Swan Diaries (crossover between Twilight and The Vampire Diaries)

T E N ∘ Enemy Territory

POV: BELLA VINCENT
Sunday, November 5 2017

I knew I was being followed, but I tried to scope focus on the calm scene before me. The woods were foggy on this cool night.

Tired, I raised my arms as I turned around, slapping them down on my sides. "I'll admit. You're intrepid!" I yelled up at the twilight sky.

They didn't say anything.

I continued, "Trailing me all the way out here, thinking I wouldn't notice."

One of them scoffed, and they came into direct view. Emmett sat on a fallen tree with Rosalie's hand in his, and Edward took a protective stance in front of them.

I was right. The rest of them didn't have beating hearts, either.

"I don't appreciate being followed."

Emmett shrugged. "You just happened to be in the same forest as us."

I laughed. "Do you guys make an effort to be this dumb, or does it just come naturally? It's like you wanted me to figure it out."

"Figure what out?" he asked, feigning innocence. His acting skills were subpar. Or he just simply liked to find comedy in everything.

Before I could answer him, a large wolf howled behind me, and I was knocked of my feet.

The picture faded to black and my eyes snapped open.

What did my subconscious know that conscious-me didn't?

Hmph. For once, not the nightmare I've had almost every night for nearly seven decades. I'd say it was a nice change, but that would be a a lie.

"Want some coffee?" Aaron asked when I made my way downstairs.

I chuckled. "Always. Thanks."

He was writing in a small notebook. I didn't care enough to pry. "You woke up pretty late. You all right?"

I leaned back to check the clock on the microwave. It was almost four p.m. "Yeah. I stayed up longer than I probably should've last night."

"Mm." He nodded.

That reminded me.

"Have you heard anything about people coming across big bears around here lately?" I asked him.

"Oh, yeah. They've been killing hikers. It's mainly a black bear that's been seen, but a few people have said that there's also a gray one and a brown one."

"Killing hikers?"

"It's disturbing, I know—especially this time of year. There's supposedly a trail of bodies around Goat Rocks Wilderness. The weirdest part? The bodies are mostly just missing blood, not body parts."

I nearly choked on my coffee, but he continued without noticing.

"As far as I know, bears don't drink blood. I mean, they really only attack when someone is close to their home. It doesn't make any sense."

"Well, maybe they're not bears."

"Huh? What else could it be?"

"Wolves."

He paused. "Wolves?"

"I saw a ginormous white wolf while I was taking a walk through the forest yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was around that Goat Rocks place. South of Mount Rainier, right?"

"Yeah, that's where it is. But I don't know... Wolves would make more sense when it comes to killing recklessly, but I haven't heard of big wolves around these parts. I don't know how hikers could compare a wolf to a bear, either."