05 | ENIGMA |

edited: 7/9/2020

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RORY'S WEEKEND WAS spent with her mother who had been granted a few days off work after the accident. It was much needed for the two Aden women since they hadn't had a chance to really spend time with each other since moving to Forks.

Tears were shed while boxes of pizza and take-out sustained them amidst days filled with rom-coms and chick flicks. Rory made a note to learn some recipes or something because neither Aden women were the handiest in the kitchen. Cooking used to be Rory's father and sister's thing. They were both long gone now.

However, once Monday arrived, Jasper Hale and the rest of the Cullens had begun to outright ignore her. Even Alice, who had been one of Rory's budding friends in the town, had resorted to simply smiling at her, but not pursuing any conversation or inviting her to lunch, shopping, etc. Alice's attention in Spanish went to their teacher, an unusual feat for the hyperactive girl. Rory had initially tried to keep confronting Jasper about what happened but he was never left alone with her—one of his siblings, usually Alice or Edward, always lingered nearby and ushered away if she got too close. They didn't want to speak to her.

Rory tried not to take it personally.

The week following the accident kept Rory as the center of attention again. She had become some sort of damsel-in-distress type after the accident. Tyler was determined to make up for nearly killing her by trying to become her boyfriend, much to her disdain and the disdain of one of the other girls at their lunch table, Laura or something like that. He, and several other boys, wouldn't leave her alone. Carrying her books, buying her lunches, to blatantly being asked out—which she turned down. She wasn't really in the right headspace to date anyone, as sweet as their intentions might be.

It took Rory blurting out a lie that she had a boyfriend back in Texas to get Tyler, as well Mike, Eric, and a few other relentless boys at their table to back off. The lie incidentally sent the boys straight back to Bella, who had been basking in the absence of unwelcome attention. With Bella back to Forks high school boys main target, Rory conspicuously faded to the unattainable new girl—still fawned over, but given some breathing space at least.

"So, what's your boyfriend's name again?" Jess asked curiously one day in Biology II. They were the only juniors in the class full of seniors.

It had been almost two weeks since the accident and Rory was becoming very well adjusted to her new life. Forks had become home despite her rocky start.

Rory was suddenly aware of the familiar piercing feeling of someone staring at her. She glanced around and her eyes met Jasper Hale's cold gaze. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Jess, who stared at her expectantly.

"His name is Phillip," Rory's smile didn't betray her inside-joke. Jess nodded thoughtfully, trying to make up a face to put to her good friend's mysterious boyfriend.

She nodded thoughtfully, trying to make up a face to put to her good friend's mysterious boyfriend. "Phillip? From your old school? Do you have a picture?"

Rory's smile tensed as she figured out another lie. "Ah, this is a new phone actually. I haven't had a chance to download any from my laptop."

In reality, she had indeed been dating someone back in Texas, a boy named Fred Mallory. She had dated him for two years, but she didn't technically break up with him—she just outright cut him out of her life after what he did.

Rory was still repressing everything that happened, she never spoke about it to anyone and she especially didn't want her new friends to know who she really was or why she had really moved halfway across the country in the middle of the school year. They didn't need to know about her stay in the psych ward. She had cut off all communication to those people and blocked him on all social media—it was especially easy when they decided to move across the country.

"Aw, you must really miss him," Jess said sympathetically.

Rory faked a smile. "Yeah, Phil's the best."

"You should invite him up here! I know Sadie's is too soon, but prom is only two months away," Jess suggested brightly, her eyes glowing as she thought of the upcoming Spring dance. "I'm sure he'd be happy to come up here from Texas, since you've been together for so long and all. Like I'm sure the boys would've back off a long time ago if we all knew..."

Rory's voice was tight. "Maybe. I'll see." She really regretted that she had no option but to lie about having a boyfriend to get Forks boys to leave her be. All that she had compartmentalized about Texas and Fred Mallory and her broken family had cracked with all this talk she had brought upon herself. She tried to not let it show, growing unusually quiet for the rest of the class.

She eagerly escaped Jessica's questions about her made-up boyfriend hurriedly, barely hearing Mr. Molina remind them about the upcoming field trip to the local greenhouse. The rest of the day, Rory was distracted and trying her best to crumble into her depression as memories wouldn't escape her mind. A few of her friends had noticed by lunch and were rightfully concerned, but Rory just rambled some excuse about not feeling well. She really wanted to go home, but she didn't want her mom to worry.

In her last class, Rory slid into the desk next to Jasper Hale wordlessly. She was used to his cold ignorance of her by now. She didn't expect hearing his smooth, honey-like voice interrupt her thoughts close to the end of class.

"You're from Texas."

It was more of a question than a statement.

Rory dragged her tired eyes from Mr. Bryce who was droning about group projects to Jasper's hauntingly pale and beautiful face.

Rory dragged her tired eyes from Mr. Bryce who was droning about group projects to Jasper's stunning face. It was so annoying how attractive he was, trying to fool her mind despite her growing grudge against him.

"Eavesdropping, Hale?" She raised an eyebrow, but he just rolled his eyes at her sneer. They were inexplicably dark today, closer to obsidian than amber.

"Irrelevant to my question."

"So what? Is the Jasper Hale speaking to me now?" she drawled sarcastically, thankful they were in the back of the room. "You didn't technically ask me anything, by the way."

He was unimpressed and tilted his head pointedly, clearly wanting an answer.

She pursed her lips, thinking of his entitlement. "San Antonio." She checked to make sure their conversation hadn't gained any unwanted listeners. "Why do you care, all of a sudden?"

"I'm from Houston," he smiled at her brilliantly and she was taken aback, stupefied from his hypnotic perfection combined with a southern drawl.

Of course, she had suspected he was from the south by the way he spoke at times. When he bothered to speak to her of course.

"Explains the drawl," she pointed out dumbly, still confused where his sudden friendliness had come from.

His eyes sparkled and Rory had to catch her breath.

"I haven't been there for...a while," Jasper admitted, a glimmer of something softer and almost innocent showed through his usually stoic facade. "I miss it a lot. Apart from the somehow undying racism—I don't get why they have so much pride in losing—there's so much history there."

Rory could understand. While she was happy in Forks, she missed the heat of Texas and her remaining friends and family still residing there. She had been so happy there. Then the memories of what happened hit her once more and her mood soured again. She narrowed her eyes darkly at Jasper who had a reminiscent look upon his beautiful features.

"What do you want?" Her tone hardened. She didn't forget how he and his siblings—she cared mostly about Alice—had ignored her for weeks.

Jasper returned his eyes to hers. They were full of curiosity and...regret. Rory's eyes flared angrily.

"I don't want anything," Jasper responded coldly and thoughtlessly.

He ran a hand through his waves exasperatedly at her furious and offended expression. He really had no idea how to navigate around a conversation with her. He was used to having his ability to steer socialization with humans, but he clearly had none of that with Miss Mountain of Emotions. It was like he was a scientist attempting to engineer the sea. No one could control the sea. He wondered what had happened to her to make her such an emotional pandemonium.

"Well then you should've realized that before and saved yourself from all this regret I've caused you," Rory sneered, hiding her hurt feelings.

"—Ms. Aden and Mr. Hale?"

The semi-arguing pair looked up to see the entire class staring at them expectantly. Rory was embarrassed; she prided herself on being well-liked by her teachers and being caught having a conversation during a lecture(?) (she had stopped paying attention to what was going on the minute Jasper Hale opened his perfect mouth) would not do well for her reputation.

"Of course we will take that topic on, Mr. Bryce," Jasper answered their teacher smoothly and without hesitation. He seemed to know exactly what was going on much to Rory's utter confusion. "Rory and I happen to both come from a Texas background. The civil war's effect on societal norms will be no problem for us." Jasper winked at Rory who still held a dumbfounded look on her face.

Mr. Bryce smiled at Jasper approvingly and then set his gaze on Rory who immediately faked a confident smile. His brief feeling of apprehension was swept away sooner than he felt it. "Good, good," he settled on saying before rambling on about due dates and requirements.

As soon as the teacher's attention was elsewhere, Jasper frowned at her, falling back into their previous conversation seamlessly as though the interruption had never occurred. "Regret? For what?"

Rory let out a dry laugh. "I know what regret looks like, Jasper. You should have just let Tyler's van flatten me. Would've been more convenient." Her tone was sardonic and cruel. Self-deprecating and careless of her own wellbeing.

He stared her down in disbelief. Jasper sounded almost pissed as he responded. "You think I regret saving you?" The way he phrased it made her sound like an idiot.

Rory wasn't one to back down from a fight. She matched his glare. "I know you do."

He couldn't hide his anger at her assumption. He ground his teeth, "You don't know anything."

The sudden blaring of the bell saved Jasper from the full blast of Rory's fury. As the class filed out, Rory wordlessly packed her belongings and shoved them in her backpack, ignoring Jasper's lingering presence, standing in her way. She moved—well attempted to move—past Jasper, in what was meant to be a nice little shoulder-check, failing miserably and only bruising both her ego and her own shoulder.

He looked concerned and reached for her. "Wait, Rory—"

She was having none of it. Her mind couldn't take both the unraveling of her repressed memories and the enormous confusion and anger that came with interacting with Jasper Hale.

She met up with Bella at the red truck that still had a bad dent in the tail end from the accident.

"Bad day?"

Rory's exasperated grunts and huffs said everything. Bella patted her comfortingly and thought of something to distract her friend.

"Edward spoke to me today," she said with an annoyed tone. Bella received the same treatment from Edward as Rory did from Jasper. "Some crap about how we shouldn't be friends again and how I just need to trust him. As if!"

Bella pulled out from the parking spot with a loud growl of her engine. Then Bella growled for real when a silver Volvo cut her off. She cursed as the car refused to move, starting an unnecessary traffic jam. A line began to form as Edward Cullen waited for his family to come. Rory and Bella glanced back at the entrance of the school, where the other two Cullens and Hales were slowly making their way to the Volvo. Rory involuntarily glared at the sight of Jasper Hale. Stupid beautiful idiot.

"Bloody Cullens," Rory sighed and leaned her head lightly on cold glass window. "If you want me to, I'll punch him in the face for you Bella. After I punch Jasper Hale of course."

Bella snorted and shook her head. "Don't get too angry over there, Bruce Banner." Bella's sarcastic tone faded as she noticed someone approaching.

Rory arched her brow in interest as Tyler Crowley approached the truck with a determined look on his face.

Bella attempted to roll down her window, but it stopped halfway. She looked at Tyler apologetically, "Sorry—I'm stuck behind Cullen."

Rory stifled a laugh because it was obvious Tyler Crowley didn't leave his car with the engine still running and his door open, to complain about the traffic jam.

Bella realized that suddenly too late as Tyler began asking her to the upcoming dance.

"Sorry Tyler, I'm going out of town this weekend," Bella said hurriedly for the third time that day. At first, when Eric had asked, the Seattle trip excuse was sort of bogus because she was definitely sure her truck would not make it to Seattle without many expensive gas stops.

"Oh," Tyler looked down at his feet, his face was scrunched up when he looked back at Bella, "Eric said that."

Poor, oblivious Bella frowned. "Then why—"

"I thought you were just letting him down easy," Tyler explained with pursed lips.

Rory had to bite her lip to keep herself from bursting out in laughter.

"I am really going out of town," Bella glanced sideways at her friend struggling to hide her laughter, "with Rory."

Rory's smile dropped as she was roped into Bella's excuse. Bella looked at her both pointedly and pleadingly.

"Yeah, Crowley. Shopping and stuff," Rory cemented Bella's excuse lamely. She thought back to her first day when Alice had said it would be the perfect time to go shopping. Too bad she had decided they couldn't be friends anymore.

Rory's eyes drifted from Tyler's to the golden ones of Jasper Hale as he passed by. Before he entered Edward's Volvo, he raised an eyebrow at Rory questionably. Rory clenched her jaw and looked away, ignoring the hotness of her cheeks.

"Oh look," Rory pointed to the moving silver car. "Nice talking to you, Ty, but there's a whole line of cars waiting, so if you're done..."

Tyler stiffened in embarrassment and meagerly went back to his new sedan.

Bella was distracted by Edward once more; she could see his eyes on her in the reflection of his rearview mirror where he shook with laughter. Bella revved the engine almost threateningly, desperately wanting to accidentally bump into the silver car the smallest bit. Fortunately for Edward's silver car, he was already speeding away.

Rory shook her head. "Well, if we have no choice, but to go out of town, you know what that means, Bella."

Apprehensively, Bella gulped. "Shopping."

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When she got home, the house was empty as usual. Rory couldn't blame her mom for working as many shifts as possible at the hospital, it kept Stella's mind busy and paid off the compiling bills. Rory, however, wished school didn't last as long as it did. She wished she had time to just lie in bed and cry her eyes out, but she had to be stronger than that. She had to be strong for her sister.

Rory finished her homework in no time even though it felt like forever. Her mind had been run through to emotional exhaustion. She was torn on what to do now. Memories kept playing through her mind nonstop. She couldn't breath. She couldn't think. She needed to do something.

Should she sleep or cry or...her eyes darted to her bathroom door where she imagined the object taped under the sink. She got up from her desk and took one step towards—no. No, Rory reminded herself, you have to be strong.

She glanced at the clock on her desk.

Turning away from the allure of numbness promised by what was behind the bathroom door, Rory grabbed an empty backpack, filled it with a few essentials, and walked out the door. She stood on her backyard porch and stared out into the dense forest that promised an escape. With shaky resolve and not a thought to the warnings of a dangerous animal in the forest, Rory marched on.

The darkness ebbed the further she strayed. It was nearing twilight when Rory finally stopped in a dense forest alcove just off the path. She was lost. Good. She'll just use her phone to navigate back to society when she manages to get herself under control again. In the farthest part of her mind where her logic was presently locked up, she knew it was dangerous and stupid, but she needed to control some fragment of her reality. Disappearing into the forest to not exist for a few hours seemed like a reasonable compromise at that point.

Setting her backpack down, Rory laid out the thick quilt onto the damp grassy area beneath a large evergreen. She spent an hour sketching the greenery around her, with no mind to the accumulating stains from her oil pastels and charcoals. There was more to the green haze that made up Forks, Rory realized as she used colors she never thought—deep and vivid red, blues, yellows and even the golden crumble of the leaves. It was breathtaking.

It was only when it was too dark for her to add another splash of color onto the page that Rory was hit with the hair-raising realization she had no idea how to get home, let alone see any marked path. She was fucked.

She packed away her things quickly with a sudden dose of panic. She pulled out her cell phone only to find no service. She shined the light from her small flashlight and only found trees. Rory was breathing way much too quickly to have a coherent thought. She was alone in the cold forest as the sunlight disappeared through the trees.

Crack

She spun around with every hair standing on end. Something was watching her. She wasn't alone.

Rory was the prey and something told her the predator was very, very hungry.

She could run. Shout. Fight back. But an introspective feeling of acceptance hit her. She had been ready for quite some time.

She calmed herself. Let out a slow exhalation.

Her voice was empty as her eyes fluttered close. "I'm sorry, mama. I think I'll be with Luna now."

A growl and a cacophonous crash echoed through the trees like an avalanche of boulders. Rory immediately crouched, covering her ears.

The next thing she knew, a bark and loud sniffs were heard. Rory looked up and squinting with the assistance of scattered moonlight, found a dog waiting in front of her. She couldn't quite tell the breed but it was fairly big.

She totally thought she was going to be eaten by some bear, wolf, or something else. Relief flooded her body. A little adrenaline caused her to let out a hysterical laugh. "Haha. I thought you were going to eat me! Honestly though, I wouldn't surprise myself if I tried to fight you off if you were a grizzly bear, perhaps you could've helped the bear. That bitch would've needed it." She was talking out of her ass because she was both hysterical and manic.

The dog barked again, trotting closer to her until it's head was bowed before her. A smile broke out on her face and she reached her hand out to pet it.

It woofed happily and licked her extended hand. "I don't suppose you know the way back to civilization? Safety? House?" Perhaps the dog had been trained as a service dog.

The dog sniffed her a couple times, walked in a circle and then stopped behind Rory, the opposite direction she had been walking. The dog barked once and began leading a path through the trees. It stopped every few meters to make sure Rory was right behind. Eventually, Rory could hear the sound of cars and see the street light through the tree line. All thanks to the angel of a dog leading her through the darkness.

"Rory!"

She broke through the trees tiredly, emerging onto her street, to quickly find her yard filled with neighbors and townspeople. Bella had been standing next to her father when she spotted the figure emerging from the forest.

As soon as she got close, Rory was bombarded with people and questions. Her mother had ran to her with an expression of horror and worry.

"Where have you been?" Stella asked frantically, looking her daughter over for any sign of harm.

"We've been looking for you for hours," Bella explained, breaking through the crowd with Charlie beside her.

"I wanted to clear my head so I went for a walk to find something to draw," Rory answered guiltily. "I got lost. Then, buddy over here found me and led me outta the woods."

The dog remained at Rory's side, faithfully sitting at her feet. Pointy ears perked up and the dog looked up at Rory before settling down again. Stella smiled at the dog gratefully, rubbing behind the dog's ears.

"We were about to send a search party," the chief of police said with a frown, but otherwise glad she was okay. "Bella told your mom you hadn't been feeling well today. We were afraid the worst happened. We still don't know what type of killer animal is hiding in the woods. You should really not go there alone, Rory."

"I came home early. You were gone, no note, no call." Stella swallowed her dry throat. "It was like Texas all over again. I called Charlie and asked the neighbors...you really scared us, Rory."

Rory looked around her where neighbors and classmates she barely knew had gathered to apparently form a search party. A sudden warm feeling filled her. "I am so sorry," Rory apologized looking down guiltily. "I wasn't thinking. I thought I'd be home before you. I still should've at least texted you, mom," she apologized, hugging her mom. "I won't ever do that to you again."

"All that matters is that you're safe now," Stella murmured in her daughter's hair.

All Rory could think of was that she didn't think she was as safe as she once thought. Something dangerous was in Forks. Rory wasn't sure she was going to be left alone now.

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Deep in the woods, three figures stood at the exact spot where Rory had been drawing. A male picked up the abandoned quilt delicately.

Her flowery scent rippled off the fabric, causing his throat to burn more. He clenched his jaw tightly. It had been close. Far too close.

The female eyed him curiously. "I saw you decide to kill her. What changed your decision?"

"How did you stop yourself?" The other male questioned him. "If I was hunting...alone and starving with Bella like that...I can't even imagine. You can't even feel her emotions so that can't have stopped you."

He folded the quilt carefully and faced his siblings. Jasper Hale opened his coal black eyes, tinged with guilt and framed by purple bruise-like under eyes. Alice and Edward, who had rushed to find him after Alice's vision, expected to discover a tragic accident but instead found the wavy haired blond standing still as a statue in the middle of the woods.

"She wasn't afraid to die."

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