I flinch at the sound of the soft voice. When I look up I see a girl, brunette, brown eyes, pale – almost as pale as me. She's pretty, beautiful even, but she's not her. She looks my way and heads towards my desk.
A breeze lifts her hair from her shoulders and her scent hits me. It's overwhelming, it invades my senses and I grip the desk to stop myself from hurtling towards her. She smells just like her, that same sweet scent. Could it be her? Another reincarnate? I had given up hope, it's been fifty years since the last one. I have to stay away from her, they all end up dead. I can't face that again.
She sits down beside me and I cringe away from her, my throat burns and my still heart aches, somewhere between wanting to hold her and wanting to drain her blood.
She looks shocked and hurt by my reaction and then she stares resolutely ahead. There's something else, something noticeably absent. Her thoughts. The others were the same, I couldn't read them, I couldn't hear what they were thinking. It's definitely her, Isabella Rose, reincarnated.
I remember the first time I met her. The year was 1917, the year before I became a vampire. It was summer, my Father was away on business and my Mother was visiting with friends. Everyone had flocked to the river to escape the heat of the city. A group of friends invited me along and I went, hoping to find some inspiration for a song I was composing. I settled myself on the banks of the river while my friends went for a swim. I pulled out my sheet music and tried to come up with some words to go with my music.
I dreamt of becoming a soldier, but at just sixteen years old, I was too young to be enlisted. My Mother hated the thought of me going and the subject was banned at home, so I focused instead on becoming a successful pianist and songwriter.
While I sat, waiting for inspiration, my sheet of music was suddenly splattered with river water as footsteps hurried past.I looked up expecting to see one of the boys hurtling by, but it was a girl. Her feet were bare and she held her wet dress around her knees as she ran. I put down my work to watch her. She laughed as the dog at her heels chased her, his tail wagging. She threw a stick into the river and the dog waded in to retrieve it.
The ladies sitting in the shade of the trees underneath their parasols shook their heads disapprovingly and whispered, but she paid no attention.
She petted the dog as it dropped the stick at her feet and it wagged its tail, waiting for her to throw the stick again.
She looked about my age, blonde curls tumbling down her back like she just shook them loose from a tight, restrictive hairstyle. Her frame was small but there was a hint of womanly curves beneath her clothing.
"C'mon," She said to the dog, "Lets sit down."
She looked around and then her eyes found mine. I hurriedly looked away, pretending instead to watch the people swimming in the river. When I looked back I realised she was heading towards me. She sat down on the grassy bank about a metre away from me, stretched out her legs and lifted her face up to the sun. She closed her eyes and leaned back on her hands. The dog suddenly shook, sending droplets of water over us both. The girl shrieked and laughed.
"I'm so sorry," She said, "Misty has no manners."
Her voice was like music, soft and tinkling. Her face set into a beautiful smile as she scratched the wolf-like dog around the ears.
"It's fine," I said,"He's an interesting-looking dog."
"Yeh, we've had him since he was a pup. Father says he's half wolf, but I'm not sure."
She squinted at me in the sun light and I noticed the light sprinkling of freckles dappled across her nose.
"I'm Edward Masen."
"Isabella Rose."
"I don't think I've seen you around here before."
"No we just moved here, my Dad's in the army so we move round a lot."
"Your Father's a Soldier?"
Isabella nodded.
"A Captain. He's stationed nearby and my Mother couldn't bear to be so far away from him, so we moved to be closer. We're living in the big house, just up the river."
"Evergreen?"
"Yeh, that's the one."
"It's a lovely house."
"I guess, I kind of liked my old house."
"Where did you live before?"
"St Louis."
I watched her as she spoke, she barely looked at me, but when she did I noticed the intensity of her eyes. They were a dark, vivid blue, like a deep ocean and I wondered what thoughts lurked behind them.
She nodded towards the papers at my side.
"You write music?"
"I'm trying," I said with a smile, "I play the piano, I'd like to compose someday. Do you like music?"
She smiled.
"I love music, I play a little piano myself, but I'm not good. I prefer to listen to others play. Maybe I'll hear you play someday."
I smiled at her and she held my gaze for a few moments, then Isabella stood and dusted the sand from her skirt.
"I must be going, it was nice to meet you Mr Masen."
"You too, Miss Rose."
She started to walk away, the dog at her heels.
"Miss Rose!"
She turned to look at me and my stomach fluttered with nerves. I scrambled to my feet.
"May I call on you some time?"
She smiled again, a line of perfect, white teeth."
"I would like that."
The school bell signals the end of the lesson and I hurry from the classroom, pushing the memory from the back of my mind. I have to hunt and I have to get out of this Biology class.
I plead with the secretary to let me switch, but she tells me everywhere is full. I smell her again, that tantalising scent. I turn to find the girl standing in the doorway. She looks hurt. She must have overheard the whole thing. A feeling of guilt claws at my insides. It's not her fault, she doesn't know who she is, who she was before. The hunger inside me rears up and I storm from the building.
Outside I race towards the forest, I can't bear to go home, to have Jasper sensing my mood and Alice predicting the future of this girl. Bella. I read her name in the minds of the other students. It's always the same, some variation, Isabella, Mabel, Annabelle, Bella.
I head deeper into the forest and I climb a huge, ancient oak. I sit amongst the branches and consider my options. I could move away, but it would mean leaving my family behind. I could live with the Denali's, I would still be close enough to visit, but there's Tanya to think of. After spurning her advances I don't want to confuse her.
I climb higher to peer over the tops of the trees. The sun peeks through the clouds and falls on my face. I close my eyes and I remember my first date with Isabella.
We were chaperoned of course. Isabella's brother, John, on leave from the army, accompanied us for lunch and regaled us with tales of war. He hadn't seen much of the fighting yet, he was responsible for training new candidates. Isabella was so proud of him, I could see it in the way she looked at him.
After lunch we walked along the river. John ran into a few old friends of his and stopped to chat. Isabella and I were left alone. Her golden skin glinted in the afternoon sun, her eyes a sea of blue. I longed to kiss her, to feel her soft, pink lips on mine, but things were different back then. I would never have dishonoured her like that. Instead, as we walked under the soft, looming branches of a willow tree, shielded from view, I lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles delicately. She flushed and looked almost shy for a moment. I held her hand for a short while until we heard approaching footsteps.
As I head home I try to let go of the memory, pushing it to the back of my mind and suppressing the pain I feel when I think of her. She was so alive, she sparkled more than the flesh of a thousand shimmering vampires, a diamond in the rough.
Rosalie waits for me at the door, her arms folded.
"Alice had a vision, she saw you with the new girl, Bella."
"Alice's visions are subjective."
Rosalie shakes her head.
"Not this one. It was her, Isabella, reincarnated – again!"
"Rosalie, there's nothing I can do…"
"Yes there is! You have to stay away from her. We all know how this will end, just like the last one, and the one before…she'll die and we'll all be implicated."
"Just leave it Rosalie."
I race up to my room, her words ringing in my ears. Just like the last one, and the one before….She'll die.