On the surface, Katie Swan appears to be an average girl. She's pretty, athletic, and abnormally intuitive. But when her parents are suddenly murdered, she is sent to Forks, WA to live with her uncle Charlie and his shy daughter Bella.
Soon, Katie l...
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KATIE'S POV September 15th
The street in front of the house is lined with all sorts of cars, ranging from big police SUVs to your average, run of the mill models. I'm thankful that Jacob is driving, because the only space left on the street that could fit my car required parallel parking (a skill I did not really master growing up in Oregon). As soon as Jacob parks my car, I jump out of the passenger seat. Jacob rushes to my side, slamming the car door behind him. I almost gasp as I look at all of the police assembled in front of Charlie's house. Charlie himself looks panicked, distant, his normally self-conscious self sharpened with determination.
I frown, scanning over the crowd as they bow their heads over maps, walkie-talkies strapped their belts. "What happened?" I whisper to Jacob, who's just as awe-stricken as I am.
"I don't know," he whispers back with equal softness, frowning a bit. "You should ask Charlie."
I nod, encouraging him to follow as I squeeze through a path to where Charlie is standing, giving orders. "Charlie?" I say, my voice quiet and high pitched like when I was a child.
"Katie," he says, pulling me to his chest in a brief hug. For a moment, my mind convinces itself that this is my father's hug I am receiving. I hold onto the feeling as long as I can, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. I pull back, trying to get a hold of myself, and Charlie's eyes have lightened slightly. Hope fills them with a strange shininess. "When was the last time you saw Bella?"
I think for a moment. "Right after school. She had a shift at work today."
He nods, as if he already knows this information. "Did she mention a place she might go? Did she... did you know that the Cullens were leaving town?"
That sends a shock to my system. "No. The Cullens are leaving?" I repeat, the surprise coating my words bitterly. That pesky vampire was the bane of my existence, but one of them could have given me some warning!
Charlie's hope that I had information for him fizzles out. "Yes. Bella left me this note, that she was going for a walk, but that must have been hours ago. And I just found out that all of the Cullens are moving today, Edward included." His words are sharp, precise, and clearly place blame on Edward for her disappearance. I frown— if Charlie didn't know that Edward was leaving soon, Bella might not have, either.
I gingerly take the note from his outstretched hand, unfolding it so that Jacob can read over my shoulder. Going for a walk with Edward, up the path. Back soon, B. I knew immediately it wasn't Bella's handwriting. While similar, I knew that the careless scrawl on the paper was different by the way the letter "B" was written. Bella's was loopier, more loosely drawn. This was a vampire's replica. But it would be useless to mention this to Charlie.
