Chapter 1: First Meeting

I'm just a sixteen-year-old girl. I go to school. I have a part-time job. I hike up the mountain by my house. There is a river. It flows down the mountain. I hike up it all the time. No one goes up the trail anymore. It's just wilderness. It soothes me to be alone up there. About halfway up river is a small waterfall. There is a large flat rock next to a tree. I can sit there for hours. I often stay there overnight. I always have a sleeping bag with me. I write, read and sing there.

That's where I first encountered him. He appeared out of nowhere. He was amazingly beautiful. He came up to me and smiled a dazzling smile. He said, "Hello, my name is William Cullen. It's rare to find someone out here in this wilderness."

My heart skipped a beat when I heard his last name. I had read a series of books called Twilight with a family of 'vegetarian vampires' called the Cullens. They had never mentioned a William though. I looked carefully at his eyes before answering. They were pale gold. No way. It couldn't be real. I stuttered out an answer, "I'm J-J-Jessie K-Kirkwood. Pleased to meet y-you."

Numbly I put out my hand to shake. Here was the real test. Was he as hard as stone and cold as ice? He took my outstretched hand and said, "Hello, Jessie, it is a pleasure to meet you."

His hand was cold, ice cold. He was pale. There was no doubt in my mind now. But I kept that to myself for now. I decided to perform some tests to see if he was super strong and fast. I took a step backwards and slipped. I started to fall of the rock. I knew that he could only save me if he was super fast. He was. Even as I was slipping he was already saving me. Far too fast for a human. I gasped as his cold hands gripped me.I thanked him and he said, "Don't worry about it." Now I knew he was fast but was he strong? I accidentally/deliberately got my backpack strap stuck under a large boulder. He would have to lift the boulder to get it out. He sighed lightly before groaning with effort and lifting it up. I slipped my strap free.

Then I looked him straight in the face and said, "I know you're not human."

He looked at me with surprised eyes and I continued,

"You're impossibly strong and fast. You're cold and hard as stone. You're pale and have golden eyes. And you're last name is Cullen." I took a deep breath and said, "You're a vampire."

He looked at me startled, then he asked, "If I was, would you be afraid?"

I smiled and said, "No, I would not be afraid. Not if you are a Cullen."

Then he whispered, "How do you know?"

I continued to smile and answered, "I read a series of books called Twilight. In the books there was a family of 'vegetarian vampires' with the last name Cullen." Then I frowned slightly, "But they never mentioned a William." I looked at him and added, "Please don't lie, I know this is true."

He sighed and said, "Most of what's in those books is true. Bella had a friend called Stephenie Meyer. She discovered our secret. She was an author and wanted to use our story for one of her books. We agreed, but changed a few things. I am not mentioned at all in the books. The only other thing that was changed was the location of Isle Esme." He paused.

I muttered, "Feathers," Under my breath. It was an inside joke that amused my friends. I knew he'd heard me but he continued as if he hadn't.

"It's actually in the Pacific Ocean, not the Atlantic. It's off the coast of Chile. Other than those two things it is completely true." My eyes widened in shock.

I stared at him, then asked, "How long have you been with the Cullens?"

He smiled a tiny but perfectly dazzling smile. "I'll just tell you my whole story. To bring you up to speed, so to speak." He winked at me and started the story.

"In the early 1950's I was born in a small private hospital in Alaska. Shortly after I turned 16 I met the Cullens when they came to live in the same town as I. A month later I was in a terrible car crash. I was taken to the same hospital where I had been born. I was in horrible shape. The doctors said I had very little chance of living. I managed to stay alive until the shift changed and Carlisle came in. A little later I took a turn for the worse. He saved me by changing me. I was last one to join them, other than Bella and Renesmee, of course." He paused for a moment.

I muttered, "Feathers," again.

Suddenly he looked at me and asked, "Feathers?"

I blushed and said, "It's nothing, just something I say when I get reminded of certain parts in Breaking Dawn." Then I added, "I use it to annoy my friends sometimes. It's kind of a code word that only a few of my friends understand." I blushed deeply. I was blushing because it was a code word for Bella and Edward's honeymoon. But I wasn't going to tell him that.

I looked up at him and said, "I have to go now but I'll be here in the morning. Will I see you again?"

He smiled a dazzling smile, "I'll be waiting for you." He promised.

I smiled, too and gathered up my things and went back to my house. I would just have to hope he'd be true to his word. I smiled to myself.