Chapter 1 – Readings
My life was simple, but happy. I lived with my two sisters and mother in the small town of Forks. It's a small town, practically at the edge of the world. We lived under the constant cloud of the Olympic Peninsula. Our house was on the edge of town, away from prying eyes of the simple minded-townsfolk. I can't wait to move out of this place. I wanted to live in the bright lights of the city, were everything is busy, instead of the dreary quiet life we led here.
My mom found my sisters and in very different places. I was in an orphanage in Seattle when she found me eight years ago. She found my older sister was in New York eleven years ago and my younger sister was found in the south seven years ago. Our mother selected the three of us because there was something special, and needless to say, powerful within us.
There was a knock on the door, "Bella, dear, it's time to come out. You've been in there all morning," my mother called. I smiled and got out of my bath, "Alright." I wrapped my towel around myself and went out to my room. "Finally," my big sister sang, "I thought you'd drown." I laughed as I tightened my hold on the towel, "Sorry, Rose, no such luck."
She laughed and tussled my wet hair, "Get ready, we're going to be late." I went down the hall to my bedroom, "Bella?" I looked back to my younger sister, "Yes, Alice?" She danced into the hall, "Can I burrow your black knee boots?" I nodded, "You tell me." She knew she could see the answer.
She closed her eyes for a moment, "Yes, I can. Thanks." My eyes rolled as she followed me to my room and flew into my closet, taking my boots. Alice was beaming as she headed for the door. I looked to the bedroom door, closing it before she left, "If I don't have them back by the end of the day, you're in trouble." Alice looked at the door, opening it, breaking my hold, "Don't worry. Besides, you know where I live."
We laughed and she left the room. I loved my sister but she loved burrowing my clothes more. I quickly dressed and went downstairs, where our mother greeted us, "Good morning, girls." Each of us smiled, "Good morning, Esme."
Esme was reading her newspaper, "Bella, Alice, you know I don't like you two fighting." I sighed while pouring my cereal, "We weren't fighting. We were just settling an agreement, that's all." She eyed me over the paper, "Are you sure?" I smiled at her, "Positive." Looking across the table, then over my shoulder, I realize I forgotten the milk on the counter. Holding my gaze, the milk came over to me.
Esme glanced at her watch, "Hurry up, girls. You're going to be late." "Ok," Rosalie said with a full mouth, "let's go." I shook my head, "Rose, do you want to choke on that muffin." She scowled at me, "Move it, middle child." Alice chirped a laugh as she quickly kissed Esme's cheek. Outside, Alice was already in the backseat of Rosalie's BMW.
The three of us were well known in our town, but not in an entirely good manner. There were rumors floating about town regarding our family. The townsfolk distanced themselves from us. In a town this small, keeping secrets were difficult to keep. As we pulled into the parking lot of our school, we received the natural reception; some students avoided us, while a few smiled at us.
At school, the student body, except for a select few who braved the rumors to befriend us, generally avoided my sisters and me. Those friends we looked after, though they didn't know it. "See you two later," Rosalie called behind herself. In my first class, we had substitute teacher, so I focused on my own work. Lately, I was having a recurring dream that I couldn't let go of. I never ignored my dreams, because they symbolized things to come.
When I was in the orphanage, I dreamt of a woman with hair like dulled fire and a young girl with hair of sunlight. The dream played repeatedly and it soon became my fantasy. A redhead woman and blond girl were coming. While sitting in my math lesson, their picture took over my mind. Looking out the glass panel in the wall, I saw Esme speaking with Mr. Andrews, the orphanage director. Standing next to her was a blond girl peering into the classroom. Her blue eyes met mine and she smiled at me. Forgetting my class, I smiled at her and she waved wildly. Esme brushed the blond girl's head and looked at me. They were the ones I was dreaming of. In two short weeks, I was Isabella Marie Swan Platt.
A year after I was adopted, I had a dream of a girl with ebony hair, with the gift of sight joining our family. In the dream, she was alone in a rural town. The girl's town had burned down and she was crying. Esme did some research and found out about a town in Tennessee that suffered from a large fire. The three of us traveled there and found Alice. When I approached her, she was crying because she had lost her family in the fire.
She sniffed, "Hello, Bella," she said my name confidently as I moved over to her. She looked up at me with red, tear stained eyes. I smiled, "Hi, Alice." She blinked, making two tears stream down her face, "Where are Esme and Rosalie?" Esme walked over to us, "You truly are gifted, my dear. Would you like to join our family?" Alice unleashed her heartbreakingly sweet smile, "You want to be my mom?" Esme nodded, "And you'll have two sisters." Rosalie and I smiled as Esme hugged Alice. She became Mary Alice Brandon Platt.
In class, I was wrapped up in my dreams, when I overheard the murmuring, "She's so weird. Her and her sisters. They live in the woods outside of town and their mom used to live here. My mom told me she was the same way." My eyes cut to the harsh-tongued Lauren Mallory. She was one of the worse ones towards me and my sisters. I focused my eyes on her hand, "Ouch!" she yelped. I stifled my giggle.
Though she was relatively correct about me, I didn't like people talking about Esme. No one knows how kind-hearted she truly is. Esme has nurtures us in ways our birth parents didn't, in ways they couldn't. Our family was different and strange; we were witches.
Esme realized that she was a witch when she was thirteen years old. She had the gift of control. When she concentrated her gaze, Esme was able to get what ever she wanted. Each of us had our own gifts, apart from the general abilities. Alice had the gift of seeing. When she was alone in her hometown, she saw us coming. She was already excited when we arrived.
Rosalie has the gift of creation. She told us that when she was five years old, her parents didn't get her the doll she actually wanted for her birthday. Rosalie wished for the actual doll and the one she had received was somehow changed into the doll she wanted.
As for me, I had the gift of knowing. That's why I didn't ignore my dreams. My dreams were a gateway, in a sense, showing me things that are coming or going to happen. I began keeping a journal of my dreams since Esme adopted me.
In this recent dream, I was in the arms of someone but I couldn't see his face. His skin was pale and the man had a crest on his wrist. The crest I remembered perfectly; it was silver, with a hand on the top, a lion in the middle, with three shamrocks on the bottom, shaping a downward arrow. After doing some research, I learned that each symbol meant something. The hand stood for faith, sincerity and justice. The lion stood for fierce courage and the shamrock represented perpetuity and longevity.
In the dream, I saw the face of the man that was holding me, but I couldn't remember it when I woke up. During class, I drew out the picture that stayed with me. It was me looking up at his face, with his arm was around my back, wearing the crest on a wristband. First, I drew his body and arm, leaving the face blank. For as long as I could remember, I've never had incomplete dreams and this disturbed me.
Between classes, I saw my sisters walking to their classes. Rosalie brushed past some members of the baseball team. They eyed her as she walked by. One of them dared to touch her and she swiftly turned and smacked his face. "Put your hands on me one more time and I will beat you with your own bat." My eyes narrowed at the rude student, marking him for later. No one touched my sister. Don't bother, B, Rosalie spoke to me, I already got him. I arched an eyebrow, You sure?
Yes, she answered. After school, Rosalie, Alice and I drove to the outskirts of town where we lived in a large house. Not before leaving the parking lot, the three of us caught the eye of the rude teammate. He was smiling and laughing until he saw us looking at him. His smile disappeared as he watched our collective glare. He swallowed hard as Rosalie slowly pulled away. "Now, he'll think there's something wrong with him," Alice announced. "Ah, the power of suggestion." Rosalie laughed as she drove.
Our house was an old Victorian, with white paneling. The porch went from the right side of the front door to along the right side and rear of the house. We had a lighthouse-like tower that was part of the attic. There were some narrow balconies outside each of our bedroom windows. On the left side of the house was our greenhouse and that looked out to the woods. Forks' legend said that witches once occupied this house and it was cursed. It was the perfect reason why we moved here. Power emanated from the land as it was once the home of a powerful witch. Gossips were once right. The witch laid her magic here, only for her own kind to drive power from. Esme added on a garage for our cars. Thick spurs stood around our house too keep peeping eyes out.
"Esme?" Alice called out. There was no answer. The house was empty. Alice quickly closed her eyes, "She's running late from work. She'll be here by 6." I sighed, dropping my book bag on the floor, "Fine. She should be here in time to make it to the field for the eclipse." Rosalie went into the parlor, "Ok, homework, then dinner." Alice and I looked at her in disbelief. She exhaled, "I'm not the boss, but I am the eldest. Let's get it done." The three of us sat at the center table and began our work. In school, we were all in the same grade. Rosalie didn't mind having her younger sisters in the same grade as her. We teased her for not excelling because she was blond.
After homework, the three of us prepared for our evening's event. Tonight was a lunar eclipse and we would watch it from a field near the mountains. I thought it was a coincidence that I had my dream the morning of the eclipse. An eclipse meant a perfect union and harmony. The last time there was an eclipse is when Esme found me. When I thought of the man in my dreams, I felt one with him.
"Bella?" Rosalie knocked on my door. I put away my drawings and journal, "Come in." "What's with you? Are you alright?" I smiled, "So insightful, Rose." She chuckled once, "Had a dream?" I nodded, "Yea. I'm just trying to figure it out." Alice poked her head in the room, "What was it about?" I grimaced, not sure if I should tell them about it. "Not now. I want to figure it out first. It's a little clouded and that's never happened before."
They looked at each other, "Hmmm, you want to talk to Esme about it?" Alice suggested. I shook my head, "No, it's nothing dire. I just have to complete it. I remember the majority of it, but the last picture was incomplete." Rosalie's eyes narrowed for a moment, "That's never happened before." "I know, but I have a feeling that the dream will come back to me."
We finished preparing for our evening; our candles, charts, telescope and charms. Esme was home right when Alice said she would be. Alice prepared a quick vegetable broth with rolls for dinner. No one wanted a heavy meal. "How was school?" Esme asked. Rosalie and Alice looked at each other and I avoided their looks. Esme sighed, "Was intimidating that boy necessary?" Rosalie's shoulders slumped, "He grabbed my backside, Mom!" Esme turned her head quickly, with fire blazing in her eyes, "Well, then I don't blame you."
After dinner, the four of us left for our field. We drove in the truck that belonged to Esme's late husband. The night blanketed the whole mountain range. Deer ran across our path. The bright headlights lit up our way top the field.
Alice and I laid out protective charms around our circle, so no one or nothing that is intended to harm us could reach us. Rosalie and Esme laid out the blankets and set up the telescope. "Just in time, it's about to start," Alice said looking up. Esme looked through the telescope, "Ok, Rose, Bella, begin reading." Rosalie and I took out our charts and began making out our family futures. Reading charts weren't difficult to us, as Esme made it part of our lessons as children.
"Huh, interesting," Rosalie read. "What?" Esme looked over her chart. "For you, Esme, I see a tiger and for Bella, a lion. And Alice, it's a fox and for me, a bear?" I looked up at her, "So, you see us at the zoo?" All of us laughed, except Rosalie. She glowered at me, "Don't laugh. What do you see?" I read my chart and my eyebrows furrowed, "Huh? Maybe I shouldn't have laughed."
Alice came over to me, "What do you see?" I looked up again, "The handle of the Big Dipper is pointing to the east. And my charts read something's coming and with the Big Dipper, it's coming from the east." I held out my hand, "Rose, let me see yours." Comparing our readings, "Ok, something is definitely coming, from the east and these animals represent them." "Them?" Esme asked speculatively. "Yes, them. It's nothing bad, like they're coming for us, to us. Like they're meant to find us."
We looked at each other; something was coming to our family. These charts didn't read if it was good or bad, but they came during an eclipse and after my dream. Perfect union and harmony; is that what's coming?