I had spent years in this little shop in Port Angeles. The days always seemed to blend together between incoming stock, outgoing bills, and days in the back without even a single customer. The sole break with this typical and monotonous pattern was the occasional company of my friend and best customer Alice. Alice was the reason I was able to keep the shop open and the reason I was able to keep sane.
Today was not one of those days. Today was a dark day and the day that lead me to where I am today. I am not proud of some of the choices I made but my life does not allow for regret, does not call for it. Everything I am now I owe to Alice and for her I now write.
It was what seemed to be an average Wednesday in mid-October. The weather was rainy as usual but more of a shower than a downpour. I sat at the counter reading my favorite series by Elizabeth Haydon, absently looking up after each page to look about the store. I was as I looked up from the book on the verge of tears that I saw Alice's car pull in front of the store. I quickly wiped away the few tears I had shed and set my book down.
As always her entrance lit up the store. I was so caught up with being happy that she had come that it took me a second to realize something was off. Her catlike gait was somehow less springy, her smile less bright, and he presence had an edge of despair. I couldn't quite put my finger on exactly why everything seemed so off, but she seemed so lost.
"Hello Summer!" she said joyously in her intoxicating and melodic voice as she walked toward the counter.
"Hello Alice! What brings you to my humble abode?" I asked trying to keep my voice from showing my cautious skepticism.
"Nothing really. I just wanted to see if you got anything new in stock." He said as she raised an eye inquisitively.
"Well considering you raided me immediately after my last shipment I don't think there's anything new that you don't already have." I said trying to probe for any sign that something was off.
"Oh. Ok." She seemed almost mumbled out as her eyes probed the store.
I looked around my store taking in all the many articles of clothing that had sat in the store for months. There wasn't much use for designer clothes in a little city such as Port Angeles but that never seemed to matter to Alice. She was always hungry for the newest and best fashion.
I looked over my shoulder at the door that led to my living room. Wondering how was best to see what was wrong. I thought of asking her straight out but that wouldn't have been either polite or subtle. So I decided to do talk somewhere more private.
"Why don't you go sit on the couch while I lock-up up here? I'll be back thee in a second." I said trying to see if she would allow me to see what was wrong.
She paused a minute as if trying to decide what she should do then with a nod proceeded to walk around the counter and through the door into the other room. I watched her until she closed the door behind her then stood up to lock the front door. After fumbling with the deadbolt and lock I went to join her in the back room.
As I opened the door and walked through I noticed her sitting there cross legged and smiling on the couch with a bottle of Orange crème soda on the table for me. I walked over careful to not seem too distracted as I stepped down the three steps that went around the living room or as I liked to call it "the pit." I stepped around the TV stand and sat next to her on the couch.
As I looked at her in the bright light from the chandelier I knew that I couldn't just be imagining things. She really was hurting. It burned my very soul to know that she was in pain. A pain that she didn't want to say, no matter how mush it pained her.
"Alice." I said picking up the bottle from the table "you know you can tell me anything. No matter what it is, let me help."
"There's nothing to tell." She said in that melodic voice that intoxicated me
"The Volturi won't say anything about what you tell me." I said looking away as I felt the bitter hatred boil in my voice.
When I turned back I could see a blatant look of shock and interest. Her face was like an angel, with its statuesque curves and exquisite beauty. The look she now gave me was a much needed relief from the pained expression she previously wore.
"How do you know about the Volturi?" she asked now masking her feelings
"Alice, please. I am not another one of these ignorant mortals ignorantly running through life aimlessly searching for wealth. If I was I wouldn't have set up this shop in Port Angeles. My family has served the Volturi eleven generations. If I had followed I would be the twelfth. My parents died in their service and so has most of my family. I decided that I wanted nothing to do with their greed. I wanted a life where I was free to choose which path I wanted to follow." I said now sweating and frankly quite self-conscious
"You knew all this time and you never said anything?" she said now looking offended
"I felt that I would let you decide if you wanted me to know and then talk about it when you were ready." I said shifting uneasily under her glare
In that instant I saw
here emotions shift from anger to gratitude and several other
emotions I could quite put to words. In that instant I knew that I
couldn't leave her even
if I tried. She was all I wanted and
had ever dreamed of. I realized that there was nothing I wouldn't
do for her.
Nothing.
"Summer. How would you like to come meet my family?" she said now wearing that radiant smile I remembered and loved
"Are they going to get upset when we show up?" I said now looking at Alice and wondering how amazing her family would look. I already began to feel so meek and out of place.
"No, they'll love you! I promise!" She said shaking her head as if appeasing a small child.
"Ok." I said shifting again thinking of what their reactions would be. "Can I go shower first I smell kind of sweaty."
"Go take a shower and I'll be here when your done." She said assuredly
As I stood and made my way to my room I kept thinking of what her family might look like. All I could picture was a house of pale angel faced people, with those same brown eyes. As I took my shower in the bathroom that connected to my room I couldn't help but think that maybe it would be best to wait to see them. I couldn't see how this family of strangers would feel about me coming in knowing their secret.
The piercing water froze my skin to an almost numb coat that only slightly resembled the frozen touch that I had long pushed from my mind. It helped to keep my mind calmed and slow. It was just what I needed to keep me from getting too worked up and depressed. Vampires had always seemed to have that effect on me. All vampires, except Alice. Alice was my light in the darkness. My angel in this hell I now lived.
As I stepped out I wondered whether I should think about something more realistic. Not that Alice wasn't real but, Alice had Jasper. Jasper was her soul mate, her love, and her immortal life. I was just her friend and her source for fashion products. I couldn't compete with the likes of Jasper. He was a million times better than I could ever be, or at least he seemed to be from what Alice had always told me. He was a vampire the epitome of beauty and compassion. He was… Everything I wasn't, and I envied him.
Before I knew what I was doing I found myself dressed and walking down the stairs to the main floor where I would find Alice. As I got down to the last couple steps I saw her sitting in the same exact position I had left her in. It was like Athena herself sat before me inhabiting the most incredibly beautiful statue I had ever seen. Seeing her like this made my mind completely at ease. She always seemed to have that effect on me. She never changed while I moved closer to death everyday. She was the constant that gave me perspective on existence. Being around her was sobering and at the same time so intoxicating I felt that I would never find myself again, and I didn't care. If I could be near Alice I would never want to be anywhere else.
"Are you ready?" She almost sang
She shifted her gaze and scr