Seattle Nights

Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight series, all I own is the plot and a few original characters.

Chapter Two (written by PuzzlingApprentice – original author.)

The fifteen minute walk to work was nerve-racking. Travel mug in hand and messenger bag over my shoulder, I had set out with faux confidence that I could make it there with no incidents. Eye drops had, for the most part, cleared my eyes of their red rims, a little concealer took care of the dark circles, and twice the amount of recommended pain relievers helped take care of the head ache. I had been walking swiftly down the sidewalk, happy to feel the sun on my bare arms— the redness had faded and I was thankful for my short sleeves. However, the positive atmosphere didn't last long, and came down with a crash.

I was at that road. I had to cross the street to the opposite side that I usually walk on in order to get out of the way of the policemen that were still manning the crime scene. The yellow tape closing off the area sent chills down my spine. I always walked right by that alley. How many times had I looked down there to make sure it was truly as empty as its desolate atmosphere suggested? How many times had I felt a trickle of fear down my spine when I heard a noise that I couldn't explain away? How many times had I been such an easy target for someone to attack without even realizing it?

I shivered and quickened my pace, not wanting to let my mind wonder back to Dianna Atkins and the fact that it could have been me in her place.

When I finally reached the office, I made my way to my cubical and plopped down in my office chair. Running a hand over my face, I let out a deep sigh. If nothing else, I was pretty sure that no one would be killing me while I was in my crowded workplace. Taking a deep breath, I allowed all of the fear and stress to leave me as I exhaled. Making a decision, I allowed myself to be grateful that it hadn't been me to be killed but nothing else. I was sick of being anxious— I had spent too much time filled with that emotion. No, I refused to be scared.

However, that did not mean that I was willing to be stupid. I would not walk around at night just for the thrill of it, but I also wasn't going to be sprinting my way down the street for safety. I would be cautious, but not frightened. Now that I had it out of my system, I was pretty sure that I could follow through with my decision.

Finally, I pulled my eyelids open only to notice Ashlyn standing directly in front of me; a worried expression on her face.

"Good morning, Bella." She smiled through her concern, trying to look enthusiastic about starting another long work day. "Hey," she said suddenly, apparently noticing my spaced out appearance. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, just didn't get much sleep last night." My statement was punctuated by a yawn. As she laughed at me lightly, I noticed that my travel mug was already empty of my caffeinated goodness. I groaned quietly and began to stand up, fully intent on having my third cup of coffee that day, when a light hand on my shoulder pushed me back in to my seat.

"Don't worry about it; I was heading in that direction anyway." Ashlyn grabbed my mug and made off toward the break room for my refill.

"Will you marry me?" I called after her jokingly, and her resounding laugh made me smile.

"I'm not so sure that Ron would approve." She chuckled, referring to her fiance when she had returned.

I snorted and waved my hand at her dismissively in a way of saying that he didn't matter before gratefully accepting the coffee.

"So what kept you up last night?" She asked quietly, in a way that showed that she wouldn't pry for information if I were to turn her away.

"I watched the news while I was eating dinner, it kind of got me all wound up." I paused to sigh. "I just couldn't force my body to relax."

She nodded; Ashlyn knew what roads I took to and from work and the fresh concern blooming in her eyes told me that she was well aware of the newest murder.

"So, uh, did you want to grab a bite to eat with me tonight? I could drive you home after wards." She offered.

"Real subtle," I commented, and we both laughed. She knew that I would never ask her for a ride when I had two fully functional legs, not to mention my truck which resided in the parking garage of my apartment. Actually, it probably would not be a bad idea to start driving to work with what had been going on. "Honestly, I would take you up on that, but tonight I think I am just going to go home and crawl in bed before anything can even try to stop me."

She smiled softly, "Well, would you like to get together for an early breakfast tomorrow morning? I know you have to leave for your father's place around noon— I could be there at nine?"

It was kind of nice having someone looking out for me. Ashlyn and I had met our last year at college and it was just luck that the same firm had picked us up. I was glad though, it's not often that you make truly good friends. In fact, I only had her and one other. I grinned at her and decided to take her up on that offer.

She smiled fiercely before wishing me a great day and heading off to her cubby to get back to work. I took a big gulp of my coffee before booting up my computer and taking a look at the large stack of invoices that I had to go through and put in to the computer. I sighed and finally began. It wasn't hard work, though it was extremely tedious. Thirteen papers in, two hours had passed and my eyes were beginning to twitch due to staring at the screen so intensely for that duration of time. Glancing at the clock in the bottom right corner of my screen, I noticed that it was finally lunch time.

I stood up slowly, feeling as I popped and stretched pleasantly. Making my way over to Ashlyn's cubical I waved at my few acquaintances and friends and got smiles and nods in return. Finally I reached her and asked if she wanted to go out for lunch with me. She was out of her office chair before the inquiry had fully left my mouth, causing a light laugh to escape the confines of my lips.

"Where did you want to go?" She asked as we made our way out of the doors leading to the street. The sun was hidden behind clouds but it wasn't raining nor was it even the least bit cold.

"Did you want to walk down the street to that Chinese restaurant?" I suggested; it wasn't on a road where anyone had recently been incinerated so that was a plus.

She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, most likely because my suggestion included walking. She was even more skittish than me when not only did she have the luxury of not having to pass the newest scene in the morning— she even lived with a big, strong man to protect her. I had to bite back by laugh at how obviously disturbed she was at the mere thought of walking on the street alone. I was about to give in and ask if she would drive us to the Mexican place ten minutes away when she finally seemed to regain control of herself and nodded.

The walk to the restaurant was unbelievably short, only two blocks. After a moment Ashlyn became herself again and began talking animatedly about her plans for the weekend while I just smiled and nodded along. If nothing else, I was glad that she was happy and excitedly planning her wedding.

Suddenly, I stiffened and felt an ice cold chill run the course of my spine. My eyes narrowed, my instincts telling me that I was being watched. I did my best to keep up with the conversation as my eyes trailed both sides of the streets before nonchalantly glancing over my shoulder. Nothing stuck out to me but the feeling didn't dwindle. Though I knew that something wasn't right, that something was going on, I didn't tell Ashlyn of my feelings. She was already acting jumpy and I could only imagine what this information would do to her demeanor. I heard her laugh besides me, and guessing that she had made a joke I joined in.

Finally, when we were about three minutes from reaching our destination the feeling ebbed. I took a deep breath to steady myself and realized that I must have been holding it for a good amount of time while I had had the feeling of being stalked. I was thankful that whatever it was, it had stopped.

We chatted our way through the meal; mostly the conversation centered on Ashlyn's life and everything that had been going on with her. She was in no way self centered, instead she seemed to realize that I was in no mood to be leading a conversation and she was taking the pressure off me—for which I was eternally grateful. I did my best to help her out by asking the appropriate questions at the appropriate times in order to keep the conversation moving.

However, this time when my back went ramrod straight, my dear friend noticed.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Both confusion and curiosity colored her features.

I did my best to force my back to relax, though it was only on the surface. I made up some lame excuse about suddenly remembering that I had forgotten to finish something at work. I waited for her to suck herself back in to the conversation before I allowed my eyes to scan the premises, searching for the cause of my discomfort. When I again came up with nothing, I felt my eyebrows crease with a frown and did my best to turn my attention back to my friend, though all of my senses were trained on my surroundings. They may have been dull human senses, but they were better than nothing.

The feeling didn't leave until we exited the restaurant, but I was immensely relieved when I noticed that it hadn't followed me back on to the streets. We returned back to the office a short while later, our stomachs content and our minds refreshed. Well, hers was anyway. Mine was even more cluttered due to trying to figure out the strange sensation of being watched while we were out.

Somehow, I managed to get the rest of the way through my work and ended up finishing my day around 6:30 that evening. After saying a quick goodbye to Ashlyn and thankfully dodging my boss before he could once again try to force me into a ride home, I was out the door and making quick progress towards arriving home at my apartment.

About halfway there, I heard a strange noise coming from the direction I was walking. Squinting down the darkening road, I noticed that on the side opposite of that I was walking on there were two figures. One was speed walking down the road, looking frantically over his shoulder in a way that made obvious the fact that he believed that the second figure was following him. The second figure, however, was what really caught my attention. He didn't seem to be making much of an effort to be gaining on the object of his prey, simply matching the other's speed. Still, that wasn't what caught my attention. It was the way he was walking. The simple grace of the movement would be unattainable to anything human.

Shit, I thought as I dashed across the road towards the soon-to-be victim. I knew I was not thinking rationally, but I wasn't going to stand by and let some innocent stranger be killed. I grabbed his arm and pushed him down the nearest alley. I pointed for him to run while I planned to wait for the predator. I noticed that he didn't even begin to object, and a small part of me wondered what kind of man would leave someone like me, a young girl, to fight off what I knew was coming. However, before he made it anywhere, the vampire was upon us.

I stepped in front of the man and again he made to run. Thankfully, he made it out of the alley and continued on without a scratch on him. Suddenly, though, I felt myself being forcefully shoved against the wall of the alleyway.

Finally I forced my eyes defiantly up to those of my captor.

My jaw dropped at the vibrant red eyes staring back.

Before I could even consider the repercussions of my actions my palm came up and slapped him across the face as hard as I could manage without shattering any bones.

"Jasper, you ass!"

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A/N: Please review! Were you expecting that? Did you like her reaction? Let me know. Again, this chapter is one that was posted by the original author, I did make a few corrections on words but nothing else was changed.