Chapter 17: The file.
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Walking into the sheriff's station, Nate headed straight to the front desk.
"Hey," he said, catching the attention of the receptionist, who was absorbed in a book.
She looked up, recognition flashing in her eyes, and a smile spread across her face. "Here to visit the sheriff again?" she asked warmly.
Nate nodded in response.
She picked up the phone, likely to call Nate's uncle, who he hoped was in his office. As she did, Nate's thoughts drifted to his earlier interaction with Anna. He still couldn't wrap his head around why she had overreacted. He assumed she knew about his father's death—after all, she was Steven's wife, and when his father had passed, it had been big enough news to make national television.
"Nobel Prize winner Michael Morbius Swan dies in a car crash," the headlines had read.
Nate remembered it vividly, as if it had happened yesterday. It was one of those weekends he had been staying with his mom, eagerly counting down the days until he could return to Forks to be with his dad. But he never got the chance—his father had died the day before Nate was supposed to go back.
He had only returned to Forks for the funeral before being sent to live with his mother in Gladwin indefinitely.
"The sheriff's in his office, dear. You know where it is," the receptionist said, snapping Nate out of his thoughts.
Nate smiled lightly. "Thank you," he said, heading toward his uncle's office.
Knocking on the door, Nate heard his uncle call for him to come in. He opened the door and stepped into the familiar space.
"I'm starting to think I should make you one of my deputies with how often you're in here," Charlie said with a rare smile, surprising Nate with the joke.
Nate grinned. "Does that mean I get a gun?"
"You wish," Charlie replied, shaking his head and pointing at the chair across from him. Nate sat down.
"So, what brings you here?" Charlie asked, getting straight to the point. He knew Nate didn't drop by without a reason.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Nate hesitated before speaking. "I was wondering... do you still have the files?"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to be more specific."
Nate looked him in the eye, then sighed. "Dad's files."
Charlie, who had been about to sip his coffee, froze. He set the cup down without drinking.
"Why do you want to see your father's files?" Charlie asked, his voice lower, unable to meet Nate's eyes. Talking about Michael's death was still painful for him.
Nate stared at the desk, avoiding his uncle's gaze as well. "I just want closure. I was too young to remember all the details of the crash…" He trailed off, finally looking up at his uncle.
Charlie stared at him for a moment, then opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a thin folder, placing it on the desk.
Nate was confused. "You keep it here?"
Charlie nodded. "I like to look at it sometimes," he admitted quietly.
Nate realized his uncle hadn't fully moved on from Michael's death either. Reaching for the folder, he felt the weight of it, both literally and emotionally.
"If you want some privacy, the room next door is empty. The door's not locked," Charlie offered, sensing Nate might prefer to be alone.
Nate stood, clutching the folder tightly. "Thanks, Uncle," he said, heading for the door.
"Take your time," Charlie called after him. Nate nodded in response before exiting the office.
In the empty room, Nate found a table and several chairs, likely a meeting space. He sat down, setting the folder in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for whatever was inside.
Slowly, he opened the folder. The first thing he saw were photos of the crash site. The mangled remains of the black car made him feel sick to his stomach. He swallowed hard, trying to suppress the bile rising in his throat.
Turning the page, his heart clenched. The next image was of a half-charred body, the face unrecognizable. The only way the body had been identified was through blood work and the IDs found on it.
Nate stared at the photo, his face contorted with pain. A single tear slipped down his cheek as he forced himself to examine the image, looking for anything that seemed off.
While studying the forensic reports, Nate came across something odd.
"Estimated time of death: 5:40 p.m.," he read aloud. Then he glanced at the blood analysis.
"Blood coagulates fully after a few hours at room temperature, but this report says the blood clotted within the first hour…" he muttered, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "That's impossible. Unless the body was moved—or someone got the time of death wrong."
His mind raced as he realized there was something off about the whole thing.
"What does this mean?" he thought, looking again at the charred body. His eyes drifted to the hands, which were untouched by the fire.
His heart skipped a beat. He leaned in closer to inspect the hands.
'That's impossible,' he thought, panic setting in. His father had a bite mark on his hand. Nate knew because he had been the one to give it to him when he first turned into a vampire.
But this body had no mark.
"This… this isn't my father," Nate whispered, his mind spinning. If that wasn't his father's body, then what had really happened? Was his death faked? Or had someone killed him and staged this crash as a cover-up?
Nate's thoughts tumbled over one another, but before he could settle on a theory, he knew one thing for certain: he needed to find out the truth.
He stood up, closing the folder. With his heart pounding, he walked back to his uncle's office, opening the door without knocking.
Charlie looked up from his work, surprised to see Nate back so soon. "Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked cautiously.
Nate set the folder down on the desk, staring at it for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure yet. But I will soon."
Charlie gave him a measured look. "Alright, just take care of yourself. And if things get tough…"
Nate smiled faintly. "I know. I'll come to you."
He turned to leave, then paused. "I'll see you at home," he said before heading out.
As he left the station, Nate's mind was already racing toward his next destination—the place where he hoped to get the answers he desperately needed.
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Walking through the cemetery, Nate felt very nervouse, because if what he was looking for came to be true, everything he knew about his father would be a lie.
Nate who walked the familiare path, came apone a tomb that was a bit diferent then the other ones. Instead of the traditional tombstone, this one had a glass panel that read."Michale Morbius Swan a hero of many lives. from 1966-1994"
Nate who saw this, knelt next to the tomb before placing his hand on the glass, making a small prayer for his father, and asking for forgiveness for what he was about to do.
"Please don't be true" He said, hoping what he dug out was't his father body.
Nate who took a deep breath vamped out, ear elongating as his fang started showing, his face graying as his black eyes turned red. His fingers tunring into razors as he started digging so fast that, if anyone saw it, they would think he was sinking.
Nate who was finnaly apone his fathers casket, slowly opneed it before a skeleton greeted him, smelling the foul smell, Nate groaned, uncomfortable, before taking one of the hairs that was still on the skull as ,he took out a glass vile and placed the hair in the vile.
"Sigh, that should be enough" He said, before looking at the face of the skull.
'Im sorry for disturbing your peace' he thought, before he closed the casket and jumped out of the whole he dug.
Looking at the pile of dirt, Nate wondered how he would cover it up as he looked around, spotting grass that was stacked on top of each other with the soild still atached, most likely going to be used to cover another grave.
So Nate used it for what it was brought for, quickly coverin the grave as he looked at the fininshed, giving the graave one more prayer, as he slowly started walking to his car as he looked at the vile of hair in his hand, hoping with all his heart that it wasn't his father's hair he had in the vile.
Feeling the sun pierce his eyes, Nate observed the setting sun, sighing at the eventful day.
Just wanting something to relive his stress.
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Back in his shed, Nate, whose head was full of questions about everything he discovered today, thought it smart to just let his mind rest from all of that, so he did the one thing he knew would accomplish that.
He started working on his newest song, which was going very well.
He was just giving the beat some finishing touches, already having been working on the lyrics for some time now.
While he was going through the track, he smelled a familiar scent approaching the shed, having been waiting for her to arrive.
Bella came into the small studio Nate had been modifying to his liking, surprised that the place that was a storage dump just last year when she arrived turned out to work so well for him.
Seeing that Nate had earphones on, in front of the computer, she didn't bother him and just sat down on the chair next to him, looking at his concentrated face that gave no indication that he knew she was there.
After a good 10 minutes of staying in that silence and Bella admiring and seeing firsthand how her favorite artist did things, Nate took off the earphones, completely done with the beat, the only thing needed being his performance.
"Hey Bella, sorry for making you wait," he said, setting the earphones down as he turned to face her, looking at the silent face of his cousin.
"That's fine..." she said, still digesting what she realized it meant that her cousin was working on a beat. It meant he was going to release a new song.
Seeing that Bella was looking at the computer, he snapped his fingers in front of her eyes, Bella coming out of her thoughts as she shook her head.
"Where did you go?" he asked, talking about her thoughts as Bella sat there, still quiet, thinking whether or not to finally do it.
Should she finally confront him?
"Umm... so I, ahh, I've been meaning to ask you something," she said, which surprised Nate because she didn't answer his question.
Bella, who was freaking out internally, sighed before she decided to just ask him even though she was nervous.
"What's up, don't tell me you found my secret stash of ice cream," Nate said, lightly making a joke, which made Bella smile a little as she shook her head.
"No, it's not that... it's... I saw you, you know," she said, confusing Nate as he looked at his cousin, pointing at the laptop.
"Yeah, I know, I was here a moment ago," he said, still confused about what she meant.
"No... ugh, this is much harder than I thought," she said, shaking her head before she continued, "I mean, I saw you here, five days ago, when I came back from Jacob's... you were... rapping," she said as Nate's pulse picked up.
"Like... you were really going at it," she clarified, Nate realizing that she may have caught him while he released the newest song, Only.
"Wait... what?" he said, still trying to make sure if it was a false alarm or not.
"Yeah... Jacob drove me home, and the radio was on, so... anyway, when we parked the car, Jacob noticed the song was coming from here, so we..." she said, not finishing as she realized Nate was sighing and covering his face.
Bella, who was afraid that her cousin was getting angry at her, quickly added, "I didn't mean to be nosy... it just happened, you know, and when I realized who you were, I didn't know what to say, so I avoided you," she admitted to him, as Nate looked up, revealing a face that wasn't angry.
"That was the reason you were avoiding me?" he asked, Bella slowly nodding.
"I didn't know how to bring it up. What was I supposed to say? 'Hey, by the way, are you secretly a world-famous rapper?'" she said, Nate looking at her before laughing awkwardly.
"Well, I guess you just did," he said, sighing to himself. The truth was, he really didn't care whether or not his cousin knew he was NFS. He just never thought he needed to tell her because, at the beginning, it wasn't such a big deal as it is now.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked timidly, reaching for Nate's hand, which he took in his.
"Well, to be honest, I never thought it would turn out like this," he admitted to her, and Bella nodded in understanding, before he continued, "I only started making music to relieve my stress," he said, suddenly perking up, Bella also noticing the reaction.
"My stress," he said again, trying it out on his tongue.
"What?" she said, looking at Nate's faraway look, before he turned to her and asked something she never thought he would.
"Say, you want to see how I do things down here?" he asked. Bella, who took a minute to register what he said, suddenly shot up as she realized what he meant.
"Here, right now?" she asked, and he nodded while smiling, turning to where the computer was and setting things up.
"Alright, come here," he said, getting Bella to approach him. As she came closer, she saw two buttons, one that said Record and the other that read Broadcast.
"When I go to the mic, I'm going to give you the signal. Then I want you to first press the Record button, then Broadcast," he said, pointing at each button to make it clear to her.
Bella only nodded, excited to be experiencing this.
"Alright, good," he said shortly, going to where the microphone and headphones were, looking at where Bella sat, nervously.
"Don't be nervous, little cousin, you got this," Nate said, Bella smiling at the pet name, as he closed his eyes and thought of all the emotions that led to this song's creation. It all began the day he and Leah went on the date—how his emotions went from happiness to helplessness, how the days leading up to this made him feel stressed beyond belief, and, most of all, the discovery he made today about his father.
All of those emotions were building up in Nate, and as he raised his hand to signal for Bella to press the keys, he pressed the play button that started the music.
As the music slowly started playing, the piano notes came through the speakers.
Bella, sitting across the room, had excitement and wonder on her face as she heard the music start, before Nate did something unexpected and started singing.
"He's singing and not rapping?" she thought as she looked at his hoodie and cap-wearing form.
Yeah, some days, I just wanna leave the negativity in my headI just want relief from my stressI just want relief from my stressSome days, I don't wanna see orHave a bunch of people to impressI just want relief from my stressYeah, I just want relief from my stress
Bella, who was absolutely taken with his singing, didn't realize what he was singing about at first, until she saw his face, which looked pained. That's when she finally registered the lyrics and understood why he had said "my stress" earlier.
Late nights, starin' out the window doin' eighty-fiveGot my state of mindYeah, walkin' on that grey lineHopin' that my stress diesIt's like I hate it, but I love it at the same timePressure pushin' me from all sidesInsecurities of all kindsYeah, I'm a hostage to my own prideMost important things in life to me are things I know I can't buyYeah, it's me in phasesI'm not in the mood, yeah, to meet another strangerI'm not in the mood, yeah, to have a conversationAnd talk about a bunch of things that I don't feel amazed withGettin' too close to me, woo, could be dangerousI don't like the energy, I leave the situationAll this negativity that I can't get away fromAll this negativity, I think I need a break fromI'm thankful, but
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n the rez, Leah, who was sitting on the beach as she normally did, watching the ocean while listening to her MP3 player, heard the radio cut off in the usual fashion before NFS started rapping his songs.
And as she expected, a familiar voice started... singing?
While listening to the song, she brought her legs closer to her and sat in a fetal position, her mind suddenly going back to the painful screams Nate had been letting out before she had abandoned him... all alone.
Some days, I just wanna leave the negativity in my head
I just want relief from my stressI just want relief from my stress
Some days, I don't wanna see orHave a bunch of people to impressI just want relief from my stressYeah, I just want relief from my stressThese stress levels are not healthyI'm waitin' for that call sayin' records are not sellingI wonder when this all disappears and they forget meWill I feel like I found who I was or be more empty?I wonder, was I was wrong thinkin' this is where God led meOr did I get involved with somethin' that was too heavy?I drive until I'm lost and just sit in my car yellingMy inner critic talks, I'm just hopin' that God helps meJust stop stressin'Yeah
So as the music played, for the first time, Leah truly felt the same way as the person on the other side, singing and rapping his heart out for her.
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Hey everyone,
Back again—surprisingly enough!
I originally planned to write two chapters per week, but it looks like I've exceeded my own expectations. It's mainly because I've been really enjoying bringing my character, Nathaniel, to life. I also love offering a different perspective on the Twilight world.
I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, but I'm trying to create something unique, something that hasn't been seen before in the fanfiction space.
If I'm succeeding in that, please let me know! And if you're enjoying this journey as much as I am, I'd love to hear from you. Interacting with you all is one of my favorite parts of this process.
As always, peace!
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