Disclaimer: Twilight, and those characters belonging to it, is property of Stephenie Meyer and I profit none whatsoever from using them for the fan fiction I write.
Author's Note : Both the Inn and Shop I use in this chapter are based on real places easily located on the Forks Website but have changed the names (slightly) of, still point out I have not been to either establishment and do not mean to reflect one way or the other on either business. I just like to have somewhere to reference when I write. Nothing I say in this chapter should be held in account with these places of business. Also, sorry for the very long absence.
. . . . .White sheets spread across the table, pages from the folder Esme had given Kady lay in wait for a final choice as the smell of cinnamon and apple wafted from the kitchenette the Inn provided in each of the guest rooms. Following the six days since Seth had left, 3 since her lunch with Alice and her mother, Kady had been thinking about the discussion they had had after dinner in the Cullen's living room. Staying was not as hard a decision as it might have been for the west coast outsider in any other situation, but leaving Seth was not an option she could accept given the change of events since arriving and meeting her childhood friend. To be honest, the young woman had started looking for a job not long after her arrival but had not been able to find anything with promise until last night.
Having been seated on her bed for most of the eveing, fingers at the keys of her laptop, the dark haired beauty had beamed at the sight of a link requesting help for a bakery off Forks Avenue. Finally, selecting the printer stationed in the downstairs visitor's lounge she had called the front desk to request permission to use it before choosing the application and going down to retrieve it. Form resting between a cover letter and resume on the bed, Kady zipped the black jacket closed over the white of an old band shirt to hide the lack of hiring wear she owned at the moment. Glancing outside at the dreary appearance of the day's gathering clouds she stuck a mental tag at the forefront of her mind, Going to need to find a store to replenish my wardrobe…Sealing the clear box of layered pastries, Kady set them carefully in the bottom of the bag she had emptied and slid her papers in as well before heading out the door. The jog down the stairs greeted by the Inn's owners with words of good luck gave her an inner warmth to meet the cool climate between the shore and mountains that Forks rested along. Pulling the jacket hood up, Kady swallowed against the gust of air coming down the street and tightened her hold on the bag during the fifteen minutes it took her to travel to her destination. Walking with Seth, the companionable wolf she was destined to love, she had been previously kept from having to deal with the temperature on her own. Now she was not sure it was the lack of his heat or his absence that caused her to feel the difference so acutely.
. . . . .
Taking the pages from the slim hand of the brunette across the counter, the red headed woman studied the pleased expression the applicant wore over the rim of her glasses, "It's not often we get in person applicants."
Brightening the short figure pulled a tray from her bag, three round cinnamon rolls neatly displayed inside, "I could not offer these on the internet."
Taking the clear box out of polite habit rather than a desire to eat them, the woman set them on the counter behind her own display case of similarly sized rolls noting the difference in the consistency of the glaze over the textured product. Decent workmanship, "I have an appointment for a consult on wedding cakes coming in shortly, I can't promise you'll hear back today."
Nodding the girl offered her hand and on contact the owner of Sweets Bakery noted how much cooler her temperature was than her own, "Just glad you'll consider me. My number is on both application and resume. Anytime is fine to call. It was nice to meet you."
As soon as the black jacket and jeans disappeared out the door, past the glass window of her displays, Patricia turned her hip on the side of the register and read over the cover letter, Kady Gearings. Formerly an east coast native her letter introduced the woman as a newcomer to Forks with an interest in baking from the time she was young. Several technical courses taken during high-school and mention of a certificate from a community college were listed in her application but it was a half-page list of references labeled 'Prior Bakery Sales' that caught her attention, flipping back to the letter she had skimmed she took in a paragraph of an attempted look into a home start business that had been postponed-
Ring! The chimes above the front door jingled and tinged against one another, announcing the arrival of her Eleven thirty appointment. Setting the papers under the black register, Patricia smiled in greeting and lifted her wedding portfolio from its shelf, "Welcome…"
. . . . .Bundled in unnecessarily thick layers, four figures blurred over the land nearly invisible but for the flurry of snow kicked up in their quick wake and the flash of dark hair in three spots as they'd slow every now and again. They moved in sync despite the distance between them, one in every direction around the cold town of Denali, attempting to ferret out troublemakers that had intruded on their land. Scarlett blushed along the snow and tree line where one of the darker haired figures ran and legs pushing into the land, the woman's hair whipped around her in thick ringlets, no breath ghosting from her lips despite the exertion her search would have caused others. The heady scent of salt and iron thick with wet filled the woman's nostrils and her eyes darkened considerably, her stand still posture lurching forward into the trees to find ambrosia.
Six bodies were piled, one over the other like gutted pigs after slaughter, open bites staining shirtless chests. The bronze beauty stared at the rivulets that had trickled down their bodies, dark eyes wide, nostrils flaring as she approached. The snap of twigs on either side had her spinning to face her attackers, arms raised in preparation when her vision focused on their faces, claws dropping, "Eleazar, Emmett."
The dark hair latino-esque man watched his wife with dark eyes, his gaze taking in her defensive posture and the mound of bodies behind her. Reaching forward he took her outstretched hand in his and pulled her away from the mass, "Carmen," he wrapped his arms around her cradling the back of her head against his shoulder as the other man passed him by.
Emmett surveyed the grouping of dead humans with eyes devoid of thirst, disgust filling his gaze to the brim, "They were-"
Eleazar nodded, chin scraping his wife's forehead as she grasped the lapels of his coat, shielding her nose from scent that spiked her thirst, "Half are lovers the girls had taken recently, one Carmen and I… we do not know the other two."
Holding his breath, Emmett leaned forward to turn their bloodied limbs to inspect, "No doubt, others are here." Swallowing he took a huge whiff of the intermingled scents that layered over the dead bodies, nose twitching with something close to recognition, "It's different, faint. Maybe a few days old." He straightened, turning around to face the couple, "Whoever they are they must have been watching you."
The lovers looked at one another, trying to guess at what they may have missed in the week that had passed to draw such attention to them. The only thing they could think of that would bring others so close was… "Someone from the Witnessing?"
They turned to look at their Cullen visitor, the vampire still at the implications.