From Dusk Till Dawn
Ch.1: The Spanish Influenza
A/N: K, well, I've been wanting to write this for FOREVER! Basically in this story, Bella is the vampire, and Edward is the human. But this takes place in 1918 and so on until Twilight, where Bella meets Edward and the rest of the story continues. So it's technically the prequel to the story I'm gonna be writing after this one. I'm going to try to finish this story all in one day, cause, well… I have nothing better to do and if I don't do it now, then I'll forget and I'll lose all interest than forget to update. Soooo… READ ON!
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Owner ship belongs to the fantabulous (that's actually a word, look it up) Stephanie Meyer! I only own this idea, because I'm pretty positive no one else has a mind/imagination of a Creative Evil Pixie like me. Hence my user name on my other account.
P.S. I know they didn't have separate rooms for the patients back then, but just go with me here!
Story written on paper: March 2, 2010
Chapter 1 finished: 8/22/2010
Bella's Point Of View- Chicago, Illinois- Year 1918
The beautiful melody coming from my piano abruptly stopped when I heard the loud, startling, coughing coming from upstairs.
"Well done Isabella." praised my piano tutor, Ms. Jocelyn. (Joss-eh-lynn) "I shall be back tomorrow at 3 o'clock p.m." She gathered her music sheets and placed them into her small bag, carefully.
As she was walking out the door, she turned around with a small smile upon her face. "Happy birthday, Bella." She said and I smiled back, happy that someone other than my parents remembered.
She left and I got up, only to trip over my dress. I landed, face first, on the wooden floor next to my piano.
"Bella!" my mother Elizabeth called from upstairs and I quickly got up and brushed my long white dress off with my hands.
I walked carefully but quickly up the stairs. I did not want to trip again. I am probably the clumsiest girl on this planet. (this is one of the few things from the original Bella character that she actually keeps, sorry if you were expecting Charlie and Renee by the way. The Masons fit better with these types of stories)
"Yes, mum?" I asked when I made it to my parents' room. What I saw shocked me and filled me with fear. I saw my father, Edward, hunched over in my mother arms on the bed coughing up blood.
My mother looked up at me with sadness and fear in her usually bright green eyes. Fear because she knew why he is coughing up blood, and sadness because she knows what happens to the people who have what he has. Edward Josiah Mason (I don't know his full name and I don't wanna use modern day Edward's full name, it would just be too weird) had the Spanish Influenza.
The epidemic has finally reached our house, and there is no doubt that it will not consume Elizabeth and I soon. (Another trait! She calls her parents by their first names in her head)
"Bella, can you help me bring your father to the clinic, now?" I nodded and helped him stand.
We carefully walked him downstairs, with Elizabeth on his right, and me on his left to support him.
It took about 15 minutes to get him to the clinic even though it was usually a 5 minute walk from our house. We had to stop so he could cough more blood up.
We finally made it to the clinic. Elizabeth went to sit with Edward on a bench while I went to inform the nurse that he was here.
"Excuse me? Miss?" I got the attention of a skinny, tan looking woman behind the desk.
"Yes? May I help you?" she asked politely, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she did not want to work here.
"My father, Edward Mason, has an appointment with Dr. Cullen." she nodded and stood. She walked through a door behind the desk and came back out with an angel.
He had a very pale complexion, with blonde hair that was combed back, and golden irises. I blinked and quickly averted my stare to Elizabeth and Edward across the room.
"Hello miss." Dr. Cullen greeted me.
"Hello Dr. Cullen."
"Are you here for an appointment?" I shook my head lightly.
"No. My father is. He is Edward Mason, right over there." I pointed to where my father was, once again, coughing up blood.
Dr. Cullen's eyes widened at the sight of him and he quickly walked over and introduced himself to both. "Hello, I am Dr. Cullen. I think we should go into another room."
"Do you know what it is Dr. Cullen? Isabella and I have a hunch, but we must be sure." She asked worriedly as they both help him up from the bench.
He nodded sadly at her and they walked into another room down the hall.
Mum came back out about 1 minute later and walked up to me. "Bella, can you please wait out here? I will come and tell you when I am positive of what it is." I nodded and walked to the bench they were previously sitting on. She returned to the room in which they had taken dad into.
15 minutes later, mum returned with a haunted look on her aging face. I quickly stood and hugged her while she cried.
I knew what it was.
"Did Dr. Cullen confirm what we thought it was?" she only nodded, sobbing onto my shoulder.
Suddenly she started coughing, then collapsed in my arms.
I gasped when I saw the blood pour from her mouth.
People with masks over their mouths started to come over and take her from my arms. They brought her to the room they had previously brought dad to.
I stood up from kneeling on the ground and followed them. My white dress was covered in Elizabeth's blood. Now I understand the color 'Blood White'.
Inside the white hospital room, sat 3 beds. 2 of them were occupied by my mother and father.
The sight of them lying there motionless brought tears to my eyes, but I refused to let them spill. In one corner of the room, beside my mother, stood Dr. Cullen.
He looked up at me when I entered and gave me a sympathetic smile. Usually, I would tell him that I did not need his sympathy, but my parents were dying, so I did not feel it appropriate to give him my attitude, especially since he is an adult.
Whenever other teenagers give me sympathy, I yell at them, but never to an adult. It is disrespectful and rude, even after all he is doing to help.
I walked over with tears in my eyes and held my mothers hand. Dr. Cullen walked out the door to give me some time with them. He is a very sweet and caring man for him to do that. Any other doctor would tell me to leave and never come back, they would tell me:
"Your mother and father are dying. There is nothing we can do so it is pointless to just sit around here and get the disease yourself. Go home, do not come back. Do you really wish to see your parents die painfully?"
My least favorite doctor, Dr. Albert Moody, would say this. We have taken an extreme disliking for one another. On more than one occasion, I have thought that he has Bipolar Disorder, for he frequently changes his moods. One moment he could be yelling, the next he could break down and cry enough to drown everyone and everything in the Sahara Desert. His name fits him perfectly.
Dr. Cullen came back in about half an hour later telling me that it was getting late, and that I should probably go home to go to sleep. My eyes felt drowsy, but I did not want to leave my parents room.
The thought of my bed made me even more tired and I found myself agreeing with him. I told him that I would be back tomorrow. I am sure Ms. Jocelyn would not mind canceling our lesson.
"Good night Dr. Cullen."
"Good night, Isabella." he smiled at me.
Before I made it out the door, I said, "Thank you." quietly. I was hoping he heard me, but I was not positive because he did not respond.
As I was walking through the halls towards the entrance, Dr. Moody -a short, grey haired man with blue eyes that made you think he was innocent but the scowl that was permanently stuck to his lips told you differently- walked past me. Unfortunately, he saw me and stopped in front of me, scowling more.
Blue met green as he said distastefully, "I heard about your parents Isabella Marie Mason. I pity you and your family. You will be next. I just know it."
Being the courageous girl I am, answered with, "How? Are you psychic?" and thought, you are definitely psycho. Though if I dared to say that to his face, I would most likely be hung for disrespecting an elder.
He glared and shook his head, his scowl deepening more, if that was even possible. "No. But just think, your father is dying, your mother is dying, and pretty soon you will be dying, too." he smirked a little at the last part.
Without thinking, I quickly replied with, "I'm not the one who works in a hospital, and has to clean up the diseased blood." than left with a glance back. But I could feel him glaring holes into the back of my head.
I walked back home in the dark, I knew my way home from the numerous times I have had to walk back from there at night, and stepped in. there was still a few lights on. I decided to keep some on when I went to bed because this house is empty, and frankly, it scares me to be home alone. Living in a big city, you never know what will happen if people know that a house is empty.
One week later- June 27th, 1918- At the hospital
I walked in my mother's room and sat next to her bed and, like always, I held her hand. Each day I would come, and kiss my father's forehead, then hold my mother's hand until it was time for me to leave.
Now, I just come in and hold mum's hand right away. My father died 2 days ago, and my mother will be passing soon.
I no longer had piano lessons, because Ms. Jocelyn was exposed to the germs in the air from my father, and died 5 days ago. I found it strange that she was not sick when dad was sick, but she died before him. I think it may be because she was younger than him. People in their 20's-40's are the ones dieing the most.
Lately I have been coughing and sneezing a lot. I know I have the flu. That is why I will not go home tonight. I will stay here and tell Dr. Cullen that I know I will die shortly after my mother.
Dr. Cullen and I have become close over the week. He has told me to call him Carlisle and has become like a second father to me. No one could replace my real father of course, but he is very caring like a father, and has spent most of his time working in with my mother and I.
I all of a sudden felt very drowsy, and could see my vision become blurry. I could barely just make out Carlisle's voice calling my name before everything went black.
Dream
I was getting out of a shiny vehicle with 4 others. I looked around and saw a bunch of staring kids with their mouths open and their eyes wide.
"Bella," I turned at the sound of my name and was met with a pair of golden eyes, much like Carlisle Cullen's. She was petite, with pointed black hair, sticking out in all directions. "We have to go to the office to get our schedules." I nodded and followed them to a building that said 'Office' above the door.
"Hello," a blonde , model-like girl said to a woman with graying red hair, and many freckles on her nose. "We're the Cullens and Hales." she said.
Wow, what a big family.
"Oh yes! Here are your schedules." she took out 5 sheets of paper attached to pink sheets with our names on them. "Jasper Hale?" A man with curly blonde hair who looked as though he was in pain stepped up and cautiously took the sheets, being careful not to get too close or to touch her. She didn't seem to notice.
"Rosalie Hale?" The model-like blonde stepped up and grabbed the sheets, looking over them quickly then comparing them to Jasper's.
"Alice Cullen?" the pixie looking girl skipped up smiling happily, and took them, then skipped to Jasper's side and kissed his cheek.
"Emmett Cullen?" a tall, burly, extremely muscular man with curly dark hair walked up and grabbed the sheets, almost crushing them. He smiled at her and she almost melted.
She snapped out of it when Rosalie gave her a death glare.
"Um… B-Bella Cullen?" she stuttered and I stepped up and took them.
When we got outside, Alice grabbed my schedule from my grasp and looked over all of ours together. "OK, we have- Bella! Bella! Are you OK? Can you hear me?" Alice voice turned into Carlisle's.
End dream
I had to force my eyes to open, but I finally did, and I saw Carlisle's worried face.
"What happened?" I asked. My voice sounded groggy because I had just woke up.
"Bella, you have the Spanish Influenza." My mouth opened slightly in shock, and my eyes drooped again but I kept them open.
"What happened to my mother?" I had to struggle to ask, but I did.
He looked sad, and for a few moments he kept quiet, but he finally said, "She died not 5 minutes ago." I could feel the tears start to form in my eyes, and I didn't have the energy or self control to stop them from spilling over. I looked at Carlisle and he looked torn, like he was fighting with himself over something. Then he looked at me. "Bella," he started softly. "Your mother asked me to do her a favor." I waited. "she asked me to save you."
"But I'm dying, nothing can save me." he looked torn and scared again.
"But I can, Bella. Would you like me to save you." I don't know what I was doing next. I was just too tired. I could feel myself nod, then everything went black.
Dream
I saw nothing. Everything was black. Like I was stuck in an abyss of darkness. Like I died and was sent to Hell.
Then, a bright white light appeared out of nowhere and 2 figures appeared holding hands and smiling at me. It took me a moment to realize that it was my parents. They walked towards me slowly, still smiling, then stopped in front of me.
My mother spoke first, "Hello Isabella."
"Mom?" she nodded.
"Hi Bella." dad said.
"Dad?" he nodded too. "Where are we?"
"Well, your father and I are saying our last good-byes before we go to heaven." my mother said.
"And we wanted to tell you that we love you, and to trust Dr. Cullen when he tells you that he can save you from dying." dad finished for her.
"I love you, too. But… how can he save me?" I asked confused.
"We are not sure, but we have this feeling that he can, and we trust that he will." my mother explained, though I was still confused.
The light behind them grew brighter and they looked behind them. They looked back at me. My mother started to cry, and she hugged me tightly. She kissed my forehead lightly, and dad followed her actions.
"Good-bye Isabella. We will miss you." they said at the same time, and I started to cry as they walked back into the light.
Then nothing. Everything went black again.
End dream
I found myself opening my eyes to an unfamiliar room. I looked around, and found Carlisle sitting in a chair on the other side of the room. He looked up as I looked at him. He got up and cautiously walked towards me.
"Where are we?" was my first question.
"We are in my house. I have taken you here to fulfill your mother's request. You may not believe me when I tell you this, and I do not blame you if you become scared, but I am a vampire." I was shocked. I was not scared. I did not want to run away screaming- I would not get very far even if I did want to - but I still trusted him and I believed him.
"I believe you." I spoke softly.
"You do?" he asked, looking at me confused.
"Yes. I always knew that there was something different about you, but I could never figure out what it was."
"To fulfill your mother's request, I would need you to turn you into a vampire, but it is your choice. Do you want to become like me." he looked hopeful, but scared at the same time. I only nodded. "I do not know my self control, because I have never attempted to change a human before, and this will hurt very much. The change will last for 3 days, then when you wake up, your senses will be enhanced. Your eye-sight will be perfect, you will be able to smell and hear for miles, but I must warn you, when you do wake up, if you smell someone other then me, and hear a heartbeat, do NOT attack and run after it. Understood?" I nodded again he tilted my head to the side gently.
He inched closer to my neck until I finally felt my skin tear and the burning began. I knew screaming would not do much, so I tried my best to keep my mouth shut. Only a few small whimpers escaped.
As the burning continued, I wondered what being a vampire would be like.
A/N: Ok, well, that was extremely long. And my original plan to finish the story in a day didn't work out the way I planned. This ended up taking 2 weeks to finish writing. Of course I didn't write everyday, but still. It took a long time. This was intentionally long. So, in the next chapter, Bella starts her life as a vampire. If any of you are wondering why I chose Bella instead of Edward, its because its hard for a girl to write in a guys' POV. So I chose Bella instead. Not to mention someone already wrote this idea but instead of Bella it was Edward. Anyway, REVIEW! I wanna know if I should continue! J you shall all get virtual cookies of your choice if you review! :D