Hello again. This is the second fanfic that I've ever posted and the first to make it beyond the first chapter. I hope everyone is enjoying the story.

This chapter was updated on June 16, 2014. No major plot changes, just tinkering with descriptions and wording.

Monday, 8:00 AM

Dess glared at her alarm clock as it blared. Then she rolled over and slapped the button that stopped the offending noise. With a sigh, she hauled herself out of bed. The late bell rang at 8:45, and it would not go over well with Charlie if she was tardy. She had the house to herself as she got ready. Charlie was already at work, and Bella had probably left early since it was her first day.

She glanced in her closet, grabbing the first pair of black pants she saw. A black long-sleeved T-shirt joined her ensemble, as did her usual black boots. She donned her assembly of named metal bracelets before grabbing her backpack and thundering down the stairs. Dess paused in the brightly-painted kitchen long enough to grab a cereal bar, and then headed for the door. As it slammed behind her, she slid her sunglasses over her eyes.

A string of curses filled the cab of the Ford. A tiny silver Volvo cut her off in the school parking lot, and Dess reflected on the temptation to squish it like a bug. There were advantages to driving a truck. After that, things were completely unremarkable until her third class. The U.S. Government teacher was a fan of assigned seating. The boy in the seat to her right, Mike Newton, was one of the popular crowd. Usually he ignored her, but today he leaned her way as the teacher prepared her notes for the day's lesson.

"Your sister. She's really interesting," he commented.

Dess didn't bother to look at him.

"Half-sister. If you like her, go talk to her yourself." Dess turned away, wishing that she was allowed to wear her sunglasses in the school building. It was easier to avoid people if they couldn't meet her eyes.

By the time lunch came around, everyone was trading information about Isabella Swan. It reminded Dess of Jessica Day when she first came to Bixby, except that Jess had actually been interesting. Bella was just another daylighter, albeit one who was related to her.

"Have you seen the new girl?"

"Have you spoken to her?"

"What's she like?"

"Isn't she from Phoenix? Why is she so pale?"

Forks had a small population, nowhere near the 43,200 necessary for it to be likely to be the birthplace of a midnighter. Dess sat by herself in her usual spot. There was not an overabundance of tables in the lunch room, and Dess had sought out the emptiest territory. The local rich kids, the Cullens and Hales, had had enough force of presence to keep an entire table to themselves. On her first day here in the fall, she had plopped herself down on the far end of their table despite their glares. She never made any move to talk with them, and they settled into a silent truce.

Dess normally spent lunch working on math problems or designs to put on future weapons. As her pencil flew across the paper, she glanced at her sister to see how she interacted with the population of Forks High. Kids were flocking around Bella's table like slithers around the number twelve. When the bell rang, a few of the male groupies seemed intent on following her to her next class.

Due to differing curriculums in Bixby and Forks, Dess's schedule was weird. There were classes that she had already taken in Bixby that were senior classes in Forks, and classes that would have been for seniors in Bixby but were taken earlier here. One of the classes in the second category was Biology, which Dess, a senior, was now taking with juniors. One of those juniors happened to be Bella Swan.

When Dess walked in just before the bell, she briefly noted that what had previously been the only empty seat in the class was now occupied by her sister. As the teacher droned on, she examined a county map that she kept hidden behind her binder. Her gaze drifted up from the map as her brain searched for patterns in the coordinates. Maybe the Olympic Peninsula would have weird spots like Bixby did, places with special significance that could be found by doing the math.

Motion caused her to temporarily focus on what was happening before her eyes. She barely noted that Edward Cullen, Bella's lab partner, was leaning away from Bella as if repulsed by a magnet while sending her a death glare. When class finally ended, Edward practically ran out of the room. Bella sent Dess a questioning look, but Dess just shrugged. She didn't know or care why other people did what they did.

During her last class, Dess turned her attention to a much larger problem. For much of her life, there had been a Mindcaster around. Melissa made it much easier to find people. But now Dess had to find new midnighters on her own, which was turning out to be infinitely harder than she had imagined.

Dess had spent her first semester exploring Forks for any signs of midnighters. Every night she had headed out on her bike during the blue time to see if there was anyone else awake. The city only had 3,500 people compared to Bixby's 23,000, so after those first six months she was certain that there were no midnighters to be found.

She also knew her way around the city extremely well. Back in Bixby Dess had examined the maps, trying to figure out which mathematical patterns and equations predicted contortions and other midnight anomalies. Lore sites were not on her list, of course. The hour had never been present here before, so there would not be any recorded lore. Dess couldn't actually test all of her predictions as some required a Mindcaster to tell her if casting was stronger or weaker from a particular spot, but she could test to see if location affected the strength of her weapons. This research, however, could only advance when she was tested by a darkling or a slither. She hadn't seen any of the former since moving here, and very few of the latter.

Dess slipped on her sunglasses despite the clouds as she stepped out of the building that housed her last class. She pondered what to do next, and decided to determine if there were any other population centers that she could bike to during the hour. She brushed an offending raindrop off of her nose as she walked across the parking lot but was brought up short when a horn blared at her.

"Watch it!" she yelled at the car that sped around her. It was the same silver Volvo that had cut her off this morning. It darted around other cars and burned rubber as it pulled out onto the highway; for some reason it was in even more of a hurry than it had been earlier.

The metal car keys jingled merrily as Dess unlocked her truck. She flung her backpack across the cab to the passenger seat with an irritated grunt and slammed the driver's side door behind her. When the rush of cars died down, she started for home.

Monday, 5:00 PM

After pushing the power button on her desktop computer, Dess grabbed her music box with Ada Lovelace. She fiddled with the gears and listen to the resulting music as she waited for the computer to boot up.

A map of the Olympic Peninsula and a quick internet search informed her that the nearest place to search was an unincorporated township nine miles north of Forks named Beaver. It only had 400 residents, but Dess did not plan to leave any stone unturned. She had asked for and received a black 21-speed bike for Christmas, and she could average twenty miles per hour on it if the road was flat. If she wanted to make it to Beaver and back during the hour, it would only leave her six minutes to explore per night. Beaver might be small, but that would still take her a painfully long time. Driving there before the hour would be her best option.

That night Dess started packing her backpack long before midnight. This time she placed towels between the layers of metal to muffle the sound of clinking. When her clock informed her that it was 11:00 PM, she carefully opened her door. She tip-toed down the stairs, moving slowly to prevent her metal ankle bracelets from jingling. She was half-way to the front door when a voice caused her to freeze.

"Desdemona, where are you going?"

The kitchen light flicked on, revealing Charlie Swan. He was standing at the counter with a glass of water in one hand, and he was wearing the old T-shirt and shorts that he usually wore to bed.

"Um… I couldn't remember if I locked my truck or not. I was going to check."

Charlie frowned. He looked down at her boots and then up at her backpack.

"We've had this conversation before, Dess. I don't want you driving around town at night without telling me your plans. Especially on a school night."

"I'm not doing anything illegal," Dess protested. "I'm not drinking, smoking, or doing drugs. I'm not selling them either, or hanging out with people who are. There's no curfew. I just enjoy being outside and exploring in the dark."

"Who knows what could happen. I've seen some pretty nasty stuff in the years I've been an officer. Most crimes aren't premeditated. They're crimes of opportunity. And a young girl like yourself out alone can be a pretty tempting opportunity. You usually throw your bike in the back, too. Riding a bike alone at night is even more dangerous."

Charlie gave Dess an apologetic look.

"I just want you to be safe. I want to be able to tell your mother that I kept her daughter in one piece."

Dess leveled a look of irritation and impatience at Charlie.

"I'm a legal adult. I can take responsibility for my own decisions. This is Forks, Charlie. A small town in the middle of nowhere. I think I'll be alright. You don't understand."

Charlie sighed, "No, I guess I don't. But I do understand that I don't want you going out alone. If you're going to live in my house, I'm responsible for you. You're staying here. Give me your keys. I'll leave them on the counter for you in the morning."

"Don't bother," Dess growled scathingly. "I'm not going anywhere now." She turned and stomped towards the stairs.

"Give me your keys, young lady," Charlie ordered in his Chief-of-Police voice. "If you don't you'll be riding to school with your sister for a month."

Dess did a U-turn without pausing or slowing. As she moved towards Charlie her boots' clomping increased in volume. She scowled angrily at him and slapped her keys into his outstretched palm. Finally she headed back towards her room to wait for midnight. As she reached the top of the stairs, Bella's head appeared from her doorway.

"Mind your own business," Dess snarled before Bella had a chance to do or say anything. Dess disappeared into her own room and slammed the door behind her. Ten minutes later she heard Charlie walk by her room.

"Goodnight, Dess," he whispered softly. She did not respond.

Midnight rolled in like a calm, blue wave.

Dess rolled off her bed and flew downstairs. The kickstand snapped sharply as she kicked it out of the way and mounted her bike. She hit the road at top speed and was soon powering down the highway. Though her temper had cooled somewhat while she waited for midnight, she was still irritated. Her eyes occasionally flicked to one side or the other as she scanned the forest for something on which to vent her ire.

Unfortunately the trees flew by without divulging any darklings. Dess puffed as she peddled into Beaver 25 minutes into the blue time. She decided to give herself eight minutes to explore. She turned onto the first residential side street that she came across, noting the name on the street sign.

"Hello?" she hollered, coasting down the center of the road. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

Up ahead the road curved to the right. Dess swerved around a car that likely held someone getting home after a late shift at work and a long commute. After successfully navigating the obstacle, Dess returned her attention to her surroundings.

"Anybody out..," a shriek tore through the air as something plowed into Dess. Its momentum tipped her bike to the left and she hit the blacktop. Her spear was jarred out of her hand by the fall, and it clattered as it rolled away. Something leathery was beating at her face, and she desperately jerked her right arm up in front of her to protect herself. An icy coldness pierced her wrist, drawing forth a sharp, shocked breath. When she finally thrust her arm away from her face, her assailant's appearance became clear.

It was another snake-like slither, but this one had wings. The end of its black tongue had separated into filaments, which were wrapped around her wrist. An excited, feral grin lit up Dess's face as she kicked her bike away to free her legs. Then she swiftly brought her knees to her chest and kicked the creature that was mauling her.

"Glorification! Vulcanization! Dess roared as she lashed out. As her boots connected with the slither, blue sparks erupted from her ankle bracelets. The winged monster gave a high-pitched keen as it was thrown away with more force than the kick alone could have accounted for. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and the slither hit the curb and fell still.

But Dess was already rolling to her feet and unzipping her backpack. As she had kicked her bike away, she had heard hissing from the opposite direction. She pulled out a thirteen inch long farrier hoof nipper and strode towards the nearest slither. It curled up and struck at her, but Dess danced to the side.

"Overproducing!" she insulted as she brought the head of the nippers down on the slither's skull in a fountain of sparks. The final slither had shifted to a small black feline the size of a feral cat during the previous exchange. As Dess looked up from the slither she had just killed, it bounded towards her and leapt for her face. She batted it aside with the now-inert nippers and drew a knife from a side pouch on her backpack. But the tip of the knife caught on something, and the cat-slither rushed at her as she was trying to free her weapon. With her attention focused on the knife, her half-hearted swipe with the nippers missed the cat entirely. It jumped through the air and landed on her upper left arm, sinking its claws in to find purchase.

In the next instant, the tip of the knife came free.

"Parabolically!" she shouted as she sliced at the slither's side with the knife. It shivered as its small form began to burn from the fatal wound. It refused to admit it was dead, however, and growled as it began clawing its way onto her shoulder, its blood dripping down onto her torn sleeve and mixing with her own. She gritted her teeth and stabbed at it, the point of the knife sinking into its side behind the shoulder. It spasmed as blue electricity flowed through it, claws temporarily sinking in deeper before falling away entirely. The corpse hit the ground with a dry thud.

Dess glanced around, straining to hear. She stood there in silence for an entire minute. Slithers liked traveling in groups of twelve, and she had only fought three. But nothing moved, and she checked her watch. The struggle had been brief, and she needed to leave now in order to make it home before the hour ended.

"Ew. Singed cat hair," Dess remarked as she wrinkled her nose. She wiped the blood off of her used tools and placed them in the front pouch of her backpack. She zipped everything up and retrieved her spear from where it had rolled down the street. Finally she picked up her bike and headed for the highway. Despite her painful minor injuries, her grin was still firmly in place. This was what she had hoped for.

Dess made it home without further incident. The blue light drained from the world as she crossed the living room, so she had to count the steps to avoid the squeaky ones as she climbed the stairs. Before going to bed, she took stock of her injuries. There was nothing she could do for the bruises forming on her right wrist. Her upper left arm and shoulder bore a few small scratches, some of which were still oozing droplets of blood.

She crept to the bathroom, where she quietly rinsed off her and the slither's blood. She then dabbed rubbing alcohol on the cuts, grumbling to herself at the sting. Once back in her room, she wrapped her arm in gauze, kicked her torn, bloody shirt under her bed, and collapsed on top of her covers. She was instantly asleep.