#au123

[elizabcthevans]

She had stumbled out of an alleyway in a town a few dozen miles away early that morning with blood dripping down her chin. Forks was crawling with her fellow vampires and wolves, who she despised, and she sensed it was almost time to ditch. If it weren’t for Abel and Ophelia, she would have.

She had cleaned herself up while she ran back, her eyes a deep scarlet, and was trying to walk at a normal speed through the main street when she ran into someone outside of the bookstore. “Watch where you’re going,” she said, her voice crisp and clear with the joy of satiated hunger, but clear annoyance with whomever she’d run into hung in its threads.

[hestiaember]

A modern playground seemed an unusual, humble place for a creature once worshipped by man, she often reflected. In a strange way, though, remaining on the edges as her children wound through tunnels, metal bars, swingsets, it was one of the places she felt most connected with what little human was left inside of her, the all-encompassing human world around her. Children always played the same, even over thousands of years, their games rarely changed and imaginations never stilled.  Winter and River were out with her today, and she chuckled to herself as she looked up from her knitting in time to catch Winter cheekily suggesting they “play” mermaids together. Winter had learned to suggest it was imaginary in public, just to be safe, though Hestia doubted anyone would question it anyways. She loved that Winter adored River’s identity as a strength, something of wonder and beauty, rather than something to fear. Someone joined her side, and she shifted her attention to the newcomer. “Hello,” she greeted with a warm smile, perpetually the welcoming committee to any new friends for her children- and herself.

[satchel-mcqueen]

Satchel was brooding.

The town of Forks had not a single decent restaurant to its name; no clubs, no opera houses, no museums, nothing to capture his attention or invite his pleasure. But he was stuck here while he babysat the baby vamp he’d accidentally turned. (Whoops.)

He stood leaning against a lamppost in the town’s only visually interesting location: the park. Even then, it was just birds coming to roost in the trees, a trickling fountain, and leaves blowing where the wind took them. “What a lovely little hamlet this is,” he said, his tone sarcastic, as someone passed by him.

[alder-reid]

Just dinner. No big deal. Something casual. His palms still itched and stomach knotted up. Maverick had been to the house a couple of times, but only briefly, and never with Addy around. At first, he’d told himself it was because it was a risk that she get hurt or something, but after a while he’d owned up to it being pure anxiety. What if Addy didn’t like him? What if she was weird about it? What if he said something awkward, or worse- she said something awkward? He leaped up when the doorbell rang- Maverick, no doubt, he’d texted him when he left- and forced himself to not sprint to the door. When it opened, Maverick was there, and he wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or worse. “Hi,” he greeted, stepping aside to let him in. “You look great. We’re having lasagna. I hope you like lasagna?” Alder didn’t have a lot of feelings about what they were or weren’t having for dinner, but it was something to talk about when he felt the anxious need to talk.

@maverickmontana​ @treelish​

[satchel-mcqueen]

He hadn’t meant to turn Rory into a vampire, he’d really meant to kill her. But old age was making him soft and he’d stopped, not fully realizing that it meant he’d now have to be a babysitter to a baby vamp.

“Good,” he said when she’d finally stopped screaming in agony, “you’re up.” The changing was the worst part, he remembered it vividly all these centuries later, but he envied her the power she’d have, the rawness of it.

@aurorasnowluxe​

[alder-reid]

Despite the strangeness of the beginning of dinner, it had tapered off into normal-ish conversation. Occasionally, when Addy neared, he’d felt Maverick go tense beside him, but that had to be nerves, right? Once the kitchen was cleaned up, they stepped outside for a walk, Alder desperate to get Maverick’s thoughts, figure out what was on his mind. The evening was chilly, but tolerable through their hats and jackets, and the clouds had peeled away for the moon to light up the street. As soon as the door was closed behind them, he looked at him expectantly. “I mean- she’s a lot, I know, but it’s just because she cares. You felt that went okay, yeah?”

@maverickmontana​

[satchel-mcqueen]

Satchel was starved and the Volturi were around and it was midday, a rainy and gloomy sky hovered above the trees. So he was hunting, hoping for some unfortunate soul who might be wandering the woods, doing what humans called ‘hiking.’ Absolute waste of time and energy and he’d rid them of it as quickly as possible.

He heard a rustle a few dozen yards away, voices, and he took off toward them, slowing as he neared. He couldn’t help it if he liked to play with his food before he ate it.

His voice rang out crisp amidst the dripping trees. “I’m lost,” he said, “mon Dieu, I’m so glad you’ve come.”

@atleads​

[olive-blackwell]

Name: Olive Blackwell

Age: 25

Occupation: Mechanic

Hometown: Rossland, Canada

Current residence: Forks, WA

Education: High School Diploma

Species: Shifter/Werewolf

Family: Jaqlyn and Glenn Blackwell (parents), Scout, Asher, Liam, Robin, and Jack Blackwell (brothers), Kai (brother-in-law)

Olive grew up knowing her heritage. It was a point of pride that, upon coming of age, each of Jaqlyn's boys were proven shifters. That blood flowed from their mother. Once she'd been part of a large pack roaming the woods in Canada. She'd stepped down from those ranks to marry a human. To, in many ways, start her own pack. One son after the other came to the family, and at the end a daughter. The change was rarer among daughters but Olive, never one to be left behind, found a new skin at sixteen.

From then on, when the Blackwell siblings ran they come in a pack of six.

Pride for her heritage didn't dampen Olive's desire for a separate life however. When she turned eighteen and graduated, she found herself a job at the local mechanics. An apartment of her own followed. Often the family was there to apply pressure. Often the Blackwell brothers tiptoed the line between outright aggression with their vampire neighbors. They saw a soldier in her, she saw a pothead. What was the deal anyway? She had no personal beef against the other side. Why should she risk her life for an old feud? It was much more fun to hustle vampires with a game of pool. Sure they didn’t smell exactly fresh, and their pride could turn her temper, but she could find a bit of patience when it came with a pretty face.

So for the past seven years she’s been hedging her bets, playing neutral, and hoping her luck doesn’t run out.