Chapter Thirty Eight: Down the Rabbit Hole We Go

A/N: Hello again everyone! I hope you're all in good health. I wish this insanity would be over with soon. If you're one of the many people having to work harder during this time or are currently out of work due to the health scare, I hope you find some peaceful days and a brighter 2020 when this mess is over. Until then hopefully you can hide out with a good drink and a good book!

Stoic's Dream: Thank you! It's honestly been this way since 2012 so I'm kind of used to the insanity. We're joking that at least we're all quarantine ready now.

Zile Racer: Oh, this is definitely not just Twilight with Asteria in it. Sometimes I'll find myself writing a section and then look it over and be like "wait a second, Asteria would never let this dumb shit happen" and then I'll rewrite it. I had a basic frame for my story when I started but it's so fun to change it as her character has developed. There were some plot points I mapped out waaaay back when I wrote chapter one that just don't make sense for her now. All I can say is, I'm very excited for what's to come. Of course, I like when shit hits the fan, sooo...

eeeeaud: One of my most favorite things about this story is honestly Asteria's interactions with Charlie. I feel like he's not given enough credit and getting to focus on him more has been great. And of course Esme is that motherly figure Asteria hasn't had around in a while. I think this chapter might shed some more light on your speculating about her dreams. And thank you for saying she's cool on her own without a man! Honestly though she's a literal train wreck so good luck to the poor S.O.B. that gets stuck with her.

Reveri: Thank you so much! I just really try to put myself in the moment and write my characters how I feel they'd react in that situation. I always worry if I'm making them go out of character, but I figure that characters can grow and change to their surroundings, so they would in this new narrative I've created as well.

Excuse me while I go bump today's song of the day:

"Sawed Off Shotgun" by the Glorious Sons

(11 out of 10, would recommend)

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Jasper, true to his word, got Asteria her happy meal. It came with a little toy gun that she used to shoot Alice, who promptly confiscated it. It was completely worth it in Asteria's opinion.

"So, what are you doing with the rest of your day," Alice asked her.

"I don't know, hide in my room," Asteria said. "I was working on some college applications the other day, maybe I'll finish them."

"Oh, that's exciting," Alice said. "Where are you thinking about going?"

"I'm not really sure," Asteria said. "Right now I'm just trying to get options out there. I don't really have a game plan though, so it might be better not to go somewhere expensive and waste time and money doing gen eds."

"Don't be ridiculous," Alice replied. "We'll pay for it."

"Uhh," Asteria drew out before taking a deep breath to prepare her for the incoming argument. "Well, guess we're doing this right now. No, but thanks."

"You're officially part of the family," Alice argued. "Which means you can accept the money."

"Alice-," Asteria started.

"Asteria," Alice interrupted. "It's not like we'll miss the money. No offense, but I doubt you've applied for any scholarships, and it's too late by now. It really isn't a big deal, it's not a lot of money for us."

Asteria sighed. "It's a big deal to me, though. I don't want to have to rely on someone else's money. When my parents passed a trust fund was set up, it'll help pay for tuition."

"What about your other expenses," Alice continued. "Room and board, gas, car maintenance, food? Are you going to get a job and go to school full time?"

"I don't know," Asteria said, "but before this turns into an argument, let's make an agreement. I don't even know where I'm going to school or what my living situation will be yet so there's no point getting worked up over it. If I can make it on my own, I would prefer to. However, if I end up needing assistance, I will ask you without making it a big deal. Okay?"

Alice looked at her shrewdly. "I suppose until you figure out your situation there's no point in arguing over it. Do you have any ideas to go off of?"

"I'm not really sure what I want to do yet," Asteria said. "I figured the first semester or two is mainly generic classes anyway, which will buy me some time to figure it out. I do know that I don't want to go too far."

"Staying close just for us," Jasper asked her.

Asteria shrugged, aware of his teasing tone. He was probably picking up on Alice's emotions, which were more than likely sentimental. "Washington is as good of a place as any to set down some roots. I happen to like the cold, and the nature. Charlie's here, I've got a good group of friends here, and yeah, I guess you guys make the list."

"I knew you cared about us," Alice said.

"Just, like, a little bit," Asteria teased. "It's been nice though. I've never really had a big family before. Thanks to Emmett I finally know what it would be like if I had a little brother."

"Little brother," Jasper asked.

"He's physically larger, and older than me, but you can't convince me he'd be the 'cool older brother'," Asteria said.

"So who is the 'cool older brother'," Jasper asked casually.

Asteria gave him a deadpan expression. "Don't make me have to say it's you."

"But it is me," Jasper said.

Alice grinned. "Of course, which naturally makes me the cool older sister."

"Ohh, gotta give that one to Rosalie," Asteria said. "Sorry, I don't make the rules."

Alice pouted. "And where exactly does that leave me?"

"I was going to say the twin that's three minutes older and thinks she knows everythi-," Asteria started before being cut off by a hug from Alice, who had flung herself from the passenger seat into the back somehow.

"You realize in this scenario I was thinking of Edward as like, the apathetic cat," Asteria said.

"Oh hush," Alice said. "He means well."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Asteria said. "But the rivalry is so much fun."

The rest of the car ride was less mushy and left Asteria in a bubbly mood when she got home. Bella was just finishing dinner and Charlie asked her multiple questions about her weekend, which was more than the usual "did you have fun". It seemed like he was trying to make her feel guilty about being away, and boy, did it work.

After dinner Asteria changed her plans and decided to join Charlie in the living room while finishing up her applications. Bella went up to her room to do homework at the desk up there, so it was some nice quality bonding time between the two of them. They hadn't had a lot of that lately.

"Different having you both here," Charlie said. "This house is a lot more full than it used to be."

"Hope you aren't getting tired of us yet," Asteria teased as she looked up from her computer.

"Of course not," Charlie said. "I was just wondering, since you're working on college applications, what you were thinking about doing."

"That is the hot topic of discussion lately," Asteria sighed. "I just want to stay relatively close to Forks and work on getting the generic stuff out of the way. I was talking to Natalie about it the other day, she said something about going to Seattle. It's only a three hour drive."

"Three and a half," Charlie replied. "No speeding. So you think you're gonna stick around this area?"

"Well, yeah," Asteria said. "Forks has kind of grown on me. Once you get used to the rain it's not so bad."

"Oh, well good," Charlie said with a small smile he tried to hide. "Keep me in the loop."

"Of course," Asteria said.

The more she thought about it though, the more it bugged her. If she had a dollar for every question someone asked about her future lately she could afford to pay for her tuition in cash, up front. The truth was, most of her life felt uncertain. She was just starting to grow into being a witch and she didn't quite know what that meant to her yet. How was she supposed to plan out a future based off of that?

Asteria's mind wandered for a bit before coming up with a simple solution: if magic was giving her a hard time deciding, it could also help her make up her mind. Saying a quick good night to Charlie, Asteria packed up her laptop and went up to her room. She wondered what her best course of action was before deciding to go straight for her book of shadows.

Flipping through it and hoping something struck a chord, Asteria doubled back to one of Maureen's entries. Her grandma had taken a definite interest in crystals and had an extensive section on them. Remembering her new amethyst crystal, Asteria decided it was worth reading up on. Apparently amethyst was good for a lot of things, including spiritual awareness, good judgment, and new beginnings. Maureen had even referred to it as a 'directional stone' once, whatever that meant.

Sitting back, Asteria figured it was more than chance that she happened across that amethyst earlier. She discovered that fate often lacked subtlety where she was concerned. Unfortunately, Asteria wasn't aware of any spells in the book that would help her turn her amethyst into her very own magic eight ball, so it was time to wing it.

Using Maureen's protection ring spell as a rough framework, Asteria decided to bury the amethyst in sea salt and an herb mixture overnight under the moon. Thankfully the amethyst was small enough to be submerged in a bowl of salt. Asteria mixed in some allspice for determination, basil to get rid of confusion, and ginger to draw adventure. Getting sudden inspiration, she pulled out a sharpie and wrote "help me find my way" on a bay leaf before sticking it into the salt to make her intent more clear. Hoping that was enough, she set her little crystal inside the bowl and put it in the windowsill under the moon before getting ready for bed. She still wasn't sure how to create her own spells so she knocked on some wood for good luck and called it a night.

School passed by in another monotonous blur. They had moved on to the Industrial Revolution in history class and Asteria regularly whispered over to Emmett "hey, were you a part of this," or "do you remember that" just for the fun of it. He would roll his eyes and answer back sarcastically. It was a wonder the teacher didn't separate them.

By the time the last bell rang Asteria was more than ready to get out of there. It had been an incredibly boring day by her standards and all she wanted was to go home and relax. She slung her backpack on her shoulder and protested when Emmett tried to lift it as they headed towards the parking lot.

"Hey now," Asteria said. "I think I'm qualified to carry my own backpack by this point."

"I thought you were still playing it up to try to get out of school," Rosalie commented.

"Yeah, well, that excuse has run its course. I'm gonna need a new one," Asteria said.

"You're clever, you'll think of something," Emmett said.

Asteria faked a shocked expression and put a hand to her chest. "A compliment? From Emmett? I think I'm going into shock. I might even need a day to recover."

"Keep trying, I'm sure you'll get it," Emmett responded.

Asteria laughed, but quickly subdued herself as she saw Bella walk up to meet her.

"Hey," Bella said tersely. "I just wanted to let you know I'll be out with some friends tonight. We're going shopping in Port Angeles so I won't be home for dinner. I already told Charlie."

"Oh, cool," Asteria responded. "Have fun." The awkward conversation was over quickly and left Asteria shrugging vaguely at Emmett and Rosalie as Bella walked away.

The rest of the afternoon went by relatively without disruption. She made some chicken fried steak that she knew would get directly to Charlie's soul, the poor man was a sucker for anything breaded and fried.

"Something smells good," Charlie commented as soon as he was in the door. Sucker.

"I thought you'd like it," Asteria laughed. "It'll be ready in ten minutes. Think you can wait that long?"

"Only if there's mashed potatoes," Charlie responded as he relaxed in the living room.

"Lucky for you, I know how much you love your meat and potatoes," Asteria responded.

Asteria began to wonder if her cooking at home was really any better than getting food at the diner every night, but at least it was home cooked. She idly wondered what Charlie's cholesterol level looked like; maybe it was time for a salad or two as the main course. Still, it was clear he appreciated the menu Asteria created. After dinner he sank onto the couch with a sigh and flipped it to the nightly news.

"Alright, that was a good one," he said.

"Thanks," Asteria laughed. "Did it put you down for the count?"

"Just maybe," Charlie replied with a grin.

Asteria excused herself from the living room and went upstairs. She was almost ready to open up her binder and get started on her homework when she remembered her amethyst spell from the night before. Shrugging to herself, she went across to her windowsill and dug the crystal out of the salt.

It didn't exactly look different, and it left Asteria unsure of where to go from here. This was a completely new spell after all. "What exactly do you do," Asteria muttered to the stone as she picked up. She tensed for some sort of reaction, but there was nothing. She stared at it for a while, poking and prodding the stone, finding its energy again, but nothing provoked it into reacting. Finally, she gave way to pacing back and forth across her bedroom. The stone lit up like a beacon as she walked before fading away again.

"Shit," Asteria whispered in awe as it seemed to work. She stared at it some more but nothing seemed to happen. Puzzled, Asteria took a step or two further and watched it glow. She had almost run into the door watching it light up; she turned to move back the other way and watched as the glow disappeared. Curious, she peeked out into the hallway before taking several out into the glow appeared again, seeming stronger this time.

Asteria cursed, now aware of what was happening. She had designed a spell to show her what direction she should take, and technically she did. The problem was that it was taken quite literally. She now had a magical gps that would lead her on a path based on the rules of Marco Polo. Sighing at her luck, Asteria resigned herself to see this one through. Surely there were worse ways to kill a night.

"Hey Charlie," Asteria said as she came down the stairs, amethyst tucked safely in her pocket. "I ate too many carbs at dinner, I'm gonna go for a quick walk. I'll drive over to Main Street and just walk around the main road, I swear. If I don't move I think I'm gonna explode."

"Okay, kiddo," Charlie replied. "Just be safe. Call me if you need me."

"Sure thing," Asteria said as she waved goodbye.

The night had a chill to it, but Asteria ignored it as she climbed into the Camaro. With the amethyst out on the passenger seat, she used it to decide which direction to drive in. Whenever the glow seemed to dim she made a turn, and if it didn't help she drove in a small circle until she was more or less back to the same spot and could choose a different path. It was a lot of guess and check, but it wasn't like she had much else to go on. At this point Asteria didn't know how exactly this was helping to find her future, but it beat chemistry homework so she was willing to give it a shot.

After a few minutes of driving around Asteria thought she saw a little white figure moving on the side of the road so she pulled off and parked. She was towards the edge of town now, out by the park where the nature trails started and not too far from the little marina that lead into the bay. Grabbing the crystal and hopping out of the car, Asteria was able to see the little white puffball better now; a stray dog wandered just out of reach behind another parked car.

"Aw, come here little guy," Asteria called out as she crouched down. It took a few minutes of coaxing, but she finally got the dog to come up to her and allow itself to be pet. She determined it was at least part Shih Tzu and most definitely not a stray; it was too well groomed and fed. Someone was missing this dog.

"Did you wander off from home," Asteria asked the little dog. She needed both hands to keep it from squirming and settled for sticking the crystal in the front pocket of her hoodie before picking the dog up. "I bet someone is looking for you right now. Think they're close by?"

Asteria spent the next ten minutes wandering around the street with the dog wriggling in her grasp, trying to figure out which direction it could have come from. If the dog was near home it didn't seem to know. It looked rather pleased to be carried around with no direction in particular to go. Eventually she wandered her way further around the bend in the road and down toward the docks. Now the little dog had plenty to say and kicked up such a fuss that Asteria had no choice but to let go. The little dog scrambled to the ground and then yelped as it ran back up the road.

Looking down, Asteria realized the crystal in her pocket was glowing brighter than it had before. Rationalizing that the dog had been freaked out by the light, she decided to continue on down to the docks, sure that this was the path she was supposed to take. The crystal only held its glow, ensuring that it was the right path.

Asteria stepped down into the little marina, feeling oddly out of place. Charlie came there all the time to fish, but she had only been once or twice. She hadn't been a fan of the motion sickness of the small boat he took out onto the rough waters. Her inexperience with the area coupled with the darkness made it hard for her to navigate around various hazards down into the main docks.

"Hello," Asteria called out, testing the silence. She wasn't about to pull out her glowing amethyst in plain view without making sure she was fully alone. "Is anyone there? I found a dog wandering around, I'm looking for its owner."

There was no response and Asteria took that as a good sign to go ahead and pull the amethyst out. It was glowing so brightly that she could use it to illuminate the area in an odd purple tone. It made the shadows seem longer, somehow. She looked around warily, trying to figure out why her spell would send her all the way out there.

Belatedly she took in a darker figure sitting in a boat further out in the little marina. Asteria determined that if he saw her amethyst, he probably didn't register it as a crystal and she could pass it off as her phone lighting up the area.

"Hello," she called again, trying to get the man's attention. "Hey, is that your dog out there? I couldn't get it to come with me, I'm afraid he might get run over by a car."

There was no answer and Asteria took a cautious step forward. She held the amethyst so that the light illuminated her walkway while still concealing what it was to the stranger.

"Hello," she called again. "Can you hear me? Are you okay out there?"

A very unpleasant cold shiver ran up Asteria's spine and she felt a sense of dread come over her. Still, it was way too late to turn back now. Even though every sense told her to turn back, she felt compelled to walk forward. Reaching forward, she gently touched the man's shoulder only for him to collapse forward onto his boat. Asteria screamed, finally aware of the blood that trailed from his neck down onto the boat.

Looking around, she tried to decipher if there was some danger hidden in the shadows before sprinting as fast as she could up the wooden walkway and out of the marina. A strangled "fuck, fuck, fuck," repeated over and over on her lips until she finally slammed into the side of the Camaro. Asteria didn't stop until she was inside with the doors locked and her breathing gave way to a strangled sob.

It took an embarrassing amount of time for her to even out her breathing enough to be capable of talking, and even longer for her shaking hands to pull her phone out. Asteria hit the contact icon for Charlie and held the phone to her ear as best she could.

"Asteria," Charlie said after the fourth ring. "What's going on?"

"Charlie," Asteria sobbed out. She tried to continue but her words turned to mush as her breathing came out strangled.

"Asteria, what's wrong," Charlie said, fully alert. He had slipped into his Chief of Police Voice. "Where are you?"

"I'm by the docks," Asteria choked out. "Charlie, I'm scared. I was walking, and there was a dog, and I was looking around, and I saw it. Charlie, someone's dead. There's a body."

"Hang on, Asteria," Charlie said urgently. "Can you get to your car?"

"Yeah," Asteria hiccupped. "I'm in it now."

"Lock the doors," Charlie said. "I'll be there in a minute."

True to his word, Charlie was there shortly. The cruiser pulled up with lights on and siren blaring. Asteria didn't respond until he tapped on her window though. She climbed out of the Camaro and wiped at her eyes while her body shook.

"Down there," Asteria sniffed as she pointed to the docks. "On the furthest boat. I tapped his shoulder and he just fell over. I thought he was ignoring me and then I saw all the bl-blood."

"Okay, just stay here," Charlie said as another cruiser pulled up. Asteria recognized his deputy, Mark, and watched as he came to stand by her while Charlie went down to the docks to investigate. Mark was nice enough to wrap his jacket around her, and even made her sit down in the driver seat of the Camaro until Charlie came back.

"Ten four," Charlie told Mark as he came back up the little hill in the road. "We've got a possible 187. Can you call for back up?"

Mark nodded and sped off to his cruiser as Charlie came up to Asteria. "Are you okay," he asked her.

"I think so," Asteria said. "It just really shook me up for a second."

"Can you tell me what happened," he asked her gently, but authoritatively.

"Well," Asteria started as she went over the facts in her head. She had thrown the amethyst under the passenger seat of her Camaro long before he had arrived. "I was going for a walk. I wanted to see the water. I had just parked and there was this dog when I got out of the car. I think it was a Shih Tzu? It was small. It was just running around so I tried catching it. It wouldn't listen to me so I thought I'd try to find the owner. I thought it ran from the docks so I went down there, but it was really dark."

"I tried yelling to see if anyone was there," Asteria said with a shaky breath. "No one answered but I saw this guy sitting in his boat. I thought maybe he was older and just didn't hear me so I went over to him and tried again. I tapped his shoulder and he just- he fell. Right down into the boat. I lifted my phone up to see with the flashlight and then I saw all of the blood. I panicked. I screamed and then ran back to the Camaro. I locked the doors and called you."

"Alright, it's alright," Charlie said as he gave her a hug. "You did the right thing. You're safe now. You aren't hurt at all, right?"

Asteria thought for a second. "I tripped on my way back up the hill and scraped my knee, but other than that I'm okay. Charlie, what…what could have done that?"

"I'm not sure," Charlie replied. "Don't worry about it though. You're safe now."

Within minutes an ambulance and several state police cars were on the scene. Charlie insisted the EMT look over Asteria to make sure she wasn't going into shock, and Asteria was too worn out to disagree. She let the paramedic prod and poke at her while her mind reeled. Eventually she was given a clean bill of health and told to sit in the front seat of Charlie's cruiser. Apparently she was in no condition to drive.

Belatedly she remembered her phone in her pocket. Asteria unlocked it to find six missed calls and seventeen texts. Finally responding to Alice, Asteria told her that she was fine but unwilling to talk at this time and threw her phone down onto the floor of the cruiser. Closing her eyes, she didn't focus on anything but her breathing until Charlie appeared twenty minutes later.

"How are you hanging in there," Charlie asked her.

"I'm fine, really," Asteria said. "I just want to go home."

"I'll drop you off in a second," Charlie promised. "It looks like some sort of animal attack. Damn shame, too. Waylon was a good man."

"I'm sorry," Asteria responded numbly. She was vaguely aware of the name and deduced that Charlie probably knew him personally.

"I'm just glad you're safe," Charlie said gruffly. She was sure he was unnerved by how close she had been. "I'll drop you off at home and you lock the door behind you, okay? Just grab some sleep. I'll call you off of school tomorrow."

"Thanks Charlie," Asteria responded weakly. He drove her home in relative silence and made sure she was in the door before driving off in the cruiser. She worked on autopilot as she locked the door and changed into pajamas. The last thing she thought of as she shut her eyes were the two perfect rows of teeth imprints on that man's neck, far from any animal she was aware of.