The inn booked for us by Maman was everything I would have expected of her. Beautiful, historical, and charming: things that would automatically sell either of us on a place immediately. I'd seen our room – Maman had splashed out on a lovely view of the mountains we had just climbed - a cosy lounge and was looking forward to a full, hot breakfast in the dining room come morning but, for the moment, was incredibly content sitting on the front porch with Dad, lemonade in hand.

Then Dad's phone rang.

The shrill sound made us both jump; with spotty reception out in the park the tedious ringtone hadn't disturbed us once. Now, it seemed louder and more painful that ever.

Glancing at the screen, Dad glanced to meet my gaze before looking away, "… it's work."

I pressed my lips together: one of the reason we had gone hiking where there was no signal. Sometimes it felt like the hotel couldn't manage with Dad for more than five minutes. Smiling at him softly, I shrugged, "answer it. It's still early. I'll go explore!"

I was standing up before he could argue, placing a kiss on his cheek. I was eighteen anyway, a legal adult in England.

"Be safe," he replied, before heaving a sigh and raising the phone to his ear. I laughed gentle and disappeared up to our room to grab my coat and trainers.

Dancing down the front steps, where Dad no longer sat, I wondered where I would head. There seemed to be nothing to the right of the Inn so I headed back towards the restaurant we'd eaten in that morning. Passing the police stations, just down from the Inn, I smiled at the policeman approaching his car. I had yet to hear a single siren since arriving – another sound that would likely seem incredibly jarring on return to London – so I assume crime in Forks was as sleepy as the city itself seemed. Even on the outskirts, London would be constantly surrounded by sirens.

"Do you need a lift somewhere?" he called out to me, and I turned to see he had veered from the route towards his car. "Chief Swan."

I missed a beat in replying – the chief of police was offering me a lift home?

"I'm fine, thank you. Just heading out for an evening walk."

He nodded his head with a grunt of goodbye, I watched him long enough for him to get in his car and drove off into town before wandering further down the road. It was still light out despite the clouds that covered the sky – I'd read that this area of American had one of the highest days of rainfall and prayed I wouldn't become victim to it now.

Old teenage instincts had me turning right, away from the sign pointing towards the school, and back the way we had come into town. As a dawdled along the road, I recalled a small road that looked almost as though it wanted you to miss it. Likely it would lead to nothing but houses but I hoped to end up near the river. I loved watching water tumble and weave its way towards the sea. Maybe because I always died surrounded by fire in one way or another. Water was the opposite, water was safe. It took me just under twenty minutes to find the hidden entrance, just over the bridge we had crossed to enter the city. I glanced round quickly; no one seemed interested in the road and there were no signs for postman or delivery drivers to indicate there were any houses. With a final glance back, I headed down the unpaved track. Well-worn by vehicles, I wasn't too worried about becoming lost despite the thick, dark forest that surrounded me.

Humming softly to myself, I walked steadily down the path wondering what problem had occurred in the hotel so only Dad could fix despite being in a difference country. I'd surely been gone for a while now and Dad would be expecting me back before darkness feel. I knew this but my sense of direction told me I was closer to the river, and I felt a compulsion to reach it before turning back.

I must have walked for another twenty minutes and covered around a mile, before the heavens suddenly opened. No subtle warnings of singular drips; no sounds of rain hitting the leaves above; instant deluge that drenched me with minutes. Instinctively, I ran unsure where I was heading to but hoping to find some cover to wait out the rain. The trees, which I would have expect to provide amble protection, provided little as the force of rain pounded its way to the ground. I had not grabbed the waterproof portion of my coat and bitterly regretted it as I shivered down to my bones. A snap in the distance and a flash of colour froze me to spot. I squinted against the rain – was it an animal? It looked like a person but had moved too quickly.

"Are you alright, dear?"

I screamed.

Flinging myself around, I locked eyes on who had spoken. A woman. Small and delicate and more breath-taking that anyone I had ever seen. Her golden eyes gazed at me with concern through thick caramel hair that was nearly as wet as mine despite the umbrella she held. I felt immediately drawn to her and my heard settled in my chest as she smiled softly as me, dimples appearing in her cheeks.

"Do you need help?" The arm holding the umbrella extended.

"It rained," was the only words I could find. Where had she come from? Her smile grew.

"I'm Esme," she offered gesturing me forward and covering us both with the umbrella. "My house is just up the road – let's get you warm or catch a cold."

"Emma. Emmelyn," I corrected myself, falling into step beside her without a second thought. "My name's Emmelyn."

We hurried up the road and, whilst I shivered and my teeth chattered, Esme seemed unbothered by the weather surrounding us. Eventually a house began to rise from the darkness. It was beautiful and reminded me off the Inn with its deep porch that wrapped around the ground floor. It was old and charming. I stopped to look at it in awe, but Esme bustled my quickly up the long lawn and into the front door. I gasped at the huge space that we entered but beamed at the sight of the river just visible through the windows on the other side of the house.

"Carlisle, this is Emmelyn," Esme introduced me to the blond model that was striding towards us. "She got caught out in the rain. Emmelyn, this is my husband, Carlisle."

"It's nice to meet you, Carlisle," I tried to smile politely at him but found it difficult when still shivering. "Sorry for just descending on."

"It's absolutely fine, you're more than welcome," Carlisle finally spoke and I caught the slight trace of an English accent. A warm towel settled around my shoulders and I wondered when Esme had moved from my side.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Carlisle outstretched his arm to guide me back up the hallway he'd come down, towards the large windows that I could see the window through. I took two steps into the new room before noticing other people who, despite being angled to watch the TV, were showing it no interest. One bounced with excitement in her large golden eyes and splashed across her pixie-like features. Emotions bigger than her, still she couldn't not hold my attention. Next to her sat a figure I had not seen in decades but knew instantly. Despite the fact he was pale with golden eyes, I knew that face. I knew the honey blond hair that fell just above his shoulder. I knew that those eyes should have been brown.