Life-long beauty

Chapter 1:the big bad woods

Ciera-rose point of view

August 23 2003

The rain patted on the roof in a haunting melody causing a sea of silent eeriness across the now tense room. I stared at my mother in shock, my face as still as stone as I took in her expression, emotions danced mischievously and wild across her face, pain, remorse grief…anger. My careful eyes flashed to my father's face, which was practically her reflection…o no not Andrew this cant be happening I thought. I stared grimly down at my little brother who was assessing them with the same watchful eyes. Though, him being 7 and all did not get what was happening. His adorable and innocent expression made me choke on tears and I grabbed his shoulders pulling him closer to me. He caught on and let out a cry and hugged into me tightly.

Tears started soaking my white dress. Him and Andrew are…. were twins and practically inseparable I had a close bond with both of them so you could imagine my alarm when I heard they were in a car crash I was in my room playing with dolls as usual when I heard my brothers were in the hospital Spencer was fine only a few scratches but Andrew wasn't so lucky I snapped back to the present when I heard a sniffle. Spencer stared up at me with foggy tear filled eyes.

"His dead isn't he?" his voice was sweet and pained I looked at him in sympathy but didn't answer my voice frozen in grief.

"Isn't he?"He yelled louder my parents flinched but I stared at him sadly stroking his dark mahogany hair with my shaky fingers. I nodded sadly. He stared at me blankly for a couple of tense moments before running out the door. I was shocked and turned quickly to follow him but my fathers strong ice cold hold on my elbow stopped me his unusually coloured eyes, which I had inherited, flashed at me darkly and his grip tightened on my arm and the glass of whiskey in his other hand.

"Just leave him be, he choose to run away he stays out there for all I care" my father growled and stepped away stomping to the living room. my mom through me a glance and ushered me into the room .but I shook my head

"His only 7,he cant go out there alone!" I yelled at her in to the forest he was running towards.

"and you are only ten!your fathers right he choose to leave he stays out there"she said with a nod walking away.

i huffed stubbornly don't they get his in grief? His probably distraught. My mom was stupid to leave me by myself right near the door I looked cautiously down the hall and smirked as I ran out the door and after my little brother I loved dearly

Brandon's point of view

I sighed as I walked through the dark and gloomy forest, it was cold but of corse I didn't feel anything as a vampire my unusually warm temperature kept me cosy because we only hunted at night we needed this temperature. There were a lot of bear here…my favourite .you see I hunt animals more often then humans and when I do hunt humans I don't kill them but some do like my father and uncle.

I was pretty alone after my mom died leaving my dad but he hardly visits. I have a little brother, well technically he was older. We are supposed to be only two years apart but he was changed when he was 13 and I was 11 therefore freezing him as a rowdy 13 year old boy after that I grew till I was 19 this was when my o so lovely brother changed me. That was 1901 it is now 2003 and im still the same. Anyways my little brother Trenton is a little mischievous boy who is not evil or mean in any way just cheeky. He has dirty blond hair the total opposite of mine which he got off mum I got my dark hair off dad. Anyways, he has bright violet eyes with ocean blue and coral green mixed in them the exact same as mine. I sighed when I caught the scent of a bear and ran towards it, blocking out the annoying sounds of yelling and crying from a bright cottage that was to my north, I heard a family lived there, 2 young kids an irresponsible mom and a druggie dad that beat them up. I growled people like that disgust me.

"Didn't he?"A strong boys voice cried from the cottage and there was quiet I heard a door slam and a young girls muffled cries I shook my head in pity and dashed through the forest looking for the bear he was around here somewhere…o oops SHE that's awkward .I smiled to myself and jumped on a rock only t to be stopped and distracted by a voice so sweet it sounded like it belonged to angels

"Spence! Spence! I know its hard but we are all going through the same emotions" the young girls voice said I put two and two together and guessed that this angel was the young girl from the cottage and Spence was someone she cared for as her voice softened as she spoke his name.

I slid off the rock swiftly and hid behind it as her voice grew louder and a small petite figure joined me in the clearing.

"Spencer! I know you're out here. Let me help you Spence!" she said and I peeked over the rock just a little and my breath caught.

There stood a gorgeous little girl only looking around 10 or 11 she was small and wore a cute little white dress which was dirty and worn out from her journey through the woods. It's obvious that she has been looking for him for a while by the state of her dress and her face, which was worried and frantic. Oh her face…it was beautiful and sweet and totally innocent. She had dead straight dark chocolate locks that went just past her small shoulders and framed her face. Her smooth olive coloured skin contrasting with the most unusually weird and hypnotizing eyes I have ever seen. And that's saying something because my brother and me get a lot of comments on ours and I still look in my bothers eyes everyday and they had nothing on these. They were a delicate brown, one shade lighter then her hair but there was a dark hazel ring that sparkled around the pupil and the moonlight shone on her face instantly turning it into shimmering gold and silver it was captivating. She seemed so fragile I just wanted to scoop her up and keep her safe in my arms I gathered that she got that much, she was probably sick of it

"Spencer!" she said weakly and looked around hope fading away at her features sadness and distress swimming in her eyes. I should at least direct her back home to her cottege, but would she want that? To go back to her abusive father? I should just leave her alone yep… that's it! I shouldn't be spying on a young girl who is 9 years younger than me eww creepy, but I just felt like I needed to. I stared at her one last time and turned around unwillingly and left and to my great surprise pain and sadness slowly started to sink in and I sighed ive been doing that a lot latel

ciera-rose point of view

After a long while of searching I gave up crying his name it was no use he went to far I sank down near a tree and cuddled up .mom was right I was only ten I shouldn't be out in a forest by myself even though I was considered wise for my age, this was incredibly stupid .I sighed, it seems like I have been doing that a lot lately…

"Helppppp!"My brothers voice called I panicked but got up and ran towards where I heard his voice. His screams got louder and I ran faster calling his name. My heart froze when I heard a bear growl in the distance and my brother's screams choke in his throat. I bursted through a layer of thick ferns and greenery to see my brother scrunched up against a rock shaking in fear and a giant black bear coming towards him not even thinking bout what I was doing I ran across to him and shielded him with my small 10 year old arms .he spoke my name softly, fear drowning his voice. The bear growled and moved towards us much faster now. I scrunched my eyes together and hugged Spencer. Maybe when the bear was dealing with me Spencer could run, what I know about bears is that their not persistent enough to follow my little brother a tear slid down my cheek as I embraced for the pain.

But it didn't come...

Instead their was a furious growl, this one was not like the bear's it was deep and masculine but also was to pretty and menacing to be humani froze and opened my eyes to see a dark form crouched in front of me it was obvious it was a boy much older then me and he seemed to be causing the bears anger to boil up more then what it already was. I wonder what Spencer did to make it so angry…thinking of Spencer snapped me out of my deep thoughts and I gasped and started to get up taking Spencer with me the stranger mirrored my movements his back facing me as he hissed at the bear. Then suddenly the bear lunged at him I let out a cry as it tackled the stranger to the ground they wrestled and snapped at each other. I stood there frozen Spencer standing behind me. The fight grew more intense and the bear managed to scratch the man deep, cutting into his t-shirt this sent a loud scream from the man but it also only made him angrier. This man was defiantly not human his body moved almost cat like and the strange noises that he made were too animalistic. He eventually wrenched forward grabbing the bear by the neck. His head snapped up to me and my breath caught he had fang that sprung from his gums and it seemed like his eyes were glowing but that was not what struck at me the most this man was inhumanly and undeniably beautiful he definitely wasn't real he couldn't be shook my head clearing the image. He raised an a dark eyebrow at me his glowing eyes sparkled with hate and screamed at me to turn I thought shocked I twisted away and covered my brothers eyes there was a snap and a howl and a thud and I turned around to see the bear o the ground and the mysterious boy breathing heavily above it. Seconds ticked by and his eyes calmed but they stayed fixed on the animal in front of us.

Dead.

The word sent a dark shiver I thought of Andrew and tried to hold back tears. Eventually the buys head slowly rose to look at me cautiously his eyes were now haywire and dazed and he slumped backwards a bit. Horror seeped into me when I noticed the scar on his shoulder I ran forward as he hit the back of a rock groaning in pain. I tried to help him but he kept on pushing my hand away with incredible force.

"Please just let me help you!" I cried looking at the gash I shook my head guilty I couldn't help but think this was my fault.

"No, it will heal in about ten minutes" he voice was soothing and calm. He looked down at the cut and groaned and closed his eyes resting his head on a huge rock.

"Or twenty" he changed with a slight smirk on his face. I decided that enough was enough and huffed. I turned around to face Spencer who was looking at the bear in fear

"Hey Spencer pass me a bit of your shirt" I said sternly yet comfortingly he obeyed quickly and ran to me ripping some of his shirt and gave it to me I grabbed it and turned to the boy who had his eyebrows raised at me

"You should go home your parents would be worried your too young to be going out in the woods what were you thinking?" he asked with a shake of his head he seemed angry probably trying to aim it at us but I could tell the anger was aimed at my parents. I rolled my eyes and stepped to the pond and ran the cloth through it I hurried back to the man and started washing his cut he winced twice but remained calm.

"Sooooooo what is your name?" I said trying to make a conversation. He turned his head to me with a slight smile on his face his deep eyes sparkled a violet-blue but somehow managed to create deep green swirls around the pupil. They were covered slight when his dark black hair fell across his face. He frowned and blew upwards annoyed trying to get his hair out of his eyes. I burst into giggles at his expression. when he looked back at me I blushed

"Brandon" he stated simply in a deep voice I nodded. After I was down washing I saw the gash actually closing up, right in front of my eyes I gasped. And looked at Spencer who sat cross-legged mesmerized at what was happening I smiled and turned to Brandon who smiled sheepishly at me.

"Spence we should go" I said seriously after we sat there in silence for another minute I turned to him when he didn't answer me I could see he didn't want to leave to go back home but I gave him a look and he nodded then he stood up grabbing my arm cutely. Taking me up with him turned to Brandon who was looking up at me protectively. I got that a lot my mom said I had that face that made people want to protect me. I smiled timidly at him as he rose from the ground gracefully stuffing his hands in his pockets

"Do you happen to know the way to cherry cove road?" I said hopefully he nodded and walked away I stood there frozen and my brother looked up at me confusingly. He turned around and raised one eyebrow with a smile.

"Your coming aren't you?" he said I nodded quickly and followed him through the forest eventually we made it to the road. I looked up at him and smiled

"Thankyou" I said shyly looking down at my feet. He crouched down to me that's when I noticed he was very tall he now was just facing me. He grinned again but I looked down blushing gripping onto my brother's hand tightly. He noticed my blush and placed a finger under my chin and lifted my heard up to him. His face was comforting and happy even though what just happened.

"No woods." he spoke softly to me and his eyes flashed to my brother and gave him a stern look.

"Or running away" he finished with a smile while reaching over to ruffle my brothers hair with his other hand. He turned back to me his eyes gentle.

"What is your name?" he said looking up at our house, which was dark, and quiet indicating unconsciousness im not surprised mom and dad weren't worried about our absence.

"Ciera-rose but you could call me cece or ciera. Rose is just too much for me. Too long, to formal I think I should just drop it off when im older" I said with a thoughtful nod but it was a weird nod because his finger still was on my chin. He laughed lightly that's when I realized I was just rambling on I blushed

"I think it's a very pretty name…both of them" he said cheekily trying to annoy me I glared and turned around giving him a wave and tugging on spencers hand moving towards our house. When we reached our door it was open surprisingly and Spencer slipped in side .I turned around to see him still standing there. A slight smile on brightened his face when I turned. Brandon was not human though he was not a monster he saved me and my brothers lives and I am grateful for that my lips twitched and I mouthed "thankyou "to him again his grin widened and he nodded and looked a little dazed. I turned around to the door about to step through the threshold. I looked through to the mirror that faced the door I could see him clearly now his face his form.

"It was nice to meet you ciera"his voice spoke but his lips did not move he spoke to my mind I was shocked and turned around to find him gone I bit my lip and made my way in side completely changed.