AN
Hey, hey! This is so super weird, and so exciting! I was writing stories about all of the wolves over ten years ago, and made so many friends through reviews and messages. The fact that people are getting back into Twilight again is fun, and it's sucked me straight back in.
I believe I deleted everything on my old account, but it was such a long time ago, so if anyone has read a Seth story out there with a similar beginning, I'm not stealing, it was mine, I just don't know how to find it if it's still out there!
This is taking over my life at the moment, and I'm smashing it out ridiculously fast. So I'm uploading this little starter, as well as chapter one straight after. I'm guessing chapter two won't be far behind.
If anyone actually reads this, please don't hesitate to reach out through a review or message! I know it's obviously easier to find motivation to write with feedback, but I'd also love to hear from anyone who's been swept up in the imprint world the way I have.
Happy reading!
FOREWORD
I unlocked the narrow door for the first time without a real estate agent present, satisfied that the key turned easily and clicked cleanly open. The handle twisted and pushed forward to reveal the hallway before me, lit up only by the natural light coming from the kitchen in the distance. I grinned to myself in excitement and bent just enough to grab the two bulging duffel bags at my feet and carry them over the threshold, dropping them against the hallway wall a couple of feet inside.
I flicked the light switch to my right and a warm glow lit up the path to the following rooms. The living room, to my left, was open and empty, the curtains pulled shut and the walls and carpet begging for art and furnishings. I only attended to the room enough to pull the curtains apart, letting the dull grey light of the Forks day flood the room, revealing the clean white paint job.
Ignoring my bags for the moment, I wandered down the hall, opening each door on my way, as if the rooms would have changed or moved since signing my lease. It was an older house, but had been modernised when the previous owners had sold to upgrade for their growing family.
The bathroom was clean and in shades of grey and white. A deep bathtub sat under a high window, and the shower tucked in the corner had shelves built into the walls for the few products I would be storing inside of it. I glanced at myself in the mirror, tucking my newly shortened hair behind one of my ears and smiling at myself, as I would someone I was trying to reassure they'd done a good job.
The linen closet was next, and I opened it to get it ready to fold towels and extra sheets and put them away before I would retire for the night. Not knowing anyone in the immediate area would give me plenty of time to sort this place out with no distractions. I didn't let myself hesitate with the thought that it seemed particularly lonely.
The end of the hall opened up to the left with the well-sized, open-plan kitchen and dining room, a set of tall glass sliding doors revealing the bright green back yard, and the door to the right of the end of the hallway showed my bedroom. It was a fair size. It wasn't huge, but it could easily fit my double bed, a couple of bed-side tables and a dresser. There was a built-in wardrobe that I was planning on filling after I was done with all the house necessities.
I had more than enough room for all of my clothes. I'd left my life of sundresses, sandals and light cardigans reserved only for the coldest of days for jeans, raincoats and heavy jackets. What clothing I'd managed to purchase since arriving in Seattle three weeks ago was nowhere near what I knew I would accumulate as I lived out this next stage of my life. I had no plans to return to my old home any time soon. I was intent on starting a brand-new life, hopefully becoming a brand-new person as I did so.
There was one thing I had on my list of things to do before anything else, and I was happy there were high fences that went alongside the agreement on my lease that I could have pets in my new living quarters. I knew it would take some time to let another human in to my life on an intimate level, but I tended to be on edge when I was alone, and I kind of liked the idea of having a tall, furry protector to take care of me as I did them. I'd already been looking online at local shelters and was just waiting for someone to catch my eye before I jumped into becoming a new mother to a child with four paws.
My car was packed to the brim with boxes and garbage bags full of my belongings, and I was grateful that the rain wasn't pelting down like it had on my three-hour drive from Seattle earlier in the day as I ran back and forth, grabbing as much as I could and dumping it all in the hallway and entry to the living room. Once it was cleaned out, except for a couple of stray pairs of shoes I'd kicked off while driving, empty water bottles and McDonald's wrappers, I locked the front door, tossing the keys into the middle of the empty living room.
And then I stood, taking in the silence.
My bare toes twitched on the hallway floorboards, frozen from the weather, though that was never going to be a reason for me to cover them. I was a barefoot girl through and through, no matter the weather. I knew I was going to have to suck it up and tell myself to deal with footwear now that I could potentially freeze in this little town, but I was stubborn enough to have to deal with the cold cramps instead of the alternative of shoes indoors.
It was quiet, except for the very light rain outside, but not in an overly peaceful way. I felt completely alone, as if there weren't houses on either side of me and right across the road. I guess loneliness had been my decision and I couldn't complain about it now. Another one of my deals to myself had been to try to be more of an extrovert, which I knew was going to be difficult.
I used unpacking as a distraction, turning to the labelled boxes and bags of fabric, deciding to deal with them in order of the house. I had no furniture at this point, so I stacked my books and trinkets on the floor where I planned to set up a flat-pack bookshelf the second I felt like shopping. Living room, done.
I only had two light pink towels that I had bought my first day in Seattle, and I threw one over the door to the shower and folded the other neatly, putting it on the middle shelf of the linen closet. Shampoo, conditioner, razors, soaps and exfoliators...where had I packed that new bathmat? I lined everything up on the shelf inside the shower in order of when I would be using it, then left the bathroom after setting the new soap dispenser and toothbrush holder on the white basin.
Podcasts were my only friend now. I chuckled along with the girls telling stories about crime scenes and murders in an amusing way, feeling a part of their conversation even though I was in an empty house and no one within kilometres knew my name. They kept me company as I folded my spare sheets and packed them away, noting that the linen closet looked extremely empty. I had a few throw blankets, but I would be using them to keep the cold air off me the moment I decided to relax.
It was only when I'd made my third cup of tea, my clothes on hangers and the wardrobe door shut, that I stopped, pulling myself up to sit on the counter and breath on the steam curling out of my mug. My mattress was being delivered at some point this afternoon, and I knew that was most likely to be the only form of human interaction I would have for the remainder of the day, though it would be short.
So what to do now?
