Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY or Twilight. Pity.
Notes: Bit of a spoiler for all the Twilight series. I know I promised Touching the Void, but I can't control my muse. Respect the muse! Respect it! I really like the books, and I love NY so here you go. Like always, enjoy.
Thank you to lily moonlight for looking through and all her help! And thanks to Blue Shadowdancer for reading. I couldn't have posted this without them.
Dawn's Early Light
Chapter 1
He got up in the early light. It wasn't rhythm as much as it was habit. From his Marine days. But today was different. He found a bounce in his step that was unnatural and abnormal. Just not Mac Taylor-like. It wasn't him as he pulled a shirt over his head. Or as he got the rest of himself ready for his morning run. He could only imagine Stella's comment to that. The 'some people call it a full night of sleep' comment was going to come sometime that day. He smiled at that thought.
The cool air circled around him, drawing invisible layers around him. Suffocating him in the freshness, unnatural to his urban surroundings. He passed by buildings, the glass windows reflecting his image as it stepped forward on the pavement. He looked into the alleys as he jogged past them. They stored a darkness in them that haunted his dreams some nights when he thought about the killers. What they did to their victims. The perverted monsters they were, hidden by identities. Hidden in their lives as if they didn't do what they did. Pretending that they weren't the sick people they were. And finally they couldn't hide their true selves any longer, and they snapped. They would kill someone or violate someone. That was when his team had to come in and piece together what happened so it wouldn't happen to someone else. So someone else wouldn't be haunted by those dark alleys.
But this one was different. He paused and turned, wishing he didn't see the sight that lay before him. He stepped forward, his curiosity winning over his common sense. He stopped, frozen in his tracks. A woman lay sprawled on the ground. Someone was kneeling over her. He couldn't see that person's face. He braved another step. The hidden figure's throat moved as if it was drinking something. Blood? That's not possible. Logic was trying to override the supernatural. "Hey!" He yelled. The figure looked up. The person was a woman. And Mac's breath was taken away. She was beautiful. Pale skin. Dark brown hair. Coal black eyes. But there was a hunger in them. At her mouth a dribble of red ran down. She stared at him; her ebony eyes narrowed, focusing on him. He didn't know what she was doing, but he saw a look in her eyes that scared him to his core. She looked like she was reading his mind and his very soul. Then images began to flash before him. Ones that he had no control over. He saw the towers fall. His wife gone just like that. Another image came into his field of vision. Stella. Dinner. Candlelight. A rose in a vase, the water halfway up the stem. The flickering candlelight danced on the reflection of the water in the vase. That vanished. Another image flashed before his eyes. One that he had never seen before came before him. He couldn't focus on it because it was unclear like it was the future, but it had to have happened to someone. Then excruciating pain erupted in his head. He fell to his knees, hoping the pain bursting from the center of his head would stop. The pounding in his head only increased. It was all he could focus on until he couldn't focus on anything. There were no thoughts. He was there on the ground, not moving.
You simple minded man. She had to get out of there before someone saw her. She fled as the sun shone on her. Her skin sparkled, and then there was no trace of her. Just two bodies on the ground. Ones heart still beating.
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"Mac!" she skidded to a stop next to him. He was sitting up on the ground the paramedics having checked him over and his statement already given. He couldn't believe what had happened. "What were you thinking?" He grinned. Classic Stella. "And what happened?"
"I already told that officer there. Did you bring my kit?"
"You aren't processing this scene, Mac Taylor," she smiled.
"Stella, I am processing this scene. I'm here so I'm going to process the scene," he turned to see the officer smirking at the story he had given. It was the truth as he saw it. It was what happened. He couldn't explain who that lady was. A vampire? No, they didn't exist. Part of a cult. Probably. That was the most likely. Mac picked himself off of that alley, still dazed at what had happened. Stella offered him a hand up which he refused. He didn't mean it as a dig towards her pride, and she knew that. He was just a bit confused. Everything had happened so fast.
"I have the scene. Why don't you just go home? Take the day?"
"So did you bring my kit?" he persisted. She gave up and sighed heavily. Maybe even a bit dramatically.
"Yes, Mac, I did," she went on mumbling something about how she knew he would work the scene. At least he didn't play the boss card. Not that he would. Well, he wouldn't to her. She and he walked back to the CSI vehicle. "What happened?" He looked at her. She bit her lip. Why wasn't he telling her?
"It was just so… strange," he hesitated. He looked at the body of the woman. She lay there looking so peaceful. But her death. Mac heard a car come to a halt. It was the ME van. A young man and woman hopped out, ready to take the body. Officers had them wait. The CSIs weren't done yet. Actually they hadn't even started yet.
"Come on. You know I'll believe you," Stella reassured him. He glanced at her.
"I don't know who or what she was, but she just took my breath away," he started.
"That beautiful, Mac?" she asked. Whether the jealousy in her voice was real or mock, Mac never did find out.
"She was, but she didn't look, well, human," Mac answered cautiously. "She was pale. Just not naturally. And, Stell, if you don't think I'm crazy enough at this point, her teeth were like sharp looking."
"I don't think you're crazy. You might've just hit your head pretty hard," she thought out loud. Mac sighed. Of course, what he saw was crazy to anyone else. They knelt near the body.
"I didn't hit my head. I passed out," it was matter-of-fact talk.
"She couldn't have been that good looking."
"I saw things," he mumbled. He thought about the last image. It was becoming clearer as he focused on it. Little did he know that someone was watching him, the same someone who planted the image in the first place. She knelt down on top of a roof, watching her prey. She would strike soon, but for now she left her perch. It was too light. Her secret could be blown. She sped away. Her supernatural speed and strength kept her a blur to all who saw her.
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Not everyone in Forks was sleeping. But not everyone in Forks could sleep. Alice was lying down when she saw the vision. She was next to her husband, Jasper. She was looking into the future as she had done many times.
The lights were out. They had no idea what they walked into. They were surrounded. What they were facing. Why were they in a pack? They didn't hunt in packs. Only the Cullens did that because they were vegetarians.
"I know what you are," the man called into the darkness. Air swirled around him and his partner. "What you did to that girl." An unnatural wind lifted the woman's hair. Then it stopped. "Get behind me." There was love in his eyes. He put his hand over hers, slightly pushing slightly guiding her behind him. He was trying to protect her against what they were facing. He had warned her not to come. That it was too dangerous. That they didn't know what they are up against. He didn't want to see her get hurt. What that would do to his conscience. He saw things flashed before his eyes again. The pain of losing his wife. The happiness that he has found when he's near his partner.
She stepped closer to him. They didn't know what or who they were facing. Suddenly thoughts flashed before her eyes. Her childhood. Her foster parents. Her foster dad taking away her friend, her best friend. Then a new image came into her mind. She saw him lying on the ground, dead. A pain erupted so excruciating that it brought her to her knees. Then she found the pain too much and passed out. He kneeled next to her.
He took her hand. "Come on, get up." He was suddenly struck from behind. He collapsed, motionless on the ground. Their enemy drew closer, hungry and ready to feed.
"Jasper!" Alice sat up.
"What?" he asked groggily.
"I need to talk to Carlisle. Someone's in trouble, and they know our secret," she told him. He then sat up.
"Seriously?" panic was hidden in his voice.
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"You wanted to talk?" Carlisle asked. It was early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet.
"I had a vision," Alice started.
"Yes?"
"There was this man and woman. They went into this building, facing one of our kind. I think something's going to happen. They knew our secret. If something happens to them, our secret could be blown," Alice explained. Carlisle thought for a minute. To anyone he looked young. Thirties and thriving. He was born in Europe to a priest nearly four hundred years prior. His skin was flawless as was the rest of his family's skin. It was a characteristic of their kind. He looked Alice in the eye. Her eyes were black as coal. All of their eyes were. Another characteristic of their kind. Their teeth sharp. Their skin pale and unnaturally beautiful.
"What importance are they? I don't know if we should risk revealing ourselves to save them," he was as cautious as always. Her visions almost always happened as she saw them. He didn't want to reveal his family. That would cause uproar, and they would be hunted down. Imagine his kind actually living among humans peacefully. The thought to most people was unheard of.
"New York Detectives. If they die an unusual death, the whole city will be on a manhunt for whoever's responsible. You know what will happen if that happens," Alice muttered grimly. Chaos and panic would grip the city if it knew that they were actually out there. Monsters, they were called. Horror movies made about their kind. Falsities assumed about what people didn't know. Overreactions. They weren't the bad ones here. They couldn't let their secret out.
"Nothing good, I can assure you," Carlisle grimaced. He thought for another minute. They were outnumbered in this if there was more than one. Alice couldn't go by herself. He couldn't bring the entire Cullen clan. "Take Edward and Jasper with you. If you take Edward, then Bella will come too. Let her come. Heaven forbid that you need her in this." Alice nodded. The rest had to keep up with their jobs. Keep their true selves a secret. As if they didn't do what they did. Alice went up to tell who she needed to come. Carlisle thought for a moment about the consequences of this. Of telling another human what they were to save that said human. Monsters in their own right. Creatures of the night. Vampires.
A/N: Please review! I would love to know what you think whether you hate it, love it, or are indifferent. And they are always replied to with maybe a cyber cookie ;)
