Memory Lapse
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own twilight or the twilight characters. Sadly, Stephenie Meyer beat me to it.
Chapter One- Blood Red Eyes
It was bright. Far too bright. I squeezed my eyes shut again. Where the hell was I? I felt wrong, my head was throbbing and…and my throat! My throat was burning! I sat up quickly. Very quickly in fact. How did I do that? What am I doing here? I was nowhere in particular as far as I could see. There were leaves littering the floor. And Trees. Trees everywhere. That's all there is. No. There was water nearby. I can hear it. Hear it? It wasn't right. Not like the loud but peaceful sound of a natural waterfall crashing into the stream below. The water is not moving, but I know where it is. One mile to the east, and remaining perfectly still in the light breeze. I stood up and blinked some more, my eyes still adjusting to the sudden brightness. I looked up, towards the sky. The sky. It was beautiful. Grey and lightly clouded, but so beautiful. I could smell it too, the sky. I could smell the heavy dampness that hung in the air. It was refreshing, but this felt wrong too. For some unfathomable reason, I felt that this should cause me discomfort. I felt I should be cold. But I wasn't. I breathed in, an attempt to appreciate the cool damp air, and I was reminded of the soaring fire in my throat. Like an iron. A white hot iron. I winced in pain. I couldn't be sure, but I have no memory of experiencing this pain before. I decided I must be…thirsty? About 4 seconds had passed since I'd opened my eyes, I was standing in the middle of nowhere, my feet bare on the leaf littered ground. And I ran. I was running fast. Very fast, toward the water. It was exhilarating. I was running faster than anyone, anything, should ever run, and I could see the tiniest of insects in microscopic detail as I passed. This was wrong. Had I always been able to do this? Then, as I approached the small clear pond, another question hit me. I approached the water and I felt my eyes prick in the strangest of ways. What, who am I? I had no idea.
I knelt by the water, pushing the thought aside. Despite the fire in my throat, the searing pain that I could not deny, the water held no interest for me. In fact, the thought of it disgusted me. This was wrong. I leaned forward and reached out. My fingertips traced the waters surface. It didn't feel cold. Or warm. It didn't feel of anything. It was still. Too still. Dead. I pulled my hand away and shuddered delicately, though I still wasn't cold in this damp, anonymous place. The water was shimmering from my touch, and a shape was forming, shuddering from the disturbance in the water. A reflection. My reflection. Me. I leaned forward. Wow. I blinked. I was kinda beautiful. I smiled.
I am pale. Unnaturally pale. With short black hair spiking in all directions. And my eyes, they scare me but I can't look away. They are captivating. Wide and bright and scarlet red. Blood red. As I leaned further toward the strange face that should be so familiar, I noticed something swing around her neck. A necklace. A heart shaped necklace. I reached toward my own neck, not taking my eyes from the figure in the water. From the eyes. I caught hold of the dainty chain in my hands and finally looked down to it. The neatly engraved lettering on the back caught my attention as I carefully flipped it over. Alice. I am Alice. I smiled wider. The girl, the one I was once again smiling down upon with awe, frowned. Her black arched eyebrows pulling together in confusion and pain. The throbbing, pounding in my head was getting worse, stronger. Then everything changed.
I was no longer there, by the still water. I was staring at a face. But not a reflection of my own. It was the single most beautiful face I have ever seen. He had pale white skin. Just like me. Blood red eyes. Just like mine. But not quite like mine. No, his eyes were a more faded red, yet still bright somehow. And he was tall and blonde. His hair waving and slightly messy. His perfect eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and then his eyes lit up. And that was it. As soon as his eyes lit up like that, I could have sworn he was an angel.
A now familiar scolding pain pulled me farther away from him, until finally he was gone and I was staring upon the stunned girl in the water once again. Somehow, what had just happened didn't feel wrong like so many other things since I had opened my eyes against the bright but welcome sky. No, that felt perfectly natural. Right.
I was in too much discomfort to dwell on that much longer; I had to do something about the fire in my throat.