such a young age? Only to have it recorded and listening to it repeatedly. “Then there’s you… you’re so mature and level headed, you don’t seem your age, so put together, but the reasons you got to this point are horrendous. Still it could be worse, you could be on a completely different path, one that would dishearten her not just as your mother but as a human being in general…” “But the things you’ve done…” she shook her head, “You remind me of that movie, ‘Pay It Forward,’ Chelsea,” she chuckled. “How are you guys settling? I mean it’s been nearly three weeks since you’ve gotten here,” I took her short silence to change topics. “I – this place is so beautiful, and I guess – I can’t put even begin to explain. You know I went to school to be a teacher, to help and do something for others. I wanted to work with 8th grade, or really children aged twelve to eighteen… its sorta what brought Grant and I together. That need to help children, you can guess why…” she smiled a tad bit sad. “I… my older sister when I finally confided after Grant and I had married that we wouldn’t be having children, she was livid she thought that he had duped me into marrying him, then dropped that bomb on me. But he didn’t,” she shook her head slowly, remembering just how hard she had to convince him that it didn’t matter to him. “I knew he was a good man, he couldn’t have kids but he wanted to help them, and I just decided that my students would be my babies,” she laughed harder, “Now though we’re here and I just feel so useful here as does Grant. We’re settling in amazingly – aside from Oakley rolling down the mountain,” she joked now that Oakley was awake. “Oakley, this is her first sleepover,” she whispered so low; don’t want Oakley to hear, she thought to herself. “In the realm of things it doesn’t seem so high up, her dilemmas back in Middleburg, but at the time, lets just say Sarah and Pat made all the mistakes in the book.” “Was it that bad?” I asked curiously, only having read the notes from after Oakley was hospitalized. She nodded empathically, listening to her thoughts; distinctive disheartening occasions flickered quickly – fleeting. “This… what’s going on… she’s never had that Chelsea. Again that isn’t all Pat’s fault, that recording,” she huffed, “finding out about it made so many pieces fall into place, how can anyone make friends if they aren’t sure who to trust? Or how to let people in closer – do you think she’ll ever be able to have a relationship with Sarah?” she skipped over subjects sporadically. It as my turn to snort, was she serious? “My sister was dying and my father came to me to save her, and I didn’t,” I deadpanned, “Oakley isn’t going to forgive her, more likely that not, Sarah will just be someone irrelevant in Oakley’s life. She isn’t holding a grudge, but Sarah doesn’t matter to her.” “It’s a shame… that’s all… Pat should be here. I know he made mistakes, but I haven’t seen Oakley this happy since – in forever. And Ben? He’s always had little anger phases, and now… he’s so much calmer. He’s missing all this…” What Julia was saying was easy to understand, I could empathize with the statement, but the fact remained that Pat wouldn’t just up and choose Oakley and Ben. Julia and I ate in comfortable silence, Ava doing most of the talking but her words becoming slurred mid-meal until exhaustion took over and she leaned her head on the table. “I have to put her to bed,” I said softly standing from the table, lifting Ava in my arms. Chelsea Logan is here, Gabriel said just as I made it to Ava’s room. I’m just putting Ava to bed, laying her down, I went to her dresser getting out her pajamas changing her quickly while she remained knocked out. It wasn’t her bedtime but since we had gotten here, Gabriel and I decided she should start in taekwondo, she did training in her wolf form and like other kids her age on the island she attended school. Not use to being so busy – she normally tired out and fell asleep near 7pm now. Once I put her dirty clothes in the hamper, I fixed her blinds, turned on the night light and closed her door, heading straight to Gabriel’s’ office. Entering I saw Logan, his young face, his normally shaggy brown hair styled neatly on his head, black jeans and shirt, across from him Gabriel and near his feet were the three brown worn violin cases. “Took you long enough,” I said jokingly, it had been nearly two weeks since he had checked out the location that Nora had given me. When he found the concrete slab just as she had said he immediately brought it over to his place in California, working with his men to carefully extract the violin cases. We had already read him in on why the violins were important, “Have you had time to go see Rainy?” he asked before I had a chance to sit down, I shook my head regretfully, “No, Oakley fell and then-” a knock on Gabriel’s door stopped my words. Standing he went opened the door revealing Lux. “As I was saying – Oakley fell and then-” “Teresa Hellmann bit her husband and daughter,” Lux interrupted me my eyes widened as I turned to face him; surely I had heard him wrong. “She did what?” He nodded, “Yes, she just bit them – Lynn and Greg.” “How long ago?” I asked him dryly. Why isn’t she… what am I missing? Lux asked himself. “The last time they were not on the island it was nearly two years ago… when they left the ‘real’ world, anyone could change a human into a wolf…” I shrugged, “I took his wolf away, but her biting him isn’t going to work, all she’s doing is forsaking them to a very long and painful death,” I said knowingly.