Scattered Horizon

What if Bella didn't move back to Forks Washington when Renee and Phil decided to hit the road in pursuit of his Minor League career?

After three years straight in advanced placements throughout high school, Bella qualifies for early graduation, and she's offered a full-ride scholarship that grants her additional means to housing through dormitory living on campus grounds. She takes the chance to jump the nest, diving head first into college-living at seventeen, and she doesn't leave sunny Phoenix for the dreary Olympic Peninsula like she otherwise would have if she'd had no other option. For the most part, she feels better off for it. That is, until two long years later.

In May 2007, whilst on Spring break with her Mother, Bella and Renee receive sudden news that Charlie's been in a grievous car accident under vague circumstances. And when it becomes clear that Renee doesn't know much about the state of his well-being (or is otherwise keeping her daughter from the truth), Bella is overwhelmed with the suddenness of Charlie's mortality- abruptly aware of a dread that any moment would be his last- and she impulsively leaves for Forks despite her Mother's wishes to hold off. Quickly, Bella's life is turned completely upside down by Charlie's death and the secrets he leaves behind, and Bella loses sight of herself as grief and obsession take over; refusing to leave Forks, even at the behest of Charlie's dying wish and her Mother's desperate pleas not to stay longer than necessary, Bella finds herself alone and quickly spiraling in the very city she vowed never to return to.

And, even with Charlie's final words ominously eating away at her mind, she never could have anticipated all the discoveries that lay under the vast gloom of Clallam County, hungry for her to know the truth...