(A/N):
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The afternoon sky over Forks was a pale silver sheet, clouds drifting lazily as if unaware that something important was shifting beneath them.
The Cullen house felt… different.
Not empty.But stretched.
Esme moved through the living room one last time, fingertips brushing the piano, the staircase railing, the edge of the couch. A quiet ritual of farewell.
Carlisle adjusted his coat with composed precision.
"We won't be long," he assured, voice steady as ever.
"The Denali coven will cooperate. Once we locate Edward and Bella, we'll return immediately."
Rosalie stood near the doorway, arms crossed but gaze soft.
"...."
"Bring them back fast," she said. "Especially Bella."
Alice was unusually quiet, her eyes distant, skimming possibilities like pages flipping too quickly.
"I can't see clearly," she murmured. "They're moving. Decisions changing too fast."
Jasper placed a hand at the small of her back, grounding her.
Emmett stretched casually, though his eyes betrayed focus.
"Whoever's hunting them better pray we don't catch them first."
Jess smirked faintly.
-Smirk
"We will."
Edythe simply nodded once, already calculating.
-Nod
Jojo leaned against the Cullen porch railing, hands in his jacket pockets, watching the lineup like a commander seeing soldiers off.
"I'll hold Forks," he said calmly. "No cases. No distractions. Just perimeter."
Carlisle met his gaze.
"...."
"We trust you."
Jojo's lips tilted.
"You should."
Rosalie glanced sideways at him.
"If anything even twitches wrong—"
"It burns," he replied casually.
Alice's mood brightened a little at that.
Esme stepped forward and hugged Alice first, then Rosalie.
"Be careful," she whispered.
The engines started.
Two vehicles rolled down the forest driveway, tires whispering over gravel before disappearing into the thick green of Washington woods.
Silence followed.
"...."
"...."
"...."
A quieter Forks.
Jojo exhaled slowly.
"Well," he said lightly, turning back toward the trees,
"guess we're the babysitters."
Rosalie scoffed. "Bella is not a baby."
Alice grinned mischievously.
-Grin
"Technically…"
Rosalie elbowed her.
Jojo smirked and gestured toward the road.
-Smirk
"Come on. Mansion."
Jojo's Mansion...
Back at Jojo's mansion, the atmosphere shifted again.
Inadu sat cross-legged in the common room, flipping through an old grimoire, though her attention flickered toward the windows occasionally.
Caroline leaned against the counter, sipping from a mug, watching Rosalie and Alice enter.
"Cullens gone?" she asked.
"Alaska," Alice answered.
Gayathri looked up from the couch, intrigued.
"So we wait?"
Jojo nodded as he replied.
-Nods
"We wait."
Cecellia, still adjusting to this supernatural hurricane of a life, asked quietly,
"And if something attacks while they're gone?"
Jojo walked to the window, looking out over the forest.
"It won't."
Rosalie raised a brow.
"Confident."
He shrugged his shoulder like it was nothing.
"I've got a hell hound on patrol, three vampires with attitude problems, and a thousand-year-old witch who gets bored easily."
Inadu didn't look up.
"Correct."
Caroline smirked. "Attitude problem?"
Rosalie smirked back. "She means you."
Alice laughed and dropped dramatically onto the couch beside Jojo, looping her arm through his.
"Until Bella delivers," she said, "we stay close."
He nodded once.
-Nod
"No cases. No field trips. No heroics."
Caroline tilted her head.
"You? No heroics?"
He looked at her calmly.
"Personal rule."
Outside, Biffer's distant growl echoed faintly through the trees before settling.
The mansion felt guarded. Anchored.
Afternoon...
The late afternoon light poured through the tall glass windows of Jojo's mansion like liquid gold.
Laughter floated from the living room.
Jojo stepped inside, Rosalie and Alice trailing behind him, and immediately noticed Jenny seated on the couch, animatedly speaking with two familiar faces.
Lorraine sat beside her, posture relaxed, while little Judy swung her legs from the armrest like a pendulum that refused to obey gravity.
Across from them sat a boy Jojo recognized from descriptions alone.
Dark hair. Quiet eyes. Watching more than speaking.
Beside him, his mother offered a polite smile.
The moment Judy spotted Jojo, she gasped dramatically.
"JOJO'S BACK!"
She leapt off the couch, grabbed Cole's wrist, and dragged him forward with heroic enthusiasm.
"Come! Come! You have to meet him properly!"
Cole stumbled slightly but didn't resist.
His eyes stayed fixed on Jojo, curious and careful.
"...."
Jojo chuckled softly.
-Chuckle
"Well, that's one way to make an entrance."
Jenny stood and smiled. "They just arrived from the farmhouse."
Cole's mother stepped forward first, extending her hand.
"Thank you again for letting us settle here. Everything's been… peaceful."
Jojo shook her hand warmly.
"No trouble adjusting?"
She shook her head.
"The locals have been kind. It's quieter than Philadelphia. In a good way."
Cole said nothing yet.
"...."
He was studying Jojo. Not like a child meeting a hero. More like someone measuring something invisible.
Lorraine stepped forward next.
"Vacation at Cole's Grandma's farmhouse went well," she said lightly. "Kids didn't burn it down."
Judy puffed up proudly.
"We only set the barn on fire once!"
Lorraine blinked.
"…That was a lantern accident. right?"
Rosalie coughed to hide a laugh.
Then Lorraine approached.
She carried something carefully in her hand.
"I brought this," she said softly.
She opened her palm.
A small silver pocket watch, old-fashioned, polished but worn with history.
Jojo accepted it respectfully.
"Thank you."
Lorraine smiled gently.
"It gave me a different feeling. I thought… you'd appreciate something that keeps time."
His fingers closed around it.
For a brief second, the ticking felt louder than it should.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
A faint ripple brushed against his senses.
Not dark. Not cursed.
Just… heavy with memory. He nodded.
-Nod
"I'll keep it safe."
Lorraine's smile deepened, relieved.
Meanwhile, Judy finally pushed Cole forward properly.
"Okay! Now talk!"
Cole looked up at Jojo. Up close, the boy's eyes were different.
Older than his years. Observant.
"You're the one who fights bad things," Cole said quietly.
Not a question. A statement.
Alice tilted her head slightly.
Rosalie glanced sideways at Jojo.
Jojo crouched a little so they were eye-level.
"Sometimes," he replied simply.
Cole's gaze flicked briefly to the pocket watch in Jojo's hand.
Then back to his face.
"You feel loud," Cole murmured.
Jenny frowned slightly.
-Frown
"Cole…"
But Jojo didn't interrupt.
"Loud how?" he asked calmly.
Cole hesitated.
"Like… fire underwater."
Rosalie and Alice both stiffened almost imperceptibly.
Jojo smiled faintly.
"Good description."
Judy whispered loudly,
"See? I told you he's cool."
Cole didn't smile. But he didn't look afraid either.
He looked… reassured.
Like he had just confirmed something important.
Jojo stood back up.
"Well," he said lightly, slipping the pocket watch into his coat,
"since everyone's here—who wants tea before Jenny confiscates the snacks again?"
Jenny placed her hands on her hips.
"I do not confiscate snacks."
From the hallway, Kang's voice echoed.
"You do."
Everyone laughed.
The mansion filled with warmth again.
Outside, the forest swayed gently.
Inside, Cole continued watching Jojo quietly.
And somewhere deep in that stillness, something unseen had noticed the meeting too.
Not hostile. Not yet. Just… aware.
Alaska...
Snow fell in soft spirals outside the cabin, the kind of quiet snowfall that made the world feel padded and distant.
Pine trees stood like silent sentries, their branches heavy with white.
Inside, warmth.
Bella sat at the wooden table, fingers wrapped around a steaming mug, watching Edward move around the small kitchen with effortless grace.
Even cooking looked theatrical when he did it.
"You didn't have to make all this,"
She said, eyeing the food laid out before her.
Edward gave her that half-smile.
"I enjoy taking care of you."
She studied him for a moment. Then, gently,
"Do you think we should go back to Forks?"
The knife paused mid-air in his hand.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Silence settled between them, thick but not hostile.
Bella continued, quieter now.
"I miss them. Alice. Rosalie. Even Charlie. It feels… wrong being away this long."
Edward turned slowly to face her.
"I still don't think it's safe."
"Safe from what?" she asked softly.
His jaw tightened just slightly.
"I don't know," he admitted. "That's the problem."
He walked over, setting the knife down carefully, then sat across from her.
"There's been a… pressure," he said. "Like something circling. Not close enough to see. But close enough to feel."
Bella frowned.
-Frown
"You think it's the Volturi?"
"If it were them, I would know," Edward replied immediately. "They're not subtle."
He reached for her hand.
"I don't like that I can't read what's coming."
Bella squeezed his fingers.
"Maybe we're just being paranoid."
Edward's golden eyes softened at that.
"I would rather be paranoid than careless."
Outside, the wind picked up slightly, brushing against the cabin walls.
Neither of them noticed the faint disturbance far beyond the treeline.
Five figures. Hidden. Watching.
Not vampires. Not werewolves. Human.
And very, very patient.
Back inside, Bella leaned back in her chair, smiling faintly.
"I just have this feeling," she said. "Like something's about to change."
Edward studied her face carefully.
"Change how?" She shrugged.
"I don't know. I just… want to go home." He hesitated. Forks
The place he once thought he could protect.
The place he now feared might be the exact reason danger was circling.
"If we go back," he said quietly, "we don't stay long."
Bella's eyes brightened just slightly.
"That's a yes?"
Edward exhaled slowly.
"It's a maybe."
She laughed softly.
"That's the closest I'm getting, isn't it?"
He leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"I just need to be certain," he murmured.
But even as he said it, something cold slipped through his senses.
A prickle. A disturbance. Too faint to identify. Too deliberate to ignore.
Alaska's snow kept falling like the world was pretending nothing dangerous ever happened.
Inside the cabin, the knock came again.
-Knock -Knock
Firm. Controlled. Not human.
Edward's head tilted slightly. He didn't need to breathe to know who stood outside.
"Tanya," he murmured.
Bella looked up. "Friend or problem?"
"Friend," he said, though his tone carried weight.
He moved to the door and opened it.
Standing there, framed by white snow and silver sky, were Tanya and her coven.
Elegant. Composed.
Predatory in the polite way only ancient vampires could manage.
Tanya smiled.
"Edward. Bella."
Bella joined him at the doorway.
"Surprise visit?" Bella asked.
Tanya stepped inside gracefully, brushing snow from her coat.
"We wouldn't interrupt your honeymoon retreat without reason."
Edward's eyes narrowed slightly.
-Frown
"What's happened?"
Tanya exchanged a glance with one of her sisters.
"Carlisle contacted us."
The name shifted the air immediately.
"About?" Edward asked.
"He couldn't reach you directly," Tanya continued. "He asked us to come in person."
Bella's fingers tightened around Edward's arm.
"Is something wrong in Forks?"
Tanya's expression turned serious.
"He said there was… activity."
Edward stilled.
"What kind of activity?"
"Humans. Armed. Organized. Asking questions."
Bella's stomach dropped.
"...."
Tanya continued carefully.
"Carlisle said someone has been looking for you. Specifically you two."
Edward's mind raced.
"Who?" he demanded.
"They didn't give names," Tanya replied. "But they had money. Resources. They've been tracking movements."
Bella's heart thudded.
Edward stepped away slightly, already calculating.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
[New Fan fic: Star Entertainment: Building An Empire. Check it out.
There will be two chapters a week(Monday and Tuesday)
If delayed I would post it on Wednesday or Thursday.]
Thanks for reading the chapter!
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