IV

I walked back to the kitchen to put the apple on the counter. I kept replaying the last few seconds over in my mind.

Edward. I don't think I had ever met an Edward in real life. All of the Edwards I knew of were in books or movies. Although none of those Edwards had ever caused a reaction like this from me. He was so –there wasn't even a right word to describe him. I think my heart literally skipped a beat when he handed me that apple. The look in his eyes as he held out the apple with both his hands…

Wait.

Both of his hands?

Where did he put the crate of apples he had been holding before?

I was sure he had been holding the crate in his arms when I gave Alice the money. And then, what? There was no way he could have put it down so quickly and taken an apple out of the crate to hand it to me in the time it took for me to turn my head from Alice to him. When did he have time to put it down? Neither he nor Alice had the crate with them when they walked away. They forgot it on the porch!

I ran back to the door and yanked it open expecting to find the apple crate on the porch. I was going to call Alice and Edward back to remind them about their apples. They couldn't have gotten far on foot.

"Alice? Edward?" I yelled as I opened the door.

There was no one. No apples on the porch and no Alice or Edward to be found anywhere. How strange. There was no sign of them anywhere in the neighborhood.

I slowly closed the door again. This time I stared at the apple cautiously. As I set it down on the kitchen counter I decided that I would not eat that apple until I talked to my father. He would know about the new doctor at the hospital and the Halloween Carnival.

With that thought in mind I went back upstairs to get ready for bed. My father would be back home by sunrise so if I woke up early enough I could see him before he headed to bed himself. Once I had brushed my teeth and finished my nightly routine I went to my bedroom and got into bed. I left the bedroom door slightly open so I could hear my father when he came home.

I had trouble falling asleep. When I closed my eyes I could see his face looking back towards mine. I would shift my position on the bed and just when I was about to fall asleep I'd imagine something cold reaching towards me. It was almost like something was in the room with me. Since I couldn't sleep I kept thinking about Alice and Edward. They were both exceptionally beautiful. Especially him.

But there had definitely been something very different about them. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Did they really move so fast that I couldn't find them when I walked back to the front door?

No. That was impossible. It was just my imagination running wild. Maybe there was someone waiting for them in a car. And the apple crate? Maybe I had been too busy staring at Edward to see when one of them had picked it up again. Yes, that had to be it. There was a reasonable explanation for everything. With that settled I was finally able to sleep. But why did I still feel something strange? It was the same creepy feeling you get in the back of your spine when you feel you are being watched.


A/N: Hi, if there's anyone reading please leave a review and tell me what you think so far. Thanks in advance.