Somewhere only a few miles from a coffee shop called Lucy's, a few drops of blood were carried down into the sewer drain. The evidence was washed away in the Seattle gray. A young woman dropped a handful of love letters, the ink smearing on the pavement. The light had already left her eyes as she slumped against the dingy wall. Staring at the sky, a handsome man turned on his heel and walked into the rain, leaving the first of many victims.

-

The clock struck seven, the sun hidden behind the usual shroud of clouds. Just another day in the Pacific Northwest, the girl thought as she clunked down the stairs to the city street. Her studio apartment had already been filled with the scent of espresso, making it impossible to avoid. The familiar sign, the familiar smell, and the familiar faces inside welcomed her into Lucy's, and she lifted her head to smile at her best friend behind the counter.

"Good morning, Ang. You know I can't resist the pumpkin spice blend. I could smell it in the rafters."

"Well, you know I aim to please... Big cup morning or small cup morning?" Angela looked up from thick rimmed glasses, plaid shirt with a smudge of coffee grounds on the collar. She was the one person that, day in and day out, could be counted on for a smile and a lift.

Bella paused a bit, thinking about her meager budget. "Uh, big cup, please. Just a few days until midterms. I think my students are going to drive me crazy with their complaints about papers. I'm going to need to stay caffeinated." Her face contorted, feeling the weight of the undergraduates she would have to coerce into making their papers decent.

"I'll make it a super big cup,chica. You're gonna need it." Angela winked, the steaming coffee poured into Bella's travel thermos and handed back. Three sugars, one cream.

"You and Ben have plans tonight? Or can I make you come over for dinner? I'm craving fish tacos." Angela and Ben had been together for years, since Bella had moved to Washington in high school. The couple lived a few blocks away in a small condo, as Angela was a free lance graphic designer and Ben worked in software of some kind. They were so hip to most things it made Bella's head spin.

"Yeah, sorry. His friend's band is playing at this little dive bar. I'd invite you, but it's going to be so bad. They are reggae indie rock... So bad. I'm just going because Ben threatened me. Tomorrow can we do lunch?" She swept her bangs from her face, straightening her tall frame as another customer came in and sat down to be served.

"Sure, that's fine... I guess I'll get going, I've got a class and then teaching all afternoon. Remind me again why I decided a PhD was a super idea?"

Angela shook her head at Bella, who tipped a few quarters and waved on her way out. "You love it!"

These words made Bella grin and blush a little. Truth be told, she did love it. She loved teaching people about the classics and modern British literature. It was rather tragic that most students butchered the English language in the course of the semester and failed to appreciate authors whose books had not made it to the silver screen. Bella pulled her scarf a little tighter, wishing the damp cold away. Her coat already had beads of drizzle pooling at the shoulders, and she thanked herself for the practical Wellingtons she wore nearly every day. Sensible shoes for the commute in to school, cute shoes stayed in the office she shared with a fellow English PhD candidate.

She ducked her face against the elements, navigating the streets between her apartment and the University of Washington's campus. The October weather was mild, but held the promise of another long wet winter. How had she decided to stay at UW and not migrated to somewhere warmer and sunnier? Alas, the anglophile in Bella knew that she suffered for the imagination, for her father Charlie, and for the love of her friends. At 25, she felt roots too thick to neglect here.

Bella slid into the building, removing her drenched coat and moving to the third floor. She shook out her long hair, angry that it had to build up frizz on the trip here. She sighed and twisted it into a high bun. Not that her appearance mattered, but Bella felt better getting up and lecturing for hours if she, well, didn't look like she crawled out of the gutter. Her students were usually sporting that look, so it made her feel like she belonged.

"Hey Lola," Bella sighed as she opened her office door. Lola was another PhD candidate, though she spent every last moment on the phone with her fiance and mother. Wedding planning for March seemed to consume her, since she was planning on defending her thesis in May and was well prepared for everything. Lola smiled at her from the phone, rolling her eyes and mouthing "mother in law." Her brilliant red hair was all Bella could see from her own cramped desk.

After 30 minutes of emails consisting of questions about the midterm, the midterm papers, and general whining, Bella cracked her neck and looked up from her laptop. The department couldn't afford computers for everyone, or an office with windows for everyone either. Lola was bent over a paper, red pen in hand.

"You know Lola, your kids are going to get complexes with all that ink." Bella smiled at her friend, who laughed back and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Red ink matches the hair, girl! God, I need a cigarette. I know, I said I was quitting, but this mother in law stress is totally breaking my will. Come outside with me please?" She grabbed a menthol from her purse, and Bella reluctantly rose.

"Only if I stand upwind. I swear, why even bother with the Menthols? You know you aren't doing yourself any favors."

"I know, God, I know." The duo made their way to the stairwell, where Lola sucked on the cancer stick and Bella made ludicrous faces as she did. They chatted about their students, who were checking out mentally with autumn break mere moments away.

"I love teaching, but those little bastards are just pissing me off. I can't wait to teach a real English class, and not freaking Write Bullshit 101." Lola's foul mouth and crazy attitude made her such fun to shoot the breeze with, even tainted with menthol cigarettes.

"Give me freshman over pompous grad students like us any day!"

Bella finished her last few emails and read the New York Times, bumbling through her Friday morning. She had a quick seminar, made quicker by her major professor who lived for the weekend and was off to fish for something. Save that boisterous discussion for next Tuesday, anyway. Bella and Lola ate together in quiet contentment, until Lola's phone rang and her discussion with her fiance at the naval base took her out of the office for privacy.

"Uh, Miss Swan?" Bella looked up from her tomato soup and veggie wrap to see Kristen DeVore, one of her freshman 101 students. Kristen was surprising, all legs and blonde but who managed to infuse real depth into their class sessions and papers.

"Hey Kristen, come on in. Uhhh, pull up that chair and have a seat." Bella wiped her mouth, swallowing some water.

"I wanted to ask a few questions about the midterm, if that's cool... I just want to be extra prepared. English is sort of my favorite class. I was actually thinking of declaring an English concentration, but my dad thinks I should do accounting instead."

Bella shook her head, but gave her the essentials for the exam and the paper, which required a little outside research and synthesis of a historical document to modern day necessity.

"I'm only sorry your father is dissuading you from your real passion, Kristen. I definitely think that your best bet is take classes in all your core subjects and let your heart tell you what you want. My dad wanted me to be a nurse and come work back at home, and my mom wanted me to be a photojournalist and travel the world. I am not really living the dream here, but I would say I am pretty damn happy."

Kristen smiled up at Bella, but shrugged as she gathered her things. "Well, my boyfriend is set on finance, and so I know he could take care of me, but I think they all think English is frilly and unimportant."

"Well, it's important to me," Bella scowled, "and you should know that no man can always be relied on. Even if you get married and live happily ever after, you'll always feel unfulfilled without pulling your own weight. So, you know, make yourself happy first... then the rest will follow."

"Thanks, Ms. Swan. See you in class."

Bella watched the beautiful girl walk out her door, thoughtful. Were women really raised this way, to think that men hung the moon and they were merely in the orbit? Thank God Renee had done something right... Even if she did end up following Phil around the country, she was still her own person. Charlie expected more. Hell, Bella expected more from herself than bare feet and babies. If that was your dream, fine. But some people need more.

After two long classes, Bella came back to the office to grab all her gear. Friday, sweet Friday. She was staring down the barrel of her last weekend before midterms, with her own research and writing to be done. Even with a full load on her shoulders, Bella enjoyed writing short stories and sending them out... even for rejection letters. Charlie told her that rejection built character. She was certainly stacking up that character on her kitchen counter at home.

"Hey Bells, did you catch the news?" Lola's delicate freckles stood out starkly on her face, eyes concerned. Lola and Bella peered at the small blurb in the Seattle Times about a woman's brutal murder that morning sometime around six am. No leads, no trace evidence.

"God, poor thing. Good thing I am a force to be reckoned with when it comes to me and my mace." Bella smiled wryly, thankful her dad and best friend Jacob were both police officers who instilled in her a healthy sense of fear.

"Any big plans this weekend?"

"Nothing too major, some work, lunch with Angela tomorrow, and I'll probably head out to Bob's Sunday to gallop a few and get some horse time in. How about you?"

"God, you and your horse racing, you big freak. I'm just saddled with wedding nonsense, you go on and live your crazy life. See ya Monday!"

Bella and Lola said their goodbyes, Bella changing out of her green suede boots to her Wellies once more. She waved at the redhead, and hit the streets of Seattle, glad for the weekend and glad for her life and its wide open possibilities.