𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠¹| 𝙏𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 ✓

I.XIV

Charlie was sitting in the living room with a beer in his hand as he watched a game on the TV. "Hey, dad." Lucine greeted him as she made her way upstairs. He said a quick hello before paying attention to his game again.

He was still mourning the loss of his friend, he was keeping himself distracted from reality but she knew that soon enough he'd be on his feet again to catch whatever killed him.

Lucine dropped herself onto her bed, staring up at her ceiling fan as she remembered the feeling of sitting on that cliff edge. She felt like she was gambling with death and nothing made her feel more alive than that.

There was a small knock on the door that snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Come in." Her voice was quiet and low.

Bella stepped into her room, she sat up as Bella took a seat on the desk chair. Lucine looked at her sister, waiting for her to start talking.

"You remember when I went into the forest with Edward today before school?" Lucine nodded. "He told me the truth." She raised an eyebrow, trying to act confused. "What are you talking about?" Bella sighed. "He told me," She took a deep breath before looking up to look her sister in the eyes. "He told me, he's a vampire." Lucine tried to stifle a laugh but failed. She burst out laughing but felt bad about it immediately as she noticed the still serious look on Bella's face.

Lucine cleared her throat, trying to look serious. "A vampire? really?" She tried her best not to start laughing again. "If you're not going to take me seriously then I'm just going to stop telling you things." Bella stood up making her way towards the door when Lucine stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"I'm sorry, I'll start taking it seriously." Bella sat back down as Lucine continued. "It's just, hearing you say it out loud was funny, especially imagining Edward telling you everything." She smiled at her sister in a reassuring manner.

"You're not scared though? I mean, you're friends with practically all his 'siblings'." She did air quotes around siblings which made Lucine laugh. She shook her head. "Can't really be scared of something I already knew." Bella stared at her. "What do you mean, you already knew?" Lucine shrugged as she walked over to her window, opening it to let cold air fan her face. "I found out last summer. I'm not going to tell you how so don't even think about asking," She said jokingly as she pointed a finger at Bella.

The room stayed quiet for a bit. Bella ran through her thoughts on the whole situation as Lucine stared out the window, enjoying the cold breeze.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lucine froze for a second before turning around to face her. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I didn't want to scare you, plus, it's not my secret to tell. If I didn't already know, Edward would have told you not to tell me." She nodded, understanding. She looked up as realization hit her. "The way you found out their secret," She started, Lucine flinched. "Is that why you were terrified to come back? Why you were scared of Phil that Halloween?" Lucine simply nodded.

"Wha-what about you suddenly getting better as soon as we landed in Forks? One minute you're crying and pretty much freaking out about coming back and the next, it's like none of that ever happened." She stared at her sister, not knowing what to say. Not knowing what lie to come up with this time. "I- um I just-" She stuttered as her mind ran a hundred miles an hour. Her breathing was getting heavier.

She turned around towards the open window, closing her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm down. "I think that's enough for today Bella." It came out shaky and quiet. If Bella wasn't standing so close, she wouldn't have heard it. Bella studied her sister for a second before nodding and leaving the room. The clicking sound of the door closing signaled her to let go of herself. She let herself fall to the floor, her hand still on the windowsill. She let out shaky breaths as she tried to compose herself.

She didn't reveal her secret but it was so close, that it sent her into a panic. She thought she'd be more nervous about Bella finding out that she already knew the Cullen's secret but it felt like a regular conversation. She'd practiced it so many times, that it felt normal to her.

She stood back up, taking a deep breath as she shook her head trying to rid her mind of all the intrusive thoughts that the fear brought up.

***

It's been a few hours since Bella was in her room. Lucine sat against the headboard of her bed, writing in her journal, it was a new habit she picked up since coming here. It was a good way of keeping track of everything so she wouldn't forget what was coming. She sighed, rubbing her eyes as she took off her glasses.

A sudden shiver ran through her body making her look at her open window. She's also made a habit of keeping it open all the time. She stood up to go close it.

As she stood behind the now-closed window, she felt like she was being watched. She didn't have her glasses nor her contacts on so she couldn't see much, only the trees of the forest and the rustling of the wind against their branches. She brushed it off, deciding that it was just her overthinking again as she made her way to her bed. She put away her journal and pen, under her mattress so no one would find them. She was terrified of what would happen, of what questions would arise if someone found her journal.

She laid down in bed, falling asleep minutes later not knowing what was happening outside her window. Not knowing that her being there possibly just switched a certain tracker's target.

Her trip to dreamland that night was unexpected, she dreamt of Cathy, of the last twenty-four hours she had with her before all of this.