A/N: This is my first story so please forgive me if there are any mistakes.
Disclaimer: All the characters and situations in this story are completely fictional. they do not have any kind of connectivity to real life. any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is completely coincidental. Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
"Alice, could you also take tables 3, 4 and 5 today? I have a date with my boyfriend," Grace explained as she hurriedly slid her coat on. I had barely nodded when she was already out of the kitchen.
I am Alice Swan, Ali for short, though no one has ever called me that. I lived in a small town called Forks, in Washington. My mother died due to cancer when I was five, leaving me with my alcoholic father. He was the town sheriff. I had a sibling, Isabella, who was five years elder to me. Both of us were joined at the hip since our early days and would cry and laugh together- though the latter was very rare. Our father was around just to pay the bills and school fees. Other than that, it was just Bella and I.
It was when I was thirteen that it all changed- Bella was kidnapped.
I was alone then, shedding tears without a shoulder to cry on.
When I turned eighteen, my dad died due to a bullet wound. I had thought, for all these years that he didn't care at all, but he did, at least a little. The will, in which he had stated that I would inherit all of his money, was proof to that.
I studied hard and received a scholarship in the Seattle Pacific University for courses in fashion. According to the scholarship, they would provide free courses, books and material for all the major projects for one year. I would have to manage the stay. They had also provided to give job recommendations and an appointment for me in the interviews which would be held in campus when the batch graduated.
I found a nice apartment in a pretty safe neighborhood. It was small and had just one bedroom, but that was all I could afford. With the inheritance from dad, I could pay two months of rent and electricity and water bills for a month. I saved the rest for emergencies. I got a job at a restaurant in front of my apartment, as a waitress- it was a night shift, perfect for me as all the classes I had were in the afternoon. I would come home late, at two but I had to just cross the road to reach my apartment and it paid the bills.
I was not much of a sociopath, preferring to keep to myself. I was ashamed of my childhood, the only good thing in it being Bella. I didn't want others to know about me.
Dad's ignorance towards us and Bella's kidnapping had made me quiet and shy.
Today was my nineteenth birthday. I attended classes with a smile on my face and then went home. I had taken a leave off work, saying that I had a medical problem and decided to bake myself a cake. I wished Bella was here. She would've definitely wished me a happy birthday. She would've baked me pastries and made mac and cheese, which was my favorite. But she wasn't here. She was gone; someone had taken her away from me.
I took a long shower when I returned from classes and then started baking. I wasn't much of a cook but could manage every day. I baked myself a chocolate cake and made mac and cheese, for which I had gotten the groceries from the store yesterday.
I was very hungry when I had finally set the table for myself and started VH1. I had eaten in the morning and after that, hadn't gotten the time to eat lunch. It had been about nine hours since I had had a bite of food.
I was just going to take my first bite when a noise coming from my bedroom alerted me. Macaroni forgotten, I got up and went into my room to investigate. But before I could open the door, it flew open, making me jump in shock. Out came a man, almost twice my size in both height and muscle. He was dressed in black and had a ski mask on his face.
My throat was so dry that I could not even whisper, let alone scream. I was glued to my place in shock. My blood ran cold, palms shaking. A bead of sweat ran down my temple when two more equally tall and built men joined the first.
All their faces were covered, making them even scarier. One of them walked towards me and I stepped backwards. It was very late when I realized that I was trapped in the corner of the living room. He towered over me and I shied away.
He then ran a hand through my shoulder length hair, caressing my face in an almost gentle manner. If I was not two steps away from death, I would've leaned into his touch.
But I looked at him with wide eyes; he scared the shit out of me.
"Alice," he said in a calm voice, which was firm and scared me. He knew my name. "Make one noise and you will regret it," he threatened. His gentle caress was the total opposite of his stern, demanding voice. I could do nothing but nod, knowing that fighting three men would be impossible.
"What do you want?" I whispered.
He looked at me for a while. His green eyes were intense, burning holes into my face and then travelling down my body. They were beautiful in a sharp way. I wondered if his face did them any justice.
Just then, in his calm, steely voice, he whispered, "You."
I froze. He laughed- not wickedly, he just laughed, there was no other way to describe it. His cool finger slid down my bare arm and then his hand gripped my left wrist firmly. Firmly, not tightly. He tugged, letting me know without words that I needed to follow. With an ounce of daring left in me- the rest gone on seeing three strangers in my house- I shook my hand, shrinking as much as I could into the corner.
He looked at me then, his eyes showing his frustration. He tugged again, daring me to disobey. But I still fought, trying to wiggle my wrist out of his grasp. He crossed the distance between us in one long stride and gripped my chin. This time it was tight, not firm.
"You listen, listen well," he stressed the last word. "You wouldn't want to know what would happen if you don't obey."
"I want to know," I said, standing up straighter and looking into his eyes, though inside, I was begging him to let me go. I was afraid on the inside.
"Then no Alice- as I will kill you- and no Bella as well, since she is living with us," he whispered in my ear.
At the mention of my death- which I could stop- and my sister, I gasped, looking at with pleading eyes to just leave Bella and me alone.
That is when I felt a sting in my arm and then the world went black.
.
I woke up with a major headache. What had happened? Had I gone clubbing and had one too many drink? No, that wasn't possible- I never went clubbing.
When I opened my eyes, I looked around the room I was in. It was a clean room, done in shades of cream, and looked elegant and sophisticated. I was on a comfortable king sized bed.
However comfortable and beautiful my surroundings were, it raised a thousand questions in my mind. What was I doing here? How did I end up here?
And then it all came back to me.
My birthday…the noise from my room…the three masked strangers…green eyes…he wanted me. What did that mean?
I had no time to ponder over the questions as the door opened. I held my breath, wondering what was outside the door.
When the door finally opened, I realized that standing over the threshold was the most handsome man I had ever seen. Hell, calling him handsome was an understatement. His looks had no words. With curly blond hair that reached his ears, some fringes falling in his eyes, a muscular body and sharp features, he was tall and looked like an Englishman.
"Who are you?" I whispered, my voice shaking.
His mouth turned upwards as he started walking towards me.
Not wanting to show that I was afraid, I looked into his eyes. That I when I realized that they were green- sharp and beautiful. The same eyes that had captivated me…the same person who had kidnapped me. His face did do him justice.
Just when I was going to make a run for the open door did I realize that we were just inches away from each other, and that my hand was bound to the bed by a handcuff.