claudia | embry call

eight : sick

"I'm sorry, Claudia, he's really sick." Claudia held back a sigh. "I don't want you to get sick too. Connie would kill me." He chuckled. "I'll let him know you called, alright? And I'll have him call when he can actually speak again."

"Okay." Claudia frowned, and Quil threw his head back in frustration. "Bye Uncle Billy."

"Goodbye Claudia." She hung the phone up on the receiver and Quil groaned.

"This sucks." Quil huffed as Claudia plopped down on the couch next to him. Their plans to go up to Port Angeles to the arcade were now dead in the water, as neither Quil nor Claudia could drive, nor did either of them have a car to drive anyway. "What do we do now?"

"I dunno." Claudia sighed, putting her head on her chin. "I just hope Jake's alright."

"He'll be fine." Quil said, reaching over at patting her arm. "Bet he got mono from making out with Bella." Claudia couldn't help but laugh.

"Quil, I can promise you, you can do much better than Bella Swan." He groaned. "Dude, you've met her like twice. Don't tell me you're in love just like Jake."

"No, I'm not that delusional." He snorted. "But she is hot, though." Claudia laughed, standing up.

"Come on, I wanna go play video games." Quil heaved himself off the couch and they were soon back in the rain. As soon as they were under the cover of the trees, the rain was barely noticeable.

"Do you really think Jake's sick?" Quil asked after a few quiet minutes of walking. "I-I mean, you know...what if it's Sam? Billy never did think they were a problem, what if it's just a cover." Claudia sighed.

"I hadn't even considered that." She bit her lip. "No, Jake wouldn't. He wouldn't do that to us." Quil didn't believe it, but he desperately wanted to so he nodded. "He wouldn't." Claudia was trying to convince herself now, and she looked at Quil for approval.

"Yeah, yeah you're right." He nodded. "Jake wouldn't. You're right."

———————

"He can't still be sick, can he?" Claudia asked. "It's been like two weeks."

"I dunno." Quil frowned. "Maybe your mom heard something?" Claudia shrugged as she pushed the front door open.

"Well you know, if you need anything..." Claudia could hear her moms voice in the kitchen as she shut the door, so they walked further into the house. "Of course. Well I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye Sue." Connie was just setting the phone on the receiver when they entered the kitchen. "Hi kids."

"What's going on with Sue?" Claudia asked.

"Oh, Harry's been having some trouble with his heart." Connie frowned. "But don't worry, okay? He's got some new medicine that's really supposed to help, I'm sure he'll be fine." Connie waved her hand. "Now, you two want some food?"

"Yes please." Quil nodded excitedly.

"Hey mom, have you heard anything about Jake from Billy?" Claudia asked. "We haven't seen or heard from him in a few weeks..."

"Yeah, Billy mentioned something about mono last week." Connie nodded as she opened the fridge. "But I saw him out and about today. He looked different, but definitely healthy. He was with Embry, actually." Connie looked back, not missing the look that Quil and Claudia shared. "What? Is something going on between you four?"

"Nope, nothing." Claudia shook her head. "We'll be upstairs, just call me when the foods done, thanks mom!" They both hurried upstairs, and Connie could only raise her eyebrows. As soon as her bedroom door was shut, Claudia could feel the tears starting to well in her eyes.

——————

Claudia's fingers raked through the soft grey fur, her tears wetting the wolf's neck. She'd been out with her wolf all night, the sun just beginning to rise when she finally stopped crying. She hadn't really stopped since she and Quil reached her bedroom, but she was able to put on a front enough to not alert her parents or brother. The wolf whined as she sat up, pushing it's head into her lap as she wiped her face with her sleeves. "I'm sorry I've been so mopey lately." She sighed, her hands resting on it's head. "I wish I could know what you were thinking. I wish we could talk." It huffed.

"It's so unfair, you not being able to talk." Her fingers looped through it's fur, lazily moving back and forth as she talked. "So unfair that you only hear about me, and my problems. I'm sure you have struggles of your own, too. With your pack." It let out a low, annoyed growl. "Uh oh, what happened?" It lifted it's head and she saw it's eyes roll. "Nothing good?" With a single nod, it laid it's head back in her lap. "I'm sorry. That must be hard." One of her hands moved to scratch behind it's ear, and it let out a low whine that made her chuckle. Before she could speak again, the wolf tensed and stood up quickly, it's gaze aimed at the trees behind Claudia. She moved, slowly standing up and inching behind the wolf. It growled and barked, and then, another wolf emerged from the trees.

This one was bigger than hers, it's fur was different shades of russet brown, and it's eyes were dark, almost black. Her wolf backed down a little, but still growled and barked at the other. It ignored her wolf, walking closer until her wolf barked more aggressively. The russet wolf growled back, it's jaws snapping at her wolf, before it's eyes landed on Claudia. She froze, her eyes staring back into the unfamiliar wolf's. It let out a low whine, finally breaking eye contact as it looked back at her wolf. Her wolf just barked again, and, after a moment of hesitation, the russet wolf turned and stalked back into the trees.

Her wolf wasted no time in turning around and beginning to nudge her arm towards the direction of her house. She was still in shock from seeing the other one, so she let her wolf lead her back to her house with no arguments. They finally stopped when she was standing next to the stairs, but the wolf seemed adamant on her getting inside as quickly as possible. "I'll see you tomorrow." She kissed it's forehead before hurrying up the stairs and inside. Thankfully, no one was awake so she was able to slip upstairs, but her mind couldn't leave her wolf outside. The russet one had to be apart of it's pack, but she couldn't figure out why her wolf had turned so aggressive towards it. It made no sense in her head, though she tried to figure it out anyway.