When Worlds Collide

That Monday at work was beyond strange. Dr. Karim was nowhere to be found. This was so unlike her. The women always showed up at least fifteen minutes early to everything and called if she wasn’t going to be early claiming that she was going to “be late.” No one had heard anything from her since she had stormed out of her office. I called the hotel that the doctor was supposed to be staying at for the past two weeks. She had never showed up. I called the airlines, she never made it to her flight. I rung her house multiple times. Nothing.

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” I moaned. I quickly picked up the phone and dialed Carlisle’s extension.

“Carlisle I have a huge problem.”

“What is it Jazz?” I could hear the fatherly concern seep into his normally calm voice.

“Dr. Karim is missing. She didn’t show up today as planned. I called her hotel, I called the airlines, she never showed up Carlisle! What the hell am I supposed to do? She’s just gone!”

“Jazz don’t worry I’ll call the police and send someone to her house and have them check up on her. This is nothing for you to worry about. Why don’t you head over to the house and calm down?”

I took a deep breath. He was right there was nothing I could do. I was worrying myself over something that was out of my control, but at the same time a part of me itched to find out what happened to my boss.

Instead of going to the Cullen’s house I drove myself home grabbing a discarded notebook and a pen. I began to jot down every strange thing I could think of that happened since I had arrived in Forks: Rise in mentally ill individuals, missing people, strange sightings in the woods.

I didn’t have much so I turned on my laptop and began to search the local newspapers for anything out of the ordinary. Page after page added to my notes and suspicions. For months before my arrival many people had been checked into the mental ward, people who had lived her their whole lives reported strange noises and sights in the woods, people who knew these woods like the back of their hands claimed to get turned around on familiar trails claiming they were being chased, people were missing. In a town this small every person that turned up sick or missing was very noticeable. I needed to go back into the woods. I hated the thought of going in alone, but there was no other option and there was no way in hell that I was going to explain to Edward what I was up to.

The day was still early so I changed into jeans and a jacket, packed a backpack of needed equipment. I just hoped I wouldn’t need any of it. I threw the bag into the back seat of my car and took off to the very outskirts of town. I took a deep breath when I reached my destination. Was I really going to go down this path again? I swore I was done hunting, but I could not just sit by and do nothing as people went missing. I had to do something, even if it was just identifying what was going wrong.

I grabbed my bag and started off down the trails. It was oddly quiet in this part of the woods. I couldn’t hear anything, not a bird or deer in earshot. The light filtered green around me, it didn’t ease my nerves at all. It made the surroundings look alien, but I kept on going. Eventually I veered off the trails. Other than the silence, there was nothing unusual on the trails. I kept going for what felt like hours until I hit a clearing. This was exactly what I was looking for. It looked to be an old camp site, a shredded tent lay to the north of me. Tattered remains of someone’s belongings were scattered all over the grounds. I walked closer to the tent, blood was smeared around the surrounding area. I took a deep breath and drew closer to the surrounding trees. Deep gouges lay in the bark, claw marks.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion; this seemed too easy for me to just stumble upon this. My senses kicked into high gear I needed to get out of here and now. I tried to control my breathing as I began to pick my way back the way I had come. I just hoped I would make it out in one piece.

What sounded like a man’s voice called out from the East of me. I was caught; all my training flew out the window as I high-tailed it out of there. I ran full force tripping over everything in sight. The voice was closer as I ran. The farther I ran, the more the voice followed. By the luck of the God’s I made it back to the trail, but I kept running. Again, I heard the voice; it was always just out of sight. That was when I realized the fucker was toying with me. It wanted to scare me, but it didn’t mean to catch me, not just yet. I didn’t know what I should be more afraid of. Finally, I saw my car in sight. I threw the door open and sped off before I even fully closed the door behind me. I made it in record time to my apartment. Luckily, no one else was on the road with me.

I ran inside breathing hard. Edward sat on my couch staring expectedly at me.

“I didn’t mean to break in, but Alice said it was important.” He said a worried look on his face at my frazzled state.

“Oh thank God you’re here.” I said all but falling into his arms. Edward pulled me to the couch.

“Jasmine what happened?” He asked smoothing my hair away from my face.

“I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.” I whispered I said pulling my knees toward my chest. I licked my lips before I began. “Edward have you ever heard of a Wendigo?”

“Yes, it’s a mythical creature from Native American lore.” He said slowly. A nervous laughter bubbled from my chest.

“It’s hardly mythical Edward. I find it hard to believe that you of all people would claim something is mythical. Wendigos are very, very real Edward. We have one in the woods as we speak.”

“Jasmine are you-“A knock on the door ended Edward’s trail of thought. I gave him a pointed look as I rose to answer the door. One thing I was positive is a Wendigo never knocked on a door. I just hope someone didn’t report my high speed chase down the streets of Forks. I took a deep breath and opened the door.