LoveLeah
Summary: After the confrontation with the Volturi, everything seemed to be getting back to its boring self. Until a strange visitor comes knocking at the Cullen's door. The mythological world is in for another shock when Leah enters the scene.
Chapter 1: A Midwinter Night's mare
I was longing for my warm bed as I drove home on the familiar forest road. Nature made it clear that autumn was really over now and King Winter had started his icy reign. From the hot cabin of my car, I could easily admire the beauty of the frozen forest. On evenings like this, when the road was deserted, the idyllic picture of the trees covered in white snow blankets was really very peaceful. I didn't like the cold, but the beauty of the winter-scenery was hard to resist, especially when I was hot and comfortably inside.
My house and garden were surrounded by forest and some people would say it was a lonely existence. But in fact, I never felt alone in nature, with life so clearly sprouting everywhere around me. I could spend ages staring out of my window, admiring nature. In this season, that time would be mostly spend in my rocking chair by the fire, tucked in blankets, with a cup of hot soup in my hand. Looking out of my window like that, I could find extreme pleasure in watching birds hopping their way through the snow, until they reached the feast of nuts I had placed there for them.
A strange blur of color woke me from my reverie. It was so out of place in the black and white forest that I automatically pressed the brake to investigate. Coming closer now, I saw to my astonishment that the cause was a woman. But her choice of clothes would have been more appropriate for a sunny beach rather than a frozen forest. She was wearing a bright blue T-shirt with a flashy green print. Underneath she had a colorful skirt consisting of several layers and she was barefooted. Although the skirt reached as long as her ankles, it didn't seem warm. From the way the wind played with it, it looked like the fabric was light cotton or linen instead of a thicker woven tissue appropriate for the current temperatures. Her long, honey-colored curly hair was blowing in the wind and she was very pale, presumably because she was cold. She was extremely beautiful and in other circumstances I might have found her attractive, but she had something wild about herself that scared me.
The strange woman smiled when she spotted me and motioned me to come to closer with her finger. I pinched myself and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming. But when I opened my eyes again, she was still there, patiently waiting for me to approach. Finally curiosity took the better half of me and I killed my engine. I inhaled the warm air in my car for a last time before opening the door and stepping into the chilly evening out there.
I had barely set two steps, when she was all of the sudden near me and dragged me deep into the forest. Fear was now racing through me, but even when she sank her teeth in my skin, I somehow failed to remember how to scream. The blood sucking stopped as abruptly as it had started and the woman suddenly crouched in a defensive posture, seemingly reacting to an inaudible noise. As if there had still been a doubt about her nature, she let out a snarl so terrifying it couldn't possibly be human. She shoved me under a bush and disappeared into the forest so fast that it was a haze of color for my eyes. Fervently hoping that I'd wake up soon, I was now convinced that I was in a nightmare rather than a dream. It wasn't until the awful burning started, that I knew that not even in my wildest nightmare I could imagine a pain so fierce.
A/N I am sorry for all the readers who have been hoping for a new chapter for my other fic. Even though I started the new chapter, this one sort of stuck with me and I couldn't focus any longer on my other characters. Anyway, I hope you all like this one too.
Tater: If you are reading this story as well, thank you for your advice on my other fic! I tried to keep it in mind for this one as well and I hope I did a good job ;-)