I was 12 when the Cullen family moved to town. I lived in a tiny hole-in-the-wall town in North Carolina, in one of those manufactured home communities. I went to school at the local middle school with my two besties. The Cullen family was the talk of the town—they had bought an old Victorian-era place just inside the city limits, and their family had seven people. I lived right by the house they bought. On their first day in town, I saw the oldest boys (Emmett and Jasper) in the local Lowes. I introduced myself, grinning my quirky grin. "My name's Caiti."
The giant boy grinned back. "I'm Emmett, and this is my brother Jasper."
Mom looked at them. She looked like she was going to grab me and make a mad-dash to the door.
"Y'all are new in town, aren't ya?" I asked.
"Yes, we just moved," said Jasper.
"Awesome sauce. See ya around, guys." I waved at them and went back to Mom.
She gave me one of those looks, like the infamous what-the-freak-is-wrong-with-you-Caiti-they-could-be-kidnappers-or-perverts look. I gave her my own look, I-can-take-care-of-myself-I'm-a-big-girl.
That was the first time I laid eyes on any of the Cullen family.
When I went to school that Monday, everyone was abuzz. Ashley McKinson had spread vicious rumors about them, and adapted others to suit her needs. Christine Young didn't get involved. Lily Wester listened to all the rumors. My friends—Summer Williams and Mary Preston—never really got into stuff like that. It was at Activity Time (our indoor-recess, basically) that Mary brought up the subject of the Cullens.
"They live right near me," she said. "It's just weird having such a big family. What the frizzles would they move here for?"
Summer shrugged. "They have to have their own reasons."
"I met two of 'em, Emmett and Jasper, at Lowes. They're nice enough," I told both of them.
Mary was silent for a moment, then bust out the suggestion they were vampires. Summer and I laughed at her.
My best friend had unknowingly said the truth. I didn't know it at that point, though. Neither did Summer. That Saturday (Friday had been the last day of school), my friends snuck out and rode their bikes to my place. We lay on the roof, watching the stars. Summer suggested we go muck around in the woods. I agreed with her. We walked around for a while, going deeper into the dark but familiar woods. A half hour passed, and I saw something move in the woods; a pale flash, with no more substance than a ghost. Then another. And three more. A snarling noise sounded. Mary practically jumped into my arms. All three of us hugged together, scared and confused. The growling snarl became louder and I felt something hit me with the force of an explosion, knocking us apart.
Summer and Mary screamed. I yelled their names, trying to get to my feet and find them. My left arm throbbed where a rock had cut a long gash in it. I crawled towards Summer. Her wild brown hair was full of debris, and her glasses were askew on her face. I shook her. The slanted brown eyes opened.
I motioned for her to stay silent. Mary was six feet away from Summer; her face was twisted up in pain and her pale skin was even more pale than usual. One arm was bent at an unnatural angle and a strange cut was on the upper area of the same arm. It looked like a bite mark, strangely human. Her blue-gray eyes opened, with her pain reflected in the frenzied orbits. She whispered to me hoarsely, "My... My arm."
I silently pulled her upright and hugged her against me. Summer sat on the other side, propping her up and hugging both of us. The snarling started up again. I squeezed my eyes shut. Then I heard a conversation. "What the hell did you do?"
"Listen, I—"
"Oh shit. Oh shit, Jazz, we're in deep dog doo. That kid just... You... She... You bit her!"
"Would you shut up for a second? God. Okay, so I accidentally lost control and bit her. Any clues on what to do?"
"Nada. What about the others? What're we gonna tell the other two girls?"
"Right now, I'm just worried what we're gonna tell Esme!"
They were silent. I looked at Summer. She begged me with her eyes to stay quiet, to just let them go away. I shifted Mary so Summer was propping her up and stood on shaky legs.
"Whoever just did that to my friend, you best get your ass out here!" I yelled with my anger and fear making my words more powerful and steady than I ever hoped for.
The deep voice cussed. Two figures stepped out of the woods. I fell back a step. My eyes adjusted. They were Emmett and Jasper, the two I had met at Lowes! Emmett gave me one of those sorry looks. "I'm really sorry, kid."
"SORRY?" I shrieked. "You're SORRY? Oh yeah, it's all fine and dandy just because you're SORRY you BROKE MY FRIEND'S ARM! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?"
I panted after my little rant. Summer spoke up, stumbling over her words. "Caiti, I don't think you should piss those particular people off right this moment."
I ignored her suggestion and glared daggers at the two Cullen kids. Both were leaning away from me, looking shocked and a little bit afraid.
Mary made a noise like a whimper and I went over to her. I felt her forehead; it was frozen like ice. The bite mark on her arm had faded to a pale pink and already looked like a shiny new scar. Her eyes fluttered open, and I saw a tiny ring of red around the pupil. She gasped, jaw clenching. Mary was trying to keep from screaming. I put my arms around her, and she was too weak to protest. Summer hugged us both.
I knew I was about to cry. I felt the tears dripping down my face before I heard my sniffling sobs. I looked up at Emmett and Jasper. "Please help her. You have to be able to do something."
Emmett shrugged helplessly. Jasper was fixated on me—or, rather my arm. I moved my other hand to touch it. Blood ran in thin trails, black in the dark forest. Emmett saw him, but Jasper was gone. I felt a vice grip on my arm and I thrashed, kicking. A branding iron had been settled on my gash. I felt the pressure lift, but the burning remained. I looked, and saw Summer kicking at Jasper.
He bowled her over and five seconds later, Emmett had yanked him back. Jasper's face was frightening; blood was around his mouth, his eyes were a horrible deep maroon, and his bone-white face was contorted in some emotion I had never seen.
My arm continued to burn. It spread to the rest of my arm, and slowly consumed my body. The pain was great. I finally succumbed to it, and fell into the black clutches of unconsciousness.
