Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking dawn were four of my favorite books back then. I had always believed that magic had existed once upon a time and there was just something that appealed to me about pretending that vampires and werewolves existed as well. I'd always believed that myths had a basis in truth. I had chosen my favorite characters of course, just like everyone and I used to bore my parents with my endless babbling about them.
I haven't talked to my family in a long time. I hope someday I'll be able to get back to them for just a minute, I hope they forgive me for leaving and know it was involuntary, like slipping into sleep, into a dream world. In fact that's what I'd thought at first, that I was lying in a bed somewhere, unconscious. Or that my world slipped away, leaving me alone until I slipped in here.
Maybe I'll never know. Maybe I'll be here forever. In this world this story, this darkness that is not my own.
I'd always considered myself to be average. Dark brown hair, blue eyes, normal features, the only thing that made me stand out from the crowd was my short stature, something I both loved and hated about myself. At nineteen, everyone wants to be just a little special and I was no different. If my height was the thing that helped me be special then I would take whatever I got. I inspected my reflection in the window of the Chapters bookstore before moving off to find Twilight. It was true that I hadn't bought it yet, though I'd read it many times. I'd just…never gotten around to it.
I spotted the red apple on the cover and grabbed it eagerly off the shelf. My parents wouldn't be back for another hour, might as well kill some time reading.
I sat down on a window ledge nearby and opened the book, turning to the meadow scene.
Everything turned upside down, or maybe I did. The cheerful colours of the bookstore's interior were blurring no matter how fiercely I blinked my eyes. Then it was like a cloth had been thrown over my face. I couldn't see, and my words were drowned out by the sudden and overwhelming silence. All I could feel was the book in my hands; the pages, the cover, the smoothness of the binding. I clutched it in my hands so hard that vibrations trembled up my arms.
It was all I knew.
There was something, in the distance, a lightening, a tiny pinprick. A star? It grew larger and larger, soon I could see that it was blue, a bright hue that made my eyes water after the darkness. Then the darkness disappeared completely and the blue was all I saw with strange white shapes. After staring upwards, disoriented, I realized that I was looking at clouds and the sky. I was lying down; the ground was hard and moist against my back. I sat up dizzily. Where was I? Had I fallen asleep?
I was in a small clearing, dark and formidable trees surrounding me on all sides. The sky was the only point of light. It was utterly unfamiliar. Bewildered, I looked down at the book in my hands. The red apple glinted redly up at me.
"Hello?" I croaked, relieved that I could hear my own voice again. I pushed myself to my feet and circled slowly. If this was a dream, what should I be doing? I tucked the book under my shoulder and took a few hesitant steps. I was unsure of my footing, and my legs were half asleep. The crack of a branch made me whirl around and lose my balance, falling on the ground again hard. I looked through the trees, motionless, listening hard. Another crack echoed and I flinched. What was out there?
A tall-ish brunette stumbled into the clearing, a pale white hand shooting out to catch her.
"There's someone in there." A low male voice muttered.
"What?" the girl whipped her head around, eyes wide. She spotted me half-lying on the grass. "Oh!"
"Bella, I'm going to step in front of you, okay? I'll be in the sun, don't be startled."
An amazingly perfect boy stepped slowly into the sun, standing protectively in front of the girl. And his white skin did something that made me gasp in shock.
It sparkled.
"You! I-but-you!" I stammered, pointing a shaking finger, my eyes flicking over his bronze hair, golden eyes and impossibly pale skin.
"Who are you? This land belongs to Carlisle Cullen, you're trespassing." He reprimanded.
Carlisle? This could not be happening. He was glaring at me ferociously now so I cleared my throat hastily.
"My name is Katherine."
"You must leave."
I stood up, still holding the book. "I wish I could, believe me. I don't even know what is happening. Look, I know it's crazy but I know who you are, I know who your family is. Because of this book." I held it up. "You aren't real, you can't be." Every one of my words sounded crazier than the last.
"You know my family, do you?" he growled, slipping into a half crouch.
I started shaking even more. Why was he acting like this? I was a human; he shouldn't look like he was going to tear me into shreds any second. I had to do something.
"You're Edward Cullen, a vampire. You were changed by Carlisle, whose wife is Esme, and you have 2 brothers and two sisters, Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Alice. You're not really related, but…" my words faltered and died under his incredulous stare.
"How do you know that?"
Bella's eyes were wide, peeping over Edward's shoulder.
"This book, I told you. I think I-fell into it or something. I'm not from this world." I whispered, still holding it up. "Please believe me."
He continued to glare, suspicion marring his features. I didn't blame him.
"Bella, I need to take her to Carlisle, he'll know what to do. Will you come with me?" his hostile gaze softened when he looked over his shoulder. She nodded and Edward grabbed her up in one arm, whispering in her ear that he would need to go fast, vampire fast, something she hadn't experienced yet.
He appeared next to me in half a second and lifted me roughly in his other arm. He felt cold, colder than I'd imagined, and hard and smooth as stone. It was a strange feeling and not one I was sure I liked.
"Close your eyes" I told Bella, who looked terrified. With slight hesitation, she did, as did I and soon I could feel the air whooshing past. My eyes squeezed tightly shut, my lips pressed together, but I remained calm. Because I believed I was dreaming. Or insane.
The wind abruptly stopped and I was dropped so that I stumbled and almost fell over.
A huge white mansion stood sturdily in front of me. No sign of life inside, but that was to be expected for a house full of vampires.
Then the door swung open.
A tiny dark haired girl danced out, my height but much thinner.
"Alice." I breathed. Her eyes flickered to me for a moment in confusion, but then looked to Bella.
"Hi Bella. Is this one of your friends?" she asked brightly.
"Drop the act Alice, she knows everything."
"Fine. Your whole future disappeared about two minutes ago." She informed him. "It's never happened before."
He looked back in shock.
"I think I know why." I volunteered.
Alice looked at me. "Who is she?"
"I have no idea. She knows who we are. I brought her home so we could figure out what to do." Edward answered.
"Then we'd better get Carlisle."
After repeating my story, jumbled and confused as it was, I was left in a room with Emmett as my guard while Bella was led away by Edward.
I stared at my hand and then rubbed my forehead. I had a monster headache so that ruled out the dream theory. Weren't you not supposed to feel pain in dreams? I was currently going with a new theory: that I was in a coma. Because there was no way that this was real.
Carlisle's study door opened and I sprang to my feet. He emerged, the rest of his family following. Edward went straight to Bella.
"Katherine." Carlisle stated. "We…have decided to keep watch over you while we debate what the next step should be. We have examined the part of the book you showed us and obviously, we've also decided that it's unsafe for you to leave. You're to stay with us; it's the safest option…for everyone."
Yeah, it was safe for me to stay in a house full of made-up vampires, huh? It suddenly occurred to me that I could have been kidnapped by a group of people who pretended to be the Cullens. People who lived in such a big delusion could be very very dangerous. They left me to sleep in one of the bedrooms for the night and I was sure that someone would be posted outside both the door and the window in case I tried to leave. I pulled the blankets off of the bed and curled up in a corner, cat-like. I stayed awake all night.
