Standard disclaimer applies.
Prologue: Curious Scent
Curious scent, thus was thought that ran through our minds. Collin and Brady had caught it on their shift late in the morning that day and had reported it at lunch. They phased as Jacob, Quil and I had, a little ways from Sam and Emily's house, to let us know what the scent was like before making their way back to the house to eat.
It wasn't a vampire, that was for sure. Definitely not one of us, but not human either. The scent had a smoky tinge to it, but mostly smelled like mint and sage. The scent was all over La Push, the asphalt roads, one of the souvenir shops, and then it lingered at the beach. It was still mid-afternoon, so we phased just behind the tree line, just out of view of the tourists currently gathered to take advantage of the November swell.
After pulling on our cut-offs, we made our way to the beach. We surmised that if the scent was at a crowded beach, perhaps this thing didn't want to draw attention to itself. Quil quickly made his way towards Claire who was with Seth and Leah a good few meters from the shore. This was the reason why Quil put up such a fight not to go on patrol this afternoon. Claire had wanted to go surfing but he had to go on patrol. Seth and Leah had offered to take her instead. Lucky guy got a break when we followed the scent to the beach.
"Stay alert." Jacob whispered to Quil and I before sitting next to Leah on the blanket laid out for them. I caught their exchange, telling Leah and Seth about the foreign scent we were to keep our eyes out for. I sat myself on a large drift wood where Seth settled to make room for Jacob on the blanket, a few feet from them; my eyes scanning the waves of people at the shore.
"There," I heard Seth hiss, getting the attention of Leah, Jacob and Quil as we looked at the direction he was currently glaring at.
Decked out in full cold water surfing gear, was a girl around Claire's age: sixteen. She had full, wavy, red hair and lightly tanned skin peeking out from her wetsuit, she had her back towards us. Planting her surfboard to stand on the dark sand beside her, she reached up to tie her hair in a high ponytail.
As if she felt our stares, she turned, her eyes falling directly at us. That's was when I saw her. I stared directly into her eyes, a stunning light green hue.
And my world shifted.
Crap.