Morning arrived slowly over the village.
A thin layer of mist hovered above the streets, and the rooftops were dusted with fresh snow from the night before. The quiet beauty of the village felt strangely out of place compared to the tension that had settled over Jenny's mind.
She barely slept after Edward left the house so abruptly. His words had echoed in her thoughts all night.
If there is anyone you want to see… now might be the time.
The sentence sounded more like a warning than a suggestion.
Jenny stepped outside the forest house and breathed in the cold morning air. The silence of the woods felt heavier than usual, as if something unseen was watching from between the trees.
Behind her, the door opened.
James stepped outside, his blue eyes scanning the forest automatically. Even in the calm of morning, his movements were alert.
"You're awake early," he said.
Jenny folded her arms against the cold. "I couldn't sleep."
James studied her expression. "Because of Edward."
Jenny nodded slightly.
"He was acting strange last night," she said. "More than usual."
James didn't deny it.
Edward had always been calm and controlled, but lately something seemed to trouble him deeply.
"He knows something," Jenny continued. "Something about me."
James looked away toward the distant mountains. "Edward knows many things."
"That's not an answer."
"No," James admitted. "It isn't."
Jenny sighed and walked a few steps deeper into the clearing.
"I don't understand any of this," she said quietly. "A week ago I didn't even know my own name. Now I'm being hunted by vampires, hidden in a forest house, and apparently my blood is… different."
James remained silent.
The word different hung in the cold air.
Jenny turned toward him again. "You knew me before I lost my memory. Tell me honestly—was I always like this?"
James hesitated before answering.
"You were… unusual," he said carefully.
Jenny raised an eyebrow. "That sounds encouraging."
James allowed a faint smile. "You asked questions most people were afraid to ask."
"That doesn't explain why a vampire is hunting me."
"No," he admitted. "It doesn't."
Jenny sat down on a wooden bench near the house.
For several moments the only sound was the wind brushing through the pine trees.
Finally she spoke again.
"What if my memory loss wasn't an accident?"
James turned toward her.
"What do you mean?"
Jenny stared at the snowy ground.
"What if someone made me forget?"
The thought had been growing in her mind since Edward mentioned that forgetting might have saved her life.
James slowly walked closer.
"That's possible," he said quietly.
Jenny looked up sharply.
"You believe that?"
James nodded once.
"There are things in this world capable of altering memory," he said.
Jenny felt a chill unrelated to the winter air.
"Magic?" she asked.
James didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he studied her carefully.
"Why would you think of magic?" he asked.
Jenny hesitated.
"I don't know," she admitted. "It just… feels familiar somehow."
James's expression shifted slightly, though he said nothing.
A strange unease settled between them.
Eventually they decided to return to the village. Edward had not come back since the night before, and Jenny's concern about Bella was growing stronger.
The village looked peaceful when they arrived, but Jenny noticed something unusual immediately.
Edward's clinic was closed.
The wooden sign that normally hung beside the door had been removed.
Jenny frowned.
"That's strange."
James looked at the building with equal concern.
Edward rarely left the clinic unattended.
Jenny walked toward the door and knocked.
No response.
She tried the handle.
Locked.
"Edward wouldn't leave without telling us," she said quietly.
James examined the windows.
"They're all closed from the inside."
Jenny's uneasiness deepened.
Bella appeared from across the street, walking quickly toward them.
"Jenny!" she called.
Jenny felt immediate relief seeing her friend standing and healthy.
Bella embraced her warmly.
"I heard you were staying in the forest house," Bella said. "Edward told me you needed rest."
Jenny glanced at James briefly.
"That's one way to describe it."
Bella noticed the tension in her voice.
"Is something wrong?"
Jenny hesitated before asking the question that had been troubling her.
"Have you seen Edward today?"
Bella shook her head.
"No. He left early this morning."
"Did he say where he was going?"
"No."
Jenny exchanged another glance with James.
Something was definitely wrong.
That evening they returned to the forest house, but Edward was still gone.
Jenny sat by the fireplace, staring into the flames.
"I don't like this," she said quietly.
James leaned against the window.
"Neither do I."
Jenny rubbed her temples.
Everything felt incomplete.
The missing memories.
Victoria's hunt.
Edward's sudden disappearance.
It all felt connected somehow.
Later that night Jenny walked alone outside the house, hoping the cold air would clear her thoughts.
The forest was silent again.
Moonlight filtered through the branches, illuminating the snow like silver dust.
Jenny stopped near the edge of the clearing.
For a moment she closed her eyes.
A strange sensation passed through her mind.
A whisper.
Faint.
Distant.
Images flickered briefly in her thoughts.
A girl laughing.
A woman with dark hair standing beside a river.
A silver ring glowing faintly in someone's hand.
Jenny's eyes snapped open.
The images vanished instantly.
Her heart raced.
"What was that?" she whispered.
Behind her, James appeared silently.
"You felt something," he said.
Jenny turned to him, startled.
"How did you know?"
James studied her face.
"Because you looked the same way the first time it happened."
Jenny frowned.
"The first time?"
James nodded slowly.
"Before you lost your memory."
Jenny's pulse quickened.
"What happened?"
James hesitated.
"You said you were hearing voices."
Jenny stared at him.
"Voices?"
"Not exactly voices," he corrected. "More like… echoes."
Jenny tried to steady her breathing.
"What did Edward say about it?"
James looked toward the dark forest.
"He said your mind was remembering something it wasn't ready to remember."
Jenny felt the same uneasy feeling returning.
"So my memories are still there," she whispered.
"Yes."
"Just hidden."
James nodded.
At that moment the forest wind suddenly shifted.
The trees rustled violently for a brief second.
James's expression sharpened instantly.
"What is it?" Jenny asked.
James was already looking into the darkness between the trees.
"We're not alone."
Jenny felt her stomach tighten.
"Victoria?"
James shook his head slowly.
"No."
His voice grew colder.
"Something older."
Jenny followed his gaze into the forest.
But all she saw was darkness.
Far away, a branch snapped.
And somewhere beyond the trees, something was watching them.
Something that had been waiting a very long time for Jenny to remember who she truly was.