Beneath the ancient shelter of a majestic fig tree, with gnarled branches like that of in a fairy tale sat a seventeen-year-old girl bathed in the cold light of a full moon.
She was very much alone. Inside she ached so much it overwhelmed her.
She gazed, the lake seemingly sprinkled with diamonds trembled in her vision as she began to softly cry.
The light of the full moon mystically streamed through the forest illuminating the night and over her small figure huddled shivering in the safety blanket of the giant tree. Her hands were cupping her bowed head, fingers buried, twisted tightly in her long chestnut brown hair. Her pain-filled eyes squeezed firmly shut and yet tears still managed to roll out from the deep depths of her soul.
She hadn't cried in such a long time. She had held it all in, held it in from everyone - apart from the first few weeks after… after he left. Her body choked out another sob at the memory.
It was when her parents wanted to send her to a psychologist that she decided to bury it all & try to find a way to eke an existence for her family & friends sake anyway.
But now… now it was impossible to keep the memories from bursting to the surface. She wanted him back. She had tried to live without him but it just wasn't possible.
She had tried. She hated breaking promises but she drew little comfort from knowing at least it would be the last promise she broke.
A midnight mist swirled from the lake & like a wispy silvery blanket it tentatively wrapped around her. Her slightly soiled white chiffon dress clung to her soft pale skin. Her feet stained brown from the soft earth, her stupid fancy shoes abandoned on the shore of the lake beyond her; thrown in a feeble display of anger & sadness before she had returned to slump into the comforting arms of the wise old tree.
She looked down at herself, disgusted at the sight of the white dress that hugged her body too tightly for her liking. How she had ever let Jess come near her, dress her in this profanity & then drag her to a lame party she had no idea. Perhaps she wasn't getting enough air to her brain.
"Definitely not enough air," she thought.
Her arms wrapped around her legs as she sat biting her lip, jaw tightly clenched, head raised bravely with a defiant stare. Yet her eyes betrayed her frail & broken innocence.
The moonlight momentarily captured her tears & her eyes sparkled like stars in the heavens above her, teardrops glistening as they rolled down her flushed cheeks, over her quivering lips from within the deep confines of her tortured soul.
Her long tresses of hair were now embedded with tiny droplets left behind as a gift from the mist & shone brilliantly like thousands of tiny jewels.
And suddenly like a small child distracted she paused … the landscape that surrounded her took her breath away. Briefly she admired the wonder of nature; but all too soon… a muffled sob shudders. The emotion is all too much, burdened once again by the reality that she cannot go on any further with her facade.
Tears return & the spirits of the night surround her mourning for all that she has lost … that of which has been trapped inside her for so long, secrets never spoken. The horror at the thought of a time that she has achingly dreamed every night since he had left her would never come to be, was too much for her to bear.
A gentle breeze softly whispers through the forest, the rustling leaves above her quiver & fall from the tree, falling like memories, falling all around her. She scoops a few in her hands & clutches them, treasures them; for although her memories bring her pain, they are more precious than the world she lives in. Unfurling her hand, the golden leaves caress her skin.
She stands & steps out of the comfort of the tree stumbling towards the lake & its cold, indifferent silver reflection of the night above.
The moon is the only spectator with its light beaming down on her pale, slender & lonely form.
Another tear falls but she is resolute in her thoughts. She can't keep his promise. She has no more to give.
As she walks forward closer to the waters edge; tears are spattering her precious golden leaves, but she is unaware. The very essence of her soul is slipping away. The silence of the night deafening her, rendering her senseless; shaking & sobbing her knees crumble beneath her. She moans, the pebbled lake shoreline crunches as she lets herself fall succumbing to the cold & hoping that the freezing night will in turn make no hesitation in draining the life out of her.
…
…
In the distance far away, deep within the ancient forest came a faint noise. The sound of a twig almost soundlessly snapping underfoot, the swishing noise of something advancing quickly towards the girl & though it wasn't loud, it shattered the fragile night.
The girl so caught up in her web of sadness doesn't even hear the noise. The quiet yet persistent sound keeps advancing rhythmically …until it stops suddenly.
In the shadow of the oak stands a boy – a seventeen year old boy, but not just a boy - a man who has seen many lifetimes. But never has he felt that he has lived until the moment that he laid his eyes upon her. Never had he met such a curious creature, so understanding, so forgiving, so loving, so damn stubborn.
Even now he couldn't help but pause at her heart-wrenching anguish, her whole body consumed & racking with pain & the cold. "Because of me," he thought with self-loathing.
And in that moment of stillness, deep in thought, even with his furrowed brow, he was a gorgeous sculpture to behold; a vision of god-like beauty. Wearing boots, black jeans, black shirt & grey coat he was still anything but ordinary. Pale skin glistening, his overtly handsome features were amplified by the full moon reaching its zenith in the sky. His liquid topaz eyes glinted intently on her, wavering for a moment as he thought about how to approach her. His strong jaw line clenched & unclenched nervously as he ran his fingers through his golden brown hair slightly messed up from the long distance land speed record, which he just obliterated without a second thought, without even raising a sweat.
He'd made up his mind. Carefully, quietly and very quickly he approached her. He could see all too clearly her pain gradually sending her to oblivion. It had to stop.
He crouched behind her, tenderly putting his arms around her bare arms, embracing, protecting her not only from the bitter cold with his large warm jacket but also to flood her senses with his love & wash away what he had done.
The words that he'd said, he didn't say to hurt her. It was the only way he could see that he could make sure she was safe, to protect her from the monsters in his world. But he now knew she never was safe because her worst enemy was herself & it seemed that he had arrived to confirm his suspicions not a moment too soon.
He felt her catch her breath, her heart beating faster as her mind began to race into overdrive. She didn't move, in fact she was rigid. She stared straight out over the lake, her breath now plumes of mist rising in short quick bursts.
He slowly lowered his lips & kissed her on her bare shoulder & she gasped,
"Edward??"
Her hands involuntarily opened, dropping the leaves onto the pebbled landscape. She stared at the place where they fell, eyes wide with disbelief.
"To hear that beautiful soft voice again, the voice that filled my mind, that narrated my thoughts…" He smiled to himself as he held her tight, yet it was a smile filled with profound regret.
How had he had the strength to leave her in the first place? How had he battled the conflicting argument in his mind for so long?
All those nights where he had not been able to cradle her whilst she slept in his arms was an interminable torture that he knew he could never endure again.
He lowered his arms to rest on her waist concentrating as he lifted her gently from the ground knowing he could crush her with the strength of euphoria he felt inside at that moment.
He turned her slowly to face him so he could stare deep into those beautiful brown eyes that he had drowned in so many times.
"Bella, I'm so sorry" he said simply. It just blurted out.
Her head flew up & looked up to his flawless finely chiselled face, golden brown eyes… the face she had loved the moment she had laid eyes upon him & never did her love falter. Her eyes fluttered wildly, doubt washed away by reality. The concerned, loving look on his face was all she had ever dreamt of seeing again.
"He's here… really here", she thought studying his face again as if it would disappear at any moment.
"Edward, oh my god, Edward!" Was all she could gasp as her arms flung around his body & she buried her face in his chest muffling the sound of her joyous tears & moans of disbelief.
He could hear her saying over & over like a mantra, "Please don't ever leave me, please don't ever leave me…" & if he had a beating heart then at that very moment it would have imploded at the sound of her voice pleading with such pain & fervour.
He looked down on her, the moonlight raining down on them. Enveloping her with his powerful arms, he could not rest them on any one place, it were as if his hands had to touch her all over, to make sure she was okay.
He let her cry on his chest, his shirt wet with her salty tears before she had calmed down enough to be able to loosen her hold on him & again stare into his beautiful eyes.
"I'm never leaving you again Bella, never ever again."
He said it with such conviction that she couldn't stifle the sob that caught in her throat or the tears that pricked in her eyes.
She couldn't bring out any words to speak, sure that her voice would crack at the first word. And definitely still not entirely sure that it wasn't another of her taunting nightmares that her sick mind parodied almost every night, always abruptly waking her, alone, moaning the loss of her one true love on her dishevelled bed, drenched with sweat & salty tears.
He cupped her face gently & leaned down, his golden eyes searching hers for answers he could not read. His lips parted oh-so-slightly & his cool breath sweeping over her. He was hesitating, not sure if he should but she rushed forward putting his mind at ease & their lips locked. At first a feverous & passionate tirade of thousands of brief kisses of joy & happiness, she began to relax, smile & then giggle with relief in-between kisses. He too then smiled.
They paused to stare at each other, breathing in each other's beautiful scents, sweeping each other's hair through their fingertips, and tracing the lines of their faces.
As her fingertip slowly ran along his lower lip, he stared into her eyes & smiled her favourite crooked smile… "Be careful Bella, I bite remember?"
"I'm not scared of you Edward, or had you forgotten that?" she retorted & smiled lovingly.
He moved closer, not to kiss, but to lean his forehead against hers & rest his hands on the nape of her neck & on her waist. It was as if at that moment the moonlight melded them together. Two became one in the silvery glow of the night.
In the distance, wolves howled breaking the silence of the night. Bella smiled & Edward looked at her questioningly to which she looked down at her feet & just shook her head as if to say Don't go there.
Then she reached up, stretching on her toes to kiss him again, this time deeply, passionately until she was breathless & weak at the knees, breaking their close embrace. He caught her as she stumbled back & quickly took off his coat & gave it to her. She shrugged it on gratefully & breathed in the scent of his woollen coat, even though it was cold from him wearing it, it would soon warm her & flush her cheeks a warmer rose. As she hugged it tightly around her he swept her off her feet before she could even soak up another wondrous vision of him glistening in the full moon light.
"Edward!" she squealed, "Put me down!"
He laughed as he looked down at her indignant expression, her eyes red rimmed & lips ruby red from the cold.
He kissed them quickly & said, "Hush, my love, must you always be so difficult?"
I couldn't help but hiss & chuckle with delight, smiling wickedly to myself as dear Edward raced off with Bella bundled in his arms disappearing into the depths of the forest in mere seconds.
Death still, laying on my stomach, legs outstretched on a very wide branch I had been carefully watching high in the tree canopy across the lake. Watching it all unfold was at first a yawn-worthy & nearly unbearable stint but then rapidly became more than I had hoped for when Edward appeared. I had to blink, even though I didn't need to – our vision is akin to an eagle with the added feature of high definition colour.
"Wait til the others know", I thought smugly.
It seems that patience really does pay off for trackers, just like James tried to explain to me whilst he was visiting us what I now realised to be a very valuable asset. I was only mildly interested & I wished I had paid more attention now, as perhaps there was more I could have gleaned. But I was more than pleased with what I had gathered tonight.
God, my burning desire to take Bella's miserable snivelling existence tonight was taken to exhilarating new heights when her dashing prince Edward appeared just in the proverbial nick of time! I had to immediately cloak my excited thoughts as I sensed the approach many miles before he could be seen in the shadows of the large tree on the other side of the lake. For me to have gone unnoticed is a feat not to be played down, as I have heard that his gift is very powerful. And I revelled in that with this test, I had passed with flying colours.
Knowing he was coming was nonetheless made more exhilarating when he first came into my sights… my eyes blinking & radiating undisguised contempt.
Simmeon would be very pleased that I had been there to watch it all & when I returned we would retire to his study so he could close his eyes, relax in his big brown leather easy chair & see it all unfold in my mind as he too could read thoughts.
Watching Bella was a test in many ways, now after all this time I was sure it had well & truly paid off. He would be proud of me, his protégé.
If Edward was back, then surely so were the rest.
I stretched & ran my pale fingers through my glistening black long hair as I crouched back leaning casually against the trunk of the tree high above still buzzing with the many thrilling thoughts.
Yes, Simmeon had learned a lot from Carlisle a long time ago, meeting by chance at a hospital in Eastern Europe.
In the confines of my mind, I quickly recounted the story he had told me some time ago when I too had made a careless error of judgement.
Simmeon stayed for many years & tried to learn the restraint that Carlisle delivered to lesser mortals.
Luckily with plagues & many other devastating illnesses - when Simmeon slipped up, no one noticed another life pass away making room for another ailing body desperate for a cure that was still yet to be discovered.
One day, Simmeon made the error that Carlisle could not forgive. He created a newborn.
In Carlisle's eyes, Simmeon had neither the strength nor the discipline to create another & support the needs of a newborn.
Carlisle made the discovery after following him up to a hidden cave one night during a howling snowstorm that was assaulting the village below. What he saw was a 17 year old boy confused, hungry, angry & very dangerous…
"Leave now," Carlisle said to Simmeon, face twisted in a rage, "And I won't end your selfish life right now!" He spat.
Simmeon merely raised his eyebrow, hissing at Carlisle in defiance, took one last look at his stunning & fierce creation before flinging his cape & hood over his shoulders disappearing into the malevolent night nearly a century ago.
But now it was surely near the time where our coven could teach the Cullen's a few neat tricks of our own! I swung once on a branch, still smiling conspiratorially as I glided to the forest floor landing soundlessly.
Flitting between the trees & careful to not make much sound or leave any trace my mind kept ticking.
Simmeon was not perfect. Carlisle had discovered & foiled one secret way back then, but what Carlisle's family didn't know was that Carlisle had some potentially very dangerous secrets of his own.
My red eyes glowered like blazing embers. Revenge would be coming soon & even sickly sweet Alice would have no idea that we were coming. That is, until we were standing on their doorstep.
Angel, her twin sister that Carlisle never spoke of, could make more than sure of that.