Disclaimer – I don't own twilight or anything that is referenced as an actual product, story etc in this story.
Alice's POV
I couldn't see her. I could see trees, rocks and water. Lots and lots of water but not her. Not the White Lady of Forks, not the ghost of the river, not my mother. Everyone has seen her except from me. Dad saw her on the day of the funeral, Mrs McCarty saw her when she was coming home from the hospital and Jasper saw her when he was walking to my house. Why can't I see her? Why not me? Why did she have to die? I still remember her death like it was yesterday…
There were no birds on that day. I remember thinking how weird it was not hearing the birds chirping, but I dismissed it as it was near winter, only later did I know it was an omen. I remember waking up with the autumn sun streaming through my purple curtain covered window and my mother's gentle voice gradually bringing me out of my slumber.
"Come on darling, time to rise and shine!"
Her tone was soft and kind like it was when she talked to my three week-old brother, Edward.
In typical teenage fashion, I groaned and roughly pulled my duvet over my head and tried to go back to the world of dreams. Then I felt a pair of hands grab my duvet, throwing it across the room and landing with a thud as it touched the ground with some of my books. The sun rays now glared at me as mum opened the curtains. I groaned again and grudgely opened my eyes.
There stood my mother in all her glory. Her golden caramel hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, a white t-shirt clung on to her top half and some loose jeans on the bottom. The casual look was completed by a grey hoodie over the t-shirt and then white, now grey trainers were on her small feet. Her arms were crossed and her right foot was gently tapping the laminated floor of my bedroom. Her bright green eyes were staring at me. I got up and zombie-walked to my closet. I heard footsteps behind me and my bedroom door shutting, telling me mum had left the room. I picked out my usual Sunday walking gear and got dressed quickly. You never messed with Esme Cullen on a Sunday.
When I did get downstairs I was greeted with the warm welcome of my brother Edward getting bottled fed by our dad, Carlisle. Edward looked up at me with his green eyes mirroring my own. His head was already covered in wispy tufts of bronze hair, something he inherited from our mom but like me he got his pale skin from our dad, Carlisle. I felt like the odd one out of my family because I was the only one with black hair but Dad told me that he loved my hair because it reminded him of our late grandma Cullen. Anyway before I could say "hello", a piece of toast suddenly appeared in my right hand and I was pushed in the direction of the open front door and into the cold crisp air of Forks and we started to walk down our usual path.
I should mention now that Forks is not a big town neither is it small. It was okay, I mean there was nothing fancy except from the Grand Hotel on the high street, but it wasn't so shabby either. There was a bakery, butchers and coffee shops galore. There was a hiking shop, a DIY shop and lots more. The only thing bad about Forks was the massive stone quarry about a mile away. The stones were stacked on top of each other like dominoes, just waiting for that right gust of wind to knock them down. But if you were a walking fanatic like my mom then it was paradise. Pathways ran all the way round Forks. They went through the woods, into town and alongside the river. Perfect for anyone who wanted to torture their fifteen year old daughter with exercise and mindless chit chat.
As I munched on the toast I was given, Mom twittered on about this girl called Tanya, at her work who blah, blah with blah, blah and ended up blah, blah. I sighed quietly into my almost finished toast, wishing silently that she would change the subject into something less boring, like when she was going to show me the new house, she was decorating but before she could we stopped at our mid-way station of Twilight Cottage owned by the infamous Mrs McCarty.
The way Mrs McCarty, first name Rosalie, wasn't anything special or if you called looking like a supermodel nothing special. Blue eyes, blonde hair and legs that went on forever. It was more of her history that got people talking. Left on Twilight Cottage's doorstep at the tender age of four weeks-old, covered in a hand-crafted quilt and with a note saying "I'm Sorry" on it. She was lucky that Police Chief Swan was there with his wife Renée were about to leave for a dinner or they might not have found her. As I walked up on the gravel path that led up to the cottage, I remember thinking about how brave Mrs McCarty was not letting her past define her and now she was twenty-three years old with a successful cake business under her belt and a baby on the way and married to the principal of Forks High, Mr McCarty or Emmett as he liked being called outside of school time. As Mrs McCarty opened the door after hearing our footsteps on the path, I was hit with the aroma of freshly made cookies and cakes in the oven.
Ten minutes later and Mum and I were full of cakes and biscuits, all freshly warm from the oven and all gushed and awed out from the first ultra-sound of baby McCarty, who if is a boy going to be called Riley and girl, Isabella. We thanked Mrs McCarty for the snacks and headed out the door towards the woods. There was legend about the woods that were-wolves come out during a full moon and run around the edges of the woods protecting the town and the Rez from vampires and stuff like that, which I didn't believe at all but the Rez kids seem to. As we entered the woods, I noticed it was very quiet but if you listened hard enough, you could hear the wind faintly whistling through the trees and it tickled my ankles as it past them. Twigs snapped as we walked over them, we enjoyed the sounds of the favourite part of our walk, though we did miss the sounds of the birds but they must have already flied south. The River Forks thundered from fifteen feet banking below, with only a steel fence keeping us from the cold waters below. I heard mum laugh behind me, laughing at the ridiculous joke she made about me and my new boyfriend Jasper. All you heard from her was "Alice and Jasper sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G". I was standing near the fence in a huff looking into the murky waters below. I looked around to see her standing on the old rickety wooden bridge the crossed the river and with a loud snap, I saw my beautiful smiling mother fall into the murky waters below.
I screamed and ran to the bridge as fast as I could, in vain hope that I could save her. Maybe she was hanging on to something, maybe, just maybe she was alive. But my hopes were quickly gone when I saw the waters below. They were red. Deep bloody red. It was like an aftermath scene from "Jaws", only this time my mum was the victim. I screamed until all breath in my lungs was gone and my knees weakened. The darkness came in and I slowly fell to ground, eyes closing and footsteps behind me.
They had found my mum's body fifty metres downstream near some rocks.
The funeral was a week later; Dad took some weeks off the hospital to look after me and Edward. On the day of the funeral, I saw Dad look off into the distance and smile but I didn't think anything of it as I was holding Edward at the time. Later he told me that he had saw her, that he saw mum smiling at him and blowing him a kiss, like she used to do. I didn't believe him; I thought it was part of the grieving process.
Eight months later, when Mrs McCarty was coming home with her newborn daughter Bella, she told me she saw mum waving to her. She said she saw mum walking down our usual path and into the woods, waving to her when she saw Mrs McCarty. Poor Mrs McCarty almost fainted and was lucky that Mr McCarty was a fast runner and that Bella was already was inside in her crib!
Soon other witnesses came forward claiming that they had seen her, the ghost of the river. The ghost of Esme Cullen. I dismissed them all, I refused to believe that she was still here somehow, she was dead and buried and that was that. Me and Dad didn't need anymore stress, not with Edward to look after. It wasn't till a few weeks ago when Jasper claimed to have seen her when walking to my house that I started to believe a tiny bit. Dad was away visiting Granny Platt with Edward. That was night Jasper told me he loved me, that was the night I had lost my virginity to him. And now, a year on from the accident, I was sitting in front of the Esme Cullen Bridge, listening to the evil river below and crying my heart out.
The little white stick taunting me in my hand with a single word flashing at me. Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant. The word flashing at me, letting me know single-handily that everything was going to change. I had told Jasper using the coward's way. I texted him. I was scared, worried, petrified on what he would say and do. Would he make me abort? Would he allow me to keep the baby but have nothing to do with it? The possibilities were endless and as I curled into a tiny ball, careful not to put too much pressure on my stomach, there was a whisper and I looked up and there she was.
She wore a white dress; her long caramel hair was worn down. Her green eyes dazzling me and she had a massive smile on her face. There was a white glow surrounding her and everything seemed happier. She whispered quietly "I love you darling, never give up" and then she was gone. Everything looked the same as before like what had just happened never did.
There were footsteps running behind me getting closer and closer. Suddenly I felt Jasper's arms around me, his hands on my belly and heard him saying "I love you". That's when I knew everything was going to be okay.
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Ta-da! First one shot so please be gentle and no flames as you would be wasting my precious time reading your review that would make me feel bad about myself, when I could be reading a review that would make me feel good about myself. I hoped you all liked it!
Bye
Lauren
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