Author's Note: The first bit is told in first person, but that is really not my forte. So, instead of insulting the writing style of the books, I'll just stick with third. Oh, yeah, enjoy. Oh, and for some reason, I can never indent a paragraph on FF. Anyone got answers for that? (It bothers me more than you know)

They swept over us like a black fog, speckled with piercing red dots staring intently down at anything capable of motion. This was, without a doubt, the most horrifying experience of my life. One that had the potential to end my extended life as well as everything I knew.

Chapter One: Horrible, Terrible, Special Day

A cold caress was—as it had been frequently—the first thing to wake Bella that morning. She felt Edwards' cool hand slide up her sheet covered thigh, crawling up to her waist. He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, but before he could move his head away, Bella wrapped her hands around his neck. He brought his lips down to hers. For several minutes she held Edward close to her, teasing his lips with hers, before she let her hands slide off his neck.

"Alice made you something." He whispered, making Bella close her eyes and revel in the alluring smell of his breath. Bella made a small sound acknowledging that she heard him.

"For breakfast." Bella opened one eye and thought about that for a moment. She had never had the experience of having Alice cook for her, but having experienced everything else Alice has done in her attempts to play at humanity, Bella suspected it would be disastrous and over done.

Edward got up and stood by the door in the near empty room, "Come down when you're ready." He slipped quietly out the door and closed it behind him. Bella couldn't help feeling just a little sad by his leaving, she had become very accustomed to him always being there, and that was all she wanted now. Though they had been married, and together, along with the rest of the Cullens, had made a flight to a small town in Alaska, Bella still felt very anxious. Edward had her all to himself now, and—Bella suspected—was just playing games with her. Telling her excuses to put off her death, as ironic as that was, considering every day she lived, she was closer to dying.

The visually young vampires' most lethal excuse was that he wanted the moment to be perfect, and the new dwelling of the Cullens had yet to be furnished. The bed she slept on last night was the only piece of furnishing that was in the house, aside from in the kitchen. She could understand his apparent anxiety, but pretty soon Bella thought that she would lose all her patience.

Dressing quietly, after a short stop to the surprisingly luxurious bathroom across the hall, Bella made her way downstairs into their living room. Which was as large as their previous house, but lacked the large windows, it only had two meager—in comparison to what they had before—patio doors leading out into a secluded thicket. Through wide double-arched walkways was a kitchen that was smaller, but welcoming, painted in warm tones befitting an Alaskan cabin. The Cullens now gathered inside, or at least Bella could spot Edward standing near the arches and Emmett lounging at the long table.

Edward stared up at her as she began to descend the curved stairwell. He met her at the bottom, slipping his hand into hers, as if they couldn't bear to be left not touching for one more moment. Edward sat down beside her at the table, leaving her in between Emmett and him. Alice—The only one in this room that did not make Bella feel small—bounded over in her graceful, dance-like saunter with a plate of food balanced on one hand.

"Special breakfast, for a special day!" Alice said as she set the plate down in front of Bella. She was...fairly surprised at how perfectly normal this food looked. Nothing strange about it, no particular flare or frills, it was very much unlike Alice to make something that way. Today must be special.

"What's...so special about today?" Bella asked after giving her breakfast a taste test, it was good, further proof something odd was going on.

"Well, the house will finally be finished today." Alice winked.

Bella nearly dropped her fork, suddenly she didn't feel hungry anymore. Edward's hand rubbed her leg, trying to soothe her. She knew what he was thinking, even if she lacked the supernatural ability. He was more than willing to put it off if she was unsure, but damn it. This is what Bella had been wanting for years, and she wasn't about to let the first chance slip her by.

"So anyway," Alice started, unfazed by the awkward silence that had settled in the room "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind...going out while we set things up."

"That seems fine." Edward answered for her, although Bella did not have any objections to that either. It was not as if she would've said anything different.

The morning passed normally as Bella finished her superb and possibly last meal. Then came a knock at the door, Emmett—who had been shifting uneasily in his chair for some time—sprang up to answer it. He seemed uncommonly delighted to have them back making Bella a little unnerved.

"He's just hungry." Edward said, watching Bella's scrupulous glare of his adoptive brother. "We haven't had an adequate chance to check the woods out."

"Oh, I suppose that's my fault..." Bella sighed, feeling a little guilty for Emmetts' and possibly all the Cullens' hunger.

"Yes, you probably should stop being so temptingly human." That crooked grin that she loved so dearly spread over his face as he leaned down to nuzzle the nape of her neck.

Bella could see Jasper pop his head in through the archway, "Alice says to get out." Just as soon as he had spoken his lovers' commands, he was gone. Edward disengaged himself and walked through the living room towards the patio, practically pulling Bella along. Outside, it was overcast—as to be expected—but the weather was decently warm for it being mid-summer Alaska. The backyard, while thickly wooded, did have a pleasant cement sitting space with a small, but old couch nestled under the overhang. As the curtains closed over the patio doors behind them, Edward led Bella to that small couch to sit.

They sat in silence for a moment, his hand anxiously rubbing hers. "You know..."

"Don't even start, Edward." She stopped him, this sort of conversation was to be expected, but Bella didn't want to hear any of it. Not because she thought it would change her mind, but because it might change his. If Bella answered his queries with even a hint of indecision, Edward would find another loophole to fulfilling his promise. Bella peeked over at his face; he was staring at her intently with a toothy smirk lingering on his lips.

"I know. I just wanted to say that I am quite excited." Edward wrapped his arms around her, pinning Bella's arms to her side and engulfing her in his presence. "It'll be nice to not have to worry so much about your well being."

Bella tensed, hoping he would feel her displeasure rather than having her express it in words. As much as she hated to acknowledge his potential jeer; Bella had to agree with it. She was sick of being the one protected and not being able to protect any member of her future family. Although, Bella often worried whether her newly born self would be a burden on the Cullens….

Bella—lost in her thoughts—did not really notice how intently Edward was holding her. Sure, he had a habit of playing with her hand or running his fingers over bare areas of her flesh, but now his hands fully explored every part he could touch without loosening his grasp on her. It was the sort of way a family member held someone at a funeral, an intensely sad comforting hug. Edward eventually began to loosen himself, leaning back against the worn fabric of the couch.

"It'd be a nice day for a walk, I think." He said staring thoughtfully at the forest. Bella looked at him, the forest was still quite snowy and there was a whipping wind that blew the frozen flakes across the ground. "In town, of course." He added after a moment.

Getting up, Edward held his hand out, Bella hesitated before taking it. He pulled her up—or so she assumed from the pressure on her hand—the couch must have been much cushier than she realized. He weaved his fingers into hers, making Bella think that maybe she should've worn gloves, but she figured she could endure just a few more hours of human feeling. Bella wondered if she would be constantly cold when she changed, she'd never really asked Edward too deeply about what it felt like. Then again, maybe it didn't feel like anything…

The nearby town was very scarce in population, but very near to the Cullen house. It was just a short walk to the downtown area; in which there was a few shops, a motel, and a pub. Nothing too fancy, Bella was very surprised by the town at first, she never thought she'd see a smaller, darker place than Forks. The town probably had about two hundred residents, but Bella had only seen about forty-five of them in the town itself. She imagined they lived elsewhere, though she didn't know what they did elsewhere. Edward led her to the worn path, past the empty moving truck that had once held the new furnishings for the house, down what had once been a paved driveway; she saw the remnants of asphalt from when the previous owner had built the house, now crushed into near dust and gravel.

After a walk down the curvy, downhill driveway they reached a tall wrought iron gate that provided the only entrance onto the estate aside from scaling the tall wall of grey stones. The gates were left open, while the Cullens liked their privacy; there wasn't much to worry about around here. The sun rarely shined through the clouds, if at all, and if someone were to peek into the house, they would see nothing out of the normal.

Edward didn't say anything; he just held Bella's hand and continued to stare thoughtfully ahead, though a hint of a smile was left on his handsome face. Bella, likewise, did not attempt to start a conversation. She glanced at Edward sometimes, hoping he would say something to make her feel…Well, anything really. Mostly, she just watched the sky. Bella was sure it was her imagination, but she swore she could see blue in the sky. Not its-going-to-storm blue, but refreshing-hot-Phoenix blue. She continued to stare as they walked into town, concentrating on that one spot that looked as if it were…

Suddenly, Edward pulled her into the shadows in an alley between two buildings. Bella understood immediately why, the sun broke through the cloud cover and was bathing the street in refreshing light. Bella held her hand out, feeling the small warmth of the sun. Edward dropped her hand and let her go into the street. Bella was so inexplicably glad that she was able to feel the sun one last time before she died. She imagined the next time she would feel the sun shine, her skin would sparkle like diamonds, and Edward would be their too, sparkling.

Something caught her eye immediately, it was something sparkling. She wondered if there was a diamond mine in this town or something, but the sparkling seemed so crisp and vivid, and there was a lot of it! For a second time, Edward pulled Bella into the shadows of the alley, this time he was none too gentle. There was something wrong; Edward curled Bella into his chest, careful to keep her hidden from the entrance of the alleyway. Not just that, but the murmur of surprise that the townspeople had made from the sun had gotten louder, louder as if they were screaming at it!

"Edward! What!?" Bella asked in a panic, he looked at her with fierceness in his dark brown eyes. It was that hateful look she remembered from the first time she saw him in Biology. His gaze softened, as if in an instant he had regained something of himself.

"Blood, Bella; there's a lot of blood is being spilt." He said, his lower lip quivering. Edward tucked Bella's head under his chin, making her curl into his protective chest. She could hear footsteps, running, and so much screaming. There was another sound that she couldn't quite put an action to, but Bella was vaguely sure what it was. It was some sort of killing. Edward tensed for a moment; he swung his arm behind him violently hitting something before moving Bella further into an alley.

He released her, and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Bella sank against the wall as Edward backed away. He turned around and Bella's hand whipped to her mouth. The clean white shirt Edward was wearing was stained with a small amount of dark blood near his shoulder. A realization hit Bella then, that sparkling she had seen, it wasn't diamonds, it was vampires. So many vampires there must have been to produce such a vivid sparkle. Right now, in the streets, people were being sucked dry by vampires!

Bella felt compelled to walk towards him, even though she knew better. When she ran her fingers softly over his back he whipped around. Bella jumped back and pressed herself back against the wall. Swiftly—as if not even thinking—Edward pinned her there. He stared intently into her, not with a loving passion that she had seen when she pushed him just enough. It was…a hungry passion. Bella suddenly found herself speechless, unable to resist those alluring black eyes that bore forcefully into her.

Bella couldn't find it in herself to believe what happened. A pain shot deep within her shoulder. Bella found her body caving into his, her hand only managed to find its way into his bronze hair.

"N—No, Edward….stop!" Bella finally found her voice, yanking at his hair. She stopped as he growled, deeply like a hungry animal. Bella suddenly lost the strength she had thought she found just now. Her cheek began to lean into his hair, it smelled so good. So, so good….She found that thought revolving in her mind as she began to faint. She could see someone there behind Edward now. Part of her hoped that they would pull him off, but there was another part that…Just loved this.