"Oh come on. It'll be fun, Ana." Dinah coaxed as she stood outside of the little brick building. I raised a brow and snickered just a little as I shook my head no and nodded to the building behind her. "Why? So some stranger can tell me everything I already know? Dinah, you know that over half these so-called psychics are a scam, right?"

Dinah pouted.

I shuffled my stilettos against the concrete and blew out a breath in exasperation. "Okay, alright. Fine. It's not like they're going to tell me something life-changing."

Dinah beamed at me brightly and grabbed me by the elbow, practically dragging me through the bold turquoise painted door that lead into the little psychics shop. Before we even saw the woman who owned the shop, she called out cheerfully from the back room, "Do sit down. I've been waiting for you two to show up."

Dinah and I shared a look and I giggled a little, still just a tiny bit tipsy from the tequila sunrise I'd been nursing all evening. We took a seat in two deep purple velvet upholstered chairs and I nudged Dinah as I mumbled against the shell of her ear, "I wonder what she meant by waiting on us, huh?"

"I dunno, maybe she saw us lingering outside?"

"I didn't see anyone in the front though and there's that big window.." I mused, shrugging it off ultimately. An elderly woman in a black bell sleeved dress stepped out into view and she gazed at my friend and I. I glanced at the clock and dragged a hand through teased dark waves as I managed a smile. The elderly woman sat down and glanced from me to Dinah.

"One of you is a skeptic."

I raised my hand. "That'd be me. No offense, I just don't hold much stock in any of this." I offered a mild shrug as I said it and she nodded, giving a polite smile back.

Her gaze settled on Dinah. She smiled. "The man from the club. The one leaving you the roses… He's married, dear. You should probably leave him alone. You've been looking for a certain article of jewelry, have you?"

"My mom's ring."

"Try checking in your car. Between the seats." the elderly woman answered. I gazed at Dinah and smiled to myself. No surprise, Dinah was eating it all up. Taking in everything the woman 'revealed' to her. I listened intently, thinking to myself that for a series of educated guesses, hers hadn't been terribly bad.

Then the string lights overhead started to flicker and the woman squeezed her eyes shut.

She reached for my hand before I could pull away. "There's a young man coming through, dear. His name starts with an A. He's telling me to tell you that you need to move on. That you can't just stop living because you lost both him and the baby."

I tensed a little. Popped one eye partially open as I studied the woman intently while she was in her trance-like state. Meanwhile, Dinah is looking at me as if she was meeting a stranger because what the psychic just revealed is something I haven't told anyone aside from family and the only one in my family who really knows exactly what happened were my mother and father.

And they don't even know that the stress and shock of losing Aaron caused a miscarriage.

But it's something that hasn't stopped haunting me since the night it all occurred.

"Ana?" Dinah asked quietly. I shushed her and muttered quietly, "Is that all?"

"Oh no.. There's so much more. But if I may? I'd like to finish doing your friend's reading so that she can leave. Because I suspect that my reading for you will be lengthy because there's a lot to cover."

I felt bad because Dinah was the one who dragged me into this and she's the one who had all the actual questions, but here I was, getting an in depth reading when Dinah was probably just going to get the standard vague one. I nodded and went quiet. An hour later, after Dinah had asked all her questions and she seemed satisfied with the answers she'd been given, Dinah told me she'd go wait at our usual diner down the street.

"Order me a shrimp poboy, will ya?" I called out to her as she disappeared out the door of the shop. And the second the door closed behind us, the woman fixed her gaze on me intently. Giving a quiet laugh.

"You're not very close with two members of your family. You wish you could be closer, but there are certain traits they possess that you find difficult to deal with and envy on occasion."

I pursed my lips and nodded solemnly.

All the while, I tried to remind myself that this was just her way of trying to convince me she wasn't going to scam either myself or Dinah. So we'd come back after whatever vague thing she told us happened and we'd give her god knows how much money just to get more answers.

Because I can't think of a single person who wouldn't pay a small fortune to know what lie ahead if they had the chance. If I weren't so firmly rooted in my non -belief, I'd gladly have a thousand questions.

"My mother and sister. They've always… They have this way of drawing people to them with hardly any effort. I have to try. I feel like I have to change myself and become whatever everyone around me wants me to be."

"And it's always bothered you. Poor dear." the woman clucked her tongue and continued on. Giving a recount of every failed relationship I've ever been in. I grimaced at some, sighed wistfully at others. But then she started to talk about a guy I haven't thought about since I was at least 8 because that's the last time I actually saw him.

Jacob Black.

"This one is or is connected to your soulmate."

"Yeah, that's doubtful, ma'am. I haven't seen or spoken to him in years and the last I heard, he left town because he couldn't handle the fact that my sister chose another man over him. Her own stupidity, of course."

"Nothing about real love is stupid, dear. But I suppose when one has been through all the sadness and bitterness you have.." The woman trailed off, giving me a kind and thoughtful look. I shrugged. "Trust me. This guy was one of those that needs a warning label. And she still managed to marry him." I mused.

"Because your sister wasn't made for this life."

I raised a brow. "What's that mean?"

"Maybe you should ask her. I'm sure she'll tell you everything."

I shook my head and sighed sadly. "We don't talk."

"Maybe you should attempt to reconnect. The reason you're having such a difficult time is because you keep looking for a home when you already have one."

I raised my brow. She explained that home for me wasn't anywhere I've tried living. In fact, she seemed hell bent to believe that home is the one place I haven't been in years,. At the mention of my father's hometown and the continued mention of Jacob Black, I found myself paying a little closer attention. Wondering how she could possibly find the time to look up so much about me and why she'd want to, because this woman was essentially reading me for filth. Flaws and hidden pains, all of it.

By the time she finished, I was actually wondering if maybe I weren't all wrong about my assumptions. She surprised me further by pressing a small black velvet bag that smelled like herbs into my hand. "What's this?" I asked warily.

"It should help you sleep… among other things." the added words and the mysterious grin the kind-faced elderly woman gave me as she tried to offer me the little black bag again did not go missed by me and for a passing second I had the thought that I'm at least seventy five percent sure that at least one or two horror movies or tragic fairy-tales began exactly like this. I guess that's why I really stopped myself from doing what I was strongly tempted to in taking the bag from her.

I shook my head and tried to give back the small velvet bag. "I can't take this, ma'am."

"You have to." the psychic insisted. "I was led to give you this."

I swallowed hard. Finally, I realized that it was easier to just shut up and take the bag than it was to sit here and go around and around about it. I eyed her and mumbled a quiet thank you. Then I asked her what was inside the bag and what I was supposed to do with it.

It was a herbal tea brew. It was formulated to supposedly help me sleep better at night. She mentioned something about enhancing my dreams but that part went right over my head.

I bit my lip as I gazed down at the velvet bag she pressed into my hand.

"Think about everything I've told you." the woman told me as she nodded to the turquoise door at the front of the shop. I took this as my cue to go and I stood, making my way out into the crowded sidewalk. Wandering two doors down to the little diner that Dinah and I always stop at to grab a bite after our shift at the club or after a lengthy meeting at the office.

"That took a while. When were you going to tell me you had a past, ma'am?" Dinah asked as I shrugged off the question and took a sip of the cherry Pepsi that Dinah ordered for me while she waited. "I don't talk about it."

"Have I ever told you that you have more layers than an onion, Ana Marie Swan?"

"A time or two, yeah." I laughed softly as I drank more of the drink and took a big bite of my shrimp poboy sandwich.

"What else did she tell you? What's in the bag?"

"She gave me exactly the reading that most of these con artists give skeptics to draw them in. Precisely why I intend to put every bit of what she said out of my head." I answered firmly, hoping to hell that Dinah might drop the conversation. She repeated her question about the little velvet bag that sat on the tabletop and I swallowed the bite I'd just taken and wiped my mouth before answering with a shrug, "A herbal tea for my sleeping problem?"

"The night terrors, right?" Dinah asked as she lifted the top portion of her sandwich and picked off a shrimp, popping it into her mouth. She fixed her eyes on me, patiently waiting on an answer. "What are they about anyway? And don't do what you always do and try to change the subject, girl. Maybe if you're still having them, even after paying for a therapist for the last three years, maybe you need to just talk about them. Maybe they'll go away."

"I guess? I haven't slept worth a shit in so long I can't be entirely sure it's just the night terrors anymore, if you want the honest truth. Can we talk about anything else? Please?"

"Oh.. One last thing." Dinah lifted her hand to reveal the half karat princess cut diamond ring that she'd spent almost a month looking for. "Are you serious right now? Where'd you find it?"

"Wedged between the driver seat and the passenger seat in your car. I must have lost it the night I borrowed your car to go to Mobile."

"Okay, that's a little strange." I admitted as I gazed at the ring sitting on Dinah's ring finger.

"You can't be serious right now. She has to be real. You have to believe her, I mean you didn't see your face when she mentioned the guy you lost or the child you lost or any of the stuff she said before I left the place but I did and girl… You were stunned."

"I'd like to point out that Google exists." I argued as I finished off my po boy sandwich and then took the last sip from my Pepsi while gazing out the window I sat next to. Watching people make their way past.

"Ladies.. I love ya both, I really do, but I gotta get home. The missus is waitin." the owner of the diner, an older man named Bruce called out to us in his thick Cajun accent.

We made our way to the register to pay for our meals and wandered out into the street. And as we did, I found myself gazing up at a full moon. Replaying everything the woman told me during my 'reading' earlier. Thinking about it and wondering how she could've hit the mark so many times before ultimately putting it out of my head entirely.

By the time I made it back to my apartment and I was locking all 3 locks behind me, my cell phone was ringing in my hand. I smiled softly as I glanced at the display and realized that it was my father calling to check in.

"Hey dad. How's it going? Did you ask her yet?" I guess I was still set on edge from my interesting session with the psychic earlier because when I spoke everything came rushing out anxiously.

My father chuckled quietly. "You sound like something is bothering you. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just got dragged to a psychic earlier by Dinah. It was..definitely interesting." I admitted and promptly stopped myself from going any further.

"Actually, that's why I called. Not only did I ask her.. but she said yes." Charlie said it in a stunned tone and I smiled to myself as I wandered into my kitchen to grab myself a Corona from the fridge. Popping it against the edge of the counter, I took a long sip and wiped my hand across the back of my mouth. "Duh, of course she said yes, Dad. You're a great guy, okay?"

Just like usual, my father dodged the compliment. I get that trait honestly, although I think dad's more or less being humble when he does it. In my case, it's an overwhelming lack of self-esteem for whatever reason. At least that's the working theory according to my old therapist. Something about me not believing in any of the good things people might say about me and choosing to only see the bad.

In my defense, it definitely wasn't easy growing up in the shadow of an older sister who seems to be perfect in the eyes of nearly everyone. I scowled at myself at the thought and shook my head like I was trying to shake the thought free from my mind and I pulled myself up to sit on the wooden countertop in my kitchen as I raised the bottle to my lips and took a few more sips.

"When's the wedding?" I asked after a minute or two of my father and I essentially sitting on either side of the line in silence.

"We're thinking of doing it around the fall."

"Dad, that's literally right around the corner. Ooh, if you do it on Halloween.."I trailed off as my father laughed and responded with a very amused "No" and vetoed my idea. I pouted to myself a little and then laughed softly as I spoke up again. "I'm glad you're happy. If anyone deserved to be happy, daddy.. it's definitely you."

"You deserve to be happy too, Ana."

I bit my lip, considering his words. Still batting around everything the psychic told me earlier in the night because for some reason I just couldn't bury it or dismiss it. I managed a weak smile at last when he added in a quieter tone, "I mean it."

"I am." I did my best to reassure him even though I knew it was a lie. I haven't really felt much of anything for the better part of two or three years now. I can't remember when the last time I smiled and actually meant it was if I'm being totally honest with myself.

It's hard to get over two losses back to back. I really thought I'd be spending my life with Aaron. And the baby we lost, they would've been turning three this year. Sometimes when I can't sleep at night I just lie in bed and try to imagine what my baby would have been like. Where Aaron and I would've been stationed at next if he'd actually made it back to me alive and we'd finally dragged our butts down to a justice of the peace and gotten married.

But then I remember there was a reason we really never talked about getting married. I remember that while the good times were great the bad times were really, really bad. Fighting. Long distance constantly putting strain on our relationship. The short spans of time Aaron would come back and he'd be a little more haunted by what he'd been through than the last. My own personal fear of the L word or the M word.

"Are you sure you're okay, Ana?" my father questioned, shattering my train of thought as he asked the question. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath and once again, rather than admitting that maybe I wasn't in the best shape, I managed a brave front. And prayed to whatever god might be listening that he actually believed it when I answered, "Yeah. I'm fine. It's just been a long day, I guess. Then there was that whole weird thing with the psychic Dinah dragged me to earlier, that didn't help."

"What exactly did this psychic tell you?"

"Not much I didn't already know, sir. Frankly, I'm surprised she knew it. I guess I'm easier to read than I thought?"

My father scoffed at that and laughed. "No, you're actually the hardest person in our family to read most of the time, kid. It worries me."

"I'm sorry, dad. I'm trying to work on that. It's a harder habit to break than I thought." I admitted quietly. I finished off my Corona and tossed the empty into the little garbage can tucked away in a corner of my kitchen and I wandered over to the patio to gaze down into the alley. I wound up looking up at the moon again instead.

"If you need to talk about anything, I'm here, okay? I just wanted you to know that." my father said the words quietly as he yawned. I eyed the time and gave a soft laugh. "I need to let you go to bed. I should probably try sleeping too."

As soon as the words left my mouth I knew I most likely wouldn't sleep. Not with everything going around and around in my head like it was tonight. I'm going to blame the psychic incident. Some of the things she told me, while in good intent, stirred up a lot of things I've been pushing down as deep as I can get them.

My father and I said our goodbyes and I ended the call, plugging in my Iphone to charge and finding some music to listen to.

I stripped down and tossed my clothing at a wicker hamper that sat in the laundry room beside my dryer and after I dug through a pile of clothing that I should've put away weeks ago by now, I pulled down my favorite red satin slip and tied the matching robe at the waist after I'd put it on over the slip.

I slunk down the hall and into my tiny bathroom and I lathered up a rag, washing away the layer of makeup from my face and splashed it with water to rinse it clean. A beam of overhead light bounced off the thin silver chain around my neck and I raised a hand, trailing my fingertips over the intricate design on the locket that my sister had given me for my birthday, way back before we drifted so far apart that we barely speak. I took a breath or two and sighed as I stared at myself in the mirror.

I'm starting to get that feeling again. The one I seem to get right before I decide to pack up and move on elsewhere.

Since the little office that Dinah and I was closed forcefully, the only stream of income I really have at the moment beyond all my savings is the money I make in tips at the club. Dinah's my only friend and even the friendship I have with her isn't a tangible enough reason for me to convince myself to stay put in New Orleans much longer.

I laughed at myself and shook my head as I repeated what my latest therapist told me in an earlier session when I first voiced the feeling I currently felt as I stood in my cozy little studio apartment. "Stop making permanent decisions on temporary feelings. Give things a chance. Stop running." I told my reflection.

Even as I said it, I still felt the walls starting to close in all around me.

My cell phone ringing down the hall had me perplexed because I knew by now that my father was asleep. Dinah was probably enjoying a little one on one time with her man on the side and literally anyone else I could think of that might be calling me this late wouldn't bother.

Curious to know who it was, I wandered into the kitchen and picked up my Iphone to unlock the screen. I grumbled when it didn't immediately recognize my face without all the makeup I usually wear to work or when I've been at the club all night. "Seriously? Fix yourself, Iphone. Be a better brand. I don't look that much different." I muttered as I scrolled through my recent calls.

My brow raised again when I saw my sister's number as being the last call. The call I'd missed because I'd taken my sweet time to walk down the hall and into the next room to answer my phone because honestly, I figured it was most likely junk. A car warranty call or something, I don't know.

I called the number back as my heart did a lazy flip or two in my chest. Bella picked it up on the first ring as if she'd been sitting on the damn thing and waiting on me to call her back. She probably had for all I know.

"What's wrong?"

"Hey sis, it's nice to talk to you." Bella gave a soft and bell-like laugh and I tapped my foot against the wooden flooring in my kitchen as I waited on her to just get to the point. Because she calls on occasion but never this late.

"Sorry. In my defense, you don't really call this late just to shoot the breeze." I admitted quietly. Instantly feeling bad that I brought it up, I was quick to offer an apology because things were still pretty tense between us and I didn't want her to get upset or angry and just hang up the phone.

She laughed again. "It's fine. I was just thinking earlier and I realized that I hadn't talked to you in a while? I missed you, okay? That is alright, isn't it? I know you think you don't need anyone, but the rest of us do miss you."

I sighed and grimaced as I muttered quietly, "Hint taken. Sorry, I've just been busy. You know, work and all that jazz."

"I thought the office had to close because that lawyer you were working for got arrested. It was on the news, Ana, remember? He helped to cover up a murder." Bella seemed to be fishing for something.

"Yeah. Man am I glad that douchebag is behind bars." I muttered as I went quiet and got caught up in my own previous thoughts. I grumbled at the mention of my previous boss, an idiot in the truest sense of the word.

My boss is what you'd commonly call one of the "good old boys". Old money. Republican adjacent. You know the type. They're still stuck in the 50's or whatever. To be perfectly honest, saying the guy was stuck in the 50's might be giving him just a little too much credit… In his case I'd have to say he's stuck in the Civil War Era because if he got enough whiskey in him at staff parties and the like, he'd constantly go on and on in wild tangents about how much better life would be if the South would've won the Civil War.

I hate working for the man but.. Money is money. It's a job. With the guy's connects, I figured I could eventually find a more progressive law firm but to date, no such luck.

We won't even get into just how many times he's attempted to be inappropriate with my friend Dinah. He tried it with me exactly one time. One time was all it took for the man to learn that I wasn't the kind of girl who sat back and took harassment.

"Did you find another job?" Bella asked. The question sounded awkward. The tension between the two of us was so thick I could feel it through the line even though we're thousands of miles away from each other.

I caught sight of the black velvet bag.

I briefly considered brewing myself a pot of tea just to see if the stuff would actually work, but I quickly reminded myself that's how people wind up in bathtubs of ice with a kidney missing. That maybe it wasn't a good idea to drink something a stranger gifted me, even if that stranger was a kind-faced and seemingly harmless old lady.

"Kinda?" I answered.

"What do you mean kinda?" Bella asked.

"What I said. I kinda found another job for now. I'm toying with the idea of moving again soon anyway, so maybe it's actually a blessing in disguise that the office closed." I twisted a strand of hair around my fingertip, tugging at it lightly.

"Again? This is the third move this year."

"Did you call me to talk or did you call me to lecture?" I asked, barely managing to keep the tension from edging into my voice as I spoke. Bella sighed and muttered an apology. Then she finally got around to the sole reason she was calling.

"Charlie's getting married."

"I talked to him a little while ago. He told me. I'm happy for him. God knows he deserves it." I admitted as I leaned against the wall, shuffling bare feet against the floor.

"You're going back for the wedding, right?"

"Yeah. Did you think I wouldn't?"

"I was.. Let's just say I was kind of afraid if I called and told you I was planning to go that you'd find something to do and not be able to come."

"Nope." I gave a soft laugh as I reminded her, "We're okay.. Remember? I mean yeah, there's tension between us but I'm not going to shut you guys out or anything." I promised yet again. Bella seemed relieved when I said it, muttering a quiet "Thank God."

"What have you guys been up to?" I asked, making an attempt to keep the conversation going. Bella laughed softly and told me about Renesmee hitting another growth spurt and Jasper taking a job on a fishing boat and how that was driving Alice insane. She told me about Edward taking a few college courses and then she told me that she was doing the same herself. That she was toying with the idea of becoming a nurse. I spoke up with a laugh, "You do realize that you'd have to be around blood.."

"I'm controlled enough to handle myself."

I raised a brow but shrugged. "Hey, that's awesome then. If that's what you want, go for it." I gave another soft laugh, pausing for a few seconds.

Bella broke the silence just before it started to really creep back in. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. I know certain days are getting close. I wanted to remind you that if you need to talk to me, all you have to do is call."

I thanked her. After we talked for a few more minutes, I ended the call. And I wandered over to the counter I'd placed the small black velvet bag on. Picked it up. Tossing it in the air as I laughed at myself.

"If this winds up being a poison." I muttered to myself as I gently pried apart the drawstrings and sat the bag down to reach for my favorite coffee mug which I sat beside the bag. After I found my mom's old tea kettle and filled it with water, I placed that on the stove eye and I poured some of the dried leaves and herbs in the kettle. The heavy scent of the herbs in the bag filled the air as they started to simmer in the kettle. My eyes caught on something silver in the bottom of the bag and a piece of paper tucked beneath. I grabbed a Zip Loc bag from the drawer and poured the rest of the herbs into it and then I up turned the bag and a silver necklace hit the wooden counter top with a soft clink and the paper fluttered to the floor.

The paper was a note. I opened it up and my eyes danced over the words. I had myself a little giggle because apparently, the note was some sort of spell. A spell I was supposed to recite before I drank the tea.

I set the paper to the side and I picked up the silver necklace, turning over the charm attached in my hands as I inspected it. At the center of the charm there was a tan colored stone with white markings that almost looked as if they were hand carved and surrounding the odd stone there were smaller smooth rose, clear and jade colored stones.

A quick hop on Google revealed that apparently, the biggest stone was called Desert Rose. And apparently, it represented the fact that all things were possible. It was supposedly meant to dissolve self imposed restraint or restrictions holding me back. The smaller stones looked closest to rose quartz, jade and clear quartz.

"Okay. That's not strange at all." I mused aloud to myself as I turned the necklace over in my hand for a few seconds before placing it on my neck. The high pitched squeal of the kettle as the tea finished brewing had me jumping just a little because truly, this entire night had me on edge and feeling all sorts of ways. I grabbed a mitt and reached for the kettle, pouring some of the brewed tea into my cup.

I picked up the paper and I muttered the words while praying like hell that this wasn't some kind of weird trap or something and I didn't wake up in a tub of ice with a vital organ missing and then I turned up the cup, finishing off the tea.

I sat the cup in the sink and wandered into my living room to turn on the tv. And before I realized it, I was drifting off..

( DREAM )

I felt the dew on the grass against my feet and I paused. My eyes darted all around in wonder at the clearing I stood in. Somewhere close by, I could feel eyes on me. Fixed intently. The sensation of being watched prompted me to call out, "Hey! Anybody here?"

A twig popped behind me silently and I felt this intense heat envelop me, as if I stood in the middle of a fire. Two rough hands caught against my hips and I tensed as my fight or flight mode kicked in. "Just so you know, I do know self defense." I informed whoever stood behind me, promptly frozen in place when I heard the sound of familiar laughter. Laughter I haven't heard in years. Since the last summer I went to spend a month with my father in Forks and spent the majority of that time roaming the woods with Jacob Black, son of my father's best friend Billy.

What was he doing here?

I haven't thought of him in years. Not until earlier.

"J-jacob?" I stammered, my voice came out in a soft whisper. He turned me around and I blinked as I took in the man I must've been imagining he'd become. I tilted my head. I had to in order to really look up at him and hold his gaze because he towered over me.

I swallowed hard. My mouth opened and closed several times but no words seemed willing or able to come. He chuckled, the sound was husky and warm; inviting almost. Our bodies bumped together a little and he sucked in a sharp breath as his hands flexed where they rested on my hips and the tips of his fingers dug into my body.

"I'm as surprised as you are right now, Ana Leigh." he admitted quietly as his eyes broke from mine and wandered. Slow. Lingering. Making my body heat all over as I stared right back up at him in confusion. "Where are we?"

He pouted a little at my question and then he chuckled again. This time the sound was deeper. Seductive. "You really don't remember? We always used to come here to get away from your sister and my sisters that summer you visited."

I reluctantly tore my eyes off of Jacob and let them dart around. Sure enough, just out of sight, there was the little 'fort' we took spare lumber and nails from a shed Billy had been building that summer to build. Jacob's hand left my hip and rested against my cheek in a gentle caressing motion and before I could stop myself, I nuzzled against it a little.

"The way I remember it, Jacob, is that the fort started out as ours. But then Bella wanted to play.." I frowned a little and went quiet. Why the hell did I have to go and speak on it and mess this whole thing up? Even in my dreams I can't seem to just let myself be happy. Not even for a second.

Jacob frowned a little. He muttered something about mistakes and stupid wastes of his time and his eyes met mine all over again, filled with warmth , almost glowing like the last golden embers of a smoldering fire.

I raised a hand and rested it against his stubbled cheek. Blinking in a daze as the thought registered that for this to be a dream, it was definitely realistic. I could smell the scent of the dirt and the grass, the air around us. I could feel the grass beneath my feet. The warmth and the muscled hardness of his skin as he continued to press against me. The lazy and steady beating of my own heart as all of this occurred. I could hear the birds chirp quietly and rushing water from a stream nearby that we may or may not have swam in a time or two.

And then, just as quickly as it happened, he was gone. I was left standing in the clearing alone.

( END DREAM )

The alarm on my phone was going off right next to my ear and I rolled over. My first instinct was to throw out an arm like I usually did in an attempt to grab my phone and silence the noise, but instead, my arm swiped at nothing.

I rolled over onto my stomach and tried to wedge my head beneath a pillow just to stay asleep a little longer because it truly felt as if I hadn't been to sleep that long. There was no way I'd slept the whole night through without waking up.

The phone's second alarm started to go off and I grumbled as I sat up and promptly discovered that not only had I slept through the entire night, I'd somehow managed to do so on what has to be the world's most uncomfortable loveseat.

I felt well rested. A bit more clear-headed than I was used to. I sat up and yawned. Spotting my phone, I reached out and grabbed it and I promptly gaped at the ungodly early hour it was.

"Jesus. I haven't woken up this early or on time since I was a kid." I rose from the couch and wandered into my kitchen with the growl of my stomach making me realize that I needed food.

I opened my fridge and grimaced at the sheer lack of actual food. Raising a hand, I tugged at my hair and tried to figure out something I might actually have on hand that was safe for consumption and not out of date that I even wanted to eat in the first place.

I couldn't find anything, so this prompted me to wander into my bedroom and grab a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt. After I threw on a slightly oversized red and black plaid shirt and finally managed to locate my right shoe to put both shoes on, I ventured out.

I found myself passing the little shop the psychic had been in the night before and I froze in shock. I rubbed my eyes at least three times as I processed what greeted me through the windows of the shop. The realtor sign in the window. The empty darkened void of the room behind the door. A layer of dust so thick on the other side of the sill that I could clearly see that no one had been inside the building at any point in recent years, let alone just last night.

I leaned against brown and reddish brown bricks and squinted as the early morning sun shined right in my face. "What the hell is going on?"

Ultimately, I put it down to a long night and a very vivid and intense dream within a dream. That was the only option that made any sort of actual sense to me. My stomach growled again and I wandered down to the little diner, flopping into the bench at my usual booth. While I sat there and pondered over the morning menu because I've never been awake early enough to know there was one, I texted Dinah to see if she was awake.

Dinah didn't answer me.

The waitress wandered over and took my order and poured me a cup of black coffee. I took a sip, grimacing at the bitterness. And I mulled over the night before.

Frustrated by the entire thing.

My food came and I dug in, the voracity of my appetite surprising me. I'm not normally a big breakfast eater.

My phone buzzed against the tabletop and I grabbed it to answer.

"You texted?"

"Yeah." I answered through a mouth full of cheese grits. "Did we go to a psychic last night?"

"Duh. That's how I found the ring in your car, remember?"

"Okay, well.. Explain to me why the building we went into is totally empty and up for sale?"

"Huh?"

"I woke up early. No food in my apartment as usual. So I decided to come down to the diner and when I walked past the place, it was empty? And it looks like nobody's been there in years." I mused.

"Maybe you got the wrong building. We both had tequila in us, remember?"

"You were the tipsy one. I was fine. I only had one tequila sunrise. You know me, D. It takes at least two." I answered as I watched people come and go on the sidewalks outside.

"Okay, but either way. It still wouldn't be a hard mistake to make. All those buildings look the same."

"Okay, but.. The fact that it had a bright blue door kind of made it stand out? And the fact that the door was black this morning.." I trailed off and mumbled quietly, "Forget it. You're right. Maybe it was on the next street and I was just too tired or I'm still fuzzy about it."

"What'd that psychic say? You're acting weird."

"Nothing, okay? She told me a whole lot of nothing."

"Again, I say it.. you're acting entirely too weird for her to have spent two and a half hours telling you nothing." Dinah insisted.

I opened my mouth. I had every intention to tell her because I just.. I needed to tell someone even if it was just so that I had proof that last night did happen. But when I tried to make myself tell her, the words got stuck inside me.

She probably would have thought I was crazy to begin with. "Nothing. Last night was just a weird night for me, alright?"

"Okay. Alright. Hint taken. I'll drop the subject." Dinah gave a soft laugh. I could hear a man's husky grumbling in the background and Dinah chirped cheerfully, "Gotta go!" and I laughed as the call ended. I sat my phone down on the table and gazed out the window with my chin propped on my hand for at least ten minutes as I just kind of pondered everything.

I wish I could remember what I dreamed about last night because whatever it was must have been good.

As I sat and sipped the rest of my coffee, I mulled over what I've been heavily debating on for weeks now. Maybe it's time to pack it up. Move on.

Maybe it's time to go home.

The thought prompted laughter because the only place that's ever really felt like home to me is Dad's place in Forks.

But is it really that crazy of an idea?

I mean, if Bella hadn't moved back when she did, I'd been planning on it. I only chose not to go in the first place because Bella went and I wanted to be free of her shadow and do my own thing for once in my life.

And look where that's gotten me so far.

Before I could back out or change my mind, I called my dad's cell phone.

My dad picked up on the third ring. I could hear the noises of the station behind him and I swore and laughed quietly. "Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't know you had to go in early today."

"Ana?"

"Yeah?"

"Everything okay, kid?"

"I'm coming home." I muttered and immediately went quiet. My father chuckled quietly. "Are you serious?"

"Mhm. I'm going to leave today, actually. I figured I can make a road trip out of it."

"Are you staying or is this a visit?"

I mulled it over. "I think." I paused to take another sip of coffee and finish off my cup. "I think I want to try to stay a while."

"I'd really like that." my father admitted quietly. I smiled. After we talked and I promised half a dozen times to check in throughout my trip back to Forks, I hung up.

Then I walked back to my apartment. When I stopped at my door, my brow raised as I saw an envelope jammed between the door and it's facing. I reached out and plucked it free, opening the envelope. Perplexed because the rent wasn't due until a week from today and I'd paid ahead a few months like I usually do.

My eyes darted over the folded sheet of notebook paper and settled over the symbol drawn at the bottom hastily. Apparently, it was from the psychic I'd spoken to the night before. She offered no explanation as to where she'd gone or anything else that made zero sense, but she did tell me that I would be finding my soulmate soon.

The symbol caught my eye again and the dream from the night before resurfaced. I'd seen that same symbol. It was the tattoo on Jacob's bicep in my dream. Everything I dreamed about flooded me and I sat there on the floor in the hallway beside my door, trying to figure it all out before ultimately giving up. I pulled myself off the floor and unlocked my door, stepping into my apartment.

Packing my stuff didn't take long at all. There wasn't much I had any real interest in taking along with me. I'd just taken out the trash and some stuff to put in a Goodwill box down on the corner when Dinah caught up to me in the alley.

"You're leaving?"

"I.."I stammered.

"Why though?"

I shrugged. "I'm going to try living in Washington with my father. Maybe I can find another private firm to work for or work as a secretary."

"Aw, c'mon. You really want to leave?"

"It's not so much as want as I need to." I admitted. Dinah's brow raised and I explained that I'd literally tried to build my own life everywhere else and so far, nothing panned out. Maybe if I went there, to the one place I've always felt most at home in, my luck would finally start to turn around.

"I guess it makes sense?" Dinah shrugged as she said it and eyed me in concern. "Are you sure you're okay? First you're all wound up earlier when we talk and now you're just packing up and leaving town on a whim?"

"I haven't been 'okay' for a while now. Maybe I need to face a few things. Stop running. I dunno. All I know is that I just feel like I have to do this, okay?"

"In that case.. Can I have those stilettos? Pretty please?"

I laughed and held out the pile of stuff I'd been about to carry to the Goodwill box down on the corner to her. "Just take all of it. I've already loaded up what I want to keep."

"You're really hanging up your stilettos, huh?" Dinah asked as we walked back towards the fire escape that led up to my apartment.

I shrugged and raised a hand, letting it catch in my hair as I looked at her and laughed quietly. "It would appear so, yeah."

"You'll call and write and all that jazz, right?" she asked.

I hugged her and as we pulled apart, I smiled. "Don't I always?"

"I'm coming to visit you. You're not getting rid of me, girl." Dinah called out as I started to climb the fire escape. I paused and glanced back down to answer her with a laugh, "I haven't gotten rid of you since 6th grade, despite all the times we've managed to lose touch for years at a time.. Trust me. I know I'm stuck with you. Same as you're stuck with me."

And about an hour later, I was leaving New Orleans behind.

I may not know anything else but I know somehow that what I'm doing is the right thing. It has to be because I'm kind of running out of options. I've tried everything else I can think of.

Guess I'll see how this goes..