Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I make profit off of Twilight. All right's belong to it's author Stephanie Meyer.
TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTION OF NON CONSENSUAL ASSULT. IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THIS PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER AND IMMEDIETLY EXIT. THERE WILL BE OTHER SAFE CHAPTERS IN THE NEAR FUTURE, SO PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!
Here we are at the conclusion of our flashback chapters, thank you so much for sticking around and giving these chapters so much love, you honestly have no idea how much it truly means to me that you guys like them as much as I loved writing them. I can't show my appreciation enough and just hope that you all understand how thankful I am for every single one of you!
Reviews: (I am so sorry, I ended prioritizing my time very poorly this week and didn't have as much time to both edit and write out long reviews so please forgive me, I promise next week will be 10X better!)
shereekouise60- Thank you luv! I hope you like this chapter even more and sorry in advanced for the ending
livvixxx- I LOVE THE ALL CAPS! Good things are coming my friend I promise!
AliceCullen3- AND I LOVE YOU!
agabriellafiguerdo- Oh my goodness, I'm sooo happy for you! Yay, I am much better this week so I'm sending over all my good healing vibes, I promise you these ones are good! Please take the time to heal and get stronger my friend! I really hope this chapter aids in some recovery and if it doesn't I promise good things are coming!
20- honestly?! Even I don't know sometime lol, but I promise you ALL things are coming to a head!
Guest- Oh my goodness, stappp you spoil me with this compliment and I can't thank you enough luv!
Deia3- WELCOME! Honestly, I'm impressed, this story is like over 100,000 words! I bow to you my friend and hope you like this chapter, if you don't that okay! better things are coming I promise;) and while it took over a WEEK! my cold is better thank you!
Guest- Thank you! I love you
AlexisHard-I'm good my friend, little tired lol, how are you? Mare's mother is definitely a hard one, both to read and write. This is the last flashback chapter, but not the last time we'll see Sarah, so i really hope you enjoy! I do warn you there might be a few mistakes in this one, I'm finishing this one up late so I apologize! Thank you for reading and as always I accept you love hugs and kisses and send them right back to you 10X!
Lunar-212- I'm so happy you like this little story of mine! Here's a new chapter in your honor and I really hope you like!
Ooshnish- OH MY GOODNESS! You have left me so many awesome things to read and I want to respond to all of it, but the suns coming up and I want to make this quick BUT I promise i will respond more diligently next week, so please bare with me my friend! You have no idea how much I love reading your reviews, I truly consider you to be my greatest friend, you've pushed me all these years which is crazy to say and I search out you name after every chapter and smile when I finally see it. You're words mean the world to me and I find myself going back and just rereading them when I need a pick me up! You are the kindest and most amazing human being and I really hope you understand that! I actually giggled when I read your comment about my writing now compared to chapter one because I seriously cringe when I read my earlier parts. I didn't take as much care in editing them back then although I thought I did. With that being said I have to empathize that there might be a few more mistakes in this chapter than normal. I'm coming back to fix them later after some sleep, but I know you'll read it before I get to it so please forgiveness! I'm sending you all the love and good things, across the pond and to your door my friend!
How Could You
Here they are again, more time has passed since they've been here, but this time it's worse than all the others. Sarah's hands are a little shaky, it's been a full eight hours since she's had a drink and she feels it. At some point she's gotten up to get a cup of coffee to hold between her hands to disguise the shaking,
"Hello, Miss Callahan." A voice catches her by surprise. Slowly she lifts her head,
"Hello." She tells the man in front of her, she recognizes him, but can't place from where, "Are you one of Mare's doctors?" The man nods
"I was also assigned to her case two years ago, I'm Dr. Manning." That's right, she remembers exactly who this man is, the hospital psychiatrist who talked to her daughter the last time they were here.
"I remember," Sarah whispers bringing the coffee up to her lips to take a long drink, it's cold now. "Do you know how she is, no one's come to talk to me." Dr. Manning grabs the cold coffee from her hands and places another in its place, this one hot. He walks over and throws it away, before sitting down next to her,
"Still in surgery, the damage was a bit more extensive than initially thought." This breaks Sarah, but she's careful not to show too much, instead she just takes a long drink from the hot coffee. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" No, but she knows she has to, otherwise he'll never go away,
"She fell." Short and simple, just like they rehearsed waiting for the ambulance,
"How?"
"She was walking down the stairs, I guess she wasn't paying attention." Lie.
"You weren't with her?" Yes.
"No, I heard her scream."
"Where was she going?" God this man doesn't stop.
"Ice skating practice." That one was the truth, Dr. Manning nods,
"She's a very talented ice skater." Sarah turns towards him,
"She is." He nods,
"I remember her telling me that last time she was here." Sarah nods
"She going to go back to Russia in October to start training for the Junior Grand Prix." Oh God, she's not going to be able to do that...will she even be able to skate after...she saw the bone peaking out of the skin, how the EMTs looked worried, how fast she was whisked away to surgery.
"Quite impressive." Dr. Manning comments. Sarah nods,
"It is." So much money has been put into her training. Her sponsors that pay for all her gear and expenses, the rink lets her skate for free because they're also expecting a cut of her money when she wins, and her coaches that pay for everything every time she goes back with them to Russia for 24/7 in-depth training...what happens to all of that? Sarah should call coach Katerina, but then again she can't bring herself to.
"Can I ask why you're here?" Dr. Manning nods, he still does that,
"I saw Marceline's name pop up. You're both in our records and since I was assigned to your case once, it's just hospital procedure."
"It's been two years." Can they still suspect something is up,
"It has." Sarah shrugs,
"I guess I just didn't expect you." Dr. Manning nods,
"I understand." Sarah takes a breath and finally says the things she's been thinking since they got here,
"Are we in trouble?" Dr. Manning relaxes more in the uncomfortable plastic chairs and shrugs,
"Should you be?"
"It was an accident," Sarah whispers her lie, forcing herself to believe it, she never will though, she caused this.
"Then why should you worry?" Reverse phycology, she knows these tricks, but why does she find herself falling for it? She feels the tears in her eyes,
"Because what if she can't skate."
"She can't" This catches Sarah so off guard she whips her head in his direction so fast she gets dizzy,
"What?" She scratches out,
"This isn't a simple break, she's in surgery to put the bone back into place, and then they'll drill a metal rod into the bone to keep the fracture stable. She'll be in a cast for about 8 weeks, after that, she'll need extensive physical therapy for another 8 weeks." Sarah's barely listening, Mare's supposed to go to Russia, she's supposed to be someone, she's supposed to take this whole skating thing to the top...but these four months she'll have to be off her feet, that's longer than the season... Sarah feels the tears fall...Mare will never forgive her.
"My god." She buries her face in her hands, her blonde hair falling around her in messy waves,
"If she works hard she'll be able to return next year." Sarah shakes her head over and over,
"You don't understand, she's going to lose her sponsor...her coach...she won't wait...I'll have to pay..I can't...I can't afford it." Dr. Manning reaches forward and places his hand on Sarah's shoulder,
"Have you contacted her coach? I'm sure there's something you can do." Sarah chokes on her sobs, trying to be quiet while also feeling the full weight of her emotions slowly crush her.
God, she's a monster...
…
By the time Sarah's brought back to Mare's room, it's 1 AM, because Mare's a minor she's allowed one adult with her at all times, so the nurses bring Sarah a pillow and blanket and sets her up in the corner on Mare's side of her shared room. The surgeon came out to talk to Sarah after they had set Mare up in the PACU ward, the surgery was a little more invasive than originally thought, in addition to issues with the Fibula bone completely breaking and sticking out the skin, apparently bone fragments were left inside causing certain muscles to be damaged, honestly Sarah stopped listening after hearing the word complications.
It was another hour before they had Mare moved to a room and allowed Sarah to go up. She stops when she sees her daughter though, she looks comfortable enough, her eyes are closed and she looks like she's getting good rest, although she's paler than she likes to see her. She ignores the cast on her right leg, it's bigger than she thought it would be and is currently being suspended a few inches off the bed. She sighs and sits down to gently run her fingers through her daughter's bangs, this arouses her a bit and she opens her eyes,
"Mom?"
"'Get some rest." She whispers pulling away, guilty she woke her child up,
"Mom, is it bad?"
"Shhhhhhh, close your eyes." She reaches forward again to brush her hand along her arm, careful of the IV there. She hopes their giving her something good so she's not in pain. Although she knows Mare hates needles,
"When can I get back on the rink?"
"Mare, you need to go back to sleep okay?" That's when she notices the tears running down her daughters half-closed eyes, "Are you in pain?"
"Moooommmmmmm," Just then a nurse walks in, she's tall with dark red hair and freckles covering her cheeks and nose. She smiles gently and reaches down to wipe Mare's tears with a tissue,
"It's only the anesthesia, it will wear off." The nurse assures Sarah,
"She's crying," Sarah swallows,
"I promise you she's not in any pain, it's just a side effect of the medicine, some people cry, some are talkative and others just want to be left alone."
"Promise?" Sarah turns to her, the guilt so heavy in her body she feels 1000 pounds
"I promise, we're monitoring her very carefully, but if you need anything push that button next to the bed and one of us will be here within seconds." Sarah nods, she feels a little better, she turns back to her daughter who seems to have fallen back asleep. The nurse rubs Sarah's shoulder reassuringly before disappearing out the door, leaving Sarah alone with her sleeping daughter and her own self-destructive thoughts.
…
"How is she?" Sarah asks one of the nurses before heading to her daughter's room. Mare's had a few set backs and her overnight observation has quickly turned into a five-day stay. It was clear the day after the surgery that the 12-year-old had developed compartment syndrome, a dangerous and painful condition caused by swelling in the tissue and was rushed right back into surgery for a fasciotomy.
"Better, she was able to finish breakfast today and requested a snack." A dark-skinned nurse with Tom and Jerry scrubs tells Sarah with a smile, these last few days. Mare hasn't had much of an appetite, whether due to physical or mental pain, Sarah doesn't know, but to hear she's eating helps Sarah to take a fuller breath.
"That's good." The nurse nods, Sarah thinks her name is Alexis but she's not sure,
"She's just received her meds so she should be feeling good if you want to go see her." Sarah waves heading for her daughter's room, to her surprise Mare's sitting up reading the book Sarah left for her yesterday. Sarah stayed for the first night, but the shakes forced her to leave, she now has a routine. She gets up, goes to work, goes to the hospital for an hour, and then home. She sneaks shots here and there just to maintain her put-together appearance and then goes home to really drink.
"You're reading?" Sarah smiles coming to sit down next to her daughter's bed. Mare nods, before dog-earing the page and setting the book down, "Guess I should have brought you a bookmark?" Mare shrugs,
"If you can," She takes a breath, "but maybe I'll go home before you do." Sarah smiles,
"Maybe, I haven't talked to the doctor yet, but it can't be long." Mare nods, before turning to glance at her cast, Sarah has purposely not looked at it since that first night. Both are silent for a long time before Mare finally speaks,
"Why?"it's barely above a whisper, and Sarah has to lean forward to hear it,
"What?"
"Why Mom?" Sarah leans back and shrugs,
"I don't know sweeth-"
"No Mom," Mare cuts her off, "why did you start drinking again?" She whispers, and Sarah leans back into her chair even further.
"Mare-"
"I think I deserve to know." Mare's words are harsh. Two days ago, Sarah finally contacted Mare's coach, and a day later everything fell apart just as Sarah had feared, even if Mare returned to the ice... nothing and no one was waiting for her. So, yes, she does deserve to know, why Sarah started drinking, why she got back to the point of needing maintenance shots and getting blacked out drunk to forget...Mare deserves to know it all. So with a deep breath, Sarah starts from the beginning when a simple walk home from the library...
…
Mare sits and listens to the whole thing, she doesn't move and she doesn't interrupt, only answers Sarah when she asks her questions,
"Do you know about sex"
"Yes, I had to take that class in fifth grade remember, you signed the permission slip"
"Do you know about rape,"
"Like on Law and Order SVU?"
"Exactly"
She didn't ask her who let her watch Law and Order SVU only continued. Mare's silent until the very end when Sarah tells her she just doesn't want to attend the AA meetings anymore. She leaves out Brookes and his confession, mainly because she's embarrassed that she broke her sobriety but also because she doesn't want Mare to ever try and contact that man. When she finishes they both take a deep breath and sit in silence for a few minutes,
"Do you know who he was?" Mare asks when the silence begins to become too much,
"No," Sarah shakes her head, it's not a lie. It might not be Brookes, he doesn't remember and Sarah threw away the envelope with his DNA, there's no way to know.
"I...I didn't know." Mare whispers,
"You never asked about your father." Mare shakes her head,
"I did once." Sarah furrows her eyebrows, did she? Was she drunk?
"When?"
"I asked Papa I think?" Sarah feels her heart flutter. They haven't talked about Sarah's parents in a long time, not since the night they left. Sarah swallows,
"What did he say."
"Something like, I don't have a father and you don't need a father to be a family, that he would always be there for me I think? He told me I was never to ask you about him, so I didn't." Sarah nods...her father never told her about that. She looks up to the ceiling blinking away the tears. She can honestly say she's never missed her mother...but her father...she misses him...
"Oh," Mare nods,
"I see why now." Suddenly she looks at Sarah tears in her eyes,"I'm a rape baby." Sarah keeps her mouth shut, what can she say to that, how does she comfort her when what she said is true?
"Mar-"
"No wonder you drink." She whispers, reaching up to wipe her tears away,
"Mare, I'm so sorry."
"You must hate me?"
"What? No" Sarah reaches forward to place her hand on her daughter's arm, "I hate that man, I hate that night, I hate what it did to me, but I..don't hate you, I love you." Sarah feels the weight of those words, because how could she do this to somebody she loves?!
The real answer is you don't.
…
The door slams snapping Sarah out of her daydream, she had only gotten home an hour ago. Usually, at this time she's gone through half a bottle of whatever's in the house, but for some reason today she's only barely been sipping it,
"You're home." She turns to her daughter, "Where have you been?" She looks at the calendar, it's not PT day, so she should be home at 4 right after school, but it's already 5:30.
"I stopped at the rink." Mare whispers shouldering her bag. It's been three months since the accident and one since getting her cast off. Sarah turns towards her with a smile on her face,
"And?" Mare doesn't smile back,
"Madeline took my place, there is nothing for me there." She says quickly before disappearing down the hall and into her room. The door slams a little more forcefully than normal and Sarah cringes. She should have seen this coming, she spent days calling her coach and sponsors and got nothing but the turnaround. Finally, she just started picking up pamphlets at the university with new hobbies Mare could try, but she didn't want anything to do with them. She feels even more betrayed at the fact that Madeline's mother let her take Mare's spot after she told her she never would.
Quickly Sarah pulls out her phone and orders a large supreme pizza and a gallon of cookies and cream ice cream from Uber Eats, at least Mare can eat what she wants now, and with that she tips the alcohol bottle back and downs the rest of it.
…
The bottles click together obnoxiously all the way up the stairs, Sarah makes a mental note not to forget her reusable shopping bag tomorrow, at least the lining is thick enough where it muffles most of the sound. She curses the plastic bag one more time before opening the door,
"I'm home." She spots Mare on the couch reading and quickly heads into the kitchen. She places a bottle of whiskey on the table and quickly pours a glass before shoving the other ones under the kitchen sink. Mare meets her in the kitchen watching her, Sarah's embarrassed and works quicker, she hates when her daughter sees her doing this.
"How was work?" Mare asks as Sarah shoves the last bottle behind the pipes,
"Good, how was school?" From this angle, she can see her daughter shrug,
"It was fine." Sarah smiles, before standing, grabbing her glass and glancing at the clock, it's already a quarter to six,
"Good, what do you want for dinner? I was thinking takeout, you like everything on your pizza right?" Mare smiles and nods. Sarah tips her glass back, downing the whiskey in one gulp, and then reaches forward to plant a kiss on her daughter's forehead as if that erases the fact that she's just seen her start her bender, "Okay, I'll order."
…
Sarah's been sitting at the kitchen table, for the last two hours. Dinner's have been delivered and eaten, Mare's put the last of the leftovers away and then taken up refuge on the couch a book in hand. Sarah watched her while taking shot after shot of the whiskey. She's been thinking a lot about Mare's childhood, mainly because Mare was such a cute baby, even if Sarah didn't admit it at the time. Her cute baby turned into an even more adorable toddler and then into a pretty child, and quickly without even blinking her pretty child has turned into a beautiful teenager. She's 14 now, and has been for months and months...how has Sarah never noticed her growing?
Her brown hair is longer, going down just past her shoulder blades. She keeps her hair in its natural texture, which is slightly wavy and she understands why she prefers it long. Two years ago right after she quit skating for good she chopped it off to just below her ears with blunt bangs and her waves caused her hair to stick up in all different directions and angles, she remembers Mare crying that she wished she had her mother's stick straight texture. Her green eyes which have always been an gem tone color stand out thanks to her thick lashes and the olive completion of her skin. Mare's always been athletic and even after quitting it's like her body never got the memo. Her daughter's beautiful, just like Sarah was beautiful, although their strengths lay in different forms. Sarah with her blonde hair, blue eyes, full lips, and white teeth, Mare is a little more toned down, more natural...it almost reminds Sarah of the beach.
Does Mare know she's beautiful, has she ever studied herself the way Sarah is studying her now? Does she know beauty attracts boys? She knows her daughter has a friend who's a boy, she knows because his mother is her lawyer, she helped Sarah put together papers only last year in case anything were to happen to her. She remembers the way Audrey talked about Mare. How much she loved having her over and what a great kid she was. It was listening to this woman talk about Mare that she got the courage to ask if she would be Mare's guardian. She remembers the shocked look on her face, how she said she needed to think about it, and then how three days later she called and agreed. Her mind is fuzzy, she remembers Audrey's name, but not her son's...she thinks his name is Max, Max sounds right. Does Max find Mare beautiful, has he ever told Mare?!
Does Mare realize what comes with beauty? Does she remember she's a real Callahan and Callahan's are known for their strong features...she does still have the Callahan nose?! Sarah feels the fear inside her...in only five years she'll be the same age as Sarah when she was raped, what if...that's when Sarah notices it. The book...she doesn't recognize it, meaning she didn't buy it for her, and Mare has no money, so she didn't buy it. It could be a library book, but it's missing the signature plastic and stickers that accompany such a book...so how did she get it? She's too drunk to read the cover, but she sees the hands and apple...she knows she didn't buy such a cover. With clumsy movements, she gets to her feet, and crosses the small space to stand in front of her daughter,
"Did you finish your homework?" She knows she sounds angry, she is.
"Yes," Mare sighs. Does she think she is better than her? She has no idea what Sarah's been through, she points her finger at her daughter's face
"Don't get smart with me."
"Sorry," She mumbles looking back down to her book. Sarah should step away, her daughters apologized, though she didn't have to, she's done nothing wrong and somewhere in the recess of Sarah's foggy mind she knew Mare's done nothing, but she's drunk, close to blackout and she always feels her fears and emotions more in this hazy in between. Without thinking she rips the book from her daughter's hands, this stupid book is what started it,
"Where did you get this? I know I didn't buy it for you." She shakes the paperback around for emphasis,
"I borrowed it," Her green eyes refuse to meet hers, she scared,
"Borrowed from whom?" Her daughter takes a breath,
"Matt," She whispers and before Sarah can comprehend what she's doing, she grabs a fistful of that long wavy brown hair and pulls her forward,
"I told you to stay away from boys!" She shouts shoving her off the couch and onto the floor. Sarah doesn't know any Matts, Matt?!
"Mom!"
"You know where boys lead," She knows better, she knows she knows better. How could she do this? Before she can think about it she sends one swift kick to her stomach, she aims for the exact place she wishes someone would have kicked her when she was pregnant, but she's so far gone she aims a little too high "You'll have sex, and start whoring yourself out and when you get pregnant I'm not raising your mistake." She knows deep down Mare won't have sex, she knows she's made her afraid but she can't make herself say she could be raped. She steps closer her fist raised when her ankle is grabbed and thrust forward. A sober Sarah could hold her stance, but this isn't sober Sarah and she goes down, hard, landing on her back with all the air in her lungs suddenly becoming trapped. She takes a breath just as her daughter gets to her feet to run to her room, but Sarah's not done and just like Mare did to her, she grabs her foot and forces her down, and just like Sarah she goes down hard, this time hitting her forehead dazing her long enough for Sarah to pull her closer, flip her over and get on top of her.
Her hands find her neck before her brain recognizes what she's doing as if her body is moving without thinking,
"Mom!" Mare shouts before having her air completely cut off.
"You never listen." She hisses, her teeth clenched so hard she's afraid they'll break, she feels her daughter's short nails scratch the backs of her hands, but she doesn't let go, if anything she thinks she squeezes harder, but what's happening? Why is she doing this, she never wants to hurt her daughter yet here she is...she could kill her, she is killing her, she has to stop, she wants to stop, but before she can force herself to stop, something hard hits her and the world turns dark.
…
She comes to seconds later when the door slams and she's alone. What did she do, WHAT DID SHE DO?!
"Mare?" She sits up, her head pounding in rhythm to her heart, "Mare!" She calls again only to realize she's alone, her daughter left, why wouldn't she, her mother tried to hurt her, almost killed her and the worst part is, it's not the first time. She gets to her feet, feeling unsteady,
"Mare, Honey?" She has to get to her, find her, and apologize, she can't believe what she's done. She heads for the door stopping to grab her keys she keeps on a hook and slams the door behind her. She stumbles down the stairs and it's a miracle she gets down without falling. She pushes the door open feeling the warm April air surround her,
"Marceline!" She calls quickly heading for the parking garage, she pays extra to have her car in a closer spot, this is so it's less noticeable how many bottles she carries in every day. There's a small part of her that knows this is wrong, she can't drive, she shouldn't drive, but Mare's younger, faster...sober she's probably far away by now and Sarah needs to talk to her now, so she gets into her car, starts it, and floors it out of there.
Sarah doesn't know it, but she's driving down the middle of the road, lucky for her, it's a slower time and the occasional car that does come her way just honks and she moves over a little. Some of them give her the New York handshake aka the middle finger, others call her names, but she doesn't care she needs to find her daughter. She turns down another road, her glazed-over eyes scanning up and down the sidewalk when, there! Just under a streetlight is Mare, she sitting and it looks like she's on the phone, she needs to get to her, she needs to say sorry, she needs to beg for forgiveness, so she puts her foot on the gas, and she doesn't stop.
…
"MOMMY!" I scream as loud as I can, but it's no use, it does nothing "Mom what did you do, please answer me!" I don't feel like I can breathe, and the tears fall so hard I'm choking.
"Mom, Mom please." I feel weak and the ground rushes me quickly. The floor is cold on my cheek and I feel my body shaking, it becomes too violent my muscles ache and I scream begging for release. Here I am, back home where I thought I so badly wanted to be, where I wondered what happened to me, but...brain dead? I'm brain dead here, I'm...and my mother did it...she hit me... the bright lights belong to the car she was driving... my mother, the one person I loved the most in the world...
I can't help it, I scream, I scream and I cry, I pound on the ground. I can't even hear what is happening around me because I'm too busy throwing my own little tantrum, but am I not entitled to it? Everything that's happened to me? I do the only thing left for me here, I pray...
I pray to die...
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My body has given up, at some point, I scream myself hoarse and my body shakes until it can't anymore and I'm left exhausted. I don't want to do this, haven't I been through enough, don't I deserve a break...I need one. I can't stay here, my brain doesn't exist, but I can't go back, I don't know how and...I don't want to. I don't know if I want to live with this knowledge, how can I? The one person that was suppose to keep me safe...killed me...not yet, but she might as well have. I look around the courtroom, but my vision is blurry, my tears have done a number on my eyes, but...no..the view around me isn't blurry, it's disappearing. I scramble to my feet, my legs feel shaky and everything hurts, but I have to see this with my own eyes. All around me, everyone is disappearing until theirs just one person left, my mother. She's standing, looking straight ahead, but there's nothing to stare at, everything is gone, and there's nothing but white.
"Mom." I force it, my throat so raw from screaming I can't help but wince. At first, I think it does nothing, but suddenly her eyes shift to mine, and recognization flares behind them.
"Mare?" She whispers, but then just like everything around me, she disappears. I want to scream but know I can't, just when she sees me...she's gone. I take a breath, preparing to collapse to the floor again when something wet hits my cheek. I look up when suddenly the world changes around me, bright white melting into grey, and then black, the contrast so quick my eyes can't adjust quickly enough as the world seems to open. The air changes, the warmth replaced with cold and suddenly it's raining large fat drops hitting me so quickly I'm soaked in seconds. I turn trying to get my bearings the change so fast my brain can't comprehend where it's at and then I see it, the sign
…...Welcome to Forks