Twilight: But it's a Thriller and I Never Read Twilight

Chapter 7: A Deer in the Headlights

I waited, breathing hard as both of us stared at it, waiting for the deer to move. After a moment, it turned and bounded out into the forest, away from my headlights shining out into the night like a beacon. I waited, frozen in place. The deer was gone, but I still couldn't bring myself to start driving yet.

"We're okay," Jessica said suddenly, and I gulped down the fear stuck in my throat.

"It would probably be bad if I got into another crash," I said.

Jessica just nodded and I eased my foot off the break, using all my breath to send away the bursting headache erupting through the back of my head where the stitches were. I started driving again, more carefully as my vision strained for anymore stray wildlife. In silence, we made our way back to Forks without anymore issue.

When I stopped in front of Jessica's house, she was still shaking a little. The heater was making a whirring sound as she unbuckled herself and made for the door. Before she left, however, she grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me in for a hug.

"Be careful," she said, her words muffled as she pressed her face into my jacket. When she pulled away, her face was red, maybe from cold or from the shaky feeling that seemed to radiate in the truck.

"I will," I answered.

"I'll see you at school," she said. "Don't do anything stupid."

I nodded silently and she opened the door with a creak before she got out, running through the grass up to her front door. I waited for her to disappear inside before I drove off, back to my house, where the lights were turned off and there were no trick-or-treaters in sight.

Passing the bowl of candy on the front steps, I found a few small candy bars left inside. After picking it up and trudging the remainder of the way up the steps, I stepped inside, locking the door as I entered. It was dark. Charlie's cruiser wasn't in the driveway, so I assumed he was still out and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water before bed.

I finally felt a surge of warmth as I walked through the house after a night of burning cold. As I turned on the light in the kitchen, I thought I heard something shifting around near the kitchen table. I twisted my gaze onto it and found only a few envelopes of bills billowing a little before they settled back onto the table, unobstructed. A sudden anxiety rose in me, that there was someone in the house, but I must have been paranoid. After Jessica's revelation. I was thinking too much.

After pouring a cold glass of water, I shook off the dread keeping my heart aflutter. It was the deer, I told myself. It had spooked me fierce enough to affect me even now as I stood safely in my kitchen. I downed my glass of water and headed up for bed, turning the lights off as I went. Charlie would be home soon, and all would be well.

I didn't sleep well that night. The deer kept coming up in my thoughts as well as that unanswered question. Did Jessica think Edward was going to kill me? If he was just a boy, it wouldn't have scared me so much. If he was just a boy, I could tell Charlie and get a restraining order or have him talk to Doctor Cullen about the whole thing, but Edward wasn't just a boy, and I wasn't sure if his family were just people either.

The morning after Halloween, I dreaded heading to school again. My head still ached when I moved too fast or stared at anything too bright, but the sky had returned to its deep and comforting grey. I would be alright as long as I was careful, and now Jessica was on my side. It felt as though I wasn't crazy for the first time all year. She was worried same as I was, and I knew she would be there to look out for me. I had that certainty at least.