Chapter Six

My mom knocked on the car window, noticing Sabine and I had been out here a while. 

“What are you guys doing?? Come inside I have the most exciting news.”

I grabbed her food and followed her inside, Sabine was quiet behind me. 

“Thanks for letting me borrow your phone. I never heard of a satellite phone before. You were right though! They had a job offer!”

My mom said excitingly, handing Sabine a phone that looked like a black brick. 

Sabine hugged her. “That’s amazing!” 

“What job, Mom?”

“It’s a similar company to your fathers. So a lot of traveling, but they offered amazing benefits and pay.” My mom came and gave me a hug after releasing Sabine. 

I looked over at Sabine briefly while hugging my mom back. She was moving towards the kitchen, probably to go to her garden. 

“So we’ll be traveling? What about school?” 

I asked. 

My mom pulled away with a sad look on her face.

“No honey. You’ll be staying with Sabine. You’re welcome to come with me after you graduate though.” 

I felt my throat dry up in pain. I didn’t want my mom to leave me, especially after knowing the truth; if I wanted to believe it. How could I let her back out in the world not knowing the truth about what’s out there? 

“I don’t want you to leave.” I said quietly. 

My mom hugged me again, tighter. 

“I know, baby. But I tried finding a job in town. Majority of them aren’t paying. And the ones that are; they’re not paying in money.”   

I remember my conversation with Meghan this afternoon and how every townsperson contributes in some way. It seems like forever ago. This might be the longest day in history. 

“I don’t have to leave for a few more days before training begins, so we’ll make sure you’re all settled in before I leave, ok?”

My mom didn’t wait for an answer before giving me another small hug, and going upstairs. 

I wanted to go find Sabine in her backyard, but also really wanted the day to be over with it. 

I went through the motions of a shower before laying down, my head hurting from everything I read today.  I thought over the guy from the road and how much my flight or fight sense really only told me to run more than anything. I guess I should have listened to my gut more often. Why would he care that he could read my mind? Maybe it wasn’t something they could turn off and the fact they couldn’t was intriguing. I really wasn’t sure how it worked. 

At some point I fell asleep. I woke up in a panic drenched in sweat but I couldn’t remember anything about my dream. I felt a sense of anxiety and stress but I didn’t know what from. I palmed the calming crystal I had left on my nightstand and instantly felt a sense of relief. 

Looking at the clock, I only had two hours before I needed to get ready for school. Peeping out the window at the rising sun, any other day I would have gone for a run with no hesitation. Ignorance was bliss, they say. Deciding if I was going to be murdered by a vampire, it wouldn’t matter if I knew if they existed or not and got dressed for a run. 

I searched through my duffle, finding a pair of shorts and tight sports bra I brought with me. I had hoped to buy more when I got here. I had decided to leave the majority of my sports gear behind and opted for regular clothes. I had brought my soccer cleats that are now basically useless since the school didn’t have sports. I threw on one of  my large overnight pajama shirts, not feeling entirely comfortable just running in a bra. 

Tying my hair up in a ponytail, I glanced at what direction I should run. Do I go towards town and have the chance to run into people? I would potentially be safe considering i don’t think any ‘creature’ would murder anyone in front of other people. Or do I continue up the road away from town? I remember Sabine mentioning a waterfall some ways up. I had already decided to go for a run in the first place, fuck it why not just go the whole way. 

I started out slow, doing some arms stretches and some larger steps to stretch out my legs a bit. I took in the forest around me as I started to pick up speed. 

With the sun peeping through the top of the trees, the floor was coated with a thin morning mist. The pink sky placed an overall warmer tone to the usual dark forest. I could easily see through the trees for a good half mile, maybe a mile. It was truly beautiful and not something I experienced back home. Majority of the city had been developed into neighborhoods and shopping centers. Every yard had a decorative tree, but nothing like this. If I had wanted to experience nature like this, it would have been a good few hours drive. 

“I swear I’m not following you.” A voice startled, I quickly turned around coming to a stop. 

Jax had his hands up sheepishly. A small film of sweet glistened across his stomach. He had no shirt on and holy shit was he ripped like a god. The sun hit off his olive toned skin perfectly. 

My eyes narrowed, trying to control my ogling. “How long have you been behind me?” 

Jax was looking me up and down, I felt a small shiver go down me, landing and warming the patch area between my legs. 

“Just from around the bend. I noticed you were slowing down and I didn’t want to alarm you.”

“I wasn’t slowing down” I scoffed. 

He smiled at me. “You were, but we’re going uphill so it’s to be expected.” He was slowly walking towards me. 

“I wasn’t slowing down,” I repeated, crossing my arms. The motion pushed my bra up a bit, the shirt clung across the top of my breasts. Jax’s eyes followed the motion, gold flecks starting to swarm in his eyes. 

“Whatever you say, sweetheart” His voice came out a bit husky. 

“So you just happen to be running the same time as me on the same route, but you’re not following me?” I asked 

Jax rolled his eyes, playfully. “Actually I run here every morning. My house is at the top of the hill and I run down into town and back.” 

I looked up the road, I haven’t seen any houses on the way here nor did I see any houses up the road. 

“You live kind of far from town” I stated. 

Running his hand through his hair, Jax chuckled. “Uhh.. yeah my family kind of likes their privacy” 

“The whole town likes their privacy” 

Jax shrugged and started walking past me. 

“Yeah, it is what it is.” 

I don’t know why I continued to walk with him, but I didn’t really feel like going home yet. 

“I guess it’s not a bad thing. But it's just different from where I lived.” 

“I think our town is a lot different from the majority of other towns.” 

I nodded.

“Do you want to see one of my favorite spots? It might make us late to school though.” He looked at me, shyly. 

“Sure”I said hesitantly but his sheepish look made it hard to say no. 

He gave me a smile and held his hand out. I grabbed it and my heart skipped a beat while his warmth shot up my arm. 

He pulled me towards the side of the road, heading towards the forest. 

“We’re going into the forest?” I said, my heart now beating from fear. I didn’t want to go in there. 

He paused at the sound of the shaking of my voice. 

“Hayley, I would never let anything happen to us, but we can go another time if you want too.”

His thumb softly stroked the back of my hand. 

The notion started to calm me and looked up at him, he looked back taking in my face. 

“Alright” I said softly. 

He brought my hand to his lips, giving them a small kiss, still looking back at me. 

“It’s not far. I promise.” Giving me a small smile, he turned back, pulling me behind him.