The Search

Nate hadn't anticipated that his first night would begin with the abrupt jolt of waking up to a scream. As he stirred from his slumber, a tad disoriented, his gaze darted around the room, trying to pinpoint the source of the scream.

The realization hit him – a woman's voice echoing from the next room. Without delay, Nate deduced that it must be Bella.

Getting up from the bed, Nate wen't out of the room to investigate. walking towards the oppened room next to his, he saw his uncle comforting his cousin who he hasn't seen for a very long time.

"Isabella" He said, opening the room slightly so both of the occupants could see him.

"Aaa..Nate, you woke up" His uncle said in an apologetic tone.

"Um..yeah..I..aa heard a scream" he said, looking at Bella with an understanding look. 

Bella who seemed to get out of her shocked state made her way out of the bed towards her cousin, giving him a hug.

"Nate" she said softly, sniffing a little.

Nate a bit taken aback from the familiarity kept huging Bella, while looking at his uncle who had a small smile but a tired look.

"You okay" he said backing away from the hug.

Bella who had tears on her cheek wiped them off and nodded.

There was silence after that. It wasn't an awkward silence but considering they hadn't seen each other since they were children and that it was the middle of the night, made it an odd time to make small talk. 

And of course Charlie realised this as well.

"why don't you get some sleep Bella" he said walking next to them and taking Bella from the shoulder and guiding her to the bed.

"You too Nate, you'll have time to talk in the morning" Nate who was still pretty tired nodded and went to walk out of the door but before he did he heard a soft "Good night" from Bella.

Getting to his room, he laid down on his bed looking at the sealing for a bit. He was familiar with what just happened with Bella, he used to get nightmares like that after his father passed away when he was 11. So he could sympathise with her, and the way Charlie acted when he mentioned Bella earlier suggested that maybe she's been going through something.

'I know a little something about that' Nate thought, shutting his eyes trying to get some sleep. But something was weird, just a moment ago he felt completely tired but now for some reason he felt rejuvenated. 

Tossing and turning in the bed for a while didn't seem to help his predicament.

He didn't feel sleepy. Not at all.

"Ugh, what's wrong" He said, sitting up on the bed.

Nate felt the need to take a breath of fresh air in the quiet of the night. Slipping outside, he found himself standing on the porch, the cool breeze calming him a bit, a refreshing change from the enclosed atmosphere inside the house.

As he stood there, his eyes seemed to not need any time to adjust to the darkness.

 Nate noticed a solitary bat flitting through the night sky. Intrigued, he watched as another joined, and soon after, a whole flock emerged from the shadows. The winged creatures danced in erratic patterns, their silhouettes barely visible against the moonlit sky. But to him it was clear as day.

The sight, initially fascinating, began to unnerve Nate as more and more bats joined the nocturnal display. Their fluttering forms created an eerie spectacle, and a chill ran down Nate's spine. The quiet of the night was now filled with the unsettling symphony of bat wings. 

But what unsettled him was not the bats, or how many of them there were. It was how looking at the bats made him feel. It was familiar, almost like when you meet your friends after a very long time or how a family member welcomes you even though you haven't seen them for years, just like Charlie.

It felt like home..and..it scared him.

 Nate hurriedly retreated back into the house, the door closing behind him with a soft click. 

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POV(Charlie swan)

Waking up to the alarm clock after another rough night is not something to look forward to. 

I got out of bed and went strait to the bathroom on the first floor, taking a small shower and brushing my teeth, I thought of how the house that was empty just a year ago had become more lively now that Nate has also joined.

'Nate' I thought.

The boy has endured a challenging life. Initially, my brother was taken away from him, and now, he has lost his mother as well. I understand she grappled with personal issues, which was a primary reason Michael left her, taking Nate with him. Unfortunately, after Michael's passing, Nate had no choice but to live with his mother, who, by all accounts, proved to be an inadequate guardian.

She could barely take care of herself.

'And to prove everyone right, she OD:ed a couple of months ago' he thought, finishing up his morning routine and going to the kitchen to see Nate himself cooking pancakes.

"I didn't know you could cook" I said, getting Nates attention.

He seemed to be a little out of it, almost like he didn't get any sleep at all.

"Yeah..I had to learn..to cook for myself" He said making the atmosphere quiet.

Taking a seat on the diner table, Nate presented a plate full of pancakes.

Observing Nates skin tone that was pale, I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"You looking a bit pale, did you get any sleep" He seemed to react a bit to the question but only a little.

"I did, just not feeling too well" he said touching his face a little in thought.

"Anyway...you said something about a place I could clear out..for my.." He said, changing the topic.

"Music? Yeah, if you still do that, then you could use the shed in the backyard, it has fair amount of space" I said

"But fair warning, there's a lot of junk in there, you're going to have to clear it and clean it for it to become useful, but if your up for it than, go on right ahead" I said, seeing that he was ready to leave the stove and get it done right away.

"Thanks uncle Charlie" he said happy but getting distracted by his thought's again.

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POV(Nate)

First that dream, then the reflection and no sleeping in the night, and those freaking bats last night. What the hell is happening to me.

Flipping the last pancake, I stared at it for a good minute while trying to clear my head. All of these things happening at the same time can't be a coincident. 

When I think about all of the things that have happened to me, it's almost like the time you forget what you're about to say, you know you forgot it, but you don't know what you forgot.

'ugh or something like that' I thought shaking my head.

---------

While Nate was still thinking about the weird things that have started happening to him, he heard the soft footsteps of Bella descending the stairs. Their eyes met, and a genuine smile came on Nate's face.

"Morning, Nate," Bella said with a happy expression.

"Morning, Bella," Nate replied, with a small smile.

Finishing the last pancake, Nate turned to Bella who was just standing by the kitchen door. He indicated her to sit on the table where Charlie was busy reading a news paper.

"So you got any plans today" Bella asked while taking a seat.

"Umm, not particularly. I'm just going to try and clear out the back shed" he said indicating with his hand.

"Cool..cool" said Bella, an awkward silence descending.

"So you doing anything, if not maybe you can..you know, help me at the back and maybe we can catch up" Nate said, thinking they could maybe spend some time together.

Even with years between their last meetings, Nate always saw Bella as more than just a cousin – she was like a sibling. No matter how much time passed, he kept up with the tradition of calling her on birthdays to wish her a happy one and reaching out during Christmas. 

"Umm, I'm sorry but I have plans with a friend today" Bella said apologetically.

This seemed to get Charlie's attention's because he put the newspaper he was reading down while looking at Bella like she had grown a second head.

"it's no problem, we can catch up later" Nate said, washing his hands.

"Who" Charlie said, coming out of his suprise.

Bella looked at Charlie for a second before answering him" Jacob"

"O..that's good" he said finally finishing he's food.

--------------------

After breakfast, with Charlie off to work and Bella having left, Nate thought it a good idea to start working on the shed.

Walking towards the shed, the first thing Nate noticed was how abnormally big it was for a shed.

'this could be considered a second building' he thought.

Nate opened the creaky door to the back shed, and a musty smell greeted him. As he stepped inside, his eyes widened at the sight of a jumbled mess of old furniture, forgotten tools, and all kinds of items collected over the years. The dust danced in the dim light, revealing the neglect the shed had endured.

Surveying the cluttered space, Nate couldn't help but feel a mix of awe and a sense of overwhelming dread. It seemed like a treasure trove of memories, but the sheer amount of junk accumulated over time made him realize the enormity of the task ahead.

A deep sigh escaped his lips as he said " well then. let's just get this over with"

Surprisingly, Nate found himself working with an unexpected energy. The hours passed swiftly as he sorted, organized, and cleaned the shed, and to his surprise, he didn't feel any fatigue during the process.

While he was sorting through some old boxes his eyes caught a lone wooden box behind a metal plate. getting the metal plate out of the way, he recognised the initials that were on the top of the box.

M.M.S

"Michael Morbius Swan" he said aloud.

Caressing the letters on the box, he tried seeing if it would open, but there was a lock on it. deciding to look at the box later, he took it to his room and continued his endeavour of clearing the shed, and before he knew it he had finished clearing the damn thing.

Looking at the cleared shed Nate looked around for any electric outlets and he spotted 3 of them.

'I guess that could work'

Going to his car, Nate opened the storage trailer he had towed with him only to see all the necessary tools he needs for a temporary make shift studio.

After taking them to the shed, he whent on to set it all up. While he was plugging in the keyboard he didn't see his leg hitting the stand where the Digital Audio Workstation was on and it got nocked down and broke.

"shit" getting to his feet, Nate assesed the damage before sighing.

"I won't be able to record today if this thing is broken" he said out loud while looking at the Broken DAW.

"I guess I'm just going to have to get it fixed" he thought, before going inside the house and searching for any nearby music stores on his laptop, and thankfully there was one 10 minutes away by car.

Going down to get the DAW, Nate put it in the back seat before driving off toward the music store.

--------------

Going into the store, jingle bells rang before the sound of light guitar hit his ears.

The first thing he noticed was how empty the store was, there were no workers or costumers to be seen. 

The walls were riddled with all kinds of acoustic instruments, and on the floor were wiring for the electric instrument that where being displayed on small stage like platforms.

Walking deeper into the store, Nate realised the guitar that was playing wasn't coming from the microphones, but someone was playing it, and that someone was a young girl behind the counter, who had light tanned skin and a beautiful wavy hair, and even though she wasn't the most attractive girl, she had a distinctive charm.

"Excuse me" Nate said, getting her attention.

The girl stopped playing the guitar to see Nate holding the Broken DAW.

"Welcome" she said, putting the guitar to the side and standing up to lean on the counter.

Something Nate realised was while she was playing the guitar her face seemed calm and almost serene, but now it looked like she had a small frown on her face which made her look a bit hostile.

"How can I help" she continued

"Umm, yeah sorry, How long will it take to get this fixed" Nate said, extending the broken DAW.

The girl behind the counter took the machine before she gave it a once over, while she was looking and prodding the machine Nate realised how she kept giving him glances.

"What" he said finally asking why she kept looking at him .

"You're new around here" she said, in a factual manner.

"How would you know that" Nate asked in a sceptical voice.

The girl sighed before she stopped pocking and prying the machine.

"Because believe it or not, in small towns like forks people know each other, and I haven't seen you around before" she said in an exasperated tone.

Nate made an ow face before nodding. 

"Nate swan" He introduced himself, and the girl made an odd face before introducing herself.

"Leah clearwater" she said and Nate extended a hand for a shake, which she obliged.

"So how long is it going to take to be fixed" Nate said pointing at the DAW.

"I can't say"she replied, her eyes narrowing as she studied the equipment. "Gonna need some time to diagnose the issue. Might be a quick fix, or we could be in for a bit of a challenge."

Nate nodded, before an idea came to him. "do you have a temporary one I could use, maybe a used DAW that I can keep till mine is fixed" he said.

Leah seemed to think for a second before going into the door that was behind the counter, she was gone for a bit before she came out with a small DAW that looked to only be able to do the basics.

"This is all I could find in there, now usually I wouldn't allow this, but considering you're related to chief swan, I can do you this favour" she said, handing the temporary DAW.

"You know my uncle" Nate said taking the device.

"Yeah, he and my dad are fishing buddies" she said, while raising her brows.

"Cool, so when do I come back?" he asked

The girl who we now know is Leah opened a drawer before taking out a paper.

"Write your information here, I or someone else will call you when it's ready" she said, extending the paper.

Nate taking the paper and filling it out before taking the New/Temporary DAW.

"well, I'll see you around then" he said to Leah.

"Yeah, see you around" she said, and so Nate left the store and went to his car, driving back.

-------------------------

(quileute reservation, black Residense)

Jacob was having a good day today, because not only was he doing something he enjoyed, but he was also doing it with the person he liked.

Bella had come over with two broken bikes earlier and asked if Jacob could fix them, and Jacob seeing an opportunity to spend more time with Bella agreed, and now they were laughing and joking around just having fun all around.

"you whana listen to some music" Jacob asked Bella who was eating a pizza slice.

"Yeah" she said, and so Jacob wen't to get the radio and changed to the FM channel which had country music playing.

"Hmm, this is the jam" Jacob said making a silly face and bobing his head to the music which made Bella laugh.

"O my god it's awful" Bella said laughing, and Jacob joined in.

"So what kind of music you like then, this obviously isn't your cup of tea" Jacob asked.

Bella who was still smiling from the earlier laugh looked at Jacob before looking away and shaking her head.

"No?" Jacob asked.

"O come on, it can't be that bad" he said getting close to Bella.

"It's not that it's bad, it's just different" she said, looking at Jacob who had a look that said "realy"

"Come on, what is it punk, rock, jazz" He said listing a bunch of genres of music.

Bella seemed to think for a minute before finally deciding to tell Jacob."Promise me you won't tell anyone"

Jacob perked up before saying" I promise"

Bella was silent for a minute before she said something inaudible.

"R.."

Jacob leaned in.

"I didn't get that" he said, and Bella just scoffed before saying it again.

"RA..P" 

"Come on I didn't.." before he could repeat himself, Bella screamed her answer.

"RAP, OKAY. I like listening to rap music" she said surprising Jacob for a minute before he chuckled a bit.

"That's actually pretty tame, I thought you were going to say something like heavy metal or something" Jacob continued laughing before the music that was playing stopped and something that sounded like bats chirping came from the radio.

"So what rappers do you like" Jacob asked, ignoring the wind sounds and the bat chirping music that was coming from the radio.

But Bella seemed to focus on the music that was building up, and before Jacob could ask more questions, the music began and it caught both of there attention.

"Hey, Nate, how's life?"

I don't know, it's alright

I've been dealin' with some things not every human being has

really didn't sleep much last night (last night)

"I'm sorry", that's fine

I just think I need a little me time

I just think I need a little free time

Little break from the shows and the bus rides (bus rides), yeah

Bela who recognised the singer couldn't help but be in shock.

"No way, it's can't be" she said getting Jacobs attention.

"Can't be who?" he asked, but also focusing on the music.

Last year I had a breakdown

Thoughts tellin' me I'm lost gettin' too loud

Had to see a therapist, then I found out

Somethin' funny's goin' on up in my house

Yeah, I started thinkin' maybe I should move out

You know, pack my car, take a new route

Clean up my yard, get the noose out

Hang up my heart, let it air out (air out)

Bella only looked at Jacob before saying.

"It's NFS"

Jacob who by this point was giving all his attention to the music only mouthed the name Bella said.

"NFS"

-----------------------

Charlie parked the police cruiser in the driveway and made his way into the house. As he stepped through the front door, he glanced around, half expecting to see his nephew Nate. Not finding him inside, he furrowed his brows in mild concern.

Curiosity guiding him, Charlie ventured towards the backyard. The sound of music reached his ears, prompting him to investigate further. To his surprise, he found the once cluttered items from the back shed now neatly piled to the side.

Peering through one of the shed's windows, Charlie glimpsed Nate passionately singing or Rapping. The scene caught him off guard, and a proud smile crept onto his face. 

His mind went to the time where they asked Bella and Nate what they wanted to be when they grow up.

Bella who was heavily into ballet said she wanted to be a Balett teacher, but Nate said the oddest thing ever, and it rang in Charlies head.

'I whana be a rapper'

Where'd the beat go?

Oh, ain't that somethin'?

Drums came in, you ain't see that comin'

Hands on my head, can't tell me nothin'

Got a taste of the fame, had to pump my stomach

Throw it back up like I don't want it

Wipe my face, clean up my vomit

OCD, tryna push my buttons

I said don't touch it, now y'all done it

I can be critical, never typical

Intricate with every syllable, I'm a criminal

Intimate, but never political, pretty visual

Even if you hate it, I'll make it feel like you're in it, though

You call me what you wanna, but never call me forgettable

Leave you deep in thought, I could never swim in the kiddie pool

Way that I been thinkin' is cinematic, it's beautiful

Man, I don't know if I'm makin' movies or music videos (videos, videos, videos)

it seemed Nate had been busy turning the neglected space into his personal creative haven. Charlie decided to linger for a moment, appreciating the unexpected scene.

"Man, I wish you were here to see this Michael " said Charlie who was smiling from ear to ear.

It's that time again

Better grab your balloons and invite your friends

Seatbelts back on, yeah, strap 'em in

Look at me, everybody, I'm smilin' big

On a road right now that I can't predict

Tell me, "Tone that down, " but I can't resist

Y'all know that sound, better raise your fist

The search begins, I'm back, so enjoy the trip, huh

-----------------------------------

Im back so enjoy the trip indeed.

Author here, This chapter took me 5 days to write, not because of the idea but because I was thinking of how to execute it. Now you know which part of the timeline it is and you also know that Nate isn't an ordinary human.

now the question is.

What is he?

What is happening to him?

What is in his fathers box?

Please give me constructive criticism and any ideas would be appreciated.

Also as much as I love to write and Bring you guys stories, it takes a huge amounts of effort on my side, so if you could donate, it would not only motivate me but it would give me a sense of resposabilaty to complete this book so donate whatever you can and I appreciate you all.

PS:Comment some ideas I will take them into consideration.

Donate:paypal.me/Helpauthor03