The Shadow
Summary: Long ago, their world was divided by a hatred that tore down bridges and shattered many hearts. Two centuries later, they try to right a wrong and find their way into love and unity.
A/N: This chapter was donated to the Fandom 4 Oklahoma compilation and I finally had the chance to post it. The second chapter was donated to Fandom 4 Animals.
Big hugs to my best-friend Kate for encouraging every story out of me, and to beautiful Sheila, who proof-read the chapter and helped make some changes here and there.
I also need to thank DanceWMeTonight for her banner making skills.
Chapter 1
It was a peculiar thing, how the citizens of this small town, on the edge of the world, could go on and on with their lives without a touch or even the indication of any feeling.
Didn't anyone feel a single thing? Were there others like Isabella Swan who hid their feelings just to fit into a community that offered no escape? As she went about her chores every day, she would imagine what Mr. Newton could be feeling when he was mindlessly stacking up boxes of apples at his shop, or what her neighbor, Ms. Victoria, could be feeling when she walked the streets and every male's eyes would be locked on her voluptuous frame and wild, red hair.
Lust wasn't something strange for the people of Forks. It was, however, more like an animalistic instinct to preserve their kind than anything else. It was the only emotion she could recognize in others. So, Isabella went on with her, waking up early to deliver breakfast to her father and brothers at the docks, before bringing the fish they caught to the market where Uncle Harry would sell them. She would then return home to help with the housework and cooking. Isabella never showed the longing she felt raging inside her for something more. Something meaningful and lasting. Something other than the boring routine of the seventeen years she had lived in this town.
This was the way of their lives for years, ever since the Shadow had fallen over the sea and surrounded their small coastal town. Their ships couldn't get past it and no one could walk or ride through the mist that surrounded the few fields of the land-workers on the outskirts of the town. It was a wall keeping them in with just enough to survive.
There was a myth about the Shadow. A fable about two ghosts living in the depths of the blackness that hovered over the sea. Two dead lovers who had once made a grave mistake and brought forth the terrible situation that created the Shadow.
On the day the Shadow fell upon their town, everyone cried their last tears. Those last tears made the sea filled with sickness, giving fewer fish every year, and the ground hard to work. On that day, they lost their ability to feel. They forgot everything about kindness and love. A mother was now just another person who simply provided for her babies, until they were old enough to work for their share.
Even hatred and misery disappeared. All emotion had been drained from the world as if for compensation for the great love the two ghosts had shared. It had been a gift from the Gods and the people ruined it so they weren't worthy of it anymore. All that was left were the lights of another land in the horizon, barely shining through the Shadow.
Isabella hid everything inside, in fear that she would be shamed. She had heard stories of people who showed even a fraction of emotion who were either beaten to death by family members for jeopardizing the town's prosperity, or left to fend for themselves in the woods.
When she was mad, she counted from twenty backwards, timing her breathing and thinking of the calm sea. When she was sad, she would just make up stories in her head until the lives of imaginary people fulfilled her need for happiness. But then she had to be careful again, to not show that giddiness that comes with a happily ever after, even one that's not real.
One evening, Isabella was getting ready for bed. Even though she was the only girl in the family, she had to share a bedroom with her two younger brothers, six year old Sam and ten year old Paul. They were a big family, like most of the other families in Forks. Isabella had three older brothers who shared another room just next to the one she used. In about a month Garrett, the oldest Swan, would be leaving his family's home to start his own after he got married to his fiancée, Kate. That would leave behind Jared and Mark.
As Isabella pulled her nightgown over her head, she heard commotion from the living room and her father's voice hissing to someone to keep quiet. Sam and Paul were already asleep and didn't move a muscle. But Isabella found it curious that Charles Swan, the tough fisherman who had spent more time on the sea than on the land, was suddenly showing emotion, even if that emotion was simply anger.
She crept slowly outside her bedroom until she reached the door to the living room and hid in the shadows. She was curious to find out what made her father so angry and if there could be a possibility that he would finally have feelings like her. Her over-running imagination swiftly created a plot in which the whole town finally changed and she would never have to hide again.
"You know we have no other choice, Renee," her father said from the other room, calmer than what she'd heard a few minutes ago. "I've researched everything and asked Banner for advice. No law forbids human sacrifice and it's the only gift that will please the Gods enough to give us better catches from now on. We are becoming desperate to survive and we can't have that."
"But Isabella…" Renee started but was quickly interrupted by her husband.
"Isabella is only a liability and you know it. Soon enough we'll have to find her a husband but we have no dowry to offer. And the fact that she's a female Swan…" Charles didn't continue and his voice faded in the silence of the night, leaving chills running up and down Isabella's spine.
She was in shock. She couldn't believe the words that left her father's mouth. Was he really intending to offer his daughter as sacrifice?
"There's never been a Swan daughter for as long as we can remember. She is the first girl born into the family and that fact in itself is a bad omen. The last Swan girl brought so much misery."
Isabella made herself move, knowing her parents would soon leave for their bedroom. She didn't want them to catch her snooping around. Because if they did, they would see the hurt and desperate tears falling down her face. She hurried quietly into her room, hid under her covers and muffled her tears into the pillow.
"It's final."
That was the last thing she heard her father say.
The fire they had lit a few hours ago was now raging in its pit. It was well past midnight and the only other light apart from the fire was the lighthouse, the constant guard of the dangerous sea that surrounded the small island.
Half the population of the island of Phoenix was in an uproar for Edward Cullen's birthday. He was turning 20, which meant that in three days he would take his place on the throne, so his father could retire. Carlisle Cullen had ruled the island for a little over forty years and he was tired of the politics. It was time for a new King, one who could understand better the changes of the community and could listen with more patience to the needs of his people.
The town was situated so close to the sea that the main square led straight to the beach, where the party was held. The sea was usually calm there, the waves breaking at the rocks that surrounded the island. They made fishing difficult but the fishermen of Phoenix bragged about being the best sail men the world had ever seen, and they wouldn't be intimidated by a few rocks.
On each side of the stone pier was a tower. The one on the right used to be a library, but the shifting of the island had destroyed the one side and now it stood in ruins just between two of the five bridges that used to connect Phoenix with the mainland. Now, the bridges – or what was left of them – were simply used as docks for the boats and ships. The left tower was a lighthouse, made out of the same grey stone as the pier and the docks. The fire was always lit and Gregory, the old guard of the lighthouse, was vigilant and serious about his job.
Edward Cullen, Prince and heir to the throne of Phoenix was avoiding the party that was going on, even though it was to his honor. He was sitting on Gregory's spot at the top of the lighthouse, the machine working tirelessly behind him and sending light out to the faded skyline in the horizon as if to answer a secret message. He was looking at those lights and didn't want to think of the reason why in all these years that he'd been coming up here to play, study or simply pass the time, the lights that defied the Shadow would call to him tonight. His father and Gregory had told him once about that call he would feel when the time was right. He was a Cullen, the heir of the next generation of the Lion's pride. He knew the story well. He looked at the sign of his House, the proud lion, with a crown on his head, atop three clovers. Even that metal symbol on his leather cuff was burning him today.
"Edward, my boy, you should be celebrating today," Gregory said as he entered the towers chamber. "You only become twenty once, you know."
Edward turned around to look at the frail man who was climbing the last steps to the room.
"Good evening, Mr. Greg!" Edward said smiling.
"When will you finally drop the Mister, you little rascal?" Gregory teased him and ruffled Edward's already tousled hair.
"You know the answer to that is 'never'," Edward smirked and crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair.
Gregory had known the young prince almost his whole life. Edward was only five when his mother, Queen Esme, first brought him to the lighthouse. Gregory had been an old friend of her family and Esme had always enjoyed watching the sea from the top of the tower.
When Edward was ten, while playing around the room with Gregory, he found an old sheet of paper, hidden in the machinery of the lighthouse. It was an old map of a small country Edward had never seen before.
A small strip of land, almost the same shape as the island of Phoenix, was divided by the mainland, just by a small canal. The word 'Voltera' was written at the top of the map. As Edward was studying the paper, Gregory kneeled beside him on the floor and started explaining the story of the Lion's pride.
A love that sprouted in the middle of a vendetta as old as the world: A Prince of the Cullen House and the daughter of General Swan. Growing up together at court, it was inevitable that it would happen.
Prince Nathan and Lady Jillian Swan kept their love secret from everyone. The King was cruel and egotistical in his duties, as well as towards his family. He wouldn't accept the daughter of Swan as the future Queen of Voltera. Therefore, Nathan had convinced Jillian to wait until his twentieth birthday to reveal their relationship, when he could take the throne by law and his father would have no say over his life.
However, it wasn't meant to happen. General Swan found out about the relationship and was not pleased by it. No daughter of his would ever marry a Cullen. He had plans of his own. Over-throwing the Cullen family from the throne and becoming King himself. He had thought that waiting for the young Prince to take the throne would play to his advantage, as everyone would be surprised by the sudden revolution. However, that news urged him to act quickly, so his daughter wouldn't be hurt. After all, she was the ticket for a great alliance with one of the most powerful men of Voltera and he would need that ticket once he was King.
On the nineteenth day of summer, someone informed the King of his son's relationship. He had the same reaction as General Swan and quickly assembled his personal guard to attack the Swan Manor, which was situated at the other side of the town. A war ensued, a fight between the two sides, once divided only by a single canal, now divided by hatred.
Nathan barely escaped his father's guards alive to reach Jillian first and warn her. When he finally reached the Central Bridge which lead straight to the Swan Manor, where Jillian had stayed since she turned seventeen, the fight was already going strong.
He wanted to find her and keep her safe from his father's wrath. The King wasn't fighting. While the battle raged on atop the Central Bridge, the King was riding towards the second one. Nathan saw another rider coming from the mainland and immediately recognized Jillian's horse. She was obviously coming for him but his father would reach her first on the Second Bridge.
When Jillian finally saw the King coming toward her, it was already too late. The King shot with his bow and hit Jillian on the shoulder. She fell from her horse as Nathan screamed at his father to stop. He left his horse and run to his girl on the ground. She was still alive and for a moment he felt hope. And on the next, he something pierced his chest and Jillian left a terrified cry escape her lips, spending all the strength she had left. Nathan saw that it was General Swan who had shot him before he fell to the ground.
With his last breaths, Nathan took Jillian's dying form in his arms and wished for the both of them to disappear. Their blood was still slipping onto the stones of the bridge when the shadow appeared above the town of Voltera. It covered the sky and the sun and it was darker than night in the middle of the day.
When the blood of the two lost lovers and all the dead soldiers reached the water of the canal, the sea grew angry. A shattering earthquake shook the ground. The one part of the town that had once been a small island, close enough to the shore that bridges could be built between them, moved further away into the ocean. The bridges collapsed. The two lovers, still holding each other tight on their last moments, were lost into the sea, the only bodies that weren't found after the dust had settled.
And that was how Phoenix was created. It was now an island, standing alone, with just the ruins of the five destroyed bridges remaining as a reminder of a lost unity. And during that night of destruction, the Shadow that had protected the sun from seeing the tragedy of humanity fell between the two different worlds to hide the pyres of the dead that reached the skies. They were now one town and one island and as the years went by the citizens forgot or didn't acknowledge the existence of the other. They said that the lights that one could barely see through the Shadow were a forgotten heaven were everyone ended up after death.
Years from that day, Edward couldn't keep this story from his mind. He looked straight into the Shadow, trying to find the two lovers in the lights that fought to shine through the blackness. Neither he nor his mother had found it just a coincidence that he was born on the same day as Prince Nathan. Today counted 200 years of 'shadow'. But still, it was only Edward, Gregory and the Royal couple who wondered if something could happen to bring the torn pieces back together.
"Edward?" Gregory whispered.
Edward turned to the man who had been something more than a friend for many years and his eyes looked for answers into those of the old man.
Gregory continued: "Whatever happens, I know you will get through it. I feel like your parents and I have placed too much pressure on your shoulders with our theories and prophecies. Maybe we are just a bunch of dreamers, but we believe in you. Now, if you don't want to celebrate, you can stay here tonight. You've made your appearance. No one will bother you here."
"Thank you, Gregory." Edward said with true appreciation.
Edward stayed long after Gregory had left. He was so focused on the Shadow that he could keep out of his mind the celebration, the music and the voices on the beach. The fire was still raging, but it did nothing to decimate the darkness. During the night, the Shadow became one with the black sky; in the morning, it was a black veil that lingered over the sea. As the sun started to rise over Phoenix, Edward couldn't see the lights of the mainland anymore. His alone time on the lighthouse had done little to calm his thoughts of what his mother had told him.
"I have a feeling you'll play a very important role to everyone's future, Edward. And you know my feelings are usually right. Not even your father ever doubts them. I don't know what it will be yet, or if I will ever know more than I do now. I promise you, though, that whatever comes your way, you are strong enough to fight and do the right thing."
When he finally thought nothing would happen and that his mother had, for once, been wrong, he saw something move on the edge of the Second Bridge. He focused his attention there and it looked like someone was sitting there when everyone else was either in bed or getting ready for work. It was an apparition, a transparent form reaching out to something invisible, as if to save someone from drowning.
Edward's heart sped up at what he was seeing. He blinked twice to clear his eyes from the exhaustion of his sleepless night, but the apparition was still there. The form looked like it was fighting against imaginary chains. Edward reacted on instinct. He ran down the stairs of the lighthouse. The misty air that hit him when he stepped outside rejuvenated him and gave him the strength to run faster to the Second Bridge. It had been a mistake to not take his horse with him the previous night. When he was finally at the bridge he was panting, but he continued until he was just feet behind the apparition.
He walked slowly towards the edge so as to not scare away the form. As he came closer, he noticed that it was what some people would call a ghost. A ghost of a man about Edward's age, kneeling at the edge of the bridge, an arrow through his chest. On the outstretched arm of the man, Edward saw a leather cuff with the lion of the Cullen House on it. He's only a step away from the ghost, when, suddenly, it started to disappear.
The only word Edward heard falling from the lips of the ghost was a name. Jillian.
The ghost of Nathan disappeared. And so did Edward.
The next morning, Isabella was afraid to get up from bed. She had hardly slept during the night, waking up from nightmares, just long enough for the tears and sobs to tire her into a restless sleep again. When the sun rose and she still hadn't gotten up, Renee entered the room to wake her. Isabella had already wiped the streaks of tears from her face and controlled her emotions into the dutiful numbness desired by the community.
Isabella tried to hide her trembling as she tied her hair into her bonnet the. She scarcely managed to remain calm as she prepared breakfast with her mother and the basket of food felt heavier than any other day as she walked down to the docks. The fog was thicker and the misty air made it hard to breathe. Or maybe it was just the fear that was crippling her. As she reached the hills that surrounded the small port, Isabella stopped there to watch her father and brothers work on the boat.
They were minding their business, as if nothing terrible was going to happen to her. No one cared. A person's existence in this god forsaken town was only about duty. After all these years surrounded by the Shadow, the people only recognized the feeling of survival. Like animals, they passed every day doing whatever would bring them just enough profit to go by.
Somehow, this thought made Isabella even sadder than the knowledge that she was soon to die by her father's hand. At least she knew she hadn't been an empty vessel during her seventeen years in this world. Even if she had been forced to hide her emotions, she knew she had once breathed in the air of the sea and enjoyed the feeling of freedom it had brought to her. She had watched a dog mother taking care of her puppies and she had learnt how motherhood was supposed to be. She had enjoyed everything the world had offered her during her short time. That innocent thought ignited a small fire of courage that helped her walk down the path to the docks. She was doubtful Charles would kill her there and then in front of the other fishermen. But looking into his eyes would still be unbearable.
As she was about to leave, she heard someone crying. Isabella looked around, startled. Obviously, no one else could hear it, or they would have reacted to the feeling of sorrow being expressed in such a blatant way. Her eyes caught a form sitting at the edge of the dock. It was a woman, in a dress with laces and ribbons, nothing like Isabella had ever seen before.
Her long hair weren't hidden under a bonnet, but left in free curls that weren't bothered by the soft wind. She had her face in her hands as she cried. She seemed so otherworldly, sitting there, while fishermen walked around unaffected. But as Isabella walked closer, she realized why it seemed like that to her. The woman was transparent. Isabella could see through her the sea and the Shadow. And the most disturbing was the stain of blood that covered almost the whole left side of her back.
The woman gasped, raised her face towards the Shadow and whispered: "Nathan?"
Her sweet voice was swallowed by a screeching noise. A bright light flashed right on the spot where the ghost was sitting and Isabella covered her face with her arms. Something heavy fell on Isabella and she was thrown and pinned to the floor. For a few seconds everything was quiet, as she struggled to breathe under the weight. Then panic ensued on the dock. Male voices were yelling and, suddenly, the weight was lifted off from her. She heard a groan from beside her. She opened her eyes and met a pair of eyes, so green and so soulful that made her breath catch in her throat.
She stayed there for what seemed like forever, gazing at those beautiful eyes and the face of the man who had appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't a ghost, like the crying woman. He was real, with beautiful, sharp features and a disarray of her at the top of his head that reminded her of the color of the coins she used at the market. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen and he was igniting feelings inside her she had never known to exist. But even more amazing than those new feelings, was the realization that he was experiencing the same turmoil. His face was filled with curiosity and awe as he starred at her. For a moment, she blushed and wondered if he found her attractive at all.
All those thoughts rushed through her mind in mere seconds. Outside her little bubble, the predators were ready to attack. They burst her bubble and snatched the strange man from the floor and out of Isabella's vision.