A/N: This is an idea I've been toying with for a while. R/R!
Chapter 1:
I remembered that it was a sweltering day. Walking down the dark street didn't scare me the way it did when I was younger. I didn't feel emotions very strongly anymore. Not since He had left me. About a week after Sam Uley had carried me out of the woods, I got a call from my mother. She told me that Phil had left her. She sounded distant and detached and I was worried. It's amazing to think that I could see these reactions happening to my mom, but couldn't acknowledge that I was handling things the exact same way. I had my belongings packed and a flight paid for in less than a day. My truck had picked a wonderful time to die. My mother and I have been sharing her Carolla for the last year, both of us too lazy to buy another one. Charlie had seen me wanting to go back to Phoenix as a blessing. He really didn't know how to handle a teenager who stopped wanting to exist, and he thought that me and Renee would heal each other. How wrong he was. If anything, me and my mom grieving together made things worse. She had lost her entire life, and being a teenager, I thought my situation was worse. She had lost a husband, but I had lost a soul mate along with his entire family. So for an entire thirteen months we pulled each other deeper and deeper. We never spoke, never called Charlie. I went to school as a zombie, while she muddled through her job doing people's taxes. It put food on the table and gas lights over our heads, not that we ever actually used them.
This particular day was my High School graduation, and I was walking home. I was still wearing my cap and gown. I had no friends to party with after the event, and my Mother sure as Hell hadn't been there. I had my headphones in and was listening to a song as I walked. What was the name of that song? I do know there had been a kitten. A small white kitten. Well, it had once been white. Its fur had been covered with the grime and dirt of living in the streets. I had seen a small pink nose poking out of its face and a the small meow it gave to me was enough to make me melt. I tried to follow it. I knew my mother wouldn't have let me keep it, but I thought a bath and a nice can of tuna would clear my conscience of this poor creature. I walked past the end of the block and past a small convenience store with a red sign. How could I remember the color of the sign and not what song I was listening to? The kitten turned the corner into the alley before I did. As it disappeared I quickened my pace. I was close to home and I knew it was unwise to go down any alleyway after dark. This was Phoenix, after all.
Turning the bricked corner, I stopped. I couldn't see ten feet into the pitch black of the alley. I waited for a few seconds and heard nothing. Thinking it was safe I called to the kitten.
"Here, kitty. Come on out." Using my high baby voice to try to lure it back into the light. I heard a soft mew come from about twenty feet in. So I stumbled into the dark. I tripped, naturally, over a few scraps of litter every couple of feet and stopped right about where I thought the kitten might be. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as a slight gust of wind hit me from the mouth of the alley. "Kitty?" I called.
"Isabella" The darkness answered.
I was immediately grabbed from behind and shoved into the brick wall to my left. A hand was clamped tight over my mouth long before my mind even registered the idea to scream. Using all of my strength, I threw myself backwards and flailed every inch of my body to try to escape. It only took a couple seconds to realize it was useless. From the voice that said my name, I knew it was a man. But he made it very clear that he could do this all day. I felt no breath on the back of my neck where he should have been panting from exertion. Any normal person would. I started to notice the subtle things that screamed danger. Even more danger than being grabbed from behind in the dark normally screams. His hands were not rough, but rock hard and ice cold. His hand moved not a millimeter as I struggled beneath it. I could partially see the top of his hand under my nose, and it was ghostly pale. The hand that held me to the wall also did not move. Showed no signs of exertion. I could feel the shape of the hand, but it wasn't even pushing. I could breath and I was not in any pain, I simply couldn't escape. I might as well have been trapped between two walls. I could wiggle as much as I wanted, but there was no give in either direction. He didn't say anything for a few moments. As my struggle started to fade, and I became aware that I was either going to die or wish I had, he finally spoke. At the sound of his words I froze, eyes wide.
"I've missed you Isabella," He spoke my name with an angry hiss. "and you are very lucky that it is me. Do you have any idea what Victoria would have done in this scenario? You would be tied up in the woods by now if it weren't for my suggesting to come instead." Was this really Laurant? "You remember me, yes? Well I have a bit of an experiment I want to try. You will never see me again after tonight. In fact you will probably die. All the others have, haha" He chuckled to himself, the vibrations shaking me slightly. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he tears were falling fast now. I wished he would just get this over with. He removed his hand and replaced it with his entire torso, crushing me slightly. I merely whimpered. "Shh, my Isabella. You have nothing to fear but a small amount of pain. I will make sure this goes as quickly as possible." His voice somehow got even quieter as he pressed his lips right to my ear, causing a shudder to pass through me that went unnoticed by my assailant. "I have a feeling about you. I really hope you survive this." I felt a small prick on my arm right above my elbow before his mouth claimed my throat.
Pain. All I could think about was pain. It tore through everything that I knew. Slowly charring me from the inside out. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. I knew I wasn't moving. I wanted to scream. I wanted to curse the monster that did this to me. I burned for an eternity. I only knew the pain as it grew exponentially with every lifetime that seemed to pass. I couldn't think around it for a long while. I recognized my growing strength when the time started to mean something.
Thoughts?