Faultline

Prologue

We're never fast enough. Not anymore. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the days when the Volturi ruled. They may have been a bunch of pompous, old dicks, but they really did maintain order in a world with supernaturals. Since they disappeared twenty years ago, there's no one to control the newborns. Nothing to keep the chaos of primal hunger at bay. But most importantly, there's no one to keep us, all of us, safe. From the humans.

You could have told me, or any other vampire, this story thirty years ago and we would never have believed you. In fact, you'd be killed by most for even suggesting such an idea. The idea that one day, the humans would hunt us. And yet, here we are, the third decade of the twenty-first century, and we run for our lives. Every day is a struggle for survival. We stick together in small groups, keeping a low profile, moving at night only, avoiding busy cities. For many of us, it's not enough.

Last year we lost most of the original coven. Alice saw it coming, but didn't know when it would happen. She went crazy a few days before Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett and Esme were all killed in the ambush. Carlisle was taken. I can still see his eyes, enflamed with rage and desperation as Esme's body exploded into a million fragments. I still see the soldiers, with their unnatural augmentations, dragging him screaming and wailing into the darkness to be carted away to some research lab like an animal. But then again, we are the animals.

Now that the humans have merged with their technology, they are less human than even we. They have cybernetic implants to help them fight us. With us vampires as their enemy, they are united. They are strong. They are evil, and I will make them pay for what they've done. Somehow, they will answer for their crimes against my family.

My name is Edward Cullen, and I am one of the hunted. With me is my sister Alice, my eternal love Isabella, our daughter Renesmee and Jacob, the Wolf. He is the last of his kind. I feel great pain for him. He loves Nessie more than words could describe, and I know he will protect her to his dying breath. Without Jacob, we would all likely be dead, too. It's true, I owe my life to a dog.

You might think things are bad for us, and you wouldn't be wrong. But just like anything, it's not all bad. We still laugh and love. No single group of people could ever love each other more than we do. With the world going to hell around us, we still have hope. We don't want to end humanity, just make peace. I want those who killed my family to burn, but humanity as a whole is just as it's always been. It moves along. As always, the vast majority of any people are not a part of the worst of their kind. And I am a proud vampire. For that reason, I will not mindlessly murder innocents. If the humans could understand that we only want to live here on Earth, just as they do, free to choose our own destinies, peace would perhaps come. Until then, I will fight for the survival of my family and my kind.

"What are you doing?"

The voice jolted me from my concentration.

"Nothing, Bella. Just… typing," I answered timidly.

"Edward, we don't have time for this. I told you to lose that typewriter a month ago, and what do I find? You crouched in this corner typing your stupid poetry or whatever."

"Bella, we may be the last vampires to ever exist. We may be the last natural people to ever live, as strange as it sounds. I am writing so that the future will know what really happened. So that people years from now will understand that we weren't the monsters they portrayed us to be. History is written by the victors, but in this case I will beat them to the punch if I can."

"You're hopeless, Edward. Who's to say we're going to lose?"

"Nobody, but be realistic, Bella. Our future is bleak. Anyone who suggests otherwise is a misguided fool."

"Are you saying our daughter is a fool?" She narrowed her eyes at me. I could feel the anger burning in her flesh.

"Of course not. There's a difference between optimism and blind hope."

I stared down at my fingers. They were dirty and cracked. I typed one last word and the typewriter dinged and went back to the start of the page. I pulled the paper from the machine and folded it into my pocket. I turned to find Bella standing only a few inches from me. The tears in her eyes spoke to my unbeating heart. We embraced.

"Tell me it's going to be okay," she wept into my shoulder. "You know I can't take this much longer. Life isn't meant to be this way."

Her words faded into incomprehensible sobs. I squeezed her, staring at the wall beyond us. Two tears slowly traveled the length of my cold, stone face. I knew she needed comforting. We all did. With a deep breath to hide my own desire to weep, I spoke.

"We will survive, Isabella Cullen. It's what we do. We are a strong people. More importantly, our love will keep us together through these tribulations. If we lose love, we might as well give up now. You know that's not going to happen."

Her cries softened into a sniffle. She wiped her nose on my shirt and looked up at me.

"I do love you, Edward. You promised me that we would live forever. If you break that promise, I'll kill you myself."

I smiled. She knew how to make light of a dark situation. For that, I was grateful.

"Time to move," Jacob said from the doorway.

"We're on our way," I replied. Jacob gave me a look that questioned what was going on. I simply gave him a reassuring smile that everything was okay. He turned and walked down the stairs.

"Let's go Bella. Alice said there are Hunters in this area tonight. We have to get clear of this town as soon as possible."

She glanced over at the typewriter.

"Are you really bringing that beastly thing with us?"

I sighed. "Tell me right now to leave it here. Tell me to throw it away and I will. Hell, tell me to smash it to pieces and I'll crush it right here with my bare hands, as much as I don't want to."

"Fine, fine! Bring your stupid typewriter. Just do me a favor and finish your history book before we all die."

"No promises," I said with a grin.

With that, I lifted the machine off the table and stuffed it into my military grade duffle bag. Time again, to run.

Author's Notes: First submission. I want to have the future entries beta read. So anyway, what do you think? Please review (: Thanks

Update expected every Saturday.