It was, as if, it happened in slow motion. One moment Alice is walking down the steps, mind somewhat distracted from the anxiety of the last year, humming lightly to herself as she admires the new floral arrangement in her hands. Then, a gasp, so sudden and abrupt that no one has the chance to stop the vase from crashing into the floor, water and glass and flowers skidding across the freshly mopped floors. Esme threw her work down, rushing towards Alice to help her, Carlisle approaching on her other side to catch both of her elbows. Lettie, however, stayed near Edward, hand reaching out being the last thing Edward saw before he was plunged under.
A vision. A violent one.
Bella Swan driving down a well-used road, a ray of sun parting as she drove out of the city. A blur of fragmented light. Her car swerved, leaving three feet of skids in her wake. Her screams at an inhuman hand reaching towards her. James's face, a sadistic smile covered in blood as Bella Swan lays limp in his arms. A redhead screaming, another man laughing amused. Bella Swan opened her blood-red eyes to a new world.
"...-dy? Teddy?" Lettie's quiet voice was near his ear, her hand rubbing up and down his arm, grounding him. He was barely aware as he reached towards her hand, clasping a hand over her own. He blinked, then blinked again, willing his mind to return to reality.
"Alice? What happened?" Carlisle asked, not unkindly, but it was obviously too harsh, Esme sending him a warning look. His sister merely shook her head, unshed tears piling up in her eyes.
"James. He's going to attack Bella Swan," Edward said, voice ragged as if he was out of breath.
"He already is," Alice emphasized, rubbing trembling hands across her eyes. "I've seen it. Bella Swan will be turned. Today."
"Today? But it's still light out-"
Alice's legs wobbled as she was assaulted with another vision. This one far more tame, a man walking up to their home, human, and absolutely ragged. Charlie Swan, a worried frown on his face. The sky was dark, many hours from now.
"Charlie Swan will visit the house to ask about his daughter," Alice said robotically, eyes still far away. She was searching, prying, into the future to get any more hints, but just as abruptly as they came, the visions disappeared. The rest had yet to be decided. "He'll be here tonight, late."
"I'm going to call Jasper," Carlisle eased Alice into Esme's arms, the ladder immediately carrying her over to the couch. "He, Rosalie, and Emmett can scope the perimeter, and try to find her as soon as possible."
"It's too late," Alice moaned, leaning into Esme, "She'll already be turned by the time they find her."
"We cannot simply-"
"Carlisle, if they go, they might run into the nomads," Edward argued. He tempered his guilt. Though it was only a few short hours ago Bella Swan accused him of all ridiculous truths, it wasn't his doing that she put herself in the path of vampires. Bella Swan made sense to be the next victim. If the Chief of Police was out of commission due to the death of his daughter, or if he swore reckless revenge, the nomads could easily continue their tirade of terror without any real punishment. Edward clenched his hand at the thought, then immediately whipped his head to Lettie, an apology on the tip of his tongue. She merely shook her head, squeezing his hand back just as tightly. Her brows were furrowed in worry, Bella Swan at the forefront of her mind. Edward sighed. "They won't be able to stop them, but maybe they can find where the nomads have been hiding. It won't be easy to hide the smell of fresh blood."
Carlisle's thankful look was enough.
With Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett still on the hunt, the house was left with nothing to do but sit and worry. From an outsider's perspective, they looked the picture of a happy suburban family. Carlisle was slowly flipping through a book, Esme was sitting quietly beside him, work papers spread across the table. Alice had a small sewing project in her lap, fingers moving nimbly as the needle moved in and out. Except, for a vampire, reading a book should take no more than an hour, Esme was never untidy with her papers, and Alice already ripped through the fabric twice, small mends apparent.
"Tell me something," Edward whispered, angling his rose towards Lettie. Her eyes moved from her hands to his face, glittering. They shared a small smile. "What are you thinking?"
"I've been thinking of Sir Charles," she replied quietly, trying not to disrupt the room. Edward saw his family's ears twitch, but thankfully didn't move to disturb their privacy.
"Your friend?" She nodded. In her mind, a changing image of a dagger. Though the size and shape flickered, there always remained a set of blue gems in the hilt, contrasting the golden color.
"I wish he was here with us now." She sighed, then flushed, as if she realized she said something she shouldn't have. "Only in the sense that he would have provided us with a great amount of help with Samuel and…" She trailed off, avoiding his eyes. Edward gave her a sad smile.
"Do you miss him?"
"Is it foolish of me to agree?" Edward shook his head, but Lettie eyed him skeptically. "I did not know the man for very long. A week's time, though the hours were hard to keep. He was the first friend I had in my new life."
"I've heard of stranger meetings," Edward tried to joke casually. When Lettie looked at him curiously, he inclined his head towards the family. "You know their story, don't you?"
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure."
"We've never told you how we met?" Esme asked aloud, shocked. Any illusion of privacy was broken in an instant. Edward and Lettie corrected their hunched posture to look at her. "How embarrassing! We've chatted nearly every day."
"I fear we have not been as carefree for happy stories to be shared," Lettie said with a smile. Esme leaned against Carlisle, who readily ditched his book to hold her in his arms.
"I was 16 when I fell out of a tree and broke my leg," Esme said happily, the feeling of breaking bones long forgotten from her memories. "I had a very handsome doctor come patch me up."
"And I had a very rowdy teenager to take care of," Carlisle replied, giving her a squeeze. Esme laughed.
"I only have what Carlisle's told me about the time, since it was so long ago in my human life that I don't remember anymore. Such a shame, but, apparently, I had quite the schoolgirl crush on him."
"Stuttered and blushed whenever I entered the room," he teased.
"After my leg healed, I didn't see him again for a very long time. On the day I lost my son and committed suicide, there he was. When I was at my lowest, I was granted my deepest wish." She kissed his hand softly. Carlisle's eyes shined as he looked at her.
"A reunion!" Lettie exclaimed happily, clasping her hands together. "There is nothing quite so romantic."
"I'd have to agree," Carlisle said, kissing his wife on the forehead.
"And you, Alice?" Lettie asked, turning to the remaining person in the room. Alice looked at her with a raised brow. "I do not believe I was ever told the story of how you arrived in the family.
Edward opened his mouth to retort, but it quickly shut as Alice's face lit up, happily recounting the journey she made to Jasper, and the hardships they faced to get to the Cullens. Had the memory of the day Edward told her the very same story not popped into her head, he would have believed she had simply forgotten. She listened actively with a smile, nodding and gasping when required, and continued to ask questions when the conversation lulled. Edward knocked his knee against hers, but she simply responded by scooting closer to him, until their thighs were pressed together. He smiled at her.
By the time Charlie Swan's cruiser turned down the road, the anxious house of vampires all but calmed, minds clear and level-headed once more.
Just like she always manages to do, Edward thought with a smile.
"Carlisle, hey," Charlie Swan's voice gruff with worry, awkwardly lopping his fingers into his belt. "I'm sorry to bother you on your day off."
"It's no trouble. Please, come in." With a wave of his hand, Charlie Swan entered their house, looking as out of place as porcelain in a barn. "Is there a problem at the station? Another victim?"
"No, thankfully. I'm sorry but this is more of a personal matter." He scuffed his shoe against the floor. "And urgent."
"Oh, dear. What can I do to help?"
"I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to have to bring your son to the station." Alice nodded at Edward, his cue to stand and walk towards the front door.
"My son? He's not in trouble, is he?"
"My daughter, Isabella Swan, has been missing since this afternoon. I thought maybe she was with friends, but when I got home, there was no note, and none of them had heard from her. When I asked around, it seemed like your son was the last person to have seen her."
"Chief Swan?" Edward paused just as he entered the front room, plastering on a fake look of surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Edward, is this true?" Carlisle put on a stern look to address him for Charlie Swan's benefit. "Isabella Swan has gone missing?"
"Bella's gone?" He looked between Carlisle and the Chief. "But I saw her this afternoon."
"That's why I'm here, son," Charlie Swan said, adjusting his stance. "I need to know everything you know about my daughter's disappearance."
"I'd be happy to tell you everything I know, but I'm afraid I haven't seen her since free period, and we don't share any common friends." When Edward gestured towards the living room, Charlie Swan coughed.
"This is my daughter, and she might be the next victim of this serial killer. I'm going to need you to come down to the station with me." Chief Swan turned to Carlisle. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to come too. Since he's still considered a minor, you'll have to be present for the interrogation."
"Yes, of course," Carlisle agreed easily. Edward cast a look at Alice, nodding once, before heading out the door.
The police station was as rowdy as ever. Every possible board was covered in maps and notes, the largest case to cross the town in years needing more than a handful of people to work on it. Despite it being well past the time for people to head home, the phones were still ringing, several officers trying to calm down hysterical humans from believing every shadow was the killer. Edward nodded faintly towards one such officer, who was scribbling something down furiously as a woman recounted something she'd seen. Lettie nodded, and headed away from them, her figure disappearing as Chief Swan closed the door to the interrogation room.
Well, the interrogation room was a bit much for the bland room they were taken to. It seemed to be an unused office, with a singular window facing the parking lot outside, a set of chairs on either side of a worn table.
"So, tell me everything you know," Chief Swan said, grunting as he slumped into the chair closest to the door. Carlisle and Edward sat quickly in the chairs opposite.
"Where would you like me to begin?"
"How about why you and my daughter were seen sneaking behind the gym at school?"
"Edward," Carlisle warned, though it was too performative to mean much besides another scolding for doing something so reckless. Edward pretended to be sheepish.
"It's not what it looks like."
"We'll see," Chief Swan said skeptically.
Though, as Edward recounted the strange behavior Bella Swan had been displaying since the beginning of the year, directly after the car crash, Charlie Swan's face slowly fell, the image curated in his mind of his perfect daughter slowly shattering. It was easy to explain the story in half-truths, keeping any mention of vampires far away, while still showing that Bella Swan was acting completely strange, and nearly obsessive with him and his family. Charlie Swan coughed awkwardly when Edward recounted how she waited outside the bathroom in order to get what she wanted.
Edward flicked his eyes over Chief Swan's shoulder to Lettie, who popped her head into the room. The shake of her head was all they got before she disappeared again. Still no luck.
"There's probable cause for you wanting to hurt her with how she's been acting recently. Stalking and harassment have been plenty of reasons for rebuttal in the past," Charlie Swan said, though the slow way he said it made it clear he was only pointing it out because he needed to, not because he believed it was true. Edward shook his head.
"She accused my family of being suspects for the murders around town. I assume you would not take such untrue statements lying down, if you were in my position."
"No, I assume no one would." He sighed, rubbing a tired hand down his face. "Listen, I'm going to be honest with you. I don't think you did it. Based on what you've said, my daughter has been acting completely unlike herself, and I have no clue what's come over her. This could just be teenage rebellion but-"
"Teddy!" Lettie jumped into the room with a shout, eyes wide. "Her car-"
"Chief Swan!" A young officer barrelled into the room, nearly toppling over from the force of opening the door. "They spotted her truck! It's abandoned on 110, about 5 miles out from the Reservation."
Charlie Swan nearly tripped over his own feet scrambling up from his chair.
"You're free to go," Chief Swan barked as he rushed out, not waiting to see as four officers hurried behind him. Their sirens were on as soon as their cars pulled away. Edward did not waste a moment to pull out his phone, frantically texting Jasper.
"Alice saw the car being taken in the vision," he said to Carlisle, the two trying to keep calm while they rushed out of the room. Lettie followed quickly behind. "If they found the car…"
"...the nomads may not be far behind," Carlisle finished for him. The station was in too much of a disarray to notice them leave. Esme and Alice were already waiting for them as they stepped through the door.
"We heard," Esme said, easily stepping into pace with them. "Alice had a vision of Jasper and Emmett getting into a fight, but she couldn't see who with."
"Samuel, no doubt," Edward ground out. "They might need backup."
"We'll go," Carlisle ushered them towards the screaming police sirens. "If Samuel is there, then it's not a fight the three of them can handle alone."
"No," Edward immediately argued, "If it is the nomads, then we'll be too busy protecting Alice."
"I can take care of myself," she immediately argued.
"We do not know if the other vampires are with Samuel," Lettie added. "Should this be a diversion, she may be at greater risk with fewer people to assist."
"We need to go," Carlisle said without a backward glance, taking off into a sprint as soon as the darkness of the forest hid him. The rest had no hesitation in following, leaving Edward to scoop up Lettie with a grumble before following behind.
It was easy to find the police cars, with both the blaring alarm and their lights bouncing off the dark greenery around them. Even with the assistance of the sires, they were able to outrun them, watching as they slowly grew further and further away. Despite their speed, they would only have a few minutes before the sirens caught up once again. The nomads would have to be dealt with quickly.
But, as the family approached Bella Swan's abandoned truck, there wasn't an enemy vampire in sight. Instead, Jasper was helping Emmett reconnect his arm, both looking battered and bruised. Trees and rocks were scattered around them, almost looking as if a minor explosion had gone off. Rosalie was standing a step away, her hair partially pulled loose from her braid as she looked down at Emmett with worried eyes.
"You're alright!" Alice exclaimed as they ran up, throwing herself into Rosalie's arms. Despite the disgusted look on her face, Rosalie secured her sister in a tight hug.
"I am relieved to see you have survived," Lettie said as Edward set her down, crouching down by Emmett's feet. Carlisle joined Jasper, holding Emmett's arm in place while the venom worked its magic.
"Your training worked." Jasper reached over to clasp a firm hand on Lettie's shoulder, nearly sending her toppling. She hardly seemed to notice, however, as she looked at him wide-eyed, shocked. "They did exactly as you said he would."
"I cannot believe…" She shook her head. "I am only grateful my advice did not cause you more trouble."
"Well, with a poltergeist, it seems it will be anything but." He rose with a sigh, surveying the scene. He let Esme fuss over his torn shirt. "We managed to track them for a while before the scent turned abruptly. We had to choose, and it brought us here. Samuel was using their ability to move the car."
"And the nomads?" Carlisle asked from his spot on the ground.
"Nowhere in sight." Despite the fight, and no sighting of the nomads, Jasper looked fired up. "But we know they won't be able to move for a few days, not while they have a changing human with them. It's the perfect time for us to gain ground, pressure them."
"Oh, you should have seen me beat their ass," Emmett exclaimed excitedly, swinging his arm to test the connection. "The look on their face!"
But Emmett's voice faded as Edward turned his concerns to Bella Swan's car. Despite the skid marks on the ground, there was no other sign of distress. The orange truck was just as rusted and faded as ever, no new dents or scratches that he could see. Her school bag was spilled along the floor, no doubt flying from the seat when she slammed on the brakes, homework and textbooks stacked into an unrecognizable familiar pile. The door was opened willingly, with no rips or dents along the frame, and the keys were still in the ignition. He leaned forward, sniffing. There was no scent of nomads.
Bella Swan, he thought irritably, just what happened to you?
Hello everyone and thank you for reading my fic! I've had this idea forever and finally got around to writing it, and now a whole year later, we're a little over half way through
Thank you everyone who commented on my last update 3 The rest of this author's note is going to be some information about my writing process, the process for this fic, and some cut content. If you don't want to know any of that, no worries, and see you in the next update!
Currently, this fic is planned out on a nearly 100 page google doc (yikes omg) that is full of chapter notes, character notes, lore, picture inspirations, and planned moments. It sounds really organized but it's not trust me haha I can never find things I actually need (like if Lettie has told Edward about Charles before, or if Samuel's backstory has been revealed, or whether or not Lettie can braid hair…stupid stuff). Right now, the doc has up to chapter 43 planned out, HOWEVER, the doc and the actual fic do not line up perfectly. In the fic, we're on chapter 39, but in the doc, we're only on chapter 33. See what I mean? Not as helpful as I want.
The chapter notes essentially look like a list of bullet points, where I write out major moments I want to happen in that chapter, then add additional subplots under it (I think that's why the doc is so long rip). I find planning moments of action are much easier, so I'll write those down first, and then add the transition moments in between. These notes can be as simple as [ - Edward gets mad at Bella for prying - maybe she's stalking him? ] or eight bullet points with exact locations and snippets of dialogue. I then post the notes under the chapter I'm writing on the fic doc (which, as of this chapter, is now 284 pages) so I can easily keep track of what needs to happen to progress the plot.
How similar are the notes to the chapter? Uhhhhh HAHA well considering we're off by a few chapters…definitely not as similar as I'd like. As I write out the fic, I realize a lot of the notes are superficial, and don't always contain enough information to move along the plot in a meaningful way. So, I add extra content, and that changes how I perceive the next chapter's outline.
This chapter is the perfect example! In the original outline, Charlie is supposed to CALL the Cullen house, and from there, they devise a plan to have Lettie sweep the police station for new information while Jasper and Emmett try to go out and find Bella. Instead, I thought it would make more sense for Charlie, who canonically doesn't really like calling, to go to the house directly. Remember, in the books, Charlie likes the Cullens to the point of gaslighting Bella into thinking they're completely normal. He only acts hostile to Edward because he's dating his daughter. Charlie, who has gotten closer to Carlisle because of the murder investigation, wouldn't just call them up and demand they come to the station. Plus, how would he know his daughter was missing unless he went home and didn't hear from her?
Similarly, I cut several chapters from the fic that I dubbed the 'Beach Episodes'. When Edward finds Bella for the first time, instead of going to Denali, he and Lettie go to Seattle, where Edward finds out Lettie can eat food and wear clothes as long as they are an offering. They have a fun date with her new clothes and food, Last Holiday style, and even encounter several ghosts, where Edward really learns and understands Lettie's world better. Instead, as I was writing it, I realized "wtf there are literally nomadic vampires after them who in their right mind would let a family member go into the city with no protection ALONE" so that entire idea got scrapped. But, from that scraping, we got Alice's chapters, and Lettie's clothes trying scene :)
I'm always happy to answer more questions about the writing process, or elaborate on things. Thank you again for reading if you made it this far, and for reading this fic! Every kudos and comment really warms my heart and makes me want to work harder to make this a fic we can all be proud of. Thanks again, and see you next update! 3