SEHNSUCHT ⭒ PAUL LAHOTE ⭒ TWILIGHT

THREE

⭒ ＴＨＲＥＥ ⭒

" In this time, I met myself
It's a broke life in a cell "

__________________

Maria woke up early the next morning, letting out a loud yawn and stretching her muscles as she stepped out of bed. Despite the fact that it was becoming better weather, she still found it awfully cold in her motel room and she blamed it on the probable lack of isolation. Sliding her feet into her slippers, she made her way across the room to the bathroom and started brushing her teeth. She gave herself a short glance in the mirror, noticing that the bags under her eyes had slightly disappeared and she guessed it wouldn't become better than that. Her blue eyes dropped to her collarbones, where a small medal rested. She wore it with the cross up and the image of the Holy Virgin stuck to her skin. It was a family heirloom, one which had been in her family for many generations and which had yet to fail to protect her.

After a short shower, she pulled on a fresh set of clothes and grabbed her car key from the small coffee table. Stepping outside and locking her room, she stood quietly in front of her brother's and Lukas' room. Besides some painfully loud snoring, nothing was going on and Maria shrugged slightly to herself, walking to their car in a brisk pace.

The motel was located close to the edge of the nearby Quilleute reservation, so Maria had to drive for a couple of minutes until she arrived at the nearest big grocery store in the city centre of Forks and after parking the car, she hopped out to get some groceries. She didn't particularly mind that tasks like shopping, cooking dinner and doing laundry fell on her shoulders, much preferring it to the tasks her brother and Lukas did. Lukas was in charge of all their weapons, giving them a thorough clean every week, as well as after every job and Kristian was more or less the brains of their team, always inventing new weapons and coming up with plans. It had been like that since the death of Lukas' parents, Maria's and Kristian's adoptive parents.

Letting out a soft sigh at the painful memory, Maria dumped some essentials in her grocery cart and turned the aisle blindly. As soon as she felt her cart make impact with something she immediately halted, pulling the metal structure back, but the damage had been done. She had bumped into a dark-haired woman her age and even though the impact had been minimal, the woman had stumbled and fallen to the ground.

"Oh my, I am so sorry!" Maria exclaimed immediately, running around the cart and offering her hand to the woman. The young woman grabbed it and Maria pulled her off the ground easily. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay, I wasn't paying attention either," the woman said. Her brown eyes flickered over Maria's face, an awkward smile soon coming to her pale face. "You're new to Forks, right? News travels fast in a place like this."

Maria tried to hide her surprise behind what she hoped would seem like a warm smile. "Yes, we arrived yesterday actually," she said. "My name is Maria Jensen, by the way."

"Bella Swan," the woman answered, giving a nod as though she had to convince herself.

"I'm sure I will see you around, Bella, and I'm sorry again for hitting you," Maria said, giving her a big smile, before returning to her shopping cart. She heard Bella say goodbye too, but right as she was about to leave the aisle, Maria turned around. "Actually, Bella," she said, watching as the brunette turned around with a curious glance in her eyes. "I have been hearing some concerning rumours about a gang in Seattle. Do you reckon it is safe here in Forks?"

For a split second, Bella looked like she was in visible pain, before she poorly covered it up with another unconvincing nod. "As safe as houses," she replied, brushing some hair behind her ear. "Nothing exciting going on here in Forks."