Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Try not to freak.

Charlie wasn't doing such a good job at this. He kept taking out the note from Bella, reading it, putting it back in his pocket, then grabbing it again, all while pacing the damp ground.

I turned and looked at the edge if the forest again. Nothing. No one came out. I snapped my head away. Someone would come out sometime. They had to.

Trying to occupy myself with something else, I studied the others in the street. Some people that were from Bella's school. A ton of police officers, along with half a dozen cruisers. Dad, next to Charlie, occasionally patting his arm, saying comforting words. Jared and Paul from the reservation. Those two were mumbling in low voice to each other, staring at the edge of the dark trees.

I scowled into the darkness of the night. What were they doing here? They didn't even know Bella. And where was their ringleader, Sam? Then I remembered he'd gone into the woods to look for her.

Looking around the darkened and worried faces, I noticed someone was missing. The Cullen's were nowhere in sight. From what I heard from Dad, who got the news from Charlie, Bella and Edward were almost inseparable, but I didn't see him anywhere. If I was with someone as great as Bella, I would be searching through the woods at top speed until I found her. So where was he? Where was his family? Where was Bella?

That last question had been playing through my mind for the last hour or so. Where was she? Why was she in the forest in the first place? I frowned at the sky.

I felt a hand on my arm and looked down to see Dad's grave face. "Let's go, Jacob," he said softly.

"I want to stay."

He shook his head. "I think we should go. It's late."

I started to protest, but Dad kept shaking his head, so I decided to just let him have it his way.

Slowly, I walked back to the car while Dad said goodbye to Charlie. The ride back home is silent. When we got back home, I went straight to my small room. Dad stayed next to the phone, and I knew he was waiting for Charlie to call. I didn't make a single sound; when the call came, I intended to listen in.

At about half after midnight, the phone rang, and Dad picked up right away. As quietly as I could, I crept to my door and cracked it open.

Dad waited a few moments, and then demanded to know, "Is Bella hurt at all?"

There was another short pause. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know," Dad said.

Long pause. Charlie must have been talking, very quietly. Suddenly, Dad interrupted. "Bonfires. Some kids are messing around up there."

I frowned. It was bad weather for fires, and it was late at night.

"They're celebrating the news," Dad said quietly into the phone. "Sorry."

What? What news? That Bella got lost in the forest? I scowled.

Pause. "I won't."

What won't you do?

Charlie said something, and Dad made a strange expression. Was it smug? Annoyed? "I'll talk to you later, okay?" Dad said, and then hung up, sighing.

"Come on out, Jake," he said, looking at the phone.

I stiffened, then sighed and shuffled to him, my head down.

"Something you'd like to know?"

My eyes shifted to look at him. He looked partly amused, partly tired, and partly something else. "What are they celebrating?" I asked quietly.

Dad frowned and rubbed his chin. "You remember that Bella was dating one of the Cullen boys?"

I raised an eyebrow. Dad had sent me to Bella's prom to tell her to break up with him, as we all very well remembered.

He plunged on. "Well, he, uh, left. Bella didn't take it so well."

This struck a cord. I stared at Dad with alarmed eyes. "He left in the woods?"

Dad sighed and shrugged. "Don't know. But he's gone. Good riddance," he muttered. "Alright, now go to sleep."