A/N: This first chapter is in Jacob's P.O.V.. Future chapters will be in Leah's P.O.V.. Hope this chapter doesn't confuse anyone too much. However, a little bit of confusion is okay. ;)

Prologue

June 15, 2006 (A.K.A. The Battle with the Newborns)

They say that just before you die—you get a front row, private screening to the head-on car collision that used to be your life. Well, lucky me. But, what they forgot to mention was how you also get your own personal remote control with a little note attached, that says: "Here, fast forward all you want, it's your damn life!"

Well, my time had come. I could feel the life spilling out of me just as the warm liquid oozed out of my cracked-open skull as I phased back to human. Damn boulder! Damn tag-teaming bloodsuckers! Damn Leah for trying to take them on. But, I'd asked for it, hadn't I? I had threatened Bella that I'd go get myself killed. It had mostly been tough-talk. Something stupid you say "in the moment" and then usually regret later. But, as the ground rose-up to meet my face, causing my head to bounce once before my cheek smacked against the cold forest floor—I regretted it. As six pairs of bare-feet ran towards me and then faded into a black oblivion—I regretted making the stupid threat. But sometimes you get what you really didn't mean to wish for... Death. Blackness.

But, there was light in the blackness. I shielded my eyes as a theater-style widescreen lit-up white in front of my face. Confused, I looked around at the empty theater I suddenly found myself sitting in. It was just me and the remote control that had magically appeared in the palm of my hand.

"What tha—"

I quickly read the note attached to the remote control and then hesitantly pushed the "play" button. The comedic tragedy that was my life immediately began playing on the widescreen. I watched my memories play-out before my very eyes until, suddenly, the film strip got stuck on a clip of Bella with her bloodsucker-fiance. The clip replayed over and over again like a scratched-up CD, repeating the sound of Bella's voice as she looked up into the cold, creepy eyes of Edward Cullen. Furiously, I pressed down every button on that damn remote control, trying to skip over this part, but none of the buttons worked. I stood up from my theater seat, hearing the seat bounce closed behind me as I threw the piece-of-crap remote at the widescreen. All of the lights inside of the theater, instantly, flashed on then. I watched as the widescreen turned black except for the red lettering that blinked the word: "ERROR".

"Some post-game show," I muttered under my breath as I turned away from the error screen and glared-up at the projector at the back of the theater.

In response, with the sound of rumbling thunder, the stadium-style rows of seats, by some invisible force, parted like Moses had split the Red Sea. I jumped back as I watched the theater seats pile up on top of one another to leave a cleared path towards the projectors light. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure that this was the afterlife. This seemed more like a dream then some kind of purgatory. As I stared up into the bright light of the projector, it reminded me of an old scary movie I had once seen where a main character yelled: "Don't go into the light!" With a careless shrug of my shoulders, I took the first step up the path that the cleared-out-seats had left behind. Hell, anything was preferable after watching a looped-clip of Bella that featured Edward. With every step I took towards the light—I remembered Bella less and less until I couldn't remember why I had even thought of her: Bella Swan, Charlie Swans' daughter. And, I couldn't remember where I was or how I got wherever it was that I was. There was a light up ahead, and I followed it like a fisherman follows the sweeping light of a lighthouse to lead him home, even though I didn't know where the light would lead me. I squinted my eyes as the light grew brighter, swallowing me up until there was nothing left but blinding whiteness. My eyelids closed from the assault but even behind shut lids the light burned red.

"Stop staring at the sun, twerp! It'll make you go blind!"

My eyes fluttered open and I looked away from the sun towards my sisters voice. Rebecca had a hand on her hip as she looked at me with raised eyebrows. I just grinned at her and gestured with my head towards the sun.

"Prove it—HEY!"

An empty roll of tape bounced off the back of my head and fell to the ground. I spun around to see Rachel lower her hand from the throwing position.

"I need more tape," she said as she tried to keep the plastic table cloth from blowing off the table and down the beach, "Make yourself useful and go get some!"

I glared at her and the stupid "class of 2003" balloon that she had tied on to the table. I considered popping it, but then—the two of them would team-up on me.

"Fine," I muttered under my breath as I stomped-off back to the house, kicking up sand on my way.

Dad had wheeled himself into the kitchen and was stirring a steaming pot of chili as I stepped inside the dark house. I blinked my eyes a few times until they adjusted to the lighting change.

"Need something, son?"

I huffed out a breath of air as I nodded at him.

"Yeah," I grumbled, "Tape."

My dad wheeled himself away from the the stove and then over to the utility drawer.

"Catch," he said as he pulled out a roll of tape and then tossed it to me.

I caught it and muttered my thanks before turning back towards the propped open front door. The light from the sun outside was so bright in contrast to the darkness in the house that the doorway looked like a gateway to some white abyss. My feet stopped as the white-light of the doorway was suddenly shadowed by the figure of a girl. She was the prettiest girl in La Push—no contest. Her long black hair hung down over her shoulders and her lips were pouty as if she didn't want to be here...as usual. She walked past me with a wrapped box in her hands, towering over me only by an inch or two, but she acted as if I wasn't even there. I turned to watch as she moved past me and then sat the wrapped box down on the kitchen table. A small finger tapped me on the arm then and I looked away from the girl to glance down at the kid standing next to me.

"Hey Seth," I greeted and then quickly looked back up at the copper skinned beauty.

She had asked my dad if she could use the phone and I watched her twirl the black cord around one finger as she held the receiver to her ear. Seth tapped on my arm again but I ignored it as I stared, transfixed, at his sister. Her long black eyelashes lifted from her cheeks as she looked up and noticed that I was staring. She quickly rolled her eyes at me and then turned her back. A smile broke-out across my face as she did this; the whole while, Seth was tugging on my arm, but I was psyched that Leah Clearwater had looked at me—eye-roll and all.

"JACOB!"

Someone yelled my name and I spun around so fast I almost knocked over Seth. I apologized and then remembered the roll of tape that I was holding as I walked towards the front door, towards the light outside.

"Jacob."

A different voice, a voice I didn't recognize called my name as I stepped out into the sun, squinting. Their voice seemed to echo all around me as I was soaked in daylight. The brightness of it assaulted my darkness-adjusted eyes. It was almost not like daylight at all, but something much brighter. I slowly tried opening my eyes, but it was like having a light shine directly into your eyeballs. It was like screwing in a new light bulb and watching as it illuminated in your face; I could still see it behind my shut eyelids. It was like waking up to a different lighting than you had fallen asleep to. It was like waking up. It was just like waking up...