Preface

I never thought I would be looking death in the face. At least, not like this.

I always thought those scenarios where people die heroically for loved ones were phony and cheesy. Never did I think I would be willing to die for someone, someone I hardly knew, yet loved so much. But, if I had to die young, at least it was for a good cause, right? It could even be thought of as noble. And here I was, staring into the barrel of gun, just to make sure he was kept safe.

I watched as the Tracker lit his cigarette with one hand, never letting the one with the gun leave its position inches from my face. His eyes met mine and he grinned, motioning to the clock on the wall with his head. I looked and whimpered slightly. He chuckled lightly and took a long drag from the cigarette, tossing it aside. “Let's play a game,” he whispered, taking the gun from my face.

I closed my eyes in defeat. It was three thirty-three.

My time of death.

1. First Sight

My father was driving me to the airport in his cruiser, the windows down, radio turned up to avoid conversation. The weather was a perfect seventy-eight, cool winds would occasionally blow in the car and neither of us were saying a word. Charlie kept his eyes on the road while he would sporadically try to start a half-hearted conversation with me, failing along with his nerve, and I was sullenly glaring out the window, staring hard at the green foliage of Washington state.

“Bells, don't be like that.” I shifted my eyes to the left and saw my father doing the same towards me.

“Like what?”

He sighed. “Pouty, stubborn. Take your pick.”

It grew quiet again as we both let his words sink in. I knew he was right. After all, I was seventeen, nearly grown, and sulking like a four-year-old who was denied dessert. Except, in this case, I was being denied my father.

“I'm not pouting, I'm...thinking,” I said halfheartedly. Charlie chuckled next to me.

“I just don't understand, Bella. You've been fine with this arrangement for the past four months, you knew it was coming. So why are you resisting now? Your mom wants some time with you, in her home, before you go off to college. We all think it would be a good idea for you to get to know Phil, too.”

I cringed at the mention of Phil, my mother's new husband. I could tell by the hitch in my father's voice that he wasn't keen on the new man either. Then again, he was still hung up on Renée and I just didn't like the thought of someone new barging their way into my life. I was a creature of habit.

I tried to explain myself in the short amount of time left we had together, internally panicking as we pulling into the airport of Port Angeles. “Dad, I'm not trying to be difficult, or anything. And I know I've been saying I want to do this,” Charlie glanced at me sharply as he pulled one of my suitcases out of the cruiser trunk, startled.

Quickly, I added, “And I do! I do. But, I guess it's just nerves and stuff. Plus, I don't want to leave you.” I heaved my carry-on over my shoulder and gripped my plane ticket tightly, turning away from Charlie so that we could both avoid sentimental stumbling. I heard him fumble with the last of my luggage, muttering a curse.

I turned slightly, watching Charlie scramble to repack the few shoes that had fallen from the suitcase he had dropped and grew sad. How could I possibly leave my father? I mean, no, he wasn't scatterbrained like my mother. He knew when he was low on gas for the car, he knew when to get up for work and when to pay the bills. But the man barely knew how to cook anything other than eggs and bacon; never did laundry more than twice a month, stretching everything out as long as he could until it was deemed unwearable by his keen sense of smell and the town deputy, and could keep the house a mess until he had to dig a path through the discarded trash. I had learned at an early age not to leave him alone for more than a week or two. At times, though, I had to admit I was the parent more often in our relationship. Such confidence I had in my adoring father.

Now my mother...I hadn't seen her since her marriage four months ago, back in June. I could honestly say that was the longest stretch of time I had not seen my mother. I would usually take the trip to Phoenix every other month for one week to visit her, to make sure she was still alive, was paying the bills and had her bank accounts in manageable order. My mother was obviously the teen and I the parent in our relationship. I loved my mother dearly, and had no problems with Phil, even if he was a little young, but I just wasn't sure if I could handle a big change in such a sort amount of time. True, I had all summer to prepare, to say my goodbyes to Forks and my best friend Angela. But the whole time, I had been shoving the inevitable to the back of my mind, to think about on a later date. But now that date was today and the most time I would get to think were the plane rides from Port Angeles to Seattle, then on to Phoenix. I was an internal mess.

“Bells? You okay?” Charlie walked up in front of me, breaking me out of my train of thought. I shook my head slightly, getting rid of my worried thoughts and smiled.

“Yup. I'm fine. Are we all set? I still have to go through security.” Charlie nodded and lead the way, dragging two of my suitcases behind him, leaving me the third, and smallest. My shoulders sagged slightly when I saw this. My father meant well, but this suitcase held most of my books and was definitely the heaviest. Sighing, I took hold of the handle and trudged forward, leaving behind the Chief's cruiser.

“Bella, if you want to come home, just tell your mother and call me and we'll have you on the first flight back home, okay?”

“Daaaadd...”

“I'm just saying,” he held up his hands in defense, smiling slightly. “Seriously, Bells, I'll miss you. Let me know when you get to Renée, okay?” I could tell the chief was starting to get choked up, and I bit my lip.

“Dad...”

We gave each other a long hug, the most emotion we'd shown each other since we found out Reneé was getting married last January, and pulled away slowly. I turned to go through the gate, but my father's hand caught me. I looked at him curiously.

“I got you a going away gift. Take it,” Charlie said gruffly as he pressed a wrapped box in my hand. It fit nicely into the palm of my hand I looked down at it, perplexed at what he could have gotten me. “Just don't open it until you've gotten to Seattle, okay?”

“Charlie...” He gave me a look, the look that said 'Don't call me Charlie', but said nothing. “I love you, too, Dad.”

I stumbled off the plane at the Sea-Tac airport, looking for a spot to wait out my half-hour layover, around four that afternoon. One hour down, five more to go. I was sitting down in a café chair with an overpriced bottle of water and a wilted salad when I remembered the box that Charlie had given me. I quickly pulled it from my carry-on and carefully unwrapped the pretty ruby paper. I was met by a nondescript white box, the only detail being a set of twenty-eight numbers and letters in the bottom right corner. Confused, I opened the box and shook my head in surprise. A tiny claret red cell phone was nestled in a mass of tissue paper and a small note on the kitchen stationary from back home. I picked the note up first, taking care to make sure my fingers avoided touching the phone.

Bella,

You know you need one. Just take it. I will take care of the bill. I hope I got you a color you like.

Love, Dad.

I stared at the piece of technology for what must have been ten minutes, afraid it was a joke. I had never really been given a reason to need a cell phone, but it did seem like a good idea to have one, going into a big city like Phoenix. I smiled at my father's practical thinking as I picked up the phone to examine it.

Charlie had done a fairly good job picking out the color, though I wouldn't have put too much thought into it. The phone itself had a small camera, ready to take minuscule photos, it flipped open to reveal a smart, crystal clear screen and a light-up keypad. I blinked in surprise when I pushed the 'on' button and saw that the background was a slightly fuzzy picture of both me and Charlie. He had obviously taken a picture of our picture to First Beach this summer that sat in the living room.

I had to admit, I was touched. Charlie was really worried about me going to such a big city and wanted me to have a fighting chance in case my klutziness claimed me. He had even offered to pay the bill. I bit my lip to fight off tears and decided to call him right then with the phone.

I dialed and listened to the monotone ringing, waiting with impatience. Charlie finally answered on the fifth ring.

“Hello?” I heard the sound of keys in the background.

“Dad, thank you.”

“Oh,” Charlie sounded surprised slightly, then continued, embarrassed. “It was nothing, Bells. Thought you should have one. Do you like the color?”

“I love it, you know I do. What possessed you into getting it?”

“It was Phil's idea, really. He suggested it to me and I agreed. Though he didn't like the thought of me paying the bill...” Overhead, I heard the first boarding call for my flight to Phoenix, so I cut him short.

“Dad, I'll call you in Phoenix, okay? I've got to start boarding the plane now.” I started gathering my things while trying to balance the phone in one hand and my water in the other. I shifted my head slightly and watched in horror as the phone slipped from the niche of my head and shoulder and started tumbling towards the floor.

I reached out a hand to try and stop it, at the same time dropping my water. I was past the point of caring for the water, just as long as I didn't break the phone I hadn't even had for more than a day. Before my fingers could even get close, another set of tan fingers snatched the phone inches from the ground. I stared for a moment at the place where my phone just was, then looked up to the owner of the rescuing fingers.

“I think I got it in time, don't you?” My eyes met with a pair of smiling dark blue ones. I blinked twice, then took in the boy as a whole. I quickly assessed that he was maybe nineteen or twenty, built sturdy with curly brown hair and a warm smile.

“Uh, y-yes, thanks. Gravity and I don't get along very well,” I blushed and took the small phone from his proffered hand. He smiled wider and took my hand in his, phone sandwiched between, and shook it politely.

“Glad to help. I'm-”

“Emmett!” We both turned and saw a tall blond glaring in our direction, hands on her hips and lips pursed, several yards away.

“Uh, oh,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “Nice to meet you...” He looked at me expectantly, eyes darting between me and the blond.

“Bella.”

“Right, Bella. Well, I've got to go before Rose drags me away.” Emmett winked and jogged away.

I watched as he ran to the girl, Rose, and handed her the bottled water he had obviously gotten her in the very waiting area I was sitting in, and had to stifle a laugh as she started yelling at him for something and he pitifully defended himself. They both walked over to a group of five that was waiting for them at a terminal, the two oldest of the group, looking impatient. I sure hoped they weren't their parents, because they didn't look a day over thirty. They listened disapprovingly as Emmett and Rose explained what took them so long. The small, petite girl ignored them completely as she talked with a lean, blond boy who looked ill, and the mismatched fifth of the group, a bronze-haired boy, stood off to the side, staring into space, eyes closed. Slowly, he turned to listen to Emmett, then to my direction. I watched the group from the corner of my eye as I collected my forgotten water and my bag, pocketing the phone. I absentmindedly admitted to myself that the lone boy was good looking, but way out of my grasp. I started walking out of the waiting area, keeping the boy in my sight, and stopped when I saw him follow me with his eyes. His met mine and he frowned, eyes narrowed. I looked away quickly and speed walked to my own terminal, one of the last in line for my flight.

As I handed the attendant my ticket, I put Emmett and the group out of my head. So what if he was frowning at me from afar? Didn't mean he knew me and didn't like me, right? That beautiful, bronze-haired teen didn't know me from Eve and I wasn't about to let him get the better of me. I decided that the moment I found my seat, I would disappear in a book I had thought to keep in my carry-on and not come out until the plane touched down in Phoenix.