Kane stood atop a hill, arms crossed, staring down at the small town of Forks in the distance. The scent of damp earth and pine filled the air but something else lingered now. Faint. Elusive. Pulling him in.
"This place stinks of quiet lives and soft people," he muttered.
He didn't head into town. Not yet. Better to watch first. Learn. Choose his moment.
Kane dropped from his perch in silence, landing on the forest floor without a sound. The earth cracked faintly beneath his bare feet, but no one heard it. He stood tall, muscles shifting under his skin like coiled steel.
His eyes locked onto a thicker tree, taller and closer to the school's edge. Perfect view. Covered in shadow.
With a low breath, he moved not walking, not running, gliding. A blur between the trees. Every branch he touched barely stirred, his presence hidden by instinct and control.
In seconds, he was there.
He scaled the tree in a single, fluid motion and crouched high on a branch, eyes scanning the school below. Its buildings huddled together like sheep in the cold.
He didn't move.
He just watched.
"So that's where all the soft little people gather…"
A bell rang, sharp and metallic. Students spilled out into the courtyard, laughing, complaining, clinging to drama that didn't matter.
It annoyed him. But also…
It intrigued him.
"If I want her to find me," he muttered, "I might have to step into their world."
His fingers dug into the bark beside him as the idea formed enrolling. Pretending to be one of them.
It felt like putting a lion in a petting zoo.
But maybe that was the point.
"Let them look into the eyes of something they'll never understand."
A grin curled across his face.
"Yeah… school might be fun after all."
Then, he saw her.
Rosalie.
Hair like spun gold, eyes like frozen glass, walking through the crowd like she didn't belong to it because she didn't. Not really. Not to them.
She moved with elegance. With distance. Like a statue carved to be admired but never touched.
The pull in his chest surged. Deep. Ancient.
His jaw tightened. Every muscle coiled.
"There you are…"
His fingers clenched the bark, not in rage, but restraint.
He didn't leap down. He didn't rush forward.
Not yet.
"She's close now. But she's not ready."
His grin widened, calm and dangerous.
"Let her feel the weight of what's coming."
He watched her for a moment longer, then stood.
With a quiet exhale, Kane dropped from the branch.
He turned away from the school, disappearing into the trees.
"Not yet" he muttered "But soon".
Each step took him deeper into the forest's shadow, his figure swallowed by the mist between the pines. No trail. No sound. Like he was never there.
——
Rosalie's POV
She stepped out into the courtyard with the others, her pace graceful but detached. The noise around her laughter, footsteps, casual chatter, barely registered.
And then, suddenly… she stopped.
Her eyes narrowed, scanning the trees beyond the school.
There was nothing unusual. Just leaves swaying. Wind brushing through pine branches.
But still she felt it.
A presence. Cold. Heavy. It wasn't loud or obvious. It was… focused.
On her.
"Rosalie?" Alice's voice cut through the moment, light and curious.
She didn't answer at first. Her gaze lingered on the tree line, muscles tense beneath her skin.
"Something's wrong," she said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Alice asked, now watching her sister more carefully.
Rosalie turned her head slightly, but not all the way. Her golden eyes still fixed on the shadows beyond the field.
"I felt… watched," she said.
Alice blinked, her smile fading.
"Are you sure?"
Rosalie's expression hardened.
"I'm not sure of what it was. But I know it's not gone."
She didn't say anything else. But inside, something shifted. She'd never felt vulnerable before. Not until now.
And that feeling, it wasn't going away.