Deep in the woods on a small island off the coast of Italy, a young man lived. He had lived, for 400 years, and was still only 25 years old, physically. He lived in a stone cottage he built on his own, 300 years ago. Cursed, or blessed, by the 'eternal potion', as the alchemist that had granted, or condemned him to this life called it, Edward Cullen could never age, nor die. He lived a solitary life, unable to make friends with other normal humans as he could not reveal the fact that he couldn't age nor die. His only human contacts was with others that had also been given the eternal potion, but somehow, 16 other 'friends' for 400 years was simply not enough. He never had a female companion, a girlfriend or a wife. For many, many years, he had been a lonely man. Stuck in between the ages, Edward yearns for companion, and yet cannot fathom how to get that company, a 400 year old man with medieval tendencies and behaviours, stuck in the twenty-first century.
Edward Cullen was watering his flowers and plants when Aro arrived that cold autumn day, a beautiful young girl following behind him.
"Edward!" Aro yelled, waving a wizened old hand, grinning toothily, looking slightly deranged.
Edward turned his head in the direction of Aro, and shook his head to himself. Aro was a crazy alchemist, a mad scientist in every way. Edward hated Aro with every fibre in his being, and yet was eternally grateful to him. Towards Aro, Edward constantly felt contradicting emotions, and it often left him unsettled. That was why Edward avoided Aro extensively. Without seeing him, there was no need to think of a matter of fact, Aro had sent a letter, inviting Edward to visit him in his Volterra castle in Tuscany from Edward's place over a week ago. But Edward had pointedly ignored the rather obtuse and confusing letter, hence Aro's surprise visit to Edward's place that day.
Edward crossed his field quickly, and bowed slightly to the old alchemist. "It is pleasant to meet you today, Aro. How fare thee?"He asked, politely, hiding his curiosity about the girl behind Aro. He could not see her face, or her body, only a sliver of dark, shining mahogany hair.
"Ah, I fare very well; I am particularly delighted today, Edward! I bring you Isabella Swan, my new creation! Creation 18, as a matter of fact. Befitting label, as she is but 18 years of age!" Aro announced, delightedly, making large gestures with his arms and hands as he spoke rapidly in his native tongue, Italian.
Edward stared at the old man, not knowing what to say. He knew that Aro liked to travel the world to 'create' people of his kind- the immortal. Edward was one of them, created by Aro too. He was dying in a sword fight against knight, when an arrow from an opposing spy shot through his heart, catching him unawares, bringing him down. Aro had saved him by giving him the potion of eternal life when he found the unconscious man lying on the forest floor later that day, and Edward became Creation 8. Aro had told Edward what he had became, and bequeathed Edward to Carlisle and Esme, creation 4 and 5 respectively, who wanted children but could not have them as the potion rendered women sterile. But Aro had not created any more immortals for the last 200 odd years, so what made him start now, again?
Edward was 25 when he was turned by Aro, and with Carlisle and Esme as parents, he eventually adapted to this life of eternity. There wasn't much difference between an eternal being and a mortal one, apart from the simple fact that eternal beings could not die, and did not age. Occasionally, Edward bemoaned his loneliness; Aro had tried to give him fellow female creations to no avail. The last creation Aro tried to give to Edward was somewhat of a disaster. Tanya Denali, Creation 14, was a strawberry blonde dame who enjoyed activities in bed greatly. She was a Russian beauty, and had literally tried to force Edward to join intimately with her upon seeing him. Edward was horrified, having been brought up by his roman catholic roots where man and woman remained chaste till marriage, and had pushed Tanya into the river in a fit of shock.
Finally, Edward spoke warily, afraid of another Tanya. "I see, very well for you, Aro. What consequences on me are there, though?"
Aro beamed. "But she is for you, my favourite creation! I give Isabella Swan to you! You have been a lonely man for more than 400 years; it is time for some female companionship. She can warm your house, your food at home, or your bed! It is for you to decide, my dear son."
Edward groaned in horror mentally. He felt like telling Aro and his new creation to get lost, but his politeness and the fear of provoking the volatile Aro prevented him from doing just that.
"Why, thank you, Aro. I can never accept such an... expensive gift from you!" He finally bit out.
"Ah, but you will! It is a gift to you and a favour for me, my dear. Sulpicia (Creation no. 1) and I will be going to visit Rome, and we need someone to take care of my newest creation as she is still young and confused. So I thought, ah, the lovely and good Edward will take good care of her! And I was right!" Aro said, happily.
Edward sighed, resigned. He could not say no to Aro, not when he was so happy. Making Aro angry was the last thing anyone wanted to do.
"Alright, then. Thank you so much, Aro. But the girl is shy, or afraid of me, it seems?" Edward asked, trying to peer over Aro's shoulders to see his new present.
Aro coaxed the girl in front of him with a strange tenderness, and beamed.
Edward's breath caught in his throat. The girl was... magnificent. She was thin and slender, with skin as pale and white as the moon, eyes as large and dark as black diamonds. Her nose was small and delicate, her facial features regal. Her lips were perfect. She looked as if she came from a painting. She was perfect.
The girl looked steadfastly at the ground, her whole self trembling. The thin sleeveless blue dress was not thick enough for the cold autumn breeze, and Edward knew that he had to bring her into his house before she caught ill. While they immortals couldn't die, they could fall ill just as a normal human being. Edward would know; just last month he had caught the flux from eating some bad fish.
"Alright, Aro, thank you very much. I must bring her into my house before she falls ill. Would you like to come in?" Edward asked.
Aro shook his head. "I am bound for Rome immediately with Sulpicia, my lovely wife. Tata!" He said, as he skipped off.
Edward sighed, and finally addressed the girl directly.
"You are Isabella, yes?" Edward asked.
The girl nodded, her large fearful eyes meeting his.
"I'm Edward, 25 years. Um, come in to my house, I would not want you to catch ill." Edward said, gesturing to the small two story stone building just a short walk ahead.
Bella was quaking in her sandals as she followed Edward up the path to his home. She was still in shock. It wasn't 72 hours ago that the family car had fallen off a cliff bringing her along with it when some nemesis of her father rammed a truck into the side of the Mercedes sedan. It wasn't 60 hours ago that Aro, the strange guy, had rescued her from the cold ocean and made her drink a strange disgusting concoction that sent her into a deep and restless sleep for 24 hours. It wasn't 20 hours ago, that Aro told her she was now immortal, unable to age, nor die. And it wasn't an hour ago that Aro had brought her over to this man's house and told her she was now his.
Bella was upset, confused, and she felt sick already. Her stomach felt unwell, like there was a giant tortoise doing somersaults in it. She didn't know what was expected of her as this man's present. And she felt lonelier than ever before. And everything here was so strange; almost ask if she had travelled back in time. Stone houses, horses, that wizened old man- it gave her a headache.
As she followed the tall man up to the house, she felt miserable and sad. Without her notice, tears began to fall from her eyes silently.
When they reached the front door of the stone cottage that Edward had crafted with his own two hands 400 years ago, Edward turned to speak to the young girl, and was shocked to find her crying.
"Isabella, my dear, why- why are you crying!" He exclaimed, horrified.
Isabella looked up at him in shock, and brought her fingers to her eyes. Sure enough, they were wet. Mistaking Edward's loud voice for anger, she bowed her head immediately and apologised.
"I'm sorry, signore, I didn't know I crying." She sniffed, and replied in broken English. Her native language was Italian, and she had little knowledge of the English language that this guy spoke. They were in some strange village off the coast of Italy- why did this guy even speak English?
Edward wanted to comfort the girl, badly. He saw the fear in her eyes, the fear of the unknown. He felt the same way when he woke up after being treated by Aro's eternal potion.
"Come here, Isabella. It is alright. Let's get into the house. Your dress is too thin to withstand this weather" He finally said, as he put his arms around the girl's thin shoulders, comforting her, drawing her into the house.
The touch of Edward made Bella's head spin, and she gasped. She felt safe, all of a sudden, with his large warm arms around her. It was foreign, being touched so... intimately. No one had touched her since she was a baby. Her mother was all for properness, which did not encompass hugging, or touching. Her father was simply not an affectionate man. No one had touched her like that before, and it felt strange.
Once in the house, Edward shut the door, and crossed the small front room to start the fire.
Bella acutely missed his touch.
"Take a seat, I'll start the fire and you can get warm." Edward said.
Bella sat gingerly on the edge of the pristine leather sofa as she surveyed her surroundings. The interior of the house was modern, whereas the outside was certainly ancient. The walls were white panels with light green French styled trimmings, reminding her of an aristocrat's room. The floor was polished marble, cool to the touch. Some ways away from the fireplace was a grand piano, and a cello. A spiral staircase was on the other side of the room, leading to the second story. Beside the main door was another door, leading to the kitchen.
Bella rubbed her hands together as she tried to get warm. But her teeth were still chattering, and she was still shivering.
Edward turned to her, and the sight of the slight Isabella shivering tore at his heart. He fished out an afghan throw from under the sofa, and wrapped it around her, hugging her as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to warm her up. What the hell was Aro thinking, bringing her to him in just this flimsy blue dress?
Bella felt warm almost immediately, once Edward had touched her. Unknowingly, she began to cry again, from the comfort of his touch.
Edward was alarmed to see her crying, again. Did he repulse her so?
"Little one, why are you crying again? Are you ill? Do you hurt somewhere?" Edward asked, as he held her away from him so he could look over her.
Bella shook her head, hiccupping. How was she to explain to this utter stranger that he had touched her more often, comforted her more often than her parents did in her entire lifetime in just 10 minutes? How was she to explain that she felt safer in this stranger's arms, than she did in her parent's armed and guarded mansion in Italy? She couldn't, and so she didn't, simply shaking her head, and trying to wipe her tears away as fast as they fell, while Edward held her and stroked her back gently.
When Bella's tears had finally subsided, Edward had simply said, "There, there. It'll be alright."Bella felt like telling him nothing would be alright, and that nothing ever was, but she simply looked away.