Chapter 49: Chapter 48 - Bells

Friday 25 December

~*Bells’ POV*~

“You don’t understand. Her eyes were purple!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Tatum.” Mum was driving us to the cemetery to pay our respects to the Black Saturday victims. Her sister, our aunt, was one of them. We made the trek out to the cemetery every year, just like many other families in Matlock. “Purple is an uncommon eye colour. I’m sure we’d have all noticed before now if Auden had purple eyes.”

I sat in the back, flicking through my phone, and trying very hard not to pay any attention to my brother, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. He had spent the good part of an hour trying to convince Mum that Auden had attacked him, but Mum kept either ignoring him, downplaying his statements, or simply telling Tatum that he must have imagined the whole thing. He was getting beyond frustrated.

I suspected Tatum was itching to get me alone to work off his tension, but he’d given Cody his word that he wouldn’t approach me for a week. That gave me at least one more day of freedom from his masochist tendencies.

If he still felt like honouring that bet, that is.

I knew I couldn’t avoid him today because it was Christmas, but I was doing my very best to not be alone in a room with him. So far, I’d been able to stick to Mum like glue under the pretence of helping her with lunch. She’d been thrilled. Tatum? Not so much. He had plans tonight with Zelda, so I knew I was free and clear once he left to catch up with her. I just needed to survive until then.

Only a few more hours.

“Will Dad be meeting us there?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

Mum had become pregnant with us as the result of a one-night stand. Surprisingly, Dad had taken the news incredibly well and had decided to always provide for us when we were growing up. They had remained excellent friends, even when Dad had found his fated mate, River, when we were five. Such good friends that when they got married, River asked Mum to be her matron of honour. They had gone on to have three children of their own, the eldest turning ten in a matter of weeks. Mum treated their kids like they were her own, and we all got together as often as we could.

With their children still so young, though, both families celebrated Christmas separately to allow for uninterrupted Santa visits. Instead, we always got together the night after Christmas to exchange gifts and have dinner. It was a simple and easy way to extend Christmas for the little ones.

“Yup.” Mum glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. “River’s staying home with the terrors, as usual.”

I snickered. Nine-year-old Phoenix, seven-year-old Nova and three-year-old Angel were all very much their mother’s children — full of energy and mischief. When Mum called them terrors, she wasn’t kidding. They usually needed both Dad and River to look after them. The Christmas memorials were the only time they purposely split up parenting duties. River felt that bringing such balls of energy to a sombre memorial every year would end in disaster, so she sent Dad off as the family representative, while she stayed home.

Mum pulled into the parking lot and found Dad already waiting for us. He was leaning against the back of his minivan with his arms crossed, looking remarkably cheerful. I assumed it was because he knew he had at least an hour of escape from his young kids.

He wandered over to us when Mum found a spot, opening her door like the gentleman he always tried to be when he was around her. “Merry Christmas, Ash. Tatum, Bells.” He looked at each of us with a huge smile on his face. “How’s your day been so far?”

“Hey, Dad,” I said at the same time Tatum said, “Merry Christmas.” Mum got out of the car, gave Dad a hug and a kiss on the cheek and asked after River.

“Angel’s decided to revert to the terrible two’s today,” Dad said with a chuckle as he hugged me. “She wasn’t happy that Nova got a new Barbie, and she didn’t. I left River trying to bribe her with some cupcakes.”

Mum laughed, getting out a plate of finger-food from the boot. “You want me to be on the lookout for a new Barbie for Angel to smooth things over?”

“Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.” Dad grinned at her after he finished hugging Tatum. “You know what she’s like.”

“Certainly do. I’ll see what I can find tomorrow at the sales.” Mum shifted the plate to her hip, holding onto it with one hand, then pulling out her phone with the other to set a reminder. Mum always spent the day after Christmas at the Boxing Day sales, buying up big on things she could use as birthday presents for the coming year. Her tradition had come in handy in the past in times like these, when Dad and River had missed or forgotten something at Christmas.

“You’re a saint.” Dad kissed her on the cheek in thanks and took the plate from her.

I looked around to see who else was here. We hadn’t been running late by any stretch of the imagination, but it did look like we were one of the last families to arrive.

“Searching for your saviour?”

I stiffened when I heard Tatum right behind me, but didn’t turn around.

“You can’t be surrounded by other people all the time, you know,” he muttered.

I narrowed my eyes, but refused to react in any other way, instead acting like I was still looking at the crowd to see who was around.

“Sooner or later, you’re mine.” His low voice was in my ear, whispering menacingly. “Tick, tock, brother. Tick, tock.”

I clenched my jaw. I refused to move first. He couldn’t make me.

I still had control of the narrative.

I must have control of my narrative.

He sniggered, a low, dark rumbling of what most would call laughter. To me, it felt like oncoming doom. Just as I caught sight of Cody, Auden, and Jackie, I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me. Suddenly, the evil tension I felt all around me morphed into something else. Something I hadn’t felt from Tatum for quite a few years.

Fear.

A slow smile grew on my face. Auden must have talked to him, because Cody didn’t elicit this response from him, and I couldn’t imagine Auden talking to Jackie about it. I didn’t know what had happened between them and I didn’t care. Whatever it was made Tatum reek of panic and desperation. I was no longer concerned about walking away from him first. I knew exactly where I was headed as I took my first step.

Straight to Cody and her family.

“Merry Christmas, Reid family,” I said brightly as I approached them, my arms open wide in welcome. “How are you all on this fine afternoon?”

Cody’s face lit up when she heard me. “Bells!” She all but launched herself at me for a hug.

I laughed as I caught her in a bear hug before letting her go. She wrapped an arm around my waist, and I draped an arm over her shoulders.

“Hi Bells,” Auden smiled warmly at me as she carried her own plate of finger-food. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Bells,” Jackie said in his usual gruff tone. “Your Mum here?”

“Yeah,” I said, pointing a thumb over my shoulder to where I had come from. “Her and Dad parked over near the old blue gum, but I’m not sure if they’re still there. Mum has a plate, though, so it’d probably be quicker to go looking for them in the hall.”

“Thanks.” Jackie immediately strode off towards the small reception building that held the Christmas memorials and any town funerals the town experienced. As usual, it was buzzing with people, all milling around chatting before the speech and the names of the dead were called out.

“How are you holding up, Bells?” Auden’s voice was quiet, not wanting to draw too much attention to us. “Any trouble on the home front?” She placed a hand on my shoulder and glared behind me from where I had come from. I turned around to where she was looking, only to see Tatum staring at us, looking utterly terrified.

I turned back to Auden and smiled. “Not since you all showed up. I’m assuming you spoke to him?”

“You could say that,” Auden muttered, as she slowly tore her narrowed eyes away from Tatum. When they returned to mine, they brightened considerably. “You let me know if he tries anything more with you, okay?”

I gripped her hand that was still on my shoulder with gratitude. “Will do, Auden. Thanks.” I chuckled. “I don’t know what you said to him, but he’s terrified of you now.”

“Good.” Auden let a wry grin pass over her face before she looked at the plate in her hand. “I had best get these in. I wouldn’t want the mother’s club to accuse me of not pulling my weight.” She winked at me and left me with Cody, heading to the hall.

Cody hugged me tighter around the waist with one arm before letting me go. “Seriously, Bells, how has today been for you?” She watched me with concerned eyes.

“Perfectly wonderful, since you all showed up. Just like I said.” I smiled at her, trying to persuade her to drop it. She didn’t take the hint.

“And before then?”

I sighed. “His usual self.”

“Damn it,” Cody said, frowning. “Even on your way here?”

“Yup. Before we saw you, he warned me I couldn’t surround myself with people all the time.” I shrugged. “I don’t know, Code’s. It seems to be working out just fine for me at the moment.”

She chewed her bottom lip. “Mum was serious, you know. If you run into trouble, you let us know, okay?”

“I will.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulders again, I pulled her in for a quick side hug. “I’ll be fine.”

She bumped her hip with mine and grinned at me. “You better be.”

“Hey, where’s Nat?” I looked around. “Did your Dad lock her in your apartment or something?”

“Nah. She said that she didn’t want to intrude.” She shrugged. “Even though I was trying to use my best Jedi mind tricks on her to convince her to come.”

I laughed. “Somehow, Nat doesn’t strike me as weak-minded.”

Cody pouted. “Either that or she’s a Toydarian. She could be hiding her wings.”

I cracked up. “You sure she’s not a Hutt?”

Cody feigned shock that I would say such a thing, placing both her hands on her cheeks and dropping her jaw to make a wide ‘O’ with her mouth. “You be nice, Bells! Otherwise, I’ll tell her you called her fat!”

“You wouldn’t!” It was my turn to feign shock.

“You know I would!” She started laughing. “I’m such a Sith Lord.”

“You totally are!” My laughter slowly died down as I realised people were staring at us for making so much noise. I got my phone out to check the time. “Hey, shouldn’t the speech have started by now? Where’s Takeshi?”

“You didn’t hear? He took ill yesterday. Mum said he’d be out of action for the next couple of days. Spence is apparently acting-Alpha until Takeshi gets back on his feet.”

“Oh, okay.” I looked around, expecting to see Spence gathering everyone for the speech, but not seeing him anywhere. “So… Um… Where is he?”

“He should be around here somewhere…” Cody searched the many small groupings milling around the cemetery. “He could be in the hall…?”

We had taken two steps when Auden re-appeared, looking extremely unhappy. She coughed to get everyone’s attention. When the murmuring died down, she began.

“Thank you all for coming today. Takeshi sends his apologies as he came down with the flu yesterday. He won’t be able to make it today, but he wants everyone to know that he’s thinking of us all on this sad day.”

Frowning, I looked down at Cody. “Why is your Mum making the speech? Shouldn’t it be Spence?”

She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t know. Spence is Beta.” I could see the wheels turning in her head as she crossed her arms. “Logic says it should be him doing this.”

“Black Saturday will always be remembered in our town as the day when we lost so many of our loved ones. We stand here today to pay tribute to their memories at Christmas and to vow that such a tragedy shall never be repeated.”

I looked around at the crowd, noticing that other quiet discussions had broken out. Just like us, people were wondering where Spence was.

“Let us honour a minute’s silence for our loved ones.”

The crowd fell silent. I watched as, one by one, we bowed our heads as we remembered our fallen. I followed suit, thinking of my aunt who had died when she lost control of her car as she tried to escape our town too late. Smoke had overtaken her and obscured her vision of the road. She had driven off the road into a tree. The impact hadn’t killed her, but the smoke inhalation had. They found her body later, a few metres from her car.

“I now call on a representative from each family to call out the names of those that we have lost, so that their spirits know we are remembering them, even now.”

“Manami Saito.” Auden got the ball rolling, announcing Takeshi’s wife and the pack Luna first, then naming their daughter, “Suki Saito.”

As was tradition, each family then stepped forward and called out the names of those that they had lost. Some families held pictures of their relatives as a visual reminder. One by one, a voice rang out, until all sixty-three victims from the town had been named.

After every family but one had spoken, Auden called out in a firm voice, “Caelan Reid.”

I pulled Cody in for a hug, who was still standing next to me. I felt her hand move as she wiped a tear from her cheek.

“Long may their memories live on in our hearts.”

A sombre silence fell over the crowd as the tradition ended. Slowly, the sounds of quiet conversation rose, and each small group headed into the hall to mingle and eat. Some pack members stopped in front of Auden before they passed her, to shake her hand or hug her, presumably in thanks for her leading the memorial.

Cody and I waited outside until everyone had gone in. I looked down at her. “Did you want to wait out here? Or go in?”

She remained quiet for a moment. “Honestly, I’d rather go home.”

“I can drive you back?”

She nodded into my chest. “Would you mind?”

“Not at all.” I rubbed her back in sympathy. “Let me grab the keys from Mum and let your folks know I’m taking you back.”

“Okay.”

I left her outside while I made my way through the crowd in the hall. I found Auden first, letting her know our plans, then headed for Mum. When I explained how Cody was feeling, Mum handed her keys over to me, telling me she and Tatum would get a lift home with Dad. I told her I’d bring her car home once I settled Cody.

Minutes later, Cody and I were in my Mum’s car heading home.

“I’m sorry, Bells.”

“For what?” I glanced at Cody from the driver’s seat.

“I thought I’d be okay, but you have no idea how weird today has been.” She stared out the passenger side window at the passing scenery.

“Did you want to talk about it?”

She didn’t answer straight away. “Not really.”

“You know I’m here if you ever feel like talking.”

“I know.”

A subdued silence fell between us until we got back.

“Thanks for bringing me back.” Cody unlocked the door to the apartment she was sharing with Nat. “Did you want to come in? I’m sure Nat is in here somewhere.” She dumped her phone on the kitchen bench and looked around the lounge area. “Yup, there she is.”

Nat had just walked out of her bedroom. Noticing us at the door, she walked over with a wary look on her face.

“I’d better not. I’ve got to get the car back home to Mum, and I need to grab some things from my apartment before I head back for the night.” Nat kissed me when she got to the door. “Merry Christmas, Nat.”

“Merry Christmas, Bells.” With an arm still draped around my waist, she turned to look at Cody. “You’re home early. I wasn’t expecting you until later.”

“The memorial was a bit much this year,” said Cody, wrapping her arms around her like it was cold, even though it was anything but. “Bells was kind enough to give me a lift back.”

I nodded when Nat glanced at me for confirmation. She quickly refocused on Cody. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No, I think I’ll just go to my room.” Cody shuffled a little on the spot. “Thanks again for the lift, Bells.”

“Anytime, Cody.” Nat and I watched her wander slowly over to her bedroom, her shoulders slumped, her head tilted down.

“I hope she’s okay,” Nat whispered.

“She will be.” I brought her in for a hug and rubbed her back. “The Christmas memorials are hard on a lot of us.”

She pulled back from me slightly, chewing her bottom lip in worry. “Maybe I made the wrong call on staying away.” She glanced towards Cody’s now closed bedroom door.

“Don’t worry, Nat. You weren’t the only one not there.” I tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before brushing her cheek with my thumb. “Takeshi wasn’t there. Neither was Spence.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Auden said at lunch that Takeshi was ill. Has Spence come down with the same thing?”

“Not sure.” I shrugged. “Auden led the memorial though, which is why I think Cody’s feeling a bit raw at the moment.”

Her eyes filled with sympathy as she looked at Cody’s door again. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Thanks Nat.” Before stepping back, I brought her lips to mine briefly. “I’d better get moving. I promised Mum that I would get her car back. See you tomorrow?”

Nat nodded, lifting her fingers to drift over my cheek, then down my shoulder and arm. “Movie tomorrow?”

I grinned. “You know it.”

“Can’t wait.”

I pulled her hand up to my lips to kiss her palm, then turned away. I heard her shut the door as I walked down the corridor to my own apartment.

Lost in my thoughts, I opened the door to my apartment and made it halfway through the apartment towards my bedroom before it registered that I wasn’t alone.

“Hello, dear brother.”