A/N:
Hey everyone, well this idea came from my sister, but I thought she did a crappy job of it, so I'm gonna have a go and see if I can do better! I have lots of long-term ideas for this story, and I really like where it's heading, so I could stick with it for a while. =]
Uh, well, please review! Tell me what you think!
And I would love all the feedback I can get, because I don't know how good this is going to be. So put your friends onto this one, cos I want a wide variety of readers.
Thanks! Enjoy!
xox,
Chapter One: Fields of Gold
I stared out the window as the rain drizzled down. Forks, Washington. The town where it never stops raining. A town made just for vampires.
Who would have thought that after ninety years of wandering the globe aimlessly, I would settle down here? Not me, that's for sure. But I suppose I need some stability in my life, and since I have not yet come across any vampires who share my particular appetite, I am still alone.
I have been alone ever since that fateful day when my life was rocked by two very dramatic incidents. The first, the death of my true love. The second, the death of myself.
Growing up in the 1900's, my life had been but a short, sweet blur until Edward entered it. I met my sweetheart, Edward Masen at just fifteen, and we quickly fell in love. Edward and I were inseparable, he was the perfect gentleman and I adored him, happy to follow him wherever he went. We were destined to marry; never would a day pass when he didn't tell me how much he loved me. On my seventeenth birthday, Edward proposed. He had tears in his eyes and love in his heart the day he told me he never wanted to spend another moment away from me. Of course I agreed, he was everything I dreamed of; kind, caring, selfless, intelligent, witty, unbelievably handsome and completely devoted to me.
We were the envy of every teenage girl in the area, expected to marry quickly and to have a child soon after. And I was completely ready for my life with Edward, there was nothing more in the world I wanted than a loving husband and baby. We were the definition of true love, perfect in every way. But perhaps we were not meant to be.
A short time after our engagement, Edward's mother, Elizabeth, became ill. She was bedridden with Spanish Influenza, her husband, Edward Senior, following her shortly thereafter. Edward loved his parents with all his heart, and spent every spare second at their bedside after they had been admitted to hospital. I saw less and less of him over the coming few weeks and he began to return home from the hospital looking tired and dejected.
"Father's condition is deteriorating rapidly. Mother is not much better." He would murmur in a flat tone night after night when I asked how they were doing.
Being at the hospital so much, I did not initially notice the changes in Edward, both physical and emotional, that were ultimately symptoms. Of course I would take note of his pale skin and the bags under his eyes, but put them down to worry about his parents. It was not until he was admitted to hospital himself that I realised he was more seriously ill than just being tired.
By this time, Edward's father had died. He passed away just days before Edward became sick, and his mother took a turn for the worse. I think Edward Senior's death took its toll on both Elizabeth and Edward, as the doctor treating them at the time, a medical genius named Dr. Carlisle Cullen, confided in me that he feared they would not pull out of it. I feared this as well, to lose my true love in such devastating circumstances would be unbearable. Almost a week after her husband's death, Elizabeth passed away as well. Edward did not seem to be making any progress. It broke my heart to watch my fiancée writhing in pain and I wished that I could take his place and save him the suffering.
Dr Cullen and I shared a great many conversations, mostly about death or the afterlife, sometimes blurring into religion. He did all he could, and became a shoulder to cry on when the inevitable happened.
I will never forget the day my Edward passed away. It was very early in the morning, the sun had not yet risen. I sat by his bedside, clutching his hand as if it were my lifeline, and stared at his motionless form, the tears streaming silently down my face. I hoped and prayed this would not be our last day together. He promised we would never be apart, and I had intended to hold him to his word. I had no solid plan, but if Edward were to die, I would find a way to join him in whatever afterlife was waiting for us.
I remember Carlisle walking through the door, his head hung, looking as miserable as I felt. I looked up, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. He just shook his head.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing more we can do. He has only minutes, maybe an hour." I stared at him in disbelief, searching for any sign that would tell me this was not true. I found nothing, returning my gaze to Edward, to soak up the image of his beautiful face, one that would no longer be mine.
I don't know how long I sat there, waiting for a miracle, before I realised this was it. There would be no more Edward and Isabella, no future for us, nothing. Carlisle had returned to the room and placed a hand on my shoulder. I kissed Edward's hand, then his forehead, and took a last glance at him before I stood up to leave.
"Thank you." I whispered to Carlisle on my way out of the room. The sincerity in the Doctor's eyes was unbelievable, the compassion he felt for this family he had met not even a month before outstanding. I rounded the corner and left the building, positive I would never see my love again.
I walked down the pathway and to the small garden at the end of the drive which looked to be freshly planted. I twirled my brand-new engagement ring around my finger a few times before sliding it off. I knelt down, and dug a small hole near the base of a baby oak tree. I cried a few more tears for my beloved before placing my ring into the dirt and covering it over. I blew a kiss to the small mound as I walked away from my Edward's last resting place.
I wandered the streets for what could have been minutes or hours, tears blurring my vision as I turned down unknown street after unknown street. After a while, I fell. Perhaps I tripped on a piece of uneven ground, or my own weary feet, or maybe my legs just gave way, I don't know. But I did not get up. I sobbed into the cold dirt until I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. I gasped in surprise and quietened my breathing, waiting. There it was again. This time was worse, and I cried out in agony. The pains continued and yet again, I had no grasp on time, what could have been minutes felt like hours.
My eyes were tightly squeezed shut, and I only opened them when I felt a pair of strong, ice-cold arms scoop me up. I gasped both in pain and in shock when I felt the wind rushing through my hair and the green blur of the forest rush past me. I remember thinking at the time that I must have hit my head as I fell, because I was disoriented and nothing could be moving me that fast. I also remember thinking that it must be almost winter, because my rescuer's arms were so cold, they felt like they had been exposed to snow for hours. The last human memory I have is of Carlisle Cullen's blonde hair whipping in the wind as he rushed me in the direction of the hospital.
So here I was, back in my hometown of Forks, the only place I could truly feel at home. Sure, the memories still linger everytime I passed the hospital, or the place where I shared a home with Edward, but I have not found any place as comforting as this. I have stayed in every continent, every country in the world in my ninety years, yet I returned to the small, green town that brings me the most pain.
It's a delicate balance; the familiar feelings of overwhelming despair rush back to me in this town, but I know this is where I belong, and will always belong. Though I fled Forks only hours after Carlisle explained to me what I had become, I have not returned since, and being here so many years later brings so many new and old feelings to the surface.
I did not give Carlisle the chance for much explanation, all I knew was that he had changed me to save me, and the basic understanding of my new life. I think he would have liked to tell me more, or for me to stay and keep him company, but I was so horrified of my new life that I left town, seeking refuge in a large forest in the northern parts of Canada so as to bring no harm to human beings during my newborn period. As far as I knew, Carlisle had turned me into a monster like himself, and I refused to be a part of it, never having consumed a human's blood.
Though I initially resented the Doctor, these feelings did not last. I remembered the way he cared for the ill, especially Edward and his family, and his sincere apologies for having changed me, and I forgave him. I could never hate a man as pure and good as Carlisle Cullen.
I did not doubt that Carlisle would still reside in Forks, and was looking forward to meeting him, to give him a proper thanks for saving my life. He had, after all, saved me and done his best for Edward, as well as being a genuine friend to me through those hard times. I was ashamed at the way I reacted and thought it appropriate to apologise for my actions. But my first task upon arrival in Forks was to enrol in highschool. Because of course I am seventeen, on the outside at least.
I suppose before I tell you about my first day of school, which is a major happening of my story, I should tell you something more about myself. Some vampires are reborn with a gift. Not all of us have this, and the nature of these gifts vary widely. My gift has been described as a sheild. I can block people, if you like. My power is psychological, I can defend myself against any other vampire's mental ability, for instance Jane, of the Volturi, is powerless against me, her power causing me no harm as it is simply a trick of the mind. Against physical attack, my sheild is useless. Someone could walk right over to me and throw a punch if they wanted, although, being a vampire this would be considered suicide for most humans. I can also expand my sheld to include other people, my furthest I can stretch it has been 60 feet, so far. I can shift my sheild, to unblock me, and leave myself vulnerable to all psychological threats. Mostly, my sheild is of no use in everyday life, but comes in handy when I get myself into conflict with a vampire of mental ability.
Anyway, my first day of school was a very eventful one. I drove to school and parked in the student lot, my electric blue convertible standing out among the numerous vans and station wagons, with my roof up. I turned off the engine and took a deep, completely unneccessary breath to calm myself and stepped out of the car.
As I expected, every head turned my way. Not only was I the new girl, but I had grown accustomed to the stares my looks generated. I looked around for a few moments, examining faces I might know, before walking at a steady pace towards the entrance to the school, my eyes on the pavement. Even as a vampire, I was self-conscious. Why had I parked at the end of the lot? I would have to walk a mile to get to the gates.
Sure enough, by the time I had passed three cars, the wolf-whistles started. I passed a blue van, where a group of boys had previously been conversing but were now gawking. A boy with blonde spiky hair left his friends and stopped me as I was tyeing my long brown hair up with an elastic.
"Don't do that!" He cried, looking genuinley shocked.
"What? Why?" I replied.
"Because hair like that is too beautiful not to show off." He smiled. "I'm Mike Newton." Are you serious? I had been here for all of thirty seconds and this guy was hitting on me already.
"Bella." I said, somewhat coldly. He didn't take the hint.
"So your new, huh?" He said, grinning stupidly. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime?" Wow, boys in this town don't waste any time, do they?
"Uh, sorry Mike, I um..." I looked around, trying to think of an excuse. "I think I'd rather just get settled for now..." I know, very lame, but I couldn't think of anything that might deter this guy.
"That's alright. So when you're all settled in, then we'll go out." I hadn't discouraged him at all.
"Yeah, sure." I said, just wanting to get away. I started walking.
"Okay. See you around!" He called cheerily after me, before returning to his friends. I peeked over my shoulder to see one of them giving him a high-five, another smacking him on the back in congratulations. This was going to be a very long day.
A/N:
Okay, so I know most of this is sort of what you already know and setting the scene, but I promise it gets better. Next chapter, some action happens.
Hint: Bella meets Edward. So things happen. lol.
Tell me what you think! Please review! I love to know favourite parts etc.
Thanks guys.
xox,
