Elizabeth Wilson had always hated pity, in any way it could be shown. That's why she was trying to avoid people in those days. She didn't want to see their faces, let alone hear them express their sympathy.
"We're so sorry for your loss" or "It must be terrible for you to bear all this" or even "She was such a wonderful woman, you must miss her terribly" they kept saying, one right after the other. Her neighbours, her mother's coworkers, even people completely unknown to her.
A week and an half had passed from her mother's death and Elizabeth had had to deal with too many things at the same time. The funeral, the condolences, the will's reading and, last of all, but not less important, her departure from Vancouver.
If it was up to her, she would choose to stay in the city where she had lived from when she was only 3. After all, she was fully capable to take care of herself. But the law didn't think it alike. She was 17, her only parent died and, for that reason, she had to be sent to live with her closest relative, her aunt Rose.
Elizabeth closed her last suitcase with a sigh. She would never admitted it, but she was scared. Plus, she had never met her aunt before and didn't know anything about her either, apart from that she was her father's sister and that she lived in a reservation.
'You can make it. You're strong' she said to herself. She had to be strong.
After one last look in the rooms of her house, she started taking out her suitcases.
The sky was really cloudy that day in Vancouver and she thanked the weather for a while, because she was not in the mood to take her daily precautions as always.
"Are you ready, my dear?" The voice of the social worker distracted Elizabeth from her thoughts.
She looked at the house. No more laughs to tears or trips in the woods or hot chocolates in winter. No more shopping at the bookstores together or films watched with a big bowl of popcorn. No more "Goodnight, Ellie" before sleeping.
She swallowed deeply, while her heart was trembling. "Yeah, I'm ready"
The plane ride was tiring and boring, terribly boring.
Elizabeth tried to read Angels & Demons, one of her favourite books, but the man beside her snored too loudly and a kid behind her never stopped kicking her seat. When the plane finally landed, she sighed in relief.
Once she managed to get her suitcases, she headed to the point of arrival.
Port Angeles airport was rather small, but still crowded. Elizabeth looked far and wide, trying to find her aunt, but all she saw were people completely unknown to her. Many of them stared at her while she passed, with the only result to make more and more annoyed. She was usually used to people who stared at her, but it was different that time. She was alone in a crowded place, in which she had to find an aunt that she didn't even know what she looked like. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. And the looks she was receiving didn't help at all. She was starting to become really pissed off, and for a while the thought of running back to Vancouver had touched her mind, when a voice behind her called her name.
"Elizabeth! Finally I found you " A woman approached her, waving a hand. " I'm your aunt Rose "
Elizabeth took a while to look at he aunt. She had long, black hair and dark eyes, plus a nice, russet skin. Pretty much her total opposite. She wasn't treating her like a freakshow nor looking at her with pity and Elizabeth appreciated that, but that didn't mean that she'd get her trust immediately.
Her aunt must have seen her wary expression. " Don't worry, Elizabeth. I know I'm just a stranger for you " she said with a calm voice. " You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Now come, please, let's go home "
Elizabeth sighed and part of her tension faded away. "Okay... aunt Rose" she replied following her aunt.
The car ride was almost silent. Rose didn't force her to talk and she passed the time looking through the window. The landscape was not so different from where she lived before, except for the weather.
"Does it always rain so much here?" asked Elizabeth while the car was crossing a small town called Forks. The sign at its gateway said it had a population of only 3,545 people. How nice.
"Yeah, pretty much" her aunt answered turning in a road that ran through the forest. " A sunny day is a rare thing here, my word "
The girl huffed. "I guess that this place is perfect for me, then "
Knowing that she didn't have to be so strict on her daily care was indeed a great thing, but the thought of having such rare sunny days saddened her a bit. Of course she liked rain, its smell and rainy days in general but, no offence, sometimes she liked walking under the sun rays and enjoying their heat too. 'Guess that I'll have to get used to it, though'
And she also knew it wasn't the only thing that she had to get used to. After all, her life was about to change. Forever. A mumble came to her ears. Turning her attention to her aunt, she made eye-contact with her in the mirror. " Sorry, aunt Rose. What were you saying? "
Her aunt smiled at her. " Don't worry, Elizabeth. I was just asking if you would like to eat pizza for dinner tonight "
" It's okay, I guess" she answered nodding a bit. She wasn't really in the mood, but she didn't want to upset her aunt. It was clear that she was trying to make a good impression on her.
Meanwhile, they had finally reached the reservation. Elizabeth stared for a while at the wooden sign, in which there was carved 'Welcome to the Quileutes reservation', then she stared through the window once again. The place looked much nicer than what she expected. Simple, colored houses were spread across the woods and at the sides of the roads. Plus, many people were outside, doing their own business, driving or simply walking and chatting. And they were obviously similar to her aunt, with the same russet skin and dark hair and eyes. That made her swallow. She was totally different from each one of them, no way her presence would go unnoticed.
'What if they don't accept me here?' She quite got annoyed by her own thought. She had lived well with the sole company of her mother until that moment, without worrying too much about people acceptance. But still, the fear of not being accepted at all by those people didn't leave her. There wasn't her mother with her anymore. She was completely alone now. Trying to wipe off those thoughts by her mind, she noticed that the car had stopped.
"We're arrived" aunt Rose said getting out of the vehicle. Elizabeth followed her and found herself in front of the place she would live from that moment on. It was a neat, white house, a bit more distant from the others. It had a woodshed at one side and was surrounded by bushes in flower. While they reached the porch, she noticed that it was full of a great variety of plants. Colorful primroses, huge hydrangeas, shy lilacs and, here and there, even some succulents. Her aunt must have noticed where her attention was concentrated, 'cause she gave her an embarassed smile. " I know, I know, there are too many of them. I just... I just like plants. A lot"
" Don't be ashamed " Elizabeth tried to made her more confortable. " It's okay if you like them, they are really beautiful. I like them too"
Her aunt appeared greatly delighted by their new common interest. " I'm happy to know that, darling! " Then she hurried to open the door. " But please, now come in. You had a lot to deal with today, you must be really tired "
Elizabeth followed her in. The house was not too big, but it was pretty nice and comfy at the same time. On the groud floor, there was a living room, with bookshelves full of books at its walls, a little kitchen and a storeroom; going upstairs, there were two bedrooms, a studio and a bathroom, which Elizabeth didn't mind to share with her aunt, since she had never been the type of girl who stayed in it for hours. Then she get in the one that would become her own room.
" I hope you will like it, Elizabeth. I purchased a new bed and those bookshelves and I also cleaned..."
Elizabeth interrupted her with a soft chuckle. " Wait, aunt Rose. Hush " Her aunt finally stopped talking too fast. " It's okay. This room is okay. I like it " And that was true. She had to admit that her aunt had done a good job in picking the forniture and everything else. The room was not much big, but still very cozy. Its window looked directly over the forest behind the house, something that Elizabeth enjoyed immediately. The only disturbing note was the walls' color, a greyish white, but that was nothing that she couldn't handle.
" Do you want me to help you unpacking your things, darling? " her aunt hesitantly asked turning to her.
Elizabeth stirred slightly. She had grown accustomed by her mother to take care of herself; plus, she didn't like to let others touch her things, let alone some of her mother's belongings that she took with her from Vancouver. Her aunt was trying her best to make her feel at home, but she was still a complete stranger to her. For that reason, she shooked her head.
" No, there's no need. I... I can do that by myself " she stated, hoping that her aunt would understand. Fortunately, Rose understood.
"Oh, okay. I leave you alone, then " her aunt said walking to the door. " By the way, I'm in the kitchen... if you need me "
Once the door was closed, Elizabeth sighed, looking at her bags. 'Let's get to work'
Two hours later..
Elizabeth placed the last book on the shelf and finally sighed in relief, not only because of the tiredness. Setting up her new room had woken up that pain that she had tried to ignore from her departure from Vancouver. The life she had there had definitely ended. She felt now like having a big, terrible hole in her chest. Nothing could ever possibly fill it. Never.
'Don't ever look back or you'll be lost' she mumbled in her mind leaning over the bed to pick up the last photo left. It had been taken three months before her mother's death, maybe on the last happy moments that they had had together. Elizabeth swallowed, staring at her mother and her smile, that smile that always managed to make her feel better. She struggled, while her heart was aching terribly, but a single tear managed to overcome her control, rolling down on her cheek. ' Don't look back ' She wiped it, hiding the photo under her pillow. Suddenly she heard her aunt's voice calling her name.
" I'm coming " she shouted in reply, heading quickly out of her room. Once she got in the kitchen, she found her aunt focused on kneading the dough. Hearing the girl coming in, aunt Rose looked up to her. " I'm sorry to bother you, darling. I need your help "
Elizabeth shrugged. " Don't worry, it's fine. I've already finished to unpack my things. How can I help you? "
" I just found out I forgot to purchase some tomato sauce, but I can't leave the dough right now" her aunt said with an apologetic look. " Could you... go to the mall and buy some? "
Elizabeth thought about it for a while. She felt uneasy with going out, that day had been hard for her, but she knew it wasn't polite to refuse. After all, they both needed that sauce, or they wouldn't have their dinner as planned.
" Of course " she replied. " I can do it "
And that's how she found herself walking alone on the road with a little paper, in which there was written how to reach the nearest mall, in her hands and some dollars in the pocket of her jacket. Above her, dark clouds threatened to rain at any minute. She hurried her pace, not wanting to be caught by the bad weather since she didn't have neither an umbrella with her.
Finally seeing the mall in front of her, she quickly got in with a sigh of relief. It was a rather small place, even with those big shelves full of every sort of things. Although it seemed to be well-stocked as well. But the looks that she was receiving from the other customers were definitely another thing. Uneasiness spread through her body while she passed, looking for what she needed.
In all her life, Elizabeth had always been stared by others, pointed at and so on. She wished she could say that she was used to that, but it was not so. She hated being in the spotlight. And being among those people, all so different from her, didn't help at all.
Finally spotting a shelf full of tomato sauce cans, she grabbed one and hurried her pace, wishing to leave as soon as possible. But it seemed it wasn't her lucky day because, while she was walking lost in her thoughs, she suddenly bumped into a person who was walking in her direction. At least, she managed to stand still.
"Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry! Are you ok? " exclaimed a female voice. It belonged to a girl not much older than her. Three big scars ran on a side of her face, but still she was really pretty. Looking away, not wanting to make her unconfortable, Elizabeth hurried to apologize.
"No, it's my fault " she picked up from the floor a bag of burgers that had fallen from that girl's arms and handed it to her. " I'm the one who has to apologize. I wasn't looking where I was going and..."
"HEY! Leave her alone! " A boy suddenly appeared, grabbing her arm and pushing her away from that girl. Elizabeth struggled to stand still, widening her eyes at the force and heat she felt from that boy's hand.
She was completely caught out of guard, it was absolutely the first time that someone shouted at her like if she was some sort of monster.
" Jared! " the unknown girl hissed with an angry look. " What the hell are you doing? She didn't do it on purpose "
Elizabeth glanced at that boy, Jared, noticing that he was staring at her with a wary expression. It was like if he was studying her. She wondered why, but didn't find a valid explaination.
" But Emily... " he tried to say, now strangely hesitant. Emily shot him a death glare and turned to Elizabeth.
" I'm so sorry for his behaviour, he doesn't usually acts this way " she explained with an apologetic look.
He was still staring at her, as all the other people near them. Elizabeth felt her uneasiness increase. She tried to keep calm, but she was feeling like a freakshow. Her heart beated faster than before. She needed to get out. Taking Jared and Emily by surprise, she practically ran away without a word, paying quickly for her purchase and getting out of the mall. Once out, she took quick short breaths. She could still hear Emily scolding Jared for his rudeness, but she didn't want to bump into them, not again. That's why she hurried to leave, looking down all the time to not meet the stares of the other people on the way. The glare she had received from that boy kept flashing in her mind. Would she be considered like some kind of monster from the people there in the reservation? She didn't want to, but she could neither change her appearance. She was born that way. She would always be that way.
' They don't accept me ' she thought as she reached the porch of her house. Once in, she took a deep breath, not wanting to upset her aunt, but the burning sensation she felt before was still there. ' They won't ever accept me '
Author's note:
Hiiii guys! Here I am with a new fanfiction based on Twilight Saga. I wrote it some time ago, but yesterday I found it and I thought to publish it on this site! What do you think about this prologue? I started to introduce Elizabeth and how the story begins, but I hope you liked this chapter as well. First difficulties have already come out, as you can see from the part in which Elizabeth meets Jared and Emily, but don't worry: she's not some kind of monster, she's just... different from anyone else and you find out more by keep reading this story.
If you liked this prologue, please leave a review (a big thanks to AHealingRenaissance for letting me know about the formatting issue) telling me your impressions and follow/put this story into your favorites, you'd make me really happy :)
Hope to see you all in the next chapter, in which there will finally be the meeting between Paul and Elizabeth! I can't wait!
With love,
Julie R. Black