"Persistence of Memory"

-Salvador Dali, Persistence of Memory

Bella

"I predict that…" Alice stalled as she looked into the eyes of every face that formed the small circle. All seven pairs stared back.

"C'mon Alice! We're dying here!" Emmett cut in.

"All right All right, hold on" She straightened up a bit and closed her eyes.

"I predict that Edward will ask Bella to the Spring Dance" My eyes widened and I felt the heat of a blush creep up my neck and settle on my cheeks. What the Hell Alice?! Everyone in the room turned to look at us while I avoided looking into Edward's eyes. We were friends sure and we were probably going to go to that dance together but as friends and also as slaves of Alice. She liked such events. I abhorred them. That is, until I felt a very familiar hand touch mine. Then, the idea of such an event didn't appear as revolting as before.

Why was Edward Cullen touching my hand?

Before I had a chance to ask him, Alice moved on to Rosalie and Emmett. Apparently, they were going to elope in Vegas when they turned eighteen. Rosalie laughed saying that was obviously impossible, she wasn't even going out with Emmett. I saw Royce tighten his hold around his girlfriend's waist. I think Rosalie was the only one that didn't see the look of dejection in Emmett's eyes. I sent him a small smile and he returned it with his grin.

Emmett and I were foster siblings, something he took grate pride in, though I think that was mostly for my benefit. He had found me crying one day under the bed of my new room when I was six. I had confessed to him that I missed my parents. He was ten at the time and surprisingly intuitive when he wanted to be. He had told me that he liked being a foster kid. I had momentarily stopped crying and between sniffles asked him why. He said it was because being a foster kid was the coolest thing on the whole entire universe. He said with such vigor that found myself giggling slightly. Every day after that he would find something new for us to love about being foster children and I guess it just turned into a sort of joke for us. Though I found that I sometimes still needed the reassurance that this was the best life we could possibly live.

We were never separated after that and somehow neither of us were adopted for the whole duration of our stay in Saint Marie's foster home. He was going to turn eighteen soon and had promised me that he would adopt me once he was a legal adult. I foolishly believed this and I think, at the time, he did too.

Alice and Edward came to us as a wrapped package. They were biological siblings. Alice was my age and Edward was only a year older. I met him the day I turned fourteen and the crush has never gone away. His hand shifted slightly and then separated. I snapped back to the present. Alice had gone still. Almost catatonic. Every single kid in the room had gone quiet and was staring at our little group. We were at Jessica's party, she was part of the student body of our school and had invited everyone. She was Emmett's age and since he dragged us along wherever he went, we had come along too.

"What's with Alice?" I whispered in Edward's ear as I approached him.

"She shrieked and then went dead still, she snapped her eyes open but her stare is blank, I don't know what to do Bella." He sounded in pain. Just as Edward was about to move next to Alice, a boy I had never seen before grabbed her arms lightly and shook her a little. I heard Edward growl but Emmett stopped him, promising that Jasper, the person's name, was safe. After Jasper put his hands on Alice's face, she seemed to come back to us and the small group that we had formed -Edward, Rosalie, Royce, Emmett, Jasper, and myself- surrounded her. We frantically asked if she was ok when she started laughing and told us that we had fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Something about her smile was off though, as if she was trying to fake it off. I ignored this and reprimanded her.

"Alice that was seriously not funny!"

"Oh c'mon Bella don't be such a joy kill," I glared at her.

"All right, sorry, bad joke k? My bad"

"Apology accepted, though I'm still a bit mad at you" We went back to our game and left once the party started to become rated T for teens, who are seriously drunk. Rosalie and Royce stayed behind though. Emmett looked like he wanted to take Rosalie back and went as far as to tell her that she should go home. Royce was drunk; he could make sure she got home safely. Rosalie declined saying she could take care of herself. Emmett couldn't argue with that, the girl could kick ass.

We walked back to Saint Marie's in silence. I never got the chance to question Alice about what had really happened back at Jessica's place because that night brought our world upside down.

We had all gotten ready for bed, boys in one side of the building, girls on the other. We had said our goodbyes and I had boldly hugged Edward longer than was necessary, he didn't seem like he wanted to let go either. I rejoiced inside. Alice and I were changing along with the other girls when we heard the head mistress of the whole place screaming for Jasper Hale. Alice and I exchanged looks, got into our pajamas and rushed out. We met Edward and Emmett halfway down the hall that separated the two units and quietly made our way to the head mistress office where we saw Jasper in a chair, tears in his eyes. Rosalie had been raped and left for dead on an alley near Jessica's house.

That single event changed everything. It may sound like I feel it to bee insignificant, that singe event, singe as if it didn't hold the weight that it did. I say it that way because I didn't know Rosalie, I saw her as a girl that my brother had a thing for. That is not to say I wasn't affected. I mourned her like a distant friend; I never went out alone anymore. The fear I had instilled in myself, along with the warnings the males of our group provided prevented me from doing otherwise. We always went out in groups and if possible with one of the guys.

The dynamics of our group changed.
Emmett was the first to go.

He left a week after Royce was found dead in the middle of his living room. I don't remember the reason for his departure but I remember the promise to come back. I remember crying for him not to leave. I remember telling him that I needed him. I remember watching him go.

He kept in touch regularly after that mainly because our address never changed. We were never adopted. I would read the letters to everyone whenever one came. He had moved to the country. He was building a cabin with some people he had met. He was moving to another state. The letters were scarce and held little information on what he was really feeling. Whether he was still mourning Rosalie or if he had finally moved on. Then one day, he wrote that he was going to visit. It was the year he turned eighteen.

He never came.

The afternoon that he was supposed to arrive was filled with anticipation. I was going to turn fifteen soon. I'd had my first kiss, I'd had my first boyfriend. There were many firsts for me that year and I couldn't wait to tell him all about it. Edward managed to distract me for a couple of hours with his perfect lips but I grew worried once night hit and there was still no answer from the cell phone he had acquired as of late. The news came the next day.

One of the nuns, I don't remember her name now - trivial human memories fade with time- had called me into her room and she had the most stern face I've ever seen. She told me to sit down, something had happened. Something she felt I should know about.

"There is no easy way to say this" She blurted as I stared at her face. My piercings must have scared her. There was a pregnant silence before her words shattered one of the most important things I had ever loved.

"Emmett is dead" It's almost comical the way I remember her saying those three words. Her mouth moved too slowly and for a while I was not able to process her words. Emmett couldn't be dead, he had promised. He had promised me that he was coming back. The nurse was lying. Yes, that was it. I screamed at her, told her how much of a bitch she was for lying to me, knowing that he was important to me. I partially lost my sanity that day and feel as if I've never regained it from then on.

I wore black more than ever and rarely spoke to anyone besides Jasper, Alice or Edward. I was a hurt teenager angry at the world. I felt that there was injustice everywhere I turned. The war that broke out that year only helped my cynical thoughts increase. Jasper was drafted soon after and I felt that everything I loved in life was being taken away from us.

Three down, three more to go.

After Jasper left, Alice seemed to go crazy. Her "visions" became more and more clear each day. Both Edward and I had stopped thinking her insane along time ago. That didn't mean the nuns had. With out warning and with out any chance to say goodbye they took her one morning and she silently went with them. She had lost a lot of weight and there seemed no more fight in her. I was the one that screamed and kicked, Edward joined me in battle. I scratched and bit. He punched and kicked. Alice remained quiescent throughout the whole thing. They were able to pull us apart and take Alice. The nuns kept on saying that she was going to get better. I knew she wouldn't, because there was nothing wrong with Alice.

"Fight back dammit!" I screamed at her as they dragged her through the main doors. That was the last thing I said to her. I regret it. I wish I was able to tell her how much I would miss her, how much I would need her, how I would never forget her.

That was the last time I saw her.

After she left I became more of an introvert than before. The world wasn't happy again and the only life line I had was Edward. He was a more fucked up version of me. I don't remember much of him anymore. All I remember are his kisses and his eyes. Those green vibrant eyes that I would stare at every night I sneaked into his room as he hugged and sang me to sleep.

I remember whispering to his lips one night as we kissed. I had turned seventeen and we hadn't heard of Alice for some time. No one told us news of how "she was doing" anymore. We scared everyone now. Our piercings and tattoos too much for the nuns to stand. I'd woken up from a bad nightmare that I didn't want to talk about. He'd held me until I relaxed and the tears stopped flowing. The need to consume him had overpowered me and I couldn't get enough of his kisses.

"Don't leave me" I whispered.

"Never" he replied.

Things escalated from there. My kisses grew strong and my hands roamed his body until they settled on his hair. His hands never stopped wondering my body. This was way farther than we had ever allowed it to go and I couldn't seem to stop. We twisted and rolled until he was on top of me. His arms supporting most his weight, so as not to crush me. I wanted to feel crushed, consumed, eaten entirely by him. I wanted to nestle in the safe contours of his body and never emerge. I wanted to be his.

"I want to feel your weight on me" My lips moved against his. His body descended slowly on top of mine and I felt every nerve in me come alive. It wasn't until I stared to unbutton my blouse that his movements ceased. The silent message was clear.

"Are you sure?" he whispered and my eyes opened to meet his. I responded wordlessly with a kiss a small hum. I was incapable of words. Most of what happened next is blurry to me. We must have discarded of every article of clothing left because what clearly remember next is the feel of his bare chest against mine. Hid hands entangled in my hair and our pelvises pushing against each other. I felt him slowly descend into me. Our foreheads touching. Our breathing, shallow.

"Look at me" his words were soft against my lips. I opened my eyes.

I remember the small amount of pain that soon mixed in with the intense pleasure that followed. They were laced together, one in greater amount than the other. He was slow, I remember that, and attentive to every moan I made. Making sure it was of pleasure not of pain. It was awkward. We were both new to this. His words were strained and he constantly asked if I was ok. If he was hurting me. Eventually, all I remember is feeling pleasure.

I woke up his fingers tracing patterns on my stomach.

"You snore" he quietly teased.

"Shut up" I replied and kissed him senseless. His hands roamed my body. I wrapped my hands around his waist.

Someone pounded on the door. We froze and I, we, stared at each other for split second. I remember feeling sore as I tried to dress. We were a hurried mess. The shouting outside his room increased. People were demanding entrance. Once we heard the rattle of keys turning inside the lock I grasped his hand and waited for the door to open.

I remember someone screaming. People shouting and telling us to get out. We must have walked to the entrance of the building because I remember bright light. His hand was still strongly intertwined with mine until then. I remember the force of my hold on him. They had to force us apart.

I stopped taking in what was around me then. They couldn't take him away. He was all I had.

Someone screamed then. It was feral and angered. It was mine. They couldn't take Edward away, they just couldn't. I remember the feeling of being latched onto him one last time and then the complete, cold absence of his body for a complete second. It was agony. Until he ran back to me.

"I'll come back for you I swear" His voice was harsh and strong. Thick. There were tears in both our eyes. His lips were hurried and harsh. I wanted them that way.

"Don't go" I wept.

He left.

The year that followed is blank. I don't remember any of it. I turned eighteen, I know that much. That's the year my death certificate marks the end of my time on earth. Except it doesn't end there. Not really. After he left, I was allowed no visitors and I locked down. I got less sleep than when Emmett died. I think that's why I grew careless.

I remember the need to get out, and his voice telling me to stop. How can I stop when I'm hearing your voice? The night was dark and the only light was that of fluorescent poles.

Dark alley.
Red eyes.
Sharp Teeth.
Burning Pain.
Screams.

These are the things I remember from that night.
The Night I became I vampire.