Prologue
One day we'll all die.
Though it's depressing it is the truth. But the truth for some, is a myth to others. I will never die. I will never have to feel the life slowly draining from my body, drifting peacefully up into the sky. I will never be buried in a shallow grave nor will I ever be placed in a burning incinerator to later be scattered into the ocean. I will always be alive and I will always be alone. I have come to terms with this after many, many years of travel. I've seen a lot. I've heard a lot, I've felt a lot. But never once did I feel the need to find a partner or a mate. I'm a loner and that's fine by me.
I wasn't always a loner though. I used to be a carefree southern girl, living on the Texas prairie. It was always warm and always beautiful. I remember the things that surrounded me. The fresh water in the pond, not yet polluted or soiled by foreign items. The warm breeze wafting through the trees, blowing my hair around my face. The hot buttered corn and the juicy deer meat on my plate, tempting and succulent. It was a perfect life…
Until Pa left.
It had been a normal night. As it got darker, it got cooler and I had been in the kitchen with Ma, cooking up supper. My younger brother, Peter, had been playing on the floor when Pa came in and announced that our old mutt, Chester, had disappeared. Chester was a good old dog, he had been around since I was just a toddler. Pa used him to look after Peter, our crops and I. He didn't want us getting mauled by a coyote as much as he didn't want our crops being taken by the coons. He would have just let him wander back home, but he didn't want to risk our corn being nibbled on by those varmints outside, so he went out looking. Ma wasn't too happy about it, considering it was getting darker. Pa assured her that he would be home in no time, and that all he was doing was going to find that no good old flea bag. He swung Peter up on his shoulders and kissed me on the cheek before heading off to find Chester.
If we had known he would never come back…
Darkness fell and supper went cold, but Ma insisted we still sit at the table and wait for Pa. She kept saying he'd be home any second, any second he'd walk right through that door. As the seconds turned into minutes and minutes rolled into hours, Ma got more and more worried. Peter was just a tot, he didn't understand what was going on. After Ma put him to bed, she let me sleep with her in their bed, considering Pa wasn't home. She convinced herself that he had realized the time and stopped at a neighbors to take shelter for the night. I agreed, simply to calm her nerves. But inside, I had a bad feeling.
The next day, Ma waited anxiously by the windows, hoping to see Pa gallop up on his horse, smiling and sunny like always. I watched Peter play in the pond, so Ma could focus on fretting. She kept herself busy by picking the ripened vegetables from the ground, but I saw that she kept glancing up every now and then at the trail. Still, no Pa. Though what really sent her over the edge was that Chester had come home late last night, all by himself. Pa hadn't had too much faith in that old rascal, I remember thinking as I rubbed his ears. The day passed and Ma was tearing her hair out worrying about Pa. I finally decided to walk the few miles down to old Mr. Howell's house and check if Pa was staying there. I knew it was a lost effort, but it gave Ma and I some comfort. I wanted her to be calm, considering she was due to deliver any day now.
I left her and Peter lying in the bed that afternoon. The sun was still high up in the sky and it was beating through my bonnet. I took it off at some point, wiping the sweat from my forehead before tucking my dark hair back up in its twist. Pa's hair was dark and long, but in the right light, his hair was almost as yellow as the corn he grew. It was clearly amazing. Ma's friends always told me I looked just like my Pa, while Peter resembled my Mother with his golden locks and his big brown eyes. Hopefully, the new baby would be a mix of both.
I arrived at Mr. Howell's farm after a long walk. Ma would only let me go in broad daylight, so I would be safer. She even made me bring Chester. I knocked on Mr. Howell's door and his elderly wife opened it up and looked down at me, smiling.
"Well, Isabella Whitlock, what a nice surprise. Would you like to come in, dear? I was just getting supper ready. Sit down for a spell." She welcomed me, ushering me into her home. Mr. Howell was sitting at the table, enjoying a cup of freshly brewed lemonade. He smiled at me, sweetly. He was missing three teeth.
"Little Lady Whitlock? Darling, where's your Pa? Ain't he with you?" He demanded, curiously. His voice was raspy from all his years of shouting orders and rounding up kids. He was a lovely man, always gentle and sweet with the children around here. His own son and daughter had passed away after a horrible illness struck them and he had been grieving ever since.
"That's why I'm here, Mr. Howell. Pa's gone missing. Ma sent me down to ask if you've seen him passing by." I explained, politely. He looked stumped.
"I saw him last night, riding around the fields. He was looking for your trouble making mutt, I guessed." He gave me a coy smile. "You're Ma shouldn't be worrying. It's not good for that boy she's carrying around."
Mrs. Howell scoffed. "Oh, Archie, honestly. It could be a little lady she's carrying around and you wouldn't know a thing about it."
He chuckled, before turning back to me. "I'll keep an eye out, darling. Now run on home and tell your Ma to stop her jittering around. If I know your Pa, and I do, he's just dwindling around, enjoying the sun."
He must be enjoying the moon too, I thought as I lay in Ma's bed again that night. Peter hadn't been worried one bit, he was far too little to understand what was going on. I held Ma's hand while she sniffled into her cotton pillow next to me. I rubbed her back until she fell asleep. That night, I decided something was really wrong.
Pa would never leave us. He was a good man and he was worried about Chester that night and feeding the family. He would never abandon us like that. It simply couldn't happen, I decided. But that didn't mean he was alright. Oh boy, did it mean the exact opposite. The extremely exact opposite. I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole rest of the week. Not until our horse came trotting home.
Without Pa.
All Ma and I could do was sleep. I had just turned twelve that week. I spent my birthday in bed, working Ma through the rest of her expectancy. She had only a few weeks to go when we found Pa's hat in the creek, ten miles from here. That's when Ma finally lost hope. And when she finally had the baby.
Charlotte Jasmine Whitlock was born on June 14, 1862, named after her Papa. She had her father's dark hair and his big round blue eyes. Ma swore she could be my identical, but I blushed at the thought. Little Charlotte Whitlock would grow up to be much prettier then little old me. But at least she'd grow up with a man around, because exactly one month later, Ma remarried. She didn't want to be all alone out here with us kids, so she asked around. It turns out, Mrs. Byrd's son was visiting that week. He took one look at Ma and her Sunkist blonde locks before proposing. No courting, no romance, no love. She needed a husband and he needed a wife. It was a marriage of convenience. There was no love involved. It was nothing like Pa and Ma.
Warren Byrd looked nothing like Pa. He was short, but broad where as Pa was tall and lanky. Warren had ruffled orange locks and sharp black eyes, where as Pa had a dark mane and wide turquoise eyes. He was mean and skeptical where as Pa was aloof and charming. Ma hated every minute spent with him, but she was doing this for the family. We were now officially the Byrd family. But in my heart, I knew I wasn't Isabella Byrd. I would always be Isabella Whitlock, the ultimate southern belle. And Warren Byrd would never change that.
"Nettie!" He would yell out during the day.
"Nettie!" He would yell out during the night.
"Nettie!" He would yell out in my dreams.
"Isabella!" He would yell out when he couldn't find, "Nettie!"
He made Peter get to work on the farm right away. He was only four years old, he was barely big enough for his breeches, let alone working the fields. He made Ma tailor Pa's clothes to fit his plump figure and he made me rub his feet while Ma worked during the evening. He was disgusting and he wanted a son immediately.
Ma was still nursing Lottie when she became pregnant again. Warren warned her every day that it better be a boy, otherwise it would have no use to him. He didn't like Peter one bit, because he wasn't his own. Besides, Peter was already too much like Pa to be anything like Warren. It was the same for Lottie and I. And Lottie was only ten weeks old. Ma wasn't allowed to talk with her friends anymore. Warren kept her busy, whether it was around the house or in his bedroom performing her wifely duties. I could hear her crying every night after he was done, but whenever I would ask her she would sniffle and say it was her job as a respectable wife. She never claimed it was a job when Pa was around. She told me that it was love back in those days. Now it was work.
When I turned fifteen, Warren decided it was time I find a husband. Ma disagreed, but he shut her up with a few quick smacks to her rosy cheeks. She looked so flushed all the time, it was almost nice to see some color in her cheeks, even if it was the result of violence. She had been so busy taking care of the children. We were up to eight by this time. There was Peter, Lottie, Victoria, James and I. Victoria and James were a result of Peter's venomous work ethic, but Ma loved them just the same. They were twins, both with a shock of red hair and large brown eyes, just like their Ma. Warren was eager for them to grow so James could start his work on the farm.
By the time I was sixteen, Warren was going stir crazy. He wanted me out of his house and making little babies for him to brainwash. I was appalled when he started knocking on doors, demanding someone take my hand. Ma soothed me, happy to be away from him for awhile. It always felt good when his presence was gone. It was like a giant storm cloud had been removed from the sky and we could all finally breathe again. Peter was now eight years old and could plow the fields all by himself. Lottie had just turned four when Warren showed up at the door with the unfamiliar man.
His hair was pulled back in a blonde ponytail and he was strikingly pale. He was incredibly beautiful except for his strange eyes. They were a deep red color, but Warren waved it off and told me to shut up and mind my own business. I'm sorry, Warren, I wasn't aware that my marriage wasn't my business. I forgot that you're the almighty Byrd and you know everything there is to know about everything, I remember thinking, vehemently. Ma invited him for supper, but he refused, saying he'd much rather go on a nice quiet walk with me. I felt dread in the pit of my stomach. Ma nudged me to the door and when I wouldn't budge, Warren grabbed my arm and practically threw me out.
I walked nervously down the path with him. He tried to touch my hand, but I pulled away. He smelled very nice, like freesias and daffodils. I had gotten so used to Warren's perspiration that I forgot what a good man smells like. He made idle chit chat, asking me about myself as we approached the woods. Ma had been terrified of them ever since Pa disappeared, but I didn't want to seem stupid in front of this gentlemen, so I followed him down the dirt road through the forest. It wasn't until he started to go off the path that I got worried. He cut through the dark trees and his seductive voice called my name the whole time. Like a fool, I followed him wide eyed and mystified.
That was the last day I ever saw Ma. And Peter. And Lottie. And Victoria. And James. And thank the Lord, Warren.
I don't remember a lot after that. I remember following him and then…being grabbed around the waist. There was a snap in my neck and everything went dark. There was pain. Lots and lots of pain, but I survived it. I remember screams, probably mine. And three days later, I woke up. I woke up and the first thing I did was kill a bunny passing by.
I didn't know what was wrong with me. All I knew was that every time an animal passed by, I couldn't help myself. I sprang into action. I knew I couldn't go home to Ma. She was probably in a frenzy and I felt terrible leaving her like that, but I had to. The man who never told me his name was gone, but I feared he did this to me. There was no other explanation. It was weeks of travel before I spotted someone like me. I saw him in San Antonio. It was a short interaction and he basically laughed in my face when I asked him what I was. But he good heatedly explained it to me and I was shocked at what I heard. A vampire? It couldn't be! I left Texas shortly after I snapped and killed a bear close to my home. I couldn't take the chance of snapping and killing someone I knew, or worse, killing someone I loved. So I vanished.
I never once considered that my Dad might have gone through this too. It never once crossed my mind. Until decades later, I found him. At Forks High School , with big golden eyes and four other vampires by his side.
It was raining again in Forks, not to my surprise. I had been living in a small motel on the outskirts of the town, hoping not to seem too suspicious. There was a small house for sale in the middle of town, but I didn't want to be that obvious. I only looked sixteen, I couldn't very well go out and buy a home all by myself. I scolded myself for ever even thinking it. If Ma were there, she'd give me a licking with a switch for ever being that dumb. The motel was small and relatively clean, plus it didn't have too much security. That might have scared some people, but a rapist wasn't too much of a threat to me. You've got a gun? I have unnatural strength and speed, not to mention kick ass boxing skills. Mess with me, rapist, I dare you.
Since I was sixteen, it was only logical that I attend high school. I had grown accustomed to the smell of human blood over the years and it didn't really bother me anymore. I still felt a slight twitch every now and then, but it was mostly controllable. I'm proud to say I've never had even a drop of human blood. I kept myself too isolated for that. Now, I've attended high school before, don't get me wrong. I just tended to stay away from small towns. Smalls towns were filled with nosey people and I didn't need any snoops lurking around. Normal people were dimwitted enough for me, thanks.
I packed my school bag up with my fresh supplies I bought late from Staples last night. My backpack was black and average, unlike myself. My hair was quite long nowadays and my eyes had changed into a liquid golden color. I was much paler then I was back on my Texas ranch, but I had learned to live with it. Pale looked good on me. I climbed into my sleek black Ferrari and stepped on the gas. School was somewhere I was not looking forward to being, but I might as well have fun arriving. A few minutes later, I swung into the parking lot, cutting off a shiny silver Volvo. They honked at me, but I just rolled my eyes. Stupid teenagers had no idea how to drive. Were they born yesterday?
I climbed out of my car, enjoying the looks I got from the boys passing by. I even got a few baffled stares from the girls. But the stares soon turned into glares from the girls and snickers from the boys. They elbowed each other and gyrated their hips in my direction. A stubby blonde boy claimed he would "tap that". Sorry, pudgy blonde kid. You're not my type.
"Hello, my name is Isabella Whitlock, I'm new." I introduced myself to the secretary, giving her a wide smile. Her eyes widened and she typed something quickly on her computer. She gulped.
"Yes, yes, of course. Isabella Whitlock, you're right on time." She twittered, nervously. "Here is your schedule. I'll find someone to walk you around…"
She scanned the children coming and suddenly spotted someone she approved of. I froze when I inhaled.
"Jessica, dear? Could you please show Isabella around?" She asked her, sweetly. A frizzy haired brunette flounced over to us and gave me a once over. She ga12ve me a small, condescending smirk and looked back at her friends. They were nudging each other and giggling.
"Of course, Mrs. Cope. I'd love to show Isabella around." She had a high pitched voice and she smacked her gum obnoxiously, I noted. "You know, I'm friends. When we arrived, Jessica pushed me forward, right into a busty blonde girl. The girl sneered in my direction. I resisted the urge to laugh. The girl had about a foot on me, even without her heels, and I was tempted to remind her that guys usually didn't go for the NBA style girls. But I figured first impressions were lasting, so I let it go.
"What's your name?" She demanded in a nasally voice. I gave her a wide grin, showing all my perfectly white teeth in two neat rows. I could clearly see a snaggle tooth behind those painted lips.
"Whitlock." I answered shortly. She snorted, before looking at her friends in disgust. They rolled their eyes, mimicking her expression. Even Jessica was making a gagging motion behind my back with her finger. Desperate girls, I thought. When will you learn?
"What kind of name is Whitlock?" She scoffed turning her nose up. She really needed to clean out the cave. The bats were reproducing rapidly.
"What kind of name is Lauren?" I chirped back before giving her a quick wink and pushing her out of my way. I walked right by her, loving the sound of my boots clicking in victory. Other kids stopped to stare at me, whispering and mumbling amongst themselves as I went by. One word thrown around a lot was 'Cullen'. Was that supposed to be some new hip word for hot stuff? I really needed an update. The last time I went to high school, bell bottoms were in style and the hippie movement was at its prime. I have to say, I've hugged trees with the best of them.
I was proud of myself to say the least. The blonde had been baffled that I already knew her name three minutes after entering the school. She had also seemed a bit smug, like it was an honor for everyone to know her name. I had only known it because I heard some boys across the room, whispering about how Lauren was going to eat the new girl alive. Like she was any threat to me, I thought as I found my locker. They were red and incredibly tacky, but I turned the dial on the lock quickly and yanked it down before opening up the squeaky door, hurriedly. There was a girl at the end of my locker row, who kept looking up at me, silently. I turned and gave her a quick smile before unloading my supplies into my locker. The girl kept staring.
"Can I help you?" I finally asked. The girl blushed bright red and my mouth watered. I bit that feeling back and leaned against the metal, waiting for her to respond.
"Sorry." She mumbled, going through her bag. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"I wasn't uncomfortable," I assured her. "My name is Isa. And you are…?"
"Angela." She answered, wiping her nose on her sleeve. She took a white binder out of her locker and shut it with a quiet click. She was very mousy, but I suppose if she was anything else, she just wouldn't look right. I walked more towards her and she stepped back, intimidated.
"Can you help me?" I asked, pulling out my schedule. "I'm kind of lost."
She seemed surprised someone was talking to her. "Y-yes. Of course, I'd love to help." She glanced down at my schedule, seemingly going through a catalog of classes in her mind. Her face brightened and she looked up at me, excitedly. "We have the exact same schedule."
I gave her a smile. "That's great! At least I have a friend to hold onto around here. Would you mind showing me around?"
She nodded, happily. "Sure! We have theatre first. I'm not sure why I signed up for it, but Mom says it looks good on my college application to have something artful done."
She continued to babble, while I walked down the hallway by her side. Did this school not have homeroom, I wondered looking around. Everyone seemed to be going straight to their classes. Angela must have picked up on my confusion, because she gave me a quick explanation about locker clean out today as we entered a small gray and green room, with little wooden desks filling up most of the area. There were kids in corners, laughing and talking, but most turned to look at me curiously. I spotted the pudgy blonde boy in the corner, talking to a very oily Asian male, who couldn't take his eyes off of Angela. He blushed bright pink when he caught me staring at her.
Angela lead me to a row of chairs in the back of the classroom, where I was perfectly content. When you're a vampire, it's best to stay out of the spotlight, which was why I was kind of pissed they stuck me in this class anyway. But Angela looked so happy to be sitting with someone, so I let it go. I looked up from my doodles to find the pudgy blonde and the Asian walking up to us, nervously.
"Hey, Ashley." The blonde said. "Who's your friend?"
Angela ducked her head, clearly embarrassed that he got her name wrong. The Asian elbowed him and started to apologize when a middle aged woman strutted into the room. She was wearing khakis and a striped sweater that didn't go together at all. But who was I to judge? She cleared her throat in an attempt to get the attention of the class, before she finally whistled very shrilly, causing every head in the room to turn towards her.
"Hello, class. Today we'll be presenting our improvisation monologues, so I hope your all ready to go!" She announced, before she noticed me sitting in the back. "And it seems we have a new student! What's your name, honey?"
"Whitlock." I said, clearly. Some kids made faces at the name, but I shrugged it off. It was strange to address myself with my last name, but people often tried to give me nicknames when I went by Isabella. What could you possibly shorten Whitlock to? Whitty? Lockie? I don't think so.
"Whitlock, what an interesting name! Well, Whitlock, would you like to come up and present your monologue first? It's improvisation, so you don't have to worry about being prepared or anything." She reassured me. I groaned inside my head, but made sure to plaster a smile on my face. Angela gave me a comforting pat on the arm as I stood up. I headed to the front of the room, where there was a small gray platform built into the floor. I stepped up on it and cleared my throat out of habit. As I opened my mouth to begin, the door in the back of the room opened and everyone swiveled their heads around to look. I froze as I laid eyes on the people walking in.
"Sorry we're late, Miss Taylor. We had some trouble in the parking lot." A small sprite of a girl explained to her, while a voluptuous blonde handed her a pass from what I assumed would be the front office. The burly guy next to her, nodded along.
"That's fine, Alice. You all are just in time to hear Whitlock's monologue." She grinned, gesturing towards me. The little one, Alice, looked up at me and froze. I saw her quickly sniff the air and nudge the blonde as they took their seats at the end of the row Angela and I were seated in.
The blonde girl was glaring at me as I chose a random lie off the top of my head to create into a tale about my childhood in Kentucky. I always had to say I was from a southern state when I started in a new place, because of my pesky southern accent that stuck by me all these years. This time, I decided to say I was from Kentucky, because I'd seen at least sixteen KFC's driving into town. I figured the people here might appreciate that particular choice of background.
I knew they were vampires the minute they walked into the room. They were so pale and pristine, it was like looking at myself. Their eyes were a liquid gold color, resembling mine. I could see though that their eyes weren't quite as yellow as mine were though. All of them had an incredibly faint red tint to them, showing that they were either relatively new vampires or they hadn't been on the animal diet for very long. Alice, the small one, had a short black bob with wisps of dark hair popping around her face. The girl next to her, the blonde, had long golden tendrils that went nicely with her eyes and pouty red lips that the male seemed to enjoy. The male was large, with bulging muscles and an array of brown curls atop his head. They were all staring at me, curiously as I took my seat a few seats down from them.
I knew I smelled something fishy when I came into town. I smelled vampire everywhere I went, so it honestly didn't surprise me when I smelled a hint of supernatural when I rolled into Forks. Vampires were nomads mostly and they traveled quickly, always carefully hidden. I was under the impression I alone in my lifestyle. Not animal hunting, of course, but how I lead the life of a human. I went to school, I did my homework, I had jobs. Most vampires were not only nomads, but they were thieves. They were too quick for humans to catch them and too strong for them to lock us up. It was easy to rob a poor family of mortals blind of all their possessions, but it was much harder to rob them of their assets, especially those in the bank. I snorted as I imagines a scrawny little man holding up a Sovereign with his pathetic little revolver. I then imagined a stealthy, beautiful vampire unlocking a vault in the dead of night and hurriedly retrieving what they came for. I liked the vampire option better. At least with vampires, they knew what they were doing.
I was closest to the burly male, who was obviously shielding his…ladies from me. I couldn't blame him, I was shielding the entire class, secretly. We had no information about each other, so it was only rational we assume a threat. The rest of the class period, we finished the monologues and chatted quietly amongst ourselves. I braced myself when the small one delicately got up from her chair and sat right down in the one next to me.
"Hello, I'm Alice Cullen, nice to meet you." She greeted me, holding out her hand. I shook it, reveling in the normalness of it. For now, we were just normal human beings. It was a nice feeling. "And this is my brother, Emmett and my sister, Rosalie."
I waved at them, trying to act shy. I felt eyes on me around the room though conversations were held.
"I'm Isabella Whitlock, pleased to meet you too." I said, politely. Rosalie was looking me over, like she was checking for damage. I rolled my eyes when she turned her nose up. I expected Alice to keep pointlessly chatting with me, but instead she lowered her voice so that humans couldn't hear and leaned towards me a bit.
"We'd like to speak with you, if you don't mind." She murmured, fast and blunt. I nodded, swiftly and she got up just before the bell rang. I felt bad about doing this, but I turned to Angela once we reached the whole way and gave her an apologetic look.
"I have to go to the bathroom. I'll meet up with you though, okay? We have Biology next, right?" I guessed.
She looked upset, but she nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you there." She mumbled. She obviously thought I was going to bail on her and I was. Just not the way she saw it. I darted down the hallway to the cafeteria where a janitor was mopping around a table. I snuck out the door and saw Alice, Emmett and Rosalie standing near my car, waiting. They saw me coming and Emmett shifted his weight to stand in front of the girls, protectively. I rolled my eyes, unlocking my car with a click. They looked confused, so I sighed.
"Well, we're obviously not having this conversation right here at school are we?" I huffed, placing a hand on my hip. My jeans were a little too tight for actual comfort, but they looked nice with my boots, so I let it go. I shifted in them as Alice nodded, looking relieved.
"For a minute there, I thought you were leaving. But you're right, we should do this in private with the rest of our family. Just follow us and you can come over to our house, alright?" She suggested. I raised an eyebrow.
"Lead the way, short stuff." I murmured, before sliding into the driver's seat in one fluid motion. I started up the car and listened to it purr in delight. I saw the shiny silver Volvo from before, pulling out of the parking lot and I laughed when I realized that I had actually been the one to give them trouble in the parking lot.
It was short drive to the turn off through the trees. There was gravel path leading to a large white house and I winced as I imagined the little tiny rocks flying up and scratching my poor baby. I rubbed the steering wheel, embarrassingly enough as I pulled up to the mansion behind Alice. She bounced out of the driver's side before I could blink and the other two went on ahead in the house. They were obviously warning the others. I sighed and climbed out of the car, appreciating the paved driveway. I didn't like to waste my hard earned money on frivolous things, though I could if I wanted to. Mud would definitely ruin these insanely expensive boots.
I walked up beside Alice and she gave me a warm smile. "Just to warn you, my family is a little precautious with new comers. Don't be alarmed with their abrasiveness."
I winked at her as we stepped up on the porch. The door was opened in one swift motion and I gasped. I stepped back, taken off guard by his presence and covered my mouth with my pale hand. He looked as surprised as I did. His hand was frozen on the doorknob and he wasn't breathing, nor was I. I took him all in and in one big gust of breath, I whispered it.
"Pa."