Disclaimer: I am the owner of one very over active imagination but not Twilight that pleasure belongs to Stephenie Meyer's. War of the Worlds Chapter 1 Bella's POV
I wish I could tell you that the world was a wonderful place to live in, but I would be lying. Unless, of course, you think living in a world where the vampires are at war with the wolves. It started long before the time I was born. From the stories I've heard, it all started during our Civil War. Apparently, the vampires used the gory battles to cover their feeding rampages. I guess one thing lead to another and next thing everyone knew; there were more vampires than humans. There were rumors that the war originated in the South. Supposedly, the vampires had their own wars running ramped down there and when they got out of control, they spread and intertwined with our own. I've always wondered what life would be like if that had never happened.
Not many humans are living free, never mind living a wonderful life. Those who don't live locked up under vampire rule are either in hiding or are in the Resistance. My name is Isabella Swan and I am a human. I live in the internment town of Forks, Washington.
An internment camp or town, houses most of the human population. They only serve two purposes; the first is to continue repopulating the world for future feedings. The second reason is for the search of a possible Breeding with a Purpose or "BWP." BWP's receive better treatment than the rest, since they are to be future vampires. They get the best housing, food and education. They are chosen because they have a latent ability. The feeders aren't treated very well and once they can't donate blood on a weekly basis, they are removed from the town. No one really knows where they go; they just disappear out of the front gate. Every person is required to donate a pint of blood every week; there are no exceptions unless you are pregnant or diseased.
The next rule is at the age of seventeen, if you have not chosen a mate yourself, one would be provided for you. This rule is the scariest to me. Mostly because I turned seventeen yesterday and I have no prospects of finding a mate. So, I am expecting to be auctioned off to a mate at noon today. The fact that I am a BWP most likely won't help me; my latent ability is not a very exciting one. Who really has the need for a mental shield? The three ruling Master's Aro, Marcus and Caius will expect me and my mate to produce children until I turn eighteen, then I will be changed into a vampire and I will be expected to remain with my mate for as long as I exist. What if he is the worst of the worst? I've seen when that has happened before, it wasn't pretty.
When noon finally arrived, I was sitting on my bed bunk with my bag packed. I was ready and waiting for a guard member to bring me to the Masters. I made sure I was in immaculate condition for this meeting; my hope was it would help me be well perceived. I was well washed and wearing a standard bleached white cotton dress with not a hair out of place. I flinched when I saw it was Demitri who arrived to retrieve me. He could make anyone's skin crawl with just one glare. Knowing already what was expected of me, I followed three feet behind him into the meeting chamber. Seeing the Masters face to face was an unnerving experience I would rather not repeat again.
"Good afternoon Isabella, you are here to be auctioned off as a mate today, so…if you would please strip off your clothes and stay very still while you're examined."
"Yes Master," I said while never taking my eyes off the floor. I dropped my dress to the floor and blushed every shade of red humanly possible.
"Ah…Carlisle, welcome my old friend, I hope your trip was not a terrible one."
"Thank you Aro, our trip was - uneventful. Thank you for inviting us to this auction, my son has been a bit reluctant to find his own mate. So, now I will be doing that for him." I wonder if his son is a nice vampire. What am I saying? There are no nice vampires!
"Well…here is our next potential buyer. Good afternoon Garrett," he gestured towards the new vampire who was entering the room.
"Yes, same to you. Now can we move this along, I need to be getting back to Seattle," he said. His attitude left me hoping that he would not be bidding on me.
"Yes, of course, we are waiting for just one more guest and here he is now."
"Welcome James, it is so nice you could join us today."
"Yeah - whatever. Is this her? She doesn't look like much." Good lord, he hates me!
"Yes, well…she is a BWP of the highest quality, pure as the driven snow and she has potential to be a mental shield. The bidding is to start at ten gold bars, so - please feel free to examine her before we start."
I felt like a piece of cattle because of the way they checked my hair, teeth, skin and bones. James just kept belittling me; Garrett was mumbling to himself, Carlisle was the gentlest, probably because he barely examined me at all. Once they all were done, I felt so dirty and mishandled. Aro started the bidding and my stomach dropped, James was the first to jump at the lowest bid. For the first few rounds it was between James and Garrett going back and forth and just when Garrett bowed out, Carlisle doubled James' last bid. James was furious; you could hear him swearing under his breath as he relented.
"Very nicely done Carlisle, it would seem Isabella will be returning home with you for a mere forty gold bars, which I assume you brought with you today."
"Of course, if your men can follow me outside they can retrieve it and if Isabella wouldn't mind putting her clothes back on as well as this travel cloak, we'll be ready to go back home."
Just like that it was all over, Carlisle now owned me. I could only hope his son wouldn't kill me before I was old enough to be turned. James was still fuming as I followed
Carlisle out to the waiting black SUV. I risked a quick peek from under my hood and saw Carlisle's traveling companions. There were two other vampire's waiting at the back of his SUV, a petite, spiky haired, female who was grinning and clapping, but the male with the blond, wavy hair looked like he was a force to be reckoned with. I froze in place until the female grabbed me by the hand and lead me into the back seat. At least she wasn't rough with me. The blond male was handling the gold transfer while Carlisle got into the drivers seat.
"Tell me I got the right one Alice."
"Yes Carlisle, she is the one for Edward, I have seen it, he will be very happy." I'm glad he will, but what about me?
"Let's go Jasper; we have a long ride back to Alaska." Well, at least I know their names now.
It was a good four hours before we stopped at the side of the road. Alice hopped out first and extended her hand to me. I gathered she wanted me to follow her even though she never said anything to me directly. Cautiously, I followed her hoping she was not going to make me her dinner. When she motioned to the back of a bush, I got her drift this would be my make shift bathroom. I was so in need of it, I almost didn't care. I still hadn't been instructed to remove my hood, so I had not seen any of the scenery during the last stretch of the drive. Once Alice and I were in the back seat Carlisle just sped off, so I guessed eating was out of the question. Dozing off occasionally seemed to make the ride go quicker; finally I just snuggled against the window and fell asleep for the night.
When I finally woke in the morning I stole a quick peek out my window before returning my eyes to the floor. We had finally reached Alaska; it was beautiful what little I was seeing of it. It took another six hours before we pulled into Denali, Alaska. From what I could tell it was even more remote than Forks, the roads or lack there of, were a dead give away. That's when my calm exterior started to erode, I felt like I had dozens of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Luckily, Alice lead me into the foyer before she released my hand. I knew better then to move from where she had left me. Once I felt the all too familiar breeze of a vampire moving, I held my breath and waited for his next move.
"So - this is her? The one from your vision?"
"Yes, she is and she is quiet lovely. Carlisle paid more than the usual, but she will be worth it."
"We shall see. What's her name?"
"Her name is Isabella."
"Isabella, remove your hood."
Fear seemed to be my new best friend because no matter how beautiful and musical his voice was, it sent shivers down my spine. My brain was running over everything that he might find wrong with me. So, very slowly, I placed my hands on the hood of my cloak and slowly slid it back until it slid the rest of the way down by itself. All I heard was a quick intake of breath then there was nothing but silence. I could feel everyone looking at me, but had no idea what anyone was thinking. I guess they were waiting on Edward to voice his opinion, but he remained quiet for the time being. I reluctantly peeked up from under my eye lashes to see the most beautiful looking man I have ever seen. With a snap of his fingers two girls scrambled to my side, taking me by my hands as they lead me towards an exquisite staircase that lead to the second floor and then to a third floor.
We stopped when we reached the first door on the right side of the hallway on the third floor. When the door was opened for me all I could see was an overly large bedroom, it was the most beautiful room I had ever seen. All the walls were painted pure white, save one. That wall was made entirely of windows that were filled with the scenery of the forest and mountains behind them. The walls were covered with shelves that were filled with music and books. In the center of the back wall was a king sized bed covered in white and gold bedding.
"Mister Edward wants you to be washed before he finishes his inspection of you," one of the two said as she motioned for me to enter the bathroom.
After nodding, I went to take my first shower in what I could only hope would be my new home, if I passed the rest of the inspection of course. The bathroom was the size of the bedroom I shared with three others back in Forks. Before I even had a chance to remove my dress the girls scurried in and started filling the large tub. They took over removing my clothing before helping me into the tub, which smelled like strawberries. I wasn't even allowed to wash myself or shampoo my own hair. From their attentive ways, I would say this is their only job here, they were personal servants. I really wanted to talk to them, but I wasn't sure if it was allowed and I didn't want them to get in any trouble because of me.
Once they had completely dried me from head to toe, even going as far as placing two French braids in my hair, they dressed me in a very soft and flowing purple satin gown that went to the floor.
"Mister Edward will be up shortly," the taller of the two informed me before they left me.
It felt like an eternity before the door opened and Edward strolled in with Carlisle. He stopped short and hissed when he saw me staring out the windows. I really wasn't sure what to do next, so I did what was always expected at examinations, I ducked my head and started to slide the straps of my dress off my shoulders, but before I even had one lowered his cold hand was on my shoulder indicating he didn't want me to continue. I guess I was wrong in hoping that he might want me, apparently just seeing me without my cloak was enough for him to decide he didn't want me. Why did this make me want to cry? I don't know the answer to that, so wrapping my arms around myself, I tried to keep my rejection from showing, but on the inside I was falling apart. Just when I thought I couldn't get anymore embarrassed my stomach growled from not eating since yesterday.
When I opened my mouth to beg for forgiveness, Edward tapped under my chin effectively shutting my mouth with the clanking of my teeth. He just walked out with Carlisle following him. What did this mean? Would he be sending me back? Selling me to someone else, or would he be putting me to work in the mines? I slumped to the floor to continue my inner ranting, when the door opened again, it was the same two girls each carrying a tray of food. They gasped when they saw me on the floor.
"Mister Edward would kill us both if he saw you on the floor. Do you want us to die?"
"No, never, but I don't think you have to worry about that, he doesn't want me," I whispered softly.
"Apparently, you didn't see how he looks at you. I have never seen him stare at anyone before."
"Angela is right, he doesn't even acknowledge humans around him, but you're different. And, did you hear him hiss when he saw you?"
"Yes, I heard him, but he didn't even bother looking at me after that, except to stop me from…," I couldn't even finished the sentence after that because the tears were threatening to fall from my eyes again.
"He has instructed us to call you Mistress Isabella, so you're definitely staying."
"That's because his father said he…," I sighed, "said he was taking the choice out of his hands, you see - he is stuck with me, whether he wants me or not," I probably shouldn't have been pouting, but I really had hoped he would like me.
"Please, sit on the bed and eat your dinner, if he comes back and you're not happy, it's our hides on the line." I had lost my appetite when he walked away from me, but for their sakes, I would force myself to eat at least some of the food they brought me.
I really don't know why it bothered me that he didn't like me. I guess it could be worse. I could live in a loveless relationship as long as he wasn't mean to me and it would only be for two years. Then I would a vampire and free to find my own mate if he didn't mark me as his. The practice of marking was biting to change me instead of the common day injections from a metal syringe. This practice was put in place when too many people were killed instead of changed. Eventually, I gave up eating all together and just laid down staring out the window.
"Please leave, I'll call you when she needs you in the morning," he was back, but I couldn't tell from the tone of his voice if he was angry or not.
When I felt the bed shift I knew he had joined me. "Isabella, please look at me," his voice was much softer now. I wondered what the change was as I rolled to face him.
"I'm sort of new at this, so forgive me if I do this wrong," he said as he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him.
I was instantly lost in his aroma when he breathed on my face. It was the most intoxicating scent I had ever smelled. My eyes were darting back and forth between his pitch black eyes and ruby red lips when he chuckled at me. "Do you want me to kiss you, Isabella?"
I was panting when he asked again "Isabella? Please answer me; do you want me to kiss you?"
"Yes…I do," I finally breathed out, before he slowly inched his head closer. I couldn't believe he actually wanted to kiss me, though there was a chance it was just curiosity.
The moment his lips brushed against mine I felt like I was electrified. It was absolutely the greatest thing I had ever felt and found I was desperate for more. "Breathe Isabella," he whispered against my lips. I knew forgot to do something, I was willing to suffocate if he was willing to keep kissing me.
I whimpered when he pulled back, even if it was only an inch it felt like a mile. "I know, I feel the same way," he whispered before kissing me again more eagerly. The feelings he was invoking inside me were beyond anything I expected. Before I knew what was happening he gently traced my lips with his tongue, this sheer act caused me to moan into his mouth. That's when he surprised me by slipping his tongue into my mouth; it was happily greeted by my own. His tongue continued to message mine and each time he did, it was like a signal was running directly to the secret area between my tights.
I was so lost in the kissing that I hadn't realized my hands had intertwined into his copper hair, causing him to deepen our kiss just a little further. When I couldn't suppress the urge any longer I started tugging lightly at first and harder when I heard him purring for me. Just when I thought we were ready for more, he flung himself against the wall panting heavily.
"Did I…do something…wrong," What did I do?
"No, don't move, I'll be right back."
God at that moment I tried to fight back the tears, but failed miserably. So giving up completely, I just let myself fall apart totally. I gave myself over to the misery; I let it dig itself a deep tunnel into my chest. I sobbed heavily until I fell deeply asleep.
A/N Please be nice and review it will only take a second