Chapter 15

Curtains closed, Carys sat bathed in the artificial light of her hotel room. Books, her laptop, and newspapers lay scattered across the small desk and chair opposite the large bed she had yet to sleep in, and surrounded her where she sat cross-legged on the floor.

The sun may have risen, rousing the city of Seattle to another weekend, but Carys had long since paid little mind to the time. She was far too absorbed, as she had been following her arrival in Seattle two nights before, on her search.

Rubbing at tired eyes, she yawned and then tried to concentrate on the newspaper closest to her. It was as thankless a task as it had been each time she had tried to make sense of the words since they had begun to swim before her eyes.

Finally abandoning the paper, she reached up and behind, grabbing her laptop from the desk she had discarded it on around an hour before. The light shifted, waking her mind a little as the screen lit once again, displaying first the login page, and subsequently, the bright white of the last webpage she had accessed.

She winced against the sudden glare.

Serial killer loose in Seattle? The article read. Three new possible victims identified in a case that appears to be baffling authorities. Seattle PD continues to claim these latest murders are unconnected, though sources claim unmistakable similarities between-

Carys exited the page, opened a new tab, and in the search bar, typed: missing persons Seattle.

She scrolled down past search results that talked about where and how to go about reporting cases, and clicked on the first link to match what she was looking for.

Images and text transformed the screen.

Carys grabbed a pen and notepad, flipping through until she reached a blank page. She quickly and efficiently discounted the first few entries on the screen; it was over a year since they had been reported missing, and if what she had learned from newspapers and previous web searches was correct, the murders and related disappearances she was looking for could be no more than ten months old.

Carys paused when the image of a small brunette teen rose up, filling the space. Staring unsmiling out at her, the girl's large brown eyes appeared to equally challenge and appeal to both her photographer and the viewer.

Bree Tanner. Height: 5"1'. Missing since: 02/15/2006. Current age: 15 years. Last seen: Seattle, Washington.

Carys gazed at the picture for long seconds, and then closed her eyes and drew a sharp breath. It was not the first time she had seen the image. It had accompanied a small article on the girl's disappearance, alongside her father's mugshot, in one of the backdated newspapers she had sourced. It now lay stacked haphazardly upon the chair.

The website was out of date.

Bree Tanner's father had been arrested following the discovery of her mother's remains in Nevada a week after her disappearance. He had not reported her missing; the police had initially held out hope. He had since been charged with two murders. Bree's had been the second, her mother the first.

So close to freedom, the new widely held understanding was that Bree had attempted to escape the abusive home, bought a bus ticket to Seattle, and then been caught and suffered a tragic end at the hands of her father. If she had lived another week, she would have seen his arrest. Instead, it was believed her life had been cut horrifically short following years of terror.

Carys opened her eyes following a short prayer the investigators were wrong, studied the picture for a moment longer, and then slowly scrolled on. The number of people reported missing in Seattle was terrifying, heartbreaking, but she forced herself to concentrate on one thing alone. She was looking for one face in particular, the face of the second man she had seen in the alley that day.

Ten minutes later, Carys was about to abandon her efforts once again, when she scrolled one last time and lost her breath on a gasp.

Another teenager, barely a man, stared from the screen as if he were beckoning the viewer to share in whatever amusing anecdote had led to his grin. In contrast to the picture of Bree Tanner, his had clearly been selected by a loving relative; it suggested an exuberant, happy teen, who was used to having his picture taken.

"Gotcha," she whispered, the first word to have left her mouth, save for swears of frustration muttered under her breath, since the day before.

The similarities between the second vampire, illuminated by the streetlight by the mouth of the alley, and the young man on screen were as unmistakable as the first and Richard.

Riley Biers. Height: 6"3'. Missing since: 04/15/2005. Current age: 19 years. Last seen: Seattle, Washington.

Both men had appeared far, far paler when she had seen them than they had before their transformations, but when she searched her mind and recalled their faces, the differences she found were only those akin to the change. Both handsome as humans, their features had adjusted, sharpened, and firmed, elevating them to the realm of the unmistakeably beautiful.

Carys pressed her palms to her forehead and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly in an effort to calm her now racing heart. It took several attempts before she managed the feat.

Riley Biers had gone missing on the fifteenth of April the year before. Soon after, the number of disappearances in the city had risen gradually, until murders, similar in their viciousness, had begun to blight Seattle.

Her suspicions partially confirmed, Carys slid her hands down over her face, dropped them to the laptop, and clicked through to the related page.

She made quick work of jotting down the more detailed information about Biers' last known whereabouts, closed her laptop, and stood, cracking her spine. Another wave of exhaustion hit her, and she rubbed at her eyes again through a long yawn as she staggered across to the bed on legs made unsteady by having sat in one position for too long.

After spending half a day searching libraries and newspaper stands, and another half day and long night reviewing the information she had gathered while intermittently searching the internet, she, at last, had a place to start.

She sighed deeply and felt the worst of the tension leave her body. She could relax now - just enough to get a few hours' sleep, as long as she put the worst part of the revelation to the back of her mind.

Richard was now a vampire, and despite his resignation and texts to his friends, he had likely never left for Florida.

Carys laid down on the bed slowly, easing her sore muscles into as comfortable a position as she could manage, and closed her eyes.

The question of whether or not Richard had chosen his change followed her into oblivion, but by the time she woke hours later, it was close to the last thing on her mind.

A/N: Short chapter, but needs to be as we're now firmly in detective novel territory, and, having read a few to prepare, short chapters blend with longer ones.

Thank you to: chellekathrynnn, souverian, Riariabookworm (very close! About two weeks or so away, in fact!), Ella (Carys can't always make the smart choices! Haha, I love this review, thank you! And same here - I actually binge watched 15 seasons last month, and after he died I just couldn't commit in the same way!), Ghostwriter71, GuestMG, and Gladiolus97 for your reviews!

BIG QUESTION: consensus needed... If, when it comes to it, I change Jasper from being a Confederate to a Union soldier, how would we feel about that? I'd feel more comfortable, but I know it's a big piece of his canon history...