Author's Note:

Hey so this is my first fanfic in a LONG time. I used to have more on here from like years ago but I deleted them because I just wasn't happy with them. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction in like five years. I just had this scene in my head and it turned into a full blown plan for a story. This is probably going to be a long ride. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Golden Eyes

Most people believe that everyone has a defining moment in their lives. You know, the one that is pivotal in a person's future, the one that changes a person's views, that shakes them to their very core. It's usually things you see on TV or in movies, a dramatic scene and a big realization. But I wasn't most people. My life was nothing special. I moved from Phoenix to Forks and that was it, the most active time in my life was packing and unpacking boxes and having to learn the same dull subjects in a different setting. So why was I standing here soaked to my bones, two feet away from the edge of a cliff?

The wind was screeching, thrashing at the many trees that lined the small clearing I found myself standing in. If you asked me why I walked here, in the middle of a god damn monster of a storm, I couldn't tell you. I turned from the line of trees to the drop that lay mere steps from where I was. The sky looked as if it were a wall of dark stone, dismal grey as far as the eye can see, with only occasional flashes as cracks of lightning came down here and there to scorch the earth. I'm not sure what possessed me to look down, but as I took one step closer to the edge I could see nothing but angry black waves, trying with all their might to make it up the cliffs edge. To make its way up to me. I was at least a good forty feet from the treacherous waters that lay below, but an unknown part of me was saying, no screaming at me. Screaming that it wanted me. Screaming that I needed to jump but also screaming for me to stay far far away. I don't know where it was coming from, all I knew is that it was the same thing that brought me to this ledge in the first place. My whole body felt compelled to go near the end, dive head first into the water and let the dark void that awaited me to engulf my body and carry me off to god knows where, but at the same time there was an instinct inside of me that was saying this wasn't me. I wasn't in control.

Fight it. You have to fight it.

Those words kept playing over and over again. Fight what? What was I fighting? Myself? I had never before felt this strong of a pull in my entire life. It wasn't a desire to die. No, I knew quite well that I wanted to live. I mean, I moved to Forks, Washington, not Siberia. I wasn't that miserable. Just lonely, but that didn't mean I wanted to die. In fact, if I jumped in, I had a feeling I'd still fight for my life. So, what was this? Was this even me?

My foot moved forward on its own accord and I gritted my teeth. I can't shake this. Whatever this may be.

Go. Go. GO! It was screaming at me. I gripped either side of my head, my nails digging into my temples, hoping with every ounce of my being that I could fight this invisible force that seemed to be warring inside of me. With as much power as I could muster I ripped my eyes from the violent seas before me and willed my body to move away from the ledge, only causing myself to stumble and land on my ass. I needed to make it back to the woods. I turned my eyes to the forest that towered over me. The last thing I wanted to see was a pair of glowing crimson eyes staring back at me from the trees. Call me crazy, which at this point, it wouldn't be hard to believe if I was, but the shape of those eyes looked almost human and, for whatever reason, they looked incredibly murderous.

Great. If this stupid pull didn't get me over this cliff and kill me, then whatever was in the woods with me probably will.

My whole body violently flinched as a deafening clap of thunder shook through my very chest. In the split second that I had looked away from the woods the eyes had vanished. Either I'm seeing things or I'm just not seeing where it went. God, now I'm starting to hope I'm going crazy.

I lifted a trembling hand to wipe the damp locks of hair that had been whipped into my face. I need to get up. I need to move. I began to inhale deeply, only to stop myself abruptly as I heard, what was unmistakably, a growl and then a snap… and then another, and another. It was coming towards me. Yep, I'm going to die here.

I dug my heels into the ground and my hands grasped at the dirt as I clawed my body away from the noise, away from the trees that held the unknown terror coming towards me. And then my hand grasped at nothing. I was confused for only mere seconds as a new form of fear washed over me. I was on the ledge. One more move and I would be plunging backwards into the roaring waters below. But whatever it was out in that forest was still coming. I could hear the crack of branches, crunches of leaves. It was coming and it was coming fast. My head whipped back to look down at the waves smacking relentlessly against the rocks and that mysterious pull came back like a freight train, begging me to jump head first into what would surely be my death. But could I survive that? What were my choices? Death by drowning, being eaten alive by whatever the hell was hiding among the trees, or, if I'm lucky, I hit my head on a rock and it's lights out immediately.

I swallow hard. These choices fucking suck.

"…Stand up…"

That's funny. Either the wind sounds very strange or I'm hearing things now too.

"Damn it, Bella, stand up! You need to stand up now!" It might have been the impending doom I was facing or just the trauma of whatever the hell was going on taking its toll but I swear that voice sounded like it belonged to an angel. It was so out of place for the setting I was in. In the midst of this god awful storm, the sky an ugly grey, the winds howling endlessly, and rain pelting against my entire body with a vengeance, this glorious, melodious voice was so very out of place. Yet, it was also completely familiar and just what I needed. Whatever daze I was in when I looked at the ocean was now gone and this voice was pulling me back.

"Get up! God, please, Bella, get up! We need to move!" While whatever had came over me before no longer had power, it left my body drained. My head lulled to the side and my eyes struggled to focus. My body suddenly felt incredibly heavy as my mind struggled to encourage even the smallest movement of my legs. I felt drained, like I had just been to hell and back.

"C… Can't." It took the last of my energy just to mutter one word.

"Shit," The angel growled. I heard footsteps come towards me before they stopped right in front of me. An arm slipped around my back and a hand slid under my legs as I felt myself being hoisted up. In the powerful haze that had washed over me, I still managed to lift my head slightly and look up at whoever was now carrying me. The most beautiful eyes were looking back down at me. Radiant golden, etched with fear and concern, searched my own as I took in the gorgeous face of (what I hoped was) my rescuer. Even in the dark of night and the gray of the storms I could make out flawless porcelain skin, a sharp sculpted jaw, and short, dark brown hair that was drenched from the rain. But drenched or not this woman still looked like an angel. Part of me is still wondering if I've gone crazy or died.

"I'll take you somewhere safe, Bella," she whispered as she cradled me closer to her cold chest. "I promise."

And I knew I would be safe. I didn't know this woman, I didn't know how she found me, or why she was in the woods during a storm, or hell even how she knew my name, considering I'd been in Forks a total of one week and still haven't even managed to memorize half the names of my classmates yet. Still, I couldn't bring myself to care at this moment. All I cared about now was the overwhelming urge to shut my eyes and sleep off the dilapidating fog that seemed to be engulfing my mind.

"… He won't… Promise to… Won't leave…" I struggled to focus on the things she was saying but within the safety of her arms, I couldn't help but give in, rest my head on the shoulder of my protector, and let exhaustion overtake me.

...

I woke with a groan, a shrill beeping was going off right next to my ear and as I begrudgingly cracked my eyes open I noticed the dull streams of Fork's shrouded sunlight picked threw the single window of my room. My neck cracked slightly as I began to sit up and realized that I was somehow in my room again, laying on my bed, in a dry pair of cotton shorts and one of my old band tees. Funny, I couldn't remember coming back home last night, let alone putting on these clothes. Did that even happen last night?

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and swung my legs over the side of the bed, my bare feet hitting the freezing floor before I stood and stretched. The aches in my entire body as I began to move told me that, yes, maybe last night did happen. But if so, then who took me home?

It didn't really matter right now, however, as I would be late for my second week at Forks High if I didn't take a shower and get moving.

I let out a long sigh. God, my second week at Forks High. You would think the dread of going to that place would lessen after the first week was over, but it did not. Fork's High didn't get very many new kids. It had been a little over a year since the newest family had arrived in Forks, the Cullens. According to one my classmates, Jessica, who decided to latch herself onto me the day I arrived, they were a close-knit family. Only socializing with themselves which made it hard for the other students to fawn and gawk over their new-ness. Not me though, unfortunately, I didn't possess this intimidating glow that the entire Cullen clan seemed to have radiating from them. From day one, I was surrounded every second by a multitude of curious students asking me what Phoenix was like, why I was moving, what I liked to do, and various other things. This didn't really sit well with me however, considering I'm not that interesting and prefer to spend my lunch periods with a good book, calming music, and a table full of nothing but solitude. That is not, however, what I got.

A group of fellow classmates have taken it upon themselves to claim me and the table I thought would've been my Table of Solitude as their own little social circle. They weren't all that bad though. There was Jessica, the one I had quickly come to realize is somewhat of a gossip, Mike, who was friendly enough, if only slightly annoying, Eric, a bit of a dork but still good company, Angela, the only person who didn't bombard me with questions and probably the only one I felt comfortable enough to hang out with so far, and then Lauren, who was just… Lauren. Either way, I couldn't really complain. This was more of a social circle than I had back in Phoenix. Still, with all the stress of a new school setting, a new class schedule, meeting new people, and adjusting to living with Charlie, my dad, fulltime for the first time since before I could even remember, I found myself longing for at least a moment during the school day for the buzz of the new girl to calm down. I would find myself during class or lunch, sneaking a glimpse past what seemed to be my new friend group, to the curious Cullen family, all huddled around a lunch table, silently picking at the food in front of them.

I was told all about them, eagerly, by Jessica, during my first day at Forks High School. There are a total of four teenagers. Three boys, Jasper, who always seemed to look like someone kicked him in the gut every time I've seen him, Emmet, who was possibly the biggest high school student I'd ever seen (Seriously that guy looks like he could take down a bear with his hands tied behind his back), and Edward, who just looked like your average broody teenager, not that I was one to talk. Then there are two girls, Rosalie, a drop dead gorgeous blonde who had this intimidating air about her, and finally, Alice, possibly one of the most beautiful human beings I'd ever seen in the entirety of my existence. Alice was the smallest of all of them and strangely enough the one that I had decided, was possibly the most approachable. The air about her was different than the others. She had this welcoming aura to her that drew me in almost immediately when I first watched her stride into the cafeteria with the others. I had learned, however, upon mentioning this to my new friends, that I was alone in thinking she seemed inviting. Maybe I had formed this opinion, because out of all the Cullens, she was the only one who ever met my gaze. It happened very few times, but each time our eyes would meet, a moment would pass, she would flash me this heart-stopping smile and then continue with whatever she was doing. I had noticed that many of the students had taken up the tendency to keep their eyes from wandering onto the Cullens for too long. I mean, they were a stunningly gorgeous group of human beings. I was told they were all adopted, but the beautiful qualities they all seemed to share made it hard to believe that. It was an odd situation with them that people tended to avoid speaking about, so I could see the intimidation some of my classmates might be experiencing, I, on the other hand, just didn't care enough not to stare.

I had gotten ready for school and made it through the first half of my day without anything of interest occurring. I shared a few classes with some of the Cullens. During the first part of the day Edward and I shared Biology and Jasper was in the same History class as me, then there were a few I had with my new friend group as well, of course we all had lunch together, and during the second half I shared math with Rosalie and finally English with Alice.

I was fully prepared for lunch to be the same as it had been the past week. An hour of Jessica rambling on, Mike sitting a little bit too close for comfort, and me eating and mumbling "Mhm" as I pretended not to tune out. Honestly, after last night I welcomed a day of nothing new. I still was struggling to figure out what had happened last night. I had so many questions and no idea where I'd find the answers for them. I knew, however, that without a doubt the events of last night were real. I knew the minute I was heading out the door and saw that my shoes were now caked in mud. I'm sure that could've only been due to the fact that I was hiking around the woods for some unknown reason, in the middle of a giant storm. But today's lunch period was definitely not relaxed as I had hoped. At least, it wasn't relaxed for me. From the moment I sat down, I saw her, Alice Cullen, eyes locked in on me from across the cafeteria. Her look was intense, never wavering, never wandering. I thought that she was angry for some unknown reason. Maybe I had cut her off when driving to school without knowing? Maybe she hated my outfit today? I looked back at her but I didn't see anger in her stare. I cannot tell you what I saw in it. She was just transfixed.

"It looks like you have an admirer, Bella." Angela teasingly whispered in my ear.

"Oh, yeah, I noticed that Alice chick was staring at you," Mike chimed in, a mouth full of sandwich as he spoke. "She's really a weird one."

"Seriously, Bella, she has not looked away from you. What'd you do to her?" Jessica leaned in, no doubt hoping to get a new piece of juice gossip.

"What? Nothing!" I muttered as I turned my attention back to the people sitting at my table. "I don't know…"

I took another quick glance back at her, only to see she had turned her head and was now having a conversation with her siblings. Whatever their conversation may be, they did not look entirely too pleased.

Normal chatter among my table resumed and after about two minutes, I could feel it again. Her eyes boring holes into my back. I chanced the briefest of peaks back at her and could tell she was staring right back into my direction. It was uncomfortable yet not totally unwelcoming for some odd reason. Her stare it seemed almost… Protective, in a way. Like she was prepared to jump in front of some unknown assault for me.

I shook it off and tried to ignore it as best as I could for the remainder of my lunch period before I was off to the rest of my classes. And for the next few hours, things were back to normal. When math came, Rosalie did what I had seen her do the past week, pretend like no one else existed. I chatted with a few of my friends in my other classes and almost forgot the stare ever happened by the time I got to English. Almost.

I took my seat at one of the tables in the back of the class. This was usually my go to. The back of the class meant the teacher wouldn't call on the new girl as much, and so far, the teachers all seemed ready to call on the new girl, regardless of where I sat. I flipped open my notebook and grabbed my pen, tapping it against the metal table mindlessly as I stared out the window and waited for class to start. I did notice the chair next to me scrape against the tile as someone pulled it back and sat down, but this being the last class I have until school ends, and my body still feeling the effects of last night's trauma, I couldn't bring myself to care to see who was sitting next to me. That was… until they spoke.

"Hi, I don't think I've actually introduced myself." I turned my head slowly as a small, beautiful voice spoke to the side of me. "I'm Alice Cullen."

I gasped and dropped the pen from my hand as my eyes finally landed on the person sitting next to me, a pale white hand extended out in front of me. I looked down at the hand offered to me and back up to the eyes staring back and couldn't help it as I felt my body push back against the chair to create some distance.

Golden eyes. Golden eyes. They were the same.

A searing pain burned through my head and the events of last night flashed through my mind.

"…Take you somewhere safe…"

That voice was the same, those eyes were the same, the pale white skin and her features, they all… were… the same.

I couldn't think of anything else to say. I couldn't, in a million years, imagine that my rescuer, that supposed angel, was a classmate that was currently sitting right next to me, waiting to shake my hand. So, what did I do, aside from leave her hanging like a damn idiot? I blurted the first thing that came to my mind.

"You were there."

Author's Note:

So when I was writing this it was literally just flooooooooowing from me. Felt good too! Tell me how you guys like it. You all will be my motivation.

Oh also I'm editing this on my own so if anyone wants to be my beta, shoot my message. That would literally be so amazing!