Happenstance

Prologue

He'd dreamt of her again.

Her eyes were sullen as always, faintly amused and yet unreadable. A piercing, rich brown flecked with the occasional, mysterious green.

She always appeared to carry some burdensome weight on her small, almost insubstantial shoulders. It was as though eternity had swallowed her and she was floating in it's choking mass, doomed and beautiful.

She was not classically beautiful, nor absurdly sexual or seductive. She was not poised, as she often slouched and was endearingly clumsy. Even in his dreams.

And yet, she was still timeless, breathtaking, captivating…

Eternity, for her, was not possible, however. A drop in the proverbial bucket.

That was his plight in life, his burden to carry. He had eternity and longer to deal with, to constantly dwell on his building faults and aimless, passing desires.

He hadn't even known he had desires until he'd seen her face.

He could not breathe when he saw her, could not form words. She was so… everything and nothing.

Of course, she knew nothing; he was silent and watchful. Brooding his family called it. For he could see her with his waking eyes as well as his waking dreams.

He smiled grimly to himself.

He could not truly dream.

He could not sleep.

He was as the stone gargoyles guarding the graves of souls long passed; a vicious, monstrous shadow looming over humanity.

He was Edward Cullen, and he had been dreaming of an angel.