Chapter 1: Preface: Nostalgia


Nostalgia

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Preface: Nostalgia

Nostalgia: A wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition.

Nostalgia

It was dark when I opened my eyes. I sat up from the uncomfortable mattress I was lying and noticed a forlorn figure sitting on the corner of the filthy room, staring out of the window. I removed the covers off me and swallowed hard. I felt unusual; I wasn't myself. Everything in the darkness seemed different. I didn't have to blink my eyes to see... Miraculously, I was able to see every intricate and complex detail of the room. Somehow, my senses were enhanced.

"Who... who are you?" I whispered, clutching at the blanket. "Where am I?"

The forlorn figure turned its head and stared at me with sadness in her eyes. "I thought that you were never going to wake up, Madison."

I sighed, when I heard the familiar voice and placed my hand over my chest. I couldn't feel the rhythm of my heart under my touch. I ignored it for a second and concentrated on the person that sat beside the window.

"Cheyenne, why are we here?" I asked worriedly.

Cheyenne's once topaz eyes were crimson red and staring at me. I felt a chill run down my back and I felt the need to defend myself. Cheyenne didn't move or breathe. She just sat there on the floor, looking fixedly at me. Her hair framed her pallid face, making her look like a dangerous angel. She looked down at her hands and then shook her head.

"Elisha is dead." she whispered low enough. "He died saving you."

"What happened?" I asked confused.

"You don't remember, Madison?" she sneered.

I shook my head and stared attentively at her. Everything was so complicated. I couldn't remember my past life… but I could remember her. I ran my hand through my face and was surprised when I felt my cold hands.

"I don't remember, Cheyenne!" I whispered nervously.

"It's all your fucking fault." she said dryly.

"How? What did I do?" I asked desperately.

"How can you not remember?"

"I don't know!" I shouted, covering my ears with my cold hands. "I can't remember what happened! I don't recall anything!"

Cheyenne just stared at me. "You don't remember anything?"

"If I did," I paused, my arms falling to my sides. "I wouldn't be asking you. I remember you…"

I closed my eyes and I saw blurry images project into my head. Nothing seemed to make sense. I was surrounded by a cloud of confusion. I wanted to know why I was in a filthy room with my stepsister. Why was she blaming me of Elisha's death? I gasped when I saw the most beautiful image of him, flashed in my head. I saw his smile, his eyes sparkling lovingly and then I remembered who I was.

"Where's Embry? Braxton? My..." I trailed off, when I touched my stomach and felt a wave of fear hit me. "Oh god, where is my baby? What happened to my baby?"

"So, now you remember?" she asked crossly.

I started to shake with anger. "Where is my baby?" I shouted, getting up from the mattress. "What did you do to my baby?"

Cheyenne remained unresponsive and unmoved. I stared angrily at her. What did she do to my baby? Fucks! What happened?

"I don't have your baby." she said nonchalantly.

"Then where is my baby?"

Cheyenne shrugged. I couldn't take it any longer. My family was probably worried that I wasn't with them. I needed to get out of this hellhole. I needed to find Embry. I needed to find him and hold him tightly in my arms. I knew how worried he got when he didn't know where I was. I needed his warmth and love!

"What did you do to me?" I asked.

My movements were fluid, smooth and graceful as I moved to where she was. I didn't feel like the awkward Madison that I remembered. I stood before Cheyenne and stared down at her. She didn't move, but just gazed at her hands. She looked distraught and agitated. She was hiding something from me. I needed to know what had happened. I could barely recall what had happened in my past, but I remembered Embry.

"What happened, Cheyenne? Where is my family? Why are we...?" I paused, kneeling before her and taking her face in my hand, forcing her to look up at me. "Why are we here? Alone in an abandoned building?"

"It took me years to remember my past." she said miserably. "My brother Elisha took care of me. He taught me how to live in this marbled body."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "You aren't making any sense, Cheyenne. Where is my mother? Mercury? Embry and my children?"

"You weren't supposed to remember them." she sneered. "The only memory that you're supposed to have is the night when you were transformed."

"Remember the night I was transformed? What... what are you talking about?" I asked confused.

"You aren't supposed to be this calm." she said, jerking her face away from my hand. "I was thirsty when I woke up the first time. I ran amuck and began to kill humans... drinking their blood." she said. "You are supposed to be hungry for blood; thirsting for blood!" she yelled, and pushed me away from her.

I winced, when I saw her pale arm come at me with such force. I caught it in midair and twisted it. She yelled in pain and cursed loudly. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me fucking go!" she barked.

"No," I hissed.

Why was I able to defend myself against a vampire? She was supposed to be stronger than me. I should've been obliterated under her touch. Oh, why couldn't I remember anything?

"Let me go!" she yelled.

"No," I paused, tightening my hold on her arm. "Not until you tell me what happened to me? Why can I defend myself against you? Why Cheyenne?" I shouted angrily. "Tell me!"

Cheyenne laughed maniacally at me. Her beautiful face twisted with anger. "You really don't remember?"

I shook my head and slamming her against the wall. She was light and I didn't have any difficulty throwing her in the air. I stared at Cheyenne and I began to feel this inexplicable need to destroy her... to make her feel my pain and suffering.

"Tell me," I stopped and swallowed hard. "What did you do to me?"

Cheyenne scoffed and got up from where she laid. "You are a vampire!" she shouted loudly.

I gulped hard and shook my head in disbelief. I walked to where she was and felt my hands wrapping around her neck. "Why?"

She jerked my hands away and stared coldly at me. "Because, Embry killed Elisha!" she yelled, her words saturated with pain. "He needed to pay for what he did to my brother!"

"No," I said incredulously. "You are lying about everything!" I shouted sobbing, but no tears came out. "Why would you lie to me?"

Cheyenne walked closer to where I was and stood in front of me. "I never lie. You should remember that, Madison."

"But why?" I yelled. "Why me?"

"Because, I knew that Embry would suffer greatly, if he knew that his lovely wife, Madison, was turned into a vampire. Aren't vampires the enemies of the Quileute werewolves?"

"But we've never hurt you!" I said dejected, as I knelt on the soiled floor.

Cheyenne laughed and grabbed a handful of my hair. "I needed to make him suffer! He killed my brother."

"Why?" I shouted despondently.

"Because he killed Elisha!" she snarled, tugging harder at my hair. I felt no physical pain, but my soul, if I had one, cried silently for my inexplicable and sudden loss. I had lost the man I've ever loved. Cheyenne's irrational decision had caused me my children, my mortality and my friends. "He took my brother away from me! Elisha was the only family I had!"

"No, you are lying!" I said, begging her with my eyes. "You have to be lying! I can't be... no!"

"Believe whatever you want Madison." she said, pushing me away from her. "Embry would never take you back. You are a vampire... His enemy and I will enjoy seeing him destroy you."

"I thought we were sisters?" I cried.

"I never accepted you as a sister!"

"But, Elisha protected me... he was like a brother to me." I said softly, as I got up from the floor and walked towards the window.

"He was... in love with you!" she said spiteful. "He loved you and he protected you! He died protecting you... your son and you never even thanked him! He didn't deserve to die... by those assholes!"

I looked back at a bitter Cheyenne. "I hope that I never get to see you, Cheyenne!" I said sadly.

"We'll meet again." she said spitefully.

"I pray that we never meet, Cheyenne." I said hatefully, as I walked to window and perched myself on the ledge.

I looked down and hoped that when I jumped, I would fall to my death. I looked back and saw Cheyenne staring at me. Her eyes held hatred and I knew that I would never be the same. I took a step forward and jumped out of the window, never to look back. Thoughts began to flood my head, as I jumped down the abandoned building. Cheyenne, she had to be lying! I was just dreaming! Yes, it was all a horrible dream. I was looking forward to waking up. I had to wake up. I knew that if I opened my eyes… Embry would be beside me, whispering softly that it was all a dream and how much he loved me. But when my feet touched the ground and I looked up... I was still alive... if you call being a vampire alive.

It wasn't a dream, it was a reality. I hid in the woods, inside a cave far away from civilization. I don't remember how many days I stayed there, listening to the sound of the heartbeats of the animals that ran around the cave. I couldn't take it anymore. I walked back to Forks. I was hungry, afraid and when I began to walk like a maniac down the streets of Forks; I could feel my thirst grow, whenever I heard a heartbeat. I needed to run and disappear. I was a menace to people, my husband and to my children. I needed to get far away from this place. I ran deep in to the woods again, afraid of where I was going to end… but my life had been destroyed... there wasn't a place that I could call home. There was nothing that I could do. I needed to satiate my thirst fast. I didn't want to take anyone's life. I had to be strong, but my thirst was weakening and clouding my judgment.

"You don't have to be afraid." a voice called from behind the woods. "There are other ways to satiate your thirst without killing a human life!"