Prologue
Wind kneads the ocean like an angry sculptor, crashing its clay into the boughs of the RMS Oceanic. The luxury liner shook against the force of fathomless waters, and it was felt throughout the passengers, save for the elite first class. They continued to sleep dreamlessly, for their sort had long ago forgotten the sweetness of a reverie. Consistent lurching softened into gentle undulation to their carefully placed cabins, and it was undoubted that the rich inhabitants would be the only ones well-rested. Only one daughter of the upper crust remained awake, and it was the starboard end where she made her appearance.
The charged air coursed through her thin dressing gown, leaving her flushed from the cold. Her unblemished hands, white-knuckled by her unyielding grasp on the railing, felt the gentle spray of the sea with each violent crest that disintegrated against the side of the ship. Dark curls, which had been carefully created with an iron earlier, raked against her cheeks until they were nearly tugged to their original consistency. The vessel heaved once again, and for a moment the darkness spread out endlessly before her. Her breath, held as she hesitated before making a decision on her own existence, burned her lungs. The prospect of her own mortality frightened her, and the girl floundered against the siding to keep her balance. Whispering a prayer and closing her eyes tightly, she held on until the ship had righted itself once again. The dip hadn't been as dramatic for those inside the safety of iron walls, but for the Manhattan princess, it had awakened her to something she hadn't expected.
She released her grasp and slumped down until she was seated on the deck, her skin dewy from sweat and salt water. For a moment, death had been an option, a better resort than the constant numbness she lived her life in. Perhaps it was the shock of understanding the depths of her own misery that caused her to weep. She had everything a girl of her stature could ask for. Something was just...missing.
Her life was destined to follow down the path of her ancestors. She would become a wife, a mother, and remain surrounded by all the luxuries a woman could want. It just wasn't enough. She longed for something more, though she knew not what it was.
Isabella Swan wanted to know what it felt to be really, truly alive.