Let Me In
By MoneyTunes10
Chapter One
Do you believe in evil?
Well it believes in you….
It has been over a century since Forks had this much snow. The dark of night, which provides the necessary cover for the new occupants, is useless since the cold white puffs falling rapidly from the overcast night sky stick to their sullied skin. Isabella's feet are bare, as usual, and her hair hangs in limp threads, obscuring her face from any unlucky occupants still up at this late hour inside their homes. For these well-meaning small town folks should not see this peculiar girl.
Her father, for all intents and purposes, is shivering, even though he is submerged with as many pieces of warm clothing as he could find. He, at least, seem to be affected by this force of nature descending in small, cold, clean puffs. Yet there are some beings that defy forces of nature. Isabella is one of those beings.
Knee-deep in snow, she leads the way to their new home. It is imperative that they move at night and remain covered under the darkness, for the sunlight causes her seventeen-year old body to singe with burns. With heads down, the twosome make their way, incidentally passing by the Cullen mansion and crossing the street to a shoddy-looking house.
Four of the five heartbeats coming from the Cullen home are thumping rhythmically, indicating that slumber has taken them for the night. The fifth heartbeat, the one belonging to Edward Cullen, is still beating powerfully. He is up late as usual. This ritual of Edward's is the reason he sees Isabella and the reason she sees him. Her snow-hooded eyes instinctively seek this boy. Those green eyes, which are squinting from the second floor into the streets looking at the two lumbering shapes, belong to an attractive boy. Yes, he appears to be seventeen and the innocence that glints in his eyes contrasts viciously with the knowledgeable darkness that consumes hers.
Edward of course can not see her eyes. He can not even tell if she is a boy or a girl. He only sees two huddled shapes covered in snow entering the decrepit house across the street. The same house that all the neighbors wanted demolished for bringing down their property values. He thinks nothing of the new neighbors; dismissing them as homeless stragglers trying to find shelter from the cold.
Edward's indifferent attitude is justified…for now.
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No one in the town pays attention to the house. The two occupants prefer this lack of consideration and preserve the obscure relationship by mostly exiting the house at night. The man, who is clearly older and could pass as Isabella's father, sometimes leaves during the day but only after Isabella makes sure it's clear.
She would always listen intently and give him a curt nod. He is never offended by her lack of vocal communication. He would do anything for her, she knows it and he knows it. Charlie Swan would follow Isabella to the end of the world. She reminds him so much of his late wife that his love for this creature is irrational…just as love should be.
Because sometimes we love so hard and so much that we grasp at any hope that keeps the object of our affection alive. Isabella keeps Charlie's love for his late wife, Renee, alive. This man was at the brink of death when he stumbled upon Isabella.
He was walking back from Renee's funeral and drunk beyond any human's capacity when he saw a slender figure standing in the middle of the street.
It was three in the morning. There would be no reason for anyone to be standing in the middle of the street.
He saw the slight figure and the dark hair and was convinced it was Renee reborn. She could not bear to part from him either…at least that's what he told himself.
For the slim frame and brown hair were the only common thread between Renee and Isabella. Evil pervaded Isabella's features. She was beautifully evil. From the way she cocked her head as she looked at Charlie to the way her fingers delicately traced the veins in his neck. He never even remembered her moving towards him. She was just in the street and then she was in front of him. It was only the blissful wonder on Charlie's face that peaked her curiosity and stopped her from consuming him.
She learned about Charlie that night. He let her into his world and in turn, Charlie got what he wanted. In his mind, he got Renee back.
He could justify the evil seeping from the Isabella as she asked him to bring humans to her because she needed blood to survive. And Charlie did it; he did it out of love. He did it because even evil can not dilute his love.
Yet he is human and needs sunlight. He even remembers the days he had picnics with Renee. Then sadness would suddenly overtake him because he can not take Isabella on picnics. Yes she can go out on overcast days, but what would she eat? He never saw her consume victims, but he could always hear their gurgled screams from the next room…even in his dreams.
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So no one in this town takes a second look at the poorly dressed man. Some merely have a passing thought that the homeless population in Forks is oddly increasing but no one thinks more of it. They are all too excited about Christmas. They are all too happy to be spending the holidays with family and friends, enjoying the winter break together, to focus on the little changes that are occurring.
For example, Sam, the local bum no longer sits in the park on his favorite bench. He isn't even outside his usual convenience store joking with Emmett McCarthy. In fact, Sam seems to have left Forks…maybe he went to a bigger city they thought. He had always talked about living in Seattle and making a ton of money.
And yet if they peek into the home across the street from the Cullens, they would see Sam's stray boot. His lucky sweatshirt soiled with blood and his neck gnawed until the muscles were marred from the mastication of powerful canines and molars. Yet no blood pools beneath his still form. His body sadistically drained of its life giving fluid.
In the corner of the very same room Isabella sits staring at the window. It is overcast and she watches Charlie take one of his daily walks. Her form does not change; it is still as if it is part of the decrepit building she currently calls home. She watches as the Cullen children return to their home from the last day of school before winter break. She knows them by now. She's heard enough from them to know all about them. She sees Emmett, Jasper and Edward start a snowball fight. She sees Alice's small form wildly dashing towards Edward with a huge lumpy snowball ready to join the fight, and she sees Rosalie and Tanya duck as they make a mad dash for shelter behind their car.
A slow smile creeps on this creature's face as she wonders how they will taste. Yet it's the little girl that steps outside the door of the Cullen home that she salivates for the most.
"Carlie," Edward laughed breathlessly ducking and calling to his youngest sister, "come play with us!"
Isabella chuckles but there is no joy behind it, yes come out, come out wherever you are, I would love to play with you Carlie.