Chapter 3: Headline

Caroline pulled the chair back and sat down. She took of her coat, reveling an even brighter green t-shirt, which Alice eyed with disgust.

Ben stuck out his hand to Caroline. "I'm Ben. You are?"

Caroline just stared at Ben's hand until he retracted it and said "My name is Caroline Helen Grace."

Alice sat forward in her chair "Your middle name is Helen?" she asked.

"Yes, after my aunt." Caroline showed little emotion when talking. Her face was very serious.

"Where did you move here from?" Ben questioned. Like most of the people in Forks High, Ben found that having a new student was very exciting. Bella saw people from tables close to their own trying to listen in to the conversation, wanting to learn more about Caroline.

"Vancouver."

"Why did you move here?" Bella said. Everyone laughed, except for Caroline who stared at Bella with her large eyes.

"Do you not like it here?" She asked.

Alice snorted and mumbled "That's an understatement."

Bella glared at Alice then turned her attention back to Caroline. "Well, I used to live in Arizona, you see. I liked the heat and the dryness there. Here, it rains almost everyday."

Caroline smiled, dimples appearing at the corners of her lips. "I love it here. The forest especially."

"What do you like about the forest?" Edward asked. It was very nonchalant, but Bella knew that he was concerned for anyone who went into the surrounding forests, for there are more dangerous things in there then a few bears and mountain lions.

Caroline shrugged her smile slipping away. Silence fell over the table. For a few awkward minutes they just sat, picking at their lunches, in till finally Ben produced a newspaper from his backpack and laid it on the table.

"Hey, I was wondering if you guys have heard about the stuff going on in Seattle." He looked from face to face at the table then pointed to the newspaper. "I think it's pretty weird if you ask me."

Bella leaned over the table to get a better look. The headline read Mysterious killings may be linked to gang activity. Of course Bella had heard of these murders. Charlie had gone on a rant a few days before, when the killings had just started. Bella hadn't really listened to all of it but she did hear about how strange the murders were.

"Do you really think it's a gang doing it or maybe a crazy serial killer?" Ben asked.

"I've hardly heard anything about it. Let me see." Angela grabbed the newspaper from Ben and hid her face behind it.

"I think it's a troll." Everyone at the table shifted to look at Caroline. Bewilderment plastered on their faces. Caroline looked up from her lunch. "Doing the killings I mean."

Bella opened her mouth to reply to the strange comment when Alice gasped. Edward's head perked up as he stared at Alice, whose eyes had just glazed over. Bella stopped and stared as well.

Alice's eyes slowly un-fogged as she came back to the present. Edward considerably tensed up. His mouth formed a tight, thin line. Bella franticly looked between the two. She hated being the only one not knowing what was going on.

When she stared at Edward pleadingly, he simply pretended that nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.

"Strange. All the bodies being burned beyond recognition. People being taken while surrounded by other people." Angela folded up the paper and put it back on the table. "It has to be more then one person."

Silence fell over the table. Each person wrapped in their own thoughts. Bella, was still trying to figure out what Alice had seen when Edward asked where, in Forks had Caroline moved into.

"The outskirts of town," she replied. "We moved into my great-grandma's house. I really like it there. The Spiderwick estate."

Ben dropped his spoon into his soup which responded with a loud splash. Bella looked at Ben curiously. She had never heard the name Spiderwick in her life.

"Are you saying you live in old lady Lucinda's house?" Ben asked.

"Ben." Angela chided.

"Sorry, but do you?"

Caroline frowned at this reaction from Ben. "Yes I do."

Ben let out a low whistle. Bella heard people in the cafeteria who had overheard this excitedly chatting with each other.

Suddenly the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Bella, confused as ever, watched as people hurriedly packed up their stuff and headed out the door. Caroline, without saying anything to the others, grabbed her stuff and quickly left.

I'm sorry that I haven't uploaded anything in a long time. Unfortunately my laptop which has my already planned chapters broke. I've finally gotten it fixed and I needed to send at least something out. So, here is a, again sorry, very short chapter explaining Caroline a bit further.