Clan of Redemption (18 page)

"You need to control your dog
or it will have to be put outside," Catherine
admonished.

"If you want to try to part that
dog from Jayden, by all means you try, but don't say I didn’t warn
you first,” Sully said as she backed away hoping there might be a
fight. 

"I guess she can sleep down
here. Randal get Jayden and her friends some blankets, it can
get chilly down here." Catherine said as she started to walk away,
she stopped almost at the door and turned. 

"Tell Jayden when she wakes up
that I'm sorry that we didn't get to visit, but we will have time
later." Catherine said as she walked away. 

Sully and Blake laid me on the
couch and covered me up with the blankets that one of the large
guys, Randal, brought. 

"I guess we both get to sleep
sitting up, or on the floor I guess,” Sully said as she was
deciding which one would hurt less. 

Blake walked over to the
overstuffed chair and pulled it across to the other chair and made
a bed. 

"Good idea, wow, I guess you’re
not a dumb guy,” Sully said. 

"Thanks, I think that was a
compliment. Here you take this; I will sleep on the floor,” he
said. 

"I'll let you be gentlemen on this
one,” Sully said as she climbed onto the rigged
bed. 

"Sully, try to sleep light, I
smell something not right here,” he said as he put a blanket on the
floor, he used his jacket to make a pillow. 

*********

I woke up with a warm smelly
breath in my face and a weight on my chest. I opened my eyes
and saw Logan sleeping on my right side with his face about in inch
away from mine. 

"Nice, dog breath,” I said as I
tried to look around.

"Logan, wake up, you’re squishing
my chest,” I said as I rubbed his side.  I love the feel of
his fur against my hand it’s soft like feathers. 

I'm sorry Jayden, I just
wanted to sleep as close to you as I could.  You were drugged
last night and I was afraid to leave your side.

"That's sweet that you were
worried about me, but could you please get off me, it's really
starting to hurt my ribs. You are sure solid for a dog,” I
said as he jumped off the couch.

"So, what happened last night, all
I remember is drinking tea and starting to talk with Grandma and
then I got really tired.  Was there something in the tea that
made me tired, and why would she do that,” I said as I rested on my
elbow

Jayden, the powers that you
posses are desired by many, and you are not to trust
anyone. You have to remember that.
 

I looked over and saw Blake
starring at me, great, now what I going to say to
him. 

"Good morning Blake, did you sleep
ok, you don't look very comfortable,” I said as I waited for him to
ask me why I was talking to myself. 

"I didn't really sleep much,
people kept coming in, but they would leave when your dog would
start to get up and growl,” Blake said as he got up off the
floor. 

"What time is it? I'm hungry,"
Sully said as she sat up. 

"It's still really early, almost
6am,” Blake said as he looked at his watch.

"What time did I pass out?" I
asked. 

"It was just around 6pm. 
Sully and I lay around talking for hours before we finally fell
asleep,” Blake said as he turned on a light. 

I sat all the way up and was about
to stand up.... 

"So I see you are all awake and
kicking, I think it's time for some breakfast,” Grandma Catherine
said as she opened up the drapes to the library. 
 

That was creepy, none of us heard
her come in.

The windows were as tall as
ceiling, and the curtains flung open with a wispy sound. The
light felt so good on my face, the last few days have passed so
fast that it's made me feel like I've been in the dark for
days. 

"Before we eat anything, I would
like you to introduce me to your friend, Jayden,” Grandma Catherine
said as she walked over to stand in front of me.  Her presence
made me uncomfortable.   

"I did introduce you to my
friends, last night,” I said as Logan came and sat at my
feet. Did he know something that I didn't, did my Grandmother
know about Logan. 

"Now Jayden, don't be rude, I
would hope that your Mother raised you better,” she said as she
walked over to the chair across from me.

Jayden, be careful, she’s
digging, don’t give into it.

“I introduced you to Sully and
Blake and my dog Saska. I’m not sure who else you mean,” I said, as
I got a little firmer in my tone.

“Fine! When we go into
the dining room, could we please leave the dog outside. I am
allergic to him and frankly it’s just not clean,” she said as she
stared at me.

“Well thanks for
taking the time to see me, we can come back another time,” I said
as I brushed myself off and started making my way to the
door.

“I had a wonderful
breakfast made just for you and your friends, and you’re going to
leave,” she said with disgust.

“I don’t want to make
your allergies worse; my mother raised me better than that,” I
said.

“Why can’t he just go
outside, or stay in the study while we eat.” She asked with
curiosity.

I had to think about
this one for a minute.

“My dog isn’t comfortable in
unfamiliar soundings and I would hate to see him get stressed out,”
I said.

“Fine. I guess I know now how
attached you are to him,” she said as she walked out of the
study.

I looked at my friends and
wondered what I got us all into.

“I didn’t even ask you guys if
you were alright with staying for breakfast,” I said as I turned
around.

“I’m ok with it, this is what
this trip was about anyway, right,” Blake said.

“Yeah, I’m ok with it, but I
am a little creped out. I think I know why your Mom didn’t talk to
your grandmother, Jayden. She is a little weird,” Sully said as she
followed us out of the study.

My grandmother was waiting for
us outside of the study. She walked us through this enormous house
and into a formal dining room.

“Your house is very beautiful,
is this were Mom grew up?” I asked.

“Yes, this is the house that
your Mother grew up, did she not talk about it?” Catherine said as
she waited for someone to pull her chair out for
her.

“Here, let me get that for
you,” Blake said as he rushed over and pulled her seat out for
her.

“Thank you, now everyone
please sit and let’s eat.” Catherine said as we all sat
down.

“You’re not going to poison us
again, are you lady?” Sully said as she looked in her glass of
milk.

“I beg your pardon, no one was
poisoned,” she said as she glared at Sully.

“Well Jayden was given
something that made her pass out like that. I’m not sure we should
even be eating any of this stuff,” Sully said.

Just as she said that, people
walked out from a door and had trays in their hands. They put
platters of food on the table in front of us. Items from cold
cereal to eggs, bacon, pancakes, crapes, biscuits and gravy, and a
few other things that I didn’t recognize were spread across the
table.

How many people were eating
with us?

“I assure you that this food
is not poisoned, that would just be a waste of food to do that,”
Catherine said as she produced a sweet fake smile.

“Wow Jayden, someone in your
family with a sense of humor, that’s different,” Sully said as she
reached for the biscuits and gravy.

“Sully, I’m sure that my
grandmother has a perfectly fine explanation as to why she would
drug me,” I said as I looked at her and raised my
eyebrow.

“Ladies, ladies, let’s enjoy
our breakfast before it gets cold,” Blake said as he dished himself
up some eggs and bacon. Blake seemed to be ok with eating, maybe I
would watch him eat for a minute. Sully seemed to have the same
thought. We both stared at him while he started to dig in. After a
few minutes he seemed to be fine.

“Ok, but I definitely don’t
want any tea anytime soon,” I said as I reached for some granola
with yogurt.

I wanted to confront my
grandmother about what she might have put in the tea, but I wanted
to get some information first before I started a conversation that
would lead to confrontation.

Remember, Jayden, she can
notice things that you are thinking about. Try to not to focus so
hard on your thoughts.

I looked down at Logan, who
was lying next to my chair and I winked at him. I’m getting better
about not talking aloud to him.

Blake was sitting across from
me and Sully was on my right. Grandma Catherine had asked me to sit
right next to her, which made me a little uncomfortable, but I felt
better with Logan at my side.

“Saska are you hungry?” I
asked him as I looked around for an additional
plate.

“You are not going to fed that
animal in my dining room are you?” Catherine asked.

“I was going to, I don’t see a
reason not to, and do you have an extra plate so I can dish him up
some food?” I asked as I grabbed a piece of bacon and handed it to
him, he swallowed it with one bit.

“I will allow you to feed your
dog, but I’m going to have to ask you not to feed him from the
table,” Catherine asked as one of her staff showed up with an extra
plate.

How does that happen, I don’t
see a bell she rings. Whenever she needs something, one of her
staff is always right there.

I dished up some food and put
the plate on the floor for Logan to eat.

“So where’s your husband?,”
Sully said with her mouth full.

I looked at Sully with a
slight glair.

“We don’t talk with our mouths
full, dear,” Grandma Catherine said as she took a sip of her
coffee.

Coffee, that’s what I really
want. I’ve been so tired lately; the smell of Grandma Catherine’s
coffee was driving me crazy.

“Did you want some coffee
dear?” Catherine asked.

“Oh…yes, I would love some,” I
said as I thought about not thinking so hard.

A woman brought me some coffee
that smelled heavenly, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to drink
it.

Jayden, let me smell your
coffee, I can tell if there is something in it.

I took my coffee cup and
sniffed it myself, but all I could smell was coffee. I took my cup,
bent down to Logan, and let him smell the coffee. He just looked at
me and went back to eating.

“Is there something wrong with
your coffee?” Grandma Catherine asked.

“No, Saska loves the smell of
coffee, it’s something that we do, sorry I know it looks weird,” I
said as I realized that was a dumb answer.

“We all know by now that you
are a little off, Jayden,” Sully said as she tried to hold back a
giggle.

I took my right foot and gave
Sully a little jab in the calf. Sully has always jabbed at my with
words, but I didn’t need that kind of behavior right
now.

“Jayden, so now that you have
your grandmother in front of you, what kinds of things would you
like to ask her?” Blake asked as she looked at me with those
beautiful eyes.

“Yes Jayden, what would you
like to know. You can ask me anything, but before we ask, I have
one for you. How long have you and Blake been dating?” Catherine
asked me with a questioned look on her face.

I was in the middle of
swallowing at bite of yogurt, that question caught me off guard,
and I choked….and I choked hard. I put my hand over my mouth
because I was afraid I might spit yogurt at him.

“Jayden, are you ok?” Blake
asked with concern as he stood up from his chair.

I put my hand up but couldn’t
talk, I was still choking, trying to get the yogurt to go down the
right tube.

“I’m ok…thanks for asking, I
guess I swallowed wrong,” I said as I realized that I was going to
have to answer her.

“Jayden, your grandmother is
still waiting for an answer,” Sully said as I could tell that was
getting a kick out of seeing me squirm.

“Grandma, I think you have
miss understood something. Blake and I are just friends, actually
we just meet not that long ago,” I said as I finally stopped
choking.

“Well, I guess I just assumed
that you were together,” she said as she drank her
coffee.