A/N: Hello all! This is a new story I've been cooking up and I wanted to post the first few chapters to see whether or not I should continue. Read and let me know what you think.
"The ME just called – the body was completely drained of blood. They found no other indications of foul play, beside two puncture wounds near the jugular."
"Do you think we have some kind of serial killer who has an obsession with vampires? The last few murders have been exactly the same, besides a few bodies burnt beyond recognition - all of them have been drained of blood, and all have the same puncture wounds on the neck."
"I don't know, but this is getting out of control. If we don't do something to stop it, we'll be faced with the highest number of homicides Colorado has ever seen."
The two police officers sat opposite each other in the precinct, and exchanged a worried glance.
Cassandra sat in the interrogation room with her face buried in her hands, sobbing. She had been called down for questioning in regards to the murder of her mother, and was at a complete loss for words. She couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm her gentle, loving mother.
A year ago her mother had decided that she wanted a fresh start, and so the pair found themselves moving from Detroit, Michigan to Denver, Colorado. They owned a two-story, four-bedroom home in the suburbs, surrounded by friendly neighbors who accepted them with open arms. Cassandra attended Thomas Jefferson High School, and found herself surrounded by a good group of friends. She was excelling in all of her subjects, including her advanced placement classes, and she would be entering the twelfth grade at the end of summer; to her, life couldn't be any better.
She was staying over at a friend's house when she got the call from the police. Apparently, they had obtained her cell phone number from her mother's phone, which was found at the scene.
At that moment, two men clad in police uniforms entered the room and took their seats in front of Cassandra. She looked up at them with red, puffy eyes.
"Cassandra, we know this is hard for you, but we just need to ask a few questions so we could hopefully find out who did this, okay?" She nodded her head.
"Do you know of anyone who would want to harm your mother?"
"No." Her normally musical voice was now hoarse from crying.
"Did anything seem off about her the last time you saw or talked to her?"
"No, she seemed completely fine."
The officer jotted her answers down on his notepad.
"Do you have any relatives you can call? It has come to our attention that it was only you and your mother living together."
She nodded her head, thinking of one person in particular – her father. Her parents divorced when she was seven, and ever since then, her father tried to be in her life as much as he could. She wasn't sure about the reasons her parents divorced, but she did know that he moved to Washington, nearly 1,800 miles away from their home in Michigan.
"Alright, come with me so you can use the phone."
She slowly got up and followed the officer to a desk located in the left corner of the crowded room. He motioned for her to sit behind the desk, which she did, and she picked up the receiver and began to enter the familiar digits of her father's number. After three rings, a deep voice picked up.
"Hello?"
"Dad?" She sounded completely broken.
"Cassandra? Baby, what's wrong?"
"Mom's dead – someone murdered her. I don't know what to do. I don't have any family here, dad, and…and…" She started sobbing again.
"Oh my God. Cassie. Don't worry; I'm going to book a flight. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? Stay over at Bailey's until I arrive. Keep your phone on." His voice sounded strangled, and it was almost as if he were on the verge of tears. Cassandra knew that her father still held feelings for her mother, and she knew that this situation dealt a heavy blow to his heart.
"Alright, dad."
She was asked a few more questions, and then allowed to go home. Her dad would be there in about four or five hours, and she did as she was told: she stayed over at Bailey's. She felt completely numb – her world had been turned upside down all in a matter of hours. She was aware of the fact that she would more than likely have to move to Washington with her dad, and although she would be leaving her friends behind, she was okay with that. She wanted to get away from this place.
The next week and a half passed in a blur. Her mother's funeral had been a fairly large one – the two were quite well known, and many of her mother's friends had shown up to pay their respects. After that, she had begun packing her things, because, like she had thought, she would be moving to Washington.
She soon found herself on United Airways heading to Seattle. Her dad had explained to her that he lived in La Push, the tiny Quileute reservation on the edge of Forks. Her dad was full-blooded Quileute, so it was no surprise that he returned to his true home. Her mother was a German immigrant who moved to the United States in the summer of 1970; the two met at a Sex Pistols concert. She had inherited her father's Native American looks: coppery skin, only slightly lighter due to her mother's genes, long, raven-colored hair, and high cheekbones. Her eyes, however, she got from her mother: a vivid green with amber flecks. All in all, she was beautiful, but she still felt out of place among a town full of what her father's people would call 'pale-faces'.
"Cassie, you're going to love it there, trust me. All of the people are very friendly. The only downside is, everyone knows your business – the problem with such small towns." She smiled at her father. She really had missed him, and, although they had not lived together in basically ten years, she did not feel the slightest bit uncomfortable – it was as if he had never left.
Her father, himself, was a big man. He stood at a startling height of 6'5, and had raven-colored hair that was cropped short. He didn't look a day over twenty-five, at the most. She didn't know if he was always this big; she hadn't seen him in person for a while, and there were no pictures of him to look at. Her mother made sure to delete every visible piece of evidence of him from their life – this was another thing that had Cassie confused, now that she thought of it.
The captain's voice floated through the speakers announcing that they were beginning their descent into Seattle. From there, they would have to take a small flight to Fork's Airport, and then make a thirty-minute drive to the reservation. Cassandra felt worn out already, and just wanted to arrive at her new home as fast as she could.
"Now, Cassie, there are a few things I should tell you before we get there." The two had just settled themselves into the small aircraft, and were awaiting departure.
"Okay. What, are you some pimp-daddy, now?" She laughed at his expression, and he, too joined in her laughter.
"No, not quite, although the thought did cross my mind a few times. Your dads' got it going on." He ran his hand through his hair, and struck a pose, which Cassandra thought was supposed to be sexy, supposed being the keyword. "But, seriously. I share a house with a few friends of mine – three to be exact. A few of them are around your age, actually."
Cassie felt her eyes widen. She would be staying in a house with three guys who weren't related to her? Wow. She could just picture the great amount of awkwardness that would be sure to follow her arrival.
"Dad, do you have any idea how weird that might be? Four guys, and one girl sharing a house? A teenage girl, might I add?"
Her dad looked at her and smiled sheepishly. "We could put you in the shed if you want – you won't even know we're there. It'll be like your own little cottage."
She felt her mouth widen into an O, and lightly slapped her dad on the arm. "That is so not funny!" Apparently, he found it funny, because he soon erupted into a fit of laughter.
"Just how old are the guys staying with you?"
"Well, Embry and Paul are twenty, and Jared is twenty-two."
Okay, not so bad. They're closer to my age than I thought. "Okay, that doesn't sound so bad. They are aware that I'm coming, right?"
"Yeah, everyone there knows you're coming, actually. Like I said, news travels fast. Those three, with the guidance of Emily and Kim, are cleaning up the house, and fixing up your room."
She nodded her head and stared out of the window at the vast amount of green below her. In about two hours she would be home free, and she would be introduced to the strangers that her dad lived with. Curiosity had indeed slapped her in the face, because she found herself wondering about the people she would come to meet. Only a matter of time.