Writer in the Dark - J. HALE

39- ᴀ ꜱɪᴛᴜᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

ATHENA HADN'T dwelled too much on thoughts since the white buds had fallen onto her hair. In fact, she rarely dwelled on the situation, always finding ways to keep her mind busy. For the week following the day in the field, it was music that kept her mind at ease. She always had something playing in the background or in her ears, especially when she was alone. The thoughts did come eventually, mostly when she was alone or midway through a chapter of a book that she had read thousands of times before. When they did come they would overwhelm her mind to the point where she could not think of anything but then. After a few days of being stuck on the sofa, paused between existence and life, she managed to snap herself out of it. Spending the days like that was a waste of her time while Billy was still around. So she managed to push herself from the thoughts, deciding that it would be better for her and everyone else to focus on them once the unthinkable eventually occurred. That way she wasn't missing out on anything.

She hopped up the steps to the Cullen house, making her steps match the beat of the music blasting in her ears through her headphones and only stopped once she reached the top. Athena opened and gently closed the door behind her, heading to the top of the house since she knew that's where everyone was. Yesterday, at around thirty minutes to midnight, she had been called to an important Vampire meeting after Carlilse got off of work. So she of course arrived slightly early, purely out of boredom and politeness. When she walked in the room, Luna immediately budged up on the sofa and gestured for her to sit next to her - which she did with a beaming smile.

The two of them talked for a few minutes, reminiscing their adventures of the night before. Where Athena definitely hadn't nearly murdered someone who wasn't thinking like a person should when they were walking out of a club with a half-drunk person. The only reason that she didn't kill them was that she couldn't be bothered to clean up the mess it would create. So she just rewired their brain and went off into the night, And that event definitely wasn't something that they would tell anyone, just for safety reasons.

"We have a situation," Carlise's voice echoed around the room as he entered his office, silencing all the conversation within seconds. Each person in the room watched him, patiently waiting for some sort of explanation as to what was going on.

"Situation?" Edward echoed, head suddenly full of concern for his human girlfriend. Athena smiled softly at him even though he could not see it, thinking it was sweet that he was so concerned this quickly

"There's some suspicious activity in Seattle," he spoke relatively slowly for a vampire meeting, dragging his words so he could make sure that everyone understood them completely before moving on. Then, once the confusion and worry in the room grew to suffocating levels, he continued, "Unexplained disappearances, killings too big to be the work of a human."

"Our kind? I didn't think anyone there would be so out with their killings," Rosalie replied as she leant forward in her seat, leaning away from Emmett's extended arm. They had had an argument a few days ago that no one knew the contents off but knew it was something bad. Honestly, Athena was surprised they managed to sit so close to each other.

Silence surrounded the room as all their minds worked in overdrive, coming up with different things that were all to do with the problem at hand. "We should monitor the situation, right?" Emmett eventually spoke, earning agreeing nods from all of the family members.

"I agree."

"If it gets any worse than it is now and Alice hasn't seen anything," Athena responded after yet again another tense filled pause. "I can always go up there and try and find one of the vampires and figure out their plan."

Carlisle nodded, sending Athena a rare and thankful smile. "Would that not be unsafe? We don't know how many vampires there are," Edward, one of the people she did not expect to make such a comment, pipped up and changed Carlisle's direction of focus immediately. Athena, with a brow raised in surprise, glanced over to Edward but found her gaze fixed on a nodding Jasper - he clearly agreed with what he had said.

"It's an option," she shrugged, leaning back in her seat next to Luna. "I could take Embry with me, they won't expect that."

"An option we don't want to use if possible but thank you for it," Carlisle replied with yet another thankful smile.

-

Later, after a long conversation with Alice and Luna, Athena stepped out of the glass back door and placed her headphones back on her head. From here, the walk to the reservation was a long one but one that she enjoyed taking. It passed a spilt in the earth where a river thrashed against the rocks, creating a sound that she always paused her music for. Only just as she was about to select a playlist from her lengthy collection, a hand on her shoulder stooped her from walking. She turned and found Jasper, a black coat bunched in his hand. "Here," he offered, extending it to her.

"A coat?" she replied with furrowed brows, wondering why she would need it. It wasn't like she felt the cold.

"I know you're going down to the reservation. It'll keep your headphones from getting damaged," he responded as if he could have read her own mind right then and there.

"But it's not rain-" she stopped talking as a splash of water landed on her nose. With a light chuckle, she wiped the water with her sleeve then took the coat, pulling it on. "Thank you," she smiled as she put the hood of the coat up, becoming overwhelmed by the delightful and warming scent of him.

Athena walked all the way down to the reservation, pausing at the river like she always did. The rain only got heavier as she continued her journey and she found herself even more grateful for the coat that protected her from it better than the trees ever would. Normally when the rain hit and she was without her own coat, the music would have no choice but to cease. But today, she got to enjoy the relaxing sound of rain and her music mixed together.

When she eventually made it to the house, Athena found Jake and Billy sitting together and conversing rather happily and politely for a change. So, instead of being interrupted, Athena dashed into the kitchen before she could be noticed. She hung Jasper's coat on a radiator then stood in the kitchen for a while before she decided to clean. Cleaning was something she weirdly loved to do yet never found herself doing because well, her house rarely got dusty. So she cleaned and cleaned until everything was sparkling and fixed in a position that suited the kitchen well.

"Jesus Athena, when did you get here?" Jake, who had just walked into the kitchen, exclaimed once he had realised she was there. Athena smiled at Billy's laughter coming from the living room, satisfied with how his son jumped so easily.

"Twenty, thirty minutes ago why?"

"And you just, cleaned?"

"It's a mess in here," she shrugged, pulling Jasper's now dry coat back onto her body. It was warm and comforting, like an exceptional blanket. "I don't mind cleaning, it's nice."

"Weirdo," Jake chuckled as he turned to head into his room.

She laughed, "Coming from a wolf with a god complex?"

Jake stopped and looked back at her with a glare so fake that she had to physically stop herself from laughing any harder. "By the way, Embry was looking for you earlier," he responded, much quieter than before. With an acknowledging nod, Jake disappeared behind his bedroom door once again.

After a second, she walked into the living room and found Bily with his eyes glued to the laptop screen that she had bought him for the sole reason of having google. "Have you seen the news? About Seattle?" he asked as she got halfway into the room, his eyes still glued on the screen.

"Mh. We're keeping an eye on it," she sighed deeply, sitting down next to where he was on the sofa. After a few minutes, Billy's nose upturned and he turned his head and glanced at her. His brow furrowed but a knowing grin few on his face. "Whose coat is that?"

She took one look at him, read his emotions instantly, then rolled her eyes. These sorts of comments about her and Jasper had been so frequently that now, whenever they occurred, she would just up and leave. He knew that yet he still made them, adding even more annoyance to the questions. She sighed deeply then began to stand, "Goodbye."

"Athena!" he called, laughing deeply but she was already out the door and halfway to the forest. Having nothing else but intrigue for what Embry wanted, she dialled his number in her phone and ran off into the rain.