CHAPTER SEVEN:
NO WAY OUT, BROTHER

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OFELIA SAW A HOME in Seth Clearwater's eyes and it scared the crap out of her. She hadn't been expecting the memory, but when he arrived at the Cullen house with some of the other members of the pack and wandered up to shake her hand with a smile, she met his eyes and saw her brother for the first time in one-hundred and twenty-eight years.

Joaquin Torres was eight years older than her and yet they grew up as thick as thieves. He protected her from the boys in the area who liked to tease her, that protection later extending to Minnie when she started following Ofelia around. Ofelia left Joaquin's life when he was least expecting it. He had just gotten married to his childhood sweetheart, Marcela Sanchez (now Torres), and they were expecting a child together. Ofelia was the maid of honour at their wedding, the soon-to-be aunt and godmother of their baby, and she just disappeared. In his eyes, she ran away, not even sparing a goodbye, and Ofelia never got to see him again, didn't know how he died or when. She just came across his headstone one day and that was the last true memory she had of Joaquin.

And yet there she was, having gone decades bearing the loss in the back of her mind, only for it to come rushing back at the sight of a fifteen-year-old boy who was far too happy-go-lucky for the world he lived in.

His eyes were just like Joaquin's. A dark shade of brown, warm and inviting. Ofelia met Seth's eyes and remembered the way Joaquin used to hug her on the bad days, the way he'd tease her on the good ones, and she yearned for those times again. The urge to hug Seth was strong, it brought on a rush of shame. He didn't know her, he wasn't Joaquin, Ofelia would always be stuck in an endless loop of never seeing her family again.

"Ofelia?" Jasper frowned at the sight of the frozen girl. He hadn't expected the wave of sadness that overcame her and then him, but it hit him hard and fast like the engine of a car suddenly giving out. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she cleared her throat, ignoring the sceptical raise of Jasper's brows as she mustered the thinnest and weakest smile Jasper had ever seen on her face. "It's nice to meet you, Seth."

Seth looked uncertain as he glanced between the two vampires curiously, before he grinned in a way that made his eyes glint. A stab in the back. Ofelia's smile dropped. "It's nice to meet you too." Then, before she could say anything else, he was excusing himself and wandering over to where one of his pack mates (Ofelia wasn't sure of their names but she believed this one to be Embry Call) was talking to Carlisle and Esme on the porch steps.

"Ofelia?" Jasper repeated after several beats of silence, looking ready to find Edward to ask him what Ofelia was thinking.

"I'm fine," she repeated. Lies, lies, lies. "I'm going for a walk."

She was gone before he could protest. She wasn't sure how long she ran for, but she made sure to stay on the Cullen side of the treaty line as she did. The wolves had gotten far more lenient as their alliance with the Cullens developed, but with the recent influx of red-eyed nomads, they'd made sure to prioritise the protection of their people above any understanding they might've had. And where someone like Jacob Black would think twice if one of the nomads accidentally wandered too far, the newer wolves would not, and Ofelia wasn't about to test her luck with them.

Eventually, she found a tree that was taller than the others. She swung herself from branch to branch until she'd reached the top where she sat down and just watched for a moment. From up there, she could see miles upon miles of forest that eventually blended into houses and roads. A nice view, peaceful. Oblivious to what was happening just a few minutes away from them. Ofelia almost wished she denied Alice just so she could be none the wiser, too.

"Hey."

Ofelia sighed. She should've known he would follow her. Jasper lingered beneath her tree, shielding his eyes with a hand as the sun lit up their skin like disco balls. He wanted to climb up to her, take her in his arms, but he waited for her to let the tension fall from her shoulders. After another minute of silence, she gave a barely noticeable nod that had him up by her side in seconds.

"What's going on in that head of yours, darlin'?" he asked as he tapped her on the temple gently in an attempt to replace her frown with a smile. It didn't work for long, but Jasper noticed how her eyes brightened the slightest bit and couldn't help smirking victoriously. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but you know I'll always be here to listen."

Boy, if Ofelia had a heart that could beat, it would be thumping straight out of her chest right now. She leant into his arm as it circled around her waist, closing her eyes for just a moment. If Joaquin was there, he'd be laughing up a storm and poking at her smiling face, finding great pleasure in embarrassing his little sister.

Ofelia wondered if he did that with his kids, too. From what she'd been able to figure out, Joaquin had four in total but only two survived beyond childbirth. The first was a baby girl he named Ofelia in her honour, the other a little boy named Julien. If she thought about it enough, Ofelia could just picture it; their matching heads of dark brown hair, their father's hazel eyes and cheeky but stern smile. She wondered if Joaquin was a good dad. She hoped he was. Their own father was a bit on the stricter side when they were growing up, insisting on taking them to church every Sunday and finding Ofelia a suitable husband to marry when the time came. She loved him, though. Did Joaquin's children love him too?

"You know, my family didn't have much money growing up," she muttered, refusing to meet Jasper's eyes. "My dad was a hard worker but my mum was always ill so a lot of his money went to helping her." Her father used to sit by her mother's side for hours when he could, reading her passages of her favourite books and praying over their rosary beads. There was no doubt in Ofelia's mind that her parents were in love, and it was moments like those that made having no money bearable. At least they had each other. "When my brother was old enough, he got a job in the mines. It helped a lot."

"They sound like good people," Jasper said, slowly like he was approaching a wounded animal. Ofelia scowled but bit her tongue. She was no wounded animal.

Instead, she settled for a nod of her head, shuffling forward so that Jasper's arm would slip away from her waist. "They were," she said, and a beat of tense silence followed. "You know I found them all buried together? Even their great-great children. They left a spot for me."

The last time Ofelia visited the Torres family crypt was sometime in the 1940s. She visited frequently after discovering Joaquin's legacy, leaving flowers by their headstones. It was only when she ran into Julien, her nephew, fully grown with a wife and kids of his own, and he looked at her with recognition that she stopped going. Five generations had passed since she was alive and yet she didn't return. She refused to risk exposing him to her life. He was the spitting image of her brother. It would be like forcing Joaquin into a world that even she didn't want any part in. Ofelia Torres, really, was better off dead.

"Do you think it would've been better," she paused, contemplating the right words as Jasper tilted his head at her. "If Maria just killed us."

He inhaled sharply, brows furrowed. Ofelia had started to notice a familiar pattern in his reactions to certain things she said. Maria's name always, always provoked tension. She couldn't blame him. "I think," he too went quiet for a moment, like he'd be speaking whatever his opinion was into existence. "I think that we're still here for a reason. We might not like it but we're here."

We may not like it but we're here. If there was any motto for vampires like them to live by, it was that one.

"We should go back," she said after a while of just sitting in silence. The sun was beginning to set and she knew the Cullens would come looking for them sooner or later. Still, she didn't move, and neither did he.

"Do you want to?" he frowned. "Come back, I mean."

Ofelia felt like she was walking into a trap. She peaked one eye open, glancing at the side of his face almost cautiously. Logically, she knew he was only talking about the present, but it felt like something more. Are you planning on leaving me, when this is all said and done?

"Sure," she mumbled weakly, watching as his shoulder's deflated slightly. Oh, he definitely meant more.

They decided to walk back at a human pace, though Ofelia regretted every second of awkward tension between them. She really needed to articulate herself better, she was getting tired of endless silences. When they returned, the wolves were still hanging around the front yard, a few more having arrived since Ofelia and Jasper left. Speaking of Jasper, he took one look at the wolves and disappeared inside without a glance back, leaving Ofelia no choice but to stay as Seth Clearwater bounded over to her sheepishly.

"Hey, Ofelia," he smiled. "I wanted to check if you were alright. You seemed upset earlier. Did I do something?"

"Of course not, Seth," she immediately said, cursing to herself as his smile seemed to brighten with relief. "You just reminded me of someone I used to know. It was a shock."

"Oh, sorry," he frowned.

"Don't be," she waved the apology away. "Tends to happen when you spend so long on this earth. People come and go, but there's always going to be reminders of them."

"Who do I remind you of?" he asked curiously before seemingly realising how invasive the question was. "Shoot, sorry, that's none of my business. I didn't mean--"

"Seth, you're good," she chuckled, the boy nodding as his face went bright red with embarrassment. Something told Ofelia he wasn't used to thinking before he spoke. "You remind me of my brother."

"Oh," he said again, shuffling awkwardly on the spot. Clearly, her response had surprised him. He didn't think it would be someone so close to her, maybe a passing stranger she'd seen over the years. "Were you close?"

"Yes," she said before he could repeat the same course of humiliation as before. "He was my best friend."

All traces of his smile were gone now, replaced by a sorrow that Ofelia despised. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," she shrugged.

Before he could reply, one of the wolves was calling out to him. It was Embry Call again (Ofelia really hoped she was getting his name right, she'd ask if he didn't keep his distance from her and most of the other nomads) and with him was Jacob Black and someone Ofelia didn't recognise. Quil? Jared? Ofelia hadn't seen them around enough to really tell the difference. Nonetheless, the boys were waiting for Seth so they could head home, looking between him and Ofelia with a strange combination of curiosity and distrust. Ofelia smirked, it was always the eyes that got them.

"You should go," she told Seth as he glanced between his friends and herself. She didn't need him to comfort her or anything. He didn't even know her. There was no reason for him to feel any sort of responsibility to her just because she thought too much. "I'll see you around, Seth."

With one last sceptical goodbye, he was jogging over to the wolves and the group were disappearing into the woods, cheering and chattering amongst themselves. Ofelia didn't stick around once they were out of sight, deciding to spend the evening with Peter or Charlotte, whichever she found first. Jasper would be a bitch too much right now.

"Hey," Charlotte smiled softly as Ofelia sat down beside her. She was in the back room watching through the window as Peter and Jasper trained together, a book in her hands that she definitely wasn't paying attention to. "You alright? Jasper said you were off for a while."

Ofelia pursed her lips. "I'm okay, Charlotte."

The girl just nodded, sensing that Ofelia merely wanted someone to sit with rather than a conversation. And so she sat there for the rest of the night, surrounded by the memory of a crypt with her name on it.

OFELIA ADELINA TORRES
Born 1860-1878
Gone but never forgotten.
May God bring you peace.

It was almost laughable.