A/N: I hope y'all like this chapter. I'm kind of unsure about it, but it needed to be posted. Give some love if you want. It makes writers happy.

The white house Chief Swan – Charlie, he had said to call him - pulls up to is small but it has an upstairs and it's old with a charm and calmness with it. Homey, I think. I already feel welcomed here just by looking at it.

I had spent about a week in the hospital. Dr. Cullen cleared me to leave two days before now, but with nowhere to go he had managed to extend my stay. It was better than staying in an empty cell at the police department as the law enforcement spent time trying to contact someone, anyone to help them help me. I was grateful that they were trying to make me feel as comfortable as possible.

Earlier today Charlie came by to inform me of my current options. There weren't many. I could either stay at the police station, momentarily live with Charlie… or, and perhaps the strangest of them all, Dr. Cullen had offered me up two options. He suggested paying for a room at the small town's only room and board or I could come stay with him and his family.

Though I appreciated what Dr. Cullen has done for me as well as his offers, I didn't think it was a good idea. He had informed me that over time he and his wife had already taken in five children that were not theirs. He seems nice enough to feel somewhat comfortable around, but he is still a stranger. Plus, the thought of sharing a home with seven people who I have no knowledge of would unnerve me to no end. What if the family didn't like me? That's the last thing I need in my unsure life at the moment. Also, not to mention how crowded I think it would be.

I felt that Charlie seemed like the better option. I have to keep in mind that just because he wears a badge and took an oath to protect and serve doesn't make him a saint. In some cases, the badge only helps the demons. But I like Charlie and there's something about him that I can tell makes him good. Someone I know I can trust on some level. I'm lucky that he seems to be trusting me.

Charlie shuts off the engine to his vehicle, looking at his home before looking at me. He sighs. "I did hope we could narrow down the search some. I know we don't have a last name, but I was wishing with what we do have and with the bit of that accent I can hear that I could at least narrow down a state."

Ah yes, the accent. I can hardly notice it when I speak, but apparently others have noticed it clearer than me.

I rest a hand on his arm. "That's okay, Charlie. I appreciate you for everything you're doing for me."

When I walk inside the house, I'm hit with warmth and a pleasant smell – chestnuts and pine. I look around at the furniture and other things within my sight. For a single male, he keeps the place clean and orderly enough.

"It's not much but it'll be more comfortable than the woods." Charlie chuckles at his try at a joke, but the shuffle of his feet give his nerves away.

While this entire situation has been traumatic to me, a little tension releases from my shoulders as I smile at his attempt at a joke. Charlie is awkward yet kind. So far, I couldn't ask for anyone better to help me navigate this new path in my life with. I bite my lip nervously. Company for the new path doesn't make it any less scary.

"Mary Alice, is there something wrong?"

"Please, just call me Alice." I tell him politely, twirling back to face him. "Your home is lovely. I just – I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm not used to all the items in your home nor the modifications of the ones I do know. I think it will take me time to find my way around here, to find my way around my new life."

With his hands on his hips, Charlie looks around his own home with a disgruntled facial expression and heaving another sigh. This one heavier than the last. "Whatever happened to you really did a number, huh." His face softens some as he adds, "A good friend of mine has a son around roughly your age. I'll ask him to help you settle in here, make sure you learn the things you need to."

A grateful smile blossoms on my face. "That would be very kind of him."

I could use the guidance and a friend. I wonder if I had friends before this twisted turn in my life. I wonder if there's anyone out there that misses me. Is there someone I should be missing?

"I know you'll figure it out." Charlie nods towards the stairs. "It's getting late. I'll show you were you'll be sleeping."

We head up the stairs. I begin to let my eyes roam around the room I'll be staying in. It was mostly empty aside from a bed with an extra blanket folded up and sitting at the bottom of it and a dresser with a desk next to a window. The room's air is stale, and the walls could be repainted, but it was good enough.

It was more than enough for someone who didn't have many places to go, who doesn't even know if they deserve anything. Charlie and anyone else I came across at the hospital aren't the only ones that are strangers. I'm a stranger too. A stranger to them and a stranger to myself. Maybe there was a good reason I was hurt… maybe I deserved it.

Charlie clears his throat before he speaks again. "Well, the bathroom is down the hall. Feel free to make yourself comfortable. You'll be here until we can find a contact of yours or the state steps in."

I thank him as he exits.

It takes some time to find my way around the bathroom, but when I'm in the warmth of the water it causes me to sigh happily. I feel like I have layers and layers of stress resting on my shoulders and it's a relief to feel even the tiniest amount melt away.

After I walk back into the bedroom while finishing drying my hair, I put the towel over the desk chair and begin to go through the little amount of clothes Charlie had been able to gather up for me. I'm confused at the design of fabric. I had noticed the style of clothing on others over the past week. Though a lot of the clothing were quite fashionable I happened to notice the lack of the attire I do know. Not to mention the way some were more revealing than what is considered proper for a lady. I had blushed at peaks of cleavage and uncovered legs, cheeks burning even brighter when I had felt a pull down below.

I choose some soft pants and a shirt half my size to sleep in. Pulling back the covers, I'm attempting to climb in the bed when it finally happens again. The images I have no control over. Not that I wanted it to, but I have been so curious as to whether I was mentally ill or if I had a good imagination and it had all really been nothing or… what had happened had actually been real. That it actually could be a vision. Once again, my vision blurs around the edges and I'm frozen in place.

The night is clear and the house I see is Charlie's. It is as if I'm looking at things from their point of view. The point of view of that damn presence from the hospital. I see movement in the window noticing that the figure that appears in the light upstairs is me and then the point of view changes to my own and those honey-colored orbs are underneath a tree in the yard. I find the courage to move my feet and walk all the way outside… right up to the presence with the unforgettable eyes. We keep our gaze locked. My hand reaches out towards them and then -

The image releases me back into reality. I chew on my lip, and I can't help my curiosity as I walk to the window. Then… I actually see those eyes. Those honey-colored orbs. It sends a chill down my spine, out of surprise and the intensity. We haven't broken our gazes. I don't want to break the gaze, but I need to be closer to them. I need to know who they are. I need to know why they were here and why I was apparently supposed to be impossible. At least, that's what they had said in my… vision at the hospital.

There's a chance that I'll regret moving from this spot, because all this could be gone. They could be gone. I can't resist it though. I rush down the old, creaking steps and head straight to the door and opening up. The very moment I step a foot outside, the weather suddenly decides to disrupt the peace of the night.

Through the heavy pouring rain, I try to catch those eyes again to see who they are coming from. I was right. I shouldn't have come out of the house. I can't see them anymore. As tempting as it is to want to walk over to where I had spotted them and explore the area in search of the being with golden eyes, the weather was far from easing up, only coming down harder to the point of almost hurting my skin and making me shiver. It was supposed to be a calm night for the little town. The sky had been clear. What had happened?

I walk back inside and turn to go back up the stairs to once again only to stop short when I see Charlie in a t-shirt and his undershorts on the stairs with a handgun clutched in his right hand. I would have been uncomfortable, but he is an officer of the law, and it isn't a surprise that he'd carry some protection with him while checking out an unknown midnight disturbance in his own home. Anyone who wanted to survive an enemy in their own home would… or should… have a weapon with them.

"Alice, what are you doing?" Charlie's voice is rough with sleep. He rubs at his tired eyes.

"I didn't mean to wake you. I thought I heard something, but it was nothing."

Charlie doesn't look convinced. "You sure about that?"

I nod my head. "Have a good night, Charlie."

Charlie mumbles back a reply as I pass him on the stairs to return to my room. I groan at the knowledge that I'll have to dry off and change again, but when I do I practically collapse onto the bed with a whirlpool of emotions caressing my insides.

I'm growing frustrated with that presence with the intensely intoxicating orbs, with the confusion of this entire situation, with the images that appear to be visions of all things. I had no idea that a blank life could be even messier than that, but it is and I'm trying so hard not to be swallowed up by my fear.

Sleep doesn't come easy that night.