Chapter Text
March 1998: Forks, WA
Charlie Swan had never given much thought about his life. His life seemed to be set out before him with little choice. Graduate highschool in Forks, take over his dad’s auto repair shop in Forks, marry a girl, and raise a family in Forks. It was all Forks. An insignificant life for an insignificant man. A straightforward path that was shattered in an instant.
The newcomers arrived on the night of the new moon. Forks was small, there was no way to avoid the gossip. Not to mention the family was… strange. A group of seven, all no older than 25. What they were here for, Charlie had no idea.
The next Monday went on as usual. Billy Black, Charlie’s best friend since childhood, drove him to school, before driving back to the reservation. Billy was strangely quiet that morning, lacking his usual tendency for banter. His eyes were clouded with worry, and no matter how Charlie pried, he kept quiet, with only the sound of the raindrops between them.
As Charlie stepped out of the orange chevy, Billy spoke for the first time that morning. “Watch out for yourself, man,” he said, slightly under his breath–almost as if he was regretting the words the moment they left his lips. Before Charlie could respond, Billy sped away, leaving him standing alone in the rain.
It was times like these that Charlie wished he had gotten his drivers license. He was waiting for his ominous-sounding friend who had left him standing outside Forks High School for over an hour. On the other hand, he knew if he did, his father would put him to work in the shop more than he already was. Fetching supplies, talking to contractors and customers—he wanted none of it. This small act of teenage rebellion was the only thing keeping him from conjoining with his father into one amorphous blob of a man, only focusing on business.
Giving up, Charlie began the long, wet trudge home through the woods. The wind howled as it rushed through the trees, and although he knew he was alone, Charlie couldn't help but feel as if there were eyes on him. A stare seemed to burn onto the back of his skull.
Charlie whirled around only to see nothing there.
A shiver traveled up his spine. The feeling of being watched had not abated. With no choice, Charlie continued his walk home, none the wiser to the supernaturally large russet wolf following him. Protecting him.
Eventually Charlie made it to his barren home. His father was gone, not having it in his heart to be in the house where his wife had slowly withered away. His father barely had it in his heart to look Charlie in the eye, where he would see the same chocolate brown eyes of his lost love.
The loneliness was compounded by Billy and his strange actions. First the silence of the drive to school, then his absence after classes were over. Charlie sat by the window, looking over at the table holding the phone. He pondered calling Billy, partly to demand an explanation for ditching him, and partly–and Charlie would never admit this out loud–just to hear his voice.
Charlie dialed the number he had had memorized for as long as he could remember. The phone rang, rang, and rang. Just before he could give up, a familiar voice answered—albeit not the one he wanted. The voice of William Black Sr. was on the other line.
“Hello?” asked the Chief.
“Hey, Will. It’s Charlie. Is Billy around? I haven’t seen him since this morning, and we had plans.” He responded.
The Chief was silent for a minute, leaving Charlie alone with his anxiety-ridden thoughts. Will cleared his throat, and finally spoke.
“Ah, I see. Billy got held up with business for the tribe. I’ll let him know you called.” Will stated, sounding uncharacteristically guarded.
Charlie, unsettled by his tone of voice, quickly said his goodbyes and hung up. Something was wrong. William Black had always been level headed and calm. However, there was an unmistakable unease to his voice, and Charlie could have sworn he heard a slight tremble upon the mention of his son.
Not to mention Billy’s behavior from that morning. He had been unlike his usually carefree self. He was tense, hands gripping the steering wheel and eyes shifting, as if something would attack at any moment. There was a barely perceptible sheen of sweat coating his brow despite the early-spring chill.
Charlie could feel it as his core that things were changing. He didn't know when, or why, but he knew it was coming–and that he desperately needed to figure out what.
The rest of the week continued the string of loneliness. Billy was MIA, and with the logging season starting up, Charlie saw even less of his father than usual. The walks to school were the worst. Alone in the near-constant rain, Charlie could only speculate as to what Billy was doing. Before now, they had never gone longer than a weekend without speaking. His silence was deafening.
Charlie was no further in discovering the reason for this behavior. Continued calls gave less and lesser results from Will. ‘Billy was doing this, Billy had to do that, will let him know you called.’ Charlie became less and less understanding, he was more frustrated than ever.
In a late-blooming fit of teenage angst, Charlie took advantage of a rare sunny day to sulk around the woods.
Charlie left a note on the fridge just in case his father happened to return home or if he managed to get lost in the woods. He grabbed a bottle of water, a granola bar, and stormed out of the house. He walked for what seemed like miles until he stumbled across a clearing. A meadow.
The morning dew clung to the freshly bloomed wildflowers, filling the air with a sweet aroma. In simpler terms—it was beautiful. Exhausted, Charlie rested against a tall pine to catch his breath. He slid down the tree, alleviating the ache in his legs. His eyes became heavy in the warmth of the sun and he drifted off into slumber.
Charlie awoke to a rustle. Not a typical sound of leaves rustling in the wind, but the lumber of a large predator approaching its prey. Now fully awake, Charlie surveyed his surroundings until he noticed a pair of gleaming eyes staring at him from the shadows of the tree line.
The eyes seemed to belong to a hulking creature. A bear or something of the sort. It had an aura of familiarity for a reason unknown to him. Perhaps the eyes reminded him of a half-forgotten friend’s pet, but this creature was no such thing. This was a predator, through and through.
Charlie felt like a lamb to the slaughter.