I'm led back downstairs and to the garage, passing the rest of her family on the way. "Carlisle's is the black car just over there. I'll see you soon!"

"Um, yeah. See you." I walk over to the car she pointed me to, only to have Carlisle direct me to the passenger's side. I climb in and shut the door, not knowing what to say.

"It's not that long of a drive, so it shouldn't take too long. Where do you want me to drop you off?"

"If there's a library, then there."

"Okay, the library it is." He starts the car and starts to head down the driveway.

"So... " I start, unsure of how to continue.

"So?" He glances over at me. "What is it?"

I clear my throat. "So, I still don't really know how I got into your house, in my pajamas, and then fell asleep on your couch. Sorry about that, by the way,"

"It's fine. Nothing was harmed or missing." He looks at me again. "You really don't know how you got here? At all?"

I shrug my shoulders once as I shake my head. "No. I have no clue. My family lives- lived- across the US in Virginia. Honestly, the last thing I remember is laying down to go to sleep, then I woke up here. I'm just as confused as you are."

"Hmm…" He seems like he is thinking on the subject, scrambling for an explanation. "I can't say that I have ever come across something like this in any of my books."

"I know what you mean." I clear my throat a few times. "Really, at the moment, the most likely theory would be that this is a dream or hallucination, but I've already checked for both of those possibilities."

"And?"

"And nothing." Sighing, I tilt my head back to rest against the headrest. "By all of my tests, I'm completely conscious and lucid. This is very, very confusing, and mildly concerning, at least for me. I do tend to get lost, just not usually the extent of nine states away."

There are a few beats of silence. "Odd question. What year is it?"

"2008, why do you ask?"

I swallow hard, "N-no reason. I just had it wrong in my head."

"Oh? What year did you think it was?"

I look out the window when I respond, "2008, I just have trouble remembering, even this far into the year."

"Ah, I understand."

In my head, I'm screaming my head off. 'How in Hades' flaming hair is it 2008?! When I went to sleep, it was 10 years in the future!'

I pause my mental rant for a second, just long enough to realise that if I'm really where I think I am, then this would make total sense. 'If I really am in the sparkly gay vampire universe, then the timeframe would line up correctly with the apparent year… NO. I will not think about that possibility. Nope. Nope. Nope. NO.'

Carlisle starts to speak again. "So, will you be joining the school soon? I have a feeling that my children would have recognised you if you weren't brand new."

My brain splutters for a second to figure out what exactly does that have to do with my current train of thought, before realising. "Uh, yeah, I guess. I'm going to have to wait for the rest of my… siblings to get here, then we can join."

Time to make up a bullshit story. "We're emancipated, so it's just us. Once we all get here, we'll fill out the forms and such for the school."

"Oh, really? Do you mind my asking of why?"

"Why we're emancipated?" I breathe out heavily, thinking. "Our parents weren't taking care of us properly, so we all applied for emancipation, after we had jobs, and strong grounds for the case. It took a good bit, but we all went through. We took as much as we could, then set off to another state nearby, Pennsylvania. We don't like to stay in one place for very long."

"I can understand that." He looks back at me again. "My family prefers to move around as well. Never staying still."

"Mm." I would have liked the rest of the drive to be filled with silence, but my hopes were dashed as he began talking again, 30 minutes later.

"The library is just a few streets away. The hospital is not far from it, only a few blocks. The school is that way." He points out other locations as we pull into the parking lot of the library. I quickly pick up my folded pajamas and climb out of the car.

"Thank you for the ride, Carlisle. I don't even know how long it would have taken me if I had walked. And please thank Alice for the clothes that she let me borrow." I go to shut the door, but his voice stops me.

"Wait." I open it up again. "I can wait here until your siblings show up, if you'd like?"

I shake my head. "No, but thanks for asking. They shouldn't be long."

As the words leave my lips, I can hear the faint rumblings of a car down the road. I turn as a sickeningly yellow punch buggy pulls into the parking lot. It stops and two people get out before the car drives off again. "Alex, Rich! Over here!"

My friends see me and rush over. "Are you okay? How did you get here? How did we get here? Where's Aubrie? Why isn't my family answering? Where are we? What's going on? What time is it?"

I wave my hands around to stop their bombardment of questions. "Yes, I'm okay. I don't know and I don't know. I don't know, but hopefully nearby. I don't know, but I have an idea. Forks, Washington. I think I know, but let's wait until we have everyone. I don't know, let me ask."

I turn to Carlisle. "Hey, what time is it?"

He checks the dash. "6:47."

"You heard him. We probably don't have long until it starts to get dark." I turn back to Carlisle again. "Thank you for driving me here, and for giving me some clothes other than my pajamas. I honestly can't thank you enough. I enjoyed our conversation in the car. I guess I'll see you around?"

"You're welcome. I enjoyed it to. Yes, goodbye for now."

I step back from the car and shut the door, waving as he drives away. I turn back to my friends. "Hey, guys, let's head home, okay?"

They both look at me funny. I mouth, 'Just go along with it, alright?'

Alex looks confused. "Um, okay…"

They both start to follow me across the parking lot. After a few minutes, I stop and turn around. "Okay, since he's now out of hearing range, we can talk."

"What do you mean out of hearing range? He drove off, like, 5 minutes ago." Winter states this with a straight face.

"I know, I know." I hold my hand up to my lips. "Just, listen."

"Okay, we're listening. What is so important that we had to wait until he was long gone?"

"One, we need to find Aubrie, two, we need to find Aubrie." I hold up my hand. "I will explain everything after we find her. I just don't want to have to explain it all twice."

Alex shifts their weight. "Okay, and how are we going to do that?"

"We need to split up. Meet back here once it starts to get dark. If you find Aubrie, still meet back here."

"Teagan, that isn't going to be long." Rich looks up at the sky. "The sun will be setting soon."

I nod my head enthusiastically. "I know, I know. That's why we need to hurry. Alex, go with Rich. No offense, but if it gets dark, Alex has a better chance at protecting you than you do. I actually know some self-defense, so I should be fine. I know you do too, but it's your… stature that I'm worried about."

"I get it." He nails me with a bitchface. "I'm short."

I shrug and grimace. "Sorry, Rich."

"Let's go."