BPOV

I walked home, home to Alice.

I was surprising her today. It was her and my brother's second year anniversary of their dating. How Jasper managed a girlfriend (fiancée after tonight), American history majors at one of the top schools for it in the country, and taking care of both him and me while still being the perfect person, I could not figure out. But I'm sure glad that he is. My half-brother was the best.

Alice was the perfect match for him. Spontaneously excited, she was the most amazing woman on Earth. Though a bit annoying at times, with her constant shopping and fear of lack of clothes, she still came through as my sister, even before she was officially part of my family.

And so I began skipping down the sidewalk, humming the wedding march loudly. A jogging man with his dog stared at me as I passed, but I didn't care. I couldn't care. I was just too happy. Last night, Jasper had shown me Alice's ring, and it was beautiful.

Imagine a white-gold band with a rose-gold tulip with a diamond in the middle. Yeah. It was the perfect ring.

A bright bronze glint in the sun caught my eye, pulling my eyes to a man in my mom's garden. My cheeks reddened.

That man was Edward Masen, our gardener. A bit of an odd job for someone as built and beautiful as him, but I guess I'm not one to tell people how to live their lives. I could just barely see his piercing green eyes peaking out from under his disheveled hair. I'd been mesmerized the first time I'd seen him working, and I'd done nothing but shy away. Pathetic, isn't it? But, I didn't know him, and he probably didn't know who I was or if I even existed.

He turned to look up at me, at which point I promptly turned my eyes back to the sidewalk, and eventually up to the front porch of my five-story monster of a house. I took three deep breaths before entering

"Hello?" I called, as I normally did. I locked the door behind me and set my purse on the entryway table. "Anybody home?"

"In here, Bella!" A slightly hysteric Alice called from the kitchen. She was probably stressing about what to make Jasper for their anniversary. Bless her heart, though she couldn't cook for her life.

I sighed, trying to contain myself, and pranced into the kitchen.

"How—" I began cheerfully, but stopped dead in my tracks, the smile wiped clean off my face, when I caught sight of her predicament. I screamed bloody murder.

"Shut up!" The man shrieked, clamping a hand over my mouth and pointing his pistol at my head.

"Bella!" Alice began to jump over to help me before the man turned the gun to her.

"One step and you die." He growled menacingly. He jumped when the front door opened and footsteps frantically echoed through the house.

"Bella? Alice?" I paled when I heard Jasper's yells. He must have heard me scream.

"Jasper, in her—" Alice was cut off by a bullet sliding through her head. I screamed again, though it was muffled by the man's hand.

"ALICE!" Jasper appeared in the doorway, sobbing on his knees. Tears slid down my cheeks at an alarming rate, as if I would soon be dehydrated.

I could see black spots in my vision, but I did know that the man was gone before I had a chance to hit the floor.

EPOV

Just another afternoon fixing Mrs. Dwyer's garden. The sun was out, the skies clear, beautiful Bella skipping down the street, humming the wedding march. My heart froze for a second before I noticed she didn't have an engagement ring on her finger.

Pathetic, isn't it? Watching the same amazing woman waltz right you by every single day, wanting—needing—to talk to her, to get to know her, and all you can do is hide behind the corner of her house, too nervous to confront her. Nervous she'd laugh in your face, that she'd fire you, even though it was her mother that hired me.

I sighed heavily and went back to my work. I was weeding the rose bushes today. Brilliant red blossoms were sprouting from the green masses of thorns, so I had to wear gloves.

I strolled over to the gardening shack in the backyard. I literally had to hold my head to keep from looking into Bella's house. But I couldn't help but see a shadow of a man slinking into the kitchen through an open glass door and point a gun at a woman inside. My hands automatically clutched my cell phone, though I knew I would not be able to dial anything. That woman could be Bella, and no matter what I couldn't let Bella die, no matter how non-existent she knew me to be.

"Alice Brandon, put down the knife and step away from the counter." I heard a masculine voice command as I crept closer to the glass door. The faint click of a loaded gun sounded and everything went quiet.

Except when the front door opened.

"Hello?" Bella's voice rang out. I took in an involuntary breath as I mentally cursed her for basically shouting out to the world she was home.

Alice seized the opportunity to speak when the man was distracted. "In here, Bella!"

A moment later, Bella came smiling into the kitchen, though she screamed once she caught sight of the man. I got ready to jump in front of her, but somebody caught my left ankle, sending me to the ground. I growled and twisted around to see my attacker.

A rather large man towered over me as I lay on the ground. Even though I couldn't see his coloring or features, I did notice how muscular of a silhouette he had. Not a problem.

I hooked my foot around his shin carefully and tugged, sending him backwards to the grass. He began to pull out a gun from his pocket, but I kicked it out of his hand with no hesitation.

Another person ran past me from out of the kitchen and into the woods. I followed, sprinting as fast as I could. I didn't sop to think about what he might have done to Bella or the woman in the kitchen, or anybody else in the house, I just knew he was going to pay for it.

And, completely to my surprise, I tripped. Again. This time, landing flat in the mud.

I felt a heavy weight being flung onto my back, forcing all air out of me, and—

A/N: Hope you like the new story!

Okay, I know you must all be thinking (for those of you who have read my other stories) that I can't seem to finish any thing I start. I get it. But sometimes, I just get writer's block, and this time will be no different.

No worries,
Kylie M.