Clearer (J.HALE)

10

I didn't set out to go to the Cullens' house, but I somehow ended up on their doorstep.

I knocked three times with a shaky fist and waited. I wasn't scared, exactly. More hopeful that they would tell me I was crazy. Even laugh at me. To tell me to go and get some sleep.

I should have been scared. If they were what I thought they were—what I'd been told they were—I should have hopped in my truck and drove back to Idaho. Jared had said they weren't dangerous, but it was hard for me to believe that blood-drinking mythical beings hiding in plain sight had good intentions. But, then again, all the Cullens had ever shown towards me was good intention.

The door opened barely a second after my last knock. A petite woman in her early thirties opened the door, hair the colour of caramel and face shaped like a heart.

"Hello," she said, looking surprised. Not surprised in the sense that she hadn't been expecting anyone, surprised to see me. Like I was an old friend that she hadn't spoken to in years.

"Hi," I said. "Sorry to bother you. Is Dr Cullen home?"

"Yes, he just got back," she said, stepping aside. "Come on in."

I forced myself not to hesitate as slipped past her into the house.

"What's your name?"

"Imogen."

"Lovely name," she said, overtaking me and heading toward the living room.

"Thank you."

"I'm Esme. Carlisle's wife."

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"He's in his study. I'll let him know you're here."

She left me to my anxiety in the pristine living room. I wasn't sure what to do, so I lingered in the empty space for a while, before perching on the edge of the sofa. I could tell I looked deranged—mildly damp from the earlier rain and wearing a jacket that clearly wasn't mine—but I couldn't find the energy to care. I just needed to know.

"Imogen?"

Carlisle seemed cautious, stilling a few metres away from me with a concerned expression on his face. I stood up.

"Hi."

"I wasn't expecting to see you today," he said, assessing me for any obvious signs of injury. "Is everything alright?"

"Not really," I sighed, almost laughing.

His brow furrowed.

"Uh..." I rubbed my eyes and blew out my cheeks. "Okay, this is going to sound insane."

He moved forward a little and took a seat across the sofa from me.

"I went walking last night," I started. "In the woods around my aunt's house. Two, maybe three in the morning."

He blinked.

"I got a little paranoid," I continued. "Thought I could hear something, or someone, following me. So, I panicked and legged it."

"Right," he said, sounding unsure.

"I fell," I said.

"Are you hurt?"