Charlie did not expect noise when he got home.
He expected quiet. Maybe the television on low. Maybe Mame asleep on the couch, exhausted from everything the last two days had thrown at him.
What he did not expect was the rhythmic clink of metal.
Charlie paused just inside the door, listening.
There it was again. A dull thud. A controlled exhale.
He frowned and followed the sound toward the garage.
Mame was there, mid-rep, focused and sweaty, arms shaking slightly as he lifted a modest weight. He froze the moment he noticed Charlie standing in the doorway.
"Oh," Mame said, carefully setting the weight down. "Hey."
Charlie stared at him for a second, then shook his head. "Well. That's unexpected."
Mame blinked. "Is it bad unexpected?"
Charlie stepped fully inside, arms folding loosely across his chest. "I thought I'd find you asleep. Or watching something on TV. Certainly not exercising."
Mame rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly self-conscious. "I was bored," he admitted. "Didn't really know what to do. I saw the gym and… I hope it's okay that I used it. I'll clean up. Everything."
Charlie waved a hand. "It's fine. Just be careful not to get hurt. Last thing we need is paperwork and a hospital visit."
Mame nodded quickly. "Yeah. I'm being careful."
Charlie glanced around the garage. "You eat yet?"
Mame opened his mouth.
Then his stomach answered for him.
A loud, unmistakable growl echoed in the space.
Mame froze.
Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"…What leftovers?" Mame asked.
There was a brief silence.
Then Mame laughed awkwardly. "Oh. Yeah. Food. I forgot to eat. Hahaha."
Charlie sighed, long and tired. "Really?"
Mame winced. "It's been a weird few days."
"Clearly," Charlie said. He pointed toward the house. "Finish cleaning up. Take a shower. I'll heat up the food."
Mame straightened immediately. "Yes, sir."
Charlie paused. "And Mame?"
"Yeah?"
"Good job not breaking anything."
Mame smiled. "Low bar, but I'll take it."
After the shower, everything felt better.
Clean clothes. Warm water washing away the sweat and the lingering edge of anxiety. When Mame came downstairs, the kitchen was alive with sound and smell. Plates covered the table. Steam curled up from bowls and trays.
He stopped short.
"Wow," he said. "I did not know you could cook this good, Chief."
Charlie snorted from the stove. "Don't spread that around. Ruins my reputation."
Mame sat carefully at the table, eyes moving from dish to dish. "This is… a lot."
"You're young," Charlie said, setting down one last plate. "And you forgot to eat. That evens it out."
Mame picked up his fork, still smiling. "Thank you. Really."
Charlie nodded once and took his seat across from him.
Outside, rain tapped against the windows.
Inside, the house felt warmer than it had before.
And for the first time since arriving in Forks, Mame felt something close to normal.
They ate in near silence at first.
Not an uncomfortable silence exactly, just the kind that existed when two people shared a table but did not quite know how to talk across it yet. Charlie focused on his plate with the seriousness of a man treating dinner like a task to be completed. Mame noticed it immediately.
Man of action, not words, he thought.
Mame took a bite, chewed, then nodded appreciatively. "This is really good," he said. "Like, actually good. Not survival good."
Charlie grunted. "Glad it's edible."
Mame smiled and let the conversation breathe for a few seconds before speaking again.
"So," he said lightly, "any news about permanent housing for me?"
Charlie's fork paused halfway to his mouth.
Mame noticed and added quickly, "I mean, I'm grateful. Really. I just don't want to disturb the Chief any more than I already have."
Charlie frowned. "You're not disturbing anything."
"I know," Mame said. "Still feels like I'm taking up space."
Charlie set his fork down and sighed. "I made a few calls. Nothing concrete yet. Foster system moves slow. Especially in a town this size."
Mame nodded. "That makes sense."
Charlie glanced at him, clearly surprised that there was no pushback. "For now," he continued, "you're fine here. We'll figure the rest out when we have more information."
Mame relaxed slightly. "Thank you."
They went back to eating. Charlie seemed more at ease now, shoulders less tense.
After a moment, Mame spoke again, carefully casual. "Would it be alright if I explored the town tomorrow?"
Charlie looked up. "Explore?"
"Yeah," Mame said. "Just walking around. Getting familiar. I won't go far."
Charlie considered that. "You know Forks isn't exactly exciting."
"That's okay," Mame replied. "I like quiet."
That earned him a small nod of approval.
"Stay in town," Charlie said. "Let me know where you're going. And don't wander into the forest."
Mame hesitated. "Why not?"
Charlie gave him a look. Not alarmed. Just firm. "Just don't."
Mame nodded immediately. "Got it."
Another pause followed. Charlie cleared his throat.
"You planning on school once the paperwork clears?" he asked.
"Yes," Mame said. "I want to go."
Charlie studied him. "Most kids aren't that eager."
Mame shrugged. "Seems like a good way to stay grounded."
Charlie accepted that without comment and took another bite.
The rest of dinner passed more easily after that. Short sentences. Practical topics. Weather. The town. Where not to go. What time dinner usually happened.
When they finished, Charlie stood and gathered the plates.
"You can leave those," Mame offered.
Charlie shook his head. "I've got it."
Mame watched him move around the kitchen, steady and habitual. This was a man who showed care through action, not words. Mame understood that instinctively.
"Hey, Charlie," he said quietly.
Charlie paused at the sink. "Yeah?"
"Thanks," Mame said. "For everything."
Charlie turned the faucet on. "You're welcome."
He did not say more.
But he did not need to.
Later, as Mame lay in bed listening to the rain, he thought about tomorrow. About the town. About names and paperwork and quiet streets.
For the first time, the future did not feel like a threat.
Just unknown.
And somehow, that felt manageable.
Morning came softly.
Mame woke before the alarm he did not have, light filtering through the curtains in thin gray lines. The house was quiet. Charlie was already gone, a note on the counter written in blocky handwriting telling him to lock the door and not do anything stupid.
Mame smiled faintly at that.
After breakfast, he pulled on his hoodie, checked that his backpack was zipped, and stepped out into Forks on foot.
The town felt different in daylight.
Smaller. Slower. The streets were damp but calm, shops opening one by one, people moving with the unhurried rhythm of a place that did not expect surprises. Mame walked without a clear destination at first, letting his feet carry him, memorizing corners and storefronts.
It felt important.
Like mapping a safe zone.
The bank was easy to find.
Inside, everything smelled faintly of paper and polish. The clerk barely blinked at the paperwork Charlie had helped prepare the night before. Temporary identification. State documents. Transfer records. It all slid through the system with quiet efficiency.
Within the hour, Mame walked out with a debit card in his pocket.
That alone felt surreal.
He did not stop there.
At the ATM around the corner, he hesitated only a moment before entering the amount.
$10,000
The machine whirred. Bills slid out smoothly.
Mame stared at the stack of cash in his hand, pulse steady but alert. This was not panic money. This was not emergency money. This was a test.
He ducked into a quiet alley between two buildings, checked that no one was watching, then focused.
The system responded instantly.
The transparent window appeared, hovering close, obedient and silent.
He opened the Shop tab and selected Deposit Currency.
The cash in his hand vanished.
No flash. No sound.
Just gone.
Mame's breath caught.
The balance updated immediately.
Balance: $10,000 USD
He exhaled slowly. "Okay."
He selected Withdraw Currency.
The bills reappeared in his hand, crisp and intact.
"In and out," he murmured. "No delay."
He tested it again. Smaller amounts. Larger ones. The system accepted it all without complaint.
Then he noticed something new.
A third option under the Shop tab.
Inventory
He tapped it.
A grid unfolded, simple and clean.
Ten by ten.
Empty squares, waiting.
"Storage," Mame said quietly. "Limited, but real."
He placed the cash inside experimentally. The bills vanished from his hand and appeared neatly stacked in one square of the grid.
He took them back out.
Nothing broke. Nothing lagged.
This was not magic in the dramatic sense.
It was infrastructure.
Satisfied, Mame closed the window and stepped back into the street, heart a little lighter. If nothing else, he had control over this part of his life.
As he walked, he passed a small newspaper stand and glanced at the date printed at the top.
July 30, 2005
He stopped.
July.
His mind turned slowly, gears clicking into place.
Twilight.
The word surfaced with more clarity than before. Not just a feeling now. A timeline. A story he had known once, in another life.
"September," he murmured.
Bella Swan would arrive in Forks High School in September.
Maybe.
The memory was hazy, but the shape of it felt right.
"If that's true," he said under his breath, "then I have time."
Time to settle.Time to choose a name.Time to understand the system.
And time to decide what role he would play in a story that had not started yet.
Mame continued walking, blending into the quiet rhythm of the town, another face among many.
Forks did not notice him yet.
But soon, it would.
The library was quiet in the way only small-town libraries ever were.
Not silent, exactly. Just softened. Pages turning. A distant cough. The faint hum of fluorescent lights working harder than they should. Rain tapped gently against tall windows, blurring the outside world into gray watercolor shapes.
Mame paused just inside the entrance, breathing it in.
Books. Paper. Dust. Calm.
This place felt safe.
He approached the front desk where a middle-aged librarian looked up from her computer, glasses slipping slightly down her nose.
"Hi," Mame said politely. "I was wondering if you have a map of the town."
She blinked, then smiled. "A town map?"
"Yes," he said. "Something I can keep. I can buy one if you sell them."
She chuckled softly. "You don't need to buy it. We have printed copies for visitors."
She reached beneath the desk and pulled out a folded map, slightly worn but clearly maintained.
"Here you go," she said, sliding it across. "Forks isn't very big, but it helps."
"Thank you," Mame said, genuine relief in his voice.
He took the map and moved deeper into the library, choosing a table tucked away near the local history shelves. The far corner was empty, shielded by tall bookcases and shadows.
Perfect.
He unfolded the map carefully.
Streets. Buildings. Forest edges. The town laid out in simple lines and symbols, smaller than it felt when walking through it. He stared at it for a long moment, then reached into his backpack and pulled out a pen.
"Alright," he murmured. "Let's see what I remember."
He started slowly.
A small circle around the town center.
Forks High School.Slightly outside the dense core. Open land. Forest pressing close. He marked the parking lot, the gym, the cafeteria, the science building.
Next, near the center.
Forks Police Department.Small station. Charlie's office. Holding cells. The desk where everything started.
His pen paused briefly.
"That's home base," he said quietly.
He continued.
Forks Hospital.Outskirts of town. ER entrance. Ambulance bay. A place that mattered more than it should.
Forks Public Library.He smiled faintly and circled the building he sat in now.
Thriftway.Main grocery store. Parking lot. Windows facing the street.
The Diner.Booths. Counter stools. Regulars. A place stories overheard themselves into existence.
His hand moved south.
Residential Zone.
The Swan House, isolated, surrounded by trees. Gravel driveway. Porch. A pickup truck that always seemed to be there.
Nearby, the Forks Cemetery, small and quiet, fog clinging low among modest headstones. He hesitated there, then marked it anyway.
Around the town, he shaded the Forest Belt. Dense rainforest. Moss. Ferns. Logging roads. Trails that twisted and disappeared.
His pen drifted west.
La Push.The reservation. Separate jurisdiction. The coast.
He marked First Beach, Second Beach, Third Beach, each more isolated than the last. Boundaries mattered here. He drew them carefully.
Finally, east and south.
Port Angeles.Bigger. Louder. A way out.
When he finished, he leaned back and studied the map.
It felt complete.
The moment the thought settled, something shifted.
A familiar soft ding echoed inside him.
The transparent window appeared in front of his eyes, unobtrusive but undeniable.
Text formed smoothly.
Skill Acquired
Map ReaderRank: BasicDescription: The host can accurately interpret and retain map information.
Skill Acquired
WayfinderRank: BasicDescription: The host gains an instinctive sense of direction for locations they have studied on a map. Navigation efficiency increased.
Mame's breath caught.
He closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, the world felt subtly different.
Not brighter. Not sharper.
Aligned.
He looked down at the map again and knew, without thinking, exactly where he was. Where the exits were. Which turns led where. The relationships between places clicked into place like gears meshing.
He could walk to any of them now.
Easily.
"Okay," he whispered. "That's… useful."
The system window faded without comment.
Mame folded the map carefully and slid it back into his backpack, heart steady but alert.
He stood, glanced once more around the quiet library, then headed for the door.
Outside, Forks waited.
And now, for the first time, he knew exactly how to move through it.