I walk along the deserted street, pulling my coat tighter around me, protecting me from the biting cold and the chilling rain. The orphanage isn't too far away, but in the dark it feels like miles. There aren't any streetlights in this part of town, so my only source of light is the moon. A perfect circle of bright white light, guiding me to my destination. Both of my parents having been murdered in front of me when I was 5, with no other family, I was just thrown in an orphanage until I turn 18. Another 8 years and I'm free to leave, but until then I have to stay there, delivering newspapers to earn my own money so I have something when I leave. I'd only gone out to kill some time, but then lost track of it, leaving me to walk back in the dark.
I run across the mouth of a dark alley, not wanting to be held up anymore. I hear a rustle behind me and the unmistakeable crash of a garbage bin being thrown out of someone's path. I start running, hoping I can get back before whatever's behind me catches me. I feel strong arms wrap around my anorexic body and a large hand clamp over my mouth. They drag me back into the alley and shove me hard against the wall, taunting me about my helplessness. I reach into my back pocket and gently pull out my folding knife and flick the blade out behind my back. I notice that all my attackers are teenage boys, all incredibly huge, and all look similar. One punches me in the face when I don't answer him, opening a tiny cut, so I swing my arm out from behind my back and slash at his face. I open a thin, shallow cut along his cheek, the blood dripping onto my face, and he flushes with rage. He starts breathing louder and twisting around, trying to control himself, but I can't back up any further, so I stand and watch in disbelief. The other boys with him are grabbing his shoulders and telling him that I'm not worth it and that I'll only tell someone, but he's too strong for them. He rips the knife out of my hand shoves me back against the wall and drives the blade deep into the flesh of my stomach, yanking it across my body before pulling it out again and tossing it uselessly on the ground. He turns around and stalks off, taking his friends with him and leaving me slumped in a corner, screaming, my blood dripping sickeningly onto the concrete underneath me. I start crying, the salty tears trickling into my cut and mixing with the blood, both dripping down my face. I come to a sudden realisation as to what I have to do. I slowly reach my trembling hand out, my fingers scrabbling on the hard ground, trying to find my knife. I feel the solidity of the handle and curl my fingers around it, bringing it back to my body. I bring the bloody blade up to my throat, preparing to draw it through, ending my pain forever.
Before I can even begin the cut, I see a freezing hand grasping my stick-thin wrist, pulling it away from my neck and crushing the knife in their hand. I look up and find myself staring into a pair of dark yellow eyes, and I shudder in fear at the authority they command. I refocus my gaze to see who has stopped me from destroying my life and ending my pain. I look at the face, the face of an angel. I take in the short, spiky dark hair, the raindrops on the tips glinting in the moonlight, her pale, dainty features, and her tiny frame walking around me gracefully with a dancer's step. She's wearing a tight black t-shirt and skinny jeans, can't be finished school yet, but I still don't recognise her. Without a word she seems to come to a decision about me, and picks me up easily in her bare arms, shielding me from the night. With sudden power, she takes off, running through the dark at an alarming speed. I feel the blood still pumping out of me, and just hope she's trying to help. I squeeze my eyes shut as she runs out of the town, but feels her slowing down in less than a minute. I open my eyes again and see that we've arrived at a house in the middle of the woods. She pushes through the door and I see three more teenagers stand immediately. A tall boy with blondish hair steps back, but his lips are pulled back in a snarl, and another boy with dark hair and huge muscles wraps his arms around the first boy from behind and drags him out the door. The last person in the room, a gorgeous blonde girl, slowly walks over to us and murmurs something to the girl holding me, then they both flit into another room, the blonde pulling out a mobile with urgency. She dials a number and speaks so fast that I can't understand a word she says, then snaps it shut again. The pixie-like girl holding me gently lays me down on a cold metal bench in the middle of the room.
"What do we do now Alice?" the blonde girl asks the dark-haired girl that saved me.
"I don't know Rosalie," Alice says, "I guess we just wait for Carlisle to get back."
"But she'll be dead by then!" Rosalie exclaims, "you'll have to change her yourself. It's the only chance we have"
"I don't know if I have the control though. What if I can't stop?"
"I'll be right here to take you away if I have to, OK?"
"OK. I just hope I'm doing the right thing."
"You are. She's too young to leave this world yet."
Alice sighs sadly and gently touches a hand to my cheek before leaning over my neck.
"I'm sorry." she whispers softly, before biting my neck.
I scream in pain, unable to comprehend the fire that has taken over my fragile body. Alice withdraws herself, looking utterly horrified at what she's done. I thrash and writhe on the cold metal, but Alice and Rosalie forcefully hold down my limbs, preventing me from hurting myself even further. The fire spreads through my veins, engulfing me in it's excruciating pain. I keep struggling against their iron grip, but to no avail; they're much too strong. I barely hear the door open over my screams, and I just manage to turn my head to see who has come in. It's another man I don't recognise and a woman as well, but they don't touch me, just rests their hands on Alice's shoulder, saying something to her. The others file out of the rooms, leaving only Alice and I alone in the blank room. The pain doesn't subside, but worsen and I have no idea when it will stop. All I know is that I just have to endure it for as long as it lasts. Alice gently strokes my cheek, but it has no effect, even though her hands are so cold. I keep thrashing around for hours and hours, but the pain remains there the entire time.
I stay on that bench for what must be days, the pain never subsiding, but Alice remains there comforting me the whole time. Suddenly I notice the fire going down and I can feel my fingers again, but the fire is still there. At least it makes some kind of difference, knowing that it's starting to go away. After a few more hours, the fire is nearly gone, but still burning fiercer than ever in my heart. I look at Alice and notice that she's staring rather blankly at nothing. With a sudden jolt she looks at me, a smile playing on her lips. I close my eyes, hoping that the pain will go away soon. I'm surprised that I've managed to stay alive this long with the immense pain burning through me. After another couple of hours, the flames licking at my heart seem to be put out, and I decide to open my eyes. I slowly open them, and notice the small throng surrounding me. I don't know any of them, but I've seen most of them. They all have the same pale skin, the same golden eyes, and are all incredibly beautiful. I slowly sit up, noticing that I can hear every rustle of their clothes. The man I saw before steps out towards me, into the sun, and I gasp in shock as I see his skin sparkling like diamonds.
"It's alright young one," he begins, "my name is Carlisle Cullen and this is my family. This might sound a bit hard to believe, but we're… vampires."
I consider this for a moment. The sight of his skin in the sunlight is incredible, and it does seem plausible. Alice crushed my knife in her bare hand, picked me up like I weighed nothing and ran faster than anything I've ever seen. And the bite. I feel different somehow, more powerful in a way.
"Well you're definitely not human." I say slowly.
They all laugh, and I hesitantly join in. If they're all vampires and one of them bit me, then that must mean that I'm one of them. One of the women steps forward and holds out her hand. I take it and she helps me off the bench and takes me over to a mirror. I stare in awe at what I see. I honestly look beautiful, but it begs the question: why?
"H-how do I look like this? My stomach was nearly on the sidewalk and I had severe anorexia. Why do I look like this?"
"Was your body like this before you were diagnosed?" Carlisle asks me.
"Yes."
"Well you see, our venom, if left to spread, will heal any ailments a person has. So your knife wound was healed, and the weight you had before anorexia was replaced."
"I see." I say, nodding to myself.
"I guess I should introduce you to the rest of my family," Carlisle begins, "this is my wife Esme, my son Edward, his wife Bella, and their daughter Renesmee. That's Emmett and his wife Rosalie, and Jasper and his wife Alice."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. And Alice," my voice catches, but I'm determined to go on, "Alice you didn't even know me, but you saved my life. I can never repay you for that."
Dainty little Alice comes bounding over to me and hugs me gently.
"You don't need to." she says sweetly.
"Alice, why don't you go with…" Esme begins.
"Violet." I say quietly.
"Violet," Esme continues, "and answer any questions she has. I'm sure she's more than a little confused."
"OK!" Alice says cheerfully, holding my wrist and gently pulling me out of the room.
She takes off at a run, with me following behind her, not quite as fast. We go to the lounge room and sit down on the couch.
"So what do you want to know?" she asks me, "I'll tell you anything."
"What can we do? What special powers do we have?"
"Well all vampires have increased strength, speed and senses, and we can't show ourselves to humans in the sunlight, because our skin sparkles and we're cold to the touch. Also, we don't actually need to breathe. As for special powers, some vampires have certain abilities. For example, I can see the future. I knew where you were when I found you because I saw where you were and what those boys were going to do to you."
"Does anyone else in the family have powers?"
"Yes. Edward can read minds, Jasper can control emotions, Bella has a mental shield and Renesmee can show you her thoughts by touching you and can break through mental shields. Also, Renesmee isn't actually a vampire. She's a vampire-human hybrid. Bella gave birth to her while she was still human."
"Intriguing, I thought she looked different to everyone else. But how do you know if you have a power?"
"Well, sometimes if you had a particular talent as a human or a particular experience, it is strengthened once you're changed. Did you have any special talents?"
"I could tell if something bad had happened to someone, and what." I say slowly.
"That might be promising. Anything else you want to know?" Alice says thoughtfully.
"Is there anything I need to know about your family?"
"We only feed on the blood of animals. Most other covens feed on humans, but none of us want to be killers. We need to take you hunting too, get you used to it and get you fed."
"I don't have any other clothes though." I say looking down at my blood-soaked shirt.
Alice takes my wrist again and runs me up the stairs to a room off the hallway. She leads me to the wardrobe and opens the door.
"Pick something!" she says, clearly interested in my choice. It's obvious now that she loves fashion. It's a pity I don't.
I scan my eyes over the array of clothes on the shelf and decide on a pair of cargo shorts and a plain black t-shirt with some trail running shoes.
"I'll leave you to get changed then." Alice says to me before walking out the door and shutting it quietly behind her.
I quickly put on the clothes and go back out to join her.
"Let's go hunting!" she says excitedly.
So she takes my wrist again and runs me down the stairs to the waiting party, and we all run out the door to hunt.
My new family, and I.