Chapter 1: The awakening

The light danced, shattering off Edward's crystal hands. The sparkles were tinged with red, with the blood that covered his skin. And more red in his hands. Something small and struggling, dripping with blood. He touched the warm body to my weak arms, almost like I was holding her. Her wet skin was hot—as hot as Jacob's.

My eyes focused; suddenly everything was absolutely clear. Renesmee did not cry, but she breathed in quick, startled pants. Her eyes were open, her expression so shocked it was almost funny. The little, perfectly round head was covered in a thick layer of matted, bloody curls. Her irises were a familiar—but astonishing—chocolate brown. Under the blood, her skin looked

pale, a creamy ivory. All besides her cheeks, which flamed with color.

Her tiny face was so absolutely perfect that it stunned me. She was even more beautiful than her father. Unbelievable. Impossible.

"Renesmee," I whispered. "So… beautiful."

The impossible face suddenly smiled—a wide, deliberate smile. Behind the shell pink lips was a full complement of snowy milk teeth. She leaned her head down, against my chest, burrowing against the warmth. Her skin was warm and silky, but it didn't give the way mine did.

Then there was pain again. I gasped. And she was gone. My angel-faced baby was nowhere.

"I'm sorry"

a deep voice said somewhere but I couldn't move. The blackness rushed over my eyes like a thick blindfold, firm and fast. A fire I knew all two well from two years ago fire blazed inside me. It could have been seconds or days, weeks or years, but, eventually, time came to mean something again.

Three things happened together. Some one screamed, I smelled smoke and I got stronger. My heart stuttered twice, and then thudded quietly again just once more. There was no sound. No breathing. Not even mine.

For a moment, the absence of pain was all I could comprehend.

Then, suddenly, the small organ inside my chest started beating again. I opened my eyes and gazed above me in wonder.

Everything was so clear. Sharp. Defined.

The brilliant light overhead was still blinding-bright, and yet I could plainly see the glowing strands of the filaments inside the bulb. I could see each color of the rainbow in the white light, and, at the very edge of the spectrum, an eighth color I had no name for.

Behind the light, I could distinguish the individual grains in the dark wood ceiling above. In front of it, I could see the dust motes in the air, the sides the light touched, and the dark sides, distinct and separate. They spun like little planets,

moving around each other in a celestial dance.

The dust was so beautiful that I inhaled in shock; I could taste the room around me—taste the lovely dust motes, the mix of the stagnant air mingling with the flow of slightly cooler air from the open door. Taste something sweet, like pink cotton candy.

I stood up too fast. I should have been dizzy but I wasn't. I followed the smell downstairs. Its origin was in the family room on the ground floor. all around were broken furniture, sofa's were missing their pillows, Edward's beloved piano was in pieces with its keys littering the floor, even the door was broken like it had been kicked in.

There, in the middle of the room were eight distinct piles of aces. That's what I had smelled. Each pile had a piece of jewelry on it. With trembling hands i picked each jewel. Carlisle's and Esme's rings, Rosalie's large pendant, Alice's smaller one, Emmett's Jasper's and Edward's bracelets. The Cullen's crests.

the eighth and much smaller pile had a Polaroid picture on it. in it was a baby, extremely pale with matted red curls and deep chocolate brown eyes. Renesmee.

I screamed. If I had anything in me, I would puke. I clutched the crests and the picture in my arms and unthinking i walked outside the house. on the driveway was Edward's Volvo. I drove as fast as my new senses and grief would allow. Every time I would stop at a traffic light if there were people crossing the street hey would smile in an overly sad way and walk away.

I arrived home, at Charlie's, much sooner than I expected. i leave the car's door opened as i get out of the car and knock on the green door.

"daddy?"

is the first word that leaves my lips since my awakening. Charlie smiles at me and opens his arms wide in a clear invitation but I can't get inside the house. in invincible barricade stops me. Charlie nods and invites me in. the barricade is suddenly gone and i break down in sobs in my father's arms.

In my despair I never notice that my eyes aren't vibrant red or that my skin doesn't sparkle. or even that my heart is still beating, albeit a bit slower than it normally would