Prologue

Edward Cullen

I sat in front of my father, Dr Carlisle Cullen, glowering at him. My mother Esme, stood next to him, a worried expression on her face.

My siblings Alice, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper stood against the wall behind me. I could feel them shifting around uncomfortably. I heard them softly murmuring to one another, which made me madder than I already am.

Family meetings like these are rare.

As in extremely rare.

The only time we have family meetings is either when the werewolves are threatening to attack, events in the vampire world or when we misbehave very badly.

Sitting on a wooden chair in front of my parents with my siblings whispering behind me obviously meant I was in big trouble.

"Edward," said Carlisle calmly. "I've heard disturbing news about your behaviour."

"Oh yeah?" I said sulkily. I was in no mood to be reprimanded.

"Edward, my son. What has gotten into you? I received news from your school principal, stating that you play truancy at least twice a week and your grades are slipping. Your grades were straight As for the last few years! What happened?"

"That's none of your business, old man!"

"Edward!" said Esme, shocked. "Apologise to your father at once!"

The whisperings from my siblings had stopped. They were all interested in our conversation. I was getting angrier by the minute.

"Edward," said Esme impatiently. "Apologise to your father! We have nurtured and taken care of you since you were born! Your father had to do extra shifts and you know how risky it is? Spending all that time with those humans? Those days when he had to work twenty four hours straight without hunting for animal blood? You know how much that pained him?"

"Esme," said Carlisle, pained. "Did you really have to mention that?"

"I told you that you should bring some animal blood with you!" scolded Alice. "And you work near human blood! Tonight, I'm going to add a bottle of animal blood into your bag. If you dare take it out, I'll go to your workplace and drop it off!"

Jasper and Emmett sniggered.

"Look," I said, annoyed. "Old man. I don't care if my grades are slipping! It's none of your concern anymore! I'm eighteen years old! This is my life! I control my own life! Not you! I don't care if we're all vampires and family members, but you're not in charge of my life! I don't care if you want me to go back to school, because I WON'T!"

I stood up and kicked the leg of Carlisle's study table.

"EDWARD!" screeched Esme. "Mind where you're kicking! That desk costed a thousand dollars and is made from pure mahogany!"

I snorted and kicked the desk again and again until I noticed a small dent.

Esme spotted it too.

"You bastard!" she hissed in rage. "This desk-"

"Esme," sighed Carlisle. "Drop it. I'll send the desk to my friend who can fix it for free. I have other desks to work on while this one's going in repair."

I rolled my eyes.

"As for you, Edward," said Carlisle, his eyes fixing on me. "I won't forget this conversation. You'll be going back to school tomorrow and I expect better grades from you and no truancy. If you don't improve, you'll be punished greatly."

"Yeah, whatever," I said sarcastically.

"I am serious. To ensure you won't miss another day of school or fail another test, I'm going to have you under close watch."

"That will never happen. Who's gonna keep an eye on me during school hours?"

"Don't worry," said Carlisle with a little smirk. "That's all taken care of. I don't even have to pay him to

keep an eye on you. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with your jailer. You've known each other for most of your lives. You won't have any trouble getting along."

"Who is it?"

"Me, little bro," spoke Emmett from the back of the room.

I groaned.

"And that's not all of your punishment," continued Carlisle. "When you return from school, you'll be confined to your room-"

"You can't stop me going anywhere I wanna go!" I growled.

"Actually. I can. This conversation is over. Go to your room. I do not wish to speak to you of this matter again. I'm interested in watching Alice and Rosalie's fashion show. Talking to you is like talking to a juvenile delinquent who won't behave in prison."

"You can't boss me around!"

"In fact, I can. Emmett! Your job starts now! Make sure little Eddie doesn't stray from his room and have a tantrum in his room!"

Emmett cracked his knuckles and grinned at me.

I glanced around the room furiously.

"Don't you think about it Edward!" said Alice at once. "Emmett! Get him before he jumps out of the window and escapes!"

Damn!

I had neglected to think about Alice and her ability to see the future.

Without much of an option (and Emmett getting unfortunately closer to me) other than defeat, I ran and jumped out of the window.

"That window's made of Bohemian Glass!"

I opened my eyes and looked around.

I was in my room, but why was I on a bed? Vampires don't sleep and they don't get major injuries. They recover very quickly.

I tried to sit up, but found myself chained to the bed.

What the Hell?

Someone had injected me with tranquiliser and that made me as weak as a kitten. There's no way I could break out of these chains in my present condition. This must be Carlisle's doing! I regretted jumping out of the window.

"Woken up from your long sleep?"

Emmett and his sarcasms.

"Shut up!" I snapped.

"Aww, little Eddie's grumpy," sniggered Emmett, tickling my chin. "What's wrong? Your arms and legs all cramped? Too bad! You shouldn't have jumped!"

"Cut it out!"

"Make me! Oops, I forgot! You CAN'T! You would've had more freedom if you didn't rebel against Carlisle and jump out the window! Esme isn't happy you broke her window made from Bohemian Glass that costed a thousand five hundred dollars."

"I don't give a fuck what Esme thinks!"

"You should! Esme has the ability to passionately love her family without any trouble and she's the only one with the complete power to twist Carlisle around her little finger! You killed the mahogany table and the Bohemian Glass! You think that'll win her over to your side?"

"What are you trying to say? I should apologise for my actions to Esme? I don't regret them! It's just a table and a window!"

"So you're saying that you want to be imprisoned for the rest of your life?"

"I won't be imprisoned for the rest of my life!"

"Yeah right. At this rate, you will. As a big brother, I'm telling you that the only way you can gain freedom and trust is by apologising!"

"And how the Hell am I supposed to apologise if I'm chained to this bed?"

"I'll fetch Esme. You've been out for half an hour and Carlisle had been comforting Esme the whole time and promising to repair the window."

"How can she be so affectionate to a stupid window?"

"Dunno bro, but I guess it's a female thing."

"A female thing? Do you see Rosalie deciding what colours to tint it with? Or do you see Alice cooing over it as if it's a baby or something? Being affectionate to a window isn't human. It's not vampire either. I think it's more alien or Martian."

"So you're calling Esme an alien? Want me to tell her that?"

"Don't you dare!"

"When do you want me to bring Esme in?"

"Now."

I had no intention in apologising to that crazy bitch. She would probably consider extending my confinement until the end of five years.

Emmett returned with Esme.

I noticed Esme had red eyes.

Probably from crying about the loss of her Bohemian Glass window.

"What?" she said sourly. "If you want food, it's not time yet. You'll be on a strict diet from now on. I won't have you eating food any time you want. And no, you're not getting your freedom any day soon. By the way, Carlisle changed his mind. You won't be going back to school tomorrow. You're dropping out and you won't be attending school ever again."

"What's the catch?" I said cautiously.

"You'll be homeschooled and will go to university to graduate as a doctor. That way you'll have no chance of escaping."

"Don't you trust me anymore?"

"Of course not! Especially after that clever, little stunt of yours out the window!"

"There's always such thing as teenage angst! Or should I call it vampire angst? I don't have to behave like your perfect vampire kid all the time! You're not even my real mother! My real mother would never keep me confined in this room!"

Uh-oh.

I had hit dangerous territory.

Esme preferred thinking that the five of us were her 'real' children from birth, not her adopted children from 'vampire birth'.

Esme's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed.

"Enjoy your term of imprisonment," she hissed. "I expect a more mannered and respective little boy when I come and check on you at the end of term. Be thankful that today's the last day of the holidays and you get a full ten-week imprisonment."

"I was-" I began.

"I don't give a damn what you want or care! You brought this upon yourself! If you weren't rude to Carlisle and didn't injure the table and window! I'll be looking forward to see your behaviour change next term! Goodbye Edward."

She shot me a dirty look and departed.

Emmett snorted and sat on the chair next to me.

"You blew your chance," he said, pulling out his Nintendo DS. "There's no way Esme will forgive you in the next few days. She'll recommend extra punishment for you. You know her persuasiveness over Carlisle and thirst of love and vengeance. Your fault you upsetted Esme by saying that. You know she wants to think we're her real children."

"You could've helped," I said grumpily.

"Hell no! I'm not getting myself into your mess. I have better things to do! Like trying to beat Alice and Rosalie's high scores on Mario Party."

"If you're gonna be baby sitting me for ten weeks, how about school?"

"Don't worry your little head about it. Carlisle's got it all sorted out. Rosalie's gonna collect my sheets

and notifications when I'm looking after you. We're all going to take turns baby sitting you. The five of us will take two weeks off term taking care of you!"

"Five of you?"

"Me, Jasper, Rosalie, Alice and Esme or Carlisle. Esme and Carlisle will be taking alternate turns in their turn session. Carlisle's worried about his work load and Esme's trying to convince him to take time off. I wonder if she'll be successful."

"Hopefully she does. Two weeks with Esme will be horrible!"

"Oh, come on! Two weeks with Esme won't be that bad! She'll be spoon feeding you under the fantasy that you're her baby."

"Please don't tell me you'll be spoon feeding me."

Emmett grinned at me.

Just grinned.

Two Weeks Passed.

Emmett had finished his time of babysitting me.

I was still confined to the bed, but Carlisle had agreed in unchaining me (but injecting me with a little morphine) so I can eat myself.

I wonder who'll be my jailer now.

It'll be either Rosalie or Jasper.

Hopefully it's Jasper.

Rosalie's nice, but even as adoptive brother and sister, I find her beauty and attractiveness quite uncomfortable. Especially when we're alone. She doesn't talk much (she mostly admires herself in an antique, exquisite, jewelled mirror or decides silently what jewellery to wear), but even when she doesn't speak, her ability to charm men (vampires included) is extraordinary. Even when she bats her long eyelashes (dabbed with mascara), anyone would fall for her.

Jasper has the ability to make the atmosphere fuzzy and warm (which would be bad on a hot, Summer's day), but apart from that, he seems dark and quiet.

Out of all my siblings, I preferred having Alice as my jailer, since she talks to me without making fun of me, and our chess games are entertaining.

The door opened.

Hopefully it's Jasper.

I opened my eyes and to my disappointment, it was Rosalie.

"Hello Edward," said Rosalie, pulling out her mirror. "Esme's hunting with Jasper, so Carlisle will be here in a couple of minutes with your breakfast."

"What is it?" I asked, expecting a short answer.

"Blood porridge."

I hate blood porridge.

Carlisle had been experimenting blending human food and animal blood together to make edible and tasty food, since drinking animal blood the whole time was quite bland. So far, he had succeeded in making blood porridge (which was quite tasty for the first couple of days), blood pudding (which was a combination of blood and bread pudding), blood eggs (scrambled eggs with blood sauce) and blood smoothie (banana smoothie with blood).

Blood porridge was now just too disgusting to describe.

Looking at Rosalie gave me an idea to break free of this imprisonment once and for all. Rosalie is smart, but vague. Knowing her, she probably forgot about what happened to me.

"Rosalie," I said, in a hurt tone. "Can you help me?"

"What?" said Rosalie, glancing at me. "You aren't in such a bad condition."

"I'm in confinement for two weeks already! My posture will be uneven and there'll be chain marks and bruises on my wrists and ankles! Imagine how bad I'll look!"

"Esme can give you some cream when she takes over looking after you."

"Rosalie! I'm begging you! Alice would be tattling on me any second now! You know she's a mother's

little girl. I need you help! You can get away with helping me! If it was Jasper or Emmett, they won't help me anyway! Please, please, please, PLEASE! I'll do anything to repay you if you can just release my chains just this one!"

"Okay then…"

I felt a pang of regret when I thought of what I was planning to do to her. Rosalie would never forgive me for my future actions.

I sighed in relief when Rosalie unchained my ankles.

I stretched my arms when Rosalie released me.

"You'll need a lot of cream," said Rosalie, eyeing one of my bruises on my wrists. "And some bandages and stuff. You're bleeding. I can't believe Carlisle didn't know the risks and consequences of chaining you to a bed for weeks."

"Carlisle!" yelled Alice from the ground floor. "It's Edward!"

Rosalie and I froze.

The door was kicked open and Carlisle, Jasper and Alice ran in, Carlisle had armed himself with a needle full of morphine or some anaesthetic.

Without thinking, I grabbed Rosalie's neck.

Rosalie Cullen

It had felt like time had stopped.

When I felt Edward's arm around my waist and his hand around my neck, I had flashbacks of my life before my vampire birth.

"Edward," said Carlisle smoothly. "You aren't thinking right. Surviving for two weeks on blood porridge and being chained for that long would make a vampire insane. Let Rosalie go. Take your anger out at me, not her. Rosalie didn't do anything to you."

Edward was panting heavily.

"He's gonna run for it," said Alice rapidly.

Edward snarled in anger and his hand tightened around my neck.

I gasped in pain.

"Alice," said Carlisle calmly. "Please leave. Your ability is very helpful, but not necessary at the moment, alright? Please go."

Alice glanced at me and Edward for a few seconds and left.

Jasper's eyes flickered at me and then at Edward.

I felt the room increase in temperature and sensed the familiar fuzziness and warmth of Jasper's ability in making the room warm.

"Stop it Jasper!" growled Edward. "Keep warming the room if you want Rosalie's neck snapped and attending her funeral! I'm not joking with you! If you want Rosalie alive and keeping Alice occupied, stop what you're doing and step aside!"

Carlisle nodded.

He dropped the needle and kicked it aside and raised his hands in surrender.

Jasper stopped his ability and casually sat on the chair with his hands raised and behind his head. His eyes were still alternatively flickering between Edward and me.

"Sorry Rosalie," Edward murmured. "You should've prayed to have dark hair or been just a bit uglier or less captivating. I didn't want to do this to you, but I had no choice. Blame Carlisle for imprisoning me in the first place."

He dragged me out of the room.

Edward Cullen

In truth, I didn't want to hurt Rosalie.

It was just unfortunate for her that she was so attractive and just as persuasive and mind-luring as Esme in Carlisle's mind.

I hated Alice for her part in wanting me imprisoned.

If it wasn't for her and her stupid future-seeing powers, I wouldn't have to take Rosalie as hostage to regain my freedom.

I loathed Jasper for his fuzzy powers.

If he didn't try to make me sleepy with that fuzziness and warmth, I wouldn't have been angrier than I needed to and Rosalie's neck might not have marks on it and her eyes won't be welled up in tears. I wished I could rewind time.

After dragging poor Rosalie down two flights of stairs, I reached the front door.

"Goodbye Rosalie," I said, releasing her. "I hope we meet again."

I opened the door and ran through the forests at a hundred kilometres per fifteen minutes. Carlisle can never catch me at this speed.

I was finally free!