"Leave it to you, Bella. Anyone else would be better off when the vampires left town. But you have to start hanging out with the first monsters you can find." –Alice Cullen
Chapter 1—Prologue, part I—Decisions to Make
One would think that meeting monsters would make a person wary about their presence. One would think that said person would run away screaming when they found out that the person that held their heart was a vampire—a being that would drain the very life from them. Isabella Swan, however, was not like most people. Some would say that she had an odd personality about her. Some would say that she had no sense of danger or of self-preservation. Due to recent events, Bella herself might be inclined to agree.
Her decision to move to Forks, Washington to live with her father set forth a chain of events that not even Bella herself could've predicted. If she had known that she would meet a new family of vampires and fall head over heels for one of the members, she might've decided to stay with her mother in Phoenix. However, Bella did not know this. In fact, Bella would wager that the only one that could've known would've been Alice Cullen herself, but that would've meant that Alice had mastered the art of hiding certain thoughts from her brother, Edward.
Bella never would've guessed that in her eighteen years of living that her life would come down to this. How her life has changed in the last eight months! From the disaster with James to her failed birthday, she never thought that Edward leaving would be the thing that would make the ever so small hole in her heart become a gaping chasm. She never thought that the so called "monsters" that she came to know and love would just willingly pack up and leave her because of a little accident.
Let it be known that Bella didn't blame Jasper at all for what happened. A friend had told her once that blood lust, while not necessarily a valid emotion for most humans, was indeed a valid and powerful emotion for all vampires. In fact, this same friend is who Bella is currently trying to contact. This friend has been Bella's confidant for about six years, though Bella was the only one aging in the relationship. She had introduced Bella to the world of the supernatural when she saved Bella from a rogue vampire when Bella had wandered to far from her mother on one of their trips.
Since then, Bella has bombarded her friend with question upon question about vampires and their world. Bella was relieved that Edward couldn't read her mind for this reason. If Edward was so distraught over Bella "finding out" that he and his family were vampires, what would his reaction be if he knew that Bella had known all along what he and his family were? However, all the information in the world still couldn't prepare Bella for the gifts of the Cullen Clan, nor of the incredible tracking skills of James.
Bella contemplates these things as she stares at her phone for what seems like the millionth time today. Her finger hovered over the call button as she wonders what Anna would say to her when she got done explaining the situation. How does one explain this situation anyway?
How does she explain that, while Anna knew she met a new coven of vampires, she fell in love with one and he decided to leave her because of a freak accident? She could just imagine how Anna's temper would erupt.
AnnaBelle Lynn Lott-Sturges was a force to be reckoned with when someone she cared about was hurt in some way, shape or form. Bella could just picture the terror she would reign on Edward when she found out how he hurt Bella. She could picture the torment and terror that the town would face by accidentally getting caught in the cross-fire.
Before Bella could talk herself out of calling Anna, her phone lit up with Anna herself calling her. Deciding to answer, Bella said nervously, "Hey, Anna… what's up?"