Swan Residence

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the funeral? I bet it would be greatly appreciated by Mrs. Shore if you did."

I rolled my eyes and played with an errant crumb that had fallen onto the table from the breakfast bagel I had earlier. "That old crone? I highly doubt it. As I recall, she was hardly my biggest fan."

Dad gave me a look as he finished doing up his tie. "Be nice, Briar. Her husband just suddenly died, she could use all of the support she can get."

"Yeah, well, she's not getting any from me." Flicking the crumb off the table, I stood up and straightened out his tie before giving him a thumbs-up. "Besides, do you not remember the disaster of the last funeral I attended?"

"How was I supposed to know you were that freaked out by dead bodies? We marathon scary movies on a monthly basis!"

"And in all that time it never occurred to you that we don't ever watch zombie movies?"

"We watched World War Z together!"

"Yeah, and that was the first and last time we saw any of that! I couldn't sleep for, like, a week straight! Give me vampires, werewolves, or Frankenstein's monster any day of the week, but the undead..." I trailed off, shuddering.

"Technically, two of those three are undead."

I pinned him with a look. "Technically, you can shut up."

Chuckling, he moved past me to grab the half-full coffee pot sitting on the counter. He grabbed his mug and refilled it before taking a long sip. He then turned back to me, leaning on the counter.

"Well, while I'm forced to be gloomy at a funeral, how are you planning on spending your Friday afternoon?"

I hopped up onto the table and swung my legs back and forth. Shrugging my shoulders I said, "I'm not really sure. Maybe go out for a hike or something. It's a nice enough day."

He looked at me over the rim of his mug. "Don't rub it in. And get down from the table!"

"You can't control me anymore, Father. I'm what the cool kids call, an adult!" To punctuate my statement I stuck my tongue out at him.

He snorted. "If you're such an adult, why are you still living with me? Rent free, might I add."

"Low blow, Pops. Low blow." We sat in a silent stare down for a few moments. "Fine, fine! I 'm going now; you're no fun."

I launched myself from the table and walked towards the front door, throwing my dad finger guns as I passed him. I grabbed my jacket and keys from their respective hooks, shrugging my jacket on and slipping the keys into the pocket. I checked for my cell phone in my back pocket before unlocking and opening the front door.

"Have fun at your thing!"

"It's a funeral, Briar."

"You know what I mean. Love ya! Bye!"

Cullen Residence

Carlisle pulled into the driveway of his new home. He had only been back for a couple of days, but with everything he'd had to deal with in the span of a few hours, and despite the fact that he was a vampire, he was exhausted.

It was only a week ago that the family had decided to start making their preparations to move back to Forks. Only a week ago when Carlisle started to reach out to connections to prepare references for when he moved hospitals in a year. Only five days ago when he left his contact information with the receptionist at Forks General Hospital to discuss possible future transfer opportunities. Only two days ago when he received a call back saying there was a sudden death in the hospital staff and would he consider transferring now, perhaps?

After that, it was a whirlwind as he prepared everything he needed before he left with promises to his family to constantly call and send updates. When he finally arrived on Wednesday his entire night was taken up as he cleaned the whole house from top to bottom, returning it to a livable state. From there, it was straight to the hospital on Thursday morning to get a tour of the facility and settle all of his paperwork. As a portion of the staff were out in preparation for the funeral, what was only supposed to take a few hours ended up being a whole day affair.

He, thankfully, had a brief reprieve Thursday night, which he chose to spend reading in his study until the scent of shifter invaded his home. Opening his front door, he was faced with the pack's new alpha who had a request to meet with him in the morning, presumably to discuss why Carlisle had arrived in Forks so early. He agreed and so found himself standing in a clearing early Friday morning, faced with the shifter pack as he explained his circumstances.

It was from this meeting that he currently returned home, sitting parked in his driveway. He took a deep, but unnecessary breath when his phone beeped with an incoming text. He noted that it was from Alice, and as messages from her tended to be cryptic he feared this one would be no different. His fears were shortly realized and, with a wrinkle between his brows, sent a questioning text. When no reply came he sent another one out in slight desperation before thumping his head back on his head rest. He brought up his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He needed to hunt.

Forest Trails

While hiking has never been my favorite pastime, growing up in the small, dreary town of Forks didn't leave much else in terms of hobbies. Granted, it was always a nice way to get some peace and quiet, and I found myself enjoying the gentle breeze and ambient sounds of nature as I meandered my way through one of the more heavily wooded trails.

I'd only been walking for about a half an hour until I finally found what I was looking for: a giant, moss covered rock that sat in the middle of the now forked road. Double checking to see if the coast was clear, I pushed aside the branches that hugged the rock, ducking into the small opening to find myself on a narrow, barely there path.

I followed the path for about another quarter of a mile before it started to slightly open up. It wouldn't be long before I reached my destination of a small, secluded clearing that had overhanging trees and patches of wildflowers, perfect for napping. I can never remember how I found the clearing, but I've never forgotten how to get there.

I ran the last few steps, bursting through the trees and into the clearing with a bright smile. My body froze as my smile and my heart dropped when I realized something frightening.

I was not alone.

It seemed as though I had startled the beast when I came running in as its ears were flat against its head and its body crouched low to the ground. The air vibrated as it let out a warning growl, emanating pure power. The bottom half gave a slight wiggle, a telltale sign it was getting ready to attack.

I brought my hands up in front of me slowly and took one tentative step back. My heart beat a samba against my chest as my slight movement caused its eyes to hone in on me.

"N-nice kitty..."

The mountain lion inched ever so closer to me, the low growl it was emitting a steady constant. I knew that I was unable to outrun it, and there was no way it was going to let me go now. But it couldn't hurt to try.

Throwing a quick prayer to the wind, I swiftly turned and ran. I only made it a couple of strides when I heard the lion roar before charging and pouncing. I was suddenly pushed to the ground, and I flipped over to try and fight back, but there was nothing there. I sat up in confusion and gasped.

Instead of being inches away from me baring its fangs and claws I was met with the sight of the lion lying in the middle of the clearing, lifeless. What was even stranger than that was the sight of the man in a baby blue button down kneeling next to the lion, seemingly kissing its neck. My gasp must have alerted him as he stopped what he was doing and looked up at me.

My heart froze. He could have been considered a handsome man if not for the pallid color of his skin, his black eyes, and the blood and viscera that surrounded his mouth and dripped down his chin. He's a... He..is..a…

"Z-zombie..." I managed to get out before everything went black.

Beware of kitties! They tend to drag unwanted presents to your doorstep. -3:25 p.m.

Alice, what on earth does that even mean? -3:26 p.m.

Alice? -3:29 p.m.